I have been a fan of Star Trek since I was 7 years old. Growing up I used to go to the local library to rent original series episodes for free to help take my mind off the mass hysteria that was my parents divorce at the time.
That being said, I've seen every movie multiple times, all of the TV shows, and consider myself to be quite the knowledgeable Trek closet Geek
I know what I feel works for Trek and what does not. So to make it clear: I'm not apart of the new hip audience that loves this movie.
That being said, I loved every single thing about this movie (including some of the overlooked plot points). The opening scene and music is what did it for me. I knew with the Kelvin/Narada sequence that I was in for a rare treat of which I'd never seen before with a Trek production on any scale of any level. It had emotion, it had music playing in exactly the right places to evoke emotion, it had convincing acting right down to the Captain who bites the big one in the first five minutes, and a very capable villain.
Was this movie " exploring strange new worlds"? Not exactly, we have seen anomaly's in Trek before, however, they were never done on such an epic and convincing scale. Every actor in this movie had me convinced they were the people they were portraying. Even John Cho, for as little lines as he had, I was convinced he was Sulu by the end of the movie during the sequence in which he delicately helmed the Enterprise through the rings of Saturn.. he had command of his voice, the timing, and overall aura needed. That takes a great director. JJ Abrams knows exactly what hes doing.
People complain about the engine room? Give me a freaking break. It's the first time a Trek movie ever tried to evoke a sense of realness in parts of the ship. Just nitpicky stuff from people that claim theyre the end all be all for knowing what Trek should be about, yet I challenge them to see a fun movie and just enjoy it for what it was. I am definitely worried about people who can't go into this movie and not walk out semi-blown away.
My 62 year old father who was watching Trek since Vietnam, was raving about this movie and went and saw it again the following night. My friend who is my age (28) who never gets excited over any movies, couldn't stop reminding me what a good movie he thought it was (and the best of the Treks in his eyes). And many other people I've spoken with feel exactly the same.
I still don't understand why people are also knocking the NERO character. Bana made the character beyond menacing from the beginning of the movie with the staring away from Capt. Robah pissed off look he had. I rate him as one of the best Trek villains to date. I only wish he had more screen time.
Lastly, what is with all the butt kissing for the Wrath of Kahn anyway?? I've seen it countless times, I get it: Kahn was awesome. However, the movie itself? It's good, but takes a very long time to get it's own set legs. It also has many many plot holes. So my point is, anyone who wishes to knock the plot holes of the newest movie, outta look no further than Wrath of Kahn and look at all the ubsurd plot holes in that movie. Such as, why would the Federation not immediately send 2-3 ships to intercept the Reliant the minute they broke off communication (considering they were tasked with handling the Genesis project for finding a suitable planet)? Why would the federation not have it's own ship guarding Space Lab Regula one knowing that theyre protecting the most lethal weapon in the universe from other races?? So you send a rescue ship filled with training cadets because it was only ship in the quadrant?? WHAT?!?!? So really, if your going to nitpick, at least nitpick Kahn and you will see that plot holes are meant to be overlooked as long as the movie itself delivers with solid acting, great action sequences, and well developed characters!
I've never been so entertained during a Sci Fi movie, let alone a Trek film. If I can walk out wide eyed, and still asking questions the next day, it's a great film. Indeed Star Trek was as great film. I only wish JJ Abrams had been around during the making of the Motion Picture, he is just the type that would have prevented the slow, prodding sequences of that movie. That always bothered me about the Motion Picture. They had carte blanche to spend on that film, and all they gave us was a movie predominantly shot on a set without anything going on outside the ship? (with exception to the end scene) No one firing hand phasers, no hand to hand combat, no Enterprise fighting another ship in space.
One thing they could have done was had the klingon ships attack the Enterprise before they moved in on the cloud, and once they did, the Enterprise witnesses their demise from a safe distance, albeit disabled from the Klingons whipping their butt. That would have been one way to work in some more action. Or have a race between the Klingons and Kirk and co to get to the Veger orifice, knowing whoever got their first might hold the key to unraveling the mystery behind veger. You could have had Kirk and Spock in spacesuits outside the ship engaging Klingons in spacesuits who were trying to prevent the Federation from getting to Veger first. Really my point is, they just needed to have a better script in place before shooting. With this new movie, everyone was in agreement on the story that mattered. The Director loved it, the writers loved it, and the studio loved it enough to bump it to summer.
Ok I am off my soapbox now.
Thanks for reading!
That being said, I've seen every movie multiple times, all of the TV shows, and consider myself to be quite the knowledgeable Trek closet Geek
I know what I feel works for Trek and what does not. So to make it clear: I'm not apart of the new hip audience that loves this movie. That being said, I loved every single thing about this movie (including some of the overlooked plot points). The opening scene and music is what did it for me. I knew with the Kelvin/Narada sequence that I was in for a rare treat of which I'd never seen before with a Trek production on any scale of any level. It had emotion, it had music playing in exactly the right places to evoke emotion, it had convincing acting right down to the Captain who bites the big one in the first five minutes, and a very capable villain.
Was this movie " exploring strange new worlds"? Not exactly, we have seen anomaly's in Trek before, however, they were never done on such an epic and convincing scale. Every actor in this movie had me convinced they were the people they were portraying. Even John Cho, for as little lines as he had, I was convinced he was Sulu by the end of the movie during the sequence in which he delicately helmed the Enterprise through the rings of Saturn.. he had command of his voice, the timing, and overall aura needed. That takes a great director. JJ Abrams knows exactly what hes doing.
People complain about the engine room? Give me a freaking break. It's the first time a Trek movie ever tried to evoke a sense of realness in parts of the ship. Just nitpicky stuff from people that claim theyre the end all be all for knowing what Trek should be about, yet I challenge them to see a fun movie and just enjoy it for what it was. I am definitely worried about people who can't go into this movie and not walk out semi-blown away.
My 62 year old father who was watching Trek since Vietnam, was raving about this movie and went and saw it again the following night. My friend who is my age (28) who never gets excited over any movies, couldn't stop reminding me what a good movie he thought it was (and the best of the Treks in his eyes). And many other people I've spoken with feel exactly the same.
I still don't understand why people are also knocking the NERO character. Bana made the character beyond menacing from the beginning of the movie with the staring away from Capt. Robah pissed off look he had. I rate him as one of the best Trek villains to date. I only wish he had more screen time.
Lastly, what is with all the butt kissing for the Wrath of Kahn anyway?? I've seen it countless times, I get it: Kahn was awesome. However, the movie itself? It's good, but takes a very long time to get it's own set legs. It also has many many plot holes. So my point is, anyone who wishes to knock the plot holes of the newest movie, outta look no further than Wrath of Kahn and look at all the ubsurd plot holes in that movie. Such as, why would the Federation not immediately send 2-3 ships to intercept the Reliant the minute they broke off communication (considering they were tasked with handling the Genesis project for finding a suitable planet)? Why would the federation not have it's own ship guarding Space Lab Regula one knowing that theyre protecting the most lethal weapon in the universe from other races?? So you send a rescue ship filled with training cadets because it was only ship in the quadrant?? WHAT?!?!? So really, if your going to nitpick, at least nitpick Kahn and you will see that plot holes are meant to be overlooked as long as the movie itself delivers with solid acting, great action sequences, and well developed characters!
I've never been so entertained during a Sci Fi movie, let alone a Trek film. If I can walk out wide eyed, and still asking questions the next day, it's a great film. Indeed Star Trek was as great film. I only wish JJ Abrams had been around during the making of the Motion Picture, he is just the type that would have prevented the slow, prodding sequences of that movie. That always bothered me about the Motion Picture. They had carte blanche to spend on that film, and all they gave us was a movie predominantly shot on a set without anything going on outside the ship? (with exception to the end scene) No one firing hand phasers, no hand to hand combat, no Enterprise fighting another ship in space.
One thing they could have done was had the klingon ships attack the Enterprise before they moved in on the cloud, and once they did, the Enterprise witnesses their demise from a safe distance, albeit disabled from the Klingons whipping their butt. That would have been one way to work in some more action. Or have a race between the Klingons and Kirk and co to get to the Veger orifice, knowing whoever got their first might hold the key to unraveling the mystery behind veger. You could have had Kirk and Spock in spacesuits outside the ship engaging Klingons in spacesuits who were trying to prevent the Federation from getting to Veger first. Really my point is, they just needed to have a better script in place before shooting. With this new movie, everyone was in agreement on the story that mattered. The Director loved it, the writers loved it, and the studio loved it enough to bump it to summer.
Ok I am off my soapbox now.
Thanks for reading!
no naysaying from my end.
