Day Eleven: Star Trek
We've reached the end of the known Star Trek universe, and I have to say it's been a memorable ride. Now, we arrive at the film that spurred this whole project in the first place: JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot. First, I must offer a few words of dissention from my esteemed colleagues, who have powered the movie to a startling 93 percent on the Tomatometer. Star Trek is a good film, but it falls short of greatness for several reasons. Far be it from me to become the arbiter of all things Trek, but this new movie is a wham-bam spectacle short on the cerebral probing of the earlier movies. There's nothing inherently wrong with that; I love a good explosion as much as the next guy. However, in too many scenes, the editing is so kinetic that it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on. And though I don't require heavy-handed moralizing, this outing feels conspicuously absent of any larger socio-political context, which has long been a hallmark of the series.
That being said, I think Star Trek is ultimately a worthy film. For starters, the new cast does an excellent job in reinterpreting these iconic characters in a way that never comes across as mimicry (especially strong are Karl Urban as Bones and Simon Pegg as Scotty). In addition, it's great to see a Trek that far outpaces available technology; beyond warp drive and teleportation (two big caveats, I know), the Enterprise's computers have always seemed endearingly lo-fi. Not this time. Finally, Star Trek is admittedly awesome in its visuals and set design; its future-retro look is almost always sleek and occasionally quite remarkable.
But is it Trek? Perhaps not, in a strict sense; in many ways, the movie owes more to the origin stories of recent comic book adaptations than to the franchise's roots. However, we're so far removed from the context of the original series that a different direction is undoubtedly justified, and on that front, this new incarnation of Trek appears to be on solid ground.
When I began this project, I went into it with an open mind, but I still harbored a sneaking suspicion that Trekkies' devotion wasn't wholly warranted. Decades of parodies and potshots directed at Klingon-speaking, hopelessly nerdy conventioneers can do that to you. As I watched these films, what I discovered was a worldview (or, in this case, a universe-view) that was admirably positive and enlightening. So many sci-fi films present a dystopian perspective on the future that it's comforting to see a vision of racial harmony, of fundamentally sound scientific advancement, of morality and camaraderie. Though the mythology of Trek at first seemed impenetrable, I found many of these films accessible on their own terms; if a greater understanding of Gene Roddenberry's creation deepens the viewing experience, it's by no means essential. Even the occasionally outmoded and cheesy aspects of the movies become strangely charming if you view them within the larger scope of the series. I began this undertaking as an agnostic. At this point, I'm certainly no evangelical, but I'm definitely a believer.
Of course none of Trek's liberal humanist outlook would have endured if the franchise didn't provide some good times. I'll fondly remember plenty from these films: the menacing Khan and his minions on the hostile desert planet of Ceti Alpha V; the Enterprise crew adrift in modern-day San Francisco; the frigid, foreboding climes of Rura Penthe; the invasive machinery of the Borg. In addition, I've enjoyed making the acquaintance of some memorable characters; I'll miss the irascible Bones, the basso profundo of Sulu, and, of course, the constant probing of Spock, whose conflicted nature remains the ultimate key to the series. I don't know if I'll end up running through every episode of, say, Deep Space Nine, but it's not out of the question; at very least, I'll be far less inclined to click past any Trek show I find while channel-surfing.
Thus, with my mission complete, I shall now rank all the Trek movies:
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
4. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
5. Star Trek
7. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Finally, I'd like to say thanks to all the folks who took the time to comment on my articles. Your words were encouraging, edifying, and passionate, and I hope you had as much fun following me on this journey as I did absorbing the Trek universe. May you all live long and prosper.
Stardates:
- Day One: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
- Day Two: Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Day Three: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
- Day Four: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
- Day Five: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
- Day Six: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
- Day Seven: Star Trek: Generations (1994)
- Day Eight: Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- Day Nine: Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
- Day Ten: Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
- Day Eleven: Star Trek (2009)
(1-20 of 75 posts) | Reply
on May 07 2009 04:39 PM Ryan, what did you think of Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto? I liked them both a lot, Pine was pretty awesome as Kirk. I thought the script was pretty weak, too many coincidences and illogicalness (what did Nero do for all those years?!?). I also though Eric Bana was really good but really under written and was made into a generic villain. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 04:45 PM In reply to this comment (#2459541) I find little to dispute there. It was nice to see Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto not resorting to Nimoy or Shatner-isms, but carving out their own takes on the characters. Nicely done. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 04:48 PM After seeing it today, I thought it blew every other Trek movie away. You mention that this film is more explosions and visuals & action compared to the other treks which have all been about some pondering moralising etc, well, the other films had that sure, but when were they great? Everyone keeps praising Kahn as the best, well, that was the second film in a line-up of 11. Personally i'm kinda glad it left the moral storylines at home, I dont wanna see them rescuing a whale or trying to make an android "Feel human" etc. Thats all been done in trek, what this film does to compensate is make Star Trek a "GREAT" sci-fi adventure, which has been missing from everything so far until now (with a few small exceptions) imo. The best of the other films to me were only half great. Take First Contact for example, great borg stuff there. But then we had the lame on planet stuff with the drunk dude, kinda let it down for me. This film stayed thrilling right the way through to the end. And I have to say, Pine and Quinto were exceptional in it, i thought i was gonna dislike Pine, but he nailed Kirk very well, without doing a full blown Shat impersonation. I'm not much of a trekky, but i have seen them all, and this is the only one to truly float my boat. I'm almost converted, but i have to wait till JJ makes sequels before i can truly be satisfied with the rest of the series again. He sure set a high benchmark here. Look forward to seeing new sequels. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 04:51 PM Jokerboy, i will admit that Bana was underused. Still, he was menacing in the role, but a lil more to say i guess would have been nice. I think i may have to go rewatch CHOPPER for a great Bana performance. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 04:54 PM Well done, Tim. Nice to see another fan brought on board the Enterprise. The ride ain't over.... (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 05:01 PM In reply to this comment (#2459583) Thanks, man. Glad you liked it. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 05:17 PM In reply to this comment (#2459576) I thought Bana was really good, I loved the look of his character too. But he just was written so generically/ I'm a bad guy and I want to kill that good guy. What was he doing for those 28 years waiting for Spock?!? I was hoping to see a scene with one of his workers saying "You know, I don't think he's coming". I've heard that they actually cut scenes that explain this, apparently Nero was arrested by Cleons, then breaks out. Why would they cut this?!? It would have helped the movie so much, if they were good scenes, which I bet they were because Bana was in them. I also wanted it to end with Spock fighting Nero and not Kirk, it would have made for a less cliche ending and it would've had a better impact, I mean Nero does want Spock dead. I kind of thought it had to many lazy conveniences- Kirk being marooned on a planet where not only Spock is there, but also Scotty. Overall though I did love the movie, despite the weak script, everything else was done so greatly. I'd give it an 8.5/10. Definitely a great way to kick off the summer for real, so much fun, I've seen it twice now. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 05:18 PM ^^^^^MINOR SPOILERS^^^^^ (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 05:41 PM I think I can live with a film that just "falls short of greatness." Translated, that means "it's still a great film." As far as ranking it fifth, it's a tall order putting it higher than any of the non-Nemesis even-numbered ones. I'll have to see for myself on Sunday how it stands up. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 05:52 PM Spock should NEVER EVER be in the final conflict ina one on one battle. Its not in his character at all. I think its risky even giving him any emotion at all but i can see it as he is having an inner struggle since he is still young. That would be a total destruction of his character considering he is struggling with his human side and that would be like saying his human side won.UMM what! lol Im glad it isnt that way in the movie (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:01 PM As a long term trek fan ( Original Series as a kid in the 70's ) this movie blew me away. Abrams had a huge task, not to alienate fans and make trek accessible to a whole new young audience. And I think he succeeded. The alternate timeline means this will not suffer from the flaws of other prequels wherein we already know the outcome of the characters. This time we don't know what is going to happen. And the Nimoy role was integral and excellently done and really validated the whole movie for me. Now the question is the future of this reality may still have an old Kirk alive in it! ( Shatner for the sequel maybe? ) Maybe that would be too contrived. Special effects were amazing, action was amazing. Production design was great, Neros giant ship and Spock's ship was cool. ( not sure about the bowels of the ship looking like a submarine though ) Great character moments as well. Would love to see more cerebral moments in a follow up. Trek was as much about thinking your way out of problems as using muscle. Now that the origin story is done, bring on the sequels. we may see some familar bad guys from the original series, but things may turn out different. Excitement and wonder has resurrected a dead franchise!! (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:01 PM To be honest, Tim, I think you may have done yourself a disservice by seeing all the other Trek films first. This movie was meant to act independently on its own right, so I think, as a fan, it would have been best to not have seen rest so that I could enjoy the film without having to think about, "This looks like this" or "Wow, looks what they've changed. Blasphemy!!!" I respect your opinion of course. I think the best route, if you are going to go back and look at previous Trek, would be to watch the original series. I think that is what the filmmakers were trying to bring to the big screen. The original show and the original movies had many differences, so perhaps you would have felt more at home with that mind set. Then again, you may have already seen the series and everything I'm saying is moot, but its just my two cents. Also, looking at the morale of the new movie, I think that is derived from the nature of Star Trek as a whole. This movie serves to reintroduce Trek, so I think its morality comes from its optimistic future. That was the unifying theme of the original series. Character interaction in the series was also a highlight which I believe was well realized here. Yes, it is truly different from any Trek movie that has come before, especially in look and style, but is it Trek? No doubt about it. This is Star Trek at its best note: this is coming from an avid fan. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:14 PM In reply to this comment (#2459685) Thats a bogus argument considering you haven't scene it yet and how would you know it wouldn't have worked in the film? I can say it would have made a lot more sense if that happened, and it would have made the finale better. It would have fitted perfectly in with the story, and it would have made the ending less cliche. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:18 PM SPOILER- Well if you have scene it then explain why that it wouldn't work? Your argument is obviously a big nit-pick, if they did have Spock fight in the finale it would have worked. Plus you see him fighting so much in the movie, I don't get why you would think it wouldn't work in the end where he is already involved in the battle. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:25 PM Personally i'm kinda glad it left the moral storylines at home, I dont wanna see them rescuing a whale or trying to make an android "Feel human" etc. Thats all been done in trek, what this film does to compensate is make Star Trek a "GREAT" sci-fi adventure, which has been missing from everything so far until now (with a few small exceptions) imo. Batfink: That's very good news and I couldn't agree with you more. All of the Rodenberry utopian moralizing has been done before and it's so boring now. And I think we already have enough of that going on in this country now as it is. Now if we would just stop printing money and have a cashless society we could get Starfleet up and running. Give me a break. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 06:42 PM I liked the film quite a bit, but it ranks fourth for me behind First Contact, Wrath of Khan, and Undiscovered Country. That's not exactly anything to be ashamed of, those three are fantastic movies. Star Trek could've used a bit more time to flesh out a few characters and other things of that nature, but I'm sure most people will find this as a huge success for re-launching the series. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 06:44 PM Well, Tim, good job on it. Next series...Halloween! Here's my ranking. 1. The Wrath of Khan - (10/10) 2. First Contact - (10/10) 3. The Voyage Home - (9/10) 4. The Undiscovered Country - (9/10) 5. The Search for Spock - (8/10) 6. Generations - (7/10) 7. The Final Frontier - (3/10) 8. The Motion Picture - (3/10) 9. Nemesis - (3/10) 10. Insurrection - (2/10) May you live long, and watch more Star Trek. (Reply to this) |
on May 07 2009 06:58 PM I have a friend who has just gotten into Star Trek and watched all the movies this week, and then saw it tonight. He loved it, as both an semi-'outsider' to Trekkieness and a new fan who wants consistency. The only common complaint that I've been seeing about is the coincidences with old Spock, but he basically said that old Spock was so awesome in it that it didn't matter. Besides, it's sci fi, so come on and go with it. Would've gone myself tonight, but I promised my dad I'd see it with him tomorrow....it was torture to say the least. I'm also not too upset about the lack of a moral dilemma (although the optimism and cooperation I think serves that purpose enough for me). There's no room for that in this movie...but definitely in the next ones it's required on some level. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 07:10 PM I had fun reading these. Where the TNG movies really missed their mark was endearing the viewer to the core cast of characters and their relationships outside of Picard and to a lesser extent Data and Worf. I suggest that if you really want to understand what's so great about TNG, you should try watching the series. For a long time I ignored it and had no desire to watch it and even scoffed at it, but one day I caught a particularly good episode on a Saturday afternoon and was immediately hooked. Just be careful, the first season has some serious camp value at times and when Dr. Crusher is replaced by Dr. Pulaski for a short time, it can be hard to watch, but in season 3 it hits its stride and never looks back. (Reply to this) |
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on May 07 2009 07:30 PM This was one of the best Trek movies ever. As a fan of both Star Trek and Next Gen, i think JJ Abrams did such a great job capturing not only the sense of adventure of the originals but also the emotion each character feels... like Spock (if you watch the movie you will know what i mean)The cast was great!!!! Keeping the Trek vision alive for a whole new generation of Trekies , that i am grateful Thanks JJ and Cast Live Long and Prosper v (Reply to this) |
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