Short version: While hard core Trekkies may have some problems with it, this long time classic Star Trek fan found this reboot fun, fresh & exciting.
Screen Rant reviews Star Trek
Where to start? (This is going to be a long one, folks. If you want to skip the preamble and get right to the review itself click here.)
Some people are Star Wars fanatics, others go nuts over Transformers or X-Men. While I’m a huge Iron Man fan, Star Trek is my true love going back well over 30 years. My favorite of all the shows? The Original Series (aka TOS). You may look at it now and think it looks cheesy (however I highly recommend you check out the digitally remastered version with brand new visual effects on DVD or Blu-ray), but remember the original Star Trek is over 40 years old.
At the time the other big Sci-Fi TV show was the cheese-fest called Lost in Space – so keep that in mind as a comparison. 
I have Star Trek prop replicas on my bookshelves (some pretty damned nice ones) along with a copy of the original Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph and a set of blueprints of the original U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 (which shows the location of a bowling alley on the ship!). I’ve memorized every episode of the original series – I can tell you which one each one is within seconds of any of them starting. And I’ve seen every movie.
Yes, I’m into Trek “canon” – tracking all the little details that tie the whole Star Trek universe together, however I’m also aware (though some fans seem to be in denial about this) that over the course of hundreds of episodes across five different series, Star Trek itself has violated its own canon many times.
Why am I telling you all this? So you have some context for my review of J.J. Abrams’, Roberto Orci’s and Alex Kurtzman’s reboot of the Star Trek universe. However this is not a review just for “Trekkies,” and that’s appropriate because neither is this film just for that group of die hard fans (among which I include myself).
Also, I did read the four part prequel comic that tells the story which leads to the events that take place in the film. If you have a chance I recommend you find it and pick it up at your local comic book store as it really fleshes out the “villain” in the film, Nero.
Some fans may disagree, but this franchise was in desperate need of a reboot, re-imagination, fresh “take” or whatever you’d like to call it. Star Trek, as a brand, was whithering on the vine and was in danger of being put on the shelf for who knows how long – until Paramount might decide enough time had gone by to give it another go. This was due to a number of factors, among which included the subsequent series being taken in directions by Rick Berman (and to some exent, Brannon Braga) that the fans did not agree with. Essentially it was a case of “the fans don’t know what’s good for them – we’ll tell them what they want.”
From this we gained the ignoble death of Captain Kirk in a transition movie with a stupidly weak plot device, Star Trek: Voyager, the Lost in Space of Trek, progressively crappier movies and finally Enterprise: At least an attempt at something fresh in Trek, which unfortunately went off in some half-assed direction – and Manny Coto’s efforts to bring the show back to what it should have been in season 4 were too little, too late.
So… when it was announced that the new film would go back to before the original series crew had met I was both excited at the prospect and terrified of how it might turn out. I mean we’re talking about recasting iconic roles. Bill Shatner? Leonard Nimoy? DeForest Kelly and James Doohan?
Sacrilege!
But I tried to be cautiously optimistic over the course of very early news, pre-production and through the production. I listed this film as my most anticipated of the year…
And I was NOT disappointed.
So finally – the review…
Click here to continue reading our Star Trek review…
Our Rating:
4 out of 5
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Kor got it right .
@ Steve:
I know you won’t see this ’til later, Doc, but I just wanted to say, GOOD POST!
Thanx for the FYI on periodic table notations, didn’t know that.
Don’t have super- or sub-scripts on this thing, I suppose most don’t.
Have a good swing shift, pal.
@ Kor:
Welcome to the thread, Kor; have you met Kahless yet?
The more Klingons, the merrier, lol!
~Johnny
@ Steve
I seem to be in a minority, but I loved Transformers II. I guess I just don’t really care about plot holes and such. I go to the cinema to be entertained. It’s after a lot of times watching a movie that I really start to look at continuity errors and plot holes and all that. With Transformers, I was entertained; there were explosions, sexy cars and corny humour (just the kind I like). I understand and respect that you didn’t like the plot holes but I didn’t really care.
~Ingenue
@ Ingenue:
Kath, good to see you online again, how are ya today, punkin?
Here’s my FROA offering for today, sweetie:
“82. A smart customer is not a good customer.”
Kinda relates to what you & Steve were talking about, doesn’t it? Hahahaha!
Well, I saw the first Transformers movie, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised – I liked it! Lowered expectations, most likely, and the fact that it was based on a cartoon.
However, inasmuch as it’s ten bucks for a first-run movie at a theater (you say cinema, tomay-to, to-mahto, lol), and that Xfrmrs II is a sequel, AND the fact that it was directed by, excuse me? Michael Bay? After what he did to Pearl Harbor? Are you kidding ME? – well, in view if all that, it’s nothing but black marks against it, if you ask me. I expect I’ll go along with the Doc on this one!
On the other hand, it is a pretty cool looking ride with, as you say, sexy cars, a good looking babe, and lots & lots of ‘SPLOSIONS, when it finally comes to cable, I’m definitely nuking some Kettle Cooked microwave popcorn. I know I’ll get into it then.
Besides, I am a fan of that kid, whatshisname? Right, LeBeuf, Shia LeBeuf.
I ask you, WTF kind if a name for a GUY is ‘Shia’? Maybe that’s just me…
Anyway, i can certainly get next to the idea that a movie should be fun, and in fact, that’s my justification for going to the cinema, as you call it – When you walk out of the place after the movie is over, do you feel like you got a good show, for your money? Or did you just piss away ten bucks? Or whatever?
That pretty much sims it up for me.
I’ll never forget the time I took my sister Debbie’s two kids – Todd, her oldest (36, at the time), and Adam, her youngest (then 14) – to see the ‘remastered’ release of the original Star Wars, with all the gimcracks & gimmicks Lucas didn’t have the time, money or technology in 1976 to add to the film (like the scene of Jabba’s visit in the Falcon’s launch bay on Tatooine), and THEY BOTH LOVED IT! Todd said to me, “Uncle Gib, I’ve seen it before in cable, but I had no idea, Star Wars ROCKS!” Adam had seen it too, on TV, but it was like he had seen it again with fresh eyes. They were both VERY impressed.
I felt like I had spent some good money and was quite happy. Even I had not imagined it could look so much better, the little things, you know? Like the reflection of sunlight off the flat surface of the canopy on one of the X-Wing fighters, very nicely done.
Oh well, just wanted to share that, I am glad you liked the new movie. I will see it, eventually, but not at a ‘cinema’, hahahahaha!
~Johnny
@ Johnny
I’m fabulous. I did some photography this afternoon which was great because I hadn’t done any in ages. And I’m quite happy with a few of the photos even though I just have a crappy point and shoot.
How are you? Well I hope.
That FROA really does relate, haha. And more on customers:
“78. There is a customer born every minute”
~Ingenue
@ Ingenue:
RE #78 – Yeah, that’s based on a truism coined by the great PT Barnum from about a century ago, the man who invented the Big Top Three-Ring Circus: “There’s a sucker born every monute!”
This relates, IMHO, to the old chestnut that you cannot cheat an honest man – only someone looking to get something for nothing.
A lot of wisdom in the Rules of Acquisition.
Later, babe -
~Johnny
@Johnny:
“I ask you, WTF kind if a name for a GUY is ‘Shia’? Maybe that’s just me…”
It’s Jewish – I’m not a fan of his, but he has an interesting bio on Wikipedia.
@ Steve:
Whoops, MY cultural ignorance is showing!
I must say, I’m not surprised, having now been so enlightened – it DOES sound Jewish, like something from Talmudic tradition – the last name of Cantor, for example, or rituals of the midrash & mitzva, saying kadish for the dead, etc.
I suppose you know, Leonard Nimoy, a first-generation born child of Russian Jewish immigrants, was the origin of the ‘Vulcan peace sign’, the split-fingered inverted symbol for the Hebrew word for peace, ‘Chai’; he got it from his family’s traditions, his father or grandfather, possibly both, were kantors in their local Temple.
I always liked that, it’s a nice way of blending Human cultrual iconography with the Star Trek ujniverse.
Thanx for the tip on young Lebeuf, I’ll check it out. Try & get some sleep, Paisan.
Later,
~Johnny
Jeez…Where is everybody? WTF?
~Johnny
And why did I have to re-register? Again???
~Johnny
nuQneh Kor!! It is good to finally meet another honorable Klingon!! It turns my stomach to think I have to inhabit the same body as this weakling humaaan!!
Well I love you too, Kahless.
petaQ!!!
“You will see just how foolish they really are” TOS episode
“Scotty! We’re still being sucked into the Black Hole! We’ve got to lose more weight, jettison the brewery,NOW!!
“I dinno’ if I can do it Captain, ye’d better get Mr Spock to push the button.
It’s hard not to get dragged OT on an ST thread. Down through it’s many incarnations Trek has touched on many subjects of interest, even obsession. History, the Future,
Ships, Planes, War, Diplomacy, Hot Women of every conceivable color. I could write a whole blog on any of these.
As a member of a local home brew club I found the brewery sequence jarring, sort of like how my Navy experience made “Pearl Harbor” even worse than it would have been because I recognized the ships being bombed as 1970′s vintage. In both cases it was “If this was an 10M HBO movie I’d let it slide, but for 100+ Million?” Epic expectations, I guess.
The Budweiser product placement may be controversial, but It really shows you how far Star Trek has come. Although I prefer a nice West Coast IPA like Stone or Boonville, there is no denying that Budweiser, along with other iconic brands like McDonalds and Coca-Cola are advertising powerhouses that are constantly seeking to re-define themselves as the latest, hippest, trendiest new thing. The fact that Budweiser would even want a placement in Trek shows you how much it has changed the world.
My theoretical “Star Trek; Defiant” series was to have the tag line “Nobody talks peace unless they’re ready to back it up with war” What a coincidence that the quote’s originator is a regular poster here. I had always wondered what Earth year the reign of Kahless took place, I guess I have my answer, those Klingons have some bangin’ subspace Wi-Fi to reach our internet.
I suppose there’s some obscure Klingon copyright law that says that I have to bring him the head of a targ to get permission to use the quote, since targs are hard to come by around here maybe he’ll accept a couple of microbrews (I would imagine the Klingon opinion of beers like Budweiser couldn’t be printed, even on the Internet)
@Bright Eyes
Since humaaans are the same as targs, the head of one of these petaQs would suffice!! Humaaan beverages are too weak for Klingons, except prune juice!!
@ Kahless:
Your opinions about Human alcoholic beverages such as beer notwithstanding (altho’ a Klingon warrior just MIGHT be able to get into room-temperature English dark ale), you never tried our vodka – or Tequila mescal.
Hell, Wild Turkey’d give Klingon Blood wine a run for its money!
Btw, Kahless, you should lay off us Hu-maans; don’t forget the valiant sacrifice of the ‘weakling Humaan female’ captain of the Starship Enterprise-C at Narendra III, Rachel Garrett, who lost her ship, her entire crew and her life defending a civillian Klingon outpost –
I won’t even get into the rescue effort of the Federation’s when your primary dilitium mining facility, your moon Praxis, exploded and thereby eroded Ko’nos’ ozone layer, which would’ve made you all, how shall I say this – EXTINCT – if not for us.
Or, for that matter, the pasting we gave you all at Archer III, albeit that was in an alternate timeline, hahahaha!
Having said that, I join with Kahless & BE in welcoming Kor to the thread – the more Klingons, the better. Great fun!
~Johnny
PS: From what I have seen onscreen, a Klingon Targ is very similar to a long-legged, feral boar we have here on Earth; down around my brother in law’s neck of the woods (Arkansas), they call it a Razorback – you don’t wanna mess with one of them, either…
But they both PALE in comparisaon to the Vulcan Seh’lat, which has razor-sharp retractable claws, 6-inch fangs, a somewhat felinoid appearance (according to ENT), and a VERY nasty disposition. Despite this, Spock had one for a pet as a child. So I wouldn’t go on about Targs too much, if I were you, an Arkansas Razorback would kick ass on one of those, HAHAHAHAHA!
Love ya, Kahless, you are so entertaining!
L8r!
I’d watch out for the Vulan Lematya as well. Just my recommendation. Of course, they’re both probably near extinction if not already extinct. I can’t see the Vulcans allowing them to be exhibited in a zoo. “Artificial captivity is illogical.”
Green-blooded, in-human…
~Doc
@ Kahless:
Whoops, I meant Archer IV, one of the few victories in the alternate timeline Federation/Klingon war of ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise’ (TNG); I wonder now, looking back, if that was an Earth colony named in honor of Admiral/President Jonathan Archer (ENT), but since it was so long before the production of the ‘ST Enterprise’ series, probably a coincidence – OR WAS IT? WHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It makes you wonder about unintended, but very convenient, continuity, doesn’t it?
@ Steve:
A Lematya? that’s a new one on me, Doc, where was that from, TOS or one of the movies? I never heard of that creature before! How did I miss that?
As for the extinction element as per the new timeline (God, I just can’t believe that Vulcan is gone!), that is a problem; I suppose the children of Vulcan survivors will have to get new pets, hahaha!
Or, conversely, it could be argued that, since there are no doubt a huge number of Vulcans living off-planet at that time (on such worlds as Earth, to name just one), it is likely that a number of domesticated seh’lats were already part of the off-world population, so…there you are, I guess.
One has to assume that since, when even an android of human design & manufacture (Lt Cmdr Data) has a cat named Spot with him on ship, it is likely that many other species would no doubt bring their pets with them to anyplace that would be more than a temporary duty assignment, right?
So, Klingon targs as well as Vulcan seh’lats (and lematyas) would be just as much guaranteed survival as Arkansas razorbacks, the way I see it.
On Earth we have a saying: “He went out to s***, and the hogs ate him up!”
I wonder if that happens on Qo’nos and Vulcan, lol?
~Johnny
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Le-matya
@ Kahless:
“You will see just how foolish they really are” TOS episode -
Just rolling the dice that this is a quote from out of the mouth of a Klingon – Was it Kor to the Organians in ‘Errand of Mercy’?
Lemme know if I’m barking up the wrong tree at a Seh’lat, will you? Thanx, warrior.
~Johnny
@ Steve:
And thank you for that, Doc, ‘preciate it.
~Johnny
@ Doc:
Awww, poor I-Chaya!
I thought the sah’lats sounded bad, apparently not bad enough to prevail against one of those lematyas!
I must say, judging by the picture, description, and Godzilla-like roar of this beast, I will shed no tears that they are likely all gone into Nero’s singularity, as unaltruistic as that may be – I believe the universe is better off without ‘em.
No doubt Spock might differ, but comoared to 6 billion people, what’s a few giant kitties on steroids? Hahaha!
Hate to see one of those in heat…thanx for the link, that was very enlightening, Steve. TAS, huh? Interesting.
~Johnny
@ Brighteyes:
U know, BE, another operational motto you may be interested in for your ‘Star Trek Defiant’ series is a DS-9 title from their third season, if you wanna get that up & running; it is the paraphrase of a quote from the Roman historical figure Cicero:
“Inter arma enim silent leges” – In times of war, the laws fall silent…
Just a thought, I rather liked it, thought you might.
Good luck with that, btw,
~Johnny
Whoops! That was from DS-9′s SEVENTH season, sorry! I must’ve read it wrong in IMDb…
~Johnny
@ Brighteyes:
BE, I just thought of another one, also Latin:
“Sic vis pacem, Para bellum” – If you want peace, Prepare for war!
I always liked that one, too.
~Johnny
PS: That was also the operational theme of the movie (based on the comic book, a lot of that nowadays) ‘The Punisher’, starring Thomas Jane – I thought it kicked ass, you might wanna check it out. Btw, I may be wrong but I think ‘pacem’ Latin for peace, is pronounced ‘pa-CHEM’, not ‘PACK-em’, but what do I know? Just a guess.
~Johnny
@ Johnny
You’re right about ‘pacem’ being pronounced ‘pa-chem’. In my school choir we have a little round we sing, “Dona Nobis Pacem” (I believe it means “grant us peace”).
~Ingenue
@ Ingenue:
Thanx, Kath, I appreciate that. Not being Catholic (altho’ my mother was raised one), or a ‘doctor/lawyer’ – I can’t answer for Steve, lol – I really don’t know Latin all that much, but I dare say that just about anything, even the mundane, sounds soooo much better when in Latin. I must take issue with the whole ‘dead language’ thing, IMHO it seems to me to be more alive now than it has been since the days of Julius Caesar.
I believe I heard that same song, once, on an episode of M*A*S*H – led by Father Muchahy – Dona Nobis Pacem.
I feel like intoning it now, til we get the hell out of Iraq & Afghanistan…Good song, that one.
Dona Nobis Pacem, Domini – how’d I do? Not bad, I guess, for a backslidden Methodist, wouldn’t you say? It is heartfelt, believe me!
~Johnny
Latin is a beautiful language, but don’t think that doctors learn more than medical terminology. Also, our origins in learning it were less than altruistic: the doctors and pharmacists formed some kind of pact centuries past that had them write prescriptions in Latin. In theory, and this is a huge theory, you could take a prescription from any doctor to any apothecary and the pharmacist would know what to do as the directions were in Latin. If you read a hand-written prescription, you would see something like: Lipitor 50mg, ii tabs p.o. q.d. @ q.h.s. p. hxlp. Expanded, that is two tablets per os, que dié a que hora somni por hyperlipidemia. Said pharmacist would then print on the label, “Take two tablets by mouth at bedtime for high cholesterol.” We also supposedly dictate using Grecko-Latin terminology so that if a physician who could not speak English read your chart, he or she would get the gist of it. That *may* have been true several centuries ago when most of the languages were based on Latin, but using different alphabets means the Russians, Chinese (hell, all of Asia) and most of Africa is S.O.L. And for those using the Roman alphabet, seeing ????? ????? ???? ???? hypertension ???? ???? ???? ???? myocardial infarction ???? ??? ???? ???? ???? digioxin 5mg t.i.d. x 10d ??? ??? ??? ???… doesn’t make any sense, either. Only knowing 1/10th of the words does not a smart physician make.
Latin and Italian are very similar, however, and I agree that Dona Nobis Pacem is a beautiful song – I learned it 30 years ago in elementary school although we were never told the meaning.
On a ST-related subject – I’m guessing we get a Thanksgiving release of the Blu-ray. Thoughts?
Pax et somni,
~Doc
I doubt Kahless is much impressed by deeds of bravery that will be done by Earthers on behalf of Klingons two centuries from now, in the words of Henry Ford; “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
I know that Klingons prefer wine to beer, preferably a rich, Red Sangria. Founding an empire and setting the pattern for your world’s future tyrannies just sounds like thirsty work.
Maybe I can get the courier from “7even” to deliver the “package” (they say they ship anywhere.) I’ll have to go through my enemies list…..
Naah, too close to home, I’d just end up going from home brewing to making Pruno in a toilet bowl up in Teh Penetentruh. (At least that would be a Klingon-approved libation though)
Random target? honor would demand he be a healthy adult male fully capable of defending himself, who would also not be missed, lets see.. Taliban Fighter?..Somali Pirate?..Gangbanger?..Personal injury lawyer?..
Damn, these Klingon business deals are a bear, maybe I should just stick with Cicero.
@ Steve:
Hmmmmm…Last things first: As for Blu-ray, I dunno, I think I’ll wait until they, UH, how do I say this –
BUILD A F***ING REAL ENGINEERING SET, f’Chrissakes, for instance, maybe THEN I’ll start buying DVDs again after we see how the second one goes. I will never forget the GIANT BEER VATS, with RADIATION SYMBOLS on them!!! JUDAS PRIEST!!!
Whew, I feel better getting that off my chest!
As for all the stuff about the Med/Pharm Latin conspiracy (see how things get started, lol?), that truly is fascinating, no sarcasm, I mean it – I could not help but wonder, though, Was it all just a misunderstanding, that old chestnut about MDs’ atrocious penmanship? Seriously?
My other thought was, has Med/Pharm Latin ever killed anybody? Only half joking, there…
For all this – and I hope you know, Fratello, how much I appreciate the opportunity to learn from you as much as I do (no s***, you are amazing, Steve) on here – I just have one question:
How did you know I wasn’t asking you as a Catholic? A 50-50 assumption, inasmuch as you are half-Italian, right?
Hahahaha, Excelsius Dei, my friend!
You really are a font of information, pal, I honestly didn’t know half of what I thought I knew before I met you!
~Johnny
@ All (who may be concerned I am getting just a LEEETTLE bit too much CAFFIENE!):
Whoops, I apparently transposed the ‘b’ and the ‘/’ after my initial tirate about the Main Engineering beer vats, and it was left on…ha huh…
So sorry!
~ ,_| [] |-| |\| |\| ‘/’