Star Trek Review
May 6, 2009 by Vic HoltremanWill you like the new Star Trek movie even if you’re not a geek?
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
Around the web:
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Yeah… I was almost done with the establishing scene when the email came in. (BTW – Ingénue, you can watch all of the episodes in HD, and remastered, at http://www.cbs.com under “shows” on the site, for free. Most of them are also streamed on YouTube – CBS doesn’t seem to mind, since it doesn’t cost them to stream it)
But you weren’t supposed to tell me the character! Kahless, Fury, or Johnny were supposed to pluck victory from me while I was researching. Now I have to think of another quote… and I can’t even steal from this episode which has a number of them.
Look for a post shortly, and cheers!
~Doc
@ Steve:
Hahaha, I can help, a little: ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of’ was about cybernetic scientest (and former Chapel flame) Roger Corley, who was lost & presumed dead years ago. Turns out, he WAS, having downloaded his consciousness into his android double when he discovered this ancient robotech whose custodian was in fact Ted Cassidy from ‘The Addams Family’ who was called ‘Rok’.
With all due respect I disagree that it was from WALGMO, though – I can’t remember the name of the episode, but I’m pretty sure it was Kirk, talking to someone who was trying to outthink Spock. Which is impossible.
No help on the quote, but at least I’m not entirely useles, lol!
~Johnny
“No, no particular person, just people in general.”
@ All:
Okay, so I’m not Spock! Actually, about the only thing I have in common with a Vulcan male is a 7-years mating cycle…Haha…Nice catch, Steve, it WAS Corley, to Kirk, about Rok. Sorry I ever doubted ya.
~Johnny
@ Doc:
Be gracious in victory, will ya? Hahahaha!
~Johnny
Guys ,
its Roger Korby not Corley.
@ Gary:
Whoops! It was Korby, exactly as you say, NOT Corley, my bad, for muddying the waters…
~Johnny
Johnny,
No problem.
I just wanted to be accurate .
thanks for the correction.
New quote?
@ Fury2701:
From Steve:
“No, no particular person, just people in general.”
I know I know that, but I swear I got nothing…
Good luck!
~Johnny
I have no idea.
Come on Doc, give us something meaty . . .
Luck? With me you only have 78 episodes, the original pilot, and six movies. I don’t think the new movie’s fair game yet, since at least I don’t have a source to verify quotes, and they’d all be easy at this point. Y’all can pull from any of the other series without worrying about my feelings.
Fury… such a poignant request. Meaty is very apro pros with respect to this quote.
Cheers,
~Doc
And as long as we’re spell checking… wasn’t it “Ruk” and not “Rok” in WALGMO?
I can’t even pick up a pulse (ha!) on this one.
Meat worthy or otherwise.
Wait . . .
Zarabeth maybe . . .
@ Steve:
Well, those were the days before captioning, so I was just going by the sound, Doc – could’ve sworn it was ‘Rok’, but what the hell, I’m sure you’re right.
‘Ruk’ it was…
And I may be off about Lurch’s real first name, too – I think TED Cassidy was the name of the late actor who died in a fire who married Shirley Jones, but I am sure Lurch’s last name was Cassidy, have to check that on MSDb, let you all know later…Thanx for the correction, Paisan.
~Johnny
@ Steve:
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, ‘meaty’ as a clue, heh? That rules out ‘The Trouble With Tribbles’, then, that was gonna be my guess!
Will try, try again…
~Johnny
@ All:
Well, I got one thing right, anyway – it was Ted Cassidy who played Lurch and also Ruk; the late husband of Shirley Jones was Jack Cassidy, if anybody cares.
I hate it when some niggling little thing keeps bugging me, thank God for Google!
And I think Fury is onto something, but since I can’t place the quote, or who by, I will say no more. I think it was Kirk, but that makes no sense, if it’s what I think it was.
~Johnny
Could that be a Harry Mudd quote?
talking about his wife in I,Mudd?
thats my best guess .
Johnny,
Ted Cassidy also played Bigfoot in The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
Who knows what else?
The man was a MOUNTAIN!
I mean that affecionately of course.
Fury, you’re getting quite warm
@ Gary:
Shoot, that’s news to me! Nice info there, Gary.
But you know, I almost cannot tell the difference between him and another mountain of a man, Richard Keil, who famously played ‘Jaws’, the villian with the titanium teeth, in two James Bond movies, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, and the following ‘Moonraker’, where he found a girlfriend and actually saved Bond and the American space scientist/spy, Miss Goodnight – he helped dthem undock from Drax’s space station as it was disintegrating.
This guy was so bad-ass, he bit a shark!
Anyway, the two are no doubt quite separated in age, but they could be twins, they are so alike.
Thanx, Gary,
~Johnny
@ Gary (and all):
Since we brought up Ted Cassidy, there was an exchange of dialogue with him and a visitor in ‘The Addams Family’ which IMHO was absolutely HI-larious:
VISITOR: how do you do, Mr Lurch, do you enjoy being a manservant?
LURCH: Well, it wasn’t what my parents wanted for me…
VISITOR: Oh really? What did your parents want you to be?
LURCH (sighing heavily): A jockey…
Hahaha, that cracked me up, with his huge, booming voice!
YOU RANG?
~Johnny
Zarebeth to Spock in All our yesterdays . . .
Where Spock is primative and eats meat.
Nope. Not Zarabeth.
@ Fury2701:
I think the Doc is right, Gary! I believe you are close!
~Johnny
Whoops, I meant Fury, not Gary, sorry, pal.
Kirk to the Librarian guys.
@ Steve:
Okay, Doc, I don’t wanna take it away from Fury, but was it Spock to Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley), about himself?
It sounds like something Kirk might say about Spock, but that is not possible, as he was eent to a different time period in that doomed planet’s history – so Spock must’ve been talking to her about himself, as a Vulcan.
~Johnny