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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@Doc
Oh man! Ok, I guess I need a hint. Was it a McCoy quote?
@ Kahless:
Whoops! Sorry, guess I misunderstood ya!
Okay, I’ll be standing by, guys…
~Johnny
I’m not the biggest TOS guy but since I started this game I guess I have to put up or shut up. And for an added bonus, and to blend our two games together, I will provide a cool quote from each episode.
1. Doomsday Machine – Kirk “Scotty, you just earned your pay for the week.”
2. Balance of Terror – Kirk: “He did exactly what I would have done; I won’t underestimate him again.
3. Mirror, Mirror – Mirror Spock “Your agonizer please . . .”
4. Space Seed – Khan “We offered the World order!”
5. Enterprise Incident – McCoy “I don’t make house calls”
6. Devil in the Dark – The Horta “No Kill I” or Spock “PAIN!”
7. The City on the Edge of Forever – Kirk “Let’s get the Hell out of here”
8. The Trouble with Tribbles – Uhura “Cyrano Jones says that Tribbles are the only love that money can buy.”
9. Who Mourns for Adonais? – Apollo “I am Apollo!”
10. Spectre of the Gun – Scotty (with drink in hand) “To dull the pain.”
Now I could have went with a bunch of different episdoes for that last one but I like Spectre. The Ultimate Computer is cool, Corbonite Manuever, The Immunity Syndrome are all pretty good too. And I love Doomsday Machine so I had to put that one first.
So – pros, cons? Let the discussion commence.
1) No, it’s not a McCoy line
2) I struggled between “The Immunity Syndrome” and “The Deadly Years” because they’re both so well written. “City on the Edge of Forever” is great, too, but I only had ten slots!
It’s a good thing I’m a doctor and not a moon-shuttle conductor.
Favorite TNG episodes:
1. Elementary, Dear Data – Data is Holmes and a hologram Moriarty takes over the ship
2. Measure of a Man – Data is put on trial to ascertain whether he is the property of Starfleet
3. All Good Things… – The final episode; Picard must find out why he’s jumping from past, present and future, and why the Q is involved
4. Yesterday’s Enterprise – Time is altered by the arrival of Enterprise C
5. Naked Now – Crew members are acting drunk after visiting a collapsing star
6. Deja Q – Q is stripped of his powers
7. I Borg – A young Borg is rescued by the Enterprise
8. Heart of Glory – 3 Klingons are rescued by the Enterprise but are they friend or foe?
That should have been your number 1 pick petaQ!!
Shut up, Kahless!
9. Symbiosis – Members of a plagued-ridden planet argue with members of the planet with the needed medicine
10. The Schizoid Man – Data is possessed by his grandfather
But these could also make the list:
A Matter of Honor – Riker serves on a Klingon ship
Q Who? – Q introduces the Enterprise to its greatest threat…the Borg
Up the Long Ladder – Picard tries to bring 2 very different cultures together for survival
The Hunted – The Enterprise must transport a genetically engineered killing machine
Best of Both Worlds – Picard is capture by, and turned into, the Borg
The Nth Degree – Barclay’s intelligence is increased to over 1,000
Redemption – Worf helps fight for the glory of the Empire
Unification – Spock returns to try to unify Vulcan and Romulus
Conundrum – The crew of the Enterprise loses their memories
Time’s Arrow – Data must find out why his head was on 19th century earth
Relics – Scotty returns
A Fist Full of Data’s – A holodeck program goes wrong when Data’s programming gets intermingled with it
Face of the Enemy – Troi is transformed into a Romulan
The Chase – Klingons, Cardassians, Ferengis and the Enterprise are all searching for artifacts that are billions of years old
Gambit – Picard and Riker try to prevent mercinaries from getting an ancient Romulan artifact
Rightful Heir – The Unforgettable Kahless returns
I am the rightful heir, petaQ!!!
Yeah, whatever.
Genesis – Data and Picard must figure out why the crew is de-evolving
Emergence – The Enterprise gives birth
@Fury
Thaose are some great episodes. And yes, it is hard to choose. My worst episode has to be “Conscience of the King”. I just get sleepy thinking about it.
@Doc
Not McCoy? DRAT! Maybe the Organian to Kord?
“Conscience” was pretty boring, but I thought the little plot point about Riley and Kirk was good.
No Organians involved in this quote.
@ All:
MY TOS favorites:
1) City on the Edge of Forever
Mirror, Mirror
2) The Trouble with Tribbles
3) Balance of Terror
4) Tomorrow is Yesterday
5) The Enterprise Incident
6) Space Seed
7) The Doomsday Machine
9) Errand of Mercy
10) The Savage Curtain
11) The Changeling
12) Devil in the Dark
13) Amok Time
14) The Ultimate Computer
15) The Naked Time
I honestly could not bring myself to pare it down to only ten, I just don’t have the discipline!
My top 15, best I can do – it’s like picking my favorite children, hahahaha!
~Johnny
why is kirk wearing a black shirt instead of the traditional gold or green?
Until the end of the movie, he isn’t a graduate of Starfleet Academy and isn’t assigned to the Enterprise so he’s just wearing the generic undershirt.
@ Michael:
I can answer that one for you, bud – Cadet Kirk was not picked for duty because he was right in the middle of the hearing over his cheating in the Kobayashi Maru Scenario, so he was only onboard Enterprise as a patient of Dr McCoy; as such, he wore Starfleet Academy utilities – a black shirt and pants, like everyone else on campus when off-duty.
My guess, anyway, it makes sense.
~Johnny
@ All:
MY TOS favorites, pared down to only ten – God, this is tough, you were SOOO right, Doc!
1. City on the Edge of Forever
2. The Trouble with Tribbles
3. Balance of Terror
4. Tomorrow is Yesterday
5. The Enterprise Incident
6. Space Seed
7. The Doomsday Machine
8. The Savage Curtain
9. The Changeling
10. The Ultimate Computer
TOS:-
1. The Menagerie – Not sure, but I think this may actually have been the first Trek I ever saw. Didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I’ll never forget being fascinated and utterly mesmerised by the horribly disfigured Captain Pike in his wheelchair – totally immobile and able to communicate only with his flashing lights. Freaked the life out of me. Gave me nightmares as a kid. Not him as such, but the concept that a man could be reduced to that condition and survive like a prisoner in his own body for years. Intelligent and entertaining; tragic and uplifting at the same time. I find it moving to this day. Sums up (to me) everything that’s unique about the series.
2. The City On The Edge Of Forever – ‘Nuff said!
3. Mirror Mirror – Another childhood first for me: an introduction to what could be, given different circumstances. (Not to mention Uhura looks mighty fine…)
4. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield – Great social commentary, great performance from Mr Gorshin.
5. Amok Time – Made me empathise completely with Spock.
6. Space Seed – Excellent story, filled in so many blanks with a masterly simplicity about what had led to the 23rd century utopian ideal of peaceful space exploration by a unified earth. Not to mention in Khan arguably the most memorable guest star the series had.
7. Balance Of Terror – Classic “submarines in space” tension; both resolved superbly and left admirably open-ended.
8. Patterns Of Force – The “Trek Trimvirate” in full Nazi regalia!
9. Assignment: Earth – A joy to watch. Fun from beginning to end, and intriguing to see both the past and the future injected into the same storyline.
10. Is There In Truth No Beauty? – Perhaps the best use of the “incorporeal alien” in the series.
Honourable mentions for The Tholian Web and The Alternative Factor. Again, as a kid, the idea that Lazarus could be trapped for all eternity in the latter episode fighting himself was pretty mind-blowing.
Okay, TNG next!
@ Big Dentist:
OMG, OMG, Oh, my God!
I completely forgot all about the first unseen pilot, The Cage, later skillfully morphed into the only two-parter of any of the TOS episodes, Menagerie! How the hell did that happen???
Also, we might as well include the one that sold the show, the Pilot Episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before, guest starring those two great actors Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman (before either of them became big-name movie stars in 2001: A Space Odessey and M*A*S*H, respectively, btw), an episode that had a CMO who was someone other than Dr McCoy (I believe his name was Dr Boyce, a considerably older man, if I’m not mistaken).
I suppose I’ll have to add two or three more, throw back in the five I excised from my original list (which was like cutting some of my fingers off!), and make mine a Top 20 List, hahahahahaha!
Good to see yours, Big D! I liked most if not all of your selections, I must say! Good job!
Actually, they’re all good! So far no one has extolled the virtues of Spock’s Brain, The Empath, Hour of the Gun, And the Children Shall Lead, or That Which Survives… okay, now I have just depressed myself…Oh well, Talleyho!
~Johnny
Okay, my top 10 Enterprise episodes.
It was so freakin’ hard!
1. Shuttlepod 1 – Tucker and Reed return in Shuttlepod One to rendez-vous with Enterprise, only to find evidence that it has been destroyed. An unknown phenomenon, resembling a myth known as a “micro-singularity,” damages the shuttlepod, leaving the men only days of breathable air and no way to call for help.
2. Vox Sola – A group of Kreetassans are on board of Enterprise for a friendly meeting. But they leave rather unexpectedly as they seem very offended by something that the crew are unaware of. But as their ship leaves an alien gel like creature manages to crawl aboard. The creature is growing and growing and shows rather hostile tendencies as it encapsulates five crew members, including captain Archer and commander Tucker. T’Pol, Hoshi and Reed have to come up with a solution quickly. The lives of the five are at stake as the creature begins a symbiotic relationship that in time can’t be reversed.
3. E2 – Trying to pass through a subspace corridor, Enterprise is stopped by Enterprise.
4. Two Days and Two Nights – After several delays, the Enterprise crew gets some well-deserved shore leave on the famed pleasure planet Risa. Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed eagerly seek out female companionship, only to fall into a tourist trap. Captain Archer meets an attractive female who seems to be more interested in his knowledge of the Suliban than his companionship. Hoshi Sato meets a fellow vacationer and they share more than eachothers’s native languages. Doctor Phlox takes the opportunity to hibernate, only to be rudely awakened when Mayweather needs medical treatment.
5. Twilight – Enterprise is hit with a rather intense anomaly. Refusing to leave an injured T’Pol behind, Archer is struck by the anomaly, leaving his brain infected with parasites, preventing him from making any new memories. Fast-forward 12 years. T’Pol has been caring for Archer since his affliction. As she does every day, T’Pol catches Archer up on the past 12 years, knowing he will forget everything within hours. She was in command of Enterprise after his injury, that the parasites live outside normal space-time and usual remedies never worked, that the Xindi were successful, and managed to destroy Earth and kill all but 6,000 humans. But today is special; Dr. Phlox is ready to give Archer the treatment he has been developing for ten years, which must be performed on Enterprise.
6. Unexpected – After helping to repair the warp drive on board of a Xyrillian ship, Trip notices a strange bulging on his arm.
7. Similitude – Archer decides to make a fast-growing clone of Trip to help save his life while Enterprise is stranded in a dangerous field with nucleonic particles.
8. Carbon Creek – Celebrating T’Pol’s one year anniversary as a member of the Enterprise’s crew, Archer and Trip have dinner with her. Over dinner she tells them of the true first contact between Humans and Vulcans. It appears that her great-great-grandmother and a the crew of a scout ship crashed on Earth…in 1957.
9. Singularity – T’Pol must save the ship after the crew passed out during the approach to a black hole.
10. Vanishing Point – After Hoshi has used the transporter to avoid running into a storm, she starts to feel really weird.
I thought I’d include the episode descriptions seeing as not everyone knows the episodes very well.
I honestly can’t say that one of those episodes sticks out, I love them all, and there’s another five I’d like to chuck on the list, but I’ve refrained.
~Ingenue
@Ingenue
My favorite episode of Ent has to be “A Mirror Darkly”. For those who don’t know the episode, in the mirror universe (the universe we know from TOS “Mirror, Mirror”), the Empire (human, not Klingon or Romulan) has located a starship in the Tholian sector (the same starship that vanished in “The Tholian Web”). Very good 2-parter with all the main characters being evil, except for one voluptuos Vulcan. And Hoshi….YOWSA!!
And I think we can tell everyone what that lump on Tripp’s side (not arm) was in Unexpected; I’ll just say that getting pregnant by sitting on a toilet seat doesn’t seem all that dumb in Ent
. Everytime I see that episode I just go nuts with laughter.
@Doc
Not Organians either?! Oh man! Was it even one of the crew?
Yes, the line was spoken by one of the Enterprise crewmembers.
“That’s no way to treat someone who’s telling you the truth.”
Had to repeat it, since it’s been over 2 pages since it was even quoted. I’ll guess Kirk to Charley Evans?
It is Kirk… but not to Charlie or in that episode.
@Ingenue
Remembered last night that it was the location of the nipple on Tripp’s wrist that lead Phlox to his conclusion.
@Doc
Was it a response to a woman trying to slap him? I vaguely remember a couple of scenes like that.
Katherine, my Enterprise selections are going to fairly pitiful as I didn’t see that much of the series (I suspect the same will be true when I get round to DS9 and Voyager).
In A Mirror, Darkly – Definitely agree with Kahless. Well-written, with solid performances from all. Evil Archer; evil Hoshi; evil everyone; midriff action aplenty. What’s not to love? Faithfully reproduced Constitution class starship interiors, and interesting to see Archer in a TOS-era uniform. I liked the idea that we were seeing events entirely through the eyes of Mirror Universe characters, and the altered opening titles with the more warlike footage tickled me. Though they did miss a trick, I thought, by not getting Rammstein to do a hideous Nuremberg Rally metal-stomp reworking of that cloying theme tune…
…or maybe a bellowing German would have been more appropriate for the Storm Front two-parter, where Archer et al find themselves on an alternate earth where the Nazis won WWII with a little alien assistance.
Shockwave – Another two-parter, and more time-travelling shenanigans. A gripping cliffhanger for the first season to end on.
Borderland/Cold Station 12/The Augments – A THREE-hander: nice extension of Eugenics War themes, with Brent Spiner playing an ancestor of Noonien Soong from TNG, and Alec Newman (Paul Atreides in the Dune miniseries) as a Khan-style “Augment”.
Carbon Creek – Some lovely human/Vulcan character interaction, and I KNEW velcro couldn’t possibly be from this planet!
First Flight – Decent flashback-type episode with a pre-Enterprise test pilot Archer.
In Twilight I understood the parasites infecting Archer existed outside normal space-time, but Dr Dense here didn’t get how zapping them would mean they NEVER existed. Haven’t seen the E2 episode, but from what I’ve read about it it sounds like a good one. They did like a bit of time travel in Enterprise, didn’t they?
Agreed, Johnny: The Menagerie “recycled” The Cage seamlessly and with great imagination. An early example of “green attitudes” in Star Trek?
Where No Man Has Gone Before was another excellent early episode. Fine transformation into godlike arrogance from Gary “Frank Poole” Lockwood. That looking-down-his-nose thing was apparently because those silver contact lenses were killing him! I’d forgotten about the lack of McCoy in that one.
Voyager:
Scorpion is probably my favorite. And no, it’s not because it introduces 7 of 9 but that’s not a bad reason.
I loved the action, with the Borg cubes getting pasted and the destruction of the Borg homeworld.
Almost any episode with the Hirogen hunters in it. I can’t bring up the episode guide because of this dumb network.
Year of Hell – Just shows how much punishment that Intrepid Class starship can take.
Deathwish – A homicidal Q.
Tuvix – Tuvok and Neelix are combined in a transporter accident.
Future’s End – Voyager is thrown back to the 20th century to stop a man from destroying the 29th century.
Many Trekkers don’t like Voyager but I do.
@Kahess -
You’re getting very warm
@Kahless, even – sorry, heading out the door…
~Doc
@Doc
Hope you got a lot of sleep, buddy. How about Kirk to the Elaan of Troyus?
@Kahless
Close enough for a Klingon! She’s actually the Dohlman, Elaan, of Elaas, headed to Troyius for her wedding, but yes, it was Kirk to her. Your turn for a quote.
Cheers,
~Doc
@Doc
If I were to engage in your human idiotic games I would have gotten it before you even quoted it petaQ!!
Kahless, that is the dumbest thing I think I have ever heard you say.
“Maybe you’ll even make captain” TOS
Kirk to his security guard in “Mirror, Mirror”?