Holy cow… it’s looking like J.J. Abrams may actually accomplish what many thought was impossible: The revival of the Star Trek franchise.
Why do I say this? Because people are freaking out about the new Star Trek movie trailer. In a good way.
The trailer was released yesterday, attached to most copies of Quantum of Solace. People who’ve seen it at the theater have described it using phrases like “it gave me chills” and “it sent shivers down my spine.”
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Now of course not everyone is sold on the movie based on the trailer - I’ve seen a very few comments saying that they either don’t like it outright or that they’re still uncertain or it was just “pretty good.” But by FAR the reaction has been combination of:
“Holy crap, that was AWESOME.”
and an incredulous:
“That’s Star Trek?”
You can watch the official trailer either here at Screen Rant or in HD at StarTrekMovie.com and Apple.com
A Little History
Sure, there was the requisite buzz when it was announced that Abrams would not only produce but would in fact be directing a new Star Trek movie. It was known for a short while as Star Trek 11, but Paramount never referred to the new film with that title since this was to be a clean “reboot” (or as they prefer, “re-imagining”) of the series. Abrams is “hot” right now and it was a smart choice for Paramount to not use the same folks to helm the film as the movies continued to deliver diminishing returns and increasing disdain from long time fans.
Then came the casting choices: Relative unknown Chris Pine for Kirk (good call on not going with a big name star for that role), also currently “hot” Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar on NBC’s Heroes. While Quinto is now very well known, he looks like he was born to play the part of Mr. Spock. Then came the others - Karl Urban who looks like he’s channeling DeForest Kelly, Simon Pegg as Scotty (not my first choice, but I think he’ll work) and semi-exotic-looking Zoe Saldana as Uhura. To round things out John Cho (of Harold and Kumar) and Anton Yelchin were thrown in to attract the younger crowd who might stay away in droves from a Star Trek movie. Throw in a few bigger names like Wynona Ryder, Eric Bana and Bruce Greenwood and you’re talking a pretty damned well rounded cast.
Star Trek teaser poster
First came a few partial-face posters which were more of a tease than anything else, but then came the first images of Pine and Quinto as Kirk and Spock. Some of the words that came to mind to describe those pictures were “plastic” and “metrosexual.” Unfortunately for the much publicized magazine cover shots they chose a photographer known for doing uber-Photoshop work on her photos and portraying people as almost mannequin-like.
Kirk and Spock as Star Trek mannequins
Ah, but recently came a couple of posters to counteract that vision: Black and white versions of Kirk and Spock that looked much more “old school” and rugged.
“Old School” Kirk and Spock Star Trek posters
Of course in addition we had a series of images from the film which looked pretty darned good (unless you were a long-time “Trekkie” in which case you may have had some issues with what’s come to be called the “iBridge” and the somewhat odd, organic look of the new USS Enterprise).
A look at the new Star Trek ‘iBridge’
The cast of the new Star Trek movie
The recently released image of the redesigned NCC-1701 caused a furor online - old fans vs new fans vs non-fans, all arguing either in defense of or agahst at the new design. Over at TrekMovie.com the post that premiered the ship accumulated over two THOUSAND comments in a couple of days! Abrams has said that “this is not a movie for ‘Star Trek’ fans - it’s a movie for movie fans.”
The new USS Enterprise - NCC-1701
So, there was kind of a mild interest in the film outside of the Star Trek fan community - but that’s all about to change with this first full trailer for the film. All of a sudden people who weren’t even giving the movie a second thought are saying “hey, this looks pretty good - I might have to check it out.” I think that with this film Abrams is going to throw off the stigma (and yes, there is one) associated with “a Star Trek movie.”
This film looks like it is going to be epic, fast paced and action packed. Some classic Trek fans may be outraged, but I think it’s time for a change and this is the right way to do it. I’m actually quite excited by the prospect of this film because TOS (The Original Series) has always been my favorite. More “wild west” in style and less stuffy and politically correct than TNG (The Next Generation). Going back and exploring the very foundations of the original series, if done well, leaves me feeling as giddy as a kid in a candy store.
Fine, it’s not the original actors - but if Abrams and writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtman remain faithful to the spirit of the series, I’m open to change. I don’t like the bright white interiors of the ship, and I’m not sold on the new exterior Enterprise design, but when I see the attention they’ve paid to the original uniforms that tells me that they are not “slapping fans in the face” as many have suggested.
So as a long time “Trekkie,” Star Trek is one of my most anticipated movies of next year - right up there with Watchmen, and something tells me it’s going to be one of the biggest films of 2009.
So have you seen the trailer? What do you think - are you more or less excited about the movie?
Star Trek opens on May 8, 2009
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39 Comments
Oh yeah, definitely hopeful for a good movie (who isn’t?), but I’m just not convinced yet.
Looks pretty though!
I thought the trailer was awesome and I have been a lifelong Trek fan. I have all the movies and I have read nearly all the novels. The whole iBridge may take a bit of getting used to, but I really like the way the trailer looked and felt. If this movie stayed the way the last couple have, it would have bombed. I think JJ has sparked interest among non-Trek fans in the movie as well as Trek fans who think Berman needs to be taken as far far away from Trek as humanly (or alienly) possible. I think the movie is going to be good and I think it’s going to invigorate the Trek franchise so we get even MORE movies. Oh, and Quinto looks freakin’ GREAT as Spock!!!
I thought that the trailer lived up to my expectations. I have been telling people this is going to be a Star Trek to shut up every person who thinks the franchise is for a bunch of zit-faced nerds with tape on thier glasses (well, maybe that’s partially true. LOL). The Enterprise looks fine. It isn’t the best design I’ve ever seen, but maybe this is what the ship looked like before the old t.v. series began. Maybe, they’ll upgrade it to what we’re used to for the second one. The crew looks fantastic and there was really a level of excitement that quickly buolt up in my head when I watched the trailer. Star Trek has become so blah, that nobody cares about it. Even longtime fans abandoned it years ago. I haven’t, but I acknowledge that others have. It has just become so non-marketable that it killed the last t.v. series and has almost destroyed any chance of this movie happening. I love Star Wars, but that franchise has become what Star Trek has been labeled; nerdy. Now, it’s time to turn the tables on SW by making Star Trek the cooler, older brother of the two. This movie is going to get people who outright hate Trek to actually give it a chance. If there’s even a fraction of the explosions from the trailer that make into the film, then there’s gonna be a few Steven Seagal fans attending this flick. LOL. This is the change that Trek needs, not the same crapola, by-the-numbers stories that have been sorta plagueing Trek for years. Change turned into money for Bond (Casino Royale), Transformers, and even Battlestar Galactica; so you know that change will ensure that Gene’s concept will last another god knows how many years/decades to come. And as far as the new cast goes: perfect. Many people have played characters from Shaespeare’s plays over the centuries, so why not Trek? All you naysayers need to give it a chance no matter how friggin’ ugly the new Enterprise is. LOL.
@ Jason L.
I agree with you that this could breath some much needed life into Star Trek and sincerely hope it will turn into the “cooler, older brother” of all space sci-fi flicks. ( I can dream.)
I’m a trekkie and a hard core fan TOS Enterprise. That said, I am beginning to like the look of the new Girl. Kinda got a sports car feel to her, don’t you think.
The way I see it, in couple of centuries when we finally make it out into the galaxy, kids will still be playing with toys from Star Trek! ( Still dreaming.
)
Okay my two pence worth
I’m sorry to say this looks dreadful. And the above pictures have only served to add to my initial disappointment.
I had low expectations for this and i’m sorry to say my expectations have been lowerd.
Start off - The design - Now i am a passive Trek Fan - i like certain bits and i love the movies, but i do understand the basic fundimentals of the show and that you don’t tamper with them It looks to me that JJ has done EXACTLY that. Tampered. Everything looks far too advanced bordering on almost spoof levels. Now this is two fold, i understand and sympathise that this has been done to breath life into the star trek franchise and basically fair play and good luck to ya. However one can’t deny that A LOT if not the majority of original serise fans have been looking forward to this film, i myself chief amongst them. Its a brillaint concept , Kirk and the gang straight out of the acadamy - fairy tale stuff, ok a bit retcon but then again so was enterprise, again another brilliant concept. However like enterprise i predict doom and disaster for this. An apple ILook is not the best way to instill a sence of nostalgia, and its the point of nostalgia that a raise highermost here. Like i said a lot of fans will want to go and see this, and at that point in time of which the film is set it would be nice too see a progressional gritiness to the ship. Clunky and juuuust getting sleaker but looking like the original bridge that we all knew and loved even though it fell to pieces when you pretend fell against it. Its too busy and nothing looks like it belongs in the pre-kirk era. Now had this design come forward for Post TNG era - fair play that would have been sooo awesome but i’m sorry i condemn the designs for being to far in advanced before the time of the films continuity. And alas the design of the exterior of the ship no better if not worse. This is pre - motion picture era, there was no glowing deflector dish, the old girl was longer a lot sharper not again modernistic curviture which would have suited Post TNG to the ground. I won’t go into the where the saucer section should be, and where the warp nasels should be [even though they are way too big] i’ll content myself with knowing in myself those details. Now i won’t be totally one sided about this, i’m sure that JJ has come up with some lovely little tricks for the enterprise - i have seen a photo where the weapons launchers are built into the deck plating of the saucer - lovely idea makes sence i can work with that - but on the whole this isn’t what i had expected at all
Now i quote
this is not a movie for ‘Star Trek’ fans - it’s a movie for movie fans
Okay fair enough - he’s not being two faced about it - and this can also lead into another argument
Over the past few years we have seen the revival and slight re-invention of legends and film frnachises - and now star treks turn for a new generation - Fine, I loved Batman - I adored James Bond, when Doctor who came back in 05, words couldn’t express my glee, and to be fair they have gone down REALLY well in the long run , and this is equally succesful then fair play and good luck, however my point is that they may have gone Too far with this. Some are looking forward to a trip of nostalgia and cheeky winks to the show of the past but with a thumping good story that would suit older fans and give new fans a really good intro to star trek - JJ says this is not to be - this is for fans of thumping good sci-fi movies - fair enough, but what one has to remember that the trek fan base is a great and vast one and overall success of the film could / will be shadowed by a fan base that will condemn it to the grave - i’m not stating a revolution here i’m just saying beware of very bad publicity from the fan base which has up to this point kept the franchise alive.
This situation does remind me of the fears of the 1996 US Doctor who TV movie, where lots and lots of films were mooted but thankfully never made, those were turbulent times but the fan base [of which i am a proud part of] kept the fires burning, and i think star trek is about to go through this…God speed but don’t say i didn’t tell you so.
Kind regards
Matt Chambers
they may have gone too far with this?
To Matt, Flamestrike
pretend you hadn’t seen trek before - problem solved. Everything you guys cry about is based on comparing to past. Time to move on. It’s like comparing current James Bond to Connory, its entirely different now
ps. Trek fanbase is very small to what it once was - hence movie and televion failures to end movie and tv franchises.
If you guys think this movie should be geared to trek fans, im glad ur not in the business because ur movie would suck and it would lose money. new trek is for all audiences to create a new fanbase
New trailer is up:
http://screenrant.com/official-hd-new-star-trek-trailer-vic-4243/
Plus I address the old vs. new Trek controversies.
Vic
I think the only real issue here is how the ship is noticeably different. Since the movie is within continuity the ship shouldn’t be a different ship in my mind.
Although the angle we saw was the most extreme in terms of showing the differences - the trailer had the ship looking good flying in space.
But other than that, people have really gotta stop comparing to the past - this is 2008 and the movie features a different cast. This isn’t that B-movie-ish 60s show that was cancelled early. This movie is made for mainstream audiences to bring new generation(s) into it to support the future of the franchise.
What’s left of the existing fanbase (me included - all who couldn’t support Enterprise or the last batch of films) will have no bearing on the success of this film, notice the pre-JJ state of the Trek franchise? Death. Most folk I know who like Trek are all over this film. And after this trailer, most other people are as well.
As for tech, the displays in trek are not too far off from what we saw in Quantum of Solace and minority report (one is current, one a few years in the future) - This movie is hundreds of years in the future.
I have to agree with you on ,most points. The cast fits and the trailer blew me away. The iBridge and shiny white interiors reminded me of the flop of a movie “Thunderbirds” from a few years back. All in all, the new NCC-1701 is a little odd, but I am warming to it the more I see it. As for next year, I hope you are right and it does perform well, but we will all have to wait and see.
I come from an engineering background so let me put my two cents in on this. We cannot go backward in order to move forward. Star Trek promoted innovation and since it first began all those years ago much has changed, in some ways because of TOS ( ie cell phones, for those not supporting the iBridge blame Star Trek for helping to create the iphone in the first place). Star Trek is about science at its core, its what differenties it from the fantasy of Star Wars. So in order to start fresh with some grounding in our time (even a few hundred years) thigns are going to have to look like OUR time, not the 60’s version of our time. There is a big difference and I admire JJ Abrams for taking that course. I can’t wait to see it, as a long time Trekkie (not that long i’m 24, grew up on Voyager and TOS) I cannot wait!
I know this will grate, but I’ll throw it in anyway.
Maybe us old timers should rip a page out of the old playbook, and just pretend that all the differences are because of the accumulated time line corruptions, that have occurred over the life of the show. From the first time travel story in TOS, to the temporal cold war in “ST:Enterprise.” Maybe in the original time line you had a silicon plague that held advancement back, until duotronics were invented, and due to a history change, that never happened. Suppose transparent aluminum wasn’t suppose to be invented so early, etc.
I do agree with the other posting on the Message board for 1st look at the enterprise pic on this site, there was one person that posted on that board about the fly in the jar and the lid screwed on what happens when you don’t let the fly out it stagnates doesn’t grow evove or anything it dies, now I fully agree with that if trek is to go on in whatever incarnation ect, you have to let it out evolve new ideas it can’t stay in the jar or it turns to dust, I for one got hooked into trek after seeing trek 4 on beta back in the day, but I agree it has to change in order for it to go on, you can’t have the same bridge as the fanbase wants it could not stand up to today’s digital age meening that detail wise it would look horrible also the enterprise exterior, would look like a plastic toy on the big screen, everyone has there opinions what they think enterprise should look like, but as Abrams stated he was taking the enterprise design from TOS and Trek Movies and making a hybrid of it, I for one don’t think it looks good nor bad as its a hybrid of the 2.
If you look closely the deflector is the original dish from TOS with the blue of the movie enterprise the lines look different and it makes it look fine its meant to be a re imagining of original trek as Abrams put it
To me the fan base should not be so nitpicking of everything it almost makes me think no matter what is done the fans will never be happy, you have to let the past be the past or trek will remain dead in the jar and turn to dust, the fans have to be open to new concepts and from what I have seen a lot are open to new concepts but for the ones that are not able to let go of the past and everything has to be that same, it makes me think there like old farts i.e in there 60’s 70’s and there set in there ways and they will not accept a different suggestion everything has to remain the same if they don’t like it they bitch about it complain non stop as that is what makes them happy,
And for fans saying Berman and Braga should be gone I for one am glad there not associated with trek any longer or trek would be still dead, I am glad that someone else has taken over to breath new life into a dead franchise to get it going again.
Well, it seems that everyone who thinks Trek should look the same as it did in the sixties, must think that the ‘68 Mustang looks more advanced than the current one. As much as I love the old series, I just can’t imagine there being a bridge decorated with low res photos of galaxies and nebulae. And what was that crap that always fell from the ceilings when the ship was rocked by an explosion; concrete or drywall? They now have the budget, let’em do something with it. I just thought of soemthing else, too. This still part of the regular continuity no matter what it looks like. We’ll just have to pretend that the ship and crew have always looked like the current version. Matbe, it’s like in the excellent Star Trek V (NOT!) where the fake god says he appears in the form matching that of whomever is standing in front of him. Think of this new Trek in that way. If it wasn’t part of continuity, then what would be the point of having Leonard Nimoy in it? It’s not a marketing thing. They said this one is supposed to appeal to non Trekkers.o the original Spock has no influence on them seeing the film. You know, Voyager was lame, and the only people who really liked it were those who just couldn’t let Trek go. DS9 wasn’t half bad. I thoguht it was better than B5, but it just wasn’t good enough to keep me watching week after week. Government, movie making, storytelling, car design, architecture, computers, writing, and even Star Trek need to evolve in order to survive. Can you imagine where video games would be if Atari and Intellivision continued with their blocky graphics? New programmers had to come along and keep upping the stakes to keep the genre moving. Same here. Don’t be superficial by judging how the new movie looks,judge it by how good/bad the story is when you see it. You can see how it all gels together at that time. We need to get out of the 1960’s idea of the 23rd century. The 23rd century looks different here in the 2000s. Next, everyone will want fishbowl space helmets and scuba tanks. Later.
To: J.L Nedbelek
what was that falling from the ceiling lol I think it was burned pink insulation and trusses and drywall crushed concrete.
now why they would have 20th-21st century construction material in the 23rd and 24th century is beyond me. lol
must have been berman being a cheapo and not using his pee brain imagination… hmm thats why trek crapped out hehe
Chicken wire embedded with dried wall spackle is more like it. LOL. Dust, too. I know these things were to blame on the budget and design of movie/television show sets back then, but still. 2001 was done with plastics and even cardboard planets (if I remember the Piers Bizony book about the making of 2001 correctly), but they made it look pretty convincing. I’d like to hear Gary Lockwood’s observations/comments on the quality of the sets from his appearance on Trek and in 2001.
Ya know folks… people are MUCH more likely to get through your comments of you use paragraphs. I know it makes it very hard for me to read if you have a huge block of text without paragraph breaks.
You make me work to hard and I’ll give up on reading what you have to say.
Vic
I just seen the new trailer released March 6 2009 I am posting the link here to download it its in flash format (.flv) you can download many flash players
Trailer LINK http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/startrek-third-trailer.flv
FLASH PLAYER
http://www.download.com/FLV-Player/3000-13632_4-10467081.html
I definitely say JJ has definitely made a film worth Star Trek, if this is any indication of the movie I am gonna see it opening day I cannot wait, also I hope all the naysayers keep quiet till the movie comes out and then voice there opinions.
Anyway all enjoy and post your comments on this 3rd Trailer
It was great. I’ll pay 10$ just to see the trailer in a theatre when they start showing it.
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