Ayn Rand Quote of the Week:
Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps, down new roads, armed with nothing but their own vision.
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Review: Star Trek
Posted on May 12th, 2009 6 comments
Ok. This is gonna be a tough one, because I want to tell you all the gory details and I know in a good review you can’t do that.But I want to, because the movie is unquestionably that good.
I’ve waited for the release of this film for over two years and it was well worth the wait.
For those of you who are not Star Trek fans, yet are fans of summer adventure movies, get ready. You are about to experience the summer action movie as it was meant to be.
Written by Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman and directed by J.J. Abrams, the movie succeeds in capturing all the characteristics of the original series, while at the same time introducing elements that open the Star Trek universe up to a whole set of new stories.
The movie is a near perfect blend of humor, action, adventure, philosophy and heart. Yet it succeeds in not taking itself too seriously. Ok. The story does have some holes, even a couple of pretty big ones, but what story doesn’t. Especially when entering the speculative world of science fiction. The point of going to a movie is to be entertained, and this one does it in spades.
Like the original Star Trek TV series, the story centers around the “Enterprise Trio”, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. It starts with them as complete strangers and evolves them into true and trusting friends. You even find out why McCoy is called “Bones”, a reason that made me laugh out loud.
Though the major amount of screen time goes to Chris Pine (as Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (as Spock), the other stars, Karl Urban (as McCoy), Zoe Saldana (as Uhura), John Chow (as Sulu), Anton Yelchin (as Checkov), and Simon Pegg (as Scotty) each get enough screen time to remind us why we loved them in the original. They all understood their characters and played them perfectly.
If you noticed I haven’t talked about the details of the story at all during this review, and I won’t. It needs to be discovered, savored and enjoyed, so I don’t want to spoil any of the experience for you. Let’s just suffice it to say that it is a successful “origin” story that honors the previous Star Trek cannon yet successfully reboots the mythology so that it can now go where no previous Star Trek story has gone before.
Let’s also say that the bar has been thoughtfully raised. If Paramount can keep up the quality of story telling this movie did, then it’s a cinch that Star Trek will “Live long and prosper.”
I give this one a top rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
6 responses to “Review: Star Trek”
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Vivian Banta May 13th, 2009 at 13:38
You have yet to recommend something I didn't like, so I think that I'm going to have to go to the theater by myself for the first time ever just to see this movie!
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Hi, Vivian,
I truly believe you will not be disappointed. This movie left me in a state of euphoria for about three hours after seeing it. The writers truly “got” Star Trek. The actors “got” their characters (especially Karl Urban and his portrayal of Dr. McCoy). Everyone I've talked to so far that's seen it loved it. Even that ones that were not necessarily Star Trek fans liked it as a summer action/adventure movie.
If you get the chance to see it in IMax format, I'll encourage you to do so. IMax is a totally immersive experience. 'Course if you were here, I'd be right there with you, as I'm gonna see this one multiple times.
Anyway, let me know what you think, once you've seen it. I think you'll enjoy it.
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Vivian Banta May 16th, 2009 at 00:39
Just got back in from seeing the movie. It was great fun. Not being a huge original Star Trek fan, I knew enough to appreciate the in-jokes and notice most of the differences, shall we say, but not enough to be euphoric. I can imagine why diehard fans might be upset but I thought it was just wonderfully creative. Of course, I also embraced the new Galactica from the beginning too, so I think I just enjoy good sci-fi and good fun. While I wouldn't mind watching this one again in a few years, I've not ever seen a movie multiple times in the theater! Wow.
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Glad you enjoyed it. Liking good science fiction like you do, I thought you'd appreciate the movie just from the fact that it was a great story. Many diehard fans (as you say) definitely are upset, but I think they missed the point that this was a reboot of the whole Star Trek universe. Understanding that, the story not only worked, but worked very well. Wonderfully creative was my exact thought when I left the theater.
I rarely will see a movie twice in the theater, though I will buy the dvd if I liked the movie. “Taken” was one of those. This one, however, to me, is worth multiple viewings.
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I've been to this movie twice already and trying to talk my Mister into seeing it again today. It was a fabulous movie.
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Hi, Theresa,
I was absolutely enthralled with the movie. The actors so “got” their characters and the way that the writers opened up the Star Trek “canon” so it could go in new directions, I thought, was pretty clever. Glad you liked it.
Hope you succeeded in talking your loved one into seeing it again.
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