[Dragonfighter]

I was thinking, "What?!" Who is this yahoo anyway? Way to suck everyone in.

I was blown out of the water. I love the new time line and my wife made the interesting observation that it enhanced TOS for her. It was the first movie in years that when the final credits rolled past I thought, "Let's watch it again." Unbelievable! And I am a purist. Now my favorites are...

1)Star Trek
2)Undiscovered Country
3)TWOK
4)The Voyage Home
5)First Contact

[camelopardalis888]

CBX if you're not in advertising, you should be with attention grabbing titles like that!

[Dominus of Megadeus]

I, for one, am glad that The Saint has seen it and is giving actually a well presented critique of the film. I loved it and gave it an A+. He's given it a C-. I think that's fair and I appreciate his contribution to the discussion.

[Dominus of Megadeus]

Originally Posted by omegaman

Saw the movie this afternoon.
The theatre was packed with people of all ages.
A large majority were over 40 years of age.
The movie was well received.
The movie is a tour-de-force.
Nimoy's performance memorable and moving.
I urge everyone to see regardless of their personal opinions of what is and what isn't Star Trek. You will love it.
Love the way the phasers central red and blue core spins 180 degrees for either stun or kill.

Same thing with my experience...except for the drunk to my left and the prejudice nut to my right...Thank God he's given me great patience or I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the film.

[kevin]

Wait, are we lettering - I went for numbers!!!

Ok - 8/10 or B-, whichever folks prefer!!

[thanis]

Originally Posted by The Saint

Musings in no particular order:

The Kelvin and Enterprise did not, in fact, have a good reason for looking the way they did. Nero appeared after the Kelvin was already built, blew up the Kelvin and then disappeared for 25 years. His interference couldn't have affected the Kelvin's design and didn't make enough of an impact to affect the Enterprise's. George Kirk was a plot device more than a character. What happened to Kirk's mother? Did she go to the Throwaway Characters' Home after leaving him with Drunken Uncle? Nero's motivation is a huge leap -- blaming Spock for Romulus being destroyed by a supernova seems a little like swearing mortal vengeance on the maintenance guy if your apartment collapses in an earthquake. McCoy was all right except for his speech about disease in space, which makes you wonder why the hell he'd sign on to be a doctor on a starship. The bar fight was sort of unremarkable except for Pike's dialogue, which comes off as a speech despite Greenwood's valiant effort to make it sound natural. No reason for the coincidental presence of a Starfleet shipyard in Iowa. I guess all the places we build ships now got converted to iPod factories, and building the things in space wouldn't allow for cynical and rebellious youths to ride up to them on motorcycles and pose for poignant closeups. Vulcans are racists now, which explains why, with hundreds of light years separating the two planets, they're our best buddies in the galaxy. The romance between Spock and Uhura was a nice nod to the fans (we saw just a hint of that kind of history between the two in TOS on a couple of occasions) but the public display of affection in the transporter room was not only wildly out of character for Spock but wildly unprofessional on Uhura's part. Orion animal women have gone from dangerously manipulative and sexually insatiable animal women to horny but exceedingly rational and modest coeds. And apparently Uhura has superhuman hearing. I wonder if her eyes turned completely white when she did that like happens to other X-Men. Maybe she's related to Storm. More later.

It does not matter. Star Trek has never, and I mean never (TOS, movies, and every series), been good at keeping set details straight. They come close. When you watch the movie, you can tell it is the Enterprise, you know it is a Star Fleet, it did fine.

As far as the actions of women and the base natures of the races, again, Star Trek has never been consistant. For example, it turns out in ENT that the green skinned slave girls of TOS are actualy the master minds of a vast criminal organization. The Star Trek universe has always been about the basics when it comes to stereotypies, and in the end, everyone has a different point of view.

Now, the one really attempt at consistancy has been technology, and the movie goofed there. The teleporter equation changes all the rules of the 23rd century, and provides a Q level travel ability that humans did not have till around the 26th +.

[AyanEva]

Originally Posted by kevin

Wait, are we lettering - I went for numbers!!!

Ok - 8/10 or B-, whichever folks prefer!!

I personally lettered and numbered and starred for good measure.

A+ 10/10 *****

[Dominus of Megadeus]

Originally Posted by starbase63

And the verdict is...I liked it. Quite a bit, actually.

For a change, and I believe for the first time since STV:TFF, a Star Trek movie opens with a teaser, and with a bang. Fast paced and somewhat emotional, we see the beginning of the new reality as George Kirk becomes a hero and the birth of James T. Kirk, future Starfleet legend.

Liked how we didn't have to sit through long opening credits to get back to the action.

Spock mentions the possibility of going for the kolinahr ritual...a nod to ST:TMP.

Guess the Federations met the Cardassians a lot earlier in the new timeline, since Uhura orders a Cardassian Sunrise at the bar by the shipyards...

Notice that an "Admiral James Komack" sits on the Command Council...a nod to TOS...

As I thought, there is a shuttle named "Moore"...a hello from Star Trek to RDM?

Light flare...ugh. Annoying. Even in the shuttle with Captain Pike and in the cave on Delta Vega.

Spock quotes Sherlock Holmes...a nod to STVI:TUC.

Only dumb scene in my book? Scotty in the water pipes. Just how big is the new Enterprise anyway? On that note? Yeah, the ship looks HUGE on screen, the CGI was top notch, but I still think it's butt-ugly.

Is it just me or does Kirk get beat up a LOT in this movie?

Also, we find Sarek in the new timeline is much more understanding in the new timeline than his earlier incarnation...and more willing to express his feelings to his son when the time warranted it. If Amanda was killed just to set up the scene between Kirk and Spock, I question it's need. Kirk could have found other ways to antagonize Spock.

The mind meld by the way was a good way to give the quick recap for those who hadn't read Countdown...no one can have any doubt that this is a whole new and separate Star Trek.

And the scene between the two Spocks was both unexpected and priceless. I'd seen the still of that scene but thought the older Vulcan was Sarek.

Interesting that in this new reality, both Kirk and Spock know and understand that this is not the first time around for their lives...that they are in an alternate reality. Will be something to explore in the future. Kirk learning from Old Spock that his father hadn't died before had a visible effect on him. Just as Amanda's death had an effect on Old Spock.

Some of what Spock mentions about the real timeline still leaves open the possibilities of what we know and think we know about the past of the "real" timeline may still be seen someday, at least it is acknowledged that what we see in the movie isn't necessarily how things happened in the "real" timeline.

Overall, a good story, well played. Nero was a little weird at times, but being the Bad Guy he gets a pass on it...and of course, we have no guarantee that Nero won't be back at some point in the future...we see the Narada breaking up...but who knows...

Best one in his part is Quinto. He's got it. He seems to understand Spock and his inner turmoils. The romance with Uhura? Not sold on it, but I don't condemn it either. There was always a mutual respect between the two in TOS, this just takes it a little further. Next best is, surprisingly, Urban. He has the McCoy vibe, even if he doesn't look like McCoy.

I really did miss seeing at least Number One on Pike's Enterprise...they could have worked her in somewhere.

Pine is good at Kirk but I think he'll get better. He needs to grow into the part a little more in my view, but he in no way failed. I just didn't like finding out we were right and Kirk is basically promoted from a Midshipman to a Starship Captain...and I'm assuming that Kirk is only 29 if there's still a 12 year age difference between Kirk and Chekov. Which means the Enterprise was built five years later and Kirk took command three years earlier in the new timeline.

Pike in the wheelchair and in a grey and white uniform were both tips to "The Menagerie" and ST:TMP. I'm hoping that Pike will be a recurring character in future movies.

Only actor who didn't do it for me was Pegg. Sorry gang, his Scotty was a bit of a letdown. I didn't dislike him, but I thought I'd have liked him more. And the sidekick thing was a tad hokey, but I could live with it.

Funny to see Hikaru Sulu, ace helmsman and future Starship Captain, on his first mission would basically forget to take the parking brake off before going to warp...

The last credit was the best: "In Memory of gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry."

One thing was curious...the movie's copyight was neither by CBS nor Paramount...it was © 2009 MavroCine Pictures...is that some kind of third party working on both CBS and Paramount's behalf?

The theatre was barely half full for the 7pm show...mostly male audience, two women, both with guys, and my daughter, who said "I think I'm the only girl here..." there was a smattering of applause at the end when the credits rolled.

Just prior to the movie, there was a PSA for people to shut off their cell phones...which starred Dominic Keating as an agent representing a chimpanzee actor...

All in all folks, if you want me to eat crow, I liked it and yes, I'd see it again. This movie gets my stamp of approval, and JJ didn't have to pay me for that endorsement. It's not better than STII or STVI in my opinion, but it is a worthy entry.

And even better? My 12 year old Warsie said she liked it too and would see it again.



Maybe there's real hope for Star Trek after all...

An extreamly well written review, Starbase! I'm glad you liked it. I haven't seen it for the 2nd time yet...but I will!

[Dominus of Megadeus]

Originally Posted by kevin

Wait, are we lettering - I went for numbers!!!

Ok - 8/10 or B-, whichever folks prefer!!

LOL! It's cool...Doesn't matter how you grade it, letters, numbers, or stars.

Grades from me: A+, 10/10, 4 out of 4 stars!

[Yagami Crewman]

Just got back from the movie. I admit I WAS impressed. The score was excellent. Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, and BOTH Spocks were right on the mark. The FX were Excellent. The movie was fun. It WAS Star Trek. I give it an eight out of ten. This is not to say it was perfect.

Minor quibbles:

Scotty's assistant needs to go back to Mr. Wonka's factory. He just really didn't fit the tone of the movie IMO.

The slug Nero used to get information from Pike was too much like Khan using the Ceti eels. They should have used another means here.

Chekov's accent: The joke seemed a little forced to me.

Kirk running from the predators on Delta Vega served little purpose except to keep the pacing at a frenzy. the Scene with the Corvette also made for exciting trailer material but didn't seem to serve the plot.

Major complaint: The pace was Too frenetic. Too fast! Yes it was 'citing! But that fast pace made it hard for certain scenes to have the impact they should have. Amanda Grayson's death should have hurt more. The total destruction of Vulcan should have been shocking in its impact. I WANTED to feel gut wrenched by these scenes but I didn't because the pacing swept along so fast. The only point that I came close to feeling the pain I knew I should was with the death of George Kirk. THERE the action paused a moment as the opening titles and accompanying score broke.

I was disappointed with Nero. Eric Bana did a good job but I wanted a Romulan Khan. Someone who would make me nervous when he was on screen. Nero WAS much better a villian than Shinzon or the Sona or Soran. My complaint is not that Nero wasn't a good villian but that he was not used to his fullest.

As to Canon quibbles: I found that I had no trouble with the Enterprise redesign. Apparently the Kelvin incident scared the hell out of Starfleet. no wonder they delayed the construction of the Constitution class ships while they improved their technology and tried various other designs trying to beef up the Fleet. It also partially explains why Enterprise was built by the Riverside yard rather than San Francisco yards. Probably every last slip Starfleet could get was busy.

That the film IS an alternate reality from the original series is both its greatest weakness and paradoxically its greatest strength. The weakness is that it is NOT the telling of the beginning of the crew we all know. The strength is that there WILL be uncertainty and canon is set aside without simply saying "it was never so".

This is Star Trek. Like the Original (Which will never die in my eyes.) it is imperfect. But like the original, it had meaning and heart and hopefully... Just maybe first time fans will see and want to know "their father's Trek" better.

I am ready for Star Trek XII.