Star Trek
Star Trek boldly goes where it has never gone before.
In 1966, a one of a kind TV program launched. Titled Star Trek, it followed the adventures of James T. Kirk and his crew, adding in many new characters and storylines along the way. The TV series was adapted into a film finally in 1979 with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”. For that film, and its following predecessors, the quality and entertainment weren’t exactly up to par and the effects were lackluster. In 2007, Director – Producer JJ Abrams decided he was going to make a re-boot of Star Trek, creating a new franchise with his own personal style. With its release in 2009, he was more than just successful. The re-boot isn’t just a huge box office success, it’s a milestone achievement in sci-fi film making.
A highly advanced futuristic Romulan war ship attacks the enterprise. After becoming captain of the ship, George Kirk is dead just 12 minutes later after saving the lives of 800 people. Over two decades later, his son James Tiberius Kirk is wasting away his talent doing basically nothing with his life. After being convinced to enlist in Star Fleet, Kirk does so and just 3 years later is on the enterprise. The adventure kicks off from there as half Vulcan – half Human “Spock” complicates things as a feud emerges between him and Kirk. The adventure continues and later the purpose of the Romulans is learned.
Staying true to the old roots of Star Trek, Abrams adds his own touch which blends together perfectly and the result is a dazzling epic. Abrams explains some things in the film that the television series and old films never did. He also gives Kirk a more detailed origin. With an average budget for the genre of 150 million, the effects are far beyond those that I have ever seen, just making the film even more epic in scope. The cinematography captures the action perfectly, with straight forward shots when needed and hectic camera movements when the action is underway. William Shatner, the original James T. Kirk from the older Star Trek films, received an excessive amount of underserved praise. His character was cold, campy, uninteresting, and flat out boring. Chris Pine revives the role with an often funny, upbeat, likeable character whose charisma is simply extraordinary. The entire cast is filled with a mixture of characters that you can’t help but just love. TV star Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban [ “The Bourne Supremacy”, “Pathfinder”, “DOOM”, “The Two Towers”, “Return Of The King” ], Simon Pegg [ “Shaun Of The Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”, “Run, Fat Boy, Run” ] and Anton Yelchin, the formerly unknown Russian who starred in one of last year’s best pictures that went virtually unnoticed, “Charlie Bartlett”. Michael Giacchino’s score matches that of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the original Star Trek. It’s not as iconic or memorable, but is equally well done.
All in all in this groundbreaking, immensely entertaining film; a new franchise is born, new stars are recognized, and the bar is set at new heights for special effects. Star Trek is the start of a new series that will definitely live long and prosper. Star Trek is easily one of the year’s best.
GRADE: A-
Star Trek boldly goes where it has never gone before.
In 1966, a one of a kind TV program launched. Titled Star Trek, it followed the adventures of James T. Kirk and his crew, adding in many new characters and storylines along the way. The TV series was adapted into a film finally in 1979 with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”. For that film, and its following predecessors, the quality and entertainment weren’t exactly up to par and the effects were lackluster. In 2007, Director – Producer JJ Abrams decided he was going to make a re-boot of Star Trek, creating a new franchise with his own personal style. With its release in 2009, he was more than just successful. The re-boot isn’t just a huge box office success, it’s a milestone achievement in sci-fi film making.
A highly advanced futuristic Romulan war ship attacks the enterprise. After becoming captain of the ship, George Kirk is dead just 12 minutes later after saving the lives of 800 people. Over two decades later, his son James Tiberius Kirk is wasting away his talent doing basically nothing with his life. After being convinced to enlist in Star Fleet, Kirk does so and just 3 years later is on the enterprise. The adventure kicks off from there as half Vulcan – half Human “Spock” complicates things as a feud emerges between him and Kirk. The adventure continues and later the purpose of the Romulans is learned.
Staying true to the old roots of Star Trek, Abrams adds his own touch which blends together perfectly and the result is a dazzling epic. Abrams explains some things in the film that the television series and old films never did. He also gives Kirk a more detailed origin. With an average budget for the genre of 150 million, the effects are far beyond those that I have ever seen, just making the film even more epic in scope. The cinematography captures the action perfectly, with straight forward shots when needed and hectic camera movements when the action is underway. William Shatner, the original James T. Kirk from the older Star Trek films, received an excessive amount of underserved praise. His character was cold, campy, uninteresting, and flat out boring. Chris Pine revives the role with an often funny, upbeat, likeable character whose charisma is simply extraordinary. The entire cast is filled with a mixture of characters that you can’t help but just love. TV star Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban [ “The Bourne Supremacy”, “Pathfinder”, “DOOM”, “The Two Towers”, “Return Of The King” ], Simon Pegg [ “Shaun Of The Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”, “Run, Fat Boy, Run” ] and Anton Yelchin, the formerly unknown Russian who starred in one of last year’s best pictures that went virtually unnoticed, “Charlie Bartlett”. Michael Giacchino’s score matches that of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the original Star Trek. It’s not as iconic or memorable, but is equally well done.
All in all in this groundbreaking, immensely entertaining film; a new franchise is born, new stars are recognized, and the bar is set at new heights for special effects. Star Trek is the start of a new series that will definitely live long and prosper. Star Trek is easily one of the year’s best.
GRADE: A-
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