Star Trek (2009)

[Dozmonic]

I go to the movies to be entertained. I have watched all the star treks to varying degrees, often when I was younger because the tv and computer were in the same room and my sisters would have Voygar on non-stop. They loved Ensign Kim doing his commando roles everywhere!

But I had not seen a single trailer for this, all I knew was that the guy who played Sylar in Heroes played Spock in this. Just over 2 hours later and I came out having thoroughly enjoyed it. Everyone did their roles justice I felt. It was fast paced and in that respect felt a little more Hollywood than star trek but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The week before I'd been to see Wolverine and the best part of that was the Harry Potter trailer.

The effects in ST are excellent, the set designs fantastic. Unless small plot niggles really get at you, it's well worth a watch.

 

[Contrary Mary]

I saw it yesterday. I did enjoy it very much.
Thoughts:

1) The plot really has some holes in it.
2) Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy was excellent
3) The special effects very good
4) The Kirk/Spock portrayal was well done. Interesting to see them disliking each other at first.

Verdict: 9 out of 10. Should please the majority of fans and appeal to a wider audientce. $31 million (US dollars) box office take for Saturday only--so it is a sucess commercially so far.

Should it continue to do this well, a second movie would be very likely. I myself would welcome that.

 

[catwoman]

I saw it yesterday. I did enjoy it very 2) Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy was excellent
.

When he grabbed Spock and asked " are you out of your Vulcan mind?" I actually thought it was Deforest Kelly it was surreal

 

[purple_kathryn]

Hah I completely loved.

Best Star Trek movie I've seen and while I was nevera TOS fan I was a TNG onwards fan.

Karl Urban had McCoy down.

I might actually buy the DVD when it comes out

 

[Scifi fan]

Karl Urban is a good McCoy.

I wasn't going to watch this one, but, after seeing a few good reviews, I decided to try it out, and I'm glad I did.

I will wait for the next one. Should they call it Star Trek 2.0? Or 2.2?

 

[biodroid]

Wow, seems to be getting the thumbs up from everyone so far.

Love it or hate it, at least you can't say that Abrams hasn't given it the respect it deserves by turning out a decent movie.

This one will divide fans on the forums for decades to come.

I don't think so. I reckon this is what Star Trek should have been in the first place. This movie will revive the boring franchise. JJ Abrams is in my opinion the new George Lucas of today. This movie had it all and I think a 8.5 - 9 / 10 would be a good rating for this. Everything worked in this movie nothing was out of place, true it was a typical blockbuster but it did not have gratuitous fight scenes just to have a fight, it all fitted in the way it was meant to.

 

[Moonbat]

I went to see it at the weekend, and yes I loved it. Very emotional first scene, had me in tears.

Not sure about Karl Urban, he was doing too much of a McCoy impression for my liking, also I didn't like Cherkov (sp) I thought it was a bit silly, the whole 'Russain's can't pronounce w's' thing is so 1960s. I thought it could have been construed as a bit offensive.

And I thought it was a bit too Leonard Nimoy with him doing the Star trek 'bodly go' speach at the end.

And Red matter? what? you can't just chuck a colour onto matter and give it odd properties, that isn't science fiction! hmmph!

They have opened it up for some interesting sequels, no doubt we will see some klingon/federation war film.

But all in all, very good. Not your usual Trekkie film.

 

[Huttman]

OK, here it goes. There were some things I really disliked about it and there were some things I thought were just stellar. First the bad (in my opinion, of course). The music did not impress me, or at least did not leave me with much of an impression or a tune in my head while leaving the theatre. Having an alterrnate universe story was good because, wiping out the planets Vulcan and Romulus Prime? That's a bit drastic. It changes sooo much and is a bit harsh. There were some sets in the movie, specifically in the Kelvin and the Enterprise, that were really unbelievable. While the bridge and the corridors were nice and neat, the rest of the ship seemed so...cluttered, messy, poorly designed, and huge. What I mean by that is, some of the sets where you can see off into the distance were so big with piping and support beams, it made me wonder, is the entire ship hollow and where are the crew quarters because that space is massive. It just seemed odd. The Romulan mining ship suffered from that same odd space/interior thing. I did not care too much for the villian, Nero. His anger was not believable for the evil quest he was on. One more thing, and this might be because of the proximity of where I was sitting, but many times, like in the barfight and certain space battles, it was so in your face, I had a hard time really seeing what was going on.
Ok, now for what I liked. The actors and their performances were much better than I expected. The chemistry of Kirk/Bones/Spock were right on. All the characters had memorable roles and were performed very well. The humour was great, I laughed outloud many times. Awesome FX and I like the gritty feel for it. I hope in the sequels, and I do hope they are made, they can address some of those massive alt uni issues. Or not, I'm sure I will get something decent out of it as well.
So I would recommend this flic and will see it many times again, I'm sure. Each new generation has to get into the groove, even the remade ones. I'm really glad it was not a disaster. But I will say this, it seems Star Trek has been increasingly losing its heart ever since Roddenberry's death, more so in the TV series (Still enjoyed them all, though). This movie might have cloned some of that heart because they were mimicking already established great roles, we will have to see. But if they have good scripts written for these new actors, we're going to have some great Star Trek entertainment coming our way.

 

[kythe]

I just saw this today and I was very impressed. I came out of the theater planning when I could see it next, and I'm one who rarely goes to the theater for any movie. I also tend to be a purist with stories that I know well, so I didn't want to expect too mch since I knew they would be changing the timeline of Star Trek: TOS.

I really liked the characterizations. They made it modern, taking out the cheesiness of TOS while retaining the personalities of the characters. If Star Trek was going to be changed, this was a great way to do it. This movie wasn't easy to make, I'm sure. They had 40 years of Star Trek to take into consideration, and fans who are about as devoted - and critical of breaks from canon - as they come.

At first I thought the alternate timeline premise was an excuse for changing whatever they felt like, but now I believe it was the only way they could please fans while attracting a mainstream crowd. The actors were excellent, and there were many homages to TOS which helped maintain the original flavor despite the changes. Sure, the villain was a bit weak, but the weaknesses of the film were nothing we haven't seen before in other Star Trek productions. Overall, great film and I already look forward to the sequel.

 

[Rodders]

This much positive feedback is great news. I can see many other franchises getting the cinama reboot.

Any thoughts on what's next?

 

[Scifi fan]

Any thoughts on what's next?

I hope stories which are more than mindless violence and mindless women. IOW, stories that made TOS so relevant to its time.

 

[Rodders]

I hope stories which are more than mindless violence and mindless women. IOW, stories that made TOS so relevant to its time.

I don't know, there's always a place for mindless violence and mindless women in my life.

How about some movie versions of classic episodes? I'd pay to watch City on the Edge of Forever, the Cage etc on the big screen.

 

[Waziwig]

There are many ways to view a film, and I have opposing views on so much of this one!

Nero could have been anyone - the actor played the austrailian gansta Chopper, and I just kept seeing through the makeup! Enginering looked like a bottling plant (!) and the uniforms looked damn stupid. If they were going to break canon anyway, why bother with retro uniforms???

I think that the inclusion of older Spok meant they had to bend over backwards sometimes, and the chase scene by the ice monster into the cave was just pure b movie slock horror. As for the change to the canon itself - olderSpok said that they had found a new planet - whats to stop them from calling that one Vulcan?!

Other than that, it was good. And I mean Real good! The casting was good, the comedy bits were good, even Scotty (though a little anoying) was eventually good when he took that damned hat off.

And the thing that pleases me the most about this film - William Shatner's NOT in it - yay!

 

[reiver33]

OK - I really liked this, if only for the breathtaking arrogance in jetisoning the entire ST 'history' that we know and love (apart from Enterprise). There are obvious plot difficulties (temporal prime directive anyone?) but generally speaking the film is played with such gusto that they can be forgiven. Most of the characterisation is spot on and the interplay between characters echoes the original series nicely - they behave as we know they are going to later on.

I see that a number of 'hardcore' Trekkers are upset about the wilful disregard of what should have happened, but tough!!!

 

[Shadow Trooper]

Hoping to see this tomorrow night.

I grew up watching Star Trek and really have enjoyed all the series' (bit like an old friend LOL). If anything I've thought at times it was the films that let it down.

I can recall in the new BSG when Starbuck became a female character, it was considered absolute sacrilege! Yet, IMO, BSG ended up being a great series!


As long as the new Star Trek film is enjoyable then that's all that matters to me.

 

[Rodders]

If i remember rightly, didn't The Next Generation also get slated because they went with a new crew and not the old one? There's always going to be flak when drastic changes are being made to something beloved in order to bring it to a new audience. (There's a similar debate going on over at the Doctor Who threads.)

That program ended up setting the standard for Science Fiction on the small screen for a long time.

 

[steve12553]

OK - I really liked this, if only for the breathtaking arrogance in jetisoning the entire ST 'history' that we know and love ....
...I see that a number of 'hardcore' Trekkers are upset about the wilful disregard of what should have happened, but tough!!!

I see this less a jettisoning but rather a clear alternate path. I still have my DVDs of the movies and the old series' (all of them) are still around but the path moved back to a new beginning and may have a long way to go without the hindrance of walking the tightrope of the old Canon. The Canon is still there but its also been rerouted. After being forcefully dragged back (kinda) to see it a second time I'm still very happy with it. Someone mentioned the music. Definitely a weak point. STTMP and STTWOK both had excellent themes that I can conjure in a quiet place to this day. This one was not near that quality. The villian was definitely the weakest since the renegade Klingon in STTSFS who went from villian to Reverend Jim from Taxi every time he switch langauges. But all in all I'm whating for the second one.

 

[Shadow Trooper]

Well saw the movie last night and would give it 8/10

I thought the pace of the movie was just right and the background story into certain areas of their lives was superb Kirk (Father, entry to Starfleet and Kobayashi Maru scenario), Spock (childhood and position in Starfleet) and McCoy ('Bones' and start of Spock-McCoy relationship).

I actually thought the different take on Scotty was good as well (I thought the best episodes in STOS was when Scotty was being comical; so why not put a comedian in the role?).

Got to say the only thing that didn't quite sit right was the Uhura/Spock relationship. I don't think it was handled badly; it's just it didn't feel right to me. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I would also agree that the baddie wasn't actually that bad.

Overall it was a great film that sets up the characters and direction this alternate reality is taking very nicely. Can't wait for the next film!

 

[Blackrook]

Am I the only person who hated the new Star Trek movie? If so, I feel like a sane man who has been locked in an asylum.

This movie is unadulterated crap. This movie's crapitude should be obvious to everyone, but apparantly it isn't. People are loving the very things that make this movie crap. I'm astounded and baffled.

I knew I would hate it when I learned that J.J. Abrams would be making it. I saw what Abrams did to Mission Impossible III and so I knew he'd do the same thing to Star Trek, which is turn it into crap.

How do I begin.

First of all, Spock is not Spock. He is tested twice to keep his emotions in check, and twice fails. He beats the crap out of this kid at school and then he strangles Kirk. In the world of Vulcans, that makes Spock a loser. I can't count how many times McCoy tried to provoke a response out of Spock and Spock never fell for it. Spock kept his cool and that's how he beat McCoy at his own game.

And then, to make it worse, Spock does a kissing scene with Uhura in the transport room. OMG, this is so incredibly bad. Vulcans don't kiss, they do finger action which is actually more fun to watch. Who can forget Spock's brief encounter with the female Romulan commander? Far more erotic than any of Kirk's kissing scenes.

And they destroy Vulcan!!! How can I begin to say how stupid this is. Vulcan is the second most important planet in the Star Trek universe. There will be a big gaping hole where Vulcan should be in all future Star Trek movies, unless they bring it back through some time travel trick, which they'll probably do, making things even stupider.

The thing about Star Trek is that people are supposed to think their way out of problems. Kirk pulls a con or seduces a girl. Spock figures out a science problem. McCoy comes up with the antidote. The point is it's about winning through brainpower.

In this movie, problems are solved by sword fights, gun battles, and jumping out of airplanes. Catching falling people in the transporter requires Chekov's video game skills. This crew doesn't need brains because brains aren't required anymore. In this movie, Kirk is nothing more than a stupid jock, he lacks any of the cleverness of the TV series original.

I hope that once people have come to their senses, they will realize that when you strip away the bam-pow special effects, this is one of the crappiest movies of all time.

 

[Shadow Trooper]

Am I the only person who hated the new Star Trek movie? If so, I feel like a sane man who has been locked in an asylum.

This movie is unadulterated crap. This movie's crapitude should be obvious to everyone, but apparantly it isn't. People are loving the very things that make this movie crap. I'm astounded and baffled.

I knew I would hate it when I learned that J.J. Abrams would be making it. I saw what Abrams did to Mission Impossible III and so I knew he'd do the same thing to Star Trek, which is turn it into crap.

I would assume you posted your 'objective' view of the film expecting a reply of sorts, so I will try to oblige.
First question would be, if you knew you would hate it, why on earth did you spend your money going to see it?

How do I begin.

First of all, Spock is not Spock. He is tested twice to keep his emotions in check, and twice fails. He beats the crap out of this kid at school and then he strangles Kirk. In the world of Vulcans, that makes Spock a loser. I can't count how many times McCoy tried to provoke a response out of Spock and Spock never fell for it. Spock kept his cool and that's how he beat McCoy at his own game.

Vulcans have emotions; they just choose to subdue those emotions with logic. Is it that difficult to believe a Vulcan boy who is half human would react to bullying (especially as it was something like the 300th+ time the other boys had bullied him)? He was still learning to deal with his emotions.
Furthermore, the destruction of a fictional planet has obviously peeved you a little, so is it that hard to understand that a half human Spock would be moved to throttle a cocky Kirk, having just lost his mother and home planet?

And then, to make it worse, Spock does a kissing scene with Uhura in the transport room. OMG, this is so incredibly bad. Vulcans don't kiss, they do finger action which is actually more fun to watch. Who can forget Spock's brief encounter with the female Romulan commander? Far more erotic than any of Kirk's kissing scenes.

I'll not comment on the finger action mentioned LOL, but I agree that the kissing scenes did not sit right with me either. Uhura and Spock? Not for me thank you.

And they destroy Vulcan!!! How can I begin to say how stupid this is. Vulcan is the second most important planet in the Star Trek universe. There will be a big gaping hole where Vulcan should be in all future Star Trek movies, unless they bring it back through some time travel trick, which they'll probably do, making things even stupider.

It is tragic about Vulcan, but seriously, is it really going to effect Star Trek? There are still Vulcans, Vulcan ships, Vulcan colonys. I think we've visited Vulcan around 6-10 times in the entire series' and films! I really don't think it will effect any future stories unless the writers wish it to.

The thing about Star Trek is that people are supposed to think their way out of problems. Kirk pulls a con or seduces a girl. Spock figures out a science problem. McCoy comes up with the antidote. The point is it's about winning through brainpower.

In this movie, problems are solved by sword fights, gun battles, and jumping out of airplanes. Catching falling people in the transporter requires Chekov's video game skills. This crew doesn't need brains because brains aren't required anymore. In this movie, Kirk is nothing more than a stupid jock, he lacks any of the cleverness of the TV series original.

The point is, this is the gang together for the first time; it is not the one we have known and watch evolve since the 60's! The sword fight was actually an outcome to part of a 'thought-out' plan of Capt Pikes. It was also suppose to refer back to a STOS episode where Sulu had a sword (Naked Time(?)).
Sorry but I can't even try to put down the amount of times where Kirk had a fist fight in the series'/films (the last 5 mins of his life was fighting with Soren!); how many simulated space battles there were (until technology allowed us to actually view more than just the phasers firing); or how many times the transport was activated in the nick of time!

I hope that once people have come to their senses, they will realize that when you strip away the bam-pow special effects, this is one of the crappiest movies of all time.

I didn't actually think the SFX were that amazing (they were good though). I actually prefer the film for the reasons stated in my earlier post.