ILM/Digital Domain magic graces the screen once again
the shuttle hanger (not the Enterprise Hanger)
a dizzying visual aboard the Nurada's drilling rig
attack on the Kelvin
Sky High
a fly over of the lovely sky high campus
These historic steps were almost lost to Nero's big ray gun drill bit
Wow it seems like we have been waiting forever and now the big day of Star Trek has returned!!! I can’t believe how many bloggers here have already seen the movie!!! The reviews are flooding in with grand marks and ALREADY Paramount ($$$$) is talking sequel!!!!! Good news there eh! The buzz is high and it’s going to be a killer weekend, I hope everyone gets to go even those die hard Blue-Ray folks that don’t leave the house!!! Weather you like the movie or hate it, this one is a big screen masterpiece, with incredible visuals and sound that you will truly miss at home!!! Here are some new shots from the movie to enjoy and in time I’ll start putting up some of the artwork from the show… I want to get Ryan, Jim and Paul together and get some of there incredible stuff up which was really one of the highlights of the whole production in the early days. For those interested in commerce and big real estate ventures, you’ll be glad to know that the once beautiful Sky High, the floating High School for Super hero’s children was purchased and renovated by Star Fleet to be there new Academy. Shortly after Commander Strongholds family moved to Arizona to retire the school’s attendance dropped significantly forcing the school to close. the property was rented to several venders who put on party’s. In one instance the had a car show there but this proved to be a bad location for many of the drivers who were intoxicated by the late night parties would drive off the edge. the school was abandoned and was slowly loosing it’s power to stay afloat and the US Air Force was given orders to take her out somewhere over the Pacific, The newly formed Star fleet intervened and made a stellar purchase at an undisclosed price. A massive excavation project took place near the Golden Gate Bridge In San Francisco and the school was soon set in it’s new ground based location. Star Fleet Academy immediately opened it’s doors as the premiere training facility for the future personnel of the Federation. Daren Dochterman has much more info about these accounts in History and I am sure he will fill in any missing details. OK then I’m looking forward to hearing your reviews of the movie so come on over and blast away. Have a great Friday and weekend everybody and thanks again for another fun week and Thanks again especially for all those prayers for my daughter and family!!!
these steps have been graced by the feet of super heros and now star fleet cadets
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
LOL great stroy John.
My Kids love Sky high, a fun little film.
Ahahahaha, thanks for the real-estate back-story, dude! I knew that looked familiar! 🙂
LLP,
deg
Oh, and all the way through, it’s like I couldn’t open my eyes wide enough to get my fill of it! We’re goin’ again this week-end! You gotta see this on an IMAX Super Screen too. No two-ways about it, IMO.
PLL,
deg
Ha ha… Good to know that Sky High found a home. 🙂
Sky High was a fun movie to work on… and I got to share an office with my buddy, John… so it was good.
The “real world” location is the Oviatt Library at Cal State, Northridge… on Sky High, it was decked out with some neat banners… and we designed some pretty cool two story concrete “friezes”, bas-relief sculptures depicting super hero-ness.
Am looking forward to seeing it in 23rd Century San Francisco.
Thanks’s for the insight my friend!!! have you gone yet??? I thought you might have seen it with Bond, Yours is the review I am waiting for… always admire your honest reviews of everything. Wish we would have been on this one together!!!
I just got back from the first showing now. I insisted on seeing it at teh very best cinema in the city where all the premiers are usually handled. I must admit, when I woke up this morning it felt like christmas day somehow, I had my shower, got some nice cloths on and set off from the house with a huge smile on my face, lol
So, my thoughts on the film? loved it, plain and simple. They did an awesome job of keeping continuity (considering!) and the charactor interaction was fantstic. The special effects were second to none and the sounds were just amazing, the way they preserved the feel of the original show, yet bringing it up to date was flawless. The humour was hilarious, my girlfriend was almost in tears with Chekov. I love the new warp effect to, more so with the sound that goes with it.
I really can’t think of anything that I disliked about the film, there a few tiny niggling things, but nothing that is enough to ruin the film for me.
Love the spacebus in the concept art btw John 😛
It is amazing how good it is!!!! and it’s such a relief to finally have it out to let the tensions be relieved with an overly unexpected thrill ride that honors it’s roots.
Hahaha! Even in the 23rd century, it’s nice to know we’re makin’ efforts to be green! I had always wondered what had happened to Sky High. 🙂
Got to see the movie yesterday. WOW!! I want to see it again! The VFX in this movie blew me away. There were quite a few breathtaking moments and at the end, I found myself wanting more. I will admit that were were some design elements that I missed and the reveal of the Big E left me wanting for for Jerry’s score (Michael G does a great job otherwise), but overall, I couldn’t be happier to have Trek back on the big screen! I’d go into more detail, but I’ll wait until others who visit the blog have had a chance to see the movie!
there is so much to take in!!!! and yeah it will be fun to hear more from everyone on Monday. the score did have a Goldsmith feel, but I truly would have loved to have heard what he would have done with this one…
I do have to say that I absolutely loved hearing that classic theme at the end! Gave me goosebumps!
Loved the movie as I’ve been saying on Doug Drexler’s blog. Didn’t like the Enterprise interiors though, especially the engine room set; eurgh!!
Not too keen on the transporter effect either, but the rest of the VFX was awesome!
By the way, I noticed the U.S.S. Kelvin had defensive energy weapons (which fired blue energy) as well as offensive ones (red phaser fire). Was this as I’m guessing a point defence system?
Great stuff as always, John. More please!
Barrie.
surprisingly this film had no budget,,, they were given basically what the older movies got, without the resources of having stock sets and walls to use as a base. Creatively they had a lot of improvising to do and the use of breweries and power plants for ship interiors worked out great for what they didn’t have to work with!!!
No budget! Have to say I’m surprised that with a director like J.J. Abrams they didn’t open the purse strings a little bit, especially since this was an attempt (a successful one I think) at reinvigorating the franchise as well as introducing it to a new audience.
Hopefully with the next one Paramount will cough up some more cash.
Barrie.
That’s a surprise to me, as everything I’ve read til now put the budget in the $150-175 million range, which is a hefty chunk of change for a movie with no real stars in it, even when you adjust for inflation.
I am just finding out about the budget, and man I really wouldn’t have guessed! The bridge just wasn’t quite right for me and engineering, was that engineering? Anyway, they did an unbelievable job with the overall look of the film and awesome effects with a low budget…amazing!!
When I was on board it was nothing,, perhaps after I was gone they proved to the $$$ people to add to the low figure,,, I’ll have to check my facts further. and come back to this one. I remember they had me write a letter explaining the way the previous films were budgeted vs what was needed for the new one!!! HMMMM opens a query this does!
OH the weopons,, I loved the color change even though it was not overly visible to my eyes and I especially loved the tracer rapid fire effects like you would see in old WWII dogfights with that mass off shelling ripping away thru darkness!
I thought the use of real-world locations was a creative decision, not a budgetary one. Anyway, I thought the brewery worked surprisingly well as an engineering set. Those big gleaming silver vats could be credibly taken as some kind of engine components. (John, did the folks in the art department have any thoughts about what they were specifically? Fusion reactors, perhaps?) And yeah, there were lots of pipes, but then, there were plenty of pipes in the “cathedral” behind the big grating on the back wall of TOS engineering. Maybe if you’d gone through that door on the upper level of the TOS engine room and into the area next to/behind the “cathedral,” it would’ve looked a lot like this.
John, I’m eagerly looking forward to any production art that you and your colleagues would care to provide, and especially any technical insights about the new E — its dimensions, its internal layout, how its consoles work, etc.
this is true also, but creativity comes with what you can afford. Scott Chambliss and crew pulled off some very unique locations with a great amount of simply ingenuity!.
here is a great review to read from James Taylor, he so eloquently puts his experience into words here!!!
Star Trek (2009) | 07 May 2009
When I first found out about this film I didn’t know if I’d be excited or not. Star Trek has become a pop culture icon and grown way beyond it’s cult status in the 60’s.
Since it first aired back in 1966 Star Trek has launched a successful movie franchise and given birth to four spin off series with each one of them giving the nod to their origins, my favourite being the crew of Deep Space Nine traveling back and inserting themselves into one of the classic episodes, interacting with a young William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in a 30th anniversary special. Beyond TV and movies it’s generated billions on merchandise, grown a following bigger than anyone realises and inspired people to do incredible things with their lives. Don’t believe me? Google the name Dr Mae Jemison.
The last two spin offs, Voyager and the prequel Enterprise failed to impress most fans and casual viewers. They seemed lacking in something special, the humour was off, the stories rehashed and bland. Now, however, things are a little different…
JJ Abrams revival Star Trek movie received rave reviews all round and when I got an email asking me if I’d be interested in reviewing the film for BBC Radio Scotland’s movie cafe, well, it was the quickest I’ve ever said yes to anything. The hype for the film was unbelievable and being a fan I was just as excited as anyone. Where there’s hype there is often disappointment. But the more I learned the more anxious I was to see the reinvention of this sci fi classic. With Robert Ocri and Alex Kurtzman writing and JJ Abrams directing my high hopes were met with a wonderful film that had me in awe.
If you heard me on the radio I had twenty minutes between leaving the cinema and going on air and I was still stunned. There was so much to say and so little time to say it Needless to say – this movie lived up to the hype.
Lets get the geek stuff out of the way first…
Years ago my father told me that the Motion Picture hooked him as the scale inside the Enterprise opened his eyes to how huge and technical a beat it was. Dad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet! I was apprehensive when I heard about that part of the ship being filmed on location but seeing it on screen was amazing. In harsh contrast to the small, safe environment of Next Generation or previous movies the film opens up the whole hull as one giant industrial area that you could see Richard O’Brian running around in whilst playing a harmonica. It took away some fantasy technology of the Enterprise and replaced it with something real and believable.
The shuttle bay visual was also some stunning CGI work, with the geeky twist of the shuttles mirroring the 60’s version, and the interiors were just as industrial looking as the Engineering hull which was superb. Above all that though we have the bridge, in an unfamilier place but seemingly with much easier access than before. The ‘Apple Store’ brightness of that set, and everything in the saucer, was a harsh contrast but also very nicely put together giving a nu-retro feel to the whole thing. Some of the superfans looking to hate the movie can’t quite grasp it’s new look but it successfuly brings a whole new image to the Enterprise finally taking it’s design into the 23rd century! And I have to say it looks far more stunning and functional on screen than in the released photos.
In the bigger picture the Enterprise looked amazing. While other ships seen just seemed to be patched together and a little ‘off’, the Big E looked spectacular from all angles. Ryan Church has done some wonderful work keeping it’s design elements and giving it a modern, yet retro, feel. Then we have the effect. Warp was how it should be. Zap! and she’s gone. Then just like that she appears out of nowhere into the middle of all the weckage Nero caused when she catches up with the fleet that went off to save Vulcan.
The new-look transporter beam was also stunning to see, as was every CGI element on screen from the touch screen panels around the bridge to the destruction of Vulcan itself which showed up in the trailers, shocking the fans.
The destruction of Vulcan is one of the key elements in the film and how this new continuity differs from the original. There have been concerns from both the angry fans and even the ones who didn’t care about scrapping Trek as we knew it but this wasn’t like Batman Begins. There was no comic book style retelling or re-imagining. They went out of their way to point out that this film was a parallel universe as much as it was the creation story of the infamous crew. It wasn’t as if they wiped the slate clean without mention of the old time line, key members of the crew pointed out the new line with Uhura even saying outright it was an alternate universe. But the best moment of it all was when Spock Prime told Kirk about the changes. In a very key moment to Kirk he asks if the other Jim Kirk, the man we’ve all seen for forty plus years, knew his father which took the idea of the alternate reality out of science fiction and very briefly into the heart of the movie.
That heart of the movie is James T Kirk taking his first few steps to being a legend.
The Kirk we’ve seen before was inspired to join Starfleet by his father George. In this film, however, George Kirk dies in the tremendous opening sequence. Standing in for his captain, George Kirk fights against the villain Nero losing his life in the line of duty to save his newborn son. Without a father figure in his life to inspire young Jimmy T, he goes off the rails until Captain Pike shows up to put him on the right path. With Pikes support Kirk starts to move his life in the right direction and the world of Star Trek starts to come together.
More importantly Pine didn’t Parody Shatner or try to mimic him too much. There was the odd moment of the old Kirk in there, a cheesy grin, slouching in the big chair, but Pine made the role his own and did a tremendous job.
I was genuinely shocked by Pines performance in the role. I hadn’t seen him in anything before and I couldn’t really find anything with significance of him when I learned he was taking the lead role. But he was perfect for this less matured, arrogant and rebellious young man. He played it all perfectly and better yet, the writing worked really well to show how Kirk’s impulsive personality would ensure that despite it being an alternate reality, he’d still find his place as a legend.
Zachary Quinto, best known as Heroes villain Sylar, played a stiff and conflicted Spock that had great chemistry against Pine’s version of Kirk. Already we can see that this Spock might accept his feelings more easily and get a little background on why he wanted to purge his human side. There are even a few fun moments where you can almost see Sylar peek through in the performance, particularly near the end after he’s learned to work with Kirk.
The supporting cast were equally as brilliant. Simon Pegg speaks Scottish slang better than I do and brought a lot of humour into the role of Scotty which was one of the elements which was missing of too low key in some previous films while Karl Urban… well, as soon as you see his first scene as Leonard McCoy he just takes the role and runs with it. The rest of the crew all have their moments in the film. Sulu and Chekov fill out their roles more than ever before whilst Uhura comes with a surprise or two behind that gorgeous smile. Then of course we have Leonard Nimoy reprising his role as Spock from the future who is justas superb as he’s always been.
Eric Bana’s portrayal of Nero was outstanding. You could see the hatred in his eyes and his will to kill everything, and his back story, while not just, is certainly a strong point for his character. His brief interaction with Bruce Greenwood’s Captain Pike was nice to see, going from a laugh from the audience at first to being a big evil bastard just as he was when he first shows up in the film.
The story itself didn’t seem too far off any previous Star Trek film. It looked and felt different, but at it’s core it was an adventure based around Trek and the pace of the film helpd portray the fact it was a crew under threat. It’s amazing what a big budget and running down some corridors can do. The writers made some brave choices, the boldest of which was killing off Vulcan and showing there was a new path to be followed, but those choices refreshed and updated a franchise dying from a concept worn out by Voyager and Enterprise, as well as the last two motion pictures. In this film we see the crew utilising their talents to come together and trust one another and if this is a success, which it’s likely to be, sets the stage for more.
While preserving and respecting what came before it, even a few nods and secret handshakes to the fans and lines drawn from pop culture that everyone can smirk at, JJ Abrams has succeeded in making the first truly widely appealing Star Trek movie. If you know whats came before it you’ll get a few extra laughs, if you’re a newbie to Trek this is a perfect introduction.
For all the worry and concern that this would be to Star Trek what Phantom Menace was to Star Wars, seeing it on the big screen would set fans minds at ease. What we have is a roller coaster ride, a blockbuster film based around the original Star Trek concept with action, adventure, comedy and most importantly heart.
This film has injected new life into the franchise and I look forward to seeing the crew boldly go… into a sequel.
I didn’t realise the budget was the same, it looked like it had been given a way bigger budget, althoguh saying that if you look at how many sets were actually used it was deceptivly few, alot of the film took place on the Bridge afterall, or in fairly simple sets or redresses of locations. Bar the pretty elaborate Romulan set.
I can’t stop humming the theme either, lol
If this is what JJ can do with a restricted budget I can’t wait to see what he can do with a budget that may open up to him with the success of this film! Atleast I know why the engineering of the Enterprise looked the way it did now, makes sence though ,what with Scotty been Scottish, he’ll feel right at home with his distillery down there! 🙂
it was modified but not overwhelmingly!!! they did an awesome job with very little which goes to show story over money will always be your best strategy.
So the blue stuff in the pipes in Engineering was really Romulan Ale? 😛
that’s what was being brewed in engineering my friend.
Saw it last night with my wife and some coworkers. We all loved it! There were a couple things that were strange to me, but nothing I absolutely did not like. I wrote a review on my blog, along with a more Trekkie companion to it.
those are great reviews!!!!! thanks for sending them over!!!
John Eaves read my Star Trek reviews. Could anything be more awesome (besides the actual movie, of course)?
I really enjoyed your reviews, doubleofive! The twirly transporter, ha, just what I was nitpicking about. You put into words a lot of things I was thinking but couldn’t sort out of the tons of info in my mind. Vulcan’s new look was cool, but it just doesn’t matter any more! Vulcan and Spock’s Mom being lost really open the mind to the fact that anything can happen.
Nice reviews!!
Thanks Deanne! I’m sure they slowed down the transporters for dramatic tension, but maybe it was too dramatic. I did love Chekov running down the hallways yelling “I CAN DO THIS!” and catching Kirk and Sulu at the last possible moment. And Scotty bragging about how awesome it was that he beamed three people from two different locations onto one pad.
I need to see it again. Maybe the film itself won’t be off balance next time and cut off a bit of the left side. I had no idea Spock grew up on /ulcan!
For about 2 minutes in the middle of the film it was showing the bottom 20 percent at the top of the screen, until some nice soul ran out to tell them! I didn’t even know that happened anymore!!
It wasn’t just the length of the transporter, but the twirlies themselves that were distracting, just MHO. And they went perpendicular to the rest of Spock when his arm was outstretched…I just kept looking at that for some reason. Quick simple sparklies do just fine. 🙂
My wife was like “someone should go tell them that the screen is cut off… no one is going to leave to do it, are they?”
Dude, that Sky High design is off the hook. Awesome stuff, John. Though, to be honest, the school bus with wings is giving me a Spaceballs vibe (not necessarily a bad thing, ’cause I love Spaceballs. ;))
Who designed the big Death Star meets Enterprise-looking space station that we see the Enterprise flying away from in the first shot? That’s a friggin’ masterpiece, IMO.
I haven’t seen the movie (yet) but I’ve read mostly favorable reviews and just had to comment on the awesome artwork you posted. 😀
I don’t know but it’s either Ryan Church, James Clyne, or Alex Jeager
I truly, deeply love the movie, great entertainment and heart!
Another design question: Who designed the Kobayashi Maru and the Klingon Warbirds slash battlecruisers?
And the medical shuttles from the USS Kelvin era, are they different from the shuttle Robau took to the Narada? I noticed partial red hull painting on the medical shuttles, but are there more differences?
And the two types of shuttles the cadets take to the Enterprise, is there a difference in the type/class name of those shuttles, one being a long range shuttle and the other a transport one, or something like that?
Outstanding work with all the spaceship stuff (and everything else for that matter ;-))
I got to drex first and wrote what just spilled out of my mind, so I won’t go over that again (Sorry, pal. Next time, you first). There are so many things to like…the Kobayashi Maru scenario was just plain indulgent for the audience and fun! I just saw TWOK again a few days ago and really wanted more details on how Kirk did it…Merry Christmas to me! He showed exactly the same confidence in each scenario (Genesis planet/Kobayashi Maru), knowing what the plan was while everyone else was stressing – sheer poetry. 🙂
I was trying to concentrate and take in all the music and effects and details, but I was taken in my the characters and story and ended up just enjoying the whole collaborative effort. As said many times over, the actors took the characters and played them with respect to the originals but with enough of an extra dimension to make them their own, brilliantly done! Urban’s McCoy was very much like the original, but I think that McCoy’s personality lends itself to that…he’s not gonna change for anyone!
Loved the ILM effects, opening action sequence, the pace of the story…I’m already past the few details that didn’t work for me.
You guys are killing me! I’m not seing it until 1:30 on Saturday (in IMAX though). I wish I was going at 1:30 today.
OHHH Matt you sound pretty sick from here,, I think you should leave work right now and go home,,,,, HAAAA! then go see it now!!!
Does anyone know if there’s going to be an “Art of Star Trek” or a “Making of” book to be released? I see no mention of any tie-in books on Amazon except for the novelization.
Pierre
Probably not,,, perhaps someone will do a bootleg book!
Here is an awesome review from the New York Times!!!
Paramount Pictures
Zachary Quinto, left, as Spock and Chris Pine as James T. Kirk in “Star Trek.”
A Franchise Goes Boldly Backward
E-MAIL
PRINT
SHARE
By MANOHLA DARGIS
Published: May 8, 2009
A bright, shiny blast from a newly imagined past, “Star Trek,” the latest spinoff from the influential television show, isn’t just a pleasurable rethink of your geek uncle’s favorite science-fiction series. It’s also a testament to television’s power as mythmaker, as a source for some of the fundamental stories we tell about ourselves, who we are and where we came from. The famous captain (William Shatner, bless his loony lights) and creator (Gene Roddenberry, rest in peace) may no longer be on board, but the spirit of adventure and embrace of rationality that define the show are in full swing, as are the chicks in minis and kicky boots.
Initially appearing in 1966, the original “Star Trek” is a utopian fantasy of the first order, a vision of the enlightened future in which whites, blacks, Asians and one poker-faced Vulcan are united by their exploratory mission (“to boldly go”), a prime directive (no intervention) and the occasional dust-up. An origin story directed with a sure touch and perfect tone by J. J. Abrams, the fully loaded film — a showcase for big-studio hardware, software, muscled boys who can act and leggy girls who aren’t required to — turns back the narrative clock to the moment before the main characters first assembled on the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a sleek spacecraft that invariably sails into intergalactic storms. Even utopia needs a little bang.
Apparently so do franchise reboots, which explains why the movie opens with a loud, somewhat chaotic scene filled with fireballs, airborne bodies, heroically clenched male jaws and a squawking pregnant woman about to pop out the future James Tiberius Kirk. Born in space (well, a shuttle craft), Kirk is destined to return to its embracing darkness. (Future “Trek” scholars will be working the Oedipal angle hard.) But this being an origin story, first there’s a peek at a boy (Jimmy Bennett as the young Kirk) tearing down an Iowa highway in a stolen hot rod, a paradigmatic character moment that’s juxtaposed with images of a young brainiac (Jacob Kogan as the wee Spock) problem-solving with intelligence and a few punches.
Kirk and Spock don’t meet in person until they’re adults — now played by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto — at Starfleet Academy, which, in keeping with the show’s liberal leanings, is in San Francisco. At school Kirk flirts with Uhura (Zoë Saldana), a hot number who coolly brushes him off and makes friends with a doctor, Leonard McCoy, a k a Bones (Karl Urban, wild-eyed and funny). Kirk also comes smack up against Spock, an officious instructor. In the tradition of many great romances, the two men take almost an instant dislike to each other, an antagonism that literalizes the Western divide between the mind (Spock) and body (Kirk) that gives the story emotional and dramatic force as well as some generous laughs.
Those laughs never slide into mockery. Mr. Abrams doesn’t treat “Star Trek” as a sacred text, which would be deadly for everyone save the fanatics. But neither does he skewer a pop cultural classic that, more than 40 years after its first run, has been so lampooned (it feels like there are more “South Park” parodies than original episodes) it was difficult to see how he was going to give it new life. By design or accident, he has, simply because in its hopefulness “Star Trek” reminds you that there’s more to science fiction (and Hollywood blockbusters) than nihilism. Mr. Abrams doesn’t venture into politics as boldly as Mr. Roddenberry sometimes did, though it’s worth noting he does equate torture with barbarism.
The barbarians here are the Romulans, who at one point in television time used to look a lot like Spock, but here resemble a Maori motorcycle gang complete with facial tattoos and Goth threads. Led by the glowering psychopath Nero (Eric Bana, an actor who knows how to take villainy seriously), the Romulans are mainly on hand to provoke the Starfleet cadets into space. There Mr. Abrams shows off some expensive-looking special effects, including an enemy warship that, with its enormous, grasping tendrils, by turns resembles a monstrous jellyfish and a malignantly blooming flower. The film comes down on the side of hope, but its apocalyptic interludes, including the image of a planet imploding into gray dust, collapsing like a desiccated piece of fruit, linger.
Despite these visions, the flashing lasers and latex aliens, “Star Trek” is fundamentally about two men engaged in a continuing conversation about civilizations and their discontents. Hot and cold, impulsive and tightly controlled, Kirk and Spock need each other to work, a dynamic Mr. Abrams captures with his two well-balanced leads. Mr. Quinto lets you see and hear the struggle between the human and the Vulcan in Spock through the emotions that ripple across his face and periodically throw off his unmodulated phrasing. Mr. Pine has the harder job — he has to invoke Mr. Shatner’s sui generis performance while transcending its excesses — which makes his nuanced interpretation all the more potent. Steering clear of outright imitation, the two instead distill the characters to capture their essence, their Kirk-ness and Spock-ness.
Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the story has plenty of chatter, but Mr. Abrams keeps the talk moving, slowing down only intermittently, as when Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) or the wryly smiling Leonard Nimoy (!) unload some paternalistic advice on Kirk. A television veteran (“Lost”), Mr. Abrams handles the action scenes better than he did in his only other big-screen outing (“Mission: Impossible III”), largely by not lavishing too much time on them. By far his finest moments take place on the brightly lighted deck of the Enterprise, where against the backdrop of limitless space, Kirk, Spock and the rest of the young crew fumble with roles that — much like the young actors playing them, including Anton Yelchin as Chekov and John Cho as Sulu — they ultimately and rather wonderfully make their own.
“Star Trek” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Some intense but bloodless action.
STAR TREK
Opens on Friday nationwide.
Directed by J. J. Abrams; written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, based on “Star Trek,” created by Gene Roddenberry; director of photography, Dan Mindel; edited by Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey; music by Michael Giacchino; production designer, Scott Chambliss; produced by Damon Lindelof and Mr. Abrams; released by Paramount. Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes.
WITH: John Cho (Sulu), Ben Cross (Sarek), Bruce Greenwood (Pike), Simon Pegg (Scotty), Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Winona Ryder (Amanda Grayson), Zoë Saldana (Uhura), Karl Urban (Bones), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Eric Bana (Nero) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock Prime).
Isn’t the picture of the Kelvin being attcked upside down. Just asking. 🙂
The Kelvin rolls thru the entire battle sequence so I left this as I got it because I think for this shot the direction is correct!
That’s the beauty of going beyond traditional up and down thinking in space. Nice effect in the movie! 🙂
Loved the film. They definitely took some bold steps with the canon. The engineering spaces were terrible sets. I mean really Sci-Fi channel bad. Hopefully in the sequel we will get a proper engine room.
John, noticed one of the shuttle types seen evoked the Argo very much with the foldout wings and such.
The engineering sets as John mentioned, were redressed locations.
It does come as a bit of a surprise to me that this film didn’t have a larger budget, though having seen it now, I can say that yes, it does show to a degree, but overall, the film does NOT look cheap!
no it didn’t look cheap at all!!!
Yes, I am aware of that. Still doesn’t excuse how poorly it looks. They could have found something better than a brewery to redress. Cruiseship engine rooms look more appropriate than what we got, and i should know I worked on many of them.
The movie was very good though. I am confident that a sequel will probably address the problem.
The best review is going to be the one by Daren Dochterman. His will be honest, complete and from a very unique perspective from one who knows and has contributed heavily to the look of Star trek. He is an unsung hero in the realms of the adventure,,, Mildly he knows his stuff and his perspective is going to be a treat to read about! In the mean time I am almost out of hear for the weekend and that means little to no internet!!! I am leaving the lovely Deanne in charge while I am out to run the blog so with that have a great TREK WEEKEND!!!!
I’m just the substitute sitting in the corner with a ruler ready to wrap nuckles in case someone gets out of line!
There are so many great people in this community with lots of knowledge and insight that I hope you continue to share in the Eavestatic One’s absence!!!
BTW, I borrowed that from one of you, but couldn’t remember who used that great name for Mr. Eaves. No copywrite infringement intended!!
Yes indeed. I’m looking forward to Daren’s and Doug’s write ups. Two Trek pros and practically life long fans 🙂
Oh and congrats on the field promotion Deanne!
That’s Empress Deanne of the Terran Empire, former Emporer Eaves has been poisoned!!
OH MY GOSH,,, 40 seconds later and you have turned into a Hydro cephalic. OK then have fun Empress from the Ka-boob system ,,, UUUUHHH, UUUUHGGG!! I feel the poison even now!!!!
Terran Empire you silly…Earth!!
I’ll never look at a Kabob the same way again!! Now get out of here, I thought I was in charge (*ruler wrapping knuckles*)
Just out from viewing the film, still elated: how different but Trek-true but lots of other marvelous and strange things at once this movie is!!!
A question: one of the last views of Earth from orbit in the movie featured my country, Spain. Do you know if each country in which this movie is being exhibited gets its own orbital vista? It would be such a nice little present.
I cannot say how much I was impressed with the latest Star Trek outing.
Everything had a more real and gritty look to it and I liked the way the engineering section was portrayed – more functional and added scale to the ship.
The acting was brilliant and they each made the role their own.
But I am a spacecraft fan from way back so I was keen to see how the effects came together.
And I was blown away! From the opening sequence to the enterprise slowly coming out from the cloud around Saturns moon…gave me chills. And I just loved the jellyfish darting around in space. Even the opening and closing titles showed that alot of time and effort has gone into making this film and I will be sure to see it again.
A big thank you to all who were involved in this amazing movie!
I greatly enjoyed Star Trek 11. The cast really did a bang-up job and the CGI was really outstanding! Though I have to admit, the sound effects and some of the soundtrack did seem like it was from Ron’s BSG. And that engineering set though “dirty” didn’t feel like it was part of a starship.
Also, it makes me worried that Paramount might no longer be interested in the ongoing adventures in the original (Roddenberry’s) Timeline, and instead continuing to fund the new Alternate Universe Trek.
Almost forgot. Looks like the Shuttlebay Hanger (Picture #2) was filmed inside Hanger One at NASA’s Moffet Field.
Good eye! I can definitely see where ya get that! Here’s an image of the outside of NASA’s Hanger One…
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/multimedia/images/2008/23_ratio.html
Hmmm, I’m thinking that could be the inspiration.
Scott, Even I thought engineering looked a bit odd, but I was so busy watching Scotty that I didn’t pay enough attention. That’s one of the billion reasons I will be going again Sunday night!
As far as the whole timeline thing, I think (maybe wishful thinking) that the timeline may just be an excuse to not follow EXACT canon and avoid complaints, as well as an opportunity to explore a new angle or two, like maybe blowing up Vulcan! I just hope that the core ideas and characters can be left pretty much intact. I feel your anxiety, though, and will just have to wait and see.
Yeah, it was hard not to follow Scotty as he was going Willy Wonking around. Though it said it was reactor coolant, I hope that stuff was water. But the Engineering room is quickly becoming known as the Star Trek Brewery. Haha!
Now as for the core ideas and the characters, I’m sure they would keep the crew true like they done so far. And since the storyboards fresh, there is so much possibliities. Such as Nero’s return as a reoccuring villian or the reintroduction of old and popular villians (Kor? Khan?)
Long as Abrams tweek the annoying things and make the storyline have less obvious plot holes (like Nero’s 25 year long wait), I’m sure a lot of people would greatly anticipate the sequal.
But on a personal note, I’m hyped up. Makes me dream what my own story would be if it ever hit the big screen. Just need $100 mil (or whatever CGI costs) and I’m there. 😉
I love your optimism, which mirrors mine! The Willie Wonka reference really made me laugh because that’s what I was thinking…I was to shocked that they were actually doing that on Trek to actually pay attention to anything else!! The tube I think said “inert” something, but I’ll be looking closer when I go on Sunday to all of Scotty’s Pub, er, engineering. 🙂
It’s great, I just keep thinking about this film. As do the peeps I went with, calling me to talk about it.
Set-dressing, ya know, it made me feel like the ship(s) were so cavernous and huge, like the feeling of being on the inside on an aircraft-carrier, like when I was on-board the Midway.
The thing I liked the best though was the character treatment, as these are my boyz and gals, my heroes, esp Kirk. I LOVED the way Kirk evolved from this brash genius, to a fast-tracked cadet, right straight into the legend that IS to become Captain James T. Kirk! You actually saw the progression, his brashness and cockiness (I like that he got his ass kicked in the bar, too), turning in confidence and self-assurance in his instincts as a commander and strategist. He became real, his true self right there before our eyes.
I really felt I was looking at the younger versions of these characters I have so come to love, and now I have even more to love them for.
I focused on Kirk (as he is my personal hero), but the same goes for all the Mag 7.
And man, was this film FUNNY!
LLP,
deg
Thanks for joining the party! I know you’re busy, and I have said plenty about what I think here and at Drex’s place, so I’ll just say that I liked the treatment of Kirk, too. Maybe a BIT too fast to the Capt’s chair, but I’ll buy it!!
Ditto that there is more to love of the Mag 7!! Watch TWOK’s Kobayashi Maru explanation by Kirk in the Genesis planet and tell me that the new scene in the movie doesn’t bring a big smile to your face, eh?!
Yeah, but HE IS KIRK De! As in JAMES T.! So (to me) it makes PERFECT sense.
And that scene with his dad, juxtaposed with his mom and lil’ baby Kirky, and no sound, just the operatic music, OMG! sO moving. One of thee most moving scenes I have ever seen in a film.
It was a fine book-end, his birth, to Kirk’s own death scene that moved me so much.
We had to hold ourselves back from running out and seeing it again this evening as we talked about it at dinner. Tomorrow again though for sure…
PLL,
deg
Sunday for me! I too was deeply moved by the sacrifice and the noble and brave manner in which he talked to his wife to the end, giving her no doubt of his commitment to her. One very classy and touching moment on film!
The effects were really amazing. The whole film was amazing. My only gripe is the premise: an alternate reality to justify a reboot. That premise results in a lower score in my review (which I’ll post shortly) but the film itself would receive a score of a 9.5.
My score will be more detailed in my review.
Review:
I saw it today and I went in with mixed feelings and concerns, not the least of which was the reboot/alternate realities angle. Despite this I came out extremely impressed. I’m still not thrilled about the reboot/alternate reality angle (in fact, I think that the writers really wanted to do a reboot and only went with an “alternate reality” angle to placate fans) but the overall movie was so good and impressive that I still came out of the film saying “that was a great film” and that it was “awesome.” I’m also excited that Star Trek will become popular again because of this film. I was most impressed with the huge amounts of nods to Trek’s past; there were simply too many to count. The film was exciting, the actors did great jobs in their roles and were recognizable as the characters they were portraying, the new ship looks great, the new Bridge is a little too bright but still well-done, engineering was too industrial for my taste but it did not distract from the film, btw, neither did the lens flares but I think that there were too many, and the storyline was engaging. The opening sequence was one of the most emotional parts of the film. Later on in the film, I loved it when the computer had trouble understanding Chekov’s accent when he tried to imput the activation code because, as someone who speaks with an accent myself (in my case British) I’ve had the experience of someone not understanding me and I’ve had the same look on my face that Chekov (Anton Yelchin) did during that scene and then trying again to make it more clear. The music was excellent and only added to an already great film. Overall, the film was extremely well-done and I think that anyone on the fence about seeing this film should go see it. It’s definitely still STAR TREK. It’s a great film with a not-so great premise (it being a reboot/alternate reality).
One final thought on the “alternate universe.” First off, this was discussed in the film so everyone knows that this is an alternate universe. The main problem with this is that with the success of this film, there’s no way Paramount will want to go back to the original timeline. Why mess with what works, after all. Paramount is there to make money, and so long as this new timeline makes money it will continue. So, in short, this is a reboot, the old Trek is dead and a new Star Trek has been born. Remember, they didn’t go back after they rebooted Bond, Batman, or anything else they’ve rebooted. This, of course, makes it difficult for anyone who becomes a fan of this new film to go back and appreciate what came before. This result, and the end of Trek as we knew it, is the biggest gripe I have with the film. I don’t think that it was necessary to make Trek popular to reboot the franchise, but that’s what they decided to do. Was it an excellent movie, a great story with great characters and an excellent jumping-on point for non-fans? Yes, but the new fans will jump on here and only go forward, not back, and the old Trek is dead. However, I’m sure many will argue that the old Trek died in 2005 with the cancellation of Enterprise and after the lack-luster (profit-wise) Star Trek Nemesis. This fact is the, single-most troublesome aspect of the new film. This will result in a lower rating.
Premise Score: 2 out of 10 (Reboot/Alternate Reality, as discussed above.)
Special Effects: 10 out of 10
Production Design: 9 out of 10
Costume Design: 9 out of 10
Plot: 9 out of 10
Characters/Acting: 9 out of 10
Music: 10 out of 10 (Based on music composed by Michael Kaplan)
Film: 9.5 out of 10
Final Score: 8.4 out of 10. Not the best Trek ever, for gripes above, but still an excellent one. (Final Score is computed by average of above scores)
“I was most impressed with the huge amounts of nods to Trek’s past; there were simply too many to count.
I, too, was more than a little surprised with how much they included. I’ve said many times today that some of these nods in particular made my day. 🙂 I couldn’t agree more with the engineering and bridge looks, but such minor problems that weren’t at all affecting the characters or story.
The score, to be honest, is just a little lower than mine, but higher than I gave The Voyage Home and The Final Frontier (not terrible movies, but pretty iffy at times.! I still hold out a solid hope that some of the new fans will begin to take a look at earlier works, and nothing but good can come from that considering where we were!
My apologies, the music was composed by Michael Giacchino, not Michael Kaplan).
Stay the course, Deanne! You’re doing great! Steady as she goes! A thousand points of light!
Now I know your just trying to be supportive, umm, thanks for the cliches!!
Oh no! Was I supposed to say something substantive and pithy? I’m not sure I have it in me!
Shhh…now he’ll know I asked you to post!!
I am done sweeping the floors and closing up here at Johnny’s, so git on home ya miserable curr (said in my best Eaves impersonation)! I’m goin’ ta bed! 😀
Yes’m 🙂
I saw yesterday, and I get very impressed which it. I liked it, and how they did a reboot without killing old trek, which a alternate time line.
I have seen it, and it was baaaaad. Too much relience upon “The good Captain Kirk et el” and special effects. No plot to speak of.
Don’t get wrong, the special effects were great. As special effects. But special effects don’t make a movie.
WHERE’S THE BEEF?
I thought I wouldn’t get to see the movie till this evening as opening night was my wife’s birthday, but she was working for three hours in the early evening, and my children were at my parents’ for tea, so she suggested I take advantage of the convenient film-sized gap that had appeared, so I managed to go see it with a friend!
What can I say that hasn’t been said already? Awesome!
For anyone out there still gnashing their teeth about this effectively being a reboot (let’s face it the whole alternate reality thing is essentially a plot device to pander to canon while – quite rightly – allowing the slate to be wiped clean for a new generation), just remember what John Lennon said when The Beatles split up – the back catalog will still be there to enjoy again and again.
But now we’ve got a fresh new start for Trek, and it was great to sit back, relax, and enjoy the thrill-ride! Going again tonight with my wife this time – can’t wait! 🙂
Thanks for the academy images, and can’t wait to see some of the other shots – any images of the other new Starfleet ships would be fabulous! 🙂
Feels like the hungry days of Trek of old again! (and that’s from someone who only caught the original series in the late 70s). 😉
And just to add to the review links, here’s the considered verdict of the friend I went with, who, while not a diehard Trekkie himself, is a huge movie buff and a budding actor. His account sums up the movie far better than I could:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=148756863&blogId=487785479
Mark, your friend’s review was great! I’m glad you got to see a “preview” showing before you get to go with your wife. I’m really looking forward to going again tomorrow! 🙂
Yea, fortiutiou movie sized window!! Like it 😀
“The tube I think said “inert” something, but I’ll be looking closer when I go on Sunday to all of Scotty’s Pub, er, engineering.”
It said: “Inert reactant”, which hopefully means that it has no toxic qualities to it!
Thanks, my eyes were just followed the poor lad IN the tube, primarily!
John…
I haven’t seen it yet. I’m waiting til all the fervor dies down a bit… maybe this week, when I can go to a matinee while others are at work. Finally have some “vacation” time… so I’m gonna try and enjoy myself… for a little bit.
That said, I did put up a little blurb on blog.darendoc.com talking about what is keeping me from seeing it with “everyone else” at this point.
ll&p
LoyalTrekFan said:
“…One final thought on the “alternate universe.” First off, this was discussed in the film so everyone knows that this is an alternate universe. The main problem with this is that with the success of this film, there’s no way Paramount will want to go back to the original timeline. Why mess with what works, after all. Paramount is there to make money, and so long as this new timeline makes money it will continue…”
I think that is valid movies-wise, for now, but not necessarily so for TV, if Star Trek ever returns as a TV series. The currently available contexts for a series are two universes and their pasts, “presents” (post-Nemesis TNG or alternate timeline TNG) and futures (the next “Next Generation”, say, a 25th Century or beyond ship and crew).
The conventional Trek-Verse’s past and present has been explored exhaustively, but its future is full of possibilities: above all, it gives the writers the chance to clean-break a few things here and there that are too weighty and ultimately boring (reading Star Trek Online’s timeline posts is, sad to say, yawn-inducing) and keep or evolve in radical ways the interesting bits.
Whatever one would choose, a new ST TV series has two issues to solve: one of style (Abrams’ is a reference, but so are most currently successful TV series’, from BSG to CSI to even House, MD); and one of purpose, which perhaps is a rather difficult one.
Star Trek started being about the morality play of the week, multiepisode arcs-free, family-friendly. It evolved from there to some middle ground continuity arcs-wise. The thing is, I don’t think a Trek series would be quite Star Trek if it lost the whole families viewership and the morality plays. And, most of all, the vision of a hopeful future. It needs to regain a bit of rawness and edginess, yes, but it can’t alienate the vision, even if this vision must evolve.
A question: how many of you have read Iain Banks’ Culture novels? Because his Culture civilization somehow is what one would hope the Federation to evolve into, which would mean meeting head-on most of its taboos and conquering them. That would be a whole field of issues to cover in a new series.
Sorry for the rambling 🙂
Above all: having this movie happen in an alternative universe preserves both. Nothing has been lost. Tha playfield has just gotten twice as big.
The Del Rey Books’ guys must be levitating 😀
I have done an update rating for the new film now that I’ve had more time to collect my thoughts.
Updated Ratings
Premise: 1/10 (Reboot/Alternate Realities)
Plot: 5/10 (Time Travel/Madman out for Revenge)
Special Effects: 10/10
Production Design: 9/10
Costume Design: 9/10
Characters/Acting: 9/10
Music: 8/10 (Based on music composed by Michael Giacchino)
Film: 9 out of 10 (how fun and entertaining it was)
Final Score: 7.5/10. (That score matches closer to my original impression of 7/10. The previous 8.4/10 was average of the scores but I rated the music and plot to high.)
Thanks for the correction, LTF, but you got my comment on it at Drex’s…the party is over there!
I was just poking my head in just in case….
Anyone else notice that Kirk was eating a fruit while taking the Kobyashi Maru test. Kind of like the way he was eating a fruit while talking about the test on the Genesis planet in TWOK
Great eye! Sometime in the last couple of days I actually pointed out that he had an audience of stressing people who were in the dark to what his actual plan was, just like on the Genesis planet, too! I LOVE that homage!!
I recall many designs of the kobayashi maru on the internet. I am happy that the design used in the movie was from Jackill…http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/neutronicfuel_kobyashimaru.jpg
Nice additional nod to the fanboys!
Liked it. Didn’t love it. There’s much to admire. But many dumb things as well.
Well, I think that’s the first time in all I’ve managed to read in the last couple of days that used the words “admire” and “dumb” – kudos for originality, Don!
I was having trouble coming up with any other word for Scotty’s alien friend other than dumb, but I didn’t let him distract me too much. I saw your comment on Drex, but don’t really see mentioned there what you are thinking of as dumb…except maybe the 25 year gap thing, which didn’t make much sense to me either.
Anyway, just wondered if you’d care to give a few examples of the things you admired or didn’t…or you can let your review over at Doug’s suffice. I truly like hearing the detailed opinions. If we’ve established anything today, it’s that you have the freedom; it’s your choice! 🙂
Myeah.. but Scotty’s sidekick is a nice one for the kids, I guess. It probably rates just a 0.1 on the Jar Jar Binks Scale of Awkwardness.
For me, I enjoyed the movie, it had a high and huge entertainment factor…to be houenst I really need to see it again, it was a lot for me to take in having seen pretty much every episode and movie (well aside from the animated series). Part of me spent time wondering about everything after the movie.
I loved all the nods to Trek fans, and they were done in such a way that a bystandard would still find it amusing or cool, but it would be even more enjoyable for those of us that knew of the whole Kobyashi Maru thing from TWOK.
I also liked the nod to “Admiral Archer” in the movie, I personally wouldnt have minded seeing a cameo by an aged Bakula. I discussed this in great length with my brother and he figures that is exactly what they’re trying to get away from. Perhaps maybe in the sequel (They’re working on some sort of trilogy aren’t they?)
This movie wasn’t really about Star Trek as much as it was character development for some of our favourite characters. It also seems odd that after Enterprise that the Vulcans would be so useless/defenseless to atleast evacuate some more people or disable the drill? Although I don’t let that affect my judgement of the movie, it’s juts a little nit pick, a type us Star Trek fans always make and allow it to ruin movies for us, one we shouldnt really do.
I wasn’t a giant fan of the Enterprise, not because she didn’t look simular enough or something, but because the proportions were somewhat odd…that and the bridge looked like it was created by Apple (hell they should have sponsored it!) and the engine room while looking functional seemed to lack a certain…central point, somewhere to focus. I found myself very disoriented when watching any sequences in engineering or a shuttle bay…however it gives the ship and set a more realistic feeling, especially camera shake outside of the ship, even though I too found that disorienting.
The story was great and this movie really needs more than one watching to get it in, atleast for myself, I found myself overwhelmed by what was going on and the pace was so fast that it was just a big blur for the first few hours. Much like all movies I like, I didn’t know what I thought when I left the theatre…I had to think about it, read other reviews, interviews, look at some pics and such…
Some of the “Treknological” garbage bothered me, but once again not enough to not enjoy the movie. I suppose theres no reason why the Enterprise can’t have like 5 warpcores or whatever the heck Scotty launched, or for her to struggle to get to Warp 4 (Or was it 5 that Scotty was struggling to get?). Either way at times it felt like they threw in techno-bable just for the sake of being there, and it wouldnt make sense.
Sorry if this review is long winded and without direction at times, heck, I say that I loved the movie and i’ve mostly nitpicked, mostly because theres a lot you can nitpick about, but it’s a damn good movie and none of these things take away from it. Personally I found the design of the Romulan mining ship humorous! Why use a Turbolift when you can jump from one deck to another? One part that stood out to me was the intro. This is simply because when I saw “Star Trek”, it put a chill down my spine to know that it’s back. This movie is being rated VERY well thusfar and it’s exciting to see what may be a huge success for Star Trek.
If you’ve read this review, yikes you’ve got patience, and thanks.
Also gotta give a shout out to John Eaves and DeanneM, your doing a good job during his leave of absence 🙂
Also, my thoughts and prayers go out to John’s Daughter.
– Mike
Just got back 30 minutes ago from seeing the film again. Still don’t get strange little alien, strange industrial interiors or lense flairs, but had a rocking good time again!!
It’s comforting to know that Spock will be leading the rebuilding of “Vulcan” and will be at Kirk’s side, as he should be. 🙂 My favorite Spock line, “Out of the chair!”
I absolutely loved the new movie. It was the heart, spirit and soul of Star Trek, but with a better approach. And no reset button! It’s a dream come true.
“Thanks, my eyes were just followed the poor lad IN the tube, primarily!”
No trouble!
Hmm… I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask, but here goes anyway…
I was wondering if you could supply us with some schematics for important locations in the film, like Engineering, the bridge and the shuttlebay, both of the Kelvin and the Enterprise. I’m not really expecting that you can deliver us those images, but it would certainly be cool. The Star Trek Magazine had those perfect images depicting key locations of practically all ships, even the Relativity. It would be great if we could see something like that as well 🙂
Saw it again last night. Even better the 2nd time, eh! Don’t know who that strange lil’ alien guy is De, but him and Scotty sure make me laugh! 🙂
Likin’ the interiors more actually, esp. since they built the glimpses inside the shuttlebay to match.
But yeah, there sure are a LOT of lens-flare, eh. I was picturing JJ in the editing bay, sayin’; “Yeah, one there, another one there, and there, and yeah, another one there.” Hey, it’s his thang, eh. And I can roll with it.
LLP,
deg
The lens flaring was annoying at times, and I really hope he does them a bit less. They weren’t overtly annoying, but more of a distracting type. *shrugs* I liked the interiors as well, though I’m not sure what to think about the gritty Engineering and Shuttlebay. They look a bit out of scale as well, as if they’re bigger than the space they’re supposed to inhabit…
I was actually a little more bothered by some of the interior areas the second time. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how stuff is actually supposed to work, like some of you guys, but it just didn’t work so well for me and what I expect an advanced military craft to be.
The lense flairs I can live with, but they did distract me a couple of times, like stop doing that in front of Spock’s face! But as I mentioned before, these are not major issues…the movie is great and great for Trek, IMO.
John will have something new and interesting for us in the morning and, along with Doug’s awesome posts this weekend, there will be plenty of blog fodder to discuss!! My vote would be a full workup on Capt. Marko Ramius, okay Sean Connery, I’ll admit it! 😀
For the next film, I’d tone down the lens flares and make both the shuttlebay and engineering less industrial.
BTW, apparently, according to FOX News’ “FOX Report” STAR TREK earned $72.6 million this weekend, placing it in the #1 spot. An excellent start.
John, I’m definitely looking forward to more drawings from the new film, as well as the rest of STAR TREK, in the coming days.
John,
I have to say WOW!
Carrie, my daughter and I saw Star Trek yesterday and we were all floored. Being a lifelong Trek fan, I loved seeing the franchise coming back to life.
We stayed for the credits and clapped when we saw your name 🙂
Al
Just seen it today and loved it !! Great fun, thought it felt like a prequel, a re-boot and a small percentage of sequel too !!
It felt refreshing to be free from past continuity, so normally I wouldn’t ask this question: You don’t happen to know the size of the new Enterprise do you? It’s just that it looks a fair amount larger than the old one.
AMASOV
Scott Gammans, one of the rare REALLY GOOD guys who has done TOS E CG animation (check youtube), said on trekmovie he figures it is WAY WAY bigger than the TOS ship, between 2000 and 3000 ft long. I’m guessing his estimate is better than a lot of fans who keep claiming this thing is the same size as the orig.
Hey thanks, I’d thought it might be nearing Galaxy-class size, I guess a few extra meters wouldn’t make much difference 😀
Well, since the original was 947 feet long, 2-3000 feet is much, much bigger. The Galaxy class is just over 2100 feet long.
David Stipes has a personal observation on his blog about the new Star Trek movie. Interesting perspective from his vantage point.
A little off the subject maybe, but a request for you to consider the ethics of buying wetsuits. Please try and consider, for example, the materials your item is made with, the human rights of the factories where they’re manufactured and the ethics of retailers. And endeavour to recycle rather than discarding. Thanks!!!!
Hello there, I couldn’t find any means to email you, and so I really hope that you see this comment. I have a website covering ladies wetsuits, and wondered if you would like to exchange links with me. I have submitted my email address if you choose to get in contact. Thanks.