'Star Trek' the best sf film since 'Sunshine'

Hey, guys, just popping in real quick to say a couple things about Star Trek, which I was fortunate enough to catch at a surprise Paramount screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas a few days ago. Here, then, are the top five things you MUST know about the amazing, incomparable, impossibly sensational Star Trek:

[1] It's BIG. Like, BIG. For the first time EVER -- well, at least since First Contact, or more accurately The Search for Spock -- the adventures of the Enterprise and its crew truly feel as if they are part of a far, far larger, more complex and more deeply interesting universe. It's not just the Enterprise, perennially typecast as the only damn ship in the entire quadrant despite Starfleet's ten-thousand-starship armada, against the entire damned universe this time (although, actually, that's exactly how it turns out); this film paints a far broader picture, of far-flung Star Empires and remote penal planets and teeming capitals filled with eager explorer / adventurers and renegades willing to chip away at the rest of the universe until it's as broken and disfigured as he is. It's almost intimidating, how large the reality is that JJ Abrams and Co. have dared to sketch out, here, and how -- despite how much is crammed into virtually very single frame of the film -- they manage to only scratch the surface of a much grander, more engrossing, only just-glimpsed totality that is their renewed, reinvigorated and re-energized 23rd Century.

[2] The casting is AMAZING. EVERYONE hits the right notes necessary to define and ground their roles in all that has come before, without managing to slip into caricature... It's the difference between David Bowie's inventive personification of Nikolai Tesla in The Prestige, and Cate Blanchett's dutiful but uninspired aping of Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator. No one gets by with mere mimickry... they simply re-interpret these personalities we all know and (well, for the most part, anyway) love. They're more than homages, but less than rote regurgitations, and in the very best of ways. In my opinion Karl Urban (McCoy), Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zachary Quinto (Spock) deserve special accolades, along with Simon Pegg (as Scotty)... Quinto's performance in particular is deeply affecting, hinting at depths of loneliness and guilt in the ostensibly cold and emotionally remote Spock that I can only compare to Brandon Routh's nuanced and subtle re-invention of The Man of Steel in Bryan Singer's tragically misunderstood Superman Returns. But EVERYONE brings it, and it's a thing of beauty to witness.

[3] The score is PHENOMENAL. I may not be the first to say it, but I'll say it, anyway: If there is or ever will be an heir to the unremitting genius that is John Williams, it will be found in Michael Giacchino. The man's so talented it's spooky. Taking on the mantle of giants like Alexander Courage, Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner is no small challenge, but he not only nails it in one, he hits it out of the friggin' park. This score is EPIC in the tradition of the very best Trek -- soundtracks like The Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country. He manages to actually ELEVATE Trek to operatic heights, much the same way Williams did for Star Wars and Superman and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and yet he ALSO MAKES IT HIS OWN. This is THE must-have soundtrack of the year, perhaps the last five years... It is, in fact, the very BEST music produced for film since The Return of the King.

[4] The special effects / set design / cinematography is FUCKING INSANE. Holy shit, people. It's just MAD AWESOME. This film will make you want to punch George Lucas in the gut, because it LIVES UP TO WHAT WE ALL HOPED EPISODE III WOULD ACTUALLY BE. What we thought was coming after those first madcap few moments of Sith, and what we never actually got. It's Starship Troopers-meets-The Empire Strikes Back-good, enough to make you cry for all the phenomenal sf films you hoped for and dreamed of and paid money to see, and never, EVER got. This film is a bar-setter, the way Last of the Mohicans and Braveheart and Dances With Wolves were for historical dramas, the way Raiders of the Lost Ark was for adventure films, the way Star Wars was for science-fiction flicks. It's just FRIGGIN' STUPID how GOOD this film is.

[5] THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S STAR TREK. I won't go into details here -- it's much, MUCH too good for me to want to spoil for ANYONE -- but Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman (two-thirds of the team behind the upcoming Transformers sequels, btw) have done EXACTLY what needed to be done here, to resurrect and revitalize a storied but irrelevant franchise / world. It's bold, it's brilliant, it's balls-out. They've managed to reintroduce concepts like loss and risk and peril, without completely ignoring or annihilating or warping the original concept. The tagline has it right: The future begins with Star Trek, and a VERY bright future it looks to be, indeed. Or, put it another way: JJ Abrams has done for Star Trek, what Christopher and Jonathan Nolan did for Batman. Seriously. It's THAT good.

Lastly -- GO OUT AND BUY THE STAR TREK: COUNTDOWN TRADE PAPERBACK! It WILL NOT SPOIL YOU for the film, but it WILL INFORM YOU. Nuff sed.

Oh, one more thing: I miss you guys. A lot. But I'm finally doing what I think I was meant to do -- manage a chain of comic book, game and collectibles stores. I'm healthy, happy and successful for the first time in years. Maybe, in the fullness of time, I will once again find the time to participate here... But for now, I'm right where I need to be. Love you guys. Live long, and prosper.


I remain, as always... [Chuckle]


Nico / Swedge / Rico.

Thanks. I definately am going to try to get to this one. I'm glad that Quinto's performance is really that good because I love him as Sylar. I hope it helps his career live long and prosper. Is it safe to say that there will be a sequel then?

Sequel is based on money made, not quality.

From all counts, this sounds great. I've never seen anything Trekkie related before, so i'm going in with a clean slate. Hope it's as good as the buzz.

At first I was going to say, "This guy obviously didn't see Wall-E" but then I realized it was Swedge.

Second, I'm not really sure what I'm going to say when I see it on May 8th. Either I'm going to really like it (ala Star Trek I-IV, VI-First Contact and Nemesis) or I'm going to be really disappointed (like with Transformers and most of Abrams' project to date except maybe Regarding Henry and Forever Young). But still, I can't trust Abrams and even if the movie is great, I still won't trust him in the same way that I don't trust Michael Bay.

Interesting. I've never seen any Star Trek movies, and the few times that I've seen parts of episodes, i've always changed the channel because it could never hold my attention. I have to say though, I find the trailer interesting and now with all this positive buzz I might just shell out $10 dollars for this in theaters

Wow that is a good review. Now I just hope that it works with the audiences. As a late newcomer to the Star Trek world I am pretty excited to see this movie. I saw old episodes when I was very young but I didn't start watching until ST:TNG was on TV in my teens. I loved that show. The DS9 came about and it was cool as hell. Then Voyager and oh wait Voyager sucked. So I had about 6-8 good years of liking Star Trek but that was probably 8 years ago when the honeymoon ended.
Then I heard about this remake and I wasn't sure what to think. I watched the first trailer and it showed NOTHING. A few overviews of the ship and some flashy words on the screen. Meh.
Then the 2nd trailer hit and I was awed. YEAH! That is what I wanted to see. Since then I have been fairly excited for this to hit theaters.
Now after this review (especially with that headline which is a huge bonus since Sunshine was almost perfect) I am all set to see this on OW.
Thanks.

Hope everything is going well for you, Rick. We miss you here but we understand that real life must take precedence over the virtual one.
I remember fondly my days of running a comic shop even though we ended as an abysmal failure. Still it was the coolest job in the world. Every day I read comics, played CCGs, ordered cool stuff, and talked shop about comics and RPGs. It was really one of the better times in my life. I didn't care that we were making chicken scratch for money, we just loved our job.
It would be cool to try again with my business experience now but I fear that I would need a much larger city for that. My area is barely able to support anything other than hotels and restaurants for the tourism trade.

Donte77 wrote:

I remember fondly my days of running a comic shop even though we ended as an abysmal failure. Still it was the coolest job in the world. Every day I read comics, played CCGs, ordered cool stuff, and talked shop about comics and RPGs. It was really one of the better times in my life. I didn't care that we were making chicken scratch for money, we just loved our job.
It would be cool to try again with my business experience now but I fear that I would need a much larger city for that. My area is barely able to support anything other than hotels and restaurants for the tourism trade.

I'll open up a Hair Metal Emporium next door. The world is ours.

A_Roode wrote:

Donte77 wrote:

I remember fondly my days of running a comic shop even though we ended as an abysmal failure. Still it was the coolest job in the world. Every day I read comics, played CCGs, ordered cool stuff, and talked shop about comics and RPGs. It was really one of the better times in my life. I didn't care that we were making chicken scratch for money, we just loved our job.
It would be cool to try again with my business experience now but I fear that I would need a much larger city for that. My area is barely able to support anything other than hotels and restaurants for the tourism trade.

I'll open up a Hair Metal Emporium next door. The world is ours.

In that case, i call dibs on Glasses with Frames Too Big and T-shirts Only 5 People Get. Would make a killing.

I would specialize in 80's comics for the theme. And I get to wear a mullet wig...

Haha Now the problem is that we live in three different countries. LOL

Gotta love how Swedge went to this, the same exact showing that NSpan beat his girlfriend with a sack of oranges because she caused him to miss it.

I can't take anything a Trekkie says seriously when talking about star Trek though. i need a neutral opinion

I would like to run the 1980's Movie Memorabila store right next door. This week's special is replicas of Bennett's chainmail shirt from Commando. Only $29.95!

I hope NSpan hasn't read this...And I was already really excited for this movie, despite never seeing anything Star Trek related and pretty much despising J.J. Abrams and his recent work...This overly-ecstatic review and that fantastic trailer pretty much seal it for me. I'll be there opening night!

First Contact was dreadful !
Superman Returns and Brandon Routh were bland !
Hey Rico ! Glad to read you back buddy !!!

I'm happy that you liked. I'm probably am going to reluctantly drag myself to the theaters since Limits will probably only be in LA and NY still.

Exactly.

Plus you would have met Swedgie. You know, in addition to that whole SNEAK WORLD PREMIER of STAR TREK thingy.

I was wondering earlier if the same thing might be happening tonight in my town, since I saw the local arthouse had a screening of The Wrath of Khan.

I'm now even more excited for Star Trek though...

i am a little bit more intrigued to see it now but i am still going to wait for DVD for this one.

Nico you actually finished this review, unlike the one you wrote for a certain other big movie from last year.

Did he never finish it? I can't remember now. My review was better, anyway!!