If you are looking for a comprehensive collection of spoilers about the upcoming Star Trek prequel/reboot film, then this is the place. I am actually pretty interested in this film; I’m a pretty dedicated Trek fan but I have been so disenchanted with the direction the franchise has gone that I didn’t even bother to go see (or even rent, or even netflix) Nemesis yet. What appeals to me about this is the chance for a fresh start and interpretation on the franchise; much like Batman and James Bond, the old formula for Trek movies has gotten stale, mainly because it was too tied down to the legacy of the TV shows. The only movie that ever really worked was Wrath of Khan; Search for Spock was just an extension. The rest were simply failures in terms of trying to recreate the magic of the show on the big screen, and TNG-era Trek never quite gelled either. The problem with translating a TV show with an ensemble cast to a film is that some of that ensemble suffer from lack of focus. On TV the various characters can rotate under the narrative focus from episode to episode, but there are only two hours to work with on film and a lot of that gets wasted in “backstory” needed to make the movie work for the supposed non-fanatic fans who might want to see it and justify the film’s (usually) enormous budget. It’s worth noting that Firefly was a singular exception to this rule, which is why this talk of hypothetical 7th seasons just made me melancholy. Sci fi seems to be a bad word in the entertainment industry, at least until someone comes along and rehabilitates it the way that Jackson did for LOTR and the fantasy genre. Will Star Trek X be the reboot for grand scifi film as a whole? I hope so. It is hard to be optimistic in the face of such disappointments, but then again Star Trek was always unique in valuing optimism first and foremost. That ethos has rubbed off on its fandom as well, which is why we tolerate the abuse. And usually come back for more.
I will admit to wincing a bit at the Apple-store chic of the redesigned Enterprise bridge, but am willing to overlook it 🙂
Hooray for the miniskirt being part of standard starfleet regulation dress. Who know the returned future-past could be so retro.
Some things, like Spock’s ears, are sacred parts of the canon and not subject to “reinterpretation”.
It might be fun, as long as Spock doesn’t telekinetically saw off someone’s head and mess with their brains in order to gain their superpowers.