+ Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year
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| Allowing sneak peaks out to the infinity of space, the over-sized, excited letters of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek seem fitting on this simple, great poster |
Star Fleet Captain James Kirk's father dies to save his pregnant wife. Kirk grows up to become a rebel who carries his feelings on his sleeve. Now he has to unify his talents with half-human/half-Vulcan rational brain Mr. Spock to save the universe from a madman with red matter and direction towards Earth.
Star Trek is written by Alex Kurtzman (The Island (2005)) and Roberto Orci (Hawaii Five-O (2010-19)) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III (2006)). It is a prequel reboot of the Star Trek film franchise, its 11th film, based on the original Star Trek TV-series (1966-69).
I was not a Star Trek fan when this came out, (I later have watched most of the original series and come to love its equal parts idealistic, ambitious sci-fi and campy 1960s silliness), and I found Zachary Quinto's (Margin Call (2011)) Spock to be involuntarily comedic throughout. I also fail to see any reason why Zoe Saldana's (The Skeptic (2009)) Uhura should fall for him as she does.
The scenes of Kirk and Spock as boys in the beginning of the film don't work: Kirk is a brat, who wrecks a beautiful car; and Spock is a king of nerds.
But when the Enterprise (Star Trek's central spaceship) finally gets into space, the film captures me.
Eric Bana (The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)) is unrecognizable as the nefarious Nero, and Abrams and cinematographer David Mindel's (Enemy of the State (1998)) use of lens flares get the best of them. But Chris Pine (Just My Luck (2006)) is surprisingly good as adult Kirk; the effects are terrific, and Michael Giacchino's (This Is Where I Leave You (2014)) score is especially grand and great. Simon Pegg (Diary of the Dead (2007)) is a joy to have here as Scotty, and although his Russian accent is somewhat jarring to me, Anton Yelchin (Charlie Bartlett (2007)) as the starship's Russian cadre Chekov is also neat to have in the ensemble. Pivotally, the fascinating endlessness of space is communicated in the worthwhile Star Trek.
Related posts:
J.J. Abrams: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) - Abrams scores big time, makes beautiful space opera blockbuster
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) or, Star Trek It Before You Wreck It
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Cloverfield (2008) or, It Tore Her Head Off! (co-producer)
Star Trek franchise: Star Trek Beyond (2016) - Lin's adventurous, foundation-honoring entry
Cost: 150 mil. $
Box office: 385.6 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.57 times its cost)
[Star Trek premiered 6 April (Austin, Texas) and runs 127 minutes. Paramount chief Gail Berman convinced CBS to allow them to make a new Star Trek film in 2005. Shooting took place in Vermont, Utah, Alaska and in California, including Los Angeles, from November 2007 - March 2008. A 2008 Christmas release was pushed out to summer 2009 as the dailies impressed Paramount execs. The film opened #1 to a 75.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, the biggest Star Trek movie launch - also adjusted for inflation - ever. It spent another 4 weeks in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5-#5) and grossed 257.7 mil. $ (66.8 % of the total gross), becoming the year's 7th highest-grossing film in North America. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 35.3 mil. $ (9.2 %) and Germany with 12.7 mil. $ (3.3 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars, winning for Best Makeup. It lost Sound Mixing and Sound Editing to The Hurt Locker and Best Visual Effects to Avatar. It became the first Star Trek movie to win an Oscar. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, a Grammy, won a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2½/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. The rebooted franchise continued with Star Trek Into Darkness (2013, also by Abrams) and Star Trek Beyond (2016). A fourth film in the new saga was projected but shelved after disappointing B.O. performance of Beyond; Quentin Tarantino has written an R-rated Star Trek script that he wishes to film, but its fruition is highly doubtful. Abrams returned with a video game, a TV movie and a TV-series pilot before his next theatrical feature Super 8 (2011). Pine returned in Carriers (2009); Quinto in 5 short, video game and TV-series credits before his return to big screens in Margin Call (2011). Star Trek is certified fresh at 94 % with a 8.13/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Star Trek?
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