Saw the movie today. Every friend whose seen it has liked it, so my expectation were high, but the movie met them. In fact, I’d go so far as to say it may be the best Star Trek movie. I was never a Star Trek geek, and I never liked any of the series after the original, so take it for what it’s worth.
What was striking about the movie, to me, is that it was primarily about the relationship between Spock and Kirk. Now, of course, that was the central relationship in the original series, but what I mean is the movie was about the relationship, not about saving the world. Oh sure, Spock and Kirk have to save the world (and, er, not a spoiler) and of course they do, but the core of the move is the emotional relationship between the two men, and how they have to learn to both like and respect each other. In particular, Spock has to learn his own weaknesses (something which, I think, needs to be done for Kirk in a sequel).
(Actual spoilers below)
I was amused to see that Spock gets a love interest in this version, in Ahura, and I think it was very well done. I liked all the characters, and think the actors all did a good job. In particular, Kirk was… well, Kirk. That smirk, that sense of cockiness, was there.
I also enjoyed the fight scenes with Kirk. No fancy martial arts, lots of picking people up and throwing them around. Very true to the original series. Also, I don’t believe Kirk won a single one of his fist fights straight up, which was also amusing.
Good film. You’ll get the most of out of it if you have some fondness for the old series, but I’d say it’s a good film in its own right, for all that its almost impossible to judge without seeing it through the lens of the past. Go see it while it’s still in the theatre, if you haven’t already.
CMike
Naming Spock’s love interest was definitely a spoiler. You ought to take it down or post an alert.
Ian Welsh
Where it says (actual spoilers) is where the spoilers start. It was there when you read it, but I’ve bolded and added a jump.
perris
I saw the movie first day and I have to say I was a fanatic for the original series as it broadcast (I believe it was NBC)
the allusions are very nicely done and I especially liked how they told the story of captain pike
I thought McCoy was uncanny, and I loved how we are told his nick name came about, entirely different then we would have imagined but perfectly in character
I loved Scottie, thought he was spot on too
this movie gets 4 stars if you were an original series addict, I have no idea how many stars it gets if you did not grow up on the original franchise
CMike
I guess I just blew through that stop sign without seeing it.
Gtash
I was unable to watch Star Trek in prime time and I always saw it in re-runs during summers on NBC. I did not become a fanatic, but I enjoyed the interplay of the characters. The stories were mediocre, the special effects and sets and costumes were cheesy, but considering the television quality of the time (Man from Uncle, Lost in Space, stuff like that) it was pretty easy to watch. The thing about television though is that you have to stretch out the development of the characters over many episodes–the always arrive in partial form and take a long while to develop. The movie arc is much faster, particularly in a stand-alone feature as this was striving to be. So I agree, as a stand-alone movie, it was very, very good. They made the TV arc of character development across the board in one 90 minute span.
Rick B
I saw the movie last Friday, and I was expecting to enjoy it, but I didn’t expect it to be as good as it was.
I saw it as essentially two movies. One was aimed at those of us who saw the TV series in the late 60’s and 70’s, and it reintroduced us to those characters in greater depth than I think the series did. I’m going to agree that the actors did a really great job of catching the characters, and the writers gave us back story that we never got from seeing the series the first two or three times (which I did after missing the seasons two and three because of overseas duty with the Army.)
The second movie was also quite interesting. It provided the modern special effects and action that modern science fiction movie goers expect. Then it also introduced the characters to the younger set who missed the series when it was new.
I saw it as being simultaneously aimed at two audiences, with an effort to meld them into an on-going audience for sequels. So it was all wrapped in an excellent story that will interest almost anyone. As I said, the acting was excellent.
I’d say the movie accomplished its goals quite well, rather amazingly without running overly long. I am looking forward to the next one.
Now if they could just do a movie based on the short-running TV show from the 60’s “East Side West Side” with George C Scott, I’d have to go see that also. It was too good to last as a TV show, so it was quickly canceled.