To Boldly Go

We went to see the new Star Trek film last night. We are both big fans of the series and have been awaiting the new film with some anticipation.

I watched the original series with my family when I was growing up. I have clear memories of riding my bike up and down the driveway of our house and then being called in for Star Trek every week. I think it was Thursday nights.

I loved the original and particularly the play between Kirk (William Shatner) Spok (Leonard Nimoy) and Bones (DeForest Kelly) although I think Bones was my favourite. I loved his sense of humour. The shows may have aged somewhat now in terms of effects and story lines but the spin between the crew is still very engaging.

Later on in life, and after it had run once on the TV, my partner introduced me to Star Trek - The Next Generation with the likes of Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner and I soon became addicted to the show.

I occasionally watched Deep Space Nine and Voyager however never really felt they had the same impact as TNG.

-Although I thought the climax of DS9 when Worf kills Gauron was pretty cool, that Klingon had got far too big for his boots!-

I never really got into Enterprise, I was not too sure about Scott Bakula from Quantum Leap as a Captain (too nice) but also I think it was hard for them to come up with new ideas for stories given the three series that had preceded in the 90's.

We have a friend who liked it but he said they had a very nice female interest and concentrated on using her to pull in the viewers. In one episode two members of the crew, the attractive Vulcan included, became infected with a disease. The treatment involved being in quarantine, stripping off and rubbing lotion into each other!

Don't get me wrong, it made me laugh to hear about that, and T'Pol is a very attractive female. And as with 7 of 9 from Voyager there's nothing wrong with a little sexy female interest but the series never really caught my interest.

I do think though that since the original series there has been an attraction to a character that is striving to compute humanity or understand their own. From Spok, to Data, 7 of 9, Worf and even T'Pol.


There has always been one crew member searching for the meaning of their lives. If this character also happens to be very attractive then all the better. (I have always had a soft spot for Data.)

Anyway, obviously I have seen all of the films and was excited about the prospect of this one if not a little apprehensive about the original crew being recreated with new actors. I need not have worried!

The cast were excellent, the film exciting, the story fairly original and the effects awesome. I actually jumped in the film last night at one bit when a terrifying beast was chasing Kirk, it growled at the screen and I jumped...twice! I can't remember the last time that happened, it was such a good beasty, and not even particularly relevant to the main story line.

I would also recommend this film to non Trekkie's, if you like Science Fiction it's a good film to see and does not rely of a nostalgia for the original crew and a desire to see them explore the galaxy once again.

However if you are a fan I think you will be really impressed with the casting and performances.

Star Trek 2009 - 8/10

Image Credits: trekmovie.com/.../
blogs.sj-r.com/brianmackey/index.php/archives/496
www.hyscience.com/.../2006/10/iran_star_trek.php
www.millionaireplayboy.com/mpb/?p=2167
www.spartantailgate.com/forums/msu-red-cedar-...
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