Star Trek (2009)

To Boldly Go....


The genius of the original series lay in it's ability to play with
issues of the day while fooling you into thinking you were merely
watching a sci-fi adventure. The commentary on race relations,
Vietnam, hippie movement, battle of sexes... all raged with the
relative safety of being in "the final frontier". Star Trek (the
movie) went where other Trek movies never went before - it was
exciting and entertaining but it left me feeling abit, well, yearning
for the zeitgeist of the original program. There was an unmistakable
pop seriousness in the TV series that went beyond mere legend and
parable. I see what you mean in terms of bringing a "Star Wars"
sensibility to the endeavor. This film was wrapped in the kind of
Arthurian, ancient tales and myths of coming of age and understanding
fate and family.... that fit nicely in the Lukas' framework. But
Rodenberry was a cop, not a mere bed-time storyteller. He wanted it
to be more than fable - he wanted you to look out your window, or at
your neighbor, or at the President, or Iraq, or Darfur, or global
warming... and think STAR TREK. I can only imagine him turning in his
grave with a film that celebrates Cowboy sensibility in the post-Bush
era. I also thought there was too much overt tribute to Star Wars -
Scotty's little green friend, the death star, the sword fight, the
escape from the monsters on the cold planet.... Kirk isn't
Skywalker... but having said all this I must confess to thinking it
the best Trek feature - but maybe that says more about the other
efforts than this one...

PS - I don't think Spock looked 137 - I'd say 326.... glad he didnt
have any accidents on the set.