Not your father's Star Trek

[Moviebunny]

I am not surprised by the opening grosses of the new Star Trek film because it promised a new take on the same story. Therein lies the rub. By no means a Trekkie (or Trekker), I do like my Star Trek unadulterated and as close to the original as it can get. I have never, for example, been enthralled with the later incarnations (Voyager, Next Generation). But I did have to go into this one with an open mind, if not an open heart.

And it is the same but different. Time travel is introduced in this new movie which alters the destinies of the characters, as old Spock notes to new Spock.

According to Star Trek Canon (and I am by no means an expert), Jim and Spock are not at the Academy at the same time and do not meet until Jim serves on the Enterprise, where Spock has been an officer for 11 years.

In the new film, Jim's years as an Academy instructor are ignored, and the graduating cadet meets Spock during the Kobayashi Maru test. As we know, Kirk's ability to beat that test remains a mystery until the Wrath of Khan when the test presents itself in real choices.

Personally, I think that Spock's allure was that he was generally unflappable, and when he did flap it usually meant there was serious danger ahead. Also, he appealed to female viewers and characters because of his unattainableness. You might remember that in the very early episodes of the original series, Spock and Ohura clearly flirt--and it is reciprocal. In the second season, as Spock's dual nature is explored, he seems to have a thing for nurse Chapel. Finally, while under the influence of mind-altering spores (season one), Spock is reunited with a woman with whom he clearly had some sort of previous relationship. At the end, returned to his most logical self, Spock remarks that the experience was the only time during which he was completely happy.

The Spock in this new incarnation is more vulnerable, less unflappable, and definitely more attainable. I confess that Spock's duality was always the most interesting aspect for me, so I am willing to accept that a younger Spock is less able to deal with his own duality, even though he was never, and will never be, wholly human or Vulcan. The death of his mother in this version is violent and sudden. The young actor really did a wonderful job of conveying the horror of that moment, expecting, somehow that his mother will magically appear on the transporter.

Again, this is time travel, so this incident and the attendant emotions are bound to reverberate through Spock who was always conflicted about the emotions he felt for his mother. Although the destruction of Vulcan was never part of the original story, this is a new story because time travel has changed events.

Therefore, the older Spock would then have the new memories of his younger self, and would be able to suggest to the new young Kirk that the younger Spock was, at that moment, particularly vulnerable and because of his youth, perhaps, less able to sublimate that pain and shock and more open to the vicious goading that eventually leads to his loss of command.

I have a harder time with the new Kirk, who is more impetuous, more of an unthinking cowboy than the original Kirk, who, if you remember, was a severe taskmaster while an Academy instructor. But again, he's young and unseasoned, which then begs the question, why give him command of the Enterprise?

So I wonder, do I have a mild form of Trek-O-Mania or do other, perhaps more hardcore fans, have the same concerns. I'd love to hear what others think.

[Tommy]

i'm a ST fan, but not so big that i have the entire canon memorized (i save that for the Alien series, which is part of why i hated Alien vs. Predator so much, but i digress.) that said, this movie looks like typical CGI-fest crap. i might see it on DVD eventually, but that's about it.

one interesting thing, and maybe this is just me, is that a lot of the people who have said they enjoyed this also qualify that by saying that they aren't big ST fans.

[Moviebunny]

Well, one does not have to be a big Star Trek fan to enjoy the new movie, and maybe not being a fan is actually helpful.

Look, I realize it's their franchise and if they want to change it they can. The originator is dead, his son has the right to change the story as a means to introducing a new, young, cast and to using it as a means to make money.

But think about this: Leonard Nemoy was in this one, as he has been in most of the others. THAT character, perhaps more than any other, has greater depth and more possibilities than any of the others. And maybe the new guys knew us ancient ones would use our walkers to get to that theater just to see one familiar face. Who knows.

[I'm Not a Turnip]

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

[Moviebunny]

My thoughts exactly, and where were the cheesy sets?

[Phineas T Freakears]

[Ellen]

One of the favorite moments from my time in college was when I took a Folklore of Subcultures class, and a grad student did a presentation on fandom, and brought in his mom, who edited an original, pre-internet fanzine that was distributed at cons. It was alllllll about the slash. I can't describe how great it is to be in a class of undergrads and grad students giving serious academic consideration to Kirk/Spock and why that appeals to a subset of Trek fans.

[Moviebunny]

Good writing, good story telling, terrific characters gets me every time and believe me Star Dreck: The Star Wars Reboot has none of these qualities.

[Phineas T Freakears]