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Review: Star Trek (2009)

Duvy — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:47:43 +0000

Film Review – Star Trek (2009) By Todd Murphy BOTTOM LINE: J.J. Abrams has successfully brought “Star Trek” back to life in this ambitious reboot of the classic franchise that simultaneously manages to remind us how great Star Trek is while making some very bold and welcome changes the franchise desperately needed. THE GOOD: As a franchise, “Star Trek” had been languishing in tired old material and looked dead in the water, largely thanks to regurgitated story lines and an unwillingness to take risks. Thankfully, director J.J. Abrams takes all the right risks to inject life in to the franchise, and from a story and execution standpoint, one cannot underestimate how bold and ambitious the risks Abrams has taken with this film. This film is a super-charged version of “Star Trek”; action-packed, big visuals, dramatic story points and great character moments. In essence, this is the first “Star Trek” film that has been afforded the resources to be a big event film, something which has not been attempted since the first 1979 film (which did not take advantage of those resources). The visuals are spectacular, the action is first rate and the world created finely detailed. All of this would be for naught if the characters were not up to scratch and for the most part they are. Chris Pine somehow manages to embody Captain Kirk without being William Shatner. You see the character in him, just as with Zachary Quinto as Spock, although in this case, his physical resemblance is extraordinary. Karl Urban is perhaps the most successful as Dr. McCoy, managing to create some of the great touches that made this character so loveable by the late DeForest Kelley. Leonard Nimoy’s inclusion as the elder Spock was a master-stroke, allowing for a continuation from the old series; the writers cleverly used his character in a scenario that allows this film to serve as both a sequel and a prequel at the same time, thereby avoiding the trap of adhering to the franchise’s continuity (and thus potentially disappointing hardcore fans). The one thing to appreciate the most however is that Abrams was clearly not afraid to allow big and devastating things to occur in the story starting with the destruction of Vulcan and its race, a pinnacle of the original series, at the hands of bad guy Romulan Nero (a very strong Eric Bana). In this story, anything goes, and that is precisely what this franchise needed; a sense of urgency and a lack of knowing what will happen to the fate of the characters and the story. “Star Trek” is finally refreshed and revitalised to boldly go in to the future where no franchise has gone before. THE BAD: Although “Star Trek” is arguably the best film in the series, aside from “Wrath Of Khan”, there are some minor things that did not work through the reboot. First is Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. He truly looks like he is not enjoying the performance he has to give, and for the most part, unlike the original Chekov, this character is annoying and silly. John Cho as Sulu is not particularly distinctive, largely because he is not given much to do apart from a big action scene. The musical score is another point of contention; it seems somewhat clumsy in comparison to the more elegant and classical pieces written for previous films, although the inclusion of the original theme music at the end of the film is welcome. Also, the fast-paced execution and over-use of jerky camera moves can be somewhat exhausting and is clearly geared towards the Gen-Y or teen male markets. Hopefully in future sequels the pace can be toned down at least in some areas to allow for the drama to unfold more organically rather than as an impressive piece of fast editing. For the original review, follow this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/filmreviewstartrek.htm Todd Murphy is a staff reviewer at the film/DVD review web site, http://www.allaboutmovies.net – for all the latest reviews on the newest releases.

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Updated: Trek, Battlestar referenced in sci-fi-themed CSI episode

Duvy — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 22:58:38 +0000

Updated: (Spoilers!) We screened the episode and were surprised to see not only Battlestar Galactica cast member Kate Vernon, but also cameos by a couple of other Battlestar players: Ronald D. Moore and Grace Park. Moore even gets a line in the episode rich with irony to anyone who recalls the initial backlash against the reboot of Battlestar. CBS, part of the corporation that owns the rights to Star Trek, will go where lots of people have gone before with a sci-fi-themed episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on April 16 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, and you can watch a clip here. In the episode, Hodges (Wallace Langham) and Wendy (Liz Vassey) run into each other at a science fiction convention for one of their favorite classic television shows that is not Star Trek and end up investigating the murder of one of their beloved actors. >

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Stars will attend special early Star Trek screening for troops in Kuwait

Duvy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:49:30 +0000

About 440 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will get to see J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait on Saturday, about a month before its May 8 stateside premiere, in a special screening attended by cast members, Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials told the Air Force Times. Stars Chris Pine (Kirk), Zachary Quinto (Spock), Zoe Saldana {Uhura), Eric Bana {Nero), Karl Urban {McCoy) and John Cho (Sulu) will be on hand, as will director Abrams, the paper reported. The filmmakers worked with the local command and exchange service to bring the special screening to the troops, Roy Robertson, AAFES’ vice president of restaurants and hospitality, said in the announcement.

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Faran Tahir breaks barriers as a new starship captain in Star Trek

Duvy — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Faran Tahir, a Pakistani-American actor, has the distinction of playing Captain Robau, the first Federation starship captain of Middle Eastern (well, South Asian) ethnicity to play a major role, in J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek, and he told SCI FI Wire the honor isn’t lost on him. In this, Tahir is the latest in a long line of ethnic actors who have taken on color-blind roles in Trek, which has had a tradition going back to the original series and creator Gene Roddenberry of imagining a future where every person lives up to his or her fullest potential, regardless of race or ethnicity. (Possible spoilers ahead!) >

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Spock on the Fringe

Duvy — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 23:30:56 +0000

Entertainment Weekly reported today that Leonard Nimoy is likely to join the cast of Fringe, the hit Fox television show that returned to the airways last night. Nimoy will play William Bell, a former colleague of William Bishop (John Noble) and the mysterious head of Massive Dynamics, the company that has a yet-to-be-defined role in all of the strange things that have happened. In other words, this sounds like more than just a one-off cameo but a legitimate guest-starring role. If the contract goes through, he will appear in the season finale and will be involved in a story arc in season two. As background, the creator of the show – J.J. Abrams – is also the director of Star Trek, and Nimoy makes an appearance in that movie. Apparently, the guy played a character named Spock off and on for the last few decades. Let me cap this off by saying that Fringe is one of those shows that I look forward to every week. I was… er, on the fringe… when the show first started, but it has developed into an entertaining and intriguing sci-fi thriller with some truly weird things. That being said, it also inspired me to start watching The X-Files from the beginning, and two seasons in, all I can say is that, even 15 years later, The X-Files is a much better show than Fringe. But, I don’t have to choose between the two.

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Understand the Trend of Cosplay Costume in International Market

Duvy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:13:19 +0000

best cosplay ever Understand the Trend of Cosplay Costume in International Market By Dave Page Cosplay costumes are of Japan origin. These costumes are also designed by some of the international counties like USA, UK AND CANADA. These designs are entirely different in appearance and culture of japan. Some of the Cosplay models which are popular in these countries are star trek, science fiction characters like aliens, start wars etc. most of the popular costumes which are popular in Japan like Nazi are not of much use in international market. Though the origin of Cosplay costumes began from Japan, the trend has become popular in western countries. With the introduction of Anime characters Cosplay has spread wide deep into the western culture. There is one issue which is vital while designing anime and manga characters. These characters do not have bodily proportions which can be easily mimicked by Cosplayers. That is they don’t have incredibily long legs, muscles of high power etc. these is one of the important elements that has to be considred by most of the cos players. In Mexico Cosplay is commonly seen in conventions like videogames and science fiction. Cosplayers organize their own re unions in order to make the themes free and also to take the pictures together. Cosplay is competitive in Mexico it is at a healthy level, because of well establishes representatives. In Australia the costumres are selected from sources other than manga and anime. The costumes are mainly selected from American popular video games, fictions fantasy movies, tv shows, novels etc. The source of their interest is from an area which provides good graphic inspiration of a character and which gives importance to its costume. In Australia Cosplay is seen in major popular cities and major regional centers. In Australia the display of costumes is not limited to conventions, but most of the small social grouping exist who conduct local events for Cosplayers. In france Cosplay is a wide spread activity and uses most of the anime and manga conventions. Most of the Cosplayers here choose only manga and anime as ideal for their work. Most of the people like dressing of animations famous singers and TV shows. Un like Japan, French costumes are hand made costumes. They are used only on few occasions. French Cosplayers mainly focus on Cosplay contests. These contests are carried out on various conventions like manga, fantasy role playing and science fiction. Here buying or re using of Cosplay costumes is said to be an unfair act. In Belgium Cosplay costumes have a wide use they use different dressed anime series. Now Cosplay is entering into Philippines where Cosplay events are held in anime, manga gaming and scientific fiction. With the evolving role of Cosplay costumes most of the anime characters of Japan are increasing their role all over the world. With high demand and efficient design strategies Cosplay costumes are serving the needs of many people all over the world. There are many idols of Cosplay which grabbed more attention. All animated movies and graphical movies have gained much popularity in market through Cosplay costumes.

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40 Years of Star Trek

Duvy — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:34:23 +0000

40 Years of Star Trek – Looking At The Past and To the Future By Eoghann Irving The original series of Star Trek (or Star Trek: TOS has fandom has renamed it) launched on NBC on September 8th 1966, that’s 40 years ago this Friday. The show, which ran for a mere three seasons finished its run on June 3rd 1969 and has been in re-runs almost ever since. It’s popularity is such that 40 years after it started CBS are currently working on re-mastered versions of some of the original episodes complete with new CGI for release into syndication again. But Star Trek is a lot more than just a science fiction show that has stood the test of time. It’s more even than the start of a popular franchise. Star Trek represents the entrance of science fiction into popular culture. Star Trek was far from the first sci-fi show on tv and if you trace these things back, there were many pulp serials in the cinema along the lines of Flash Gordon which had some or many sci-fi elements. But Star Trek was different. For one thing it treated the source material with more reverence. I can’t claim that all the science fiction in Star Trek was good (some of it was plain bad), but some of it was very good and much of it was based on established science fiction concepts. The eventual success of Star Trek paved the way for a television landscape where science fiction shows routinely turn up on network tv. Memories of Star Trek Star Trek has never ranked in my personal top 5 of sci-fi shows. Perhaps that’s because I’m from the UK and our own sci-fi shows usually got better tv slots. However I do have some vivid memories from my childhood of watching episodes. Scenes from The Doomsday Machine episode are still burned into my mind 20+ years later. I can claim to have watched episodes of every series of Star Trek, including the entire runs of The Original Series and The Next Generation. It wasn’t until the later shows that my interest in the series really diminished. Perhaps it was the lack of originality, maybe it was just too much too close together, but by the time that Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise arrived on the scene, I rarely tuned in. The Future of Star Trek Now, as the 40th anniversary of Star Trek arrives, there is no Star Trek on tv for the first time in over a decade and no sign of one in the near future. But this certainly isn’t the end for Star Trek. Rumors continue to swirl over the proposed Star Trek XI movie which currently has J. J. Abrams (Lost) attached as a producer. Will this movie trigger a Star Trek revival? Probably not, the movie is heavily rumored to be a prequel of some sort to the original Star Trek series. While this has a lot of potential for drawing in the more casual Trek audience, it doesn’t leave many opportunities to move the franchise in a new direction. For the moment it seems that Trek has written itself into a corner and until someone can come up with a new vision for the franchise it is probably best that it stays off tv. It won’t be gone for ever of that I’m sure. Star Trek has lasted 40 years, it’s not likely to die now. Visit Solar Flare: Science Fiction News for more news, reviews and commentary Eoghann Irving is the webmaster for Solar Flare, the long-running science fiction news blog. A lifelong fan of the sci-fi and fantasy genres, Eoghann writes news, reviews and commentary for all forms of science fiction including tv, books, movies and comic books. Eoghann is always looking for news and information on all things sci-fi. He can be contacted at webmaster@sflare.com.

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