Star Trek (11)

The new Star Trek film is not so much my favorite Star Trek film of all time as it is a goddamn triumph.It's the only one I've seen in the theater three times, the only one I can recall crying in EACH of those times, and deserves to be hailed as a science-fiction achievement if for only two words: alternate universe.Did Star Trek invent the theory of alternate universes? I don't know, but they appear in one form or another in a lot of the series' episodes. Some are more overt, like the famous "Mirror, Mirror" episode, and some are more subtle, seeing characters act, well, out-of-character due to one reason or another. It's been a staple of Star Trek lore but thus far hasn't been approached in film, until now.

In the first ten SECONDS of the film, we get a time-traveling anomaly that changes the Star Trek universe ten minutes later. (I'm not about spoiling, but I will admit that I teared up in the theater ALL THREE TIMES I saw the film during that sequence.) As a result of this ripple, this allows director J.J. Abrams and his team of crack writers to craft a new Star Trek alternate universe where he has license to play with the characters and situations and yet preserve the cannon of the other series and films. The characters (Spock deduces it, naturally) themselves realize this midway through the film, that this original anomaly has changed their time line forever. It's the moment that Star Trek was born for and was finally realized by J.J. Abrams. In one master storytelling stroke, J.J. was able to preserve the past, invigorate the present, and leave the entire future open to new and exciting possibilities. And for THAT, it's a damn triumph.It doesn't hurt that the performances, pace, action, effects, music, and story are also tight. Even the historical winks -- the Kobayashi Maru sequence jumps to mind -- are fun, fan-orgasmic, and not so much interwoven to but also serve to drive the plot. Heck the trailer itself gives me goose-bumps. This is Star Trek for Star Wars fans, something that has danger, crackles, and is bold entertainment from start-to-finish. I kinda liked it.

Star Trek Trailer

It's not your father's Star Trek trailer, and maybe that's a good thing. All I do know is everything J. J. Abrams touches turns to gold, and this preview made me excited to see this film. Buckle up, indeed.

BSG Preview and Star Trek talk

Mania's website scored some pretty interesting stuff today. At least if you are a sci-fi fan. Which, as it happens, I am.
First, it has a neat interview with Simon Pegg, who, aside from talking about Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, talks about getting the upcoming roll as a young Scotty in the reboot of Star Trek:

I had just stepped off a plane and I got an email from J.J. Abrams. It was just one sentence: “Do you want to play Scotty?” I showed it to my wife and she laughed, and we carried on laughing all the way home. Then I called J.J. and said, “Are you serious?” And he said, “Yes.” I said, “Of course I’d like to play Scotty, but is it the right thing to do? Am I tying myself to something which could run and run?” J.J. just said, “Well if the worst thing that happens is that we get to spend three months together every three years and have a great time, what’s the problem?” I thought that was a good argument, so I said yes.

Mania also posts the a review of the Season 4 premiere episode of Battlestar Galactica. The preview is SPOILER-FREE and gives the episode a solid "A" rating, but I'll just quote from the opening paragraph, which does a great job of encapsulating why the series rocks:

The return of Battlestar Galactica is easily one of the most anticipated events this year, and for those that aren’t anticipating, you’re missing out. This series, up to now, is easily the deepest and most complex science fiction series on television in the last 20 years, maybe of all time. The series takes the social and political commentary from the original Star Trek era and does it in even more intelligent ways. This series isn’t simply a morality play tied to current situations and current culture as was common with Star Trek, it deals in shades of gray and examines the struggle to get to an end that’s right without doing wrong to get there. No individual in this series is the hero in the classic Superman sense and no species really has the moral high ground. BSG portrays all of this without beating you over the head. You could literally make this series as thought provoking as you’d want. You can get into the commentary and rethink your beliefs on everything from what it means to be a family to what it means to be a suicide bomber or you can just watch the series for a well acted and directed science fiction drama. That’s what’s made this a near perfect series. There are other top notch series out there such as the good Star Treks and Firefly, but I don’t believe they ever tried so hard to be both fun sci-fi and relevant in the world in which they have been created as Battlestar Galactica has.

Ok, I'll give you one other tantalizing bit from the actual review:

The writing is solid and the final moments ask questions that will make waiting for the next episode physically painful. It just doesn’t get much better than this series and this episode starts the final season off phenomenally. Seven models of Cylon are out there, four more are in hiding, and one will be revealed. This episode is a don’t miss.

I won't. And this time, with my new HD Sci-Fi channel, it will be spectacular.