 "Great Movie - Very Original Type Star Trek" | 2009-11-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A17QUC1PYWKWBY |
This movie has an original Star Trek feel to it. Good story. Actors are fantastic. They were very much in character with the originals....impressive.
Didn't care for the Scotty in the water tube scenes. They were silly and out of place.
Loved seeing Leonard Nimoy. Only thing missing is WILLIAM SHANTER!!!! He should have been in this movie...they could have found a way to fit him in. As I see it, a big mistake.
I'm ready for the next one. |
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| "Defied my already considerable expectations" | 2009-11-19 |
| - Reviewed By robertwmoore |
There are a number of ways to praise this film. For instance, while I missed it in the theater I had heard nothing but great things about it and was awaiting the film on Blu-ray with great expectations. Far too often when you look forward to a movie with this kind of enthusiasm you end up getting disappointed. And I have to say that I was very disappointed with the beginning of the film. The whole-birth-of-Kirk-at-the-height-of-a-great-battle thing left me laughing and unhappy. It was, however, the only part of the movie that I disliked. So it is high praise to say that I loved this movie despite expecting to love it.
Here is another way to praise it. Almost all movies that are remakes try to work in former stars in cameos of one sort or another. While it is usually nice to see them, their appearances are almost always throwaways. The use of Leonard Nimoy in this film is hand's down the best I've ever seen of an original cast member in a remake. Without going into details -- I intend this to be a spoiler free review -- Nimoy's role is not a cameo. He in fact has a pretty important role. It was simply wonderful that it wasn't a tacked on appearance or one that was irrelevant to the main course of the film.
Another way to praise it is that I actually preferred it to the original. That may be heresy, but while I always liked the original series, I was never passionately in love with it. Like Orson Scott Card (with whom I almost always agree with in assessing SF TV and movies even while disagreeing passionately with him on politics), I never felt that the original series was actually very good SF. I honestly believe that I prefer everyone of the new ST characters to their original counterparts, with the exception of Spock. Mind you, I don't prefer the new versions hugely, with one exception, but I still thoroughly enjoyed all of them. The one huge exception is Chris Pine as Kirk. For me the original series was seriously crippled by William Shatner and if asked to compile a list of the worst actors that I've ever seen on TV, he would top the list. I'd have to think about who would be #2. Chris Pine was, for me, everything that Shatner was not. He was simultaneously brash and funny, heroic and self-effacing. And his acting decisions were never, well, weird. If you watch the original series and put yourself in Shatner's shoes, some of -- well, make that huge numbers of -- his decisions are utterly perverse. No once watching Pine, however, did I wonder about his decisions. He brought charisma to a role that for me Shatner brought only strangeness.
Clearly J. J. Abrams has to receive major kudos for the success of the film. Working with a script by his fellow FRINGE executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, he produced a movie that put to shame most other films based on prior TV series. He managed to reintroduce all of the familiar characters, but in ways that not only did not slow down the story but actually advanced the narrative. I've had enormous respect for J. J. Abrams over the years. I have a theory that he describes a crucial line between intelligence and popular appeal on TV. Below the line and you get increasingly less intelligent TV producers. Above the line and you get smart but niche television. Not that many people are above the line, but the ones who do produce absolutely brilliant TV series that have serious trouble attracting viewers. Joss Whedon, Ronald D. Moore, Bryan Fuller, and Matthew Weiner are among this smaller group of producers. Their work is passionately loved by TV critics, college students and professors, other TV writers and producers, and academic writers, but their shows are not watched by large numbers of viewers. Still, it isn't like Abrams makes TV for dummies, and I've loved many aspects of his TV series. After Joss Whedon, Abrams may have done more for heroic females on TV than anyone else. And while at his best he may not cause your jaw to drop down to your ankles like Whedon or Ronald Moore can, he still can be surprising and exciting. STAR TREK is very close to Abrams best work and I very much hope that we will see a follow up to this first film sooner rather than later.
One of the things that I do enjoy about a J. J. Abrams production is that he love to bring back people he has worked with before. Not just Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, but Rachel Nichols, who was superb in the final season of ALIAS (and who had a great love scene with Kirk in this one) and Amanda Foreman, who was in both FELICITY and ALIAS. And of course, Greg Grunberg manages to find his way into all of Abrams's productions sooner or later (though not yet in FRINGE, as far as I know). Here he only manages to provide the voice of Kirk's step-father, but it is the kind of cameo that works well. |
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| "To Boldly Go..." | 2009-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1XG9BFEWCGLBG |
I'll say it up front... If you're the kind of Star Trek fan who treats the series as something akin to a religion more so than as a work of fiction designed for entertainment... obsessing over "canon"... believing that Kirk/Spock/etc. can only ever be Shatner/Nimoy/etc.... believing that Star Trek can only ever be what we saw in 5 live action tv shows, 1 cartoon, 10 movies, and countless novels/comic books... and other such trivial nonsense... then this movie is not for you.
If, however, you are looking for a youthful, exciting, funny, fast paced (by 2009 standards) approach to what "Star Trek" could be, then I can not recommend this Blu-Ray any more highly.
J.J. Abrams, with the writing team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, has taken "Star Trek"... largely thought to be dead following the box-office failure of 2002's "Star Trek Nemesis", and the cancellation of "Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005... and revived it beautifully. They have given us a movie which is epic in scope, but also very personal and extraordinarily stirring emotionally. I've seen the film 9 times so far, and every time, there are certain scenes which never fail to bring tears to my eyes (something which almost never happens for me with movies. Let alone, ones released as summer blockbusters).
The casting in the movie is as close to perfection as I could possibly imagine. All of the iconic classic "Star Trek" characters are instantly recognizable both in looks and personality, without the actors being slaves to the performances given by Shatner/Nimoy/etc. over 40 years ago. The standouts for me being Chris Pine as a troubled, undisciplined younger version of James T. Kirk. As the movie progresses, we see the sparks of the captain we all know he can be; Zachary Quinto as a Spock who, under the extraordinary circumstances that happen in this movie, must face his emotional/Human side in a way never experienced by the original; Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. His performance just nails it perfectly every time he's on screen.; and Bruce Greenwood as Captain Christopher Pike, the mentor/father figure this Kirk never had in his youth.
As for the Blu-Ray, I imported the film from France where it came out on the 27th of October. I can tell you right now, this is easily one of the best looking/sounding Blu-Rays in my entire collection. The image quality is flawless. There is great depth, often giving an almost- 3-D quality to it. Colors are very rich. Fine detail is fantastic.
I don't have an elaborate surround setup, but even on what I do have, the audio is amazing. Dialogue comes through crystal clear, even over all the sound effects. On the Blu-Ray, I could even hear various background chatter that was drowned out by the audio setup at the theater I'd seen it in previously.
The bonus features disc is also excellent. The makers of this title have covered just about everything you could possibly want to know about this movie. There are several hours of goodies, chronicling everything from deleted scenes/bloopers, to the ships/aliens/props, the making of the film. The list goes on and on.
In the end, unless you are the type of fan I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I very strongly recommend picking this up. Easily one of the best Blu-Rays of 2009 of one of the best movies of 2009.
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| "Star Trek-Fantastic" | 2009-11-11 |
| - Reviewed By kyrielan |
If it wasn't for Star Trek I wouldn't have met my late husband. We met in a Star Trek chat room on AOL, fell in love and the rest is history (we were together for 13 years).
From the moment he heard there was a new Star Trek movie coming out with the original characters, he was like a kid in a candy store. Every week he would ask when is it coming and every day he was surfing the internet looking for news.
Sad to say he didn't live to see what he so anxiously waited for. When the movie opened at our theater I took off work early to catch it on IMAX. I even wore his favorite Star Trek shirt with the saying, "If you're wearing a red shirt, RUN!!!!". I cried through most of the movie (thinking about hubby). The movie was fantastic and JJ did a great job of portraying the characters and the actors fit their parts well. Chris Pine plays Kirk as if he was born to the role, and Zachary Quinto was awesome as the younger Spock. The rest of the cast was excellent as well and Scotty was too funny for words. I thought it was brilliant that the character of Sulu got to use his fencing abilities, because we didn't really get to see much in the original series. Seeing Leonard Nimoy as the older Spock made it even better, since he is my favorite character.
However, there is one thing that my husband would not have liked and that was a certain relationship between two of the main characters. But I thought it was interesting and well played.
If you haven't seen it yet, I won't spoil anything, but if you are a true Star Trek fan or even if you aren't this will be a great addition to your home movie library.
Enjoy and have a great time. |
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| "Star Trek" | 2009-11-04 |
| - Reviewed By skc087 |
| One of the best films of 2009. I went into it with no knowledge of any Star Trek history and loved it. I think if you like a good story, good dialogue, good action, and great characters this is the film for you. It also has one of the best ensemble cast I have ever seen. I would recommend watching it in theaters or at least on a big screen. |
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 "I've seen the Blu Ray...Ok but not great" | 2009-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: AXGKG58LEQOMY |
The Blu Ray is released Nov 17th. So how am I writing this review on Oct 30th? Well...for some reason Australia's been getting Star Trek Blu Ray releases well ahead of US dates. We got the Original 6 movie Blu Ray set several weeks before the US release and here we are at nearly 3 weeks ahead of the US with the new Star Trek Movie.
And you're wondering...how is it?
Not bad...But did it knock my socks off? Nope...not really...no. Should you buy it? YES!
What's the problem?
Muted colors. The film has a kind of browny, sandy washed out look to it. If I remember correctly, in the cinema the film looked more stunning. The bridge of the enterprise had a clean glassy and super colorful look to it. On Blu Ray, The reds, yellows and blues of the uniforms don't have the same striking color - they look dull and washed out. Skin tones are more grey and brown here with a hint of blue. Disappointing
The Blu Ray lacks that visual pop of the better recent releases. Think the intro sequence for Watchmen (stylised but stunning). This image is kind of soft and inconsistent. Some scenes are sharper, others flatter and softer. The space battle scenes should look a heck of a lot better. Given the kinetic energy of the movie, especially in combat, the detail can tend to get lost in the softness. You'll know there's a problem in the opening scenes with George Kirk with all the worst quaities I describe here.
Lot of people here commented on the lousy image quality of the original 6 movies on Blu Ray. In my book, at least the original Star Trek the motion picture on blu ray looks better than this.
Also, this film wins the award, hands down for the most overuse of lens flair...ever. If you don't believe me, check it out when you get it. You'll count at least 75% of the shots with some excessive flare glare on the screen. This is a major distration. Lens flare drowns out detail, overblows contrast frequently, etc etc. Related to this, the film also shows the worst elements of the anamorphic film process (drifting focus, exacerbated by those damned lens flares!!). JJ here's a tip. Please find yourself a new cinematographer!
Ok that's it for the rant. Let's get onto the good stuff.
This movie sounds damn good. Here's the thing - there's less surround whiz bang than you would expect but the sound mix is very good and highly effective. Dialogue is exceptionally clear. You can watch this move at a low level and still enjoy the dynamic range and hear every word of what is said. Important for us with a little baby at home. :) The music mix is subtle and smooth, and striking when it needs to be. Crank it up and you've got a great action movie soundtrack.
Despite what I said above the picture is not bad. There's no edge enhancement, there's no compression artifacts, there's no excessive grain and I have not noticed any noise reduction (or at least no excessive DNR). As a result there's no static grain pattern that I noticed. Shadow detail looks good, without excessive black crush. In summary apart from those damn lens flares (sorry last reference) it's watchable.
So should you buy it? Absolutely but please don't expect fireworks on the picture front and it will do the job. Besides, whatever issues there are with the picture, the DVD would be worse and it's not like you want to wait a few years for this be re-released again. I'm sure Paramount knows this. Whether this disc is an outstanding or an ok transfer, it will sell by the truckload.
Oh, and by the way the movie is really good. But you already knew that from the other reviews...
Enjoy
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