Hey, just so you know ... this post is now about 2 years and 11 months old so it very well may contain broken links and/or outdated information. Please keep that in mind as I can't be held responsible for out-of-date content!We wrapped up work a bit early today (Memorial Day) so I decided to walk over to Times Square and catch the new Star Trek movie. I’m a fan of the original series and I have to say I was skeptical of what this “90210″ version of Star Trek was going to be like.
Well, I really enjoyed it. You can’t have a good Trek movie without lots of space battles, explosions on the bridge, and some sort of time travel. Luckily, this movie has all of that and more. Some random thoughts (warning, possible spoilers ahead):
- nice opening sequence! off to a good start …
- Vulcan bullies? Bullying doesn’t seem logical.
- why don’t Romulans ever look consistent in any of the movies or shows?
- love the look of the Enterprise: classic and yet updated and modern
- the audience is cheering and applauding at every classic line
- umm, Spock and Uhura … WTF?
- Spock’s Sylar moment
And some final, longer, thoughts.
On the matter of red matter: anyone who was a fan of JJ Abram’s “Alias” television series must have about choked on their popcorn like I did when Nero’s red matter turned out to be nothing other than a Mueller device! At that point I just about expected Sydney Bristow to show up (dressed as a Romulan agent of course) and start kicking ass. Maybe the smoke monster from “Lost” should have had a cameo as well! 
As for the reboot: I haven’t read a lot about this (and I don’t want to put in any blatant spoilers) but it seems clear to me that this is a reboot of the franchise and obviously the vehicle for more sequels to come. The methods they used to achieve this will probably anger or alienate some classic Trek fans, but I think it was a neat way to do it. It probably helps that I already went through this kind of anxiety with Ronald D. Moore’s re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. I loved the original series as a kid and really hated the pilot movie for the new series when it aired in 2003. The Cylons look like humans? Special effects cop-out! Starbuck and Boomer are girls!? I don’t think so. I almost didn’t watch the series at all (in fact, I was right here in New York, on a similar business trip when I watched the first three episodes on my laptop because I had nothing else to do!). I’m glad I did, though, because it turned out to be a fantastic, gripping show (well, except for the end). I can see the same thing happening to this new series of Trek movies. And as long as they’re still fun and exciting, I’ll keep going to see them … the even-numbered ones, anyway. 
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I had an conversation with a colleague over lunch about the rebooting of the franchise. His take was that the scene with young James driving the Mustang over the cliff was the key metaphor. The 60s-era muscle car represents the old, original series. The vehicle itself is being jettisoned (i.e., the car goes over the cliff) but the characters are being preserved (Kirk escapes from the car before it goes over). Interesting way to think about it.