Call number
DVD-DRAMA 417
Collection
Publication
Paramount (2009)
Description
On the day of James Kirk's birth, his father dies on his ship in a last stand against a mysterious alien vessel. He was searching for Ambassador Spock, who is a child on Vulcan, disdained by his neighbors for his half-human nature. Twenty years later, Kirk has grown into a young troublemaker. He is inspired by Capt. Christopher Pike to fulfill his potential in Starfleet, even though he annoys his instructors. Suddenly, there is an emergency on Vulcan when the Romulan Nero comes from the future to take revenge on the Federation. The newly commissioned USS Enterprise is crewed with promising cadets like Uhura, Sulu, Chekov and even Kirk himself thanks to Leonard McCoy's medical trickery. Together, this crew will travel to the final frontier where the old legend is altered forever.… (more)
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
I'm a fan of Trek's Original Series; Captain Kirk was my first crush at about ten years old. When I got into a very scary school, I looked for the fandom on the net like clutching a teddy bear. All of which is to say, yes, I probably did go in with the biases of one who is attached to the original,
Spoilers Ahead
I'm picky about my Kirks, but I actually did love Chris Pine in the role. If I have a complaint, it's that this Kirk wasn't invested with the intellect of the original. The Kirk in episodes like The Corbomite Manuever and the film Wrath of Khan didn't just fight his way out of tough spots--he thought his way out of them (Although I loved Pike flat-out called Kirk a genius). I felt as times as if film was packed with just too much action. This film did have some laugh-out-loud moments but rarely tugged at my heart.
The premise also drove me nuts. For a cadet who hasn't even graduated from the academy to not only assume command of a starship after relieving the commanding officer but to be assigned its command after his taking part in a first successful mission--the mind boggles. What was wrong with setting the story with Kirk at least as a young lieutenant assuming command after Pike is out of action? What bothers me about the scenario is not how it plays with canon (they had a neat way of getting around canon since events supposedly created an alternate universe). What bothers me is the way it does away with common sense. The Enterprise gets passed around like a toy. Hell, at one point they have a 17-year old Ensign Chekov assuming command--and then abandoning it to play transporter officer. Remember--in navy terms Chekov as an ensign was senior to Kirk, a mere cadet.
It's not that this film wasn't fun. Because it really was. I loved the look of the Enterprise, which looks more like a spaceship/military seagoing ship than the cruise ship of the TV series. There were a wealth of allusions to canon for fans to have fun catching. Did I mention action, action, action? The breakneck pace? The characters of Scotty and "Bones" McCoy were a lot of fun, and Sulu had a great moment. I liked seeing McCoy's friendship with Kirk. I enjoyed the way they handled Spock--both Spocks (Leonard Nimoy is in the film as a future Spock who travels to this timeline/alternate universe.) I liked the running joke about Uhura's first name, given she was never given one in canon (I could have wished that as the only female character in view she could have been allowed to kick ass and be more than the mini-skirted hottie Kirk hits on and Spock snogs--apparently starting while she was still Spock's student. But, hey, at least she never says, "I'm frightened, Captain.") I thought all the familiar characters were treated with respect and affection, and that the entire cast was wonderful.
Spoilers End
But you know, this film grew on me with each reviewing. Overall, a great job with characters I love, and I can't wait for the next film!
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with low tolerance for them mucking with canon. From what I'd heard about the producer, JJ Adams, who revealed himself to be no fan, I had rather low expectations--which probably helped my enjoyment. Bottom line. A fun summer popcorn movie which I think fans and non-fans will enjoy, even if I found and some things eye-rolling:Spoilers Ahead
I'm picky about my Kirks, but I actually did love Chris Pine in the role. If I have a complaint, it's that this Kirk wasn't invested with the intellect of the original. The Kirk in episodes like The Corbomite Manuever and the film Wrath of Khan didn't just fight his way out of tough spots--he thought his way out of them (Although I loved Pike flat-out called Kirk a genius). I felt as times as if film was packed with just too much action. This film did have some laugh-out-loud moments but rarely tugged at my heart.
The premise also drove me nuts. For a cadet who hasn't even graduated from the academy to not only assume command of a starship after relieving the commanding officer but to be assigned its command after his taking part in a first successful mission--the mind boggles. What was wrong with setting the story with Kirk at least as a young lieutenant assuming command after Pike is out of action? What bothers me about the scenario is not how it plays with canon (they had a neat way of getting around canon since events supposedly created an alternate universe). What bothers me is the way it does away with common sense. The Enterprise gets passed around like a toy. Hell, at one point they have a 17-year old Ensign Chekov assuming command--and then abandoning it to play transporter officer. Remember--in navy terms Chekov as an ensign was senior to Kirk, a mere cadet.
It's not that this film wasn't fun. Because it really was. I loved the look of the Enterprise, which looks more like a spaceship/military seagoing ship than the cruise ship of the TV series. There were a wealth of allusions to canon for fans to have fun catching. Did I mention action, action, action? The breakneck pace? The characters of Scotty and "Bones" McCoy were a lot of fun, and Sulu had a great moment. I liked seeing McCoy's friendship with Kirk. I enjoyed the way they handled Spock--both Spocks (Leonard Nimoy is in the film as a future Spock who travels to this timeline/alternate universe.) I liked the running joke about Uhura's first name, given she was never given one in canon (I could have wished that as the only female character in view she could have been allowed to kick ass and be more than the mini-skirted hottie Kirk hits on and Spock snogs--apparently starting while she was still Spock's student. But, hey, at least she never says, "I'm frightened, Captain.") I thought all the familiar characters were treated with respect and affection, and that the entire cast was wonderful.
Spoilers End
But you know, this film grew on me with each reviewing. Overall, a great job with characters I love, and I can't wait for the next film!
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LibraryThing member comfypants
A time-traveling Romulan has a vendetta against Spock.
Fun and fast paced. There’s some nice comic relief, and loads of geek-pleasing moments. The action scenes are a mess. The plot isn’t very interesting, mostly just getting the characters re-introduced – which is fun for a fan, since it’s
Concept: A
Story: F
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: F
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: B
GPA: 2.8/4
Fun and fast paced. There’s some nice comic relief, and loads of geek-pleasing moments. The action scenes are a mess. The plot isn’t very interesting, mostly just getting the characters re-introduced – which is fun for a fan, since it’s
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extremely well cast (especially Karl Urban’s Bones) and the characters and dialog are well-written – but there’s still not much plot. It’s not a science fiction movie, and it’s not a submarine movie like previous good action versions of Star Trek have been. In place of those elements, there’s standard loud, fast-moving-camera, dumb action. They’ve got the characters down right; now they just need to put them in a movie.Concept: A
Story: F
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: F
Special effects/design: C
Acting: B
Music: A
Enjoyment: B
GPA: 2.8/4
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LibraryThing member unclebob53703
As a fan of the original series when I was in High School, I wasn't sure I even wanted to like this, but was won over right off the bat. The entire franchise makes rather too much use of time travel, but here it's a master stroke--two events happen in the film that are drastically different that
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the original Star Trek timeline, and they alter everything, including the way classic characters behave. Thus we have the familiar characters and Trek universe developing and unfolding in both familiar and unfamiliar ways. There are plenty of bits to cheer old fans, such as when McCoy says his ex-wife took everything but his "Bones," or the first time he utters, "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?" And the scene where Enterprise comes roaring on the attack is awesome because we've never really seen the likes of it in Star Trek. Beautifully cast, well written and acted, and J.J. Abrams affection for the whole thing is apparent. The fact that he's now working on Star Wars is a cause for celebration among fans everywhere. Show Less
LibraryThing member MrsLee
This is so exciting for me! I grew up with the original Star Trek show, watching every week, worrying about what they would get into next. This new crew does a wonderful job of reinterpreting the original one. Love it, love it, love it!
LibraryThing member MoonLibrary
This was a pretty good Star Wars movie! Like, it wasn't Rise of Skywalker good, but it was probably about on par with Rogue One! That part at the beginning with the boy beating another boy bloody was kinda disturbing, though? And then he like became one of the protagonists? That was a bit
He also talks about "logic" a lot so maybe he's written this way to be a dig at Reddit or something? You know, those guys (and it's ALWAYS guys) who insist that they're guided by logic and accuse everyone else of having "feels" but they're just honestly the angstiest, most emotionally-fragile mfers ever.
Not that the other protagonist is any better. Worse, actually. He's basically every bad stereotype about frat boys. I love a good horny protagonist as much as the next enby, but wow he was super rapey and just… unsubtle. He was also a pretty huge himbo, though, so at least there's that I guess.
They were really heavy-handed about that whole alternate timeline thing? Idk. Felt weird. And they spend a lot of time on the ship!! I thought that was kind of weird in a Star Wars movie, but everything else felt very Star Warsy so that's alright. Like, that engineer guy had a little alien dude sidekick and he didn't do or say anything, but the movie sure made sure you noticed him anyway. And the bad guy's entire plan is just… imma blow up planets!!
It was kinda weird how the one protagonist threw the other one off the ship for insubordination!! Is that how discipline works ordinarily in this universe? It was pretty funny how Kirk ended up on the same part of the same planet as that other super important character, though. classic Star Wars right there.
I can't wait to see how the sequel expands upon this pretty serviceable opening act and definitely doesn't just repeat the exact same conflicts as this one but dumber and less good. Also I'm sure these characters will grow on me eventually, right?
I mean, it is a Star Wars movie after all.
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distracting. Like, the dude clearly has some serious anger issues, which honestly kinda continue throughout the rest of the movie. I think we're supposed to like him but I kinda just don't get it.He also talks about "logic" a lot so maybe he's written this way to be a dig at Reddit or something? You know, those guys (and it's ALWAYS guys) who insist that they're guided by logic and accuse everyone else of having "feels" but they're just honestly the angstiest, most emotionally-fragile mfers ever.
Not that the other protagonist is any better. Worse, actually. He's basically every bad stereotype about frat boys. I love a good horny protagonist as much as the next enby, but wow he was super rapey and just… unsubtle. He was also a pretty huge himbo, though, so at least there's that I guess.
They were really heavy-handed about that whole alternate timeline thing? Idk. Felt weird. And they spend a lot of time on the ship!! I thought that was kind of weird in a Star Wars movie, but everything else felt very Star Warsy so that's alright. Like, that engineer guy had a little alien dude sidekick and he didn't do or say anything, but the movie sure made sure you noticed him anyway. And the bad guy's entire plan is just… imma blow up planets!!
It was kinda weird how the one protagonist threw the other one off the ship for insubordination!! Is that how discipline works ordinarily in this universe? It was pretty funny how Kirk ended up on the same part of the same planet as that other super important character, though. classic Star Wars right there.
I can't wait to see how the sequel expands upon this pretty serviceable opening act and definitely doesn't just repeat the exact same conflicts as this one but dumber and less good. Also I'm sure these characters will grow on me eventually, right?
I mean, it is a Star Wars movie after all.
Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — 2010)
Critics' Choice Movie Awards (Nominee — 2009)
UPC
097363485049