It Can't Be Contained

Well, its happened: my embarrassment, modesty, and slim hope of remaining cool can no longer stifle the enthusiasm I feel toward the re-boot of Star Trek.

If you haven't seen the new trailer yet, its a must-see here.

Now that you've seen it, you won't mind if I riff a little.

It's a re-boot. Keep that in mind. When I first saw the teaser for this movie a few months ago, there was in an image of the enterprise being built (its on my site somewhere, but the exact location eludes me at the moment :D) and it looks like it's being built in an atmosphere. I was pissed.

"The enterprise is too big to be built on earth and then reach orbit! They specifically said that in the show! Its been that way forever! What about the Utopia Planetia shipyards? Are they just going to ignore that?"

Well, the answer appears to be yes. But I'm OK with it. Because its been made clear that this is a re-boot. Meaning, they are starting over. Loosely based in its origins, this new Star Trek has a new cannon, a new direction, and the potential for an entirely new take on the Trek universe.

A few years ago, I would have been pissed because a re-boot meant that they were stealing an idea and just doing whatever the frack they wanted with it. But then a little show called Battlestar Galactica came out. It was a re-boot, in the best definition of the term. Tenderly cared for by my hero Ronald Moore, it expressed how awesome a re-boot could be. And now that the community has seen what it takes to have a successful re-boot, I don't think JJ will do it wrong. A fan-boy can hope anyway.


A few things I noticed about the new trailer:

1. Kirk jumping out of a sports car that skids off a cliff....why? but adrenaline junky seems to fit his persona.

   'is the rolling necessary?' 'It helps.'

2. Apparently Spock and Kirk had a bit of a rocky start, judging from the shouting and choking we see. An interesting development, I always suspected Spock was a little annoyed at Kirk from time to time
   
3. A new enterprise. Interesting. I'm OK with it. Similar enough to look familiar, but different enough to look new.
4. A goofy Scotty. I know he was being serious in the original series, but something was always hilarious about him. I'm glad they've embraced that humor.

I've heard a lot of other fan-boys trading around the phrase "raped my childhood" when referring to this movie. I disagree with them. While it is well known that I have a harsh view on un-original ideas, a good friend of mine made the point that something, while based in an old idea, can still be original. What we need to do is not view this with the same fondness we reserve for the Trek of our childhood, but instead with the open-minded curiosity that we would approach any new sci-fi, it just happens that some of the things here will look familiar. We should view all the things we recognize as salutes those heroes of our childhood, but not let them get in the way of what this new thing is trying to be: a new Trek.
-Ty

spock pic via startrekmovie.com
enterprise pic via Big Yellow Taxi