Star Trek
In a word, awesome.
Really, it was very, very well-done. Neil and I both enjoyed it. That said, there were some "Huh?" moments, along with some "WTF?!?" moments, as well as a LOT of "Oooooooh!" moments.
The first thing to remember is that the entire thing is set in a parallel dimension, starting with the death of George Kirk (Jim's papa) and going forward from that. It's certainly not canon as long-time fans of the show will remember it.
I did not think much of the bleached-blond child actor they had playing a young Kirk. Also, I was under the impression that Kirk, while a thrill-seeker, was also rather studious. Kirk's best friend referred to him in the Academy as a "stack of books with legs." Still, the scene with the classic Corvette was amusing (pity about the car, though).
I had always been under the impression that Spock was actually a good deal older than most of the rest of the crew, seeing as how Vulcans age much more slowly than humans do. I missed Number One, from "The Cage." (Perhaps she had already been assigned elsewhere?) Also, I was under the impression from various sources (such as The Making of Star Trek) that crewmembers like Uhura and Sulu were some 8-10 years younger than Kirk, who first took command of the Enterprise at age 34 (OS canon cites him as being rather of a prodigy and the youngest person to command a heavy cruiser). Dr. McCoy was in his forties, and Scott was actually supposed to be a bit older than Kirk, too - almost McCoy's contemporary. As was mentioned in The Making of Star Trek, McCoy and Scott were actually quite close and something along the lines of drinking buddies. Ensign Chekov, of course, was the new kid on the block at 22 and not introduced until the first year of the five year mission had been completed (unless, of course, one believes that he was on the ship, just not on the bridge, which explains how Khan got to meet him and thus, remember him).
So, Alternate Universe. Parallel Dimension. Okay. Scratch all of the above. Rewrite.
With that in mind, I liked most of the characterisations. Karl Urban shone as Dr. McCoy. (He also would have, due to physical appearance alone, made an excellent Gary Mitchell.) Zoë Saldana was smoking hot as Uhura. Yee-OWW! (By the way, has anyone seen recent photos of Nichelle Nichols? She's just as lovely as the day she stepped onto the set back in 1966.) Ms. Saldana also did a fine job of conveying Uhura's intelligence, wit and ability to deal with nonsense. Her performance was outstanding. Chris Pine's portrayal of Jim Kirk was pretty good, although I do tend to think that they emphasised the "dumb jock" part of the portrayal, and Kirk - whether you love him or hate him - was anything but dumb. I was impressed by Anton Yelchin's portrayal of Chekov (yes, he really DID seem that wet behind the ears in the original series). Zachary Quinto was quite good as Spock. He must have studied "The Cage," because he caught that excitable edge that Nimoy played during the first pilot. John Cho also shone as Sulu, and of course, they worked in fencing. He was superb. Simon Pegg was a very good Scotty, though I sincerely doubt that Starfleet with stick a genius engineer like Scott on an outpost like Delta Vega, no matter what crazy ideas he suggests.
(Oh, just one comment here about how variable interstellar distances seem to be. In the episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Delta Vega was darned near the edge of the galaxy, which was why it was such a good place to strand Gary Mitchell after he went totally bat-shit. I was under the impression that they were not nearly that far out, and the pod in which Kirk was ejected was a short-range conveyance...I'm just sayin' here.)
Well, it was just...good. And I can hardly wait to see what comes next. Of course, I shall have to keep pinching myself and saying, "Parallel dimension, Elaine."
Hailing frequencies closed (for now.)
Namarië
Really, it was very, very well-done. Neil and I both enjoyed it. That said, there were some "Huh?" moments, along with some "WTF?!?" moments, as well as a LOT of "Oooooooh!" moments.
The first thing to remember is that the entire thing is set in a parallel dimension, starting with the death of George Kirk (Jim's papa) and going forward from that. It's certainly not canon as long-time fans of the show will remember it.
I did not think much of the bleached-blond child actor they had playing a young Kirk. Also, I was under the impression that Kirk, while a thrill-seeker, was also rather studious. Kirk's best friend referred to him in the Academy as a "stack of books with legs." Still, the scene with the classic Corvette was amusing (pity about the car, though).
I had always been under the impression that Spock was actually a good deal older than most of the rest of the crew, seeing as how Vulcans age much more slowly than humans do. I missed Number One, from "The Cage." (Perhaps she had already been assigned elsewhere?) Also, I was under the impression from various sources (such as The Making of Star Trek) that crewmembers like Uhura and Sulu were some 8-10 years younger than Kirk, who first took command of the Enterprise at age 34 (OS canon cites him as being rather of a prodigy and the youngest person to command a heavy cruiser). Dr. McCoy was in his forties, and Scott was actually supposed to be a bit older than Kirk, too - almost McCoy's contemporary. As was mentioned in The Making of Star Trek, McCoy and Scott were actually quite close and something along the lines of drinking buddies. Ensign Chekov, of course, was the new kid on the block at 22 and not introduced until the first year of the five year mission had been completed (unless, of course, one believes that he was on the ship, just not on the bridge, which explains how Khan got to meet him and thus, remember him).
So, Alternate Universe. Parallel Dimension. Okay. Scratch all of the above. Rewrite.
With that in mind, I liked most of the characterisations. Karl Urban shone as Dr. McCoy. (He also would have, due to physical appearance alone, made an excellent Gary Mitchell.) Zoë Saldana was smoking hot as Uhura. Yee-OWW! (By the way, has anyone seen recent photos of Nichelle Nichols? She's just as lovely as the day she stepped onto the set back in 1966.) Ms. Saldana also did a fine job of conveying Uhura's intelligence, wit and ability to deal with nonsense. Her performance was outstanding. Chris Pine's portrayal of Jim Kirk was pretty good, although I do tend to think that they emphasised the "dumb jock" part of the portrayal, and Kirk - whether you love him or hate him - was anything but dumb. I was impressed by Anton Yelchin's portrayal of Chekov (yes, he really DID seem that wet behind the ears in the original series). Zachary Quinto was quite good as Spock. He must have studied "The Cage," because he caught that excitable edge that Nimoy played during the first pilot. John Cho also shone as Sulu, and of course, they worked in fencing. He was superb. Simon Pegg was a very good Scotty, though I sincerely doubt that Starfleet with stick a genius engineer like Scott on an outpost like Delta Vega, no matter what crazy ideas he suggests.
(Oh, just one comment here about how variable interstellar distances seem to be. In the episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Delta Vega was darned near the edge of the galaxy, which was why it was such a good place to strand Gary Mitchell after he went totally bat-shit. I was under the impression that they were not nearly that far out, and the pod in which Kirk was ejected was a short-range conveyance...I'm just sayin' here.)
Well, it was just...good. And I can hardly wait to see what comes next. Of course, I shall have to keep pinching myself and saying, "Parallel dimension, Elaine."
Hailing frequencies closed (for now.)
Namarië