So I rented it and took it home to watch: Star Trek 2009, which I had valiantly refused to see when it first came out. The reviews hadn’t been kind: young actors, not much going on. Umpf!
That was a mistake.
To me, the effect was explosive: like going back to some wonderful and long forgotten drug. This was Star Trek, babies.
I had been a fan of the original television show; waited for the weekly episode to come on. I didn’t know anyone else who liked the show at the time, it was something I enjoyed alone, mon jardin secret, as it were. There were jokes about the funny guy with the ears, and the show kept being renewed; that’s all I knew.
I loved the new actors and the re-thinking of the characters was wonderful: Spock is the passionate man while Kirk is reticent and borderline gay; McCoy drinks, and not Scotty; Checkov is a kid and Uhura is a player. And charming Mr Zulu is unsufferable. At last one touches on the truth of these characters, who are now theatrical icons different actors and directors can interpret. The mistake the second generation television series had made was to repeat the formula. It is the characters that are interesting.
And yes, Star Trek is operatic; literally so. The musical score was great and at 2 hours 59 minutes, the fim was way too short. Anyone heard of Wagner, out there in Hollywood?
The one thing that I missed, from the old show, was the feeling of confidence it gave: that the future would find solutions to the problems of the present. Maybe that can no longer be captured...
So that would be my suggestion for more Star Trek: flush out that world. I want to know more about the Vulcans and Romulans, for one. The bad guy was a tragic hero, and Kirk had to bluster his way out. More. More.
That was a mistake.
To me, the effect was explosive: like going back to some wonderful and long forgotten drug. This was Star Trek, babies.
I had been a fan of the original television show; waited for the weekly episode to come on. I didn’t know anyone else who liked the show at the time, it was something I enjoyed alone, mon jardin secret, as it were. There were jokes about the funny guy with the ears, and the show kept being renewed; that’s all I knew.
I loved the new actors and the re-thinking of the characters was wonderful: Spock is the passionate man while Kirk is reticent and borderline gay; McCoy drinks, and not Scotty; Checkov is a kid and Uhura is a player. And charming Mr Zulu is unsufferable. At last one touches on the truth of these characters, who are now theatrical icons different actors and directors can interpret. The mistake the second generation television series had made was to repeat the formula. It is the characters that are interesting.
And yes, Star Trek is operatic; literally so. The musical score was great and at 2 hours 59 minutes, the fim was way too short. Anyone heard of Wagner, out there in Hollywood?
The one thing that I missed, from the old show, was the feeling of confidence it gave: that the future would find solutions to the problems of the present. Maybe that can no longer be captured...
So that would be my suggestion for more Star Trek: flush out that world. I want to know more about the Vulcans and Romulans, for one. The bad guy was a tragic hero, and Kirk had to bluster his way out. More. More.
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