Editorial: Star Trek Trailer Description and Thoughts!

By Kevin Coll • November 15, 2008 • 4 Comments

What more could you ask for, an almost topless Uhura, hover bikes and messed up looking Romulan, right? Well I just got done seeing Quantum of Solace, which was solid but different [I'll get to that later].

So with much anticipation I was curious about this Star Trek trailer, which at 6:45 on Friday evening central time, still had not shown up anywhere on the internet, and as of now when I am writing this, still nothing [kudos to JJ and crew for keeping that tight].

Trailer Description

So without further ado I give you my thoughts kindly mixed in with some description from myself and other descriptions I have read from AICN [I didn't have a piece of paper and the memory isn't as good so I wanted to make sure some things were right].

The trailer opens up with no MPAA Green Screen, nor does it show any studio logos.

We see an old red Corvette blasting down a desert road, for a minute I thought we were watching Bond, then this chase turned into a Thelma and Louise moment with the car headed straight for a cliff and a young blonde boy jumps out holding onto the cliff – with the car falling to its impending demise.

Logos pop on-screen with Paramount and Bad Robot. We see this young blonde boy stand up and he is staring at a cop who is riding a hover-bike.

The cop asks:

“Who are you? What’s Your Name?” The boy answers “James Tiberius Kirk!

The trailer then cuts to a young Kirk years later, as a young man (Chris Pine) riding a hover bike, then we hear a voice over say (definitely Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike):

“You always had a hard time finding your place in this world? you never really fit in. What you choose to do with you’re life is up to you…” [quote is not exact]

Cut to: Kirk stares at a huge futuristic structure, [Star Fleet headquarters]

Maybe you were meant for something different, something… bigger.”

Then we get quick images of Spock as a kid we hear a voice over of a man saying [Savak probably],

“You will always be a part of two worlds…which path will you choose”

Cut to: a toddler Spock walking in a Vulcan robe. The boy has the Beatles hair cut and pointed ears we associate with Vulcan’s throughout Star Trek history. We then see a bunch a quick shots of the crew walking around the bridge of some starship and we see a 20-something Spock angrily pointing at a 20-something Kirk and saying, [Source: AICN]

“I will not allow you to lecture me” and an angry Kirk getting in Spocks face saying, “Why don’t you stop me?!”

We then see an enraged Spock lunge at Kirk. It was a quick shot and Kirk is shown using both hands to fend off Spock. [I think that is in the picture we see released from Paramount]. [Source: AICN]

Several quick cuts are shown of space ships firing at one another and people being thrown about the bridge of a ship [and this is the best part of the trailer - the special effects].

We see crew members running down white hallways and this is where we then get to the parts of the trailer that made my eyebrows raise [Vulcan Style]. I liked the little quip from Simon Pegg as Scotty as a voice over and then a quick cut with Pegg’s Scottish accent saying,

“I like this ship…”

We then see a close-up of what had to be Dr. McCoy with black stubble on his face and his arms crossed in that Bones style saying,

“Space isn’t suppose to be fun…”

but this is where I got a little vexed [and not in the way you are thinking] there is some sex or sexiness thrown in as an appeal to the MTV generation [damn-it! JJ] – worse off its Ulhura.

We then see a bunch of battle shots of space ships being hit by phaser fire and pieces being blown off of them while engine parts explode before it all ends with the Star Fleet logo and we hear the traditional Star Trek chords and then we see the release date appear underneath.

Then we cut to Eric Bana as the villain Nero where he says something I truly can’t remember but it was not really memorable – something like:

“The wait is over”

Thoughts

For starters, Adam wanted to leave 3 seconds into the trailer and on top of not liking QoS, I suggest JJ Abrams never run into Adam, EVER!

So that is where I begin to summarize my counterparts feelings [hopefully accurately] before I divulge my own.

Adam, all week was telling me that he was really hoping that this new trailer would calm his feelings about getting a “fresh” take on the beloved franchise that would sacrifice some core “Trek” themes in the name of good ole Hollywood cash flow.

Well I think this trailer actually made those sentiments worse. You see, Adam, and a lot of other Trek fans believe that the film looks very impressive with cutting edge visual effects and eye-popping color…but does it seem like the same taste factor of TOS? Their answer would be, NO! Its production design combined with more modern film-making techniques that seem to make the film a bit odd to them. Sorry, but that is a problem for Adam and others.

The Cast also to them feels more like Star Trek: One Tree Hill rather than that of the TOS, again another problem.

“Yo! Bones, I was totally gonna tap that!” [fake line but you see where I am going].

Lastly, they [Adam and Co.] have always been troubled by some of the interviews we’ve read and posted with J.J. Abrams, in which he discusses the re-imagining. To them, it seems that he’s actually bothered about having to stay true to a lot of “Trek” canon as he admitted early on that he’s only been a “casual” fan of the franchise. Even with Alex Kurtzman or Roberto Orci claiming to be Trekkies, that doesn’t bring much comfort…since those guys are also responsible for Transformers, The Island, Hercules: The Series, Eagle Eye, and more.

Most importantly, there’s also talk that, because of the time travel elements in the film, their is the theory of altering of the space/time continuum of the series and that may then give the new guys the freedom to create their own sort of Alternate-Universe film franchise. Like and Elseworlds Trek. If that’s the case, Adam and even myself, worry that the previous movies and TV series will just become relics rather than standard. How can Wrath of Khan not exist anymore? I mean I think blasphemy or something in the Constitution forbids that right?

So now that I have summed up Adam and Co’s feelings about Trek to this point, I assure you that this trailer hasn’t changed any of their feelings but just made them worse, much worse.

So What do I think? Thats why you are reading right? Well I wrote an article months ago, saying that JJ would kill the Trek Spirit and I have to say – he has. I know I haven’t seen the movie nor have I seen much in the trailer and you can’t judge a movie in 2 and half minutes of footage. This being said, Bras, Hover bikes and Stabbings, I felt like I was seeing a futuristic re-make of American Graffiti rather than the trailer for a Star Trek movie.

Some elements looked good, such as the landscapes, the ships and the quick space battles that were shown – but thats it. Quinto looks terrible! but Vulcan looks cool! Pine looks OK, but how he is gonna be used remains to be seen. Bones, Bana and Scotty are the best things and I wish there could have been more of them in this trailer.

My biggest problem was the borderline topless Ulhura, I mean look, the TOS, TNG and other series had their level of sexuality and sensuality in them but is that necessary in this film? Paramount and JJ say, Yes! We want PG-13, MTV audience, which I just think is stupid and bastardizes the film a little bit.

All in all I made peace long-ago [2 weeks, 3 days, 1 hour and 40 secs] that this revision of Trek was going to be different than anything we have ever seen but that the original “spirit’ will be lost on a new generation of Trek fans but it will not kill the franchise, it will just put it front and center into pop-culture rather than cult-classic culture, it will make piles of cash and the studios will laugh all the way to the bank. They will have money, new franchise to milk and new fans to cater too, but all the old fans who made Trek, they will be gone – just like in the Federal government “Change” is gonna alienate all the people who have kept this country going, in this instance, the people who kept this franchise alive. So kudos again to JJ for killing the old fan, they haven;t done much for the series lately anyway and hello to a new generation of Trek fans.

I can only attest that this New Trek, will hopefully serve to remind, me and Adam [and others like us], why we loved Star Trek so much. I believe and hope it will re-awaken people to the fact that The Original Series was so good, and prompt them to buy the DVDs or watch them on CBS.com and that is good but still kinda of sad that we have the old sitting their struggling to hold up because new audiences have been indoctrinated too much by boobs, muscles, bad language and the propensity to want mind numbing action rather than quality storytelling and character development and relationships [kind of reminds you of our current political and social problems right now]. Youth today have been indoctrinated to a point where they just go where they are told and mesh with pop-culture, they learn more on I Love the 80′s than they do in a high school history class. That being said, since I am ranting, the only good thing this movie will do, will introduce those legendary characters to a new generation of kids who have no idea who Kirk and Spock are, and what the heck is Star Trek, and I guess that is better than nothing. I was fortunate to see, love and appreciate Trek before this version rather than after the fact.

I understand there is always a new way of doing things and you can still have a status quo mentality and grow, and after all the Star Trek franchise was unique. Trek is a single franchise that respected it’s own fictional universe and history and made each of it’s sequels fit fairly snugly into it’s own 40 year canon, which is remarkable! That being said, I have to realize, as well as Adam that TOS isn’t going anywhere and that I can always tell my child, this is Star Trek, son – the other thing is Star Trek but not as good.

I will go see the new movie, I will like it for what it is but the original Trek will always be # 1 in my heart, but it is okay if I like them both. I mean I don’t consider Indy 4 part of my Indy series, but that didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the movie as a form of entertainment, I just didn’t enjoy it as an Indy movie.

But, like I said I can only hope some of the positives I aforementioned come from this and that is – Trek will move on even if it isn’t as great as I remember it as.

So “Live Long and Prosper” - I will but Trek, that will depend on future generations.