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Early Star Trek review - by a soldier in Kuwait
The soldiers in Kuwait got not only an early screening of Star Trek but a visit from the director and the major cast members. The review is 98% spoiler free as incidents he mentions are known from either the trailers or those who've seen longer previews and had permission to post. I'm only quoting his intro and summary.
Ain'tItCool.com link....
Ain'tItCool.com link....
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The cast went out of their way to entertain us before and after the movie was shown. They were more than happy to interact with the soldiers (Eric Bana leaped out of his “reserved†seat and sat next to a female soldier who invited him next to her) and they took their time describing their experiences making the film and answering questions and requests (Quinto obliged a soldier who asked him to call his daughter back in the states and say hello to her). I was truly impressed and grateful in the fact that they went out of their way to thank us and to offer this film to us. I’ll admit that this review won’t be as objective as it could because of the way the cast lent themselves to us. My biggest thrill was walking up to J.J. Abrams after the film and having the opportunity to give him my general impressions of it. How many times does a geek like me get a chance to do that?
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Not only was I able to suspend my disbelief, but I was caught up with the story and the characters all the way to the end. Just like Kirk in the movie, the audience is left hanging off the edge of a cliff time and time again. Abrams takes something that we are all familiar with, turn it on its head and present us with something that is brand new and that we can quickly embrace.
But that is not to say that the movie completely disregards what we all saw on TV while we were growing up. On the contrary, Abrams pays homage to the Original Series throughout the film by including little tidbits that should resonate with the fans. The all familiar pulsating audio blips are the first sounds you hear in the movie. We finally get to see Kirk participate in the Kobayashi Maru exercise. We are finally given a reason for McCoy’s surly disposition and cynical nature. We see Pike as the strong and aggressive Starship Captain that we knew he had to be before he was doomed to a wheelchair.
Early in the film, McCoy describes space as “disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silenceâ€. And that is exactly the way Abrams displays the backdrop of this story. Gone is the antiseptic nature of space and the ships that travel through it. The Enterprise is no longer a clean and sterile workplace; it is constructed of dirty and oil covered I-Beams that moan with sounds and explosions while being attacked. Space is shown as the hostile environment that it truly must be. This vision is perfectly captured during the opening scenes when a cacophony of terror within a ship instantaneously becomes absolute and sudden death in a sea of silence as a crewman is plucked out of a ship and into the void.
This movie has a true ensemble cast. The supporting charters (Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Scotty) are elevated to meaningful positions with enough substance in the movie to make each one relevant. Sulu (oh my) is allowed to kick ass without losing the character’s intellect. Chekov is allowed to deliver comic relief without being reduced to the ship’s fool. Uhura is given a critical role in a surprising twist that makes her more than just the “gal with the thing in her earâ€. And Simon Peg steals the show in every scene that he is in.
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The cast went out of their way to entertain us before and after the movie was shown. They were more than happy to interact with the soldiers (Eric Bana leaped out of his “reserved†seat and sat next to a female soldier who invited him next to her) and they took their time describing their experiences making the film and answering questions and requests (Quinto obliged a soldier who asked him to call his daughter back in the states and say hello to her). I was truly impressed and grateful in the fact that they went out of their way to thank us and to offer this film to us. I’ll admit that this review won’t be as objective as it could because of the way the cast lent themselves to us. My biggest thrill was walking up to J.J. Abrams after the film and having the opportunity to give him my general impressions of it. How many times does a geek like me get a chance to do that?
>
Not only was I able to suspend my disbelief, but I was caught up with the story and the characters all the way to the end. Just like Kirk in the movie, the audience is left hanging off the edge of a cliff time and time again. Abrams takes something that we are all familiar with, turn it on its head and present us with something that is brand new and that we can quickly embrace.
But that is not to say that the movie completely disregards what we all saw on TV while we were growing up. On the contrary, Abrams pays homage to the Original Series throughout the film by including little tidbits that should resonate with the fans. The all familiar pulsating audio blips are the first sounds you hear in the movie. We finally get to see Kirk participate in the Kobayashi Maru exercise. We are finally given a reason for McCoy’s surly disposition and cynical nature. We see Pike as the strong and aggressive Starship Captain that we knew he had to be before he was doomed to a wheelchair.
Early in the film, McCoy describes space as “disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silenceâ€. And that is exactly the way Abrams displays the backdrop of this story. Gone is the antiseptic nature of space and the ships that travel through it. The Enterprise is no longer a clean and sterile workplace; it is constructed of dirty and oil covered I-Beams that moan with sounds and explosions while being attacked. Space is shown as the hostile environment that it truly must be. This vision is perfectly captured during the opening scenes when a cacophony of terror within a ship instantaneously becomes absolute and sudden death in a sea of silence as a crewman is plucked out of a ship and into the void.
This movie has a true ensemble cast. The supporting charters (Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, and Scotty) are elevated to meaningful positions with enough substance in the movie to make each one relevant. Sulu (oh my) is allowed to kick ass without losing the character’s intellect. Chekov is allowed to deliver comic relief without being reduced to the ship’s fool. Uhura is given a critical role in a surprising twist that makes her more than just the “gal with the thing in her earâ€. And Simon Peg steals the show in every scene that he is in.
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