Star Trek

James T. Kirk
Originally uploaded by bluesteel1981

Proudly I can say that I have seen Star Trek in Imax twice. I saw it that way opening day (Thursday at Seven PM) and when Paramount made a deal with Imax to have a special rerelease of Trek in Imax this month I had to go.

I can still say I love this movie. Also, the more I see this the more I am certain that Chris Pine is the perfect replacement for William Shatner as James Kirk. I love Shatner and his Kirk is a character that I liked as a kid (growing up in a Trekkie home) and have grown to love since I began to rewatch the original films. Pine has the perfect blend of wit, charisma and cockiness to make Kirk the character we remember from Shatner and yet change it to be his own. Pine gave up a role in the eternally cursed production of White Jazz to take on Star Trek and I hope that he is very glad he did.

JJ Abrams is set to produce the next Trek installment; but I hope that he decides to step back into the directing chair at least once more for this series. In the end, camera flares or no camera flares, Star Trek is a great film and his approach helped make it so.

Kirk: You know, traveling through time, changing history... that's cheating.
Spock: A trick I learned from an old friend.

Star Trek: the Motion Picture

Kirk_split field diopter
Originally uploaded by sean's jawns

James T. Kirk is an admiral in Starfleet, and when an anomaly that appears to be very dangerous is headed toward Earth he convinces the brass to let him take control of the Enterprise back so that he can intercept the alien force. Along the way Kirk manages to pull Spock and McCoy back into service as well. Once they catch up with the anomaly they become trapped and begin to learn about the entity now known as V-ger. As V-ger gets closer to Earth Kirk and crew must figure out how to stop it before it kills every living being on the planet.

Star Trek: the Motion Picture did give birth to the Star Trek franchise, so it does deserve some credit. However, there is a reason that the nickname for this movie is Star Trek: the Motionless Picture. NOTHING happens in this entire movie. They talk, they philosophize, they look at one another, they watch things, they listen to reports from eye witnesses…and that is it. Even the climax is just them walking into the center of V-ger and talking about what they discovered. Seriously.

I think Robert Wise is amazing, but if I had to see one more shot of the Enterprise flying through space something was going to die.

The worst part of this film is that everything is drawn out ten times longer than it should be. An example? Kirk is being shuttled back to the Enterprise by Scotty. They board the little ship and you see space, then they exchange a few lines of dialogue and Scotty starts the journey, now we have a shot of the Enterprise, then a shot of the shuttle flying, then a shot of Kirk looking, next another shot of the Enterprise, and another shot of earth and maybe the shuttle, then back to Kirk looking, then the Enterprise; after about three to five minutes of this the shuttle finally docks, Kirk & Scotty exchange another few lines of dialogue and then we are into the ship. If you cut out the shots of the ship flying through space you may have a thirty minute movie.

I am a big lover of the original series Star Trek movies because I grew up with them. But if I ever have to watch Star Trek: the Motion Picture again it will be too soon. Personally, I find it amazing that they were able to get Wrath of Khan off the ground.

Director: Robert Wise
Writer: Harold Livingston
Kirk: William Shatner
Spokc: Leonard Nimoy
Bones: DeForest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Sulu: George Takei
Checkov: Walter Koenig
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Decker: Stephen Collins

Bones: Well Jim... I hear Chapel's an M.D. now. Well I'm gonna need a top nurse... not a doctor who'll argue every little diagnosis with me. And they probably redesigned the whole sickbay, too! I know engineers, they LOVE to change things.

Free Enterprise

Mark & Robert are frustrated artists, filmmakers, and geeks; no one understands them except a core group of people, especially when it comes to their love of Star Trek and Captain Kirk. One day Mark and Robert are in local book store and run into their idol – William Shatner. Willing to let the men buy him a drink so he can share his idea for a project, the three strike up a friendship and begin to help each other achieve their filmmaking ambitions. Meanwhile, Mark begins to freak out about his upcoming 30th birthday and Robert looses his editing job and meets the girl of his dreams leaving his friends in the cold.

The first time I saw Free Enterprise no one else had seen it, or at least that’s the way it felt. However, being a self-described sci-fi geek I absolutely loved it. While Free Enterprise may be a tongue-in-cheek look at a Trekkie’s obsession it deals with just about every major science fiction product up to that date. And honestly, being a hard core geek myself it’s a pretty true look at a lot of people I know, and up until geeks recently made their way into pop culture it was a very good look at how people looked at me during my childhood & teen years.

Perhaps the best thing about Free Enterprise is William Shatner. He may be playing a exaggerated version of himself but as Bill he is a dang humorous addition to the movie. The great part about Shatner being written is as a character in the film is that he’s not just there to be the celebrity cameo, on a technical story level he is actually the vehicle that allows the Robert and Mark to begin a new level of maturity; Kirk/Shatner was each man’s childhood idol and seeing the flawed, real-life version before them makes them stop and think about themselves and their own desires in life and teaches them how they can still hold onto the core pieces of themselves despite the disillusionment that occurs.

Since its release in 1998 Free Enterprise has risen to the status of cult classic. If you are a fan of Trek or even just science fiction I highly recommend that you see this film at least once.

Director: Robert Meyer Burnett
Writers: Mark A. Altman & Robert Meyer Burnett
Mark: Eric McCormack
Robert: Rafer Weigel
Bill: William Shatner
Claire: Audie England

Young Mark: So you're saying I should engage my advanced-for-a-twelve-year-old intellect and use logic?
Imaginary William Shatner: Logic is the other guy's schtick, but yes.

Star Trek: the Search for Spock

The Wrath of Khan ends with the death of Spock, a sacrifice that costs him everything but save the life of everyone on the Enterprise by getting them away from the Genesis planet. Once back at Starfleet headquarters the crew of the Enterprise mourn Spock and are visited by Sarek (Spock’s father) who reveals that Spock would have left his entity, his “soul” in Kirk or another close individual and that Kirk must bring this individual and Spock’s body to Vulcan for his final rites. Kirk asks for permission to take the Enterprise to Genesis and retrieve Spock’s tube but is told that the ship is going to be decommissioned and Kirk should enjoy his time off. This leads Kirk and crew to steal the Enterprise and make their way to Genesis where Saavik and David have encountered not only a crew on Klingons looking to turn Genesis into a weapon but a being that appears to be a very young, quickly maturing Spock.

Star Trek: the Search for Spock is a great movie. I honestly think that this is one of my favorite Star Trek movies, I mean for crying out loud Kirk, Sulu, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura & Chekov steal the Enterprise and disable another Starfleet ship in order to get to Spock. Then you have McCoy doing an amazingly hysterical Spock impersonation through half the movie, and Scotty and Uhura get to be badasses. It’s a pretty damn cool Star Trek experience.

Watching the original series has reminded me of two things: Bones has always been one of my favorite characters in fiction, and that James T. Kirk is an amazing character.

Bones is always the character that points out the obvious in the most sarcastic way possible. He gets the best lines and whether he’s played by Urban or Kelley they are delivered perfectly. He is the epitome of the opinionated prick and he is a more memorable character because of it.

Kirk on the other hand is a brash, intelligent, adventurous character – he’s practically Davy Crockett in space. Kirk doesn’t look for challenges, but when presented he does the only thing that occurs to him – he faces them head on and finds a way to defeat them. Kirk inspires loyalty from those that are close to him and hate from his enemies because they know he will stop at nothing to defeat him. Kirk is the hero that can even cheat death if he had to.

I grew up with The Next Generation and loved the adventures of Picard and crew, but before I was ever introduced to Q or the Borg I watched Kirk, Spock & McCoy deal with the Klingon’s, Romulan’s and Starfleet brass. I am glad that these characters have been reincarnated for a new generation.

Director: Leonard Nimoy
Writer: Harve Bennett
Kirk: William Shatner
Spock: Leonard Nimoy
McCoy: DeForrest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Sulu: George Takei
Chekov: Walter Koenig
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Cmdr. Kruge: Christopher Lloyd


Kirk: My God, Bones... what have I done?
McCoy: What you had to do. What you always do: turn death into a fighting chance to live.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan

Seeing Abrams Star Trek made me remember how much I loved going to see the original Star Trek movies with my parents, and it made me all nostalgic. As such, I went out and bought the Kirk & Spock 3 pack of DVD’s that was just released and then sat down and watched The Wrath of Kahn.

Wrath of Kahn picks up after the first Star Trek movie that is downright near-unwatchable. Kirk is now an admiral and Spock is the captain of the Enterprise. While his success should be a good thing, Kirk is facing a birthday and begun to feel like he is a relic of Starfleet instead of the active participant he used to be and despite the efforts of Bones, Spock and his friends he cannot snap out of it. Kirk goes aboard the Enterprise to inspect the new crew and instead they decide to take the ship out for a test run. While on their training voyage they receive a troubling transmission from Dr. Carol Marcus, furious that Kirk is taking her Genesis experiment away from her – Kirk has made no such order so the Enterprise rushes to get to the scientists. Once there they discover that Kahn, a genetically engineered man, has returned from the exile Kirk imposed on him to seek his revenge.

This is by and far one of the best Star Trek movies ever made. Up until the new Star Trek I would argue that it was the best, now I am still deciding which is better.

This is Starfleet as a military organization and Enterprise as a peacekeeper and Kirk as the badass we all remember him to be. Kirk and Spock drive this movie with Spock trying to make Kirk feel relevant again until Kahn takes over that job by seeking Kirk out for his revenge. The relationship between Kirk and

What makes Wrath of Kahn truly amazing is the ending. Without giving too many things away Kirk and Spock each have life altering moments. Kirk is known for taking no-win scenarios and turning them into winnable situations; however, at the end of the film there is a no-win scenario that Kirk cannot find a way out of…until Spock makes a decision that saves the Enterprise.

Those that want to pick on William Shatner for his acting capabilities can stuff it. While Star Trek may not hold the same prestige as playing Hamlet, if you’ve seen the end of Wrath of Kahn you cannot deny that Shatner has some acting chops and he knows how to use them.

Director: Nicholas Meyer
Writers: Jack B. Sowards
James Kirk: William Shatner
Spock: Leonard Nimoy
McCoy: DeForest Kelley
Scotty: James Doohan
Checkov: Walter Koenig
Sulu: George Takei
Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Lt. Saavik: Kristie Alley
Khan: Ricardo Montalban

Kirk: I suppose you're about to remind me that logic alone dictates your actions?
Spock: I would not remind you of that which you know so well.

Star Trek

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Originally uploaded by gjrmoonchild

Honestly, the true test of how much I genuinely love a movie is how often I watch it or talk about it. Last year I genuinely fell in love with Iron Man and I am relatively sure it’s landing on the list of my all-time favorite films. This year I am falling head over heels for Star Trek and if the love affair continues it could also end up on my favorite films list.

What was so great about this viewing was that I got to watch Star Trek with an original Trekkie – my grandmother. My grandmother has followed the Trek universe since the first episode of the original series premiered and has been a faithful fan ever since. I considered this a true test of how the film would hold up against a real fan, someone who fell in love with the series because of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Gene Roddenberry. She filled my childhood head with the world of the Federation, always had the coolest collectibles and would call foul when she saw the shows do something stupid; if there was anyone that I would genuinely listen to if they cried foul over Abrams updated Trek it would be her.

My grandmother loved Star Trek. A original Trekkie to the core, she told me that she thought Abrams understood the series perfectly and it was a great movie, her favorite Star Trek movie in years.

I challenge anyone out there that thinks Abrams defiled Star Trek to take on my grandmother. She knows her stuff better than most of the haters out there, and above all else since she’s been around the series since its inception she remembers that the series is supposed to be about the characters, the explorations and most of all the adventures – science always took a back seat when Rodenberry was at the wheel.

McCoy: Permission to speak freely, sir?
Spock: I welcome it.
McCoy: Do you? OK, then. Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making a logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably. But, the right one? You know, back home we have a saying: "If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable."

Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality is the tale of Grace Hart, an FBI agent who is less than a girlie girl. When the Miss United States Pageant is threatened the FBI decides to get involved by putting an agent into the pageant; Grace becomes Gracie Lou Freebush and is forced to become the pampered, pulled together girl she never thought she could be to try and find the terrorist. Along the way fellow agent Matthews, pageant consultant Victor and the pageant contestants make Grace realize perhaps she can be more than she thought.

First and foremost my favorite character in this entire movie is Michael Caine’s Victor Melling. Not only does Victor have the best lines in the film, but Caine is utterly convincing as a prissy, uptight gay man who cares more about posture and hair flips than finding a criminal. Caine is absolutely perfect. I would also be remiss if I didn’t comment on the entire supporting cast. William Shatner is Stan the pageant host, Candice Bergen is Kathy the pageant runner, Ernie Hudson is the FBI Assistant Director, and Benjamin Bratt is Agent Matthews. Every character is unique, quirky and utterly memorable.

Sandra Bullock is perfect as Grace Hart. So many actresses could not pull off the transformation of unrefined to super model in one film but Bullock does it, and her comedy timing is perfect. I honestly believe that the movie rides on Bullock’s shoulders and from her serious moments to pratt falls she excels.

While I doubt the sequel is worth seeing the first Miss Congeniality is incredibly entertaining.

Director: Donald Petrie
Writers: Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, & Caryn Lucas
Gracie Hart: Sandra Bullock
Victor Melling: Michael Caine
Eric Matthews: Benjamin Bratt
Kathy Morningside: Candice Bergen
Asst. Director McDonald: Ernie Hudson
Stan Fields: William Shatner
Cheryl Fraiser: Heather Burns

Victor Melling: In place of relationships, you have sarcasm and a gun!
Gracie Hart: Oh, I have sarcasm? When every word that comes out of your mouth is dripping with disdain?
Victor Melling: Ah! But that is because I am a miserable, grumpy elitist - and that works for me!