And There Came A Day May 14 2013 – Countdown to Geeky Summer Movies

 May 14, 2013

PREPARING for DARKNESS 

Star Trek

•   Strictly speaking, 2009’s Star Trek is an odd numbered film as it is the 11^th in the series, it should – therefore – not be very good; that’s not the way things worked out!
• JJ Abrams was more a fan of Star Wars than Star Trek when he signed on to direct the film, but his partners Roberto Ocri and Alex Kurtzman, who wrote the movie, were massive Star Trek fans – they knew the source material
• The concept of doing an “academy” film of Kirk and Spock during the school days had been kicked around by Paramount since before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was in production
• Abrams’ team had a story idea that included the character of Spock to be played by Leonard Nimoy as central to their story; reportedly, if Nimoy had refused to participate in the film, it would not have been made
• A fairly wide search concluded with the seven roles being re-cast with new actors; to announce the casting, Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy made an appearance at Comic Con in 2007
• In the story, young Jim Kirk, a rebel without a cause, joins Starfleet and, through guile and circumstance, rises quickly through the ranks to be in position to take command of the USS Enterprise if he manages to defeat Nero, a time-traveling Romulan who is bent on destroying the Federation – Kirk, of course, succeeds
• The movie effectively creates a “new” Star Trek universe where anything can happen setting the stage for new films

The reception to 2009’s Star Trek was tremendously positive, the film was a smash hit and the audience quickly embraced the younger cast. Nimoy’s appearance did much to quiet fanboys’ concerns over the reboot and rumors persist to this day that a cameo scene was scripted for William Shatner’s Captain Kirk that was never filmed. Though the movie may have lacked some of the philosophical underpinnings of the original series, it more than made up for that in how entertaining it was and how slick it looked. If you like lens flare, this one is for you! Actually, this one is for anyone who likes a science fiction story well scripted, well acted and well executed.