Is The New Star Trek Movie Boldly Going Where It Shouldn’t?
If you’re in your 40s, chances are you’ll have grown up watching The Original Series (TOS) of Star Trek. In fact, “The Devil in the Dark” episode was the very first program on TV I saw in color!
The Star Trek series you like the most seems to be the one you grew up with. For those born in the 70s and 80s, it was Next Generation and/or Deep Space Nine. Voayager appeals to those born a few years later. And those people who appeared on the planet in the mid-80s and after, seemed to go for Enterprise.
Most people who watched the original airing of TOS (The Original Series) remember it fondly and feel that even in today’s world, some of its morality tales still have resonance. Those growing up on Next Generation and later series have a less favorable impresssion. On a side note, the original series was shot on film, an inherently high definition medium, and Star Trek can be released on Blu-Ray whereas Next Gen was shot on video and so no high-def copies will ever become available.
The only other series likely to make an appearance on Blu-Ray is Enterprise. This series received a lot of criticism by the Star Trek community for rewriting Trek history. Spock was supposed to have been the first Vulcan serving in Starfleet, yet T’Pol served as First Officer 150 years earlier in Enterprise. As she wasn’t actually a serving Starfleet officer, the apparent dichotomy was solved. Enterprise contained other Trek history rewrites as well. Actually, this didn’t bother me too much as Enterprise was much closer to the spirit of TOS than the intervening efforts.
The first Star Trek movie appeared 30 years ago. The last movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, limped out of movie theaters in 2002. And now, seven years later, Star Trek XI lands on May 8th, 2009.
I’ve looked at the trailers and hmmm…I’m ambivalent about the movie. But that’s because I grew up with the old crew and I don’t think it’s a good idea to tinker with Star Trek history (despite not being put out by what Enterprise did). My problen is that the new movie messes with the histories of the characters, alters their relationships and will fundamentally change how those characters will be perceived.
I know that this is being tailored for a new, younger audience, but (not having seen the movie), perhaps it would have been a better idea to use a different crew and ship, even if still set in the pre-TOS years. I’m not taken with some of the casting choices either. Okay, I agree I’m something of a curmudgeonly old fart on this.
Time will tell. There’s only a couple of weeks more to wait till Star Trek XI hits the theaters. Of course I’ll go to watch the movie. I really hope that I’ll be applauding at the end of the movie and wanting more instead of holding my head in my hands disappointed with the “vision” of a director who wasn’t even a Star Trek fan.
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