Space: the final frontier. I think pretty much everyone that loves science fiction, must have heard these words at least once. In 1966 Gene Roddenberry created a science fiction television series called Star Trek. Strangely enough when it first aired it got cancelled after 3 seasons. A few years later the series got very popular after reruns on several different television stations. And the rest is history. Star Trek became a world wide phenomenon, spawning several television series, movies and novels. One of the things that made it unique was the fact that it presented a very positive view of the future, in which humanity had finally managed to better itself. In 2009 a new Star Trek movie was made by J.J.Abrams, who most people know as one of the minds behind the tv series Lost, and ofcourse the director of Star Wars: the Force Awakens. It was kind of a reboot for the entire Star Trek universe, and even though the movie became a huge succes, a lot of Star Trek fans did not like it all. Last year the third installment of this new version of Star trek was released, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the franchise.
In Star Trek Beyond, we meet captain Kirk at a time in his life, where he finds his job to be a bit tedious. He has kind of lost faith in his own capabilities, and is thinking of going for an admiral’s position, just to quit flying a starship. When his ship the Enterprise, visits the Federation’s newest starbase called Yorktown, a distress signal is picked up from an unknown ship. The person who sent the the signal introduces herself as Kalara, and claims her ship and her crew are stranded on a nearby planet. Soon Kirk and crew are sent out on the rescue mission. But all is not as it seems, and the Enterprise gets attacked by a swarm of powerful ships led by the villainous Krall. Krall is searching for an ancient artifact that will bring death to the existing universe. The crew of the Enterprise are going to face their toughest mission yet, and one they might not all get out alive from….
For those of you that have been following my blog for a while now, you pretty much know that I love science fiction in almost every form. As such I am not one of those people that only loves Star Trek, or only loves Star Wars for instance. As long as it is done well, I can pretty much eat science fiction movies for breakfast. That said, ever since J.J. Abrams has reimagined Star Trek, the movies have deviated from Roddenberry’s original vision for it. This third film carries the name Star Trek, but it is simply put not Star Trek anymore. It is a summer blockbuster action movie, that has entertaining moments, and some cool special effects. But sadly it does not feel like Star Trek, and that really is a shame I think.
All the actors from the new movies have returned to reprise their roles. They all do an admirable job, most notably Karl Urban, who plays doctor McCoy. Out of all the new actors that now play the parts of these legendary characters, he has always come the closest to the original role. The villain Krall is played by actor Idris Elba, who is completely unrecognisable in make up. Elba plays the part well, but Krall is just not a very interesting villain, and lacks depth. The relatively unknown actress Sofia Boutella plays the most interesting new character, the warrior woman Jaylah. Her martial arts skills are very impressive, but she also has a natural charisma that really makes you care for her character.
This movie is directed by Justin Lin, who has also directed a lot of the Fast and Furious movies. The story in this movie takes a bit of a backseat, and instead we get treated to a action movie with explosions, chases, and pretty much everything that you would expect in movies like that. It certainly manages to entertain at times, but all in all I found this movie just not as good as the two previous ones. As mentioned it just doesn’t feel like a Star Trek movie anymore, and I guess that is my biggest complaint for this one. I understand that they want to make Star Trek appeal to a bigger audience, but it has now kind of lost the spirit that made Star Trek always so much fun to watch. What we are left with is a bit of hollow shell, that really isn’t a bad movie, but is simply not deserving the name Star Trek. I think Gene Roddenberry, might roll over in his grave if he knew what has become of his creation.
I give Star Trek Beyond a 7 out of 10 score.
I’m the same in that I don’t just like one sci-fi franchise over another. For me though, it was ST:TNG that was airing during my childhood, so it’s Picard and co that I remember most fondly. In some ways, not having that pre-existing confession with TOS probably helped me with the Abrams films.
From my own standpoint, I’ve enjoyed all three. As you said, they don’t feel like Star Trek in many ways, but I went into them expecting that. I figured that they’d go more action heavy as that would be most likely to attract a modern audience, and that was likely always their goal; these aren’t films for pre-existing fans add much as they’re a net to draw new fans in and dispel the negative connotations that often get thrown around by those who’ve never watched an episode (ST is slow/boring/not as good as Star Wars/for nerds etc.). It’s a shame, but it makes business sense.
Beyond I thought was really cool for what it was. I absolutely agree that Jaylah was the mist interesting new character, and I’m kinda hoping she remains a part of the crew moving forward, if for no other reason than that I like the awkward romance between her and Scotty. I’d rate it slightly higher myself with maybe an 8 out of 10, but that’s all good. This was an enjoyable review to read.
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Thank you for your very cool and elaborate response: appreciate it 😊 I loved Star Trek Next Gen as well, and I still think out of all five series it is my favorite. I understand exactly what you mean, obviously these movies were made to attract a wider audience to Star Trek. But I do think it is a bit of a shame that we will never get the old Star Trek spirit back. (I can a bit nostalgic at times lol 😂). But that said, I still don’t think these are bad movies. I quite liked the previous two installments in fact. This one though just felt a little bit too much like an action film (which I obviously like when you look at my blog lol), but it just did not feel completely right in a Star Trek movie. That said, there was still enough to enjoy, and I myself have high hopes that Jaylah will stick around and become part of the crew. She was the best thing in this movie, and he delightful but pretty awkward romance between Scotty and her was priceless. Thanks for all the kind words 😊
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Heh. Nostalgia fuels me at times. There’s nothing quite like that little spark to add anoter positive layer to something 🙂
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I’d love to see Jaylah’s application to Star Fleet Academy. Education: restoring a crashed star ship. Experience: saving the crew of the Enterprise. References: Captain Kirk, Commanders Spock and Scott
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My dad made sure to get me hooked on the original series before Next Gen came out, so I’m still a Spock fan boy.
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I think that my Dad was only a passing fan of the original series. Most of his youth was spent feeding wild crows and boxing I think, so TV wasn’t a big thing. We did watch ST:TNG together though, which was always good.
It’s interesting watching the original series now though. It holds up amazingly well for its age.
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While the effects for the Original series might look dated now, the stories themselves are what makes them worth the watch. The definitely hold up very well, esoecially the episode “the city on the edge of tomorrow”. 😊
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Aye. That one’s a favourite on one of my ‘fan collective’ sets. Great episode.
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I enjoyed this review, and cheers to loving both Star Wars AND Star Trek! 😊 Both franchises are marvellous in their own ways. I agree that the desire for mass appeal has cost Star Trek much of its original spirit. The reboot is nowhere close to Roddenberry’s original vision, which also had several cerebral concepts that are now absent.
That said, I did enjoy Star Trek: Beyond, even with its excessive explosions and chases. Simon Pegg/Doug Jung’s script finally lets underused characters like Sulu, Scotty and Chekov do much more in their missions. The cast has such fantastic chemistry. It’s a step in the right direction, given that the original focuses a lot on cooperation. Same reason why I’m excited for Star Trek: Discovery. The casting looks fantastic, and Bryan Fuller hasn’t done a bad show so far.
Keep them awesome posts coming! 😀
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I agree that this is possibly the best movie since the first (in the reboots) to make sure everyone was there for a reason and had something to do rather than the previous one where Scotty quit the Enterprise just so he could be at the super secret base later on and we made Anton chief of engineering because we had literally nothing for him to do.
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Agree with you on that. The characters that were underused in the previous two movies did have much bigger and more important roles to play. I really liked Scotty’s role in this film, especially the chemistry between him and Jaylah 😊
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Thank you again 😊 True, there is enough to enjoy in this movie, and I might even have given it a bit of a higher score if it would not have been a Star Trek film. It’s okay to do things differently, they did so in the previous two installments, but this one really deviated a bit too much from the thing that makes Star Trek so unique. That said, I still enjoyed the movie quite a lot, and like you am really looking forward to the new series. It’s good to see Star Trek back on the small screen where it belongs 😊
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Star Wars is a vast, impressionist mural while Star Trek is a series of portraits by the Masters.
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I haven’t seen this one yet but yeah, agree that the reboot of this series lost a lot of what made star trek actually star trek. That isn’t to say they aren’t interesting, but they don’t have that instantly recognisable feeling of being a star trek film and they really are more action series set in space. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
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You are welcome 😊 Yeah these movies were ofcourse made to let Star Trek appeal to a bigger audience. That really isn’t a bid thing, but this last installment just was more of an action flick than a Star Trek film. Still, there is enough to enjoy, and if you liked the previous two, chances are you will like this one as well 😊
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I don’t get the whole ‘appeal to a bigger audience’ thing though. If you want to make a space action series, just make a new space action series. Why take an older franchise and change the tone entirely? I had the same issue with the TV series reboot of Battlestar Galactica. The new series is a good sci fi TV series, but it isn’t Battlestar and I stopped watching during season 1 because of the disconnect between what I expect from Battlestar Galactica and what that series delivered.
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Because titling it “Star Trek” is comforting to producers who are about to write a check for millions of dollars.
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Ah, Star Trek, that franchise everyone but me has watched 😀 In my defence, it was unknown where I lived (still is like most English stuff) and I was in my late teens before I discovered that it was a big thing. Same with Star Wars. Then I never found the interest to watch it.
That all aside, this was a great review. I do see complaints about the new movies around on social media and you’ve succinctly put into words what does and does not work for you.
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Haha..well no worries. I have not seen so many movies and Animeseries that I sometimes am ashamed to admit it lol 😂Thanks for the kind words as always: I appreciate it a lot. Yeah, I really love Star Trek, and it is a tad bit disappointing to me, that the good old star trek feelings of old will never return. But I guess that’s progress in work lol 😊
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When I was watching Doctor Who for the first time, I couldn’t stop comparing it to Star Trek. For the record, I started watching Doctor Who when Rose Tyler became the companion.
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I am definitely Star Wars over Star Trek but I have really enjoyed the new franchise. You hit some good points in your review, I look forward to seeing more from Sofia Boutella in the future.
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Thank you, appreciate it 😊
It would not surprise me to see Sofia Boutella appearing in the fourth installment. Her role in this movie was very good, and reactions to her were very positive. No complaints from me if she were added to the crew, that would really be awesome. Sofia is currently featured in the new installment for the Mummy which I haven’t seen yet 😊
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I’ve seen it and my review is up. She is one of the best parts of it
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I think we all have to admit that naming a starbase “Yorktown” was just asking for trouble.
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