Star Trek New Movie – Lots of Pics
Star Trek, comic books, movies October 20th, 2008The new Star Trek movie is coming, whether you like it or not! And this time they are aiming to make Star Trek cool. Hard to believe, I know. Directing and producing this new Star Trek film is J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, Fringe, Cloverfield), so there is a good chance the movie will be entertaining (even if you don’t like Star Trek). In fact, Abrams has been quoted as saying, “We weren’t making a movie for fans of Star Trek. We were making a movie for fans of movies.” That’s encouraging! The release date is May 8, 2009, but there is already lots of news and photos making their way through the tubes and the internets.
- You can see the teaser trailer for the movie at the official website Star Trek Movie.com. The full trailer is scheduled to debut in front of “Quantum of Solace” in just under a month.
- There is a lengthy article explaining the new vision for Star Trek at Entertainment Weekly.com. Watch for spoiler warnings as you read the article (if you care).
- There will be a prequel comic book mini-series from IDW called “Star Trek Countdown” that focuses on the origins of the Romulan villain Nero. Be advised, there are minor SPOILERS in this link.
- Lots of information in the Wikipedia entry on the movie.
- You can check out the viral campaign at NCC-1701. Click the little numbers (like a combination lock) to get the picture clarity to 100%.
After looking through all this information, I’m really starting to get psyched for the film! Can’t wait for May 8, 2009! And now… on with the photos!
Teaser poster. Picture from IGN.
Kirk played by Chris Pine. Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
Spock played by Zachary Quinto (Sylar from ‘Heroes’). Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
Dr. McCoy played by Karl Urban, with Kirk in the background. Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
Sulu played by John Cho. Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
The Enterprise Crew — Pictured L to R: Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Kirk (Chris Pine), Lt. Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg), Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), and Uhura (Zoe Saldana). Picture from UGO Movies.
Spock throttling Kirk. Picture from Ain’t it Cool News.
The saucer section of the original Enterprise under construction. Picture from Screen Rant.
The updated bridge of the Enterprise. Picture from MTV Movies.
Kirk climbing from a crash landed shuttle. Picture from IGN.
Nero, the Romulan villain played by Eric Bana. Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
Another Nero pic. Picture from JoBlo.
USS KELVIN – Before Kirk is even born, this ship comes under Romulan attack, launching the plot for the new movie. Picture from Entertainment Weekly.
The USS Kelvin takes a hit in the film’s opening sequence. Picture from TrekMovie.com.
And finally, not a picture from the new movie but a motivational poster I absolutely love. Picture from Screen Rant.
October 20th, 2008 at 9:10 am
the new cast looks a little…smooth. kind of plastic-y, to my eye. does that make sense?
though i love simon pegg’s cranky scotty face in that one photo.
doesn’t matter, in the long run, whatever worries i have about the movie. i’ll be seeing it anyway!
October 20th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Actually I usually find quotes such as, “We weren’t making a movie for fans of Star Trek. We were making a movie for fans of movies,” to be a big middle finger to fans in general and in this case Star Trek in particular. Basically it says to me that, “We’re doing what we want to do and screw the people who supported this franchise for forty years.”
I mean let’s suppose the Doctor Who went off the air for five or six years and that somebody was going to bring it back as a big budget movie and they said, “We’re not making a movie for fans of Doctor Who. We’re making this movie for fans of movies.”
It’s insulting. Why would you not want to keep your core audience in mind?
October 20th, 2008 at 9:57 am
“Why would you not want to keep your core audience in mind?”
Because the group is too small to support a major block buster.
I would not want to watch 10 movies and 3 years of a TV series just to enjoy one new movie. It’s too much of a time investment. All they are saying is the movie will be understandable to people outside the TREK culture. Lots of movies are like that. Spiderman, X-Men, HHGTG, Star Wars I, II, III. To draw people in you have to make some concessions.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Sadly, that’s probably a necessary statement for marketing. Because of Trek’s reputation, if they say they’re making it for the fans, then only fans of the show will come see it — and only a subset, really, because so many of us have just gotten burned out on it over the years. People outside the fandom will assume it’s just a big long in-group thing that they won’t find interesting, and skip it.
October 20th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Good point, Michael Bailey, to me they’re basically saying they made a cool movie and put the “star trek” sticker on it. No matter how entertaining it will be, it’ll still be a sell out.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I read this issue over the weekend, and I am very excited. I say that as someone who isn’t into “Star Trek” at all. I don’t think that quote was intended as a middle finger to hardcore fans, but to say that he’s trying to make a good movie with mass appeal, period. Having read that article very closely, it seems to me that they’re trying to stay true to the spirit of the series. The cast looks fantastic.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’m actually getting excited about this movie. The cast looks great. I am a huge fan of most of these actors and I believe that is one of the things that makes me excited. The only person there that I am not familiar with is Chris Pine.
Star Trek: TOS is THE Star Trek I grew up on. So, I will be expecting a lot from this movie. I hope it doesn’t let me down.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
I will see the movie..but as a Trek fan..I am a little dissapointed and not overly excited..however, it looks like it will be a great ” movie “..whether it is a great Star Trek Movie I am not convinced…like most franchises that make new movies with new people involved, I find they don’t work out well..but who knows..
I think they cast a good group of people that looks a lot like what someone would envision a younger version looking like…but, I agree..they do look a little bit plastic…but that could just be in these photos…
October 20th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
My overall point was that marketing tends to down on the source material in order to supposedly appeal to the non-fan and that sucks out loud. Why couldn’t they say, “We made a movie that would appeal to both Star Trek and movie fans.” Seems a better way to go to me.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:44 am
Michael Bailey wrote:
>I mean let’s suppose the Doctor Who went off the air for five or six years and that somebody was going to bring it back as a big budget movie and they said, “We’re not making a movie for fans of Doctor Who. We’re making this movie for fans of movies.”
>It’s insulting. Why would you not want to keep your core audience in mind?
Michael – Believe it or not, that’s pretty close to exactly what happened when the new Doctor Who TV series started in 2005. However, all of us old school Who fans learned to love it.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:45 am
By the way, my thanks to everyone who has commented! It’s nice to see some lively discussion.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
It’s awesome, but I’m still terrified of Spocklar. If Robert April doesn’t show up in this one, or the Kobayashi Maru, I’m going to be sorely disappointed.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:11 pm
I used to laugh at the Star Wars fans when they pissed and moaned about the prequels Lucas put out.
Now they’ll laugh at me. Great.
October 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
I have already read the “spoilers” about this movie.
I only have one word for this movie: YAWN.
Completely unoriginal idea. JJ Abrams is going the way of M Knight; a good gimmick to start his carreer and but nothing to follow up with.
October 21st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
“However, all of us old school Who fans learned to love it.”
Not all of us old school Who fans like the new one. In fact, I think it just plain stinks (IMHO).
As for the Star Trek movie, am I the only one who thinks Kirk look a bit young to captain a starship? He be lucky to be a full Lieutenant at his apparent age, no way he’s a Captain.
October 21st, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Judging by the first picture look like a bit of man on man action is to be expected.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
if Paramount hadn’t run the Trek brand into the ground with ever-worsening series, they wouldn’t need to “re-invent” it at all.
i mean, i’m a Trek fan, and have seen every episode of TOS and TNG. but with each successive seres, i watched them less and less until i couldn’t watch Enterprise at all.
October 21st, 2008 at 6:17 pm
What!? Damn Sylar took Spocks powers too?! Damn him!!!
October 21st, 2008 at 6:36 pm
I’m very excited for this movie. As a Trek fan I think this is the best way they could reignite interest in the series. Using well-known characters but making it a movie for “movie fans” and not just Trekkies is a great way to get new viewers. Trekkies get to enjoy seeing some of their favorite characters again and new viewers will be able to say, “I know who Captain Kirk and Spock are but I don’t need to know 40 years of history to enjoy this movie? That’s awesome.”
I’m not convinced this movie will be the savior but it’s got a good shot.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
@Junko:
They’ve been laughing for a while already. Didn’t you see Enterprise?
October 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
They look like a bunch of metrosexual sissy-boys. I think I am going to hurl.
October 24th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Frankly, I think Abrams is just being the politician; saying “pro-workers!” when talking to unions and chanting, “pro-business!” when talking to corporate backers. The fact is, they’ve taken out all the stops to be true to TOS from what I understand and not mess with the timeline.
In addition to the “base”, however, they also have to appeal to the “swing voters” to make this a real financial success. So, of course, he’s going to say that it’s for movie fans- who would ever say, “No, this is being done only for ST fans.” So, I would take JJ’s comment with a grain of salt.
I’m as excited as a Ferengi with a vibrating phone glued to my ear! And I think we all are which is why every word is being interpreted. But let’s just go out and see the movie! Sorry for the political references- it is an historic election year after all!
October 24th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
This looks even worse than Enterprise…Why bother making a Star Trek film for non-fans of Star Trek? The ridiculous use of “Remus” in Nemesis is apparently being used again too, with “Nero” now being the evil villain here. Am I the only person who finds this historical theft utterly preposterous? JJ Abrahams should stick to ruining his own shows. And finally, who decided to get the “Queer Eye” people in to give the crew a make-over?
October 24th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
I’m keeping an open mind about this concept as a long time fan of basically all the series’ incarnations. But I have to admit that I don’t understand how they equate mass appeal to a recasting of the original crew. The franchise already went down the prequel road with “Enterprise” and it wasn’t all that pretty. I would have much prefered a total reset to the story line with all different characters than a prequel attempting to recast faces that, whether or not you were a fan, you would recognize anywhere. Here’s to hoping that this is a pleasant surprise. It’s probably the franchise’s last breath.
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
my first thoughts: BOO! BOO! I don’t want this crud! then my thoughts were hey, maybe it wont be too bad. then, yea, this will be great! then, no wait, this is an outrage! how can they do this?!?! now, my thoughts are more optomistic but not that better. I’m going to take a nap now.
November 2nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I’m pretty pissed off that no one has pointed out that John Cho ISN’T EVEN THE CORRECT RACE to play Sulu. George Takei is Japanese, Cho is (South) Korean. This is a huge, obvious mistake.. and it’s kind of offensive, like they’re saying ‘Eh, close enough.’
No. No, it’s not close, not at all.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Jay – Maybe Sulu won’t be Japanese anymore. Maybe he’ll be Korean in this version. After all, we know Sulu didn’t grow up in Japan. He grew up in San Fransisco. Thanks to the wasted line in Star Trek IV.
Shag
November 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Regarding Sulu:
George Takei recalled Gene Roddenberry wanted the character to represent all of Asia, which symbolized the peace of the Trek universe in spite of the numerous wars in the continent. Roddenberry did not want a nationally specific surname, so he looked at a map and saw the Sulu Sea. “He thought, ‘Ah, the waters of that sea touch all shores’,” the actor recalled, “and that’s how my character came to have the name Sulu.”
The fictional character Hikaru Sulu was born in San Francisco, to a Japanese and a Filipino.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikaru_Sulu
November 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I used to be a huge Trekker. I liked Voyager best, because I thought the concept was interesting (a starship left to survive on its own? Cool!) but I was also a lot younger at the time, and now I realize (well, I realized it then, but I really realize it now) that there were some really dumb story lines (um…the one where people aged in reverse? That’s really the best you can give us?!). Some of the characters were interesting (I liked Janeway, I loved B’Elanna, the Doctor was great, and the idea behind Seven was great, although the fact that she was added solely for sex appeal detracted from that considerably). The idea of having two opposing factions forced to cooperate was great but they didn’t use it enough. And the end…well, it was completely anti-climatic.
To me, the death knell was when Brannon Braga joined and obtained a position of power in the francise. He seemed to think that everything had to revolve around sex appeal, and when he was given responsibilities in creating that travesty known as “Enterprise” things went downhill from there. I watched the first episode and it so sickened me that I couldn’t bring myself to watch anything more.
When I heard that they were doing “young Kirk and Co.” I almost cried. Haven’t they tortured Star Trek enough? If they’re going to do a movie, why not make it something different? Bring back something else.
The difference with “Doctor Who” was that the essential spirit of the original remained the same. The difference with “Star Wars”…actually, wait, no, the second trilogy just plain sucked.
Rest in peace, Star Trek. You died many years ago, and you are greatly missed.
I’ll see it, but probably not in a first-run theater.
November 3rd, 2008 at 7:20 pm
new kirk looks like someone who would be in mission impossible 4 and spock looks so plasticy he looks like an inflatable sex doll.
November 7th, 2008 at 8:15 am
has anyone noticed that THE BRIDGE LOOKS DIFFERENT?!?!?!?!?
November 7th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Of course the bridge looks different. It’s being designed for a movie, not a TV show in an era when the image was low-res, typically sent over the airwaves, and distorted. The screen size, resolution, and image quality by themselves demand a redesign, just as the entire ship was redesigned for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (They had the advantage of being able to explain it as a refit.)
Even Serenity was redesigned for, well, Serenity. It was just a lot subtler because they were picking up from a recent show, rather than one with design sensibilities from four decades ago.
December 7th, 2008 at 1:09 am
Look, Beverly Hills 90210 meets Spaceballs! Hope the action is fancy and the dialog not vomit worthy.
February 13th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
I’m gonna make a Star Trek Voyager movie that is just the cast of Lost transposed in to random Voyager roles. A man in a wig, smoking Virginia Slims will play Janeway. The conflict of the movie will be that they are stranded in the Delta quadrant with no cigarettes for the captain, and she’s already getting cranky.
Also they will find out that there is a polar bear monster living on the island. Ship.
March 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
First of all, just want to say that with this movie im very dissapointed in two things. First is there attempt to pass that guy off as a romulan. Second the fact that the romulans are in this because they havent really met the romulans until part way through the TOS series. Also everything looks way to advanced or the era. I understand the fact that they have to make an interesting movie but it dissapoints me. Im going to go watch this movie as a really really good spin off action movie, not as a Star Trek Movie.
May 1st, 2009 at 3:20 am
Hello, I’m a massive fanof both TOS and all (enterprise questionable) new(er) additions. Infact I have just watched ‘The Enemy Within’ on the Sci Fi channel b4 work. However the Kirk/Spock era was the best – being the Wrath Of Khan at its pinnacle. Unfortunatly we dont currently have the technology of the Holo Deck – so we cant reverse the aging of the original crew and bring them back in a pre-qual, leaving the only option to recast them. Plus it’s another sad fact that all us Trekkies are a dieing breed & to pump new life into the franchise is by modernising the whole thing to keep up. I can’t wait for the new film (McCoy inparticular seems very true to character). As for the ‘plastic looking’ comments – Please go and google Star Trek! and say that none of the original screen shots don’t look that way. Come on give it a chance – I persoanally hope they make an ‘inbetween’ film about Khan marooned on Seti Alpha 5 – how f+++++g cool would that be??? Pease, live long and prosper
May 1st, 2009 at 11:58 am
OMG!!! SYLAR!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!! LAWL
May 1st, 2009 at 5:26 pm
You just noticed that now?