Posts
Guess what I did tonight? I went and saw the new Star Trek movie and it was, in a word, fantastic! But more about that in a sec...I find it a little weird that I am such a big Star Trek fan. Okay, not a big enough fan to go to conventions or dress up as characters (though I do admit to going to Star Trek: The Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton...Very Cool). I was too young to watch the first Star Trek when it was originally on in the 60's, though I've seen all of the episodes in reruns over the last forty years. But what really hooked me was The Next Generation. That was MY Star Trek, I was totally hooked on it with my roommate in college and when I met my husband I converted him, too. And I loved Janeway in Voyager. Never a fan of Deep Space Nine really, maybe someday I'll try to watch them in order on DVD and like them better. I enjoyed the most recent television incarnation of Enterprise, too, but wasn't as dedicated a watcher as I was with TNG and Voyager. I've seen all the movies, too, of course.
Now my favorite sci-fi is the new (relatively, started about four years ago) Doctor Who. I never saw this staple of the BBC before the new series started but now I am as big a fan of the Doctor as I am of Star Trek.
The really strange thing is that I don't really read sci-fi much, I don't really like it. Isn't that weird? I love historical fiction, fantasy, even contemporary fiction, but I hardly ever pick up any science fiction at all. Maybe I'm afraid that if I tried it I would be sucked in immediately. I hardly need another genre, I don't have enough time to read as it is! I do want to try out Terry Pratchett, though. That Discworld series looks seriously cool.
So, back to the movie. I was sceptical, along with half the world, of how true this new movie could possibly be to the spirit of this series. Happily, my fears proved to be unfounded. Within the first ten minutes, I was in tears. (Believe me when I say that has never happened before. Tears at the end sometimes, but in the first ten minutes? Nope.) And it just got better from there. That single event sets off a brilliant twist that buys the world of Star Trek a whole new future. Has this device been used before? Absolutely, but never to such wonderful effect.
The actors also deserve high praise, they have done an amazing job translating the little mannerisms of the earlier players while still making the roles their own. Doctor McCoy's speech cadences are strikingly close to the original, Spock's arched eyebrow is perfect. And Kirk somehow develops that signature swagger during the course of the film. Set them up against a sinister group of rogue Romulans and there's nothing more a fan could want.
My verdict?
Live long and prosper.
