Star Trek 09 - A Great Movie That Revisits the Classic TV Show Theme

Rating: 7/10 (9 May 2009)

First off, I would like to say that I am a young but big fan of the original series and movies. I love the entire original cast and anything else just feels wrong to me. I've been very skeptical about this movie but because of all the hype, I decided to go ahead and see it. Amongst this, I wanted to give it a fair shot and not be biased against the new and young actors portraying the original cast. Well I have to say this movie delivers! I actually enjoyed it more than a few of the original six Star Trek films (not everyone of those movies was great if you seen them). One thing that's significantly been improved was the CGI which has sadly always been a burden for the original Star Trek movies. I thought special effect's were going to ruin this film though, by being over dowsed with it. But they don't! The classic negotiating and conversation that the original series had still exist in this movie.
Another thing I really loved in this movie was the sound. Being a hobbyist music and sound producer, I think sound and music is a biggie when it comes to movies. The movie uses all the classic sounds from the original series and it throws in the classic, addicting TV show theme in at the end of the movie. Not only this, but visually, the uniforms, the Enterprise, everything was very accurate with the original series. This I like!
Now to get on to some of the downsides. The biggest one... this movie was missing the original Captain Kirk! I don't care who you are, if you don't support the fact that William Shatner should have been in this movie, then you are not a true trekkie. I would have gladly rated this movie a 10/10 if Shatner was in it, but beings he was missing from the story, I cannot give it a perfect score. On the other hand, it was very nice to see Leonard Nimoy back one more time and hear his words of wisdom, but he is the only one of the original cast we get to see, although the storyline may have not made sense to throw in anyone else. Another thing that bothers me is the beginning of the movie with Kirk and Spock growing up. I felt that this area of the movie could have used improvements, especially with the very lame car chase scene. In the Star Trek universe, there is no law enforcement. And what's with the old car? This was a part of the movie that made little sense.
I was overall happy with this movie but I will never forget the original cast who made the franchise so huge and I will continue to watch the original series. The movie is missing the 60's vibe and feel and it still feels wrong with so many of the original cast members missing. The portrayal of the original cast is almost dead on, especially with Checkov (his voice is a perfect match for the original). Zachary Qunito as Spock was excellent and Chris Pine played a perfect, egotistic Captain Kirk without trying to imitate Shatner. I recommend this movie to all Star Trek fans, young and old. It's still better than Next Generations if you are not a fan of Captain Picard and I think the movie should be given a fair chance. It's a nice flick and I just hope that it doesn't get thrown in the trash like the Lost In Space movie remake did!