Live long and prosper: the Star Trek XI review

I’m starting with a small disclosure: I am a Star Wars fan who, since being a kid, never really wanted to even like Star Trek. Yes, I said it. But then again, I’ve grown up. My geekiness has made the Trekkie (or Trekker, for old school fans) call and my interest in Star Trek has risen like a parrot from its egg. And what a beautiful and interesting parrot it seems to be!

Most of my friends are geeks. Mac geeks, technology geeks, video game geeks, trading card geeks, sci-fi geeks, music geeks. I fit into a couple of these: I am a band geek… a technology loving, Macintosh praising, friendly neighborhood band geek. Yes, band geek.

If you’re a person who’s got friends that know about anything you can come up with and you’re interested in learning about new things, tv shows, movies, etc., what do you do? Ask ‘em, right? I wanted a great sci-fi tv show with a big fanbase. First mentioned: Lost. I get it, I get it… I’ll watch it! Second: Dr. Who, a highly acclaimed British show that I still don’t know peep about. Third: Star Trek. Now this is something I’ve heard of! Space, alien races, fast ships, phasers, William Shatner, and pew-pew sounds: you just caught my attention.

What to do now? How about doing some research? … Okay, here’s what I learned. The tv series has been running for around 40 years and there’s also ten movies already made: damn! … but wait! A new movie is coming out? And it’s a prequel?! It’s about how the crew met each other and how it all started. Sounds awesome: why don’t I start there?

And start I did.

Wow, what a movie! Stunning special effects, lots of great science fiction, lots of things somehow related to physics, my study area (black holes, space-time continuum, traveling at the speed of light), comedy, action, romance, suspense, “what the f***?” moments, etc. I knew I was in for a ride… I didn’t know I was going to enjoy it so much!

So, a spoiler-free story: crew builds up and ends up being what you’re used to seeing in older Star Trek movies and shows. That’s about all I can say, really. All the classic crew members’ characters are there, the color-by-purpose shirts are there (yes, they each have a different meaning… which I still cannot explain, really), U.S.S. Enterprise is there, the old series’ theme song is there, warp speed is there, pew-pew lasers and phasers are there, and the Vulcan salutation is there. There’s some scenes that felt recycled from a Star Wars movie but what would you expect from two space-themed series? Although… Star Wars is set “a long time ago” and Star Trek seems set sometime in the future.

So what’s left for me now? How about watching the series and movies in the order in which they were done? Seems about right. I’ll come back to you and post about it when I’m done… in about twelve years or so. Live long and prosper.

Have you seen Star Trek? Of so, what did you think of it? If not, why? Do you have any other sci-fi series you’d like to recommend?