To Boldly Go...

Star Trek Into Darkness  (Paramount Pictures, 2013)

Before the Camera:


Chris Pine  (Star Trek '09)
Zachary Quinto  (Star Trek '09)
Karl Urban  (Star Trek '09)
Benedict Cumberbatch  (TV's Sherlock)
Zoe Saldana  (Star Trek '09)
Simon Pegg  (Star Trek '09)
John Cho  (Star Trek '09)
Anton Yelchin  (Star Trek '09)
Bruce Greenwood  (Star Trek '09)
Alice Eve  (Men in Black III)
Noel Clarke  (TV's Doctor Who)
Deep Roy  (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
and
Peter Weller  (Robocop)
as
Admiral Marcus



And look fast for:

Heather Langenkamp  (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
Christopher Doohan  (Scotty's real life son!)
Akiva Goldsman  (screenwriter - Batman Forever)
and
?





Behind the Camera:


Directed by J.J. Abrams


Produced by J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindeloff, and 9 other assorted producers, co-producers, and executive producers


Written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof.


Based upon 'Star Trek' created by Gene Roddenberry





After successfully commanding the Starship Enterprise through the events of 2009’s Star Trek – Captain James T. Kirk (Pine) and his crew continue to serve Starfleet – taking on one-shot missions when they become available. As the new movie opens Kirk, Spock (Quinto), and McCoy (Urban) are on the planet Nebiru – home to a pre-industrial race of aliens who have only just developed the wheel. The Enterprise crew members are bucking their orders to stop a massive volcano from erupting and destroying the planet. They do save the planet – but Kirk is forced to break the Prime Directive and lets the aliens see the Enterprise in order to save Spock from a fiery death. Back at Starfleet, Kirk’s carefully worded report is undermined by Spock’s entirely truthful one – and despite the intervention of Admiral Pike (Greenwood) Kirk is busted back to Enterprise first officer under Pike and Spock is reassigned to the USS Bradbury.

"Captain, how many s'mores shall I make?"

Elsewhere, a rogue Starfleet agent named John Harrison (Cumberbatch) blows up a Starfleet data archive, killing more than forty people. Pike and Kirk attend an emergency strategy meeting of Starfleet captains and commanders – and Harrison shows up – blasting the meeting place from a shuttle and killing several. Harrison escapes – but thanks to detective work by Scotty (Pegg) – it turns out he’s made it much further than anyone could have suspected – specifically to Kronos – the Klingon home world. Starfleet and the Klingon Empire are on shaky ground diplomatically, but Kirk’s impassioned plea to Admiral Marcus (Weller) gets his Captain status reinstated and the Enterprise on the way to Kronos – armed with six dozen new Starfleet torpedoes so top secret they are shielded from scans and have no schematics on file. Scotty quits when he is prevented from scanning them before allowing them onto the ship. Marcus’s orders – to unload the torpedoes on the uninhabited area Harrison is hiding in and kill him from deep space – ends up not sitting well with Kirk, and he alters the mission to capturing Harrison.

"A dozen s'mores will do it, Spock. Do you have enough
marshmelons?"

Harrison is eventually brought on board, but what he has to say in response to Kirk’s interrogation – about his real identity; his origins; and how he is connected to Admiral Marcus – only serves to undermine Kirk’s faith in Starfleet further – and serves to send a chill up the spine of those audience members well versed in the history of Star Trek before the original timeline was altered to this new track in the 2009 movie. I don’t know why I’m being so coy – no one else on the internet is – but I’ll try to preserve some of the story for those who can manage to see this one cold. In the end, Kirk and Spock have to call on all their available resources – including a couple of surprises – and bring the crew back together in order to battle the enemies arrayed against them.

 

Kirk and Spock enjoy watching Sherlock too, and look at the size of that TV!

 

 

Suffering not one iota of sophomore slump, JJ Abrams and crew slam another Star Trek movie out of the park. It is a smart, action packed, and funny movie – with this incredible second run of actors all perfectly embodying their iconic roles and joined by marvelous new faces like Cumberbatch, Eve, and Weller. Sci-fi and horror fans also get to see Doctor Who’s Noel Clarke and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Heather Langenkamp briefly for added fun. The story plays off previous Trek lore and even gets playful about the parallels, although you’ll need to see the movie to understand what I mean. Nearly every character gets some good moments, with only John Cho’s Sulu taking a bit of a backseat this time out. Urban’s Dr. McCoy continues to amaze me; and Pegg really comes into his own as Scotty – I think he even does the accent a little better this time out.



"I'm surrrrr he didna mean ta hurt ma feelins, lass."

The sets, costumes, and effects are all the best money can buy; the 3-D – admittedly an upconvert – is actually well done and worth the added expense; and it’s just marvelous to sit down in the theater and see the Enterprise zooming through space and her legendary crew back in action. I highly recommend this summer movie – and it’s a must see if you enjoyed the 2009 movie. Check this one out!







Let's Get Out of Here ?


Roughly five minutes into the movie, Chris Pine has had his fill of indigenous alien species.








Eye Candy ?

Yes indeed!

Alice Eve is in!

Zoe Saldana is in!

Buddha Man's Capsule Review

Buddha Man says: "Star Trek Into Darkness
is a fine cinematic Enterprise!"

Thank you BM! Until next post, you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!