Friday Funday.....STAR TREK.
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Hey there
Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and lend
an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird, wacky
and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.
Random
blog day boo yah. As you should know Fridays is random blog day were
we talk anything and everything and pretty much run with it. Today's
blog is on the popular cult TV show franchise Star Trek.
Star Trek is an
American media franchise based on the TV show of the same name
created of by Gene Roddenbury. The first TV series simply called star
trek is often referred to as “The Original Series” debuted in
1966 and aired for three series on NBC. This series led to the
creation of several books, several subsequent TV series, moves and an
animation. The fans of Star Trek called Trekkies/Trekkers have been
very important to the continuation of the TV series and Movies. When
NBC threatened to cancel the original series during its second season
the fans Led by Bjo Trimble conducted an unprecedented letter
campaign insisting the network keep the show, NBC did but moved it to
the Friday death slot resulting it in being cancelled after S3.
The series showed
signs of growing popularity thanks to the first Star Trek convention
which occurred from January 21st to January 23rd
1972 in NYC. Whilst the original estimate of attendees was in the
hundreds several thousand fans turned up with fans world wide holding
and heading to other conventions elsewhere. The popularity prompted
an animated series although it was very short lived. Star Trek owes
its continuation in part to the Star Wars Original trilogy and
another movie called Close Encounters of the third kind. Using
material that was supposed to be another pilot episode the Star Trek
Motion Picture came to the silver screen with several squeals being
made with The Wrath of Khan pulling in enough money to prompt another
Star Trek series named The Next Generation. Due to the motion picture
earning less than expected but enough for a squeal, Roddenbury was
forced to relinquish creative control of future squeals.
During the creation of
TNG Roddenbury had been heavily involved with the first three seasons
but passed control to Executive Producer Rick Berman shortly before
he died on October 24th 1991. It is highly debated in
several circles that Roddenbury's death freed Star Trek to be what it
became today or hindered it without its creator. What happened was
near 18 years worth of Star Trek ending with the poor performance of
Star Trek: Nemesis and Enterprise being moved to the Friday death
slot and eventually cancelled. Star Trek came back to life in 2009
with the release of the Star Trek Movie (focused on the Kelvin
Timeline instead of the Timeline of the previous series and movies).
This led to another two movies and CBS releasing a new series titled
Star Trek Discovery.
I came across Star
Trek in 2001 as I went from primary school to Secondary school. This
is the Voyager/Enterprise crossover era and as such I had several
years of Star trek to catch up on. Whilst I knew of star trek I'd
never gone looking for it until then. Luckily my family had sky and
both DS9 and TNG on repeats and as such I had an overload on four
different Trek shows. I fell in love of several of the characters and
each shows individual message and because of this I went back and
looked over the original series though couldn't get into it. Watching
Star Trek had somehow become my superpower as I could resite most of
the characters AND the actors they were portrayed by, definitely
scared a few students and my science teacher by my Star Trek
Knowledge during a science lesson. I give the whole franchise 8/10.
THE TV
SHOWS:
STAR TREK: THE
ORIGINAL SERIES (1966-1969)
The Original series
often abbreviated to TOS debuted on September 8th 1996 and
the story follows the crew of the starship Enterprise and its five
year mission “To boldly go where no man has gone before”, The
series earned several nominations for the Hugo award for best
Dramatic Presentation and won twice. The series was cancelled after
the third season despite a petition signed by many people its
multiple Hugo nominations, It had low Nielson ratings but was highly
popular with science fiction fans and engineers. The Series became
popular and gained a cult following Thanks to Reruns.
THE ANIMATED SERIES
(1973-1974)
The Animated Series
ran for two seasons and produced by Filmation and included most of
the original cast and crew. Whilst the animation was able to provide
more exotic lifeforms and landscapes, animation errors, reuse of
shots and musical cues pretty much messed with the series reputation.
The Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenbury often calls the Animated Series
non canon. Despite the issues the series won Star Treks first Emmy in
1975.
STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION (1987-1994)
Frequently abbreviated
to TNG, The Next Generation takes place around a century after the
original series (2364-2370) and follows the new crew of the new
Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) as they travel the alpha quadrant. The crew
hold a representation of new races in Starfleet such as the half
Betazoid counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Klingon security
officer Lt Worf (Michael Dorn) who are my favourite characters along
with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Steward). The show
premiered in September 1987 and earned several Emmy awards, two Hugo
awards and a Peabody Award as well as several nominations over it's
seven year run. IT was reruns of TNG along with DS9 and Voyager that
got me into Star Trek.
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE
NINE (1993-1999)
Deep Space Nine
commonly called DS9 overlaps and continues straight after The Next
Generation. The show begins after the brutal Cardassian occupation of
Bajor (Unlike the other Trek Series, DS9 takes place on a space
station rather than a starship), As the Federation comes to help the
newly formed crew finds a uniquely stable wormhole which provides
imminent access tot he gamma quadrant and makes Bajor and DS9 a
strategically important location. My favourite Characters from DS9
are the Cardassian Tailor Elim Garek (Andrew J. Robinson), the
Ferengi barman Quark (Armin Shimerman) and Trill science officer
Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell).
STAR TREK: VOYAGER
(1995-2001)
Voyager takes place
along a similar time frame to DS9 (and similar release time of
occurring during the last few series and straight after DS9), and it
follows the crew of the newly put together star ship voyager being
sent out to pursue and capture the crew of the marques ship Val-Jean.
The crew of both ships end up on Voyager 70,00 light-years from earth
and need 75 years to get home. The crew slowly integrate and bond.
The first few series showcase such problems (Like DS9 and showing
conflicts amongst it's crew) whilst later seasons showcase problems
with both new and knowledgeable characters such as the Borg, Q,
Klingons and several cast members of the next generation. Voyager is
my second favourite series following DS9 and holds my favourite
Characters Ensign Harry Kim (Garret Wang), 7 of 9 known as Seven
(Jeri Ryan) and Captain Katherine Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE
(2001-2005)
The series is a
prequel to the original series and It aired form 2001 to 2005. the
series follows the crew of the Enterprise the first warp-5 capable
ship ninety years after the events of Cochrane's first warp flight
and about a decade before the founding of the federation. Like
Voyager and the original series, Enterprise followed self-centred
episodes for the first two series. The entire third series consisted
of one overall ark with the fourth and fifth series consisting of
several mini arks tied together. I really quite liked watching
Enterprise
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
(2017-PRESENT)
Discovery is a direct
prequel to the original series, set up to ten years beforehand and
follows the crew of the Discovery focusing in particular on
Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) as a
Klingon T'Kuvma attempting to unite the twenty four Klingon houses,
leading to war both amongst the Klingons and with the Federation. Ive
only seen a few episodes of Discovery and as such I really don't have
an opinion on the series.
STAR TREK: PICARD
(EXPECTED RELEASE 2020)
Picard will be the
eighth series in the Star Trek franchise and centres of the Character
of Jean-Luc Picard. The series is set in the 24th century,
twenty years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis (2002) the
storyline is affected by the destruction of Romulus referenced in the
film Star Trek (2009) as well as the death of Data from the
previously mentioned Nemesis. Patrick Steward stars as Picard and is
an executive Producer, and several Star Trek Alumni such as Jedi
Ryan, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis join him as
their respective characters. The series will be released in 2020.
THE
MOVIES:
STAR TREK 1: THE MOTION
PICTURE (1979)
In the 23rd
century a Starfleet monitoring station Epsilon 9 detects an alien
force hidden in a massive cloud of energy moving through space
towards earth. The crew of the refitted Enterprise head out under
Admiral Kirk and find out that the cloud is actually Voyager 6 a 20th
century earth space probe believed to be lost in a black hole. Its
agreed that V'ger has no purpose other than completing its original
mission. When its realised that humans created them Dekker the
displaced captain of the enterprise offers himself and merges with
the probe and fellow crewmember Illia and Kirk takes the enterprise
back to earth.
Released in North
America on December 7th 1979 Star Trek; the motion picture
received mixed reviews which many fault to over reliance on special
effects and lack of action scenes. The movie as April 2019 holds a
42% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A lot of the production ended up being
rather patchwork and the writers not really listening to the cast.
Having watched the movie myself I have to agree the movie is pretty
choppy and seams to jump all over the place. The movie however is
recognised on two AFI lists 2003's AFI's 100 years...100 Heroes and
Villains for James T. Kirk as nominated Hero and 2005's AFI's 100
years of Film Scores nomination.
STAR TREK II: THE WRATH
OF KHAN (1982)
Admiral James T. Kirk
oversees simulator sessions of Captain Spock's trainees at Starfleet
command. When he's visited by Bones McCoy for his birthday he's
noticed to be in low spirits and advises him to get a new command and
not grow old behind a desk. The starship Reliant under the command of
Captain Clark Terrell and Pavel Checkov is on a mission to search for
a lifeless planet to test the Genesis Device developed by Kirk's
former lover Dr Carol Marcus and their son David. Checkov and Terrell
are kidnapped by tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (who 15 years prior is
exiled by Kirk along with several other genetically engineered super
humans after attempting to take over the Enterprise), Kirk heads out
in command of the Enterprise and ends up battling Khan rescuing their
friends along the way. Spock is mortally wounded and dies of
radiation poisoning after urging Kirk not to grieve and his death was
a logical one. The enterprise crew gives Spock a space burial and
heads pack to earth picking up the Reliant's marooned crew on the
way. Spock's casket is shown having soft landed on the surface of the
genesis planet.
The cast and crew of
the previous film reunited with Harve Bennett set to write the
script. The sets and script were heavily guarded due to the death of
Spock near the end of the film prompting the theme of the movie to be
about old age, friendship, death and the passage of time even
resurrection could be added to it. The Wrath of Khan opened on June
4th 1982 and became a much more profitable movie than it's
predecessor. Gene Roddenbury having been blamed for the previous
movies large budget and consistent rewrites was removed as an
executive producer and is made executive consultant. The reviews were
a lot more positive with Rotten Tomatoes giving the movie an 87%
rating and an average score of 8/10. The movie won two Saturn awards
in 192 for best Actor (Shatner) and best direction (Meyer) and also
received best recognition from AFI (American Film Institute) for 100
years...100 thrills nomination, 100 years 100 Heroes and Villains-
Khan Noonan Singh Nominated Villain and 10 top 10 Nominated science
fiction film.
STAR TREK III: THE
SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984)
The Search for Spock
starts as the crew of the enterprise return home after the last movie
and eventually learn that the spirit of Spock is being held in the
mind of Dr Bones McCoy. Springing the Doctor from confinement and
stealing the enterprise the crew returns to the Genesis planet and
retrieve the body of Spock which has been resurrected thanks to the
Genesis Planet. A Klingon bird of Prey led by Captain Kurge has
beaten them there and causing havoc by holding people hostage. Over
the course of a battle the crew of the enterprise wins and rescues
most of the hostages but looses both their ship and David
Marcus....Kirks son. Using the Klingon Bird of prey the crew returns
Spock to Vulcan and reunite his spirit and body.
Harve Bennett was
given the green light to write Star Trek three the day after Wrath of
Khans release and work started almost Immediately. There was some
issue when Leonard Nimoy (RIP) was approached by paramount to play
Spock again. Studio chief Michael Eisner had believed that Nimoy
hated Star Trek and had demanded in his contract that Spock be
killed. Nimroy was given the job plus that of Director after he
persuaded Eisner that it wasn't the case. The Cast of the previous
two movies joined as well as the majority of the crew and like with
Wrath of Khan the sets and script were guarded whilst filming.
The movie was released
on June 1st 1984 and surprisingly wasn't heavily marketed,
although there were Search for Spock branded Calenders and Glasses
sold at Taco-bell. Then US President Ronald Reagan screened the movie
for friends during a weekend and he's quoted to say “It wasn't very
good”. The movie garnered generally positive praise with Nimoy
being praised for his Directorial debut. The Review site Rotten
Tomatoes give the movie a rating of 79% due to its positive reviews.
Like a lot of the early movies it took me some time to watch them and
always made me a bit confused but I feel that's because I came into
Star Trek with the later TV shows and Movies. I did like however the
comrade of the characters shown on TV thanks to the cast. I give the
movie 7/10
STAR TREK IV: THE
VOYAGE HOME (1986)
In 2286 an enormous
cylindrical probe moves through space, sending out signals which
disable the power of every ship it passes. As it takes up orbit
around Earth, Its signal disables the global power grid and generates
both planetary storms and create catastrophic cloud cover which
blocks the sun. Starfleet command sends out a planetary distress call
and warns all space faring vessels not to approach earth. Kirk and
Crew leave Vulcan and return to Earth just as they receive the no
approach to earth. Recognising the signal from the ship as the call
of the humpback whales the crew head back in time. The crew separate
to get nuclear power from a leaking nuclear reactor to re power the
Klingon vessel, finding humpback whales and the building of a tank to
take them back to the future. After helping rescue some Humpback
Whales from poachers, trading supplies and pulling power from a
nuclear ship. The crew returns to their time frame crash landing into
the San Francisco bay. Having been released into the bay, the Whales
return the signal call to the probe in space who high tail it out of
range and disappeared back into deep space.
Released on November
26th 1986 – Thanksgiving weekend Star Trek The Voyage
home was the first star trek movie to be watched in the Soviet Union
(SCORE!!!) and was screened by the World Wildlife Fund to celebrate
the ban on Whaling. The movie pushed Crocodile Dundee off of tits
eight week reign of the American box office and garnered 11
nominations at the 14th Saturn Awards tying with Aliens
for nomination numbers as well as garnering four nominations (Best
Cinematography, sound, Sound effects and Original score) at the 59th
Academy Awards. In 2018 Popular Mechanics ranked the scene where
Chekov talks about “Nuclear wessels” the 50th
greatest moments in science fiction. The movie received positive
reviews across the board although there were a few negative reviews
which mainly focused on effects than on the cast.
This is the movie I've
watched the least, I haven't even finished the initial watching. The
move for me I'm afraid didn't/couldn't keep my interest. I have to
give the movie 4/10.
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL
FONTIER (1989)
The crew of the newly
commissioned Enterprise are enjoying shore leave when they are
ordered by Starfleet command to rescue Human, Romulan and Klingon
hostages on Nimbus 3. a planet set aside to promote dialogue between
the Federation and the Klingon and Romulan Empires. It's discovered
the Renegade Vulcan Sybok, Spock's half brother is behind the hostage
situation and wants to use the enterprise to get to Sha Ka Ree.
Sybok shows off his skill of healing deep wounds through the use of
Mind Melds and is halted by Spock and Kirk (Spock for being unmoved
and Kirk 'cause the hurt makes him human). Reaching a truce Sybok and
the enterprise crew head towards Sha Ka Ree and manage to get through
the barrier. They are followed by the Klingon captain Klaa who is
trailing Kirk in some perceived journey for honour. After reaching
the planet and contacting a being Sybok perceives as God. The “God”
figure attacks Kirk after he questions why god would need a ship.
Sybok realises his folly and saves Kirk from “God”. The crew
return to the enterprise and again are attacked by the “God”
figure but are attacked by the Klingons who end up helping after Kirk
and the Klingon general talk Klaa down from his honour quest. After
the God figure is dealt with The Klingons agree with Kirk to a new
Dante and the crew of the enterprise return to shore leave.
The movie was released
during the summer alongside Indiana Jones and the last crusade,
Ghostbusters 2 and Batman. The movie reached no 1 in the box office
and beat its predecessor the voyage homes overall total in the first
weekend. The movie had no marketing past the pins and posters sold in
the theatres and received very poor reviews on Rotten Tomatoes the
movies rating is 22% based on such negative reviews. I managed to
watch this movie and I thought It was pretty good so I disagree with
the negative reviews. I give this movie 8/10.
STAR TREK VI: THE
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY ()
The Starship Excelsior
commanded by Captain Hiraru Sulu is struck by a shock wave and
discovers afterwards that the nearby moon Paraxis under Klingon
occupation has been destroyed.
The destruction of
Paraxis and the ozone layer of the Klingon Home world throws the
empire in Turmoil. The Enterprise is sent to meet with the Klingon
Chancellor Gorkon and escort him to earth for negotiations. The two
crews share a terse meal on board the enterprise and later that
evening the enterprise supposedly fires torpedoes on the Klingon ship
during the chaos the chancellor is killed by two people who transfer
over from the enterprise. Kirk and McCoy transfer over tot he Klingon
ship in an attempt to keep the peace but are arrested and sentenced
due to assassination. Kirk and McCoy are rescued by Captain Spock and
they search the ship for the assassins finding them dead and finding
their accomplice Spock's Protege Valeris after setting up a trap.
After forcing a mind meld with Valeris Spock and the crew race to the
new location of the peace talks side by side with the Excelsior. They
battle with a new Klingon Prototype ship receiving serious damage
whilst penultimately destroying the bird of prey through the exhaust
emissions. After saving the peace talks the Enterprise is ordered
back to earth to be decommissioned, kirk orders to set a course for
“the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning”. As
the enterprise cruses on Kirk records in his log that though this
mission is his last others will continue “to boldly go where no one
has gone before”.
The movie was released
on December 6th 1991 to kinder reviews than the previous
film, with an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movies was intended to be a
prequel movie to TOS with younger actors. However facing a time
crunch due to the approaching 25th Anniversary of Star
Trek, Meyer (director of the Wrath of Khan) and Denny Martin Flinn
banded together and wrote a script based on a suggestion from Leonard
Nimoy “What if the wall came down in space” (touching on the
contemporary events of the cold war). The film earned two academy
nominations for best Make up and Best Sound Effects and is the only
movie to win the Saturn award for Best Science Fiction Film. Star
trek Creator Gene Roddenbury died of heart failure shortly before the
films premiere just days after reviewing the film himself. Ive seen
this movie through once or twice and whilst I think its a very good
film I don't really head towards it when I head to watch Star trek
movies....I give the movie 8/10.
STAR TREK VII:
GENERATIONS (1994)
In the year 2293
retired officers Kirk, Scotty and Chekov attend the maiden voyage f
the USS Enterprise B under the command of new captain John Harriman,
during the shake down cruise the ship is pressed into a ill equipped
rescue mission to save two El-Aurian ships from a strange energy
ribbon. Enterprise is able to save some of the refugees but at the
expense of other refugees their ships, the Enterprise being damaged
and Kirk presumed dead. In 2371 the crew of the USS Enterprise D
celebrates the promotion of Worf whilst Picard receives a message
from earth that his brother and nephew were killed in a fire and
Picard is distraught that the family will die with him. The
enterprise is called to the Amargosa star system thanks to a distress
call from an observatory. There an El-Aurian named Dr Tolian Soran
launches a trillium probe at the Amargosa star before transporting to
the Duras sisters Bird of Prey with LaForge as a prisoner. Guinean
tells Picard about Soren and what happened back in 2293 calling the
energy ribbon the Nexus. Soren plans on destroying a planetary system
and several billion lives. Picard manages to negotiate Laforge's
release for his own person. Taking the chance Picard transfers down
to the planet to talk Soran out of his plans but fails whilst the
Duras sisters and the Enterprise battle overhead. The Nexus Energy
band takes everything in the system transferring Picard to the Nexus.
Picard experiences having a family and realises its all an illusion
due to the nexus. Picard crosses paths with Kirk thanks to the echo
of Guinean. After experiencing the Nexus and realising its an
illusion too Kirk agrees to head out with Picard to stop Soran which
they manage to do at the price of Kirks Death. The Enterprise
destroys the Bird of Prey but crashes on the world below. As the crew
is rescued by three other ships Picard states that other ships will
always hold the name the name Enterprise.
Generations opened on
18th November 1994 receiving mixed reviews. The rating on
rotten tomatoes is 47% with a consensus that the movie merely
expanded on the TV series and promotions for the movie included a
website a first for a major motion picture. Generations is the only
movie which includes two separate Star Trek Casts. I found the movie
quite easy to watch but had to watch several times to really
understand it so I give the movie 7/10.
STAR TREK VIII FIRST
CONTACT (1996)
In the 24th
century Captain Jean-Luc Picard has nightmares from his time amongst
the Borg as Locutus six years earlier. He's contacted by Admiral
Hayes and told the Borg is attacking Earth but wants the enterprise
to patrol the Neutral zone due to Romulan Aggression and command
believes Picard wont be objective with the Borg. Breaking protocol
after finding out the fleet is loosing the battle the Enterprise
heads back to earth and battles the Borg cube which is holding their
own. The enterprise follows a Borg sphere back in time to when the
historic warp drive flight made by Cochrane. Part of the crew heads
down to earth and helps Cochrane test his ship and make it ready for
its flight whilst the rest of the crew fights the Borg who've boarded
the enterprise after their ship is destroyed Data is captured in the
melee. After several hard fights and Picard facing his demons on the
Borg they are defeated and Cochrane takes the ship up and do the test
warp flight attracting the attention of the Vulcans. The Enterprise
returns back to its own time after correction of the timeline.
First Contact was
released on November 22nd 1996 and was the highest
grossing film on its opening weekend. The reviews were ultimately
positive prompting a 93% rating (Only beaten by the 2009 reboot at
94%) on Rotten Tomatoes. The Borg and special effects were especially
lauded. The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for best make
up and won three Saturn awards. I quite liked this movie, it answered
a lot of questions as to the nature of the beginning of the
Federation and the relationship between the Humans and the Vulcan's,
I give this movie 9/10.
STAR TREK IX
INSURRECTION (1998)
Lt Commander Data
malfunctions after being transferred to a mission observing a race
called the Ba'Ku. When the Enterprise is contacted by the admiral in
charge they head out ignoring orders. They find that Data was messed
with and fix him. They end up staying and find out the away mission
was to move the Ba'ku off planet to rob the world of its time
delaying radiation source. Picard finds out that the Son'a the
federation are helping are a generation of the Ba'ku pushed out for
rebelling a century earlier. When the Admiral tries to back out of
the plan the Son'a leader kills him and continues on. While Picard is
escorted to be executed he manages to convince the Son'a Gillatin to
help him stop the Son'a leader Ru'afo. They manage to transfer the
ships crew to a holoship and attempt to take down the harvester. In
the fight Ru'afo dies whilst the enterprise rescues Picard. The
remaining Son'a are forgiven and reunite with the Ba'Ku, the
Enterprise returns to Federation space after enjoying their
rejuvenated selves.
Insurrection was the
highest grossing film on its opening weekend making $22.1 million in
both the US and Canada. Reviews of the film were mixed although Sir
Patrick Stewards performance and Jonathan Frakes directing were
praised. Some critics did state it felt like an extended episode of
the TV show rather than a movie, the movie received a 55% on Rotten
Tomatoes. Insurrection was nominated for both a Saturn award and a
Hugo award, but only received a Youth in Film /Award for Michael
Welch. I quite liked this movie and have watched it several times
whole and different scenes several times. I give this movie 9/10.
STAR TREK X: NEMESIS
(2002)
On Romulus the members
of the imperial senate having debated whether to accept the terms of
peace and alliance with the Reman rebel leader Shinzon are killed by
a military aligned senator after rejecting the proposal. Meanwhile
the crew of the Enterprise whilst preparing to bid farewell to
Commander Riker and Counsellor Troi. En route to Betazoid they
stumble across Data's other brother B-4 on a planet near the Romulan
Neutral zone after searching for a strange Positronic energy
reading. Admiral Katherine Janeway calls Picard and tells him the
ship is being sent to Romulus on the invitation of the new Praetor
Shinzon. On arrival they realise that Shinzon is a clone of Picard
(Having been created by the Romulans but abandoned on Remus as a
child after the Romulans change in governments). During
communications between Picard and Shinzon, its revealed that the
Scimiter is producing low levels of a damaging gas and attempting to
read the enterprises computers. Shinzon himself with the help of his
Reman viceroy attempts to hurt Troi telepathically. The enterprise
tries to return to earth now knowing that Shinzon wants to eradicate
earth and humans in general. Shinzon and the Scimiter follow them and
attack them in an area of space known as a communications dark hole.
After an intense battle where Picard kills Shinzon once and for all
and Data sacrifices himself to save Picard, a Romulan commander
having joined the battle to help the enterprise thanks them for their
service. The crew mourn Data as they return to Earth and repair the
damaged Enterprise and allow both Riker and Troi to leave for their
new commissions on the USS Titan.
The movie was released
in December of 2002 competing with LoTR: The Two Towers, Die Another
Day and Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. The reviews were
highly negative with Rotten Tomatoes placing its rating of 38%. This
is the movie I came into Star Trek watching, since I came in around
the end of Voyager and start of Enterprise. As such this sparked off
the watching of The Next Generation which led to DS9 and the other
movies. As such it has some meaning to me, however I do agree with a
some negative reviewers that the movie is not the best it could have
been and hasn't aged as well as it could have but balance that with
how well the actors were and how the actions scenes were shot and
shown I give this movie 7/10.
STAR TREK XI: STAR TREK
2009 (2009)
In the 23rd
century the federation ship USS Kelvin is investigating a “Lightning
Storm” in space. The Romulan warship the Narada emerges from the
storm and attacks the Kelvin. Narada's first officer Ayel demands the
Kelvins captain come aboard and negotiate a truce. Robau is
questioned about the date and Ambassador Spock. Robau is killed by
Nero the ships commander and resumes attacking the kelvin. George
Kirk orders everyone off ship (Including his wife whose giving birth
to their son James T Kirk) and drives the Kelvin into the Narada
allowing everyone on escape pods to escape. Seventeen years later
Spock is allowed to join the Vulcan academy but joins Starfleet after
realising the academy views his mother Amanda as a “Disadvantage”.
Kirk has grown up to be an intelligent but dissatisfied teen causing
trouble with others before being convinced to join Starfleet. It
takes three years for Kirk and Spock to cross paths during a test
which Kirk is called out on cheating. A distress call from Vulcan
comes through during Kirks trial and the cadets are mobilised. The
Enterprise arrives at Vulcan in time to see the fleet destroyed and
the Narada drilling into Vulcan. During the skirmish between the two
ships. Pike is captured and the planet Vulcan is destroyed, taking
Spock's mother with it since she falls before transporters lock onto
her. As the enterprise follows the Narada back to earth Spock maroons
kirk on another planet for an attempted mutiny. Kirk meets and older
Spock who tells him he and the Narada ship and crew come from 129
years into the future where Romulus was consumed by a black hole and
they were sent back in time. Kirk and Spock head to the Starfleet
outpost and cross paths with Scotty who helps him beam back aboard
the enterprise whilst its at high warp. Thanks to prompting of the
older Spock Kirk manages to wrestle control from the younger Spock
making him realise he's emotionally compromised. Kirk and the
enterprise crew manage to catch up to the Narada and destroy it with
help of the elder Spock's ship. Kirk is made captain of the
enterprise whilst Pike is made rear admiral. Spock talks with is
older self and decides to remain with Starfleet. The movie ends with
the elder Spock reciting the “No man has gone before” Monologue.
With the release of
this movie Star Trek moves to the Kelvin timeline with every movie
and TV show coming beforehand having happened in the Prime Timeline.
2009 was heavily promoted in the months preceding its release and had
several pre-release screenings across America and Australia. 2009 has
rather great reviews and rated 94% on Rotten tomatoes (besting
previous Star Trek movie First Contact). I have watched this movie
twice and whilst there some funny bits in it as well as good casting
I didn't really enjoy it as much I give the movie 4/10.
STAR TREK XII: INTO
DARKNESS (2013)
In
2259, Captain James T. Kirk is removed from command of the starship
USS Enterprise for violating the Prime Directive after exposing the
ship to the primitive inhabitants of the planet Nibiru in order to
save them, and Spock, from a cataclysmic volcanic eruption. Admiral
Christopher Pike is reinstated as commanding officer with Kirk
demoted to first officer Spock is transferred to another ship.
Shortly after, the Section 31installation in London is bombed by
renegade Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison attacks
Starfleet Headquarters in a Jump ship during an emergency meeting
regarding the situation, killing Pike and other senior officers. Kirk
disables the jump ship, but Harrison transports to Kronos, home world
of the hostile Klingons.
Admiral
Alexander Marcus reinstates Kirk and Spock to Enterprise with orders
to kill Harrison using a new long range stealth photon torpedo. Chief
Engineer Scotty
objects
to allowing untested torpedoes on board the ship without knowing
their specifications; when he is overruled, he resigns. Kirk assigns
Chekov
to
replace Scotty. En route to Kronos, Enterprise's warp capabilities
become disabled. Kirk leads a team with Spock and Uhura onto the
planet in a small landing craft, where they are ambushed by Klingon
patrols who order them to land. Uhura leaves the landing craft to
talk to the Klingons. They decide to kill Uhura, but Harrison appears
and kills the Klingons. Harrison demands that Kirk tell him the
number of torpedoes on board the Enterprise, surrendering when Spock
tells him.
Bones
and Marcus's daughter, Dr. Carol Marcus, open a torpedo at Harrison's
behest, revealing a man in cryogenic stasis. The other experimental
torpedoes similarly contain cryogenically frozen humans. Harrison is
taken to the ship's brig, where he reveals his true identity as Khan,
a genetically engineered superhuman awoken by Admiral Marcus from
centuries of suspended animation to develop advanced weapons. Khan
reveals that Marcus sabotaged Enterprise's warp drive, intending for
the Klingons to destroy the ship after it fired on Kronos, creating
an act of war by the Klingon Empire. Khan also gives Kirk a set of
coordinates. Kirk contacts Scotty on Earth and asks him to
investigate. Scotty discovers the coordinates lead to a covert
Starfleet facility.
Enterprise
is intercepted by a much larger Starfleet warship, USS Vengeance,
commanded by Admiral Marcus. Marcus demands that Kirk deliver Khan,
but Enterprise flees to Earth to expose him. After Vengeance disables
Enterprise near the Moon, Carol reveals her presence aboard the ship.
Marcus forcibly transports Carol to Vengeance before ordering
Enterprise's destruction. Kirk offers Khan and himself for the lives
of his crew, but Marcus rejects Kirk's offer, revealing he never
intended to spare them. Vengeance suddenly loses power after being
sabotaged by Scotty, who infiltrated the ship. With transporters
down, Kirk and Khan, with the latter's knowledge of the warship's
design, space-jump to Vengeance. Spock contacts his older self, who
warns that Khan is ruthless and untrustworthy and that Khan's older
self was only defeated at terrible cost. Khan overpowers Kirk, Scott
and Carol, kills Marcus, and takes control of Vengeance.
Khan
demands that Spock return his crew in exchange for the Enterprise
officers. Spock complies but surreptitiously removes Khan's frozen
crew from the torpedoes and arms the warheads. Khan beams Kirk, Scott
and Carol aboard Enterprise, but betrays their agreement by
attacking Enterprise; however, Vengeance is disabled when the
torpedoes detonate. With both starships caught in Earth's gravity,
they plummet toward the surface. Kirk enters the radioactive reactor
chamber to realign the warp core, sacrificing himself to save the
ship.
Khan
crashes the Vengeance into down town San Francisco
in
an attempt to destroy Starfleet headquarters. Khan escapes the
wreckage so Spock transports down in pursuit. McCoy discovers that
Khan's blood has regenerative properties that may save Kirk. Spock
pursues Khan through the city and the two engage in hand to hand
combat. Spock gains the upper hand and is about to kill Khan, but
Uhura stops him. Khan's blood revives Kirk. One year later, Kirk
speaks at Enterprise's re-dedication ceremony. Khan is sealed in his
cryogenic pod and stored with his compatriots. The Enterprise crew
embarks on a five-year exploratory mission.
- Star trek into
Darkness Wiki page.
Star Trek Into
Darkness premiered in Australia on April 23rd 2013 then on
May 9th 2013 for the rest of the world. It received
reviews with a 85% rating on Rotten tomatoes. The movie received a
nomination for the academy award for Best Visual Effects at the 86th
Academy Awards. I've seen this movie maybe once and even then not
fully....I really couldn't get into it and as such I give the movie
3/10.
STAR TREK XIII: BEYOND
(2016)
Three
years into its mission, the USS Enterprise arrives at Yorktown, a
massive space station, for resupply and Shore Leave for its crew.
Struggling to find meaning in their endless exploration, Captain
James T. Kirk has applied for a promotion to vice admiral; he
recommends Spock as his replacement. Meanwhile, Hikaru Sulu reunites
with his family, Montgomery Scott works to keep the ship operational,
and Spock and Nyota Uhura amicably end their relationship; Spock also
receives word from New Vulcan that Ambassador Spock, his counterpart
from the original timeline, has died.
The
Enterprise is sent on a rescue mission after an escape pod drifts out
of a nearby uncharted nebula. Its occupant, Kalara, claims her ship
is stranded on Altamid, a planet in the nebula. As the Enterprise
exits an asteroid field within the nebula, a massive swarm of small
ships ambushes and quickly overwhelms the starship, severing the
ship's Warp Nacelles in a matter of seconds. The swarm's leader,
Krall, and his crew board the crippled Enterprise, capture and kill
many crew members, and recover a relic, the Abronath, that Kirk had
recently obtained. Scotty manages to restore enough power for the
ship to attempt to flee, but Krall orders his swarm to destroy the
Enterprise, and they smash the ship in half. Kirk, having recovered
the Abronath, orders the crew to abandon ship, leaving the remains of
the Enterprise to crash on Altamid.
On
the planet, Krall captures Sulu, Uhura and other survivors. Kirk and
Pavel Chekov accompanied by Kalara, locate the Enterprise's saucer
section. Realizing that Kalara knew they would be attacked, they
trick her into revealing herself as Krall's spy. To escape Krall's
soldiers, Kirk and Chekov use the ship's thrusters to flip the saucer
over, and Kalara is killed in the manoeuvrer. Elsewhere on the
planet, Dr. Leonard McCoy and a wounded Spock search for other
survivors. Spock explains to McCoy that the tension he witnessed
between him and Uhura at Yorktown was due to his intention to leave
Starfleet to help the Vulcan survivors, and continue the late
Ambassador Spock's work. Jaylah, a scavenger who previously escaped
Krall's encampment where her father was killed, rescues Scott and
takes him to her makeshift home, the grounded USS Franklin , an early
Starfleet vessel reported missing over a century earlier. Scott is
reunited with Kirk, Chekov, McCoy and Spock. Threatening to kill the
crew, Krall coerces Ensign Syl to hand over the Abronath that she had
concealed for Kirk, then uses it on her to demonstrate an ancient
Bioweapon that can disintegrate any humanoid. With the device
complete, Krall intends to kill Yorktown's inhabitants, then use the
base to attack the Federation. Kirk and the others free the crew as
Krall launches into space with the bioweapon, leading his drones to
Yorktown.
As
the Enterprise survivors power up the Franklin and launch her in
pursuit of Krall, they deduce that such a massive swarm must
coordinate its attacks via radio signals, specifically in the VHF
frequency band. Scott transports Spock and McCoy into one of the
swarm ships to seize control of it. Matching the swarm's frequency,
they jam and disorient the swarm by broadcasting the 1994 song
“Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys, destroying almost the entire
fleet. Krall and his three surviving ships, one of which contains
Spock and McCoy, are chased by the Franklin through Yorktown. The
chase ends at the station's headquarters, where the Franklin's sudden
appearance causes the three ships to smash into it. As Krall flees
into the star base, Uhura and Kirk discover from the Franklin's logs
that he is actually Balthazar Edison, former captain of the Franklin.
A pre-Federation human soldier, Edison rejected the Federation's
principles of unity and cooperation with former enemies like the
Xindi and the Romulans. When he and his crew were stranded on Altamid
by a wormhole, the three survivors used the extinct natives'
technology to prolong their lives at the cost of the others, and
re-purposed the ancient race's dormant drone workers into the swarm.
Thinking the Federation had abandoned them, Edison planned to destroy
the Federation and resume galactic conflict. Kirk pursues Edison into
Yorktown's ventilation system, where Edison activates the bioweapon.
Before it can spread, Kirk ejects it and Edison into space, where the
weapon kills Edison. Using the alien ship they commandeered, Spock
and McCoy save Kirk moments before he is also blown into space.
In
the aftermath, Commodore Paris closes the files of Captain Edison and
the USS Franklin crew. Kirk decides to keep his position as the
Enterprise's captain; Spock chooses to remain in Starfleet, and
begins to renew his relationship with Uhura. On Kirk's
recommendation, Jaylah is accepted into Starfleet Academy. As the
crew celebrates Kirk's birthday, they watch the construction of their
new ship, the USS Enterprise-A—and
when the ship is completed, they resume their mission.
-Star trek beyond
Wikipedia.
Star Trek Beyond
opened up on July 2nd 2016 in Sydney Australia and on July
22nd for the rest of the world. The movie was dedicated to
Yelchin and to actor Leonard Nimoy and opened up to good reviews and
received a 86% rate on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie near enough tanked
at the box office however tits contributed to being released in a
crowded summer of movie releases despite the movie being released on
the 50th anniversary. The Movie received a nomination for
best make-up and hairstyling at the 89th Academy awards
but lost to suicide squad. I haven't seen Star trek beyond past a few
scenes and as such I cant give it a rating.
There are
several other books and comics tied to the Star Trek Lore, Although
more considered lore than actual canon with every new movie and TV
show release these books and comics could be and can be overwritten.
THE
WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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