The new Star Trek movie has had its release on DVD and Blu Ray in time for Christmas, and has been released to a good amount of fanfare. Quite rightly so, as well. The film itself was a bold and exciting way to renew the Star Trek universe after it had fizzled out with Star Trek: Nemesis and that damp squib of a TV series known as Enterprise (which started off so well and then quickly lost its way).

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine are electric in the lead roles of Spock and Kirk, and the rest of the cast (in particular Karl Urban) are excellent as well. The script, direction, effects, score and everything else are top notch with this film, and now the flick is available on Blu Ray and DVD for you to enjoy at home too.

There are various editions of this thrilling science fiction masterpiece available, each one catering for a different section of fandom. Whether you just want the film itself or the deluxe edition with all of the extras included, there’s a version for you. The transfer is crisp and clear on both the DVD and Blu Ray editions of the movie, but it is in Blu Ray that the new Star Trek movie really shines.

The clarity of each frame is astounding, along with an amazing use of sound and music, which adds even more scale to proceedings. While the extras aren’t particularly different from any other extras we’ve seen, they are nonetheless comprehensive and enlightening, with ‘Making of’ features, interviews, deleted scenes, out-takes and more making up a package that really is worth the money.

The deleted scenes available on the Star Trek DVD and Star Trek Blu Ray release provide a greater insight into some elements of the story, such as how Kirk beat the Kobayashi Maru test and more of his womanizing ways. While the deleted scenes are fun and great to watch, you can understand why some of them were removed fro the finished film.

Fans of the movie and the Star Trek franchise can delve ever deeper into the background of the film and the exciting reinvention of the Star Trek saga, and for once there is a film here that lives up to the hyperbole surrounding it. It may not match The Wrath of Khan in terms of compelling storytelling, but this new Star trek film is the best movie to carry the Star Trek name ever since that seminal sequel.

While not quite as comprehensively loaded with bonus material as  this year’s earlier hit release of the Watchmen movie, it still does the Star Trek film and indeed the franchise justice. A brilliant film, a great DVD/Blu Ray release, and an absolute must-have for this Christmas. Good luck spotting the R2D2 Easter Egg!

Agh, say it ain’t so! There is talk that JJ Abrams is thinking of tackling the Khan character and storyline for  the Star Trek reboot sequel. In a recent interview with MTV, Abrams stated that Khan would be the most obvious  villain for them to attempt, and that nothing was off limits. Could it be that Khan Noonian Singh is set for a  big screen comeback?

I for one hope not. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is one of the greatest science fiction films that has ever  been made, and is pretty much sacred as far as movies go. It should be left well alone, and a new villain, or at  least a Star Trek race we haven’t seen much, should play a part in the sequel.

The Star trek reboot was a bold move that worked brilliantly for many old fans and garnered a hell of a lot of  new fans to the Trek cause, but risking so many comparisons with The Wrath of Khan would be a spectacularly bad  idea for the Star Trek movie sequel. Sure, Abrams would do a grand job with it and I’m sure it would be a fun film to watch, but we don’t want  the original series of movies to be remade (especially as that would include dross like The Search For Spock and  *shudder* the Final Frontier).

This new Star Trek movie universe was started to create something that was different to the established chronology and  do different things with the franchise, and heading back to the well and bringing khan up for the next movie  wouldn’t sit too well with, I would imagine, most Star trek fans, regardless of their preferred era.

Leave that classic alone and give us something different. This Star Trek universe doesn’t have to follow the old  one to the letter. Sure, include lots of nods to the past incarnation and the original time-line, but don’t milk  it. Go a different way. It worked beautifully with the first reboot movie.

Wow. It’s been out a little while now, and I was a few days behind the rest of the staff in seeing the new Star Trek film, but I saw it yesterday and am still trying to compute what I saw onscreen. It’s kind of a ‘Did I really see that? moment. Everyone I’ve spoken to that has seen it has loved it, so I walked in there with expectations higher than they already had been. The outcome? I was amazed. The new Star Trek film is a beautiful way to kickstart another incarnation of the franchise, yet with characters everyone is already familiar with.

Okay, the film in itself is wonderful, but as a calculated reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise, it is a work of genius. The cast, despite the reservations that I and many others had before seeing it, are glorious throughout. They have captured the essence of the iconic Star Trek characters rather than impersonating the people that played them. Granted, Karl Urban is spot on with his mimickery of DeForest Kelley (not to mention perfectly creating his own version of Bones), but for the most part the resemblance to the originals is mostly cursory.

Something I really liked was the new approach to Spock. Giving him more of a troubled personality and more of a visible struggle with his heritage works extremely well. Chris Pine is a revelation as James T kirk. I have to admit it was Pine that I had the most worries about when walking into this film. Would he be any good at all in following William Shatner? Yes. Yes he would. Pine is great as the cocky, swaggering young Kirk, but for all the bluster and bravado, there’s the beginnings of greatness that we all know is to follow. It is a remarkable performance from an actor who is sure to be a big screen fixture for a long time to come.

It did amuse me somewhat that Simon Pegg, who you don’t see in the film for well over an hour, is billed first in the credits, but that’s down to me having been a Pegg fanboy since Spaced. His Scotty is a joy. Scotty is funny, yes, but he is also clearly a genius at what he does. It is a great strength of this film that there is a great deal of humour to be enjoyed amidst the intergalactic action and the creation of an alternate Star Trek universe. I loved the fact that they have not tried to say that this is how the original Star Trek came about. This is a vibrant and powerful mixture of old icons with new ideas, and Leonard Nimoy’s appearance in the movie is a most welcome link between the two versions of this wonderful franchise.

Eric Bana is electrifying as villain Nero, putting in a superb performance as the deranged bad guy, but Nero is also where the film suffers a little. His ship, his motivation and the whole design aesthetic surrounding him reminded me very much of Star Trek: Nemesis and its villain Shinzon. Granted, both involved Romulans, but the similarities were rather noticeable. Then again, nobody but the core of Trek fans really remembers what went on in that film anyway, so I think they got away with it.

This is the best Star Trek film in years, and it is also the best possible film that could have been made to relaunch the Star Trek universe for a new (Next?) generation. I loved every minute of it, and the highest praise must surely be that I really, really want to see it again. And again.

10/10

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I’m honestly rather pleased about this. As much as I loved the Spaced TV series (and believe me, I love it- it is genuinely how my life is lived), I don’t think it would work as a film. Hell, I don’t even think there should be a third series or even a special. Those two series of the original TV show were perfect. They were of their time, and they captured a certain demographic in a manner which was in turns hilarious and incredibly close to home.

Spaced is ideal for TV viewing, and while it would be lovely to see how the characters’ lives turned out, I think it’d be best to leave it be. Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and the others have all moved on to new pastures now, and while I’d love to see them work together on TV again, I think Spaced shouldn;t be revisited. It was bad enough when we were all worried about the aborted US remake!

Simon Pegg, Scotty in the new Star Trek movie, played the iconic geek Tim Bisley in the original TV run, and he’s said: “I wasn’t so sure about doing a Spaced movie, I feel like Spaced is very much a TV show. It was about big ideas in a small world and if you saw those big kind of grand movements you’re used to seeing on the screen, you’re used to seeing it there, whereas Spaced worked very much as a TV show.

At least with him being in the new Star Trek movie, we can be safe in the knowledge that Tim Bisley would be absolutely ecstatic, even if it *is* an odd-numbered Star Trek movie. Aaah, in-jokes. Lovely.

The story, following Captain Jean-Luc Picard as he flashes from era to era while attempting to correct the effects of a special anomaly, also serves as a perfect bookend to the show’s first story, Encounter at Farpoint’. Q is back in All Good Things, and the story appears to be the final act of the trial that began in the pilot episode.

While the story has the possibility to be hugely confusing and convoluted, it is handled with such panache on the part of the cast and crew that it works beautifully. Loose threads are tied up, and a tantalizing glimpse into the possible futures of the main characters adds a whole new dimension to the series. The scenes between Patrick Stewart and John De Lancie in their trademark roles as Picard and Q are brilliant Star Trek, the perfect payoff to the seven years it took for the story to come full circle.

All Good Things works incredibly as a movie (which it was edited into for some releases on video and DVD), and grips from start to finish. Watching Jean-Luc grapple for his sanity while all around him changes and evolves and flits back and forth in time is a wonder to behold, and the talent of Patrick Stewart helps give the wild science fiction of the story some serious gravitas.

This iconic two-part story isn’t just the perfect ending to Star Trek: The Next Generation, it is one of the finest moments in science fiction television that has ever been broadcast.

With the new Star Trek reboot movie hurtling towards us at puntastic warp-speed, now is the time to remind yourselves of some of the stories that made Star Trek great in the first place. Here begins a look at the perfect tales to watch again to build yourself up for the return of Trek this year! We’ll be looking at all aspects of the Star Trek universe in this series, so let’s get started. Today we’ll look at two of the six films starring all of the original cast.

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN
Wrath of Khan is quite rightfully seen as the greatest Star Trek movie that has ever been made. A low-key little action romp in comparison to the bloated (but beautiful) film that came before it, it nevertheless captured everything that was good about the original series and the iconic characters it brought us. A sequel to the original series episode ‘Space Seed’, the film starred Ricardo Montalban as Khan, proving himself to be the ultimate Star Trek villain in a film packed with excitement and awesome characterization. Those last minutes of the film are heartbreaking, but absolute genius. A masterpiece of science fiction cinema that is yet to be bettered.

STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
Next to the Wrath of Khan, the sixth film in the series, The Undiscovered Country, is one of the most respected of the other titles. A story of political intrigue, intergalactic action and some wonderful character scenes for the classic characters, it helped to get rid of the bad taste left by the fifth film, The Final Frontier, which was atrocious (in keeping with the theory that all odd-numbered Star Trek films are rubbish- a rule that it looks like JJ Abrams has broken with the new one). Forcing the Federation into an uneasy alliance with their mortal enemies, the Klingons, it helps set up the universe of The Next Generation, set 80 years later. A brilliant swansong for the full original cast.

Keep an eye out for the next post in this series: The Next Generation!

Hey all, time for a roundup of some of today’s big stories from the world of geekery. While I’m excited at all four of these stories, I must say that it does kinda say something about the state of the entertainment industry that most of the big stories of late all relate to old or reimagined franchises and ideas. Still, with such talented people behind them, we should at least be in for some quality entertainment.

GHOSTBUSTERS 3
More confirmation from Harold Ramis surrounding GB3. He has stated that the film will indeed feature all of the original Ghostbusters stars (Including Bill Murray) as they train up the next generation of Ghostbusters to take over from them in the spook-snatching trade. What pleases me greatly is the fact that the script, which is being written by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, is being overseen by Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and original Ghostbusters director, Ivan Reitman.

MONTY PYTHON REUNITE FOR DOCUMENTARY
The remaining Monty Python members are to reunite for a new documentary series that chronicles the whole of the Monty Python story. The legendary akternative comedy pioneers will be back onscreen together in Monty Python: Almost the Truth (the Lawyer’s Cut), a new six- part documentary series that Terry Jones describes as “Something so complete and faithful to the truth that I don’t need to watch it.” High praise indeed.

STAR TREK XII SCRIPT ON THE STARTING BLOCK
The next Star Trek film is already being prepped and plotted, according to JJ Abrams. The first movie in the new era of Trek isn’t even out yet, and execs are eager to get the first sequel underway as soon as possible. The new franchise, essentially an alternate universe retelling of the Star Trek franchise (depending on who you talk to- but it does seem to ring true). Abrams will be writing the script alongside the scribes of the first film, and also producing, but not directing.

THE WORLD’S END FOR PEGG AND WRIGHT
Every British wannabe filmmaker’s heroes, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz/Spaced) are gearing up to get stuck into the script for THE WORLD’S END, their next project together. Pegg will be seen on screen as Scotty in the new Star Trek movie soon, and Edgar Wright has (as of today) started production on the Scott Pilgrim movie. Good to know these heroes of film geek underdogs everywhere are doing so well

With the release of THAT new Star Trek trailer, it appears to be that the unthinkable is about to happen. The Star Trek franchise, that bastion of all things in a fur-lined anorak, is about to be cool. The new movie looks incredible, but will the purists warm to it? Some will, but there’ll be diehards proclaiming that it has destroyed their childhood (believe me, I’m a Doctor Who fan. I know about diehards whinging) and demanding JJ Abrams be put before them in some kind of lynching.

Me? I love the Trek in all its forms. Well, apart from Enterprise, and, erm, the first few seasons of Voyager. Other than that, Star Trek and myself are on pretty good speaking terms. Hell, I even didn’t mind Insurrection. The thing is, I think I’m going to love this new film, even though it kicks continuity and canon around a bit, leaving it bruised and confused, but not out for the count.

It does seem that Abrams and his band of merry revisionists have created the only thing that made sense- an incarnation of Star Trek that is viable for a modern audience. The look, the cast and the style of the film looks like Star Trek would if it had been created brand new now, but it still maintains enough of the classic elements to be recognizably Trek. Plus, we’re looking forward to checking out the new Star Trek merchandise

But yeah, it does seem to be that Hell has indeed frozen over and the Star Trek universe is about to be the coolest thing around. Mr Abrams, you’ve made a lot pof fans angry, but you’ve made even more absolutely ecstatic, and see those other guys at the side? That’s the new generation of fans that will be flocking to the cinema to go where nobody has gone before. Awesome.

We shouldn’t complain, and once that flick hit, I doubt we will. Then again, you’ll see the flames from the message boards from Light Years away.

The action looks fantastic. Simon Pegg as Scotty appears to be absolutely perfect, if a bit manic in the one shot we see of him. Karl Urban seems a bit dark for Bones, but I’m sure the rumours of him nailing the part are true. The effects look incredible and the production itself looks like no other Star Trek property ever before. Quite frankly, we finally have a massive buzz at last for this flick. We all had our reservations about it even being made, but this trailer seems to have been just what we needed to reassure us that this is going to kick all kinds of backside.

The one drawback in the trailer is the dodgy car chase sequence at the start, but this will only play a very minor part in the overall film. So then, yes, the new Star Trek movie looks like it will finally be a film the fans can be proud of. It’s been a decade since Trekkers have been able to say that…

Also check out: THE REBIRTH OF STAR TREK – A Feature Article on the new movie.