Roger Moore was to James Bond as Chevy Chase was to Gerald Ford.

This is NOT the J.T. Kirk we have known. He grew up without his father’s guiding hand. This Kirk developed under the burden/aegis of his father heroically dying immediately after taking command. He’d hear stories, take abuse, and generally get kicked around a lot, but there’s no father there to provide answers.

This has created a different Kirk than the one you know and maybe don’t really love as much as you pretend to. C’mon, we all know Picard was the better Captain, anyway. The barroom-brawl Kirk IS apple-munching-kobayashi-maru-ruining Kirk. But he is emphatically not tribble-cuddling Kirk. I think new Kirk steps out of the tribble-mire and ’spaces’ the lot of them. Maybe.

Also the lack of open-mindedness of the general reaction to major changes is disappointing. I agree that the destruction of Vulcan is extreme, but it draws a distinct dividing line between one reality and another. Also, it provides a challenge that has never existed in the Star Trek universe before.

Hasn’t it ever bothered you that things come so easily to the Federation? Whenever something BIG happens, the Vulcans can step in with their god-like mystery technology and solve it. I for one look forward to fewer easy answers in Star Trek.

Likewise, with great challenge comes great opportunities. Think of all the unanswered questions there are now. How will the Vulcans develop from here? Where will the Federation go in terms of its militaristic/scientific stance? What changes in the balance of power will there be between the Federation, the Romulans, and the Klingons? What will the death of his Mother do to Spock’s development. He’s already claimed Earth as, “the only home he has left,” so where does that take his constant struggle within his dual nature?

Okay, I’ve got my quibbles, too. RED MATTER? Seriously? A Black Hole cancels out a Supernova to save a nearby Solar System? What? A thirty-foot long, hairless creature lives in a glacial waste, but is afraid of fire?

And yes, I quoted “Galaxy Quest” when Scotty was whooshing about in the tubes. Also, Carlin. “Look at the Frikkin’ tubes!” Come on. That stuff’s in there because Abrams is keeping a sense of humor about the whole thing and realizes he’s making a MOVIE. You complain that engineering looks too mechanical, too (pardon my paraphrase) ‘real world,’ but you’re upset when an unreal element is introduced to provide a VISUAL to what would otherwise be simply an audio gag. You can’t have it both ways. Besides, the gag works.

After all that haranguing, for what it’s worth Ged, GREAT blog post. Really thought-provoking. My sci-fi love starts with Star Wars, and my love of Trek was never as deep as yours, so it was good to read your ‘dyed-in-the-wool’ reaction. Very cool.

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the monster chase. I know we had to divert Kirk into Spock’s cave somehow, but did it have to be with a distractingly implausible giant red ice monster?

But yeah, the characters were well done, which made the film for me (and probably most people) more than anything. McCoy was my personal favorite, and I like the origin they gave for the “Bones” nickname.

As for music, the closing credits theme (with Nimoy’s “to boldly go” voiceover) evoked the original’s memory a/w/a the Khan movie’s closing. Would have to see it again, but I think the music throughout was both in a different key (for sure) than the original and used a different meter so as possibly to disguise it or declare its independence. Worse or better, it was a different orchestration.

The engineering pipes (and water-travel scene) were silly; the missing red doors made me sad. However, the plot and writing – with the potential for new futures that intersect occasionally with old pasts – is kind of cool and I can’t imagine any other way they could have both brought in “Spock Prime” and prequeled the sequel. I didn’t want a rehash of the original and they delivered.

It was fast-moving, exciting, belief-suspending and although I’m the only person on the planet who didn’t like the way he played “young Spock,” had great characters.

But The Kobayashi Maru? Feh.

In some respects the movie tried to play both sides, and for me the weakest element was including Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime: they should have taken the opportunity to cast someone else to emphasise the divide between this and previous films. For me, it was like having Dirk Benedict suddenly show up in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica!

Nimoy, great and iconic as he is, simply muddied the waters and created links between this and the other movies when they shouldn’t have existed.

And I agree with Greg: I’d forgotten how much that pipe scene with Scottie made me cringe. I don’t mind a bit of knockabout banter to add some levity, but the slapstick humour was misplaced. Pegg is a versatile actor and he doesn’t need to do slapstick to be amusing!

Finally. Winona Ryder. Why? Were no women in their fifties available? The mind boggles.

The way I personally interpret it is that -both- timelines in the film are separate from classic Trek. For me, this Trek and classic Trek really have nothing to do with each other, and can co-exist peacefully.

Also, you’re right on the money with the whole “water tube” thing. Not only was it in there for the sake of action, but huge portions of the tube were clear!! Just so we could see Scotty getting wisked along inside. I actually cringed during this part of the film.