Star Trek: The Art of the Film - Book Review

Released November 2009

Page count: 160 pages

Size: 9” x 12”

Star Trek: The Art of the Film

(Text) By Mark Cotta Vaz

Foreword By J.J. Abrams

Published By Titan Books

www.titanbooks.com

- This review is in a series running this week and next, leading up to the Oscar nominations on Feb. 2nd. The series includes a profile of 8 books relating to past and present films, as well as the filmmaking process. Check out these titles to get a better understanding of what goes into the art of film.

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Star Trek: The Art of the Film Book Review By John C.

J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot was an incredibly enjoyable science fiction film. Star Trek: The Art of The Film is the perfect photo resource behind the making of the movie for both Trekker’s and casual fans.

If you liked the film, then immerse yourself in the beautiful visuals of this excellent companion book, which includes insights into the visual effects that went into such sequences as the space jump.

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Star Trek: The Art of the Film Book Review By Erin V.

One of my favourite art books of the year, Star Trek: The Art of the Film covers everything from the visual effects, to the costume design, to the set design. The opening section, after the foreword by director J.J. Abrams, has statements from the main new actors in the Star Fleet crew, as well as from Leonard Nemoy. Then the book heads into the very visual centric world of Star Trek. Using mostly pictures, coupled with minimal, but information-rich text, we start to learn the story of making this film really work.

I understand more of the film reading through this book, and caught things that I didn’t when I saw the film. I hope to see a couple of nominations at the Oscars for Star Trek’s art and design processes, especially after seeing it all laid out here.

For anyone into Star Trek, or the process of filmmaking in general, this book is a must-read. It is beautifully put together, right down to the brilliant idea of putting, behind the dust jacket on the front cover, the film’s poster photo of Zachary Quinto, and on the back, one of Leonard Nimoy. It works with the essence of the film, and for that reason, it is one of the coolest book design ideas I’ve ever seen.

Star Trek: The Art of the Film is available in most book stores, as well as from online retailers. It is well worth the price - which is actually quite reasonable in most places.

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To find out more about Star Trek: The Art of the Film, or other books, visit Titan Books’ website here.

Star Trek on DVD Today

This summer’s Star Trek franchise re-boot is “warp-speeding” onto DVD today. We reviewed the film when it opened on May 8th, you can read our reviews here. Our consensus was:

“The acting, music, and special effects, are all great. You can expect a classic, (albeit slightly confusing), time-travel storyline that both fans of the show and those new to Star Trek can enjoy. With just the right mix of humour and action, this new installment of Star Trek is definitely one to see in theatres. **** (Out of four.)”

The film is available to buy in 1, 2 & 3-disc formats that come packed with bonus materials. Whichever one you buy, this would make a great Christmas present.

-John C.

A Retrospective of Summer Films

By John C.

The summer movie season is behind us. Whoever said there were only bad movies obviously didn’t get out to the theatre much, because I certainly saw a lot of good ones. From Pixar’s animated masterpiece Up, to the highly-anticipated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which delivered on every level. I’m going to take a look back on some of the movies of the past few summer months.

In May there was Star Trek. A hugely enjoyable franchise-revamp that did not disappoint. On the flip-side of the blockbusters there where small, but great films like Is Anybody There? and Goodbye Solo.

On May 29th there was Up. An animated masterpiece, that should, and hopefully will, get nominated for Best Picture. Besides Up, there was The Brothers Bloom on May 22nd. An incredibly entertaining, absolute masterpiece. Both Up and The Brothers Bloom are still tied at number one as my favorite movies of the year.

June was a quieter month, making way for films like the sleeper comedy-hit The Hangover. Although on June 24th there was Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. A film that has gotten a lot of bad reviews. I for one didn’t think it was terrible, but it did go on for too long and left me with a headache. It was literally just too much for its own good.

In July there was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, a film that I thought was a visually stunning near-masterpiece. There was also the excellent (500) Days of Summer. An incredibly original romantic-comedy, that showed how every movie in that genre should be made. I thought both of those films were some of the best this year.

In July there was also G-Force. A fun, inventive and action-packed family spy film, about espionage guinea pigs. While it’s not one of the best movies of the year, I found it to be incredibly entertaining for both kids and adults.

In August there was, obviously, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds. But those weren’t the only good films to come out that month. There was also Adam. A really good movie with an excellent performance by Hugh Dancy, playing a man with Asperger’s syndrome. There was also one of the nicest surprises this summer. I walked into Bandslam not expecting much, and left very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the film.

Like G-Force, Shorts was another really good, inventive film for all ages. Another excellent film in August was The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story. Who knew that a documentary about the famous Disney songwriters would also just be a great film?

There you have it. There were so many films this summer that I know I’ve forgotten to mention some of them. There were bad films, but as well as a lot of good ones and also some truly great ones.

We will be profiling some of these films again when the DVD’s come out in time for the Christmas season. Check back on Friday for my list of the Fall films that I’m anticipating the most.

Star Trek Review

Star Trek - A Paramount Release

http://www.startrekmovie.com

Opens: May 8th, 2009

Rated PG for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

Running time: 126 minutes

J.J. Abrams (dir.)

Roberto Orci (writer)

Alex Kurtzman (writer)

Michael Giacchino (music)

Christopher Pine as James T. Kirk

Zachary Quinto as Spock

Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime

Eric Bana as Nero

Bruce Greenwood as Capt. Christopher Pike

Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy

Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura

Simon Pegg as Scotty

John Cho as Hikaru Sulu

Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov

Ben Cross as Sarek

Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson

Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk

Jennifer Morrison as Winona Kirk

Rachel Nichols as Gaila

All images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Zachary Quinto as Spock and Christopher Pine as Kirk onboard the Starship Enterprise.

Our reviews below:

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Star Trek Review By John C.

**** (out of 4)

While the plot of this film is highly illogical, it’s blend of outstanding performances, an excellent musical score by Michael Giacchino and most importantly humor, make this film a winner. I admit to being skeptical about this at first, wondering if it would just turn out to be 127 minutes of over hyped mind-numbing action, that would not live up to expectations. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this character-driven film. Yes, that’s right. It’s a character-driven film.

Not only are Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto perfectly cast as Captain James T. Kirk and Spock, the stellar casting goes right down to the more minor characters. John Cho as Sulu is perfect. Anton Yelchin as Chekov is great and often hilarious. Simon Pegg makes an utterly perfect Montgomery Scott, stealing every scene he’s in. It’s little things like this that could have easily gone wrong, but here they are gotten right.

I did not find this quite as solid a franchise reboot as the brilliant Iron Man or The Dark Knight. I found the plot of the film to be one thing that could have been a bit better. It’s a bit hard to follow and doesn’t make much sense. But when you are failing to follow, just sit back and enjoy the acting.

There is one line that Kirk says to a Romulan, (the bad aliens that they have to stop), that I just know will become a classic. Another things that is gotten right about the Star Trek world is the humor. There are some very funny moments in this film, making it just a lot of fun to watch. This will not only be enjoyed by fans of the show, but also by people who have never seen Star Trek, and that is one of the reasons this film succeeds.

I am not giving this film four stars because it is a masterpiece, but because this is a near perfect Star Trek movie, with excellent acting by a stellar cast, humor and heart. Go out and see it at a theatre, the way it was meant to be seen.

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Star Trek Review By Erin V.

**** (out of 4)

I had high expectations for this movie, and after seeing other reviews slowly trickling in, I was hopeful that it would be ***1/2, or at least *** stars. Once the movie started, I was glad to see that this movie was going to completely blow my expectations away. This is an amazingly fun movie!

Beginning with a flashback, we see a Federation vessel attacked by a Romulan ship. This scene is entense and quite sad, but is crucial to the rest of the story. This is where we meet James T. Kirk for the first time. We then flash forward to the future, and meet both Spock and Kirk as kids on their respective worlds. After this, we see where 25 year old Kirk is now, as Captain Pike, (Bruce Greenwood), puts it, ‘the only delinquent in Iowa with a genius level IQ’. Persuaded by Pike to join Starfleet, Kirk does, if only because he doesn’t have anything better to do.

It is at Starfleet that he first meets Spock, (Zachary Quinto), a concept first considered as early as 1968, and here, they immediately see each other as rivals. When the planet Vulcan sends out a distress call, all of the young Starfleet cadets are called to help, and the Enterprise launches into action.

The villian in this movie is Captain Nero, a Romulan, played perfectly by Eric Bana. Nero hates Spock for something that he hasn’t not done yet. He is from the future and it is for this reason that Star Trek fans must remember throughout this movie that due to his disrupting the space-time-contimuem, many things are changed. This plot element was actually smart on the writers parts, as it gives the filmmakers more freedom to stray from some of the original elements in the show. Since this takes place in a pararell universe, anything can happen. The time-travel story also allows us to see Leonard Nimoy play Spock again, as Spock from the future. This was a real treat!

This is the first movie where the orignal crew of the Enterprise was not played by the original actors. And the casting here was spot on. Christopher Pine plays a perfect young Kirk, without copying William Shatener, Zachary Quinto captures Spocks essense, again without being a copy actor. The rest of the crew, Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, and Simon Pegg as Scotty, and all of the others, all nail their roles as well.

This is the perfect Star Trek movie. The acting is great, Michael Giacchino’s score works amazingly, the special effects are good, and the storyline is classically Star Trek. One of the things that I had hoped for and was glad to see was just the right mix of action and humour on screen. This is a fun movie all around. A great way to kick off the Summer blockbuster season, you should go out and see Star Trek. It is worth it in every way!

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Star Trek Review By Nicole

**** (out of 4)

When I first saw the trailer for Star Trek, I really wanted to see it. The movie really did live up to my expectations.

The movie takes us through the younger years of the crew members of the Starship Enterprise. We see Kirk go from a young delinquent, who gets into bar fights, to becoming the captain of the Enterprise. We meet Spock’s parents, and see the conflict between Kirk and Spock. (I really liked seeing Zachary Quinto as young Spock meet Leonard Nimoy as Spock from the future.) Dr. McCoy is perfectly neurotic, and Scotty is hilarious, (with a strangely cute little companion that never speaks).

The crew have to stop an angry Romulan named Nero who comes from the future, and, due to a misunderstanding, has a grudge against Vulcans, and against Kirk. I don’t want to spoil too much, but fans of the original series will be pleased to know that any discrepancies from the original obviously have to do with time travel.

The acting is great, and there are a lot of funny scenes in the movie as well. The action scenes are fun, without becoming too violent, and the special effects are superb. Michael Giacchino’s score is exciting and fun, and I really want to get the soundtrack. Star Trek is a great summer blockbuster, that you should definitely go see, (preferably in IMAX if you can). This movie is nothing but pure fun.

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Star Trek Review By Maureen

**** (out of 4)

This new Star Trek movie transported me back to the days when watching the original Star Trek show was a whole lot of fun. I was never the degree of fan that would have earned me the title Trekkie, or Trekker, so any plot line deviations in this movie went over my head.

What I really liked about this movie was the solid casting. Each of the actors captured the original characters brilliantly. Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as young Spock worked extremely well as did the actors playing Dr. McCoy, Scotty, as Chekov, Sulu and Uhura.

My absolute favorite moment in this movie was having Leonard Nimoy appear as the wiser and older Spock. Live long and prosper, Mr. Nimoy. You were great.

The movie has lots of action and special effects to keep both long time fans and newcomers to the franchise happy. What makes this one special is the fun balance of action and humour. There were lots of wonderfully funny moments. Michael Giacchino’s score was a perfect finishing touch to a near flawless movie.

Long time fan or not, Star Trek is a must-see movie in theatres. The big screen, the applause at the end from the audience and the live long and prosper hand signs flashed at the screen all added to the movie going experience. Go out and see this one while you can.

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Star Trek Review By Tony

***1/2 (out of 4)

Star Trek is a prequel to the classic 1960s series (unlike Enterprise, which was from a previous generation), ending with the familiar “Final Frontier” intro (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) before a version of the original theme under the closing credits. Younger versions of the familiar crewmenbers are all convincing, right down to the doomed red-clad fighter. Some diehard fans may be shocked however, to see that Kirk’s fling with a green-skinned partner isn’t the only romantic interest. Recalling the Tribbles episode where Klingons were identifiable mainly by their beatnik beards, the heavy alien face prosthetics of later generations were scaled back, at least for the Romulans, to tattoos reminiscent of Mike Tyson and the Inkheart heavies. As expected, the special effects over Michael Giacchino’s score are awesome, and everything moves along quickly–too quickly at times for me since, as only an occasional Star Trek watcher, I found the convoluted time travel and parallel universe storyline confusing at times, requiring some assisted reflection afterwards. Though these plot devices are always tricky, they are used here to allow for inconsistencies from the original series, with the added benefit of watching Leonard Nimoy as the future aged Spock. Sequels are sure to follow.

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Kirk, (Christopher Pine), shows up at the docking port for the Starship Enterprise.

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Consensus: The acting, music, and special effects, are all great. You can expect a classic, (albeit slightly confusing), time-travel storyline that both fans of the show and those new to Star Trek can enjoy. With just the right mix of humour and action, this new installment of Star Trek is definitely one to see in theatres. **** (Out of 4)