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I can contain myself no longer. I must squee. I feel that this movie should be approached without a single spoiler clouding the horizon with misplaced curiosity or anticipation, so I am going to white out everything even remotely spoilery.

I've seen Star Trek four times now; the first time in IMAX and thrice afterwards in a regular theater. Despite the loss of clarity/crispness I really enjoyed watching the movie in IMAX because it was so completely in your face and all around your main field of vision. It was easy to get really lost in the movie. This is not to say that I couldn't get lost in the movie in subsequent viewings. I cried every single time the classical music kicked in as James T. was being born. I have yet to see the title logo because I was always too busy trying to get the tear-haze out of my eyes so that I didn't miss any of the movie once it resumed. That was great timing on the logo-insertion. *laugh*

The one point at which I did get jolted out of the movie is when I first realized that Winona Ryder was playing Spock's mother. That shocked me right out of the movie. It wasn't the worst thing ever, but I think it would have been better if they'd gone with an unknown actor. Simon Pegg playing Scotty was another iffy casting choice for me. I worship Simon Pegg but I think someone less...memorable?...could have pulled off Scotty more convincingly, without having to fight through preconceived notions and vivid memories of other roles. He didn't look anything like the younger version of the original character either, which was another mental hurdle for me. And I may not be remembering correctly but the way he yelled at his little alien buddy seemed out of character. I don't recall original!Scotty ever being so noisily pissy. Still, it doesn't actually make me unhappy or distract me from the movie at all. This is now officially my second favorite movie ever and I have no real complaints to make about it.

The actors playing Spock and McCoy were so convincing that under the influence of drugs I might have believed that Misters Nemoy and Kelley had been miraculously un-aged and were reprising the roles that made them so lastingly famous. The cast must have been under such pressure to perform well! You don't just have to do a good job at the usual Hollywood level...there are millions of people out there who will hunt you down and set fire to all that you hold dear if you do anything to a character which they perceive to be a desecration. XD Now that's workplace pressure.

The actor who portrayed Spock was - in my estimation - flawless. Posture, movement, pose, facial expressions, vocal tone, inflections, pronunciation...all satisfied me. I am equally satisfied with the representation of McCoy. Their performances carried a movie which had enough fanservice and eye candy to carry itself practically without any actors in it at all.

The first time I saw the movie was with a co-worker who is more of a Star Trek fiend than I am myself. The theater was full of like-minded people. It was like a rock concert. We missed fully 40% of the movie's dialogue because we were so busy screaming and cheering and whistling and clapping. My co-worker and I both wept during the opening scene. The segment where there's little other sound than classical music playing was absolutely brutal. And of course as mothers of young children we were probably even more emotionally vested in the concept of a mother laboring to bring her child into the world as her husband sacrifices himself to save them. We screamed like fiends every time one of the classic lines popped up. They were all delivered very well, too. You can just imagine the actors standing in front of a mirror or camera for hours on end, refining their performance while thinking, "the fans will beat me to death with 1:100 scale models if I screw this line up." XD The way Kirk says, "Bones!" near the end of the movie was lethally awesome. And Spock's "fascinating" when he sits down in his future-him's ship! McCoy had a fair amount of old lines. Aside from the "I'm a doctor, not a ___" which they work into almost every series (or did they do it in every one? I can't recall...) in some form or the other, there was also his various uncomplimentary quips on/to Spock and of course, "Damn it, man!" XD And we of course screamed with glee every time they showed the Enterprise. The ship rising out of the clouds around Titan as they caught up to the Nerada was pure heaven. heart

Going back to the music...I must say that it - and its placement/uses - was superb. I'm the visual while my Hubby is the audio in my family, but even I found myself completely in love with the soundtrack and various sound effects. When the mini-mada of cadets warped off to aid Vulcan I was squealing and wriggling in ear happiness. It was such a fat, meaty sound! And the plasma drill sound effect was great too. Hubby was very happy with the phaser noises during the attack on the Nerada. It sounded almost like they were shooting bullets instead of just flicking the "on" switch on a kid's toy. *heh* Even the completely random noises like the soft 'pflop' that Chekov's hand makes when it falls to the panel after he realizes he's just lost Spock's mother was perfect in form and volume. The sudden transitions from maximum noise level to the hush of space was also a lovely touch during those really frantic scenes. Phasers and engines still make noise in the vacuum of space, but whatever. It sounds so good that I am happy to throw the laws of the universe out the shuttlebay in this case.

The very first missile barrage that rocks the Kelvin contains a brief glimpse of someone being thrown by a humongous explosion and a screaming, flailing body falling through the inferno itself. That really caught my attention as being such a contrast to the campy staggerings and panel clutchings of the original series.

The ice-wolf being eaten by the fleshy-spider reminded me of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. XD "There's always a bigger fish."

Mmm, and that warp core explosion was a thing of beauty and a joy forever. It was like a huge ball of Lifestream~ heart

Spock/Uhura gave me pause at first, but with each subsequent viewing it grows on me more and more. It's explained that she was somewhat of his "teacher's pet", even to the extent that he would go against her wishes - and what was probably a logical decision - in order to avoid drawing potential notice from others to his high regard for her. This lays sufficient foundation for me to find their coming together during the ensuing conflicts and tragedies not only plausible but natural.

A co-worker complained that old!Spock was given too large of a role. I will concede that his presence during the promotion of Kirk was unnecessary, although completely plausible. I imagine that he would indeed have wanted to be there, but I don't think we needed to see him up front and center or to hear him speak.

I was wondering for a good while what Nero was planning to do after successfully exacting his revenge. I suppose now that he meant to convince the Romulan Praetors and Senators that he was indeed from the future - his ship and the captured Vulcan ship would have lent weight to his arguments I'm sure - and make them vow to keep the red matter close for use in the future to consume the star which would eventually go kablooey. I wonder how close the star really was to Romulus. How far away from a black hole do you need to be to escape its effects, both immediate and long-running? I think Nero would have had a rough road to travel in any case. I bet there'd be a lot of fighting over how best to use the red matter to further the dominion of the Empire. There was, after all, a massive blob of it with only one drop necessary to consume the supernova.

There's an easy-to-miss squee that's really got my brain in fanfiction mode. When Kirk wakes up in the sick bay of the Enterprise with freakish edema of the hands, you can hear Bones yell in the background for Nurse Chapel. heart Finally caught that one during my third viewing. I keep wondering if the blonde with the sleek up-do who has a very brief semi-close-up while on the bridge during the latter part of the movie is supposed to be her.

I commented that the only thing the movie lacked was a tribble when I first saw it. During the fourth viewing, well what do you know? Tribble in a cage on Scotty's desk. How did I not see it? It's like...right in my face, and purring loudly to boot.

Oh, and I liked how "the red shirt dies on the away mission." XD That just had to be deliberate on the writers' part. You know as soon as the captain says Owen's name and you don't recognize who he is that he's going to die. It's the little things like that that make me want to bake spekkoek and quiches and send them to everyone who was involved in making this movie.

This movie is to Star Trek what Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core is to Final Fantasy. Pure fanservice from beginning to end. heart

Oh, and I forgot to say...the part where Spock beams down to Vulcan while crouched down is HOT EYE SEX ON A SILVER PLATTER. heart When I buy the DVD I am going to sit there and rewind that for HOURS.

I enjoyed it. I think they did some brave things, while still providing a lot of fanservice. I wouldn't call it a great work of art or anything, but it was very entertaining.

I know this thread is SUPER old, but I just have to say... this movie kicked me into a whole "new" obsession. I feel a little embarrassed at having come so late into my Star Trek fandom, but my gosh, how could you NOT? I'm one of those people who has to -- HAS to -- know the back-story, if there is one. Since seeing the movie in-theater I've been feverishly reading every original-series book I could get my hands on, watching the series via Netflix (painfully slow after breezing through the first season on Instant-play -- we only get one disc at a time) and inserting silly Star Trek phrases into my dialogue here and there without even realizing it. My DH's family is all very into Star Trek, and they were all quite amused at my sudden interest (*cough* obsession). And of course have developed a major fancrush on Spock.

As for the movie itself... I preordered it and am now chomping at the bit to just go get it at Target instead rather than wait for the mail. I'm lucky this is our anniversary, or I'd have to wait until Christmas to watch it.

I saw the movie with barely any prior ST knowledge, but from what I remember, Spock and McCoy were AWESOME. Jim Kirk, of course, was completely different (IMHO) than Shatner's portrayal. But you could see the man he would have been, had he been raised by a different person. They did a good job mixing the nature/nurture debate in him. His upbringing made him a little tougher, a little more street, but he retained his intelligence and quick thinking (*ahem* and libido).

There was a short scene in the book that I couldn't remember from the movie:
Spock: I have to know -- how DID you solve the Kobayashi Maru?
Kirk: Orion women talk in their sleep.
(And earlier in the book they made it clear that the chick he slept with was helping to program the computers at the Kobayashi Maru.)

I have to say I never saw someone so good at looking like they were getting the crap kicked out of them. Certainly not Shatner. He got a stab wound in the back and just looked a little stiff and constipated.

Cannot WAIT to see this again with a better frame of reference, cannot wait to see where they go from here. (not-so-)Secretly praying for a new series. xd