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Star trek: the motion picture, common sense media reviewers.

The Enterprise's first feature, with smarts outdoing guns.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Intellect and good judgment save the day, instead

While the crew of the Enterprise demonstrate some

Space vessels are disintegrated into nothingness.

Mention that Decker formerly had intimate relation

Scotty says "hell."

Nothing onscreen, but Star Trek, as a marketing fr

Parents need to know that Star Trek: The Motion Picture features sci-fi violence, including the implication of death, and some intense moments amped up by music. When it was first released theatrically, the movie received a G rating, which was revised to PG for the director's cut. There are allusions to…

Positive Messages

Intellect and good judgment save the day, instead of warfare. The United Federation of Planets is famously multicultural, multi-ethnic, even multi-species. The ethos of Star Trek is one of exploration and non-interference, though the crew inevitably gets involved in protecting the vulnerable and fighting evil.

Positive Role Models

While the crew of the Enterprise demonstrate some basic human foibles (Kirk is too eager to regain command, McCoy suspects Spock's motives), they still function well as a unit of people who care about one another. Some commentators have pointed to the main trio of Star Trek as summing up aspects of a well-rounded, complete person: Kirk for decisive action and passion, Spock for cold logic and intellect, Dr. McCoy for emotion and altruistic kindness.

Violence & Scariness

Space vessels are disintegrated into nothingness. A few crew are knocked around and scorched by energy bolts. A Vulcan nerve pinch. Minor characters perish in a transporter malfunction, but the horrific result is left to the imagination.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Mention that Decker formerly had intimate relations with a comely alien. She spends a lot of the movie in a robe with a very short hemline, and there is generalized talk about her species having a powerful psychic sexual allure.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Nothing onscreen, but Star Trek, as a marketing franchise, has toys and products in "infinite diversity in infinite combinations," to quote a favorite Gene Roddenberry saying.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Star Trek: The Motion Picture features sci-fi violence, including the implication of death, and some intense moments amped up by music. When it was first released theatrically, the movie received a G rating, which was revised to PG for the director's cut. There are allusions to sexual activity, but nothing onscreen. Some aspects of the story involve spiritual/moral questions. Like all Star Trek offerings, this one reflects a multicultural universe largely concerned with peace and the well being of all people (and aliens). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (12)

Based on 10 parent reviews

Starts off a bit clunky but gets better as it goes along

The adventures of star shrek, what's the story.

After years deskbound as an admiral in Starfleet, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE begins with James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) reassuming command of the starship Enterprise , just refurbished with the latest gear and weaponry. Their mission is to stop a cosmic menace, a shimmering force field from uncharted space that is heading for Earth and destroying anything in its way. Kirk is in an uncomfortable situation, having demoted the younger, more tech-savvy Captain Decker (Stephen Collins) in order to get his ship back. First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) is a late arrival on the mission, having unhappily opted out of joining a monk-like mystical order of pure logic on his home planet of Vulcan.

Is It Any Good?

While the $42 million budget generated almost as much awe in itself as the movie's cosmic menace, the best part about Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the reunion of beloved small-screen cast members. Far more complex than the film's plot is the story behind the many years it took to bring the first Star Trek film to the big screen. It's commendable that the filmmakers, for the most part, stuck to the TV show 's model of character-based dramatics, and an interplanetary menace was defeated using intellect and good judgment, not light sabers.

Still, the film is a pretty ponderous spectacle. When the Enterprise enters the vast, cloudlike boundaries of the intruder, an awful lot of the movie is indeed the cast gaping at the shimmering light show, right up to a quasi-mystical finale that might have some viewers more puzzled than dazzled.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about sci-fi violence. How realistic is the violence seen in this movie ? Does it make the same impact if violence is in a sci-fi setting?

The Star Trek series and movies always made a point of having a diverse cast. Why does having diverse media role models matter?

How does Star Trek compare to other science fiction franchises?

Movie Details

• In theaters : December 7, 1979
• On DVD or streaming : November 6, 2001
• Cast : DeForest Kelley , Leonard Nimoy , William Shatner
• Director : Robert Wise
• Studio : Paramount Pictures
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : Adventures , Space and Aliens
• Run time : 143 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• Last updated : January 19, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star trek movies & more, sci-fi movies, related topics.

• Space and Aliens

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Star Trek (film)

• View history

A cataclysm in the 24th century throws two ships back in time to the 23rd century, altering the course of history. With a different life where he never knew his father, James T. Kirk becomes a brilliant yet cynical misfit who is finally convinced to join Starfleet by Captain Christopher Pike in 2255. Three years later, Kirk, Vulcan First Officer Spock, and the young crew of the new USS Enterprise , with guidance from Spock's future self, must figure out a way to work together to prevent the one responsible for the death of Kirk's father, the future Romulan known as Nero, from destroying the Federation in a mad quest for vengeance.

• 1.1 Prologue
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Development
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3.2 Props
• 4.3.3 Costumes
• 4.3.4 Makeup
• 4.4.1 Rumors and gossip
• 4.4.2 Shatner controversy
• 4.5.1 Crew notes
• 4.5.2 Secrecy and security
• 4.5.3 Sets and locations
• 4.6.1 Music
• 4.7 Continuity
• 4.8 Deleted and expanded scenes
• 4.9 Apocrypha
• 5.1 Release delay
• 5.2 Premieres
• 5.3 General
• 5.4 Reception
• 5.5 Box office
• 6 Awards and honors
• 8.1 Posters
• 8.2 USB card wallpapers
• 8.3 Websites and viral marketing
• 8.4 Promotional images
• 8.5 Teaser trailer
• 8.6 Theatrical trailers
• 8.7 Super Bowl spot
• 8.8.1 Merchandise gallery
• 9.1.3 Star Trek Avionics
• 9.1.4 Second Unit
• 9.2 Unconfirmed cast and crew
• 9.3 Companies
• 9.4 Uncredited companies
• 9.5 Unconfirmed companies
• 9.7.1 Other references
• 9.7.2 Meta references
• 9.7.3 Unreferenced material
• 9.8 See also
• 9.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Prologue [ ].

The Narada emerges after passing through a black hole

In the year 2233 , the Federation starship USS Kelvin investigates a " lightning storm" near Klingon space , which they soon realize to be a black hole . Suddenly, the massive warship Narada emerges and immediately opens fire on the Kelvin , inflicting heavy damage on the vessel. The Narada ceases fire, and its first officer , Ayel , hails the outmatched Kelvin .

Speaking for its captain , Nero , Ayel demands that the Kelvin 's commanding officer, Richard Robau , come aboard the Narada via shuttlecraft . He states the captain's refusal to do so would be "unwise." Captain Robau agrees and hands command of the ship to his first officer, George Kirk . He orders Kirk to wait fifteen minutes for his signal or else evacuate the ship, telling him he is now captain.

Lieutenant George Kirk aboard the ill-fated USS Kelvin

Upon arriving aboard the Narada , Robau is taken to Nero, while the crew of the Kelvin monitors his life signs . While Nero remains silent, Ayel interrogates him first about a particular ship , which Robau does not recognize, and then about the whereabouts of Ambassador Spock , with whom Robau is also unfamiliar.

Robau reveals the stardate; the Romulans have ended up 150 Earth years in the past. Realizing that they will not get the answers they want out of Robau, he is killed by Nero himself and the Narada recommences its attack on the Kelvin . Kirk orders the Kelvin to return fire but as the situation worsens and he realizes that the damage to the Kelvin is compromising the lives and safety of everyone on board, he orders the crew to proceed to the escape pods and shuttles, including his wife Winona , who is just about to give birth.

Winona Kirk with Jim, moments after his birth

Kirk tries to plot a collision course with the Narada , but the ship's autopilot navigation is offline. The commander comes to the sad realization that he will need to control the Kelvin himself. He orders his wife to leave on the shuttle without him. She protests, but Kirk knows that he has no choice but to stay behind and continue the attack in order to protect his wife and child and the others. On the shuttlecraft, Winona Kirk gives birth to a baby boy.

As the Kelvin destroys the missiles aimed at the shuttles, Kirk can hear his newborn's cries, realizing that he will never meet his son. Just before the Kelvin is about to collide with the Romulan vessel, Kirk asks Winona what they should name their son. She suggests naming him after George's father , but he laughs the suggestion off, saying that "Tiberius" isn't much of a first name. They decide to name him "Jim", after Winona's father . Communication is cut off as the Kelvin smashes into the Narada , temporarily crippling it and giving the shuttles time to escape.

Act One [ ]

" My name is James Tiberius Kirk! "

Approximately ten years later, around the early to mid- 2240s , a young boy is seen racing down the road in an antique Corvette across the open Iowa landscape, blasting 20th century music . Soon, a policeman on a flying motorbike chases him, ordering the boy to stop the car. Evading the officer, the boy heads for a quarry and jumps out of the car, moments before it speeds over the edge and crashes on the canyon floor below. The policeman apprehends the boy, who defiantly identifies himself as " James Tiberius Kirk ".

Spock as a child on Vulcan

Around the same time on Vulcan , a young Spock is being tormented by his peers about his mixed heritage. The boys call his father a traitor for marrying a Human "whore". The three have previously failed 34 times to invoke an emotional response in Spock, but this time they take it too far and Spock knocks one of the older boys into a skill dome and beats him in an emotional rage.

He is later gently admonished by his father, Sarek , who is disappointed at his son's lack of emotional control. Spock suggests that his father wants him to be fully Vulcan, and yet Sarek married a Human woman. Sarek coldly replies that it was the logical choice, as his duties as ambassador to Earth required him to understand and observe Human behavior. Sarek then tells his son, " Spock, you are fully capable of deciding your own destiny. The question you face is: which path will you choose? This is something only you can decide. "

Many years later, Spock is conflicted about whether to participate in the kolinahr , the Vulcan ritual aimed at purging all vestigial emotions. He talks to his mother, Amanda Grayson , who tells him that she will always be proud of him, no matter what he decides.

Spock defies the Vulcan elders

Later, Spock stands before a committee on Vulcan. The committee informs him of his acceptance into the Vulcan Science Academy and commends his accomplishments despite his "disadvantage" of being half-Human. In response to yet another underhanded insult to his heritage, Spock declines the offer of admission, stating that he has decided to enter Starfleet Academy instead. The committee expresses shock, as the offer of admission to the Vulcan Science Academy is one that no Vulcan has ever turned down – to which Spock replies that, as he isn't a real Vulcan, that statement is still accurate. Spock thanks the council and with a tinge of anger in his voice, tells the committee to " live long and prosper. "

In 2255 , in a bar in Iowa, a young Academy cadet named Uhura meets up with some friends, and while ordering drinks, a brash and intoxicated James Kirk introduces himself to her and offers to buy her a drink. His attempts at flirting with her are unsuccessful, however, and the situation escalates when three Starfleet recruits led by Hendorff intervene and end up in a fight during which Kirk is badly beaten. Fortunately, Captain Christopher Pike steps in and ends the fight, ordering all cadets inside the bar to step outside.

Pike tries to recruit Kirk in an Iowa bar

Pike, who is very familiar with Kirk's tragic past and the accomplishment of his father, having written his Academy dissertation about the Kelvin , sits down with him, trying to talk some sense into the rebellious young man by trying to persuade him to join Starfleet. Pike firmly believes that with his aptitude, Kirk can do more with himself than get into bar fights and be "the only genius-level repeat offender in the Midwest." Kirk doesn't want to hear it and laughs at the idea of joining Starfleet. Pike ends the conversation with a reminder that Kirk's father saved eight hundred lives in the course of just twelve minutes of command and challenges Kirk to do better.

Kirk looks on as the Enterprise takes shape

Early the next day, Kirk heads to Riverside Shipyard on his motorcycle , where the USS Enterprise is under construction. Pike is surprised to see Kirk turn up to join the new recruits. Before boarding the shuttle Bardeen , Kirk gives away his motorcycle and smugly tells Pike that he'll graduate in three years instead of four. On the recruit shuttle, he meets Leonard McCoy – a recently divorced , disgruntled recruit who dismisses Starfleet technology with smug pessimism. The two share a drink as the shuttlecraft leaves for the Academy in San Francisco .

Three years later, the Narada is waiting at an unknown part of space. Nero is called to the bridge by Ayel. Suddenly, a black hole temporal disturbance appears and a small starship flies out of the anomaly. Nero recognizes and welcomes the appearance of Ambassador Spock, and orders the ship to be captured.

Kirk has an encounter with Gaila

Meanwhile, at Starfleet Academy, Kirk is telling McCoy that he is taking the Kobayashi Maru test again the next day, and is certain he will pass it. McCoy is shocked at Kirk's confidence, as no one has ever passed the test, much less repeated it. However, Kirk is convinced that he will nail it and leaves to "study", which for him means an assignation with an Orion cadet named Gaila in her dorm room. Suddenly, Gaila's roommate enters and Kirk is forced to hide under the bed. He is mortified to find that the roommate is Uhura. Undressing down to her underwear, she describes to Gaila decoding Klingon transmissions about 47 battle cruisers destroyed near a prison planet . She hears him breathing however, and eventually discovers him and angrily kicks him out.

"Captain" Kirk in command during the Kobayashi Maru test

The next day, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and a few other Starfleet recruits are in the Kobayashi Maru simulation test on Kirk's third attempt. Kirk takes a comically casual approach to the test, including eating an apple . Everything goes as planned when, unexpectedly, the power systems momentarily fail, and then the attacking Klingon ships' shields go down and the ships are promptly destroyed. From above the simulator room, a technician asks how Kirk was able to beat this test. Spock, who is in the observation room, is equally puzzled.

Spock at Kirk's hearing at Starfleet Academy

During an official inquiry, the Starfleet Academy brass, namely Admiral Richard Barnett , informs Kirk that they have received evidence that Kirk entered a subroutine into the computer making it possible for him to win in the simulation, and accuse him of cheating. While Kirk faces his accuser, Spock, and tries to defend himself, the hearing is suddenly interrupted when the committee is informed that the Federation has received a distress call from Vulcan. With the primary fleet occupied in the Laurentian system , Starfleet is forced to commission the Academy cadets and dispatch ships immediately to begin a rescue mission.

Act Two [ ]

Starfleet cadets assemble at Hangar 1 for assignment

Cadets are assigned to ships based on their aptitude, with the most capable cadets assigned to the USS Enterprise , a ship completed so recently that it hasn't even been christened yet. Uhura is originally assigned to the USS Farragut , but complains directly to Spock, citing her numerous commendations and recommendations, insisting she had earned an assignment to the Enterprise .

Spock quickly corrects that oversight. Kirk has been grounded pending a ruling on his inquiry and is not allowed to board the shuttles to join the mission. However, McCoy takes him to the medical bay , where he injects him with a vaccine against Melvaran mud fleas temporarily making him ill so that, as a doctor refusing to abandon his patient, he has an official reason to take him along on the mission.

The Enterprise is ready for her maiden voyage

The Enterprise leaves Starbase 1 for Vulcan, after a slight delay caused by the backup helmsman, Hikaru Sulu , forgetting to disengage the " parking brake " before jumping the Enterprise to warp . Pike orders the Enterprise 's very young navigator , Ensign Pavel Chekov , to make a ship-wide mission broadcast. Chekov announces that the crew's orders are to investigate seismic disturbances and aid in evacuation of the planet if necessary.

After hearing Chekov's announcement, Kirk suddenly realizes that the "lightning storm" is exactly the same occurrence the Kelvin encountered two decades earlier. Realizing that they are running straight into a trap, Kirk rushes through the ship to Uhura despite suffering a bad reaction to the vaccine McCoy gave him. Despite his initial difficulty to communicate coherently, he finally manages to ask her about the Klingon distress call she had deciphered earlier and she confirms that the attackers were Romulan.

The massive Narada looms over the Enterprise above Vulcan

At Vulcan, the Narada has lowered a drilling platform, which is boring into the planet. Ayel notifies Nero that seven Starfleet vessels are approaching. Kirk rushes to the bridge to inform Captain Pike. Pike and Spock, though initially quite skeptical, are convinced after Uhura confirms Kirk's suspicion. As they disengage warp drive, the Enterprise finds itself in a debris field of the other seven Starfleet ships which arrived shortly before they did.

At the direction of Pike, Sulu is able to navigate his way through the debris with minimal damage. As they clear the debris, they come upon the Narada , drilling above Vulcan's atmosphere . The Narada attacks the Enterprise , which takes heavy damage. But just as they are about to fire again, Nero realizes which ship he is firing at and orders a cease-fire.

" Hi, Christopher. I'm Nero. "

He hails the Enterprise and casually identifies himself. Pike, seeing a Romulan, accuses him of an act of war and offers to reach a settlement, but Nero states he stands apart from the Romulan Star Empire . He openly greets a confused Spock, and orders Pike to come aboard via shuttlecraft. Pike asks if there are any advanced hand-to-hand combat -trained officers on the bridge, and gathers Sulu, Spock, and Kirk for the away mission.

Pike promotes Spock to captain and puts him in charge of the Enterprise . He also commissions Kirk as first officer , much to Spock's chagrin. Pike outlines his plan to do two things at once: on the shuttle en route to the Narada he will drop Kirk, Sulu, and Chief Engineer Olson into an orbital skydive . They will land on Narada 's drill platform and disable it in order to contact Starfleet, since the drill has disabled communications and transporter capabilities.

Sulu sword-fights on the Romulan drill platform

Pike arrives on the Narada as the three begin their descent and, despite the immediate death of Olson, Kirk and Sulu eventually manage to fire on the drill and disable it.

A Narada crewman reports the drill's incapacitation, but tells Nero that the drill reached Vulcan's core before going offline. Nero orders the launch of the " red matter ", which is dropped from the ship down the hole and explodes at the planet's core. Chekov discovers what the "red matter" is doing: creating a black hole in the middle of the planet. Vulcan will be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Spock leaps up from his chair, ordering the Enterprise to signal an evacuation of the entire planet, while he himself hurries to the transporter room to beam down and evacuate the Vulcan Council , which includes his parents.

Spock attempts to save the Vulcan elders and his parents

Kirk signals the Enterprise to beam him and Sulu back at the same the moment when Nero orders the Narada to retract the drill and leave orbit. The jolt causes Sulu to fall off the drill platform without a chute. Kirk leaps from the platform into a controlled dive and grabs Sulu before releasing his own chute. Unfortunately, the drag is too powerful and Kirk's harness tears loose. Kirk frantically signals the Enterprise to beam them up, but the transport chief cannot lock on to them while they are moving too fast. Chekov, however, can, and rushes to the transporter room, creating a pinpoint beam that snatches Kirk and Sulu aboard mere moments before they hit the surface.

Uhura comforts Spock after the loss of Vulcan and his mother

Right after Kirk and Sulu are beamed back aboard, Spock tells Kirk that he is beaming down to save the Vulcan Council , which includes Spock's parents. Kirk tries to stop him, but he ignores Kirk and orders the transporter chief to beam him down immediately. The council members were taking refuge in the katric ark , a chamber within Mount Seleya , which they could not simply beam through.

Two of the elders in the council are killed by falling rocks and statues, but Spock is able to get five of them outside, including his parents. As the transporter is about to pick them up, the rock his mother is standing on collapses, causing the transporter to miss her. As they re-materialize on board the Enterprise , Spock stands on the transporter pad in shock, having lost his mother, with his hand still reached out to her. The Enterprise crew retreats and watches in horror as Vulcan implodes into oblivion.

The beginning of the end for Vulcan

Kirk, Sulu, and the few Vulcans who were able to be brought aboard the Enterprise are brought to sickbay for treatment. Soon after, Spock leaves the bridge, and he is followed into the turbolift by Uhura who tries to comfort him.

Captain Pike held captive aboard the Narada

Nero asks Pike for the security codes to defense systems around Earth , but Pike refuses to give them to him, disgusted by Nero's act of genocide on Vulcan. Nero speaks about how the Narada , in his time, was a mining ship, and he was laboring to support his wife, who was expecting his child, before they were killed when Romulus was destroyed.

He placed blame on the Federation for doing nothing, and accused Spock of betraying them, promising himself retribution. Pike pleads that Romulus still exists, but Nero only knows that his world – the Romulus of the future – was destroyed, and he intends to destroy every world of the Federation, starting with Earth, so that others will know his pain. Forcing a Centaurian slug down Pike's throat, which will help coerce Pike to give out the security codes, Nero orders the Narada to continue to Earth.

" Whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. "

On the bridge of the Enterprise , Spock reasons that the Narada must have traveled back in time from the future. He states that they must regroup with the fleet, but Kirk says that in order to stop Nero they must go after him first. This culminates in an argument which ends in Spock ordering Kirk's removal from the bridge. When Kirk physically protests, Spock incapacitates Kirk with a Vulcan nerve pinch , orders him placed in an escape pod and jettisons him off the ship. Kirk awakens to find himself on the snow-covered world of Delta Vega , another planet in Vulcan's system. Picking up his gear, Kirk heads for the Starfleet station fourteen kilometers away.

Kirk is marooned on Delta Vega

He is chased down by a " drakoulias " which is in turn attacked by an even larger insectoid animal . It chases Kirk into a cave, and when it finally attaches a tendril to catch him, trying to consume him, it is spooked off by an elderly Vulcan man wielding a lit torch. Before he can thank his savior, the old man, who had recognized Kirk on sight, reveals himself to be Spock, Kirk's old friend, but the latter is skeptical – until the former identifies Nero as Pike's captor. Spock melds with Kirk so that he can understand why he is here.

Spock and Kirk share a mind meld

Spock explains that 129 years in the future, in the year 2387 , an impending supernova threatened to destroy the home worlds of the Romulan Star Empire and, potentially, the rest of the galaxy as well. Spock developed a stockpile of "red matter", a substance that can be ignited to form a singularity .

However, the star exploded while he was en route, and Romulus was destroyed. Spock launched the red matter from his ship, the Jellyfish , to prevent further damage. Immediately, Spock was confronted by a surviving Romulan mining vessel, the Narada , captained by Nero. Spock tried to escape, but the resultant black hole captured both the Jellyfish and the Narada , creating a disturbance in the space-time continuum sending both ships into the past.

A vision of the destruction of Romulus in the 24th century

The Narada exited over one hundred and fifty years in the past, where it confronted the Kelvin . Spock's ship entered moments later, but what appeared seconds to him was twenty-five years to Nero and the Narada . He explains that Nero captured his ship, but kept him alive, marooning him on Delta Vega, so that he could witness the destruction of his own home planet, Vulcan, just as he had to witness the destruction of Romulus.

Kirk explains he was left on the planet by the Spock he knows, who is currently in command of the Enterprise . The elder Spock is surprised, knowing that Kirk should be in command of the ship. It is then that Spock realizes that when Nero exited the black hole and confronted the Kelvin , he altered history and created an alternate reality , which changed everything, especially Kirk's life. Kirk asks Spock whether his father lived in the original timeline. Spock confirms that George Kirk proudly saw his son take command of the Enterprise , and often spoke of him as his inspiration to join Starfleet. Spock leads Kirk to the Starfleet base.

" Do you realize how completely unacceptable this is? "

Kirk and the elder Spock are met by a short alien officer, Keenser , who leads them inside, where they meet this timeline's Montgomery Scott . A transporter genius, Scott was "exiled" to Delta Vega after beaming Admiral Archer 's prized beagle to an unknown location during a failed experiment in " transwarp beaming ". Spock informs Kirk that he must relieve the Vulcan's younger self of command by provoking him and showing everyone that Spock is too personally and emotionally compromised to lead the mission and captain the ship.

Kirk saves Scotty from drowning

Giving Scott the formula for "transwarp beaming" – an operation originally devised by the Scott he knew – Spock, who had responded to Kirk's suggestion that he was now "cheating" by recalling the " old friend " who had taught him how to cheat, sends Kirk and Scott back to the Enterprise . Not too long after they are transported to the Enterprise (Scott had materialized in a water tank and nearly drowned), the two are spotted and eventually captured by security personnel – led by Hendorff, the very cadet who had started the bar brawl which led to Kirk joining Starfleet.

Spock attacks Kirk

They are taken to the bridge where an astounded Spock attempts to find out how the two were able to transport on board the ship while it was in warp. Kirk refuses to answer and recommends Scott do the same, and then proceeds to ask why Spock doesn't feel any anger or have any emotion over the destruction of his planet and the murder of his mother. He keeps pushing and provoking Spock, claiming he never loved his mother. Upon hearing this accusation, Spock finally snaps and lunges after Kirk, ruthlessly beating and strangling him to the point of nearly killing him, before Sarek begs Spock to stop. Realizing how far he has gone, Spock relieves himself of duty and leaves the bridge. Kirk assumes command and orders an immediate pursuit of the Narada .

Act Three [ ]

The Enterprise crew regards Spock when he returns to the bridge

Following his outburst, Spock returns to the transporter room, where Sarek tries to get Spock to open up to him. Spock admits to feeling conflicted and feels a rage he cannot control towards Nero over the death of his mother. Sarek offers that his mother would have said not to bother controlling it, and, recalling what he had said years before after another outburst of his son's Human side, sadly admits to his son that he married Amanda because he loved her.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Chekov figures out a plan to get the Enterprise close to the Narada without them noticing: they can follow the Narada and stop at Titan 's orbit, remaining undetected by hiding in its magnetic field. Soon after, a cooled-off Spock returns to the bridge, confirms the logic of Chekov's plan, and offers to beam over to the Narada to get the "black hole device" and save Earth, the only home he has left. Kirk says he will go as well, to rescue Pike. Spock mentions regulations against the captain and first officer going on such a mission, but chooses not to cite something he knows Kirk will ignore. Kirk quips that they are finally getting to know each other and gives Spock a friendly slap on the shoulder.

The Enterprise rises from Titan's atmosphere

The Narada has already arrived at Earth and deployed its drilling rig directly over San Francisco. Warping into Titan's atmosphere, the Enterprise remains undetected by the Narada . Before stepping onto the transporter pad, Kirk calls the bridge, telling Sulu that, if he believes the Enterprise can destroy the Narada , even if Kirk, Spock, and Pike are still aboard, he should not hesitate to take the opportunity. Sulu reluctantly acknowledges Kirk's order.

Before they beam over, Uhura kisses Spock and tells him that he better come back. In his reply, he calls her "Nyota." Kirk, who overheard, then asks Spock if that's the first name he had tried and failed to learn since the first time he met her; Spock coyly cuts him off, stating his refusal to comment on the matter. Right after they are beamed aboard, the Narada begins to drill its hole near the Golden Gate Bridge , cutting the ship off from the Enterprise and disabling transporter functions.

The Narada drills into San Francisco Bay

Scott thought he could beam Kirk and Spock to the Narada 's cargo bay without being seen, but it turns out to be a heavily occupied portion of the ship. After a brief firefight, Spock uncovers the location of the black hole device and Captain Pike by melding with an unconscious Romulan. When they board the Jellyfish , it recognizes Spock as its captain (at which Kirk sarcastically expresses surprise), and the Vulcan finally figures out what is going on, as the ship's computer confirms its origin stardate as 2387, constructed by the Vulcan Science Academy.

Spock confronts Kirk about withholding information from him, but Kirk dodges the question by asking Spock if he can fly the spacecraft, a question he is fairly confident Kirk already knows the answer to. For the first time, Spock calls Kirk, "Jim" and informs him that their chances of success are grim by citing his calculation of their odds, but Kirk assures him that their plan will work.

Kirk leaps away from Ayel on the Narada

Spock commandeers the Jellyfish and blasts out of the Narada . Spock uses the ships guns to destroy the drill's tether, plunging the platform into San Francisco Bay. Kirk runs into more trouble as he finds the Romulans' "bridge", where Nero and Ayel are waiting. Kirk is confronted by Nero, who has recognized him from Earth's history, and after a brief scuffle, Nero pins Kirk and tells him that, while he was a decorated officer and went on to captain the starship Enterprise , that was another life, and that he plans to deprive him of the same life his father once had.

Before he can finish Kirk off, however, Nero is informed that the Jellyfish has been stolen and the drill has been destroyed. Furious above all else, Nero storms off, leaving Kirk to Ayel while he plans to kill Spock. Ayel promptly grabs Kirk by the throat and lifts him in the air, surprised at how "weak" Humans appear to be. Seeing his prey attempting to talk, Ayel offers Kirk the chance to say something – and the Human replies that he is in possession of the Romulan's disruptor pistol . Kirk fires and kills Ayel as he plunges into the depths of the Romulan vessel. He then heads off to rescue Pike.

Kirk and Spock discuss Nero's fate

On the bridge, Nero hails Spock, declaring that he should have killed him when he had the chance. In reply, Spock taunts Nero by "ordering" him to surrender. Nero orders the Jellyfish destroyed, even though the ship still has "red matter" on it; with his plan for revenge ruined, now he only wants to kill Spock. The Jellyfish evades the missiles, then goes into warp, with Nero and the Narada in hot pursuit, leaving Earth behind.

When the ships drop out of warp, the Jellyfish turns to intercept and collide with the Narada , seeking to ignite the red matter and create a hole that will envelop both ships. Nero panics and orders all weapons fired, but the Enterprise arrives on the scene and destroys the missiles with a fierce volley of its phasers , allowing Spock to carry through with his plan to ram the Narada .

Inside the Narada , Kirk finds Pike, alive but injured due to his earlier torture. Pike is quite surprised, but Kirk reminds him of his previous order to "come and get me", and when two Romulan soldiers walk in and find Kirk, effectively defenseless while freeing Pike from the chamber, the captain returns the favor, grabbing the gun on Kirk's belt and killing the intruders before his rescuer even realizes what happened. Scott successfully beams back Kirk, Pike, and Spock, right before the Jellyfish collides with the Narada .

The Narada is pulled into a black hole and obliterated

The explosion of the Jellyfish ignites the entire stockpile of "red matter" on board, creating a black hole, which begins to swallow up the Narada . To Spock's surprise, Kirk offers to rescue the surviving crew, arguing that this might improve long-term relations between the Romulans and the Federation, and is thus only "logical."

Spock, mindful that Nero is the man who destroyed his planet and murdered his mother, coolly suggests that they dispense with logic in this case. Their debate is ended when Nero, belligerent to the last, says he prefers to die in agony than accept help from them. Kirk obliges and orders Sulu to fire all weapons, blowing the ship apart with phasers and photon torpedoes .

Escaping the black hole

The Narada is finally destroyed, but the gravitational pull of the black hole begins tugging on the Enterprise , keeping it from escaping, even with its engines running at warp speed. The pressure is heavily damaging the ship as Kirk orders Scott to get them out of there at all cost. Scott ejects the Enterprise 's multiple warp cores and detonates them near the black hole, propelling the Enterprise to safety on the resultant shockwave.

Back on Earth, the elder Spock meets with his younger counterpart, who presumed the former to be his/their father. Young Spock is confused as to why his older self didn't simply come with Kirk and explain the situation. The older Spock states that he implied there may be universe-destroying paradoxes if Kirk told him the truth so that they would have to rely on each other, thus ensuring "a friendship that will define you both, in ways you can not yet realize."

Spock salutes his older self from the Prime timeline

Young Spock asks if he was making a gambit; older Spock states that he made "an act of faith" to his old friend, which he hopes that he will show again in the future. However, younger Spock expresses his decision to resign from Starfleet to help rebuild the Vulcan race; older Spock points out that he can be in two places at once. He also advises his younger self, in this case, to put aside logic and do what feels right. The older Spock then raises his hand in the familiar Vulcan salute , and, feeling it would be inappropriate to say "live long and prosper" to himself, simply wishes his younger self "good luck."

Spock Prime watches Kirk's promotion ceremony

Kirk is commended by Starfleet Command , promoted to captain, and given permanent command of the Enterprise . He relieves Pike, who has been promoted to admiral and is now recovering in a wheelchair . A proud Pike shakes his successor's hand and notes that his father, too, would be very proud of Kirk.

As the older Spock leaves to help the remaining Vulcans establish a colony , Kirk, now dressed in the gold uniform of a captain, walks on to the Enterprise bridge. After he tells McCoy to "buckle up", and receives assurances from Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, and Scott (who has barely finished talking to Kirk when he finds Keenser – now a member of his engineering staff – having climbed atop a console and orders him down) that their sections are ready to depart, the younger Spock returns to the Enterprise and asks Captain Kirk if he can be his first officer, offering to provide "character references". Kirk says it would be his honor.

Captain James T. Kirk officially takes command of the Enterprise

The Enterprise departs for deep space

As the Enterprise begins its journey, the voice of the elder Spock intones the famous motto that other starships named Enterprise have voyaged forward from:

Log entries [ ]

• " Acting Captain's Log , Stardate 2258.42. We have had no word from Captain Pike. I therefore classified him as a hostage of the war criminal known as Nero. Nero, who has destroyed my home planet and most of its six billion inhabitants. While the essence of our culture has been saved in the elders who now reside upon this ship, I estimate that no more than ten thousand [Vulcans] have survived. I am now a member of an endangered species. "
• " Stardate 2258.42… four uh, four, whatever. Acting Captain Spock has marooned me on Delta Vega, in what I believe is a violation of Security Protocol 49.09 governing the treatment of prisoners on board a starship. "

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Citizen, what is your name? " " My name is James Tiberius Kirk. "

" I must decline. " " No Vulcan has ever declined admission to this academy ! " " Then, as I am half Human, your record remains untarnished. "

" I'm impressed. For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals. " " Well… not only. "

" Oh relax, cupcake – it was a joke. " " Hey, farmboy! Maybe you can't count, but there are four of us and one of you! " " So get some more guys, and then it'll be an even fight. "

" You know, your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's – and yours. I dare you to do better. "

" Space is disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence. " " Well, I hate to break it to you, but Starfleet operates in space." " Yeah, well, I got nowhere else to go. The ex-wife got the whole damn planet in the divorce – all I got left is my bones. "

" I don't believe in no-win scenarios. "

" Who was that pointy-eared bastard? " " I don't know – but I like him. "

" You call this a favor?! " " Yeah, you owe me one. "

" No, I'm assigned to the Enterprise . " " … Yes, I believe you are. "

" Is the parking brake on? "

" The complexity of Human pranks escapes me. " " It's not a prank, Spock. And I'm not the captain – you are. "

" Move, move, move! I can do that! I can do that! "

" I am now a member of an endangered species. "

" Dammit, man! I'm a doctor, not a physicist! Are you actually suggesting they're from the future?! "

" If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains – however improbable – must be the truth. "

" I have been, and always shall be, your friend. "

" I don't know you. " " I… am Spock. " "Bullshit."

" Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making a logical choice sending Kirk away? Probably. But the right one? You know, back home we have a saying: If you're gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prize stallion in the stable. " " A curious metaphor, doctor, as a stallion must first be broken before it can reach its potential. "

" Dr. Puri, report. " " It's McCoy. Dr. Puri was on deck six. He's dead. " " Then you have just inherited his duties as chief medical officer. " " Yeah, tell me something I don`t know! "

" Green-blooded hobgoblin! "

" Are you from the future? " " Yeah, he is – I'm not. " " Well that's brilliant! Do they still have sandwiches there? "

" So, the Enterprise has had its maiden voyage, has it? She is one well-endowed lady! I'd like to get my hands on her ample nacelles, if you'll pardon the engineering parlance. "

" You know, coming back in time, changing history… that's cheating. " " A trick I learned from an old friend . "

" Come with me… Cupcake!"

" Are you afraid or aren't you? " " I will not allow you to lecture me on the merits of emotion. " " Then why don't you stop me? "

" I like this ship! You know, it's exciting! "

" Well, congratulations, Jim – now we've got no captain and no goddamn first officer to replace him! " " Yeah, we do. " " What?! " " Pike made him first officer. " " You gotta to be kidding me! "

" I sure hope you know what you're doing… captain." " So do I. "

" My mother was Human – which makes Earth the only home I have left. "

" I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it. " " See? We are getting to know each other! "

" So her first name's Nyota? " " I have no comment on the matter. "

" You'll be able to fly this thing, right? " " Something tells me I already have. "

" James T. Kirk was considered to be a great man. He went on to captain the USS Enterprise , but that was another life. A life I will deprive you of, just like I did your father! "

" You can't even speak… What? " " I got your gun! "

" What're you doing here? " " Just following orders. "

" It's logic, Spock – I thought you'd like that. " " No, not really. Not this time. "

" I would rather suffer the end of Romulus a thousand times. I would rather die in agony than accept assistance from you. " " You got it. Arm phasers – fire everything we've got. "

" Thrusters on full. "

" Bones! Buckle up! "

" Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise . Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. "

Background information [ ]

Development [ ].

The first poster , designed by J.J. Abrams

Development on Star Trek began in 2005 when Paramount contacted Roberto Orci (who was working with J.J. Abrams and Alex Kurtzman on the studio's Mission: Impossible III at the time), asking for ideas on how to revive the franchise. [1] Former Star Trek franchise head Rick Berman , though, shortly before he was let go from Paramount, has credited Abrams with presenting the idea of revisiting Star Trek to the studio when the latter was signed for a five-movie deal in early 2006 . ( Star Trek Magazine  issue 129 )

Daily Variety reported, on 20 April 2006 , that an eleventh Star Trek film was being developed by J.J. Abrams, having the story revolve around the iconic characters of James T. Kirk and Spock during their days at Starfleet Academy . [2] Several days later, Abrams confirmed some parts of the report while denouncing others, stating that the announcement was an unofficial leak and was "not entirely accurate." He also stated that, while he was given the option to direct the film, he had not decided to do so at that time. [3] [4] (X) Abrams declined to accept the director's position until the script was complete and he was sure he was the man for the job. He worked with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci on the story throughout 2006 and early 2007 and finally signed on to direct on 23 February 2007 , when he also publicly announced his decision to direct the film. Abrams was convinced to do so by his wife, Katie McGrath, who felt the film had strong female characters, and by acclaimed director Steven Spielberg , who was a friend of Abrams and was impressed by the script. [5] According to The Wrap , before Abrams signed up to direct the film, Paramount offered the position to Sam Raimi , the director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man films. [6]

Fans got an official look at the movie's direction when Paramount released a poster for the new film on 22 July 2006 : the teaser bore the Enterprise crew uniform insignia from the original series, against a background half command gold and half science blue . It hinted at a film to be set in the 23rd century which might feature the Enterprise itself. The poster was designed by the film's director/producer, J.J. Abrams. [7]

The film was greenlit in late February, at which time pre-production officially began. [8] Paramount issued a press release on 27 February 2007 , which confirmed that production was under way, with Abrams directing, for a target premiere date of 25 December 2008 . [9] (X)

By 3 May 2007 , some of the art department – still being filled by Production Designer Scott Chambliss – were already working, mostly from home; offices on the Paramount lot weren't finished before mid-May. [10] [11]

Sound stage set construction began in September. Most design work was complete by 12 October 2007 . The budget was estimated between US$120 to $150 million, higher than any prior Star Trek film. [12]

Story and script [ ]

The original treatment for the film (the initial story outline) was completed in August. By the 24th of that month, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had begun working on a first draft of the screenplay, which was completed by 12 December 2006. [13] A second final draft was complete by 8 October 2007. [14] [15] In total, the script took approximately four months to write. The final script was about 128 pages long. [16]

In an interview posted 8 March 2007 , the writers stated that the "intended title" for the film was always simply Star Trek , without any colons or subtitles. [17] This was to encourage newcomers that they didn't have to watch any other film before it. [18]

This is the first Star Trek movie since Star Trek Generations to feature characters from the original series and to feature scenes set in the 23rd century . It is also the first in the film series to be set before the other films.

Co-writer Alex Kurtzman said the script draws inspiration from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . He and Roberto Orci hoped to recapture the spirit of The Wrath of Khan for this particular film. [19] Other inspirations for the film include the novels Prime Directive and Spock's World , as well as the TOS episode " Balance of Terror ", the TNG episode " Yesterday's Enterprise ", [20] , and the TAS episode " Yesteryear ". ( citation needed • edit )

The writers said that their goal was for the film to appeal not just to Trek fans, but to new audiences as well. [21] [22] They hoped to bring the feel of the original Star Wars trilogy into the movie, since Abrams has often said he's more a fan of Star Wars than Star Trek . [23]

Scenes featuring Kirk's former CO , Garrovick , and Kirk's service under Garrovick aboard the USS Farragut are not in the film as first reported. These elements, which were included in early drafts of the script, were removed in rewrites. [24] The character of Carol Marcus was also included in early drafts of the script, but she did not make it into the shooting script, either. [25]

Rumors that the film's story involved the Guardian of Forever from the classic episode " The City on the Edge of Forever " prompted the episode's writer, Harlan Ellison , to demand compensation if elements from his story were used in the film. [26] [27] The rumors ultimately turned out to be false. The script does, however, reference several elements from the original series episode " Journey to Babel " among these Spock's mother recalling when he was taunted by Vulcan boys during his youth, Sarek's recollection of how Spock turned down appointment to the Vulcan Science Academy, and Spock's conversation with Sarek at the end of the episode discussing why Sarek married Amanda (Sarek replying " At the time it seemed the logical thing to do ").

According to Roberto Orci, the most difficult characters to write for were the film's villain (Nero) and James T. Kirk. [28] One resource which Orci and Kurtzman utilized during the entire writing process was this website, Memory Alpha . The writers also occasionally referenced Memory Alpha during the film's production. [29]

Even though this film takes place in an alternate timeline , Orci has stated that any canon changes made in this timeline will not affect the former timeline, arguing that the scientific theory of quantum mechanics permits the existence of parallel timelines and universes, invoking the thousands of Enterprise s from various universes seen in TNG : " Parallels " to back up this theory. He also believes that this theory allows for the continuance of a timeline even after a change is effected and an alternate timeline is created. In addition, he argues that, although the timeline has changed, the true nature of the characters does not change and that Kirk and company are the same people they are in the original timeline. [30]

The film's production was designed by Scott Chambliss. Ryan Church was the primary designer of the USS Enterprise and other starships, while Trek veteran John Eaves designed the various shuttlecraft . Excepting the Industrial Light & Magic staffers, who had previously worked on the Star Trek franchise and were still in the employment of the company at the time, Eaves was the only regular production staffer who had worked on Star Trek productions, set in the prime universe, to be officially hired and credited for the re-imagined movie as conceptual illustrator (though there were a few uncredited others such as Graphic Designer Geoffrey Mandel ). While Abrams steered clear from hiring any former Star Trek staffers in order to be as unencumbered as possible for his take on the franchise, he was aware that some consistency needed to be observed, or as Chambliss has put it, " I brought John in because he knew the story and lore, what should and shouldn't be done. The ships in the Starfleet Armada to go to Vulcan were influenced by John's knowledge. " ( Star Trek - The Art of the Film , p. 58)

J.J. Abrams stated the difficulty of depicting the future was that much of modern technology was inspired by the original series, making it seem outdated. As such, the production design had to be consistent with the television series while also feeling more advanced than the real world technology developed after it. [31] Specifically, he felt that the original series had a "kitschy quality" to it which had to be abandoned for the sake of realism. [32]

According to production designer Scott Chambliss, redesigning the Enterprise and especially the main bridge began with laying out a framework of ground rules: the sets had to reflect the optimism of the original series, while also having a real functionality to them. " There was a strong, sleek, modernist vision at play in the 1960s when the television series began, " says Chambliss. " That was something we wanted to infuse in our look. " As such, the Enterprise draws inspiration from the work of Pierre Cardin and the sets from the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey . ( Production notes )

Chambliss maintained the layout of the bridge from the original series, but added more consoles and glass data displays to increase its functionality and make it more "busy." He also altered it aesthetically, with brighter lights and colors. The main viewscreen was turned into a window that could have images projected on it to make the space environment palpable. The bridge set was built on gimbals so the ship's rocking motions when it was attacked or when it accelerated to warp were more realistic. More railings were added to the bridge set to make it appear safer. [33] [34]

The Romulan ship, the Narada , was designed as purely practical with visible mechanics, as the Romulans were on a very specific mission, unlike the Enterprise crew, who give a respectable presentation on behalf of the Federation. [35] In designing the Narada , Chambliss was heavily influenced by the architecture of Antoni Gaudí , who created buildings that appeared to be inside out: by making the ship's exposed wires appear like bones or ligaments, it would create a foreboding atmosphere. The ship's interior was made of six pieces that could be rearranged to create a different room, thus allowing the production to utilize a single stage for the set. ( Production notes )

Different art directors were responsible for the sets of each ship: Dennis Bradford was responsible for the Federation starship sets (the Enterprise and the Kelvin ); Gary Kosko handled all the Vulcan-related sets; and Curt Beech oversaw the shuttlecraft sets. They were all supervised by Keith P. Cunningham , who ensured everything was organized and running properly. ( Production notes )

The props seen on the original Star Trek series were redesigned, as well, including the communicator , the tricorder , and the phaser . All props were the responsibility of property master Russell Bobbitt .

Bobbitt collaborated with engineers at Nokia to redesign the original communicator, creating a US$50,000 prototype. For the tricorder, Bobbitt brought the original prop to the set, but the actors found it too large to carry when filming action scenes. Bobbitt then approached technical advisor Doug Brody , who redesigned a smaller version of the prop. [36] The phaser props maintained the basic shape of the original props, but were designed with spring-triggered barrels that revolve and glow blue and red as the setting switches from "stun" to "kill".

A tribble can be seen in the film, sitting in a cage on Scott's desk in the Delta Vega outpost . [37] The production made use of the Aptera Typ-1 , a prototype electric vehicle. The Aptera was used on location at the CSUN campus, which was standing in as part of Starfleet Academy. [38] [39] [40]

Costumes [ ]

Abrams selected Michael Kaplan to design the costumes because Kaplan had not seen any of the films, meaning he would approach the costumes with a new angle. For Abrams, " The costumes were a microcosm of the entire project, which was how to take something that's kind of silly and make it feel real. But how do you make legitimate those near-primary color costumes? " [41]

Kaplan used the Star Trek Encyclopedia to get a sense of the evolution of the Starfleet uniforms and to look for repeated motifs. ( Production notes ) For the Enterprise uniforms, Kaplan followed color coding used on the original series. The uniforms were comprised of dark gray (almost black) undershirts and pants and colored overshirts showing each crew member's position. Kaplan wanted the shirts to be more sophisticated than the originals and decided to have the Starfleet emblem patterned on them. [42]

When designing the uniforms for the crew of the USS Kelvin , Kaplan drew inspiration from the retro-futuristic designs of 1940s and 1950s science fiction films. For the Romulans on the Narada , Kaplan wanted worn and rugged clothes because of their mining backgrounds. He found some aged, greasy-looking fabrics at a flea market, and commissioned the makers of the clothes (who were based in Bali) to create his designs using their fabrics. For the Vulcans, Kaplan designed costumes which shared the eloquent and austere qualities of the Vulcans themselves, while creating a new, corseted shape for the Vulcan women. ( Production notes )

The Vulcan and Romulan makeup was created by Joel Harlow , while Barney Burman designed and created the prosthetic makeup for other alien characters. Mindy Hall was the head of the makeup department. Both digital and physical makeup was used for aliens.

Burman and his team had to rush to create many of the aliens. Originally, the majority of the aliens were to feature in one scene towards the end of filming. However, Abrams deemed the scene too similar to the cantina sequence in Star Wars and decided to pepper aliens throughout the entire film, requiring Burman and his crew to design the aliens earlier than anticipated. [43]

The Romulan characters in the film were all bald to better distinguish them from the Vulcans, and their heads and faces are covered with tattoos. They lack the forehead ridges that were seen on Star Trek: Enterprise and in the TNG -era series and films. The Romulan actors spent two and a half to four hours getting their makeup done; the actors had three prosthetics applied to their ears and foreheads, while Eric Bana had a fourth prosthetic for the bite mark on his ear that extends to the back of his character's head. [44] [45]

Casting [ ]

This is the first of any Star Trek production to re-cast the regular characters of a Trek series and both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were given consultation rights for the recasting of their roles. [46] Casting for the film began as early as October 2006 . [47]

The only actors to participate in both this film and the first Star Trek film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture , were Majel Barrett and Leonard Nimoy . In The Motion Picture , Barrett played Dr. Christine Chapel and she voiced the Enterprise computer in Star Trek , while in both films, Nimoy played Spock.

Star Trek has Leonard Nimoy portraying his iconic role of Spock for the first time since 1991 . He came out of retirement to assume the role, having given up acting in favor of photography in 2000. He later gave three explicit reasons for doing this project: the fact that it is Star Trek , his admiration for Abrams, and an "essential" and "interesting Spock role". [48] Abrams has stated that the casting of Nimoy is "critical if we're going to look at reintroducing these characters", noting that, to make this a "great film", it must "both please the fans and those who have never seen Star Trek … having Leonard in the film shows that this film exists in a continuum of Trek history, as opposed to an absolute, page 1 reinvention." [49]

The first actor cast in the new film was Heroes star Zachary Quinto , who plays the younger Spock. His casting, and that of Nimoy, was officially announced at San Diego's Comic-Con International on 26 July 2007 . Quinto also signed up to play Spock in any potential sequels to this film. [50] The last recast member of the original series crew to sign on was Karl Urban as Leonard McCoy. [51] Rehearsals were held week of 19 October 2007. [52]

On 10 December 2008, Variety announced that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry reprised her role as the voice of the Enterprise computer. [53] [54] This announcement came just eight days before Barrett's death at the age of 76.

April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg oversaw the casting of the principal actors. Hollywood Operating System (Hollywood OS) and Headquarters Casting (HQC) were the agencies working in conjunction to hire extras for the film. They held an open casting call for extras on 10 November 2007, an event which hundreds attended, numbers that haven't been seen since Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. [55]

In November 2009, Wil Wheaton , who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation , confirmed that he provided the voice for the minor Romulan characters who spoke in the movie. His dialogue was altered to make him sound different each time, with one exception: the Romulan towards the end of the film who tries to warn Nero about igniting the red matter aboard Spock's ship had Wheaton's normal voice. [56] [57]

Rumors and gossip [ ]

As the buzz around the film was building and word spread that the characters of the original Star Trek series were to be recast, rumors as to who would play the younger versions of these iconic characters also arose while a number of actors reportedly expressed interest in participating in the film.

• J.J. Abrams' childhood friend Greg Grunberg expressed interest in playing a Klingon, Scott, or a Vulcan. [58] [59] [60] [61] [62] Although he was to have appeared in the film, Grunberg bowed out to star in, produce, and co-write another film. [63] However, he did visit the set of this movie while it was in production. ( Empire , issue 287, p. 79) Grunberg also managed to acquire a role in the film during post-production, as the voice of James Kirk's step-father.
• Actor Matt Damon was rumored as Captain Kirk, even soliciting William Shatner's aid in signing him up. [64] Damon himself denied having been approached for the role, [65] although he later told Sci-fi Wire that he would be interested in playing a young Captain Kirk if the script met with his satisfaction. [66] In March 2007, Kurtzman, although not confirming that Damon will play Kirk, stated that he was " the hugest Matt Damon fan. If he became [Kirk], great. " [67] In a subsequent interview with IGN, Damon stated that the filmmakers were looking for someone younger than Damon (who in 2007, was merely two years older than William Shatner was in 1966). [68] In an interview with Entertainment Tonight , J.J. Abrams said he had approached Damon to play Kirk's father, but ultimately it didn't work out. [69]
• Mike Vogel was a contender for the role of Kirk before the role went to Chris Pine. [70] [71]
• Actors Ryan Gosling and Sam Rockwell also showed interest in portraying Jim Kirk. [72] [73]
• Adrien Brody was rumored to be in talks to play Spock. Brody later confirmed that he had indeed had a discussion with J.J. Abrams about the role. [74] [75]
• Oscar-nominated actor Gary Sinise ( Forrest Gump , CSI: NY ) was rumored to be in talks to play the role of Dr. McCoy. [76] Sinise subsequently denied the rumor. [77]
• During a short phone interview with J.J. Abrams on his show, The Colbert Report , Stephen Colbert jokingly expressed that he felt he was perfect for the role of Dr. McCoy.
• Alias star Kevin Weisman expressed interest in portraying Scott. [78]
• Scottish actor James McAvoy was rumored as being sought to play Scott, which McAvoy's publicist subsequently denied. [79] [80]
• Scottish actors Greg Hemphill and Martin Compston were also reportedly up for the role of Scott. [81] [82]
• Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise guest actor and Lost star Daniel Dae Kim was named as a contender for the role of Sulu . [83]
• Heroes actor James Kyson Lee expressed interest in playing Sulu. [84]
• Sources reported that Academy Award-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman may have a role in the film, possibly as a doctor (but not "Bones" McCoy). [85]
• There was a rumor that the new James Bond, Daniel Craig , was interested in a role. [86]
• Actress Jennifer Garner , who starred in Abrams' Alias television series, said she would "absolutely" sign up to appear in Star Trek if she were asked. [87] Garner later expressed interest in showing up as a Klingon, even if it was just a quick walk-on role. [88]
• Abrams thought it would "be awesome" if he were able to cast his Felicity and Mission: Impossible III actress Keri Russell as a Klingon. [89] Russell later told IESB that she had indeed been in talks for a role in Star Trek but that she and Abrams had decided not to go through with it. [90]
• Actress Sydney Tamiia Poitier auditioned for a role in the film, [91] possibly Uhura. [92]
• Ben Affleck was rumored to have been approached for a role in the film. [93]
• Abrams' Mission: Impossible III star and producer, Tom Cruise , was frequently rumored to have a cameo in the film. He was even rumored to be appearing in the film as Captain Christopher Pike. Both Cruise and his publicist have denied any involvement in the film. [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] [101]
• It was reported that Paramount was attempting to sign up Oscar-winner Russell Crowe to play the film's villain. [102] Crowe said he was "apparently" up for the role, but that he had yet to read anything and could not make a decision until he did. [103] Eric Bana ultimately won the role.
• Actor Josh Lucas was being considered for the role of Pike, although he was never the leading candidate. [104] [105] The role ultimately went to Bruce Greenwood .
• Starburst Magazine reported, in its 356th issue, that George Takei would be appearing in the film, reprising his role as Sulu in "a flash forward sequence" opposite Leonard Nimoy. This was later found to be incorrect. [106] (X) [107]
• Star Trek: Enterprise star Dominic Keating auditioned for the role of Jim Kirk's stepfather, but he did not get the part. [108]
• TOS actress Nichelle Nichols stated that she and J.J. Abrams discussed the possibility of Nichols making an appearance in the new film, perhaps as the grandmother of Uhura (the character she originated on TOS). Due to the writers' strike, however, her inclusion into the script was not possible. [109]

Shatner controversy [ ]

Yet another actor who expressed interest in a role was William Shatner himself. [110] In an interview with Time magazine, Shatner claimed to have been approached by Abrams for a role in Star Trek . [111] Shatner even reported several times his belief that Abrams was planning for both him and Leonard Nimoy to appear in the film, although they would have to be meaningful roles. [112] [113]

Shatner learned he did not have a role in the film while discussing the script with Leonard Nimoy over the phone. [114] According to Nimoy, although Shatner did not have a role the film, Shatner was not "furious" about it as some reported. [115] The film's writers stated their wish for Shatner to be a part of the film's shoot, and the filmmakers were looking for a way to include Shatner in the film. [116] [117] [118] [119] It was implied by Nimoy that the reason Shatner did not have a role in the script was due to the events of Star Trek Generations , which featured the death of Captain Kirk. [120] This suggested that Nimoy's scenes as Spock might have taken place in the 24th century . As it turned out, the backstory for the movie did indeed start in the late 24th century in the year 2387 . Kirk's appearance and subsequent death in the 24th century occurred in the year 2371 , sixteen years prior. While Shatner could theoretically have appeared as a James T. Kirk circa 2387 (as depicted in the "Shatnerverse" novels), it would have been confusing to the audience that might only know of his last screen adventure and not the subsequent ones in the novels since the novels are not canon.

In an interview with then-executive producer Stratton Leopold , the Savannah Morning News stated that "studio executives still hope to convince William Shatner to suit up as Captain Kirk one more time. " [121] This contradicted previous reports stating that Shatner was the one attempting to convince Abrams and crew to find a way to put him in the movie. It is possible that the Savannah report was merely mistaken or that the line was taken out of context.

The fact that Nimoy had a role in the film and Shatner did not, disappointed Shatner. The fact also caused an uproar from some fans on forums and discussion boards. Shatner explained in later interviews that the writers had been looking for ways to include Kirk in the story, but couldn't find a way to do it without compromising the script or making his appearance feel "forced".

In an interview with IGN , J.J. Abrams finally put an end to the rumors by stating that William Shatner was not in the movie at all and Leonard Nimoy is the only actor from the original series who was. [122]

In another interview with AMC , Abrams admitted there was a scene written for Shatner, but he and the writers decided not to use it because "it didn't feel right" and they still had to respect canon. In addition, Shatner was vocal in his unwillingness to be involved unless he had a substantial role in the film. [123] Abrams called the omitted scene a "flashback", although co-writer Roberto Orci later stated that wasn't a technically accurate term. [124]

Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman eventually said that Shatner's scene was in the movie and then was written out in a later draft. It would have been at the very end of the movie when Spock Prime meets the younger Spock and speaks to him about the long and enduring friendship that Spock and Kirk needed to form. Spock Prime would have said " Don't take my word for it " and produced a small holographic device that would have projected a message from the elder Kirk. [125]

Production [ ]

A moment from the filming of this movie

Principal photography began 7 November 2007 [126] and wrapped 141 shoot days later on 27 March 2008 . Second unit and VFX plate shots continued until 17 April 2008 , under the direction of Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett . Since it was the principal photography that had been reportedly scheduled to wrap in April, writer and executive producer Roberto Orci stated:

Shooting was once set to start summer 2007 [128] before the filmmakers made clear it could actually begin in April. [129] Shooting would have started on 5 November but was postponed two days. [130]

This was the first film in the Star Trek franchise which Paramount Pictures made in collaboration with a production partner, let alone two ( Bad Robot Productions and Spyglass Entertainment ). This was also the first Star Trek project which writer/director Rick Berman has not been involved with in over twenty years, and the first Trek film since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country made without his involvement. In addition, this was the first film since Star Trek Generations that the soundtrack was not composed by Jerry Goldsmith , who passed away in 2004 .

Crew notes [ ]

Many of the crew members whom Abrams selected to work on this film are those he had worked with in the past, most notably writers/executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, producer Damon Lindelof , executive producer Bryan Burk , composer Michael Giacchino , cinematographer Dan Mindel , production designer Scott Chambliss , editors Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey , and casting directors April Webster and Alyssa Weisberg .

Stratton Leopold , a collaborator of Abrams' on Mission: Impossible III , was initially unit production manager and an executive producer for the film. [131] Before filming began, however, Leopold left the production and was replaced as executive producer by Jeffrey Chernov [132] and as unit production manager by David Witz . [133]

Originally, Vic Armstrong was to coordinate the stunts for Star Trek . He was looking forward to working with Abrams again, having served as stunt coordinator on Mission: Impossible III (2006), but Joey Box was ultimately given the job. (source: Vic Armstrong)

The first three months of shooting on Star Trek took place during the 2007 writers' strike . None of the filmmakers could make any changes to the film's script during the strike period, meaning the common practice of revising the script during production was not possible. Although Abrams complained about not being able to add new dialogue, the strike for the most part did not affect the film's production. Since it was one of the studio's "high priority" films, Paramount strove to help it despite the writing stoppage. [134] [135] Writers Kurtzman and Orci were able to stay on set without strikebreaking as they were also executive producers on the film. While they could not change any lines themselves, they could "make funny eyes and faces at the actors whenever they had a problem with the line and sort of nod when they had something better." [136]

Secrecy and security [ ]

Security on the set was very tight in order to keep aspects of the production a secret from the general public. Cast and crew members on location were not allowed to leave the set for cigarette breaks, [137] and actors could not walk in public in their costume – they were driven to and from set in golf carts, hidden behind black canvas. [138] Some actors, including Jennifer Morrison and Sonita Henry , were only given the part of the script containing their scenes, which they had to return at the end of the day. [139] [140] The script was also protected with members of the main cast, including Simon Pegg , who had to read the script with a security guard nearby. [141]

During its production process, the film was codenamed "Corporate Headquarters". [142] This was the official fake title chosen by Bad Robot, although various other fake titles were also used throughout the production. Each of the Key Assistant Location Managers was allowed to choose an additional fake title for paperwork, permits, and signage in an effort to thwart paparazzi and to protect the secrecy of the movie: Kathy McCurdy named the movie "Untitled Walter Lace Project" after her grandfather; Rob Swenson used "Christa & Christan's Big Adventure" after his twin step-daughters; Scott Trimble used "The Ernest Castelhun Chronicles" after his great-granduncle who drowned in beer at the Anheuser-Busch factory in 1937; and Steve Woroniecki named it "Untitled Blake Allen Project" after his son.

TOS stars Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig , TNG star Jonathan Frakes , and veteran Trek writer and producer Ronald D. Moore were among the few who were permitted to visit the Star Trek set. Other celebrities who visited the set include Tom Cruise , Ben Stiller , Harrison Ford , Michelle Monaghan , and Steven Spielberg . Ford dropped by the set during the last week of shooting; Spielberg was on set during filming on the Enterprise and assisted Abrams with the action of one of the scenes. [143] [144] (Abrams states that Koenig came when filming the space dive – since Pine and Cho had actually been standing on a mirror on top of a building, Koenig thought the film would be a flop.)

The wrap party was held on 18 April 2008 at Hangar 8 at the Santa Monica Airport between 7:00 pm and midnight. The invitation featured the note, " Please note that due to heightened security, you must R.S.V.P. in order to have your name placed on the guest list. Your photo I.D. will be required at the entrance. " (Source: Jon Donahue via Facebook)

Sets and locations [ ]

The production used a total of eleven sound stages. [145] Most filming took place on the studio lot, specifically on stages 8 , 9 , 11 , 14 , 15 , and 18 . These are stages where Star Trek has filmed in the past. Plans also reportedly included use of a Universal Studios stage for "planetary" shots needing more room, [146] but that location was never used.

A source told TrekMovie.com that more ship interiors were created for this film than any other Trek film. There was also a minimal amount of redressing used. [147]

Abrams has stated that his goal with this film is to make Star Trek "real." As such, he used live sets and location shooting rather than green- and blue-screen sets wherever possible. [148] The first days of shooting occurred on location in a Long Beach building. [149] California's Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park was used for a birthing scene involving a number of Vulcans. Vasquez Rocks has appeared in past Trek shoots, including the original series episode " Arena ". [150] )

Approximately four weeks out of the twenty weeks of shooting took place on the bridge of the USS Enterprise . [151] The last day of shooting on the set of the Enterprise bridge was 25 January 2008 . Scenes filmed included the intended final scene of the movie. During filming on that day, TrekMovie.com hosted a live chat in which J.J. Abrams, other crewmembers, and some of the cast answered fan-submitted questions from the bridge set. A transcript of this chat included a brief glimpse of the set – the first such on-set image – showing Abrams using his laptop at one of the stations. [152]

In addition to the bridge, other areas aboard the Enterprise seen in the movie are sickbay , crew quarters , corridors , engineering , and the transporter room . All of these sets were built at Paramount Studios, with the exception of engineering, which was done on a redressed industrial location. [153] That location was later revealed to be the Budweiser beer plant in Van Nuys, California. (Production notes at StarTrekMovie.com )

The bridge of the USS Kelvin reflects an earlier design than the Enterprise and is described as "a lot busier." This bridge set was redressed for use as the mock-up starship bridge in a scene depicting the Kobayashi Maru scenario . [154] Other areas we see on the Kelvin include sickbay, engineering, and some corridors. The Romulan ship, the Narada , utilizes an interior design that is different from previously seen Romulan ships and is described as "surreal." Scenes were also filmed on sets built to represent a medical shuttle and a transport shuttle. [155]

Some scenes were shot in a large Orange County hangar. Production later returned to Long Beach for scenes at its city hall. Filming there wrapped on 14 December 2007 , with several city staffers invited to the shoot, all of whom signed nondisclosure pacts. [156] [157]

During the week of 18 March 2008 , parts of the film were shot at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), with the university's Oviatt Library standing in as the lower levels of Starfleet Academy. Although blue screens were placed on the sides of the lawn, light fixtures were modified, and banners sporting the Starfleet emblem were hung on streetlights, little else was modified for the film. [158] Although it never appeared in the film, the lobby of the library was dressed with NASA and other space-related images and the main doors were emblazoned with the Starfleet emblem. There was also a "futuristic kiosk" placed in the lawn. Photos of the filming at CSUN feature dozens of extras dressed in red cadet uniforms (as well as some in more militaristic gray uniforms) as well as a futuristic-looking, functional vehicle called the Aptera . [159]

Also in March of 2008, filming took place at the Pastoria Energy Facility to the east of Interstate 5 at the bottom of "the grapevine," a stretch of Interstate 5 that drops out of the mountains north of Lebec, California, and south of Bakersfield. This location served as the Riverside Shipyards where the starship Enterprise was being constructed. This is where James T. Kirk rode his motorcycle into the shipyards, gave his bike to a shipyard worker, and boarded the shuttle headed to Starfleet Academy.

Four of the filmmakers, including production designer Scott Chambliss , first assistant director Tommy Gormley , then executive producer Stratton Leopold , and eventual second unit director Roger Guyett , scouted locations in Iceland during early Summer 2007. Despite some reports, J.J. Abrams never actually visited Iceland himself. Companies such as Pegasus-Panarctica Pictures (run by Snorri Þórisson), Sagafilm (Kjartan Thor Thordarson), Labrador (Pétur Hafsteinn Bjarnason), and Truenorth Productions (Leifur B. Dagfinnsson) vied for the opportunity to provide local production services. This would have been the first time a Star Trek movie was filmed outside of the United States. The plan was that two weeks of filming would take place there during Spring 2008, but, as it turned out, no filming whatsoever was ever done in Iceland. A location scout was also sent to British Columbia, Canada, but, in the end, the movie was filmed entirely in the United States. [160] [161] [162]

Many of the scenes featuring interior locations on Vulcan were filmed at the SkyRose Chapel in Whittier, California. These included the conversation between young Spock and Sarek, as well as Spock's confrontation with the Vulcan committee. [163] [164]

In early April, some second unit work took place on location in Bakersfield, California, which stood in for Iowa (the birthplace of James T. Kirk). While shooting in Bakersfield – near Highway 119 – on 8 April 2008 , an automobile accident occurred in front of the set in which a car being driven by the location's site manager (a local official in charge of the site) crashed head-on into a truck. A passenger in the car and the driver of the truck were injured but survived, and the crash did not disrupt filming. [165] [166]

Post-production [ ]

Industrial Light & Magic provided the special visual effects for the film. This was the company's seventh film project for the Star Trek franchise, the last being 1996's Star Trek: First Contact . Santa Barbara Studios did the VFX for Star Trek: Insurrection and Digital Domain provided the effects for Star Trek Nemesis . Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett anticipated that Star Trek would use about 1,000 visual effects shots, [167] though the number had increased to over 1,300 by August. [168]

The first cut of the film was completed in July 2008. This cut was screened for studio executives at Paramount Pictures sometime in the last week of July and received a very positive response. [169]

Post-production on Star Trek was completed on 23 December 2008 . The film spent just under nine months in the post-production process, the second longest in the franchise behind Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The final step in the process was sound editing, provided by Academy Award-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (best known for his work on the Star Wars films) and supervising sound editor Mark Stoeckinger . [170]

The film's score was written by Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino . He created a new version of the original theme by Alexander Courage in the score, along with new themes he created for the film. The original theme made a comeback for the ending credits. Giacchino admitted personal pressure in scoring the film, stating " I grew up listening to all of that great [ Trek ] music, and that's part of what inspired me to do what I'm doing… You just go in scared. You just hope you do your best. It's one of those things where the film will tell me what to do. " [171] [172] [173]

Finding a new musical direction for Star Trek proved challenging. " I wrote maybe 20 or so versions of the main theme and all of them sounded like Star Trek music – like big space opera music. And every time JJ and I would sit and listen to it JJ would say 'it just doesn't sound like our movie.' " Lindelof suggested Giacchino concentrate more on Kirk and Spock's friendship, and the main theme, specifically the Kirk/ Enterprise theme came out of that. Spock's theme developed out of a variation of the main theme that the producers liked. [174]

The score was recorded at the Sony Pictures Scoring Stage in Culver City, California. The scoring session was comprised of a 107-piece orchestra and forty-person choir. Giacchino composed new themes for the film, some of which were stylistically created as subtle homages to past Star Trek composers, Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner . An erhu was used to create Spock's theme; the same instrument was used for the Romulans, except in their case, the sound was processed and distorted. Several members of the music department wore clothing resembling Starfleet uniforms during the scoring session. [175] The score was released by Varèse Sarabande Records on 5 May 2009 .

Continuity [ ]

• This is the second movie, the first being Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , to begin on James T. Kirk's birthday, in this case the actual day of his birth.
• Aspects of Spock's life, like Sarek explaining his marriage to Amanda as "the logical thing to do", young Spock being bullied by Vulcan kids for having a Human mother, and later turning down the Vulcan Science Academy to Sarek's disappointment, were first mentioned in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode " Journey to Babel " and the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode " Yesteryear ".
• Hikaru Sulu reveals that his advanced combat training is in fencing . Sulu was first seen fencing in the original series episode " The Naked Time ". Abrams later states he thought it a good idea to turn out that Sulu was in fact "a ninja". ( Star Trek DVD commentary)
• Delta Vega in the film is a reference to an unrelated planet from the TOS episode " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". In an interview with TrekMovie.com, writer Roberto Orci said, " We moved the planet to suit our purposes. The familiarity of the name seemed more important as an Easter egg, than a new name with no importance. " [176]
• When Kirk and McCoy first see the Enterprise in space the scene resembles the scene from Star Trek: The Motion Picture when the Enterprise refit is shown for the first time or the similar scene in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home with the new USS Enterprise -A . This was the general idea in Abrams' view. ( Star Trek DVD commentary)
• When the cadets are assigned to the various ships prior to the destruction of Vulcan , one cadet, Fugeman , is assigned to Regula I , a station seen prominently in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
• There is an established relationship between Spock and Uhura in this film. There have previously been hints of flirtation between the two characters. In " Charlie X ", Uhura sings a teasing song about Spock while he plays accompanying music on the Vulcan lyre , eliciting a rare smile from him. In " The Man Trap ", Uhura makes an attempt to get Spock to flirt with her, asking him to tell her she's an "… attractive young lady." The famous interracial kiss was originally to be between Uhura and Spock. [177] However, according to scriptwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, they only noticed these moments after coming up with the relationship for the film. [178]
• At the end of the film, Admiral Christopher Pike is in a wheelchair . This is an allusion to Fleet Captain Christopher Pike from the original timeline who was crippled by delta radiation when a baffle plate had ruptured and then confined to an advanced wheelchair. [179] However, unlike in the Original Series , Pike isn't scarred or mute and in the next film is seen walking without the wheelchair, albeit with a cane .
• Nero's statement that the Federation had done nothing as Romulus was destroyed by the supernova makes it look as though the Federation simply held still while their (former) enemies faced destruction. However, Jean-Luc Picard 's statements in PIC : " Remembrance " elaborate on that and make Nero's anger much more understandable: In fact, the Federation had initially agreed to mount a large-scale evacuation to help the Romulans who were threatened by the supernova, but deliberately chose to abandon it.
• The sequence where Nero forces the Centaurian slug down Captain Pike's throat is a tribute to the Ceti eel sequence from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , even including similar dialogue. [180]
• While taking the Kobayashi Maru test, Kirk's comic nonchalance extends to him casually munching on an apple as the Klingons attack. In the Genesis cave in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Kirk eats an apple while explaining to Saavik how he beat the Kobayashi Maru test. (In the DVD commentary on the film, it is noted that this was a coincidence.)
• Dr. McCoy refers to Spock as a "green-blooded hobgoblin." In " Bread and Circuses ", McCoy referred to Spock as a "pointed-ear hobgoblin." McCoy also frequently referred to Spock as "green-blooded" throughout the classic series and the films.
• Spock Prime tells Kirk " I have been, and always shall be, your friend ", which were his dying words to an older Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and, recalling that conversation, his first words after his fal-tor-pan in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .
• In order to bring Kirk aboard the Enterprise as a patient, McCoy injects a vaccine to protect against viral infection from Melvaran mud fleas . The fleas were previously mentioned in " Canamar ".
• On Delta Vega, Montgomery Scott mentions that he had used "Admiral Archer's prized beagle" to test his long-distance transporter theories, though the beagle had yet to turn up as of his meeting with Kirk and Spock Prime (which he speculated led to his "exile"). Writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci have confirmed that this Admiral Archer was indeed Jonathan Archer . [181] [182] Jonathan Archer would be 145 years old at the time of Scotty's exile, but Humans are long-lived in Star Trek ; Orci noted the appearance of Leonard McCoy in " Encounter at Farpoint ". However, it is unlikely that Porthos would still be alive at that time. J.J. Abrams intends the dog to reappear upon his leaving the Star Trek films. ( Star Trek DVD commentary)
• When Nero discovers Spock commandeering the Jellyfish , he yells, "SPOOOOOCK!" This is likely a nod to the scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where Kirk yells Khan's name in a similar fashion.
• When the younger Spock approaches the pilot's seat in the Jellyfish , the location's design is that of the IDIC , a symbol of the Vulcan people. Also, in reaction to the ship's controls, Spock says " Fascinating… "
• Chief Engineer Olson , who dies almost instantly on an away mission, is conspicuously dressed in a red space jump suit, a nod to the original series phenomenon of a hitherto unknown ensign dressed in red always being the first to die in any away mission. ( Star Trek Special Edition DVD ) Greg Ellis , who played Olson, had previously appeared on Star Trek , in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine finale " What You Leave Behind ", as Ekoor , one of the few Cardassians to survive the Dominion massacre.
• Uhura orders a Klabnian fire tea , three Budweiser Classics , two Cardassian sunrises , a Slusho , and a Jack Daniel's at the Shipyard Bar . J.J. Abrams has previously used Slusho in the film Cloverfield and the television series Alias . Uhura's drink order is the first reference to the Cardassians in a Star Trek production set in the 23rd century. The Cardassians debuted in the 24th century Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " The Wounded ", and were mentioned in the 22nd century Star Trek: Enterprise by the Organians in " Observer Effect " and one was seen at a repair station Enterprise NX-01 visited in " Dead Stop ". The mention of Budweiser is a nod to the shooting location for engineering – a Budweiser plant.
• As Kirk climbs out of the shuttle on Delta Vega, his backpack reads "NCC-1701-D." The USS Enterprise -D , commanded by Captain Picard , had this registry number.
• At one point, Doctor McCoy tells Kirk that " A little suffering is good for the soul. " In " The Corbomite Maneuver " Kirk asks McCoy " Aren't you the one who always says a little suffering is good for the soul? " and McCoy dryly replies " I never say that ".
• McCoy has a beard in civilian life, just as he did in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .
• While trying to decipher the origins of Nero and his ship and crew, Spock says " Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. " In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , Spock says the same thing while investigating the mysteries surrounding Chancellor Gorkon 's assassination . The line ultimately derives from the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , and was also quoted by Data in " Data's Day ".
• When Kirk first meets Scott on Delta Vega, a tribble can be seen and heard on his desk.
• Kirk emotionally compromises Spock in order to gain command of the Enterprise as he did in " This Side of Paradise ".
• At the end of the film, right after Spock Prime says " To boldly go where no man has gone before… ", the Enterprise goes into warp, similar to the Star Trek: The Next Generation series opening sequence.
• This is the last Star Trek film to use the 2002-2012 Paramount Pictures logo.

Deleted and expanded scenes [ ]

Several scenes appear in the shooting script that are absent from the theatrical release. [183] Some have appeared on the Star Trek DVD releases.

• A scene prior to the film's opening sequence shows Spock's birth and a conversation between Amanda Grayson and Sarek.
• When the Narada is disabled by the Kelvin 's attack, several Klingon warbirds decloak and surround Nero's ship.
• Preceding his joyride in a Corvette, scenes establish the child James T. Kirk residing with his older brother George and their uncle Frank while Winona Kirk is away. James is forced to wash the Corvette (which had in fact belonged to their late father) in a subsequent scene when, upon opening the visor above the drivers' seat, the keys fall into his lap, and he decides to steal it.

The unfinished Narada surrounded by Klingon ships in a deleted scene

• Several scenes establish that Nero and his crew were taken to Rura Penthe and had been held there for several years. It is suggested that Nero formulated his plan for destroying the Federation while imprisoned. Klingons – as all are masked, it is unclear whether or not they bear the effects of the augment virus – interrogate Nero (at one point, having realized he was from the future, theorized that he likely knows about Federation defenses, and that they might be able to work together) and torture him with a Centaurian slug (in the hopes of getting red matter technology for themselves), a tactic Nero uses later in the film. Nero attempts to endure the torture by focusing on memories of his wife. A later scene shows Nero escaping the prison planet to resume his plan (the scene used in the trailer where Nero says " The wait is over " comes as he frees Ayel). Interviews with J.J. Abrams and the Star Trek DVD commentary indicates that they didn't want to address whether the Klingons in this film would look like they did in the original series, affected by the augment virus, or appear with forehead ridges as they did in the films and subsequent series although the helmets have the ridges on them, which is a nod toward the later look of the Klingons. Two images from this plot line were in fact included in the final film – the last shot of the Centaurian slug sequence, looking straight down at Nero, was used to show Nero aboard the Narada when Ayel comes in and informs him that the Jellyfish is about to emerge from the black hole, while the image of a shirtless Nero at work on Rura Penthe appears during Spock Prime's mind-meld with Kirk.
• The Gaila/Uhura dorm room scene and Kobayashi Maru scenario is slightly expanded to show how Kirk reprogrammed the test. After Kirk responded to " I love you " with " That's so weird ", he explains that it's because he has written her a note, its contents too hard to say in person, that he needs her to open at precisely 3 pm the next day. At the appointed time, Gaila – a technician on the test – opens the letter, which reads " Gaila – I'm sorry. Jim ", before downloading a virus which reprograms the scenario. (In the DVD commentary it was stated that this is why Gaila has her arms crossed during the entirety of Kirk's subsequent hearing.) Another scene includes Kirk running into and attempting to apologize to an Orion woman within the Enterprise corridors that he thought was Gaila.
• In one scene, Ayel expresses the Narada crew's desire to return to Romulus following the destruction of Vulcan and suggests to Nero that the plan for destroying the Federation be abandoned. Nero declines the suggestion and kills Ayel for displaying signs of mutiny. This is noted as being a significant difference from the theatrical release, since Ayel is involved in the film's final scenes.
• As Spock Prime leaves the hangar following the conversation with his younger self, he passes Sarek, whose bewildered look (similar to the one his son had upon apparently seeing Kirk aboard the Enterprise ) is captured by the cameras.

Apocrypha [ ]

The novelization of Star Trek , written by Alan Dean Foster , shows several expanded sequences including some deleted scenes. In the novel, Winona is given an inhibitor that would help delay the birth of James until the Kelvin 's return to Earth. However, the impacts to the ship by the Narada 's attack cause her to go into early labor. For the scenes where she's off-planet, Kirk's Uncle Frank from a deleted scene and his step-father from the final cut are merged, as "Frank" is, in fact, his step-father. In several instances after Kirk is commissioned by Captain Pike, Kirk is referred to as "Lieutenant Kirk." The novel also further details Nero's motivations for attacking the Federation.

After the elder Spock is informed by young Kirk that Chekov, Sulu, and Uhura all serving aboard the Enterprise – at this point not even bothering to ask if McCoy is as well – he suggests that their meeting on Delta Vega and various other coincidences regarding the Enterprise crew are the result of the timeline attempting to mend itself – as for the one person not yet aboard the ship, Spock had been well aware of Scotty's presence at the outpost, but had deliberately kept his distance, until the arrival of Kirk made it absolutely clear that their being on the same world was no accident. After the young Spock resigns command and leaves the bridge, Uhura and Sulu demand to know how Kirk got aboard the Enterprise ; Kirk reveals to the bridge crew about the future Spock and what he told Kirk about Nero and how the past had been changed in an attempt to gain their trust. Kirk also tells them about how they cannot tell their Spock about the elder Spock's presence and the bridge crew agrees not to do so. At the end of the book, when the elder Spock speaks to his younger counterpart (who, upon hearing how his older self convinced Kirk to keep his secret, suggests that the would-be paradoxes were not outright impossible, but the displacement would have to have taken place far earlier for there to be any concern), the young Spock asks Spock Prime if he might call on him occasionally for advice and Spock Prime agrees, saying " Who better to consult with you than yourself? " The first mission under Kirk also includes a new passenger: Archer's dog rematerializes in the Enterprise 's transporter room just as the ship warps away from the Solar System.

The novel also makes a number of small quotes and passing mentions regarding certain figures and connecting the main characters to their prime selves:

• During the skill dome sequence, young Spock identifies the authors of a piece of 20th century Earth music as John Lennon and Paul McCartney , on whom Orci and Kurtzman based the Kirk-Spock relationship.
• Running for his life on Delta Vega, Kirk mutters under his breath that the drakoulias resembles the "bastard offspring" of a polar bear and a gorilla, the two Earth animals which the monster was modeled after.
• Noting Kirk's unfamiliarity with Regulation 619, Spock admits that he had forgotten how unimportant such things had been to "his" Kirk.
• During the bridge discussion after Kirk takes command, Sulu mentions having a doctorate in astrophysics , the field of study his counterpart was in during his first Trek appearance, " Where No Man Has Gone Before ".
• In the midst of their battle with the Narada crew – largely a fistfight rather than a firefight – Kirk, noting that Spock displayed great logic even in combat (defeating the strongest Romulans first before moving on to the weaker ones until there were none left), concludes that he must play a "mean game" of three-dimensional chess , which Spock was in fact so skilled at that he would use the game to save Kirk's career .
• The transport of Kirk, Spock, and Pike from the Narada back to the Enterprise , shown almost entirely from inside the transporter room and implied to be more difficult than the film suggests, is viewed by McCoy and Uhura, allowing a mention of the doctor's well-known feelings toward the device .

Foster initially refused to do the novelization. The producers flew him to Hollywood to meet with them, the cast, and the director. After having many conversations, Foster accepted the project, rushed to meet deadlines, and had the novel ready for a December 2008 release. Star Trek writers Howard Weinstein and Robert Greenberger mentioned this at the 2009 FarPoint Convention. The novelization also appears to have been written with either a first draft or very early version of the script. Many sequences and dialogues are out of order, missing, or otherwise inconsistent with the film.

Release [ ]

Release delay [ ].

At the time production began, Star Trek was set for a worldwide theatrical release on 25 December 2008 . Later, Paramount was reportedly considering bumping up the film's release date one or two days or moving it to 19 December 2008. [184] On 13 February 2008 , however, Variety magazine reported that the film's release would be put back, from 2008 to 8 May 2009 , in order to take advantage of the summer movie season. [185]

Around the time the delay was announced, a Paramount spokesperson stressed that the change in release date had nothing to do with the film's production or its script. The spokesman stated that the decision was all about box-office potential and the spokesman said that Star Trek is in the same league as such past summer blockbusters as Spider-Man , Shrek , Transformers , and the Star Wars prequels. [186] (X) Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore revealed to Entertainment Weekly that another reason the movie was pushed back was so they could "educate people that this is a whole new franchise." [187]

Premieres [ ]

The gala world premiere of Star Trek took place on 7 April 2009 at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. The film's cast and crew were in attendance. [188] This was followed by a number of additional premiere events around the world – Austria; Belgium; France; Germany; Japan; Korea; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Russia; Spain; London, UK: 20 April 2009 [189] ; Los Angeles, USA.

A few hours prior to the official premiere in Sydney, fans in Austin, Texas were given a surprise screening of the film. The event had been announced as a ten-minute preview following a showing of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , hosted by writers Roberto Orci , Alex Kurtzman , and Damon Lindelof . However, after two minutes the film of The Wrath of Khan appeared to melt. Orci, Kurtzman, and Lindelof proceeded to vamp for a few minutes but were interrupted by a surprise appearance of Leonard Nimoy , who asked the audience if they would like to watch the new film instead. [190]

The official American premiere was held at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood on 30 April 2009 . Attending the event were J.J. Abrams, most of the film crew, and nearly the entire cast. [191]

General [ ]

Although the United States release date was set for 8 May 2009 , advance screenings of the film began at 7 pm on 7 May 2009 . [192] However, the first worldwide release was in France, Belgium, and the French-speaking parts of Switzerland on 6 May 2009 . [193]

For the first time, a Star Trek film was released in IMAX as well as conventional theaters. Although the film was not shot with IMAX cameras, the film was able to be converted to the 70 mm IMAX format. This was the first Trek project since the abandoned Star Trek: IMAX to be considered for the medium. [194] [195]

Star Trek , released in May 2009, was the first Star Trek film released in the summer months since 1989's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .

Reception [ ]

Star Trek has received nearly universal acclaim from film critics. Star Trek currently has a 95% "certified fresh" rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 278 reviews, with an average critic's rating of 8.1 on a scale of 10. [196] Based on the findings of Rotten Tomatoes, Star Trek is currently the second-best reviewed mainstream film of 2009, after Up . [197] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, Star Trek has a metascore of 83 out of 100, based on 37 critics' reviews. [198]

Based on listings tracked by Metacritic, twenty-three critics from twelve different publications ranked Star Trek as one of the ten best films of 2009. Among the publications whose critics praised Star Trek as such were Boston Globe , Empire Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , Miami Herald , New York Daily News , The New Yorker , and the Washington Post . [199]

Bryan Burk recalled, " In general with Star Trek , a lot of people came out saying they really liked it and it wasn't what they thought it was going to be. For me, that was the biggest win. " ( SFX , issue 270, p. 71)

Despite the praise, some reviews criticized the lack of a classical Star Trek allegory. In Empire 's 4/5 review, Colin Kennedy noted the themes " primarily relate to the nature of friendship and teamwork, which is all very well, […] but in a time when the United States is engaged in two wars, the failure to even acknowledge the issues arising from space imperialism and the Prime Directive is to flinch from battle. Harsher critics may even deem it a dereliction of duty. " [200]

In a 2013 article about J.J. Abrams, Empire characterized the introduction of Kirk in this film as a prime example of how Abrams juxtaposes the everyday with the extraordinary to create "relatable spectacle," tonally similar to Steven Spielberg's film-making. ( Empire , issue 287, p. 77) In 2014, Empire readers ranked Star Trek at #188 in a poll to determine the 301 greatest movies of all time. [201]

In a 2016 interview, Brannon Braga commented, " I thought Star Trek was fantastic. It was beautifully directed and took Trek to a whole other level in terms of action. They had quadruple the budget when we did ours. But the casting was perfect and it was almost an impossible task. " Braga also prefers this film to Star Trek Into Darkness . ( SFX , issue 270, p. 68)

Jonathan Frakes is disappointed that, despite visiting the set of this film, he wasn't permitted to participate in the making of it. Nonetheless, he approved of this movie. ( SFX , issue 270, p. 63)

Box office [ ]

Star Trek topped the North American box office in its opening weekend, grossing US$75.2 million from Friday through Sunday. It also earned an estimated US$4 million from its Thursday night advance screenings, for a total of US$79.2 million over its first three and a quarter days. [202] It marked the highest opening weekend box office gross of any film in the franchise, surpassing Star Trek: First Contact 's opening weekend of US$30.7 million (approximately US$50 million when adjusted for inflation). [203] Star Trek had the sixth highest opening weekend of 2009, following The Twilight Saga: New Moon , Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , X-Men Origins: Wolverine , Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince , and Avatar . [204]

Included in Star Trek 's opening weekend gross was US$8.5 million from 138 IMAX venues, setting a new weekend record for IMAX. It surpassed the previous benchmark set by The Dark Knight , which earned US$6.3 million from IMAX screenings in its first weekend. ( Star Trek 's IMAX record was subsequently beaten by Avatar .) In addition, Star Trek yielded the most-attended start ever for a movie debuting in the second weekend of May, topping 1996's Twister . [205] Star Trek also managed to top many overseas box office charts in its first weekend, grossing US$35.5 million from 54 international markets. [206]

Star Trek ended its domestic theatrical run on 1 October 2009 with a total gross of US$257,730,019, making it the seventh highest grossing film of 2009 in North America. [207] It was the year's highest-grossing film in the United States from Wednesday, 27 May, though Saturday, 27 June, a total of 31 days, after which it was overtaken by Disney/Pixar's Up (which, coincidentally, was also composed by Michael Giacchino ). Star Trek has also done good business internationally, earning more from foreign markets than any previous Star Trek films (with the possible exception of Star Trek: The Motion Picture ). Star Trek 's international gross is US$127,950,428, bringing its total worldwide gross to US$385,680,447. [208]

Awards and honors [ ]

Star Trek is the first film of the franchise to have won an Academy Award , the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup. It also received three more Academy Award nominations. The National Board of Review named Star Trek one of the Ten Best Films of 2009.

Star Trek received the following awards and honors:

On 30 March 2009, it was announced that Paramount was moving forward with a sequel to Star Trek . Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have again been hired to write the screenplay, along with the first film's producer, Damon Lindelof. J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk will again be producing via Bad Robot, along with Orci and Kurtzman. [209]

At his panel during the Supernova Convention, Perth 2009 in Australia, Karl Urban unofficially announced that he had seen a work in progress version of the script for a sequel, expected in 2011, or later.

Advertising and marketing [ ]

Posters [ ].

As of July 2008 , Paramount has distributed several teaser posters at various conventions to promote awareness and hype about the film. The first, as stated above, was released on 22 July 2007 (see early discussion and speculation above). A second teaser poster for the new film was introduced at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, on 27 July 2007 . This poster features a white background with the words Star Trek written in the TOS-style font and comprised of a star field backdrop seen throughout the original television series.

In August 2007 , a third teaser poster, this one containing the title inside the arrowhead-shaped Starfleet insignia , was created especially for distribution to the attendees at the Las Vegas Star Trek Convention. As with the second teaser poster, the Vegas poster features the film's release date hyped as "Stardate 12.25.08".

A fourth teaser poster was given away to attendees at the San Francisco Wondercon on the weekend of 24 February 2008 , sporting the new official logo, the tagline "Under Construction", and a date of "Summer 2009".

Four teaser posters, each featuring an image of a cast member from the film ( Eric Bana , Zoe Saldana , Chris Pine , and Zachary Quinto ), were distributed at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con from 24 through 27 July 2008. When combined, the four posters form the delta shield emblem of the USS Enterprise (and later of all Starfleet). There is also a single one-sheet version of the poster available via mail order from Comic-Con in conjunction with the Intel Corporation . [210] Four similar posters featuring John Cho , Simon Pegg , Anton Yelchin , and Karl Urban were distributed at the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas the following month. [211]

On 10 November 2008, Paramount released the first teaser posters for the films designed for display in theaters, one featuring Pine as Kirk and the other featuring Quinto as Spock. Both posters were black and white, bearing nothing else save for the release date, the official site address, the production company logos for Paramount and Bad Robot, and the Starfleet delta shield emblem. [212]

A cardboard standup promoting the film was also made for display in theaters. The standup consists of the title in large cut-out letters, with each letter featuring the face of a different character from the film (Kirk on the "S", Nero on the "K", etc.) The title is placed upon a dais which contains the tagline ("The Future Begins"), the release date, and an orbital view of Earth. [213]

On 26 March 2009, European posters for Star Trek were posted online. [214] A day later, the US poster for the film was also revealed on MySpace Movies. The poster features the USS Enterprise within a warp effect against a white background, with the tagline "The future begins." [215]

USB card wallpapers [ ]

A set of nine exclusive wallpapers were released on Star Trek -themed USB cards, with three images per card.

Websites and viral marketing [ ]

The mysterious corridor that appears briefly on NCC-1701.com

A promotional website dedicated to the new film went live at 8:05pm EST on 16 January 2008 and can be found at paramount.com/startrek . The site introduced the new official logo for the film, which was also seen in the teaser trailer. [216] Paramount also set up a page for the movie on the social-networking website Facebook where fans may congregate. [217] [218]

Following the launch of the film's teaser trailer, the official website contained a hidden link to NCC-1701.com , a viral promotional site supposedly containing "surveillance footage" of the Enterprise under construction. The site features four screens, each for a different "surveillance camera", but only three are active at a time. The inactive camera, however, will sometimes come online and, for a brief instant, reveal an image of a dark corridor. [219] The corridor actually belonged to the USS Kelvin , seen very briefly during George Kirk's brief command of the ship.

Originally located on a subdomain of Paramount.com, the official site moved on 19 February 2008 , its address becoming StarTrekMovie.com . On 18 July 2008 , the site was updated with wallpapers and icons depicting the images from the Comic-Con Star Trek posters in addition to an overall redesign of the site. [220]

Promotional images [ ]

The first official promotional images from the film were released on 15 October 2008 , at six separate movie websites. The images showed Pine, Quinto, Urban, Pegg, Saldana, and Yelchin in costume on the Enterprise bridge; Quinto and Pine; Bana in makeup as Nero; Pine on an icy planet; the USS Kelvin engaged in combat; and a view of the Enterprise bridge. [221]

On 16 October 2008 , TrekMovie.com released two new images, another of the Kelvin in action, and one of Cho in his role as Sulu. [222]

Yet another load of images were released on 17 October 2008 , when Entertainment Weekly put up more promotional pictures of Pine, Quinto, Cho, Bana, and Pine and Urban. [223]

Teaser trailer [ ]

A first look at the new USS Enterprise

The film's teaser trailer was completed by 30 November 2007. [224] It debuted in theaters on 18 January 2008 , attached to Paramount's Cloverfield which, like Star Trek , is produced by J.J. Abrams. [225]

On 21 January 2008 , the teaser was made available for viewing at the official site and at Yahoo! Movies . Empire Online uploaded the United Kingdom's version of the teaser that same day. Paramount made the teaser available on a wider basis on 22 January. [226]

The teaser trailer features a glimpse of the remodeled USS Enterprise as it is being constructed, with the construction taking place in a drydock on Earth. Several sound bites recorded during the space race of the 1960s can be heard in the background leading up to a new recording of Leonard Nimoy reciting the famous line, " Space… the final frontier. " The opening notes of the original Star Trek series theme music begin playing during Nimoy's voiceover and the unveiling of the Enterprise 's saucer section , followed by the sound effect of the original series transporter as the lines "Under Construction" and "Christmas 2008" appear on-screen.

The teaser was shot in October, prior to the start of principal photography on the film. It was filmed on Paramount Stage 25 and also used a part of the Paramount back lot. Half of the stage was enveloped by greenscreen and greenfloor for the insertion of CGI effects, and a giant greenscreen was utilized in the back lot. The shoot involved real welding and the handling of actual welding equipment, so experienced welders were required.

The first welder seen in the teaser was played by Anthony Vitale . Vitale's scene was shot by the film's director, J.J. Abrams. This is unusual since scenes for trailers are generally directed by assistant directors. The rest of the teaser was directed by First Assistant Director Tommy Gormley , however. [227]

According to co-writer Roberto Orci, the message of the teaser is that the future as presented in Star Trek is not as far off as it once was. He also explained the logic of having the Enterprise being built on Earth rather than in space, noting that components of the ship can be built on Earth and assembled anywhere and that the Enterprise is not " some flimsy yacht that has to be delicately treated and assembled. " He also feels that it makes more sense to construct the ship within a natural gravity well rather than an area that will require an artificial gravity field. In addition, Orci states that the term "Under Construction" used in the teaser is to convey both a "literal interpretation" that the movie is currently being put together and to convey the idea that the future of Star Trek may be coming soon. [228]

Theatrical trailers [ ]

The production team was to begin working on the first theatrical trailer in January 2008 with the hopes to have it complete and in theaters by early or mid-summer, [229] however these plans changed once the film's release was pushed back to May 2009.

Editing on the first theatrical trailer was reportedly completed by 4 August 2008, although the visual effects to be seen in the trailer had not yet been finalized. [230] The trailer was enclosed with Quantum of Solace , the latest James Bond film, which opened in the US on 14 November 2008 . [231] [232] It became available for viewing in high definition on the official movie site on 17 November 2008 at 10 am PST. [233]

An alternate version of the first theatrical trailer was made available for view at Ain't It Cool News on 25 November 2008. This version is the same as the original for the most part, except that the final shot of Eric Bana's Nero proclaiming " The wait is over " is placed earlier in the trailer and in its place is a shot of Leonard Nimoy as the elder Spock, giving the Vulcan salute and proclaiming the famous line " Live long and prosper. " [234]

The incidental music used in the first theatrical trailer was a re-orchestration of Brian Tyler 's score from Children of Dune , created by Two Steps From Hell , and titled "Down With the Enterprise". [235] The use of Tyler's score in the trailer came about from its use as a temporary scoring track in early post-production on the movie. [236]

A second theatrical trailer for Star Trek was released on 6 March 2009 in front of select screenings of the film Watchmen . It was originally intended to premiere online the Monday after its release on Apple's Star Trek page , but, after an international version was released ahead of schedule, the online release was made on the same day. As with the first theatrical trailer, incidental music was provided by Two Steps from Hell, being a modified version of the track "Freedom Fighters" from their album Legend . [237] [238]

In a press release, Paramount announced that the second theatrical trailer broke all existing download records at Apple.com . The HD version of the trailer had more than 1.8 million downloads during its first 24 hours on Apple.com and had over five million downloads in its first five days. This makes the Star Trek trailer the most popular HD download in the history of the site. [239]

Super Bowl spot [ ]

A thirty-second trailer for the film aired during Super Bowl XLIII on 1 February 2009. It showed footage from the film not previously seen in the earlier trailers. Star Trek is the first film in the franchise to be given a Super Bowl spot, emphasizing the studio's attempts to draw in a larger audience.

Merchandising and promotional partners [ ]

The film's merchandising campaign was expected to be the biggest since Star Trek: The Motion Picture back in 1979 . [240]

A toy license was awarded to Playmates Toys , which produced action figures for the film, as well as prop toys, playsets and ship models. [241] [242] Corgi 's current Star Trek license covers the film, primarily for its Master Replicas brand of collectibles. [243] The company will be producing replicas of the USS Enterprise and a hand phaser . [244]

Quantum Mechanix announced in May 2009 they had secured some merchandising rights as well. The company has developed studio-scale models and 10" replicas of the ships seen in the movie, starting with the USS Enterprise . [245] They had previously been responsible for the construction of models used in the marketing campaign known as "The Enterprise Project". [246]

A novelization of the film written by Alan Dean Foster was published by Pocket Books . Comic book publisher IDW Publishing released a prequel series entitled Star Trek: Countdown from January through April 2009; an adaptation of the movie was released in January 2010 , and two follow-up series, Star Trek: Spock: Reflections and Star Trek: Nero have been produced. Rittenhouse Archives produced collectible cards for the movie. T-shirts marketing the film were created and distributed by Junk Food . A video game, Star Trek D-A-C was released by Naked Sky Entertainment . The motion picture soundtrack was released by Varèse Sarabande Records on 5 May 2009 . At least one reference book , Star Trek - The Art of the Film , has been licensed.

Burger King promoted a kids meal tie-in for this film, marking the first time Burger King has promoted a Star Trek film. [247] It was also the first time either one of the big two major fast food chains (Burger King or McDonald's ) had marketed Trek since the first film's release in 1979. [248] It was revealed in 2009 that the Burger King Star Trek commercials were shot on the set of the Enterprise . Dan Mindel, the cinematographer for Star Trek , also directed photography for the commercials. [249] Alex Beh is an actor who appeared in the Burger King television commercial. [250]

Besides the Burger King deal, Paramount also signed up Kellogg's as a promotional partner to bring Star Trek movie-branded products to grocery stores. A number of Kellogg's brand products offered Star Trek merchandise and memorabilia either by mail or included within the package. Specially-marked boxes of Kellogg's cereals contained a "Beam-Up Badge", of which there are five different designs. Boxes of Frosted Krispies offered a red or blue Starfleet tee by mail, while boxes of Frosted Flakes and packages of Keebler cookies feature offered for a Star Trek 1GB flash drive wristband. Kellogg's various Eggo waffle products offered a 3D Warp Speed Plate by mail, and boxes of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts offered a free pass to see the film. A varying amount of tokens were needed for each mail-order product. [251]

In addition, Paramount promoted the film in collaboration with auto insurance company Esurance , communications companies Nokia and Verizon Wireless , and computer technology companies Lenovo and the Intel Corporation . All of these companies held Star Trek -related contests and sweepstakes and all included pages on their sites containing Star Trek -related content. [252] [253] [254] Esurance Star Trek commercials also played on television and on public radio.

Merchandise gallery [ ]

Links and references [ ]

Credits [ ].

John Cho Ben Cross Bruce Greenwood Simon Pegg Chris Pine Zachary Quinto Winona Ryder Zoë Saldana Karl Urban Anton Yelchin With Eric Bana And Leonard Nimoy Chris Hemsworth Jennifer Morrison Clifton Collins, Jr. Faran Tahir Rachel Nichols Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment present

A Bad Robot Production

• Jeffrey Chernov
• Stratton P. Leopold
• Tommy Gormley
• Thomas Harper
• David E. Waters
• Heather Grierson
• Kirk - Chris Pine
• Spock - Zachary Quinto
• Spock Prime - Leonard Nimoy
• Nero - Eric Bana
• Pike - Bruce Greenwood
• Bones - Karl Urban
• Uhura - Zoë Saldana
• Scotty - Simon Pegg
• Sulu - John Cho
• Chekov - Anton Yelchin
• Sarek - Ben Cross
• Amanda Grayson - Winona Ryder
• George Kirk - Chris Hemsworth
• Winona Kirk - Jennifer Morrison
• Captain Robau - Faran Tahir
• Gaila - Rachel Nichols
• Ayel - Clifton Collins, Jr.
• Officer Pitts - Antonio Elias
• Tactical Officer - Sean Gerace
• Kelvin Crew Member - Randy Pausch
• Kelvin Engineer - Tim Griffin
• Kelvin Helmsman - Freda Foh Shen
• Kelvin Alien - Katarzyna Kowalczyk
• Romulan Helmsman - Jason Brooks
• Kelvin Doctor - Sonita Henry
• Kelvin Yu ( Medical Technician 1 )
• Marta Martin ( Medical Technician 2 )
• Tavarus Conley ( Kelvin Crew Member 1 )
• Jeff Castle ( Kelvin Crew Member 2 )
• Med Evac Pilot - Billy Brown
• Young James T. Kirk - Jimmy Bennett
• Stepdad - Greg Grunberg
• Johnny - Spencer Daniels
• Iowa Cop - Jeremy Fitzgerald
• Zoe Chernov ( Vulcan Student 1 )
• Max Chernov ( Vulcan Student 2 )
• Young Spock - Jacob Kogan
• James Henrie ( Vulcan Bully 1 )
• Colby Paul ( Vulcan Bully 2 )
• Cody Klop ( Vulcan Bully 3 )
• Akiva Goldsman ( Vulcan Council Member 1 )
• Anna Katarina ( Vulcan Council Member 2 )
• Long Face Bar Alien - Douglas Tait
• Lew the Bartender - Tony Guma
• Gerald W. Abrams ( Barfly 1 )
• James McGrath, Jr. ( Barfly 2 )
• Jason Matthew Smith ( Burley Cadet 1 )
• Marcus Young ( Burly Cadet 2 )
• Shipyard Worker - Robert Clendenin
• Flight Officer - Darlena Tejeiro
• Reggie Lee ( Test Administrator 1 )
• Jeffrey Byron ( Test Administrator 2 )
• Simulator Tactical Officer - Jonathan Dixon
• Admiral Richard Barnett - Tyler Perry
• Admiral James Komack - Ben Binswagner
• College Council Stenographer - Margot Farley
• Barracks Leader - Paul McGillion
• Barracks Officer - Lisa Vidal
• Shuttle Officer - Alex Nevil
• Kimberly Arland ( Cadet Alien 1 )
• Sufe M. Bradshaw ( Cadet Alien 2 )
• Jeff Chase ( Cadet Alien 3 )
• Charlie Haugk ( Enterprise Crew Member 1 )
• Nana Hill ( Enterprise Crew Member 2 )
• Michael Saglimbeni ( Enterprise Crew Member 3 )
• John Blackman (Enterprise Crew Member 4 )
• Jack Millard ( Enterprise Crew Member 5 )
• Shaela Luter ( Enterprise Crew Member 6 )
• Sabrina Morris ( Enterprise Crew Member 7 )
• Michelle Parylak ( Enterprise Crew Member 8 )
• Enterprise Communications Officer - Oz Perkins
• Hannity - Amanda Foreman
• Romulan Tactical Officer - Michael Berry, Jr.
• Romulan Communications Officer - Lucia Rijker
• Romulan Commander - Pasha Lychnikoff
• Matthew Beisner ( Romulan Crew Member 1 )
• Neville Page ( Romulan Crew Member 2 )
• Jesper Inglis ( Romulan Crew Member 3 )
• Chief Engineer Olson - Greg Ellis
• Transporter Chief - Marlene Forte
• Leonard O. Turner ( Vulcan Elder 1 )
• Mark Bramhall ( Vulcan Elder 2 )
• Ronald F. Hoiseck ( Vulcan Elder 3 )
• Irene Roseen ( Vulcan Elder 4 )
• Jeff O'Haco ( Vulcan Elder 5 )
• Nero's Wife - Scottie Thompson
• Keenser - Deep Roy
• Starfleet Computer - Majel Barrett Roddenberry
• Robert Alonzo
• Ilram Choi ( Enterprise security officer / Stunt double for John Cho )
• Paul Lacovara ( Stunt double for Eric Bana and Chris Pine )
• Daniel Arrias
• Dennis Scott
• Craig Jensen
• Kofi Yiadom
• Victor Paguia ( USS Kelvin bridge crewmember )
• Kimberly Murphy
• Jim Palmer ( USS Kelvin bridge crewmember )
• Edward Perez
• Chris Palermo ( Enterprise security officer )
• Jon Braver ( Stunt double for Faran Tahir )
• Dennis Keiffer
• Dorenda Moore ( Stunt double for Winona Ryder )
• Christina Weathersby ( USS Kelvin bridge crewmember )
• Zach Duhame ( Burly Cadet #3 / Stunt double for Simon Pegg )
• Rob Mars ( Burly Cadet #2 )
• Brian Oerly ( Stunt double for Jason Matthew Smith )
• Marcus Young ( Burly Cadet #1 )
• Steve Blalock
• Heidi Moneymaker ( USS Kelvin crewmember )
• Mike Gunther ( Stunt double for Chris Pine )
• Mike Massa ( Stunt double for Chris Pine )
• Susan Purkhiser ( Stunt double for Jimmy Bennett )
• Peter Epstein
• Mike Snyder
• Courtney Munch
• Mark Chadwick
• Michael Mukatis
• Austin Priester
• Joe Quinto ( Romulan crewman / Stunt double for Zachary Quinto )
• Sala Baker ( Romulan guard )
• Damion Poitier ( Romulan guard )
• Chris Torres ( Romulan crewman )
• Russell Earl
• Paul Kavanagh
• Jill Brooks
• Debbi Bossi
• Kathleen A. Petty
• Keith P. Cunningham
• Dennis Bradford
• Luke Freeborn
• Beat Frutiger
• Ryan Church
• James Clyne
• Paul Ozzimo
• Clint Schultz
• C. Scott Baker
• Kevin Cross
• Andrea Dopaso
• Scott Herbertson
• Joseph Hiura
• Billy Hunter
• Dawn Brown Manser
• Anne Porter
• Andrew Reeder
• Christine Youngstrom
• Amy Lamendola
• Richard Bennett
• Neville Page
• Karen Manthey
• Amanda Moss Serino
• Scott Bobbitt
• Sara Gardner-Gail
• Hector M. Gonzalez
• Courtney J. Andersen
• Richard Andrade
• Antonio Andraus
• Marcus Aurelius Epps
• Chris Larsen
• Merdyce McClaran
• Eric Ramirez
• Robert Sica
• Ronald Sica
• Ryan Steffen
• Darlene Salinas
• Dawn Gilliam
• Colin Anderson
• John T. Connor
• Phil Carr-Forester
• Wally Sweeterman
• Brad Peterman
• Matt F. Kennedy
• Greg J. Schmidt
• Brian McPherson
• Craig M. Bauer
• Peter J. Devlin
• Michael Piotrowski
• David Fiske Raymond
• Daniel P. Moore
• Peter Taylor
• Julian Smirke
• Lucyna Wojciechowski
• Kerry J. Blackman
• Martin Allan Kloner
• Elana Livneh Lessem
• Daniela Catherine Ovi
• Christopher Prampin
• Chris Weigand
• Jimmy Ellis
• Jimmy Harritos
• Daniel P. Hawking
• Douglas Kieffer
• Billy Streit
• Hootly Weedn
• David Slodki
• Joshua Thatcher
• Bryan Booth
• John Manocchia
• Edward J. Cox
• Richard M. Burkus, Jr.
• Craig Campbell
• James M. Cox
• John Jack Davies
• Gomidas Demerjian
• Brad Thomas Emmons III
• Sean Emmons
• Earl D. Gayer
• John Gutierrez
• Steve Hastings
• Ken Longballa
• Dickinson Luke
• Richard Maldonado
• Marc Marino
• Victor Mendoza
• David H. Neale
• Joel A. Ruiz
• Stephen Saunders
• Anthony Van Dyk
• Mike Visencio
• Jesse Mather
• Jason Talbert
• Larry Sweet
• Michael Wahl
• Bob Nice Arredondo
• Jack Chouchanian
• Tommy Donald
• Joseph Macaluso
• Philippe O. Meyer
• David Salamone
• Michael Salamone
• Sean Slattery
• Hilary Klym
• Danny Andres
• Albert F. Bagley
• James Degeeter
• Jared Dewitt
• Jason W. Erler
• William Gilleran
• Jaime Heintz
• Rick Johnson
• George Kallimanis
• Gary Louzon
• Philip Noble
• Nolan Pratt
• Rick N. Pratt
• Ignacio Woolfolk
• Russell Bobbitt
• Jim Stubblefield
• Earl V. Thielen
• Stephen McCumby
• Eric Spencer Kagan
• Jeff Khachadoorian
• Robert Raineri
• Brian Barnhart
• Darryl B. Dodson
• Jack Jennings
• Paul J. Preshaw II
• Jason Rosene
• Brian Thoman
• Paul O. Wright
• Burt Dalton
• Dale Ettema
• William Aldridge
• David F. Greene
• Albert Delgado
• Terry P. Chapman
• Danny Cangemi
• Jeff Jarvis
• Steve Cremin
• Greg Curtis
• David P. Kelsey
• Clay Pinney
• Arnold Peterson
• Rich Ratliff
• Jeremiah Cooke
• Curtis Decker
• Jon Djanrelian
• Eric Dressor
• Dennis E. Drozdokiski
• Joseph Judd
• Edward Kennedy
• Jesse Orozco
• Jeff Pepiot
• Bryan Phillips
• Jonathan Tang
• Tony Vandeneccker
• Becky Brake
• Kyle Oliver
• Kathy McCurdy , LMGA
• Scott Trimble
• Rob Swenson
• Brooks Bonstin
• Shelly Spinks
• Steve Woroniecki
• Gavin Glennon
• Linda Matthews
• Stacy Caballero
• Leslie Sungail
• Hilary Niederer
• Carrie Yoko Arakaki
• Adrienne Greshock
• Bega Metzner
• Amelia Buhrman
• Bernadine Morgan
• Myron Baker
• Shelli Nishino
• Brenda M. Ware
• Mustapha Mimis
• Stacia Lang
• Bill Traetta
• Joseph Richard Collins
• Kacy Treadway
• Deborah Ambrosino
• Maurice Polinski
• Valfor D'Ambershay
• David R. Roesler
• Bethan Land
• Phyllis Thurber-Moffitt
• Leticia Sandoval
• Natasha Paczkowski
• Dodson Elliott
• Nina Badrak
• Leslie Miller
• Esther B. Lopez
• Seda Tufenkjian
• Varsenik Antonyan
• Madline Hana
• Hasmig Karagiosian
• Hermine Keossian
• Mary Jegalian
• Antonina Grib
• Varsenik Korkhmazyan
• Elizabet Markosyan
• Karine Avakyan
• Fahima Atrouni
• Taylor Marie Cornell
• Samantha Johnston
• Brian Valenzuela
• Phillip Boutte, Jr.
• Debra S. Coleman
• Kimberly Felix-Burke
• Dave Snyder
• Terrell Baliel
• Lana Heying
• Jason Orion Green
• Jules Holdren
• Joel Harlow
• Barney Burman
• Richard Alonzo
• Mark Garbarino
• Dave Dupuis
• Richard Redlefsen
• Rebecca Alling
• Ned Neidhardt
• Ken Niederbaumer
• Margaret Prentice
• Jamie Kelman
• Andrew Clement
• Marianna Elias
• Bonita DeHaven
• Steve Buscaino
• Robert Freitas
• Scott Gamble
• Bonita G. Deneen
• Simone Chavoor
• Maryellen Aviano
• Carla Lewis
• Nicole Phillips
• Matthew Pitts
• Noreen O'Toole
• Leigh Kittay
• Adam Gaines
• Erin M. Davis
• Alex Katsnelson
• Carol Keith
• J. Elizabeth Ingram
• John Steckert
• Katherine Taylor
• Lauren Pasternack
• Nicole Treston Abranian
• Sean Gerace
• Cheryl Andryco
• Nathan A. Aronson
• Alex Betuel
• Dan B. Cone
• Michael P. Cone
• Barry Curtis
• Simon England
• Felisha Grice
• Micheal Edward King
• Cory Bennett Lewis
• Sebastian Mazzola
• Cory McNeill
• John Tyler Ott
• Jill K. Perno
• Melani Petrushkin
• William F. Reed
• Steve Rosolio
• Ryan Roundy
• Zach L. Smith
• Helga Wool-Smith
• Kelley L. Baker
• Joseph Borrelli
• Kristy Gomez
• Diana P. Mejia
• Dijana Camaj
• Robin Nicole Williams
• Sandra J. White
• Maggie Martin
• Carrie A.F. Carnevale
• Gabriela Gutentag
• Zade Rosenthal
• Michael Hird
• Mike McKean
• Chris Whitaker
• Paul Massey
• Anna Behlmer
• Andy Nelson
• David Giammarco
• Mark Stoeckinger
• Alan Rankin , MPSE
• Ann Scibelli , MPSE
• Tim Walston , MPSE
• Harry Cohen , MPSE
• Scott Gershin
• Geoff Rubay
• Kerry Williams
• Daniel Irwin , MPSE
• Thomas Small , MPSE
• Laura Harris
• Victor Ray Ennis
• Paul Flinchbaugh
• Branden Spencer
• David Barbee
• Ben Wilkins
• Mark Ormandy
• Charlie Campagna
• Sarah Monat
• Robin Harlan
• Randy Singer
• Robert Deschaine , CAS
• Charleen Richards-Steeves
• Caitlin McKenna
• 20th Century Fox
• Tim Gomillion
• Dennis Rogers
• Matt Patterson
• Paul Pavelka
• Stephen M. Davis
• Tim Simonec
• Michael Giacchino
• Peter Boyer
• Richard Bronskill
• Larry Kenton
• Chad Seiter
• Chris Tilton
• Booker White
• Reggie Wilson
• Andrea Datzman
• Streisand Scoring Stage , Sony Pictures Studio
• Eastwood Scoring Stage , Warner Bros. Studio
• George Drakoulias
• W. Kent Demaine
• David August
• Jorge Almeida
• Cygnet Video
• Cindy Jones
• Monte Swann
• Alfred Ainsworth
• Todd Fullerton
• Jared A. Rosen
• Arin Artounian
• For Stars Catering
• Michael Kehoe
• Chris Sweeney
• Mary M. King
• Sebastian Milito
• Dixwell Stillman
• Tony Wright
• Dale Gordon
• Sasha Madzar
• Scott Mizagaites
• Casey Morgan
• Steven M. Pacheco
• Richard W. Rose
• Charles Blackwell
• David Brenner
• Anthony Centonze
• Tony Chavez
• Lucky Hoerner
• Anthony R. Imperato
• Sergey A. Mazurov
• David H. McKlveen
• Edward A. Price
• Jeffrey J. Valdez
• Bobby L. Vaughn
• Mark A. Annis
• Stephen Getz
• William Mccarley
• Desmond P. O'Regan
• Johnny Barbera
• Mark Magraudy
• Mark Martucci
• Glenn V. Braun
• Lonnie Haspel
• John Marshall
• Bruce G. Smith
• Robert Papegaay
• Robert Campbell
• Scott P. Shordon
• Toby Swinehart
• Michael W. Volz
• Andy Flores
• Jared Trepepi
• Brian Richard Fernandez
• Matthew Fuchs
• Bryan A. McBrien
• Tommy Safron

Star Trek Avionics [ ]

• Gustavo Ferreyra
• John Ramsay
• Bruce Giddens
• Lynn Garrido
• Lee Ford Parker
• Jane Kilkenny
• Jamie Levin
• Gilbert Draper
• Jesse Gabriel Horowitz
• Walter S. Polan
• Michael Meade
• Vince Borgese
• David Gallion
• Anthony McNamara
• Salvador Ruiz
• Alex Rekrut
• Lucinda A. Foy
• Tommy Tancharoen
• Tom Whelpley
• Richard Maynes
• Lindsay Dougherty

Second Unit [ ]

• Roger Guyett
• Robert Bruce McCleery
• Terry Jackson
• Vickie M. Hsieh
• Julie Fay Ashborn
• David M. Atkinson
• Elizabeth Probst
• Hal Olofsson
• Danny Green
• David Berke
• Stephen P. Del Prete
• Andrew Rowlands
• Serge Rxtedi Nofield
• Brandon M. Cox
• Dale Myrand
• John R. Woodward
• Chris Garcia
• Anders Yarbrough
• Steven Constancio
• David Perrone
• Gilbert Zamorano
• Alexander Cruz
• Arnold Pena
• Sean Devine
• Josh Kuykendall
• Anthony Mollicone
• Anthony T. Marra II
• Joseph Bergman
• Nicole Rubio
• Adam Harrison
• Morty Peterson
• Troy D. Webb
• Jerry Gregoricka
• Anthony Gudino
• Jose O. Harb, Jr.
• Kyle Kovacs
• Jonathan Wiener
• Phillip W. Palmer , CAS
• Patrick Martens
• Jim Harling
• Gala Catering
• Peter Chase
• Aaron C. Fitzgerald
• Cosmos Kiindarius
• Gerard A. Facchini
• William Batsel
• Andrew Will
• Cliff Fleming
• Cory Fleming
• David B. Nowell , ASC
• Pete Romano
• Marc Okrand
• Carolyn Porco
• Brandon Fayette
• Tom Elder-Groebe
• Clayton M. Lyons
• Industrial Light & Magic , a Lucasfilm Ltd. Company, San Francisco, California
• Eddie Pasquarello
• Michael Dicomo
• Joakim Arnesson
• Thomas Fejes
• Hilmar Koch
• Nigel Sumner
• Alex Jaeger
• Chris Stoski
• Bruce Holcomb
• Giovanni Nakpil
• Ron Woodall
• James Tooley
• Karin Cooper
• Terry Chostner
• Beth D'Amato
• Richard Bluff
• Matt Brumit
• Grady Cofer
• Brian Connor
• Leandro Estebecorena
• Conny Fauser
• Gerald Gutschmidt
• Katrin Klaiber
• Francois Lambert
• Tory Mercer
• Mark Nettleton
• Daniel Pearson
• Jason Rosson
• Greg Salter
• Damian Steel
• Chad Taylor
• Todd Vaziri
• John Walker
• David Weitzberg
• Steve Aplin
• Colin Benoit
• Derrick Carlin
• Jessica Teach
• Yanick Dusseault
• Jon Alexander
• Okan Ataman
• Katharine Baird
• Christopher Balog
• Daniel Bayona
• Jill Berger
• Jason Billington
• Matthew Blackwell
• Jeremy Bloch
• Daniel Bornstein
• Amanda Braggs
• Steve Braggs
• James Brown
• Kela Cabrales
• Michaela Calanchini-Carter
• Owen Calouro
• Marshall Candland
• Tami Carter
• Lanny Cermak
• Kien Geay Chan
• Cheah Chin Chi
• Peter Chesloff
• Paul Churchill
• Michael Conte
• Michael Cordova
• Christopher Crowell
• Peter Demarest
• Eran Dinour
• Kalene Dunsmoor
• Selwyn Eddy III
• Katharine Evans
• Dan Feinstein
• Simon Fillat
• Shine Fitzner
• Jason Fleming
• Tim Fortenberry
• Christian Foucher
• David Fuhrer
• Robb Gardner
• Grantland Gears
• Angela Giannoni
• Timothy Gibbons
• Bill Gilman
• David Gottlieb
• Bryant Griffin
• David Gutman
• Christian Haley
• Craig Hammack
• Giles Hancock
• David Hanks
• Jeff Hatchel
• Wendy Hendrickson
• Neil Herzinger
• Shawn Hillier
• David Hirschfield
• David Hisanaga
• Sherry Hitch
• Ryan Hopkins
• Christopher Horvath
• Jiri Jacknowitz
• Danny Janevski
• Patrick Jarvis
• Jeff A. Johnson
• Stephen Kennedy
• Michael Kennen
• Drew Klausner
• Susan Klausner
• Justin Kosnikowski
• Matt Krentz
• Marshall Krasser
• Kimberly Lashbrook
• Asier Hernaez Lavina
• John Legrande
• Melissa Lin
• Noll Linsangan
• Michael Logan
• Jennifer Mackenzie
• Dev Mannemela
• Patrik Marek
• David Marsh
• Tia Marshall
• Marcel Martinez
• Didier Mathieu
• Regan McGee
• Vicky McCann
• Scott Mease
• Joseph Metten
• Christopher James Miller
• Jack Mongovan
• Carlos Monzon
• Katie Morris
• Michelle Motta
• Betsy Mueller
• Timothy Mueller
• Melissa Mullin
• Brett Northcutt
• Ben O'Brien
• Saro Orfali
• Akira Orikasa
• Scott Palleiko
• Frank Losasso Petterson
• Zoltan Pogonyi
• Jason Porter
• Scott Prior
• Ricardo Ramos
• Satish Ratakonda
• Michael Rich
• Anthony Rispoli
• Shane Roberts
• Matthew Robinson
• Elsa Rodriguez
• Barry Safley
• Jeff Saltzman
• Frederick Schmidt
• Eric Schweickert
• Misty Segura
• Paul Sharpe
• Amy Shepard
• John Sigurdson
• Ken Sjogren
• Sam Stewart
• Russ Sueyoshi
• David Sullivan
• Andre Surya
• Jeff Sutherland
• Masahiko Tani
• Stephanie Taubert
• Alan Travis
• Alex Tropiec
• Yusei Uesugi
• Bruce Vecchitto
• David Washburn
• Talmage Watson
• Ronnie Williams, Jr.
• Dan Wheaton
• John Whisnant
• Jeff Wozniak
• Mark Youngren
• Rita Zimmerman
• Michael Bomgat
• C. Michael Easton
• Jean-Denis Haas
• Geoff Hemphill
• Makoto Koyama
• Chris Mitchell
• Erik Morgansen
• Marla Newall
• Rick O'Connor
• Steve Rawlins
• Greg Towner
• Delio Tramontozzi
• Chi Chung Tse
• Leigh Barbier
• Tim Brakensiek
• Bradford De Caussin
• Brian Clark
• Rene Garcia
• Maurizio Giglioli
• Bridget Goodman
• John Goodson
• Greg Jonkajtys
• Greg Killmaster
• Robert Kosai
• Jean-Claude Langer
• James Orara
• Steve Sauers
• Renita Taylor
• Katherine Farrar
• Dale Taylor
• Chrysta Burton
• Stacy Bissell
• Joseph Bell
• Hui Ling Chang
• Melanie Cussac
• Cheng Peishan
• Terran Benveniste
• Cathleen Carden
• Marilyn Chan
• Benjamin Chua
• Jennifer Coronado
• Rachel Galbraith
• George Gambetta
• Christine Loo
• Alejandro Melendez
• Erik Pampel
• Nikita Patel
• Andrew Russell
• Michael Sanders
• Marci Velando
• Sean Bittinger
• Peter Bogatsky
• Leah Brooks
• Chantell Brown
• Brian Cantwell
• Jayesh Dalal
• Jason Griger
• Maura Hogan
• Mark Kayfez
• Charlie Ledogar
• Brian McGraw
• Elona Musha
• Selma Sabera
• Tommy Burnette
• Andre Mazzone
• Jennifer Suter
• Vivek Verma
• Gretchen Libby
• Chrissie England
• Lynwen Brennan
• Miles Perkins
• Janet Lewin
• Vicki Dobbs Beck
• Curt Miyashiro
• Digital Domain , Venice, CA
• Julian Levi
• Darren M. Poe
• Paul George Palop
• Michelle Jacobs
• Erik Gamache
• Steve Avoujageli
• Erik Zimmermann
• Charles Abou Aad
• Richard Grandy
• George Saavedra
• Melanie Okamura
• BJ Christian
• Raul Dominguez
• David S. Sanchez
• Bernard Obieta Ceguerra , PE
• Shaun Comly
• Kevin Sears
• David Niednagel
• Shelley Larocca Courte
• Alfredo Ramirez
• Dan Cobbett
• Steven Fagerquist
• Joe Farrell
• Scott Gastellu
• Aruna Inversin
• Paul Kulikowski
• Mike Ocoboc
• Olivier P. Sarda
• Craig A. Simms
• Florian Strobl
• Vanessa Cheung
• Cathy Morin
• Viviana Kim
• Ian A. Harris
• Janice Barlow Collier
• Kevin LaNeave
• Francisco Ramirez
• Christopher Savides
• Meagan Condito
• Brian Holligan
• Navjit Singh Gill
• Antonio Freire
• Shelby M. Ellis
• Terry Clotiaux
• Svengali FX
• Stefano Trivelli
• Jamie Venable
• Eric Withee
• Rocco Gioffre
• Michele Moen
• Nabil Schiantarelli
• Jan Cilliers
• Lawrence Littleton
• Marcus Levere
• Steve Norton
• Junko Schurgardt
• Laura Murillo
• Edson Williams
• Thomas Nittmann
• Ryan Zuttermeister
• Brian Nugent
• Sean Wallitsch
• Casey Allen
• Trent Claus
• Chris Ingersoll
• Clark Parkhurst
• Persistence of Vision Digital Entertainment
• David Dozoretz
• Brian J. Pohl
• Chad Hofteig
• Kevin Aguirre
• Robert Rossoff
• Simon Halpern
• Patrick Rodriguez
• Brian Magner
• Amy Vatanakul
• The Third Floor
• Nicholas Markel
• Austin Bonang
• Dorian Bustamante
• Eric Carney
• Albert Cheng
• Mark Nelson
• Kerner Optical
• Stefan Sonnenfeld
• Nick Monton
• Rob Doolittle
• J. Cody Baker
• Missy Papageorge
• Mike Chiado
• Mark Van Horne
• Don Capoferri
• Katherine Kane
• Mary Nelson-Fraser
• Andrew Kramer
• Pacific Title and Art Studio
• Digital Vortechs
• Richard Massey
• MavroCine Pictures

Mind Meld Soundscape by Mark Mangini and Mark Binder

Soundtrack Album on Varèse Sarabande Records

"Theme from Star Trek TV Series" Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

" Sabotage " Written by Michael Diamond , Adam Horovitz & Adam Nathaniel Yauch Performed by Beastie Boys Courtesy of Capitol Records Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

" Awasoruk Jam " Written & Performed by Cyrano Jones Courtesy of Bad Robot Music and Video LLC

" Josh Greenstein " Written & Performed by Cyrano Jones Courtesy of Bad Robot Music and Video LLC

" Future Blues " Written & Performed by Doyle Bramhall II Courtesy of Doyle Bramhall II by arrangement with Bug

• Anheuser-Busch, Inc.
• Kern County Film Commission
• Cal Pine Pastoria Facility
• Long Beach Generating Plant, LLC
• City of Long Beach
• Vasquez Rocks Los Angeles County Park
• Utah Bureau of Land Management
• Alaska Department of Natural Resource
• Tejon Ranch Company
• LA County Department of Sanitation
• Rock of Ages, Vermont
• Cal State University of Northridge
• American Legion Hollywood Post 43
• City of San Francisco
• Siemens Medical

Color by deluxe ®

Filmed in Panavision ®

DOLBY DIGITAL ® In Selected Theatres

SDDS ™ Sony Dynamic Digital Sound In Selected Theatres

Copyright © MMIX MavroCine Pictures GmbH & Co. KG All Rights Reserved

In memory of Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry

• J.J. Abrams as Iowa Cop (voice)
• Alex as Starfleet cadet [255]
• Tansy Alexander as Alice Rawlings
• James Anderson as injured soldier
• Rico E. Anderson as councilmember
• Ladesha Ard as Starfleet cadet
• Richard Arnold as Romulan crewmembers
• Ewen Audrey as Starfleet cadet [256]
• Leslie Augustine as doctor
• Jonathan Baca as Starfleet cadet
• Corey Becker as Starfleet cadet
• Leonard Baligaya as Starfleet cadet
• Stefon Benson as Starfleet cadet
• Jeff Boehm as Starfleet cadet
• Anthony Bonaventura as Riverside Shipyard worker
• Bill T. Brown as Romulan crewmember
• Natishia Brown as medic
• Susse Budde as med tech
• Neil S. Bulk as Starfleet cadet
• Sawyer Burke as Vulcan student
• Anton Burman as Vulcan student
• James Cawley as Enterprise crewmember
• Jeff Chase as Romulan crewmember
• Olivia London Choate as alien cadet
• Mark E. Clason as Riverside Shipyard worker
• Tiffany Collie as Starfleet Academy cadet
• Jasmine Coussinat as Starfleet cadet
• Zachary Culbertson as Starfleet cadet
• Calvin Dean as security officer
• Joy Dever as Baby James T. Kirk
• Robert Dierx as Starfleet cadet
• Christopher Doohan as Enterprise transporter technician
• Robin Atkin Downes as ADR voices (Vulcan and Romulan chants and dialogue)
• Richard D. Durden as barracks officer
• Evan Dye as Vulcan student
• April Marie Eden as Shipyard Bar patron
• Owen Tanner Edinger as Starfleet cadet
• Ken Edling as doctor
• Yuri Elvin as Starfleet security officer
• Kristine Fong as Starfleet cadet
• Massi Furlan as Enterprise crewman
• Mary Grace as Shipyard Bar patron
• Wyatt Gray as Starfleet cadet
• Joshua Greene as James T. Kirk ( body double , cave scene)
• Jeff L. Green as security officer
• Nancy Guerriero as crew member
• Tania Gunadi as alien Enterprise crewmember
• Aaron Haedt as Starfleet doctor
• Justin Rodgers Hall as security officer
• Song Han as anesthetist
• Colleen Harris as Starfleet cadet
• Melanie Harrison as medical technician
• Arlo Hemphill as Riverside Shipyard worker
• Rachel Jean Howard as Starfleet cadet
• Ryan T. Husk as Enterprise crewmember
• Elizabeth Ingalls as Enterprise nurse
• Nikka Ischelle as Shipyard Bar patron
• Rick Ituarte as Starfleet Academy instructor
• James Jolly as Enterprise bridge crewmember
• Johnny as Starfleet cadet
• Jason Michael Johnson as alien cadet
• Jillian Johnston as Starfleet cadet
• Christopher Jude as Vulcan teacher
• Jolene Kay as Enterprise crewmember
• Barbara Keegan as Starfleet Academy instructor
• Sarah Klaren as Starfleet Academy cadets
• Makiko Konishi as Enterprise crewmember
• Richard Krzemien as Starfleet councilmember
• Joyce Lasley as Starfleet instructor
• Bryan Lee as Starfleet cadet
• Daniel D. Lee as Starfleet commander
• Dominie Lee ( two different background parts )
• Anne Marie Leighton as Starfleet officer
• Michelle Lenhardt as USS Kelvin crewmember
• Steve Luna as Starfleet Lieutenant
• Justin Malachi as Starfleet cadet
• Nav Mann as Romulan crewmember
• Taylor McCluskey as Kelvin alien (unconfirmed)
• Matthew McGregor as Starfleet cadet
• Andrew Mew as Starfleet officer
• Patrizia Milano as Erika Biordi
• Andres Perez-Molina as Romulan crew member
• Abe Molinares as Enterprise sciences division crewmember
• Kevin Moser as USS Enterprise crewmember
• Wednesday Mourning as Shipyard Bar patron
• David Narloch as Starfleet cadet
• Jonathan Newkerk as Starfleet cadet
• Jacob Newton as Starfleet cadet
• Westley Nguyen as Enterprise crewman
• Jim Nieb as Shipyard Bar alien
• Luke Novella as Starfleet cadet
• Craig Nystrom as Riverside Shipyard worker
• Jeffery Quinn as Vulcan scientist
• Mark Phelan as Romulan crewmember
• Paradox Pollack as Alien
• Woody Porter as councilmember
• Marc Primiani as Riverside construction worker
• Rahvaunia as Academy teacher
• Jessica Lauren Richmond as flirty cadette
• Renie Rivas as Starfleet cadet
• Bertrand Roberson, Jr. as Starfleet cadet
• David Rodriguez as Starfleet cadet
• Paul D. Rosa as USS Enterprise security chief
• Paul Sass as Starfleet administrator
• Roger Schueller as engineering officer
• Darth Schuhe as Enterprise crewmember
• Kyle Scudiere as Starfleet cadet
• Ramona Seymour as Starfleet cadet
• Eamon Sheehan as Romulan crew member
• Justin Shenkarow – background voice artist
• W. Morgan Sheppard as Vulcan Science Council minister
• Nicholas Guy Smith as Professor Freemon Richter
• Katie Soo as Starfleet Academy security guard
• Arne Starr as Enterprise engineer
• Joseph Steven as Romulan engineer
• Sufi as Starfleet cadet [257]
• Paul Sutherlin as Shipyard bar patron
• David Jean Thomas as Vulcan elder
• Sean Michael Tilghman as Vulcan student
• Paul Townsend as security officer
• Errik Tustenuggee as Starfleet councilmember
• Ravi Valleti as Starfleet cadet
• Jason Vaughn as Starfleet cadet
• Brian Vowell as Starfleet cadet
• Brian Waller as Vulcan council member
• Steve Wharton as Starfleet cadet
• Wil Wheaton as Romulan helmsman (voice)
• Jerry Wible as Riverside Shipyard worker
• Devin Williamson as Joe Fueller
• John Williamson as fleet mechanic
• Brianna Womick as Starfleet cadet
• Stuart Wong as security officer
• Lynnanne Zager as Jellyfish Computer Voice
• Nensi Chandra
• Christine Chapel (voice)
• alternate reality
• Mark Lenard
• Gretchen Lui
• Enterprise engineer
• Enterprise operations division crewmember
• Enterprise torpedo bay crewmember
• Enterprise security officer
• Female Shipyard Bar patron
• Kelvin sciences crewwoman
• Kelvin medical technician
• Narada crewman
• Vulcan council member
• Vulcan Science Council member
• Vulcan scientist
• Vulcan student
• Adam Absinthe as Rura Penthe prisoner
• Tad Atkinson as Rura Penthe prisoner
• Diora Baird as Orion Enterprise science officer
• John Alan Bartlebaugh as Klingon guard
• Fran Bennett as Vulcan midwife
• Troy Brenna as Klingon guard
• Paul A. Brown as Alien
• Jeff Chase as Klingon guard
• Terryl Daluz as Klingon guard
• Mark Casimir Dyniewicz as Klingon camp prisoner
• Victor Garber as Klingon interrogator
• Tommy Germanovich as Rura Penthe prisoner
• Brad William Henke as Uncle Frank
• Jill Lover as Vulcan midwife
• Michael Lovern as Rura Penthe prisoner
• Brandon Stacy as Klingon guard
• T.J. Storm as Klingon guard
• Logan Strand as Nero ( body double )
• Scott Trimble as Klingon guard
• Jenna Vaughn as Baby Spock
• James D. Weston II as Klingon guard
• Trace Cheramie – Stunts
• Shauna Duggins – Stunts
• Doc Duhame – Stunt actor: Romulan Prison Guard
• Derek Graf – Stunts
• Terry Jackson – Stunt double
• Jace Jeanes – Stunt double for Clifton Collins, Jr.
• Lauren Kim – Utility stunts: Kelvin crewmember
• Henry Kingi, Jr. – Utility stunts: Romulan crewmember
• James Lew – Utility stunts: Romulan crewmember
• Anthony Molinari – Stunt double for Greg Ellis
• Panuvat Anthony Nanakornpanom – Stunts
• Lin Oeding – Stunt double for John Cho
• Xuyen Valdivia – Stunts
• Webster Whinery, Jr. – Stunt double for Jimmy Bennett
• Peipei Yuan – Stunt double for Freda Foh Shen
• Stunt double for Jacob Kogan
• Stunt double for Colby Paul
• Alex Acuna – Drummer
• Patrick Albani – Camera Production Assistant: Teaser Unit
• Dave Archer – Artwork Provider: Paintings
• Tammy Ashmore – Makeup Artist
• Jennifer Aspinall – Makeup Artist: Romulans
• Chris Ayers – Character Designer
• Scott Bailey – Leadman
• Ramiro Belgardt – Music Editor
• Wayne Bergeron – Trumpeter
• Nick Bergthold – Additional Set Production Assistant
• Stephen Bettles – Prosthetic Make-Up Artist
• Jason Bonnell – Location Scout (New Mexico)
• J.D. Bowers – Makeup Effects Lab Technician
• Peter Boyer – Orchestrator
• Doug Brode – Props and Weapon Designer
• Arlene Brown – Grip
• Ryan Bruce – Makeup Lab Technician
• Belinda Bryant – Special Effects Makeup Artist
• Jessica Carpenter – Costumer
• Ian Chriss – Visual Effects Best Boy Electric: Kerner Optical
• Tom Cloutier – Visual Effects Key Grip: Kerner Optical
• Kit Conners – Production Assistant
• Larry Corbett – Cellist
• Dan Crawley – Key Technician: Film Illusions
• Jill Crosby – Key Hair Stylist
• Joan Cunningham – First Assistant Director: 2nd Unit
• Roxy D'Alonzo – Special Makeup Effects Artist
• Ginger Damon – Hair Stylist
• Patricia Dehaney-Le May – Hair Stylist
• Natasha Delahunt – Extras Casting Assistant
• Bernie Demolski – Visual Effects Best Boy Grip: Kerner Optical
• Robert Kato DeStefan – Specialty Costumer: Quantum Creation FX
• Jon Donahue – stand-in for Chris Pine
• Jed Dornoff – Makeup Artist
• Dennis Drozdowski – Special Effects Technician
• Kathleen S. Dunn – Accent and Dialogue Coach for Chris Hemsworth
• Earl Ellis – Make-Up Artist
• Amber Erwin – Chorus singer
• Megan Flagg – Specialty Costume Crew: Film Illusions
• Tim Flattery – Concept Designer
• Nicole Frank – Hair Stylist
• Demitre Garza – Digital Artist
• Scott Martin Gershin – Sound Editor
• Casey Green – Computer/Video Engineer
• Fabian H. Gutierrez – Makeup/ Hair Artist
• Kevin Haggerty – First Assistant Camera Operator
• Samara Hagopian – Prop maker
• Greg Haines – stand-in : Ben Cross
• Kevin Haney – Background Make-Up Artist
• Clayton Haslop – Lead Violinist
• Cynthia Hernandez – Make-Up Artist
• Teressa Hill – Hair Stylist
• Bryan Hitch – Production design
• Kelly Hitman – photo double : Winona Ryder
• Robert Hoffmeister – Visual Effects Artist: Industrial Light & Magic
• John L. Jack – Executive Producer: Evil Eye Pictures
• Clark James – Special Effects Technician
• Rod M. Janusch – Visual Effects Gaffer: Kerner Optical
• Derek Johnson – stand-in for Karl Urban
• Petra Jorgensen – Second & Splinter Unit day-playing Script Supervisor
• Tex Kadonaga – Digital Set Designer
• Tina Kalliongis Hoffman – Make-Up Artist
• René Dashiell Kerby – Makeup Artist
• Erwin H. Kupitz – Wig Maker
• Colleen LaBaff – Hair Stylist
• Fabian Lacey – Concept Designer
• Toby Lamm – Special Make-Up Effects Artist
• Michelle Latham – Location Manager (Teaser Unit)
• Daniel D. Lee – photo double for John Cho
• Oleg Livits – Assistant to Producer
• Norman Ludwin – Musician: Bass
• Andreas Maaninka – Concept Modeler/Designer
• James MacKinnon – Prosthetic Make-Up Artist
• Geoffrey Mandel – Graphic Designer
• Stephan Martiniere – Conceptual Designer
• Rob McCabe – stand-in for Eric Bana
• Frank McEldowney – Greens Foreman
• Tracey McLean – Digital Artist: IMAX Version [258]
• Beth Melnick – Location Scout
• Ron Mendell – Concept Artist
• Bart Mixon – Special Make-Up Effects Artist
• Glenn T. Morgan – Sound Editor
• Spencer Mulcahy – Visual Effects Dolly Grip: Kerner Optical
• Christopher Allen Nelson – Special Makeup Effects Artist
• Josh Neugass – Construction Welding Foreman
• William Allen Olsen – Propmaker
• Timothy Olyphant – Guest Conductor
• Rhonda O'Neal – Hair Stylist
• Leonardo Oregel – Production Assistant: Assistant Directors
• Lygia Orta – Make-Up Artist
• Garrik Palumbo – additional stand-in for Simon Pegg
• Dan Patterson – Character Animator: Digital Domain
• Cristina Patterson Ceret – Contact Lens Coordinator/Painter
• Tom Piedmont – Digital Plate Restoration
• Tom Pillifant – 2nd Assistant Camera Operator Alaska Unit
• Paradox Pollack – Alien Choreographer and Movement Coach
• Barbara Pollastrini – Food Stylist
• Bryant Powell – stand-in for Simon Pegg
• Alan D. Purwin – Helicopter Pilot
• Anthony Ragonese – Location Assistant
• Emil Richards – Percussionist
• Eugene P. Rizzardi – Prop Shop/Special Effects
• Benjamin D. Robertson – Set Dresser
• Walter Rodriguez – Drummer
• Ben Rosenblatt – Post-Production Executive
• Mike Ross – Make-Up Effects Lab Technician
• Geoffrey G. Rubay – Sound Editor
• Peter Sattler – Graphic Designer
• John Savedra – Lighting Electrician
• Evan Schiff – Assistant Editor (short-term, during second digital intermediate and mix) [259]
• Nathan Schroeder – Illustrator
• Bill Spradlin – Lighting Technical Director: Digital Domain
• Matthew D. Smith – Additional Second Assistant Director
• Mike Smithson – Makeup Artist: Romulan make-up
• Robert Snyder – Digital Compositor
• Charles Sowles – Costume Props
• Brandon Stacy – stand-in for Zachary Quinto
• Justin Stafford – Special Contact Lens Painter
• Martin P. Stankard – CG Artist
• Amanda Starr DeMille – Production Assistant
• Susan Stepanian – Makeup Artist (Hair and Hairpiece)
• Lon Strickland – Second Unit Production Assistant
• Victor Tang – Visual Effects Researcher
• Mike Tsucalas – Set Production Assistant
• Benton Ward – RF Technician: 2nd Unit (day play)
• Clinton Wayne – Special Makeup Effects Artist
• Mario West – Production Assistant
• Richard B. Wester – Set Dresser
• James D. Weston II – stand-in
• Gerald White – Singer
• Catherine J. Young – Make-Up Artist
• Crist Ballas – Special Effects Makeup Artist
• Christopher Bergschneider – Mold Maker
• Barney Burman – Prosthetic Makeup Designer
• Rob Burman – Moldshop Supervisor
• Aida Caefer – Hair Stylist Supervisor
• Brie Ford – Fabricator
• Jamie Grove – Prosthetic Painter
• Vincent J. Guastini – Additional Masks
• Rufus Hearn – Makeup Effects Lab Technician
• Russ Herpich – Makeup Lab Foreman
• Jennifer Jackson – Makeup Lab Assistant
• Don Lanning – Key Sculptor
• Sue La Prelle – Plasterer
• Jessica Nelson – Make-Up Effects Lab Technician
• Christopher Payne – Makeup Effects Lab Technician
• Jenn Rose – Key Mask Fabricator
• Thomas Sanders – Makeup Lab Assistant
• Ray Shaffer – Makeup Effects Lab Technician
• Miho Suzuki – Makeup Effects Lab Technician
• Vincent Van Dyke – Sculptor Lab Work
• Hugo Villasenor – Shop Foreman
• Hill Vinot – Mold Maker
• Daphne Yap – Concept Artist
• Clint Zoccoli – Sculptor

Unconfirmed cast and crew [ ]

• Leslie Alnes as Nurse
• Fallon Brooks as Starfleet cadet
• Brad Champagne as Starfleet cadet
• Sarah Abrams Char as Prisoner [260]
• Talon DeSoto' as Engineer
• Claire Doré as Enterprise crewman
• Aliza Finley as Hurried cadet with clipboard
• Ian Fisher as Shipyard worker #1
• Cole Fritch as Klingon prison guard
• Robert Grant as Starfleet officer
• Jarrell Hall
• Monte Hunter as Starfleet cadet
• Paul Kumar as Kelvin cadet
• Matthew Jennings
• Michelle Lang (day player)
• Anne Lockhart as voice of Kelvin computer
• Aaron Lynch as Flight Operational Air Safety Conductor
• Vadim Mantelzak as "Soldier Joe"
• Owen Martin as Alien cadet / Enterprise crewmember
• Jessica Mika as Enterprise bridgeport cadet
• Kristen Rakes
• Duane Ram as Starfleet cadet
• Shanequa Reed as Starfleet cadet
• Larramie Doc Shaw as War builder
• Joseph Stephens, Jr. as Starfleet cadet
• Renee Taglia
• Barron Toler
• Justin Riemer – Stunt Performer
• A.J. Verel – Stunt Performer: Enterprise crewmember
• Erik Aguirre – Assistant Construction Buyer
• Nigel Albermaniche – Sound
• Damon Allison – Propshop Foreman
• Michael Avallon – Driver
• P. Scott Bailey – Leadman
• William D. Barber – "C" Camera Operator
• Ted Basso – Production Van Driver Operator
• Daniel Beals – Production Assistant
• Matthew E. Bell – Look Development/Color & Lighting
• Michael Boggs – Scanning Manager
• Tony Bohorquez – Model Maker
• James Bolt – Additional Sound Mixer
• Dana Bonilla – Key Set Production Assistant: Kerner Optical
• Mateo Bourdieu – First Assistant Camera
• Lindsey Jayne Boyd – Production Assistant
• Tony Bridgers – Construction Foreman
• Margaret Bright-Ryan – Digital Artist
• Kieran Brown – Paint Gang Boss
• Alex E. Burns – Transportation
• Tony Capasso – Construction Gang Boss
• Mark Carlile – Lighting Technician
• Derek Casari – Sound Stage Engineer
• Lyle Christensen – Shotmaker Driver
• Carol Collini – Makeup Artist
• Greg Crawford – ADR Mixer (Atlanta)
• Mark Cueto – Electrician
• Val I. Deikov – Sculptor
• Doug Devine – Set Dresser
• Robin Atkin Downes – ADR Voice
• William Doyle – Location Consultant
• Jessica Drake – Dialect/Language Coach
• Scott Dropkin – Remote Camera Technician (Sparrow Head)
• Randy Eriksen – Second Unit Property Master
• Christian G. Ervin – Driver
• Anaïs Ganouna – Second Unit Camera Production Assistant
• Danny Gonzalez – Electrician
• Randy Haynie – Go Cam Rigger
• Courtney Harrell – Visual Effects Production Coordinator
• Kurt Herbel – Cable Video Assist
• Patrick Hoeschen – Electrician
• Tom Holzhauer – Production Assistant
• Spencer Jambor – Stand-in for Spencer Daniels
• Debra James – Production Manager
• Jim C. Johnson – Gang Boss
• Chris Jones – Special Effects Technician
• Simeon Jones – Production Assistant
• Kory Juul – Lighting Artist: Evil Eye Pictures
• Tex Kadonaga – Set Designer
• Jimmy Kaminsky – Driver
• Jason Kaufman – Prop Shop
• Rick Kelly – Second Unit Second Assistant Director
• Lawrence Kim – Art Department Researcher
• John Knox – Prop Shop
• Scott M. Leonard – Grip
• Frank Leasure – Propmaker
• Alex Lee – Additional Production Assistant
• Damon Liebowitz – Electrician
• Eric Lozano – Set Dresser
• Michelle Maloney – Additional Set Production Assistant
• Cory Mandel – Sound Re-Recording Mixer
• Canyon Martens – Set Dresser
• Matt McDonald – Visual Effects Supervisor: Evil Eye Pictures
• Chuck McSorley – Second Unit Property Assistant
• Vanessa Meier – Second Unit Script Supervisor
• Michael R. Melamed – Second Unit Second Second Assistant Director
• Vicky Menke – Assistant Set Production Assistant
• David Mesloh – Special Effects Technician
• Ricky Dean Monsey – Production Assistant
• Melissa Montague – Costume Aging and Dying
• Glenn T. Morgan [261] – Sound Effects Editor
• Michael Mosher [262] – Makeup Artist
• Joe Murray – Production Assistant
• Dillon Neaman – Production Assistant
• Andrew Nelson – Costumer
• Mark Nelson – Pre-visualization Artist
• Timothy Oakley – Set Graphics
• Tony Oberstar – Production Assistant
• Bill O'Donnell – Production Assistant
• Jason Pomerantz – Digital Artist (IMAX version)
• Grace Pyke – Additional Costumer
• Paul Pytlik – Digital Artist (IMAX version)
• Norbert F. Quiban – Rigging Electrician
• Chris Quilty – Second Unit Boom Operator
• Justin Raleigh – Specialty Costume Supervisor: Quantum Creation FX
• Robert Razavi – Consulting Producer
• Michael Ray Reed – Stand-in for Anton Yelchin
• Greg G. Reeves – Rigging Electrician
• Graham Robertson – Set Dresser
• Erik Rogers – Senior Digital Intermediate Producer: Company 3
• Michael Roundy – Special Effects Technician
• Maury Ruiz [263] – Concept Artist
• Paul Samaniego – Underwater Camera Production Assistant
• Scott Schutzki – Set Dresser
• Paul Sinnott – Costume Assistant
• Greg Smith – Prop Shop
• Maciek Sokalski – Digital Compositor: Svengali FX
• Scott Solan – Sound Utility and Second Unit Sound
• Chad Stansbury – Sculptor
• Mike Steaheli – Unit Medic
• Christopher A. Suarez – Special Effects Technician
• Donna Tegan Set Production Assistant
• Thomas "Noe" Welch – Set Dresser
• C. Jerome Williams [264] – Rotoscope Artist: Lola Visual Effects
• Mark J. Williams Production Assistant
• Helen Wilson – Props
• Steve Wolfe – First Assistant Camera
• Chris Qi Yao – Matchstick Technical Director
• Dennis Yeager II – Special Effects Technician
• Ryan Young – Production Assistant

Companies [ ]

• Paramount Pictures – Distributor, Production Company
• Spyglass Entertainment – Production Company
• Bad Robot Productions – Production Company
• MavroCine Pictures – Production Company
• Industrial Light & Magic – Special Visual Effects
• Digital Domain – Additional Visual Effects
• Svengali Visual Effects – Additional Visual Effects
• Lola VFX – Additional Visual Effects
• Persistence of Vision Digital Entertainment – Previsualization Effects
• The Third Floor – Additional Previsualization Effects
• Kerner Optical – Models and Miniatures
• Company 3 – Digital Intermediate
• Pacific Title and Art Studio – End Titles & Opticals
• Digital Vortechs – Avid Editing Equipment
• For Stars Catering – Caterer
• Gala Catering – Catering: Second Unit
• Star Waggons – Cast Trailers

Uncredited companies [ ]

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment, Inc. – Camera Systems and Cranes
• Chef Robért Catering – Catering
• Evil Eye Pictures – Additional Visual Effects
• Film Illusions – Special Effects
• Harlow FX – Makeup Effects and Prosthetics
• Level 1 Entertainment – Former Production Company (replaced by Spyglass)
• Movie Movers – Hair & Makeup Trailers, Production Trailers
• Professional VisionCare Associates – Contact Lens company
• Prop Docs – Set Dressing Documents
• Quantum Creation FX – Specialty Costume and Prop Weapons
• Sessions Payroll Management – Extras Payroll Services
• SouthCoastHelicopters.com – aerial photography of Alaska
• Tinsley Transfers – Special Makeup Effects Tattoos
• Vital Distraction – Previsualization Effects (in collaboration with Persistence of Vision)

Unconfirmed companies [ ]

• Executive Assurance – Security
• Filmtools – Expendables
• MoviePlacement.com – Product Placement
• On Tour Productions – Transportation Services
• Panavision Remote Systems – Supertechno Cranes
• Transportation Resources – Transportation Equipment
• Star Trek (soundtrack)
• Star Trek (DVD)
• Star Trek (Special Edition DVD)
• Star Trek (single disc Blu-ray)
• Star Trek (three disc Blu-ray)
• Star Trek (4K Ultra HD)
• Star Trek (iTunes)

References [ ]

2233 ; 2240s ; 2255 ; 2258 ; 2387 ; 313-C ; ability ; academic suspension ; accuser ; Airtrax ; Aldrin, Buzz ; Andorian shingles ; anger ; annular confinement beam ; Antares , USS ; apple ; Aptera Typ-1 ; aptitude test ; Archer, Jonathan ; armada ; Armstrong , USS ; Armstrong -type ; attack ; authorization code ; autopilot ; aviophobia ; backpack ; Battle of Earth ; battle stations ; blanket ; Bravo-six maneuver ; Destruction of Vulcan ; Bardeen ; bathroom ; beagle ; bean ; Beastie Boys ; black hole ; Blake ; blindfold ; brain stem ; bravo-six maneuver ; Budweiser Classic ; car ; Cardassian sunrise ; cellular phone ; Centaurian slug ; character reference ; christening ; Class III neutronic fuel carrier ; climbing frame ; code of conduct ; command officer ; Constitution -type escape pod ; confiscation ; construction zone ; commendation ; Constitution -class ; cortisone ; Corvette ; Counter ; court martial ; cupcake ; crystal ball ; damage report ; dead body ; deadly force ; death ; Delta Vega ; Delta Vega outpost ; delusion ; department ; Dimassa 01 ; dock control ; ear ; Earth ; ECS ; emotional response ; emotional transference ; endangered species ; Enterprise , USS ; ethics ; experience ; external inertial dampener ; extinction ; eyeball ; Farragut , USS ; favoritism ; fear ; Federation ; flag ; Flag of California ; Flag of the Federation ; flask ; flight officer ; friend ; fuckin ; Fugeman ; General Order 13 ; General Orders and Regulations ; Gerace ; Gilliam ; " God damn "; grapefruit ; " Grande Valse "; Grissom , USS ; Grumman F-14 Tomcat ; Hangar 1 ; Hangar 1 vehicle ; headache ; heart rate ; hick ; high energy pulse device ; hitchhiking ; hobgoblin ; Hood , USS ; hostage ; hoverbike ; hovercruiser ; Hovercruiser 924 ; Iowa ; Iowa State Police ; itch ; Jack Daniel's ; James ; jamming signal ; Jellyfish ; katric ark ; Kelvin , USS ; Kelvin -type ; Kelvin -type shuttlecraft ; Kentucky Derby ; kilometer ; Kirk, George ; Kirk, James T. ; Kirk, Tiberius ; Kirk, Winona ; kiss ; Klabnian fire tea ; Klingon ; Klingon prison planet ; Klingon warbird ; Kobayashi Maru , USS ; Kobayashi Maru scenario ; kohlinar ; Komack, James ; Leifer ; lie ; lightning ; lightning storm ; lungworm ; maneuvering board ; marooning ; Maximum security zone ; Mayflower , USS ; Mayflower -type ( starships ); McGrath ; media ; medical shuttle ; Medical shuttle 37 ; Melvaran mud flea ; meter ; Midwest ; military shuttle ; mining vessel ; mirage ; Moore ; Moore -type shuttlecraft ; morphology ; motorbike ; mouth breather ; name ; Narada ; natural disaster ; Newton , USS ; Newton -type ( starships ); Nokia ; nosebleed ; notebook ; numb tongue ; Odyssey , USS ; orator ; Orion ; paradox ; parking brake ; path ; PCAP-SYS ; Petrovsky ; phonology ; pi ; police ; Pomoroy ; prank ; prod ; programming code ; Prometheus nectar ; protein nibs ; quarry ; quota ; R2-D2 ; repeat offender ; Rader ; red alert ; red matter ; Regula I ; rescue mission ; Riverside ; Riverside Shipyard ; Romulan Bird-of-Prey ( unnamed ); Romulan disruptor pistol ; Romulan disruptor rifle ; Romulan language ; Romulan Star Empire ; Romulus ; roommate ; " Sabotage "; Saurian brandy ; Sect 7XT ; security protocol ; sex ; SFC Division ; shaker ; shield ; Shipyard Bar ; ships ; Shuttle 2 ( Enterprise ) ; Ship's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 alternate reality) ; Shuttle 2 ( Kelvin ) ; Shuttle 3 ; Shuttle 37 ; Shuttle 43 ; Shuttle 89 ; Shuttle 12091 ; Shuttle 78072 ; skill dome ; Slusho ; solar flame ; sphere ; stallion ; starch amyloplast ; Starbase 1 ; stardate ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Academy Board ; Starfleet ; Starfleet medical code ; Starfleet Regulation 619 ; Starfleet uniform ; startcard ; stenographer ; storm ; straw ; subroutine ; subspace transmission test ; supernova ; surname ; sweat ; syntax ; Tagruato ; telemetry ; Teral'n ; towel ; townie ; toxin ; T'Plana-Hath -type ( unnamed ); Trainer , USS ; transporter ; transporter control ; transporter signal ; transwarp beaming ; tribble ; truck ; Truman , USS ; turbine ; United We Are Strong, United We Will Win ; universe ; vision loss ; volume ; vomiting ; Vulcan ; Vulcan (planet) ; Vulcan High Council ; Vulcan Science Academy ; Vulcan ship ; water turbine control board ; whiz kid ; whore ; windows ; Wolcott , USS ; xenolinguistics ; yellow creature

Other references [ ]

Shipyard Bar menu: Chik burger ; Earth burger ; Fish and chips ; Hajjlaran surprise ; home base fries ; Jestral tea ; Mantickian paté ; Mareuvian tea ; Orion wing-slug ; Papalla juice ; Prometheus nectar ; prune juice ; SHM tofu bites ; Sinteel pasta ; space burger ; super combo

Meta references [ ]

47 ; Intertitle

Unreferenced material [ ]

book club ; cockaleekie soup ; cone ; Discount function ; Defiant , USS ; Endeavour , USS ; EM sensor ; Exponential discounting ; First contact protocol ; FC-3 procedure ; flo-yo ; fractal ; gastric stimulator ; gold rating ; Hawk-dove strategic interaction game ; hoverspeeder ; Hyperbolic discounter ; Jaxa ; Lennon, John ; Kyoto ; McCartney, Paul ; MIT ; mince and tatties ; narcissism ; Oxford invitational ; quantum cosmology ; piece and jam ; planetary security ; Power signature ; Prisoners' dilemma ; quark ; Quasi-hyperbolic discounter ; Spock ; Scalar discount ; slim-shot ; station chief ; Square root ; T'nag ; Universal greeting ; Vulcan creature ; Vulcana Regar

See also [ ]

• Star Trek: The Beginning , an earlier concept for an eleventh Star Trek film
• Undeveloped Star Trek projects , which includes a description of a discarded concept for the eleventh Trek film
• Star Trek: The First Adventure , an earlier concept for a prequel Star Trek film which was abandoned in favor of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

External links [ ]

• Star Trek at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek at Wikipedia
• Star Trek at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek script at IMSDb.com

Star Trek movies in order: Chronological and release

Untangle the different timelines and get the popcorn: Here are the Star Trek movies in order — both chronological and release.

• Chronological order
• Prime Timeline

The Original Series movies

The next generation movies.

• Kelvin Timeline
• Release order

Upcoming Star Trek movies

We've got a guide to watching the Star Trek movies in order, decloaking off our starboard side!

So long as movies stick numbers on the ends of their titles, it’s easy to watch them in order. Once they start branching out, however, things can get a little muddled, especially when reboots come along and start the whole process over from scratch. 

You may have heard that the even-numbered ones are good and the odd-numbered ones are not. That’s spot on for the films starring the cast of The Original Series (aka Kirk and friends) falls apart once you reach the tenth entry in the series. It would probably be worth your while to have this list of the Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best around to steer clear of the clunkers. Look, we’re not going to pretend everything here is worth two hours of your day, we’re just letting you know which came out after which.

Should your Trek appetite remain unsatiated after your movie watchathon, feel free to pull from either our list of the best Star Trek: The Original series episode s or best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes . Either one will set you up for a weekend jam-packed with great Trek moments. Consult our Star Trek streaming guide for all the details on where to watch the movies and shows online 

Star Trek movies: Chronological order

Below is the quick version of our list if you just need to check something to win an argument, but it comes with a lot of in-universe time travel-related caveats that we'll explain below.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Prime Timeline

The first thing you need to know about the Star Trek films is that while they travel back and forth in time, they also diverge into two (for now) different timelines. The films of the original crew (well, the first iteration of them, anyway – more on that later) are all in what is known as the Prime Timeline. 

Within the Prime Timeline, the movies are then split between The Original Series movies and The Next Generation movies.

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

• Release date: December 8, 1979
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

This is the film that brought the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise to the big screen. An energy cloud is making its way toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Kirk and crew intercept it and discover an ancient NASA probe at the heart of the cloud. Voyager – known as V’ger now – encountered a planet of living machines, learned all it could, and returned home to report its findings, only to find no one who knew how to answer. It’s a slow-paced film, and the costumes are about as 70s as they come, but there’s classic Star Trek at the heart of this film.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

• Release date: June 4, 1982
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban

Ask a Star Trek fan what the best Star Trek movie is and more often than not, you’ll get Khan as your answer. A sequel to the events of the “Space Seed” episode of The Original Series, Khan is a retelling of Moby Dick with Khan throwing reason to the wind as he hunts his nemesis, James T. Kirk. Montalban delivers a pitch-perfect performance, giving us a Khan with charisma and obsession in equal parts.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Release date: June 1, 1984

Spock might have died in The Wrath of Khan, but this third entry set up the premise for his return, with the creation of the Genesis planet. Essentially a heist movie in reverse, Search for Spock has the crew defying orders from Starfleet in an attempt to reunite Spock’s consciousness with his newly-rejuvenated body. It’s not a great movie, but it does include two very important events: the rebirth of Spock and the death of Kirk’s son at the hands of the Klingons. That’ll be important a few flicks from now.   

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

• Release date: November 26, 1986
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

If Star Trek fans don’t say Khan is the best Star Trek movie, odds are very high they say Voyage Home is. It’s a funny film where the mission isn’t destruction, but creation – or more accurately, repairing the devastating effects of humankind’s ecological short-sightedness. 

A probe arrives at Earth, knocking out the power of everything in its path as it looks for someone to respond to its message (yeah, it happens a lot). This time, however, the intended recipient is the long-extinct blue whale. To save Earth, Kirk and co. go back in time to 1980s San Francisco to snag some blue whales. The eco-messaging isn’t exactly subtle, but it doesn’t get in the way of a highly enjoyable movie.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

• Release date: June 9, 1989

A writers’ strike and Shatner’s directorial skills (or lack thereof) doomed this film before a single scene was shot. The core plot is actually pretty good: Spock’s half-brother hijacks the Enterprise so that he can meet God, which he believes to be… himself. Some Star Trek fans have an odd fondness for this movie, as it showcases the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy when they’re off-duty.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• Release date: December 6, 1991
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer

Right, so if that Star Trek fan you’ve been talking to doesn’t choose either Khan or Voyage Home as the best Star Trek movie ever, they almost certainly name Undiscovered Country (and if they don’t, they have highly questionable taste, frankly). The Klingon moon of Praxis explodes, putting the entire Klingon race at risk. The Enterprise hosts a diplomatic entourage of Klingons, much to Kirk’s discomfort. 

Remember how Klingons murdered Kirk’s son? Well, he certainly hasn’t forgotten. Kirk’s lingering rage makes him the perfect patsy for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor, sending him and McCoy to a prison planet and setting the stage for war. Christopher Plummer is perfection as a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general with no taste for peace.

7. Star Trek: Generations

• Release date: November 18, 1994
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

And thus the torch is passed from the crew of The Original Series to that of The Next Generation. It’s a bit of a fumble, to be honest, but they all did their best to get Kirk and Picard into the same film and have it make sense. Malcolm McDowell plays Soran, a scientist who will stop at nothing to control the Nexus, a giant space rainbow that exists outside of space-time. 

Soran lost his family when his home world was destroyed and he wants to re-join them (or at least an illusion of them) in the Nexus. He’s not so much a villain as a tragic figure, but the Nexus makes a meeting between Kirk and Picard possible. Not all that sensible, but possible.

8. Star Trek: First Contact

• Release date: November 22, 1996
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige

Okay, no, for real, if your Star Trek pal didn’t pick Khan or Voyage Home or… oh, nevermind. Cueing off the iconic two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg, First Contact sees the collective traveling back in time in order to disrupt First Contact, the day Earth’s first foray into space attracted the attention of the Vulcans, kicking off the events that would eventually lead to Starfleet’s victory over the Borg. The Borg Queen torments Picard with visions of the past and tempts Data with humanity, going so far as to give him some human skin. 

The fight with the Borg aboard the Enterprise is thrilling, and the work on the surface to get first contact back on track is fun. Plus, there’s just nothing like Patrick Stewart turning it up to 11 as he lashes out at the enemy that haunts his dreams.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection

• Release date: December 11, 1998
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham

Essentially an episode inflated for the big screen, Insurrection is about the Federation conspiring to displace a planet’s population in order to harvest the planet’s unique resource – super healing metaphasic particles. In addition to the rejuvenating natural resource, the Ba’ku also have access to exceptional technology, which they shun in favor of a more simple lifestyle. 

Data malfunctions, the villains are Federation allies (and former Ba’ku!), Picard gets to knock boots with a local – Insurrection is the very definition of “fine.” Chronologically, Insurrection is relevant for rekindling the romance between Riker and Troi, but not much else.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis

• Release date: December 13, 2002
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy

Before he mumbled his way into our hearts as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon, a clone of Picard the Romulans created in an eventually abandoned attempt to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon is dying, and all that will save him is a transfusion of Picard’s blood. Unfortunately, Shinzon also happens to be a megalomaniac who happens to want to destroy all life on Earth and maybe a few other planets, too, if he’s feeling saucy. 

Nemesis is notable mostly for killing Data with a noble sacrifice, only to resurrect him moments later in a duplicate body found earlier by the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline

The last of the Prime Timeline movies failed to impress at the box office, so it was a few years before anyone tried to bring the Enterprise back to the big screen. Rather than lean on any of the TV crews, this new slate of movies would serve as a reboot, welcoming new audiences while honoring long-time fans. Welcome to the Kelvin Timeline. (For all the ins and outs, check out our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article).

11. Star Trek

• Release date: May 8, 2009
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban

Back to the beginning! Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” McCoy as they meet and join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though the plot is a relatively straightforward affair of a Romulan named Nero trying to destroy the Earth. His anger borne out of grief, what matters most is how it all came to be. In the future, Spock – the Prime Timeline version – tries to save Romulus from being destroyed by a supernova, but fails. Both his ship and Nero’s are kicked back in time, setting off a chain of events that diverge from the original, “true” timeline. 

The name “Kelvin” refers to the U.S.S. Kelvin, the ship heroically captained by Kirk’s father, which is destroyed in the opening moments of the movie.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness

• Release date: May 16, 2013
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefit of the Kelvin Timeline is that it not only allows Star Trek to explore canon material – such as Khan (he of the Wrath) – but to do something completely new with it. Khan features heavily in Into Darkness, but he has no beef with Kirk. Instead, a Starfleet Admiral is threatening the lives of Khan’s crew, forcing them to craft weapons of mass destruction. 

Khan inevitably eludes captivity and strikes out against Starfleet, killing Captain Pike (and a bunch of others) in the process. Kirk and company eventually take Khan down, but not before Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew. Don’t worry, these things don’t last in either Star Trek timeline, as Kirk gets better moments later thanks to *checks notes* Khan's super blood.

13. Star Trek Beyond

• Release date: July 22, 2016
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Beyond leans into the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy now that they’ve had some time together, much to the movie’s benefit. The Enterprise is lured to Altamid under false pretenses, leading to much of the crew being marooned on the planet. The architect of the deception was Krall, who wants an opportunity to return to a galaxy where war is the order of the day. 

Beyond is a significant point in the timeline for two reasons. First, it sadly marked the death of Spock Prime due to the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Second, it culminates in the Enterprise embarking on the five-year-mission that started everything back in 1966.

Star Trek movies: Release order

If you can't be bothered remembering two different orders for the Star Trek movies then we've got good news for you — the release order is identical to the chronological order that we've shown above (accounting for the Kelvin timeline as it's own entity anyway).

The full run of Star Trek films currently tops out at 13 entries; the fate of the 14th was hidden within a nebula of conflicting information. “Star Trek 4” was slated for December 22, 2023, but given that filming had yet to begin as of July 2022, it seems inevitable that date will change. Back in February 2022, Paramount that the principal cast would be returning for the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, a claim quickly disputed by the agents of those selfsame actors. Awkward.

Soon after, however, Chris Pine eventually signed on the dotted line, and his shipmates reached their own agreements. As of right now, Kirk (Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban, assuming he can make it work around filming of The Boys), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Sulu (John Cho) are all ready to beam up and get filming. Sadly, this will be the first of the Kelvin films to not feature Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Yelchin died in an accident at his home in 2016. It’s currently unclear if Chekov will be recast or if a different character will take his place on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Though the Kelvin timeline is often referred to as “J.J. Abrams Trek,” he won’t be directing Star Trek 4; Matt Shakman will take on that responsibility, leaving Abrams to produce. As for what it will be about, that’s anyone’s guess, but Chris Pine told Deadline he hopes this one tells a smaller story that appeals to the core Trek audience. “Let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek,” he said. “Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great.” It’s a strategy that makes sense; the disappointment with recent Trek films hasn’t been their content so much as their box office. A Trek film with a smaller scope (and budget) would almost certainly have a very healthy profit margin while also resonating with the fanbase.   

With no new announcements coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it seems that we’ll have to wait for any more insight into the next Star Trek film. Sill, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety . 

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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Find Family Movies, Movie Ratings and Movie Reviews

Star Trek Parent Guide

Catering to longtime enthusiasts, while attracting newcomers with a well-paced story and visual effects, this star trek is certain to open this final frontier to a whole new generation..

At last! Screenwriters are boldly taking fans of this TV and movie franchise where they have never gone before -- back into the pasts of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and his trusty companion Spock (Zachary Quinto). This prequel will finally answer how the Captain became so confident and cocky, and how the Vulcan acquired his logical and unemotional demeanor.

Release date May 8, 2009

Run Time: 126 minutes

Official Movie Site

Get Content Details

The guide to our grades, parent movie review by rod gustafson.

The Star Trek universe has been silent over the past few years, leaving diehard fans with little to do but collect past movies and television episodes on Blu-ray discs. However, with the unveiling of this film, which fills in the backstory of the heroes from the original series, there is potential for a bold new injection of story ideas and discoveries in this perpetual franchise.

Romulans are the big problem on this voyage, thanks to a rogue spacecraft that has adapted some high tech equipment into a weapon of revenge. But on Earth, isolated on the Iowa plains, a young and rebellious James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) could care less about space politics— that is until Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) discovers the scrappy and drunken youth in the middle of a bar fight with Federation cadets. Aware of his father’s stellar Starfleet service, Pike convinces Kirk to join the ranks.

These rookie officers find themselves pressed into service when the Romulan issue becomes critical. Although the bad guys play the catalyst of the plot and provide reason for the many impressive action sequences, the core of the story really revolves around Kirk and Spock. For those who have wondered how these two divergent personalities—one driven by logic, the other by gut reaction—ever managed to learn to work together, this movie will answer that question, and many more.

The performers playing these characters (all of whom were developed before the cast of this movie ever walked the Earth) literally have a hard act to follow. Thankfully, they deliver very credible representations of the people we (speaking for those of us who Stardate back a little longer) know so well. The well-written screenplay gives them great material to work with too. Visually amazing, with a great sense of the depth and scale of space, this production may become one of the best-loved cinematic treks.

There is also a good chance parents will find this new Trek suitable for teen viewers. Not wallowing entirely in darkness, like so many action flicks, this space adventure offers positive messages about overcoming differences and building a team. For families, violence will likely be the greatest concern, with portrayals similar in intensity to previous Trek movies like First Contact . Depictions of hand-to-hand combat with bloodied injuries are frequent (including an impaling), along with death and destruction involving futuristic weapons. Sexually is limited to some innuendo and a brief scene between a semi-clothed man and woman who are interrupted before things get too serious. And the script includes intermittent profanities, which are limited to mild expletives and a few terms of deity.

Catering to longtime enthusiasts with ample inside humor (watch for iconic lines interwoven with the dialogue), while attracting newcomers with a well-paced story and visual effects, exploring Star Trek’s origins is certain to open this final frontier to a whole new generation.

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Rod Gustafson

Star trek rating & content info.

Why is Star Trek rated PG-13? Star Trek is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

Dealing with Romulan rebels is never pretty. Many scenes in this film depict conflict sequences on both a wide scale (spaceships shooting each other) and a personal level. Characters engage in frequent hand-to-hand combat, often with bloodied injuries shown. Other scenes depict characters using futuristic weapons. Deaths occur from these encounters. Characters are also injured or killed by falling, impaling, being engulfed in fire or crushed by falling debris. A character nearly drowns. A man is shown strapped to a table in a torture situation—he is verbally threatened and a parasite is put in his mouth. Strange beasts chase and attempt to eat a human. A boy is bullied and pushed by others at school. A brief scene shows a shirtless man and woman in underwear in bed together (their sexual intentions are quickly interrupted). Another female character undresses and is shown in a bra and panties. A few mild profanities and terms of deity are heard. The script includes some sexual innuendo and a single joking reference to bestiality. Drinks are served in a bar, and a somewhat inebriated character begins fighting with other patrons. A man drinks from a flask. A child drives recklessly and is chased by police.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Star Trek Parents' Guide

What events in the life of James T. Kirk contributed to his decisions as a young man? How did Spock’s childhood affect his personality? What adjustments do the characters need to make in their lives before they can successfully work together? Do you think people actually change, or do they simply learn to control their emotions and reactions?

The most recent home video release of Star Trek movie is November 17, 2009. Here are some details…

Release Date: 17 November 2009

Star Trek on DVD is in an anamorphic presentation (enhanced for widescreen TVs), with audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. Bonus materials include:

- Commentary: by JJ Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci

- Featurette: A New Vision

- Bloopers: Gag Reel

Star Trek: 2-Disc DVD Special Edition, with Digital Copy is in an anamorphic presentation (enhanced for widescreen TVs), with audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and subtitles in English, French and Spanish. Included on this two-disc set are:

- Featurettes: A New Vision, To Boldly Go, Aliens, Score and Casting.

Additional Scenes: Spock Birth, Klingons Take Over Narada, Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank, Amanda and Sarek Argue After Spock Fights, Prison Interrogation and Breakout, Sarek Gets Amanda, Dorm Room and Kobayashi Maru (original version), Kirk Apologizes to the Green Girl and Sarek Sees Spock.

- DVD Rom: STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for XBOX 360, PC and Playstation.

- Digital copy of the movie.

Star Trek: Blu-Ray 3-Disc Special Edition, with Digital Copy offers the movie in 1080p HD resolution, with audio tracks in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English) and Dolby Digital 5.1 (English). Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish. Extra features include:

- DVD Rom: STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for XBOX 360.

- DVD Rom: Weblink to the STAR TREK D-A-C Free Trial Game for PC and Playstation.

- BD Exclusive: Starships, Planets, Props and Costumes, Gene Roddenberry’s Vision, Ben Burtt and the Sounds of Star Trek and Starfleet Vessel Simulator.

- BD-Live: NASA News

Related home video titles:

For another adventure with Captain Kirk and Spock, check out: Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan . Other movies from this franchise that we have reviewed include: Star Trek: Nemesis , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: First Contact .

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Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

William Shatner

William Shatner is best known for his distinctive voice and his roles on 'Star Trek' and 'Boston Legal.'

Who Is William Shatner?

Actor, director, author, singer William Shatner is best known for his roles on Boston Legal and Star Trek .

Born on March 22, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Shatner started his career as a child performer in radio programs for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. As a student at McGill University, he continued to pursue acting. Shatner spent his summers performing with the Royal Mount Theater Company. He graduated from the university in 1952 and joined the National Repertory Theater of Ottawa. Working with Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Shatner also appeared in productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.

Early Stage and Screen Roles

In 1961, Shatner had a small part in the Holocaust drama Judgment at Nuremberg , playing an army captain. He had a lead part in The Intruder (1962) as a racist who fought against school integration. On the small screen, Shatner had his first series, For the People , in 1965. He starred on the short-lived drama as an assistant district attorney in New York City.

'Star Trek' Series and Films

The following year, Shatner took on the role that made him famous around the world. As Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek , he commanded the U.S.S. Enterprise , a starship traveling through space in the twenty-third century. Kirk encountered all sorts of unusual aliens and challenging situations during his journeys. Accompanying him on these adventures was his loyal crew, which included first officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and medical officer Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). The science fiction series created by Gene Roddenberry premiered on September 8, 1966, and lasted for three seasons.

During the run of the show, Shatner also made an unusual career move. He recorded an album, The Transformed Man (1968), which featured spoken word versions of contemporary pop hits. Already known for his dramatic, but earnest delivery of his lines on Star Trek , Shatner recorded renditions of such songs as the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

Not long after the album, Star Trek was canceled. The show, however, continued to live on in syndication and became even more popular. Star Trek became a Saturday morning cartoon that ran during the mid-1970s, and it was resurrected a live action film in 1979. Returning to the role of Kirk, Shatner starred in Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The film's warm reception by film-goers showed how much affection the public had for the old series. At the beginning of the film, Kirk has become an admiral, Bones has retired, and Spock has returned to the planet Vulcan. But the three return to work on a new version of the Enterprise to solve a crisis involving a mysterious cloud that has destroyed several spaceships.

In the sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), Kirk has to overcome an old adversary out for revenge, Khan Noonien Singh (Richardo Montalban). He followed with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986).

The next chapter in the Star Trek film series received a lukewarm reception. For Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Shatner not only returned as Kirk, but made his debut as a feature film director as well. The film, unfortunately, received some fairly negative reviews. Movie critic Roger Ebert called it "a mess," involving "not much danger, no characters to really care about, little suspense, uninteresting ... villains, and great deal of small talk."

Not matter what the reviews said, the Star Trek film series continued at warp speed. The next installments were Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) and then Star Trek Generations (1994). In Generations , the members of the original Star Trek hand the baton to the cast of the spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation , marking the end of Shatner's starring role in the franchise.

TV and Movie Roles

't.j. hooker'.

In 1982, Shatner took on a new leading television role in T. J. Hooker , as a veteran police officer who returns to a street beat. The supporting cast included Heather Locklear and Adrian Zmed as younger officers who work with and look up to Shatner's character. Unlike the original Star Trek series, T. J. Hooker was immediately popular with television audiences.

Shatner remained a fixture on television even after T. J. Hooker went off the air, becoming the host for Rescue 911 in 1989. This was an early entry into the reality television genre, featuring reenactments of emergency situations.

'The Practice,' 'Boston Legal'

On the big screen, Shatner appeared as a beauty pageant host in Miss Congeniality (2000) and its sequel Miss Congeniality 2 (2005), with Sandra Bullock . In 2003, he made a guest appearance as a talented, but eccentric lawyer on The Practice . His turn as Denny Crane brought him his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2004. He had been previously nominated for his guest appearance on the science fiction sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun in 1999.

The Practice creator David E. Kelley created a spin-off series, Boston Legal , featuring Shatner's character Denny Crane in 2004. Law partner and master litigator Crane acts as a mentor of sorts to Alan Shore (played by James Spader). For his work on the series, Shatner won his second Emmy — this time for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series — in 2005. More nominations in this category followed in 2006 and in 2007.

'Shatner's Raw Nerve,' 'Weird or What?'

In 2008, Shatner began work on Shatner's Raw Nerve, a celebrity interview program on the Biography Channel. He then worked on another Biography Channel project entitled Aftermath with William Shatner , which focused on the stories of ordinary citizens who became overnight celebrities, and also hosted the supernatural-themed Weird or What?

'$#*! My Dad Says,' 'Better Late Than Never'

In 2010, Shatner returned to sitcom TV in the short-lived $#*! My Dad Says , based on a Twitter feed of the same name. He began hosting the U.S. version of the stop-motion series Clangers in 2015, and enjoyed some success with the reality-travel series Better Late Than Never the following year, alongside Henry Winkler , George Foreman and Terry Bradshaw .

'The UnXplained' on HISTORY

Shatner is the host and executive producer of the HISTORY nonfiction series The UnXplained , which premiered on July 19, 2019, at 10 pm ET/PT. The series tackles subjects that have mystified mankind for centuries, from mysterious structures and cursed ancient cities to extraterrestrial sightings and bizarre rituals.

“It’s an intriguing show that will offer viewers credible answers to questions about mysterious phenomena, while also leaving other theories left unexplained," Shatner said.

Shatner has experienced great success as an author. During the writers' strike of 1987, he transformed a screenplay idea into a novel. The result was TekWar (1989), a work of science fiction featuring a middle-aged private detective working in the twenty-second century. More Tek titles followed and were later adapted for television.

Additionally, Shatner worked with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens to create a series of Star Trek novels, and launched the Quest for Tomorrow and Samuel Lord science fiction series.

Also a veteran of nonfiction, Shatner co-authored Star Trek Memories (1993) and Star Trek Movie Memories (1994) with Chris Kreski. He and Kreski also worked together on Get a Life! (1999), a look at the whole Star Trek fan phenomenon. The actor went on to pen several nonfiction books with David Fisher, including Up Till Now: The Autobiography (2008) and Live Long And...: What I Learned Along the Way (2018).

Marriages and Personal

From 1956 to 1969, Shatner was married to Canadian actress Gloria Rand. The couple had three children together. Shatner married actress Marcy Lafferty in 1973. That marriage ended in divorce in 1996. Shortly thereafter, he married model Nerine Kidd. Kidd's life came to a tragic end in 1999, when she accidentally drowned in a pool at the Shatners' home in Studio City, California.

After such a tragic loss, Shatner was able to find happiness again with his 2001 marriage to Elizabeth J. Martin, a horse breeder. In late 2019, it was reported that the 88-year-old actor had filed for divorce.

As part of his own love of horses, Shatner started the annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show to raise funds for children's charities in 1990.

In late 2017, Canadian Governor General Julie Payette appointed Shatner an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to popular culture and his charity work.

QUICK FACTS

• Name: William Shatner
• Birth Year: 1931
• Birth date: March 22, 1931
• Birth City: Montreal
• Birth Country: Canada
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: William Shatner is best known for his distinctive voice and his roles on 'Star Trek' and 'Boston Legal.'
• Astrological Sign: Aries
• McGill University

We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us !

CITATION INFORMATION

• Article Title: William Shatner Biography
• Author: Biography.com Editors
• Website Name: The Biography.com website
• Url: https://www.biography.com/actors/william-shatner
• Access Date:
• Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
• Last Updated: December 11, 2019
• Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
• The line between making a total ass of yourself and being fundamentally funny is very narrow.

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What Happened to Tarantino’s ‘Star Trek’ Film? Every Detail About His Canceled Pitch

By Zack Sharf

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Paramount confirmed this week that “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman will head into production on a new “ Star Trek ” movie later this year with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho and Simon Pegg reprising their roles for a fourth go-around on the big screen. For Quentin Tarantino fans, the news is the latest reminder that the Oscar winner’s “Stark Trek” movie remains dead. At least for now.

Tarantino fans were sent into a frenzy in late 2017 after it was announced that Paramount and “Star Trek” producer J.J. Abrams loved Tarantino’s pitch for a new “Star Trek” movie and were assembling a writers room to flesh out the idea. Tarantino ultimately partnered with “The Revenant” screenwriter Mark L. Smith, who was tasked with writing a “Star Trek” film script based on Tarantino’s idea while Tarantino was busy finishing post-production and touring the world for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Smith revealed on the  “Bulletproof Screenwriting” podcast in August 2021 that J.J. Abrams’ production company Bad Robot gave him a call on Tarantino’s behalf.

Popular on Variety

“They just called me and said, ‘Hey, are you up for it? Do you want to go? Quentin wants to hook up.’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’” the screenwriter said. “And that was the first day I met Quentin, in the room and he’s reading a scene that he wrote and it was this awesome, cool gangster scene, and he’s acting it out and back and forth. I told him, I was so mad I didn’t record it on my phone. It would be so valuable. It was amazing.”

Tarantino intended to bring a “Pulp Fiction” vibe to “Star Trek” with an idea that was a largely earthbound story set in a 1930s gangster setting. Tarantino’s pitch appeared to take inspiration from “A Piece of the Action,” the 17th episode of the second season of “Star Trek: The Original Series.” The installment, which aired in 1968, followed the Enterprise crew as they visit a planet with an Earth-like 1920s gangster culture.

Smith told “Bulletproof Screenwriting” that the screenwriting process started almost immediately after he agreed to work with Tarantino, adding, “I would go hang out at his house one night and we would watch old gangster films. We were there for hours…We were just kicking back watching gangster films, laughing at the bad dialogue, but talking about how it would bleed into what we wanted to do.”

According to Smith, Tarantino’s “Star Trek” idea was “really wild” and like “its own very cool episode.” The plot included “a little time travel stuff going on” and “had a lot of fun” with Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk. Tarantino fans expected the director to go all in on Pine considering Tarantino’s outspoken love for the actor. Tarantino has called the Pine-starring “Unstoppable” one of his favorite action films, and he had nothing but raves for Pine’s performance as Kirk in the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot

“I thought Chris Pine did a fantastic job, not just playing Capt. Kirk but playing William Shatner’s captain — he is William Shatner,” Tarantino once told MTV. “He’s not just another guy, he’s William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk. And Zachary Quinto is literally Leonard Nimoy’s — because they both have the same scene together — he’s his Spock. They fucking nail it. They just nail it.”

Tarantino’s “Star Trek” was widely believed to be rated R, although it was never confirmed. Fans expected the R-rating given the graphic nature of Tarantino’s movies. It was also never confirmed that Tarantino would direct the script himself. Tarantino has maintained that he is retiring from feature filmmaking after his 10th directorial effort, which means he only has one movie left to make, post-“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Fans questioned whether or not Tarantino would want an IP-based movie like “Star Trek” to be his curtain call.

Tarantino revealed to Consequence of Sound in December 2019 that he was “steering away” from directing the “Trek” movie. A final blow arrived in January 2020 when Tarantino confirmed , “I think they might make that movie, but I just don’t think I’m going to direct it. It’s a good idea. They should definitely do it and I’ll be happy to come in and give them some notes on the first rough cut.”

After Justin Lin’s 2016 entry “Star Trek Beyond” underwhelmed at the box office with less than $400 million worldwide, Paramount put a pause on the film franchise as it figured out what to do next. Tarantino and Smith’s script was one of three potential “Star Trek” films in development at the same time. “Fargo” and “Legion” creator Noah Hawley was working on his own “Star Trek” film that was to feature a new cast, while Paramount was also developing a more traditional sequel to “Beyond” with the same cast. Filmmaker S.J. Clarkson was attached to this third “Trek” idea for a time.

The “Star Trek” announcement this week confirmed that a “Beyond” sequel with the returning cast is officially a go. Paramount announced in July 2021 that Shakman was hired to helm a new “Star Trek” movie, the cast for which was unclear at the time. Shakman is a prolific television director with credits that include “WandaVision,” “Six Feet Under,” “House,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Game of Thrones” and “Succession.” He’s only directed one previous feature, the 2015 indie “Cut Bank” with Liam Hemsworth and Billy Bob Thornton.

As reported by Variety , Paramount did market research to determine whether or not there was still audience interest in Chris Pine and the 2009 reboot cast given the long wait period between “Beyond” and a new “Trek” film. Insiders said that studio executives determined there was still lasting audience enthusiasm for Pine, Quinto and the rest of the cast, which allowed the studio to feel comfortable with moving forward with bringing them back.

One person most likely relieved that Paramount is moving ahead on a “Star Trek” movie without Tarantino is Rod Roddenberry, son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry and the CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment. Roddenberry, who serves as an executive producer on several “Star Trek” series on Paramount Plus (“Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard,” “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” etc.), told Forbes in September 2021 that he had mixed feelings on Tarantino coming into the “Star Trek” fold.

“I struggle with that because the way I’m pretty myopic with the way I see ‘Star Trek,’” Roddenberry said when asked about Tarantino’s “Star Trek” idea. “I mentioned that I grew up with fans coming up to me out saying how ‘Star Trek’ inspired them and gave them hope for the future. It’s the optimism and the messaging in there that make ‘Star Trek’ what it was. I truly believe that. If you create a ‘Star Trek,’ that is just action; that is not ‘Star Trek,’ in my opinion. That’s what makes it different than ‘Star Wars,’ and I love ‘Star Wars,’ but they can both coexist. And I love Tarantino’s work and the kind of films that he does. I am trying to have an open mind.”

Roddenberry continued, “I would be curious to read a script on his take. I do not think you could say we’re going to do a ‘Reservoir Dog-Star Trek.’ I’ll be honest, that doesn’t work for me, but he is a fan, and I think as a fan, he probably understands to some degree that ‘Star Trek’ has to have some of this messaging.”

Production on the Tarantino-less new “Star Trek” movie will begin later this year.

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In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 276 User reviews
• 99 Critic reviews
• 16 wins & 31 nominations total

Episodes 80

Photos 1999

• Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk …

• Mister Spock …

• Lieutenant Leslie …

• Nurse Chapel …

• Ensign Freeman …

• Yeoman Rand …

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Stellar Photos From the "Star Trek" TV Universe

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• Trivia In the hallways of the Enterprise there are tubes marked "GNDN." These initials stand for "goes nowhere does nothing."
• Goofs The deck locations for Kirk's Quarters, Sickbay and Transporter Room vary (usually between decks 4-7) throughout the series.

Dr. McCoy : "He's dead, Jim."

• Crazy credits On some episodes, the closing credits show a still that is actually from the Star Trek blooper reel. It is a close-up of stunt man Bill Blackburn who played an android in Return to Tomorrow (1968) , removing his latex make up. In the reel, He is shown taking it off, while an off-screen voice says "You wanted show business, you got it!"
• Alternate versions In 2006, CBS went back to the archives and created HD prints of every episode of the show. In addition to the new video transfer, they re-did all of the model shots and some matte paintings using CGI effects, and re-recorded the original theme song to clean it up. These "Enhanced" versions of the episodes aired on syndication and have been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
• Connections Edited into Ben 10: Secrets (2006)
• Soundtracks Star Trek Music by Alexander Courage

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• May 6, 2003

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• September 8, 1966 (United States)
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Star trek: how old kirk was when he became captain (in both timelines).

James T. Kirk became Captain at a young age in both Star Trek timelines, but Chris Pine's version blows William Shatner away in terms of speed.

• James T. Kirk was the youngest Captain in Starfleet, rising fast in both timelines.
• Kirk went from Cadet to Lieutenant to full Captain in Star Trek 2009's Kelvin Timeline.
• Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at just 25 years old.

Star Trek 's James T. Kirk was a young man when he became Captain of the USS Enterprise, but in the Kelvin Timeline of J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, Kirk gets his promotion a lot faster than he does in Star Trek's Prime Timeline. Introduced in Star Trek: The Original Series in 1966, William Shatner portrayed the original Captain James T. Kirk, who was the hero of Star Trek: TOS for 3 seasons before he starred in 7 Star Trek movies from 1979-1994. Chris Pine took over the role of Captain Kirk in Abrams' reboot films, which resulted in a successful Star Trek trilogy from 2009-2016.

In the annals of Starfleet, the five-year mission of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise is legendary. Along with Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Kirk's Enterprise boldly explored the final frontier, initiated numerous First Contacts with new species, and saved the galaxy on several occasions. At the end of his five-year mission, Kirk was promoted to Admiral and became Chief of Starfleet Operations. However, Admiral Kirk yearned to be on the bridge of his beloved Enterprise. Star Trek: The Original Series ' movies chronicle Kirk's journey to stay in the center seat. This resulted in his demotion back to Captain, the rank James Kirk preferred and would retain until his death in Star Trek Generations . But how old was James T. Kirk when he became Captain of the Enterprise in both Star Trek timelines ?

William Shatner Kirk’s Best Line In 7 Star Trek Movies

How old william shatner's kirk was when he became enterprise captain, kirk was the youngest starship captain in starfleet.

In Star Trek 's Prime Universe's canon, James T. Kirk was born on March 22, 2233, in Iowa, and he joined Starfleet Academy in 2252. Cadet Kirk entered the Command Training Program (where he infamously cheated to beat the Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario ), and he served aboard the USS Republic, where Ensign Kirk was promoted to Lieutenant. Kirk became an instructor at Starfleet Academy before he joined the crew of the USS Farragut, where Kirk became the youngest First Officer in Starfleet in 2259. In 2265, Kirk was promoted to Captain and assumed command of the USS Enterprise at the remarkable age of 32.

Lt. James T. Kirk becoming Starfleet's youngest First Officer at 26 years old beat the record set by his own father, Lt. George Kirk.

How Old Chris Pine's Kirk Was When He Became Enterprise Captain

Kirk went from cadet to captain in one mission.

William Shatner's Kirk had nothing on the improbably meteoric rise of his Kelvin timeline doppelgänger because Chris Pine's Kirk became Captain of the Enterprise at 25 ! As seen in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009), Kirk was born in outer space when his father, Lieutenant George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), was killed during the USS Kelvin's encounter with the time-traveling Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana). Kirk grew up in Iowa, but it was a chance encounter with Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) in a bar in 2255 that led Jim to enlist in Starfleet. 3 years later, Cadet Kirk stowed away aboard the USS Enterprise and earned his Captaincy by saving Earth from Nero.

Chris Pine's James T. Kirk was born on January 4, 2233, in the Kelvin Timeline - 3 months before William Shatner's Kirk's birth.

It may seem like Kirk jumped directly from Cadet to Captain in Star Trek 2009, but James actually rose through the ranks throughout the film. Before Pike beamed over to Nero's ship, he shocked the crew by promoting Kirk to Acting First Officer to serve alongside Acting Captain Spock. This meant Kirk received an instant field promotion to the temporary rank of Lieutenant. Kirk later tricked Spock into stepping down from command due to being emotionally compromised from the destruction of Vulcan.

Kirk then promoted himself to Acting Captain and teamed with Spock to lead the Enterprise. After the successful defeat of Nero, Starfleet formally promoted Kirk to full Captain, and James assumed command of the Enterprise relieving the injured Captain Pike. But considering the events of Star Trek (2009) 's main story only lasted the span of a few days, Kirk was still just 25 when he went from Cadet to Lieutenant to Captain at warp speed.

When William Shatner & Chris Pine's Kirks Became Captain Of The USS Enterprise-A

There's an even greater age gap.

In Star Trek Beyond , which took place in 2363 in the Kelvin Timeline, the Starship Enterprise was destroyed and Chris Pine's Captain Kirk assumed command of the USS Enterprise-A at the age of 30. In comparison, William Shatner's Captain Kirk was 53 in 2286 when he got the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . So, it seems nearly everything about J.J. Abrams' version of James T. Kirk was designed to consistently beat Shatner's version to the punch.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Can Show How Kirk Becomes Enterprise Captain

Kirk's promotion in the prime timeline hasn't been depicted.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds introduced Lieutenant James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) , the younger version of William Shatner's Kirk in the Prime Timeline. Lt. Kirk is about 26 years old in Strange New Worlds ' era (2259 onward), and James was promoted to First Officer of the USS Farragut in Strange New Worlds season 2. It's possible that Strange New Worlds could eventually end by depicting James T. Kirk's promotion to Captain and his inheriting the USS Enterprise from Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has already shown Kirk's first meeting with Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and the Prime Timeline's Lt. Kirk becoming Captain Kirk could be a pivotal Star Trek event audiences will finally see.

Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: The Original Series movies are streaming on Max.

A Long-Lost Piece Of Star Trek History Has Been Found – And Returned To The Roddenberry Family

T he next time you fire up eBay looking for a lightly used PS5 or a random everyday item that kind of resembles the face of Jesus Christ (look, do whatever you want with your hard-earned money, folks), take a closer look -- you might just come across a priceless pop-culture relic that has been missing for decades. Anyone who's used these sorts of online marketplaces for long enough undoubtedly has their fair share of horror stories, but this is one case that ultimately resulted in a happy ending for all involved.

It's a tale that has gone down as part of "Star Trek" lore over the long years. A franchise as long-lasting as this one will inevitably rack up its fair share of fan-favorite props and other objects of import, created by talented and pioneering artists to bring genuinely out-of-this-world visuals and legendary concept art to life. Historically, "Trek" has relied on matte paintings, cutting-edge VFX techniques, and all sorts of innovative production designs to help turn various shows and movies into the beloved entries they became. One in particular that had been lost to time, a 33-inch model of the USS Enterprise used in the classic opening credits for  "The Original Series," has managed to find its way back where it belongs.

The news was announced on Twitter (only the Borg would call it "X") by Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., the son of late franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, via a report by the New York Times . Roddenberry had some eagle-eyed fans to thank for it, who spotted an eBay listing auctioning the starship for $1000. The seller, upon being alerted to its significance, authenticated the find and eventually handed it over to Roddenberry for an unspecified reward. How's that for a feel-good story?

Read more: Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry Always Regretted Cutting One Character From The Show

Back Where It Belongs

Perhaps no other fanbase understands the value of memorabilia and franchise history quite like Trekkies do. This probably explains why, rather than selling the Enterprise model for a quick buck, the unnamed seller instead went through the proper channels and made sure the priceless artifact was returned to its rightful owner. But how did it end up lost in the first place, you ask? Well, Gene Roddenberry originally lent the model to be used during production of 1979's criminally underrated "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," whereupon it mysteriously went missing. For their part, the seller claimed to have found the model in a storage unit -- the exact path it took to end up there, however, will likely never be known.

In order to fully authenticate the find, according to the New York Times report, Eugene Roddenberry enlisted the help of "Star Trek" art supervisor Michael Okuda, "Trek" VFX artist Denise Okuda, and technical consultant Gary Kerr, the latter of whom used an old photo of the model from the 1960s as a point of comparison. According to Eugene:

"We spent at least an hour photographing it, inspecting the paint, inspecting the dirt, looking under the base, the patina on the stem, the grain in the wood ... It was a unanimous, 'This is 100 percent the one.'"

With that, an age-old cold case in the "Star Trek" universe has finally been solved.

Read the original article on SlashFilm