Star Trek: still for geeks?

Star Trek movie cast

I was going to write a review of Star Trek. But then I couldn’t be bothered. Lovely wife loves it and wants to see it again in IMAX; I thought it was good, but all that time travel made it feel too geeky and continuity-ridden for my liking. But it’s definitely one of the best, if not the best of the Trek movies, and I did love the fact they showed Christopher Pike (who was the captain of the Enterprise in the show’s original pilot) as a decent captain, on a par with Kirk, rather than a simple placeholder, waiting for Kirk to come along. Plus Karl Urban as Bones was spooky.

Thing is, it’s supposed to be a movie that sheds the Star Trek universe of geekiness and makes it accessible to non-fans. However, while preparing to write said review of Star Trek, I went to its IMDB page to do some research. Turns out the geeks hadn’t got the message.

First thing to make me roll my eyes and laugh was the cast list. See if you can see what I mean:

The cast list on IMDB for Star Trek

After that, I checked out the goofs page. I did so love this one, not just for being wrong, but because someone cared enough to add it:

Continuity: In the final “Spock on Spock” scene, you can see the obvious height difference between the two. Young Spock should be the same height as old Spock.

I won’t even delve into the forums. They’re busy complaining about promotion-speed.

Still, if it makes them happy and it’s a good film: an enjoyable romp, but not an absolute must-see.

Author

  • Rob Buckley

    I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.

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