(click to see high res)

This last image is a close-up from the scene where Kirk climbs out of an Enterprise escape module on Delta Vega. With the high resolution we can see more detail on Kirk’s bag, which shows that it is some kind of ‘EVAC KIT-ARCTIC’ and more interestingly it has the registry ‘NCC-1701-D.’ Of course the D could refer to the escape module or have some other meaning, but Trekkies think of 1701-D as the registry of the Galaxy class Enterprise from Star Trek The Next Generation. The Enterprise D is not in the movie, but this could be a nice little easter egg.

Just what ship did this bag come from?

I’m dying to see it. It looks like they’ve found a way to modernize it, and hopefully in a way that will [work] … I was talking to my 18-year-old son, and we were looking at the billboard, and I asked him, "What do you think of that?" He said, "When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Oh, another Star Trek movie. Those movies are so … ‘" And he didn’t have the word. I said, you know, "Dated?" And he said, "Yeah." It feels dated to an 18-year-old.

The trick is, they’ve got to bring it up to date and make it hip and sexy and fast and all the things they can do with effects now, and keep the die-hard fans in the theater. I’ll be curious to see if they’ll be successful with that. I hope they are.
We were trying to make that bridge with our series, and we had resistance. There was no question that some of the Star Trek fan base was not ready to go there [laughs]. They just didn’t want to do it. A guy stopped me, and he said, "Oh, I loved that show, I loved it, loved it, … except for the theme song" [laughs]. I was like, "Man, people should just …" But they’re not willing to give it any slack. If they don’t like it, they’re vocal about it. But if they like it, then you’re made. … The trailer looks fantastic. And, obviously, [director J.J.] Abrams knows how to make a movie. And, hopefully, he will have succeeded, and the studio will say, "We shouldn’t have canceled Enterprise" [laughs].

This week the May issue (#182) of the venerable UK sci-fi magazine SFX comes out and it is all about Star Trek. The magazine features a number of articles and exclusive interviews related to the new movie, including a cover story with comments from director JJ Abrams. SFX provided TrekMovie with some excerpts from the new magazine, read them below.

Abrams on fans, updates and Trek themes

The cover story feature for the SFX Star Trek issue is very extensive and features many exclusive quotes from Star Trek director JJ Abrams. Below are some excerpts.

JJ Abrams is famous for saying that the the new Star Trek is for ‘future fans’ of Star Trek, however the director lets SFX know he (and the film) are very aware of the current fans:

Star Trek of all things has got such a famous, vocal fan base, and if you don’t address them and make sure you’re honoring all that they know and love about the series, you’re completely screwed. You have to make sure the movie is not just aware of them, but working for them so that they’re not only able to continue embracing it but hopefully bring other people into the fold.

Much has been said about taking a new approach to the new Star Trek, but Abrams makes it clear that updates have a reason:

The approach to this whole movie in every detail was to take the inspiration from what was in The Original Series and then filter it through what is relevant and vital for now. Not to say the goal was to make it cool or to make it different, but to make it real. And with characters that feel true and emotional, and like there’s a piece missing for them and they’re up against something significant and the stakes are high, it was fun to figure out a way to do everything from bringing the Enterprise back to make the relationship between Spock Kirk and Bones come to life and to use these wonderful new actors in a way that allowed them to really do their thing and bring these characters to life. I feel like the key was to treat it as legitimate.

Abrams also made clear that he tried to stay true to the Roddenberry vision:

The themes that got me excited honestly had less to do with Star Trek and space and more to do with the optimism and humanity and of finding your purpose through unity. It ends up being a guiding principle of the movie - it needed to be faithful to the optimism that Gene Roddenberry wrote with during a time of fear and hate and suspicion. He was writing of our future where we were not just surviving it, but by cooperating and collaborating, we actually thrived. That to me, more than ever is a relevant idea.

Austin, TX Fans Get Surprise Showing of Star Trek Movie [UPDATE 2: First Reviews In]

Tonight Paramount pulled off one of the coolest stunts in fan history. Promoted as just a 10 minute preview of the new Star Trek to show along with The Wrath of Khan, tonight fans in Austin, TX were actually shown the entire new Star Trek movie. The event included surprise guests, including the original Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy. [UPDATE: A number of reviews are already in - we have a summary of those below]

Surprise!
According to our man on the scene, the evening started off normally at the Fantastic Fest Star Trek event at the Alamo Draughthouse Theater in Austin, Texas on Monday night. Star Trek filmmakers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof kicked things off by telling the crowd of around 200, that they would be seeing the Star Trek preview after Wrath of Khan. Two minutes in to the showing of TWOK, the film appeared to have ‘melted’ and the guys came back out on the stage and appeared to be stalling for time while the film was fixed…and then, wearing a ball cap, Leonard Nimoy came out in front of the audience holding a film can.
Nimoy noted to the crowd that it just didn’t seem fair that people in Australia were the fist to see the film and asked them "wouldn’t you rather see the new movie?" And apparently the crowd went wild. After that they showed the entire new Star Trek movie. Nimoy stayed for the entire event as did Orci, Kurtzman and Lindelof.

According to a friend who called in to TrekMovie after the event, the audience reaction was very positive. There were "genuine laughs" at the jokes and "quiet moments" with the serious character stuff. And apparently the crowd applauded at the introduction to each character. The film ended with a standing ovation.

(l-r), Nimoy, OrciKurtzman, & Lindelof on stage in Austin (David Hilton)
[UPDATE: Click for new photos and video]

UPDATE: Review Tweets
Insta-reviews are starting to come up on Twitter, here are a few notables (some strong language used):holy ****! the new Star Trek ****ing rules the universe
- Harry Knowles, AICNust got super secret clearance to tell you that yes, I saw JJ’s Star Trek. And I was blown away. it is super accessible, in the right ways. Fans at my screening also dug it, so that bodes well.
- Niel Miller, FilmSchoolRejectsYeah, that Star Trek 2 screening turned out to be the premiere of JJ Abram’s Star Trek. Seriously, I cannot believe how good it was.
- Rodney Perkins, Film, esq.The cast is superb, the story is compelling, the action is exciting, and Abrams even avoids any blatant cheesy “winks” about his reboot. If Star Trek is the bluebird of the summer movie season, then we are in for a great ride.
- Johnny RollerfeetUPDATE 2: First Reviews - very positive
The first reviews from Austin are already out on a number of geeky/film websites. Below are summary paragraphs from each. Click links for full reviews but beware of spoilers (nothing too major).
Quinto AintItCoolNews:STAR TREK isn’t just a successful reboot, but a genuinely fun and exciting science fiction action adventure. My biggest complaint is that it feels like they just got started up when the film ended. I want more! I want to see the further adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise.Neil at Film School Rejects :The overwhelming sentiment that I have about this film is that J.J. Abrams, with the help of a few incredibly talented people, has created a very accessible, fun Star Trek film that is perfect for a new generation of sci-fi fans. Sure, it plays to the fan base a little bit, but its real strength is in the fact that it is delivered with a ton of energy, it presents a story that is easily grasped by fans and newbies alike and is a big, kick-ass ride. My hope is not only that this sort of film will inspire young people to go out and check out some of the older Trek movies and series, but that it also helps usher in a new era of space science fiction filmmaking.Josh Tyler at Cinemabland:The runtime flies by with very few lulls in the pacing, reinvigorating characters and a universe that had, lets be honest, grown stale and tired. More than anything else, the movie just feels so much more fun than any previous entry. There’s more humor, more thrills, far more energy and a much better movie here than anything I’ve seen from Star Trek since the 80’s. I admit I was skeptical- I was not prepared to care about this universe and these characters again, after the crushing mediocrity that they had become. I can be skeptical no more, though. This is a fantastic movie it’s own right, one I would definitely recommend to Trekkie and new fan alike.Devin Faraci at CHUD
Tonight Paramount pulled off one of the coolest stunts in fan history. Promoted as just a 10 minute preview of the new Star Trek to show along with The Wrath of Khan, tonight fans in Austin, TX were actually shown the entire new Star Trek movie (hours ahead of the gala world premiere in Sydney, Australia). The event included surprise guests, including the original Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

A new era has begun
In the end I believe that JJ Abrams and his team have done what they set out to do, which is to create a ‘realer’, more accessible and more action-oriented Star Trek for a new generation — while at the same time honoring the Star Trek that has come before it. This film is not ‘your father’s Star Trek‘ and it will certainly be difficult for some Trek fans to accept all of the change this film represents, but in my mind it still is Star Trek.This Star Trek is a fun (and often funny) entertaining film with a lot of emotional impact, especially for a Trek fan. This is certainly a film that every Trek fan should want to see in theaters at least once (I know that I very much look forward to multiple viewings, especially IMAX). Even if you are the most hardened canonista, it would be worth it just to see what a $150 Million Star Trek looks like, and how else will you know what to nitpick later?


I for one loved it; Star Trek made me feel like a kid again. Is it the best Star Trek film ever? Possibly. In some aspects, there can be no doubt. The scale, the effects, the sound, and much more are at a level never before seen in Star Trek and on par with the best films of the day. Every Star Trek film gets compared to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is my favorite as it is with many other fans. It will take a few more viewings to make the final call, but for me, it is certainly in that top tier of great Star Trek films.
It is truly 1982 again. We have a new team, with a new sensibility, who have come in and shook things up. And like with The Wrath of Khan, they have set up a platform to create additional films for years to come. JJ Abrams’ Star Trek is a very worthy addition to the Star Trek family, just when it needed one, and I eagerly look forward to what comes next.

Leonard Nimoy: New Trek movie is gigantic, human

As Star Trek's inquisitive science officer Spock, he searched for answers across the galaxy. As the host of In Search Of, and any number of documentaries throughout his career, he has investigated topics that range from technology to aliens and the last days of the Romanovs. And over the past 40+ years he has handled countless conventions and interviews with wit and aplomb. But last Sunday morning, Leonard Nimoy finally heard a question that stumped him.

"My favorite color?" he asked incredulously as the audience howled with laughter. "Who sent you? Who are you?"

"Have you never been asked that before?" the fan asked.

"No!"

"Maybe that's why I asked."

Nimoy considered, then smiled broadly. "Well, good for you!"

(It's blue, by the way.)

Nearly one hundred and fifty people were listening to "A Discussion with Leonard Nimoy" Sunday morning at the FX International convention at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Eager fans shelled out admission fees from $125 to $250. Each received a goody bag with a movie poster, various collectible items and a voucher for an autograph from the man himself (Nimoy was holding court).

The 78-year-old Nimoy handled the room like a pro, telling stories and promoting the upcoming relaunch of the beloved franchise, JJ Abrams' blockbuster movie Star Trek, something he said he realized would be great after seeing the first, unadorned cut months ago:

"My wife is... she loves me a lot and I love her, and she's a great Star Trek supporter, but she's hardly a big science fiction fan, she's not like, like... well, you people," he said to general laughter. "So she was skeptical. About 15 minutes before it was over, she turned to me and she said 'I don't want this movie to end.'"

Nimoy had nothing but praise for the other actors, including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Winona Rider as Spock's mother. "She's wonderful! Wonderful!"

"The movie is big, a gigantic movie, a cinematic movie, but it also has great heart for the characters," he said. He saw the final version recently and said, "I'm gonna tell you I cried a lot. I sat there and cried a lot, watching it. Don't tell anybody.

"Out of character for me," he added.

"Big, gigantic canvas and story, it's a big, big story and the people in it are so versatile, so human, and the way this crew comes together to become the crew of the Enterprise is a very wonderful story, you'll love it. You'll love it," he said. "See it seven or eight times."

With a slightly raspy voice the chatty, laughing Nimoy was light years away from his most famous persona. For most of the hour he answered questions from fans, which ranged from his voiceover work as Galvatron in the animated Transformers movie, to his relation by marriage to Michael Bay ("and he won't hire me!"), to his long-standing friendship with William Shatner, to the photography that has been the focus of his life for the past 15 years, to his upcoming guest spots on JJ Abrams' FOX show Fringe (one in the last episode airing May 12, and two episodes next season, "and then we'll see how the character develops").

One fan even asked him to reproduce his legendarily mocked musical performance of "The Legend of Bilbo Baggins," but instead Nimoy forced the Starfleet-suited fan to come up to the stage and perform it himself, even helpfully supplying the lyrics when the fan tried to back out.

But it always came back to Star Trek.

Shatner didn't really try to kill him in Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, but the robe Nimoy was wearing sucked up water and dragged him down to the bottom of the tank. The Vulcan hand gesture is from a childhood memory of a Jewish High Holy Days ceremony. He didn't appear in the seventh movie, Star Trek: Generations,because the lines written for him weren't Spock lines and he didn't see the point. He was very blunt about disliking "Generations," and not seeing any reason why Kirk had to die in it.
He was fascinated with the issues he brought out in the sixth movie, Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country, based loosely on the Russians' problems with the Chernobyl disaster and their crumbling economy. He loved the way The Voyage Homebrought humor back to the Star Trek universe. And he battled with the movie studio over having an alien force in that movie that not only was impossible for humans to understand, but hadn't come to talk to us anyway. Their proposed solution? Subtitles for the probe.

"I said no, no, no, no, we're not gonna do that." He fought, and won, and when the movie was test-screened and the advance audience unanimously agreed that they understood the plot, Nimoy sent that back to the studios with a... well, I can't repeat it here, but it is distinctly odd to hear Spock cuss.

The final question was why, after turning down other offers to appear in the various incarnations of Star Trek over the years, he chose to bring Spock back to life for the new movie.

"I was done. I thought I was quite done, and for many years I was," he said, mentioning the photography that had become his passion. "I was aware of the TV work that (JJ Abrams) was doing, which I thought was interesting and well done. I got a call from him, would I come to a meeting where I met with he and the writers and a couple of the producers.

"And I was struck by the intensity of their feelings about the classic Star Trek material that we did. By their awareness of what the characters were about, and how important the characters' development was, and how important the ideas of those shows were. I was really touched by them, very touched. In fact, it's been reported I got misty at that meeting, and I actually did," he said.

"Because for a long time, I felt marginalized. I thought, no, (the new Treks) have nothing to do with me," he said. "It's over for me. But these people made me feel that what we had done in the original series was still relevant, and useful, and meaningful, and they wanted to get back in touch with that," he said. "And that's what brought me into the project."

JJ Abrams' Star Trek premieres May 8, 2009.

[font=arial, helvetica, courier, *]Let me tell you a little something about J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek. (Worry not - I'm not going to spoil anything.) I did, in fact, see the film last night. This is something you're going to be hearing a lot of people saying in the coming days: Star Trek is a BLAST! If you saw the third and final trailer - the one that got even diehard fans excited - know that the film delivers on every bit of that trailer's promise. What's clever about this Star Trek, is that it's both a reboot AND it manages to respect all the Trek continuity that's come before (yes everything, including Enterprise). I'm not going to tell you how - just know that it's very smartly done.

The actors are all spot on as their characters - Pine, Quinto and Urban make you BELIEVE they're the younger Kirk, Spock and McCoy. The other cast members are all good too, especially Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike and Eric Bana as the film's villain, Nero. The production design is spectacular and the special effects are absolutely top-notch. Even Michael Giacchino's score delivers in spades. This is definitely Trek on a scale we've never seen before. There are a couple things you longtime Trek fans will just have to go with... like the fact that it seems to take only ten minutes to warp from Earth to Vulcan, and the Enterprise's engine room looks like a boiler room. But there's so much that's good here - so much that's fun - that you can easily forgive those things. The film is exciting, action packed, occasionally funny, occasionally poignant. The TV spots have been promoting the fact that this is "Not Your Father's Star Trek." That's both true and not. This film definitely FEELS like Star Trek - no doubt about it. It's even very slightly campy, in keeping with the tone of the original series. But as a fan of Trek since the early 1970s, I'll tell you... this film managed to do something that Trek hasn't done in a long time: truly surprise me. Without giving anything away, something happens in this film, about a third of the way in, that would NEVER have happened in old Trek. Not EVER. When it happened, I kept thinking... they didn't just really DO that, did they? And the answer is... yes, they did. After which point, you begin to fully understand what the TV spots mean. This Trek is a whole different ball game. What's even cooler about this is that, because this is a reboot of sorts, many of the events that longtime fans know happen in the Trek universe can still happen AGAIN... but in a whole different way. So somewhere out there, there's a Doomsday Machine destroying planets. Somewhere out in deep space, Khan and his army of genetic supermen lie sleeping in the S.S. Botany Bay, waiting to be discovered again. And THAT possibility has me very excited for what might come next.

Star Trek is just a completely fun movie. Even for you doubters (which, I'll admit, until recently I was one) - I think this film will mostly win you over. It's wall to wall action, right from the opening moments. Best of all, you don't have to be a Trekker to watch this film. ANYONE off the street can go in and thoroughly enjoy themselves. Trek fans will just appreciate it that much more. As you've no doubt seen, the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive and deservedly so. Star Trek is just a rip-roaring good time at the movies - a classic summer blockbuster that transcends its genre while also managing to honor the franchise. It opens in theatres on Friday, and I'm already planning to see it again this weekend. I can't wait for the Blu-ray!

By the way, the writers of the film have come up with a prequel story that sets up Nero's motivations in the film nicely. You can find it in the form of a graphic novel, called Star Trek: Countdown, that's available here on Amazon.com if you're interested. It's not necessary to understand or enjoy the film in any way, but you Trekkers might appreciate the way it cements the film into the existing continuity even more. Just FYI. [/font]