While Star Trek and Star Wars fans continue their endless battle over which is the better franchise, director & producer J.J. Abrams gets to enjoy being masters of both universes! It seems like just a short while ago that the world was geeking out over the release of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Now the summer is set to belong to Star Trek: Beyond!
Granted, the tasks Abrams had with these films were quite different. At the Tribeca Film festival he spoke about Star Wars Episode VII having to bridge the past films and older fans with the new fans and story. In contrast this is the third installment of the Star Trek reboot that Abrams started. Even though it uses the same characters as the original, this Star Trek series exists in a different time stream than the original (I love sci-fi!) so that it’s not tied to the original stories the way that the new Star Wars films are. We also got to meet the Star Trek characters starting at a much younger age than what occurred in the original 1968 TV series.
What can we expect from Star Trek: Beyond? Check out the latest trailer!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvq3y8BhZ2s?rel=0]
Awesome, right? Just in case you missed the first trailer you can see it below. (It came out during all the Stars Wars Episode VII frenzy so it’s entirely possible!)
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRVD32rnzOw?rel=0]
One difference that Star Trek: Beyond has from both the latest Star Wars installment and the last Star Trek film is that Abrams is producing, but not directing. Instead this film is directed by Justin Lin from The Fast and the Furious movies. Being that Abrams has been managing two mega movie franchises and a half-dozen television series and smaller films, one can see the need for bringing in a new director. With Lin at the helm I’m sure filmgoers are in for an action-packed ride!
There has been some pushback talk from the hard-core Star Trek fans on Lin and the new film in general, because supposedly Star Trek: Beyond is a little less, “Trekkie” than they would like. Over at Escapist Magazine they noted some statements from co-screenwriter Simon Pegg (he also plays Scotty in the films) that some found concerning:
“They had a script for Star Trek that wasn’t really working for them,” Pegg said in an interview earlier this year. “I think the studio was worried that it might have been a little bit too Star Trek-y.”
He said the goal of this script was to “make a western or a thriller or a heist movie, then populate that with Star Trek characters so it’s more inclusive to an audience that might be a little bit reticent.”
One can see why a hard-core Trekkie might be upset to hear their treasured franchise is moving away from its core. Then again, sites like Extremetech.com point out they weren’t exactly happy with the last Star Trek film – Into Darkness – because it copied too much from the previous movies. The fear is that this one will do the same.
Unfortunately, it looks like this movie is going to continue the worst parts of Abram’s reboot – slavishly copying some of the dialog and scenarios of the previous films, even where it makes no sense to do so, while refusing to show any the relationships that made the original worth watching.
I guess there’s just no pleasing everyone. A blockbuster two-hundred million dollar movie however, is going to try to please as many people as possible. As a result, some Trekkies may just have to be disappointed. That’s not to say they’re criticisms are invalid, but Star Trek: Into Darkness made $467,381,584 worldwide and has generally favorable reviews on metacritic.com. Likewise, the overall buzz for Star Trek: Beyond has been good.
Basically, this is what happens when a beloved cult show makes the jump to movies. A movie is dealing with a much broader audience, the majority of which knows little about the show’s particulars. All they are looking for is a good story with great special effects. They often aren’t that aware of the previous incarnations enough to make the comparisons a mega fan will.
Television and movies really are two different worlds. If five million fans get upset about what’s happening on their favorite show the producers have a problem. If those five million fans get upset about what’s happening with a movie based on that show – they’re just a drop in the bucket. From the standpoint of average moviegoers, Star Trek: Beyond looks pretty darn good.
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