New Star Trek XI Photos Released

Five photos from Star Trek XI have been released yesterday. Here are my two favorites:

From MTV's site.

If you click below the picture on their site you can see a wider shot with Sulu and Spock in it (here).

From UGO.

Trekmovie also has a shot of the USS Kelvin blowing up--or at least in real bad shape. JoBlo.com has a shot of the villian "Nero". Aintitcool.com has a shot of Zachary Quinto choking curt. He almost looks like he has a little bit of Sylar in his eyes...could someone's head be coming off? This Friday "Entertainment Weekly" will have Pine and Quinto on the cover all Treked out. Online they have a shot of the Kelvin before it blows up along with an article that includes a small spoiler or two (nothing that hasn't been on the web already though).

Edgar Wright, a friend of Simon Pegg (aka. the new Scotty) reports that he might have seen a certain movie being released next summer. He writes:

Yesterday I saw a film that does not get released until next summer. I can’t say much more than that, except that it delivers all the goods sorely lacking from a certain trio of prequels. Exciting stuff. That is all.

Here's my thought on the new bridge shot: Way too cool! Who cares about continuity issues! J.J. Abrams has said he is trying to avoid going "kitsch." Star Trek is trying to be a blockbuster and reinvigorate the franchise. The strength of ST is the characters. Put all the tech and effects aside for a second because they don't drive the story although they make for nice eye candy. The question is will this be the Kirk, Spock and McCoy et al that we all love... albeit as younger versions of the characters they developped into?

Don't worry about the continuity. Ask yourself: from where we stand in 2008/9 and all the tech we now have, does this look like a reasonable representation of a resonable future? If you ask the same question of Trek in the 1960s the answer would have been yes! BUT if you look back from 2008/9 at the 1960s trek and ask the question, you have to answer a resounding "no". In fact, with the tech of 1960s Trek, with its computers alone, looks like a step backward. Star Trek is fiction. We shouldn't be asking does this set represent 1960s style... we should be asking: from where we are does this set represent a potential future? Is the new Trek faithful to the future? Of course it should be without seriously violating the characters and universe we have grown to love. The continuity isn't in the set design per se. It is in the characters, the universe, and the substance of the tech not the particulars or the look of the tech (if you'll permit me to draw such distinctions).

Now I like continuity and the canon as much as the next guy. I don't want to see Abrams and company blow the canon out of the water and disrespect everything Trek stands for. But I don't want to see them make a mockery of the rich history of Trek either by (1) making everything new still look 60s-ish for big screen 2009 cinema or (2) throwing out everyting for a straight full-on reboot. From all I've read, they aren't doing any of that. These approaches do not do Trek justice for today. The bottom line: I don't want to see a Trek "prequel" flop like a SW Episode 1...but from what I've read online, it won't. As a Trek geek I saw to fellow Trek geek: live a little. Enjoy 2009's vision of the Trek future with the characters we all love.

I believe this post constitutes my "occasionally some Star Trek". Thanks for sticking with it.