Blu-ray & DVD Reviews

unWIRED Rating:

Star Trek

J.J. Abram’s new look on a beloved series is quite the fun romp through space. Filled with action, humor, romance, and all the space battles you’d want, it’s a blast of a popcorn movie. The DVD brings all that big budget goodness home for your Trekkie pleasure, plus loaded with some bonus features that allow you to get more in depth into the movie.

The movie itself is an awesome ride filled with huge set pieces of action. It follows the training and subsequent meeting of Kirk and Spock. Sufficed to say, they don’t get off on the right foot and the rest of the movie is about them learning to trust and befriend each other while fighting an advanced alien ship bent on revenge. The plot doesn’t always make perfect sense, especially concerning the time travel (why are they doing this? What are they doing?). In terms of a movie, it’s pure fun. Things explode, people fight, and people kiss. The CGI looks fantastic, and it is certainly a treat for your eyeballs. It is a perfect popcorn movie. What’s best about this movie is that you don’t need to be even a casual Star Trek watcher to enjoy this flick. Those who are get those few extra nods and winks, which certainly make the experience more enjoyable. I have, however, received mixed reviews over the portrayals of Kirk and Spock by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, respectively.  Some have enjoyed Chris Pine’s ability to be the cocky hotshot, and others say he didn’t quite capture William Shatner’s original character. Zachary Quinto showed Spock’s battle with his logic and emotions well, but again some say no one could pull it off like Leonard Nimoy. Unfortunetly, I grew up a Warsie, if that’s even a term, and can’t quite make the call. I enjoyed them. So all those who did grow up a Trekkie should certainly give it a chance, and make there own choice.

The single disk DVD comes with a few bonus features. There’s the commentary by J.J. and others, along with a gag reel. What I found most interesting, being a lover of cinema and all, was the mini-feature “A New Vision.” It showed the different techniques used by the filmmakers to do some of the more impressive scenes, and J.J. Abram’s technique is rather interesting to see. The two and three disc and Blu-ray come special with deleted scenes from the movie. It is interesting to watch and quite the treat.

Star Trek is a good old-fashioned popcorn movie. There’s something for everyone inside the disc. I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to watch a movie to have fun and just revel in the CGI space battles. It will turn younger people on to Star Trek, and the original Trekheads will enjoy this re-imagining. This movie is worth your attention. So my friends, take a chance enjoy Star Trek, and “Live long and prosper.”

**Written by Mark Marquez