VIDEO REVIEW:

STAR TREK The Future Begins

Comment

(STARpod.org) -- I missed J.J. Abram's Hollywood spectacular reinvention of STAR TREK when it hit the theaters earlier this year. And, in a way, I'm glad that I did.

STAR TREK was, first and foremost, a television series and, for that matter, a child of the tumultuous sixties.

Born on the cusp of the Summer of Love, during the birth pains of transformation of American society, STAR TREK offered a vision of something far beyond the troubles of that era. STAR TREK was an adventure, a means of escaping into a landscape of possibility few had dared to imagine.

Many children of the post World War II dawn of the space age, myself included, were there for the humble beginning of Gene Rodenberry's small screen vision.

For many, the first glimpse of STAR TREK was in black and white, as the transition to color was underway just as the transition to wide screen and high definition is taking place today. Home video did not even exist for the rich. Television, in those days, was a hit or miss affair, until the demand for recycled programming took hold a few years later, giving birth to the STAR TREK pop-culture phenomena of today.

Home entertainment has come a long way over the years, with color, widescreen high definition, and surround sound, but no one would confuse even the best home video experience with a packed movie theater.

And that is ultimately why I am glad to have waited for the video release of the new STAR TREK: a reboot of fond memories of the first time I watched the show, when it premiered in the fall of 1966.

I recall enjoying the adventure but also thinking that the transporter was simply "too far out."

(Later I learned the transporter idea had been used to move the plots forward and to avoid costly special effects "landing sequences" -- who would have guessed in 1966, within thirty years physicists would be discussing "quantum teleportation" technology, and seriously talking about one day teleporting a virus.  Or, for that matter, today my Verizon Storm outperforms the original STAR TREK communicator by light years.)

In 1969, STAR TREK, having lasted three seasons, threw in the towel.

Once upon a time I possessed a handful of items I had collected as a child: bubble gum picture cards, a writer's manual  (the "official bible" about the show), and odd and ends including film clips swept off the editing room floor, packaged and sold to fans by mail order. 

And that was it: there would not be a fourth season.

STAR TREK was gone forever, or so it seemed.

It took time, but eventually the mainstream started to understand what STAR TREK was all about.

Eventually it was announced there would be STAR TREK movies.

The second time around, "The Wrath of Khan" almost felt like the original small screen experience. 

Then, over several decades, the old STAR TREK gave way to "next generations" that I personally found unsatisfying.

I missed the old crew: Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, and the rest. It really felt like STAR TREK was gone forever.

I am happy to announce this is no longer so.

STAR TREK, in spite of critical complaints from hard-core fans, numerous other reinventions and re-imaginings, countless books, comics, never ending plot twists and character histories, has returned: J.J. Abram's and his crew have recreated the excitement and adventure for a new generation, without loosing the initial wonder and excitement that inspired viewers all those years ago.

With reinvention, if one intends to remain faithful to the original, one is bound by a great responsibility. This balancing act comes with a price. Fortunately this is science fiction, and the science of tomorrow offers a writer the best possible way out: Many Worlds Theory, which allows for an infinite number of parallel alternative time lines, predicts an infinite number of plot and character variations.

Although many hard-core fans of the series will object, what matters most is found in the spirit of STAR TREK: turning the impossible into the imaginable.

I look forward to the next installment of the rebooted series.

Copyright (c) 2009 Gary S Bekkum / STARpod.org -- All rights reserved.