September will mark the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek. At the beginning of 2016 many had high hopes for the various celebrations.
The tragic death of Anton Viktorovich Yelchin on June 19 added a sad element to the new film. The character of Pavel Chekov was played brilliantly by Anton.
The reviews for the new film were very positive. The studio brass expected a great ride for this film.
My oldest daughter and I saw it on July 31st. It was a great tribute to Star Trek, especially the Star Trek we began watching in 1966 on NBC.
Spock and McCoy were marooned on an alien world with Spock suffering a serious injury. The bond between these two iconic characters was well developed as McCoy gave Spock some fine points about male/female relations—there was a great deal of tension between Spock and Uhura. Tragically, Spock was dealing with the death of Ambassador Spock as well.
Scotty finds a new friend in Jaylah, a mysterious alien with a huge secret. She added a refreshing tone to the film and kept Scotty and Kirk on their toes. Her English dialect was most amusing as well as her love for Earth’s “classical” music.
Kirk was the serious, solemn one in this film. It was his birthday, and he was pondering on his father’s life since he was one year older than his father had been when he died in the battle with Nero.
It was the 966th day of their five year mission, and Kirk had come to a career decision which would alter his destiny and affect his crew—his family—in ways which were inconceivable. As Commodore Paris of Yorktown Station said to him,
“It isn’t uncommon, you know? It’s easy to get lost. In the vastness of space, there’s only yourself, your ship, your crew.”
Once again we suffered the tragic loss of the USS Enterprise at the hands of the ruthless Krall. Krall had a secret bioweapon with which he planned to wipe out the Federation, beginning with Yorktown Station which housed millions of Federation citizens, including Sulu’s daughter and spouse.
“This is where it begins, Captain. This is where the frontier pushes back!”
With critical acclaim and because of the 50th Anniversary, the box office receipts should be robust. Unfortunately, as of this writing these are the receipts for this $185 million budget film:
$201,614,949 ($134,704,949 USA; $66,909,967 International) Box Office Mojo August 12
Good, but why not better?
In a previous post back in June we discussed the rising tide of frustration among many fans of the Star Trek fan series with the new guidelines from CBS/Paramount about fan productions. Many vowed to boycott Star Trek Beyond as well as the new CBS’ Star Trek series.
Was it this a boycott? Bad marketing and timing? The uncertainty of Summer?
This future film with George Kirk in the series may be in jeopardy for a number of reasons. This could spell doom for the new CBS series which predates the original series. A number of fans are asking why this time period and objecting to paying to watch it.
Regardless, Star Trek Beyond is a great film for the Star Trek canon. Perhaps, the home market will be generous with the DVD / Blu-ray version.
The final word from the creator:
“Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.” Gene Roddenberry
G. D. Williams © 2016
POST 678
“Captain’s Log, Stardate 2263.2.
“Today is our 966th day in deep space – A little under three years into our five year mission. The more time we spend out here, the harder it is to tell where one day ends and the next one begins. It can be a challenge to feel grounded, when even the gravity is artificial. But while we do what we can to make it feel like home. The crew is always, continues to act admirably despite the rigors of our extended stay here in outer space. The personal sacrifices they made. We continue to search for new life-forms in order to establish firm diplomatic ties. Our extended time in uncharted territory has stretched the ship’s mechanical capacities but fortunately our engineering department, led by Mr. Scott, is more than up to the job. The ship aside, prolong cohabitation has definitely had effects on the interpersonal dynamics. Some experiences for the better and some for the worse. As for me, things have started to feel a little episodic. The farther out we go, the more I find myself wondering what it is we are trying to accomplish. But if the universe is truly endless, then we are not striving for something forever out of reach. The Enterprise is scheduled for re-provisioning stop at Yorktown, the Federation’s newest most advanced starbase. Perhaps a break from routine will offer up some respite from the mysteries of the unknown.”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2660888/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu
Why ‘Star Trek Beyond’ Hasn’t Hit Warp Speed At The Box Office
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