How random was Kirk and old Spock’s meeting? Nero then the other Romulan are about to kill Kirk but the cliche distraction and unnecessary waiting occur to give Kirk the opportunity to escape death. Worst of all too much reliance on the transporter which seemed to be not only grossly overused but in increasingly powerful manners which seemed to come by too easy.

The best part about this movie were the main TOS crew. Their portrayals seemed familiar yet fresh although Uhura is given little to do other than being the love interest (not the only movie guilty of making the lone female’s sole purpose to be in a relationship with a man).

McCoy was the best followed by Scotty. Kirk, Spock, Sulu & Chekov were adequate.

Nero on the other hand was one of the most generic villains ever.

I loved that this movie restored these characters’ youth. It was the first time we got to see the sorts of fisticuffs and absurd action (the platform fight, the Romulan catwalks) that were a hallmark of the original series. And the score was a blast — I think this was the first movie to treat the original series’ music as something to be embraced rather than given a brief nod.

Oh, I think we’re talking earlier than the fourth movie… ;-)

If I can indulge in a bit of nerddom (we’re all friends here, right?), I imagine the reference is to the ST:TOS episode “A Piece of the Action” where Kirk, visiting a planet based on 1930′s Chicago-gangster culture, has difficulty driving a period car. “I believe they had a device called a clutch,” Spock politely suggests, as Kirk grinds the gears.

And just to put the cherry on top of nerddom, I believe that episode was the first (and maybe only) instance of the Trek crew driving a land vehicle until, I dunno, the dune buggies in Star Trek: Nemesis, or some scene with a pick up truck in Voyager or something…

The Temporal Cold War from the television series Star Trek: Enterprise has already messed with the timeline, so arguably the changes wrought by Nero aren’t the only changes having an effect on the characters. Newcomers don’t know this, but don’t need to know this.

I don’t know if Spock or Bones will let this Kirk get too big for his britches. They kept him tethered in the previous series.

That said, I liked Picard better as a captain. He was more of an Explorer than an Adventurer. And I think that’s part of what makes Kirk, Kirk. He is an Adventurer first and foremost.

no, I’m annoyed because you didn’t post your message in Klingon.

And that may bother some Star Trek fans, but frankly, I never bought the heady claims of the show or movies. Of the three best films, two are not any deeper than revenge is a dangerous emotion to feed and one was save the whales. The weakest films tried to have overly deep messages.

And the supposed subtext of the various series were pretty shallow, in spite of fan hype. The franchise needed a kick in the bottom…and this film accomplished it.

And really, Tor, maybe you could explain what Johanna got so wrong? She made no claims of an in depth review…she addressed what she liked and did not like in a rather brief couple of paragraphs. If you are going to claim people got it all wrong-support your claims. Point out why you disagree, polite dissent is not a bad thing. Otherwise you are just being a pissy fan boy. Johanna is hardly afraid of dialog. Try it!