'Star Trek Beyond' movie (and Blu-ray) review

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Star Trek Beyond (2016)
Written by Simon Pegg & Doug Jung
Directed by Justin Lin
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban,  Simon Pegg, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Sofia Boutella, and Idris Elba

 Star Trek is perhaps one of the most successful franchises of all time, and maybe even one of the luckiest, at that. Considering that it got its start as a science fiction television series which only aired for three seasons on NBC, Gene Roddenberry's creation went on to spin off five television series (including Star Trek: The Animated Series) and 13 feature films. Not including Paramount/CBS Studios' income from the various TV shows, Star Trek - the franchise's film element, anyway, - has earned $2,266, 473, 168 at the global box office. ($1,400,952,879 of that comes from the North American domestic market.)

 Thus it's not surprising that Paramount asked producer J.J. Abrams to give fans a new Star Trek film set in the alternate (or Kelvin) timeline as a Golden Anniversary gift. And, after a rocky start, the man who directed Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) delivered the goods in the shape of Star Trek Beyond. 

 Working from a script by Simon Pegg (who plays Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott in the new films) and Doug Jung, director Justin Lin (The Fast and the Furious 3-6, Better Luck Tomorrow) took the reins from Abrams (who at the time was directing Star Wars: The Force Awakens) after Robert Orci stepped down from the director's chair and took a producer's role instead.

 The result: a fast-paced science fiction/action adventure that is faithful to the style of Abrams' first two films but with some nice new twists that reflect Lin's trademark focus on action and comedy.

 Captain James T. Kirk: 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 

 Star Trek Beyond starts, as did its predecessor Star Trek Into Darkness, at the end of a "previous" adventure. This time around, Captain James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) is attempting to negotiate a treaty between two long-time enemies - the Fibonian Republic and the Teenaxi Delegation.

 Everything seems to go well until Kirk tries to give the Teenaxians part of an ancient weapon; the aliens ask the young captain how the Fibonians acquired it. When Kirk says the Fibonians got it many years ago but are returning it in the spirit of friendship, the Teenaxians react - violently.

 Chief Engineer Scott saves Kirk (yet again) by beaming him back to the Enterprise, with only a torn uniform tunic and a couple of bruises as a result of his tussle with the Teenaxians. Kirk gives the artifact to First Officer Spock (Zachary Quinto) and orders him to lock it away in the archives' vault.

 The Enterprise has been in space for a bit less than three years, and the crew is overdue for shore leave. Thus, when they arrive at Starbase Yorktown, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the Enterprise gang is looking forward for some down time.

 Some, like Lt. Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) plan to reunite with family members they haven't seen since the start of the five-year mission. Others, like Kirk and Spock, are re-evaluating their Starfleet careers. Kirk, who is beginning to feel the strain of being "out there" in deep space, is mulling a promotion to flag rank. Spock, ever-conscious of his role as one of the few surviving Vulcans left in the galaxy, may resign from Starfleet to better help his beleaguered people.

 But destiny takes the Enterprise crew along a different path when a seemingly-desperate alien, Kalara (Lydia Wilson) arrives at Starbase Yorktown. Using the universal translator, she tells Starfleet that her ship has crashed on a distant planet called Altamid, which lies inside the Netro Cloud Nebula. Kalara implores the Federation, an entity known throughout the galaxy as a culturally-diverse and altruistic organization, to rescue her surviving crew mates.

 Kirk is moved by Kalara's appeal, and the Enterprise sets off to the mysterious nebula. But beyond the safe space of the United Federation of Planets lies a menacing alien named Krall (Idris Elba). Crafty and ruthless, Krall hates the Federation and everything it stands for. Now, as the Enterprise warps off to Altamid, Kirk and his valiant crew doesn't know that a deadly foe awaits - and will use the Federation's most cherished values to destroy them.

 My Take:

 Like the previous two entries in the Kelvin timeline Star Trek series, Star Trek Beyond continues the long-standing trend of transforming a franchise that began as allegorical (and utopian) sci-fi into an action-heavy series that focuses more on space battles than on the wonders of interstellar exploration.

For many old-school Star Trek fans, especially those who started watching The Original Series in 1966 or during its first syndicated run in 1969, this isn't what Roddenberry wanted the franchise to be. To their dismay, most of Paramount's Star Trek feature films pit Kirk and/or Jean-Luc Picard's crews against an assortment of villainous foes in space. Thus we saw various incarnations of the Enterprise in combat in 11 of the 13 Star Trek movies, including this one.

  Or, as Captain Picard says in Star Trek: Insurrection, Can anyone remember when we used to be explorers? 

 Of course, co-writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung know that Star Trek isn't Star Wars without the mythological stuff of Jedi and the Force. They remember that Roddenberry's series was about seeking out new life and new civilizations. And in a way, Star Trek Beyond  is about the consequences of going out into the unknown, and how the galaxy might push back if we aren't careful.

 So yes, Star Trek Beyond still has space battles, but to the credit of its makers, they are intense and extremely well-conceived. Krall's forces are unlike anything the Enterprise has ever encountered, and the ensuing encounter has serious consequences for Kirk and his crew.

 The film, for all its high octane (or is it high dilithium?) action, has many moments where the cast members, now on their third space-bound outing, are at ease with their roles as younger incarnations of the Original Series' crew. Pine, Quinto, Urban, Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, and the late Anton Yelchin have made Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov their own, and Star Trek Beyond gives each of them a chance to shine on screen.

 There are also references to the other Star Trek films and TV shows. They range from sight gags (a green hand seen during the end titles is a callback to The Original Series' episode "Who Mourns for Adonais") Other series that are alluded to either visually or in PA announcements include Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Voyager, just to name the ones I'm aware of.

 On the whole, while Star Trek Beyond is heavy on the action and light on the storytelling and drama that made Star Trek: The Original Series a beloved classic for the 1960s generation, it is a fun and entertaining movie.

 Original Series actor Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock Prime in the first two Kelvin timeline Treks, died while the film was being made. Nevertheless, Pegg, Jung, and Lin pay him a discrete but loving tribute as part of the movie's plot.

 Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekov in Star Trek Beyond, died in a freak accident a month before the movie premiered in July of 2016. Because he passed away after the film was completed, none of his scenes were affected by the tragedy. The studio managed to add a "For Anton" dedication to the end title sequence. In addition, producer J.J. Abrams said that the role of Chekov will not be recast for the fourth movie, which is tentatively scheduled for a Summer 2019 release.

 Blu-ray Specifications

Video
  • Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
  • Resolution: 1080p
  • Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
  • Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
  • English: Dolby Atmos
  • English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
  • French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles
  • English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish

Discs
  • Blu-ray Disc
  • Two-disc set (1 BD-50, 1 DVD)
  • UV digital copy
  • iTunes digital copy
  • Digital copy
  • DVD copy 
Packaging
  • Slipcover in original pressing

Playback
  • Region A, B  
Source:

 http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Trek#tab=summary

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