Star Trek 2008

Well folks. I saw Cloverfield. The movie will have me thinking and people talking for quite some time. You should all go see it.

Before the film I happened to see the Star Trek trailer. I'm really not sure if I should say I had the pleasure to see it or the misfortune because well, I'm just not sure about it. The film could easily be a success or a complete failure.

It could be Alias season 4 bad. And that's BAD.

JJ Abrams wants to have his cake and eat it too. There has been nothing but doublespeak coming out from him, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and the crew for months about how this film is both a reboot in one interview and that it will be faithful to established canon in another. You can't seriously have it both ways.

The simple solution presents itself. If the architecture is unfilmable, then don't film it, or don't go around claiming that it will "stay true to canon" if it can't even stick to the established (and iconic) visuals.

Either don't do it or do the entire film in a slight tongue-and-cheek way like they did in DS9's "Trials and Tribblations" when referring to "antiquated" things from the original series (sets, costumes).

I'm sorry but they are being completely contradictory. You could make the claim that they're keeping the "essence" of the Star Trek universe in the new film while giving it a completely different look-and-feel (see: reboot), but you can't say that everything will be designed differently (sets, ships) or even think about putting Klingons with ridges into the film (um, canon anyone?).

If the 60's style of the series is "too much cheese" to handle, realize that the costumes in the first two show pilots - "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" - had different, more subtle uniforms and even sets. Aim for dull, more earthy tones that don't stick out like the bright reds that were later added to the main part of the series, especially since this is supposed to take place before "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

The next step is throwing out Roddenberry's optimistic future for a more new-BSG "gritty", "realistic" look. When does it cross the line and stop "being" Star Trek? And by the way I love Battlestar Galactica but the original BSG was garbage compared to the original Star Trek series. One's still looked fondly upon by even new fans while the other has the same, aging fans who have been watching it for the last 30 years.

The biggest problem is that some might think that having a lot of money and talent thrown at it this time round will pay off. Sorry, but no Star Trek film made a huge exceptional amount of money - ever. They were mostly successful, but I have high doubts that it will recoup the 150 million dollars that has been given to this attempt.

Time will tell.