Star Trek Trailer and TV Spot - First Contact is a Smashing Success

Trailer -

TV Spot -

Ok, now that's a trailer. The scope seems to be vast and/or epic and it's obvious where that $150 million went. Aside from the silly first moments (the already infamous 'young Kirk hot-rodding' clip), this is an uncommonly exciting preview. The film seems to promise an obscenely epic big-budget science fiction adventure, regardless of your feelings on the Star Trek cannon. It may not be smart, and some of the dialogue may be a little on the nose, but the thing looks like buckets of gee-whiz fun. I still think that the release date is poison, but Paramount may luck out and make their money back as this looks like lots of big-budget fun.

Did I say 'big' twice? Well the whole thing just reeks of scale (the half-finished Enterprise, the vastness of the space battles, the sheer number of ships in one shot), more so than any tent-poler since Return Of The King. Of course, if Paramount can convince America that summer really starts on May 8th (Wolverine who?), then they can avoid that second-film-of summer death curse. As it is, I'd imagine this will be the most downloaded trailer on the internet at least until Transformers 2 or Avatar tosses a clip our way.

While I've previously criticized decisions regarding this film (the budget, the release date), Paramount is batting 1.000 so far in their PR campaign with this preview, the initial release of photos and last month's Entertainment Weekly article. The only thing missing in the teaser is that gorgeous 'space - the final frontier' music that should have closed out the preview (what is the name of that music cut anyway?). I could carp on the minor details (the hyper editing, the fact that the only clips shown of women involve either taking off their shirts or being imperiled), but I'd be nitpicking. Frankly, I haven't been this impressed by an initial teaser since the first full preview for The Dark Knight back in mid-December, 2007. This is a thrown gauntlet, a line in the sand, a declaration for Star Trek to be taken seriously against Transformers 2 and Harry Potter 6 in summer 2009. I'm officially intrigued.

Scott Mendelson

Comments

[BlackJAC]

Maybe it's all of the new BATTLESTAR influence, but did anyone else think the Big E's interiors were too hospital white?

[tao53nyc]

JJ Abrams himself said that he didn't make a movie for "Star Trek fans", but rather he made a Star Trek movie for MOVIE fans. He wanted to bring more space-opera ripping action and eye-candy to revive a franchise that was on its knees.

[Michale32086]

That was a helluva trailer..

The uncanny resemblance between Zachary Quinto (Heroes' Sylar) and Spock from the old series always gives me a chill. It's simply amazing.

Trek is at it's best when it is in "lecturing" mode. Showing us that humankind CAN make it, despite all of our flaws.. Or more accurately, BECAUSE of all of our flaws...

Michale.....

[OttoMann]

I don't like it. If they want to make a Bourne Identity in outer space, or some other kind of fast-editing big action movie, then do it, but don't try to pretend that it's Star Trek.

Didn't they learn from the first round? The first film was all wrong. The 2nd and 4th are generally agreed upon as the best -- because they were about the characters, with some humor mixed in with some drama wrapped around a sci-fi premise. That may turn out to be what this film is, too, but I don't get that sense at all from the trailers. This doesn't make me want to see it -- it makes we want to reach for the Ritalin.

[BlackJAC]

And Robert McKee's opinion is noted, and summarily rejected as usual.

[Scott Mendelson - Huffpost Blogger]

I'm sure the editing is more standard issue trailer cutting than indicative of the film. Abrams knowns how to shoot clear action set-pieces. Aside from Mission: Impossible 3, I point to the epic two person smack down that concluded the second season of Alias.

But yes, the best Trek films are parts 2, 4, 6, 7, and 8 - dramatic sci-fi stories that don't have all that much action (8 would be the closest to a pure action story I suppose). I know I'm the minority, but Undiscovered Country is still my favorite. While this version may have more action than is the norm, it will also probably be a good 15-30 min longer than the usual 105 minute running time that Trek films fill up, thus theoretically allowing just as much time for character beats and story development. We'll see...

[Michale32086]

I am with you on The Undiscovered Country being the best Trek Movie. Of the TNG movies, I think that First Contact was the best with Insurrection being a close second..

Michale....

[L. Rozner]

I believe that music cue is simply called "Star Trek Theme", composed by Alexander Courage for the original TV series. On that note though, it's funny you say that this Star Trek film has "dialogue on the nose". I always considered Star Trek to be more of a cerebral science fiction series that seems closer in terms to 2001: A Space Odyssey rahter than a scifi action series like the Star Wars films. The special effects look amazing, but they usually took the backseat to the main story, which is to discover new worlds and seek out new life. I caught an episode of the original series yesterday ("Errand of Mercy"), where Kirk and Spock must defeat a Klingon army but have trouble convincing the Organians to help them fight because the Organians are peaceful and refuse to engage in violence. In the climax of that episode, it was discovered that the Organians had evolved into pure energy over a period of a million years, thereby stopping the Federation and the Klingons from using their weapons and stopping the battle. It's that kind of stuff that made "Star Trek" so special, because it was a thinking man's sci fi show that concentrated more on the human condition (or Vulcan or Romulan for that matter) rather than flashy visual effects, which are perfectly fine, but it's ultimately about the characters in the end.

[BlackJAC]

That's because TREK was created during the height of Cold War and civil rights tensions by a World War Two bomber pilot turned cop.

[Scott Mendelson - Huffpost Blogger]

I heartily agree with you, and apparently so does Abrams. He basically said in the EW article that he wanted to make an optimistic film, as opposed to the darker, more cynical stuff like The Dark Knight (of course, The Dark Knight is ultimately hopeful, but only at the end).

This article I wrote on my personal site (before I was brought along to Huffington Post) might interest you...
http://scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com/2008/10/and-now-for-something-positive.html

Scott Mendelson