Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-11-16
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 122 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
J.J. Abrams' 2009 feature film was billed as "not your father's Star Trek," but your father will probably love it anyway. And what's not to love? It has enough action, emotional impact, humor, and sheer fun for any moviegoer, and Trekkers will enjoy plenty of insider references and a cast that seems ideally suited to portray the characters we know they'll become later. Both a prequel and a reboot, Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk (Chris Pine of The Princess Diaries 2), a sharp but aimless young man who's prodded by a Starfleet captain, Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), to enlist and make a difference. At the Academy, Kirk runs afoul of a Vulcan commander named Spock (Zachary Quinto of Heroes), but their conflict has to take a back seat when Starfleet, including its new ship, the Enterprise, has to answer an emergency call from Vulcan. What follows is a stirring tale of genocide and revenge launched by a Romulan (Eric Bana) with a particular interest in Spock, and we get to see the familiar crew come together, including McCoy (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho), Chekhov (Anton Yelchin), and Scottie (Simon Pegg).
The action and visuals make for a spectacular big-screen movie, though the plot by Abrams and his writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who worked together on Transformers and with Abrams on Alias and Mission Impossible III), and his producers (fellow Losties Damon Lindeloff and Bryan Burk) can be a bit of a mind-bender (no surprise there for Lost fans). Hardcore fans with a bone to pick may find faults, but resistance is futile when you can watch Kirk take on the Kobayashi Maru scenario or hear McCoy bark, "Damnit, man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" An appearance by Leonard Nimoy and hearing the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry as the voice of the computer simply sweeten the pot. Now comes the hard part: waiting for some sequels to this terrific prequel. --David Horiuchi

Special Features
Disc 1:
• Commentary by y director J.J. Abrams, writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof and executive producer Bryan Burk.
• A New Vision: J.J. Abrams’ vision was not only to create a Star Trek that was a bigger, more action-packed spectacle, but also to make the spectacle feel real. Every aspect of production, from unique locations to the use of classic Hollywood camera tricks was guided by this overall objective.
• Gag Reel: Bloopers featuring the entire principal cast.

Disc 2:
• Deleted scenes with optional commentary:
- Spock Birth
- Klingons take over Narada
- Young Kirk, Johnny and uncle Frank
- Amanda and Sarek argue after Spock fights
- Prison interrogation and breakout
- Sarek gets Amanda
- Dorm room and Kobayashi Maru (original version)
- Kirk apologizes to the green girl
- Sarek sees Spock
• To Boldly Go: Taking on the world’s most beloved science fiction franchise was no small mission. Director J.J. Abrams, writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, producer Damon Lindelof, and executive producer Bryan Burk talk about the many challenges they faced and their strategy for success.
• Casting: The producers knew their greatest task was finding the right cast to reprise these epic roles. The cast, for their part, talk about the experience of trying to capture the essence of these mythic characters. The piece concludes with a moving tribute to Leonard Nimoy.
• Aliens: Designers Neville Page and Joel Harlow talk about the hurdles they faced creating new alien species, recreating the Romulans and Vulcans, and designing the terrifying creatures on Delta Vega for the new Star Trek.
• Score: As a fan of the original series, composer Michael Giacchino embraced the challenge of creating new music for Star Trek while preserving the spirit of Alexander Courage’s celebrated theme.

Subtitle information: French, German, Danish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, English (P), Castilian Spanish, Finnish, Dutch

Synopsis
Those prepared to hate the reboot of STAR TREK--whether they're diehard fans or those in the anti-sci-fi camp--may be convinced to lower their shields after seeing this fun, action-filled film. Best known for creating mythology-driven series like LOST, J.J. Abrams has imbued his version with the elements that have made his shows such mind-bending entertainment while still keeping the soul of the saga intact. STAR TREK begins with an attack by an impossibly advanced Romulan ship captained by the tattooed, snarling Nero (Eric Bana). Among the survivors is the infant version of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), who grows up to wreak havoc on the Iowa countryside. When Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) meets an adult Kirk, he encourages him to join Starfleet, giving him the opportunity to meet Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and the rest of the characters audiences have loved for decades.
Abrams has assembled a fine cast who seem to be aware of their predecessors but never resort to impressions. Both Quinto and Pine do a fine job with their portrayals of Kirk and Spock, and Karl Urban couldn't be better as Leonard McCoy. The supporting players--Simon Pegg (Scotty), John Cho (Sulu), and Anton Yelchin (Chekov)--all capture the essence of what drove their characters, though their screen time is limited. STAR TREK manages the nearly impossible: it pleases hardcore fans with plenty of in-jokes and references (and an appearance by the original Spock, Leonard Nimoy), but it doesn't alienate newcomers with tons of technobabble. The action and effects rank with any other top-tier summer blockbuster, but there's plenty of humour to balance the excitement. For anyone who (wrongly) felt he had to hide his trekker tendencies, this undeniably cool version of STAR TREK offers a chance to wear the 'geek' label with pride.

Customer Reviews

Trek gets to live long and prosper, after all
The latest Trek film cleverly manages to be a sequel, a prequel and a re-boot. It achieves this through the most over-used plot device in the Trek library of time travel, but for once it's justified as the result is an interesting set-up to an adventure that's a great deal of fun. Bad guys from Picard's era go back in time seeking revenge. They return to a time before Kirk and co embarked on their five-year mission, but their arrival changes the time-line, which means the established history doesn't have to follow the same course as it did previously. This is a neat idea, which you can either accept or not. I did.

I'll lay my cards on the table as being a fully-fledged Trek geek. I've watched every version many times, and yet there was nothing within the established history that was changed here that caused me any problems, but then again to my mind there wasn't much in the way of an established history that was all that important anyway. I certainly don't want to see flower people, mini-skirted Romulans and all the other aspects of a quaint 60s look at the future maintained forever. Plus, every version of Trek re-invents itself. The original series and the characters of Kirk, McCoy etc were a re-invention after the studios rejected the original pilot featuring Captain Pike. The Next Generation made peace with the Klingons. Deep Space 9 rewrote the established history for Cardassia and Bajor. Enterprise played fast and loose to allow Borg and Ferengi to appear and the crimes against good story-telling committed by Voyager are long and painful. Frankly, if we Trek fans can swallow Janeway and Paris mating after going at Warp 10 and changing into giant lizards, then there is nothing, but nothing in here to give concern.

Even when something important changes, there's always a good reason behind it. Initially, a romance sub-plot feels wrong, but then again it's a logical aspect of the characters' journey. Clearly the makers cared enough to think about what made the characters tick, and they did their homework. The best example of this is the Kobayashi Maru scene, a sacred piece of Trek law that is played for laughs. At first this felt as if it were diminishing the significance that The Wrath of Khan placed on the incident, and yet it is a valid way for Kirk to behave, and it wasn't until later that I clicked that the apple-eating was a homage. It's things like this that make the movie work for rabid Trekkies like me, but it also works for the less committed fan because the story returns to the old-fashioned values of rip-roaring space adventure that the franchise had forgotten about delivering some years ago.

In the opening ten-minute prologue Trek re-boots itself with more non-stop movement, action, self-sacrifice and corny drama than in the entire previous two movies. Once the human drama has been presented as being as important as the space battles by raising Kirk's birth to mythological levels, we get to see how the original crew meets up. Some of the crew such as Spock look like the original actor, some like McCoy have the essence of the original, and some like Scotty owe nothing to the original. But in all cases the comparison is with the actor, not with the character, and after living with them for a while all the characters feel right.

The adventure itself is as nonsensical as they ever were, but it carries the day with speed, humour, and some well-filmed action scenes along with underplayed special effects. My only complaint is the flares in which bright lights are repeatedly shone at the screen, although I think they won't be so intrusive when seen on tv. Other than that this film gets everything right, especially the big surprise plot twist, one that those who know their Trek would never expect. The fact that it's there is a brave testament to the fact that these are a new set of adventures, and they're adventures I'll be looking forward to.

Star Trek XI
THIS YEAR'S IRON MAN
I guess there are different sorts of die hard fans. I'm of the type who has lapped up everything Star Trek for 40 years. The orginal series was great and so were most of the even numbered movies. TNG was a great ride but with each successive series thereafter, the ideas got less an less original - not that the shows weren't created by hugely talented people but how could they stay hot after hundreds of episodes? By the time we limped to Enterprise, the franchise needed a shot in the arm if it was going to survive. I was hugely sceptical about Abrams' version - Simon Pegg as Scotty, come on! I mean we love him but that definately felt like credibility was being stretched.

What a true delight it was then to see a true pumped up, rock 'n' roll version of Star Trek! Abrams and his gang did a clever thing, they created their very own Star Trek leaving the original series and everything we know fully intact sat happily in its own time line. Don't misunderstand though, this is the very same Kirk, Spock, McCoy and co. we all know and love, just sent down a slightly different path. So we can take a few liberties, mix things up a bit and generally have a ton of fun.

The story does what it needs to, the casting is great (especially Spock and McCoy), the effects are fantastic and Abrams manages to do character moments on the move so there's hardly time to take a breath - oh and Simon Pegg is great as Scotty!

Overall I got a real sense of joi de vivre, hence it being this year's Iron Man something that's been missing from Trek for a long time.

Maybe the best thing is, die hards and newbies alike will all find something to like.

Buy it!

A great action blockbuster in its own right
I'm not a trekkie, and I absolutely loved this film - it's a great action blockbuster full stop. Chris Pine is the perfect cast for our young Kirk, and this brings an aging franchise into the 21st century. If you like stunning action scenes, this is the one for you. Can't wait to see it again.