Louis LaSalle/Fine Art Photography blog

Most importantly to fans, is it Star Trek? Meaning, does it have the right tone and feeling? Does it respect the material, the ideals and the characters of the original series? If you can accept that canon has become a boat anchor and that 1960's ideas of what 23rd century technology will look like are dated -- a very much relieved yes! Star Trek has always at it's heart been about two things, about the relationship of its lead characters (the whole is greater than the sum of its parts); and the morality play, teaching a lesson couched as entertainment. This movie is more about the former, showing the foundation of the relationships we grew to love over three seasons and 6 movies. Largely strangers at the start of the film, this is a tight knit crew that at the end have every reason to deeply trust each other. The morality play aspect of classic Star Trek is given a bit of short shift in this initial outing of the franchise reboot. But faint echoes of it are still there, when Kirk is faced with a moral dilemma and chooses to take the high road. In total, the new caretakers of Star Trek have got the words and they've got the music. The tempo has changed, and the lyrics have been updated, but the music is still familiar, comfortable and loved. Equally important, is it any good? A resounding yes! This reset is exciting, fun and fast. I'm looking forward to the next adventure, much more so than I have the last few Trek outings.

Sidebar: This Enterprise feels much larger than it's predecessor. And while not canonical (there's that word again), a VR experience on the official movie website puts this Enterprise's length at 2500 feet with a crew complement of 1100, versus the original's (also non-canoncial) length of 948 feet with a canonical crew complement of 430. To put things in perspective, the contemporary nuclear aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise has a length of 1123 feet and a crew complement of 3500.

The casting and performances in this movie will be endlessly discussed all over the web. Suffice to say that I'm satisfied with the results. The characters are recognizable, the portrayals respectful, but not mimicry. All the beloved are given their moments. Every one of them is shown to be an exceptional individual that belongs on the bridge of the Federation's flagship. Perhaps most surprisingly of all, faced with appearing on screen with Leonard Nimoy, Zachary Quinto acquits himself quite well. The emotions are pitch perfect. 

The movie is not without it's faults - mostly in the art direction. The bright bridge set results in frequent and annoying lens flares. The engine room... well... suffice to say I expect to see a new set in the next outing. Plot-wise a couple of promotions occur in the movie with too convenient ease. The score is largely undistinguished as music to sit and listen to, but serves the action well. The costumes are all beautifully designed, but the shipboard uniforms are largely ill-fitting (though I love the subtle pattern of Starfleet logos).

Most importantly, it's a fun movie, and at the end, our familiar family of characters has been established. And the galaxy is filled with endless possibilities. If this crew has the courage and endurance to give us the 25 years of entertainment the original crew gave us (1966 - 1991), sign me up for the ride.

In connection with the release of the new Star Trek movie, working with Paramount Studios, the great folks at IconFactory have done a set of Star Trek icons and phone and desktop wallpapers. They are beautiful work. But the phone wallpapers are a bit plain. So I combined the icons with the wallpapers to create augmented versions.
 
You can find the IconFactory Star Trek stuff here:
http://iconfactory.com/startrek/
 
And Roam around the rest of the IconFactory website to find 10s of thousands of free icons and wallpapers. Lots more Trek stuff, but also every other movie you can imagine and lots of others besides, from the cute and cuddly to the bold and ugly. They've got great icons for everyone from little princesses to geeks and gear heads.

           

Yesterday I heard a report on the radio about the possible elimination of Public Access TV in San Francisco due to the current budget crisis and state law changing control of cable franchises from local to state control. As a result there is a drastic drop in available funding for the Public Access channel.