Movie Review: Star Trek The Motion Picture

This is the latest Star Trek movie, released in 2009. Traditionally, Star Trek fans are referred to as 'trekkies', and are commonly seen as nerds... much like the characters from the Big Bang Theory (which I recently covered). However, this movie is anything but nerdy... in fact its probably the best movie I've seen since the first Transformers movie. I had watched it in the cinemas when it first came out, but I watched it again last night, so I thought I'd take the chance to talk about it while its still fresh in my mind.

This movie shows briefly the past of the two main characters; James Kirk and Spock. It begins back when James was going to be conceived aboard the USS Kelvin, where his father served and his mother was in the medical bay. A gigantic warship appears out of nowhere and begins attacking the ship. The ship hails the USS Kelvin and requests the presence of the captain for negotiations. The captain takes a shuttle to the ship and leaves James' father; George Kirk, in command of the ship. The captain is killed aboard the ship, and the enemy then orders an all out attack on the USS Kelvin. The newly promoted Captain George Kirk then has the ship evacuated, including Kirk's mother, who proceeds to give birth to James whilst on the shuttle. George sacrifices himself to buy time for the shuttles to escape. From there the movie shows James' rebellious nature as a kid, which then progresses to adulthood. At the same time, the movie shows Spock's childhood difficulties being half-human, half-vulcan, being raised in a Vulcan society.

The movie is then based on James' first journey aboard the USS Enterprise, with the characters from previous Star Trek movies. I recognised some of the names from having watched The Big Bang Theory, so it was nice to put a face to the names that they mention.

The main characters are;

James T. Kirk - the son of a hero who saved many lives. He grows up to be rebellious and a womaniser... yet also a genius. He joins Starfleet with the intention of becoming a captain within 3 years.

Commander Spock - half-human, half-vulcan. He grew up suffering from discrimination for his half-human heritage, yet he excelled at his education and was considered a genius. He joins Starfleet and rises to the rank of commander aboard the USS Enterprise, alongside Captain Pike.

Dr Leonard "Bones" McCoy - he meets James Kirk when they first joined Starfleet and they become good friends at the academy. He is a senior medical practitioner on the USS Enterprise.

Nyota Uhura - she is the communications officer of the USS Enterprise. She was previously a student of Spock whilst at the academy. It is clear there is a connection between them when she fights so hard to get him to change her assignment to the USS Enterprise, and he was uneasy because he felt it might have been seen as favouritism.

Hikaru Sulu - the helmsman of the USS Enterprise.

Pavel Chekov - he is the comic relief character (or at least for me, although Sulu has a lot of funny moments too), with his Russian accent causing him to make some words sound funnier... especially since he makes the intercom announcements throughout the ship. He is however very gifted at mathematics, which makes him very useful in various scenarios of the movie.

Captain Nero - the leader of the mysterious gigantic ship that you see at the beginning

Captain Pike- captain of the USS Enterprise. He was the one who convinced James Kirk to follow in the footsteps of his father. He had also previously served on the USS Kelvin, and feels that he owes his life to James' father.


Rating - 10/10. It would generally be pretty rare for me to give out a rating of 10, however I feel Star Trek is very deserving of it. It was a great adaptation of Star Trek, and I think it will help increase Star Trek's popularity. It has a nice combination of special effects, space fights, fight scenes in general, some romance, and good humour. I'd recommend it to everyone.