Star Trek

I never suspected that J.J. Abrams would have a major influence on my contemplation of time travel. First we have Lost discussing the nature of a single unchangeable timeline, and now Star Trek with its splitting timelines.

The first thing to deal with when viewing the new Star Trek is the alternate universe. Many fans seem to be quite upset with this, suggesting that it wipes out the history that we have watched over the last 40 years. They just can't understand the concept, even though it was explicitly revealed in the film. A reboot, a la Batman, Battlestar Galactica, and James Bond, would have wiped out that history. But thankfully in this case we have an escape built in to the Star Trek Universe. Now, Trek has had it both ways, showing many times a single changeable timeline, but it has also shown parallel universes before, starting with the venerable "Mirror, Mirror." In the Next Gen episode "Parallels", we watch Worf jump between universes a la Sliders, finally resulting in the converge of 285,000 Enterprises. Other notable episodes were "Yesterday's Enterprise," and "All Good Things", each portraying other ways things could have worked out. Producers of the new film have suggested that every time travel event in Star Trek history has produced a new universe, although I would argue that "Parallels" claimed that each universe had a unique quantum signature, and that one could return to their original home universe, so I think this explaination is unneccessary. [1]

I would also point out here that I fully contend that this new universe was pre-existing and that it was not "caused" by the Spock singularity. Federation technology was already on a different track, with the Kelvin being more advanced than its prime counterparts. It has been estimated that if the multiple universe theories are true, that only a googol universes would need to exist to allow for an infinite number of different outcomes. [2] So, it would seem that these googol universe already exists, otherwise any one of our decisions would create the energy and matter of an entire universe, and that seems far too extraordinary too any of this.

The second point to come to terms with is the new actors playing the sacrosanct characters of Kirk, et al. This has already been dealt with by some fans, with Star Trek: New Voyages, and I'll quote their website:

"Star Trek: Phase II's producers/crew feel that Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest should be treated as "classic" characters like Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings or even Hamlet, Othello or Romeo. Many actors have and can play the roles, each offering a different interpretation of said character. Though the character is the same, the interpretation of the actor is what's in question. We feel that the crew of the Enterprise has more to teach us about life and each other than has been explored to date. We also feel the new actors can add to the legend in a believable and contemporary way. The timelessness of the classic characters was recognized by JJ Abrams."

It is certainly true that Captain Kirk has joined the ranks of some other great fictional characters and has become part of contemporary mythology. All I can say is that the actors did a great job, bringin new dimesnions to the characters, while giving a nod to their original incarnations.

Thematically, this Star Trek is a bit of a departure. It is a more dangerous universe, cold and traumatic. There are clearly influences from Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, both in terms of visual style and action - being bold and dynamic, and in the story. Star trek has always been timely, from the height of the Cold War to the end of the Cold War . This is a post 9/11 Trek, with the destruction of a planet as their central history point. It would seem that planets and civilizations are now no longer safe in any of the great sci-fi worlds.

The major drawback of this film is the design of its most important character- the Enterprise. Externally, this one is simply ugly. It is obvioulsy much larger than its prime counterpart, as depicted by the interior.[3] [4] Internally, it is an incredible departure. It may have the nicest bridge on any sci-fi ship, with an ultra-modern Correllian design and a 300+ inch screen. Curiously some have noted that the engineering locations look like a brewery, with massive tanks. I guess these are just all the things that used to appear in Enterprise deck plans, but have now been magnified to usuable preportions. The interiors of the secondary hull contain immense levels of scaffolding and catwalks, looking like a 20th century industrial building. This gives an interesting contrast to the ipod-ness of the main hull. The shuttle bay is also massive, besides being influenced by the aforementioned epics, it also expands on the attempts made in TMP, although this time its exterior is enlarged to contain it.

What's next, and what will it be called? Will it be STII, or STXII? I was hoping that this film would do well enough for Paramount to do another Next Generation movie, as Levar Burton has suggested. I feel that the Enterprise E story is not over yet, but I also want to see another film with this cast. Perhaps the next one can feature the prime Enterprise following the missing spock, and they can call it The Search for Spock.


[1] This interview details canon and continuity.
[2] Once again, I refer to Time Machines
[3] USS_Enterprise_(alternate_reality)
[4]