"Live long and Prosper"
Based on a hit TV show? Check.
Rebel lead character? Yup.
Cameo’s? Confirmed.
Bromance/Possible love triangle? This is Hollywood.
Prequel? Maybe or maybe not.
Science-Fiction? What?!
One Friday night, I found myself forced to watch Star Trek (2009) in the theater with my friends. I had read the reviews and all I saw was the word "science-fiction'". This was not going to be a good night.I myself have never been into sci-fi. Science was my worst subject in school and I never found it interesting. I remember going to the nurse’s office 'sick' every time we had a chemistry lab. After watching this movie, which I thought I was going to hate but surprisingly didn't, I decided to actually see what sci-fi really meant. First, I looked up the definition of sci-fi. According to Answers.com, it is “A literary or cinematic genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.” After reading this definition all I thought of was X-Files (my mom's favorite show); aliens, time travel, Scully and Molder, basically it bored me. I remember my mom would come home early from work just to watch this show. We only had one TV in the house so I was forced to watch it if I wanted to watch TV. I wish I liked books back then. Sometimes I admit, I found it really fascinating and other times I fell asleep early.
So then after realizing what sci-fi meant, I googled sci-fi movies. Maybe I had seen a trailer or two or even a picture online of one. Wow was I surprised! I found these two websites; Sci-Fi Movie Page and IMDB Sci-Fi. It turned out I had seen a lot more movies in this field than I had expected. Beetlejuice, a Tim Burton classic, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Children of Men, Iron Man, The Prestige, The Matrix, Wall-E, The Truman Show, E.T., a childhood classic, The Incredibles and the one movie I never would have thought, The Goonies!
I had never known that these movies were considered "sci-fi". This whole time I guess I really did find science fiction, fantasy, time travel and maybe an alien fascinating. I shouldn't have judged the whole sci-fi genre based on the word. I shouldn’t have laughed when I heard people were lining up for the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movies. There’s a reason why these movies are so good. This whole time I enjoyed science fiction films.
I guess now I should admit that I have seen every episode of Lost and maybe an episode or two of Abrams other show Fringe (FOX). Before researching sci-fi I had no idea they fell into this category. I just liked the premise of these shows and if the science fiction part was thrown in there, I was oblivious to it.
I've learned you can’t judge a genre just by the definition; you need to see it for yourself, with an open mind. I've seen Star Trek (2009) four times. Each time I learn something new and find a part I might have missed the time before. The character's chemistry, an alternate reality, and of course the good looking rebel lead character, make this movie more than just science fiction, that part is just thrown in there and you'll never know it.
Science Fiction? It's growing on me.
"Trekkie"? No, well not yet.
Star Trek 2009. Dir. J. J. Abrams. Starring. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood. 2009. Paramount Pictures. 2009. DVD
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