[img]7|left|||no_popup[/img] Okay, I admit it. No, no, really: I admit it. I’m a big enough person to confess I’m wrong when something happens against my expectations. Although I didn’t think it possible, the new Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams rekindled my great, though long-dormant, affection for Star Trek.

Warning! Spoilers!

Mind you, not because I think Abrams’ film, despite a gorgeous aesthetic, is a good Star Trek film in itself; it isn’t. No, I credit Abrams for restoring my enthusiasm for the much-loved series by prompting me to revisit the original series that started it all. And what a rekindling! The digitally remastered series, which boasts clean, vivid imagery and enhanced special effects, is beautiful. Like a neglected house restored to grandeur through the careful work of affectionate craftspeople, the remastered Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) is more inviting than ever. As I watch the episodes that I know well, and rediscover a few that I had forgotten, I am impressed at how well Star Trek has withstood that cruelest of all tests, time.
Of course the series does have its quaint elements. It has shortcomings attributable to financial limitations or, perhaps more importantly, having less of a film and television history to draw on than today’s filmmakers. Unlike Gene Roddenberry and his people back in the 1960s, today’s storytellers have decades more film and TV history and craft to study in terms of what does and doesn’t work. Yet, like many of television’s classic series, Star Trek operates beyond all that. The strength of the characters, the richness of the ideas, the drama in the stories – despite a short run, Star Trek put out some terrific television to rev up the imagination.

Countless words have been written about the significance of Star Trek in terms of popular science fiction. Roddenberry’s optimism, for example, though certainly not as wild-eyed as commonly made out, is one aspect of the series that stands out. Where many take the view that humanity is doomed to dystopianism and self-destruction, Roddenberry’s hopeful view of a humanity that steadily overcomes its limitations remains attractive. Today, it’s even the rebel perspective. But the show, starting from the loose vision of space western, also dealt with science fiction concepts in a way that is faithful to what may gratingly be called, with necessary quotation marks, the “spirit” of the science fiction “genre.” What if two nations fought endless, bloodless wars by computers – and registered casualties by having “killed” citizens walk into death chambers? What if humanity was given the chance for immortality – as androids? From intelligent machines and alien civilizations to parallel universes and experimental technologies, Star Trek managed to tell human stories rooted in usually respectable speculative science. Of course, there were bits of silliness here and there, particularly as the show was all but abandoned by NBC in the third season, but overall the depth and quality of many of the series’ episodes still resonate strongly. Consider Devil in the Dark, a story of alien contact based on miscommunication and misunderstanding. Or Balance of Terror, a naval warfare drama recalling Horatio Hornblower or Jack Aubrey. Or, of course, The City on the Edge of Forever. The list, as they say, goes on.

Newer Is Not Necessarily Better

While accolades and applause are heaped on Abrams’ Star Trek, watching the classic episodes only serves to highlight just how lacking in spirit the reboot is. Watching the movie did not FEEL at all like watching an episode of the original series. In part it’s because Orci and Kurtzman are sloppy writers. They throw around concepts like “red matter” merely for the convenience of the plot — they needed to create black holes on demand — without any sort of explanation or attention to science. They pay even less attention to the bureaucracy and protocols of Starfleet than the original series did, yielding irksome incongruities like freshly minted Academy graduates taking command positions on a starship. But that’s the sort of detail that can be forgiven in the breathless pace of action scenes. Harder to accept is the film’s lack of moral fiber in its treatment of annihilated planets, a treatment that becomes especially grating when it comes to Kirk’s assumption of command. While some critics who disliked the Star Trek movie, and even some who did, weren’t charmed by Kirk’s arrogant tuning in the film – I admit, the apple-munching in-your-face cheating on a test was a bit over the top – what especially annoyed me in an otherwise fine characterization was this: Kirk used an incredible personal and universal tragedy to rile up Spock and wrest command of the Enterprise. In the series, Kirk was not above provoking Spock when necessary — to rid the Vulcan of an alien influence, for example. But outright emotional manipulation?

And there I go nitpicking again. With nits that huge, it’s hard to resist. In the bigger picture, watching the old series really drove home how much the stories did involve exploring in some respect, whether it was the ramifications of some new technology or the consequences of encountering an alien lifeform. Star Trek the movie has none of that. In considering the missed opportunity to relaunch the franchise as more than yet another action extravaganza, I have to think about Disney’s The Black Hole. The visually stunning 1979 sci fi film about a ship’s encounter with a missing science vessel in orbit around a black hole is just the sort of flawed work — the ending is pure nonsense — that would benefit from a remake. A remake, that is, that corrects mistakes, deepens the characters, and reinforces the plot while keeping to the sinister plot and mood of a scientist’s ruthless ambition to go into and beyond the singularity. Although the comparison is forced — Star Trek’s characters and plots don’t need help — the point remains generally the same: the new movie should have updated those things that needed updating while preserving the core spirit.

It occurs to me, however, that I might be getting unnecessarily worked up. For those who enjoyed it, I leave the new Star Trek film to them and hope that future films will convince me. Until then, the Star Trek I know and love is right there on DVD, ready to be experienced. The new movie diminishes them in no way. So thank you, Mr. Abrams, for bringing me back to an old friend.

Frédérik invites you to discuss the Star Trek movie at his blog.