Entertainment
Sexy Blockbuster That Revived The Greatest Sci-Fi Franchise Now On Netflix
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
After the abrupt failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the slow death of Star Trek: Enterprise, it seemed like Gene Roddenberry’s famous sci-fi franchise was as dead as its creator. However, in 2009, the franchise was reborn with a sleek and sexy reboot that had a young cast playing characters originally made popular by the likes of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.
If you’re ready to boldly go where no reboot has ever gone before, you can now stream Star Trek on Netflix.
Cowboys Vs. Romulans
The premise of Star Trek (2009) is that a younger Enterprise crew full of familiar faces (including Kirk and Spock) is sent to investigate an emergency on the planet Vulcan. There, they encounter a Romulan supervillain from the future in command of the most powerful ship the galaxy has ever seen. He’s trying to change Romulus’ past, but if our heroes can’t stop him, Earth itself will have no future.
Star Trek (2009) uses the franchise’s classic time travel gimmick to create a reboot universe where Kirk loses his father at a young age, and the Enterprise crew of The Original Series is pressed into service while still attending Starfleet Academy. For classic franchise fans, this is meant to explain why so many of their favorite characters and settings are so different. Really, though, this plot point is just an excuse to transform the slow, cerebral world of Star Trek into a fast-paced world filled with action and adventure.
To Boldly Recast
The cast is arguably the strongest part of Star Trek (2009), starting with Chris Pine (best known outside this franchise for Wonder Woman) as James T. Kirk, a charismatic space cowboy who plays by his own rules. Meanwhile, Zachary Quinto (best known outside this franchise for Margin Call) plays Spock, an alien whose obsession with logic hides surprising passion. Karl Urban (known best outside this franchise for the Lord of the Rings movies) plays Dr. McCoy, a crusty crank who takes his country doctor routine into the depths of space.
The rest of the young cast is brilliant, especially Simon Pegg’s hilarious Scotty and the late, great Anton Yelchin’s wunderkind Chekhov. Marvel Cinematic Universe icon Chris Hemsworth also makes a brief, memorable appearance as James Kirk’s father, a man whose shoes the future Enterprise captain spends his entire life trying to fill. Rounding out the cast are veteran performers who include Leonard Nimoy (reprising his role as the Spock of the future), Winona Ryder (playing young Spock’s mother years before she played Will Byers’ mom on Stranger Things), and Eric Bana (whose Romulan villain from the future is as quirky as he is crazy).
Green Me Up, Scotty
The 23rd century may not be obsessed with money, but it’s still very important to those of us in the here and now, especially movie studios. Fortunately, Star Trek (2009) made enough profit to please a Ferengi, earning $385.7 million against a budget of $150 million. This led to the JJ Abrams sequel Star Trek Into Darkness, which pitted this leaner, meaner iteration of the Enterprise crew against Khan, the franchise’s fiercest foe.
When Star Trek (2009) premiered, critics decided that it managed to boldly go where the franchise had never gone before. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a score of 94 percent, with critics praising the film for the tight script that combined both action and humor. They also commended the new cast members playing these iconic characters and declared that this reboot would impress new Trek fans and old Trek fans alike.
A Movie That Made Star Trek History
Even more impressive than the positive critical reception is the fact that Star Trek (2009) was the first film in the entire franchise to earn an Academy Award. The film was nominated for four different awards (including Best Visual Effects), ultimately taking home the Oscar for Best Makeup. Four different Trek films had been previously nominated, and this reboot, being the first to bring home the gold, helped drive home the point that the Kelvinverse was a really big deal.
As a lifelong fan of the franchise, I was originally prepared to hate Star Trek (2009)…after all, it was completely different from shows like The Original Series and The Next Generation, emphasizing non-stop action and relentless humor over exploration and diplomacy. But the cast really won me over thanks to their powerful performances and collective chemistry. In short, it’s tough to be cranky about changes to the franchises when the movie is this much fun from beginning to end.
Plus, I have to give Star Trek (2009) its props: it is arguably the single best piece of media to transform a complete newbie into a fan of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew. Even the greatest Star Trek shows have some awful episodes, and it can be tough to win your friends over by just showing them 45 minutes of Picard figuring out memes, Riker flirting with holograms, or Dr. Crusher having sex with a ghost. But show them this gorgeous movie filled with equally gorgeous characters and a script tighter than William Shatner’s pants, and you’ll make your friend into a lifelong fan.
Star Trek Awakens
Incidentally, the movie and its sequel were directed by J.J. Abrams, who would go on to direct two of the three films in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. That’s only fitting because he fills Star Trek (2009) with cool fights, epic action sequences, and killer setpieces. That means this movie is likely to appeal to fans of a galaxy far, far away while serving (ironically enough) as a much more ambitious franchise reboot than The Force Awakens, which came across as nothing more than a reskinned version of the first Star Wars movie.
Will you agree that Star Trek (2009) is a roller coaster ride of sci-fi thrills and chills, or would you rather get beamed up than watch all the way through to the credits? The only way to find out is to set your phasers to “fun” and stream this rockin’ reboot on Netflix. Afterward, you may join me and countless other fans in petitioning Paramount to change course and make a fourth Kelvinverse film starring this amazing cast!
