You’re probably wetting yourself a little bit today with the release of the new Star Trek film. Could this be the one to bring the franchise back to life? In a few hours we’ll all know. But before you sit down with your Goober and Mountain Dew, get a little insight to the film. Check out the 20 things you didn’t know about the new Star Trek. (Spoiler Free)
20. Originally the writers planned for William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy to repirse their roles. However, the writers concurred that with the immutable death of Kirk in Star Trek: Generations, Shatner’s appearance would be seen as “pandering to the Trekkies’ plea to resurrect Kirk,” so old Kirk was removed. This decision disappointed both Shatner and Nimoy, as they wanted Shatner in the film.
19. Matt Damon called J.J. Abrams when he heard rumors that he was being considered for the role of Captain Kirk. The response from Abrams was a very polite “no”. He explained that Damon was “too old” for the role.
18. Years before, Simon Pegg’s character in “Spaced” (1999) joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film being “shit” was a fact of life. Pegg noted: “Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ass.”
17. This is Leonard Nimoy’s first live-action film role since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
16. While most Trekkers will have known this detail for decades, this is the first time that Uhura has been given a first name on screen: Nyota. Gene Roddenberry never came up with a first name for her, so many thought this meant she did not have one, although in literature, Uhura is often referred to as Nyota by her comrades, and she is also referred to as Nyota Uhura in the DC Comics publication “Who’s Who in Star Trek”.
15. J.J. Abrams’ “good luck charm” Greg Grunberg had to turn down a role in this film due to other commitments. However, Grunberg was worked into the movie during post-production, voicing James Kirk’s step-father.
14. The character that Bruce Greenwood plays, Captain Christopher Pike, was the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise in the unaired original series pilot episode, “Star Trek: The Cage . In that episode, Pike was portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter. Initially, the episode was rejected but when a second pilot was ordered, Hunter dropped out of the series so the part was rewritten and recast with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. The footage from the unaired pilot was later woven into the episode “Star Trek: The Menagerie: Part 1. In the mythology of Star Trek, Captain Pike is considered to be Captain Kirk’s predecessor, a plot line to be (potentially) played out in the film.
13. Majel Barrett, the wife of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, has a role in this film as the voice of the Enterprise computer (She was the voice of the computer throughout Star Trek). She completed filming two weeks before her death on December 18 2008.
12. The idea of a young James T. Kirk and young Spock meeting at the Academy was considered as early as 1968, announced by Gene Roddenberry at the World Science Fiction Convention.
11. The role of James T. Kirk came down between Mike Vogel and Chris Pine. Vogel was reported as being the front runner for the part but J.J. Abrams decided to cast Pine in the end. Joshua Jackson also auditioned for the role.
10. The “Trek” movie with the longest hiatus to date since the last motion picture (7 years).
9. Tyler Perry’s first movie role outside one of his own projects.
8. Christopher Doohan, the son of the late James Doohan (Scotty from the original series), will appear in the new Star Trek along side the new Scotty, Simon Pegg. Simon Pegg was on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and said that Chris “plays my assistant in one of the scenes”. It is also known that Chris has a scene with Marlene Forte, who plays the part of Transport Chief on the Enterprise.
7. To prepare for his role as Captain James Kirk, Chris Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe. However, his research was rudimentary, as he wanted his performance to be original and not an imitation of William Shatner. He based his performance on Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo and Indiana Jones, heroes who Pine felt possessed the archetypal hero qualities Kirk has (humour, arrogance, decisiveness).
6. Eric Bana’s character, Nero, is missing the tip of one of his Romulan ears. In the movie Chopper, Bana’s character Mark ‘Chopper’ Reed has an ear-tip cut off in an attempt to escape from jail.
5. Brief mentions are made to “Admiral Archer” and his beagle. Then-Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) was the captain of the title ship in “Enterprise” (which takes place before this movie), and kept a Beagle named Porthos.
4. In the scene where Kirk is taking the Kobayashi Maru test, he is eating an apple, which is also what he is eating while recounting his tale of taking the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.
3. This is the first “Star Trek” film to list its cast in alphabetical order, rather than by who the leads are. This was done to reflect the ensemble nature of the film’s cast.
2. Both Carol Marcus and Nurse Chapel featured in an early draft of the script but both were cut by the final draft.
1. Randy Pausch, a Carnegie-Mellon Computer Science professor and “Star Trek” fan who gained widespread fame as the author of a “Last Lecture” in which he discussed living the life of his dreams in the face of terminal pancreatic cancer, was invited by J.J. Abrams to appear as an extra in this film. Pausch wrote in his blog about the experience, “I got a custom-made Star Trek uniform and my own station on the bridge, where I had lots of buttons and controls. I even got a LINE!!!!” Pausch died on July 25, 2008.
Star Trek Newbie? Then check out Star Trek Movies 101
Comments