Star Trek Into Darkness

SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! You have been warned!!!Others have detailed the plot specifics so I will go with my own perspective as a lifelong Star Trek fan who started watching TOS in syndicated rerun in the mid-70's. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is my favorite Star Trek movie by far and it is in my list of the Top 10 films of all-time. So I was a bit concerned when I read the rumors on the Internet that Cumberbatch was going to reprise this iconic Science Fiction role in Star Trek: Into Darkness. I felt that JJ & company needed to do something different since they had created an alternate timeline with the first movie. I think the writing team had given lots of thought of parallel universes and how certain points and people are fixed in time in all possible universes. The work they did on Fringe pushed them to do several seasons worth of story about an alternate universe. Peter was their fixed person in the Fringe universe who impacted both realities. The writers looked at Khan the same way. I had to think about the plot threads of terrorism, betrayal, security, revenge, optimism, family and trust that were weaved through Into Darkness after seeing it Wednesday night. I then read the novelization and the prequel graphic novel to gain a better perspective before I went and watched the movie again today.The main themes hit by this story are many such as Kirk being too young, impetuous, inexperienced, undisciplined, egotistical, etc., to command a starship effectively; Spock still suffering emotionally from the traumatic loss of his home-world and his mother while trying to connect with his erratic, emotional, impulsive Captain; Starfleet Command reacting badly to the devastating terror attack by Nero against Vulcan and Starfleet in the previous film causing Starfleet Command to turn to extraordinary extra-legal actions to bring security to the Federation despite undermining the very freedoms and ethics espoused by the Federation (Section 31); Scotty being the one crew member (besides Spock) willing to take a moral stand with Kirk over crossing the line of legality and ethics while Kirk & Starfleet are preoccupied with revenge against Khan.So to me this wasn't a rehash of Wrath of Khan because that story was about coming to terms with growing older and feeling that life had passed you by. Kirk's past comes back to haunt him and the Enterprise and Kirk finally had to face his own Kobyashi Maru test with Spock's sacrifice. Khan was motivated by his need for vengeance against Kirk over the loss of his wife and being left marooned on a doomed planet. This too was an issue from Khan's past he could not let go and it was his undoing. ST:ID is about surviving the viccitudes of youth and learning from your mistakes to mature into a better sentient being connected to your friends and society. Kirk had Pike to place his faith and trust in him even when Kirk had royally screwed up from the hubris of flagrantly violating the Prime Directive on Nibiru even as Kirk failed to recognize this error. It took Pike's death and the pursuit of Khan to bring Kirk to the realization that he had to change his worldview and behavior.Spock was struggling with his inner demons over the loss of Vulcan and his mother. He also made a personal journey of self-discovery in ST:ID especially after Kirk sacrificed himself to save the ship. Spock is filled with rage and pursues Khan with a fury never seen before. He helps save his friend Jim Kirk and he can now acknowledge this friendship and let it evolve.Starfleet Command reacted like the US did after 9/11. They undermined their own principles in the name of imagined security. Admiral Marcus had sent out ships looking for resources to help Starfleet defend the Federation and they found the Botany Bay. Admiral Marcus thought he could exploit Khan's genetically engineered superior intellect and his capacity for violence to give the clandestine Section 31 (think CIA/Homeland Security/Special Forces) an advantage in building a capacity to take on the biggest perceived threat to the Federation for Admiral Marcus... the Klingon Empire. Thus you get the top-secret special prototype photon torpedoes and the built for combat USS Vengeance along with who knows what else that didn't get mentioned. You get incidents manipulated to provoke a state of war with the Klingons. All justified in the name of security.Scotty was just awesome in this story. He was a moral compass while getting in on the action with the sabotage of the USS Vengeance. He also got some more great comedic scenes and lines. I was a bit disappointed that Bones didn't get more involved in this story but since it involved more technological issues I can see why Scotty was used rather than McCoy. Bones still got in some great metaphors and scenes and you know he can deliver Gorn babies in a crisis situation. Sulu gets a taste of the command chair and Checkov gets to flex his savant genius abilities as Scotty's replacement (temporarily) as Chief Engineer. Uhura has some issues with Spock, talks up some Klingons, battles some Klingons & makes some tough long distance calls. Getting a young Carol Marcus was cool and they didn't force her to be romantically involved with Kirk, She gets to join the crew and maybe they will hook up in the next installment. The Big E gets a refit to repair her battle damage and the crew of the USS Enterprise embark on the start of what should be an eventful, glorious and historic Five-Year Mission to Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before.So I give Into Darkness a 9.235 out of 10. My biggest issue was with how long it took to warp to Kronos and then back to Earth. Unless warp speed had improved by a factor of 100 over the old Star Trek this was a plot device that was just way out of step with the rest of the movie. So other than that I am cool with the rest of the film elements as they were explained by the prequel graphic novel and in the novelization book for the film. I look forward to Star Trek 3 to come out in May of 2016 to be a part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek!!!**************DVD Release Addendum*************I was really excited about the Blu-ray release of Into Darkness. I had read about the multitude of extras that JJ Abrams and his team shot for inclusion with the Blu-ray that would be exciting for the fans. Apparently the good folks in the marketing department at Paramount took a look at this treasure of bonus material and saw a way to extort the fans for even more profit. They struck deals to parcel out these bonus features to different retailers forcing fans to buy a plethora of copies to collect all of the bonus features. I didn't cancel my order because this isn't Amazon's fault and I do want the awesome phaser. I won't be buying these extra copies to line Paramount's pockets full of gold-pressed latinum. Actually, if Paramount had an ounce of integrity they would make a public apology for trying to screw over the fans of Star Trek who have made them profits that would make a Ferengi blush and offer a Blu-ray disc with the bonus material to make up for this error in judgement.The website Digital Bits is where I was alerted to this shameful avarice. It stated the following: "Yes... the seven featurettes listed in the press release are basically everything you get on the disc, aside from the usual DVD copy, Digital Copy, UltraViolet copy, Xerox copy and what not. The featurettes amount to about 42 minutes of EPK-style behind the scenes material. There's no commentary, no deleted scenes, no trailers... which would be bad enough.Except...It turns out that more extras were created for this release - more featurettes and even an audio commentary with director J.J. Abrams and members of his crew. None of it is available on the wide release Blu-ray or Blu-ray 3D SKUs. The commentary can only be found as an iTunes "extra" download. And those extra featurettes? Some are on a Target bonus disc. Some are on a Best Buy bonus disc. And some are only available via CinemaNow and VUDU downloads. That's right: More than half of the special features created for Star Trek Into Darkness were used by Paramount's marketing team as retailer exclusives. It's a terrible way to treat your consumers, who are sometimes spending $30 or more for a Blu-ray, expecting to get a little genuine value for their money. And no, six different versions of the exact same movie isn't value. If you're a serious Blu-ray enthusiast - or for that matter a Star Trek fan of any kind - all you care about when you buy a Blu-ray is getting the movie in pristine quality with lots of extras. Though its A/V quality is exceptional, in all other respects the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray is an insult." (to see the entire column, visit www - thedigitalbits - com /columns/my-two-cents/082813_1415)

Director: JJ Abrams.Writers: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof.Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Greenwood, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Peter Weller.Running Time: 132 minutes.Rated: PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Action and Violence.There's something I really enjoy about JJ Abrams style of filmmaking. Yes, its flashy and fast and it may come off as a bit shallow, but there's something about it that gives off a spark that really gets me engaged. He can get establish a lot within the first 15 to 30 minutes of a movie, which would take most filmmakers quite a while to build up. Everything from the big action scenes, to the core characters and their motivations to what they do - He knows exactly what he's doing behind the camera.A prime example of this would be when he did Super 8. Within a half hour, we know just about the entire cast, what the kids are doing in the movie, the big awesome train crash that was so publicized happens and it happens at full force and it never feels like its overstuffing its self.Which brings us to his take on the much loved Star Trek franchise. These films of his really cause some weird reactions with people. They make nice amounts of money and get excellent reviews from critics, but if you went to a random forum on the cesspit that is the internet, you'd probably find the opposite reaction. Almost like as if Abrams and co. spat in the face of everyone's mother and other relatives.Personally, I actually really liked - hell, maybe even loved - his reboot of the Trek franchise. Great visuals, excellent chemistry, fun dialogue, fast paced, awesome music - It did a lot of things right, even if the plot was a bit confusing, with the alternate universes, black holes and what not.Something that puzzles the hell out of me is why did the sequel, Into Darkness, take so long? I know Abrams was busy with Super 8 but maybe he should have put that off (as much as I love that film) in favor of doing this. It probably would be doing better business at the box office and critics than it is doing now.Now, in the event you are wondering if I'm attacking the film or am going to spew out negative thoughts on the film, let's get this out of the way:I'm not.While Into Darkness certainly has its problems, and we'll get to those latter, its a worthy sequel to the original and one of the most entertaining things I've seen this year. It still has all the elements I loved from the original with a few new things thrown in.Set a few years after the original, the Federation has come under attack from a terrorist by the name of John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch), a former Starfleet officer out for revenge after he felt that Star command screwed him over in the worst ways possible. The crew of the Enterprise, led of course by Kirk n' Spock (Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, respectively), are sent in to take him down by orders of one Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller). But while the plot may seem simple, things are not as they seem.I feel the need to get the bad stuff out of the way first, like in the same way a bratty child is forced to eat his vegetables before he can get to the good stuff. One of my main complaints of the film is that I feel it goes on for far too long. While Abrams's previous films have sported great pacing, Into Darkness kind of mess up a bit. There's filler in the movie that could have been seriously cut out and it would have been all the better for it, like bits where good ol Scotty (Simon Pegg) gets drunk off his ass or the bar scene between Kirk and Commander Pike (Bruce Greenwood and yes, I know its done to show their Father-Son-like relationship but it came off as forced).Another thing that film does that bothers me is that it suffers from being unpredictable to predictable. There's some twists that caught me off guard but there's some stuff that can be seen a mile away. I think it may have to do with the fact that it had 3 screenwriters doing it, the first two being the scribes from the previous film Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman while the third scribe was divisive Prometheus and Lost writer Damon Lindelof. I always get this weird feeling like whenever Mr. Linelof is involved, the product always ends up spawning weird reactions with people. Eh, moving on.As for the good stuff for the film, a lot of the things that made the first film great are still here. The visual effects and set design are better than ever, ranging from seeing things like an incredible fight in hyper-space in which we see all sorts of people flying out of the hull as things explode left and right, to the now famous scene in the trailers and advertisements where we see a Starfleet cruiser crash into a sprawling metropolis. Michael Giacchino's score is still nothing short of incredible, bringing out some true excitement and wonderment to the universe and some of the music is bound to get stuck in your head after its all over.The performances across the board are quite good as well. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto continue to show they have their characters down pat and never ceases to stop being amusing from watching them be bros one moment to bickering about the rules and personal approaches to how the current mission on hand should be accomplished. Or how Karl Urban, who will always be Judge Dredd in my mind from now on thanks to to the excellent 2012 adaptation, continues to be the best replacement for Bones McCoy, with his quips and grumpy attitude.While some have had problems with the character of Dr. Carol Marcus, a doctor who pops up on the Enterprise under a different name (Don't worry: No spoilers), and her actress Alice Eve, I never really had a problem with her. I thought she did well with the material that was given to her, especially her scenes between her and Bones.But special mention must go to Benedict Cumberbatch as Harrison. Charismatic, intimidating, fierce and methodical are just the few words to describe his villain. One moment, you can go from being fascinated and even wanting to see him defeated, to feeling incredibly sorry for the guy. Quite a performance here. He's a true threat and makes the villain of the previous film, Nero (Eric Bana), look like a chump. No disrespect to Mr. Bana, who played a very fun and dangerous villain, but you look like old stuff compared to Cumberbatch. Kinda funny how the guy who has a ship with the ability to create black holes looks less threatening than one man with superpowers.One might ask me: "Is Into Darkness better than the original?" I cannot say no, as due to the problems I've mentioned here that were not or at least weren't as big in the 2009 reboot. Star Trek 2009 was incredibly fresh at the time and sadly, with this, some, if only a little of the polish has come off. But that's only minor. Both films are pretty much on the same plane, with Darkness coming up just a tad short.Into Darkness is bound to piss people off, as with most "sacred" works in nerdom, like whatever Joss Whedon pumps out or live action adaptations of Anime (which always almost suck). But even with the problems that the film has, there's still a lot to like here. If you can get past the pacing issues and the predictability of the film, you're in for one fun summer movie.Now that all that is said and done, two questions remain: How will Abrams take on Star Wars turn out and what will Paramount do with the next film in the Trek franchise? I've got high hopes for his take on SW, but I'm not sure what to think the next Trek film will turn out. I just hope they get someone who's just as confident and energetic as Abrams is.

I don’t know what makes this director different from the rest, but the third movie didn’t do as well because he didn’t direct it! Into Darkness is as good as (if not better than) the first movie!

Naar deze film, dat in mijn ogen de beste uit de nieuwe 3 Star Trek-films is, was ik al een flink poosje opzoek. Dat was nogal een lastige klus, want de Nederlandse uitgave was erg lastig te vinden en als ik hem vond was hij knetter duur.Bij deze advertentie stond dat er Nederlandse ondertitels bij zaten, maar achterop het doosje staat dat dus niet op deze Scandinavische uitvoering van de film. Dus ik was een beetje huiverig dat ze misschien dat alleen bedoelde voor de bijgesloten Blu-ray en niet voor de 4K Blu-ray. Bij aankomst meteen in mijn X-Box gedaan en ik werd helemaal blij, want je kan meteen kiezen in welke taal je het menu wilt hebben.En ‘s avonds heb ik meteen de film Nederlands ondertiteld gekeken en van genoten.

Another awesum Star Trek movie. The best scene here I feel is when Captain Kirk dies to save the whole ship and is revived by Khan's plasma or wateva .. that means he like Spock and Khan is a superior being now also na? ;) Well, I say when they talk about Captain Kirk in the end of his career they'll say "The Charismatic and Colourful Captain Kirk who once died and is now alive again. What's it like on the other side?" -- For sure I like Captain Kirk the best though Spock and Kirk act well together as friends. Cool - buy it :) Thnx.

This is the main reason why I love cinema, I've been a trekkie since I was a little boy and I've watched all Star Trek movies and almost all the TV episodes.... after saying that I have to confirm this one is my favorite from all of them!An amazing and intense fight!While watching this masterpiece it is quite obvious that it will remember you to the second film "Wrath of Khan" as there are many scenes that look almost the same but with some different arguments or places.This is a year after the events from last film (Star Trek 2009), Kirk is still the captain of the USS Enterprise with is amazing crew...all of them come back for this adventure and most of them have more screen time than the last film, this are good news. But after saving a planet for its destruction, they have to come back to Earth to save it from a man called John Harrison who wants to destroy the entire Academy Fleet (I'm trying to not spoil anything important to the plot). After some amazing action scenes we learn that this man's real name is Khan.While I was at the cinema watching this film, a person said "OMFG!" when the main villain says "My real name is Khan". This film makes you feel everything the actors feel, the sadness, the laughs and even the horror...and that's quite difficult to make, it's not only the amazing acting but also the music and camera positions and effects.Benedict does an excellent and sinister Khan this time!The special effect and action scenes are many and amazingly well done (better than the last one, and that was hard to top!) and it's good to see the Enterprise again and, this time fighting an times three bigger ship called USS Vengeance. But the best from the film is the acting, Chris Pine is a better and more believable Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto does an excellent job as Spock (he was a little cold at the last film, here's much better), the rest of the crew is amazing as Simong Pegg again as the funny Scotty. Alice Eve is a nice add to the family.But if I had to choose the best actor from the movie it has to be Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan, he's the greatest actor from this generation and he even tops his acting as Sherlock Holmes in the BBC's show Sherlock...he makes a stronger and serious Khan which was a great change...he deserves an Oscar from that amazing and perfect performance!You will like this film even if you're not a Star Trek fan as it has an interesting plot, an amazing villain and a cast of actors that can even top the original ones!

'Captain, we have sighted something very strange and rare.''What is it Spock?''An Amazon review that actually talks about the dvd as well as the movie.''How about that? Even so, it'll still get voted as being unhelpful.''Captain, I must confess I am curious about the behaviour of people who do that. Those who you call 'trolls.' What is their motivation. There is no logic to their behaviour.''There is none, Spock. They're just stupid.''Ah. Fascinating.'Languages: English, French.Subtitles: English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish.There are no trailers whatsoever at the start of the disc. It just goes straight into the main menu.It has just two extras. Both of which are featurettes that run six minutes [give or take]'The enemy of my enemy' all about the casting of the role of John Harrison.'Ship to Ship' all about how one major set piece was done.If you haven't actually seen the film yet then DON'T READ THE BACK OF THE BOX FIRST. Because there is a major spoiler in the text on the back.Just in case you haven't seen the film:This is a sequel to Star Trek [DVD], the film that rebooted the franchise. It reunites the cast of characters from that, and takes place a while after the end of it. You should be able to get into this if you haven't seen, as the first scene does try to be an introduction.The film involves Kirk getting into trouble with his superiors. But then facing a bigger problem. A rogue federation intelligence agent called John Harrison, who is pursing a lethal vendetta. When trying to capture Harrison, Kirk and crew find they face bigger problems. And that there's more going on that they initially thought. Some very tough choices await.This film sticks to the new timeline for Star Trek from the first movie. Fans disappointed by that should go away and stick to watching Capt Janeway solve a problem in forty five minutes that will never be referred to again, and involves two aliens with bumpy foreheads. Fans looking for something fresher will be right at home.The film tries very hard to be a big action blockbuster roller coaster ride of excitement, and it succeeds in doing such. There are lots of references that fans will catch but that won't get in the way of things for casual viewers.Story wise it isn't quite as original as the first film, but that is only a minor complaint. Because if you can get past that and go with it and try to have a good time and be entertained then you won't have any problem.There are also gratuitious underwear shots to please the gentlemen, the ladies, and those who like ladies with tails.For the second of which alone a certain resident of Springfield might say 'Best Star Trek film ever.'It isn't quite. But it's still great entertainment and well worth five stars.

Die Story: Nachdem Captain Kirk seinem Freund Spock das Leben rettet, werden beide von der Obersten Direktive Ihrer Ämter enthoben. Kirk ist nun wieder 1. Offizier und sein Captain ist nun Pike auf der Enterprise. Der Agent John Harrison macht der Sternenflotte nach zwei Anschlägen das Leben richtig schwer und versucht, Kirk und seine Mannschaft auf seine Seite zu ziehen. Nun liegt es an der Enterprise, den geflohenen Terroristen zu fangen und vor das Gericht zu stellen.Wie schon der Vorgänger spielt sich der Film hauptsächlich an einem Tag ab. Das Tempo und die Action wurde alles etwas angehoben, die Darsteller haben sich in meinen Augen nicht verbessert oder verschlechtert aber das kann auch an Benedict Cumberbatch liegen, der eine perfekte Darstellung abliefert. Sehr gut gespielt zwischen Genie und purem Wahnsinn. Die Story hat mir gut gefalle, die Inszenierung war nach öfteren Anschauen immer noch sehr ansprechend. Star Trek - Into Darkness geht für mich zu den besseren Fortsetzungen. 4,5 SterneDas 3D-Bild: Hierbei handelt es sich um einen konvertierten Film, was man nicht sofort merkt. Im Kino war ich vom 3D nicht sonderlich begeistert aber die Heimauswertung kann sich sehen lassen. Die 3D-Effekte sind sehr gelungen, vor allem vereinzelte Trümmer und Partikel fliegen einem entgegen. Die Tiefenwirkung ist sehr gut geworden, Schärfe- und Detailgrad sind ebenso ohne Beanstandung. Der Kontrast ist super und die Farben sind sehr kräftig gehalten. Der Schwarzwert kann im All vollkommen überzeugen. Für mich war kein Ghosting oder Ähnliches zu erkennen. 5 SterneDer 3D-Ton: Dieser liegt in Dolby True HD 7.1 in Englisch und in Deutsch vor sowie DD 5.1 Audiodeskription für Blinde aber nur in Englisch. Der Sound ist wie schon das Bild perfekt. Die Abmischung zwischen Dialogen und den Soundeffekten ist sehr gut gelungen. In den vielen Actionszenen sind die Boxen sehr gefordert, ohne störend zu wirken und bringt das komplette Wohnzimmer - evtl. die komplette Wohnung - zum Beben. Das der Sound einiges bietet, merkt man schon beim Vorspann mit der musikalischen Untermalung von Michael Giacchino. 5 SterneExtras: Sind keine auf der 3D-Disc vorhanden.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Das 2D-Bild: Das Bild in 2D ist ebenso super geworden. Der Kontrast und der Schwarzwert sind sehr gut aufeinander abgestimmt. Das Bild ist kristallklar und bietet einen perfekten Detailgrad. Man sieht jedes kleinste Detail. Die Farben sind ebenso kräftig und wirken keine Sekunde störend. Filmkörnung oder Ähnliches konnte ich nicht feststellen. 5 SterneDer 2D-Ton: Dieser liegt in Dolby True HD 7.1 in Englisch und in Deutsch vor sowie DD 5.1 Audiodeskription für Blinde aber nur in Englisch. Der Sound ist wie schon das Bild perfekt. Die Abmischung zwischen Dialogen und den Soundeffekten ist sehr gut gelungen. In den vielen Actionszenen sind die Boxen sehr gefordert, ohne störend zu wirken und bringt das komplette Wohnzimmer - evtl. die komplette Wohnung - zum Beben. Das der Sound einiges bietet, merkt man schon beim Vorspann mit der musikalischen Untermalung von Michael Giacchino. 5 SterneDie Extras: Es liegt die Digital Copy, ein Pizza-Gutschein sowie ein Wendecover und eine DVD diesem Set bei. Zudem sind noch sechs Featurettes auf der Disc verarbeitet. "Erschaffung des roten Planeten", "Angriff auf die Sternenflotte", "Der klingonische Heimatplanet", "Der Feind meines Feindes", "Schiff zu Schiff" und "Der Kampf" mit einer gesamten Laufzeit von ca. 40 Minuten. Sind recht nett anzuschauen, aber wenn es dann interessant wird, ist es meistens wieder zu Ende. Hier hätte ich mir eindeutig mehr gewünscht.Es gibt bei zwei verschiedenen Märkten noch jeweils ein Steelbook in 2D und eines in 3D. 3 Sterne