Star Trek Beyond trailer

StarTrek.com has the trailer for the new movie, releasing next summer (July 22nd).  You can view it here.

 

The music accompanying it comes from 2009's Star Trek, the debut of the so-called Abramsverse.  A lot of older fans don't seem to like the new movies, calling them action-heavy would-be Treks that have lost the feel of the franchise.  The Star Trek I know and love has always featured character-heavy plots, which is the best way to describe the new movies.  My favorite Trek is Deep Space Nine, and that's about as character-heavy as you can get.  But from the beginning, the franchise was known for its characters almost beyond (heh) anything else.  There's a reason why there was such resistance to the debut of The Next Generation with its entirely new crew, because fans didn't want to accept Star Trek without Kirk and Spock, who dominated six feature films well past the end of their TV adventures.

 

To say that action was never a part of the Trek formula is to forget the many fight scenes in the original series.  I remember them.  They were badly, badly choreographed.  Anyone should be able to admit that.  From "Balance of Terror" onward, space battles have been a part of Trek lore, well before the advent of the Star Wars era. 

 

 

Trek fans tend to be incredibly slow at embracing something new, which is to say resistant to change.  (Or perhaps they're just mad that these are by far the most successful films in franchise history.)  And they can't let go of their cherished memories.  For years, well into the runs of Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, they were insisting that the best episodes in franchise history were almost exclusive to the original series.  They still insist the best movie is the second one, The Wrath of Khan, even though there have been ten more released since then.  Any of those that even slightly evoke (it's called an homage, folks) Khan are called shameless ripoffs.  These fans, who are supposed to be the smartest fans in our whole culture, routinely act like the dumbed.

 

So I'll sit back and enjoy the new trailer, thank you very much, and highly anticipate the new movie.  I've been watching Star Trek for most of my life.  My first exposure was the original series.  But I've been enjoying the rest of it, too.  I'd be very happy for that trend to continue.