I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not much of a Trek fan, in spite of my love of geek culture and claiming to be a member of it. I grew up with “The Next Generation”, although I didn’t watch it religiously; a few episodes here or there, and maybe a movie or two. I saw a few episodes of the “Original Star-Trek” as re-runs, and my interest in the series tapered off with “Deep Space 9”. In general, the series hasn’t held much interest with me.  I don’t keep track of continuity, and I know only a little about the universe Trek takes place in.  I was sad to see the series go after “Enterprise” (which I never saw), but only as a status-quo of geek culture.

However, Star-Trek was not gone for long. No sooner had they announced that they where no longer producing Trek as a television series, than they announced that there was to be a new film based on the original Star-Trek.  Originally idealized by creator Gene Roddenberry as a western in space, Star Trek spent six years in development before finally appearing on network television in the 1960’s. Through the lens of science fiction, it was able to perform allegories to many of the issues of the day, raising questions about modern society while portraying character driven action-thrillers. The series didn’t gain much more than a cult following during its original run, and was canceled in 1969. However, that cult following of science fiction and engineering enthusiasts managed to bring attention to subsequent reruns of the show, and the fan base ballooned large enough to develop their own culture around the shows. Renewed interest led to subsequent broadcasting of later series, even after Roddenberry’s death, and Star-Trek took its rightful place as a pop-culture icon and geek culture steadfast.

The 2009 film simply titled “Star Trek” is the 11th total made for the series, and is a return to the roots of the Original Series. Young and impetuous James Tiberius Kirk is a thrill seeker and a troublemaker. Born a survivor of the USS Kelvin as his pregnant mother fled the destruction of the ship captained by his father, he seemed to be destined to join the Starfleet in his father’s footsteps, but his wandering nature led him astray until an altercation with several young cadets at a bar puts him in contact with a captain of the fleet, who convinces him to give the academy a try. At the same time, a young Spock, born of a human mother and Vulcan father, is having some difficulties fitting into the standards of Vulcan society, which value logic over emotion. These difficulties ultimately cause his elders to send him to the Federation academy on Earth.  These two disparate personalities quickly become rivals in the academy, although a grave threat to the entire Federation forces them to join together when they must combat an advanced Romulan ship from the future.