{"id":6701,"date":"2010-03-12T17:34:02","date_gmt":"2010-03-12T22:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/"},"modified":"2010-03-12T17:34:02","modified_gmt":"2010-03-12T22:34:02","slug":"friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner<\/b><\/a>.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star Wars and those who love Star Trek.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Occasionally you will find ubergeeks who equally enjoy both, but most often Trekkies (I know, they prefer to be called \u201cTrekkers\u201d, but who cares?) and\u2026well\u2026whatever Star Wars nerds are called are bitter rivals in the kingdom of the dateless.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
As a kid, I was a big Star Wars fan. \u00a0To this day there are few individuals outside the pages of Scripture who are cooler than Yoda. \u00a0I remember getting pumped about seeing Return of the Jedi in the theater as a kid and LOVED my Jabba the Hut playset.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
However, as I got older and my geekiness matured, I became more and more a fan of Star Trek. \u00a0I had always watched reruns of the original series (and even the cartoon version of it on Nickelodeon. \u00a0ANYONE remember that one??) and liked the movies okay\u2013though they weren\u2019t as good, cinematically speaking, as the Star Wars trilogy. \u00a0But once I hit middle school and Star Trek: The Next Generation came out, I was hooked. \u00a0It didn\u2019t have the blasters, cantena bands or golden bikinis that Star Wars had\u2026but it had something they were missing: intellectual depth (and crazy shaped foreheads!).\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now before all the Star Wars nerds put on their Boba Fett suits and try to hunt me down in order to change my mind, let me just say, yes, I\u2019ve read all the \u201cTheology of Star Wars\u201d type articles, interviews with George Lucas on philosophy, and heard all the hipster preachers\u2019 comparisons of the Force with the Holy Spirit. \u00a0But rather than try to engage any of those, I simply point to the final three prequel films and rest my case. \u00a0No matter how good looking Natalie Portman riding a monster-lizard is, or how cool it is to see Yoda finally flippin\u2019 around with a lightsaber, those movies were crap and we all know it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Of course, the Star Trek movies have equally been crap (except for the even numbered ones, of course!), but that didn\u2019t matter to me because it was the TV show that was the flagship (pun intended) of this franchise\u2013and the TV show was fantastic. \u00a0Okay, so sometimes the special effects were bad by today\u2019s standards\u2026but it was the late 80s-early 90s, so that can be forgiven. \u00a0What the show had was intellectual depth in dealing with philosophical, and at times even theological, issues in a way that wasn\u2019t preachy or presumptuous (with the possible exception of the \u201cRyker falls in love with the gender-neutral alien\u201d episode that was a veiled attempt at tackling the gay-rights issue in a roundabout manner). \u00a0But at the same time, those of us nerds who were raised on lightsaber fights and crazy epic spaceship battles of Star Wars, but who had moved on to the headier fare of Star Trek, knew deep down in our perpetually girlfriendless hearts that Star Trek could be every bit as cool as Star Wars in all those areas\u2026if they wanted to. \u00a0(At least that\u2019s what we said to our fellow geeks on teh other side of the fanboy feuds!)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Fast forward to this afternoon. \u00a0I finally had some time on my hands and six bucks in my wallet. \u00a0I decided to go see the new Star Trek movie by \u201cLOST\u201d producer J.J. Abrams. \u00a0I heard nothing but great reviews (even by those outside the borders of geekdom!) and though I stopped watching LOST after season 3 (sorry, but I got tired of endless plot twists and any storylines that took place off of the Island!), I really liked Cloverfield. \u00a0So that combined with my nostalgia for my nerdy childhood got the best of me and I headed into the theater.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was the best movie I\u2019ve seen in a theater in years!\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Period!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now, being a former (okay, still a closet-case) Trekkie steeped in all the backstory of the Star Trek universe (up until The Next Generation stories, that is. \u00a0Anything after that, I treat in the same way I treat Rocky V and Alien: Resurrection\u2026it never happened!) there were TONS of homages and slight nods to the original stories and events. \u00a0But even with no knowledge of such dork-lore, the movie had enough character development, storyline clarity and awesome action scenes that non-Trekkies would totally enjoy it. \u00a0Just like you can watch an episode of LOST with no knowledge of the backstory and still know that you\u2019re watching really good TV, you can watch Star Trek with no knowledge of the original characters and still know that you\u2019re watching a really good movie.\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But for those who love Kirk, Scotty, Bones, Spock and even the obligatorily-killed \u201cred shirt\u201d security guys, you\u2019ll be tickled tribble-pink by the way Abrams and Co. went out of their way to capture the nuances and essence of the original crew. \u00a0Karl Urban\u2019s McCoy is definitely the real McCoy\u2013especially given the fact that he normally has a thick New Zealand accent! \u00a0(Most will remember him as Eomer in the Lord of the Rings movies). \u00a0And the fact that even at Starfleet Academy, Kirk was known for his success with green alien women was a perfect balance of kitzch and subtlety for the uninitiated noob masses. \u00a0(That\u2019s easily the geekiest thing I\u2019ve ever typed!)<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But beyond all the inside nods and backstory reveals (i.e. we finally see just how Kirk cheated to pass the infamous Kobyashi-Maru scenario!), this movie was just a full on action-adventure flick that rivals the original Star Wars films (you know, the GOOD ones!) in its blockbuster appeal. \u00a0Of course it\u2019s not groundbreaking in its scope or subject matter (the genre has already been defined and the effects are now in every major sci-fi flick), but it does finally settle the one issue that us nerds have debated for decades\u2026<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Star Trek is SOOOOO much cooler than Star Wars\u2026when it WANTS TO BE!\u00a0<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Disclaimer: This article has pretty much zero theological\/spiritual merit. \u00a0But what can I say? \u00a0It was a great movie! \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner. When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star Wars and those who love Star Trek.\u00a0 Occasionally you will find ubergeeks who equally enjoy both, but most often Trekkies (I know, they prefer to be called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies-and-film"],"yoast_head":"\nFriday Night at the Movies: Star Trek<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/\",\"name\":\"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek","description":"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek","og_description":"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00","author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/","name":"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00","dateModified":"2010-03-12T22:34:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"This review is from James-Michael Smith, who writes at The Examiner.When it comes to nerds there are basically two kinds in the world: those who love Star","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/12\/friday-night-at-the-movies-star-trek\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Friday Night at the Movies: Star Trek"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}