Star Trek Into Darkness Verdict

Star Trek XII is now the highest earner of Star Trek's franchise with takings of $328 million in 18 days! J.J. Abrams has done it again! Rotten Tomato critics have given Star Trek Into Darkness the thumbs up with 87 points. Apparently trek's sequel isn't as fresh as the prequel yet it is visually spectacular. The verdict?

 I reckon a worldwide $330M boxoffice hit speaks for itself. This time round we get a "rock solid" sequel filmed with 3D action sequences. James Cameron, Avatar's Creator was onboard during Badrobots 3D conversion process giving the film that special alternate reality dimension to fill seats.  Since the relaunch of Abram's Star Trek we've got an action packed origin story with a younger crew rebooting history. (Don't worry we won't peek, hehe.)

When Londons Section 31 building blows up, Starfleets covert operations is no longer secret. I guess Earth needs more undercover guys. In any case John Harrison (who is the genetically augmented superhuman) is really Khan hellbent on revenge. So he devises a masterplan to flush out Starfleet's top brass for some target shooting practise.

Amazingly the Admiralties battle strategists assemble in a war room full of glass windows. Perfect for an aerial ambush with Khan's gunship waiting in the wings, right outside! Kirks the only one whose combat instincts tell him to do something, fast! Remember Ripley yelling at Gorman in Aliens 2, "DO SOMETHING! F**K!!!" I think Star Trek Into Darkness needed an indecisive character with frailities like Gormans but I digress.

"You're just a PAWN Kirk, you cannot even guarantee the safety of your own crew!"

Khan is like a predator playing with his prey. Treks dark villain knew exactly how and where to take his enemies out. He simply wants payback because Starfleet's good guys broke their word! The plot thickens when Admiral Marcus pops up which leads us to the epic manhunt and another mystery. The 72 long range prototype torpedoes with Botany Bay's frozen souls trapped inside. We have to remember, Khan isn't just the bad guy, hes on a mission.

For ages the "John Harrison" mystery led us off course about the baddies true identity. Did you enjoy being kept in the dark, guessing? When Admiral Marcus revealed the existence of a Top Secret Undercover Agent, hes obviously trying to cover his tracks. Starfleet isn't supposed to be a cloak and dagger operation. The Admiral is hiding something because hes dirty but does Kirk realise this?.

How do you rate our space crusaders this time?
What did you make of Pikes final curtain call?
Did you enjoy Dr Carol Marcus striptease with Uhura's heavy breather gawping on standby?
Did Cumberbatches Khanspeak freeze you to your seat?  "No ship should go down without her captain."

Live Long and Prosper.

Star Trek Into Darkness Tickets and Free Download

Star Trek Into Darkness knocked Iron Man 3 off the Top Slot at the UK Box Office after numbers of £8.4 million pounds on its opening weekend, recently.

The good news is Paramount's new 3D Star Trek sequel (directed by J.J. Abrams) has overtaken previous "reboot movie" ticket records, which earned a sweet £6 million sterling on its debut weekend in 2009.

That was then. Today Star Trek Into Darkness is boldly beaming worldwide. See it tomorrow! We've been waiting for a new TREK movie for 4 monumental, sensational years. Into Darkness has finally arrived! I reckon we deserve to be blown out of our seats for our just rewards. Are you ready and all set for a trektastic time? How many of our movie predictions will come true?

90 stunt people is a great indication of what direction Star Trek Into Darkness is headed with special effects and relationships evolving in this action adventure space trek. An interesting question put by lonevision recently was: Will the new movies fortunes put an end to Star Trek "TV SHOWS" for good?

What do you think? Have you got your "Starfleet" T-shirt all nice and pressed for the movie? XD, Go on do tell us if you have!

Free Download Copy:

Fandango has a new special offer featuring a free download copy of JJ Abrams 2009 Star Trek Movie (via iTunes) for fans who purchase their tickets of Star Trek Into Darkness. You can find more details on this offer at Fandango.com.

 
Thrill Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Benedict Cumberbatch ... Khan

Chris Pine ... James T. Kirk

Alice Eve ... Carol

Zachary Quinto ... Spock

Zoe Saldana ... Uhura

Karl Urban ... Bones

Simon Pegg ... Scotty

Leonard Nimoy ... Spock Prime

Anton Yelchin ... Pavel Chekov

John Cho ... Hikaru Sulu

Bruce Greenwood ... Christopher Pike

Peter Weller ... Admiral Marcus

Nolan North

Tom Archdeacon ... Ensign Spyke

Jon Lee Brody ... Enterprise Crew Security

Noel Clarke ... Thomas Harewood

Christopher Doohan ... Transport Officer

Nick Tarabay

Nazneen Contractor ... Rima Harewood

Heather Langenkamp ... Moto

Katie Cockrell ... Girl

Hiram A. Murray ... Bar Patron

Kellie Cockrell ... Girl

Joseph Gatt

Gary-7 ... The Nibirian Elder

Aisha Hinds ... Navigation Officer Darwin

Gianna Simone ... U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Crew
Jacqueline King ... U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Crew

Beau Billingslea ... Captain Abbott

Ser'Darius Blain ... Soldier

Anjini Taneja Azhar ... Lucille Harewood

Brendan Norman ... Enterprise Crew Engineer

Jonathan Dixon ... Weapons Officer Neville

Omid Zader ... Meter maid

Teebone Mitchell ... Starfleet HQ Staff #1

Thomas W. Stewart ... Enterprise Crew Engineer

Brent McGee ... Enterprise Crew Engineer
Ningning Deng ... U.S.S. Enterprise Bridge Crew

David C. Waite ... Star Fleet Command

Mark Alexander Herz ... Enterprise Security #1

Mike Kalinowski ... Starfleet Officer

Preston Queen ... Bar Patron 3 (rumored)

Andy Demetrio ... Obs.Deck Crew #6

Peet Montzingo ... Bar Patron 2

John Tomkins

Paul K. Daniel ... Shuttle Pilot

Andrew Maiorano ... Starfleet HQ Staff #3
James Tran ... Obs. Deck Crew #10
Dave Kim ... Starfleet Enlisted Soldier
Chloe Act ... Nikicha Tomser (uncredited)

Alexandra Aristy ... Starfleet HQ Staff #2 (uncredited)

Melissa Baldridge ... Deck Crew (uncredited)
Paris Benjamin ... Enterprise Crew Engineer (uncredited)
Leni Ford ... Cosmoe (uncredited)

Ryan T. Husk ... Starfleet Officer (uncredited)

Britanni Johnson ... NYU Nurse (uncredited)

Elly Kaye ... Star Fleet Officer (uncredited)

Hina Khan ... Cadet (uncredited)

Ariel D. King ... Starfleet Civilian (uncredited)
Kasia Kowalczyk ... Grasia Alien (uncredited)
Bryan Lee ... Starfleet Cadet (uncredited)

Westley Nguyen ... Civilian (uncredited)

Kyle Valle ... Starfleet Civilian (uncredited)

Felicity Wren ... Starfleet Officer (uncredited)
Create a character page for:





Stunts!

John Ashker .... stunts
Brian Avery .... stunt double: Simon Pegg
Maryellen Aviano .... stunts
Krista Bell .... stunts
Marco Bianco .... key stunt rigger
Marco Bianco .... utility stunts
Chris Brewster .... stunt double: Anton Yelchin
Chris Brewster .... stunt performer
Richard Cetrone .... stunt performer
Ilram Choi .... stunt performer
Brian Christensen .... stunts
Doug Coleman .... stunt performer
Eugene Collier .... stunt double: Beau Billingslea
Tim Connolly .... stunt double: Karl Urban
George Cottle .... stunt performer
Brycen Counts .... stunt performer
Sam Creed .... stunts
Jahnel Curfman .... stunts
Max Daniels .... stunt performer
Eddie Davenport .... stunt performer
Mark De Alessandro .... stunts
Martin De Boer .... stunt double: Benedict Cumberbatch
Steve DeCastro .... stunt performer
Cory DeMeyers .... stunts
Kevin Derr .... stunts
Thomas Dewier .... stunts
Shauna Duggins .... stunts
Wade Eastwood .... stunts
Katie Eischen .... utility stunts
Roberto C Escobar .... stunt performer
Marie Fink .... stunt double
Mark Ginther .... stunt rigger
Ryan Gray .... utility stunts
Trevor Habberstad .... stunt double: Chris Pine
Jessica Harbeck .... stunts
Zedric Harris .... stunt performer
Nick Hermz .... stunts
Brett A. Jones .... utility stunts
Antal Kalik .... stunt performer
Zero Kazama .... stunts
Matthew S. Kennedy .... stunt performer
Bobby C. King .... stunt performer
Henry Kingi Jr. .... stunts
Hiro Koda .... stunts
Dave Lane .... stunt rigger
Malosi Leonard .... stunts
Bethany Levy .... stunt double: Zoe Saldana
Cheryl Lewis .... stunts
Kurt D. Lott .... stunts
Curtis Lyons .... stunt performer
Brian Machleit .... stunt performer
Tara Macken .... stunts
Mike Massa .... lead stunt double: Chris Pine
Tom McComas .... stunts
Cassandra McCormick .... stunt double: Alice Eve
Cassandra McCormick .... stunts
Rene Mousseux .... stunt performer
Caryn Mower .... stunts
Mike Mukatis .... stunts
Eric Norris .... stunt performer
Lin Oeding .... stunt performer
Salomon Passariello .... stunt performer
Eddie Perez .... stunt performer
J.J. Perry .... stunts
Peewee Piemonte .... utility stunts
Denney Pierce .... stunts
Mark Rayner .... stunts
Rex Reddick .... stunts
Kevin Reid .... stunt double: Benedict Cumberbatch
Simon Rhee .... stunts
Larry Rippenkroeger .... stunts
Jimmy N. Roberts .... stunt performer
Tracey Ruggiero .... stunt performer
Todd Schneider .... stunts
Courtney Schwartz .... stunts
Ray Siegle .... stunt man
Monty L. Simons .... stunts
Brian Simpson .... utility stunts
Caine Sinclair .... stunts
Paul Sklar .... stunt double: Peter Weller
Daniel Stevens .... stunt double: Spock
John Stoneham Jr. .... stunt coordinator
Aaron Toney .... stunts
Frank Torres .... stunt rigger
Steve Upton .... stunt rigger
Cord Walker .... utility stunts
April Weeden .... stunts (as April Weeden-Washington)
Nico Woulard .... stunts
Marcus Young .... fight coordinator
Omid Zader .... stunt performer


Full Cast

A to Z Challenge Reflections

Heres my Challenge Reflections for April's Time Travelling Festivities before signing up. I've got my badge from Captain Ninjas site to complete my journey.

The window for posting A to Z Reflections closes on Friday. Spacerguy salutes everyone who took part in the A to Z April challenge hosted by the big guns. The Ninja clones really kept the show on the road.

This is my third (time travelling) experience through the blogosphere. My primary mission objective was to seek out strange, wonderful blogs and befriend new lifeforms."To boldly go where no-one has gone before!" For me its exciting stepping out and exploring the unknown galactic expanse of the blogosphere. You never know whats waiting for you out there second blog to the right, *grin.* I found lots of cool places bursting with imagination and clever writing and visuals. Great job bloggers!

I was happy so many enjoyed my little corner of the universe too. I wrote about Star Trek the whole time and its been an agonising challenge stopping myself from spilling the beans on J.J. Abram's movie, Star Trek Into Darkness. I'll be posting an "Into Darkness Portal" (WITH SPOILERS) soon to tease you. Are we all set for lift off  "Into Darkness" when the countdown ends?" If your from Austraila or UK: Is STID better than 2009's version, what are your thoughts?  Kapla.

Zats all Folks!

Zats all Folks! Its Zee end of April's A to Z Blog challenge. Its been fun which is why we do it again and again. Heres to the Galaxy's Greatest Ninjas who beamed over, so lets rejoice. Thank you Alex and Arlee and Jeremy. He the coolest cat in zombie land.

We are the Ninja Trekinators Forever.....

 

Star Trek's USS Yorktown

Six Starfleet spaceships have borne the name Enterprise. Each has been more advanced than the last but what happened to the first iconic starship? Did you know that the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 was originally known by another name? The USS Yorktown was that name given to Star Trek's first spaceship before the ship was re-christened, USS Enterprise 1701. Thank Galactic Space! In 1964, Star Treks first ever, test pilot was presented to NBC TV Network bosses who wanted an exciting action packed "space western."

Its fun watching Star Trek's classic episode of "the Cage" today with the camera sweeping across the "Enterprise" bridge officers on duty. Unfortunately their commander, Captain Christopher Pike looks a little lost with the robotic reactions of the bridge crew so not helping. The crew fall short on action and excitement led by their self doubting commander who's a rather humble soul for the big wheel on the Federation's Flagship USS Enterprise. Tellingly, the vulcan Spock smiles on Talos IV however NBC executives were not "Fascinated" at all.

Question: Who was the first captain of the starship USS Enterprise NCC 1701 and the USS Yorktown?

In the original "script" before filming began, Gene Roddenberry named the USS Yorktown after a World War II aircraft carrier. The commander in charge was starship Captain Robert April who never made it onto TV. Next up for the big chair was Christopher Pike before Roddenberry makes James T. Kirk Star Treks big gun.

I reckon Pike made space history in 2261 in what becomes known as the "Talos Incident." The seductive charms of Vina as the bewitching green orion girl, fail to brainwash Captain Pike who had bigger fish to fry. He resists Talosians mind control and bungles his chances to mate with Vina played by Susan Oliver. Oh well, the burdens of command.

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers!

Star Trek Xbox

Star Treks Xbox 360 game is available now. The game is fast paced with a movie-like experience, however gamers will notice bugs requiring further updates. Do the pro's outweigh the con's? Its time to decide: Is your game chosen for its fun storyline, action adventure, characters, and placement in the Star Trek universe or are sci-fi technological thrills what turn you on?

Heres a rundown of Star Trek Xbox 360 Criteria to consider.

 Con's:
* Gameplay is designed for 16 year olds and over.
* The facial expressions are a little flat.
* Gamer reaction is mixed.

* The companion AI can be rather "dumb" at times.


 Pro's:
* Star Trek Xbox game got a GORN, explosions, third person shooter experience and sweet spaceships!
* You get to be Kirk and give orders from the bridge of the Enterprise.
* Varied gameplay experiences with skydives and spacedives.
* Gamers can use a Tricorder to investigate, Phasers in shoot-outs with the Gorn and Spock's vulcan neck pinch technique.
* Splitscreen gameplay experience for singleplayer play-throughs.
* Gameplay is fast-paced and movie-like, heavily influenced Star Trek.
* Voice-acting and music is superb using real actors and actresses from previous Star Trek film.
* The graphics/design of the environments looks futuristic.
* The storyline is a fun and a light-hearted action adventure.

The spirit of Star Trek adventure is also very much alive in the gameplay of Star Trek The Video Game. Whether you're gliding through chasms or jumping precariously through zero G.

Which trekkie ingredient makes a truly uber gaming experience for you?

What fun part of the game do you like most?


                                                    (Click to Enlarge)

Who says: You know, if we weren't trying to save the whole universe, this might actually be fun! Game long and Prosper, trekkies and trekkers.

Star Treks Weeper Plant

W is for Weeper plant. In the Star Treks classic episode of the Man Trap, the salt vampire disturbs "Gertrude" in the Enterprise botany lab.

All seemed fine on the surface until our bright pink carnivorous plant started to quiver and the little fella shrieked its lungs out. The plant whom Janice Rand calls "Beauregard" instinctively sounded the alarm because it was agitated and detected a threat to the ship. The Salt Vampire might have murdered both Sulu and Rand except that Beauregard scared it off.

Its funny watching "Beauregard" surveying the Enterprise Botany lab and ducking for cover. In Janices company the plant purrs softly because it likes her. Its obviously only a hand puppet, whose mysterious owner gave it true personality that makes you want to laugh!

Valeris

V is for valeris but who is she? In Star Trek the Undiscovered Country VI, Kim Cattrall plays the sneaky vulcan, Lieutenant Valeris who sabotages peace talks for her own ends.

Its fun watching the hungover USS Enterprise NCC 1701-A crew trying to piece together the clues in this wonderfully dark Star Trek murder/mystery.  Romulan Ale anyone?

Time is running out for Kirk and Dr McCoy as dark, secretive forces land our heroes in the clink. Kirk's personal log crucifies the duo at the Klingon trial.

Jim! They're setting us up! Your honors, I protest-!

 Uhura is horrified...Rura Pentha. Scotty reckons its better ro kill them now and get it over with. Who were the assassins in the white pairs of gravity boots? What motivated Valeris (a top Starfleet Academy graduate) to conspire with the Chancellor Gorkon's Chief of Security, General Chang? Who murdered Gorkon and why? We know from Mr Spock's speech that the Klingon's planet is dying. On the bridge Valeris refuses to give the much needed information to save the Federations presidents life. So Spock mind rapes her.

Did the sly vulcan get what she deserved?

Starfleet Uniforms

U is for Star Trek uniform. Is yours ready for trekking into darkness?

In Star Trek's classic series, uniforms consisted of black pants, boots, and tunics in gold, red, and blue. In our new age of technology Starfleet uniforms can now be complete, all the way down to your feet! Gold is for command personnel, blue for science, red for security and engineering.

Trek fans have the option of wearing pants or dresses similar to those seen in any of Star Trek's series, so get kitted out to your socks!

What Starfleet colors will you be sporting at the movies premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness on May 17th?

 All uniform's have the Enterprises arrowhead insignia sewn above the left breast. Gold braid on the sleeve denotes rank depending on how many rows or broken rows there are. Just don't forget your communicator.

Two to beam in, Scotty!

Trekkie Trexels

When I discovered this poster on Alex J.Cavanaugh blog and my eyes nearly melted onto my computer screen.

The trekkie characters in John Martz "Trexels" creation nearly caused a sensory overload in my positronic matrix. Martz's poster has 235 Star Trek characters crying out to be identified. So why not feed your inner trekkie and take a stab at naming the characters, its fun!



Trexel long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers

Forbidden Planet

Whats the name of the Robot voiced by Marvin Miller in the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet?
Which science fiction movie franchise is heavily influenced by FP?

Star Trek Phaser Rifle

A unique piece of Star Trek memorabilia went under the hammer at auction recently for a cool $231,000. Top Toy designer Reuben Klamer, created trek's iconic Phaser-Rifle with only a two week deadline. Klamer built the wood-aluminium gun for free which apparently gave Star Trek a fighting chance to survive. The move got him licensing rights for toys of the weapon too. Its fascinating to think a "toy" used only once, saved the entire show by relaunching Captain Kirk as the shows heroic action character.


Kirk uses the phaser rifle to kill his friend Gary Mitchel, causing a rocky landslide to fall on top of him. The story goes NBC wanted this action packed "wagon train to the stars" to get high TV ratings. No-one could have predicted how popular Trek was to become especially after the network rejected Star Trek's first pilot.

The shows creator, Gene Roddenberry seized the moment when NBC gave him the nod for "Where No Man Has Gone Before." It also helped having William Shatner to replace Jeffrey Hunter in the second pilot. The studio sets were redressed for the newer Enterprise crew, keeping the "guy with the ears" and reinventing "frosty No1" as Dr McCoy's blonde assistant in sickbay.

Auction House Juliens Hollywood Legends stated recently that Roddenberry wanted "a really big Gun" which took everyone by storm all over again, 47 years later! The prop was sold to a rich private American collector who has one of the biggest collections of original Star Trek costumes in the world. This prop will join the collection and will not end up being displayed at museums. Star Trek fans really owe a huge debt of thanks to Reuben Klamer, the shows creative mastermind behind the gun, whose invention along with the Big Bird of the Galaxy and Walter Matt Jeffries saved Star Trek from the scrap heap. Thank you Reuben for designing a really wicked phaser rifle with totally amazing wow factor. Reuben's Phaser Rifle has a sweet sound to it.






Fire long and Prosper, trekkies and trekkers.

Questor Tapes

Questor is an incomplete android played by Robert Foxworth. The actor also played Admiral Leyton in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost."

Curiously, Questor searches for his creator and purpose on planet Earth by learning and trusting his robotic instincts,  LOL. "Tinman" surprises everyone by waking up. For a dude "lacking memory tapes" he does a pretty neat job giving himself human features. Edited by gleeful fingers I think Questor the "Superhuman android" could be quite good pitched as a dark comedy. Instead viewers get a freaky, calm version of Mr Data from Star Trek TNG.

Five years after Gene Roddenberry's classic STAR TREK show withered in 1969, trekkies witnessed the spark of something new in the entertainment industry. So what happened?  Questor Tapes was one of a series of television movies in which Roddenberry was involved, which (included Genesis II, Planet Earth, and Spectre) but sadly none of the pilots generated enough TV ratings to be green lit as a series.



Quest long and Prosper, trekkies and trekkers.

Star Trek Into Darkness Posters

Sci-Fi Bad Robot director J.J. Abrams tweeted epic news recently with, Almost done!!! The exciting news is Star Treks Post Production finished for the movie sequel today, according to the latest on Trekmovie. The first public showing of Star Trek Into Darkness will be in Sydney Australia with a gala premiere on April 23rd.

 It didn't seem that long ago four years ago when Star Trek's classic vulcan, Leonard Nimoy, Stunned Trekkies by beaming Star Trek's 2009 Premiere into the Alamo Draft House in Austin, Texas. REMEMBER?



iTunes has some pretty awesome Star Trek Into Darkness Posters which you can download here.

Heres the new STID International ‘Cinemosaic’ animated poster, isn't it cool?

Tweet Long and Prosper, trekkies and trekkers.