Star Trekking ...

When the first Trek film came out I went with some friends to the Lynn Twin and saw it opening weekend. I had never been to a movie where after buying a ticket I had to wait all the way around a corner in line. It didn't occur to me at 12 that they might know how many seats they had and tickets they were selling ...

The second film came out and I saw it right away at the Grand Cinemas Alderwood. I cannot be absolutely certain that I saw it opening weekend, but I might have. Although in some ways the 6th is the best film, this one really stands out as the defining Trek film.

The third Trek came out and a few of us APES went and saw it on opening day as a matinee, also at the Grand Cinemas Alderwood. Piling in the car and heading straight the the movies was just kind of cool. The third film is one of the weakest in some ways, and always struck me as rushed looking, but it was still better than most films.

The fourth film came out after high school, but again I went to it right away. This is Trek at its most obviously preachy, but it works because the humor and script was so good. The supporting cast got a lot to work with in this one.

The fifth film came out during my college days and I pretty much ignored it. It looked awful, I heard bad things about it, and eventually watched it on video. It should be titled "The One We Pretend Never Happened". TNG was not officially a reboot and written to be in the future of the original series so that they could make room for a film like this. It's awful, and not in a good and funny way.

TNG was really in its best phase when the sixth movie came out. I remember getting the tickets after work and going with my brother to a late showing of this at the Grand Cinemas. Gene had just died and it was a really rowdy crowd, like being with a group that was going to see Guns 'n Roses later that evening. The best all around film of the series and it really sent the original cast off in style.

But, they all could not stay away so they made the seventh movie a split between some of the original cast and mostly a TNG film. The results were mixed and I tend to think of this one much less than other TNG era films.

The eighth film was the second one I saw opening weekend while in Pullman on a snowy day. The Borg are potentially one of the most frightening things ever on screen and this one actually made use of that. They always seemed to be dampening the power of The Borg in other stories.

The ninth film was really good too and I have a hard time deciding if I like eight or nine better among the TNG era films. The film makes really good use of a variety of elements from the TNG era and shows a side of Starfleet rarely seen in the perfect world it is normally shown as being.

The tenth film had a lot of potential, but they screwed up by changing the Romulans back story and also Picard's back story too much. By this point, only Trek fans were going and the changes were not taken well and the movie did poorly.

It is no surprise that several years passed and a new attempt to resurrect the franchise was made by handing it over to JJ Abrams. This afternoon I will pick up my son from school and go to an afternoon showing. Reports from early screenings and friends are favorable. This should be fun ...