Star Trek Designing the Future

Sunday, September 27th, the Art Directors Guild honored four of the designers for Star Trek. The guild held their event called "Star Trek: 45 Years of Designing the Future" at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood to honor John Jeffries (for Original Series), Joseph R. Jennings (Wrath of Khan), Herman Zimmerman (Deep Space 9), and Scott Chambliss (Abrams' Star Trek). This group is credited with designing much of the look and feel that we associate with the Star Trek Universe today including the starships, the planets, phasers and more. Designs that seem to now influence much of the tech created today. Below are snippets, but click here to read the full article from Hero Complex.

In the original “Trek,” other planets looked like the soundstages they were, but back in the day, the show was state-of-the-art. The papier-mache "rocks" weren’t even painted – "Paint was too expensive," Zimmerman said – they were lit with different colored lights, so the same boulders could double as other planets.

Said Zimmerman of graduating from “Deep Space 9,” set in the mid-23rd century, to “Star Trek: Enterprise,” set in the mid 22nd, he was relieved “to be designing a show only 90 years in the future.”

Jennings joked about developing five designs for a phaser, and the powers that be choosing one element from each of the five they wanted incorporated. By the way, in "Star Trek" parlance, when a rock or wall has “GNDN” painted on it, it merely means “Goes nowhere, does nothing."

Chambliss, the youngest and most restrained on the panel, commented briefly about conceptualizing the look of the 2009 “Trek” film. He was thinking about Nero’s ship one evening while chopping ingredients for dinner in his kitchen. Looking at the knife, he said, “That’s scary.” Then pointing the imaginary knife at his face, he said, “That’s really scary.” Hence the idea for the Romulan’s ship.

Star Trek Season 2 Remastered Blu-ray Now Out

Star Trek: The Original Series Season Two Remastered for Blu-ray is now available for purchase. The remastered set was released a few years ago for DVD but this is the first time it was available for Blu-ray. The set includes both the original look and the new special effects enhanced versions that started airing on local televisions in the last few years.

AICN provides a detailed description of the set, so click here to learn more.

Star Trek Sequel and Politics Theme

While on the set of Fringe (premiering this Thursday), Hero Complex spoke with Star Trek writers/producers JJ Abrams and Roberto Orci about the sequel for Star Trek and what themes they may explore in the movie.

JJ Abrams

"The ambition for a sequel to 'Star Trek' is to make a movie that's worthy of the audience and not just another movie, you know, just a second movie that feels tacked on. The first movie was so concerned with just setting up the characters -- their meeting each and galvanizing that family -- that in many ways a sequel will have a very different mission. it needs to do what [the late 'Trek' creator Gene] Roddenberry did so well, which is allegory. It needs to tell a story that has connection to what is familiar and what is relevant. It also needs to tell it in a spectacular way that hides the machinery and in a primarily entertaining and hopefully moving story. There needs to be relevance, yes, and that doesn't mean it should be pretentious. If there are simple truths -- truths connected to what we live -- that elevates any story -- that's true with any story."

Roberto Orci

"We’ve literally had two meetings now. We haven’t decided anything but we’re starting to circle around some ideas. We got a lot of fan response from the first one and a considerable amount of critical response and one of the things we heard was, ‘Make sure the next one deals with modern-day issues.’ We’re trying to keep it as up-to-date and as reflective of what’s going on today as possible. So that’s one thing, to make it reflect the things that we are all dealing with today.

[Hero Complex] asked Orci somewhat flippantly if that meant we might see Starfleet grappling with the ethics of torture or dealing with a rising terrorist threat or perhaps a painful, politicized war with the Klingons. "Well yeah, those are the kind of issues we're talking about. Wow, you're good! But seriously that's the way we're thinking, that's an approach. So if you have any ideas ... "

Star Trek is at its best when it uses real world issues as fodder in the sci-fi universe. One of the better movies used the collapse of the USSR as fodder for the story in The Undiscovered Country with the Klingons experiencing an economic collapse and reaching out for peace with the Federation while factions on both side wanted to maintain the status quo of war. That is just one movie example but the various series also have continued the tradition. If they can pull it off, the result could be a deeper, more enjoyable story.

As always though, the script is still in the discussion stage so any thing being said right now by the cast and crew is still just the spitballing of ideas and nothing permanent has been decided.

Saldana Expects More Uhura Action

Sequel talk for Star Trek continues with Zoe Saldana indicating that Uhura will do something rare for the character - which is actually engage in a fight.

"In Star Trek, I had so much fun, but the boys got all the action! J.J. [Abrams] promised me that I'm going to -- [that] in the sequel, she will have at least one little fight. I mean, just [let me] kick a guy in the groin or something!" Laughing, she revealed that there was an enormous ongoing e-mail list among the cast, Abrams, and the Trek producers where they regularly chat and joke back and forth.

The Smell of Star Trek

Star Trek has its merchandising signature on many things but not perfume and cologne until now according to The Toilet Paper. Genki has created three fragrances decided to make you think "Star Trek" every time you put some on. Tiberius and Red Shirt are for men while Pon Farr is for women. I think the most amusing part isn't really the descriptions but the slogans for each fragrance as they invoke the origins of each name.

Red Shirt Cologne - Because Tomorrow May Never Come.
Pon Farr Perfume - Drive him crazy.
Tiberius - Boldly Go.

Star Trek Online Hand-On

Over the weekend the Penny Arcade Expo was held, which is essentially a celebration of video games. As part of that Star Trek Online demo was available for play and Joystiq.com did a write-up here.

Overall they felt the game "has managed to create a flawlessly adapted interactive extension of the show" that Star Trek fans will love. The demo offered a look at the play control with the space combat system that has an added layer of strategy due to elements that is true to Star Trek. For example energy and shield management ("divert power to forward shields") is a part of the combat. There are "thrusters on full", photon torpedoes, phasers (with own range and targeting arc depending on location on the ship).

Abilities such as draining enemy's shields, fire volley of torpedoes and more seems to be provided by fellow crew members on the bridge of the ship. These characters are also customizable and can follow you down for ground side exploration. Ground side combat techniques include phaser fights and melee attacks with some assist from crewmates that provide healing and buffs but how your teams work is up to you. If AI-controlled characters are not cutting it, they can be swapped out with player controlled avatars. Of note is missions are called "episodes" for the game. It seems the game has a lot of potential but it is still a year out at least so no telling what additional fun content will be added.

Stewart, Mulgrew at DragonCon

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy's were not the only major Star Trek actors to appear at DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend. Patrick Stewart, aka Captain Jean Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Kate Mulgrew, aka Captain Kathryn Janeway also appeared at the Con to discuss their characters and their careers.

Patrick Stewart's spoke about a possibility of a return to the Picard character, saying "I feel that I have left behind a legacy as Picard. In my head and heart, I've moved on." Having said that, he would be open to a cameo but deemed that occurring as unlikely. He is also willing to revisit the role of Professor Charles Xavier from the X-Men. He most recently played the role for the Wolverine film earlier this summer. Stewart felt there was more to explore in the relationship between Xavier and Magneto in a future film.

On an amusing side, when asked about Nimoy and Shatner, he said about Nimoy that he is “somewhat in awe of his presence on stage" and impressed with his humor, dignity, and enthusiasm. “Mr. Shatner, on the other hand... He’s a piece of work, isn’t he?” For an idea on what he is talking about, be sure to click here and watch a very entertaining panel with Nimoy and Shatner.

Below are the links to what is available from the Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew panels. (via TrekMovie)

Patrick Stewart: Clip 1 | Clip 2
Kate Mulgrew: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Paramount Nearly Tops Summer Box Office

Paramount pictures nearly took the domestic box office top spot from Warner Brothers this summer thanks to the strength of its tent pole movies of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek according to Variety. Paramount earned $884 million in the US, much of that from Transformers 2 $400 million and Star Trek's $257.2 million domestic take. Warner Bros took the top spot with $1 billion due to Harry Potter 6 ($297.6M) and The Hangover ($272.2). 20th Century Fox is third ($610M), Disney ($620M) was fourth and Sony ($550M) was fifth.

Happy 43rd Birthday Star Trek!

Today is the unofficial 43rd birthday for Star Trek, marked by the airing of the first episode "The Man Trap" on September 8th, 1966 on NBC at 8:30pm. The Man Trap was really the sixth episode in the series but was aired first. TrekMovie.com has a nice walk down memory lane with images and videos that you can read here. I can't help but wonder what the films would have been like if they had the budget that they really needed to fly.

Final Box for Star Trek

The final box art for the home video release of JJ Abrams' Star Trek has been revealed. The three-disc Blu-ray and two-disc DVD have the Star Trek in large words that was one of the first posters created to promote the film. The movie is coming out November 17th, 2009. For full details of the features click here.

To pre-order from Amazon:

Blu-ray Limited Edition Replica Gift Set | 3-Disc Blu-Ray | 2-Disc DVD | 1-Disc DVD

Shatner, Nimoy at DragonCon

Today was the first day of DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia. The con is essentially a massive Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention celebrating comics, movies and TV shows. As part of that Star Trek's Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had their panel with 2000 fans and discussed Star Trek and the current movie. The Shat still has not seen the movie and seems to remain bitter that he was written into it (but remember he doesn't do cameos). Video below of the panel. One amusing exchange according to AJC.com:

Have you seen any good movies lately?” Nimoy asked early on, eliciting laughs and applause from the crowd. The reference, of course, was to the rebooted version of “Star Trek” that came out earlier this year which included Nimoy — but not Shatner.
“You’re in the movie,” Shatner said dryly. “I’m not.”
Nimoy: “I wasn’t referring to any particular movie.”
Shatner: “I heard it’s a very good thing I’m not in the movie.” (boos)
Nimoy: “Send that to J.J. Abrams!” [the director] Then Shatner made numerous laments along the lines of “Why wasn’t I in the movie?”

Here is all seven parts of the panel in playlist from via TrekMovie.com.

Star Trek Online Beta Registration

Star Trek Online has started taking applications for their closed beta that will start later in the year for the MMORPG game. From the site:

As we proceed with testing the game, we’re relying on you, our fans, to help us work out kinks, squash bugs and create the best Star Trek experience we can. To apply for the beta, please visit this web form and answer the questions provided. We’ll randomly select from that group as we ramp up toward open beta.

If you purchased a six-month or lifetime subscription to Champions Online, you’re already accepted to the Star Trek Online beta and won’t need to apply. We’ll have more information about how and when you can join the beta at a later date.

We’re very happy to have all of you with us as we take this bold step forward. We can’t wait to see you in game.

Good luck to all that sign up.

Star Trek Tops 2009 Scream Awards

Star Trek recieved the most nominations for Spike TV's 2009 Scream Awards with 17 total. The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, October 17th at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. I guess the Star Trek crew should feel honored but realistically the Spike Awards have no credibility to speak of as it is a popularity contest that attempts to mimic (poorly) the MTV Movie Awards.

"Getting nominated for kissing a Vulcan is a better fate than logic," said "Star Trek's" Zoe Saldana after getting word she received two "SCREAM" Awards nominations for Best Breakout Performance: Female and Best Science Fiction Actress.

J.J. Abrams' Sci-Fi action-adventure "Star Trek" tops the list with 17 nominations including The Ultimate Scream, Best Science Fiction Movie, Best Director, Best Ensemble, Holy Sh*t Scene of the Year and a nod in the all-new Fight-to-the-Death Scene of the Year category.

The nominations were decided by the awards "Advisory Board" that includes Tim Burton, Wes Craven, Roland Emmerich, Neil Gaiman, Frank Miller and Eli Rith. If you want to vote for your favorite movie, head to the Scream Award website.

Star Trek Returning to IMAX Theatres

According to TrekMovie.com, JJ Abrams Star Trek is returning to IMAX theatres in the United States and Canada for a limited release starting September 4th until September 18th when Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs takes over. The second run is to offer a chance to those that couldn't see it in IMAX the first time due to its brief two week engagement as a result of Night at the Museum 2.

For the complete list of theatres click here.