Chekov Will Not Be Recast in Star Trek 4

In an interview posted on the Toronto Sun site, Star Trek executive producer JJ Abrams verified that the character of Chekov would not be recast for Star Trek 4 after the death of Anton Yelchin. Abrams said, "I would say there’s no replacing him. There’s no recasting. I can’t possibly imagine that, and I think Anton deserves better. I have thought about [how write the character off], we’re working on it, and it’s too early to talk about it." My guess is a quick line indicating that Chekov received a promotion and was transferred to another ship in Starfleet.

Star Trek Beyond To Be Dedicated to Anton Yelchin

It is being reported that the Star Trek Beyond filmmakers have made the decision to dedicate the film to Anton Yelchin who died Sunday in a freak accident at his home. The 27 year old will be the third person to receive a dedication credit. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was dedicated to the crew of the Challenger while Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was dedicated to series creator Gene Roddenberry. The credit then use to appear at the beginning of the film but nowadays it turns to appear at the end. The dedication is a means of the cast and crew to remember someone important to them and generally lives on with the film regardless of format. The exception would likely be if it appears at the end of the film where it would be edited out (or fast forwarded) for television airings so hopefully filmm makers will maintain the now Trek tradition of putting it before the opening credits.

R.I.P. Anton Yelchin 1989-2016

Star Trek can be both a gift and a curse for its actors. It means a life time of adoration from fans (the good and the bad of that), type-casting and until today it generally brought a long lived life as the main cast actors involved with the show essentially died of complications brought on by living a long life. Until now. This morning Star Trek lost an Enterprise crew member with the death of Anton Yelchin at the age of 27.

The actor played Chekhov on the JJ Abrams movies and in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond. He was killed when his car rolled down his driveway and pinned him against his mailbox and metal fence. The actor's movie credit include Terminator: Salvation, Fright Night, Alpha Dog and many more. I long suspected he would have been one of the first Star Trek alumni to win an Oscar. Sadly that day is no longer meant to be. He will be missed, condolences to his friends and family. Links to comments from Star Trek actors here and here.

New Video for Star Trek Charity

Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin have appears in a new video to promote the Star Trek: To Boldy Go Omaze charity that gives (now) five fans a chance to win a visit to the Star Trek set and one a chance to get a walk on role for Star Trek Beyond.

New Uniform for Star Trek Sequel

New pictures from the Star Trek sequel set made their way online reveal a few more costumes from next year's movies. The photos will uploaded under child actress' Anjini Azhar's IMDB profile who plays the daughter to Noel Clarke (Doctor Who) and Nanzeen Contractor. The photos were since pulled probably due to JJ Abrams' cone of silence. Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin's modeling of the new uniforms, complete with hat, should provide cos players with something new to create for Trek conventions. Other than being a curiosity I am not seeing anything that tells me squat about the story or the characters. Below are a few photos, the rest can be found here.

Star Trek 2: Walk-On Role Contest, Hawaii, and Yelchin

There are three new updates on the Star Trek sequel front with a new contest, update on possible Hawaii filming and Chekov comments on what he (doesn't) know about the sequel. Up first is a new contest to promote the release of JJ Abrams' Super 8 on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow called "Super 8: Watch It & Walk-On" sweepstakes. Two lucky winners will get walk-on roles in Star Trek 2 that JJ Abrams is directing and begins principle photography in January. Usually "walk-on" tends to be literal as essentially an extra what will "walk" in the background of whatever scene be it a street or the bridge of the Enterprise to help sell the scene. To win, go to www.Super8Sweeps.com and answer the Super 8 trivia test. The contest runs from November 20th to December 4th and open only to US residents that are 18 and up in age.

Quinto, Yelchin Talking Trek and Abrams

MTV recently spoke with Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Anton Yelchin (Chekov) about Star Trek 2, specifically their thoughts on where the script may be going (neither have read it), JJ Abrams returning as director and how they get into character. In short they are glad Abrams is on board and excited to reprise their roles. Below is the video for both actors.

My Star Trek Review

This is my first real attempt to do an in depth review of a film. There was two ways to go about writing this, one is as a diehard Trekkie" or as a fan of movies, which is really your choices when deciding to watch this movie. I decided to go with the latter as the first would probably come across as bitter and angry which I am not. Nor is it realistic to what Abrams and Paramount is trying to accomplish with this movie which is restart the franchise for a new generation. So here you go my review of Star Trek.


JJ Abrams Star Trek is a wildly entertaining summer movie that re-invents the Star Trek franchise as an action film. The movie is designed from the ground up to appeal to new fans but provides design, writing and character goodies for those lifelong fans to also enjoy.

The story itself is pretty simple, it is all about revenge and the famed crew of the Enterprise is all that stands between life and death. The movie is sold as a prequel but really it is just uses some rather massive contortions and serendipity moments to get a young cast with familiar character names together on the Enterprise bridge in the roles that most people are at least vaguely familiar with. There is a brief explanation of parallel universes and so forth but let us be clear, this is a complete re-launch of the Star Trek franchise and what came before is simply a place to grab ideas from. This film, in spectacular fashion, makes it clear at one point that it refuses to be beholden to what came before.

The character introductions, while entertaining and cute, really don't service the film in any meaningful way. Spock (Zachary Quinto) and James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) are given character arcs to illustrate growth but as written are without much depth and predictable. The villain himself, Nero (Eric Bana) has the highest body count in Trek history yet his story is weak and typical of a TV cop show where the bad guy kills because someone failed to save those he loved. I think the writers wanted you to feel sorry for Nero but you don't. He is simply there to point the Enterprise at and provide Kirk with a back-story that has some emotional depth. The rest of the core characters all play a useful part in the film in some form or fashion, something that can be difficult when trying to juggle nearly a dozen characters and give each a moment.

The reason the writing works though is because the acting, directing and special effects are executed pitch perfect. While die hard Trekkies may grumble, the actors inhabit their new roles rather well. Chris Pine retains the swagger and confidence that William Shatner brought to the role of Kirk but now there is a level of sadness and anger that Kirk rarely showed. Quinto simply is Spock. He manages to bring a huge amount of emotionally range to a character that is supposed to suppress all of his emotions. It is an honors level acting course in subtle acting through tone and facial expression that is throttled up or down as needed for a scene.

The supporting Enterprise bridge crew of John Cho (Sulu), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), Zoe Saldana (Uhura), and Simon Pegg (Scotty) all inhabit their roles as well as possible, making the most of the few moments they get to shine. At most, my only complaint is Chekov's accent and jokes are a little over the top and maybe the character should take voice lessons between sequels. Eric Bana does the best as he can with his role as the villain but has little to work with beyond look menacing, yell orders and remind viewers that he wants revenge. Leonard Nimoy, as "Spock Prime", exists in the movie to literally pass the torch to the new cast and as usual his very presence brings a gravitas to the role that Quinto doesn't yet have. His role is little more than a cameo but he makes the most of it.

In everything, there are homages to the Star Trek ideas of old. The Enterprise itself, with an exterior design that harkens back to the old design, is updated with a sleeker and more modern look. The bridge, with touch controls, clear screens and a massive view screen retains the center chair captain's chair and front navigator seat is full of lights and plenty of screens makes for an interesting if bright visual. The view screen itself was updated from an oversized television screen to a futuristic windshield (with heads-up display) as the saucer section is showing on the bottom of the screen much like the hood does in a car. The engines rooms retain a clean look but have that cluttered feel that convey a battleship design with pipes showing, stairs to climb, and levers all over the place that one would expect from such a location. The costumes retain the original series design of color denoting department, but now are more flattering and detailed.

Where this film really shines though is the action sequences, special effects and sound. The camera often flies into the action rather than above it, almost as if there was a camera mounted on one of the missiles roaring in to cause destruction. The space battles are not two ships trading single shots like in the other movies, but a burst of massive firepower as they open their arsenals in a fight for survival that causes damage on multiple fronts. The CGI work is spectacular is it captures the beauty of Star Trek with space, the ships and yet also perfectly captures the ugliness when that beauty is destroyed. This is also a film that needs to be with a good sound system as all that sound and fury needs to be properly enjoyed.

This film, while bringing a new look and feel to universe of Star Trek, doesn't forget where it came from with homages all over the place. From the costumes, to the sets, to even the sound on the bridge, there is love for what came before complete with a reprise of the Original Series score at the end. The score, by Michael Giacchino, is homage all by itself as it is full of familiar music from past Star Trek films and shows while adding his own sound to it. If there is one complaint I have about the score it is that it recycles some of his themes too frequently, probably a consequence of Giacchino's television background. However, it does its job, which is enhancing what is on the screen without getting in the way.

The film does have its issues. A lot of it is in the story as you are just expected to accept things just because. Nero was there for Kirk's birth, the somehow disappears for 20 years without explanation, happily returning in time to confront the adult Kirk. Cadets that are just about to graduate are promoted quickly and for no real reason other than they need to get them on the bridge of the Enterprise. The film heavily relies on coincidence to move things along such as Kirk stumbling across Spock Prime and Scotty or technology going form barely functioning to being able to do wonderful things at extreme distances depending on story needs. Another problem is lens flares. The film is full of them. If there is a light source, it is going to cause a lens flare at some point. It occurs in fights, on the bridge, in a hallway, everywhere. They go from an element of the look of the film to a flat out distraction.

The $100 million budget, larger than the previous three movies combined, is all there on the screen. The result is a very entertaining film that leaves you wanting a sequel but really forgetting about the movie moments after setting out of the theatre. The story is serviceable, the cast great, the characters interesting and the special effects spectacular. Star Trek is the perfect popcorn flick to forget the world for two hours. JJ Abrams achieved his goal of bringing a beloved franchise and introducing it to a new generation.

Yep, More Interviews

The campaign continues to get you to see Star Trek. Click the links for the full interviews, just posting a few snippets.

Star Trek Movie Magazine - click the link for excepts of interviews with the cast for the magazine.

JJ Abrams (Director)

TrekMovie: You talk about how people do not need to know a lot to enjoy this film. One thing that I do think may be an issue and have some people at least asking the question: What was Nero doing for 25 years? Talk me through the decision to remove that. The one thing I would like to see in this film was more Nero.
Abrams: Well you are not wrong. Not only would it have been nice, but I thought it was nice to have that stuff in there. But I don’t think the majority of the audience has the patience and the willingness to do the kind of work that deep-routed fans of genre, and certainly of Trek, are willing to do and in fact live to do. I have found on Lost and on Fringe that the casual viewer may be confounded by a plot turn that I love. What I love about this is not just mystery, but sometimes these diversions that take you into a really weird place, then kind of get back on track and continue. That sequence took the audience off track into a whole new place that I thought was really cool, really weird, beautifully designed and had great mood. I loved the visual effects and the whole thing. It broke my heart to cut it. But when we showed the movie to the audience with that sequence it really threw them. Because we had a bad guy who is suddenly imprisoned by other bad guys. You didn’t know who was who. There was exposition that I really enjoyed, that people felt was confusing and distracting. And it threw the audience off and took them on this diversion and the truth is, not unlike Richard Donner’s Superman, the movie really begins in earnest about half an hour into the movie, when in that film Christopher Reeve is flying away from the Fortress of Solitude as Superman. Everything that preceded it was critical to emotionally connect to the story, but now the story begins. In our movie it just felt like a five minute diversion that people were like ‘what?’

Anton Yelchin (Chekov)

TrekMovie: How much of a discussion with JJ was there on the level of genuine ‘Russian-ness’ to put into it?
Yelchin: I wanted it to be close to the Chekov accent, I guess that is where our opinions differ. I have no problem doing a real Russian accent, but that wouldn’t be Chekov to me. The interesting thing about it is that his accent is a cold-war stereotype of a Russian person. And when I watched the series and the films, that is what I found interesting about it. And I adjusted it, it is not entirely the same, but Walter [Koenig] came on set and was like "that sounds like me." And that is what was fun for me. As a person familiar with a Russian accent, and someone with Russian roots who can speak Russian and knows what Russian people sound like, it was fun to purposefully mess around with the Russian accent — to purposefully change what I thought a Russian accent was to suit that stereotype they had in the sixties.

TrekMovie: You spent a lot of time at your console on the bridge and the console in the transporter room. Did any one of the set designers ever tell you ‘this button does this, and that button does that’? So when Pike issues an order, you know what button to push?
Yelchin: Me and John Cho kind of sat down the first day and talked to JJ said that because this is going to become the way for us to do things, we need to figure out what is what. We really kind of stuck to doing the same things over and over again. We also got these neat little space pens, like when I come up with the solution. No one sat us down so it was up to us and John and I really coordinated what we were doing to make sure it looks legitimate.

John Cho on Jimmy Kimmel 5/7 - Thanks to Brian for the link

Star Trek's Yelchin Joins Terminator

Anton Yelchin, who plays Chekov in Star Trek, has landed another franchise film. He will play the young Kyle Reese in the next Terminator movie. Kyle Reese is the guy that will father John Connor after going back in time to save Linda Hamilton's character in the first Terminator film. Christian Bale plays the now adult John Connor and its directed by McG (Charlies' Angels).

I know only indirectly Star Trek related but the news on the ST front is far and few between and personally I am looking forward to the next Terminator film. Also a bit jealous as he gets to play in the Star Trek and Terminator sandboxes and I don't.

Yelchin Talks Star Trek

MTV discussed Star Trek with Anton Yelchin (Pavel Chekov) where he indicates that JJ Abrams "is walking a fine line between reverence and reinvention." Spoilers within.

Video of the interview is here and article here.

Highlights:
- Did meet Walter Koenig (original Pavel) and discussed the role when he was on set. Described Walter as "gracious" and enthusiastic about the film.
- Did say that Spock is the only character that meets his younger counterpart, confirming that the original series cast does not appear in the movie.
- Indicated that most of the cast didn't have much familiarity with Star Trek but did do research to get familiar with the show.
- "Everything about it is epic" when describing working on the film and said even for non Star Trek fans "It’s a pretty cool action movie regardless of what you think of ‘Star Trek’"
- Chris Pine isn't tapping his inner Shatner, "everyone is being respectful, but at the same time doing their own thing' but "That's a trademark Chekov thing, the V's [being pronounced as W's], so there's a lot of that in the film." He added that he does not say "nuclear wessels" in the movie.
- Tyler Perry is "an official in the Federation" but didn't specify what role. I speculate its either head of Starfleet Academy or President of the Federation.
- Said that "there are special [in-joke] perks if you've been a Star Trek fan for 40 years".
- His favorite scene: "The end, when you see us all together," he said of a pivotal moment that unites Chekov, Spock, Kirk (Chris Pine), McCoy (Karl Urban) and the rest of the iconic "Trek" crew members. "I can't explain how you get to see us all together, but it's pretty epic. ... You're on the Enterprise, and you just know it feels so epic. We shot the last scene in the film, and you see everyone in the gold, and the blue, and the red."

Anton Yelchin on Chekov

Anton Yelchin briefly discussed his role in Star Trek playing Chekov.

From Rotton Tomatoes:

In the new Star Trek movie, rebooting the franchise with all new actors playing the original Enterprise crew, Anton Yelchin is the new Chekov. Reinterpreting Walter Koenig's Russian starship lieutenant required some interesting linguistic decisions on Yelchin's part.

"The thing is about Walter Koenig was his accent was interesting," said Yelchin. "I think I'm just going to leave it at interesting. All of us had to make the choice of what we wanted to take from the original and what we wanted to bring to it. There are certain things that I took, from the fact that he replaced every V with a W which is weird. I don't really know where that decision came from but regardless that's the decision that he made and I thought it was important to bring that to the character."

If he can nail that down, Yelchin has done Chekov proud and should have free reign to do whatever else he wants with the character. "I talked to J.J. [Abrams] a lot about what he wanted. His thing was we're not making something that's supposed to be the old Star Trek. He's making his own movie but there is a bit of, like, I think people want to see what they love so we're all trying to find things that will remind people of the old characters. So it's been interesting picking up on little things."

As for finding opportunities to say the line "But Ceepteen, the Kleengons are approaching," Yelchin has spent most of his time on the ship. "Chekov is just on the Enterprise. A lot of it is green screen. I mean, the Enterprise itself, J.J.'s trying to shoot as much of it as he can with out green screen, but I think a lot of space is obviously green screen -- what I'm looking at while seeing the Klingon warships."