JJ Abrams’ Trek XI Flick – It’s Not Your Daddy’s “Wagon Train to The Stars”

The sci-fi community was a-buzzing this week after Paramount finally lifted the veil of secrecy on what JJ Abrams’ take on “Star Trek” will look like with the release of several stills from the upcoming movie. And while there were some real surprises in the mix, what I ended up finding more interesting was what this sudden reveal tells us about Abrams’ film and Paramount’s apparent new viewpoint on their prized Trek franchise.

For those of you who have already seen the pictures, I’m sure you’ve had your share of other peoples’ descriptions of what minutiae can be dissected from these images, so don’t worry this won’t be more of that. Besides, in all honesty, I don’t spend my time over-analyzing stills looking for some hidden secret just as how I don’t look for images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary in oil stains. In other words, I do have a life, thank you very much. All I will say is that looking at this shot featured above of the new Enterprise bridge, I can’t help but wonder if the production designer got some sort of discount deal with a light bulb manufacturer as there are a LOT of lights in that layout, some of which make no sense at all – those halogen-spotlight circle lights running along the top of the stations are a good example. Oh, I’m sure this design has got the geek “SO Cool!!!!” vote sewn up, but from my viewpoint, it just seems a tad too cluttered. Put it to you this way, would you buy an iPhone or other electronic device if it had that many bells and whistles decorating its housing? It’s clear as technology gets more advanced, we’re moving toward not only smaller devices, but also simpler interfaces, something this image doesn’t quite bring to mind. In any case, now that I got that out of the way, let me get to the point that is surprisingly being overlooked surrounding the release of these various images.

To bring everyone up to speed, Paramount’s marketing division decided to release five image stills this past Wednesday from the upcoming movie, no doubt as part of their plan to generate buzz about the flick leading into the full trailer release that is expected to be shown at screenings of the latest James Bond film “Quantum of Solace” next month. However, rather than offer these images to a single magazine or news information website, Paramount shrewdly took these five photos and distributed one each to five different news websites for them to carry as exclusives for their site. Not only does this have interested readers scrambling to find all these pictures, but it also ensures that Paramount is getting the word out to as many sci-fi fans as possible since the various sites like UGO, IGN, and MTV are no doubt visited by differing audience sets – I suspect there’s very little cross-pollination happening among them. But that’s pretty straight-forward and obviously Net savvy on Paramount’s part and something I suspect other major studios will start employing for their upcoming blockbusters. Instead, what’s surprising is both the content of these pictures and more importantly, who is carrying what.

It’s a given that the release of these pictures was meant for avid Star Trek fans who have been eagerly awaiting a visual preview of the latest entry into the Trek mythos. And there are certain elements to the franchise which carry greater interest or curiosity than others, one of the top being what the new bridge will look like. Personally, I was of the thinking that this particular design element was going to be kept under lock and key until the movie’s release so that the first time we actually see it would create that “Ahhh!” moment much like when a new work of art is unveiled from behind a velvet curtain. And yet, this past Wednesday, Paramount trotted out an image showing off the bridge of the Enterprise – and yes, they even went so far as to confirm that it was the Enterprise bridge – throwing out what I had thought was one of their big cards that they had in their hand. Frankly, it made little sense to me to give away one of the most anticipated designs for the core audience in a simple photograph. Unless of course, Paramount is now planning on creating a new core audience for this franchise, something I think is apparent from how the release of these images has been handled. Let me show you what I mean.

If we look at some of the pictures that were released in context of which site got what exclusive photo, we can see a clear demarcation of which site got the best photo and which one got the least interesting or noteworthy one. Now as a set, the pictures work well to give a good impression of this upcoming film, but for now, let’s take a few of these images and see what they accomplish on their own. Let’s start with the site JoBlo.com:

This site got a picture of the film’s nemesis, Nero, played by Eric Bana. An interesting shot in terms of its angle, but let’s face it – this picture on its own doesn’t reveal anything about Abrams’ Trek aesthetic, nor is it a picture that one couldn’t easily confuse as being a still from some other film. So on its own, it’s rather blasé.

Now, let’s jump over to IGN:

Here we see a picture of Chris Pine as Kirk trying to climb up out of an ice pit from some sort of spacecraft which carries the iconic “NCC-1701” identifier. Again, another interesting shot, but it doesn’t give us much to work with in terms of understanding what this film will be like visually in relation to previous Trek incarnations.

Next up is UGO’s exclusive pic and now we have something to chew on:

In this picture we get to see some of the iconic characters inhabited by these new actors in what UGO establishes in their article is an image taken from the bridge set. We also get here a good look at the new uniform design. Compared to the previous two, this image tells us a great deal about the new Trek aesthetic as well as giving us an impression of what these actors will look like playing these beloved characters.

However, the real winner of the pack has got to be MTV (their picture graces the top of this entry) which lands not only a picture of the cast in their Starfleet uniforms, but also gives us a clearer and unmistakable view of the new Enterprise bridge. And if that wasn’t enough, to sweeten the pot, the picture also features Kirk sitting in the famous Captain’s chair looking like he’s plotting his next move while McCoy and Spock – framing him on each side in this image – ponder the situation. A very iconic visual of the Trek mythos.

Now let’s think about this for a moment – the one picture that on its own provides us with the most information and insight into what Abrams’ film will look like, the one that would satiate Trek fans’ hunger for knowing more about the upcoming film, was not featured on some geek-friendly website. Instead, it showed up on MTV. And let’s be honest here – no one’s confusing the MTV crowd with Star Trek fans. Also, as I pointed out, this one picture more than any of the others reveals one of those key elements that Trek fans have been hoping to see since production first began on this film earlier this year. These two points paint an interesting picture of the future of the Trek franchise.

It’s no secret that Abrams and Paramount are hoping that this next Trek film will have broad audience appeal in addition to being a fave among the mainstream Trek crowd – that would be those who are capable of growing up and not tying down a science fiction franchise to an outdated, 40-year interpretation of what the future will visually look like. Indeed, given the $150 million price tag this film currently carries, they have no choice but to make this film appealing to the casual film goers to help them make a tidy sum on their investment. Of course, a healthy portion of that profit will be derived from merchandising and other promotional licenses, products that normally are marketed at the young adult set given their relatively higher portion of disposable income for such items. A quick review of the current make-up of the Trek crowd shows the age-set has migrated northward toward that segment of the populace that’s more concerned with mortgage/car payments and who have a much smaller amount of disposable income, something the current economic climate has further eroded. It becomes clear from this demographic viewpoint that Paramount needs to make this next venture of interest to the younger set if they are to continue to generate revenue from their 40-year old property.

Another point to consider is the success Marvel has had with migrating their various franchises from being of interest only to the comic book reading crowd to the mainstream audience through their filmed versions of these properties. While the various “Spiderman” releases and the recent takes on the “Batman”, “Superman” and “Iron Man” franchises do appeal to their respective die-hard followers, they also have succeeded in drawing in the casual film goer who hasn’t picked up a comic book since they were twelve. The collective success of these various franchises is proof that even a genre like “Star Trek” can straddle that line of garnering the support of their die-hard audiences while courting the mainstream crowd that wouldn’t normally consider spending their time and money on such a film. To do that, however, means that “Star Trek” must follow the path of these other franchises in re-inventing some aspects to make it relevant and entertaining to today’s audience. It simply cannot be a vehicle for nostalgia-driven fans who simply want to see more of the same material that was derived over 40 years ago when the first Trek series aired.

The pictures released this week are very much telling that this is what Abrams and Paramount intend to do with the Trek franchise. Their decision to put the best content on a site like MTV is a strong indicator that they want to ditch that notion of “Star Trek” being the exclusive domain of geeks and grown men living in their parent’s basement to something that has contemporary chic and mainstream appeal. Granted, the MTV crowd is unlikely to get all worked up over seeing a picture of what Abrams’ Enterprise bridge looks like as the geek-Trek fans would. But that product placement there is a very clear statement by Paramount to those geeks to get ready for their beloved franchise to grow beyond their grasp and merge into the mainstream entertainment scene. Indeed, I think that is why Paramount elected to release this much sought-after look at the new Enterprise bridge so early in the game – they basically want to dispense with whatever elements those die-hard Trek fans love to obsess and dissect so that future promotional releases can be geared toward the average film goer in an attempt to get their interest, to pique their curiosity and get the kind of buzz going that “The Dark Knight” enjoyed earlier this year on account of Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker. In other words, Paramount gave “Trekkies” what they have longed for so that Paramount’s marketing division can now focus on creating material to convince the mainstream audience that Abrams’ new take on “Star Trek” is cool and fun.

While I can imagine there will be many on the Net whining and crying over the loss of their beloved Trek, I personally would be happy to see “Star Trek” grow up and once again become relevant both as a source of entertainment and something that is shared by more than just a select group of viewers. As a vehicle for story-telling, “Star Trek” certainly has the ability to be modernized without losing any of the charm that has made it a cult classic. While I may find Abrams’ bridge design could employ some energy conservation by tossing out a couple dozen of those lights, I’ll forgive that real fast if they provide us with a fresh look at these beloved characters in a compelling and yes, entertaining storyline. That is, after all, why any of us watch “Star Trek” in the first place.

Some other posts you may enjoy:

1. Star Trek XI – The Anticipation Grows . . .
2. Star Trek XI Review – Star Trek Finds Its Bearings Again
3. Majel Barrett Roddenberry – A Truly Classy Lady Has Moved On
4. Landing A Parsec Award Nomination – It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
5. AFI’s Top 10 Sci-Fi List – Are they kidding me?
6. Comic Book Action Flicks And The Father-Son Relationship

posted on October 17th, 2008 | 2 Comments » | Tags: JJ Abrams, Paramount, sci-fi, science fiction, Star Trek, Trek, Trek XI |