Hey FOOLS! Growing up I was fortunate not to be forced to choose between Star Trek and Star Wars, we had both in my house and I think my Sci Fi appreciation has benefited as a result. In saying that my personal preference growing up was Star Wars, perhaps Star Trek seemed a little too hard to understand, but never the less it was in my home and I had a slight understanding of the series before watching this film. When a reboot of the franchise was announced I have to admit I was skeptical, previous films have lingered a little on the boring side and usually got lost in the Science part of Science Fiction but I'm also a huge fan of J.J. Abrams and had faith that if anyone was to revitalize this franchise he was definitely going to be the man to do it, so in January this year Prester John and I were invited to a screening of about 30 minutes of footage from the film. After watching the footage this had become one of our most anticipated films for 2009. We got to see three scenes, which you can read about here, each of them were exciting and intriguing and definitely left me wanting to see more.

Regardless of if you have seen Star Trek before pop culture has ingrained us with catch cries from the series like "Live Long and Prosper" or "I can not do it Captain, I'm giving her all she's got" and even if you haven't watched a single episode or film most people would know who Spock was by seeing a picture of him, this is the legacy Star Trek has created through their 10 films and numerous television series. Then there is the Trekkies, or Trekkers as we were informed at some interviews yesterday, these fans are loyal and extremely knowledgeable in all aspects of the Star Trek multiverse. The amount of knowledge that the Austrek and USS Mawson guys showed was mind blowing and at times was so passionately delivered that I found myself going cross eyed. Prester actually asked some of these "Trekkers" why they loved the Star Trek multiverse so much and a reoccurring answer was something I'd never thought of. Star Trek is always about a multi racial, and sometimes multi species, group of people who are working united in order to bring peace, even members of the cast echoed this. It was something unheard of back in the 60's when the original series kicked off and as I found out is something so endearing to the fans and the cast and crew. Over the next couple of days we'll also post our interviews with director J.J. Abrams and actor John Cho and already posted is our interview with both Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto.

Before I begin getting into the Nitty Gritty I'd like to give huge props to Paramount Pictures for the spread they put on at the Sydney Opera House, this is the first time ever a feature film has been shown in the concert hall and they made sure that it was an event to remember. From the massive red carpet that worked it's way up the stairs of our most famous Icon to the way they lit the two prominent arches of the Opera House so they looked like the Star Fleet logo it was something special but the most special of all was the state of the art digital projection of the film we watched. It was like watching the picture difference between VHS and DVD, the quality was phenomenal, there was so much definition to the picture that you could see the individual weaving of each uniform, or the detail of planets and space as the Enterprise moved. It was spectacular. The sound was nothing short of flawless, they had the legendary Ben Burtt flown out to prepare and run the sound for the screening and it was loud, chair rumbling and awesome it made the film gripping in its intense moments, tear jerking in its emotional moments and up lifting in its moments of glory. The last amazing piece of this experience was the 1500+ crowd that cheered every time one of their favourite characters were on screen, laughed when every their favourite lines were used, cheered when the good guys were winning, gasped when the bad guys were winning then applauded the cast and crew with a standing ovation after everything they had just experienced.

Anyways on to the film, I'm going to try to avoid too many spoilers so I'll give you a quick wrap of the plot. If explained wrong it sounds really confusing so here's hoping this is understandable for all. Eric Bana plays the bad guy named Nero who is from the future. Previously Spock had tried to save a planet, Romulus, from being destroyed but had failed, this planet was Nero's. Nero then goes back in time to kill Spock and all the members of the Enterprise as an act of revenge. We get to see Spock and Kirk and the rest of the crew as they move from the Star Fleet Academy to active duty as they try to stop Nero. Now there is a bit more depth to this but I really want to avoid giving away huge spoilers, I'm sure there are many spoiler filled reviews out there so I won't kill the plot for you.

But let me tell you Eric Bana is great as Nero, as is the the rest of the cast, Bana is just one of many great selections in the casting of this film. Bana is ruthless and scary but there is also a side to him that shows he is hurting after the loss of his planet. Now i'll do one of those save the best for last things so firstly lets talk Uhura, played by Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Carribean), she has all the sass the role requires and there are a few comedic moments as Kirk tries to find out her first name. The true comedic role goes to Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) who plays Scotty, every time I watch a Simon Pegg I am amazed by his comedic timing and Star Trek does not dissapoint but at no time does Pegg over act or try to steal the show the film is so well written that he is used sparingly and ever time he is on the screen it is nothing short of enjoyable. Anton Yelchin is great as Chekov, you wait till you hear his address to the entire ship his accent is so good. John Cho is so darn good as Sulu, not only does he have his regular Enterprise driving scenes but he also has an action scene with Kirk on the drill. It is an intense and exciting battle between Kirk and Sulu and two Romulan henchmen. OK now to the big guns. Leonard Nimoy is just brilliant reprising his iconic role as Spock and also plays a mentor to Kirk but I was surprised how good and well portrayed Zachary Quinto's (Heroes) young Spock was. In no way did it feel as though Quinto was trying to play Nimoy's Spock it was Spock played by Quinto and he pulls it off. One of the best performances of the film for me was Karl Urban as Dr Bones McCoy, he was nervous, neurotic and he delivered some of the best lines of the film. Karl Urban really did steal the show and I have to say I was the most skeptical of his casting but man he was good. Obviously the final piece to this masterpiece of casting was Chris Pine, his Kirk was not a wannabe Shatner. It was Chris Pine's Kirk, it was very reminisent of Harrison Ford. Kirk was cocky, a bit of a ladies man and the hero we'd come to love. Chris Pine has done such a great job that if more Star Trek films are made I think he will be as well remembered as Kirk as Shatner was. I know it's a big call but he was that good.

I have to hand it to JJ Abrams he has made a film with a huge cast but at no time allowed anyone to overshadow others, it felt like each character got the screen time they deserved. There was never a time were the film felt like he wasn't in control, but the biggest props I can give JJ Abrams is that even though he was making a film set in the future it was a real future. Our first meeting of Kirk is set in Iowa and the farms are still growing their crops in rows and there are still dirt roads but it feels like you are in the future still with things like motorbikes and cars being varied slightly as opposed to making everything seem like it is from another planet. I also have to mention how beautiful some of the images Abrams has put into the film, throughout the film there is footage of planets from a distance and it looks as though they are filmed with a handycam from the window of a space ship, every time one came on I thought they were breathtaking, whether it was a sun with ships looking like they were flies moving away from it, or a planet imploding there was real beauty to these shots.

One of the real stand outs for this film was the special effects. Obviously a film set in space would require a lot of Special Effects and there wasn't one moment in the film where I said that looks too fake. The enterprise looked great, the backgrounds looked real (not like in Indy 4 where it was clearly amended in post production), there were some scenes where as the camera panned there was no way the set could have been that big, meaning that it was difficult to differentiate between real set and CG sets. I honestly haven't seen CG effects so good since Iron Man and it further enhanced how great this film is.

I was so impressed with this film and I can say without a doubt that it is the best film I've seen this year. It is exciting, intelligent and emotion invoking. It's the way prequels and reboots should be made, take note George Lucas if only Star Wars Episodes 1-3 and Indiana Jones 4 had been approached this way I may not have to hide behind their predecessors when they come under attack. This is not the case with Star Trek, J.J. Abrams and Co have created one of the best Science Fiction films in the last 5-10 years and one of the most audience friendly Star Trek films made and as a result Trekkers and Non Trekkers will both love this film.