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Source: ONE News -
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Director J J Abrams has attempted to take the latest movie incarnation of the enduring franchise where no Star Trek has gone before: out of the domain of nerds and into a worldwide hit.
First approached as a producer, the Mission Impossible III director saw it as an exciting challenge.
"I never thought I would do a Star Trek film but when I looked at the script I thought, despite it being Star Trek this is a movie that I would want to go see, and certainly would love to have a chance to make," Abrams told AAP.
After admitting early in the film's life that he wasn't really a fan of the series, Abrams further provoked die-hard Trekkies by appearing to care more about winning over new fans than catering to existing fans.
He is unapologetic.
"We tried to avoid as much as possible making a movie that was as insular and myopic as the films I was familiar with and the series," he says.
"Trying to reach a broader audience was not part of their agenda.
"This movie felt from the beginning like if it was going to work it needed to reach beyond just the tried and true fans."
The 2009 Star Trek takes audiences back to the beginning, to when Captain James Kirk was born, and explores the early stories of all the characters.
While technically a prequel, the cast were constantly reminded that this was a new beginning for Star Trek.
It made stepping into the shoes of the iconic characters a little easier.
Zachary Quinto was cast as Spock, taking on the bowl haircut, slanting eyebrows and pointy ears made famous by Leonard Nimoy.
It is his first film role, and Quinto had an unusual first meeting with Nimoy.
"We were in the elevator, I was like 'hello', he was like 'hello'," Quinto remembers.
"And then as the elevator doors opened and he walked out he said 'you have no idea what you're in store for, kid', and then he was off."
They ended up working together preparing for the role, and Nimoy has a cameo in the film.
"I had the luxury of Leonard's involvement and his availability to me but it was clear they wanted to take this franchise in a new direction so we were constantly reminded that we were to bring our own perspective and our own point of view to these characters," Quinto says.
"I think really everybody across the board did that."
Star Wars over Star Trek
Chris Pine, 28, who was cast as James Kirk, grew up a child of the 1980s and was more into Star Wars than Star Trek.
So he looked more to Harrison Ford's Han Solo for inspiration than William Shatner's Captain Kirk.
"In many ways this version of Kirk that I read was much like the young, brash, cocky, fun Han Solo," Pine explains.
"That's what I could compare it to."
Abrams says he wasn't afraid to try something different with the characters, but feels the actors he chose for Star Trek embody the same spirit as their predecessors.
"I wasn't such a fan that I felt like it was sacred, that I was scared to have other actors come in and read roles that were sort of iconic," Abrams says.
"When we found Chris Pine I was just so relieved because he brought everything that we wanted, plus he had his own swagger.
"He reminded me of the spirit of what Shatner brought to the part without doing an impersonation."
The villain
Eric Bana didn't have to worry about what had come before him.
His role as Romulan villain Nero is new to this film, and he relished the freedom.
"I thought Nero sounded like too much fun to miss out on," Bana says.
"He's a villain but there's something cheeky, and there's something about him that's not too serious, that's fun."
A fan of the original television series, Bana lost interest in the 10 previous Star Trek movies.
As one of the biggest names in the film, he says he was also attracted to the project because it had a sense of humour and fun.
"It was the writing as much as anything. I thought it was a great entertaining piece that didn't take itself too seriously," Bana says.
"I'm probably like most of the target audience in that you may have come across it as a kid and then not got into the movies over the years, and this is a chance I guess to be reintroduced to it.
"It's easy to forget that there's a lot of young kids that haven't seen any of it, so for them this will hopefully be the beginning."
A new beginning
Appropriately for a new beginning, Abrams says Star Trek offers an optimistic world and he hopes it's one fans old and new will embrace.
"There will always be detractors because they have the right to be," he says.
"Many of these people have lived with the show and loved it for decades, so God bless them and I appreciate their right to trash anything they so desire.
"Having said that, I think for the most part we have people who are excited to see the characters that they love back, and I think the people who do love Star Trek are going to get a new energy pumped into the world they love."
One of those old-time fans is New Zealand actor Karl Urban, who plays Dr Leonard 'Bones' McCoy.
He feels like the filmmakers have found the right balance to ensure Star Trek will live long and prosper.
"I think this film has been created in the very spirit and essence of what Gene Roddenberry created with the original series in 1968," Urban says.
"There's a lot of in-jokes for long-term Trekkies, but it's not a film that's made for Trekkies, it's a film that's made for fans of films.
"It's ballistic, it's sexy and it's back."
