Star Trek: 50 Years Into the Final Frontier

Hate to show my age but I grew up on Star Trek TOS, the theatrical movies, and all the spin-off series that have gone to the final frontier.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the franchise and Paramount Pictures decided to release a new movie, “Star Trek Beyond,” directed by Justin Lin (from the Fast and Furious movies) and featuring the actors from the first two J.J Abrams movies. The third entrée in the series is a fun, visceral, action pack ride, heavy on BIG ASS explosions, and short on the moral allegories and philosophical debates of TOS. Casual movie goers will appreciate the action set pieces and the witty interplay between the characters. However, long-time Trekkies will have to make peace with the fact that J.J Abrams and Justin Lin favor action over introspection. 

The 50^th anniversary and “Star Trek Beyond” comes with some heart-felt sadness, as Leonard Nimoy, the only actor of the seminal TV series to join the rebooted film franchise as Spock Prime died in Feburary 2015 at age 83, and Anton Yelchin, 27, who reprised the role of Pavel Chekov in the rebooted movies died in a freak car accident in June 2016.  

The credit tributes for “Star Trek Beyond” read simply “In Loving Memory of Leonard Nimoy” before going to “For Anton.”

The critical reviews and box office numbers for “Star Trek Beyond” have been universally favorable and a fourth installment has already been greenlit. Also in the works, a new CBS TV series, Star Trek Discovery will debut in 2017. However, Star Trek’s domestic box office appeal appears to be slowing down, as “Star Trek Beyond” did substantially worse than its predecessors when it debuted in the United States this weekend. “Star Trek Beyond’s” $59.6 million haul was down 15% from “Star Trek Into Darkness” $70.2 million debut and off 20.7% from the $75.2 million debut of 2009’s “Star Trek.”

With a hefty budget of $185 million, “Star Trek Beyond” will need to perform well overseas if it wants to make a profit.

The Star Trek franchise might be drifting and losing some of its  mojo, but unlike many franchises that have been cosigned to the dustbin of history, Star Trek is the unlikely series, with the unlikely cast of characters that refuses to go away and die. J.J Abrams has taken the franchise and made it fresh and relevant enough that Paramount has officially confirmed a  fourth entry in the reboot series. There is no release date set yet, but the studio confirmed that Chris Hemsworth will reprise his role of George Kirk.

To be sure, Star Trek is 50 years into its journey to the final frontier, but the iconic characters of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc,  still resonate with old and new fans alike. The franchise is still a global phenomenon and shows no sign of pulling into dry dock. The future of Star Trek is to keep moving forward and evolve with the entertainment landscape, but never lose sight of its core beliefs and positive view of humanity.  

Live long and prosper.