Actors: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Simon Pegg
Directors: J.J. Abrams
Number of discs: 3
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: September 10, 2013
Run Time: 132 minutes
Film: 5 out of 5 stars
3D: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3 out of 5 stars
“Star Trek Into Darkness” was easily one of my most anticipated films of 2013. After finally seeing it and calming down, it became easily my favorite film of the film. I actually loved its 2009 predecessor and it improved upon it in nearly possible way. “Star Trek Into Darkness” is a great blend of aspects from both the original series and the feature film that introduced us to the franchise’s most memorable villain, KHAN! Sorry kind of a spoiler…but if you were going to see this film you would have seen it already. Did I mention Khannnnn!!!! yet? The film is action-packed to the brim with some of the best visuals I have seen in any film this year. How the rather dull “Iron Man 3” made more money than this just proves that despite how good the movie is, people tend to stear clear from “Star Trek” franchise. Highly recommended “Star Trek” fan or not!
Official Premise: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew
I have to admit, I am not the biggest Chris Pine fan. He does a great job playing Captain Kirk though with that arrogant persona. Zachary Quinto was fantastic in this film. Even though Vulcan’s aright suppose to show emotions, his character really had a lot of depth and his performance was spot on. what can I say about Zoe Saldana, except she is completely bad-ass. Benedict Cumberbatch played a fantastic Khan, hard to compare to Ricardo Montalbán but he is damn good. What a reveal too! J.J. kept going back and forth that I was never 100% sure. Alice Eve was a great addition to the cast as well and she like Zoe is not hurting on the eyes. Lastly and easily my favorite character in this new series is Simon Pegg playing Scotty. His role in this film was just amazing, everything from the rants and raves to the red shirt joke. Priceless.
Paramount delivered an all-star Blu-ray presentation with this release. The combo pack included a Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy and UltraViolet. So we get all the grounds covered here. The 1080p transfer is easily up there as one of the best for a Blu-ray release this year. Let’s get to the 3D aspect of this film now, it is good but it also isn’t really required to enjoy the film. It adds some good depth to certain scenes, like the volcano scene, warp speeds and the final battle but other than that it is a little idle in between. The film itself wasn’t shot in native 3D instead it was converted in post production. So luckily though the conversation to 3D doesn’t hurt the film, I just wouldn’t really care less if I was watching it in either format, which just adds to the fact of how amazing this film is. The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 is just as epic as the film itself. I loved Michael Giacchino’s score as well, which really delivers the true meaning of what a “Star Trek” film should sounds like. A+ guys!
The slight downfall of this releases comes within the film’s special features, or lack there of in terms of “blow-you-away extras”. There are a eight short yet still sweet featurettes included. There are no extras presented in 3D either. The featurettes include “Creating the Red Planet” talks about shooting in Hawaii and creating Nibiru and of course the volcano set. “Attack on Starfleet” looks into the film’s crucial scene and epic finale. “The Klingon Home World” looks into the incorporating of the Klingons. “The Enemy of My Enemy” looks into everything behind the villain Khan. “Ship to Ship” looks into this amazing sequences, from pre-viz to final scene. “Brawl by the Bay” chats with Zachary Quinto on the intense scene. The last two extras “Continuing the Mission” and “The Mission Continues” can be skipped all together.
