Star Trek Teaser Trailer Review & VIDEO

And so it begins. Up until today all this talk about a new Star Trek movie was just that — talk. But today, in theaters around the world, moviegoers seeing the ever-so-hyped Cloverfield were treated to the teaser trailer for Star Trek. This is getting real.

The Future Begins
Firstly the previously reported description of the Star Trek teaser is pretty much accurate. The trailer starts with a welder who could be from any time and slowly reveals that he and swarm of other workers are building the USS Enterprise in a dockyard somewhere on Earth. Ominous musical cues punctuate flashes between black, images of workers and glimpses of the ship in a dramatic fashion. Although shot in a highly stylized manner, the trailer depicts a very real…very human…kind of world of hard hats, sparks, grease and just guys getting the job done. Interjected into this world we hear the sounds of JFK and NASA during the heyday of the space race followed by the slogan “THE FUTURE BEGINS”– which appears to be the message of the trailer.

Everything old is new again
This is followed by Nimoy’s “space the final frontier” voice over, the reveal of the USS Enterprise saucer, the unmistakable Alexander Courage TOS sting, and the TOS transporter sound effect beaming in a title card stating “UNDER CONSTRUCTION,” the new TOS-style logo, and credits. These are all nice touches and should bring a tear to the eye of any Trekkie. By the time the “USS ENTERPRISE” reveal hit the screen the audience in the theater I attended started to applaud…a welcome sign for a bunch of young Culver City hipsters there to see the first midnight showing of Cloverfield. That being said, I wonder if the lack of the title “Star Trek” and the “construction” thing may be a bit too clever. The film makers always say they want to bring in the general audiences and it is not clear Cloverfield-like mysteriousness will work when you are re-branding something.

The ship?…out of danger?
As for the look of the ship at first glance it seems much larger than what we are used to and perhaps that is the point. From what can be seen of the design it clearly retains the general shape of the TOS Enterprise, but we see far more TMP style detailing and the proportions seem different…especially the engine nacelles which are ginormous. The design seems to fall somewhere in the middle between ‘exact copy’ and ‘radical redesign,’ possibly closer to the original than most might have expected. I have never been a purist and so for what I can see so far it looks pretty good. But I sure want to see what the whole thing looks like.

Land Ho
As for the Enterprise being constructed on Earth, this seems to strangely be stirring up quite a bit of controversy. Of course the plaque on the bridge of the USS Enterprise has the words ‘USS ENTERPRISE’ and ‘San Francisco, Calif.’ on it…and last time I checked, San Francisco is firmly attached to the planet. If you want to go further it was established in TNG that the Enterprise D was also at least partly constructed on the ground (in that case the Utopia Planetia on Mars). Star Trek The Motion Picture set up the notion of the Enterprise being refit in space and so many might assume that it was also entirely built there, but that is really just ‘fanon.’ After speaking to a number of canon experts, all seem to agree that constructing the ship (at least partly) on land is well within Star Trek canon. Plus an argument can be made that it makes more sense to build a ship on land as it is a much less hostile environment. Oh…. and…it’s just a TV show.

This is big
Bottom line is that the teaser trailer delivers exactly what it had to do. It sends the message that we today are linked to Gene Roddenberry’s future with the USS Enterprise and her crew. It shows that Star Trek is not a fantasy, not from a galaxy far far away…it is real and it is us. The trailer also creates a new sense of majesty and epic style for the franchise that has not been seen since the time of Star Trek The Motion Picture. The message here to the general film audience is, like this ship depicted, Trek is big…really big…and JJ Abrams is constructing it right now.


Money shot of the new teaser trailer (click to enlarge)

Related: TrekMovie.com Review of Cloverfield

VIDEO UPDATE: And here it is

The trailer is available now on YouTube in an unofficial form, but it really really does not do the trailer justice. You cannot see many of the details and it really should be seen on the big screen for your first time. So go to Cloverfield and then come back and watch it to review. I also think that Paramount should put this thing up today. When the trailer for Star Wars Episode III came out it was up at starwars.com the same day.

 

UPDATE 2: Trek Writer Roberto Orci’s Q&A On Trailer

VOTE: Did you like the trailer?
So did you like the new Star Trek teaser or do you feel that your childhood needs a hug? Vote in our latest poll (right sidebar).

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is it monday yet?

IT WAS TOO BUILT IN SPACE!! YOU MAKE ME SO ANGRY!! I’M QUIVERING IN RAGE RIGHT NOW!!

awesome-ness defined in two words; Star Trek!

4th!

Hello again, Enterprise. My girl sure looks familiar…

It’s a wonderful teaser. The film itself may pale by comparison.

Like I said in the previous thread. Can’t they attach additional Nacelle plating around the engines to…

Wait a minute. It’s Sci-Fi. I get it now.

This will be soooo awesome onscreen. Please release this a month early!!!! November 25th sounds better to me!

Status = fascinated.

Can’t wait.

Respect Canon!!!

Why didn’t JJ Abrams just create another TNG movie? Tha way, canon will not be altered.

I loved the teaser. Epic and majestic.

Will someone please post the teaser before Monday!!!!?

#8, TNG does not deserve another movie. This is Star Trek’s time to shine.

This was posted in the preview image thread too, but it bears repeating.

http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/heavycruiser_enterprise_up1.jpg

The Enterprise’s nacelles were *always* that big – we’re just not used to seeing them from such a *dead on* front view.

Let me guess….because the Enterprise wasn’t built in space, you guys are gonna start screaming, “J.J. ABRAMS RAPED MY CHILDHOOD!” We never saw the Enterprise being built in the first place, and the plaque does say San Fransisco on it, so to those who are upset about this…get over it.

“Why didn’t JJ Abrams just create another TNG movie?”

Because he didn’t want to. End of story

#10, #13

Star Trek canon has been destroyed by this new movie! They should just officially say that this movie is a TOTAL REBOOT!

Star Trek canon was destroyed when Klingons got ridges, Romulans got headbumps, Khan recognized Chekhov, Kirstie Allie became Robin Curtis, etc. We are all still alive!

#15

“Canon” is what Paramount say it is “canon”.

The Animated Series destroyed the canon by Giving Spock’s mother Amanda her last name; Grayson. Wrath of Khan destroyed canon by linking Khan with Chekov. This is no reboot, it’s a revival.

#15
Totally agree, Section 31.

I would love to se new TNG film, or, even better, DS9 movie set after Nemesis. Star Trek: Return of the Emissary. :)

#16

But the Klingons’ ridges were explained in ENT!

#20 Finally! Someone agrees with me!

#18
IT’S A REBOOT!

NOT A REVIVAL!

So I guess Abrams raped your childhood. Get over it.

#23 Where’e the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit when I need it?

This new movie will have a giant scope, I agree with the producer this isn’t your daddy’s Star Trek. No way. This is the big time now baby.

#19

When Klingon ridges appeared, back in the 70s, no explanation was intended. They were a deliberate canon violation, and we all survived. As Roddenberry said, the ridges were intended to be in TOS too ;-)

Somebody REBOOT you out of this thread before you spam it to death.

Me, I’m happy the nacelles are round. ‘Nuff said.

(I was referring to #22, BTW… kind of irrelevant now, after post #26)

Anthony, you are a saint to include the very important words…
“Oh…. and…it’s just a TV show.”

It’s one we all love, but it can stand a little tweaking.

Looking forward to seeing the teaser!

20 & 21.. i agree too. my fav series.

great preview. too short, but i’m glad that almost a year before the release that so much effort is already going into it. obviously being taken very seriously by all involved. and i love the nacelles! beautiful, sleek and sexy! the scale of this thing is almost overwhelming.

I will be keeping an eye on YouTube all weekend!

Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see a TNG film as well, but they had their chance and lost it and this film is what we need to get Star Trek going again. Not just hope for TOS, but all the other series in the franchise as well. Called a reboot if you will, but I have my trust in Abrams, Lindelof and Orci.

The ship is under construction in this image for gods sake. I’m sure they’ll add the beloved narcellcaps eventualy

Great review, Anthony, and a good summary of the trailer, as well. And I agree, there’s nothing in canon that says the ship couldn’t have been built on Earth… although it does say, in canon, that the bloody thing was built in San Francisco.

It was Abrams’ & Co’s intention to get Trekkie’s mouths watering. They certainly succeeded in my case, and I’m sure they will succeed with most everyone else.

Is it Christmas yet? :-D

I cannot wait for the Quicktime Hi-res version.

Berman was too small a mind for Trek in the first place, we need people in charge who think BIG.

Nacelles.. I like ’em big and round.

New bumper sticker, anyone?

Everything old is new again,,,
^
Man, how many times have I heard that one…

I never saw the preview yet (I will on Monday, if it goes up by that time) but that pic is more than enough for our first taste of the movie. I am so excited. Good review, Anthony. Keep up the good work.

#35 “I would love to see a TNG film as well, but they had their chance and lost it”

The sad truth. Nemesis has been the final humiliation: I had to travel in another town to see it because no theather of my neighborhood was showing it, and it stayed for a week only. Not a single friend of mine was aware of its existence and not since ST V I felt that Trek was at its lowest…

#11. Nuallain
“http://www.shipschematics.net/startrek/images/federation/heavycruiser_enterprise_up1.jpg
The Enterprise’s nacelles were *always* that big – we’re just not used to seeing them from such a *dead on* front view.”

This diagram that is always posted here as an explanation is WRONG. Just look at the font of the registry… :P
So whoever made that diagram… it is not official.

Can’t wait to see the trailer. Sounds awesome to me!

I can’t wait to go see Cloverfield when it comes out in the UK. Am sure the studio knows Cloverfield will be a huge hit because of this trailer

Please.

The people making the movie is bored to say that the movie respects canon storywise but redesigns the look of everything to make it more realistic.

The movie will be a canon precuel storywise but will redesign the looks. Its a fact and we have been warned several times.

Theres no point in getting surprised now if the lettering is a bit longer or if the plates aren’t painted white.

(Oh, and I insist, the Enterprise does have flames in TOS. On the sides of the lower body, following the yellow Enterprise logo, there are red lines which ARE flames. XDDD flames are canon)

The apparent “bumps” on the sides of the nacells look a bit like a visual efect produced by the line of lights it has there (placed by the constructing crew) and I’m sure the “fans” will be covered and explain the “blinking lights” inside them in TOS.

And if the plate says San Francisco, then Canon says it was built on the ground. It may not be logical, but it is obviously canon. XDD

the trailer evidently acomplishes its mission. OOOoooohhhh how much we want to see those uniforms.

I want to see the uniforms, but also the props!!!

I also like the Enterprise as it looks in that picture. Glad it wasn’t just a CGI version of the TOS Enterprise

I’m seeing Cloverfield today for the sole purpose of viewing the trailer…. it sounds fantastic. I am tremendously optimistic at the reverence, respect, and joy with which Abrams and company is approaching this film.

#2 #8 #15 #20

Shut up and go away. TOS, the films, and the subsequent series’ violated your fanboy fantasy canon so many times, that you should be insane and incoherent by now (wait – you are!).

From what we can see so far in casting, set reports, and the trailer; Abrams is demonstrating an incredible respect for the franchise, the fans, and canon.

THANK YOU JJ !

Come on haters, let the hype flow through you.