Wondercon 09: New Star Trek Trailer Premieres – Full Description & Review

The first ‘surprise guest’ at Paramount’s Star Trek panel at Wondercon was none other than director JJ Abrams. Shortly after hitting the stage Abrams revealed the ‘sneak peek’ was to be the first public viewing of the new trailer, showing with Watchmen opening next weekend. See below for full details.

 

Abrams had to convince Paramount to reveal trailer
Abrams opened up by thanking the huge capacity crowd for showing up, noting "if this place would have been empty that would have sucked." He also noted that he had just flown in from promoting the film in Tokyo, and warned he took an Ambien on the plane, noting "so if I say some stupid s–t, it is the drugs talking." 

Abrams then talked about how "excited" he was about Trek, and talked up the cast and writers and then stated that he "is usually secretive about stuff" (and understatement), but said that "this time the studio has been worse than me." Abrams said he had to convince Paramount to show the trailer at Wondercon, and implored the audience to please not record it and put it online. He even said that he had considered asking for audience members to point out any recorders and the pointers would get a free Bad Robot toy, but then they realized that friends would probably team up just to get the toys. Anyway on to the trailer itself.


JJ introducing Star Trek trailer

Trailer description
Note that the trailer was shown just once, so this may not be 100% exact, but is the best that can be remembered based on notes

The new trailer starts off with a new shot of the young Chris Pine Kirk on motorcycle headed for the Enterprise being constructed. We then see more of the scene in the Iowa bar, with Pike (Bruce Greenwood) saying to Kirk "I couldn’t believe it when the bar tender told me who you are" and Kirk replying back with the "why are you talking to me man" line (seen in the Super Bowl commercial). Cut to image of studio logos.

Greenwood’s voice comes back over scenes of the Kelvin in battle saying "your father was captain of a Starship for twelve minutes…he saved 800 lives…including yours…I dare you to do better…enlist in Starfleet." During the dialog we see Chris Hemsworth as George Kirk on Kelvin (for the first time), and the ‘including yours’ line was shown along with the shot of Jennifer Morrison (giving birth) scene in the theatrical trailer. With the ‘enlist in Starfleet’ line you see an image of Kirk in a very large room full of cadets. Then cut to a shot of Kirk and Spock (at Academy) with Spock saying "you will experience fear, fear of certain death," cut to more footage on the drilling platform. Then title card with "May 8th"

Then there is a shot of Spock on the bridge of the Enterprise saying "we have received a distress call" and then cut to a planet imploding (possibly Vulcan). Then we see a close-up of Eric Bana as Nero saying "I have been waiting for this day my whole life…" cut to shot of his ship "…this day of reckoning" followed by more effects shots of battle, including Enterprise. Then cut to bridge of Enterprise with Bones (Karl Urban) saying "we’ve got no captain and no first officer to replace him" to which Chris Pine replies in a serious tone "yeah we do" as he slowly sits in the captain’s chair. Another title card.

Then more effects shots and shots of Vulcan (including Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson) and the Ben Cross (Sarek) voice over saying "you are capable of deciding your own destiny, the question is: which path will you choose." This was followed with another quick succession of shots both on the Enterprise and in space, then back to Nero saying "James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life." Then back to the bridge with someone saying "set off your torpedoes" and then Pike ordering "emergency evasive" and a shot of Nero yelling "fire everything." And then even more effects shots, including one from what is like a ‘torpedo cam’ spinning towards the Enterprise. There is also a shot during this final sequence of Quinto Spock hugging Uhura (Zoe Saldana). And then cut to credits.

Thoughts
The trailer goes by very quickly, but it is actually around 2 minutes long. The trailer went over huge with the crowd going wild. Personally it sent up chills, especially the moment Kirk takes the chair. In that moment conveyed Pine conveyed both brash confidence, as well as a sense of having the weight of the world on his shoulders. Also the moment Nero talks about the ‘great Captain Kirk’ from ‘another life’ is surely going to go over well with fans. This trailer was very Kirk focused and (combined with the opening Corvette scene from the first theatrical trailer), gives the movie a clear ‘origin story’ feel.

Other highlights are seeing Hemsworth on the Kelvin, the first shots inside Starfleet Academy and the jaw dropping effects shots of the Kelvin, Enterprise, Nero’s Narada, and Spock’s ship. As for the music, it isn’t clear if it is from the movie. Like the other trailers, it may not be. The music was very dramatic and operatic, and somewhat reminiscent of the main theme from The Dark Knight, which all lent itself to an intensity you don’t often see in trailers.

The trailer is clearly aimed at a general film audience with the message ‘there is a huge new movie called ‘Star Trek’ coming in May, but it should also work with casual and hard core Trek fans, with plenty of new shots and lots of little Trek moments.

Panel report coming soon
After airing the trailer, JJ introduced the rest of the panel of ‘surprise guests’. A full report with pictures coming up son.

 

 

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Vulcan imploding?

Oh dear. People are NOT going to be happy about this.

Sounds Bad Ass!

thanks for doing Double Duty today Anthony.
It is much appreaciated !

Spock Nimoy? Or Spock Quinto? doing the Uhura huggin?

Awesome, so can’t wait :)

Sounds awesome!

That trailer sounds really cool. I can’t wait.

When can we see it online? (first?)

@ #4, well Zoe isn’t heavy, so I’m assuming it’s not Nimoy.

Not first. Dang! When can we see it online?

Sounds like fun. :D

#1 Especially any Vulcans that happened to be planetside at the time…

Vulcan implodes, eh? That’s not good news…maybe there’s a similar planet in the system for the Vulcans to live on? Either way, unless the Enterprise time travels to prevent it, that’s a big blow to the new timeline. And definitely, at least to me, highlights Spock’s emotional problems. If his home was just destroyed, that’s a good reason for his emotions to be imbalanced.

Personally, if it comes across well in the trailer, I think the highlight scenes are going to be the: “We don’t have a captain or a first officer to replace him.” “Yeah we do.” lines and Nero’s “James T. Kirk was a great man. But that was another life.”

So I guess the main drive/point of the movie is: can this alternate universe Kirk, despite the childhood hardships dealt to him by Nero, rise up to become as great of a man as Captain James T. Kirk of the normal (previously depicted on screen) universe? Works for me.

“James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.”

And that’s how we can reboot the franchise.

Needless to say I will be doing what I always do. Keep looking here on a daily basis to see what’s new. And of course that includes trailers. But I have to disagree with Anthony Pascale, I don’t believe that the ship being constructed is the Enterprise, if they did respect the canon as they said they would. But I would not be surprised if the ship being constructed was the Defiant. Too much symbolism and coincidence doesn’t feel right, and it doesn’t seem to be in this movie, which is a good thing.

I think they prevent Vulcan from blowing up, right?

” James T. Kirk…that was another life.” Could The Shat actually end up in the movie???

#16 Actually, considering the alternate universe explanation, it’s entirely reasonable that the original design of the Enterprise was scrapped(it should have been at least in the early construction stages when Kirk was born) due to the total destruction of the Kelvin. The entire project was delayed and drawn out as Starfleet stepped up their technology. Simple matter of fact that war is a good motivator for technological advancement. Perfectly reasonable.

New tech, for example, better and more powerful phaser arrays(possibly), photon torpedoes(notice the Kelvin doesn’t have torpedo tubes), new and improved warp and impulse technology. The impulse tech can also be used to explain why Enterprise is being built on Earth. Impulse engines HAVE to be capable of breaking a planet’s gravity field. If they didn’t, the ships couldn’t orbit planets without eventually falling in.

Either way though, it’s the characters that have to sell this movie to me. I love the tech, but that won’t mean a thing if the characters can’t fit into those roles by the end of the movie.

Domo Arigato!

16:

I hope it’s not Defiant. Defiant was not even on the original list of 12. True, it could be simply another Starship Class vessel being built at the “Riverside Yards.”

18 – No.

Wow. This sounds great. I will, however, reserve my judgement until I see it, but everything I have heard and seen thus far gives me no reason to worry. The part about Vulcan getting blown to bits is somewhat interesting, and I can only imagine that such a big event will be remedied at some later point in the movie (or so I hope). In any case, I can’t wait to see the trailer, and more importantly, the movie itself. Only 2 months to go!

18. Scott – February 28, 2009

” James T. Kirk…that was another life.” Could The Shat actually end up in the movie???

there still is some time left for pick up and re-shoots…who knows???

I’m still waiting for some more shots myself…I missed out working on it first time ’round.

Sounds kick-ass! can’t wait to see this movie!

#4 – Anthony said Quinto Spock in the article. (Hugging Uhura.)

Thank you, Anthony!

It sounds awesome! What are we now, 70 days?
Doesn’t seem so hard to wait anymore….

Roll on May!!!

#23

With Bob Orci’s talk of quantum mechanics and how all universes still exist and everything, I actually would not be surprised if they blow Vulcan to heck and gone and DON’T fix it.

This is a reboot. I have little doubt now.

16. Robert H.

Bob Orci has even come out and said that the ship being constructed IS the Enterprise. Also, if it were any other ship, the shot would be pointless. There would be no dramatic effect if he were looking up at the Potemkin or the Defiant.

#18

No.

This sounds amazing. I can’t freakin wait. ^^

I’d be willing to bet that they dont destroy Vulcan. As much as JJ has used time travel to throw cannon out the window I doubt he’d go that far. But Im looking forward to seeing this, I hope it lands on youtube soon, and knowing how resourceful trekkies can be, I doubt it’ll take long.

Sweet! Can’t wait for the Monday after Watchmen to catch it online!

“we’ve got no captain and no first officer to replace him” to which Chris Pine replies in a serious tone “yeah we do” as he slowly sits in the captain’s chair.

LAME.

So he just goes straight from being a cadet in starfleet academy to Captain?? COME ON. There is a chain of command here people. What, there is only a Captain and a first officer? We got a crew of over 400 on this ship. Cadets are the bottom of the barrel. This sounds childish. A kid’s movie all the way.

Vulcan imploding… grrrrrr.

Remember the Farragut!

33. The Wild Man of Borrneo

Woah! Hold it and put on the brakes, man! No where does it say he automatically became captain. I didn’t even remotely get that impression. The impression I got was that he assumed the role of captain temporarily. J.J. isn’t that stupid.

I get the impression that you are one of those people who have already decided not to like this movie. And don’t say you’re not. You make it so blatantly obvious.

“But Vulcan is a peaceful planet!”

>;>}

#33 Yes because Geordi having the command of the Enterprise in the episode “Arsenal of Freedom” while being only a junior grade lieutenant is also lame.

*Cannot wait*

If it is leaked on the internet, I don’t wanna see it just yet. I’m going to the Midnight of Watchmen, and I want to be surprised.

Thanks for the report! VERY COOL!

To Anthony Pascale:

SInce you’ve seen the new trailer, out of all the trailers, which is your favorite?

Except for Vulcan imploding (oh gosh don’t bring the Xindi into this), I don’t have many doubts that Abrams did a good job!

Anyone in command of a vessel is its captain whether they actually hold that military rank or not. Pretty longstanding tradition. Obviously Pike being out of commission, and presumably Spock as well (is he the 1st officer already?) means someone’s got to be in charge, and with a boatful of cadets, looks like Kirk steps up. (nice mirroring there)

Really looking forward to this new trailer when I go see Watchmen this Friday!

I just wanted to mention that I didn’t get the impression during or after that the imploding planet was Vulcan. Not saying it can’t be, we certainly see plenty of ground shots of the planet falling apart in all of the trailers. But there was nothing explicit or in context in this trailer that I recall that would guarantee it was Vulcan. It was a brownish planet, Tatooine-ish if I recall correctly. I guess I would expect Vulcan to look more red, or more like Mars. I don’t have a problem with it either way, but before people got all up in arms, I thought I should throw some reasonable doubt in there. I could just as easily see this planet just being “Joe’s Planet IV”, the first place Nero tests the weapon, and when he first encounters the Kelvin (total conjecture).

Some of the dialogue is pretty on-the-nose (“Yeah we do” ??)

But it sounds to be a better trailer than the first theatrical one. I refuse to get my hopes up because I’ve been burned before by trailers, but at least it’s a little more promising.

Okay, I am really getting excited about this trailer now. I would never dream of putting such a thing on Youtube by copying it there, but I have to make a confession in that I do watch these from time-to-time. If somebody recorded that or if it shows up on Youtube or somewhere else on the internet before Watchment premiers this Friday, yup, I’ll be one of the people who watches it while darooooooooooooling in anticipation for the real deal when it appears on the official website on 3/9.

I really don’t know much of anything about Watchmen but hey, I may go see it just so I can see the trek trailer on the big screen. Who knows the movie just might be good, too.

I guarantee you, nobody in that Hall videotaped the trailer. It was too crowded, security was tight with their night vision viewers, and — after JJ’s pleas — the audience would have lynched anyone trying to do it. And no one got lynched. :)

It is time once again for my Half-Serious/Half-Facetious, Half-Speculative/Half-Wishful-Thinking look at the plot of ST. I’m gonna go with the guess that Vulcan is NOT destroyed, simply because I don’t think even Abrams has the balls to do that (although I would not be surprised at all if he maybe destroys parts of it). This will likely change as soon as the Watchmen Trailer is actually online, since that description leaves a lot out (where, for example, is Nero when he says that Kirk WAS a great man, but that was another life) : (Like before, until “Countdown” finishes, the Prolog will remain as I used to have it) In the wake of Nemesis, the Federation (and, to a lesser extent, the Klingons) and the Romulans got into a better relationship. Not a alliance by any means, but certainly better than it ever has been. There have even been some calls for a movement for reconciliation with the Vulcans. There are some violently against this, led by Nero, who had been a patriotic hero of the Romulans during the Dominion War. Nero, along with other radicals and a few military men, were eventually captured by the Klingons and put on Rura Penthe. Eventually, however, he escaped and with his fellow Romulan extremists (who can easily be identified because of their prison-issue tattoos and shaved heads) hijacked the Narada- a new and horrible weapons ship that is capable of traveling through time and destroying an entire planet (although it still is insignificant next to the power of the Force) . Spock found out about this and “borrowed” (since Vulcans don’t steal) a Federation prototype time-ship to follow him into the past. Nero realizes that since he will have no supplies he needs to change the past with as little effort as possible. To simply blow up Vulcan would possibly bring in too much trouble, but to go back to the Romulan-Earth War or a similar point in time would be too likely to change the timeline so much that his initial quest becomes irrelevant. So he decides to do the easy thing: Kill James T. Kirk before he is even freaking born. Why Kirk? Well, he’s probably the Federation’s greatest hero ever. He was leader who beat back the Romulan incursion into the Neutral Zone, he beat up Gods, Orions and Gorn with his bare hands, saved entire planets, made Klingons look like fools, and generally was the greatest hero the Galaxy ever knew. It would make sense that to kill him or severely change his life would alter the timeline to make it easier for Romulus. If he is able to kill Kirk before he is born and a trip back to the future reveals that Romulans still aren’t the big bosses of the Galaxy in the new timeline, he’ll go back and do more. Or if Kirk survives he’ll go back and do more. No big deal. He has all the time in the world (heh). In a strange twist, we begin with William Shatner captaining a ship called the USS Priceline, on a eternal mission to find and negotiate great rates for travel and hotel stays. We then realize it’s a commercial, and laugh. Fade in: So we go to the USS Kelvin in the year 2233ish, investigating some weird anomalies (including the disappearance and believed destruction of 47 Klingon ships!). It is under the command of Captain Robau, with first officer George Kirk. Just then, Nero’s ship attacks. Caught completely by surprise, the opening volleys of the “battle” lead to the Captain dead and George in Command. He orders all non-essential personnel- including his pregnant wife- to abandon ship not in the escape pods but by using the Shuttlecraft, leaving many of them severely overcrowded. During the escape, some of the crew use their craft to cover the extremely-heavily damaged Kelvin on a kamikaze attack on the Romulans. The Kelvin is further aided by a mysterious ship (Spock’s timeship). It works, but the stress causes Mrs. Kirk to give birth prematurely as her medical shuttle goes into warp to escape. The Narada, although still operational, is badly damaged and escapes through time to safety (some point in time where they can just go orbit some random moon and do some repairs and get ready for their next attempt at destroying the Federation). We’d then see the Time-ship go through time too, probably going ahead to check to see what this has changed in this “new” timeline which is similar but different from the original one. Spock cares about this new Timeline because, quite frankly, it is the logical and moral thing to do. We’d then go through a short vignette of Kirk and Spock growing up. Spock has some pressures growing up with being Half-Vulcan, Half-Human, but… Read more »

My, someone’s done a lot of typing…

“46. Robert Saint John – February 28, 2009
…. after JJ’s pleas — the audience would have lynched anyone trying to do it. And no one got lynched. :)”
~~~~~~~
Well, if JJ pleaded for nobody to record it, then I’d just feel guilty watching it if it did show up. I guess I can be patient for one more week :(