Pine: Kirk Earns Captain’s Chair In Star Trek Into Darkness + Talks Abrams Tinkering, Cumberbatch Scene & more

As we reported yesterday, Chris Pine was in the UK to do press and attend the premiere of Rise of the Guardians. Of course Pine ended up talking about Star Trek Into Darkness as well. We have collected quotes from Pine talking about Kirk’s journey, Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Abrams and more. See the quotes below along with video and photos of Pine at the premiere as well.  

 

Chris Pine Talks Star Trek Into Darkness

Here are a collection of quotes about Star Trek Into Darkness from Chris Pine from yesterday doing press and attending the premiere of Rise of the Guardians.

KTLA

The story is huge in terms of scope and scale and story it is a lot bigger than the first. It is going to be IMAX. Bendedict Cumberbatch as the evil bad guy. I think there is a lot of fun stuff.

Red Carpet News

Kirk is fun because he is a brash, cocky, bull-headed kind of guy. I think the journey he goes on in this new film is a lot about – the first one was about getting the chair and the second one is about earning it. And I think that is a big part of his journey.

HeyYouGuys.co.uk

Benedict [Cumberbatch] is such an incredible talent. He did some work in the new Trek that will blow people away.

9 News TX

JJ will be constantly tinkering with [Star Trek] until the last minute

Radio Times

“There’s one scene in [Star Trek Into Darkness] that’s like, you know… in all kinds of heavy science fiction there’s got to be the exposition scene where it’s like, what the hell’s going on? It’s a really, really, really hard scene. Not for me, for Benedict – and watching him handle that and to make something that I think, on paper, could have been a death trap for an actor and to see how he [deals with it]…"

Photos of Chris

Thanks to @trekmovie Twitter followers who shared links to Pine interviews. If you see more Pine interviews where he talks Trek send those in to tips@trekmovie.com.

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Well, let’s hope Star Trek Into Darkness is deeper and smarter than the first one. I liked Star Trek 2009 but it felt like Star Wars. Let’s see a more mature Kirk and a wiser Spock. And hopefully there will be more McCoy.

I like this site, it’s exciting.

May 2013 seems soooooo far away!

2 – lol nice :) Love the job Pine did and can’t wait for the film.

hope the comics are canon as well since he did missions already

One of the biggest gripes with the first Abrams Trek was how quickly Kirk became a Captain. It wasn’t realistic. I hope there is some “damage control” in this next film which offers some explanation on how that happened. Pine suggested that Kirk “earns” the chair, but I would hope there is actual explanation on that in the film.

“Benedict Cumberbatch as the evil bad guy.”

Evil bad guy. Double negative – so he plays a good guy?
;-)

1. Basement Blogger

I never saw the Star Wars comparrison then and still don’t. Never understood why people say that. I see nothing of Star Wars in Trek.

The only way I would say Star Wars in the same sentence is to say that without Star Trek, Star Wars wouldn’t have existed. And if it wasn’t for Star Wars, we would have never had Star Trek movies. And now I can add… if it wasn’t for the 09 Trek movie, I don’t think there would be a new Star Wars Trilogy. But that’s my opinion.

7. Mr Phil

Hmmm… you may have something. A good guy that is now bad. Who could that be? ;)

There’s something so original and provocative about comparing the last film to the “Star Wars” franchise. I mean, wow! I’ve never heard THAT one before.

2. Lol, Mr. Doohan.

So, are you in this one too? We won’t tell anyone…. ;)

I can’t watch the last two videos because some news broadcasters are talking over Chris. You see him but don’t hear anything he is saying.
What is going on? I had to go out of this site in order to turn off the sound to the video.

Kirk “brash, cocky and bull-headed”? Gee, is there anything nice that Chris could say about the character? Perhaps, even say something original, instead of seeming to repeat what everyone/anyone else has already said many times about this character. Sorry, Chris – but hey, come on!…

Maybe one could describe him as being inexperienced, but driven – out of desire to see justice done; being aware that time is of the essence and that waiting could be more disastrous for all than going ahead, even if not all relevant information is available; protective, insightful and intuitive.

I dunno – people seem to have such a negative attitude toward this young Kirk.

8. i don’t get the Star Wars comparison either. Okay, maybe warp’s a little like hyperspace (which makes more sense than an explosion of rainbows, or a really slow, awkwardly stretching ship) and they wisely replaces phaser beams with bolts (dodging a slow, animated beam which comes out of the phaser at a weird angle always seemed odd to me). And there were aliens and creatures — which Trek should have (even TOS tried this with its low budget). And the FX were really good.

It looked great, it was fun, it had heart, suspense and thrills. It got Starfleet right. I don’t see how any of these are bad things.

I didn’t see the Star Wars comparison either. Plot-wise, red matter wasn’t a well thought out or even remotely plausible MacGuffin. But as an origin tale, it served its purpose and I really enjoyed it. The fact that the plot device this time around is being described as “heavy sci-fi” is encouraging too. The 2009 effort was a good Trek movie. I’m hoping Into Darkness is truly great.

It’s just a movie folks… it will be as faced paced as the first… and there definitely won’t be any explanations about why Kirk was made Captain… he saved the Earth… that’s the least they could have done!

As for Spock. the man’s more conflicted now and not in full control of his emotions, this makes his character more appealing than boring prime-time Spock.

Enjoy the movie!

@2 = LOL

Getting excited for this movie!

The Star Wars comparisons are a good thing that helps to sell more tickets. And it works whether it is actually true or not.

Notice that as of this week, Paramount is still making JJ say that his movies are not for trekkies on all his interviews. Trekkies hate that, but too bad because trekkies are bad news in almost every culture.

You have to say what you have to say. It’s just business.

I never saw the comparisons with SW either. Let’s hope this one is deeper than the last. The last one was good, but it could’ve been great. This one has the potential to be great as well. BC is a welcome addition as he is more than capable of playing an intense and complicated character if Sherlock is any indication. Can’t wait!

There´s Exploring in Star Wars, there´s Battle in Star Trek, so, yeah, it´s all related. :)

the only thing missing is the Enterprise turning into a big Autobot :)

@13.

I agree with your argument and feel all your points about the movie show it is firmly a Star Trek movie. However, I can also see how some may feel that Trek 09 was alot like Star Wars, particularly Episode IV. Let me explain.

Ok, first you have a super weapon (the Narada) that attacks a ship deep in space. You have the captain of that ship rather violently killed after being questioned by the main villain and buying time for others with his sacrfice. You have valuable cargo being jettisoned from the ship before it is destroyed or captured. (The droids in Star Wars, Kirk and his mother in Trek.) This cargo is vital to the success of the heroes at the end of the film.

Now, you have a farm boy who goes to a bar, populated by strange creatures. He had no father growing up and was raised by a surrogate father. He knows he was meant for more and stares off into the distance deeply longing to leave his boring home and venture elsewhere. JJ even apes the Luke two suns scene from Star Wars by having Krik stare off at the Enterprise being built, a look of longing on his face.

There is a wise mentor figure who sets the hero on his journey (Obi Wan in Star Wars, Pike in Star Trek). You have the farm boy hero answer the call and journey on a ship to train to become like the wise mentor figure. Along the way he meets a gruff rogue (Han in Star Wars, Mccoy here).

The super weapon destroys a planet important to one of the main characters and as a result kills the parent or parents of that character. Then disappears on to it’s next target. (Vulcan here and Alderaan with Star Wars).

Then there is the ending. The hero (Spock in this case) is facing certain destruction at the hands of the villain, but suddenly is saved by a vessel appearing at just the right moment, one that rids the hero of the threat and allows him to continue on his course to destroy the super weapon.

The day is saved, super weapon destroyed. The farm boy is now a full fledged hero and is awarded with a grand ceremony to celebrate it. He faces the crowd to find cheering masses. The farm boy has attained his true destiny. His mentor is proud and there is the promise that said mentor will be there to help the farm boy hero in future adventures.

Now that is just a surface reading of Trek 09. Of course there could be more Star Wars influences on the film. Trek 09 certainly isn’t Episode IV. But it does share alot of similarities to that film. In the end, I still think it is more Trek than Wars and I like the film a great deal.

At trek ink outgoing series, one of the history’s talks about Kirk earning his chair. And this is on Gary Michel history. Remember, the Boborci already said (if I remember well), outgoing series have clues about the new movie.

Maybe is just a coincidence on words of Chris Pine. But who knows?

And after that’s photos from the scene On the villain and Spock, I already are suspicios about Gary Michel like villain.

AWW … Captain Fine!!! ;-) :-)

The audio from the interview with Chris Pine about Benedict Cumberbatch can be heard on the link below, I think this isn’t in the article of radiotimes … I hope there is no problem posting the link here!

http://www.filmchronicles.com/chris-pine-talks-star-trek-into-darkness/

His collar is terrible.

First point:

filmboy, you are spot on. For all the folks that haven’t seen the comparisons between Trek 09 and Star Wars, there it is, laid out for you. Plot-point wise the similarities are there.

Second point:

I, and I believe others, are getting a little tired of this Trekkie bashing. NuFan, I take some umbrage with your statement that Trekkies are bad news. How short-sighted of you. If it weren’t for Trekkies, i.e. people like Bjo Trimble and countless others, you wouldn’t have a NuTrek movie or sequel to enjoy. When the show faced cancellation after the second season Bjo helped to save it for a third. When it finally did get cancelled, she along with Trekkies (who were legion), kept the heart beating as-it-were. By not allowing Star Trek to die and go away it was resuscitated into TAS and the movie series, which led to TNG and the rest of the shows that followed. And without all that there would absolutely be no JJ Abrams Star Trek.

So you can thank all of us bad news canon worshipping Trekkies for sticking with a cancelled series from the 60’s long enough for you to have your Star Trek movies today.

11 Jack

Promise? I wish I could tell you I was :)

Seems like everytime Pine speaks of Star Trek, he reinforces that Kirk as fratboy image. Please stop.

What a lame shirt. Who has a horizontal collar?

It’s all perfect. Every bit of Into Darkness is going to be perfect. Cast, crew, writers, director, everthing. I’m a fortysomething year old fan and this new reboot makes me feel 10 again. It’s exciting! Perfect!

@ 25 My god, man! There’s gottta be a Doohan on board!

#25- Chris Doohan:

But can you tell us you AREN’T in it either?

Hmmm?

I was looking at the comic covers for Countdown to Darkness and noticed that they appeared to feature a starfleet delta in the middle like the last prequel comics did. But after trying to line up the Jan (kirk) and Feb (Uhura) issues they don’t.

I mean it’s close but the size is off and the command insignia is missing. The thing that appears to be the most revealing is the way the stars or “darkness” of space is bleeding through the characters. Whether this is symbolic or just artistic license is yet to be determined.

Actors like Chris Pine get to model the latest fashion trends. Some of them can look very good, others not so good and still others totally atrocious. I guess it comes back to taste and also what people are used to seeing being worn.

Bear in mind, James Kirk was a farmboy long before Luke Skywalker was even thought of…

I am sick of hearing the comparisons made between Star Trek 09 story and the Star Wars movies. If I wanted to see comparisons, I would watch the Star Wars movies, but I have not watched any SW movie in a while. This is a (Star) Trekmovie site, not a Wars in sight – thank god!

Thanks, Dee, for the link. Even though the interview with Chris Pine is over, I am still hearing everything else coming through my computer speakers. This is what was happening before with the other link that Anthony posted – the audio does not stop and even when I turn off the sound and speakers, I can still hear a muted form of the radio programme coming through what seems like the hard drive. As soon as I turn on the audio again, I get these US radio stations coming through my Auckland, NZ computer audio system. This has never happened before, until today.

My son deleted a cache and it is gone. I guess I won’t be able to hear the interview with Chris Pine again.

#15

So prime Spock is Boring now…..LOL, ha, ha, ha. OK right. U do realize that Nimoy made that movie. he gave it the wieght and credability the movie desperatly needed….Boring? WTF. Nimoys Spock entertained for decades. Show some respect!

Two steps from hell doing the trailer music again?

Look out, the trekkers are giving fashion advice now!

It was leaked yesterday that Cumberbatch is playing a Triskelion. The heavy scene may be when he becomes just a brain. That would explain the rumor that Charlize Theron has a cameo as Tamoon.

@ 20, I thought this was a place to post short comments not write an essay.

13. Jack

4 Starfleet members beating up 1 guy (Kirk) because he spoke to a Uhuru, yeah they got Starleet spot on there.

The reason this film is like Star wars is that is its entertaining nonsense.

#32. Keachick

Chris Pine is wearing Ralph Lauren Purple Label, again… I think the shirt very interesting, makes the suit look more “cool”… I liked it … and CP has said he has people who help him choose clothes when he goes to the red carpet … in this case blue carpet!

AWESOME!!! ;-) :-)

KTLA – Asking the questions no one else would think of.

Chris looks like he needs more sleep. It must be great in one way to have 3 BIG irons in the fire, but it’s gotta be killer to fulfill the “promotion” aspect of his contract.

In the 60’s, Trek was groovy.
In ’79, Kirk wore lycra and disco hair.
In ’86 Scotty saved the whales.
In ’91, the Enterprise crew explored Glasnost.
Why are you shocked that Trek dips into Star Wars at a time when that franchise is preparing for a relaunch? Trek is a template. And a damned good one. It will always reflect some of the cultural influences of its time.

Chris Doohan — tell the truth, what did the ST:TMP uni’s really smell like?

@20…but this is about the chicken & the egg and what came first. Trek came first so i would say SW dipped into Trek. I’m sure at the time Trek took from other SCI FI of the past. Its bound to happen. I didn’t think Trek 2009 had a SW feel to it. In fact i always felt SW was a lot of fun , Trek went for the juggler.

In reference to the first film — Kirk “becoming captain too quick” … I used to have a problem with that.

Then I became an officer in the USCG.

I know its just a movie, but to ease some of you who want perfection – there are instances in the real military when an officer’s position is referred to as “Captain” when they are not in fact a Captain by rank.

For example, many Coast Guard stations are commanded by a Commander or Lt. Cmdr, but that officer is referred to as the “Captain” of the station. So that is my rationalization for what transpired in Star Trek 2009. Kirk was “Captain” of the ship, but his rank was still what would have been a cadet/midshipman if he was still in the academy?

@43

I think he was bearing the two and a half braids on his sleeve at the end…they brevetted him at minimum and they may have given him the full bump because of how well he conceived and executed what amounts to saving pretty much the Federation minus Vulcan, partly for PR reasons and mostly because he clearly demonstrated command virtues.

However he obviously did not have the time to really learn how to RUN a ship…he never served his time as a department head or exec… I would imagine that this created friction and disgruntlement around Starfleet. A plot point worth exploring on screen, or mere fanboy wankage?

@30

Oh I’ve asked Mr.Doohan the same question five or six times now,lol,in different threads here,but he never actually replied.

Till he confirms or denies it,I’m gonna think yes and hope for the best,LOL!

Just REALLY hope the trailer will be good and Khan is not the villain,lol!

Have fun y’all!

J-R!

Sounds like a good journey. Perhaps the three films will allow us to feel that the characters evolve to where we first met them on the original series.

The undying loyalty that Spock has for Kirk in particular.

I think Some misunderstood the Dark Knight Rises to be the end of Batman’s career whereas it was about getting a new beginning with a partner. The franchise is in a position to move forward just under a different creative team.

No doubt this is what will happen with Trek.

@20 Totally agree with you and a note to all about ST and SW: Money if they screen any of the SW movies in Black and White and get all of us to see them, they will do it. To JJ and others it does not matter if the two movies are the same but with new players it just about money, so that’s not cool but we see them and pay for it and we will pay again and again. If Disney remakes A NEW HOPE again with a black actor playing Luke. We would all go to see it, so stop it and just enjoy Khan as a nice guy.

But I think the bad guy in into darkness is the Horta, does the volcano seen.

Sorry,but I won’t enjoy Khan as a nice guy. Of course I’ll see the movie,probably several times,but my dissapointment if it’s Khan will just dampen my enjoyment a little bit i’ll enjoy it,just not as much since I was hoping for something more original. But that’s just me,lol! I’m sure it’ll be a great movie! Keep Trekkin’! J-R!

Despite not appearing in the 1st STID-clip and general, dominant focus on the Spock character, this actor keeps his cool :-)

@43. Yeah, I think we know that a commander can be captain of a ship. My understanding, though is that larger ships or flagships will have a full captain at the helm, not a cadet who was being brought up on charges. Let’s not forget that Enterprise was identified as being the new flagship of the fleet. Anyway, this has been beat to death on these boards, those who want to believe it makes sense will believe what they want, those of us who know it’s foolish will ignore it.