Posted by Michael Pinto on May 1, 2009 in Star Trek
This is some amazing new footage (posted with permission) which shows J.J. Abrams in action directing the new Star Trek XI film. I like the little touch in the bar scene of having the poster of Neil Armstrong on the moon, and there are also a few new details of the Starfleet Academy that I hadn’t seen before. Also worth looking at is this interview with a few of the folks working on the film from about a month ago: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 30, 2009 in Star Trek
Watching this video is painful to me — William Shatner is a class act in this case, but there’s something cruel about not having him in this film. It would be one thing if Nimoy didn’t have a cameo because then you could argue that “we just couldn’t make it work with the script”. But sadly my bet is that while this may been about ego, it most likely had more to do with money (which may not be unrelated to ego). Shame on Paramount for letting this happen this way. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 29, 2009 in Star Trek
I’m getting excited by this film! This new trailer has a bit of new footage, but nothing that adds much more to our understanding of the film. By the way I’m starting to see a great a great deal of advertising all over the place — here’s an ad I spotted in the NYC subway system: Read more…
Poor William Shatner! He creates the character of Captain Kirk and doesn’t even get a damn cameo in the upcoming Star Trek film which will no doubt generate millions of dollars worth of merchandise. But if that isn’t enough now they’re cashing in on his Twilight Zone work as well! Shown above is the Twilight Zone Mystic Seer Bobble Head which is based on the classic 1960 Twilight Zone episode Nick of Time which featured a ‘mystic seer’ fortune-telling device. The episode opens with this stunning narration by Rod Serling: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 23, 2009 in Star Trek
The first weekend in May they’ll be airing a remastered version of the Cage. The only problem I have with these remastered versions is that the Enterprise looks very CGI — what I’d rather see instead is to have them make the special effects look like a feature film from the 60s. The problem is that the CGI contrasts so much with the look of the original series that it’s distracting to the eye, you spend too much time looking at the animation and not the action. Also the CGI looks too clean, it needs some film grain and texture to match the original show: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 18, 2009 in Star Trek
I haven’t seen this film yet, but I know one thing for certain: J.J. Abrams really knows how to promote a film! I’ve now seen him pushing this film every where from Australia to Wired magazine — and I like the fact that he’s not taking his audience for granted. He seems to understand that this isn’t just about making a film, but rescuing a franchise that could fade away. Of course at the end of the day this film has to be damn good, but the amount of work I see him doing is a good indication. Read more…
I just read that Starlog magazine is ceasing print publication, and as a fanboy my heart is broken. Back in the day before the internet it was damn hard for a fanboy to find anything anywhere on science fiction films and TV shows — and riding a wave of Star Trek fandom Starlog magazine filled that gap. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 10, 2009 in Star Trek
For me the original Star Trek will always be my first fanboy love — and if you feel the same way and want to show it this collection of over 20 different Star Trek Peel and Stick Wall Appliques can be a fun low budget way (only $13!) of showing your appreciation for those who went boldly where no other TV show went before. There are also two additional versions: On that features Captain Kirk and other with Mr. Spock: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 3, 2009 in Star Trek
This is a demonstration of the sound effects on the new Diamond Select Toys Star Trek Deluxe Chair — as you can see below the chair also includes a replica Kirk. However when I first spotted this video my hopes were for a full sized chair… Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 31, 2009 in Star Trek
Kirk is the original, but I have to say that Sisko is pretty much the coolest commander that I’ve come across in every incarnation of Star Trek. Kirk is a bit of a hot head, Jean Luc Picard is just too damn mellow, Janeway was generic and Jonathan Archer was just a tad too lovable: And that leaves us with Benjamin Sisko! Read more…
This sneak preview of the upcoming Family Guy episode which features the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation looks pretty good. The episode airs Sunday night on Fox…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 12, 2009 in Star Trek
Having watched the original series since my early childhood one of my early disappointments in life was the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture: You have to understand for me this was like Beatles getting back together again, but then producing a bad disco album. So it’s not surprising that I’ve blocked most of my memories associated with that “film” out of mind. But one thing that that the Paramount marketing dept. got right was the merchandising, and in this case I had forgotten that fast food giant McDonald’s had created a series of Star Trek themed Happy Meals to coincide with the film. Shown above and below are commercials that promoted fast food for Star Fleet officers in training. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 10, 2009 in Star Trek
While wandering around Kenmare and Mott in Manhattan I spotted this stenciled Spock street art which features him in his Wrath of Khan outfit sporting a Marilyn Monroe hairstyle. Clearly a homage to Warhol (as shown by the near by tomato soup spray can below) the artist is Mr. Brainwash.
You can now pre-order the Star Trek Original Series Lunch Box — but frankly the design of this schlocked out trinket misses the point in my book. For starters the side of the lunchbox misses the spirit of the entire show, the typography and graphic symbols have nothing to do with the late 60s. But the biggest missing part is that a lunchbox from that era wasn’t always photographic — in fact for a science fiction show you’d expect to see an illustration. And this I present to you the real deal, an authentic Star Trek lunchbox from the 60s: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 6, 2009 in Star Trek
FIRE EVERYTHING!It’s hard to go wrong with a line like that? This latest trailer starts to flesh out the story — clearly it’s a coming of age tale ala the first Star Wars movie which would be an ironic but a good reboot for one of my favorite space opera franchises. This new trailer has all sorts of new footage that looks cool like bar fights (this brings me back to what made the original series cool — no drinking Earl Gray tea!) and some cooling looking Starfleet cadet training exercises that involve doing space jumps in orbit above Mars. But I’d say the most interesting thing is that we see Kirk taking the helm of the Enterprise. Read more…
The new Star Trek film will be hitting theaters in May, but early signs of merchandising are already appearing. Playmates has just introduced a line of toys which will be hitting the streets this month. So far we’ve only seen a trailer for this film, but these toys give us a first real glimpse into the look-and-feel of the film. It’s important to remember that the original Star Trek series was a real breakthrough in terms of production art — a spacecraft no longer had to look like a rocket or a flying saucer, so there’s a real tradition that’s at stake here. That and frankly if Paramount wants to reinvent the franchise they’ll have to top the amazing work Lucas has been doing these past couple of years with Star Wars. Read more…
Shown above is the wonderful collection of Leonard F. Krieger. There’s a small but growing movement of fanboys who are making videos of their Star Trek collections and sharing them on YouTube. I have to admit that while such an endeavor sounds geeky that it’s a very positive use of technology. You see back in the days fans would acquire amazing collections of memorabilia but sadly with rare exception these gems would just sit on a shelf gathering dust only to be admired by a few. But putting these goodies on he web (and not just with video but on other sites like Flickr) fans are building a virtual museum and giving a free visitors pass to the rest of us. Here are a few wings of virtual Trek museum: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Feb 5, 2009 in Star Trek
I forgot just how much dancing was in the original Star Trek series — it’s rather amazing that thee was so much there that you could edit an entire music video out of it and hardly repeat a scene! Here’s another fan made video which isn’t as well choreographed but still entertaining: Read more…
Update: We also had the trailers for Star Trek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen but the legal department at Paramount had the trailers yanked from our YouTube source. In our humble opinion this was a dumb marketing move as many fanboys (and fangurls) might not want to watch an annual jock ritual.
The first weekend in May they’ll be airing a remastered version of 
Having watched the original series since my early childhood one of my early disappointments in life was the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture: You have to understand for me this was like Beatles getting back together again, but then producing a bad disco album. So it’s not surprising that I’ve blocked most of my memories associated with that “film” out of mind. But one thing that that the Paramount marketing dept. got right was the merchandising, and in this case I had forgotten that fast food giant McDonald’s had created a series of Star Trek themed Happy Meals to coincide with the film. Shown above and below are commercials that promoted fast food for Star Fleet officers in training. 
