Seen it! SPOILERS IN HERE!!!!

[thelordharry]

So the buzz in the office today is that it was a good film, 7 out of 10, as already stated, a very good job by the actors portraying their characters, Nero as a villain didn't really work and was a bit lightweight but there was plenty about the film to carry it off.
I'm a little disappointed it's not a 9 or 10 out of 10 with everybody raving about it, given the hype, but I'd best reserve judgement until I see it for myself

[Graham Kennedy]

There were some freaky aspects to it. Spoilers, remember...

Spock is having an affair with Uhura! Wow, didn't see that one coming.

Starfleet has always been held up as being for the very best of the best, being very hard to get into. But Pike made it seem like it was almost easy. Even though Kirk had all sorts of trouble with the law Pike indicated he would have no trouble joining up - literally a case of just turn up on the day and you are in. And Pike's statement that "You can be an officer in four years, have your own ship in four more." made it seem like advancement in Starfleet was virtually certain, even routine. This was backed up by Kirk's appointment as Captain right from Starfleet Academy.

Pike classified Starfleet as a "humanitarian" fleet. I think he mentioned exploration too, but I was struck by how most everybody seemed to treat the fleet as if humanitarian relief missions were one of the main if not THE main mission of the fleet.

The Enterprise engineering section I didn't like too much. There seemed to be no real decks, no real rhyme or reason to it. It was like being in a great big oil refinery, just random pipes and tanks all over the place. I know they were going for a 'functional' look, which is fine, but this just didn't look right. Also the interior looked too big to fit in the exterior.

Side note, they've moved the brige down a level. And the viewscreen is an actual window now, though it can have computer displays and such projected on it too.

Delta Vega being within sight of Vulcan makes no sense. It's meant to be a planet out on the edge of the galaxy according to Where No Man Has Gone Before, an an alternate timeline can hardly change that. I am thinking that perhaps 'seeing' the destruction of Vulcan there was more a case of Spock projecting something he imagined, as we only get the flashback via a mind meld.

Alas we don't actually see the battle with the 47 Klingon warbirds. Oh well.

Kirk senior saved 800 lives... and those 800 were the crew of the Kelvin. Ships had much bigger crews in the old days, I guess. Wonder why? And why was Kirk's pregnant wife along, I wonder?

[thelordharry]

And during the space battles, were there plenty of console explosions and hull breaches and people flying everywhere in space?

[Nickswitz]

The Enterprise engineering section I didn't like too much. There seemed to be no real decks, no real rhyme or reason to it. It was like being in a great big oil refinery, just random pipes and tanks all over the place. I know they were going for a 'functional' look, which is fine, but this just didn't look right. Also the interior looked too big to fit in the exterior.

I actually really liked this, it seems a lot less, perfect than the other one, that we never really saw. It had lots of room that you could fall into, and they made it less pretty for lack of a better term, I think this fits because engineering shouldn't be the prettiest part of the ship, but that's just me.

Spock is having an affair with Uhura! Wow, didn't see that one coming.

I totally didn't see this one, it's an interesting spin though. I loved how he said he didn't want to be showing favoratism, I didn't ge it at the time, but then realized he meant because of the affair...

Starfleet has always been held up as being for the very best of the best, being very hard to get into. But Pike made it seem like it was almost easy. Even though Kirk had all sorts of trouble with the law Pike indicated he would have no trouble joining up - literally a case of just turn up on the day and you are in. And Pike's statement that "You can be an officer in four years, have your own ship in four more." made it seem like advancement in Starfleet was virtually certain, even routine. This was backed up by Kirk's appointment as Captain right from Starfleet Academy.

I think the reason he said that was because of Kirk's immensly high scores for the placement exams, which is what he said. Plus we see Uhura and Bones, who were obviously very good at what they did.

Delta Vega being within sight of Vulcan makes no sense. It's meant to be a planet out on the edge of the galaxy according to Where No Man Has Gone Before, an an alternate timeline can hardly change that. I am thinking that perhaps 'seeing' the destruction of Vulcan there was more a case of Spock projecting something he imagined, as we only get the flashback via a mind meld.

I think this is due to the mind meld more than anything.

Kirk senior saved 800 lives... and those 800 were the crew of the Kelvin. Ships had much bigger crews in the old days, I guess. Wonder why? And why was Kirk's pregnant wife along, I wonder?

I think she was aboard because it wasn't meant for a battleship, so they didn't expect to have casualties, and yes, they apperently had much larger crews than they do now, I think they are using the use ever inch thought, rather than big and spacious, which would be interesting if they kept it up.

[LaughingCheese]

Saw it twice. Will post thoughts tomorrow. Lots of little nits, lots of little quirky things for fans to pick up on.

TWICE?! Already?!?!

[Angharrad]

A question and some thoughts.

First the question, I thought Orions were green skinned with dark hair, but the female in the movie was a red head (which looked really bad by the way) so am I wrong or was this a mistake?

I thought Sulu's sword was totally kickass.

I also thought it was very unsporting of him to stab that guy in the back, but he was a bad guy and trying to kill Kirk so I got over it (real fast).

I loved the trademark expressions, Dr. McKoy, "I'm a doctor Jim!", Mr. Scott, "I givin' ya all she's got Capt'n!"

I covered my face during the bug scene (so I wouldn't scream like a little girl).

I still want to snog Spock.

[Tyyr]

Stabbed in the back? THANK YOU! I'm so sick of the good guy's feeling some insane obligation to only attack from the front.

Snog might mean kiss but I still hear something entirely different.

[Angharrad]

Oh I forgot something:

One of my favorite lines: Kirk (to Romulan trying to choke Kirk to death while making fun of Kirk): I got your gun.

[Angharrad]

Stabbed in the back? THANK YOU! I'm so sick of the good guy's feeling some insane obligation to only attack from the front.

Yep, stabbed him in the back and pushed him off the space platform. After he turned another Romulan into a crispy critter.

[Nickswitz]

I love how sulu used the bad guys ship against him, that was funny.

[Bryan Moore]

Saw it twice. Will post thoughts tomorrow. Lots of little nits, lots of little quirky things for fans to pick up on.

TWICE?! Already?!?!

7:00 and then rushed down about 20 miles away to see it again at 10.

[Bryan Moore]

I'll write a formal review later, but for now:

Liked:
The look of the Enterprise - Beautiful ship, really powerful looking, quite charming.
The hangar bays held loads of shuttles, stacked in a very organized hangar formation. This was nice to see.
McCoy, despite being hammed up to the extreme by Karl Urban, was great, as was finding out the origin of "Bones"
Quinto was so spot-on as Spock, that seeing he and Spock Prime together must have been like looking into Dorian Grey's portrait.
Pine was instantly likeable as the brash young Kirk, and not once did I think "This is some guy playing Kirk." He fit the role beautifully.
Lots of throwbacks to other aspects of the Trek universe:
"Admiral Archer's prized beagle" (Though Archer would have been about 150 at the time?!)
Kirk eating the apple during Kobayashi Maru, with the same cocky smile Shatner used while describing the test and his solution while eating the apple in the Genesis Cave.
"I have been, and always shall be..."
The general feel of the movie was epic, but stayed pretty true to a Trek premise.

In the middle:
The engine room, though slightly awkwardly laid out with the amount of pipes, had a great boiler-room feel to it. Still, I agree with Graham. It was disconcerting.
Why, if Enterprise was the cream of the crop, did we see ships that seemingly were more sophisticated/larger?
The Kelvin, while gorgeous, seemed quite advanced from the outside, for a ship of the time, though the bridge was lovely and really felt like a go-between from the NX and E-Nil.
The chronology was confusing: We get a zoom to Spock on Vulcan rejecting the Vulcan Science Academy, then SEEMINGLY have Kirk entering the academy at roughly the same time. BUT, then we get a "Three Years Later" message, and see Kirk taking the K.M. scenario, only to find out Spock had programmed it for at least four years, indicating he was long graduated from the academy. Not to say there couldn't have been time between Spock's rejection and Kirk's entrance, but it was a bit odd.

Do Not Want:
I could see people criticizing hte film for being contrived. You wanna talk about happenstance?! Kirk gets into a bar fight to be saved by Pike, who asks him to join Starfleet, which he willingly does, the very next day. In his 3 years at the academy he can't get Uhura's first name, yet does his first day on the Enterprise, which conveniently, McCoy knew how to get him on. For that matter, had Kirk NOT been on the Enterprise, it would have all been for naught, and Nero would have won. Kirk then gets marooned on Delta Vega, happening to stumble into a cave that is hiding Spock Prime, only to stumble upon Montgomery Scott, the one guy who could (with Spock Prime's help) beam them onto a ship moving at warp. I could go on, but you get the point. It was fun, and to complain about suspending disbelief in a sci fi film is a bit ridiculous, but this went out on a BIG limb.

Delta Vega - Yeah, Graham covered this. Immediate nit, though.

Why would there be a release valve for clearly high-pressure water right above computers controlling parts of the engine room. Release the valve, and BAM your computers fry.

Warp: WAY TOO FAST! My buddy commented (who I asked to join up on DITL, I hope he will, as he is a surprisingly a big fan of Trek) on it with me as we watched. Kirk was given a "Mild Sedative" which put him out. When he awakens, they're at Vulcan. McCoy could have been exaggerating (possible) about its "mild" effects, but even if it knocked him out for a full 8 hour period or something, Earth to Vulcan in that time seems absurd.

Initial thoughts
I'll be seeing this again in theatres, I'm sure, at least once more. The feel was epic and there were a lot of minor nits, but the plot held together well, the acting was acceptible, the "Trek" feel was there, and by the end, you genuinely cared for this crew, thankfully saving the "family" aspect that I love so much.

[SuperSaiyaMan12]

So is the Enterprise larger or smaller than the TOS version?

[Graham Kennedy]

My impression is that it was roughly the same size.

[Nickswitz]

Bryan, I know you seem to have a huge issue with all the plot conveniences, but every movie will have them, I mean in Transformers, it just so happens that the kid who's grandfather discovered the artifacts from the transformers, buys a transformer. It's ludicrous to think that this would ever happen in real life, but if you completely disregard the original TOS series, it's completely reasonable that they were 5 or 6 young cadets that were placed on the same vessel.

And someone mentioned about Kirk being able to get to be a captain in just 8 years, I don't think that's the normal time it takes, if you remember just before he said that, he said Kirk was exceptional in his placement tests, so he was expecting him to be good enough to be a captain in 8 years based on him ability.