Kathryn Sutton
As the Vulcans say, “Live long and prosper,” a suiting motto for the Star Trek series. After decades, the futuristic films are back and just as action packed as always, proving the longevity and prosperity of this classic series. This latest movie, Star Trek (the eleventh in the series), surpassed expectations of a mediocre movie for oldies fans, and turned out to be an adventurous journey into the future with a skillful melding of the past Star Treks. Even young people can enjoy this blast from the past.

Serving as a prequel to the original films and TV series, Star Trek introduces the characters and shows how they got their start on the U.S.S. Enterprise. The movie opens with action and drama as the captain of the U.S.S. Kelvin is murdered on board a Romulan ship, and the acting captain, George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), must evacuate all survivors on the Kelvin before they are also killed. To protect the fleeing refugees, Kirk stays behind on the ship and propels it into the Romulan ship, dying just as his son, James T. Kirk, is born on a fleeing shuttle.

Years later, when James Kirk (Chris Pine) is a young adult, he gives up his reckless life on Earth to follow in his father’s footsteps and joins Starfleet, a military organization to keep the peace and explore new worlds in the universe. At the academy, three years later, Kirk cheats on the “unbeatable” Kobayashi Maru test, showing that he hasn’t changed much during training. In the midst of his hearing for cheating on the test, Starfleet receives a distress call from planet Vulcan and a fleet is mobilized. Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), Kirk’s friend from the academy, smuggles Kirk onboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and they depart.

Recognizing the similarities between the distress call and what happened to his father’s ship, the Kelvin, Kirk warns Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), of the Enterprise that they are falling into a trap. Wary of the danger, the Enterprise arrives late to Vulcan, only to find that the entire dispatched fleet has been destroyed. With no choice, the captain of the Enterprise promotes commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) to Captain and Kirk to First Mate, and is taken onboard the Romulan ship. The Enterprise escapes, but the planet Vulcan is destroyed by the Romulans and Spock’s mother dies, along with most of the other Vulcans. After being faced by a situation similar to his father’s years before, James Kirk must earn control of the Enterprise to destroy the Romulan ship before it destroys Earth and all of the other planets of the Federation.

With the fantasy of time travel, the science of alternate universes, and the reality of complex human emotions, Star Trek is a well-balanced film. There is just enough sci-fi to satisfy hard core Star Trek fans while entertaining people who aren’t as fond of science fiction. It was a nice touch to have actors that closely resemble the original actors, and in this sense the casting was phenomenal. Leonard Nimoy from the original TV series also played Spock’s father and Spock as an old man, and Majel Barrett Roddenberry was brought back to voice the Starfleet computer. This is a great movie to see with fans of the original series, but perfectly fun for people new to the series as well. Star Trek is an exciting revival of the Star Trek series, and hopefully this is the first of many more Star Trek films to come.