Product Description
-------------------
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find
an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organisation
has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our
world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle,
Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one
man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into
an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged,
friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for
the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
Pioneering director J.J. Abrams delivers the explosive action
thriller Star Trek Into Darkness, following on from the
international box office success of Star Trek in 2009. Featuring
a stellar cast including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict
Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin,
John Cho, Simon Pegg, Bruce Greenwood, Noel Clarke and Peter
Weller.
Special Features:
* Creating the Red Planet
* Attack on Starfleet
* The Klingon Home World
* The Enemy of My Enemy
* Ship to Ship
* Brawl by the Bay
.co.uk Review
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A good portion of Trekkies (or Trekkers, depending on one's
level of Star Trek obsession) have special affection for episodes
of the original TV series that related to Earth and other-Earth
cultures visited by the crew of the Enterprise, version 1.0. Some
of the shows unfolded in distorted forms of the past, some in the
present day of Star Trek's future reality. Director J.J. Abrams
recognised the importance of this relationship in his
origin-story reboot of the franchise in 2009, and in Star Trek
Into Darkness he has made it an even greater touchstone to the
roots of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's defining philosophy
from nearly 50 years ago. The human home world is key to the plot
of this spectacularly bold leap into Star Trek lore, which
cleverly continues along the alternate path that was established
as separate from the "original" Star Trek universe in Abrams's
first whiz-bang crack at advancing the mythology. But it's not
just Earth that is cool and imperiled in this rendering of
adventure in the 23rd century; Into Darkness also plays with the
original conceit that Earthlings were member to a multi-species
United Federation of Planets ruled by a "Prime Directive" of
noninterference with other civilisations. The conflict comes when
rogue elements in the Earth-based Starfleet Command hunger to
shift focus from peaceful exploration to militarisation, a
concept that is anathema to the crew of the Enterprise and her
ongoing mission.
The new cast is again inventively reunited, each of them further
investing their characters with traits that reveal novel acting
choices while staying true to the caricatures that are ingrained
in our popular culture. The interplay between Chris Pine as Kirk
and Zachary Quinto as Spock is deeper, and Zoe Saldana as Uhura
is a solid third in their relationship. John Cho (Sulu), Simon
Pegg (Scotty), Anton Yelchin (Chekov), and Karl Urban (McCoy) all
have standout roles in the overall ensemble mystique as well as
the plot-heavy machinations of this incarnation's narrative.
Fortunately, the burdens of the story are well served by some
important additions to the cast. Benedict Cumberbatch's
Shakespearean aura, ferociously imperious gaze, and graceful
athleticism make him a formidable villain as the mysterious
Starfleet operative John Harrison. Harrison has initiated a
campaign of terror on Earth before leading the Enterprise to even
greater dangers in the enemy territory of Klingon-controlled
space. That his background may make dedicated Trekkies/Trekkers
p is just one acknowledgment of the substantial and ingrained
legacy Star Trek has borne. There are many references, nods and
winks to those with deep reverence for the folklore (some of them
perhaps a little too close to being inside-baseball), though the
fantastical and continually exciting story stands as an expertly
crafted tale for complete neophytes. Another new face is Peter
Weller--iconically famous in sci-fi-dom as RoboCop--here playing
a steely, authoritative Starfleet bigwig who may also be
following a hidden agenda. Not only is he running a covert
operation, he's also at the helm of a fearsome secret starship
that looms over the Enterprise like a shark poised to devour its
prey.
Which brings us to the awesome CGI effects driving the dazzling
visual style of Into Darkness and the endlessly fascinating
cosmos it makes real. The wow factor extends from the opening set
piece on an alien world of primitive humanoids, garish
vegetation, and a roiling volcano to the finale of destruction in
a future San Francisco that is elegantly outfitted with
gleaming-spired skyscrapers and all manner of flying vehicles.
(London also gets a breathtaking 23rd-century makeover). With a
coolness that glistens in every immaculately composed , the
movie never forgets that humanism and creativity make the myriad
design details and hyper-technology pop out as much more than eye
candy. The biggest achievement of Star Trek Into Darkness is that
it hews to the highest standard of a highly celebrated tradition.
Though Kirk and co. may bend it a little, the Prime Directive
remains unbroken. --Ted Fry