I felt Karl Urban was... too wooden in some parts, espesially when doing the 'traditional' Bones lines.

I'm sort of a casual ST fan, only seen a handful of original series and TNG series episodes, lost track of Enterprise probably halfway through the 2nd season (but I did like it), never seen Voyager or Deep Space 9 at all. But I have probably seen every movie, ST II is one of my all time favorites.

I was skeptical about the "young hollywood" recasting of the original series crew but I think they did a pretty good job. I would REALLY like to ditch time travel out of ST movies - this is at least the 3rd one I can think of off the top of my head (though at least it was because of a black hole this time) and that always creates plot holes and confusion to me. Anyway I was pleased that (to me anyway)the new one was character driven instead of going for full on SFX spectacle at the expense of everything else. Not that it didn't look good-it did but they didn't go overboard with CGI and stuff, it just had a more believable look to me than for example Star Wars Episode III. I hope the next one is as good or better. Hard core trek fans may feel differently, but as a more casual trek fan I was pretty happy with it.

but as a more casual trek fan I was pretty happy with it.

I suppose I'm a mid-grade Trekkie, as I can summarize episodes and identify species from TOS, but can't tell you the actual episode number.

It rocks on Blu-Ray.

I suppose I'm a mid-grade Trekkie, as I can summarize episodes and identify species from TOS, but can't tell you the actual episode number.

I liked the original series - it was a space western where the town drifted into the bad guys (instead of the other way around), updated to match Cold War realities. The Enterprise was built by the lowest common bidder, which apparently was Chrysler. It always ran, but clearly there was some MOPAR madness going on.

TNG turned into too much of a soap opera for my likes, and they were so intent on keeping rules unbroken that one wondered if the future might indeed be run by overly politically correct beaurocrats. Space western soap opera (except everyone got along so well I suspected the water was treated with valium) where the town drifted into the bad guys (updated to reflect the United Nations). The Enterprise was built by the highest bidder with a horrific warranty included that ensured nothing short of sabatoge could hamper its functioning.

DS9 struck the middle ground. Space western where the town doesn't move, was built by the Soviets for one of their lesser members before the collapse, and is now partially funded and largely "advised" by Americans, who also provide a security shield for it, since a large deposit of oil wormhole that has strategic importance was discovered within its territory. The characters actually had diverse interests and loyalties to match their agendas.

Voyager was Lost in Space, except they were literally Lost in Space, and the cute girl was blonde and hooked up with the weird alien cook. It split the middle between TNG and DS9 (which was quite a feat), and for some reason is neither compelling to watch nor worthy of a petulant channel switch. I won't pause it to answer the phone, but I will still pop a DVD into the player if I'm really bored. Their ship was made by the same aliens that made the one for Galaxy Quest.

Enterprise was a call back of sorts, and I'm in the minority that thinks that it was actually the best since the original series. The characters weren't just diverse, they grated on each other - and yet used the professionalism of their careers to try and hide it. Space western meets The Equilizer where the town moves to drift into the bad guys (updated to reflect the Global War on Terrorism). Remarkably, it is alone (outside of the original series) in that the characters make bad decisions that come back to haunt them later. The Enterprise is made by no-bid contract firms that gave no warranty whatsoever and various research firms that sold prototypes as if they were production line ready.

At least they explained in the new movie what happened to Pike after the pilot Episode of the original series.