Here’s one of those movie-going experiences that changed my life. My Dad took me to see this at the Loews I would later work at, which is now a gym. Released just after my 12th birthday — I don’t think I’d ever seen a movie that so fully captured my imagination as this one. I’d always been a fan of Trek, but this turned me into the full-on psychotic that I remain today. But everyone loves this movie. When we dragged my mother to see it — even she admitted it was funny. And it still is funny. The shtick between McCoy and Spock discussing philosophy, while not as sidesplitting as I remember, still works. This is a perfect adventure movie filled with brain twisters, unexpected problems, good humor and a nice eco-friendly happy ending. Sometimes I marvel at the fact that there could ever be a discussion as to “which is better? Star Trek or Star Wars?” Star Wars is a collection of genre films. Star Trek is real life.
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Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.
Haha, now you’re just trying to get a raise of out me, so you here you go: this film is pretty amusing, good sitcom material that plays just as well on a TV screen. I’ve always been partial the LDS joke.
You know, I never really understood Trekkies, but I guess you just explained it: they’re people who want their science-fiction to be “real life.” It’s sort of like Hogwarts–magic with all the magic taken out. Space, domesticated. What’s the point?