I imagine that the execs over at Paramount are sending J.J. Abrams a lot of fruit baskets this holiday season. After all, Abrams not only successfully revived an ailing franchise that was once a cash cow for Paramount, but he also made it "cool again." He took something that was generally only appealing to the fans and made it appealing to the mainstream moviegoer. Abrams made Star Trek a household name again; and, oh yeah, he also made it profitable again. So yeah, Paramount is probably his biggest fan right now. That's alright with me, cause after seeing his reboot of Star Trek on DVD, I'd have to say I feel the same way.

I won't retread any territory from my theatrical-release review, but I will say that one of my key impressions from my first viewing was reinforced seeing the film again: specifically the sense that the movie tries a little too hard to tell Kirk and Spock, and by extension the rest of us, that they're supposed to be friends. I was one of the rare few that didn't think the appearance of Leonard Nimoy was all that necessary (cool, but not crucial). His role seemed mainly to tell Kirk and later Spock that they needed to be friends. I would have enjoyed seeing that friendship develop naturally rather than the issue of their friendhsip being, well, if not forced, then strongly encouraged. Maybe it was just me, but it just seemed that this version of Star Trek worked hard at telling us Kirk and Spock would eventually be friends instead of just showing us that. Ironically, there are several moments that do show that burgeoning relationship, and they're some of the best in the movie; I wanted more moments like that and think the film would have been stronger with them. Regardless of how it was established, however, the friendship still worked and still served as the core of story and that's part of what made this new Trek feel so classic. So I guess it's minor quibble, but one that still bothers me.

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