Star Trek Into Darkness: In One Week's Time

A week today I will be sitting here after seeing the first UK showing of Star Trek Into Darkness at 0001 on Thursday 9th May 2013.

The big news from today is the arrival of the 3D trailer. It's just the final international trailer, Vengeance and all but grab some specs and take a look at what you might well have in store in the next few weeks. If you were one of The 1701 of course you'll already have a pair to hand!

3D screen capture

I managed to get an early lead on the new Keep Going, Scotty! clip last night so it's a waiting game now. I did however miss the prizes for those in the USA and Canada who were The 1701. Receiving a limited edition movie teaser poster embellished with 1701 Edition, an invitation card and Star Trek Into Darkness 3D glasses they received a special invitation to the trailer you can click through to above. On a side note, here's a little screenshot from the AreYouThe1701.com site which might raise a smile. Sadly the competition was only open on the other side of the Atlantic and once that ended it was a free-for-all...

Also it's the BIG London premiere tonight. Yep, the movie has finally made it to the shores of Blighty - just another reminder of how close we are to it's May 9th launch date. It's kind of odd to think that by this time I will have seen the movie and know all the twists and turns within! In Leicester Square a LOT of people have turned out for the premiere which also means the opportunity for some stupidly large promotional material to be paraded (left). It's a massive Starfleet (Sciences) delta over the white carpet as snapped on the Paramount Pictures UK Twitter feed this afternoon.

I don't recall adding this recently (right)  in addition to the Mazda6 advert - it's their in-store poster as part of the promotion linked to the movie. Nothing earth-shattering but one more element in the Darkness juggernaut.

Good news today as we get to know a release date for the soundtrack as produced by Michael Giachinno; May 28th - so mark your calendars NOW! The first one from the 2009 film is spectacular and played a lot. I can't wait to see what he's done with this film and it's a certain purchase. I have to have this. Here's the track listing for you as well as the cover art for the album. For once it might be a buy rather than a download (listing courtesy of treknews.net). I would have liked it to have the new IMAX poster as a cover but this one will do just fine!

Track Listing

1. Logos/Pranking The Natives (3:01)

2. Spock Drops, Kirk Jumps (1:43)
3. Sub Prime Directive* (2:23)
4. London Calling (2:09)

5. Meld-merized (2:40)
6. The Kronos Wartet (5:25)
7. Brigadoom (3:41)
8. Ship To Ship (2:50)
9. Earthbound And Down (2:37)
10. Warp Core Values (2:56)
11. Buying The Space Farm (3:17)
12. The San Fran Hustle (5:00)
13. Kirk Enterprises* (3:00)
14. Star Trek Main Theme* (3:25)

So what can we find out from the listing? Tracks Two and Three are clearly around the WWSD? clip. Track Four should be to do with the bombing. Track Six suggests it's an action theme on the Klingon homeworld (spelling?! Hmmmm). Brigadoom must be the Harrison and Kirk face off; eight must be to do with the Kirk space-jump over from the Enterprise to the Vengeance. Earthbound and Down suggests it'll be playing out when one of those ships takes a nose-dive. I'm not sure I want to speculate any further actually! Clearly there's some kind of incident in San Francisco (track 12) but I'm at a loss to give any suggestions for some of the other titles - in fact I don't want to ruin the surprise for me or anyone else! 

It looks like they may well be in order of appearance as with the 2009 reboot soundtrack. Any thoughts on what might be going on here? Buying the Space Farm certainly peaks my interest as does Warp Core Values. Just a few days left to wait and work it all out. Fingers crossed that this soundtrack works well with the film. I've got a lot of time for Giachinno's work - very uplifting and inspiring if I do say so myself!

For anyone who has a Pinterest account, get over now and follow Simon and Schuster publishers who are running a brilliant competition to win some Star Trek Into Darkness goodies including Kre-O models, iPhone and iPad cases, posters, books, mugs, audio books, kitchen sinks (ok, the last one isn't a prize)...Create a Star Trek board, pin some of their images, choose some prizes and enter the competition. Easy peezy. 

Don't forget to check out all the latest happenings by clicking the Countdown to Star Trek Into Darkness label below. Updated as we get more!!!

Thirty Seconds Into Darkness

I've even managed to avoid using any headers relating "Superbowl" to the film title (after a revision) because it's already been cliched to death and that's not what we're about here!!!

Accompanied by a sudden power outage at the beginning of the second half, it was (eventually) a great night not just for Baltimore Ravens fans but cinema lovers too with a plethora of new trailers wedged among some of the most expensive advert slots of the year.

Of course we're here to look at particular 30 seconds worth of $2.5 million and for those of you who haven't seen it yet,  here's a nice little link to the latest teaser for Star Trek Into Darkness  which some fans will now get to see TWO DAYS early at special IMAX 3D screenings!

It's not the longest piece of footage we could have wished for but it does give us a couple of juicy new lines of dialogue and some stunning new images of the Enterprise crumbling as it falls to Earth. As a flagship this baby sure does get one helluva kicking whatever reality it exists in. Whatever the case, it's definitely a mouth-watering lure for the big event.

"You think your world is safe. It is not."

As a trailer this works to an absolute tee as we once more see Harrison in the cell, a new shot of an apparent bomb attack on San Francisco (which would suggest the reason for the recall of the Enterprise to Earth), Spock alone on the fire/volcanic world, with Uhura and finally jumping off that really tall building ...again.  

"Who the hell are you?"

We have more familiar images of Kirk and Harrison "facing off"; masses of trademark lens flare and then Harrison getting bad-ass with his big gun. Before you worry that there's "more of the same" but in a shorter time span than the first trailer, we get some additional footage which suggests that the Enterprise crash is in some way responsible for the destruction we saw in the original 2 minute super-teaser a few weeks back. Dispersed between the last 15 seconds of the montage we also get an ominous warning backed by that haunting Inception/The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack (again) with a wonderful retro addition. Did you hear it? Yep - the bleepy, bleepy sound from the viewscreen pacing lights!  Wonderful touch there!

To be fair, it's well worth watching just for the snippets of the ship more than anything else!

"I am better..."

So the trailer has sent theories into orbit with its new dialogue putting it even more firmly into a lot of minds that Harrison is Khan - but he's in a Starfleet uniform? Well, if you recall the first reboot film, Kirk spent a good deal of time in black because he wasn't officially part of the crew; he was just an "observer" which would answer those who say he's a renegade Starfleet commander (ie Garth of Izar) but then that doesn't rule him out as Khan or maybe...Flint? As we know, he's a pretty old guy by the time of The Original Series and lived a load of lifetimes. One to consider fellow Trek fans. Sadly now it's a virtual certainty we can rule out Gary Mitchell. Sorry, sir, you're off the list.

"At what?"

How about this for another theory to throw into the mix - what if we haven't seen Khan yet? Could Harrison really be Harrison; one of his minions preparing the way for the Super Baddie who we get to see later in the film? One thing we seem to be forgetting is that no-stranger-to-Star Trek Peter Weller hasn't turned up in one bit of footage yet. Is JJ performing one of the greatest slight of hand tricks ever, making us all examine Harrison and get hooked onto this protagonist to then pull the rug and reveal that he's just the cover for something even more impressive? I would add the fact that we have only seen a TEASER poster so far and that makes me think that there might be another, more revealing one to come before release date. After all, Trek films of the past have always had a teaser poster (as per the background of this blog) so this one might not be an exception. 

"Everything."

So here we are again - another trailer making us think and counter think about the possibilities which will either prove a ton of people right since the beginning that it's Khan or give a lot of conspiracy theorists the smug satisfaction that they weren't sucker-punched and drawn into the Abrams web of secrecy. Hilariously from the producers' point of view they must be loving it - they don't provide much new material and the whole of Trekdom is going to Red Alert. I applaud thee, Mr Abrams. Let's hope the endgame matches the opening moves.

"...Shall we begin?"

While we're at it let's not forget that the super, wonderful, amazing, brilliant mobile app I discussed a few weeks back has been released and does everything you would want; trailers, scanning things for extra special stuff and all linked into the new film. Rank up, get rewards and enjoy! Stunning!!! Shame it's not available in the UK so we'll have to take our US and Canadian friends' word for it I'm afraid. Epic fail there, JJ (and associates) - should've been a global opportunity to sell the film to the fans by giving them some treats into the palms of their hands on Android and iPhone. Fingers crossed that there's something to ease our Trek withdrawls as we get nearer to May - and what's going on with Are you the 1701? Who'd forgotten that existed?

OUR WORLD WILL FALL

Two Minutes Into Darkness

Wow.  We're really being spoiled this December.  First we get the teaser trailer and now we get nearly two minutes more of hunger-inducing action from Star Trek Into Darkness. It's been an on and off/stop start event for this trailer but's back on line TODAY

Once more the The Dark Knight Rises/Prometheus/Gladiator musical strains bring us into hazy focus of a cityscape,  most likely San Francisco followed by a flying shot through the Enterprise's gleaming corridors and the empty Cif-white bridge set all overlaid with a haunting monologue from Admiral Pike:

"There is greatness in you but there is not an ounce of humility. You think that you can't make mistakes but there's going to come a moment when you realise you're wrong about that. Then you're going to get yourself and everyone under your command killed."

As last time I'm not here to rate the trailer but to look at what it tells us particularly against the teaser we saw earlier this month.  I'm of two minds if the Admiral is warning Kirk or Harrison here.  It would make sense either way -  Kirk is putting his crew in mortal danger and could lose them all (cue TWOK-esque hand to hand on glass shot) or this is a speech from early in a prologue indicating what leads Harrison to his vengeance.  Overlaying a shot of Pine as Kirk just as the Admiral is talking looks like a classic distraction technique to move the audience into thinking it must be Kirk that he's talking about.

Nice to see that we're treated to a shot of all the cast including Chekov although did anyone else notice he's wearing Roadkill Red or was that just my feed playing up?! This would also hint that Pike is more likely to be talking about the Enterprise crew than Harrison and before we get to know the director's name (if we hadn't forgotten) we're shown the ceremony and fly-past again.  We can also add in there some extended scenes of Kirk and McCoy running through the red alien growth stuff. Not exactly giving up much in the way of plot Mr Abrams!!!

Big Question is; is this ceremony from the beginning and linked to Harrison's actions/treachery which motivates him for the movie or is that, the Federation flag-folding and the panning shot of rows of coffins (bit like Skyfall there) from the bitter end of the adventure and we may actually see one of the cast bite the proverbial dust?   (cue TWOK-esque hand to hand on glass shot - and yes that's its second mention in two paragraphs) Could they even be commemorating Harrison? Well, on closer freeze-frame (above) I think these could be stasis pods in a warehouse - are we seeing part of a prologue (Eugenics War) and this would suggest that it IS Khan??? Harrison IS just a codename (see previous blog on The Trailer Into Darkness)...or is this the end result of the film in a kind of Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse moment? 

Just to drop a spanner in the warp drive as well, anyone notice the colour of the shirt on the nearside of that glass in the TWOK homage (below)?  It's not yellow...nor is is dress uniform grey...it's black.  Who else wears black in this trailer.....? What a twist to have Spock on the other side of the glass - is Harrison ultimately the person that saves the Enterprise and the memorial IS for him?! I NEED TO KNOW!!!

This trailer also has two distinct sections defined by the monologues from Pike and Harrison, separated by the "From Director JJ Abrams" moniker.  The former sets the scene, warns us of the threat to come and then we see exactly what that is.

"You think you're safe....You are not"

Immediately Cumberbatch drops into shot and the photo from earlier in the week is expanded so we see Harrison brig-bound.  I'm thinking it might be the Enterprise returning him to Earth.  Is his crew dead and he's the cause?  This looks early on and would suggest an escape attempt which could lead to the Enterprise taking to the water -  also slightly extended as per the Japanese trailer. This is probably all wrong but the pieces are there and in my mind it works that Harrison ditches the ship and then goes on a wrecking spree.    Mind-on-Possibility-Overload so they'd better be sending us another less convoluted trailer between now and Summer 2014!!!

Dr Who/Kidulthood actor Noel Clarke finally gets a blink-and-miss confirmation that he's in the film but doesn't give anything away as to what his role is however I might hypothesize that he is some kind of accomplice to Harrison. More interestingly what is the item he drops into the glass?  I can make out a "K" symbol on the bottom of a white cylinder but that's it, Trek fans.

There's a lot of space bound suited action with some unusual looking ships and serious explosive work going on including more of the fire planet from previous teaser pics and the first trailer. What is this all about and maybe this indicates that it's just a Starfleet vessel crashing and not specifically the Enterprise if rumours that the fleet gets trashed by Harrison are to be believed. What is Spock jumping off? What is Kirk firing at - notably his third distinct costume change from Starfleet yellow, combat clothes and what appears to be the dress uniform (no black though) as he shatters glass with a rifle shot (looks nothing like that "Where No Man Has Gone Before" version though...actually a lot cooler). Oh and there's some flashes of fisticuffs from Kirk and Harrison for good action measure. Phew!!!

"Is there anything you would not do for your family?"

Superhuman family perhaps, Mr Harrison? Speculation, speculation, speculation....

So that's it.  IMAX viewers get nine minutes if you see The Hobbit but for us mere mortals we can only wait...tick tick tick tick.....

Cue credits and the wait for our next taster installment!!! 

NOTE - as of the evening of December 17th this trailer was removed at the request of Paramount from the internet.  What is it that they don't want us to see??? It was available for about four hours before being pulled.  

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