My daughters (10 and 11) have expressed at least passing interest in seeing the new Star Trek movie. While I could simply take them to see it and be done with it, I can’t help feeling like they would be better served by seeing some other Star Trek canon first. The question is, what should the see.
The most obvious answer is The Wrath of Khan. But isn’t “Khan” better if preceded by TOS “Space Seed” where Khan is introduced? And surely it is necessary to follow-up “Khan” with The Search for Spock to see what happens to Spock?
Is that enough? Are there any other episodes that should really be seen first? I think the rest of the movies and other series can wait until later, probably on their own time if ever.
Also, I haven’t seen the new movie yet, but I go the impression that it might be beneficial to already be familiar with Pon farr, so perhaps they should also see “Amok Time“.
Opinions?
Renagerie 
#1 by rachel on May 12, 2009 - 4:44 am
they don’t need to see the other movies first. I saw Kahn because it’s the law that if you live in the world you have to see Kahn and Scarface, but it’s not needed to see the new Star Trek. Which was AWESOME btw.
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#2 by Ren on May 13, 2009 - 1:54 pm
rahcel – Yes, seeing Khan is a must. I saw the new Star Trek last night, and it really seemed like there are lots of things that happen that are more enjoyable having seen Khan. Of course, seeing Khan just once may not be sufficient, though if they see it right before the new movie, that might be enough.
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#3 by kilax on May 12, 2009 - 5:44 am
I wish I would have at least known more of the characters besides … James? And Spock? Are those their names? LOL.
My husband is a trekkie, but I am a Star Wars fan, and he is more Next Generation than classic, so when we saw the movie, I didn’t know who the hell the characters were. I think that would have made it a BIT more enjoyable. It was still an entertaining movie, but didn’t impress me as much as it did everyone else 😉
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#4 by Ren on May 13, 2009 - 1:57 pm
kilax – Yes, now that I’ve seen the new movie I would say that knowing the main characters ahead of time is a huge benefit. You simply cannot enjoy the reveals nearly as much without that, nor can you properly appreciate the new actors’ portrayals of the characters’ eccentricities.
Also, while I enjoyed the movie well enough, I was retroactively surprised at how much praise it had received.
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#5 by kilax on May 13, 2009 - 3:05 pm
I am so happy someone else (you :)) is also surprised at the amount of praise. I felt like I was being too negative. I had fun, but come on people! It’s not going to be winning any Oscars! (Not that THAT is necessarily an indicator of success!)
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#6 by kilax on May 13, 2009 - 3:06 pm
P.S. I see two more runs logged in! WOO HOO!!!
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#7 by Ren on May 14, 2009 - 9:19 am
kilax – Now if I could just get the widget to display correctly sot hat you could actually click through to the Garmin Connect page…. 🙂
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#8 by Faiqa on May 12, 2009 - 7:54 am
Khaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!
See, my response is very clever because (1) It’s a last line from the movie, (2) I think it’s the movie you should show them and (3) it’s my last name.
I love being efficient with my wittiness.
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#9 by Ren on May 13, 2009 - 1:58 pm
Faiqa – Very nice, but all efficiencies were lost by explanation. Thanks for playing, though. 🙂
I definitely agree that they should see Khan before the new movie.
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#10 by NYCWD on May 12, 2009 - 8:02 am
I wouldn’t even bother with the old stuff.
Take them to see the new movie. It’s a reboot for a reason… and if they like that, then definitely go with your proposed agenda.
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#11 by Ren on May 13, 2009 - 2:02 pm
NYCWD – While I agree to some extent that the new movie stands on its own — and it’s certainly a reset, so much of the old stuff may no longer apply — I still feel that having a least a passing familiarity with the main characters will increase the enjoyment of the movie.
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#12 by Star on May 12, 2009 - 1:00 pm
Having some familiarity with the classic characters would definitely be helpful, but that could come from the TV show or from any of the movies. But that’s mostly just for the cool moment of recognition you get when you see the new actor and the new take on the old character. Don’t worry about wether they’re familiar with the intricacies of Vulcan society – the only real thing to get is “Vulcans value logic over emotion”, and that’s explained pretty clearly in the beginning of the movie.
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#13 by Ren on May 13, 2009 - 2:04 pm
Star – I see that the first season of the original series is on Netflix Watch Instantly, so that helps. Now it will just have to compete with Heroes and Dr. Who (both also on Watch Instantly) for my kids’ attention.
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