J. J. Abrams directs the crew of the Starship Enterprise, including Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov
STAR TREK (J. J. Abrams, 2009)
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th St.
Thursday, July 7, free, doors open at 7:30
Summer Movie Series continues through August 5
www.intrepidmuseum.org
www.startrek.com
The sudden, tragic death of Anton Yelchin, the twenty-seven-year-old Russian actor who was starring as Ensign Pavel Chekov in J. J. Abrams’s reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise, has cast a pall over the upcoming July 22 release of the third film in the series, Star Trek Beyond. But to prepare for the new flick, you can catch the first one for free on July 7 at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Just as Kirk has his Khan, Spock gets his Nero in Abrams’s immensely entertaining time-traveling Star Trek movie. Abrams (Lost, Cloverfield) goes back to the very beginning, with the tumultuous birth of one James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine), whose father was a legendary member of Star Fleet. Soon he winds up aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, surrounded by a crew that includes a logical Vulcan named Spock (Zachary Quinto); Uhura (Zoe Saldana), a hot language specialist; Leonard “Bones” McCoy (Karl Urban), a goofy doctor; seventeen-year-old helmsman Pavel Chekov (Yelchin); engineer extraordinaire Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg); and rookie pilot and swordsman Hikaru Sulu (John Cho). In this sort-of Star Trek Babies tale, the young cadets are suddenly thrust into action with Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), on a mission that involves evil villain Nero (Eric Bana), a rogue Romulan with an ax to grind. Star Trek fans will love all the little homages to the series and the previous films, with both obvious and obscure references every step of the way as we learn how this famous crew first met one another and developed their extremely familiar relationships. Star Trek is screening July 7 on board the flight deck of the Intrepid as part of the museum’s free summer movie series and is a great way to get ready for the new interactive exhibition “Star Trek: The Starfleet Academy Experience,” which opens at the Intrepid on July 9 and is part of the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the debut of Gene Roddenberry’s cult show. The summer movie series continues with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on July 14 and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (which Abrams essentially remade as Star Trek into Darkness) on July 29 in addition to such other sci-fi fare as Galaxy Quest on July 21 and Big Hero 6 on August 5.