J. J. Abrams’s reboot of the Star Trek franchise beams into Tompkins Square Park on July 21 for free screening and special giveaways
STAR TREK (J. J. Abrams, 2009)
Tompkins Square Park
Tenth St. between Aves. A & B
Thursday, July 21, free, 8:00
www.filmsintompkins.com
www.epixhd.com
www.startrek.com
Just as Kirk has his Khan, Spock gets his Nero in J. J. Abrams’s immensely entertaining time-traveling Star Trek movie. Abrams (Lost) 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 (Anton 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 21 in Tompkins Square Park as part of the EPIX Movie Free for All series, hosted by manic comedian Gilbert Gottfried and will include giveaways of an iPad, a Flip video camera, and five four-pack admission tickets to the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History.