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| Yes | 52% | 315 votes | Total: 609 votes | |
| No | 48% | 294 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesCan anyone imagine a cowboy classic without John Wayne? A Dracula horror flick without Bela Lugosi? A "Friday the 13th" without Freddy Kreuger? A Marx Brothers comedy without Groucho? A cutesy 1930s musical without Shirley Temple? An Indiana Jones movie without Harrison Ford?
So, how can any Hollywood mogul ever consider making a new Star Trek movie without Bill Shatner? Paramount expects to release its new film in December 2008, and all the officers from the original Enterprise line-up from the TV series and movies will be played by younger actors. But, as of current planning, no Bill Shatner will be there with them.
Shatner, age 76, is publicly peeved because he has not been asked to make a guest appearance as the original Captain Kirk. He has a good argument. His original first officer, Leonard Nimoy, also 76, has a part in the film as an older Spock, and will be in some scenes depicting the future for the young actor portraying the pointy-eared half-Vulcan in his prime.
Shatner isn't hurting financially about his lack of employment in the next Star Trek movie. Far from it. He has a regular role in the popular "Boston Legal" TV series, is a successful novelist, does many voiceover gigs and makes a bundle of money as TV commercial pitchman for Priceline.com. It won't be necessary to stage a charity event for poor, old Captain Kirk.
With Shatner's enormous star power and audience loyalty, both now and in the past, the producers of the new movie may be making a big, financial mistake. They're foolishly hurting their box office potential if they keep the original and classic Captain Kirk from once more boldly going where he used to go.
Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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No
The original "Star Trek" series with William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, will forever be etched into the science fiction time capsule as the series that broke the barriers of race, religion, time, conviction and vision. With a white captain, black female communications officer, alien science officer, scotsman engineer, russian navigator, and asian helmsman, the series filled our hope chest with a profound vision of how life could change for all of us if we could simply learn to get along with everyone else.
I grew up with the original "Star Trek" series, and I watched it evolve into "Star Trek, The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine, "Voyager", and every movie that has been made in-between. As a "TREKER" who loves everything that the "Star Trek Universe" has offered, and still has to offer, when Captain Kirk died assisting Captain Picard in the movie "Star Trek, Generations", the loss I experienced within my emotions at the death of this icon, was just as heart-felt and devastating as if I loss a member of my own family. When people die in the real world they don't come back, and even with the marvels of the "Star Trek Universe", in death, some characters actually become larger than life itself because we keep them alive in our memories.
The question is "Should William Shatner return as Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movie?"
My answer is "no", he shouldn't return to the role as Captain Kirk.
During the original series William Shatner portrayed the youthful character and the brilliance of his command ability magnificently The new "Star Trek" movie deals with the "Enterprise" crew as they are fresh out of "Star Fleet" academy. William Shatner has aged to the point where he cannot portray the youthful Captain Kirk that is required to make the movie believable. Only a youthful actor can portray Captain Kirk with the zeal and finesse attributed to the character in the original series.
Does this mean that there is no role for William Shatner? Absolutely not.
One characterization that could bring Captain Kirks entire life to a new meaning would be to cast William Shatner in the role as Captain Kirks father. We all know Captain Kirk to be a brilliant strategist who thinks through every possible scenario, and who improvises to win the game when all hope for salvation appears to be lost. What if this train of thought was driven into "James T. Kirk" by his father throughout his life? What if his father's wisdom and unique experiences went to the heart of Captain Kirk's every sense of being to make him the commander and tactician that he eventually became?
We all know that Captain Kirk did not believe in a "No Win Scenario" as he stated in "The Wrath of Kahn". Maybe his father believed in this and taught James everything he knew to help improve his chances of survival in deep space. Perhaps when he said in the movie "Star Trek V, The Final Frontier", "I've always known, I'll die alone", he had a premonition of his death during his childhood, and it scared him so badly that he had to speak with his father, portrayed by William Shatner.
The only role for William Shatner in the new "Star Trek" movie is that of Captain Kirks father. A cameo appearance as Kirks father could tie together everything that we don't know about Captain Kirk. If I were the director, I would ask William Shatner to make a cameo role appearance as he hugs Kirk closely and says "Never forget what I've taught you, because as long as you sit in that chair, you can make a difference!"
Learn more about this author, Kevin W Byrom.
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