I have read all the news and heard all the rumors about the upcoming StarTrek movie and I wanted to voice my opinion about it.

I have heard the rumor about Matt Damon being cast as Kirk and Tom Cruise being cast as Spock and I really don't see that happening. In most every Star Trek TV show and movie the shows have been mainly cast with unknown actors.

This seems to work well for Star Trek because by using mostly unknown talent most people have seen them before so they don't have any preconceived notions of what the actor will be like.

Case in point, take a look at the website http://www.startreknewvoyages.com This website has web episodes based on the original series taken from were the original series ended in 1969.

The web episodes don't have any of the original cast playing their original roles (there are some guest appearances by some of the original actors) and the actors playing Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, and the rest of the crew I had never heard of before. So when I find this site and before I saw the first episode they produced I had mixed feelings about it.

But after a few minutes into the first episode I was totally into the show and I found that the actors were very well cast in their roles. I wasn't missing Shatner, Nimoy, or the rest of the old cast at all. I think as I have stated above this is because I had never see these actors before so I didn't have any idea of how they had preformed in the past.

To make the next Star Trek movie a success I think they will need to keep using the formula of using unknowns in the major roles. If you cast major stars that everyone has seen before I don't think they would be believable in the roles.

I think that may have been the problem with Star Trek: Enterprise. Scott Bakula is a good actor but he had a top rated show for many years and has been well watched by many people. When he was cast as Captain Archer I think people had a problem seeing him in that role.

So, I think to make this next Star Trek movie successful that cast should be as new as the movie. I have been a fan of Star Trek since the original series and I have see and own all of the movies to date. I believe this movie will be just as entertaining as all of the others and I am waiting with great anticipation for it's release in 2008

Learn more about this author, Chuck Baker.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Star Trek XI: Separating fact from fiction?
We want to hear your view. Write now!