Design by the amazing Stephanie Fox.

Explaining just why the movie is worth the wait, Abrams said,

It’s blessed with a wonderful optimism and an incredibly alive and invested cast. While the visual effects are gonna be unbelievable, the movie is working right now with only 50 of our 1,000-plus visual effects finished. It’s funny, it’s scary, it’s dramatic, emotional and entertaining–all without having the stuff you’d think a movie called "Star Trek" would require.

So, unless he's been misquoted, is he actually saying that the movie is good even though it doesn't have any of the traditional Star Trek trappings, or that it's good even before you get to those trappings? Because, if it's not the latter, then all of a sudden I'm very curious to see what he's come up with. But more importantly, what are "the stuff you'd think a movie called 'Star Trek' would require?" We know that the movie features the classic Enterprise crew, and also aliens who may or may not be Romulans. Spoilers promise scenes on Vulcan and in Starfleet Academy (involving the Kobyashi Maru test, apparently), and I'd bet my bottom dilithium crystal that there's going to be a space battle or two in there at some point. What classic Star Trek checkboxes haven't been ticked yet? Here're our suggestions:

A Technical Disaster Aboard The Enterprise: You have to give Scotty something to do, after all. Our suggestion would either involve a faulty photon torpedo tube or else shields failing at a critical moment. For any other chief engineering officer, it would take days to fix... but our heroes don't have days.

A Sultry Alien Woman Who Wants To Learn About This Thing Humans Call Love: Kirk wouldn't be Kirk if he wasn't romancing the alien ladies, after all. Bonus points if said romancing will (a) involve a moment where Kirk grabs the alien by the arms before planting one on her extra-terrestrial lips, and (b) solve some diplomatic problem without the need for violence. Also, if said sultry alien happens to be bright green? All the better.

(Extra bonus points if Kirk is also seen propositioning Starfleet Academy students and/or Enterprise crew members at some point. Keeping sexual harrassment lawyers busy even in the 24th century; good work, James Tiberius.)

Klingons: Look, Romulans and Vulcans are all well and good, but if there's one alien race that's really been a must for Star Trek, it's the Klingons. I don't care if they're just in the background of a lot of scenes, or if they just pop up in the middle of an important scene and demand Kirk's head on a platter for crimes against the Empire, but it's Star Trek; there really has to be some ribbed-head action at some point.

Doctor McCoy Dispenses Some Non-Medical Advice: Perhaps more a movie-staple than original TV Trek, we're still going to feel ripped off if Bones doesn't get to offer some calm advice about the human cost of some particular dilemma somewhere during the movie. Along similar lines, Spock Experiences A Human Emotion That Probably Involves Him Smiling, To Show That Even Stuffy Aliens Are Just Like Us, Really: If that one doesn't appear at the end of the movie, we're going to be asking for our money back.

Abrams: Star Trek Is Worth The Wait [TrekMovie]

As with the previous set of posters, these four combine to form a pop-art Starfleet insignia. Between these promo posters and the original announcement poster, someone at Paramount is very good with the graphic design.




The images were released at the con and put online by TrekMovie.com, who promise more coverage from the convention, including "a potential movie spoiler." Stay tuned...

VegasCon 08: New Star Trek Movie Posters With Four New Cast Images [TrekMovie]

Talking to Wired's The Underwire blog, Pegg explained why he prefers American science fiction to the homegrown kind:

You guys have the best sci-fi in the world. You also have the capacity to do it, as well. You get to make shows like Heroes... American sci-fi is frontierism again in space. It's thrusting and powering forward and gaining new territory... It has a lot to do with national psyche. The U.S. has a significant role to play globally and a precarious position. Fantasy always reflects our own real lives. You can apply that to nations as well. If you look at Star Wars, it is interesting to think about if another Star Wars would come along post-Iraq. After Vietnam, you have a nation that's confused in this conflict of blurring the boundaries of good and evil. Star Wars celebrated America in space. The good people wore white and the bad guys wore black. Star Wars is a reflection of post-Vietnam paranoia.

You can argue that point through the '80s and '90s with movies like The Fly, which showed the enemy being inside, with the rise of AIDS. Now the enemies are among us, with a rise in terrorism, and the zombies came back big time — they're your neighbors.

As for British Sci-Fi, there's always Doctor Who... Even if Pegg has no interest in playing the part himself:

Being the Doctor? I don't think I'd do it for two reasons. One, I'm really loving doing movies. I'm really enjoying working in the States. You have an incredible work ethic. Second, I really love Doctor Who and I'd hate to have to sit down every Saturday night and have it be me. David's done such an incredible job, he's gonna be a tough act to follow. It would feel awful if I just went and balled up the franchise by just being rubbish.

A franchise he's less worried about ballsing up is JJ Abrams' Star Trek reboot, perhaps because he's not doing the heavy lifting alone:

Watching Chris Pine, and all the actors, I had skin-tingly moments. I saw them doing their stuff and thought: They've got this so fucking right. Chris had that swagger, and confidence, and big-balls-ness, and I think he nailed it.

And how does Pegg go about nailing his own particular it? Well, apparently just by doing his job:

Certainly not parodying him. It was just a question of playing him. I approached the part like James [Doohan, the original Scotty] did when he got the part. To look at who he is. He's an accomplished engineer, a bit cheeky, likes a drink and a brawl... It's very important to be sensitive and not make generalizations about groups of people, but you can be oversensitive. Scotty's a very affectionate stereotype. He's a popular character in Scotland. He's not a negative stereotype — he's a fun stereotype. The differences between ourselves can be very funny. But Scots are the first people to laugh at the fact that they drink and fight a bit.

Speaking as a Scot myself, I have to say how appalled I am at such a negati... Ehh, who am I kidding? He's kind of right.

Simon Pegg's Geek Roots Show in Spaced [The Underwire]