Star Trek Movie, Original Star Trek, Photos Compared

"Star Trek Gallery: Then and Now"
Wired Entertainment (May 8, 2009)

"Everything Star Trek is new again as J.J. Abrams reboots the beloved franchise this weekend in theaters around the world.

"Wired.com does a photographic comparison study of the old-school crew that manned the U.S.S. Enterprise in the original TV series and the new, wet-behind-the-ears version.

"The original update of the Enterprise, as seen in the first three Trek movies (then rebuilt for a couple more), inspired much of the look of the new movie's flagship. Just ignore the astronomical odds against the new (old) Enterprise being built in an Iowa cornfield within easy driving distance of James T. Kirk's childhood home...."

I haven't seen the new Star Trek movie, but intend to when the household budget permits: probably when it becomes available through the public library.

This Wired article is a pretty good collection of pictures - many from the original series. As the title promises, it's a set of comparisons. They're not one-to-one. As far as I know, for example, there are no tribbles in the new movie. But there is a photo of Captain Kirk getting up close and personal with a bin-full of tribbles: with a photo of someone from the new movie (a "revenge-crazed Romulan" named "Nero," of all things).

I went through all ten pages (Wired does give a 'full page' option if you don't want to load nine new pages - smart, I think). That's a bit unusual for me, when it comes to movie photo spreads. Two things kept me going: I watched, and enjoyed, the original Star Trek series when it aired in the sixties; and Wired did a pretty good job of matching photos, with commentary, between the old and the new.

Anybody who is familiar with the original series will recognize a few spots where the Wired writer took liberties with strict accuracy - but it's a pretty good article.