By GustavoLeao / 22:01, 19 November 2008 / Feature Films

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Wired posted a report on the Los Angeles screening of the four scenes from the upcoming Star Trek movie, which took place today at the Paramount lot. The screening, again presented by J.J. Abrams, was attended by actors Zachary Quinto, Chris Pine, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross and Chris Hemsworth. Here are few excerpts of the article.

"I didn't jump at directing this movie like a true Trekkie -- I was obsessed with Twilight Zone," Abrams told the crowd. "But then I got the script from Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman, which was adventure and funny and romantic and sexy and epic yet intimate -- everything you'd want."

"Part of the goal here was to legitimize this idea of space travel. Star Wars, which I love, takes place 'a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.' But Star Trek is us. We needed it to feel earthbound as well."

"I wouldn't actually say that I felt intimidated by Spock partly because I felt so supported by J.J. Abrams," Quinto told Wired. "I also got to know Leonard Nimoy, who was really gracious."

Describing his take on the part of Captain Pike, Greenwood said: "I'm reprising Jeffrey Hunter's role, so I looked at what he'd done. Someone told me his son was trying to get a hold of me. I don't know if he had any concerns -- but I never heard from him."

More from Abrams, Quinto and Greenwood can be found here.

UPDATE : Wired posted a review of the footage. Here is an excerpt of their review :

"The verdict? While four five-minute clips do not a movie make, it's safe to say that Abrams' Trek will be younger, brighter, busier and more frenetically paced than any previous incarnation." the reviewer wrote "The performances are edgier and louder, but not better. The effects are spectacular and executed on a scale never attempted by any Trek film. And, while connected to Gene Roddenberry's creation, this film is deliberately and unquestionably built in its own universe -- constructing its story on the idea that the original Star Trek time line has been destroyed and must be reconstructed as closely as possible."

More can be found here (beware of spoilers)

UPDATE : Sci Fi Wire also posted a report on the Los Angeles screening, with another detailed review of the four scenes. Here is their review of scene 2 (beware of major spoilers) :

Footage: Cadet Kirk is smuggled aboard the Enterprise by his doctor friend, Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Karl Urban), who has injected him with something to simulate disease symptoms. It's an end-run around a Starfleet regulation so that Kirk--who was banned from the ship for getting into too much trouble--can be aboard as the Enterprise, on her maiden voyage, takes part in a rescue mission to Vulcan. We see much of the ship and the young crew and get a sense of the new dynamics among them. Ultimately, the rescue mission sparks something in Kirk's memory, and he rushes to the bridge to inform Capt. Pike that they are entering a trap set by the Romulans.

Our verdict: The scene showcases Abrams' new approach to Star Trek's main setting, the Enterprise. Much has been written about the ways in which the crew and Enterprise differ from those of previous TV and film incarnations, so I won't go over them. But I will say that Abrams takes seriously the idea that the Enterprise is vast, and we see many scenes filled with people in spaces that are very industrial (below decks, as it were) and immense. The bridge, by contrast, is sleek, white and filled with electronic screens, and the peppy crew looks the part in their red, blue and gold tunics.

There are some differences with classic Trek. Abrams' choice is to direct with an emphasis on energy and movement, and the camera seems never to stop moving. There's a lot of running and yelling and overlapping dialogue, which adds urgency but may be jarring to diehard Trek fans used to previous Trek films' more deliberate pace. This not necessarily a bad thing. (And continuity check: The first-season original episode "Balance of Terror" asserts that Romulans have never been seen, yet in this scene Kirk and Sulu plainly battle Romulans.)
The other issue is the humor. The original Trek had a gentle, dry sense of humor, exemplified in Spock's arid delivery and McCoy's country-doctor aphorisms. The humor in this scene, by contrast, is very broad and almost slapstick, particularly concerning Kirk's various symptoms (hands that balloon like mittens, a tongue that swells and lolls in his mouth) and in Urban's delivery of McCoy's lines, which exaggerate DeForest Kelly's cadences. Similarly, Anton Yelchin--an actual Russian by birth--delivers Chekov's lines in a stagy Russki patois that milks his mispronunciation of such words as "Victor" ("Wiktor"). Whether the rest of Trek's humor is as broad remains to be seen.

For Sci Fi Wire reviews of scenes 1,3 and 4, go here.