Posted by Ilya Somin: Review of the New Star Trek Movie: http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_05_10-2009_05_16.shtml#1242457682
I recently saw the new Star Trek movie, which has garnered mostly positive reviews from critics and science fiction fans (e.g. [1]here,[2] here, and [3]here). My own view is less favorable. I think that the movie was generally well-acted and fun to watch. But I thought that the plot was weak, for much the same reasons as those discussed by [4]this reviewer. In addition, the movie lacked any meaningful moral, philosophical, or political point; nor did it have much in the way of memorable and interesting characters. Science fiction can be enjoyable without these elements. But it can't be great. Finally, the movie didn't address a key question I hoped it would take up: [5]how and why the Federation turned socialist. Early in the story, we do see a Nokia cell phone clearly labeled as such. This suggests that there are still large private firms at the time the movie starts (roughly in the mid-23rd century). However, it's also possible that Nokia had already been nationalized, with the Federation government retaining the brand name for its own use. The fact that the Nokia phone in the movie (set 250 years in the future) seems only slightly more advanced than the Nokia phones of today suggests that the firm had been stagnant for a long time - as government-owned enterprises often tend to be. In any event, it looks like we will have to wait to get more insight into the political and economic history of the Federation. Perhaps the next movie will delve deeper into this issue than any Star Trek film has gone before. References 1. http://bamber.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-star-trek.html 2. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWQ0MDkzYTVjZmZkNjVlNTAzODY1OTQ1MjYwZmU4N2I= 3. http://www.cinematical.com/2009/04/07/early-star-trek-reviews-seem-very-positive/ 4. http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2009/05/star-trek.html 5. http://volokh.com/posts/1241844798.shtml _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://lists.powerblogs.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
