There are very few shows that truly do stand the test of time. Star Trek is the greatest example of a show going beyond its means and still providing great entertainment for future generations. Sure, it’s campy, hoaky, and has considerably dated special effects. Even with its problems, the stories, characters, and lessons still have an impact to this day. Just watch the debates between Kirk, and Spock in the old shows and tell me they don’t still ring true.

The show also pushed racial boundaries like never seen before. On the Enterprise, there was an American, Scot, African-American, Asian, Russian, Vulcan all working together side by side. As we strive for racial equality, Star Trek is a great reminder of just how far we’ve come.

Fast forward to 2008, and we have less than a year to wait before the new Star Trek movie. It’s a re-imagining, showing how the crew and Enterprise got its start.

I’m cautiously optimistic as is most Star Trek fans, some not even optimistic. I’m quite puzzled by the casting, as I’m pleased with what I thought would be the hardest roles to cast.

The actor they have playing Captain Kirk looks spot-on from the trailer. I was really afraid they were going to try and get an actor of high star quality to play Kirk. Some might have seen this as a smart option, but there’s no one out there that’s going to shine brighter than the original William Shatner. So, I’m quite pleased with the decision of casting someone who hasn’t quite reached star status yet, but looks to have the potential to do so.

Zachary Quinto looks like he was born to play the role of Spock. He has the physique, facial structure, and judging by his performance on Heroes as Sylar the ability to play the logical, if sometimes cold Spock.

The rest of the cast leaves me scratching my head though. Two of the rest of the Enterprise crew are played by actors that I have seen in comedies only. John Cho really doesn’t fit into what the original Zulu character was. In the trailer I provided, it shows Zulu in an action scene. If you watch past episodes of Star Trek, Zulu was never in any action scenes what so ever. Simon Pegg as Scotty could work, as Scotty did little more in the show than provide some cheesy one liners about the Enterprise’s power and beaming.

Karl Urban as Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy is probably the most questionable casting choice out of all of the Enterprise crew. I have nothing against Urban, as he is a entertaining actor. What I question is that Urban has quite a bit of star quality, so much so he runs the risk of outshining Pine as Kirk. Unless he trims a bit of his muscle, he runs an even greater risk of being more of a physical threat than Captain Kirk as well.

I’ve been kind of nit-picky, but when you’re rebooting a classic series such as Star Trek; it’s bound to happen. I hope that all of my criticisms are wrong, and everyone comes out amazing in their roles. This picture here I think shows that even with some of the cast choices I disagree with look to do the show justice.

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