Netflix recently addedStar Trek: Beyondto their streaming library, and watching it is the perfect way to celebrate the ending of 2024’s Star Trek Day celebrations. As the third installment of JJ Abrams' rebootStar Trekfranchise that premiered in 2009, director Justin Lin’sStar Trek: Beyonddidn’t just appeal to newer fans of the franchise, it also called back many of the core aspects ofGene Roddenberry’s originalStar Trekvision: optimism, resiliency, and the strength of friendship.
WhileeveryStar Trekmoviehas some form of canon-specific lore that affects the Starship Enterprise’s crew,Star Trek: Beyondgoes a step further. Instead of simply fighting an alien enemy,Star Trek Beyond’s antagonist represents something far more sinister.Krall,Idris Elba’s villain inStar Trek: Beyond,highlights the Federation’s dark past, in which wars with other alien species ruined the lives of countless citizens. The good vs. bad element popular in manyStar Trekfilms is absent inStar Trek: Beyond, replaced instead by a fundamental principle that has remained at the heart of the franchise for decades.
Star Trek: Beyond Highlights The Franchise’s Best Values
Teamwork proves to be successful against the film’s anti-Federation antagonist
Star Trek: Beyondstarts by exploring theStarship Enterprise’s five-year mission, and it doesn’t shy away from showcasing the struggles of deep space travel.Star Trek Beyondhighlights Captain James T. Kirk’s (Chris Pine) issues with his captaincy, which sets the tone for the rest of the film, and considers what it really means to be a Starfleet crew. When Krall kidnaps most of the Enterprise personnel, Captain Kirk, Spock (Zachary Quinto), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and Jaylah (Sofia Boutella)must work together to mount a rescue and defeat Krall.
Star Trek: Beyond’s endingreaffirms the franchise’s core belief system by keeping hope at the center of its narrative. When facing off with Captain Kirk, Krall insists on the Federation’s mistakes, citing the Xindi and Romulan wars as the source of his resentment. Kirk defends the Federation, arguing that the future is worth protecting rather than the past. Star Trek Beyond culminates with Kirk and his crew reunited and launching another five-year mission aboard a new USS Enterprise.This sense of safeguarding the future is paramount toStar Trek’s original purposeto boldly venture into the unknown with an open mind and willingness to adapt.
The New Age Of Star Trek TV Succeeded In Part Thanks To Star Trek: Beyond
Star Trek: Beyond helped usher in a golden age of Star Trek television
Star Trek: Beyondis a captivating sci-fi narrative, told by lovable characters, that never takes itself too seriously. Audiences still crave more, althoughStar Trek 4remains in development hell.Star Trek: Beyondinfluenced the cinematic approach toStar Trek: Discovery, and the series that followed on Paramount+ likeStar Trek: PicardandStar Trek: Strange New Worlds.Most of the currentStar TrekTV showson Paramount+ owe a debt toStar Trek Beyond’s aesthetics and how it recaptured the soul ofStar Trek: The Original Series.
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The continued streaming success ofStar TrekTV projects can be traced, at least partially, back to the box office and fan success ofStar Trek: Beyond. Without it, fans would have been left with the less critically acclaimedStar Trek: Into Darkness, which focused on the secret dark side of Starfleet. SinceStar Trek Day was all about recognizing what makesStar Trekspecialto so many people,Star Trek: Beyond’s inclusion of so many of the franchise’s optimistic principles makes it the perfect way to celebrate.
