While much of the original cast of Star Trek have come out in support of the J.J. Abrams helmed Star Trek reboot, actor Walter Koenig says he thinks the original series is more “personable.”
“The (new Star Trek) film is evocative of this time, in terms of technology that is available. The different way of making films—a lot more CGI, a lot more eye candy, a lot more dependence on technology than we had,” Koenig tells TrekWeb. “I think possibly we were compelled to make the story a little bit more personal and a little bit more human and a little bit more character-driven because we did not have the technology to fall back on.”
Keonig cites the ending of Wrath of Khan in defense of his theory, saying it hits fans harder than the ending of the reboot.
“It was not a visual, sensory experience. It was a very emotional ending—the death of Spock, Kirk’s reaction, all of that. It was devastating and left you with something more than you’ve got when leaving the new Star Trek movie,” he says.
A bit of an unfair comparison, since there is a lot more Original Series material feeding into Wrath of Khan than the reboot. If Wrath of Khan had been the only material at that point, who would have cared as much? Context has a lot to do with it.
I thought the characters and interactions were the main thing that The New Trek got right.
It was a minor comment in support of the great cast and great writing of the original series. Let’s not make this into a big snub or anything.
Koenig is correct. I disliked the J.J. Abrams movie because it was all ‘bells and wistles’ and fancy sets. Star Trek told real human stories once upon a time. Abrams could learn a lot from the TOS.