Kidzworld reviews the blu-ray & DVD combo pack of the exciting Sci-Fi adventure Star Trek Into Darkness. Follow the crew of the Enterprise as they explore strange new worlds and fight a powerful villain.
Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) breaks the “Prime Directive” by exposing the Enterprise to the primitive, humanoid citizens of planet Nibiru, he is demoted to first officer status and his mentor and friend iral Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) is again given command of the ship. After Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) bombs “Section 31”, a secret installation studying battle strategies and new weaponry, Kirk and all the Starfleet big brass meet and are attacked by Harrison in a small gunship. Pike is killed and Kirk swears revenge.
Spock and Kirk discuss Khan
iral Alexander Marcus (Peter Weller) sends Kirk to secretly hunt down and kill Harrison, who has “beamed” himself to the Klingon homeworld Kronos. The Enterprise is armed with 72 “special” photon torpedoes to destroy Harrison and whatever Klingons get in the way. Unhappy about having all the dangerous torpedoes onboard, Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) resigns making young Chekov (Anton Yelchin) Chief Engineer. Meanwhile iral’s daughter Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) s the crew under a false identity.
The Enterprise attacked by Marcus' ship
Kirk, Spock and Uhura travel to Kronos in a smaller ship to “get” Harrison but are captured and attacked by Klingons. Harrison rescues them and surrenders, presumably feeling overwhelmed by all those torpedoes about to be launched at him. Harrison reveals his true identity, why he has superhuman strength and abilities and that the torpedoes house more than explosives. iral Marcus wakened him from cryo-sleep to help fight the Klingons in the war that Marcus is engineering. Kirk and his crew were never supposed to return from Kronos.
Kirk, Uhura and Spock on Kronos
With the help of a returning Scotty, and after many exciting challenges to friendship and survival, the good guys are able to eventually defeat a giant warship built by Marcus. The ship crashes on earth and Harrison escapes only to be re-captured by Spock and Uhura. Harrison is put back into cryo-sleep and Kirk is again made Captain of the Enterprise which is restored and ready to depart on a 5-year mission to explore new worlds.
Scotty (Simon Pegg) tries to help
Special Features 2z2844
(only on the Blu-Ray disc)
Creating the Red Planet – We are taken behind the scenes and watch Bones and Kirk run from angry warriors in the movie’s opening scenes. We learn that much of the set was not computer-generated but real with everything from red leaves to spray-painted shag carpet used.
The white-painted alien designs and costumes are discussed and we see that the top of the giant volcano Spock is stuck on was a practical set. Zach Quinto and the Pyro guy talk about how it works. Zach says “I feel like I’m inside a fireworks show!”
Spock in the volcano
Attack on Starfleet – This time, we are on set in the conference room where Starfleet officers are attacked. It’s made as real for the actors as possible with exploding squibs and lights. Bruce Greenwood who plays Pike tells us how much fun he had.
The Klingon Home World – Filmmakers talk of creative decisions on the “look” of the Klingons; making them familiar to fans, yet new. On this huge set, Classic Trekkers as well as newbies and adventure film lovers should enjoy it a lot unless the Trekkers are angry about the Khan character being revisited and reinterpreted.
Zach, Benedict and their stunt doubles on set
This Blu-ray + DVD set could have used a fun Outtakes/Blooper reel and a Director and Actor Commentary but the little featurettes that focus on the making of key scenes are fun, informative and do show the actors going out of character and talking about their experiences. This Blu-ray and DVD look and sound amazing. We gave the film 4 stars and, although more extras would have been cool, we like those included enough to go 4 stars on this home video presentation as well.
Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray + DVD Rating: 5o73t
Star Trek Into Darkness is now available on Blu-ray + DVD!
Blu-ray DVD Cover Art
