PatD

Remember James Bond and Dr. Who's respective 50th Anniversaries? Of course! Much was made about that! Did you know this year is the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek? If you didn't, know one can blame you as there's been little mainstream chatter about it. In 1991, Trek's 25th Anniversary was a big, hairy deal as the original cast were saying farewell, and Star Trek: The Next Generation was kicking ass and taking names. But, now? One movie and that's it. And it has one of the worst trailers of all time. Paramount is releasing The Wrath of Khan as a 4K presentation, but neglecting the other films. Has there been any talk of any screenings of any of the movies at places like The Alamo Drafthouse? How many magazines are mentioning it? It almost seems like Paramount is ashamed of this billion dollar franchise. Now, true the year is still young--but not *that* young.

I don't know. Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise didn't make waves with the public. With the exception of Star Trek: First Contact, the TNG movies didn't make any either. Maybe, it's also the changes in the way it's been marketed over the last couple of decades:

1991:




2004:


As a long time Trek fan, I'd like to see this venerable franchise return to something of it's glory days. (A guy can dream...) Anyone else feel the same way?

lisadoris

The hype is with Trekkies but yeah, there isn't that overall public hoopla which is strange. Newsweek did a Special Edition issue for the anniversary but that's all I've seen. Maybe Paramount is waiting until we get closer to the new film's release to start the hype? I get the feeling that the Powers that Be Don't have the love for Trek that the longtime fans have.

I'm celebrating by watching the entire franchise.

Trevor

I think my 50th anniversary celebration is taking much of the public's eye. Serious answer: Spock's gone, things are different now.

I was born the night the show premiered. My mom's never forgiven me.

Superman07

A lot of people probably aren't familiar with it.

It's been close to 10 years since Enterprise went off the air, and there have only been 3 films in 7 years, at least one of which was terrible.

Plus, as your teaser for VI highlighted, it's about the relationship with the characters over 25 years. Exactly highlights why so many things were wrong with The Second Wrath of Kahn. The writes who claim to be fans, felt like they could reuse elements from the originals to "pay service" (or just because they were popular). The problem is the characters didn't grow together and people don't care about them the same way. Example - without he build up and relationships, there was 0 emotional weigh to the end of the last Star Trek film.

Could you imagine if they did an alternate reality reboot of Star Wars?

TGM

I think there is just a constant influx of other nerdy stuff for us to geek out on at the moment... just coming off of the Star Wars high... Batman v Superman, Deadpool, now the Avengers and X-Men swinging back into the spotlot... numerous good sci-fi/superhero shows...

Defiant1

The Canadian government has issued a special set of Star Trek stamps!

PatD

Blood would run through the streets of nerddom.

Count Dooku

British vs American

Groucho

The Sabotage trailer was the last nail in the coffin for this once great franchise.

Abob Teff

Trump will do something about this. He'll probably make Khan his running mate. Make Ameri-Khan great again!

Crocker Jarmen

I was at the post office on Friday and the place looked like a friggin' booth at Comic Con. Big hairy Star Trek stamp display, huge framed pictures of Kirk hanging all over. I remember thinking, "Who buys all this garbage?"

Boba Fett

A few thoughts:

1.) That Star Trek VI teaser brings back great memories of the old VHS tapes and the gigantic 25th Anniversary Celebration. (I remember a weekend marathon on TV with new interviews, quite fondly).

2.) Most of the original cast has past away and the ones that remain are a lot more bitter about having to associate with Shatner, who I can't imagine wouldn't be a focal piece in a 50th Anniversary celebration.

3.) Generally, they've celebrated the anniversaries in September to coincide with the original airing of the series, so I'd wager a guess if anything happens, it will be closer to then.

Mike86

Yeah and really Star Trek has always been in sort of an odd spot. It has fans for sure but to most of the casual audience it's still viewed as too geeky in my opinion. A lot of these other brands like Star Wars, Marvel, DC, etc. have had a lot of popularity or have been able to shake being only for fanboys and have been able to appeal to a broader fanbase. The Abrams films attempted that and it sort of worked for the 2009 film but not as much with Into Darkness and there's seemingly very little hype over Beyond.

Abob Teff

I'm just happy they are celebrating with a new Star Wars movie last year AND another one this year!

#starwarsribbing

Why So Blu?

No one gives a shit. At least we're getting Wrath of Kahn director's cut in a few weeks.

Original Desmond

Yeah Trekkies have had their day

Even the reboot movies, which were decent in terms of audio visuals were only ok

Sonny Corinthos

There's little to no fanfare for the 50th Anniversary of the 1966 Batman TV series either.

PatD

Truer words were never spoken. Star Trek has always been an odd franchise and you know what? That's okay. It doesn't have to be like every franchise out there (you hear that, Abrams and Lin?). And there was a time when that was appreciated.

How many sci-fi action films today would have characters discuss the moral ramifications of the deadly MacGuffin their pursuing. How many genre franchises would have the characters TRY to show mercy to their irredeemable foes (like in II and III). How many genre franchises have a gentle film like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home as part of their series? (Which was also the top grossing of the original ten) It's very sad to me that something unique and special had to be fed through the franchise-o-matic to appeal to today's audience.

Astrofan

None of that has the slightest interest for me and is no substitute for Star Trek--especially STAR WARS!

B5Erik

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan remains one of the best Science Fiction movies of all time.

And The Original Series, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine are all among the greatest Science Fiction TV shows of all time.

It's a great property, but Paramount's current crop of executives don't seem to care. That's a shame. I just wish they would have given Deep Space Nine the TOS and TNG Blu Ray treatment. IMO it's the best Trek series to date...

Astrofan

Most=majority. Doesn't match the my math. Five primary on the bridge and a doctor and engineer. Of those seven, four are alive. As for not associating with Shatner, they may not like him, but they've often been at Trek events in the past.

TGM

Money talks... and Takei is clearly an attention whore. I'm sure if someone organized something, the remaining four original cast members would attend, especially given the importance of the show, its legacy, and the 50th year aspect.

Josh-da-man

I think Paramount hasn't given a flying fuck about the Star Trek franchise since Nemesis bombed and Enterprise tanked.

It hasn't really been treated like something special since about the late 90s. Anyone remember the wrird, overwrought stuff like that 30th anniversary special that had Kenny G and the cast of Frasier? Now it's just another property for them to exploit for a summer tentpole movie.

Mike86

I think the 30th Anniversary was a big deal because at the time the franchise was on fire. I mean there were three different Trek shows that aired throughout the nineties and the films were also going strong. I definitely remember that anniversary being a pretty big deal. It does sort of seem like at some point Paramount just brushed off the franchise and felt like it wasn't worth their time other than re-releasing the various shows and films on home video. The Abrams films felt like they wanted to see if they could make the franchise viable by going more mainstream and it worked once but seemingly the casual audience stopped caring again and the fanboys were left disappointed.

hdnmickey

This. Quite frankly, They dropped the ball and only the relatively small number of (very) old fans even care. But that is what is a great about the home video age. Those older fans can still revisit it all on their own and share it all with their family.