Trek and Furious

By Jason K. Ang July 30,2016

Star Trek Beyond gets a dose of Fast and Furious action as Kirk goes on a mission on a classic motorbike-2Star Trek Beyond is the third installment in the reboot franchise. The movie series got a heady shot in the arm courtesy of director J.J. Abrams, who gave the franchise a thrilling, emotional take.

The Trek movie series is now under the helm of Justin Lin, who established his reputation directing the Fast And Furious series, specifically the third to sixth installments beginning with Tokyo Drift.

The Taiwanese-American director has proven to be the right choice to give Trek a speed boost.

Here are some ways that Star Trek Beyond resembles its turbocharged cousins:

1. The family angle

Left to right: John Cho plays Sulu, Anton Yelchin plays Chekov, Karl Urban plays Bones, Chris Pine plays Kirk, Zachary Quinto plays Spock and Simon Pegg plays Scotty in Star Trek Beyond from Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark and Perfect Storm Entertainment

Left to right: John Cho plays Sulu, Anton Yelchin plays Chekov, Karl Urban plays Bones, Chris Pine plays Kirk, Zachary Quinto plays Spock and Simon Pegg plays Scotty in Star Trek Beyond from Paramount Pictures, Skydance, Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark and Perfect Storm Entertainment

Star Trek’s crew is one big family, with the Kirk, Spock and McCoy as the leaders. This parallels the “crew as family” theme with Vin Diesel and Co. that has been the heart of the Fast and Furious franchise

The Spock-Uhura love angle that was introduced in the first film gets a new twist here, while Sulu gets a family of his own, in a mildly controversial way that was an homage to the original Sulu, George Takei.

2. Spectacular action

Star Trek Beyond has no shortage of space battles and shootouts. There are narrow escapes that call to mind the cliff-jumping antics of Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.

3. Motor vehicle chase

There’s no way that the director of Fast and Furious would pass up the chance to include some car chases, even in the 23rd century. Or rather, motorcycle chases, as Captain Kirk performs some death-defying stunts in a classic bike.

Chris Pine as the new captain was already shown in the first film on his futuristic spokeless motorcycle.

4. The women kick ass

Martial arts is alive and well, and it seems to be the women who wield it best.

Uhura actress Zoe Saldana proved her fighting chops in Guardians of the Galaxy and Colombiana, and she continues here against bad guy Krall (Idris Elba).

Newcomer Jaylah (Sofia Boutella of Kingsman fame) also gets in plenty of punches.

5. Interesting camera angles

Out goes J.J. Abrams’ lens flares, in comes crazy camera angles.

Star Trek fans will see the Enterprise from different perspectives, including a quick launch from spacedock that’s thrilling in its own way.

6. Untimely death of a crew member

Unintentionally, Fast & Furious and Star Trek both lost one of its main cast before the opening of the latest film. Both died in tragic car crashes.

Paul Walker was a passenger in a sports car that was speeding on a public road when the driver lost control.

Anton Yelchin, who played Pavel Chekov, was crushed by his own car, which rolled down a steep driveway, pinning him against his gate.

Both deaths remind us that we should always be mindful and responsible around cars.

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