During the run-up to the premiere of J.J. Abrams's wildly successful Star Trek reboot, William Shatner was not shy about expressing how hurt he was to be left out of the movie.
Recently, two of the movie's writers said in an interview that there was a scene written for him originally. Ultimately, though, their idea didn't feel "organic" enough and they didn't end up using it.
Now that I've seen the movie I still can't decide if including Shatner would have been a good idea or not. On one hand, it's a nice nod to older fans and could have been an easy passing-of-the-torch gesture. On the other hand, if a scene doesn't work it doesn't work, and making a good movie was obviously the top priority for Abrams and his team.
What do you think? Should the new Star Trek filmmakers have found a way to include Shatner?
Emilio Pucci
He should have been there. The movie did not take itself seriously, the comedy was broad, there was room for the Shat. But worst of all was that he didn't do the voiceover at the end. He made that speech iconic. Show some respect!
1Honestly, no! the movie was perfect without him and maybe its because before this i have never seen a star trek episode/movie in my life but i think that if old kirk didn't work, then it didn't work. no point in fighting it.
2I don't think he needed to be in the movie, but I agree he should have been offered the voice over at the end: "Space, the final frontier...". Grated, I believe Nemoy has done the voice over before, but it would have been a nice nod to Shatner.
3I'd like to point out that Kirk dies in Generations, so there is no way it would make sense for him to have accompanied Spock on his alternate timeline journey. I shall quote his own dying words in that film, actually: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Thus, new Trek better without actor whose character is dead trying to find a way into it.
4no - i get why he wanted to be in it and why he wasn't. UM...KIRK DIED in the old star trek movies - it just didn't make sense!
5I read on slashfilm.com that Abrams had actually approached Shatner, but Shatner declined it because he didn't want to do a cameo. http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/05/11/how-william-shatner-would-have-appea...
6Wasn't he the alien in disguise while Kirk was trying to get "Her" real name?
7They should have at LEAST used his original narration of "Space, the final frontier..." at the end. It would have felt more like ST for me.
8Awww, I miss Shatner's Kirk.
But yes, he does die in the previous Star Trek movie, so he
couldn't have been in it without making it fairly obvious that the scriptwriters just wanted to shove old Kirk in there. I'm bummed he didn't at least get a cameo, but if the reports are true
that he didn't want to just have a cameo, then well, what's to be done?
That being said, Shatner's adorable in his own special way. Look at him! *pokes Shatner's cheeks on the monitor*
9well to all those who say that kirk is dead, well guess what your right... and wrong. kirk was killed in the star trek movie, generations, but here's the thing.. after the movie as out shanter was like.." naw, kirk cant die like this he's a hero, a legend. " so he joined with author's Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and issued a 3 book series starting with a prequel to the generation movie and then the next book was called... " the return" in which they brought kirk back. so even though it never made it to film. kirk is still alive and kicking in the star trek universe. now after watching the film i would have to agree that though it was unfortunate that shatner was not in the film his being there would not have helped the film, if anything it would have hurt it and made for bad movie plot. sorry shanter.
10In my opinion, Shatner is Star Trek and Star Trek is Shatner; One can't be separate from the other, it's like ying and yang.
11No, the 25-minute Nimoy "cameo" was quite enough.
12No, he shouldn't have been. It definatley would have seemed like they were staging it, and just putting him in there because he's William Shatner. Letting him say the "Space, the final frontier..." speech would have been cool, but I get the feeling The Shat would have wanted to do more.
13Being a fan of the original series, i would have liked to see Shatner in this movie but at the same time, I agree I do not know how he would have figured into the plot considering that the elder Spock came from 129 years in the future. I agree with the one blog about Kirk's return, the storyline from the books brought Kirk back but the movies did not bring the character back. So it was probably a good idea to not include him in it. Being a dedicated Star Trek fan, I still love the original series.
14I think he really should have been in the movie just because he's Shatner! however, I do always appreciate a director/writer putting the integrity of a movie first. often it does happen where a movie or program will pay an homage to something and it comes off so fake and cheesy. I find it hard to believe that Abrams of all people could not create a legitimate scene for Shatner, but I do think the story and good writing hould always come first. that being said, while I did love the movie and do love Leonard Nemoy, I did think his role was a bit convuluted...
15I loved the movie, and I love William Shatner, but I think the movie was fine w/out him.
16Yes- He doesn't have to be an older version of Kirk. They could have just given him a cameo as any unnamed character as a nod to fans of the old show.
17No I don't think so, he had his chance with Generations, it was Nimoys turn
18I thought the movie was awesome but I really missed William Shatner!I kept waiting for him to show up. He should have at the very least done the voice over.
19i think the movie was great without him, but I do believe it would have been more respectful to have a small (very small) portion of the film with him it it.
20sai baku, the thing about fanverses is that what exists in a book series is canon for those who read the book series, but would be confusing for anyone only familiar with the film franchise. Not having read those books myself, maybe they turn out better, but for Shatner to suggest Kirk should be resurrected in any form seems to negate the character's own principles.
21didn't he decline a cameo? waa waa waa
22I don't think Nimoy should have been in the movie either. Quite frankly, I got sick of him after a while. Twenty-five minutes! Come on! We need to bond with the new Spock. A cameo is usually no longer than fa few seconds.
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