LOS Angeles. The final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Hollywood reporter Ross King.
My mission is to explore the strange lives, to seek out new stars and to interview celebrities. To boldly go where no wee fella from Knightswood has gone before.
If you’ve not worked it out yet, I’ve been to see the new film starring Captain Kirk and the gang, Star Trek Beyond.
Now I’m not a Trekkie in any sense.
I’ve never been troubled by Tribbles. As far as I’m concerned, a Borg is a tennis player. And if I was bothered by Klingons on my stern I’d be straight on the phone to the doctor.
But the new film is a cracking summer blockbuster.
Don’t worry – oor Trek-loving colleague Lorraine Kelly isn’t threatening me with the old Vulcan death grip if I say I don’t like it!
The cast of the new movie have launched a fundraiser. For a small donation you’re entered into a raffle to win a chance to appear in a future Star Trek movie.
That noise you can hear is Lorraine’s bank account swiftly being emptied . . .
Zoe Saldana is ridiculously gorgeous as communications officer Uhura, but I was especially delighted for British comedy actor Simon Pegg, who plays engineer Scotty.
He also co-wrote the movie.
His wife Maureen is Glaswegian, which explains why he’s one of the few non-Scottish actors to actually sound like he’s from Scotland!
It’s a great sci-fi romp which doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Sadly, though, the movie was overshadowed last month by the death of Anton Yelchin, who plays Russian crew member Chekov.
He died in a freak car accident at his home in Los Angeles.
I met Anton a couple of times and he was a lovely guy. We had a good laugh about how he’d never be out of work again thanks to all the Star Trek conventions he’d always be invited to attend.
Producer JJ Abrams has said his character WON’T be replaced in the sequels.
Yes, they’re already planning those movies as we speak. The Star Trek reboot in 2009 had a cameo by Thor hunk Chris Hemsworth as Kirk’s father.
His character was quickly killed off, but the as-yet-untitled sequel will see Chris returning as Kirk’s father in an expanded role.
So the Trek will – boldly – continue!
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