stars of star trek beyond

Full Cast of Star Trek Beyond - Every Actor & Character In the Movie

With the future of Star Tr e k ’s Kelvin Timeline reboot movies in a seemingly-continuous limbo, here’s a list of every character who appeared in the most recent entry from 2016: Star Trek Beyond .

Around the early-to-mid 2000s, the Star Trek franchise was stagnating. Following Enterprise ’s cancellation and the box-office bombing of Paramount’s then-newest Trek film, Star Trek: Nemesis , the studio decided it was time for a change. 

A reboot was conceived under the leadership of J.J. Abrams who went on to direct two movies, 2009’s Star Trek and its 2013 sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness .

The third entry into this rebooted series, Star Trek Beyond , opened on July 22, 2016, to less-than-stellar financial results.

Every Character & Actor in Star Trek Beyond

Many fans argue that Star Trek Beyond is the strongest movie in the Kelvin Trilogy. It featured a quick-moving narrative, solid character beats, and even a Beastie Boys song or two. 

Here are all the characters that had a part to play in the threequel and their corresponding actor.

Chris Pine - Captain James T. Kirk

Chris Pine’s Jim Kirk opens the film feeling the weight of the mission. The USS Enterprise has been exploring deep space for two and a half years, and everything is starting to feel a bit rote for the Starfleet captain.

Little does he know that a trip beyond Starbase Yorktown will result in him and his crew getting way more than they bargained for.

Zachary Quinto - Commander Spock

Everybody’s favorite half-human, half-Vulcan science officer returns, marking Zachary Quinto’s third time in Spock’s pointy ears.

Gravely injured during the first act and stranded on an uncharted planet with the rest of the Enterprise Crew, Spock must rely on the medical expertise of Dr. McCoy to survive.

Karl Urban - Dr. Leonard McCoy

Karl Urban returns as the irascible Dr. McCoy, who is teamed with Spock for much of the film as they try to find a way to reunite with the crew in between sarcastic zingers.

During the final conflict of the film, Bones and Mr. Spock man the controls of one of Krall’s drone ships to help take out the rest of the villain’s massive fleet.

Zoe Saldana - Lt. Nyota Uhura

The Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy superstar Zoe Saldana comes back for another round as Lt. Uhura, who begins the film on the outs with her boyfriend, Spock.

After the Enterprise is destroyed and the crew is taken prisoner, Uhura must fight for her life against Krall and his forces, patching things up with her Vulcan suitor in the process.

Simon Pegg - Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott

In Star Trek Beyond , Simon Pegg’s Scotty uses his engineering genius to escape the crumbling Enterprise in a photon torpedo tube.

Once on the surface of the planet Altamid, Scott meets a fellow strandee named Jaylah, and the two join forces to help get the wreck of the long-lost USS Franklin up and running again.

John Cho - Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu

John Cho’s Lt. Sulu, the Enteprise ’s helmsman, shares the bulk of his screentime with Saldana’s Uhura as the two try and free themselves from their captivity.

Sulu gets to put his piloting skills to the test when he’s called upon to fly the outdated Franklin off of its resting place on Altamid.

Anton Yelchin - Ensign Pavel Chekov

By the time of Beyond , the wide-eyed whiz kid Chekov has developed into a highly competent Starfleet officer, who pairs up with Captain Kirk throughout the movie’s second act.

The film is dedicated to actor Anton Yelchin, who tragically lost his life in a freak accident shortly before the theatrical release. The cast has spoken on many an occasion about how difficult it would be to make a fourth movie without him.

Idris Elba - Captain Balthazar Edison/Krall

An ex-MACO for the United Earth Military, Idris Elba’s Captain Edison fought in multiple conflicts with the Romulans as well as the Xindi.

But when the Federation was founded, his military skills and knowledge had no further use, and he felt abandoned by the very governing body he used to fight for. 

When his ship, the USS Franklin, crash-landed on Altamid, Edison took control of the planet’s technology, becoming the devious and disfigured villain known as Krall.

Sofia Boutella - Jaylah

Sofia Boutella’s Jaylah became marooned on Altamid as a young girl after her parents were killed by Krall.

In Beyond , Jaylah has taken up residence in the hull of the USS Franklin , a Federation vessel that went missing around the time of Captain Jonathan Archer’s missions in the mid-2100s.

Joe Taslim - Anderson Le/Manas

Joe Taslim plays Anderson Le, one of Edison’s crewmembers who was mutated into the evil Manas by Altamid’s energy transference tech.

Lydia Wilson - Jessica Wolff/Kalara

Much like her crewmate Le, Lydia Wilson’s Jessica Wolff survived on Altamid by becoming Kalara and serving as one of Krall’s underlings.

Sara Maria Forsberg - Kalara’s Translated Voice

Upon arriving in Yorktown to lure the Enterprise into Krall’s trap, Kalara is fitted with a universal translator collar which converts her alien speech into something more understandable. Sara Maria Forsberg provides the voice of the universal translator.

Deep Roy - Keenser

Deep Roy plays Scotty’s pal and fellow engineer Keenser in all three Kelvin timeline films. In Beyond , a caustic sneeze from Keenser helps the crew melt a lock to get out of a jam.

Melissa Roxburgh - Ensign Syl

An Enterprise crewperson, Melissa Roxburgh’s Syl hides a deadly weapon called the Arbonath in her cranial cavity thanks to some quick thinking on the part of Jim Kirk.

Shohreh Aghdashloo - Commodore Paris

The commanding officer of StarBase Yorktown, Shohreh Aghdashloo‘s Paris was actually added to the movie during reshoots. Some fans have also theorized that she’s an ancestor of Tom Paris from Star Trek: Voyager . 

Greg Grunberg - Commander Finnegan

Greg Grunburg, a longtime staple of J.J. Abrams-affiliated productions, plays Finnegan, an officer stationed in Yorktown’s command center. Fun fact: Finnegan is the alternate reality version of the character by the same name from the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Shore Leave."

Danny Pudi - Fi’Ja

Community ’s Danny Pudi makes a cool (cool, cool, cool) cameo as Fi’Ja, a would-be assailant of Scotty’s who is put down by Jaylah.

Kim Kold - Zavanko

Savanko, another alien who tries to attack Mr. Scott on Altamid, is played by Danish bodybuilder Kim Kold.

Fraser Aitcheson - Hider

Fraser Aitcheson plays Hider, the third alien who comes after Scotty and is quickly dispatched by Jaylah.

Douglas Chapman - Sir Olden

Sir Olden, a Starfleet science officer portrayed by Douglas Chapman, is on the Enterprise when it’s brought down by Krall’s swarm ships.

Anita Brown - Tyvanna

One of the Enterprise ’s bridge officers, Anita Brown’s Tyvanna evacuated the ship once it was attacked.

Doug Jung - Ben

Doug Jung wrote Star Trek Beyond ’s screenplay alongside Simon Pegg. He also made a brief appearance in the movie as Ben, Lt. Sulu’s husband.

Dan Payne - Wadjet

A red-shirted Enterprise operations officer, Wadjet, was portrayed by Dan Payne.

Shea Whigham - Teenaxi Leader

Boardwalk Empire ’s Shea Whigam lent his voice to the Teenaxian who appeared in Star Trek Beyond ’s opening scene

Jeff Bezos - Alien Starfleet Official

Jeff Bezos (yeah, that Jeff Bezos) made an easy-to-miss cameo under heavy alien makeup as a Starfleet officer.

Carlo Ancelotti - Yorktown Doctor

Carlo Ancelotti, the Italian football manager, also made a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance as a doctor on Starbase Yorktown. He reportedly got the role because he’s friends with Zoe Saldana.

Will Star Trek Beyond Get a Sequel?

Ever since Beyond was released in cinemas in 2016, various attempts at making another sequel have been announced and subsequently shelved.

As the main cast members are typically quite busy, it would be something of a Herculean task to get all their schedules aligned so that they could work on a fourth Kelvin timeline film.

Anything’s possible, however, with Paramount's top brass claiming that they wish to move the Star Trek franchise back into features alongside its healthy TV presence.

Star Trek Beyond is available for purchase where ever movies are sold.

LATEST NEWS

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

• TV Listings
• Cast & Crew

Star Trek Beyond - Full Cast & Crew

• 68   Metascore
• 2 hr 2 mins
• Drama, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction
• Watchlist Where to Watch

This engaging sci-fi sequel finds Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise facing off against a dictator named Krall. When an assault by Krall leads to the destruction of their starship, the team end up marooned on a remote planet inhabited by aliens both hostile and helpful.

Screenwriter

Executive producer, line producer, cinematographer, production company, supervising art director, art director, set decorator, costumes supervisor, sound effects, sound/sound designer, sound effects editor, special effects, makeup special effects, visual effects supervisor, first assistant director, production manager, production designer, unit production manager, post production supervisor, production coordinator, second assistant director, re-recording mixer, cg supervisor.

'Star Trek Beyond' Cast on Legacy, Character Evolution, & the Future of the Franchise

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

'Alien: Romulus' Is About to Hit a Scarily Impressive Box Office Milestone

'bad boys' fans will be glad to have netflix next month, 10 movie sequels that are so much worse than you remember.

Created by Gene Roddenberry and reintroduced by J.J. Abrams in 2009, the Star Trek franchise celebrates its 50 th anniversary this year, as the next installment, Star Trek Beyond , sees the U.S.S. Enterprise and her intrepid crew exploring the furthest reaches of uncharted space. With director Justin Lin at the helm, they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

During a conference at the film’s press day, co-stars Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg (who also co-wrote the film with Doug Jung ), Karl Urban , John Cho and Zoe Saldana talked about paying homage to 50 years of the franchise while also telling a story that can stand on its own, the new character interactions, honoring Leonard Nimoy , the evolution of these characters, including the Beastie Boys song “Sabotage,” Justin Lin’s approach, the uniforms, adding more strong females, the tragic loss of actor Anton Yelchin , and the future of this franchise. Be aware that there are some spoilers discussed.

Question: This is the 50 th anniversary of Star Trek , so what were the challenges of paying homage to the original while also making a movie that you could see without having seen any of the previous incarnations, including the first two with this particular cast?

SIMON PEGG: Yeah, that was very important to Doug and I, and Justin, going in. We wanted to try to create a hybrid of an episode of the original series with a spectacular cinematic event. The Star Trek movies have always been event films. In a TV series, you get time to spend with the characters. It’s a longer game. In the film, you have to hit it. It has to be very self-contained. It has to be memorable. So, the thing was to try to make sure everybody that’s been here for 50 years gets what they deserve, in terms of a good Star Trek film, but for people who have never seen it before, and who perhaps aren’t as familiar with Star Trek , then they’re welcome, too. This is an interesting universe, in every way. Not just fictionally, but factually.

This film pairs Spock and McCoy together a lot. Zachary and Karl, how was it to spend a lot more time together and further explore that dynamic of these great characters?

KARL URBAN: I feel like this is probably the most fun that I’ve had making a Star Trek film. I think what Simon and Doug were able to do was present the most well-defined, well-rounded version of the character. It certainly gave me a lot of material to work with. I had an amazing time working with Zach, and I have a huge amount of respect for him and his approach. It was just great to have those two characters, that are so diametrically opposed to each other, be forced into a situation where they have to depend on each other to survive, and through the process, come to a deeper understanding of who they both are. It was obviously a great opportunity to explore a lot of comedy, but it also really deepened the relationship between the two. And I think that by the end of it, they were able to go back to their respective corners with a bit of inside knowledge. For long term fans, it’s a rewarding direction.

ZACHARY QUINTO: I couldn’t agree more. Karl and I had a great time working together. In a movie franchise where we’re used to spending so much time together, with all of us on the bridge of The Enterprise and in many of our adventures, it was actually really nice to have so many days where it was only Karl and me together. I think we got to know each other and appreciate each other more than we already did, which was already a significant amount. And from a character standpoint, I really echo the idea that these two characters, historically in this franchise, come at things from entirely different perspectives and points of view. There’s nothing more fun for fans of the original show to see that dynamic, unmitigated by Kirk, who usually manages to get between them. In the same way, Bones really saves Spock’s life in this film, and I think there’s a deep appreciation for that, obviously. They end this film in a much better place, as a duo, than I would say they begin it. 

Since he’s not super excited about being a Starfleet captain, at this point, where is Kirk at, three years into this mission?

CHRIS PINE: I always have the most fun on these films when we’re laughing or talking, and then usually shit blows up and we have to do the shit blowing up acting. I think I spend the majority of the film saying, “Let’s go! Can we do it? I don’t know.” I do a lot of just breathing heavily. I talked a lot with Simon about how to nuance what Kirk’s trip was, in this whole thing. Once we landed on the idea of him growing out of, or moving out from underneath his father’s shadow, that made a lot of sense. To do that scene with Karl was great fun. That scene made us giggle and have a good time, and hopefully people will appreciate that.

The film has such a lovely tribute to Leonard Nimoy. How did you figure out the way you wanted to pay homage to him, and was there initial expectation, earlier on in the process, that he would be part of the film, before his passing?

QUINTO: Leonard died on February 27 th . I think, if Leonard was well enough to be a part of this film, I’m sure he would have been. And I know that there were early conversations with him about that possibility, but true to his incredible self, he knew himself well enough to know that wouldn’t be possible, at a certain point. And then, it became important to all of us to figure a way to honor his legacy. I thought Simon and Doug did a beautiful job of incorporating it into the narrative of the film. We all carried him with us through this production, for sure. It was definitely a different kind of feeling to make this movie without him, for me in particular, but I think he was very much a part of it, in spirit. He will be a part of anything we do, moving forward, for sure.

PEGG: We wanted to make it part of Zach’s Spock arc, and not just a reference to Spock Prime. We wanted to have his passing be something which inspired our Spock to move on. And so, it became an integral part of the story, and not just a nod in Leonard’s direction. That felt more right.

Simon, Justin Lin said the main reason he wanted to tackle this project was because his childhood dream was to blow up The Enterprise, and then bring it back together. Was that a collaborative effort, or was that all his idea that he presented to you, and then you guys developed it in the script?                   

PEGG: I hated the idea at first. I was shouting at him, “We can’t do that! You can’t destroy The Enterprise!” My problem was that we’ve seen it before. It happened in “Search for Spock.” It happened in “Generations.” But Justin was very, very determined. And as we spoke about it, I realized what he was doing, brilliantly, was not only taking out a main character, but he was removing the physical connective tissue between the crew to see what happens when you take away the thing that physically bonds them together. If you take away that thing that necessitates their being a unit, do they dissipate or do they come back together? That was the genius of that. You take it away very violently and dramatically, and then you wait and see if they all come back together to be this family, which is essentially what they are. And of course they do. When I realized that, I backed down immediately and said, “Yeah, you’re right.” I do occasionally do that, but not always. In this instance, I realized it was a brilliant idea, but I was initially opposed to it.

Simon, what was the decision behind using the Beastie Boys song “Sabotage”?

PEGG: We just love the idea of them foiling a technologically terrifying threat with something very analog and old, like VHF. The initial idea was that they fired an old radio into the middle of the swarm. It took many shapes as we wrote it, but we realized that there was no sound in space, so we had to abide by physics. We just liked the idea that Jaylah discovered this old ship that had an archive of music, and she discovered rap music and liked it. She likes the beats and the shouting. “Sabotage” was a song we used in ’09. It’s part of Kirk’s childhood. All these things linked back to his past and his dad, with the motorbike and the song. It’s all him letting go of these things and moving on as a man, as well. It’s important for Kirk’s character, but it’s just a kick-ass song. If anything’s going to blow up a swarm of spaceships, it’s going to be the Beastie Boys.

Zoe, where is Uhura at now and how do you view her feelings for Spock, in this movie?

ZOE SALDANA:   She’s tired. I think she’s homesick. The one thing I appreciated the most about what Simon and Doug did for this installment was that they made us human, and just homesick and sad. Being overly worked, and being away from home and all the things that keep you grounded, can put a strain, not just on the intimate relationships that you may have, but also the professional ones. I thought I would never see the day where I would walk into The Enterprise, and we’re not that excited to see each other. I thought, okay, this is a great place to start because I can only imagine where we’re going to end up. We literally end up in the opposite direction. We’re dying to be close to each other. We’re dying to save each other to get back together. I thought, okay, that’s brilliant. And the relationship with Spock and Uhura felt so normal and human to me. It’s those consequences that may occur when you decide to love your co-worker in a lovey-dovey way. Sometimes the professionalism can get in the way of the spirituality, and I feel like that’s what happened between both of them. 

Is the Uhura/Spock relationship doomed, or do you have hope for them?

QUINTO: I think it ends on a really hopeful note, don’t you? Yeah, let’s go with hope.

SALDANA: If he were to walk in with some other Vulcan girl, shit would go down.

Zoe, 50 years since Star Trek began, how do you think Uhura has evolved?

SALDANA: I think there’s a beautiful – and I hate using the word – sprouting, but it’s true. Women are becoming very, very independent, not just in the workforce, but also in their personal lives. There’s something about realizing that you should want to be a part of something, but you don’t necessarily have to be a part of something, in order to be validated or respected or appreciated or considered strong enough. I feel like the break-up that Uhura and Spock have is amazing because she fell in love with her teacher. He came as this figure that represented responsibility and safety and maturity and wisdom, and now I think that she feels strong enough on her own. There is a parallel universe situation that’s going on with Uhura and women these days, where there’s no longer this animosity or this resentment to prove who you are. You just want to be left alone to find out who you are because you’re interesting and you’re curious. I like this autonomy that’s happening with women, right now. I like when a battle is fought just with a spoken word, and nothing that feels tense or violent. 

JOHN CHO: One of the questions that we were asked, maybe for giggles, on the tour, in either Sydney or London, was “Which timeline would you choose to be in – the original series or ours – if you had the choice?” And I did say, if forced to choose, that I would choose ours. Roddenberry did set up a world that was incredibly progressive, but it was tempered by the social mores of the era. I feel like we can go further in 2016 than he was able to do, at the time. I feel like our version is able to give more to the women and the people of color in the cast than Roddenberry was originally able to. 

PEGG: Not because he didn’t want to, either. He absolutely wanted to.

John, how do you feel about how Sulu has evolved? When did the idea come up to show his family life?

CHO: The idea came up when, I believe, Simon pitched it. Then, I was told of it through Justin, pretty early on, when he had set up at Paramount. We went in to have a chat and get reacquainted, and I thought it was a beautiful idea. I had concerns about how it would be received by George [Takei], and I had some other concerns, but the handling of it was the most important to me. Having seen the film, I think it’s nonchalant posture toward it is the best thing about it, and the fact that it’s normalized. It’s news now, but if you re-watch the movie in ten years, you won’t think anything of it. It’ll just go right by you. That’s the best thing about it. There’s no music cue. There’s no close up.

SALDANA:  The one thing that I guess has taken a secondary position is that it wasn’t just that we revealed that he’s gay, but we revealed that he’s a father. None of our characters have families that we’ve ever talked about. I actually feel quite puzzled that, in 2016, we’re having a bit of a fit over who he fathered a baby with. I’m happy he’s a dad.

PEGG: What we wanted to do was put somebody we care about in Yorktown, so when Yorktown was under threat, that made the threat tangible. We knew that Sulu’s family was there, so it wasn’t just a bunch of faceless Federation people. It was somebody that we cared about because we care about Sulu. That was really important. The nature of that relationship wasn’t an issue. By the way, that whole thing with George, people like to make things into a spat. George and I email, all the time, with big, long, lovely discussions about it, and we’re on great terms. We were never shouting at each other, or anything like that. And it’s a great discussion to have. I’m really happy with the way that it’s been talked about and responded to, and I’m still a huge fan of G.T., for sure.

Simon, what would your character from Spaced like and dislike about this movie?

PEGG: For those of you who don’t know, I started out on a sitcom in the UK, and it was about a nerdy guy. I don’t know what I was talking about, and it wasn’t me at all, but there’s a line in Spaced where Tim says, “As sure as eggs is eggs, as sure as day follows night, as sure as every odd-numbered Star Trek movie is shit…” And I wrote that in 1998. And then, here we are in 2016, I’ve written an odd-numbered Star Trek movie, and I’m happy to say that Tim is wrong. It’s an incredible thing to look back on the circularity of that, and of having grown up a fan of Star Trek and science fiction, to now be participating in it, in such an active way. I tried to make the kind of Star Trek movie that Tim Bisley would like. That’s what Doug and I did. And when I say Tim Bisley, I’m talking about the people that have been with Star Trek for a long time. Star Trek must have been doing something right because it’s been around for 50 years, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So, we wanted to embody the original show and instill it with what made the original show great, but also frame it in a big movie way, which is a luxury they never had, back in the day. That’s why the series turned into such a great thing. Necessity was the mother of invention with that show. They had to make these wonderful little teleplays. They couldn’t rely on special effects. Now we can do both, and it felt like I was always thinking, “What would Tim Bisley think?”

What was is like for all of you to be in space and fight in a foreign land?

SALDANA: I like being on the ship. There was dust everywhere. Helicopters were flying really low. I was like, “Put me on The Enterprise. It’s cleaner.” I’m more into comfort.

CHO: On the upside, it was cool to be paired off with Zoe, even though she was having a miserable time.      

SALDANA: I was so happy that I was complaining with John.

CHO: Typically, as characters, you’re relating on the Bridge, and everyone’s relating to Kirk, so there’s less talking to one another. And so, just getting that opportunity brought out some different colors and vibes, so it was good.

Simon, what’s it like to live your dream and get to tell people in Star Trek what to do?

PEGG: I ask them nicely. I think the business of writing a good story and making sure the plot works superseded any kind of wish fulfillment. We had to start with that, really. The whole splitting up the crew into different little interactive groups was nice. I love the relationships in Star Trek , and it was nice to pursue those a little bit more, specifically with Bones and Spock, and as the scene with Kirk and Bones, in the beginning. Getting the keys to that kingdom was a real joy, and it was nice to be able to write our signature underneath the hundreds and hundreds of signatures that have gone into writing the Star Trek universe, over the years. It was nice to put our little stamp on that, and fill it with little Easter eggs that only we know about.

What was the dynamic like, working with Justin Lin, compared to J.J. Abrams?

QUINTO: Justin has a different energy about him. I’d say he’s a little more internalized, just as a person. He’s a little quieter, but he’s no less confident. He’s incredibly gifted, as a visual storyteller. And I think he’s really sensitive to character dynamics, as well. He brings a balance of both of those extremes. He came in on an already moving train, in a lot of ways. He didn’t have a lot of time to prep for this film. And I think all of us were incredibly impressed by his sense of leadership and vision. It was also really great to have Simon in a position of creative influence on this film because he was a tremendous conduit for us, early on, before we formed our own relationships with Justin. But all in all, he was a really welcome addition. I would say he was very different from J.J., but also really exciting and really unique, in his own ways. It was reflective of this experience, which was different and new for us, to be away from the past and the configuration of the last two films. We all had a great time working together, and we really enjoyed him. Seeing what he was able to create, in the final product, is really exciting for all of us. 

How were the uniforms, this time around?

PINE: The pants were fantastic, this time. There was so much movement, and a lot of space in the hips, which I appreciate. This was like the retro-super-future version of Star Trek , so it’s looking way ahead into what Star Trek can become, and also has very specific nods to the past. One of the very small things that’s layered throughout all three iterations of the film, so far, is that there’s been a lot of discussions about the colors of yellow for Kirk’s shirt, and the cut of the shirt. This one is a very specific nod to the original series. It’s not the bright, fantastic yellow of the first and the second. It’s this lovely Kirk-ian mustard green. 

URBAN: Our costume designer, Sanja [Milkovic Hays], did an extraordinary job. One of the things I was most proud of was the fact that, unlike the previous two films we got to do with J.J., the women in the Starfleet uniforms in Star Trek Beyond all had ranks on their uniforms. That’s a fantastic thing. I thought she did a great job. It was a throwback to the costumes, but also made them slightly new. I had massive envy for Chris Pine’s survival suit.   

What was it like to add Sofia Boutella to the mix, as the very kick-ass Jaylah?

PEGG: Sofia’s incredible. Because she’s a dancer and she’s physically so adept, she was very up for the physicality of it. It’s funny, in the writing room, Doug, Justin and I wanted to create this very independent female, who was a very resourceful character, on the surface. We didn’t have a name for her, so we used to call her “Jennifer Lawrence In Winter’s Bone .” That was her long name. It was, “And then, Scotty lands there and suddenly ‘Jennifer Lawrence In Winter’s Bone ’ comes out and she fights these guys.” It started to get tiring calling her “Jennifer Lawrence In Winter’s Bone .” It’s a long name. So, we started calling her J-Law. And then, she became Jaylah. So, she’s named after Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone . But, there aren’t enough girls in Star Trek . Zoe has a lot on her shoulders, so we wanted to increase that. And also with Commodore Paris, as a figure of extreme authority. We all love Sofia. She’s a nutcase, and a golden addition to this group. She’s awesome.

This film is bittersweet, with the loss of Anton Yelchin. What was it like to work with him on this?

URBAN: First of all, it’s devastating to lose a family member. We’re at a point where we should be celebrating, not only this film, but this beautiful, talented man. For all of us, it’s almost incomprehensible to be at a point where we have to talk about him in the past. The pain of his loss is still very raw. We went and spent time with Anton’s family, and we know that they’ll be very, very proud of his contribution to the film. This film will probably forever be the most special experience for all of us. It represents the golden period of when our family was fully together, for the last time. It really was the best summer of our adult lives. We love him so much, and we miss him terribly. 

PINE: He was just a good guy. He was very sweet. He’s very beautifully, authentically Anton. There was not much of a sensor on the boy. I remember one of the first times I met him, like nine years ago or whatever, he was 17. I invited him back to my trailer to play guitar, because I knew he played guitar, and he played guitar really, really, really well. And he said, “I can’t, man, I’ve got to go back to my trailer.” I was like, “Okay, why?” He was translating an esoteric Russian novel into English, just because that’s what he wanted to do. Eight or nine years later, I talked to him and he was still translating it. And he was reading a book on physics that this French philosopher had written. And he was still trying to get all of us together. We’d be in Vancouver and he’d want to see some German neo-expressionist film that none of us had seen, and he would talk about as if everyone has or should have seen it. He was a great guy. He was just totally fearless. I think you try to grasp onto something that’s a positive, out of losing such a good guy, and it’s just to be fearless, creatively. He was always working on stuff. He had music projects and photography projects, and he was going to direct his first film this summer. He was just spectacularly interested in life, in a really great way.     

The original Star Trek relied on social commentary reflective of the time to propel their story forward. In this day and age, what is the message now?

QUINTO: I think the message is the same as it was when it began. It’s just that we have more room to explore and express it than they did, at the time. It’s shocking to me how divisive our culture has become, and I feel like Star Trek maintains a position on inclusivity and unity that is as resonant today as it was in the late ‘60s. This film, in particular, explores that idea, one side of that being about the unity and inclusivity, and the other being about breaking that apart. I think that’s really reflective of the society that we live in today. It’s troubling to me, on such deep levels, that we’ve gotten to this point of unwillingness to see varied points of view or feelings or opinions or perspectives. I think Star Trek remains, in a landscape of popular culture entertainment, something that is a beacon of inclusivity and progressive thinking. I think it just takes on different forms now than it did 50 years ago.

PEGG: I think the film is actually even more apt today. It’s become more so, even since we shot it. The message of this and the social commentary in this iteration of Star Trek is that we’re better together. It’s about collectivism. And in this era of Brexit and talking about building walls in certain places, now more than ever, we should be thinking about the value of collectivism, about cooperation, and about unity. That can be and is our strength. The more fractured we become, the less secure we all feel.

CHO: In the Star Trek set-up, you’re going into space and seeing so many different kinds of species. It does become comically apparent, when you look around the planet Earth that we live on, that we do have so much more in common than we don’t. So, the little things that seem to divide us here, in our present time, seem even more exaggeratedly small after seeing an episode of Star Trek .

PEGG: We’ve all got one head, do you know what I mean? Let’s live together.

How far do you see the franchise going, with these characters?

PEGG: Well, I hope it goes on for another 50 years. We’ll keep going for as long as we can, until we’re old and inappropriate. Some of us already are, like me. I hope it goes on. There’s a new CBS series starting. I love that the universe is a boundless place, and there are so many adventures to be had. As long as we have this idea, where we might actually become slightly more enlightened and slightly more tolerant beings, Star Trek will live forever.

Star Trek Beyond opens in theaters on July 22 nd .

Den of Geek

Star Trek Beyond Review

Justin Lin takes over as director for the third entry in the Kelvin timeline, Star Trek Beyond, boldly going in a positive direction.

• Share on Facebook (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Twitter (opens in a new tab)
• Share on Linkedin (opens in a new tab)
• Share on email (opens in a new tab)

Aside from everything else, Star Trek Beyond immediately provokes a massive sigh of relief. Following the cynical, ludicrous fan service and paranoid truther politics of the abysmal Star Trek Into Darkness , the franchise has gone through an overhaul and come out the better for it. With J.J. Abrams staying as producer but installing Justin Lin ( Fast & Furious ) as the new director, and cast member Simon Pegg and co-writer Doug Jung taking over screenwriting duties from the odious Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Trek has pivoted back to a simpler, more traditional approach. Star Trek Beyond evokes the spirit of the original series better than the previous two films in the so-called Kelvin timeline, getting past the flaws it does have with humor, great character moments, and some nicely placed nostalgia that doesn’t hit you over the head.

As the film opens, the Enterprise is 966 (Trekkers will grasp the meaning of that number) days into this crew’s five-year mission of exploration — yes, the damn ship finally got away from Earth for this entry — and we catch up with Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) just as he’s getting out of a scrape involving relations with a new alien race. From that amusing opening we get a somewhat more sober look at the state of the Enterprise crew, including its captain, after nearly three years in space: like life anywhere, it’s a mix of the marvelous and the mundane, the lonely and the loving, with a sly remark from Kirk about the “episodic” nature of their everyday existence. The original series touched on this in small ways — what it would be like to live with hundreds of others in space for years at a time — but never as succinctly and ambivalently as this.

After docking at the Yorktown , a combination space station/interplanetary hub that arches and twists around itself on a giant gravity wheel like something out of Escher — and where both Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) are making some decisions about their respective futures — a ship appears out of a nearby nebula calling for a rescue mission. The Enterprise launches into action, probing the nebula and coming upon a hidden planet, where the crew and ship fall into a trap sprung by the baleful, malevolent Krall (Idris Elba), an almost classic Trek villain who gradually reveals layers of both his scheme and himself as our heroes struggle to survive and fight back.

A distress signal, a mysterious nebula, ancient alien technology and a long-missing pre-Federation starship — these are the elements that come into play in this story and if they sound like they’re right out of an original series episode, that’s probably no coincidence. Pegg and Jung have crafted what is essentially a feature-length segment of Star Trek : it’s spruced up with top-notch visual effects, given a modern spin with some hyper-adrenalized action sequences, but still centered on the crew that we love and their struggle with the strange circumstances they find themselves in. If I had to rate Star Trek Beyond in terms of the level of quality of each year of the original series, I would put it just a notch or two below the finer episodes of the first two seasons — only because it’s missing the moral dilemma that those stories often presented.

Ad – content continues below

Pegg and Jung — and Lin, who proves here that he can handle small character moments as well as he handles tons of crashing vehicles — have a genuine fondness for these iconic characters that seemed absent from Star Trek Into Darkness . They also understand what causes them to tick in a way that makes sense when they are separated and broken down into smaller groups. The best moments come from Spock and Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), who spend most of the movie together and cut off from everyone else. The two officers have always represented two sides of Kirk’s personality — logic and cool rationalism vs. big emotion and empathy — and their differences are starkly defined here, albeit with some welcome humor (Urban is once again eerily good at invoking the spirit of the late, great DeForest Kelley).

But everyone else also gets their turn. Scotty (Pegg) provides some different comic relief as the engineer finds himself thrown together with an alien named Jaylah (well-played by Sofia Boutella from Kingsman: The Secret Service ), who reveals herself to be an impressive ally. Meanwhile, Kirk and Chekov (Anton Yelchin) are also paired, and there’s a gentle sense of Chekov’s admiration for his commander, who must live up to the responsibility of being a leader to the young ensign. This ties into an earlier scene — a discussion over drinks between Kirk and McCoy that’s a nicer hat-tip to The Wrath of Khan than the whole last movie — where Kirk wonders whether he can ever live up to his father’s legacy as a Starfleet officer. That arc does not get as fully developed as it could have, but the resonance remains. Sadly, it’s bittersweet to watch Yelchin and be reminded of the gifted actor we lost just last month (the film is dedicated to him and Leonard Nimoy, whose own 2015 passing is woven into the film in two brief yet poignant scenes).

As for our villain, the less said the better, but Elba brings out a mix of rage and melancholy — even under a ton of prosthetics — that makes Krall easily the most effective of the antagonists in the Kelvin timeline films, and a damn sight better than some bad guys in earlier Trek pictures too. While a few of his machinations are muddied by the fast pace of the movie — we suspect a scene or two clarifying a couple of points were left in the editing bay — he’s got a purpose and back story that are well fleshed-out and even reminded this fan in a very subtle way of a thematic element from one of the best films of the franchise (I won’t say which).

With the character work on solid footing, it’s odd to say that Lin actually misses the mark with some of the big action set pieces as the film unspools. The first attack by Krall’s forces — a “swarm” of literally hundreds of tiny drone ships — against the Enterprise is brilliantly handled and drives home the agonizing destruction that’s wrought upon the beloved ship. But Lin’s tendency to juggle the camera ultimately works against later scenes, including one set inside the darkened hull of the Enterprise that’s almost impossible to follow. He does redeem himself in the climax, however, staging a hand-to-hand battle in a gravity-free environment that is dizzying and thrilling.

There are other things missing from Star Trek Beyond : that sense of wonder and sometimes awe the old show inspired, along with the moral or ethical dimension to the conflict that we mentioned earlier. Kirk’s brooding over his father seems like something he should have moved beyond (ha ha) by now. Although I’ve despised the half-hearted Spock/Uhura romance from the start, Quinto and Zoe Saldana play it more subtly here, unlike the bickering teens they were reduced to in the last film. And no, the modern, frenetic action scenes still don’t sit quite right in the world of Trek .

The truth is, I may never see what I consider to be the perfect modern Star Trek film. I’m not even sure I’d recognize it, although I know the things I’d like to see in it. But I am sure that every longtime Trekker can picture his or her own perfect Trek movie as well, and I’m equally sure they’re all different. That wide range of possibilities is what has kept Star Trek alive and interesting for nearly five decades, and it’s the acknowledgement of that — plus the original show’s undying optimism — that makes Star Trek Beyond such a nice surprise and affectionate tribute as the 50th anniversary of the original series’ premiere looms on Sept. 8. Star Trek Beyond may not be the perfect Star Trek film, but it is unashamedly, entertainingly, and enthusiastically a true one — and that’s more than enough for this Starfleet lifer.

Star Trek Beyond is out in theaters this Friday (July 22).

Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Thousands of Movies & TV Shows Anytime – Start Free Trial Now

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

Star Trek Beyond

“There’s no relative direction in the vastness of space,” a Starfleet high mucky-muck tells  Enterprise  Captain James T. Kirk ( Chris Pine ) in “Star Trek Beyond.” “There’s only you.” She’s asking him whether he wants to give up his captain’s seat for a chance at a powerful desk job on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, a year younger than his father was when he died. Her language is meant to spur Kirk to look inward, and for a moment we might hope that he will, and that the film will look inward with him. 

There’s a precedent for this sort of thing. Where all of the TV incarnations of “ Star Trek ” were mainly about morality and philosophy, with characterization serving as a means of examining those dramatic values, most of the big-screen film versions, including the ’80s and ’90s versions of the flagship TV show, were mainly concerned with the heroes’ personalities. The screenplays gave us detailed examinations of, say, the relationship between Kirk and his half-Vulcan first officer Mr. Spock, between Kirk and the United Federation of Planets, between Kirk and the Klingons who tormented his civilization and killed his only son, and between all the characters (Kirk especially) and the prospect of aging and death. It was more soap opera than space opera at times, but always fun to watch, sometimes moving. 

What undermines “Star Trek Beyond” is that it’s ultimately not interested in taking a long look at the “you” of Kirk, Spock ( Zachary Quinto ), ship’s doctor “Bones” McCoy ( Karl Urban ), communications officer Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ), and the rest of the NCC-1701 crew. Sure, it nods in that direction. Even the worst “Star Trek” stories do. But in the end it’s mostly a good big-budget sci-fi action movie that’s been marinated in “Star Trek” flavor packets—and thus not terribly different from the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot or its sequel, “ Star Trek Into Darkness .”

“Star Trek Beyond” pits the crew of the  Enterprise  against another bellowing megalomaniac ( Idris Elba ) who wants to punish the United Federation of Planets for its perceived sins. It’s the best of the new “Trek” films, but it’s still an unsatisfying effort if you want “Star Trek” to be something more than a military-minded outer space action flick, with familiar, beloved characters shoehorned into a standard mix of martial arts slugfests, close-quarters firefights, and scenes of starships and cities being shredded and burned. Advance publicity hyped “Star Trek Beyond” as a return to the original series’ roots as a showcase for a bunch of eccentric personalities traveling the galaxy, ingeniously solving problems, and indulging in populist philosophizing about civilization and the frontier as they went along. But that’s not what we get here—not really. 

Yes, there’s a promising setup (the  Enterprise  crew is held hostage by a vicious bad guy who rules a backwater planet a la Kurtz in “Heart of Darkness”). And there are suggestions of classic “Star Trek” style action-plus-characterization-plus-cleverness, and pleasing performances by a cast that has settled into each others’ rhythms, as a real-world naval crew would after years of sailing together. 

But the movie never delivers on its considerable promise because it’s always in such a hurry to get to the next action scene. And aside from three magnificent setpieces—the first, crippling sneak attack by a fleet of tiny ships that swarm the  Enterprise  like explosive bees, and two vertigo-inducing chase-and-fight scenes in which geography goes all M.C. Escher on us—the action is not good enough to be the film’s main course. Lin, who proved in the “Fast and Furious” series that he could do great or near-great action, here substitutes wobbly camerawork, chop-chop editing and rumbling sound effects for suspense and a sense of spatial design. It’s a step up from the action in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” movies, but that’s not the sort of thing one should brag about. A climactic reprise of a certain overused Beastie Boys song might be the franchise’s low point, rivaled only by the laughable credits sequence of “Star Trek V,” which cut from a helicopter shot of a lean young stuntman scaling a craggy peak in the Pyrenees to a close-up of the 57-year-old star/director Shatner’s meaty hand in a studio, gripping a fiberglas “rock.”

Simon Pegg and Doug Jung’s screenplay provides the right amount of homage (as when Kirk grumbles after an opening action scene that he ripped his shirt again), plus Spock/McCoy odd-couple banter and some marvelous, character-based laugh lines (Scotty demands that Kirk give an opinion on one of his engineering improvisations, because “if I mess it up, I don’t want it to be just my fault”). There’s psychological nuance, irony, even a political subtext (Elba’s character, Krall, a reptilian Che Guevara-type who wants the galaxy’s “frontier” to “push back” against the Federation’s expansionism). Too bad none of these aspects are filled out with the detail they deserve. Krail’s fire-and-brimstone sermonizing is turned to nonsense by a pointless and self-defeating third act “twist”—like we need another one of those after the boneheaded fan service of “Darkness”!—and there are points late in the film where “Star Trek Beyond” seems jolted by the sudden remembrance of things that it told us it was going to deal with but didn’t. 

Uhura spends most of the movie in a prison camp. Kirk, Spock and even McCoy have human moments, but they spend too much of their screen time sprinting through hallways, firing phaser pistols, and piloting spaceships while yelling and grimacing in tight closeup, like the heroes of every other science fiction-flavored action movie projected in theaters recently. Krall and other characters allude to the Federation’s fake-benevolent brand of imperialism, but unless you’re familiar with examples from elsewhere in the “Star Trek” universe or got briefed by a super-fan before buying a ticket, you’ll leave with no sense of whether the villains’ grievances are legitimate, much less if you’re supposed to feel mixed emotions at Kirk’s inevitable triumph.  

Spock, whose home planet was destroyed by a renegade Romulan warlord in the first movie, suffers most from the filmmakers’ preoccupation with  pew-pew-pew! a ction-adventure. For three movies now, Spock’s been carrying a crushing load of survivor’s guilt. The character’s barely disguised Jewishness, brilliantly articulated by the late Leonard Nimoy in the original TV and movie series, is more pronounced in the new franchise: he’s been turned into a holocaust survivor, part of a fragile Vulcan diaspora haunted by genocide. But the scripts seem scared of treating Spock’s predicament with the seriousness it deserves, much less daring to put it at the center of a film. Here it’s treated mainly as an explanation for why Spock can’t seem to keep a relationship going with Uhura. The death of Leonard Nimoy is integrated into the story by having Vulcan diplomats inform Spock of the death of Ambassador Spock, an alternate-universe incarnation of the character who dispensed advice and plot points to new Spock whenever the screenwriters painted themselves into a corner. The film’s method of mourning Nimoy’s Spock makes the Spockus ex machina  thing worse. New Spock mourns classic Spock as if the two were dear friends who had dinner every Monday at the same Chinese restaurant.

The missteps of writing and direction are more depressing when you consider the excellence of the core cast. Quinto and Saldana give the Spock-Uhura relationship and their own spotlight moments a lot more than the film gives them. Pegg is a hoot as Scotty, colorful but never hammy, though we may justifiably raise a Spock-like eyebrow at all the times that the actor-screenwriter lets his character save the day. Pine’s Kirk seems to be morphing seamlessly into Shatner’s, complete with surprising pauses and intonations, but he’s more credible as a strong, respected leader; watch how the actor grows more calm and friendly whenever Kirk’s bridge crew is becoming more agitated. Elba is such a strong presence throughout, even near the end, that it’s a shame Krall is never granted the depth and complexity that his character keeps threatening to disclose. 

At this point it’s worth asking what, if anything, this franchise is good for besides generating cash for Paramount and its above-the-line talent. Everything that made the original TV series and its follow-ups, small- and big-screen, seem so open-hearted, intelligent and playful is marginalized to make room for hyperactively edited action scenes and displays of hardware and production design. These are technically state-of-the-art but ultimately not all that different from what you see in most other CGI-driven action pictures, superhero as well as sci-fi—long, loud spectacles that are filled with people fighting, blowing up cities and planets, and crashing things into other things, instead of finding some other, more surprising way to move the plot along. What’s the point of giving up pleasures that the “Star Trek” franchise is good at providing, to make more room for pleasures that most big-budget science fiction and fantasy already give us, month after month and year after year? Why boldly go where everyone else is already going? 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor-at-Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

• Alice Eve as Dr. Carol Marcus
• Simon Pegg as Scotty
• Chris Pine as Kirk
• Zoe Saldana as Uhura
• Idris Elba as Krall
• Sofia Boutella as Jaylah
• Zachary Quinto as Spock
• Karl Urban as Bones
• John Cho as Sulu
• Anton Yelchin as Chekov
• Deep Roy as Keenser
• Dylan Highsmith
• Greg D’Auria
• Kelly Matsumoto
• Steven Sprung

Writer (television series "Star Trek")

• Gene Roddenberry

Writer (uncredited)

• John D. Payne
• Patrick McKay
• Roberto Orci
• Michael Giacchino

Cinematographer

• Stephen F. Windon

Leave a comment

Now playing.

Megalopolis

The Last of the Sea Women

The Wild Robot

We Live in Time

Look Into My Eyes

The Front Room

Matt and Mara

The Thicket

The Mother of All Lies

Latest articles.

FX’s “The Old Man” Starts to Lose Its Step in Season Two

A 9/11 Memory: A Historic Day, and Just Another One

TIFF 2024: Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Elton John: It’s Not Too Late, Paul Anka: His Way

TIFF 2024: Unstoppable, Triumph, April

The best movie reviews, in your inbox.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• About Rotten Tomatoes®
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening This Week
• Top Box Office
• Coming Soon to Theaters
• Certified Fresh Movies

Movies at Home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most Popular Streaming Movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 77% Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Link to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• 95% Rebel Ridge Link to Rebel Ridge
• 97% Red Rooms Link to Red Rooms

New TV Tonight

• 83% How to Die Alone: Season 1
• 59% Emily in Paris: Season 4
• 20% Three Women: Season 1
• -- Universal Basic Guys: Season 1
• -- My Brilliant Friend: Story of the Lost Child: Season 4
• 50% The Old Man: Season 2
• -- Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy: Season 1
• -- The Circle: Season 7
• -- Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with My Father: Season 1
• -- In Vogue: The 90s: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 61% The Perfect Couple: Season 1
• 77% Kaos: Season 1
• 85% The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: Season 2
• 100% Dark Winds: Season 2
• 100% Slow Horses: Season 4
• 97% English Teacher: Season 1
• 95% Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist: Season 1
• 94% Only Murders in the Building: Season 4
• 93% Bad Monkey: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV

Certified fresh pick

• 95% Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist Link to Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch

Toronto Film Festival 2024: Movie Scorecard

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

The Most Anticipated Movies of 2025

Pachinko ‘s Lee Min-ho Spills Season 2 Secrets

• Trending on RT
• Best Horror Movies
• Top 10 Box Office
• Toronto Film Festival
• Free Movies on YouTube

Star Trek Beyond

Where to watch.

Watch Star Trek Beyond with a subscription on Paramount+, Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Star Trek Beyond continues the franchise's post-reboot hot streak with an epic sci-fi adventure that honors the series' sci-fi roots without skimping on the blockbuster action.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Captain James T. Kirk

Zachary Quinto

Commander Spock

Doctor "Bones" McCoy

Zoe Saldana

Lieutenant Uhura

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

Movie Clips

More like this, related movie news.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Star Trek Beyond

• The crew of the USS Enterprise explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a new ruthless enemy, who puts them, and everything the Federation stands for, to the test.
• After stopping off at Starbase Yorktown, a remote outpost on the fringes of Federation space, the USS Enterprise, halfway into their five-year mission, is destroyed by an unstoppable wave of unknown aliens. With the crew stranded on an unknown planet and with no apparent means of rescue, they find themselves fighting against a ruthless enemy with a well-earned hatred of the Federation and everything it stands for. Only a rebellious alien warrior can help them reunite and leave the planet to stop this deadly menace from beginning a possible galactic war. — Paramount Pictures
• Getting through the first half of their five-year mission, Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise crew now venture into uncharted territories. They arrive at Starbase Yorktown for shore leave, Kirk intends to be promoted to Vice Admiral to remain there and has recommended Spock for his present position as ship's captain. After a devastating attack by a massive army of unknown aliens, Kirk and his crew find themselves stranded on an unknown planet with no means of contacting the Federation or each other. The alien warlord Krall seeks an ancient weapon called the Abronath that Kirk has kept after an unsuccessful diplomatic mission. Reunited and aided by the alien warrior Jaylah, Kirk and crew must fight to survive and take on this deadly menace with a strong hatred for the Federation. Will they be able to destroy the new danger before it's too late? — Blazer346
• Captain James Tiberius Kirk (Chris Pine) acts as a diplomatic intermediary for the Fibonians in a mission to the Teenaxi. He offers the Teenaxi the Arbonath, part of a weapon as a gift and a proposal for truce. The Teenaxi attack Kirk when they do not trust the Fibonians (and believe the weapon to be stolen), but he beams off the planet. Kirk stores the Arbonath in the ship's vault. Three years (966th Day) into its five-year mission, the USS Enterprise arrives at Star base Yorktown, a massive (newest and the most advanced) space station, for resupply and shore leave for her crew. Kirk is exhausted with the endless routine of space travel and can no longer distinguish when one day ends and the next one begins. They continue to search for new life forms in order to establish firm diplomatic ties. Prolonged cohabitation has complicated inter personnel dynamics. Kirk knows that he joined Starfleet on a dare, unlike his own father, who believed in its mission and its principles. Struggling to find continued meaning in the endless nature of their mission of exploration (he believes that the Universe is truly endless and so exploration has no end), Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) has applied for a promotion to Vice Admiral and commanding officer of Yorktown. He recommends Spock (Zachary Quinto) as the new captain of the Enterprise. Meanwhile, Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) reunites with his family, Montgomery Scott (Simon Pegg) works to keep the ship operational, and Spock and Nyota Uhura (Zoe Saldana) amicably end their relationship; Spock also receives word from New Vulcan that Ambassador Spock (Spock's future self from the original time-line) has died. The Enterprise is dispatched on a rescue mission after an escape pod drifts out of a nearby uncharted nebula. The survivor, Kalara (Lydia Wilson), claims her ship is stranded on Altamid, a planet within the nebula. She says that the ship was on a scientific mission inside the nebula when is malfunctioned and crash landed on the planet. Once inside the Nebula, Enterprise has no communication with Starfleet. The Enterprise reaches the Altamid, which shows massive underground activity, but no life forms on the surface. The rescue turns into an ambush when the Enterprise is quickly torn apart by a massive swarm of small ships. The ships have a tough outer shell which penetrates the Enterprise's hull without any resistance. The Phasers are ineffective, and the torpedoes cannot track their movements. The ships attack and detach the warp nacelles. Krall (Idris Alba) (Captain Balthazar Edison, former commander of the USS Franklin who became a powerful mutated alien creature under the alias of Krall) and his crew board the ship. Krall takes control a relic called an Abronath that Kirk had obtained for the diplomatic mission to Teenaxi. Kirk manages to attack Krall and wrest back control of the Abronath, as Krall is weakened with prolonged exposure to Earth like atmosphere. Scotty manages to reroute the reserve power to the impulse engines to provide some control on the Enterprise. As Enterprise tries to escape into the Nebula, Krall orders an attack to cut the saucer section connection to the warp core and cut off its source of power. Scott is launched into space in an escape pod, but Krall captures and removes many crew members from the ship (they capture the escape pods from the ship as well). Kirk then orders for the crew to abandon ship as the Enterprise's saucer section hurtles towards the planet. Kirk gives the Abronath to a crew member to hide. Uhura pushes Krall (who got the empty shell of Abronath and realize that Kirk hid the weapon) into an escape pod with herself and ejects before he can get to Kirk. As the ship is doomed, Kirk orders full evacuation. Kirk is the last one to leave just before the saucer crashes into the planet. During their escape, different crew members land on different parts of the planet. On the planet's surface, Sulu, Uhura, and other survivors are captured by Krall. Sulu and Uhura manage to escape from their prison and find that Krall possesses a lot of Federation technology. Sulu finds that Krall had hacked into the Yorktown database and had been tracking the Enterprise from the beginning. They manage to send a distress signal to the Yorktown but are then captured. Krall says that the distress signal had incorrect coordinates, which means the Yorktown fleet will be stranded in the nebula and the base will be defenseless. Krall says that his attack on the Federation will spread from the Yorktown. Kirk and navigator Pavel Chekov (Anton Yelchin), accompanied by Kalara, locate the wrecked saucer section. Kalara claims to be the captain of the ship that was attacked by Krall and claims that he is holding her crew hostage till she delivered the Enterprise to him. Kalara leads Kirk and Pavel back to the Enterprise. Kirk wanted to use the ship's scanners to search for the crew. Kalara is discovered to be Krall's ally when she tries to retrieve the Abronath as she did not know that Kirk had already hid it. To escape Krall's soldiers, Kirk activates the still-functional Thrusters, causing the saucer to lurch forward, crushing Kalara. Kirk tracked the call Kalara made to Krall and found the location of his base. Meanwhile, a wounded Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy (Karl Urban) search for other survivors. Spock confides to McCoy that he intends to leave Starfleet to continue the late Ambassador Spock's work on New Vulcan. This is also the reason he broke up with Uhura. Spock and McCoy find a cave which has carvings similar to the Abronath, indicating that it came from the planet. Meanwhile, Scott is attacked by hostiles on the planet, who also crash landed there just like the Enterprise. He is rescued by Jaylah (Sofia Boutela), a scavenger who previously escaped Krall's encampment. Jaylah says that Krall is searching for a death machine. She takes Scott to her makeshift home, the grounded USS Franklin, an early Starfleet vessel reported missing over a century earlier. It was the first Federation vessel capable of Warp 4 and went missing in the Gagarin radiation belt in 2160s. Kirk and Pavel trigger one of Jaylah's traps and are reunited with Scott. Kirk and Pavel then use the Franklin and find a transmission from McCoy. Spock and McCoy are also found. They determine the crew's location using the unique Vokaya mineral on the necklace that Spock had gifted Uhura. Using the ship as a base, they plot to raid Krall's camp and transport the crew to the Franklin, then escape the planet in the repaired ship. Meanwhile, Krall realizes that Kirk hid the Abronath with the crew. He threatens to execute them and forces Ensign Syl (Melissa Roxburgh) to hand over the Abronath that she had kept hidden for Kirk (she hid it in her brain as her exoskeleton opens up). The Abronath is the missing half of an ancient bio weapon, created by the planet's original inhabitants which can disintegrate any humanoid. Krall demonstrates the Abronath to Uhura using Syl as a specimen. With the device complete, Krall intends to attack Yorktown and kill its inhabitants, and, using the Yorktown's advanced technology, go on to attack the Federation. Kirk and the others free the crew as Krall launches into space with the bio-weapon, leading his drone fleet to Yorktown. Krall's officers try to stall Kirk and his crew as much as possible but are outnumbered. As everyone is transported out, Kirk stays back as Jaylah has been engaged by one of Krall's officers. Kirk rescues Jaylah and she understands the meaning of being part of a crew. The Starfleet crew pursues Krall in the Franklin (after Sulu drops the ship from a cliff, by using the impulse engines, in order to jump start the warp core engines). Spock determines that the swarm is coordinated and hence must rely on some frequency of communication. If the communication is disrupted, the swarm maybe defeated. Scott transports Spock and McCoy into one of Krall's drone ships. After dispatching the pilot, they learn that VHF transmissions can disrupt Krall's communications and destroy his fleet. Matching the drone fleets frequency (577 Mhz) and using the 'classical' song Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, they destroy almost the entire fleet. Krall and his three surviving ships crash in Yorktown. As Krall flees into the city, Uhura and Kirk discover from the Franklin's logs that 'Krall' is actually Balthazar Edison, the former captain of the Franklin. A Pre-Federation human soldier, Edison was bred on war. Edison became disillusioned with the newly founded Federation, rejecting its principles of unity and cooperation with former enemies. When he and his crew were stranded on Altamid by a rogue wormhole, he believed the Federation had deliberately abandoned them. The three survivors prolonged their lives with the technology of the planet's extinct natives (at the cost of their human physiology and their numerous victims' lives), and re-purposed that species' dormant drone workers into the swarm. Krall now plans to destroy the Federation to resume galactic conflict. Kirk pursues Krall into Yorktown's ventilation system, where Krall activates the bio-weapon. Before it can be unleashed, Kirk ejects the weapon and Krall into space. Spock and McCoy save Kirk moments before he is also blown into open space. Kirk opts to remain as captain, and Spock chooses to stay in Starfleet and resumes his relationship with Uhura. Jaylah is accepted into Starfleet Academy based on Kirk's recommendation. As the crew celebrates Kirk's birthday, they view the construction of their new ship, USS Enterprise-A, and after its completion, they depart to resume their five-year mission.

Contribute to this page

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More from this title

More to explore, recently viewed.

Star Trek Beyond

Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started.

Customers also watched

9793 global ratings

How are ratings calculated? Toggle Expand Toggle Expand

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Registry & Gift List
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Chris Pine Once Got A Black Eye From One Of His Star Trek Co-Stars

The plot of Justin Lin's 2016 film "Star Trek Beyond" is a little convoluted. It seems that a century before the film began, a starship called the U.S.S. Franklin crash-landed on a distant planet called Altamid. The captain of the Franklin, Captain Balthazar Edison (Idris Elba), was already fleeing the influence of the Federation, as he didn't like the organization's peace-loving ways, resenting that they would sign treaties with former enemies like the Xindi and the Romulans. Captain Edison used ancient technology found on Altamid to prolong his life indefinitely, but it also mutated him into a strange alien monster. Now calling himself Krall , the former captain sought more and more Altamid technology that would, once he had enough of it, allow him to attack the Federation in a destructive fit of revenge.

At the beginning of "Beyond," the Enterprise heads to Altamid to investigate a mystery there, and it is immediately destroyed by Krall's automated swarm of space drones. After a dramatic crash landing, a prolonged reconnoitering, and a redoubling of violent efforts, Kirk (Chris Pine) and his crew are able to foil Krall's vengeful plans and fight him to the finish.

Naturally, the film climaxes with a dramatic fistfight between Krall and Kirk. It's a slick and fun action sequence, even if it's not exactly the kind of diplomacy one is used to seeing on "Star Trek."

As The Hollywood Reporter revealed back in 2016 , that final fight was a little rough and kind of cathartic for Pine and Elba. Both of them have been extensively trained in stage combat, but it seems one of Elba's punches made contact. Not only that, but it gave Pine quite a bruise on his eye. Luckily, Pine had no hard feelings.

Idris Elba gave Chris Pine a black eye

Speaking from the red carpet premiere of "Star Trek Beyond," Elba brought up that he popped his co-star in the eye (entirely by accident, of course). There was no animosity between them, either before or after the punching incident. As Elba recalled:

"We had laughs. Chris and I had laughs, and then I gave him a black eye. [...] Well, we were doing a fight scene, and he got a bit cheeky, and I was just like pow ! [...] I didn't mean to do it, but Chris was quite proud of it."

It seems that the black eye was, at least for Pine, aesthetically pleasing. Director Lin also pointed out that Pine received his bruise so late in the shooting process that it didn't mess with the film's continuity; all the scenes Lin was to shoot after the fight sequence would require Kirk's injury to be plainly visible anyway. As Lin noted: 

"This cast goes all out, and I like to challenge them. We were shooting this third-act fight, and I kept pushing to get the right angle, to the point where Chris just got hit. [...] Continuity-wise, it worked out. That black eye played so well in the rest of the movie."

Naturally, the good guys won and the bad guy was defeated, and Chris Pine was okay having been socked in the eye. When it comes to getting injured on set, it seems that this is the best way to do it.

Meanwhile, there have been rumblings of a "Beyond" sequel ever since 2016, but nothing has yet come to fruition. Time will tell if it ever gets made. The next "Star Trek" movie, "Section 31," is slated to begin streaming on Paramount+ in 2025.

The Ending Of Star Trek Beyond Explained

Star Trek Beyond has landed in theaters, and the crew of the USS Enterprise have endured another ordeal in space while averting yet another world-ending disaster. There aren't too many loose ends left to tie up after Beyond 's final act, but there are certainly some things that seem like they might carry over into the next Trek movie. Let's take a look at what the ending of Beyond mean for the future for Kirk and the crew—and as always, be warned that there are SPOILERS AHEAD .

The crew will pilot the new Enterprise into unknown territory

Early in the film, the USS Enterprise is torn to shreds by a swarm of alien ships led by Idris Elba's villainous Krall. The attack sends our heroes crashing onto the planet Altamid, where the crew gets separated. Half of them are imprisoned by Krall; Spock and Leonard "Bones" McCoy are injured and get lost; Kirk and Chekov try to hide an artifact from Krall's forces; and Scotty befriends a young female alien named Jaylah. Eventually they escape the planet and stop Krall from unleashing a powerful bioweapon on the starbase Yorktown. In order to do so, they commandeer an ancient Federation vessel called the USS Franklin , but it gets more or less scrapped in the final battle.

Thankfully, the Federation works quickly and gets started on building the USS Enterprise-A at the end of the film, while Kirk and the crew look on. They still have two more years in their five-year mission, so you can bet they'll get some mileage out of the new ship. And since Chris Hemsworth is set to return as Kirk's late father George, we might see some time travel or wormhole action to allow for a reunion between father and son.

Jaylah might join the crew after her Academy training

Newcomer Jaylah quickly becomes one of the more interesting characters in Beyond . Her friendship with Scotty is entertaining, and their back-and-forth interplay is fun to watch. Thanks to this friendship, Jaylah gets accepted to Starfleet Academy on Scotty's recommendation; we're not sure how long she'll train, but it's not entirely out of the question that we might ultimately see her join the crew of the Enterprise. She's a skilled fighter, which is always useful, and she kept the USS Franklin running for a while, so she can be handy with repairs. We'd say she probably has a bright future in the Federation.

Kirk and Spock will return, but the crew might change

Early in the film, Kirk and Spock both play with the idea of leaving the USS Enterprise and doing something new. Kirk applies to become a Vice Admiral in Starfleet, meaning he'd be grounded and unable to fly. Spock gets the news that Admiral Spock, a.k.a. Spock Prime, has passed away. This news, and perhaps the fact that he and Uhura separated, prompts him to want to continue Spock Prime's legacy and teach on New Vulcan. Through the events of Beyond , both Kirk and Spock have a change of heart. Kirk realizes that he really does love being captain and leading his crew, and Spock realizes that his place is beside Kirk and the rest of his shipmates.

In the real world, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto have signed contracts to return for a fourth movie , so we can count on seeing these two again. Whether or not they'll be joined by Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, and John Cho remains to be seen, but we're glad we're getting at least another movie out of Trek 's rebooted odd couple.

Chekov will not return

Anton Yelchin's character, Pavel Chekov, will not return in the fourth film. Yelchin tragically passed away just a month before Star Trek Beyond 's release, and it has been reported that his character, who serves as the ship's main navigator, will not be recast . The film is dedicated to both Yelchin and Leonard Nimoy, with a message for these actors during the credits. We might see Sofia Boutella's Jaylah return and take over as the Enterprise-A 's main navigator, but we certainly won't see a different actor as Chekov.

Krall's weapon is still floating in space

It's easy to forget in all the action of the final act, but after the credits, you might want to stop and consider that Krall was jettisoned into space with his bioweapon, which tears biological material apart. The starbase Yorktown might have been spared, but shouldn't we be worried about the floating clouds of doom that are now hurtling through space? Sure, it's probably a long shot that the bioweapon will hit a populated planet, but the possibility isn't nil. They'll just have to hope that this particular baddie doesn't come back (although we're always happy to see Elba on screen).

Spock and Uhura will rekindle their romance

It might not seem like anything major, but being imprisoned on Altimad and almost dying helped Spock and Uhura get their groove back. We're going to gloss over the fact that the necklace Spock gave Uhura is a radioactive tracking device, and just say we're relieved they're back together. The warp-speed turbulence the characters have endured over the span of three movies has probably solidified their relationship, so we don't think it's out of the question for them to take it to the next step in the fourth film. Might we see Kirk officiating a wedding on the bridge of the Enterprise-A ?

Screen Rant

I hope star trek gives uhura's actor her crossover wish.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

I Want Strange New Worlds To Break Star Trek Canon & Save Captain Pike

34 years later, star trek's most disappointing tng character exit still hurts, this star trek: voyager episode subtly confirmed captain kirk broke a tos promise.

I hope Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' Celia Rose Gooding gets her wish for Ensign Nyota Uhura to meet Star Trek: Discovery' s Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green). Star Trek: Discovery has concluded its fifth and final season, wrapping up the stories of Captain Burnham and the USS Discovery. Meanwhile, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 is in post-production for an expected 2025 premiere on Paramount+. Unless there's a big surprise, Strange New Worlds season 3 has no crossover with Burnham or Star Trek: Discovery , but could Burnham meet Uhura in Strange New Worlds season 4 or beyond?

Celia Rose Gooding inherited the role of a younger Uhura originated by Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has given Uhura more agency and character depth than TOS or J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movies, where Zoe Saldana played Uhura. Strange New Worlds has delved into Uhura's tragic backstory, her relationships with the crew of the USS Enterprise, and proved how essential Uhura is to Strange New Worlds as the Communications Officer who keeps the crew "connected." However, Gooding hopes that Uhura can be further inspired by meeting another of Star Trek 's most iconic African-American heroines .

Celia Rose Gooding Wants Uhura To Meet Burnham & I Hope It Happens

Meeting burnham would be epic for uhura.

Appearing at Terrificon with her Star Trek: Strange New Worlds co-star , Ethan Peck, Celia Rose Gooding said she has two big crossover hopes for Uhura : meeting her older self played by the late Nichelle Nichols, which Celia knows can't happen, and Uhura meeting Captain Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery . Gooding explained, "I think she would benefit from meeting Michael Burnham and seeing another black woman captain. I think that would be really good for her understanding of her place on the Enterprise." Check out Gooding and Peck at Terrificon in the video below:

I think Burnham meeting Uhura, as two of the most prominent African-American female characters in Star Trek on Paramount+, would be a historic and spectacular crossover. Of course, Uhura is the first prominent Black woman and character as a member of Star Trek: The Original Series ' cast . Burnham follows in the footsteps of Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. But the shoe would be on the other foot in a crossover between Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Discovery . Burnham is the successful starship Captain who has saved the galaxy, and Uhura is gaining experience and wisdom day-by-day. The inspiration Uhura could gain from Captain Burnham can't be quantified, and would recontextualize Nichelle Nichols' Uhura going forward.

Can Captain Burnham Appear In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

It would be star trek's trickiest crossover.

As much as I'd like to see Uhura meet Captain Burnham on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, a crossover would be very hard to pull off. While Sonequa Martin-Green is reportedly open to reprising Burnham, the logistics of how to bring Michael back to the 23rd century, or Uhura to the 32nd century, are daunting - but not impossible. A greater issue is how to preserve Star Trek canon. Burnham vanished 930 years into the future with the USS Discovery, never to return. Lieutenant Spock (Ethan Peck) is never meant to see his foster sister again, making bringing Burnham aboard the USS Enterprise a dicey proposition.

Uhura meeting Burnham - and Celia Rose Gooding sharing the screen with Sonequa Martin-Green - would undoubtedly be cool.

Also, Uhura shouldn't know Captain Burnham exists at all, or that she is Spock's adopted sister. And yet, there are still a number of sci-fi ways for Uhura to meet Michael Burnham , like time travel, or a time crystal for Uhura to glimpse Burnham in the future (or vice versa). Uhura meeting Burnham - and Celia Rose Gooding sharing the screen with Sonequa Martin-Green - would undoubtedly be cool and a major Star Trek event. Whether it can happen in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 4 or beyond is up in the air, but I co-sign Celia Rose Gooding's wish that Uhura meets Burnham and all the good things that could come from that Star Trek: Discovery crossover.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Your rating.

Your comment has not been saved

Star Trek: Discovery

Not available

• More to Explore
• Series & Movies

Published Sep 3, 2024

'Take the Chair, Make an Impact' This Star Trek Day on September 8

Pop-up activations set for fans in Chicago, Vancouver and Berlin.

In celebration of Star Trek Day , the franchise announces " Take the Chair, Make an Impact, " a global campaign encouraging fans to embrace the optimistic vision of a brighter future and to give back to the inclusive community of fans that Star Trek has fostered over the years. The Star Trek  franchise is making a donation to  Code.org ,  DoSomething.org , and Outright International , while also encouraging fans to take on the mission of giving back with this worldwide social activation. 

On Sept. 8, 1966, Star Trek debuted for the first time on television and   creator Gene Roddenberry introduced audiences to a world that championed diversity, inclusion, acceptance and hope. Fifty-eight years later, Star Trek commemorates this important day and the franchise's enduring legacy with the fifth annual Star Trek Day celebration, providing fans with a memorable way to enjoy and celebrate all things Star Trek .

This year,  Star Trek has partnered with three worldwide   nonprofits that embody the values of the franchise, including  Code.org , giving every K-12 student the opportunity to learn computer science; DoSomething.org ,  fueling young people to change the world; and  Outright International ,  advocating for LGBTIQ inclusion and equality globally. The "Take the Chair" campaign invites fans to see themselves in the iconic  U.S.S. Enterprise  captain's chair and ask themselves, "What would I do if I were setting the course to the future?" Fans will be able to engage through a digital experience available to fans worldwide on  StarTrek.com .

Throughout the month of September, 25% of U.S.   product sales from select items on the  official Star Trek Shop  will benefit these three nonprofits.

StarTrek.com

Fans will be able to celebrate Star Trek Day at various pop-up events:

• Taste of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. , which will feature the  U.S.S. Enterprise  captain's chair, will run Sept. 6-8 from 11am - 7pm
• ALEXA Mall, Berlin, Germany , featuring a modern architectural interpretation of the captain's chair crafted from sustainable materials, will run on Sept. 8 from 1pm - 6pm
• Richmond Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia , featuring a modern architectural interpretation of the captain's chair crafted from sustainable materials, will run on Sept. 8 from 11am - 7pm

At all activations, fans are invited to "Take the Chair," capture a photo, obtain a personalized mission and receive a limited edition enamel pin.

In honor of Star Trek Day, the premiere episodes of the following series and Short Treks will be available to watch for free in a special sampling occurring Sept. 7-13 on Paramount+ partner platforms (Amazon, Apple, Roku), Paramount+'s Official YouTube page , Pluto TV and on the Paramount+ free content hub (US only), episodes listed here:

• Star Trek: The Original Series , "The Cage"
• Star Trek: The Next Generation , "Encounter at Farpoint, Part I & II"
• Star Trek: Voyager , "Caretaker, Part I & II"
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , "The Emissary, Part I & II"
• Star Trek: Enterprise , "Broken Bow Part I & II"
• Star Trek: The Animated Series , "Beyond the Farthest Star"
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , "Strange New Worlds"
• Star Trek: Lower Decks , "Second Contact"
• Star Trek: Discovery , "The Vulcan Hello"
• Star Trek: Picard , "Remembrance"
• Star Trek: Short Treks – "The Girl Who Made the Stars," "The Trouble with Edward," "Ask Not," "Runaway," and "Ephraim and Dot"

Get Updates By Email

Paramount Plus is beaming up free Star Trek episodes for a limited time

You can now trek across the universe for free

Did you know Star Trek Day is celebrated annually on September 8? If you didn't, you do now, but even though we're a day late there's still plenty of time to celebrate thanks to Paramount Plus . In fact, one of the best streaming services is showing episodes for free.

The hit sci-fi series is actually one of the reasons we gave Paramount Plus a big thumbs up when we compared it against other streaming giants such as Netflix and Prime Video , because it has a huge offering when it comes to Star Trek shows and movies – not sure where to start? Check out our guide to how to watch Star Trek in order .  

Here's everything you need to know about where you can watch the first episodes from hit Star Trek shows for free online, and which ones of the best Paramount Plus shows are available. 

How to watch Star Trek for free

Celebrate #StarTrekDay by streaming these episodes and more for FREE! Find them on the @ParamountPlus free content hub starting today. https://t.co/uSyJ9MwKgq pic.twitter.com/c33PqN78PY September 7, 2024

The free Star Trek episodes are available via Paramount Plus' official YouTube channel in the free content hub on the app but please note these are only available in the US. Trekkies watching elsewhere in the world can still stream the episodes with a regular Paramount Plus subscription. 

For those watching in the US, the beloved episodes will be free between September 7 – 13, so you've got plenty of time to enjoy some classics before they disappear. 

The complete line-up of free episodes is as follows:

• Star Trek: The Original Series : The Cage
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: Encounter at Farpoint, Part I & II
• Star Trek: Voyager: Caretaker, Part I & II
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Emissary, Part I & II
• Star Trek: Enterprise: Broken Bow Part I & II
• Star Trek: The Animated Series: Beyond the Farthest Star
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds : Strange New Worlds
• Star Trek: Lower Decks : Second Contact
• Star Trek: Discovery : The Vulcan Hello
• Star Trek: Picard: Remembrance
• Star Trek: Short Treks :  The Girl Who Made the Stars, The Trouble with Edward, Ask Not, Runaway, and Ephraim and Dot

You might also like

• Best free streaming service 2024: Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel and more
• 5 movies with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes new to Paramount’s free service Pluto TV in September
• 3 free movies on Amazon Freevee in September with over 80% on Rotten Tomatoes

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Lucy is a long-time movie and television lover who is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes. She has written several reviews in her time, starting with a small self-ran blog called Lucy Goes to Hollywood before moving onto bigger websites such as What's on TV and What to Watch, with TechRadar being her most recent venture. Her interests primarily lie within horror and thriller, loving nothing more than a chilling story that keeps her thinking moments after the credits have rolled. Many of these creepy tales can be found on the streaming services she covers regularly.

When she’s not scaring herself half to death with the various shows and movies she watches, she likes to unwind by playing video games on Easy Mode and has no shame in admitting she’s terrible at them. She also quotes The Simpsons religiously and has a Blinky the Fish tattoo, solidifying her position as a complete nerd. 

Yellowstone co-creator's new star-studded, rural America series Landman looks like it'll be another explosive Paramount Plus hit

Paramount Plus’ Apartment 7A trailer reveals the prequel story to 1960s horror hit Rosemary’s Baby

Micro nuclear reactors could cost as little as $20 million and launch by 2031 — but will it be enough for data center operators and the AI industry

Most Popular

• 2 You can get Apple's all-new AirPods 4 for as little as $49.99 at Best Buy - here's how
• 3 HONOR MagicBook Art 14
• 4 Worried about breaking SD cards? Lexar just revealed the world's first made from stainless steel
• 5 Apple Intelligence features explained - everything you need to know about Apple AI and when you can use it

• Stranger Things Season 5
• Deadpool and Wolverine
• The Batman 2
• Spider-Man 4
• Yellowstone Season 6
• Fallout Season 2
• The Last of Us Season 2
• Entertainment
• Streaming Guides

5 sci-fi movies on Netflix you need to watch in September 2024

What’s on tap in terms of Netflix sci-fi movies in September? Zack Snyder’s R-rated director’s cuts for the Rebel Moon movies are now streaming. This includes Rebel Moon – Chapter One: Chalice of Blood  and Rebel Moon – Chapter Two: Curse of Forgiveness . And all three Divergent films — Divergent, Insurgent , and  Allegiant —  leave Netflix at the end of the month, so stream them now before it’s too late.

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The adjustment bureau (2011), edge of tomorrow (2014), land of the lost (2009), rim of the world (2019).

Those films are only the tip of the iceberg for Netflix’s sci-fi selection. We have five more sci-fi recommendations that subscribers should save in their queue. Our selections include the most recent Star Trek live-action film, a whirlwind sci-fi romance with Matt Damon, and a Doug Liman action adventure.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been eight years since the last live-action Star Trek movie. With Star Trek 4 still in development, Star Trek Beyond   remains the final installment in the Star Trek reboot series. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the USS Enterprise are in the middle of a five-year mission when they are attacked by the alien warlord known as Krall (Idris Elba).

Krall and his troops capture and kill most of the crew, while the rest of the Enterprise, including Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto), crash-land on Altamid. Krall seeks the Abronath, a powerful weapon Kirk and crew recovered on a recent mission. To save the universe, Kirk must find a way to escape the hostile planet on another ship and stop Krall from completing his weapon and executing his plan for mass extinction. 

Stream Star Trek Beyond   on Netflix.

It’s rare to see an effective sci-fi romance, but The Adjustment Bureau   nails it by leaning into the theme of love transcending time and space. Politician David Norris (Damon) is an aspiring senator who meets a talented ballerina named Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). It’s love at first sight, yet the duo fails to exchange contact information.

One month later, David randomly reconnects with Elise and gets her name and phone number. After this meeting, David heads to work, where he accidentally learns a dark secret about his life: it’s predetermined. An organization known as the “Adjustment Bureau” guides David on a specific plan for his life, interfering when necessary to keep him on track. David’s plan does not include Elise, much to his dismay. Will David risk everything to be with Elise?

Stream The Adjustment Bureau   on Netflix.

Live, die, Tom Cruise, and repeat. The  Top Gun: Maverick actor stars in Doug Liman’s terrific alien invasion adventure Edge of Tomorrow . After Earth falls to powerful aliens known as “Mimics,” Major William Cage (Cruise), who has no combat experience, is forced to join an offensive attack on a French beach.

The attack turns out to be a suicide mission and quickly becomes a bloodbath for the military. Before Cage perishes, he gets stuck in a time loop, returning him to the previous morning. Cage relives the battle and dies again and again. He convinces Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) to train him and gains more experience as a soldier and becomes a better fighter. Edge of Tomorrow  is a fantastic showcase for Cruise and Blunt, as their chemistry carries this refreshing entry in the time-loop genre.

Stream Edge of Tomorrow   on Netflix.

It’s not every day you see Will Ferrell in a film with more genre elements besides comedy. Ferrell joined forces with Anna Friel and Danny McBride to star in Land of the Lost , based on the children’s adventure series from the 1970s. Rick Marshall (Ferrell) is an intelligent scientist behind quantum paleontology, which combines time warps and paleontology. Rick, Holly Cantrell (Anna Friel), and Will Stanton (Danny McBride) explore a mysterious fossil inside a theme park’s cave.

The trio are suddenly transported to a world with dinosaurs. Rick and company must use whatever resources they have, including a primate named Chaka, to find a way home. Land of the Lost  was extremely polarizing upon its release and received several Razzie nominations. Yet, acclaimed critic Roger Ebert awarded it three stars. That’s enough to warrant a stream.

Stream Land of the Lost on Netflix.

Rim of the World  is a throwback to the 1980s teen adventure movies like The Goonies   and  Stand by Me. Alex (Jack Gore), an introvert who is struggling to cope with the death of his father, heads to Camp Rim of the World in southern California for the summer. While at camp, Alex meets two other outcasts: Zhen Zhen (Miya Cech), a Chinese orphan, and Dariush (Benjamin Flores Jr.), a boy from a wealthy family. Suddenly, an alien invasion begins, leaving the teens to fend for themselves.

After a chance encounter with a dying astronaut, Alex is asked to transport a special key to a NASA lab in Pasadena. This key could be the deciding factor in ending the invasion. With the help of a mysterious teen named Gabriel (Alessio Scalzotto), Alex, Zhen Zhen, and Dariush begin the dangerous journey to the lab. Together, must work as one because the fate of humanity is now in the hands of these four teens.

Stream Rim of the World   on Netflix.

Editors’ Recommendations

• 3 action movies on Netflix you need to watch in September 2024
• 3 underrated movies on Hulu you need to watch in September 2024
• 5 underrated movies on Netflix you need to watch in September 2024
• 3 underrated Netflix movies you should watch this weekend (September 6-8)
• 3 underrated movies on Amazon Prime Video you need to watch in September
• Streaming Services

Those who love the sci-fi genre appreciate some of the more obscure titles as well as popular films of that ilk. There are low-budget classics as well as modern films with incredible special effects. If you’re into sci-fi, you probably appreciate how diverse the genre can be.

If you’re looking for a new movie to watch this month, we have some recommendations. These are three sci-fi movies on Peacock you need to watch in September. One or two you may have seen before but are worth watching again. Paul (2011) NEW Official PAUL Trailer

The summer movie season has ended on Netflix. The streamer released several high-profile romance films over the last few months. Hit Man, Richard Linklater's latest film starring Glen Powell as a fake gun-for-hire, and A Family Affair, a rom-com with Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron, were both two of the most popular Netflix movies of the summer.

Just because the season changes doesn't mean rom-coms have to stop. Netflix offers hundreds of romantic comedies for subscribers to stream right now. This September, watch these three rom-coms on Netflix: a Ben Stiller comedy, a high school dance film, and a teen romance. Along Came Polly (2004)

The long Labor Day weekend is here, and what better way to celebrate than to watch a good movie? Don't go to the movie theaters this weekend though; all they have debuting is Afraid, a crummy techno thriller about an evil Amazon Echo and a cheap biopic about Ronald Reagan. I did warn you.

Staying at home is always a great option to watch good flicks, especially if you have a Netflix subscription. But aside from new movies like The Union or the modern classic heist movie Logan Lucky, there are hundreds of underrated movies just begging to be watched and discovered. Here are three of them that will keep you occupied during this Labor Day weekend. Life (2017)

Set Phasers to Stream: Here’s Every ‘Star Trek’ Show and Movie You Can Watch on Paramount+

By Sage Anderson

Sage Anderson

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

From low-budget romps to high-energy blockbuster films,  Star Trek  has become one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of all time. While  Trek  has decades worth of TV, film, and animated iterations that might rival  Star Wars , it also has its own unique legacy and long-time, passionate cult following (and merch ).

In the past few years, the Trek television universe has become one of the highlights of original programming on Paramount+ . Helmed by Alex Kurtzman, series like  Star Trek : Lower Decks  and  Picard  have pushed the boundaries of what can be done with the universe’s canon in their first seasons so far.

This year for Star Trek Day, with the premiere episodes of several Trek series and “Short Treks” will be available to view for free from Sept. 7-13. The episodes can be watched from Paramount+’s partner platforms Amazon, Apple and Roku, their official YouTube page, Pluto TV and the Paramount+ free content hub (U.S. only).

From the new releases like the second season of Strange New Worlds , to the old adventures of the Enterprise ,  Deep Space 9 ,  Voyager , and more, here’s how to watch Star Trek in order online.

How Can I Watch Paramount+ Free Online?

When you sign up for a Paramount+ subscription , you can actually choose between two plans to watch Paramount+ online. Pricing for Paramount+ plans include Essential (with limited commercials) for $7.99/month, or ad-free with Showtime for $12.99/month. But if you’re still not sure about committing to a full subscription, you can always stream Paramount+ for free with a 7-day free trial .

For a limited time, the streamer is also slashing the price on its annual plan by 50%, bringing the cost down to just $29.99 a year . Normally $59.99, the new Paramount+ deal gets you access to its full library of content  for just $2.50 a month . Check out the latest Paramount+ deals here .

Buy Paramount+ Free Trial

Editor’s picks

The 100 best tv episodes of all time, the 250 greatest guitarists of all time, the 500 greatest albums of all time, 25 most influential creators of 2024.

What  Star Trek TV Shows Are Available on Paramount+?

Premiering on September 8, 1966 on NBC-TV,  Star Trek  brought in a new era of programming for the science fiction genre. Though it wasn’t a critical success at the time it aired, with all 79 episodes of the original series running in syndication, a devoted fan base grew. Decades later, there are eight TV series with hundreds of episodes, all currently streaming now on Paramount+ .

Here’s an updated list of all the  Star Trek shows on Paramount+. Note that this isn’t the official timeline for when these shows take place in canon — Enterprise  is actually the “earliest” Trek series—but we’ll cover that below.

• Star Trek: The Original Series  (1966-1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  (1973-1974)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation  (1987-1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  (1993-1999)
• Star Trek: Voyager  (1995-2001)
• Star Trek: Enterprise  (2001-2005)
• Star Trek: Discovery  (2017-Present)
• Star Trek:  Short Treks  (2018-Present)
• Star Trek: Picard  (2020-Present)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks  (2020-Present)
• Star Trek: Prodigy  (2021-Present)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)
• Star Trek: Section 31  (TBA)
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy  (TBA) 

What  Star Trek Movies Are Streaming on Paramount+?

Paramount+ is the home to all the films featuring the cast of the Original Series, while many other Trek films are also hosted on other streaming services. Here are the  Star Trek movies streaming on Paramount+ right now. 

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture  (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  (1982)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  (1984)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  (1986)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier  (1989)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  (1991)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: First Contact  (1996)
•   Star Trek: Insurrection  (1998)
• Star Trek: Nemesis  (2002)
• Star Trek  (2009)
• Star Trek Into Darkness  (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• Building Star Trek  (2016)  —  Documentary
• Woman In Motion  (2021) — Documentary 
• Trekkies 2  (2004) — Documentary 

DJ Khaled Talks Golf Essentials, His New Nesquik Collab, and What to Expect From 'Til Next Time'

Apple rarely holds sales, but you can get its tech for up to 55% off right now.

• Star Trek: The Original Series: “The Cage”
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Encounter at Farpoint, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Voyager: “Caretaker, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “The Emissary, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Enterprise: “Broken Bow Part I & II”
• Star Trek: The Animated Series: “Beyond the Farthest Star”
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Strange New Worlds”
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: “Second Contact”
• Star Trek: Discovery: “The Vulcan Hello”
• Star Trek: Picard: “Remembrance”
• Star Trek: Short Treks: “The Girl Who Made the Stars,” “The Trouble with Edward,” “Ask Not,” “Runaway,” and “Ephraim and Dot”

How to Watch Every Star Trek Movie and Show In Timeline Order

Figuring out chronological timeline of  Star Trek  over can be overwhelming for even the most seasoned of Trekkies. With over 50 years of mirrorverses, time traveling back and forth, alternate timelines and spin-offs, we’ve created a guide for how to watch every  Star Trek  series and film in order. We’ve organized it by Stardate instead of year of release for optimal accuracy, but note that some series like  TNG  and  DS9  run concurrently.

• Star Trek: Enterprise  (2151-2161)
• Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1 and 2  (2255-)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2255-) 
• Star Trek: The Original Series  (2265-2269)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  (2269-2270)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture  (2273)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  (2285)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  (2285)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  (2286/1986)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ( 2287)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  (2293)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation  (2364-2370)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  (2369-2375)
• Star Trek Generations  (2371)
• Star Trek: Voyager  (2371-2378)
• Star Trek: First Contact  (2373/2063)
• Star Trek: Insurrection  (2375)
• Star Trek: Nemesis  (2379)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks  (2380)
• Star Trek: Picard  (2399-)
• Star Trek: Discovery Season 3  (3155?)
• Star Trek: Short Treks  (2239-3300 Prime Timeline)

MTV VMAs 2024: See the Complete Winners List

Elon musk threatens taylor swift after harris endorsement: ‘i will give you a child’, taylor swift thanks boyfriend travis kelce as she accepts video of the year at 2024 vmas, stevie nicks recreates taylor swift's viral endorsement post, calls herself a 'childless dog lady'.

• Star Trek  (2258 Kelvin Timeline)
• Star Trek Into Darkness  (2259 Kelvin Timeline)
• Star Trek Beyond  (2263 Kelvin Timeline)

Every Star Trek Series Coming To Paramount+ This Year (And Beyond)

• Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 (2024)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 (2024) 
• Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 (2024) 
• Star Trek: Lower Decks  Season 5 (October 2024)
• Star Trek: Section 31  (TBA)
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy  (TBA)

DJ Khaled Talks Golf Essentials, His New Nesquik Collab, and What to Expect From 'Til Next Time'

• we the best
• By Jonathan Zavaleta
• DEAL OF THE DAY
• By Sage Anderson and Tim Chan

Sling's New Offer Lets You Stream Live TV Channels Online From $15

• STREAM FOR LESS
• By Tim Chan

How to Watch the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards Online Without Cable

• STREAMING GUIDE
• By John Lonsdale

From Bracelets to Lawn Signs, 'Swifties for Kamala' Merch Has Taken Over the Internet

• IN OUR KAMALA ERA

Most Popular

Chester bennington's son slams linkin park for replacing his late father with new singer emily armstrong: 'you have betrayed the trust' of fans, james earl jones, authoritative actor and voice of darth vader, dies at 93, prince harry & meghan markle made this announcement mere hours after kate middleton’s cancer update video, jay-z explains why kendrick lamar was chosen to perform at super bowl halftime show, you might also like, dua lipa announces u.s. dates for ‘radical optimism’ tour … but fans will have to wait till fall 2025, narciso rodriguez was influenced by his cuban roots in the most unexpected way, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, ‘transformers one’ review: this animated robot prequel is rusty around the edges, junior bridgeman buying 10% milwaukee bucks stake.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.