Lots of important anniversaries recently.
September 8th marks the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek.
That's right, The Man Trap aired as the series premiere on September 8, 1966. A groundbreaking series, socially and technologically, it evolved into a franchise that has inspired the world we live in today.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (late 80s and early to mid 90s), was probably my favourite series of the franchise so far. I enjoyed the storytelling and the characters.
I also enjoyed Deep Space 9, a darker and more realistic portrayal of a "utopian" future. It was the first series in the franchise to confront the challenges of achieving and maintaining the idealic future Gene Roddenberry had envisioned. Here's a fairly well written article about DS9:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/deep-space-nine-is-star-treks-best-world-because-its-t-1786060432Voyager and Enterprise (and for me, most of the "reboot" movies) were disappointing. Voyager and Enterprise had some excellent episodes, but overall, they started to recycle storylines and just weren't as strong in my view.
My favourite movie of the franchise was Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn. An all-time classic! The Voyage Home (hilarious movie) and First Contact were also very good. The Undiscovered Country I enjoyed greatly and too a slightly lesser extent I liked Generations.
What made the franchise special has been diluted greatly by the reboot movies. Although I found the first reboot entertaining, Into Darkness I found borderline offensive as a fan. Beyond was better, but my interest recently hasn't been what it one was.
In spite of its recent failings, it's hard to imagine a franchise that's had a bigger impact on the world than Star Trek. It was an important part of my life for many of my younger years as well.
Happy 50th Anniversary, Star Trek!
