Introduction

Star Trek Beyond is a 2016 American science fiction action film directed by Justin Lin, written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung, and based on the television series Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry.

It is the 13th film in the Star Trek film franchise and the third instalment in the reboot series, following Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprise their respective roles as Captain James T. Kirk and Commander Spock, with Pegg, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, and Anton Yelchin reprising their roles from the previous films.

This was one of Yelchin’s last films before his death in June 2016.

Idris Elba, Sofia Boutella, Joe Taslim, and Lydia Wilson also appear.

Outline

The starship USS Enterprise arrives at starbase Yorktown, for resupply and shore leave for its crew.

Struggling to find meaning in their exploration, Captain James T. Kirk has applied for a promotion to vice admiral; he recommends Spock as his replacement.

Meanwhile, Hikaru Sulu reunites with his family, Montgomery Scott works to keep the ship operational, and Spock and Nyota Uhura have ended their relationship; Spock also receives word from New Vulcan that Ambassador Spock has died.

Enterprise is dispatched on a rescue mission after an escape pod drifts out of a nearby uncharted nebula. Its occupant, Kalara, claims her ship is stranded on Altamid, a planet in the nebula. A massive swarm of small ships ambushes and quickly begins to tear the Enterprise apart. The swarm’s leader, Krall, and his crew board the crippled Enterprise, capture and kill many crew members, and attempt to capture the Abronath, a relic recovered during a recent mission. Kirk orders the crew to abandon ship, leaving the remains of the Enterprise saucer section to crash on Altamid.

On the planet, Krall captures Sulu, Uhura, and other survivors. Kirk and Pavel Chekov, accompanied by Kalara, locate the Enterprise’s saucer section.

Knowing that Kalara knew they would be attacked, they trick her into revealing herself as Krall’s spy. She is killed when Kirk and Chekov escape Krall’s soldiers and flip the Enterprise saucer on Kalara.

Elsewhere on the planet, Dr. Leonard McCoy and a wounded Spock search for other survivors. Spock explains to McCoy that the tension he witnessed between him and Uhura at Yorktown was due to his intention to leave Starfleet to help the Vulcan survivors, and continue the late Ambassador Spock’s work.

Jaylah, a scavenger who previously escaped Krall’s encampment where her father was killed, rescues Scott and takes him to her makeshift home, the grounded USS Franklin, an early Starfleet vessel reported missing over a century earlier.

Scott is reunited with Kirk, Chekov, McCoy and Spock. Krall coerces the Enterprise crew to hand over the Abronath, then uses it to complete an ancient bioweapon. With the device complete, Krall intends to kill Yorktown’s inhabitants, then use the base to attack the United Federation of Planets. Kirk and the others free the crew as Krall launches into space with the bioweapon, leading his drones to Yorktown.

The Enterprise survivors power up the Franklin and launch her in pursuit of Krall. Theorising the swarm’s system may be vulnerable to high frequencies such as VHF or radio, they jam and destroy the swarm by broadcasting the song “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.

Krall is chased by the Franklin through Yorktown. Uhura and Kirk discover from the Franklin’s logs that Krall is actually Balthazar Edison, Franklin’s former captain. A pre-Federation human soldier, Edison rejected the Federation’s principles of unity and cooperation with former enemies like the Xindi and the Romulans.

When he and his crew were stranded on Altamid by a wormhole, the survivors used the extinct natives’ technology to prolong their lives at the cost of the others, and re-purposed the ancient race’s dormant drone workers into the swarm.

Thinking the Federation had abandoned them, Edison planned to destroy the Federation and resume galactic conflict. Kirk pursues Edison into Yorktown’s ventilation system, where Edison activates the bioweapon. Before it can spread, Kirk ejects it and Edison into space, where the weapon kills Edison. Using an alien ship they commandeered, Spock and McCoy save Kirk moments before he is also blown into space.

In the aftermath, Commodore Paris closes the files of Captain Edison and the USS Franklin crew. Though offered the promotion to vice admiral, Kirk decides to remain in his position as a captain; Spock chooses to remain in Starfleet, and renews his relationship with Uhura.

On Kirk’s recommendation, Jaylah is accepted into Starfleet Academy. As the crew celebrates Kirk’s birthday, they watch the construction of their new ship, the USS Enterprise-A – and resume their mission.

Star Trek Films

You can find a full index of Star Trek films here.

Star Trek TV Series, Films, and Documentaries

You can find a full index of Star Trek TV series, films, documentaries here.

Trivia (Film)

• Principal photography began in Vancouver on 25 June 2015.
• The film premiered in Sydney on 07 July 2016, and was released in the United States on 22 July 2016, by Paramount Pictures.
• The film is dedicated to the memory of Yelchin, as well as to actor Leonard Nimoy, who died during pre-production.
• The film grossed $343.5 million at the box office, and received generally positive reviews with praise for its acting, action sequences, musical score, visual effects, and tributes to Yelchin and Nimoy.
• At the 89th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, but lost to Suicide Squad.

Trivia (General)

You can read interesting trivia and background details about the Star Trek franchise here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Justin Lin.
• Producer(s): JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, Lindsey Weber, and Justin Lin.
• Writer(s): Simon Pegg and Doug Jung.
• Music: Michael Giacchino.
• Cinematography: Stephen F. Windon.
• Editor(s): Kelly Matsumoto, Dylan Highsmith, Greg D-Auria, and Steven Sprung.
• Production: Skydance Productions, Bad Robot Productions, Sneaky Shark Productions, and Perfect Storm Entertainment.
• Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures.
• Release Date: 07 July 2016 (Sydney) and 22 July 2016 (US).
• Running Time: 122 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.