Revisionist Star Trek with few Latinos beamed onto DVD this past week; directed by J.J. Abrams's, this new "Star Trek" was released this past summer. Producers described Star Trek as classical music and Star Wars as rock and roll. They wanted for this alternate Science Fiction reality was to add rock to the Trek, and they got it.

The re-make of one of the all-time best science fiction television and movie soap operas is nothing more than revamping an old franchise. Because of time travel in this universe, an alternate reality has been created meaning there can be new adventures with a new crew doing impersonations of the original TV cast.

On TrekWeb.com, fan Miguel wrote that Latinos are highly underrepresented in the new film. And as reported on The LA Weekly Blog, "'Scotty was Irish -- no, Scottish. He was Celtic. But how come no Latinos?! Que pasa?!!!'

"The man's exasperated comment echoes frustrations by Latino trekkies who love the movie but wonder why the Enterprise's international crew and the story's inter-galactically diverse characters couldn't have included one Latino. There are some justifications: The crew must mimic the original TV series which, even though its multi-ethnic casting seemed enlightened in the 1960s, had no Latino characters. And besides, the film has Latino actors and one of its two writers, Roberto Orci, was born in Mexico. Still, these only sound like excuses to those who feel left out."

However, watched on the small screen, where Star Trek began, the film grew on this reviewer after 3 viewings. There's something exciting about seeing a spectacle from one's youth re-vamped and resurrected despite the lack of Latinos.

Hope this doesn't spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet but Spock's mother doesn't have to die, the Vulcan planet doesn't have to be destroyed and Captain Pike's loss of his legs foregoes one of the original premises from the original series,  "The Menagerie."

This is nit-picking of a fan however this "Star Trek" is an engaging action fun filled movie. Previous Star Trek films were always sensitive to Star Trek's unique fictional history and to the fans anal attention to detail.

When Gene Roddenberry first created "Star Trek" in the 1960s, westerns were big on TV. He meant for his show to be a wagon train to the stars and he based Kirk on Captain Horatio Hornblower. What this new "Star Trek" lacks is the thoughtfulness and pacing of its origins. It's all blam, bop, boom comic book movies and gone are thoughtful insights into humanity. Because this philosophy is what made the original "Star Trek" great, not space ships, phasers or beam outs, but the social ideas effecting humanity. No matter what the alien, everyone is human, but here there's no time for that when planets need destroying and Kirk gets into another bar room brawl.   

However, in all fairness, if you've never seen Star Trek and just want a good old fashioned Buck Rogers Saturday matinee at the movies, this is the film for you, a rollercoaster ride. Each performance is genuine, if a caricature of the original cast. 

For sure, in Mel Brook's "Space Balls," the character Yogurt, a parody of Yoda, says that "we'll all meet again in "Space Balls 2, the search for more money." This satirical line is the absolute intergalactic truth when discussing revisionist "Star Trek."

Other My Latino Voice articles on Star Trek / Zoe Saldana:

Star Trek on DVD: Few Latinos In Revisionist Version

Where's Our Bond Girl?

Zoe Zaldana: Star Trek and Boarding School

Today: Hispanic Flavor of the Month