As reported by TrekMovie.com, the limited edition ornament, which features Lieutenant Uhura in a gold uniform, should sell out quickly, with only four hundred and fifty of them being offered for sale at this year’s Comic-Con.

The Uhura ornament is a repainted version of the 2007 limited edition Uhura from Keepsake artist Anita Marra Rogers.

Fans can stop by the Hallmark booth, located within the Lucasfilm Pavilion, at Comic-Con from July 23-26 (with a special preview night on July 22nd,) where the ornament will be available until it has sold out.

For those who can’t make it to Comic-con, not to worry. Hallmark will offer another limited edition Star Trek ornament featuring Ilia (Star Trek: The Motion Picture.) The Ilia ornament features the Deltan woman wearing the white costume seen on Ilia after she became the eyes and ears of “V’Ger”.

The Ilia ornament will be available for purchase beginning on October 10th, the first day of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Debut Weekend. It is expected to sell briskly.

Other Hallmark ornaments for 2009 include a Klingon Battlecruiser, a scene from The Menagerie (Kirk, Spock and Christopher Pike,) and a Starfleet phaser ornament.

To read more, head to the article located here.

As reported by MTV, one of the scenes provoking much discussion by fans is the destruction of Vulcan, one of the founding members of the Federation. “The scariest thing about [destroying Vulcan] was us having to pitch that to Leonard Nimoy,” explained Kurtzman. “‘Hi, I know we just met, but let me tell you about what happens to your home planet.’” The reasoning for destroying Vulcan and not bringing it back via some type of reset was to let people know that the future in Star Trek was going to be an unknown, and at times unsettling, thing. “We internally debated [the destruction] for a while, but ultimately decided that we wanted to announce that this was really going to be a different future for all of our cast and crew,” said Kurtzman. “And destroying Vulcan was, in a way, a sacred cow to both honor and to remove.”

The destruction of Vulcan wasn’t the only controversial part of Star Trek XI. The relationship between Spock and Uhura has raised some eyebrows. “”Obviously, very tricky was the relationship between Spock and Uhura,” explained Orci. “I think everybody knows that the first interracial kiss [on TV] was between Kirk and Uhura on the original series, but there was never a relationship between the two of them.”

There was a very good reason for including the relationship, according to Orci. “It was a decision that was made largely because Spock had just suffered the death of his planet, and you felt for him so dramatically, and in a moment like that the person he would talk to, in his own Spock way, would have been Kirk, except him and Kirk weren’t friends at that point. So, it felt like there was an organic way to make Uhura his secret confidante. What happens in that scene is that you are paying tribute to a variant of what happened in the original series, and want Spock to have a hug in that scene. And because he can’t express emotion, we felt like [Uhura kissing Spock was] a really good way to allow the audience to do that for him.”

To read the article, head to the link located here.

As reported by The Cinema Source, Pine paid attention to the small details of Kirk, so that his portrayal of Kirk would be similar to that of William Shatner. “You watch the show, you know what Kirk does,” he said. “What resonated for me were certain physical things. There’s a way that he holds his body and moves about the deck of the ship that’s very, it’s almost theatrical, you see his kind of theatrical training in his gait and in the way he carries his body, in the way he sits in the chair.” “I just picked up on certain things that I talked to J.J. about,” said Pine. “Then he agreed with me and said ‘how can we chart the growth of my character into what Mr. Shatner had done throughout the course of our movie,’ and that led to certain inclusions, you know.”

Pine found the physical demands of portraying Captain Kirk more difficult. “We learned everything from boxing to Muay Thai boxing to krav maga to self defense to all these different martial arts and disciplines,” he said. “And then, we learned the choreography for the specific fight scenes. It’s been a bumpy road. I just didn’t quite realize that it would be quite as difficult physically demanding shoot as it turned out to be.”

The amount of physical training required was a bit of a challenge for Zachary Quinto too. “Well, there was a group of us that sort of had a Star Trek boot camp for a few months, leading up to shooting,” he said. “[which included] Chris Pine, John Cho, myself, in preparation for some of the physical work that we would do in the movie. So that changed my routine because it was more structured than my own personal physical workout regiment.”

Quinto gave his opinion regarding the surprising romantic relationship between Spock and Uhura. “I think it was one of the boldest re-imaginings of the characters as we known them in the past,” said Quinto. “So I felt that was a risk and the risk pays off on a number of levels because I think it infuses the story with a certain amount of levity and humor between Uhura and Kirk and Kirk and Spock. But between Uhura and Spock, I think it provides a certain kind of depth. And Uhura provides a canvas in a way to which Spock would be able to project the emotions that he would not be able to otherwise express. And that for me, for the journey of this particular story was really valuable.”

To read more, head to the articles located here and here.

As reported by TrekMovie.com, in her research to understand what it was to be a Star Trek fan, Saldana watched Trekkies 1 and 2 as well as Star Trek episodes. “I didn’t even know what the word ‘Trekkie’ meant,” said Saldana. “So I didn’t know what conventions were. I knew of Star Trek, but not extensively. So part of doing my research to have the feel to be a Trekkie and to go to these conventions.” In watching the fans, Saldana felt a yearning to feel the passion that fans felt for a show begun over forty years ago. “I remember watching it and the people around me were sort of laughing at everything,” she said. “…I felt so overwhelmed and I felt so happy that I remember thinking ‘I want to be like that. I want to be so passionate about something that I incorporate it in my every day life and it is the reason I wake up and it fulfills me.’ So it was through the fans that I became very, very curious. What is it about this show and these characters and these stories that drew people to keep it alive after forty some years after only a few seasons?”

Saldana expresses her own passion through acting. “I am mostly passionate about what I do as an actor,” she said. “I love being able to tell stories. The participation of storytelling is what keeps me obsessed. I guess I am a Trekkie for movies.”

Speaking of passion, what about the Uhura-Spock romance? “I thought J.J. [Abrams] was out of his mind when he and Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman decided to take that route,” said Saldana. “My concerns was what effect it was going to have on the fan community and whether or not it was going to go according to what they had known for so long. But at the same time there was no way to disprove that something like that had taken place before on the Enterprise.”

To read more, head to the article located here.

As reported by Suicidegirls, not only is Spock more emotional in Star Trek XI, but he gets the girl. “I’ll tell you, I was bemused by it when I read it in the script,” said Leonard Nimoy. I thought it was incredible.”
Spock’s emotions are seen, says Zachary Quinto, because Spock is at an earlier point in his life, where he hasn’t figured out the proper balance that works best for him. “I think there’s a duality and an internal conflict because he’s really split between those two halves of himself but I just don’t think he’s gained the kind of control over that duality that Leonard had when he played the character. That’s the journey of this character. It’s not that he won’t arrive there. It’s not that he possesses more humanity than Vulcanity, it’s just he’s juggling to define it.”

As for the relationship between Spock and Uhura and the claims that there were never hints of it in the original series, Karl Urban (McCoy) would tend to disagree with that, pointing out one instance where one might see the hint of something between the two characters. “If I may just express some of my Star Trek knowledge here,” he said, “there was, I do remember, one particular episode where Spock was playing, what was that instrument? … And Uhura was singing and caressing his ears, and it was one of the most hypnotic scenes in the original series. So I think, while that relationship wasn’t developed, it certainly was there in subtext.”

According to Quinto, “…for me the relationship really provided a great source of levity in the film between Kirk and Spock, between Kirk and Uhura. But between Spock and Uhura I think it provides a really interesting depth in that Uhura ultimately represents a canvas on to which Spock projects the emotions that he can’t otherwise express.”

But Spock feels those emotions. “I think he experiences deeply run emotions and I think that especially in the context of the relationship with his mother,” explained Quinto. “I think there’s a real depth of feeling. The only thing I feel I had to strip myself of was the ability to express it in a conventional way. I think that’s really the dilemma of Spock ultimately, because if he doesn’t feel emotion, then there’s no conflict within him. So the conflict exists in the feeling, the deeply rooted and sublimated feeling of emotion without the opportunity to do much with it other than hold it, which is really challenging and can be painful.”

To read more, head to the article located here.

As seen at YouTube, “This is not your father’s Star Trek,” claims the new thirty-second ad for Star Trek XI. Much of the ad contains scenes shown previously, with new footage augmenting some of those scenes.The fight on the Romulan drilling platform is seen in more detail,including a parachute-less Sulu’s tumble off of the platform with Kirkjumping off to try to rescue him.

As reported by Esquire, Star Trek XI is still a month away for most fans, but some are already well-aware of Saldana and have made their presence known to the actress who plays Uhura.“I’ve already had a [fan] come up to the door of my house,” said Saldana. “And I had a driver for another movie who brought all of his Star Trek memorabilia with him. He opened the trunk and there was this shrine. He had stacks of pictures he wanted me to sign. He ended up being the nicest guy, but it definitely freaked me out at first.”

Perhaps that male attention is due to the miniskirt that she wears as Uhura. “During the shoot it kept getting shorter and shorter,” she said.

In spite of her early experiences with a few Star Trek fans, Saldana doesn’t hold it against Star Trek fandom in general. “I’ve developed a real respect for Trekkies,” she said.

To read more, head to the article located here.

As reported by MTV and Yahoo, the first clip offers insight into how Kirk got into a barfight. The second video clip features an angry Dr. McCoy, who meets James T. Kirk for the first time. (Mild spoilers follow.)
In the first video clip, Kirk’s obnoxious manner towards Uhura is nothing she can’t handle. “I’m impressed,” she tells him after he correctly identifies her area of expertise. “For a moment there, I thought you were just a dumb hick, who only has sex with farm animal.” “Well,” replies Kirk. “Not only.”

But not so impressed were friends of hers, who try to warn him off, but the brash Kirk is more than ready, or so he thinks, to take on any who wish to brawl with him.

The second video clip features a Dr. McCoy who is reluctant to settle down and take his seat on a shuttle. He finally complies, but lets Kirk, seated next to him, hear all about it.

To see the Kirk/Uhura seen, head to the website located here. The McCoy-Kirk clip is located here.

As reported by Blackfilm.com, Abram’s interest in working with Saldana and liking her work was enough for her to agree to meet with him. “For an actor, that’s all you need,” she said. “That’s all you want. To get the acknowledgement and respect from your peers; and so I went out and met him. He then said, ‘I don’t need to see you anymore’ and I felt really good. I felt like I did it. I earned it.” Although not a fan of the original series prior to her work on StarTrek XI, Saldana has praise for Star Trek now. “…I have so muchadmiration for what they did,” she said, “and how much the seriescontinues to grow after 45 years and I had the honor of meetingNichelle Nichols and working with Leonard Nimoy and it was fantastic.”

Nichelle Nichols helped her with preparing to take on the role ofUhura. “I was able to sit down with her and she told me the whole storyof how Uhura came to be and where they were going with her character,but it all fell into place the moment she walked into the door andauditioned for the part,” said Saldana. “She named the characterherself and it was a special thing and she felt as an artist, she wasgoing to make the part big.”

Saldana also spoke to Leonard Nimoy, but was a bit intimidated by him.”You can only talk to Leonard for a little while,” she explained. “He’sso awesome. There’s not a lot I can say when I’m standing next to him.He’s a legend.”

To read more, head to the article located here.