Las Vegas Weekly

May 7, 2009 · 9:09 AM

Photo Gallery: Villain invades the Palms on eve of Star Trek release

By Robin Leach

Star Trek director J.J. Abrams addresses his cast.

Photo: Paramount Pictures

Actor Clifton Collins Jr., who portrays new Romulan character Gen. Ayel, the sinister deputy to Romulan Nero (played by actor Eric Bana) in the new Star Trek, will make an appearance at the Brenden Theatres at the Palms tonight when Star Trek will be presented in traditional 35mm and IMAX formats.

Clifton will introduce the first public showing of the expected box office blockbuster and will then meet fans at 8 p.m. for a photo and autograph session. Devoted Trekkies can start lining up at 4 p.m.

Having seen a screening of the film, which tells the tale of how young Spock and Kirk team up for the first time aboard the maiden voyage of the USS Star Fleet Enterprise, I can safely predict that the great storyline, unbelievable special effects and life in the future will be one of the biggest movies of the summer. Who knew that Spock and Lt. Uhura were love mates?!

Chris Pine, who was recently in Las Vegas at ShoWest, plays Commander James Kirk. Young Spock is played by Zachary Quinto, who is an amazing younger version of Leonard Nimoy (Leonard, thanks to intergalactic time travel, makes a solid guest appearance in the film as the very-aged Vulcan). The movie’s subplot is their bitter rivalry that clashes violently to become a power partnership to fight the unimaginable horrors of the Romulans!

Director J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible III, Alias and Cloverfield) helmed the flick, which also stars John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban and Anton Yelchin.

For more details, photos and a trailer, go to www.startrekmovie.com. Click HERE or below for the trailer on YouTube:

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Share This