Star Trek Beyond (DVD)

Stars: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Sofia Boutella, Lydia Wilson, Shohreh Aghdashloo

Director: Justin Lin

While emphasising a return to old values and camaraderie, this is well up to the best of the Star Trek films since the series was first rebooted in 1979. It has a good script, part-written by co-star Pegg, now well into the role of Scotty, a no-nonsense plot and a strong villain in Elba's Krall, out to obtain a gizmo with which he can control - well, what else? - the universe of course.

Out to put a stop to his inter-galactic game are Captain James T Kirk (Pine, blue eyes gleaming) and the crew of the good ship Enterprise.

After a slowish beginning, things soon pick up as the Enterprise is dispatched on a rescue mission through nebulae to a distant planet, where the captain (Wilson) of a starship insists her crew are being held by Krall and his villainous horde, who quickly unleash hundreds of mosquito-like fighters against the Enterprise, which is forced to crash-land, putting its crew at the mercy of the planet's predators.

Lots and lots of action follows, including Kirk doing a Steve McQueen on a super-hyped motorbike.

David Quinlan

USA/Canada 2016. UK Distributor: Paramount. Colour by deluxe.
116 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 12.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 20 Nov 2016