Star Trek: Who Looks the Most like their Original?

 Pictured above is Chris Pine and William Shatner as the captain of the iconic star ship The USS Enterprise, Captain James T. Kirk. Shater (above picture, right) played the role in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969) as well as in the first several Star Trek films: The Motion Picture (1979), Wrath of Khan (1982), Search for Spock (1984), The Voyage Home (1986), The Final Frontier (1989), The Undiscovered Country, (1991) and finally, Generations (1994). Kirk was then not in the series until the reboot-remake-sequel-ception of a movie, Star Trek (2009), in which he was portrayed by actor Chris Pine (above picture, left). Pine also played Kirk in the most recent film in the franchise, Into Darkness (2013). Now, Shatner got a reputation for over-acting and all, but he did bring this character to life. Pine said he avoided trying to mimic Shatner in any way acting-wise, as he felt it would come off as a bad impression.

Following Kirk, naturally, comes his second-in-command, Commander Spock. Originally portrayed by Leonard Nimoy (above, left) in both the Original Series (he is the only character to appear in every episode), the first six movies, and having an appearance in Star Trek: Next Generation (1987-1994). Spock is more or less the most iconic character of the original series, if not the entire franchise (I know, that is debatable, but for me he is). In the 2009 movie as well as its sequel Into Darkness, the character Spock returned, this time portrayed by Zachery Quinto (above, right). Quinto has many similar features like Nimoy, but the true test is the fact that he actually gets to share screen time not once, but twice with Nimoy in both films that he (Quinto) is in.

The role of the Doctor (no not that Doctor) was brought to life by DeForest Kelly (above, right) in the original series and the first several movies. As the voice of sarcasm, he often had more of the humorous lines. Following the end of his Star Trek run in the movies, Kelly also appeared as Dr. "Bones" McCoy in the pilot episode of Next Generation. In 2009, he was portrayed by Karl Urban (above, left), who was one of the two actors I had seen prior to 2009, as he played Eomer in Lord of the Rings (2002/2003).

Uhura in the original series and first several films was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols (above, left). Her role in the series was an important one at the time, not as much to the show as it was to the community at the time. Her role avoided many of the black woman stereotypes of the time. In the newer films, she is portrayed by Zoe Saldana (above, right), who was the other actor who I had seen prior to seeing Star Trek, as she played the role of Anna Maria in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003).

Sulu with his amazingly smooth voice was brought to life in the original series and films by George Takei (above, left). Even though he was Japanese, Sulu, according to Takei, was meant to represent all of the Asians. Some fans were either up in arms or confused that Sulu in the newer films is portrayed by Korean actor John Cho (above, right). Even with the whole "alternate reality" in the newer films, Sulu changes nationality all together.

Montgomery Scott, best known by the name "Scotty", was originally portrayed by James Doohan (pictured above, right). Even though he didn't appear in every episode, the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" is well known, even outside of Star Trek. Doohan was one of three Original Series actors to appear in seven films out of the 10 original cast films (which do include Next Generation characters). More recently, Scotty is portrayed by Simon Pegg (above, left).

Chekov, played by Walter Keonig (above, left), was the last member of the regular cast of the Original Series and was not added in until the second season, where he temporarily replaced Sulu while George Takei had other commitments. Upon his return to the show part way through season two, Takei was unhappy that there was a "replacement" character in his place and was prepared to hate Keonig. However, the two of them ended up becoming best friends. In the new films, Chekov is played by Anton Yelchin (above, right). Yelchin has one thing going for him that Keonig did not have, and that is the fact that Yelchin is actually Russian, whereas Keonig was American. Keonig's misuse of the sound of the letter "W" for "V" sounds (which is not really a trait for a Russian accent) was kept in the newer films, even though Yelchin is Russian.

So here's the big question: Which one of these new actors looks the most like their Original Series predecessor?  For me personally, I'd say it's Spock. While he may not be an exact match (that would be both impossible and highly illogical), the fact that he can stand up opposite Leonard Nimoy and pull it off makes him an obvious choice. What do you think? Let me know in the comments!

Best of the Worst #2 - More Movie Mistakes!

Here are five more Best of the Worst mistakes made in movies!

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The movie's villain, Khan Noonien Singh, was first introduced into Star Trek lore in the Original Series episode Space Seed. At the beginning of this film, he recognizes Chekov and says he "never forgets a face". However, Space Seed was a season one episode, and Checov was not introduced into the series until season two, so Khan should not have known Chekov at all.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
When Harry and Hermione go back in time and witness events earlier in the movie, nearly every single event takes a ridiculously longer amount of time the second time through than they did the first time. Some events happen differently all together. It's not like they are changing the past, because the way time travel works in the Harry Potter world cannot change the past, anything they do the second time was done the first time, just unbeknownst to them.

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007)
Do I even need to say? Forgive me, I do all these mistakes from memory and I haven't seen National Treasure 2 in years. But I do remember that if you actually sat down and did the math, you'd notice that next to NONE of the clues add up. Some of them would have had to have been made before the next clue could have even existed. After the first movie being such a great movie, the whole sequel itself was one big mistake anyway.

The Hunger Games (2012)
At the end of the film when Katniss, Peeta, and Cato are surrounded by the Muttations ontop of the cornucopia, Katniss only has one arrow that she shoots Cato in the hand with. However, when she mercy-kills Cato from the Mutts, she suddenly has another arrow.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
I can probably list one mistake from this movie in every single Best of the Worst post (and probably will. As much as I love the Indiana Jones movies, I can't deny that this film is full of mistakes). This movie is riddled with mistakes, but one of the most aggravating to me is the amount of unsynchronized audio clips. So many lines of dialogue in the movie don't match up to the actors' lip movements. This happens throughout the entire film. Who edited this film? Michal Khan...