J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Stole 2 Things From Voyager

Summary Star Trek (2009) borrowed and improved upon two dramatic moments from Voyager season 3, enhancing the impact of those scenes.

Kirk and Sulu's fight on Nero's drill and subsequent rescue after they fall were both moments first done in two different Voyager episodes.

J.J. Abrams interpreted the Voyager scenes better, making them more memorable in a higher-stakes setting.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (2009) stole two things from Star Trek: Voyager season 3. Voyager was the fifth overall entry into the Star Trek timeline and focused on Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of the USS Voyager as they traveled through the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 lightyears from Earth. In contrast, Star Trek (2009) was a reimagining of the early lives of the main characters from Star Trek: The Original Series, featuring alternate timeline versions of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and the other TOS characters on their first mission aboard the USS Enterprise.

Despite how different Voyager and Star Trek (2009) were, Star Trek projects tend to borrow from each other often. This can take the form of sharing characters between various series or movies, but more often than not, small plot details or storylines are taken and reused from one entry to another. This was the case with Star Trek (2009), which, along with providing a fresh look at the TOS cast, borrowed and repurposed two minor plotlines from Voyager season 3.

Related Every Upcoming Star Trek Movie & TV Show Star Trek is ending series like Discovery and Lower Decks but renewed Strange New Worlds while setting up new streaming and theatrical movies.

Star Trek (2009) Stole 2 Dramatic Moments From Different Voyager Season 3 Episodes

Voyager did a couple of popular Star Trek (2009) scenes first

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The first moment Star Trek (2009) stole from Voyager ended up being one of the film's best scenes, where Kirk and Hikaru Sulu (John Cho) engaged in a fight with the film's Romulan villains on the platform of Nero's (Eric Bana) planetary drill. The fight took place in the upper atmosphere of Vulcan where Nero's ship was using the drill in their plan to destroy the planet. This echoed a similar fight that Tuvok (Tim Russ) engaged in with an alien named Sklar (Kelly Connell) during the Voyager season 3 episode "Rise" on the top of a maglev elevator.

Although both moments were suitably dramatic, Star Trek (2009) unequivocally interpreted each scene better than Voyager.

The second stolen moment in Star Trek (2009) came directly after the first when Kirk and Sulu were beamed back up to the ship after both of them fell from the drill and began plummeting toward Vulcan. Beaming someone mid-fall was also used in Voyager, in the season 3 episode "Darkling." During the episode's climax, the Doctor (Robert Picardo) and Kes (Jennifer Lien) were beamed up to Voyager after the two of them had jumped off a cliff. Although both moments were suitably dramatic, Star Trek (2009) unequivocally interpreted each scene better than Voyager.

How Star Trek (2009) Improved On Its Voyager Season 3 Steals

J.J. Abrams made both the scenes he stole from Voyager better

In Voyager, both the transportation scene and upper atmosphere fight were relatively lower stakes, especially since the episodes they came from were some of the lowest-rated of season 3. In Star Trek (2009), the fight and transportation were two of the most memorable scenes in the film, partially thanks to the movie's stakes being higher, but also because of how both events play out. The beaming scene in particular was a highlight, providing some memorable dialogue and a great moment for Ensign Chekov (Anton Yelchin). Star Trek (2009) used both concepts to the plot’s advantage much more than Voyager.

Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek: Voyager are both available to stream on Paramount+.