The teaser trailer of J.J. Abrams reinvention of Star Trek was shown before the screening of Cloverfield last night for press here in Sydney, Australia, which I was lucky enough to attend.. The description that first surfaced the web is spot on accurate..

So what’s in it? Well make no mistake, this is a teaser trailer.. No major characters, no famous pointed ears.. Instead, the teaser seems to be trying to make a connection between our world and the Trek envisioned future.. Star Trek was never envisioned as some fantasy world by Gene Roddenberry, it was always supposed to be the ideal of what mankind could become.. Something to shot for, not some space - faring version of Lord of the Rings.. That misconception does seem to be something they’re trying to correct in the movie’s teaser.. Tomorrow’s Entertainment is going to boldly go where no website has gone before, providing you with an exclusive sneak peek of the all - new U.S.S. Enterprise.. This is the first photo released from the eagerly anticipated Star Trek film..

More of an early teaser than a true teaser trailer - ie. much like that first Batman exploding logo trailer for The Dark Knight - the short clip shows construction workers welding something big whilst excerpts from the Apollo 11 mission are heard.. It goes a little something like this.. We hear:

“ The eagle has landed..”

Huge overhead shot pans across [ and ] suddenly [ shows ] what looks like miles of scaffolding underneath..

Title: “ The future begins..”

Really impressive shot from people all over the ship and you can see a huge industrialized city or shipyard in the background.. It’s being built on Earth [ rather than ] in space..

Neil Armstrong: “ One small step for man..”

Camera slowly cranes up over the whole saucer section with the name USS Enterprise emblazoned on it in big letters ( Rather than the registry number ) held in giant construction scaffolding..

Then we hear Leonard Nimoy’s line: “ Space.. The final frontier..” and the familiar Star Trek theme horns..

The shot continues [ and reveals ] the writing on the top of the saucer – “ U.S.S. Enterprise ” - and these huge aircraft - like warp engines in the background.. Technically, the first reveal of what we’re seeing..

Just the Starfleet log ( No title )..

The only thing revealing about the clip is that the Enterprise in this, the saucer section anyway, looks exactly like the one used in the first six Trek films.. Otherwise it’s a nice trailer for Trek fans like myself but won’t pull in new people, makes no mention that its a reboot in anyway, and doesn’t show anything new for the franchise..

Certainly the only sounds coming from a packed audience at the screening I was at were mock laughter and comments like ‘ nope ‘ or ‘ pass..’ The trailer itself will be online on Monday, and we will bring it to you of course.. Personally I liked it more than that, but it does absolutely nothing to rest my grave concerns over the project - its one that will either be genius or a disaster and whilst one believes in those involved in it ( Abrams is a good choice, as is the casting ), it’s hard not to be skeptical..

Star Trek opens in theaters on the 25th December 2008..