Film Studies Librarian
Dartmouth College
25 N Main ST
Hanover, NH 03755
Other library resource(s)
Star Trek from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Few popular narratives in recent history have generated as much cultural material as Star Trek: six television series and eleven feature films, as well as novels, comic books, video and role-playing games, conventions, websites, and fan fictions. In other words, Star Trek is more than just a television show and feature film franchise.
Internet resources
- TrekCoreToday TrekCore is the premiere STAR TREK web site, serving daily news on all aspects of the franchise including early episode plot information, feature film production reports and early script reviews, the latest in TREK merchandise and more.
A quick definition for science fiction films (including Star Trek)
A genre characterized by stories involving conflicts between science and technology, human nature, and social organization in futuristic or fantastical settings, created in cinema through distinctive iconographies, images, and sounds often produced by means of special effects technology. All the technologies of cinematic illusion are displayed at their most cutting-edge state in science-fiction films, and this has been true since the earliest years of cinema, when trick films like Le voyage dans la lune/A Trip to the Moon (Georges Méliès, France, 1902) used stop-motion animation and other effects to create what is in all probability cinema’s first-ever portrayal of space travel: in topic, techniques, and iconography, Le voyage dans la lune was a prototype for the science-fiction cinema to come. The 1920s and 1930s saw portrayals of future and imagined worlds, many of them dystopic, in feature films such as Aelita/Aelita: Queen of Mars (Yakov Protazanov, USSR, 1924); Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1926); and Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, UK, 1936), while many post-World War II science-fiction films offered apocalyptic imaginings of alien invasion and nuclear holocaust. The canonical 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, UK/US, 1968) began a new era in science-fiction cinema’s foregrounding of spectacle and impact in moving image and sound by creating a sublime, all-enveloping environment for the viewer. Viewed in cinemas, science-fiction extravaganzas like 2001 offer an encompassing visual, auditory, and bodily experience in which the spectator is invited to succumb to extreme sensory and bodily engulfment (see haptic visuality). Wherever cinema exhibits its own distinctive matters of expression—as it does with science fiction’s displays of state-of-the-art special effects technologies—this is invariably a highly self-conscious, even an exhibitionistic, gesture, eclipsing narrative, plot, and character.
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Science fiction. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 May. 2022
Finding library resources for Star Trek
To find Star Trek in the Library's collections, you can click on one of the subject headings below:
- star trek filmsThe call number range for Star Trek films is PN 1992.8 .S74 on Baker Level 4.
- science fiction filmsThe call number range for Westerns is PN 1995.9 .S26 on Baker Level 4.
Introductory reading(s)
Historical dictionary of science fiction cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .S26 B566 2010ISBN: 9780810874626The history of science fiction film now spans more than 100 years, during which time more than 1,000 science fiction films of various kinds have been made. Beginning with the work of pioneering French filmmaker Georges Méliès at the dawn of the 20th century and moving through such silent films as Fritz Lang's classic Metropolis, science fiction film has had a long and eventful history that has taken it in many directions but that has moved the genre inexorably forward into a prominent place at the center of the film industry in the works of big-budget hitmakers like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Bay. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction Cinema provides broad coverage of the people, films, companies, techniques, themes, and subgenres that have made science fiction cinema such a vital part of world cinema. ...
Science fiction, horror and fantasy film and television credits by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .S26 L46 1983 v. 1-2ISBN: 9780786409501
Selected book titles
Gender and sexuality in Star Trek: allegories of desire in the television series and films by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.77 .S7318 G74 2009ISBN: 9780786444137Studying the Star Trek myth from the original 1960s series to the 2009 franchise-reboot film, this book challenges frequent accusations that the Star Trek saga refuses to represent queer sexuality. Arguing that Star Trek speaks to queer audiences through subtle yet provocative allegorical narratives, the analysis pays close attention to representations of gender, race, and sexuality to develop an understanding of the franchise's queer sensibility.
Religions of Star Trek by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1992.8 .S74 K73 2001ISBN: 9780813367088Is there a God? What evil lurks beyond the stars? Can science save one's soul? Profound questions like these have consumed human thought over the ages; they also inspired the original creators of the Star Trek canon of TV series and films. Religions of Star Trek tackles these challenging questions head-on and examines in detail the humanistic vision of creator Gene Roddenberry. It is a remarkable look at one of sci-fi's great success stories. ...
Star Trek: the human frontier by Call Number: Baker Berry PN 1992.8 .S74 B38 2017ISBN: 9781138699601In a world shrunk by modern transport and communication, Star Trek has maintained the values of western maritime exploration through the discovery of 'strange new worlds' in space. Throughout its fifty-year history, the 'starry sea' has provided a familiar backdrop to an ongoing interrogation of what it means to be human. This book charts the developing Star Trek story from the 1960s through to the present day.
Star Trek and history: race-ing toward a white future by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780813524665Star Trek is an enduring icon in American popular culture. For many viewers, the science fiction series represents the bold exploration of the unknown and the humanistic respect of the foreign and the alien. In fact, it is Star Trek's vision of a utopian future where humans no longer engage in racism, sexism, capitalism, among other "-isms" that many fans claim is the main reason for their loyalty. But is the visionary Trek future world truly colorblind? Star Trek and History traces the shifting and reforming meaning of race articulated throughout the Star Trek television series, feature films, and fan community. Daniel Bernardi investigates and politicizes the presentation of race in Star Trek in the original series of the 1960s, the feature films and television spin-offs of the 1980s and 1990s, and the current fan community on the Internet. ...
Star trek and sacred ground: explorations of Star Trek, religion, and American culture by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.9 .S694 S72 1999ISBN: 9780791443347Offers a multidisciplinary examination of Star Trek, religion, and American culture.
The view from the bridge: memories of Star Trek and a life in Hollywood by Call Number: Baker-Berry PS 3563 .E88 Z46 2009ISBN: 9780670021307An enormously entertaining account of Nicholas Meyer's involvement with the three classic Star Trek films - The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Voyage Home (1986) and The Undiscovered Country (1991) - as well as his illustrious career in the movie business. The man best know for bringing together Sherlock Holmes and Sigmund Freud in The Seven Per-Cent Solution (WW. Norton, 1983) had ironically never been interested in Star Trek until he was brought on board to save the film series.
Finding articles & journals
Articles and other writings about westerns can be found in many publications. You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find relevant articles about Star Trek.
Film & television literature index by Call Number: Electronic resourceUse this index to find articles about this genre.
A Selected list of science fiction
Find more Star Trek films in the library's online catalog.
Star Trek II: the wrath of Khan by Call Number: Library Depository #130 (Laserdisc)ISBN: 9780792120872The Federation Starship U.S.S. Enterprise is on routine training maneuvers, and Admiral James T. Kirk seems resigned to the fact that this may be his last space mission. But Khan--a brilliant renegade of 20th Century Earth--is back with his exiled band of genetic supermen and setting a deadly trap for his old enemy Kirk ... with the threat of universal Armageddon!
Star Trek IV: the voyage home by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #15587ISBN: 9780792183518Kirk and his crew time travel back to 1986 San Francisco where they encounter the alien life of punk, pizza, and exact-change buses while trying to capture two almost-extinct humpback whales to take back with them to the 23rd century.
Star Trek: first contact by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #13292ISBN: 9781415706954The Borg, a half-organic, half-machine race, want to conquer and assimilate all races. They are headed to Earth with a plan to alter history, and it is up to Captain Picard and his crew to stop them.
Star Trek (2009) by Call Number: Jones DVD #9607ISBN: 9781415750667The incredible story of a young crew's maiden voyage on board the most advanced starship ever created: the U.S.S. Enterprise. The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals born worlds apart: James T. Kirk--delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy and Spock--half-human outcast, prey to violent emotions the Vulcans have disdained for centuries. Together, they must find a way to defeat Nero, captain of the Romulan mining vessel Narada, who is determined to destroy every planet of the Federation--although no one knows why. Solving this mystery will take the collective talents of the entire Enterprise crew, and begin a partnership that will become a legend.
Star trek. Beyond by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #20236Dispatched on a rescue mission to the farthest reaches of space, the USS Enterprise is ambushed by Krall, a ruthless enemy sworn against the Federation. Crash-landing on an uncharted hostile world, Captain Kirk, Spock, and the crew are separated with no means of escape. Only Jaylah, a rebellious alien warrior, can help them reunite and find a way off the planet in a race against time to stop Krall's deadly army from triggering all-out galactic war.
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.