“Star Trek” is approaching its DVD/Blu-ray release in the US on November 17th but is already out in stores here in Australia. Going through the much anticipated fifteen minutes of deleted scenes, all the cuts consisted of three subplots – more Sarek/Amanda backstory, Kirk hooking up with the Orion girl in order to hack the Kobiyashi Maru simulation, and the one many have been waiting for – the Klingons capture of Nero’s crew.
Filling in the big gaping plot hole of what Nero’s crew got up to in the 25 years between the USS Kellvin attack and elder Spock’s arrival, the two scenes feature the ship being captured by a Klingon fleet, and then later an interrogation and escape from Rura Penthe penal colony (which looks like a concrete factory rather than the ice planet seen in “Star Trek VI”).
The Klingons themselves aren’t fully shown, rather quite striking “Predator-esque” chrome helmets with Klingon-style ridges and heavy trenchcoats cover the actors, leaving only the areas around their eyes and mouths free. It’s a look that Abrams admits on the commentary that they hope to bring back in any potential sequel but also keeps any potential redesign of the aliens under wraps.
After interrogating a four-eyed creature and flashing a brief shot of a shirtless and extra-buff Nero (Eric Bana), the film cuts to an interrogation by a Klingon (“Alias” regular Victor Garber). A cut down version of the sequence can be viewed below (the full version is on the disc):
