The recently-released international trailer for the upcoming film "Star Trek Into Darkness" revealed a lot more about the current entertainment world orbiting around "Trek" director J.J. Abrams than a first or even second viewing of the release may have shown, argues a recent piece posted at Examiner.com.
According to entertainment writer Drew Morita --- who's bio indicates he actually served as a historical consultant and researcher who worked on Alcatraz Island for five years as an interpretive guide and is writing his first book, "The Dead Men of Alcatraz: True Stories of the Men Who Died During the Penitentiary Years" --- what trailer viewers see near the end of the release is a starship slamming into Alcatraz, the infamous prison in the middle of shark-infested San Francisco Bay.
Morita, whom it could rightly be assumed has a soft spot of all things Alcatraz, suggested a possible hidden message from Abrams --- that he no longer cares for Alcatraz.
At 1:57 of the preview, what appears to be the Starship Enterprise nose-dives into the historic prison rock, wiping out what remained of the worn penal complex.
The sequence, says the Examiner article, appears to be personal retribution doled out by Abrams for Fox's cancellation last May of the hyped "Alcatraz" TV series, which he produced.
The officially-released set-up for the series read this way:
"Years after every prisoner on Alcatraz mysteriously vanished, FBI Agent Emerson Hauser and Detective Rebecca Madsen are drawn into the case of Jack Sylvane, who is on a killing spree. They later find out that Sylvane was in fact one of the inmates in the prison. Joined by Alcatraz expert "Doc" Soto, Hauser and Madsen race to stop Sylvane and solve the mystery of Alcatraz. Hauser takes Sylvane to a prison facility in the woods much like Alcatraz."
The premiere for "Alcatraz" drew more than 10 million viewers, but ratings gradually fell each week and it was not renewed.
The sci-fi drama was also roundly panned for what critics said were convoluted writing, sub-par acting and Abrams' decision not to film on location, besides for the pilot.
Alcatraz DVDs have shown descent sales in the States and the show is still a popular draw in the United Kingdom.
"Star Trek Into Darkness" smashes into wide U.S. release May 17.