4. Star Trek = Star Wars
Now hes signed on to Episode VII, J.J. Abrams affinity for Star Wars is well known, but the more astute noticed this way back in 2009. I'm not talking about his
recurring R2-D2 easter egg, but the entire plot of Star Trek. When turning Star Trek into a cool blockbuster franchise (and not "again" - it was never cool to do a vulcan hand signal before Sylar-Spock), Abrams port of call was his school boy love second only to super 8 cameras. Not only was the style of the film very similar, bringing sound effects to space and a sense of action that never existed before, the basic story was exactly the same. Kirk, like Luke, is an orphan who doesn't see fully eye to eye with his foster parents. Pike, like Obi-Wan, takes this young one under his wing and trains him up. Vulcan, like Alderaan, is home planet of a main character destroyed by the villain. Spock, like Han, clashes with Kirk before becoming firm friends with him. Uhura, like Leia, is an interest of Kirks before ending up with Spock. But people didn't care - Star Trek was awesome and it was now OK to like it. Although you still get some odd looks if you do a Vulcan salute.