When the summer heat gets to be too much to handle, there is no better way to cool down than a couple of hours inside an air conditioned movie theater. And Hollywood knows this too, pulling out their biggest and brightest stars to try and create a summer blockbuster.

One of the highly anticipated films of the year is the J.J. Abrams-directed remake, "Star Trek." With a legacy and a legion of fans already in love with the series, there was a fine line that the film had to walk — honoring the film without just being a straight copycat.

Chris Pine, who plays a young James T. Kirk, said he had to work at making this character more than just a William Shatner impersonation.

"It wasn't as if I have like a sheet of (Shatner-ian) characteristics that I wanted to keep and then like a sheet of new things that I wanted to do in the character," Pine said. "It was more about really paying attention to the script that I was given, making sure that I did my best to bring that character that I read there to life."

Zachary Quinto, who plays the young Spock, felt that the original actors brought certain characteristics of themselves to the film, so those aspects of the actor can't be separated from the character.

"He is defined by his cultural makeup and so I had to really connect to his circumstances personally so that I could make them my own," Quinto said.

However, both actors said that you don't need to be a Trekker in order to enjoy this new film.

"I think that non-fans can look forward to the fact that this is a movie that's much more about relationships and characters, and challenges than it is about, you know, planets and starships and aliens," Quinto said.

Another film coming out this summer is the new Pixar film, "Up," which is being presenting in both 2-D and 3-D animation. The movie tells the story of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, who attaches balloons to his house in order to fly to South America.

Director Pete Doctor, who also directed "Monsters, Inc." and was a writer on both "Toy Story" films, said the original concept came about when he was just thinking about the idea of being able to get away.

"I'm not an extrovert," Doctor said. "So the idea of getting away from it all was really appealing."

The idea of having a leading cartoon character be not only human, but an old man, would be a concept that might scare away some moviemakers. However, Doctor said that is one of the things that he found most appealing about the movie.

"There are all these entertainment possibilities, as well as these great emotional hooks in terms of how this rich life people have lived by that time and their unique perspective," he said. "It just seemed like this has got something to offer that we've never explored before."

There are plenty of films to satisfy any type of moviegoer. Here's just a highlight of what is coming up this summer.

May 1 – "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past"

– "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"

May 8 – "Star Trek"

May 15 – "Angels & Demons"

May 21 – "Terminator Salvation"

May 29 -" Up"

June 5 – "Land of the Lost"

June 19 – "Year One"

-"Whatever Works"

June 26 – "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"

– "My Sister's Keeper"

July 1 – "Public Enemies"

– "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs"

July 10 – "Bruno"

July 15 – "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

July 31 – "Funny People"

Aug 7 – "When In Rome"

– "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra"

Aug 14 – "The Time Traveler's Wife"

Aug 21 – "Inglourious Basterds"