The things that made Star Trek TOS so good wasn't the effects, it was the science fiction. It was pure science fiction where it took the ideas of man vs. man, man vs. nature, or man vs. himself and put into a futuristic context where it examined these scenarios of philosophy and introspection in a story format.
TNG followed that, but not quite as much. It was enough to keep it interesting.
DS9, tried to do that, and it did, but had a lot more emphasis on action...and that's where trek started falling apart.
Voyager had an even greater emphasis on special effects and the action of the week with technobabble instead of the story and philosphy portions...and it showed.
Enterprise...they missed the boat. They concentrated on effects and story, but forgot the introspection and philosophical debate of it all most of the time...as well as just plain making a mess of things (such as the Akiraprise). They started to come back with some interesting episodes during the fourth season but it was too late at that point to save it.
I think you're right, the core of Star Trek isn't special effects or the action, it's the philosophical debate in the stories and the science fiction plots (NOT science fiction/fantasy/opera) that are involved. If they remember that it should do okay...if it concentrates on special effects and action...well....