Star Trek

[GreenTurnip]

I decided to see the movie without any preconceived notions about the Star Trek universe. I pretty much decided to take it as it was and I really enjoyed the movie. Are there some issues... sure, but lets be honest here... the Star Trek franchise has desparately needed a face lift for a LONG time now.

If nothing else... you have to give props to Karl Urban. I don't think we could have asked for a better rendition of Deforest Kelly/Leonard McCoy. Very impressive.



Spoilers Below...



























A list of classic Star Trek moments relived...

Kirk getting it on with a green skinned alien
Non-major character member of the away teams dies
Classic Bones lines... 'You green blooded...' etc.
Another classic Bones line... 'I'm a doctor not a physicist!'
Classic Spock line... 'Fascinating'
Classic Chekov... can't pronounce his V's
Classic Scotty line... 'I'm givin' it all i got!' (I forget the exact wording.)

Did anyone happen to notice a Kirk double axe handle in there somewhere? I didn't see one.

-turnip

[Skaag]

The Red Shirt dieing was great. On G4 I was surprised they missed it when claiming that was one of the classic moments left out of the new movie. As soon as I saw them lined up in their Yellow, Blue, and Red jump suit, I knew that guy was fucked.

[Ulfen]

But so help me god, if Kirk cries and throws paint on the Enterprise, I'm making a special trip out to Hollywood.

Spock had a line in the movie that made me think of Slamz, can anyone guess which one?

Mini-spoiler:










Considering that this thread started with more references to Adama crying, I'm surprised nobody else really appreciated what Spock had to say to Bones when he was confronted about not showing any emotion when kicking Kirk off the ship. It was something along the lines of, "would you have preferred I sobbed in the corridors."

[Slamz]

Considering that this thread started with more references to Adama crying, I'm surprised nobody else really appreciated what Spock had to say to Bones when he was confronted about not showing any emotion when kicking Kirk off the ship. It was something along the lines of, "would you have preferred I sobbed in the corridors."

Yeah, I dunno if it's possible, with production times and all that, but I can't help but wonder if that was a stab at BSG. Was Adama's first crying breakdown long enough ago that they could have injected it into the script? Maybe it was just a coincidence....


Anyway, I just saw the movie. Here's my review:


Short version:
I liked it.


Long version with possible spoilers:
Most of my favorite Star Trek episodes/scenes are from the original show. I liked Star Trek TNG and all that but there are some situations that you can really only get into when you have a belligerent captain who thinks that rules are for chumps. And that's Captain Kirk. I have long been waiting for a Star Trek that brings back Captain Kirk. I had hoped "Enterprise" would be that show, but when it wasn't, I quickly lost interest. Voyager and Deep Space Nine had some fine moments. DS9 in particular had some great episodes. But it didn't have Kirk.

This movie has Kirk.

That was most of what I needed to know about it.

Fist fights, phasers, photon torpedoes. Taking big, arguably stupid risks because you always think there's a way to win. That's Kirk.

As far as the acting goes, I'm not quite sure they got Kirk exactly right. Kirk was never quite THAT reckless and energetic. But I'm willing to give it a pass. The rest of the crew seemed spot on (although since when did Chekov become an expert at the transporter? Oh well, it's high time Checkov got some screen time anyway). Spock was Spock. McCoy was McCoy. Scotty was Scotty, albeit with more energy.

The only really cheesy bit in the movie was when Sulu brought out a sword, amplified slightly by the fact that someone else actually also had a sword to fight him with. Why does anyone have a sword? That was just contrived. Stop that.

Other than that one scene, though, I thought the movie was great. (Actually that scene wasn't bad, but I just kept expecting the Indiana Jones movie where someone pulls out a pistol and shoots the silly man with the sword.)

I'm also willing to forgive them the whole time travel thing, since they're doing something unusual with it.

Normally, I hate time travel. "Enterprise" using time travel as basically the first major plot was a huge mistake. Time travel is what you fall back on when all of the good ideas have already been used. Time travel is lame and full of holes.

BUT

In this case I see why they did it, and it's not a bad reason: they wanted to reset the Star Trek universe and not be stuck with old canon. Basically, this Star Trek does not take place in the same universe as every other Star Trek we've watched. Due to time travel, it takes place in a slightly different, parallel universe. It basically gives them license to change small things without every Trekkie howling about it. Well, they can still howl but now there's a simple one-liner explanation for all of it, which is "parallel universe -- different events set this universe down a different path than the other one, so not everything is going to be the same".

That, actually, is another good Star Trek creation: "Treknology". Taking the impossible and making it possible through a vague application of theoretical science. Light speed travel is impossible? Warp drives! Getting to the planet's surface is a pain? Teleporters! Shooting warp speed ships with lasers wouldn't work? Phasers! In this case, the Treknology of parallel dimensions is actually used against THE TREK FANS THEMSELVES as a way to sidestep all complaints about minor differences and oversights.

In a way, I have to sit back, clap slowly and say, "Oh... bravo. Well played, sir."

Count me as officially looking forward to the next movie or show using this cast.

Kirk, Spock and McCoy are back.

[Moristans]

The only really cheesy bit in the movie was when Sulu brought out a sword, amplified slightly by the fact that someone else actually also had a sword to fight him with. Why does anyone have a sword? That was just contrived. Stop that.

The only real cheesy part? Contrived?

The whole movie was cheesy and contrived. That's what made it fun. Pick a favorite defining characteristic of any main TOS players and they fit it into the movie. Sometimes, like Sulu's sword fetish, they had to wedge it in sideways, but those moments made the movie.

Why was there a hot green chick at Starfleet Academy? Why were Vulcan kids picking on Spock?

My favorite cheesy moment that was just plain over the top contrived to show us what a rebel Kirk is in this new timeline? Young Kirk stealing stepdad's 60's Corvette, being chased by a 23rd cetury cop on a 23rd century motorcycle.

Ughh. Stop that.

The rest, yup. Star Trek is back and I couldn't be happier.

[Slamz]

Those at least make sense within the Star Trek universe. Green women? Standard. Vulcan kids picking on Spock? They did say it was to test his emotions, which is logical (and also, Vulcans aren't genetically unemotional, so kids probably haven't quite grasped the finer points yet). 60's Vette? Contrived but not in a real "wtf?" sort of way.


But a sword?

You go too far, sir!


Oh well. At least it was a cool future sword. I still think the Romulan should have shot it out of his hand and Sulu should have said, "Next time I'm bringing a phaser."

[Jakensama]

Upon rewatching it I realized that they created a black hole in our solar system. Now, I am no astro-physicist, but I can't imagine that would not have serious repercussions on the planets in our system.

[Slamz]

I was wondering about that, too. Although I don't think it was clear where, exactly, they were. Spock warped away and the other ship chased. Could we tell where Spock came out of warp? Weren't there asteroids or something? Maybe it was meant to be the Kuiper belt.

Although I don't think black holes are necessarily special in terms of gravity. It's still dependent on mass. Apparently (from the particle collider doomsday theories) you can make a "black hole" using very small amounts of matter, although ones that small will quickly evaporate. So it might be that there's a black hole out there but it only has the mass of a ship and whatever all that "red matter" was.



Although it was still strong enough to nearly pull in the Enterprise. That's bound to be a navigational hazard.

[Jakensama]

I was wondering about that, too. Although I don't think it was clear where, exactly, they were. Spock warped away and the other ship chased. Could we tell where Spock came out of warp?

When they were going over the plan they were saying he was going to hide on the other side of Titan or something since it would hide them from Nero's sensors.

[Vllad]

I still think the movie makers were pussies.

I don't disagree that Star Trek needed an infussion of balls but why Kirk? Its been done, its over, and it is time to move on.

They could have made the same movie but moved the universe of Star Trek forward. Going back will prove to be a huge mistake in the long run.

The could have made the same exact movie but started with a new captain. Just call the new captain Zak Bronson and build some new interesting people around him.

The bad guy in this movie is a joke anyway.

If you want a real story line lets put Star Fleet in real trouble over 3 or 4 movies. Have real bad guys, a new Darth Vader etc. Give us this generations Star Wars.


Vllad

[Flab]

Zac Efron would be the perfect ZAK BRONSON!

[Vanraw]

....
The bad guy in this movie is a joke anyway.

If you want a real story line lets put Star Fleet in real trouble over 3 or 4 movies. Have real bad guys, a new Darth Vader etc. Give us this generations Star Wars.


Vllad

This is really a good point. All of the star trek movies (and even most of the episodes) were sort of one show deals. With the exception of the final season of deep space 9 and the season 2 (or was it 3) of enterprise, the enemies sort of die and the game is over.

Create a nemesis that survives and wants to make you see the next one.

And please, dont make it the borg..... Its been done.

[Diggles]

How bout a Federation and borg ship get sucked into a wormhole that takes them to the starwars galaxy. The reigning dark lord of the sith finds the borg a welcome tool in his quest for galatic domination. He hijacks the collective and the borg become his pawns. Like palpatine, his conscience can travel to any of the 'soulless' borg drones so he can never be defeated!

[Slamz]

I dunno.

I normally really like continuity in a show. If I'm going to sit down and watch 3 seasons of something, I like it to spin one long tale. Start to finish. A lot of my favorite shows were that way.


On the other hand, TOS had some really great episodes. I think it's harder to get those stand-out episodes in a long series where every episode is necessarily a setup for the next episode. There were some epic BSG moments but no entire episode really stands out. Similarly, Babylon 5 was a great show but no single episode really stands out because they were all just a small part of a bigger story.

There is room for a Star Trek that does good episodes without necessarily trying to create another multi-season story, which can be confining, particularly in a show like Star Trek which could otherwise do literally anything from one episode to the next. That format certainly worked well enough in TNG, which had almost no continuity throughout the whole thing.


So I can go either way on that, really.


I don't begrudge them using the original crew, either. Trek has not had the best track record for developing a new crew. If you want a kickass crew of brainy belligerents, why re-invent the wheel? We never really got to see Captain Kirk and crew operate in their prime with modern CGI! Maybe now's our chance.

[Jakensama]

Lack of continuity was what always turned me off of Star Trek and why DS9 was the only one I really got into.

[Slingblade]

Two thumbs up from me on Star Trek movie! I absolutely loved it! One of the better movies I have seen in quite awhile

[Breand]

I loved it while at the same time having to put aside the ridiculousness of the plot.


SPOLIER:

















My friends and I were laughing about what the Romulans did for 25 years while waiting for Spock to arrive. Play tiddlywinks? Lots of Hold 'Em tournaments? Hang out on a beach planet? Pretty silly. Wouldnt some of the crew after a couple years or so be like "You know what dude, I know what Spock did is pretty fucked up in your eyes, but ummm cmon...do we all have to sit on our asses while you hold a grudge for 25 years?"

Kirk gets marooned on a planet. By pure happenstance, a 2 minute run away from a cave that Spock is chilling out in. An entire fucking planet...2 minutes from Spock...OK.

Also, Scotty finds himself Chief of the Enterprise BECAUSE of the new reality that was created. I guess you could argue we winds up there anyways at some point if that reality never happened...but meh.

[Dustie]

I finally saw it. I loved it. I didn't mind the "head bob" removal. It worked for me. I especially loved the scene where McCoy shoots up Kirk in the neck 4 times until Kirk screams "will you please stop that!"

If I had to complain, I'd complain about time travel, but the movie was fun enough and funny enough to make up for it.

Kirk eating the apple during the Kobayashi Maru was priceless.

[Zephyrs]

Whats with the new Kirk unable to win a fist fight ?

[Slamz]

Whats with the new Kirk unable to win a fist fight ?

He hasn't learned the double-axe-handle move yet.

[Zouji]

I was also surprised that Kirk didn't do a standing or running drop kick.











Minor Spoiler

My brother pointed this out to me since I missed it. Scotty said that he was sent out to the middle of nowhere because he killed Admiral Archer's dog with his transporter experiment. Archer was the Captain of the "Enterprise" Star Trek show. Granted Porthos (his dog in the show) would probably be dead by the time this movie takes place but then again you never know. I now understand why Scotty was sent to the middle of nowhere.

[Jakensama]

While on the topic, this amused me

[Kakarat]

I never read the damned thread, but you know you guys are nerds when there is 5 pages on star trek...

[Diggles]

Dude, I am printing those out and hanging them in my computer lab

[Skaag]

I like the no beards. Beard = Evil Self