Star Trek (spoilers)

[Haunted]

Alright someone else here must have seen this by now.

Wanky toss.
The amount of times I've had this film described to me as "fun and simple" is criminal, it's almost as if these words are praise.

Ebert follows a lot of my thoughts but gives the movie a better rating than I would
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbc ... /905069997

I think we've witnessed the death of this franchise, and to rapturous applause tragically.

[Hennessy]

Eric Bana was pretty shite actually. What was that backstory again? I blinked and missed it. Something about his wife being destroyed by a supernova.

Does anyone know if this is the first in a series of movies featuring the same actors?

[Timata]

Eric Bana was pretty shite actually. What was that backstory again? I blinked and missed it. Something about his wife being destroyed by a supernova.

Not a clue. At least the villain in ST: Nemesis had motivation, this one passed me by entirely. The plot seemed a bit incidental really, but I didn't mind the film. Though, I still think First Contact was way better.

Does anyone know if this is the first in a series of movies featuring the same actors?

There's at least a sequel being planned.

[Haunted]

Actors sign on for a three movie deal as standard these days. The studio doesn't have to make them of course but I hear a sequel for this is already green lit.

[Cygnus]

I agree, Roddenberry would be spinning in his grave, if he had one...
Spock and Uhura?! mental...

Also who is responsible for mating the bridge of the enterprise with an Ipod??

[Haunted]

Apart from the atrocious script and ridiculous plot devices, the one thing that really cuts me is the Lucasesque Ewok that follows comic-relief-scotty about.

Fuck sake.

[Guest]

You're all absolutely incorrect.

I'm a huge trekkie, and thoroughly enjoyed the film as did my non-star trek friends. It's mixture of actions scenes and good solid acting made it a perfect pop-corn film, whilst its subtle references to the star trek franchise kept me happy. When Nemoy did the intro at the end, i had real goose-bumps on the back of my neck.

Well directed, nicely paced and a strong sense of fun make up for a bit of a shaky plot (Star Trek has never been strong on that point) and definitely the best film i've seen for a while. Almost up there with the Dark Knight for me.

I'll be popping along to the NPH again this week for another pleasurable couple of hours!

[Aureliano]

A set of piss-poor comics that can be found online were released as a countdown to the film. They set the scene in the future of our familiar timeline and explain Nero's character in more, but far from adequate detail. The plot of the film could definitely have done with more balancing to deliver a stronger sense of the enemy.

That being said, I have to agree with the above poster... I really did enjoy the film! I think Pine, Quinto, Urban and Saldana in particular did their characters justice. As already mentioned I was a little disappointed with Bana's generic baddie role after the promising trailers, but was relieved that Spock Prime's part in the film was meatier and more profound than Kirk's cameo in Generations. Generally very nice pacing and acting, and any lack in dialogue quality was made up for by great visuals and atmosphere.

Oh and I particularly liked what they did with Pike's character in this timeline. I do miss the beeping wheelchair though...

In terms of plot and timelines, there is way too much to go into. So I'll just say that I think the more recent ST movies are a good example of what I don't like about the franchise:

I have a very special place in my heart for the entire ST universe, and love some aspects of each series (yes, even Enterprise!). However being fondest of the serialised, movie-less bastard child that is DS9, every movie outing that followed ST:VI seemed to me like 'the Picard hour'. Rehashed and revisited plot devices were beaten to death for the sake of one-off big screen TNG adventures, instead of making full potential of recent ST universe events. Also 'status quo' was clumsily handled, with Worf and O'Brien always on some kind of convenient shore-leave to be able to join the Enterprise crew and save the day.

Ultimately while the new ST film did play the Kirk-Spock "most precious bromance of all time" card a little too often, its handling of the alternate timeline does allow for countless new variations on decades of storyline material in a fun, fresh, exciting new way. In the spirit of Roddenberry's original.

And this last point is why the new ST movie is doing so fantastically well at the box office. TOS is the only series to have properly engrained itself into global collective consciousness.

[orudge]

As somebody who has never seen nor really cared about Star Trek in the past, I thoroughly enjoyed the new film. Seemed a pretty decent film, if you consider it as a standalone film and don't try to compare it to other films in the franchise.

On a somewhat related note, I found this rather amusing.

[Haunted]

any lack in dialogue quality was made up for by great visuals and atmosphere.

We call this the George Lucas style of making movies.

So I'll just say that I think the more recent ST movies are a good example of what I don't like about the franchise

Insurrection certainly, and Nemesis to an extent. First Contact is untouchable however.

Rehashed and revisited plot devices were beaten to death for the sake of one-off big screen TNG adventures

First Contact was a genuinely original time travel plot with a proper villian(s) to overcome. The assimilation of Earth post WW3? It has everything!

instead of making full potential of recent ST universe events.

Translation: I wanted a DS9 Movie.

Also 'status quo' was clumsily handled, with Worf and O'Brien always on some kind of convenient shore-leave to be able to join the Enterprise crew and save the day.

O'Brien wasn't in any of them.

its handling of the alternate timeline does allow for countless new variations on decades of storyline material in a fun, fresh, exciting new way. In the spirit of Roddenberry's original.

No it means they can do whatever they want and have it canon. If they want to take this Franchise in an even more Star Warsy direction then there's nothing standing in their way.

And this last point is why the new ST movie is doing so fantastically well at the box office. TOS is the only series to have properly engrained itself into global collective consciousness.

It's doing well because it's a vanilla flavoured special effects wank-fest that doesn't require any thought and is overflowing with Lucasesque aliens and comic relief. It's almost a parody.

[Aureliano]

Words...

No worries, I do love First Contact.

As for the 'DS9 movie' comment... fair enough.
Though any kind of narrative break from Federation starship crews would have been nice, and ample juicy plot material. I suppose the harsh truth for cinematic feature film funding and narrative is that it's easy to go with what is familiar.

Still don't agree with many of your Lucasesque jibes. Although I had completely forgotten about Kirk's stupid CGI monster chase! It painfully reminded me of The Phantom Menace's "there's always a bigger fish..." moment. Alien monsters are fine, but the suspense should have been more in line with the 'Wampa Ice Monster' scenes from The Empire Strikes Back.

Finally I have absolutely no problem with accepting the new timeline within "canon". The reason for this being that the various five series have themselves wanked about with time-travel, prequels and mirror universes to the point where lines become blurred and it's insane to be too precious about canon. If the 'Mirror, Mirror' universe is to be officially accepted as more than just tongue-in-cheek fun, then I have no problems with JJ Abrams' new timeline.

The real irony of fans being pissed off about deviation from ST canon, is that if there is one thing that marks a stereotypical Trekkie, it's their love of arguing about it!

[johnjohnjohn]

I thought it was actually fantastic. Having watched the TOS movies recently, what surprised me is the slow pace of them. It takes AGES for anything meaningful to happen in them (with the exception of Khan - but even then the pace is hardly blistering). This new film felt nice and light, quick on its feet. And while there were a few unexplained devices and back stories, you can't include everything, otherwise you end up with a 4 hour film that no-one cares to watch again.

All in all, I think they've given the franchise the reboot it sorely needed. It's brilliant that they no longer have to stick to 30 years of ill thought out cobbled together canon, which restricts the whole storytelling experience to bureaucratic nonsense which needs to be run by a committee of hardcore fans before you can decide on the name of a particular Klingon beverage.

To the whole Gene Roddenberry thing, I think Star Trek in his eyes was more of an optimistic Utopian view of the future, which I personally think this movie captures really well. I doubt he would care what colour the bridge of the Enterprise ends up being.

Bring on the sequel!

[Haunted]

It takes AGES for anything meaningful to happen in them (with the exception of Khan - but even then the pace is hardly blistering).

It's called suspense or a build-up, and leaves plenty room for majestic theme music, e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_SGXx3pLzs

And while there were a few unexplained devices and back stories, you can't include everything, otherwise you end up with a 4 hour film that no-one cares to watch again.

They had all the time in the world and they wasted it on pointless scenes like the ice monster and scotty in the water.

All in all, I think they've given the franchise the reboot it sorely needed.

It was broken all right, but a full reboot for something that's technically only been off the air for 4 years is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. Though, if they'd done a half decent job I could've lived with a full reboot.

[macgamer]

any lack in dialogue quality was made up for by great visuals and atmosphere.

We call this the George Lucas style of making movies.

Yes and that constant CGI lens flare, about a tenth the way up from the bottom of the screen, in every bridge scene was particularly annoying. The CGI monster chase was quite ridiculous, perhaps it was meant as a comedy; they did do something similar in the Undiscovered Country. The TOS films had funny bits like that added in. But yes what was with that stupid Ewok thing!

Insurrection certainly, and Nemesis to an extent. First Contact is untouchable however.

Yes, Nemesis was rather pointless, but First Contact was good, they should have stopped there and then done a DS9 movie to finish off the storyline properly.

No it means they can do whatever they want and have it canon. If they want to take this Franchise in an even more Star Warsy direction then there's nothing standing in their way.

Yes, after some research on Memory Alpha, the supernova happened after Voyager's return (everyone just wanted them to die) so they could make a clean cut with canon and create an alternate reality. Although arguably this film is a two fingers up to the original timeline and it is as if the previous reality never happened.

However I'm not sure they had much choice really if they want to revitalise the franchise, it is rather difficult to navigate the canon safely, so they opted to dispense with it.

There were quite a few other plot options to choose from as this undeveloped movie plot, which seems to me to have had potential, demonstrates: http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Beginning

Perhaps they needed to employ a bible scholar to conduct some Star Trek exegesis.

It's doing well because it's a vanilla flavoured special effects wank-fest that doesn't require any thought and is overflowing with Lucasesque aliens and comic relief. It's almost a parody.

Was Galaxy Quest better in that endeavour?

[johnjohnjohn]

It takes AGES for anything meaningful to happen in them (with the exception of Khan - but even then the pace is hardly blistering).

It's called suspense or a build-up, and leaves plenty room for majestic theme music, e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_SGXx3pLzs

That doesn't seem slow to me at all, I'm talking about the times where they spend about 7 minutes panning around the Enterprise for no reason, or when there's no dialogue for ages.

And while there were a few unexplained devices and back stories, you can't include everything, otherwise you end up with a 4 hour film that no-one cares to watch again.

They had all the time in the world and they wasted it on pointless scenes like the ice monster and scotty in the water.

They were all part of the comic effect, which I think worked really well. There was a big drive to make this appeal to new people, and those parts are essential for the enjoyment of the film for people who necessarily don't care too much about the back story.

It was a fun movie, not a documentary. But I guess you can't please everyone.

[macgamer]

It's called suspense or a build-up, and leaves plenty room for majestic theme music, e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_SGXx3pLzs

I really liked the bit with the Enterprise slowly emerging from Titan's atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of that scene from the Wrath of Khan with the Enterprise emerging from a cloud of gas in the nebula sneaking up on the Reliant.

[Garnet]

There was nothing original in it, but I really enjoyed it. That's all I really wanted from it was some entertainment and it delivered. I've never watched star trek before so i have nothing to compare and didn't go in expecting anything.

[James.C.]

As a point of view of someone who is definitely not a "trekkie" and watched the odd episode when younger, I enjoyed this film. While i am sure the trekkies will find holes in it I didn't put it in context of anything else to do with star trek and just enjoyed it as a stand-alone film.

Oh and Owen, love the clip

[Haunted]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1910892
Wow they noticed more of it than I did.

[Jormungand]

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1910892
Wow they noticed more of it than I did.

Considering that Star Wars was deliberately modelled on the classic hero story (The Hero with a Thousand Faces) and such a progression is an omnipresent archetype in stories, it's hardly surprising it shows up in this movie too.