Where's the Star Trek thread?

[Anton Gramscescu]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Not bad, actually. the dude playing kirk, although he's still going to hell, might get off with one of the easier levels. He plays the role partly for laughs, and while he doesn't do the Kirk bombast and rhetoric (which have been parodied to death), he actualy does manage to get in a lot of little echoes of Kirk right...the movement of the eyes and mouth, especially. A reasonably impressive performance, as blasphemy goes.

I can't really see why anyone not already familiar with Trek would ever want to see this, but it has more energy and speed than any of the Trek films since VI and if you have watched a lot of Trek, there are a lot of little touches and references which are very very nice. And it doesn't take itself especially seriously, which is also good.

*****SPOILER******

I was impressed with the way Abrams managed to give his Cloverfield monster a run-out on the ice-planet. Possibly a better guest appearance than you-know-who.

******END SPOILER **************

And if anyone can explain what the fuck "Red Matter" is supposed to be, or why the equipment in the Engineering section now resembles nothing so much as a brewery, they get a medal.

[radmonkey]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

That's because it was shot in a brewery.

[hobbes]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Going to see this tonight at the Imax. Should be fun.

[hobbes]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Woo and indeed hoo. That was brilliant. A right rolicking ride and no mistake. Made especially good by it being on the biggest screen I've ever seen.
(Although I did point out that as our front room is pretty small, if P lets me get a 55" telly, we have the equivalent at home.)

[De Geas Clean Linen]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

I loved it.

I doubt that anything coming out this summer will top it (IMO). Karl Urban was ace as Bones and Pine (along with Quinto) were surprisingly good.

Actually, I thought Chris Pine was boss...especially with the "Either we go down or they go down" line. Thats James T. Kirk right there.

The film isn't a reboot per se as Nero already alters the normal Trek timeline just by traveling back and destroying the USS Kelvin...

I hope they don't fuck up the sequels because this has the potential to be a wonderful extension to an already legendary franchise...But then, I would say that as I have every single movie on DVD and every single TOS and TNG episode as well...

[Guy Profumo]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

But the whole "time travel" schtick is hackneyed anyway ian't it?

It's almost as bad as the "Oh, it was all a dream", device, or, in the Star Trek universe, "a fucking holodeck adventure" (apart from the Sherlock Holmes ones with Data and La Forge)

[Eggchaser]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Saw it, loved it. Some great nods to the Star Trek joke staples, e.g. the dead man walking in the red suit.

My wife, no Trekkie she (nor am I, come to think of it), also loved it.

[hobbes]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

But the whole "time travel" schtick is hackneyed anyway ian't it?

Oh, absolutely. But then so's the whole concept. It's still brilliantly done though.

[matt j]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Saw it yesterday, and the Mrs. & I both really enjoyed it. I thought it came of the rails a bit in the last third, though this may be partly because there is a shockingly plot-holey line of dialogue that completely jarred me out of the film.

It is actually quite funny, and Pine is very good in a role that he really shouldn't have been able to pull off the way he does.

[ian.64]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Saw it today and thought it very, very good, bordering on absolutely terrific.

Slick as you like but also solid and moving like billy-oh - the kind of mainstream entertainment that manages to juggle all its elements superbly while going like a Grand National thoroughbred. The leads were smashing, but extra credit must go first to Karl Urban who manages to channel DeForrest Kelley while not doing outright impersonation of Bones, capturing essence instead of just verbal tics, and Chris Pine is excellent, not going for Shatneristics, but delivering a boisterous and funny interpretation of the old Kirk.

All other performances are just fine, with Leonard Nimoy the cherry on top of the whole thing. Only drawback is the music score which, while energetic, just has this samey feel reminiscent of other mainstream action films.

I'd also like to know why Spock's mum supposedly dies when she turns up in Star Trek IV, but I dare say a sequel (which I hope happens) will spring one on us.

Pretty smart, polished entertainment.

[John Godot]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

ian.64 wrote:

I'd also like to know why Spock's mum supposedly dies when she turns up in Star Trek IV, but I dare say a sequel (which I hope happens) will spring one on us.

Well, it's an alternate reality. So it doesn't have to align with the other Trek movies at all. It's why they didn't need to use time travel to make everything better at the end (whereas they totally would of if it was an ordinary Star Trek movie).

It also helps keep the more hardcore Trekkies at bay as their favoured time line has neither been pitched in the bin nor overwritten entirely.

[De Geas Clean Linen]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Nero disrupts the timeline by traveling back to the past, therefore what takes place in the films and TV shows is now altered slightly.

Originally, Kirk was a bookworm in his youth and throughout his academy days, only becoming a hellraiser when he graduates from Starfleet Academy. Now that Nero has traveled back and destroyed the USS Kelvin and killed Kirks dad, Kirks own life has been changed.

Nero's presence in the past has changed everything so typical Trek canon (the previous films) no longer applies (in some cases).

[Max Payne]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

I enjoyed this one too as did Mrs Max. Good straightforward entertainment unlike an awful lot of the clunkers that are showing up in cinemas at the moment. Also much better than the last Batman which was **blasphemy alert** too up its own arse.

[ian.64]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Well, it's an alternate reality. So it doesn't have to align with the other Trek movies at all. It's why they didn't need to use time travel to make everything better at the end (whereas they totally would of if it was an ordinary Star Trek movie).

I going to have to raid the science-fiction library and bone up on my alternate realities/timelines. Didn't spoil my enjoyment of the film though. It's highly recommended.

And yes, Dark Knight really was too much up its own arse.

[Reed John]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Hobbesian wrongness there.

Anyway, I'd like to take this chance to say that I just learned that the kid who plays Kirk is the son of the guy who played the sargent on CHiPs.

I thought the film was good, although the premise for how Kirk becomes Captain of the newest starship in his junior year at the academy (I believe they are referred to as cows at West Point.) was a little flimsy.

I hope for sequels.

[Wyatt Earp]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Yeah, that was OK.

(RED) SPOILER ALERT. (RED) SPOILER ALERT. (RED) SPOILER ALERT.

I can see how it alarms the Trekkies, actually. Presumably the "Chris Pike and the Bumheads" pilot, and the follow-up episode, now never happened; well, what else never happened? Most disturbing. Plus, right, the Spock and Uhura thing; are we meant to assume that his human half makes that sort of carry-on kosher, as opposed to the favoured Vulcan system of getting incredibly randy once every seven years?

Anyway: nice performance, in particular, from the new Bones. Plus I got to fall in love with Uhura all over again. The new Spock was OK, but didn't quite have the gravitas, and the new Kirk had the look right, but (perhaps sensibly) forswore all those... Shatnerisms of... speech and manner.

Simon Pegg just played Simon Pegg, which was wrong.

[Reed John]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

I like Simon Pegg as Simon Pegg. But I don't have any strong sentimental attachment to the original Star Trek.

I liked how it ticked off all of the standard cliche jokes about Star Trek, including the classic - when Sulu, Kirk and some other guy in a red shirt go on a mission, which one is going to die?

[Mumpo]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Spent a mildly entertaining couple of hours watching this the other night. It's brilliantly absurd, rather than absurdly brilliant. Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban get Spock and McCoy spot on, but Chris Pine doesn't seem like Kirk at all. I guess that's because Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley were great character actors whose style was worth emaulating, whereas Shatner... well. And what was the reason behind turning Scotty into a lame comedy cipher? He was never that in the original series - at least, no more than the other principal crew members were on occasion. I thought it was ironic that they gave him a comedy sidekick, when in relation to the rest of the crew, he was the comedy sidekick.

Anyway, I used to enjoy the classic series, but I could never relate to the characters - it was the Enterprise itself that was always the star of the show for me, and I don't think they did an especially good job on it for this outing. I loved the fact that each set was so clean and strongly defined - the bridge, of course; but even the less often seen areas such as the shuttle bay and the engineering room, with the impulse engines visible in the background. The mass of pipes and scaffold that seemed to constitute the vast majority of the ship was a poor substitute, I thought; and the bridge itself was horribly overlit, looking more like a hairstyling salon. Phasers to perm!

Oh, and Nero the rogue Romulan was a bit superfluous (understandably, I suppose, as the film had seven principal characters to introduce). It was a bit lazy to try and make him scary just by giving him a huge spiky spaceship rather than, you know, making him cunning, or resourceful, or even properly fleshing out his character.

Still, as I say, I did enjoy it.

[San Bernardhinault]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

I saw this last night, and really quite enjoyed it. Much more than I was expecting to.

I think what I like most is the fact that it starts with the Star Trek canon, and then completely eliminates it, allowing a whole new story to be created without all the Trekkies whingeing that it breaks the canon.

Particularly nice is the Spock speaking to Spock bit at the end, where they basically admit they've set up an unsolvable time-travel paradox, and it's just tough, we've now got a new reality.

The only really annoying thing was Scotty's Jar-Jar Binks-lite colleague.

[Mumpo]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

La Lanterne Rouge wrote:

The only really annoying thing was Scotty's Jar-Jar Binks-lite colleague

But that's the point I was making above - Scotty was Jar-Jar Binks-lite.

[Guest]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

I was expecting this to be super amazing wow, so I was mildly disappointed and a bit meh afterwards, but it's the expectations thing, innit. Same as how I freaking loved the new Terminator, partly at least because everyone told me it was arse so I had no expectations.

Anyway I don't know anything about Star Trek, it used to be on BBC2 at 6 pm & we would watch it then, and sometimes it was really gripping, but I've never seen any of the 41 spin off series or films. SO I probably missed out on a few points, but that shouldn't matter, but it's possibly why I didn't find the plot totally satisfying.

The best thing about it was simply the creativity behind the visuals. Absurdly beautiful visions of space are quite common nowadays, but these were outstanding, gorgeous colours and patterns and a joyful refusal to stop piling on the pretty over and over.

I also loved the Jurassic Park moment with the monsters on the ice planet.

[JtS]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Saw it with the missus on Friday, we both liked it (me more so than her).

Films aren't necessarily supposed to be believable, so I don't care it if doesn't quite stand up to logic.

I give it 3 out of 4 aces.

[imp]

Where's the Star Trek thread?

Thursday nights, Top of the Pops, Star Trek, Tomorrow's World, Battenberg Cake for afters, eh? Actually I can't recall if Star Trek was one before or after TOTP.

Anyway, had to bribe the youngest impette (with the promise of adding to her Bakugan collection) to come along with me so that I wasn't the middle-aged lone saddo at the cinema. She liked Scotty best, and I must say I thought he was funny too. So there, mumpo. Wasn't quite sure why Captain Kirk Sr. would take his pregnant wife on a trip to outer space, but I didn't let details like that spoil my enjoyment given all the other science-defying fantasies. Good stuff.