Re-booted Star Trek -- How'd You Like It?

[Sergeant Rock]

Yes, you're alone, (except for jwinter  ).  Then again, yes, Star Trek: The Movie would have made a decent 40 minutes TV episode.

Which is what my friends, who saw it with me in the theater, said. For example: my friend's wife asked, Why did they have to spend ten minutes slowly flying around the docked Enterprise? To me it was like the annual childhood ritual of going to the car dealers and perusing the new models. I like hardware    I really enjoyed that slow, close look at the new model. It didn't bore me at all and I agree with jwinter: the extra minutes added to the director's cut make the film even more impressive...to me.

Besides what you cite, I like the music...

Yes! That Jerry Goldsmith score is sensational.

Sarge

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Me too. Not the first couple of seasons, necessarily, but once it hit its stride (half way through season 3) it became totally gripping, with a single purpose and a huge story arch. Definitely my favorite of the various series.

Yes, mine too. There are some unforgettable episodes and characters there (Garak, Gul Dukat...)

Then you really ought to stop reading this thread.  Honestly, I'd hate to spoil the movie for you!

I'm following this thread through slitted eyes...

[Josquin des Prez]

Yes, you're alone, (except for jwinter  ).  Then again, yes, Star Trek: The Movie would have made a decent 40 minutes TV episode.

Take out the 40 minutes long circle jerk over the Enterprise and it would have been a decent flick. I liked the sense of mystery, and the twist at the end was kinda of cool. I think this is what science fiction ought to be more about, to explore the possibilities of scientific exploration and the effect it has on human evolution. This is what makes 2001 the archetypal science fiction film.

[karlhenning]

Take out the 40 minutes long circle jerk over the Enterprise and it would have been a decent flick.

Always such a flair with words.

[Josquin des Prez]

I have an internet persona to maintain.

[DavidRoss]

my friend's wife asked, Why did they have to spend ten minutes slowly flying around the docked Enterprise?

It was only ten minutes?  Seemed like hours. 

My wife wanted to see the new flick this weekend.  I declined to accompany her.  She liked it.  I'm not surprised.

[karlhenning]

It was only ten minutes?  Seemed like hours. 

We've all known music like that . . . .

[david johnson]

i hear the next installment will have 7 of 9 pudding wrestling with t-pol.
a truly marvelous event of omni-versal...'proportions' 

dj

[Undutchable]

Planning to go on the weekend with my kids. Like many of my generation in the late 70s I grew up greedily consuming every bit of ST I could get on the BBC, but.... I always thought the show to be very racist  bad-guy aliens were, for the most part, dark with a non European complexion, whereas the good-guy aliens were mostly white.
I could forgive the makers of the first series - they didn't know any better, but in the allegedly pc era of the 80s/90s this was carried through to the other series, with the next gen series being the worst.

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Listening to: Bach, Johann Sebastian - Chorale / Drum will ich, weil ich lebe noch

[Todd]

I saw it with my son over the weekend.  It's spiffy and glossy and neato.  I can wait for the sequel.

[Josquin des Prez]

Planning to go on the weekend with my kids. Like many of my generation in the late 70s I grew up greedily consuming every bit of ST I could get on the BBC, but.... I always thought the show to be very racist  bad-guy aliens were, for the most part, dark with a non European complexion, whereas the good-guy aliens were mostly white.
I could forgive the makers of the first series - they didn't know any better, but in the allegedly pc era of the 80s/90s this was carried through to the other series, with the next gen series being the worst.

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Listening to: Bach, Johann Sebastian - Chorale / Drum will ich, weil ich lebe noch

Funny. To me the show is riddled with too much PC propaganda, while to some it is too racist! I must admit though, seeing the greedy merchant people in DS9 being portrayed as short, ugly with large ears and noses was kinda funny. Being that the actors who play most of the Ferengi on the show are Jewish though, i just assumed they were playing with the stereotype for their own amusement, sort of how black commedians call each other "n*****" all the time. :laughtrack:

Actually, i don't know why black comedians play on the black stereotype so much. It's not funny. 

[Fëanor]

Funny. To me the show is riddled with too much PC propaganda, while to some it is too racist! I must admit though, seeing the greedy merchant people in DS9 being portrayed as short, ugly with large ears and noses was kinda funny. ... 

This is, of course, is extremely ironic. 

In Star Wars, Episode 1, there as an alien race of rapacious traders with a remarkably oriental flavour about them.  It was a Chinese friend of mine who, with respect to those of his ethnicity in places like Malaya and Singapore, described the Chinese as the "Jews of the Orient".  It seems producers just can't resist: stereotypes sell.

[mc ukrneal]

Funny. To me the show is riddled with too much PC propaganda, while to some it is too racist! I must admit though, seeing the greedy merchant people in DS9 being portrayed as short, ugly with large ears and noses was kinda funny. Being that the actors who play most of the Ferengi on the show are Jewish though, i just assumed they were playing with the stereotype for their own amusement, sort of how black commedians call each other "n*****" all the time. :laughtrack:

Actually, i don't know why black comedians play on the black stereotype so much. It's not funny. 

Err, this is Star Trek. I think you are reading a bit too much into this...

[Dr. Dread]

I will see this movie on DVD.

[Wanderer]

...I have to say it was the best time I've had at the movies in quite a while, which surprised the hell out of me.

My sentiments exactly. I didn't expect to like it, as I never really connected with the original series; I always liked the Next Generation best, compared to which the old Enterprise of Kirk and co. looked hopelessly outdated. Nevertheless, the trailers intrigued me sufficiently to go to the premiere last Thursday. I'm glad I did. This is the first Star Trek film I've actually enjoyed watching.

[jwinter]

I will see this movie on DVD.

It's well worth checking out.

Speaking of DVD, I succumbed to nostalgia and also picked up the Blue-Ray Season 1 of the original series.  It's rather amusing, in that they include 2 versions of each episode.  There's the original, just as it aired back in the 60s, and a new edition where they've updated most of the special effects shots, ranging from obvious stuff like new CGI renderings of the Enterprise zipping through space and orbiting real-looking planets (instead of the same dozen or so stock images shown show after show), to subtle things like retouching the occasional background scenery or making that big ugly lizard guy that Kirk wrestles blink.  The new editions are fun, and add another element to re-watching these after many years -- as far as I can tell they are very faithful and did not edit or change the episodes at all (no Lucas-style Greedo-shoots-first stuff), other than enhancing the visual effects and digitally re-recording the music (very seamlessly -- doing some random AtoB comparisons I couldn't really tell the difference, other than the new has better dynamic range and overall SQ).  And since the unvarnished originals are there as well, everybody's happy.  They've dropped the price as well -- when it first came out on DVD, it was over a hundred bucks a season, which is nuts.

[jwinter]

And watching the first episode of Season 1, brought something immediately to mind from the new movie...



Spoiler Alert


When I saw the new flick, I was struck by the romantic chemistry between Uhura and Spock, and thought it was a novel touch.  Well, color me surprised -- right there, in the very first episode, Uhura flirts with Spock on the bridge!  I don't know that it ever comes up again, I had totally forgotten about it; but it makes we wonder if J.J. Abrams actually did his homework, and watched some of the early episodes for inspiration.

[Lethevich]

They've dropped the price as well -- when it first came out on DVD, it was over a hundred bucks a season, which is nuts.

Not nuts - good business I'm sure a lot of super fans sucked it up and paid the premium.

[hornteacher]

I went to see it this weekend (first time in about five years that I've been in a movie theater).  Most of it I enjoyed a great deal.  The nice little touches that referenced old episodes/movies were nice without actually calling attention to them.  My favorite would be <SPOILER> the scene where Kirk is taking the Kobiashi Maru simulation test and eating an apple as he explains his approach to beating the "no win situation".  This is a link to Shatner's scene in Wrath of Kahn where he eats an apple while explaining how he took the test and beat the "no win situation" by reprograming the simulation.  Subtle and brilliant.  Sulu's fencing reference is also a throwback to and episode where he chased crewmembers through the ship with a rapier.

The only thing I didn't care for was the use of the shaky hand-held camera technique that so many movies and tv shows use these days.  It plays with my inner ear and makes me dizzy.  I can understand using it in battle scenes or action shots but not in conversations between two people in a room.  Keep it still please!  My head hurts.

[Bogey]

Not nuts - good business I'm sure a lot of super fans sucked it up and paid the premium.

*raises hand*.....fortunately, they were gifts.