*** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread - Page 14

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Totally, 100% agree Edwin.

Yes, i liked the new movie. But its not a world better than , oh lets say Trek VI. Another Trek movie i have a boatload of trouble with. And for similar reasons. I hated the cheap production design of it, as well. To many redressed TNG TV sets!

Lets just say this...This plays like a big budget remake of Spock's Brain for as much sense as it makes. But i am sure they were aiming for an Amok Time.
Thats right. I give this movie a Spock's Brain grade. I watch it, its entertains, but i know they were aiming for higher.

Or i hope they were.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Saw this movie yesterday, absolutely loved it. Not a ST fan at all but it sucked me into the lore and got me interested in these characters and their lives. The special effects were spectacular (unlike the Wolverine film) and the acting was top notch (unlike Will I.AM. from Wolverine). Even though I'm a huge fan of the Wolverine character, Star Trek is the movie that I would see repeatedly and recommend as the summer blockbuster to beat in terms of story and action. The time paradox plot device is pretty standard but I thought they did a good job of making it credible and it freed them up from having to stick to the continuity of the original movies, which tend to be of varying degrees of quality from what I hear. I was a little curious about the Spock/ Uhura relationship, though. Don't seem to recall them ever being an item.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I've never really understood the big deal about where support struts are and this or that for something that is going to be traveling in a vacuum and mainly has to support the ship's structure when it's under propulsion stress (and even then only when they're under impulse I imagine, as warp is probably more a bending space thing rather than putting stress on the ship's structure thing where propulsion force is actually being exerted on the ship itself).

That's one long run-on sentence.

Anyway, I like the new Enterprise, and I like the bridge, though I did get a bit confused because it looked like the bridge was accessible from a regular corridor whereas I thought the bridge was typically it's own "deck" and only accessible via turbolift. This one seemed accessible via both, and I don't think the TOS era really had "ready rooms" and conference rooms attached to the bridge like the TNG ships tended to have.

I've also already made my argument earlier about why I liked the set for engineering and it sort of goes with the size of the nacelles as well. This is an earlier era and I like to imagine that warp drives are still evolving so it sort of makes sense that the facilities and nacelles need to be bigger because the engines aren't nearly as refined or efficient as they will get in the future. It's like how computers have gone from filling whole rooms with vacuum tubes to being able to fit in a little netbook. I think it finally gave a sense of the complexity of dealing with faster-than-light travel and the complexity of it. It certainly is more dramatic and full of visual interest than something like the TNG or Voyager engineering sets (though one could imagine the tech would evolve to allow for such relatively tiny engineering facilities).

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I'm seriously asking, because I didn't have a problem with it, but what is it about Spock's exposition that so many people don't like? Was it Nimoy's delivery, the writing or both? I thought it did a fine job in telling a brief back story quickly (it was basically the comic prequel condensed to about 2 minutes).


I'm with Sean, loved the new engineering design. Everything about this Enterprise just felt more real too me, just felt more like something that could be in our future. I forget which one but, there was one negative review that I read where he complained that the bridge tech looked too advance for the Kirk time period (complained about all the touch screens and flat panel screens). I guess it would seem that way if you are looking at it through some TOS colored glasses but, that wasn't the connection the filmmakers were trying to make. They were trying to make it seem like a natural progression from our current real world technology (which I think they succeeded at doing).

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Myself, I just feel that exposition is the lazy way of telling a story. Yes, it was a bit painful to hear how Nimoy has lost most of his voice, but, it was the *use* of exposition that raised my eyebrow (in a Vulcan-y kind of way). Had the story been recapped via a series of brief vignettes from which the situation and the solution would have been apparent -- i.e., a recreation of the mind-meld experience itself, which I doubt has narration -- it would have worked just fine.


I might not have been bothered by the brewery if they'd found a brewery that had hallways the crew could actually walk through. But the crew's route to the shuttles looked more dangerous and ill-conceived than walking through Home Depot on a restocking day.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Does that spill over into the Lethal Weapon franchise too?

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Space Station astronauts are watching the new movie too -



One reader replied to the story-





Beam me up? Already here. Nasa astronauts watch Star Trek in space - Times Online

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

That is total bullshit. I had to pay to see it, and some rinky dink astronauts get it for free.

Must be nice.









insert smilie here

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

There are scenes in both "Charlie X" and "The Man Trap" that could have inspired the idea of Uhura being interested in Spock. She's practically flirting with Spock in "The Man Trap"! The scene was apparently cut from all syndication prints, as it was totally new to me when SciFi ran TOS uncut.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

YUP
Just about to post the same thing.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Thank you for pointing this out too! I was beginning to think I imagined the whole thing.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Yes, the writers have been answering fan questions and the romance was based on some scenes in TOS where Uhura had been seemingly flirting with Spock.

They've also been answering some new questions today and yesterday.

Some I think are good ones and one of them was bugging me.

How was it that Spock could see Vulcan implode from Delta Vega for example. The writer's answer was because it was in a Mindmeld. Plus it would look less cinematic if Nero gave Spock a telescope or some other device for him to watch it with. So the idea was Delta Vega was very close to Vulcan, maybe a near by planet. It was essentially because it looked cool I think. They were probably riffing on the Deathstar explosion at the end Revenge of the Jedi.

Why was the Enterprise built on the ground in Iowa? Because Starfleet commemorated the Riverside Shipyards to George Kirk's sacrifice by ramming Nero's ship and saving all those lives. But the other reason was they saw the fan made image of the Enterprise being built on the ground and JJ loved that image. It literally grounded Star Trek in more reality.

Why is Vulcan's sky blue and not red? More grounded in reality for the non fan's to get it. Plus the sky color is seasonal. Off the cuff remark if you ask me. Mar's sky is reddish.

Plus the thin air of Vulcan question too, but they didn't answer that one.

There's more, but I won't bore you with them for now.

Roberto Orci has been very generous with his time and has been coming through with many answers. So it's great he's engaging the fans.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

The sky on Mars is reddish mostly because of the constant dust in the atmosphere. If the Vulcan sky is not always dust-filled (it's a fictional place, so certainly possible) but more-so than Earth (same reason), then it becomes perfectly valid to have it blue in this movie (besides, how many minutes--total--in all the series, have we seen the Vulcan sky?)

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Here you are (from The Man Trap):

Miss Uhura, your last sub-space log...
contained an error in the frequencies column.
Sometimes I think if I hear "frequency" again, I'll cry.
Cry?
I was just trying to start a conversation.
Well, since it is illogical...
for a communications officer to resent the word "frequency"...
I have no answer.
No, you have an answer.
I'm an illogical woman who's beginning to feel...
too much a part of that communications console.
Why don't you tell me...
I'm an attractive young lady...
or ask me if I've ever been in love?
Tell me how planet Vulcan looks when the moon is full.
Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura.
I'm not surprised, Mr. Spock.

Star Trek Sickbay - TOS: Episody - 6 - The Man Trap - Transcript

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Interesting little tidbit from a recent AICN Quint interview with JJ after the movie had opened:

You know I thought something seemed familiar about that moment. Going to see it for the 4th time tonight. Really going to key on that moment.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Thanks for the quote Lou!

That was interesting. During that scene, it did feel like the Kirk we know. The way the line was written too combined with the line delivery.

I don't know if it was Shatner like, but it had that vibe in the way Shatner/Kirk would get Spock or others to go with his plan. I always liked how Shatner/Kirk would do a line like, "Well Spock, if you don't think it will work, maybe we shouldn't try"

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Another good one was when Kirk came onto the bridge, at the end, when he had the gold shirt on, I forget the exact lines, but the delivery of the dialogue as he walked down the steps from the entryway was very Shatner-ish.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I noticed that scene right away. Everything about it is very Shatner-Kirk, right down to the way he sits in the chair.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Indeed, especially the chair bit. Though really, how many different ways can one sit in a chair?

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Still can't used to hearing Pine say, "Kirk to Enterprise."

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I thought Pine sitting with his legs crossed at the end reminded me a lot of Shatner from the original.



The one big thing that still bothers me is the Kobiyashi Maru test. I so wanted Kirk to take it serious and act like he really is beating the no win scenario. Instead he acted like he was cheating the whole time. I guess it is too show the difference between Original Kirk and alternate timeline Kirk.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Kirk had already taken the test 3 times, then he finally found the way to beat it, so he was flipping it on its ear and he did like them apples.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I guess we didn't get the whole scene in STII except that Kirk got a special commendation for his unique solution -- I think just being able to rewrite Spock's computer code and beating the computer security should get a Merit Award.

In this movie he was essentially in the process of being expelled for cheating. I'm not sure if that's the alternate timeline or the fact that the Honors Court wasn't allowed to play out fully and eventually the Judges would have realized the usefulness of Kirk's nonlinear thinking.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

He had only taken it twice, the test scene we see was his third time.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

He WANTS to "get caught". His goal is to illustrate just how much of a waste of time he thinks the test is. This was one of my favourite scenes in the film. His attitude is entirely consistent with someone wanting to make a point. If he simply went about it very seriously and ended up beating the test--THAT would look like he was trying to cheat and get away with doing so. The way it is done in the film makes it clear he is putting the test on trial. He is a touch more "in your face" about it than perhaps he would have been in the original timeline, but that too is consistent with his character arc in the new timeline.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Paul-

That makes a lot of sense and the point was missed on me!

I guess after all these years, we imagined the way Kirk cheated on the Kobayashi Maru test was not like that.

Kirk has bluffed and cheated his way through many situations and turned things around in his favor.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

"But there was only one moment in the movie where I actually asked Chris to do a little bit of the Kirk we know and it was literally just one"


My guess would have been at the very end on the bridge when Kirk says "Bones! Buckle Up." and takes a step down and begins to walk towards the captains chair. Very Shatner-ish.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

Right down to the cross-legged sitting pose in the chair.

Re: *** Official STAR TREK (2009) Discussion Thread

I just watched TWOK last night and the little exchange between Kirk and Spock "As I recall, you took the test three times. Your final solution was, shall we say, unique." "It had the virtue of having never been tried". fit very well with the notion that Spock "authored" the scenario. I found it made both the TWOK scene and the one in the new movie more amusing (I could even "hear" Pine and Quinto do the same exchange).