Paramount+ Star Trek: Discovery - Official Thread (1 Viewer)

[TJPC]

I really liked the story and characters, and it seemed sufficiently treky. The production design was a total departure.
It truly looks like they have started again from scratch.

I especially hated the Klingons, who really were so covered in rubber that they did not look alive at all. We both found the endless "Klingonese" very very tedious. They gave them so many teeth that I now know how Klingons with a speech impediment sound.

I love Star Trek, but have always found that a little bit of Klingon goes a long way. I find their pseudo-Viking culture and traditions basically boring. I liked Worf, but going to the home world and battle rituals etc. etc.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

There was a lot to like here. After a few episodes of "The Orville" aping 1990s-era "Trek" to a T, it was a bit startling to watch this -- which had better production values than most of the "Trek" motion pictures.

It does feel like the first hour was designed toward maximum cliffhanger for the jump from OTA broadcast to premium streaming.

The bit with the science officer sensing imminent danger was handled better than the promos made it seem. It's not that he's got some sort of magical ability, it's that he is the member of a species of prey that evolved on a planet full of apex predators. So his sensory input and ingrained instincts are attuned through millennia of natural selection toward picking up the tell tale signs of danger.

I liked how it started with a routine Starfleet mission and then the sense of foreboding grew and grew over the course of the hour.

I wish they'd resisted the urge to bring Sarek into this. James Frain made a great aloof Vulcan father figure, but he didn't feel much like Sarek. Better to make him a contemporary of Sarek's, and not have the universe feel so small.

I could not get past the look of the Klingons, and also how bad the Klingon makeup was. Like, really really bad. Also hated the Klingon ships, which look nothing like Klingon ships we've seen, not even in general form or shape.

There may be story reasons for this. I'm hoping that the various Klingon houses have differing looks, with some looking like the TNG-era Klingons and others looking like the TOS-era Klingons. Perhaps the different houses have different ships, and perhaps this house ends up getting wiped out.

The cast was very good. I liked Martin-Greene a lot, and Michelle Yeoh.

Martin-Greene did a great job balancing the Vulcan background with a personality that was unapologetically human. I was a bit concerned that the character would be Spock with round ears, but that was not the case. And her name continues Bryan Fuller's practice of assigning his female leads masculine given names.

The writing? Let's just say I could smell Akiva Goldsman's work, of which I have never been a fan.

All indications going into this were that Fuller had submitted a complete script for the pilot that everybody was happy with before departing the series, so I was surprised to see the dual credit. I'm guessing that most of the blatant exposition was Goldsman, making the show more accessible, though I have no way to prove it.

In complete agreement with Greg's spoiler comment. Just an unrecoverable moment in any reality based universe.

Assuming we're all talking about the same moment:

Spoiler

For Michael to professionally survive such an insubordinate act, it would seem to me that two things need to happen:
1) The USS Shenzhou would need to be destroyed, and any official record of the insubordination obliterated.
2) Any other surviving witnesses to the mutiny would have to be so convinced of the rightness of her action that they keep their mouths shut about it.

 

[TonyD]

Just real quick before my full opinion.

DMG is terrible at acting, at least in this she is.
Robotic, sayimg her lines sounds like she’s just actually reading her lines and she enunciates everything too much. Don’t like her in this at all.

Also I won’t be paying to watch the rest even though I’m sure I’ll like it.

 

[Nelson Au]

I thought it was gripping! I watched both parts. I used to be at a point of really demanding slavish attention to see design and canon retained. Canon is still very important to me to see retained in the Star Trek timeline in the prime timeline. But I'm not seeing anything here that's violating canon yet. Aesthetically, yes, this is not Captain Pike's era. But I wasn't looking for that and I was very open minded tonight.

I think some of you will say, just call it something else and not Star Trek and it was decent action sci-fi.

I was pleasantly surprised and I certainly enjoyed this start. I was emotionally engaged with these characters. I think sometimes it's ok to try something new and so far, this Star Trek felt like Star Trek. Though I wasn't clear, maybe I wasn't able to read the subtitles fast enough, why T'Kuvma was so certain of invasion by the Federation and needed to reunite the 24 houses. That was a new cool aspect of the Klingons. Maybe borried from the Xindi or Galactica. I guess this will be revealed during the course of the series as to what made the Klingons feel so compelled to attack the Federation. In a way, it seemed more a natural story if it was the Romulan Wars, but I guess they wanted to turn the story into the Klingons. In Kirk's era, there was definitely aggression between the Federation and Klingon Empire, so maybe we are seeing the start of all that.

I liked the new look of the Klingons. Advances in make up perhaps, but these guys looked like a huge step up from the TNG era. There's simularities and new aspects to the design of the characters. They looked like real living beings. The guy on the bridge who sees death was quite well done.

I saw the previews to upcoming episodes and yes, definitely a career ending stunt Bernham pulled. Sorry to see that Michelle Yeoh was a guest star. Liked her character. My only criticism, I didn't like the design of the uniforms. They were OK. But too much gold and silver shiney stuff, though the new delta badge looks better then I thought. It had dimension. There was some TNG influence as there were pips in the badges denoting rank.

By the way, I watched the stream via an Apple TV 4. Image quality was super sharp and no hiccups. I paid the $5.99 rate so I had to suffer through the ads. .

If you're slightly curious and a Star Trek fan, but are boycotting because it's CBS All Access or you think it's been a mess from the way the production seemed to be delayed, I think you're missing out. But I get it, you'll binge later when the episodes are all done. How does that phrase go, cutting off the nose to spite the Face?

 

[TonyD]

I don’t think anyone is spiting anything by choosing to not pay.

I’m certainly not. I’m a fan of ST but I’m not paying another service to watch a show I can see later on. Nothing to do with spite it’s s financial choice.

 

[Nelson Au]

Tony, I probably should not have said what I said, so no offense meant.

 

[TonyD]

I wasn’t offended. Your opinion is certainly valid.
I guess there are some people who refuse to pay and feel maybe it is to spite or in a sense an “I’ll show them” attitude.

But I think most people who aren’t paying are choosing that because it’s a financial reason.

 

[Tino]

'Star Trek: Discovery' Earns Positive Reactions Following Premiere

Star Trek is making a television comeback, and the early reactions suggest Star Trek: Discovery will give the fans what they've been asking for.

The new Star Trek series, which will stream on the CBS All Access service, has had some traditionalist fans unsure of how to feel. The trailers and previews are action-packed and have beautiful special effects, but some fans haven't found the series to be as instantly recognizable as Star Trek as they would like. Others have been concerned about what a prequel series could mean for Star Trek's canon and continuity.

Star Trek: Discovery made its world premiere last night at the Arclight Cinema Dome in Hollywood, and the early reactions from the premiere should help put those fears to bed.

One buzzword was "cinematic," suggesting that CBS achieved the high-budget, prestige television version of Star Trek that they were aiming for.

http://comicbook.com/startrek/2017/09/20/star-trek-discovery-reviews/#1

 

[Dave Upton]

In short: a dog. Stiff acting, some of the worst writing in Star Trek history, and dutch angles for the sake of dutch angles up the wazoo. Proof Trekkies will buy anything as long as it isn't wasn't made by their mortal enemy J.J. Abrams (although Discovery owes way too much to his house style).

The acting didn't feel all that stiff to me outside of a couple of scenes. I enjoyed the 2nd episode more than the first, but i'm part of that group of Trekkies that will buy anything, so as long as this show continues to be what Trek is supposed to be (moral and social commentary, sci-fi and teachable), i'll keep watching. CBS all access to my Chromecast wasn't bad, but it had some weird stutter. Next week I think i'll just watch in the browser on my HTPC.

 

[DaveF]

If you're slightly curious and a Star Trek fan, but are boycotting because it's CBS All Access or you think it's been a mess from the way the production seemed to be delayed, I think you're missing out. But I get it, you'll binge later when the episodes are all done. How does that phrase go, cutting off the nose to spite the Face?

No spite, just practicality. CBS is third in line of services I don't pay for after HBO and STARZ.

If new Trek was on a service I already have (cable, BBCA, Netflix, Amazon) then I'd give it a go.

I didn't watch a pilot for a show on a service I'm not getting even if it's amazing because, see prior "Game of Thrones" on HBO.

 

[Todd H]

I thought it was a bit meh to be honest. Did we really need another prequel? Did nothing happen after ST:TNG? And why change the look of the Klingons AGAIN? No way I'm paying for a streaming service just to watch this.

 

[Dave Upton]

I thought it was a bit meh to be honest. Did we really need another prequel? Did nothing happen after ST:TNG? And why change the look of the Klingons AGAIN? No way I'm paying for a streaming service just to watch this.

I'm not a fan of the Klingon redesign at all, but I had the chance to hear about this briefly from Glenn Hetrick and Neville Page (the designers for Discovery) at ST:LV last month. The answer was that the overall decision to change them up was from the showrunners, so they decided to do what they could to make the Klingons new design make sense. The ridges in their heads are full of sensory organs to help them in battle, as well as a bunch of other minutiae. Would I prefer they had more in common with TNG Klingons, absolutely - but i'm not going to write off the show for that reason.

I am a massive Voyager fan, and I also want more post TNG/Voyager Trek, but for better or worse the shows lost their audience at the end (DS:9 and Voyager respectively), leading to the cancellations. Hopefully Discovery will be a vehicle to getting more people into trek, allowing us to get a non-prequel series next.

 

[Sam Favate]

An inconsistency: They said the Klingons hadn't been seen in 100 years (presumably since the time of Archer) but somehow they killed Burnham's parents like 25 years ago?

Also, the story depended on the Starfleet crew acting very un-Starfleet. They come upon a relay that they determine has been intentionally damaged. Then they see something lurking in the distance. Did it occur to no one that it was the ship that damaged the relay? Not even the captain? Absurd.

 

[Josh Dial]

An inconsistency: They said the Klingons hadn't been seen in 100 years (presumably since the time of Archer) but somehow they killed Burnham's parents like 25 years ago?

Barely seen in almost 100 years.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

I viewed both hours. I saw the first hour courtesy of my DVR (thankfully programmed for a one hour overrun). I was impressed enough by that to immediately sign up for CBS AA. So the second hour was viewed via my Roku 3 box hooked up to my projector.

Observations:
* Man, did they ever spend some money on this! The production values were almost “too good for TV”.

* I really enjoyed the interplay between The Captain and her “Number 1”. This was very Trek-like and immediately drew me in to the characters and the story.

* Since we already knew the Klingons were going to look different, I was able to (somewhat) get past this. It helps that it has now been explained that the depicted Klingons are from 24 Houses which reside on 24 different planets. Presumably these colonies have been established for thousands of years which would explain the deviation of appearance between Houses. I’m still not happy with the canon changes here, but it’s not a deal breaker at this point.

* I enjoyed the Sarek sequences more than I thought I would; and was very happy to hear and see “Live Long and Prosper” depicted the proper way.

* So I signed up for the “limited commercials” option — and absolutely hated all the commercials. (They didn’t seem all that limited to me).

BOTTOM LINE: They knocked this 2 hour premier out of the park. But where do they go from here? The protagonist is now ostracized; and we haven’t even been introduced to “Discovery” yet! The jury is still out on this series, but I’ll be watching ...

 

[David Weicker]

I've only seen the broadcast half.

First of all, I'm not sure why people are praising 'production values'. Or does that not include light bulbs? Don't they have light switches on starships? And the angled shots - holy batman.

And I'm sorry, but the new Klingons look exactly like the Vogons from the '81 BBC Hitchhikers.

The lead was far too abrasive (and unlikeable).

Does the second half rectify any of these issues?

 

[Dave Upton]

I've only seen the broadcast half.

First of all, I'm not sure why people are praising 'production values'. Or does that not include light bulbs? Don't they have light switches on starships? And the angled shots - holy batman.

And I'm sorry, but the new Klingons look exactly like the Vogons from the '81 BBC Hitchhikers.

The lead was far too abrasive (and unlikeable).

Does the second half rectify any of these issues?

Production values include all the costumes, set design, makeup, VFX etc. They are spending $8M an episode, and it shows.

 

[Nelson Au]

Dave, Tony, I stand corrected. I understand given so many other platforms you're paying for, another wasn't an option.

Sam, as the situation unfolded, I agree, Captain Georgiou should have backed her ship away some. But she was determined to hold her ground and protect the systems nearby from this threat.

These first two episodes were pretty well done. Now that the fireworks are over, it will be interesting to see how the series movies ahead from here. There was a serious overtone here and the last time I felt this was when I watched Mad Men and Battlestar Galactica. Maybe because once free of network TV, the production can take on another level. This really is a totally new Enterprise. We don't know her half as much.

 

[Tino]

I've only seen the broadcast half.

First of all, I'm not sure why people are praising 'production values'. Or does that not include light bulbs? Don't they have light switches on starships? And the angled shots - holy batman.

And I'm sorry, but the new Klingons look exactly like the Vogons from the '81 BBC Hitchhikers.

The lead was far too abrasive (and unlikeable).

Does the second half rectify any of these issues?

These weren’t issues to me so there was nothing to rectify imo.

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

I thoroughly enjoyed the two episodes. I thought the production design was exceptional, the leads were compelling, the interplay between characters natural and solid, and the concept behind the show very interesting.

I love the Klingon design - and the quality of the makeup and wardrobe, but admit that I want there to be a legitimate connection to the Klingon's that we've seen in the TNG era and beyond. A good deal of the design and technology choices would have been more fitting in an era past TNG, but I also recognize that this show might be a semi-reboot of the future, and I would understand why that is needed, but can seen that being a hurdle for long-time Trek fans.

There was a sense of discovery (no pun intended) about the opening sequences that felt entirely Trek, and Michael's sense of wonder was a good way to have that be present in this story. I am intrigued how this prequel series will build into what we know from established Trek history. Like all Trek pilots, there were moments that could have used a little refinement, but I felt like I watched a movie last night rather than a TV show, and that was quite something.

The opening titles sequence is good, but I miss the soaring through space approach that each of the other series have largely used, but sometimes a bold departure, while taking some getting used to, is just what we need. Time will tell.

As Joseph said above, the 'limited commercials' is a lie - there were WAY too many commercials for a cheapskate like me. Still, I can't imagine not subscribing to watch this show, but hope that those that choose not to, or cannot afford to, have other ways to watch this in the future.