Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (10 Viewers)

[ScottRE]

TMP: "The only vessel in interception range is the Enterprise."
TWOK: "We're the only ship in the quadrant."
TFF: "Other ships yes, but no experienced commanders."

All of these happened while the Enterprise was either at Earth / SF HQ or a stones throw away, which was a lazy reason to get the Enterprise into the action close by. In the case of TMP, if they had said, "The only vessel powerful enough, advanced enough in interception range is the Enterprise" would have been fine. Just a line or two about the USS Farrington or something being disintegrated like the Klingons, implying the older class of starships don't stand a chance.

 

[BobO'Link]

Scott, Josh, gosh darn it! You are absolutely right, I had totally forgotten about the Enterprise beaming out the crew from the Galileo in The Galileo Seven! That is one of my favorite episodes too. And they beamed Captain Christopher out of his F-104 when the tractor beam broke his jet apart.

Not to mention that they beamed him *back* into the F-104 *while travelling through time* as well as returned the security guard to his post before he "discovered" them breaking in... (Just watched that episode last night). I have *lots* of issues with the ending of that episode...

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Oh yeah, that sort of thing is infuriating. For example, Superman Returns was considered a box office failure because the film's "budget" covered all the aborted attempts at a Superman movie since 1988! Likewise, with Star Trek TMP, all the costs associated with the new network, the Phase II show, and all the turmoil at the studio before the movie actually got going was attached to it. God forbid the studio should just eat the costs for its own failed decisions.

I wanted to double back to this because I had absolutely been thinking of Superman Returns when I made my post. I loved that movie. I saw it over and over in the summer of 2006 and for me it perfectly captured the wonder I first felt watching Superman: The Movie as a kid, and I was bitterly disappointed that they decided not to proceed with a sequel on the basis that it had only broken even or failed to make back its money (depending on who was asked the question) - and the thing is, if they had only held that film responsible for its own costs and not a decade’s worth of failed attempts by unrelated filmmakers at making different Superman movies, it absolutely did make enough to warrant another installment. I was so glad that Brandon Routh had the chance to revisit the role briefly on TV years and years later.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Not to mention that they beamed him *back* into the F-104 *while travelling through time* as well as returned the security guard to his post before he "discovered" them breaking in... (Just watched that episode last night). I have *lots* of issues with the ending of that episode...

It made total sense to me when I first saw it at age 8! Totally believable!

 

[BobO'Link]

It made total sense to me when I first saw it at age 8! Totally believable!

It really took several viewings of the episode before I noticed the time travel memory based anomalies taking place (which I've read being explained away as accurate due to use of the transporter - I call BS on that), not to mention the issues with using the transporter for those transfers while traveling at such high speed and the timing of those transfers which could *not* be accurately done manually, much less via voice command. And *then* you have them going *back* in time to do those 2 returns and then shifting *forward* to get home... that would take 2 slingshot maneuvers and they did only 1.

I was 11 when it first aired and know I didn't pay attention to those little details... I'd very likely not even considered them at that point (in spite of being a huge SF fan/reader/nerd).

 

[Jason_V]

Finished TNG's "Exiles" this past week and ended up liking it a fair bit better than I expected to. There's a few different plots going on at the same time, though some of the primary characters aren't given a whole lot to do (that's normal in the episodes, but should not be the norm in a novel). Plot one is two warring planets need to reconcile for different reasons. Plot two is on the Enterprise and deals with sacred animals. And plot three features a captured shuttlecraft, diplomacy and a revenge plot.

It's a breezy, quick read...with everything going on, the setting constantly shifts and never gave me a chance to be bored. This is a pretty heavy handed "bonk bonk on the head" story, though, which is emblematic of many novels from this time period. I'm fine with those kinds of stories and it didn't bug me. Acknowledging it will annoy some folks.

Next up: TOS's "The Wounded Sky." (Already started it and I'm having a world of trouble getting invested in it...)

 

[John*Wells]

Good News today. Discovery Season 4 on Dvd and Blu Ray will be out on December 6 2022.

 

[Blimpoy06]

The Wounded Sky is my favorite Star Trek novel. I have read it more than any others ever published. I instantly recognized the elements used in the TNG First Season Episode "Where No One Has Gone Before". That was also written by Diane Duane with Michael Reeves.

 

[Jason_V]

I will keep an open mind about "The Wounded Sky," Darin!

 

[John*Wells]

Another DS9 Actor Has left us Louise Fletcher AKA Kai Winn

Louise Fletcher, Oscar Winner for ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ Dies at 88

Louise Fletcher, who won the best actress Oscar for her indelible performance as Nurse Ratched in Milos Forman's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," died Friday at her home in France.

variety.com

 

[Museum Pieces]

The Wounded Sky is my favorite Star Trek novel. I have read it more than any others ever published. I instantly recognized the elements used in the TNG First Season Episode "Where No One Has Gone Before". That was also written by Diane Duane with Michael Reeves.
View attachment 154941

I remember reading this novel in high school. We had to go on a trip, I didn't want to go, so I stayed inside and read this book. I still have the paperback. I agree with you. It's one of the better one. I also liked ENTERPRISE, by Vyonda McIntire (sp?) and YESTERDAY'S SON by Ann Crispin.

 

[Bryan^H]

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks Bryan for posting that Carbon Creek anniversary notice. Hard to believe it was that long ago! I watched this episode several times over the years. I watched the Blu ray version tonight for the first time on my new OLED. I was impressed how good the location filming sequences look. This is a fun episode.

 

[bmasters9]

Amazon review on how to tell the difference between the real Voyager all-in-one and the fake one (video review on this page)...

See on Amazon

 

[Nelson Au]

It’s a faaaaake?

You post caught my attention and I looked, but didn’t see a video review describing fake Voyager all in one copies. I never thought that anyone would sell bootleg Star Trek DVDs but then I guess anything is possible.

 

[bmasters9]

It’s a faaaaake?

You post caught my attention and I looked, but didn’t see a video review describing fake Voyager all in one copies. I never thought that anyone would sell bootleg Star Trek DVDs but then I guess anything is possible.

Above the customer images is where I saw that video review.

 

[Nelson Au]

Ok, I see the video now, I had to open the Amazon app on my mobile device for it to show. The Web based Amazon page didn’t show the video, as far as I could tell.

I bought my Voyager set waaay back when they first came out, so I’m pretty sure they are not faaaake. In looking at one set, I can see it passed all the ”tells” in that video.

Perhaps someday, soon, we can replace these with blu rays.

 

[Harry-N]

Way back when VOYAGER had been released on DVD, I hadn't initially planned on buying the expensive sets. After they were out for a little while, I began to see some sets at lower prices on eBay and picked up S1 and S2 at a reasonable price. Once hooked on the videos, I began a more urgent search for S3 and beyond. S3 was fairly easy, S4 was a challenge, but ultimately I found a source.

Then it was S5's turn. I found a good price on eBay, ordered it, and was shocked when it arrived in a non-standard package. I wasn't sure if they'd changed from those plastic tings seen above, but these discs were surely not mastered by Paramount. The video was grainy and didn't look nearly as good as S1-4. I suspected a Chinese knock-off and contacted the seller and arranged for a refund.

So for 4, 5, 6, and 7, I ended up paying whatever the Amazon prices were at the time. It was worth the piece of mind to get the full series on decent DVDs. So the Chinese knock-offs are (were) out there. Be careful.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thought it might be interesting to post some episodes I’ve been viewing recently.

I try to watch an episode a day during the pandemic, I’ve gone through TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise all in order. But I finished a while ago and I’ve been randomly picking episodes. Two weeks ago I hit upon themed episodes. I started to watch each TNG episode Mr. Barclay was in. I didn’t proceed to his Voyager appearance yet. But this led to the Sherlock Holmes episode since Barclay was involved in the second Sherlock Holmes epsiode, so I went back to the second season and watched Elementary Dear Data for the first Holmes episode.

Following that I hit upon the episodes that Wesley appears in as a returning guest star. So there was Final admission, then followed with The Game which was a fun episode and it’s too bad Ashley Judd did not come back for more episodes. Then there was The First Duty where they decided to soil his reputation a bit. Tonight I finished with Journeys End where Wesley quits Starfleet and goes upon his journey with the Traveler. This was an interesting experiment as I watched episodes I don’t see that often. There was a line of dialogue at the end of Journey‘s End that clarified something for me. Wesley beams back down the planet to study with the Native American Indians. The Traveler said his journey starts there where he can learn from them. I kept thinking because of what Dr. Crusher said, that Wesley will transcend his corporeal body and become something else like Bowman did in 2001. But no, he‘s still a human. And that his path took him to where we saw him last on Picard. That was a nice bit to show us the path he ultimately took. I think I covered all the episodes Wesley was in as a recurring character. Not sure I’ll follow up on the episodes Wesley was featured on in early TNG.

Not sure where I’ll go next for themed epsodoes. Maybe follow Barclay on Voyager. Maybe not.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I love doing little themed bunches like that. Before the most recent season of Picard, I did all the TNG time travel (and time anomaly) episodes, and before the first season of Picard I did a bunch of TNG episodes that were about Data and the Soongs. I’m not sure what theme I’ll go with before season three of Picard.