Scott Atwell Star Trek Discussion thread (Series and Films) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I’ve heard that before and honestly, I don’t buy it for a millisecond.

Regardless, in one of the behind the scenes interviews he did, he stated that the other writers in the writers room decided to reintroduce that planet in the earlier episodes to tease him, and he went with it.

 

[Jason_V]

I’ve heard that before and honestly, I don’t buy it for a millisecond. He is the showrunner, writer and director of the episode and had 4 seasons worth of references to tip his hat towards yet he picks the one with his own name. When it happened on Enterprise, it was someone else giving a nod to a staffer, which is fine and very easy to miss. You'd have to really pay attention to get it and it was more for the staff than us. It came up in earlier episodes this season, but doing it repeatedly left a bad taste for me. It's like Ron Moore's obvious cameo in the Battlestar Galactica Finale.

Put it in a different context. If Nimbus III was named Shatner 7, fans would have been all over Bill like white on rice.

Nah, it was too obscure to be an Enterprise reference and too obviously the executive producers own name.

Yeah, no. You're welcome to your opinion, but I don't agree.

 

[ScottRE]

Regardless, in one of the behind the scenes interviews he did, he stated that the other writers in the writers room decided to reintroduce that planet in the earlier episodes to tease him, and he went with it.

Going with it once is fine. Putting it in yet again in the episode you wrote and directed sends a different message. Sorry, it just rubbed me wrong.

 

[ScottRE]

Yeah, no. You're welcome to your opinion, but I don't agree.

Totally fair, we can't all see things the same way. These were merely my reactions after all.

 

[Sam Favate]

This was as worthy a reunion as there has ever been. It's a far more fitting end to these characters than Nemesis ever could be. This had quality writing and great performances from the cast that's spent 35 years with these characters. Sure, certain aspects could have been better, but overall, this is a 10/10.

 

[Museum Pieces]

Going with it once is fine. Putting it in yet again in the episode you wrote and directed sends a different message. Sorry, it just rubbed me wrong.

Completely agree. When Scotty tells Washburn in THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE to do something, Scotty was using the name of the first Black first assistant director in Hollywood (who served on season one of TOS). That's worthy of a name drop. As the showrunner, having your name dropped in the series you are already credited on multiple times struck me as odd when it happened once. When it happened multiple times...sheesh. How about using one of those opportunities to drop the name of someone who gave you your start in the business?

I think it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'm not sure what the Roddenberry Archive is planning with these short films, but the work here is just stunning. This relates to TOS, TMP, TSFS, Generations and Picard S3.

 

[BobO'Link]

Here's something interesting... a "virtual" look at several bridges for The Enterprise:

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 (2265) - Roddenberry Archive

The Roddenberry Archive: Legacy of the Starships Enterprise

roddenberry.x.io

The interface is a bit clunky and it's not as fully realized as I'd like but is kind of neat to peruse. You also can't "tour" a bridge in the sense I was expecting (walking around and closely examining everything) - just limited scrolling functions.

Here's the article that lead me to the "virtual tour" site:

'Star Trek' Fans Can Now Virtually Tour Every Starship Enterprise Bridge

An interactive web portal explores the vessel's evolution over nearly six decades

www.smithsonianmag.com

 

[John*Wells]

I was watching Star Trek IV over the weekend and thinking it was a shame we never saw Gillian again

 

[ScottRE]

I was watching Star Trek IV over the weekend and thinking it was a shame we never saw Gillian again

She was used - out of canon - in a fantastic Graphic Novel "Debt of Honor."

I wasn't crazy about her character, so I was happy to see her go off to parts unknown at the end.

 

[Blimpoy06]

There was a lot of story potential in having someone from the 20th century thrust into the 23rd. Shades of Buck Rodgers. Surprised no one every followed up on that character in film or print. I liked the character myself.

 

[ScottRE]

There was a lot of story potential in having someone from the 20th century thrust into the 23rd. Shades of Buck Rodgers. Surprised no one every followed up on that character in film or print. I liked the character myself.

Oh she was touched upon in non-canon books and such.

Gillian Taylor

Gillian Taylor, Ph.D., was a female Human born on Earth in 1948. (TOS novel: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1) Taylor was born in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California and went to college at UCLA. While on summer vacation in Acapulco when she was 20, she spotted a school of migrating...

memory-beta.fandom.com

 

[ScottRE]

If any character had her potential squandered, it was Carol Marcus. I guess I understand Harve Bennett's reasoning for not including her in STIII, but she should have been in the 23rd century portions of STIV. I would have even taken a cameo in a mind meld sequence in Star Trek V. I know the original plan was to have her in #6 but I really wanted to see the fall out over David.

 

[ScottRE]

Just stumbled onto this. I am always happy when Star Trek III gets some love from fans. It is always unfairly lumped into the "odd numbered films" curse when it was actually a very good movie and remains my favorite of the film series. Even many critics of the time compared it favorably to Star Trek II. New York Newsday gave it three stars vs the two and a half of the previous film.

 

[KPmusmag]

I enjoy ST III a lot - it is a fun adventure.

 

[Sam Favate]

The only problem I really see with ST III is that it is really dependent on the previous film and the original series in order to fully enjoy it. There are numerous callbacks to the original episodes, and the plot of the story - from David to Genesis to Spock - depends on the viewer having seen TWOK.

Other than not being a stand-alone film, ST III is one of the more enjoyable trips through the Star Trek universe.

 

[BobO'Link]

I have a few minor issues with ST:III but, overall, think it's pretty good, easily the best of the "odd number" movies and deserving to be called an "even" number movie. I generally watch II, III, and IV back to back since they're a continuous story and watching III by itself just feels odd due to that disconnect.

 

[John*Wells]

If any character had her potential squandered, it was Carol Marcus. I guess I understand Harve Bennett's reasoning for not including her in STIII, but she should have been in the 23rd century portions of STIV. I would have even taken a cameo in a mind meld sequence in Star Trek V. I know the original plan was to have her in #6 but I really wanted to see the fall out over David.

I always wondered why we never saw her again. It was kind of Silly to overlay Kirk giving the proposal in the tape the Klingons were looking at

 

[ScottRE]

I always wondered why we never saw her again. It was kind of Silly to overlay Kirk giving the proposal in the tape the Klingons were looking at

Well that was probably just a matter of not having pay Bibi Besch for using her footage. That was one of the few things that curled my lip when I first saw it. At least change the speech a little. But it also gave Kruge a reason to recognize Kirk without Kirk just being the legendary captain of the Enterprise.

Star Trek III does suffer a little by being the middle chapter in a loose trilogy, but only as much as The Empire Strikes Back does, which remains my favorite Star Wars movie (and in my top 5 favorite films of all time). Since I'm a Star Trek fan, needing prior knowledge bothers me not. It always seemed to annoy critics though. How many film reviews back then - for almost any of the classic Trek films - had "for Trekkies only" or "add a star if you're a fan"?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

This has probably been posted before somewhere in the 850 pages of this thread, but too good not to share again: