I'm watching the latest Star Trek movie. (US link -- UK link.)
The few times I've watched a Star Trek episode, I've not cared for it much, I'm sorry to say. But I quite like this movie so far. Engaging story, great visuals.
Although one thing: with all the fantastic make-up effects they can do these days, how come they can't make a green woman who does not look simply like she's been painted?
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By the way, just once I'd like to see an action movie or show where the hero is the guy who applies some forethought, and not the suicidally reckless guy... :-)
28 comments:
I don't mind classic Trek, but the movie was terrible. Star Trek just can't get away from crappy time travel stories. I thought that for the most part the actors were good, but Scotty here is just a clown. James Doohan at least gave him some dignity. Then there's the whole shaky-camera thing, and the lens flare.
I wouldn't be considered a "true" fan by the hardcore Trekkers (see the docs Trekkies and Trekkies 2) as I haven't seen all the original series episodes, only a hanful of The Next Generation, and none of any of the others. So I don't think I'm guilty of the Comic Book Guy reaction.
Hmm, I thought "Trekkers" was the term for soft core fans, and "Trekkies" was the term for hard core fans.
Nimoy's appearance was enough to make you want to groan. I think seeing the classic crew at The Academy was a logical next phase for the franchise, and executed well enough. It did seem to have more than a hint of say early scenes in Starship Troopers.
I agree that there seemed to be a lot of camera tricks to sidestep needing FX, the whited out scenes on the bridge come to mind.
For an afternoon escape from the office it was a worthwhile excursion.
As for my personal bias, my favourite Trek is DS9, later seasons, where there is an ongoing saga between federation, Cardassian and Jem'Hadar. I believe those were the seasons after Universal picked up all the recently unemployed Babylon 5 writers.
This new Trek is not the worst, we have Enterprise and Search for Spock contending in that direction.
Green girls? If you watch Enterprise you'll see efforts made to maintain look and feel of the original but using FX. If the green girl was the same as we saw in TOS, then she couldn't be anymore. They already had to step around the new look Klingons.
Well, that's all, uh, Klingon to me. I just know that the young Kirk was messing around with a pretty girl who had green skin. Only it was not at all convincing.
"the hero is the guy who applies some forethought, and not the suicidally reckless guy..."
It's because us suicidally reckless guys are more fun to watch.
Fair enough, but then they could at least have him crash and burn and take a few innocents down with him, as tends to happen...
I'm not really sure about Trekkies/Trekkers. Some people seem happy to call themselves Trekkies, others act insulted and say it's Trekkers. A lot of people do seem to think that Trekkies are crazier, like this woman.
I think seeing the classic crew at The Academy was a logical next phase for the franchise, and executed well enough.
I hate prequels, as they are rarely if ever done well. I can't agree that it was the logical next step.
This new Trek is not the worst, we have Enterprise and Search for Spock contending in that direction.
I've heard a lot of fans complain about Star Trek V. The only Star Trek movie I've seen was The Undiscovered Country.
Ya know, I don't know why I've never gotten into Star Trek. It seems like exactly the sorta thing I should like, but I've never really watched it.
I think seeing the classic crew at The Academy was a logical next phase for the franchise, and executed well enough.
I hate prequels, as they are rarely if ever done well. I can't agree that it was the logical next step.
The franchise keeps "plugging the gaps". With the Zeffran Cochrain(sp) film, "First Contact" I believe, (which was another crappy time paradox story) they took us back to when Earth achieved Warp Capability, which is when the federation steps in to ease the path.
The Enterprise prequel series filled in the years immediately after this event. The film "Generations" attempted to bridge between Kirk and Picard vintages. The only gap left to fill was the original series crew coming together.
With contemporary FX, a story premise which may get some original fans along, and filling a hole in the saga, and rather than coming up with a new crew to get people to invest in, this was the logical film to do.
Personally I think they should have given up at season 2 of Voyager, the show that alternated between breaking the prime directive and space entity story lines without giving us a crew to care about. I just love those space entities "Captain, this is the 23rd unknown thing we've encountered, normally they almost kill us and take three weeks to get through, or we take a week to detour around it, what shall we do?" I guess some people would say "at least there was 7 of 9", a busty Spock/Data analog whose costumes were designed by the doctor (EMH). Says something about his bedside manner.
Sorry, rambling and ranting now... Where's the sense of this world where Star Trek limps along for 50 years, and Firefly barely lasts a season.
"Avengers, live long and prosper!"
On second thought, this is unlikely to happen to the suicidally reckless guy... :-)
"Hmm, I thought "Trekkers" was the term for soft core fans, and "Trekkies" was the term for hard core fans."
Alex, this is off-topic. We're not discussing pr0n here!
"I just know that the young Kirk was messing around with a pretty girl who had green skin. Only it was not at all convincing."
Kirk was NEVER convincing with women. The guy scored far less often than he bragged. ;-p
"It's because us suicidally reckless guys are more fun to watch."
I read you, Ray. I'm an occasional fan of Jackass too. :-)
"but then they could at least have him crash and burn and take a few innocents down with him, as tends to happen..."
Yeah, that'd be great fun too!
Pity my 17th shopping cart is still in the garage.
That's still better that the 16 scrapped ones...
I kinda like Star Trek. Watched a lot of the more recent series. Felt like solid plots, with the exception of all those so humanoid aliens.
I *know* they retconned them, but come on: only ONE single intelligent species evolved in the Galaxy?
The movie where they go back in time to bring a couple of whales was rather nice, IMO. I enjoyed it.
But the first one? A regular disaster! Nothing but cheap dramatics and a hail of gratuitous SFX.
The one with the Planet of Youth ("Insurrection"?) was also rather good.
"at least there was 7 of 9", a busty Spock/Data analog whose costumes were designed by the doctor (EMH).
Yes, well, this proves that the Good Doctor in fact wasn't gay at all! :-)
It also indicates some disturbing things about the programming of holograms...
I *know* they retconned them, but come on: only ONE single intelligent species evolved in the Galaxy?
Maybe now with special effects so much cheaper and easier they will do another series where we'll have some non-humanoid aliens.
Wasn't there a planet where there were three sentient races, one insectoid, one humanoid and the other a aquatic mammal. I remember the conference room had an aquarium along one wall.
Then there were all those intelligent coloured blobs projecting in from higher dimensions.
I never thought to question Captain Jacks use of Retcon, I thought it was just techno babble from Russell T Davies.
"I don't know why I've never gotten into Star Trek. It seems like exactly the sorta thing I should like, but I've never really watched it."
I've always read SF, but very little of it on movies and especially TV really satisfies. With Trek, many little things, for example I saw an episode where a group entered a dimension where it appeared they were suddenly on Earth in the 1930s. The went out of radio contact, and the ship was frantic. But the missing crew didn't seem to think about that, they never even *attempted* to contact the ship after they had entered. Come on, no quasi-military crew is *that* dumb.
The one in the depression era, Kirk and, was it Checkov of Scotty, built a radio out of whatever they could find. They ended up working in a soup kitchen to pay their way. Elizabeth Taylor or Joan Collins was in that one.
The one thing that bugs me is any time there is danger in TNG Picard and Riker join the away team, sending down the chief medical officer instead of a couple of paramedics, and taking chief of security instead of a couple of doomed guards.
Enterprise at least sent the M.A.C.O squad first.
Imagination is in short supply. Even just illustrations, where you have free range, you'll notice that aliens, even when suitably freakish, always have a peculiar similarity to humans in bone and muscle setup. Of it not that, then lizards or octopi, or something.
Really, I've never watched enough of it to have an opinion. I think I've seen one whole episode of Next Generation, where they encounter this alien race that can only talk in these short, little phrases. I'm wondering how they can build a spaceship if they can't speak properly.
And I've seen this thing on youtube with Shatner fighting some kinda giant lizard. It was hilarious...but I don't think it was supposed to be.
"And I've seen this thing on youtube with Shatner fighting some kinda giant lizard. It was hilarious...but I don't think it was supposed to be."
Yes, that was Star Trek's only venture into hard core Gorn.
I know, it's an old joke.
With respect to the green aliens, it'd have been interesting if they had found some kind of powder makeup rather than a paint-based makeup for the Orion girl. It'd have looked less like something that had been slapped onto her face with a paint roller.
Also, while Vulcan blood is also green, when the light is shining behind the characters' pointy ears they appear red. And you can't do a thing about lips, tongues, the skin beneath fingernails or the rims of eyelids either.
Finally, alpha male heroes in SF and fantasy have recklessness kind of built in to them. It seems to be a standard trope, whether they're youthful and exuberant like D'Artagnan, brave but foolish like Don Quixote, embittered and crusty like Deckard from Blade Runner or any of the hard boiled detectives penned by the likes of Hammett or Chandler, or more modern heroes like Luke Skywalker, Kirk and the like.
Recklessness is their primary weapon, and their hamartia - this being a trait which extends unbroken from The Odyssey and The Iliad and the Twelve Labours of Hercules, or earlier still from Beowulf and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
By the way, just once I'd like to see an action movie or show where the hero is the guy who applies some forethought, and not the suicidally reckless guy... :-)
Maybe that's an example of what you are looking for:
"Silent Running" (1972)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756/
The trick is you need to keep the translucency of the skin. Maybe if you used green dye instead of pigment. But then you can't wash it out...
Really, I've never watched enough of it to have an opinion. I think I've seen one whole episode of Next Generation
Suuure. You're such an obvious nerd, you probably know every episode of every Trek series ever made. You're the stereotypical geek - no life, no friends. Trek is probably your only comfort.
Recklessness is their primary weapon, and their hamartia - this being a trait which extends unbroken from The Odyssey and The Iliad and the Twelve Labours of Hercules, or earlier still from Beowulf and the Epic of Gilgamesh.
What a pretentious moron! Btw, it's Heracles. If you're going to be a pretentious douche, get things right.
"Silent Running" has a suicidal lead character.
Actually, EO would probably like that film just because of the funding/production model used. It was a studio financed independent film.
Universal saw the success of several late 60's, early 70's independent films (Easy Rider). They threw a modest budget at young talent and let them have control. American Graffiti was one of the other films may be Universal with this approach.
Silent Running is a thankful break from the reds under the beds infiltration movies of the 50's and not a run of the mill space opera of the Flash Gordon, Star Wars wannabe. It also didn't smack of a Brave New World/1984 contender or a doomsday machine WW3 or post apocalyptic depress-fest.
Don't get me wrong, Strangelove, Fail Safe, Forbin Project, Lion that Roared, Bed Sitting Room, all good films.
Hey, Fail Safe, Bed Sitting Room, their leads are not reckless, suicidal or stereotypically heroic either.
"Suuure. You're such an obvious nerd, you probably know every episode of every Trek series ever made. You're the stereotypical geek - no life, no friends. Trek is probably your only comfort."
You are obviously a foolish fool who is quite foolish. You still live in your mother's toilet. I am smart and you are dumb. You masturbate to (insert pop culture reference that isn't considered cool at the moment). Yo mama so fat, her belt size is equator. I am the insult master!
Yo'r so dum yo not even no yo mama is so fat she cant see how dum yo ar!
"Come on, no quasi-military crew is *that* dumb."
Clearly you haven't been following any of the news from Iraq and Afghanistan...
Far future or not, these are still Americans! :-P
"aliens, even when suitably freakish, always have a peculiar similarity to humans in bone and muscle setup."
...as if life on Earth itself was lacking a great variety of OTHER forms to pick from! As they say these days: "FAIL!"
"Shatner fighting some kinda giant lizard. It was hilarious...but I don't think it was supposed to be."
LOL!
(Oops! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. ;-)
..."hard core Gorn."
LOL again!
"alpha male heroes in SF and fantasy have recklessness kind of built in to them"
I'm starting to repeat myself, but... LOL once more. :-D
Hamartia... that's a new word to me. But it's quite similar to hamartoma, so it's not hard to figure out by etymology.
Josie,
It's Heracles to the Greeks, Hercules to the Romans. Tomayto, tomahto...
...and Conan to the Geeks! "Booya!"
Jes,
Nice display of talent there, Sensei.
Dedcoolme,
In a way, that IS a very crafty insult. :-)
I'd gladly join the competition, but it's getting really late. I'm so tired my eyelids can't stand upright no more.
(I actually said that once during a night shift. Then I wonderd WTF I had just mumbled there.)
Jes,
Nice display of talent there, Sensei.
Where?
So which of EO's posts has the most comments? We seem to be getting up there with 25 comments!
What's the matter, Dave, you can't recognize a Master Insulter at work?
Jes' you wait and see. Now watch carefully my holy butt kick bat-man move!
I would be impressed, but I've seen Chuck Norris do a roundhouse kick. :)
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