Official I WATCHED TREK thread

POSTED BY: LincolnZ
UPDATED: Monday, May 18, 2009 11:06
VIEWED: 17337
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SEBA

Sunday, May 10, 2009 5:03 AM

A good assessment:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/133384.html

ASARIAN

Sunday, May 10, 2009 5:09 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Seba:
I was somewhat taken aback by your comments initially, but I think I see where you're going now. I don't believe that anyone would argue that Roddenberry did more, or tried to do more, than just about anyone to bring the notion of equality and tolerance to TV fiction in the matters of race or sex,

Yes, he has. When he started out with Star Trek, his notions of equality and tolerance were quite novel for the time, actually. And I should gave given him more credit for it. It's just that, when you take equality and tolerance to the extreme, they become themselves a form of intolerance: the road from 'everyone is equal' to 'everyone must be equal' is a slippery one. And somewhere along the line I feel the Star Trek franchise became more about the latter than the former.

Quote:

... but I can see that ideologies that deviated from those of Roddenberry or the utopian federation were probably less than favored, those sort of areas occupied by our beloved Browncoats.

Yes. And I'm fair certain Paramount had a hand in enforcing said conformity. For instance, Picard's inital dislike for children was probably not deemed 'family-friendly' enough by the studio brass. The same folks who, no doubt, introduced the hopelessly twerpy 'do-good' boy-child Wesley (Roddenberry's middle name, btw). That's what studios do: they meddle. Sigh. I hate that.

--
"Mei-mei, everything I have is right here." -- Simon Tam

AURAPTOR

Sunday, May 10, 2009 6:00 PM

I watched it. W/ out repeating what I posted in the other thread, I'll just say - go see it. It was far from flawless, imo, but it's a good story.

Select to view spoiler:

The one sore spot for me was Yelchin's Chekov. His accent was so thick it hard to understand at times.

Bingo!

LINCOLNZ

Sunday, May 10, 2009 8:51 PM

Ok, he wasn't perfect(and a bit goofy) but really.. what's the deal with not liking Chekov's accent? To me it seems like he did a pretty decent Russian(isn't the actor Russian-born himself?). Yeah ok it was occasionally a bit thick, but most of what he said or did was pretty straightforward and I found it easy to figure out a missed word or two without needing to really think about it. I can understand having difficulty if English isn't your first language, you were in a loud theater, or haven't heard a Russian accent before.

All in all I felt it added a little much needed color and depth to the character, I think he'd have failed to work without the accent to be honest. Seriously, Chekov without a thick Russian accent would suck. Plain and simple. I still liked him a little less than many of the other portrayals, without them watering him down for the less attentive masses. They did that enough the the plot.

I also hope they ramp up the plot a bit more for the next one. They got the crew relations and origin stories out of the way, now they need to work on a longer and more complex plot, with a dash of that classic Trek philosophy and heart.

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"Guys, I know Kung Fu."

AURAPTOR

Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:36 PM

I had no problem w/ the accent, i just found the character to be a poor match for a 'younger' Pavel. Urban was my favorite , at one end of the spectrum, while Yelchin was at the other end. Nice performance, but I simply wasn't buying him as Chekov.

LINCOLNZ

Sunday, May 10, 2009 9:46 PM

Yeah it's hard for me to decide who's at the bottom for my list, either Chekov of Sulu. Didn't particularly dislike either of them, just didn't think they lived up to their predecessors like the others did.

=================================================
"Guys, I know Kung Fu."

YELLOWJACKET

Sunday, May 10, 2009 10:32 PM

Loved it. Saw it again. Loved it again.

KAREL

Monday, May 11, 2009 12:07 AM

The portrayal of the characters was dead-on, at risk of going over the top sometimes. If this cast holds together, I hope they don't overdo it. I found myself laughing out loud sometimes, but still engaged in the story. Well done.

I feel that there was unnecessary license with canon:

Select to view spoiler:

The whole Kirk/Spock/Uhura thing as one small example of many "re-interpretations"

But all in all, a possible franchise saver. I am looking forward to the next one.

SINGATE

Monday, May 11, 2009 2:19 AM

Great flick. They are really setting the bar high for other summer movies.

The movie starts with a bang and never really lets up. Nero, and his reason for wanting revenge, really reminded me of the two part Voyager episode, "The Year of Hell". His ship didn't look structurally sound but it sure was intimidating.

I didn't have any problems with the cast. As others have mentioned Urban does an absolutely fantastic job with McCoy. I wasn't sure anyone would be able follow Shatner as Kirk but this was a very good and more down to earth interpretation of the character. I would have liked more screen time for Scotty but he made the most of his moments. I was envisioning a conversation between him and Chekov where they couldn't understand each other.

There were some pleasant surprises in the film. First and foremost, the humor. It is prevalent throughout the film but never seems forced or campy. The new transporter FX are just plain cool. My favorite development is the relationship between Spock and Uhura. Unlike others I don't believe this was done for shock value. It goes a long way towards showing how this Spock is more willing to embrace his humanity. And for once Kirk doesn't get the girl. The look Spock and Kirk exchange on the transporter pad after the kiss is worth the price of admission.

I have a hard time imagining how a reboot, origin, or whatever you want to call this could be better for any franchise. Even harder to believe is how old school fans would not embrace this film. I have been a fan since the first time I saw a rerun of the original series as a wee lad. This film seperated itself from the original while still honoring it's roots. I am very impressed and cannot wait for the next installment.

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We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.

AURAPTOR

Monday, May 11, 2009 2:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by LincolnZ:
Yeah it's hard for me to decide who's at the bottom for my list, either Chekov of Sulu. Didn't particularly dislike either of them, just didn't think they lived up to their predecessors like the others did.

=================================================
"Guys, I know Kung Fu."

The only problem I had w/ Sulu was that George Takei's voice is so distinctive, it would be hard to mimic w/ out sounding like you're trying to ....well, mimic it. Also, I was less thrilled w/ the Scotty character. Clever in his own right, but I never could see him as a 'younger' Scotty.

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