Please tell me I’m not alone (new Star Trek movies) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 12:15:26 am
content: Today I sat down and decided to give the 2016 movie Star Trek: Beyond” a go. I suspended disappointment until I couldn’t take it any longer. I shut it off about halfway through. To remind myself, I started watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982?) and found myself captivated once more. Star Trek II did the job of telling a compelling story 36 years ago with a budget that was probably less than 5% of that which was allotted to the soulless piece of shite that is Star Trek: Beyond. In my opinion the twofilms are incomparable. It’s like comparing The Godfather to something made as a YouTube special today. I was almost waiting for Chris Pine (I think that’s the actors name?) to say “Please like, share, subscribe and comment below!”Filmmaking is a lost art. I will never be able to relate to today’s generation.

author: Ampera
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 01:54:54 am
content: Yeah I'm with you, while I haven't seen one, I don't have any love for the J.J. Abrams Star Trek movies. To me, they don't have the lore, the backstory, or the style like regular Star Trek.However, the movies are just small blips of action, the real good stuff is in the Star Trek TV shows (not counting the load of whallock that is Star Trek: Discovery, appropriately abbreviated to STD). That's when you can really get into the action and be captivated.* Ampera is watching Star Trek TNG right now!

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 03:30:42 am
content: The whole reboot, beginning with the 2009 version, has been a disaster in my opinion. The only thing good about any of them are performances from a few of the actors.

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:30:02 am
content: Quote from: Wan Huang Luo on November 12, 2018, 12:15:26 amYou need to leave Hollywood and go watch these:https://www.youtube.com/user/StarTrekContinuesMore high quality full fan series exist...And yes, film making has become too involved with the visual and audio illusion/effects, and less to do with creating and filming a truly embracing script. Sadly, I can only find around 2 truly worthy movies a year nowadays where in the past, the number was closer to 10 a year.Except for those around 2 movies a year, for the rest, I'm stuck in the trap just watch the big blockbusters for the action and ignore/expect a 0 story line.As for story line and movie creativity, I just recently saw 'Beetlejuice' from 1988. Wow, for a comedy oddball Halloween type flic, it roasts a good majority the crap being produced today.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 09:56:13 am
content: Star Trek original series: cheesy sci-fi, kirk beating the crap out of everything and chatting up the girls and not to forget, flashing lights.Star Trek Next Generation (and derivatives from that universe): original story telling, engineering, politics, ethics, futurism and Picard. Lots of Picard. Everything that ticks it for me.New Star Trek: pow pow zam zam boom bosh special effects, stupid settings, too much makeup, fisty kirk again, lax stories designed to cram a wankfest in a couple of hours. Also enterprise engine room was a fucking brewery - what?!?!?!?I'm done. I'll watch the new stuff but only to rip it a new one.This is reality:

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 12:31:28 pm
content: Dont worry, they are in trouble with the films. All the Kirks quit and they appointed a director, who never made a movie (probably as a scapegoat).I just dont understand why these companies like CBS just kill themselves while pushing a political agenda.

author: drussell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 01:13:54 pm
content: I tried to watch a bootleg copy of one of them also, I don't even remember which one. Got part way though and quit. I can't stand the "reboot" garbage. Ick.Give me canon or give me death?

author: Domagoj T
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 02:08:03 pm
content: Somehow I never considered the new movies as part of Star Trek universe. I can stand them as standalone flick with no connection to anything other, and never as prequels or sequels to the series.Also, obnoxious lens flares.

author: Ice-Tea
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 02:24:34 pm
content: For me they lost me with a production brainstorming session that must have went something like this:"So, how do we...""Bigger guns.""Yeah, but, I haven't asked a question yet!""It doesn't matter. The answer is: bigger guns."

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 02:54:59 pm
content: I can't honestly say I hated the newer star trek movies, I just didn't like them as much.That fake film grain just feel wrong, as does a lot of the technology and styling.The worse part of Insurrection was the interior of the ship, something they fixed by crashing it.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 03:34:27 pm
content: Quote from: Ice-Tea on November 12, 2018, 02:24:34 pmMindless violence in lieu of compelling storytelling.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 04:19:55 pm
content: Quote from: Domagoj T on November 12, 2018, 02:08:03 pmIt's not. It is called the "Kelvin timeline" and it is considered to be in a separate universe altogether.

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:09:53 pm
content: This is SO typical Hollywood - J J Abrams even admitted he didn't like Star Trek, yet he signed on to direct the movies anyway. Sheesh. Granted he didn;t write the screenplay, so it's not all his fault, but did he REALLY put in his best effort if he didn't like the original material to begin with.ANd yes - do give a go to Star Trek Continues on YouTube. It's every bit as cheesy as the original series, but it ties in perfectly (some really nice surprises, too) and it clearly was done by people who love and appreciate what TOS was. The only shame is that they had to end it per an agreement with Paramount or whoever the heck now owns the rights so they wouldn;t be sued out of existence.

author: drussell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:15:08 pm
content: Quote from: rrinker on November 12, 2018, 05:09:53 pmDamn straight!....Very impressive for a shoestring-budget fan-funded production.I really wish they had been allowed to continue. I think it was a great follow-on to TOS.(...and I'm not even really that much of a fan of TOS...)

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 05:21:40 pm
content: I thought the new star treks were awesome but i paid to see them under the best conditions. If you watch it on some shitty home tv i can see a problem. They use scenery and action to tell a story.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 07:14:50 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 12, 2018, 05:21:40 pmI remember being far more moved watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan for the first time on a computer monitor and desktop speakers than I was sitting in theaters watching several of the new Abrams movies.Maybe the problem is the lack of compelling chemistry between the actors. It was glowing and present in Star Trek II for obvious reasons. The acting made the movie. The story was tremendous.Although to be honest I never cared for the original series, yet I did become a TNG aficionado. I really dread to see how JJ Abrams reimagines the TNG series for today. I hope it doesn't happen. TNG was the pinnacle of quality television, telling a great story with a minimum of flashiness, cursing and violence.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 07:17:42 pm
content: If he did that we’d probably have Vin Diesel playing Picard

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 07:35:30 pm
content: No. you're not alone. I watched the first reboot movie and sat through half of the second before leaving, I haven't even bothered watching the third one. Give me six or seven hours and I will quite happily watch Star Trek II-IV because they're damn good movies, made when someone cared about the final product.

author: Synthtech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 07:49:18 pm
content: Hollywood has passed it’s use by date, I walked away from it 10 years ago. This generation of film makers and musicians and artists and actors grew up in a different world to the generation that came before them and their creative output reflects their different world view.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:08:22 pm
content: I actually liked the motion picture the best from all the star treks but other then the ones after Search for Spock and before First Contact I thought they were all great. I thought the new Khan was pretty badass. The wrath of khan had a bit of a glam metal feel to it with their looks but I liked it all the same.The newer ones by JJ Abrams remind me of the old TOS episodes. But made into full length movies. And I prefer Kirk to Picard.And some of the scenery from the new startreks is amazing. The scene where they are parachute jumping off the station... or seeing the enterprise crash land in 'into the darkness'. And they managed to make photon torpedos look cool. I did not think it was possible until into the darkness, it had interesting enough space combat to be similar to BSG. Granted in real life it might just end up with a bunch of crap painted completely black with lasers sneaking up on other crap painted black with lasers but still.

author: edpalmer42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:18:15 pm
content: Quote from: BrianHG on November 12, 2018, 08:30:02 amAlso worth mentioning:https://www.youtube.com/user/startrekphase2DE/videosAnd, of course, there's the non-profit trailer that scared the stuffing out of Star Trek Inc. and caused them to kill the new fan shows - Prelude to Axanar.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:29:02 pm
content: I find that reboots and remakes, as well as sequels and prequels that are made numerous years after the original are almost always crap and have a completely different feel. The remakes are what I find most irritating because it creates confusion having multiple movies of the same name and storyline.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:29:11 pm
content: What scares me the most is that one of the new films is set to be directed by Tarantino. I think I pretty much hate everything he produced besides like 1/2 of pulp fiction. I wonder if its going to be in black and white with picard running around with a katana. The phasers might knock people back like 15 feet too. I bet all the people that hate new films are gonna love that one even more for the reasons cited in this threadI think he must have walked into the studio with a bag of 'gold myers flour' when he got the startrek directors role.I know, maybe they will get stuck in the holodeck during a sin city or kill bill simulation. ugh. They need to drug test him on set daily.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2018, 08:40:38 pm
content: The fan made videos and audio dramas provide much better entertainment:http://startrekreviewed.blogspot.com/

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 01:02:58 am
content: You’re not alone. I can’t stand anything JJ Abrams touches — to me, he’s like the King Midas of turning things to shit.As for the (real) Star Trek, I’ll be a bit of a heretic and say that DS9 is my favorite, with it being a tie between TNG and VOY for second favorite, as TNG begins to really show its age (especially seasons 1-3). I enjoy TOS, but it never captivated me quite the same way as TNG and later did.Discovery is looking promising. It has more lens flare than I’d choose, but the storytelling feels like proper Trek.Enterprise... took a while to get off the ground and was killed more or less right as it began to find its stride.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 01:07:33 am
content: TNG would easily have been my favorite if they had got rid of Wesley or at least toned down the super genius aspect of him a bit. I felt like that was SO overdone along with Picard's disdain for him that it just got annoying. No one person is going to effortlessly save the day so often by being ridiculously smart, and no competent captain is going to blatantly ignore obvious talent for so long.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 01:11:00 am
content: There are many aspects of TNG that didn’t age well, ultimately. They don’t make it bad, but it is looking more corny than I kinda expected it would feel at this point.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 01:17:35 am
content: Not to derail this thread too much but I watched a few episodes of Macgyver a while back, talk about not aging well. I loved that show when I was a kid but man is it corny now.

author: vtwin@cox.net
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 03:02:36 pm
content: I grew up with Trek. I remember watching TOS Friday nights as a kid (I was 4 at the time and had to beg my parents to let me stay up to watch it.)But, most of my original TOS viewing was in syndicated re-runs in the 70's.I was in high school when the TMP came out. A bunch of us skipped school that afternoon so we could get in to the first showing, a Friday matinee. What a disappointment at so many different levels.II, III and IV were definitely the best movies of the TOS series, and of those, IV was probably the "best" in terms of storyline and II the best in terms of action. By the time V and VI came out, it was clear the crew was getting a bit "long in the tooth" to make it believable any longer, and it really was time to put it to rest.Went to quite a few fan conventions during this timeframe too... was great to see Doohan, Keonig and Takei. Had breakfast (one of 20 of us) with Takei in Boston at one of the conventions. Saw Nimoy at a convention in NYC on New Year's weekend back in the late 80's. Never saw Shatner or Kelley. Was at a convention in Boston hosted by the BSTA where I got to see Majel Barrett and Roddenberry, and several others, including Robin Curtis. The BSTA (Boston Star Trek Association) hosted the convention. It was between III and IV... Since at the time the big debate in Trekdom was whether or not Savik "assisted" adolescent Spock through his first "Pon Farr", we threw her a baby showerThere are pictures of the convention out there on the internet, fortunately, I'm not in any of them, even if I was, I probably couldn't recognize myself given it was... oh, almost 35 years ago! 35 years... wow... hard to believe that when I say it (my wife is 37 so she was 2 back then lol)TNG started out as a disappointment (when Roddenberry was writing the episodes) but the latter seasons were really good. I thought all the movies were excellent, especially when they got Marina Sirtis out of that bizarre head weave and let her wear her hair straight. At the time, I couldn't appreciate Picard, but now, in retrospect, being older, I can. Wesley always annoyed the piss out of me. My biggest complaint about the series was "everything has a technical solution". The series is still good watching (at least, seasons 2+). Season 1 is... well... tedious to get through.I was never a huge DS9 fan. I did watch it, but always thought in the back of my head "its a space station... its not like it is going anywhere". I think I watched it more for Terry FarrellI've watched it in re-runs and it isn't horrible. Okay filler. When it comes to space station scifi, my go-to was always Babylon 5. I miss Jerry Doyle, god rest his soul.I really liked Voyager. I know many people do not for various reasons, but overall I thought the show brought ST back to its "roots", e.g. travelling through the unknown and encountering new species/problems/etc. My wife absolutely hates it (since she grew up with TNG and to some degree DS9). The series finale was a bit hokey, they could have done it better.I watched Enterprise recently, I was sorry to see they killed the show off just as it was starting to get good. My mom used to love Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap... He's aged quite well. At least, as of 10 year ago, when they made Enterprise. (again, 10 years, wow, tempus fugit!)So far Discovery has been "okay". It is still early though, with only a dozen or so episodes (not even 1/2 a season worth from the old TOS days) and time will tell. I know it has gotten a lot of criticism as having a lot of "politically correct" themes in it, but I really haven't experienced that in my viewing. At least, nothing that bothers me (female protagonists don't threaten me as they do some, I guess.)As for the reboot movies, I've seen one. It was okay. But in order for it to work, I have to suspend my knowledge/belief/etc in what I already know of Trek, which is extremely difficult to do.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 04:36:29 pm
content: Quote from: vtwin@cox.net on November 13, 2018, 03:02:36 pmI thought Voyager was pretty good, although occasionally the captain grated on me somewhat, she was too rigid about following the rules to the letter even in situations where any rational person would see that it made sense to deviate.Enterprise started out terrible, the very first moment the theme song came on I cringed and thought "WTF is this?!" and throughout the series it never grew on me. It was so horrendously awful that I started having to fast forward past it as soon as the music started. The first couple seasons were pretty hokey, silly plots and a lot of really forced feeling sexual tension. Then it started to get better, the 4th season was really quite good then as you say, they axed it right at the point where it seemed like it had gotten into the swing of things and become a worthwhile show. It still had that awful theme song though, funny thing is if the song came on the radio in a different context it probably wouldn't bother me, but it just wasn't "Star Trek" at all. It's like if you're expecting vanilla icecream but realize you've taken a bite of mashed potatoes instead.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 06:33:48 pm
content: Voyager was worth it for the doctor.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2018, 10:13:33 pm
content: Yeah the doctor was one of the better characters. Whenever I see that actor in something else I picture him as Voyager's doctor.

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 02:30:43 am
content: Speaking of:

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 12:30:40 pm
content: Have you seen this series effort (Star Trek Continues - 11 episodes)

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 04:42:39 pm
content: I'm just going to state that I liked "The Orville" and run away.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 05:05:00 pm
content: The orville is great and so is the cornyness of TOS. Keep in mind sailors used to have rum rations till the 70s officially. Space might be pretty goofy when its not super novel

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 05:29:16 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 13, 2018, 01:11:00 amI missed TNG when it first aired. I was still in college when it started and I rarely had time to sit and watch TV and it was more fun going to NYC to see bands. And after college, I actually never bothered to get a TV set.So I recently started watching it from the beginning, thanks to Hulu, and oh my god that first season has some really awful episodes. That show where Wesley is on the Aryan planet and he breaks the law by accidentally going off of a path and breaks something, and is sentenced to death. PLEASE NO.

author: GregDunn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 05:33:18 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 13, 2018, 01:02:58 amTOS was the only show I made time to watch when it was first aired. It's not so much that it's great (though there were a few outstanding episodes) but that it broke new ground for TV and dared to talk about real world issues in the "safe" context of SF and aliens. No other Trek has done this so effectively, except maybe:DS9 - I wasn't interested when it was on TV because it was clearly stealing ideas left and right from Babylon 5 (confirmed, incidentally, by numerous cast and crew members). But I went back and watched it on Prime a couple of years ago and was very surprised - after the first couple of seasons spent flailing around, it settles down nicely and really delivers some good storytelling. Plus, lots of humanized, believable antagonists and real conflict instead of the "tech trick of the week"... though the babble does intrude occasionally. Avery Brooks and Andrew Robinson should have gotten Emmies for what they did.TNG was fun when it was on TV, but it really doesn't hold up at all - except for a handful of scripts. It almost seems to mock itself every time something technical becomes the main plot of an episode... which is most of them. If not for Patrick Stewart, I wouldn't even bother with the reruns.Enterprise - couldn't get through the first season. I wanted to throat punch most of the cast.The new movies are just plain bad cinema - what one of my historian friends calls "blow-up films." He loves TOS, incidentally, citing its characterization and real SF writers as examples of how good TV could be. I admit there were moments in "Beyond" which were amusing, though still not up to the level of the worst of the TOS-based movies.When it comes to watching a well-designed and written SF series, I will still put in my Babylon 5 DVDs before any of the Trek or SW video. Any series which the NASA organization essentially made required watching for their employees.... well.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 05:38:46 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 13, 2018, 01:11:00 amYou've got to look at it in context though. It was 1987.I'd say it aged pretty well although the future came a bit early.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 08:51:21 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on November 13, 2018, 04:36:29 pmI honestly think that that horrific theme song is significantly responsible for the show’s poor response. It totally puts out the wrong vibe for Trek, and consequently put off a lot of the real Trek fans — which Braga said was not their target audience (they’d wanted to downplay the Trek name and go beyond Trekkies/Trekkers... it backfired and neither attracted new fans nor appealed to Trek fans.) Braga said people would get used to the theme song, but to me it’s like nails on chalkboard, every single time, even years later. I watch like a hawk to fast-forward it every time I watch an episode.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 08:54:03 pm
content: Quote from: Fred27 on November 14, 2018, 04:42:39 pmNo, stay!!I’m a Trekkie and also loved Galaxy Quest, The Orville, and USS Calister (the Black Mirror episode) — all of those are IMHO loving parodies of Trek.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 09:42:41 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 14, 2018, 08:51:21 pmThat theme song turned me off to the show so badly that I didn't make it past 30 seconds of watching Enterprise in its entirety.And 30 seconds is being generous.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 10:39:44 pm
content: does anyone feel like TOS is more timeless then TNG? There are some episode exceptions but most of it you watch it and it just feels odd in a indescribable way.

author: Bassman59
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2018, 11:46:04 pm
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 14, 2018, 10:39:44 pmNone of the follow-ons had episodes anywhere as good as "The City On The Edge Of Forever" or "All Our Yesterdays."

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2018, 12:26:17 am
content: I grew up with the original series and was quite surprised at how many episodes the BBC didn't show. “Miri”, “Plato’s Stepchildren”, “The Empath”, “Whom Gods Destroy” and “Patterns of Force”. Eventually they were broadcast when there were re-runs later on. I don't remember "Miri", will have to see if it's on youtube. I think some of the scripts were a bit predictable, formulaic sci-fi Mills and Boon sometimes. Having said that the Borg were pretty menacing though.I really liked JJ Abrams Star Trek, the same shit but with new actors. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto were well cast, especially Quinto and Simon Pegg actually worked quite well as Scotty. Star Trek into Darkness was a bit of a disapointment and I haven't Beyond yet. Can't say I'm waiting for Tarantinos direction.

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2018, 01:40:34 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on November 14, 2018, 10:39:44 pmTOS has pretty good comedy value with Kirk and the green aliens he charms.

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2018, 01:43:27 pm
content: Quote from: Bassman59 on November 14, 2018, 11:46:04 pmDisagreeSTTNG 'The Inner Light'

author: Wan Huang Luo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2018, 02:36:16 pm
content: Quote from: German_EE on November 15, 2018, 01:43:27 pmFor me its Darmok and Yesterday's Enterprise, but 'TIL' was a masterpiece too.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2018, 02:54:51 pm
content: I like city on the edge of forever and the one with the national socialist planet. I think i saw em both when i was like 16 and they both bad me on the edge of my seat. Super impressive for an old tv program, like 0.1 percent of movies do this for me

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2018, 03:32:34 am
content: They had to kill Axanar in favor of Discovery if only because both cover the general war between the Federation and Klingon Empire; they should have hired them instead. Then they got sued for plagiarism of a video game anyway.The Orville is a hell of a lot better than Discovery. Has anybody else other than me noticed its music? Not only are they parodying every Star Trek series but also Star Wars.