J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (POTENTIAL SPOILERS)

[darthviper107]

But this movie had real people in it. Avatar is going to be motion capture. Which means that Robert Zemeckis is going to love it, but the general audience won't connect to the lifeless CGI zombies up on the screen, just as with Polar Express and Beowulf.

I'm actually not sure, they were doing some kind of actual filming so it seems like part of it is real, but whatever CG they're doing they're trying to make photorealistic so it's not going to be like Polar Express or Beowulf


And it's James Cameron-

 

[darthviper107]

Also, as far as the movie goes--the only thing I don't like is that they made the phaser guns like Star Wars blasters, they should have kept the full beam laser instead of having like a projectile weapon.

 

[hydrobud]

there is no way these actors or J.J. Abrams are going to do a Star Trek Series when you have Film franchise in hand . I hope J.J. stays on for the next 4 or 5 sequels cause the flick was an awesome ride especially on IMAX. i rarely see movies twice but i may go back and see this again and spend the extra loot and travel time to see it on IMAX again.

 

[DarthNeil]

Saw it for the 2nd time last night.

Still rocks.

 

[BadMoon]

No, Roddenberry got it wrong - he meant for her name to be the Swahili word for freedom - which is Uhuru.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

It almost took you 5 hours to come up with that retort.

 

[tylerdurden]

saw star trek on friday nite in a theatre filled with more than a few trekkies/trekkers.

overall, i enjoyed it quite a lot. but i really think abrams' trek reboot is WAY overrated. critics and fanboys have been raving about it like it's the greatest thing since sex. maybe that kinda threw me off a little, and raised my expectations too high.

i found that the middle portion---from the time kirk was marooned on delta vega (the ice planet) til they beamed off it with scotty---was kinda draggy and lethargic. i liked simon pegg's portrayal as scotty, but his whole introduction was a little weakly handled, imo.

and the supposedly thrilling climax was just so-so to me. i NEVER felt like the crew was in true mortal jeopardy, cos it's a given that all of them have to make it out by the end of the movie. the only character i was genuinely worried for was pike, cos he's not really part of the enterprise franchise, and therefore sorta expendable if need be. so when he made it out alive, i was genuinely relieved.

and lastly, by the end of the movie, i did not feel like kirk had truly earned his place as captain of the enterprise. it just seemed too early. sure, he's a hotshot, but come on, a guy just fresh out of starfleet academy being handed command of the federation's flagship? it just reeks of completism, meaning the names "kirk" and "captain of the enterprise" are what's expected by joe public, so they just shoehorned it in. they should've kept his promotion for the sequel.

all this may make it sound like i had serious problems with the movie, but don't get me wrong. i loved what abrams has done here. i love the visual effects, i love the tone, esp the humour, and i love all the performances, esp karl urban as bones---he NAILED it, man! those negative issues i raised are relatively minor in the bigger scheme of things.

also, in my fanboy fantasies, abrams would be in charge of rebooting the star wars prequels as well. and i'm damn sure he'd do a kick ass job. in a way, that's a depressing thought.

however, this is STAR TREK's moment in the sunlight. welcome back, trek. u deserve the glory. it's long overdue.

 

[jnmx2000]

this is one of the most entertaining movies I have seen in years. I can't remember the last time I was so blown away, so sucked into a movie, so not wanting it to end. Visually, this is stunning, this is everything I've ever wanted from a science fiction movie. Drilling lazer beams, giant crazy looking ships, black hole bombs, a fight on top of a platform in the middle of the sky, I don't know how you top it.

The actors are all so believable. Kirk coming off as a rouge type bar fighter was hilarious and awesome, despite the fact he pretty much got beat. I loved how he was a ladies man but he still couldn't get the one he wanted, which brought up a priceless moment with spock lol I loved bones, karl urbans deliveries felt so natural and not hooky. I loved the scene when he got kirk on the ship, the funniest moment of the movie. quinto was also a perfect choice for spock. I could talk about this movie all day, really, I saw this last night and I will be seeing this again, maybe a few more times, I'd almost like to go see this again rather then going to see any other movie this summer.

 

[KitFisto]

Just got back from seeing it. I really liked the movie, but I am not sure I like how they have altered the universe of Trek.

 

[jnmx2000]

Just got back from seeing it. I really liked the movie, but I am not sure I like how they have altered the universe of Trek.

hmmmmm I can't view this movie from the point of view from a star trek fan because I never was one. I've never cared for the franchise myself but this movie has rebooted it in the tone I'd always have liked to see a franchise like this be done in. despite the flashy effects I felt this movie had a gritty tone to it, especially with the loose canon that kirk was, which was my favorite part of the movie. I watched an interview that chris and zack did and they compared kirk to the likes of maverick from top gun, and I kind of feel what this movie is like, it's like top gun meets star trek lol sorry if people don't like that, but I personally loved the film

 

[KitFisto]

I am a "purist" when it comes to Trek. Always have been and always will be. I did like the film. I thought it was really good, but I can never be ok with "Take everything you knew and flush it cause it won't happen that way now". I think that's terrible IMO. Take over 40 years of history and say "ooops, nevermind".

I loved the film, but don't accept it as cannon in the universe.

 

[jnmx2000]

I am a "purist" when it comes to Trek. Always have been and always will be. I did like the film. I thought it was really good, but I can never be ok with "Take everything you knew and flush it cause it won't happen that way now". I think that's terrible IMO. Take over 40 years of history and say "ooops, nevermind".

I loved the film, but don't accept it as cannon in the universe.

I do understand that, but I also understand the want to reboot the franchise in a new light and create a whole new universe which isn't supposed to "replace" what came before because you can't, but simply to "reimagine" for a new generation. I'm the generation they are reaching for now, and I would try to look at it this way, it's not stepping on what came before, but complementing, and now you have a whole new group of fans of star trek, like myself, which I am now curious to go back and check out the original movies and series. and now star trek has become cool, and from here, things can only begin to go up.

 

[Ultimate Weapon]

But that original universe still exists. Obviously Spock Prime lived through it and everything unfolded in such a way that it has lead him to this alternate time line in which things will not unfold in quite the same way. So in that regard, both time time lines must exist. So it can't flush away everything you already know, because otherwise none of the original time line events would have occurred which lead us to where we are with the new time line. In that Star Trek time travel classic kind of way they are both intricately entwined as one cannot exist without the other.

I didn't really think there was anything much to do film wise with the original time line anyway. Only a fraction of the original cast remains, TNG pretty much wore its welcome into the ground with Nemesis, and no substantial base of fans would follow any other incarnation of later tv shows into the theater. So what's left?

The only thing they could have done is to say that this is Kirk (prime) and Spock (prime) right out of the academy in the original time line, and we've got x amount of time we can explore before we hit the continuity of the tv shows, which can't be contradicted, so what do we do? I think it would have been too restricting to do anything of substance or interest. Not to mention everyone would want to know why nothing looks like it does in the classic tv show.

This was a smart move to respect the original series (all of them) and to create the ability to re-examine these characters in a new way. But I don't think there would have been another good Trek movie without taking this approach - unless you go the Burton/Nolan Batman route where they are just different series unrelated to each other in any way.

 

[plasmid303]

I am a "purist" when it comes to Trek. Always have been and always will be. I did like the film. I thought it was really good, but I can never be ok with "Take everything you knew and flush it cause it won't happen that way now". I think that's terrible IMO. Take over 40 years of history and say "ooops, nevermind".

I loved the film, but don't accept it as cannon in the universe.

Can't both realities just co-exist apart from one another? As long as I know Shatner Kirk is somewhere, alive and well, then I'd be glad to see what adventures Pine Kirk and crew go on.

 

[jnmx2000]

But that original universe still exists. Obviously Spock Prime lived through it and everything unfolded in such a way that it has lead him to this alternate time line in which things will not unfold in quite the same way. So in that regard, both time time lines must exist. So it can't flush away everything you already know, because otherwise none of the original time line events would have occurred which lead us to where we are with the new time line. In that Star Trek time travel classic kind of way they are both intricately entwined as one cannot exist without the other.

This was a smart move to respect the original series (all of them) and to create the ability to re-examine these characters in a new way. But I don't think there would have been another good Trek movie without taking this approach - unless you go the Burton/Nolan Batman route where they are just different series unrelated to each other in any way.

this is true, I actually really liked how they didn't just completely forget the original series and brought in the old spock to tie it all together. this isn't just a reboot, but it's an alternate universe which is connected to the original series, and I feel they did this with respect of the original series.

 

[Kabukiman]

In my mind, the realities are separate. I imagine we will see crossover novels and comic books in the future. Q could make it happen.

I'm fairly disappointed we never got a Q movie. He was the best (if you'll pardon the pun) nemesis to Picard and possibly my favorite character in all of Trek.

I guess there is still time for Q to show up, this is Star Trek afterall, anything can happen.

 

[MaulFan]

Yeah, I loved how TNG ended with one of Q's mind games. Even if he's not the primary nemesis, he can cause mischief. It was Q who introduced the Borg to Starfleet.

 

[MaulFan]

https://www.zshare.net/audio/568112058ac4aea8/

Here ya go MaulFan. Download in all its glory.

Thank you very much, much appreciated. As nice as the score is, I think Freedom Fighters is the most powerful piece of music to come from this film.

 

[CelticPredator]

It is quite epic...but I gotta disagree.

Whenever the main theme blasted in an action scene, my heart raced. Brilliant!

 

[MooMooEgg]

this is true, I actually really liked how they didn't just completely forget the original series and brought in the old spock to tie it all together. this isn't just a reboot, but it's an alternate universe which is connected to the original series, and I feel they did this with respect of the original series.

I agree. I saw it today and I thought it was fantastic. I like the fact that this film is kind of like the flip side of a standard time travel episode (where the crew goes back, "fixes" things, and then jumps back to their own nice neat future and you go on with the adventures of that crew)... but now we get to stay in the altered past and see the results of the changes that occurred.

I never believed in being able to jump back to "your" future after a major time travel event (I don't buy into the cyclical "this time travel event is destined to happen" theory, [seen in something like Harry Potter 3]). I say once you time travel backward, your timeline is completely destroyed if you significantly interact with anything or anyone.

But I do view this as a continuation of the Spock Prime TOS storyline thanks to the way they presented the TOS info to the new Kirk and Spock. Make sure you read Countdown, which really helps you see the connection.

 

[MooMooEgg]

Whenever the main theme blasted in an action scene, my heart raced. Brilliant!

Oh, god, I concur completely. I had chills when the "Star Trek" title came up on the screen and the new theme music was playing. Giacchin's theme isn't as iconic as the TMP score (maybe this'll change as/if we get more quality sequels and the same theme is used), but it was PERFECT for the film's atmosphere.