STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Grading & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies: Kelvin Universe' started by Agent Richard07, Apr 18, 2013.

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Grade the movie...

  1. A+

    18.8%
  2. A

    20.6%
  3. A-

    13.2%
  4. B+

    11.1%
  5. B

    7.9%
  6. B-

    4.1%
  7. C+

    5.7%
  8. C

    5.0%
  9. C-

    3.5%
  10. D+

    1.5%
  11. D

    1.6%
  12. D-

    1.3%
  13. F

    5.7%
  1. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    For some people, the film's style choices are enough to sway them. It would be like having every car be red, and then seeing a car that is blue. There would be some who would say, "that's not a car, cars are red." The mechanics are the same, but since the style choice is different, somehow that takes away its status as a car. It's silly, but there are people who get so hung up on such things, they invalidate an entire franchise based on that minor difference.
     
  2. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    True. I just had a bizarre argument with someone who invalidates the whole film because one Klingon was bald and "was shown with piercings", and that just can't be... because no Klingons are supposed to have piercings.

    Later, someone mentioned that Chang, in ST VI, was bald - and had an eyepatch that was riveted to his face, and might count as a piercing. :)
     
  3. Set Harth

    Set Harth Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It's like saying no Romulans can shave their heads.
     
  4. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    I almost mentioned Romulan tattoos to him, and realized I wasn't strengthening my argument. :rommie:
     
  5. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Hey. Hey. Using a tried and true, proven masonry technique does not equal "piercings." :shifty:
     
  6. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Science funtion.
     
  7. Yanks

    Yanks Commodore Commodore

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    Off the chart bad:

    So damn disappointed. As I said before, it has a TATV feeling for me. I mean honestly, did they for one second think this (ending) would be widely accepted by the trek community? … or was paying homage?

    I was praying for months that Kahn wasn’t the villain, yet had a feeling he was and, when that was confirmed, I still was willing/open to see what they did with it. However, the almost literal scene-copying/character-flipping from TWOK (Kirk “death” and Spock screaming “Kahhhhn”), made me actually slap my forehead in the theater. I wasn’t alone either. I was surrounded by some “old trekkies” that were just floored. This, whatever you want to call it, made me just go “WTF” and the rest of the story just didn’t matter.

    When Spock dies in front of Kirk in TWOK, we are seeing the end of a very long friendship and a major sacrifice that we, as fans, can relate to and feel. We have seen them go through so much together over the years/decades and watched them grow closer through those experiences. So, when TWOK Spock dies…the audience really is watching a familiar old friend/character die and feeling that loss along with the crew. It was powerful, even if you weren’t a die-hard trekkie. Brilliant writing.

    The new Trek crew hasn’t known each other long enough to have those deep connections yet and, honestly, I don’t think anyone believed for a second that Paramount would kill off Kirk so early in a new movie franchise. So, knowing that, there really wasn’t a chance that he wouldn’t be coming back from the dead. So, when he “died”, the frakin tribble popped into my head. Oh jeesh, that’s how they are going to do it.

    And, what bothered me more than anything in the film, was Spock screaming “Kahhhn!”

    Regardless of his new unstable emotional state, it was so blatantly out of character that it just felt…awkward/uncomfortable. This is where my WTF lamp was lit. Why?? I said to myself (I actually said it in the theater). What possible reason could they have had to plagiarize one of Star Trek’s most emotional and iconic moments? I mean really, did they honestly think this would go over and be accepted? Did they think this was good writing? Is there ANY original thinkers left on the planet that can write for Star Trek please?

    Other than “why” and “WTF” here are a couple questions I have:

    1. Why are Earth-Vulcan and Earth-Kronos trips near instantaneous now? Since when was there a Klingon neutral zone? Wasn’t the Neutral Zone a Romulan/Federation thing? Granted, we are not aware how much time has passed, a simple “Captain’s log” narration entry to show the passage of time (e.g. like “Stardate 2259.60. We’ve been on our way to Kronos for 4 days”)

    2. Is the blown up moon Praxis? If so, that shouldn’t have happened yet. Yes, I know it’s an alternate timeline and I appreciate the nod, but it seems a little forced. I hope it’s not Praxis. I hope it was an outpost that Harri-khan found and obliterated.

    We’ve over the years accepted all kinds of scientific plot moving devices but “transwarp beaming” has to go. It needs to just disappear of the Federation/Star Fleet needs to ban it. Kind of removes the need for Star Ships. Starfleet cannot use cloaking technology, so they can ban “transwarp beaming” as well. Very lazy writing using it again, especially after they stretched the Star Trek realities of transporters and technology in ST09.

    Harri-khan superblood… (slaps forehead) It appears that one “WTF” lead to another. Will Kirk now have a “superior intellect”? …. Super-human strength?

    What the frak happened to that tribble? Why was it onboard in the first place?

    Wasn’t the stated purpose of the new timeline/universe to not be enslaved by canon? Then why insist that the next “villain” must be Khan? Why even revisit the dialogue in Spock’s death scene in TWoK? It did not work when you compare the emotional impact of TWoK. Not a dry eye in the house in TWoK. In STID, meh. It was too soon to try to evoke emotion from the death of (Pine)Kirk who we hardly know. Why try to shoehorn a new movie with an old scene?

    The casting again is the strong point of this new stuff. Bingo on everyone. Alice Eve and Marcus, Peter Well and ADM Marcus and Cumby as Harri-khan was OUTSTANDING. All welcome additions.

    Cinematically this movie was outstanding. This movie was visually stunning, top notch and well paced. JJ and co. obviously listened to us here. He toned down the lens-flares, shaky-cams and our engineering plant is no longer a frakin beer factory!!! Thank you!!

    I personally don’t like the pixie dust end-trails included in the new warp effect. I’ve read that it could have been an effect added for 3D visuals. Don’t need it; I was fine with our new warp “pop”. We also don’t need the TNG-like s..t..r..e..t..c..h… either.

    As I sat in the movie theater and Kirk told Checkov to go get a red shirt on, I heard a collective gasp and “no” throughout the theater. This was a good reference and nod to trek lore. They played this nicely and I thought it really worked. Everyone in the theater was cheering (including me) when Chekov caught Kirk and Scotty. Well done there. (Chekov in engineering as a reference to Space Seed and him possibly being in engineering during that was a great touch)

    Chris Pine: I thought his acting was off the charts good. I felt his pain when Pike died. Much more confident in his role here I think. I also thought he did a great job in the death scene. Proven his acting chops, now quit giving him retread crap. Write for HIM!! Bravo!

    The development of Kirk: So glad they saw the need to do this. Having Pike take the Enterprise away from him was powerful. I thought the scene in Pikes Office was great. Spock, being truthful as always inadvertently stabbed Kirk in the back. Kirk thinking it was fine to basically lie and got caught. Great scene. We can (and probably will) argue he got command back to fast, but I think what was needed was done. Kirk realized that Star Fleet needed to be more than a toy for Kirk to play around with.

    He started making the right decisions for the right reasons. Huge change and a good one.

    I thought the scene in the bar could have been a little better. Since Kirk just had the Enterprise taken from him, I thought it would have been better if he would have shown some restraint when being approached by the gal.

    Greenwood’s Pike was outstanding once again. While I can understand the necessity for his death for Kirk’s development, I’m sad this character has run its course in the new timeline. (of course there's always Khan superblood...)

    I think Alice will make a fine Carol Marcus. While she was important for this story and established herself as someone of strong moral character, she didn’t get much screen time. Looking forward to more from her in the future. I’m hearing they cut something out of the movie that explains her accent.

    I thought Scotty was outstanding. Standing up to Kirk and resigning. We can argue all we want about the “convenience” of him ending up where he was, but I didn’t have a huge problem with it. Glad he ended up playing an important part. Still think Simon Pegg was a great choice.

    Will someone please give Sulu more to do next time!! John Cho has proven his acting chops (and is cool as hell). BZ once again, loved the “speech”.

    I just can’t seem to say enough about this cast…

    Bones was spot on once again. Karl Urban nails it. Lots of good one liners. So much Kirk tells him to stop it with the metaphors. Glad he got to do some “doctoring” this time. Guess we can’t complain too much about how he saved Kirk. He DID save Kirk for us. A little more meat with Bones next time please.

    Uhura. I thought she was better than last time. The arguments with Spock were good, although not timed very well. I think the seating in Mudd’s ship was arranged just for that argument. Still glad Zoe is playing our communications officer. Thought she did very well standing up to and communicating with the Klingons. (something Uhura(prime) had to use a book for… ) I still believe, for reasons demonstrated in this movie that her relationship with Spock needs to end.

    Zackary Quinto is a fine actor and I believe he has a firm grasp of who Spock is. A couple times in this movie I thought the writers forgot. I won’t bust Zackary for that. I thought he did a fine job.

    Benedict Cumberbatch was outstanding as Harri-Khan. Thought his acting was right up there with RM’s. He played a great “villain” and I’m more than OK with the possibility of seeing him in the future.

    I was ready to put this movie at the top with TWoK, FC & TUC. The 2 hours flew buy, until they fraked everything up at the end.

    I ended up actually being comfortable with the Harri-khan thingy. I thought the section 31/Klingon stuff was great and very plausible since Vulcan is gone and the Federation is weaker because of it. I can see the Klingons pre-Kittomer taking advantage and at least everyone being worried about it. Using that to further their selfish goals (militarize Star Fleet). I liked the story-line. Much better than ST09 in that regard.

    The Nimoy cameo was a joke. Sorry Leonard, for all the griping you did in your younger days about scripts, it’s hard to believe you thought this was good writing.

    Did anyone else think that them starting the 5-year mission at the end of the movie was crying for a TV series? How cool would it be to have these actors and actresses in a TV series!

    Oh, and Enterprise has been acknowledged and vilified!!! NX-01 was seen!!

    I was impressed with ST09 because they made themselves a clean slate. My frustration with STID is a result of their lack of courage to use it. This is what “Hollywood” is today. Reboots galore. The writers think a reboot gives them a license to “play” and regurgitate whatever trips their trigger. We all knew going in that this was going to be a pop-corn summer block-buster with lots of action etc. No problems there. Star Trek is best on TV, not the big screen and we understand the movie needs to put butts in the seats, especially with the huge budget used for production. Both times I saw the movie in the theater folks got up and left when Harrison revealed him-self as Khan. I don’t for a second begrudge anyone for enjoying this film, but those folks leaving the theater and the many MANY others (including me) that shook their head, or slapped their forehead, or looked up at the ceiling and asked "why?" when they watched Kirk head down to fix the core... those are the folks that have endeared themselves to this franchise. Those are folks that for DECADES have supported this franchise, and for them to get slapped in the face (and the WoK reversal HAD to be considered nothing but that) is very - very frustrating. You can tell the same story, and not rip off arguably the movie franchise's - maybe the entire franchise’s - most moving, endearing and iconic moment. You can tell the same story and not give us a Khan reveal that accomplishes nothing but to piss of the faithful and meant nothing to those that aren't. How simple would it have been to have ADM Marcus find some eggs from Cold Station 12 (Enterprise), bring one to adult hood through some genetic mumbo jumbo (Harrison) and have Harrison (an Augment) find out that ADM Marcus desires to destroy all the evidence to include all the other unlatched eggs? You accomplish the same thing for ADM Marcus without exaggerating Khan’s character and you don't piss anyone off. You also don’t have to answer questions like why Kirk thought it was OK to shoot 72 torpedoes at one man, etc. You don’t have to have Spock, completely out of character, crying and yelling “Khan”, Kirk dying in the core, regurgitating the same lines etc. There are many, and I mean many, that understand how simple it would have been to accomplish the same story without ripping off TWoK. They ask themselves why? Why go there Orci, Kurtzman & Lindelof? Is this an intentional slap in the face to the trekkies? For me, this movie was rocking until the end. Then they blew it.

    Tributes are fine. Carol Marcus, mentioning nurse Chapel, Section 31, Mudd’s ship, tribbles, the model NX-01 are all little nods to the universe they are in. This movie had lots as well as ST09. Those are appreciated and a part of the franchise. What’s not appreciated is a problem some felt the franchise went through in Voyager and Enterprise - rehashing old storylines. We need writers for Star Trek that have imagination and creativity, not writers that think “man, this would be cool so…”. Star Trek has endured for almost 50 years because of writers that were bold and creative. They gave us characters that put others safety/survival ahead of themselves. Think about the ending of STID. Spock lead Khan right back to Earth. Why?

    Alternate ending?

    What could have happened was Scotty says the same line, but when Spock gets down there Kirk is outside the core and Bones tells Spock something like, “good thing he took his anti-radiation shot … he will take some time to recover, but he’ll live…” Then while Kirk lays there, with little to no energy, he – straining – whispers and tells Spock “the needs of the many Spock, Khan was a pawn too… you've got to stop him”. (or something to that effect)

    This eliminates the direct rip-off/reversal, fits in your premise, doesn’t require Khan’s “super-blood” when there were 71 other sources right at Bones’ fingertips, and makes that tribble and life eternal bull-crap irrelevant, AND DOESN’T PISS OFF THE FAITHFUL!!!

    Oh, and then Spock could use his BRAINS and our wonderful crew instead of his brawn to catch Khan. Then maybe Spock could use his BRAINS and not warp back to Earth with Khan and the Vengeance in tow. You know, where 6+ billion people live placing them all at risk. What do we get? Let’s see, how can we crash a ship in San Francisco Bay and make everyone think its Enterprise in the trailer.

    The ending clearly demonstrated the current bunch doesn’t care one iota about those that kept this franchise alive for almost ½ a century and there isn’t any originality left in Hollywood when it comes to writing. This is all just a game to them, I guess that’s why they write movies and we lowly peons just go watch them.

    Very frustrating movie. Pretty damn good until the end.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2013
  8. Opus

    Opus Commodore Commodore

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    The Klingon Neutral Zone was established in TWOK during the Kobayashi Maru test at the beginning of the movie.
     
  9. wjaspers

    wjaspers Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Yesterday saw it for the first time. It is not Trek. I can not understand why you think it is more trek than a lot of Star Trek.

    Beside that, what a weak writing, Kirk looks Khan in the face, help us or not, like a stand off, and asks McCoy, btw what are you doing with a dead tribble.
     
  10. BillJ

    BillJ The King of Kings Premium Member

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    Like I've said before: most fun I've had with Star Trek since 1991. Since I watch Star Trek to have fun, it was the best since 1991. :techman:

    Fan since 1975.
     
  11. Opus

    Opus Commodore Commodore

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    Interesting, these comments about 'Trek/Not Trek'.

    JJ Abrams is quite the lightning rod of Trek fandom.
     
  12. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I started a thread about what's "real" Trek and what isn't, if anyone's interested in that tangent.
     
  13. M'Sharak

    M'Sharak Definitely Herbert. Maybe. Moderator

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    And yet, it's all Trek. Says so on the label.

    A loaded comment like this does not make it any more Trek...

    ... and an equally-loaded comment such as this does not make it any less so.

    If you like it? Great, fantastic. If you don't like it? Sorry - maybe next time. Either way, it's still Trek.

    Edit:

    I started to read that. Almost immediately ran into some rhetorical gymnastics aimed at excluding some or other portions of Trek which did not conform to the poster's unique personal interpretation of Gene Roddenberry's Vision™, at which point I decided it was getting too vigorous for me.

    If I don't enjoy some piece of movie or television entertainment, I just don't watch it any more. I really don't see the point in spending a lot of time and effort evangelizing against it.
     
    Last edited: Sep 16, 2013
  14. F. King Daniel

    F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I Can't Believe it's Not Star Trek!
     
  15. Amaris

    Amaris Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    You will, and the people who will deliver it to you? AT&T.
     
  16. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    This is just begging for a LoB photoshop.
     
  17. doubleohfive

    doubleohfive Fleet Admiral

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    Hollywood, CA
    I admit, I was wrong. I have seen the light. All the issues I'd had with Into Darkness I am now ok with and I admit, in my stubbornness, I was perhaps a bit too jaded by having been spoiled so much in the lead-up to the film's release by the spoiler whores here and on Facebook to really be able to see the film for what it is.

    THIS. For the love of God, THIS.

    Conflict & Drama for Dummies

    (Star Trek Into Darkness, as understood by my friend, writer Kay Reindl)
     
  18. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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  19. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    :confused: According to surveys like the one at the top of this thread, it has been widely accepted.
     
  20. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Well, having bought the BluRay and watched it a third time, I can't say I like Uhura's bitching on the Mudd ship in the movie. Makes her seem like a whiner, which she wasn't in the first movie. Otherwise it holds up pretty well. Not as good as ST09, but good.