Star Trek XI's Influence [ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS BEYOND TRAILERS]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to talk about how everyone is feeling about this new movie.
I don't want any spoilers. Nothing beyond what we've seen in the trailers, please.

What I want to know is how you feel about this movie. Excitement? Curiosity? Eagerness? Impatience?

What drives you to see this movie? I'll start.

I have been a Star Trek fan since 1984. I was four years old. My mom was a casual fan, but she did hold a special place in her heart for Kirk, Spock and Bones. I started watching and she'd point out who was who, the big ship they were on, and who they were fighting ("those nasty Klingons! Ew!" she'd say). It began my love for Star Trek and while that love smoldered a bit in high school, it is powerfully strong today and grows stronger. Why? Star Trek XI.

Granted, I haven't seen it. I've seen a few short trailers and yet I am so filled with excitement and glee I can barely contain myself. I went out and bought three boxes of frosted mini wheats to get a couple of badges. I'm diabetic! Yet I had to have those badges, I had to hold them in my hands, and I had to see myself holding them. And it brought tears to my eyes, because it made me feel like a little kid again, running from the living room into the kitchen and yelling "Mommy! Mommy! Spock is on the TV! Hurry!" and she'd put the last dish in the rack and come into the living room and we'd watch Star Trek together, and I'd lay on my stomach, chin in my palms, and watch the adventures of the glorious Starship Enterprise and her intrepid crew.

Even now it brings tears as I type it, because I haven't felt this way in more than 25 years. I don't know why it affects me like it does, but it does, and regardless of the outcome of this movie, I have to thank whomever was in charge of advertising and publicity, for making me feel like a child again, waiting expectantly for that next episode.

I am so excited to see this movie, and the closer it gets, the more I feel like a kid again watching TOS with my mom, or a handful of years later, watching TNG in the kitchen at night, when I was supposed to be in bed asleep. I'd sneak up while they were in the living room, tiptoe into the kitchen, turn the volume almost all the way down, and watch it quiet as a mouse on a dinky little 5" black and white TV. I would later discover the joys of Deep Space 9, but it wouldn't come until years later, as I had entered high school, and wasn't as interested at the time.

However, now, I am excited, I am happy and I am waiting with expectation. Fittingly, my mom is going with me to see the new movie. I bought her an Original Series T-Shirt, as she represents the Old Guard, the Keepers of the Flame who loved it from the beginning and sparked an interest in her oldest son who would love it to this day.

So how does this movie make you feel? Please, share with me.


J.

 

Wednesday? I thought the movie was out the 8th. Our local theater isn't showing it until next Friday. I'm actually skipping Wolverine (which I have wanted to see) just so I have the money to see Trek XI.


J.

 

I'm vacillating between cautious ambivalence and apathy. Nothing I've seen recently really excites me. I was happy with each casting announcement, but when the story leaks started my enthusiasm went down the tubes.

I like what I've heard of the score, though.

 

Mmm. Sounds like I'll be waiting for the DVD. I wondered whether they could pull it off. My favorite reviewer, James Berardinelli, felt they mis-stepped, and he and I generally share similar tastes in movies. Rarely have I ever liked anything he has found bad (though I do watch it anyway to form my own opinions).

Oh well. More money for Trek XI.

Here is hoping you are pleasantly surprised and have a great film experience.

J.

 

J, like the av.

I'm quite keen for this. The kids were trying to persuade me we should go to IMAX, but money is tight and it's an hour's drive at least. So we get it on Thursday (in Oz new movies come out on Thursdays). Sadly no Wednesday preview here. So, probably 6:45pm, Thursday evening. Even no 2 son who's a bit 'meh' about movies is keen. And I'm relatively spoiler free, which is good too. I remember being very disappointed when I read a spoiler about the fate of the original Enterprise in STIII.

Wow, just occurred to me, you must have been too young to see the cinema release of that! Gettin' old!

A cool time will be had by all.

 

*rasp*
mumble mumble mumble
Abomination!
Death of everything I love.
blah blah blah.
Sorry, Man. Just don't have the energy right now.
Planning to hibernate until the worst is over.
you have fun, though!

 

I'm really looking forward to it. This might be the only cinema visit of the year so I want to believe the hype, but the lacklustre performance of BSG and Red Dwarf have tempered my excitement to the extent that I'll be incredibly happy if I only half enjoy it.

Not yet decided if we'll get the big seats, probably enjoy it more, I'll take a flask of coffee though, can't drink that Nescafe rubbish they sell there.

 

EVERYTHING.


Seriously cant wait.


Of all the mags i have read, trailers i have seen, spoilers i HAVE NOT SEEN/HEARD or want to, i cant wait.



Trek has a pulse again, and were gonna keep in intensive care until the dvd release.


The influence however is different every where we look. For instance, it may a big even in these and other forums as far as us posters are concerned, but average joe, at least over here in the UK, cant give a shit.

Even if 'From the creators of MI:III, LOST and Alias' emblazened all over the posters/ads etc.

Most of my friends give it "Pfft" when i mention it.



Lets hope it goes well, and lets spend all our life savings on it.

 

Just from the trailers? I cannot give you my honest opinion since i have spoiled myself on probably most of the story. I can however relay my Wife's opinion. She is not into TOS, she has a passing knowledge of Spock and Kirk and the gang. She likes the Whale movie. I don't think she has sat still for an episode of TOS ever.


She wants to see the new movie NOW. She is excited for this Star Trek.

 

For me, too, it's all of the above. I've been watching Star Trek since 1992. (I think I could even easily find out the exact DATE I became a fan... It was while watching my first TOS episode, The Squire of Gothos) and I think the last time I was this excited about new Star Trek was when DS9 premiered. The premiere of Generations a close second maybe. These were, in my eyes back then, big leaps for the franchise, and both were events where I could see Trek in a way I had never seen it before.

The difference this time is that I don't know what the outcome will be. I have more confidence in the quality with all these amazing reviews coming in, but while I knew that DS9 was going to be an ongoing series, and there was no reason to assume that GEN would do any worse than any of the previous films, this time I just don't know. So a little trepidation sneaks in for me: Can the film attract enough people to warrant a sequel, and then another, and then maybe a new TV series? Will this be a "Batman Begins" scenario or rather a "Superman Returns" one?

The return of the original characters makes me very happy - it's what I've wanted ever since we last saw any of them in Generations. I always felt it was a shortsighted decision to end the TOS era "forever" at that point. But that is all the more reason that I want Star Trek to come back for good and not for this movie to be the franchise's however glorious swansong. But I guess those worries won't be alleviated until the first box-office results come in and are good or until Paramount formally announces a sequel. So until then, I remain all excited and yes, I do feel like a kid again sometimes these days. Everything old is new again, as they say...

 

Thanks about the av. I made it right after the first Trek wallpaper came out with the blue and gold coloring. I am better at PaintShop Pro now, but I still like it. I don't think I did too bad, though, I mean, I didn't have a uniform, wasn't wearing a shirt, and obviously I don't have a large Delta shield on my wall, so all in all, an okay job I think.

As for the cinema release of STIII, yeah, I was 4 years old. Because of financial constraints amongst a myriad of other reasons, I didn't get to see my first Star Trek movie in the theater until Nemesis! I'd rather that not be my only theater experience for Star Trek, so I think this movie also gives me that second chance (and hopefully more chances!). I almost made it to Star Trek: First Contact, but (and I'm serious here) my friend in front of me got the last ticket. I asked whether they had anymore tickets for other show times and she told me they had already been sold out into next week for all other times. By then, I didn't have time to see it.

Maybe you'll end up liking it. Who knows?

Then I hope you do enjoy it.

Amen, and I'll be selling blood to buy the stuff by May 9th!

That is the general reaction that I have seen so far. People who aren't really pro or con, but the trailers make them want to see it. I hope it's a sign of good things to come.

All I can say is that I agree, and may we get what we are so very much hoping for, a fresh release of a great new start with some old friends.

J.

 

I am truly over the moon about this movie! Frankly, it hasn't been since TUC that I've been excited for a Star Trek movie, but this is probably the most I've been excited for a Trek movie, ever.

Without going too into detail, I always watched Trek (saw TMP in the theatre with my parents at the age of 7 - my parents were both there on Sept. 8, 1966, and have never missed a Trek on TV since), but didn't really become a fan until 1984 (the year is one stuck in my mind, because of some traumatic things that happened in my family).

In dealing with that, my brothers had their own support systems (the age gap between me and them is a bit), and I wanted to deal with it on my own anyway. So, I started to escape through our VHS movies. It was a great way to forget the real world for a while and build up courage to deal with things.

I kept going back to a few VHS movies we had: the original 5 Volume VHS set from Paramount, TMP, TWOK and Space Seed. Through those, I had a constant set of friends, people who were there when I needed to be picked up from gloom.

More than that, I learned through those to be brave and to learn to deal with adversity. To just be yourself and to realize that you can live through anything that life throws your way.

Now, years later, I see my friends the way I first saw them: young, vibrant, ready to kick butt again in a high adventure, just like I remember in those dark days for me 25 years ago.

Funny how a movie can do this, but I feel the young me, the one inside me, jumping up and down and cheering.

Also, my daughter has gotten a lot into TOS (a huge Uhura fan!), and she's experiencing this excitement, too. My heart melts, because I see myself in her, and I feel that excitement, too.

I can't wait for Thursday! I can't wait to see some old friends again.

 

That is wonderful, isn't it? Yeah, we do see them as our old friends. Young, vibrant, filled with life and new adventure, and it is exciting. I am genuinely excited to see this movie and cannot wait until our theater shows it. I will be there opening night.

Also, congrats to your daughter for being a Uhura fan!
Uhura's a strong, powerful role model with an independent mind.

J.

 

I'm really looking forward to this. Daughter has asked me long ago to see the movie on day 1. I haven't seen a midnight showing (yet), but if there is one, we'll be there. Otherwise, a Thursday evening showing now "here we go".

BTW, I've been around long enough to see TOS and all the others from their beginning, as well as all the movies.

 

Considering the fact that Star Trek is the the one thing I have been a fan of for my entire life (been watching it since I was a wee one year old lad back in 1987), I think its safe to say that I can hardly contain my excitement for the movie. I just keep watching the trailers over and over again. I've been trying to not get my hopes up but that 100 percent fresh rotten tomatoes score just keeps on chiseling away at my caution

 

I'm surprised we've all lasted as long as we have, with the picture having been moved further back and these tiny tidbits being fed to us like breadcrumbs. I hope you have a wonderful time! (So say we all, I'd imagine!)

J.

 

Thank you! Actually, my daughter does love strong and independent women as role models, and she does see that in Uhura.

I have a feeling she'll see more of that in this movie, as well.

 

Yeah, I'm hearing all these good and great reviews. If I crossed anymore fingers I'd be an anatomical oddity, but I am so excited.

You're welcome! We need more strong women as role models, because that is the future.

J.