Do you like the Spock Prime "Phone a friend" scene?

No; Nimoy did well but the scene contributed little and it felt out-of-character for young Spock to contact him from the bridge, letting the crew know there was a future self of him who traveled back in time.

 

Didn't seem like he was trying to keep it a secret at the end of ST09.

 

I didn't like it. I felt Nimoy should have bowed out as he did the 2009 film. It was a nice passing of the torch that it should have been left alone. Dredging him back for STID felt like fan pandering than anything else. If you had cut that scene out you wouldn't miss anything. Spock Prime only tells nuSpock things he's already aware of (Khan is really really dangerous, watch out for him).

It's such an unnecessary moment that it would be a shame if this was the last time Nimoy was ever brought in as Spock. At the same time, I would be hesitant to even bring him back again just to give him a final proper send off because I really want this new cast to make the films their own without having any call backs to the original series.

 

I can't help looking at the thing behind Spock Prime. It appears to be a pretty mundane looking fan or something with blue light behind it.

 

^That's JJ's lens flare generator.

I loath the vow of Spock, it reeks of desperation for keeping TOS story-lines available for retreading but, eh, what are you going to do.

 

Where's red matter and a big drill when you need them?

 

As I posted before, it DID contribute something. The scene ends with nuSpock asking how they defeated Khan. Later, when Kirk is dying in the warp core, he tells Spock "It's what you would have done.", and Spock clearly reacts with shock. He *knows* that's what he would have done, because Prime Spock told him he did exactly that!

Was it necessary? Who knows. But it did serve a purpose for the film.

 

Meh. I'm somewhat neutral on it. I was surprised that it was in there and it probably wasn't extremely necessary but it didn't really bother me either.

 

I didn't think it was nessasary, they just threw it in there as a bit of pointless fan service and all it made me think was that i wish i was watching the real spck in wrath of khan

 

One has to remember that Spock didn’t want the kind of information about Khan that he could’ve gotten from the ship’s library computer. None of that would’ve been useful in the situation he was in. So, he played the odds and decided to enquire if Spock Prime had ever come across Khan. He wanted the chance to talk to someone who actually met Khan and get first-hand insights into him that would be useful in this crisis. For what he needed, contacting Spock Prime was the logical thing to do.

So, how does that make it unnecessary? Why does that make it only gratuitous fan service? He had a unique resource at his disposal. Why not tap into it? Seems almost essential to the story. In fact, since Spock seemed to finally have a determined plan after his conversation, maybe it was essential.

 

Sorry for the double post, but another thing about the scene that just occurred to me is this showed character growth in Spock. Let's face it, contacting Spock Prime for the type of information Spock wanted is cheating.

In ST09 Kirk told Spock Prime that going back in time and changing history is cheating. Spock Prime told him it was something he learned from an old friend. In STID Spock is well on his way to becoming more like Spock Prime, someone who understands the importance of regulations and also knows when they need stretching or when they contradict doing what is necessary.

No more "by the book."

I wonder if Spock's log will note that he contacted Spock Prime for information on how to handle an event in his timeline based on events in the other timeline? Any bets it won't?

 

How they defeated Khan in TWOK:

1. hide the ship in a nebula so that the odds will be even
2. recognize that the Reliant's navigation pattern suggests 2-dimensional thinking
3. attack the ship from below and render it defenseless
4. get the ship out of range before the Reliant explodes

JUST HOW would that help nuSpock?


And how did nuSpock know that oldSpock knew Khan?

"Hey bro, do you know a bad guy named Khan?"
"No I don't."
"Nevermind."


Heck, this makes no sense. Even IF oldSpock knew Khan, the circumstances would have been entirely different (and, d'oh, there indeed were). "How did you defeat him?" Is he a game level boss that can be beaten with a special cheat? "Listen, every time you encounter Khan, your engine will fail, so someone has to sacrifice himself to repair it."

I'd love to see the next conversation between nuSpock and oldSpock.
"So, my young self. How did you defeat Khan? Did you use his lack of 3D navigation experience against him as I suggested?"
"Well, no, I beat the crap out of him. But thanks for the advice."
"Nevermind."

 

To be fair, NewSpock wouldn't know the conditions under which PrimeSpock had encountered Khan...or -if- he had...until he asked.

Even if there's absolutely nothing useful to be gained, it's still stupid not to at least ask.

 

And will he do that for every villain?

"Do you know, by any chance, John Harrison? He's shooting our ship to bits and pieces."
"No, I don't. Live long and prosper."
"How dare you!"

nuSpock ONLY contacted oldSpock because the audience knows that oldSpock knows Khan. That's breaking the 4th wall. He could have just as well turned to the camera asking the audience directly.

 

He won't because it won't make for an interesting movie. With PrimeSpock solving every problem.

I look at it as nuSpock being younger and less experienced than when he had encountered Khan in the PrimeUniverse. And they barely escaped with their lives then. A hint or two evens the playing field a bit.

 

How did Spock Prime solve the problem in this film?

 

Even if you accept that there was no "logical" reason for NewSpock to contact PrimeSpock...and I think it was logical for no other reason than that it couldn't possibly make anything worse...this would hardly be the first time something was done in Trek that didn't hold up under scrutiny, and at least I and others found it entertaining in any case.

 

He didn't solve 'the problem'. Kirk and Spock and Scotty and Chekov did because they were there. He just reassured nuSpock was he was doing the right thing IMO - which helps.

Because this is the film world and not the real world I don't think they're going to get hints from PrimeSpock and save Nancy Crater pr the miners from the Horta or the guys from the Gorgon settlement for example.
Its just not going to be interesting enough for a movie when we know whats going to happen.

 

Er, what ? I simply mean there is no middle ground.

 

rotfl!!! Nioce thread. ;p