STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Grading & Discussion [SPOILERS]

I'm new to the board, so here's my opinion:

I really enjoyed the film. Thought it was awesome and was surprised to find that some hardcore fans like me disliked it intensely.

Kirk is my hero, but even I was not bothered by Spock's "KHAAAN!"

Cumberbatch was a great villain. Loved the cast all around.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nimoy's cameo was not integral to the story, but any excuse to have Nimoy as Spock in a Star Trek movie is a good one IMO.

My only complaint, (that I can remember because I haven't seen it in a few months), was that there wasn't enough Karl Urban.

The film made me excited to see more of the Klingons.

 

Saw it. I found it average. I was not happy with the film being so fast paced. I wish they had taken time to let the characters interact more peacefully and without all the action every 2 minutes. People ask where is Bones.

I do not think we will be getting more Bones. the writers have said that their film is based on Kirk and Spock. So Bones has not being invited to join the fraternity.

I also did not like the rehashing of spock's death. I wanted the film to have been original like the first film was.For some weird reason the rehearsing of wrath of khan left me cheated.

That scene from the 1982 film is iconic and the most popular scene in trek, it should not be touched...ever...again.

 

So, when I saw it in theaters I really loved it. I had some issues with it but I left the theatre entertained. Since then I've re watched it twice and I've liked it less each time. My favorite thing about Star Trek is rewatch ability. You can see episodes of the show many times and get more things out of it each time. Even Star Trek (2009), I've enjoyed when rewatching, but STID I just haven't enjoyed as much. Its a great popcorn movie but it lacks the core of what makes Star Trek a one of a kind franchise. I just wish I could better articulate what that is exactly..

 

It's not iconic--not even in the Alanis Morissette. Wait. That's ironic. Eh. You know what I mean.

Even still, it's not even the most recognized or familiar scene in Star Trek. That's be the Gorn fight. Perhaps "Risk is our business!"

 

Managed one rewatch and I don't think I'll get further than that. I tried yesterday and as they were setting up the Godfather III Starfleet massacre sequence, my brain was like: "Hang on, this is Netflix. They also have Scott Pilgrim." All she wrote.

 

For me it improved on first rewatch. Second was probably pretty much the same, I don't really remember. One thing that grew on me was the music, which I recall not being very enthused by in the theater. The thing about rewatches is that the Khan damage has already been done; you know what's coming and that softens the blow a bit. Not completely, but noticeably. In the theater I remember not liking anything at all about the reactor room sequence cribbed from TWOK, but on home video I actually liked the Kirk in the reactor part. Still don't particularly like the scream but it's not that big a deal. Also I think I liked the Khan-Spock fight a bit more on rewatch. This might have something to do with the fact that set photos from this fight were some of the earliest things leaked so it all ended up kind of spoilery as to how it was going to turn out.

 

It's funny to me how if something was so well done it should never be done again when it comes to a movie. I mean, TWOK is iconic so we cannot rehash that story again.

Except, Star Trek did-twice before ID came along. Star Trek First Contact had a similar style revenge plot, with the personal grudge against a classic villain, and even a guttural scream. Throw in some Shakespeare and look what you got!

Similarly, but with less success, Star Trek Nemesis attempted it with a revenge plot, but it failed due to a lack of a convincing villain who had a point.

The idea that TWOK is iconic and can't be touched does not work because Trek often revisits ideas from its past.

Besides, it's not as if iconic scenes have not been replicated before from other works. TWOK itself borrows from classic literature, specifically Shakespeare (there's the Bard again). I mean, what if someone delivered the best possible Hamlet performance ever, unsurpassed in terms of quality, actors, production value-it all just worked. Would we then say, "Please, no more Hamlet. It's too iconic."?

I know it is not a direct parallel, and to quote Heinlein, analogy is always suspect, but my point is still there. Just because it is iconic, doesn't mean it can't be revisited.

 

We'll know Star Trek has crossed the line if Picard ever says, "Wesley, I am your father."

 

French bastard probably was.

 

Enterprise lifted a scene or two right from TWOK when they did those episodes with the augments.

 

I've pointed that out before and people pretty much ignored it.

 

That's because people pretty much ignored Enterprise.

 

Personally, I enjoyed Enterprise.
My two favorite arcs are the Mirror universe two parter and the augments story.

 

Really, I'm sure both people who watched "Augments" enjoyed the callbacks.

 

In some ways, it seems that all eras of Trek has some form of "Wrath of Khan".
TNG had it twice....one a bit more successful than the other.

But I always regarded the augments story as Enterprise's "Wrath of Khan".

 

I watch the episodes and enjoyed them and the callbacks. I think callbacks are part of the fun.

 

I'd wager a month's pay that far more people watched the "Augments" than seriously dislike the Abrams films.

 

You do that.

Honestly, I'm not knocking them. I hear tell they were better than the bulk of the series and part of Manny Coto's close brush with rescuing it.

 

I think what separates the two is that "The Augments" is distant enough to be referred to as a call back, whereas STID really goes out of its way to replicate the same beats of that situation with the same TOS characters (albeit reversed).

 

The end scenes on the Bird-of-Prey are pretty reminiscent of the end scenes on the Reliant.

Heck... this is what is in the transcript of the episode:

http://www.chakoteya.net/Enterprise/82.htm



I think it's more about whether one likes the Abrams films or not. If you like them, you'll tend to cut the reuse some slack. If you don't, then it's just one more mark against the creative team. YMMV.