too many aliens?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Dal Rassak, Mar 11, 2013.

  1. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    By today's standards, yes, but I can rationalize the Gorn in TOS to an extent. I much preferred the almost inectoid like eyes because it suggested something other than an Earth like reptile. Also some reptiles might get sluggish in lower temperatures than what is optimal for them. The Metrons might have provided such an environment just to even the odds a bit more. Neither Kirk nor the Gorn were truly in their comfort zone.
     
  2. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah, I can rationalize all kinds of things too, but the Gorn was quite obviously a big guy in a silly rubber suit. I don't mind, in fact I quite enjoy it, but let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi.
     
  3. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    And here we have the convergence of "good looking women" and latex.
     
  4. heavy lids

    heavy lids Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    Yes, but what didn't look ridiculous in TOS? It was the 60's....
     
  5. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    So it's illegitimate to prefer one over the other? Whatever!
     
  6. Warped9

    Warped9 Admiral Admiral

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    Okay. :lol:
     
  7. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    No, interestingly enough, my point is "let's not pretend that rubbish practical effects are any better than rubbish cgi". You can of course prefer one over the other, if you feel so inclined.
     
  8. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Well, you know, I generally only prefer A over B when I think that A is better than B, so you've just made a distinction without a difference.
     
  9. The Mirrorball Man

    The Mirrorball Man Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was merely pointing out that your rationale doesn't make sense.
     
  10. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I'm all ears. How does my rationale not make any sense?
     
  11. JirinPanthosa

    JirinPanthosa Admiral Admiral

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    I don't mind having a lot of different humanoid aliens, and I have no problem with 'Forehead alien of the week'. The premises of all the shows except DS9 pretty much demanded different aliens to be present every week, otherwise they wouldn't have been exploration shows.

    They should have created a little bit more variety in aliens. Different skin tones, more monstrous looking by human standards. I think the writers felt that the more monstrous looking an alien the less sympathetic that alien would be to the viewers, which kind of goes against the very idea behind the show.

    And they could have been more creative with their attractive female actresses, they could have made them look more alien without making them look unsexy. I suppose colored makeup makes their skin look less smooth, but did their range of hair color have to be identical to humans? Give Jadzia blue hair or something. Or maybe Bajorans come in three colors, pink, blue, and green. The pink just happens to be the same tone as caucasian humans, and hey we have this hot caucasian actress, but then there are also blue Bajorans hanging around.
     
  12. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    They originally had Jadzia resemble the Trill first seen in TNG's "The Host," but the producers didn't like the way she looked with the bumpy forehead.
    http://images.wikia.com/memoryalpha/en/images/3/30/Dax_TNG_Trill.jpg
     
  13. Therin of Andor

    Therin of Andor Admiral Moderator

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    And Roddenberry suggested that Troi have three breasts.

    Until Marina Sirtis was instructed to come up with a Betazoid accent, there were plans to develop a relatively simply alien latex application for her character. Hence Gropler Zorn's "You have brought a Betazoid to this meeting" scripted complaint. The writers were assuming an alien look would be present. Surely, just having black irises would not be such a sudden, significant indication to Zorn - unless he could also sense Troi's empathic powers?
     
  14. dub

    dub Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I find the Bajoran nose and earring to be quite sexy on Kira and Ro. The make-up team did a great job there. :techman:
     
  15. Metryq

    Metryq Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    Whedon couldn't get any aliens for FIREFLY because they were already working over on the STAR TREK soundstage.
     
  16. C.E. Evans

    C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

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    I remember that scene, but I always just thought Zorn had learned in advance that Picard had a Betazoid aide with him on the Enterprise.
     
  17. Gary7

    Gary7 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The worst showcase of aliens was in Star Trek TMP. Absolutely awful.

    As to why there are so many humanoid aliens? Well, I venture to guess that for the environment that is natural for humans, it lends itself palatable for other humanoids. Thus, you see plenty of them around. There are exceptions, like the Breen who need to be contained in their own environment suit and are still humanoid in shape. Lastly, it's just so much easier to throw a few prosthetic pieces on a human being and go with that than to conjure up some elaborate costume that a person needs to crawl inside. Despite the high budgets of the shows, there is only so far you can go...
     
  18. xortex

    xortex Commodore Commodore

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    Quick answer, yes. They should all be Humans unless absolutely necessary and then as alien as possible.
     
  19. Anji

    Anji Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nah. You do what you can with the budget you have, the restrictions of the mediums you're working with and the time you have to get it done.

    All things considered, they did a pretty good job.
     
  20. T'Girl

    T'Girl Vice Admiral Admiral

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    In some cases all it really would have taken would have been a piece of dialog. If (for example) they had consistently referred to Mister Sulu as being an alien, coming from a non-Human species, he would have been. Might have explained the blue eyelids too.

    I've thought that they could have done more simply by hiring actors/actresses who were not of standard body size. Painfully thin, or unusually tall, or huge bulky people, hire children to depict alien adults.

    A prosthetic under the starfleet costume to present spinal ridges (or three breasts) wouldn't have to stand up to close examination.

    :)