Why so little Uhura in ST3? - Page 2

Therin of Andor · November 30 2008, 12:09 AM

guardian wrote:

Nimoy was just able to massage the egos of the other actors to keep them happy, not expand their roles.

Well, what would you rather do? Spend three months sitting in the background pushing buttons and getting paid for it,

or,

having that one day where the focus of the director and film crew is on you and you get to really sink your teeth into some lines that require comic timing, and will be remembered by fans at conventions forever.

Some memorable performances are filmed in just a few minutes. Other performances are played out over several weeks, and are not necessarily more or less memorable for the time spent getting them on film.

And glorified extras don't have an awful lot of fun, most of the time.

guardian · December 1 2008, 08:32 PM

I agree, I think he did a good job with the supporting cast in keeping them happy.
It would have been bad if any had jumped ship because they didn't get their little spotlight scene.

I was more commenting on the folks who think that somehow under nimoy their roles were big or substantial. Yeah, for the most part in TSFS & TVH they got 1 day each if they were lucky where the focus was on them.

I gotta feel bad for the folks whose favorite character is, say, Uhura and they think she had a decent role in TSFS because she had one scene with 20 lines and had another 20 throughout the rest of the movie!!

SchwEnt · December 1 2008, 11:13 PM

wonderstoat wrote:

I've just rewatched ST3 and noticed a few things.

One, is that it's a much better film than I remember, some great character moments ("how can you be deaf with ears that big?"; "don't call me 'Tiny;"; "but you don't have eight, so I'll do it for ye in two", significant things happen (David dies, Ent gets scuttled) and I can't help feeling it may have been a lot better if it wasn't for the hokey Genesis studio set.

It also has the single best line in all of trek "That green-blooded son of a bitch ..." you all know the rest ...

Anyways, one thing that's puzzled me is that Uhura is completely absent after the transporter scene with "Mr Adventure" until the final scene on Vulcan.

I'm amazed I never noticed before. Can anyone shed any light on this? Is there some backstage story concerning Nichelle Nichols?

Even after Scotty sabotaged Excelsior, there was all of Earth and Starfleet to contend with.

Uhura had to stay behind and run interference for Kirk and co. so Starfleet
wouldn't catch them. I imagine she jammed comms, prevented interception, all kinds of mayhem. Kept everyone off their back.
Later on, she caught up with them on Vulcan.

Makes sense to me.

Cky · December 2 2008, 06:30 AM

All of Starfleet to contend with? Enterprise is always the only ship in the quadrent.

Therin of Andor · December 2 2008, 08:06 AM

guardian wrote:

I gotta feel bad for the folks whose favorite character is, say, Uhura and they think she had a decent role in TSFS because she had one scene with 20 lines and had another 20 throughout the rest of the movie!!

If Nichelle was happy - in the end - and, as you say, her fans feel happy, then why feel bad for them? They're happy!

More to do would be better, but happy is happy.

Therin of Andor · December 2 2008, 08:09 AM

SchwEnt wrote:

I imagine she jammed comms, prevented interception, all kinds of mayhem. Kept everyone off their back.
Later on, she caught up with them on Vulcan.

Yep. As detailed in the novelization, but not compelling enough to add scenes to a movie.

Johnny · December 2 2008, 08:28 AM

Cky wrote:

Enterprise is always the only ship in the quadrent.

Damn Right! And they can run it with Chimpanzees!

RyanKCR · December 2 2008, 08:30 AM

Johnny wrote:

Cky wrote:

Enterprise is always the only ship in the quadrent.

Damn Right! And they can run it with Chimpanzees!

You forgot the trainiee.

Shatmandu · December 3 2008, 05:42 PM

guardian wrote:

Chekov the destruct scene and they are just background button pushers for the rest of the movie

Plus Koenig has to wear that Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit.

Jeepers.

Joe, corny

Iamnotspock · December 3 2008, 09:26 PM

Shatmandu wrote:

I remember reading some slash about what Uhura did with "Mister Adventure" in that closet.

Had him eating...

out of her hand.

Harvey · December 3 2008, 10:51 PM

Therin of Andor wrote:

RyanKCR wrote:

I read in a magazine interview that on original reading Nichelle counted her lines and complained to Bennett. He asked her if she read the lines themselve. She admitted she didn't and when she did she was extremely happy with what she was able to do and was grateful for the spotlight Bennet put on her in that scene.

Yep. "Starlog" interview with Harve Bennett. Nichelle was also pressuring for a skirt version of the Starfleet uniform (in ST II) and he made sure that wish was granted for ST III.

This story is also told on the DVD special features, IIRC.

Peach Wookiee · December 4 2008, 05:29 PM

Iamnotspock wrote:

Shatmandu wrote:

I remember reading some slash about what Uhura did with "Mister Adventure" in that closet.

Had him eating...

out of her hand.

Nice save.

JoeD80 · December 5 2008, 08:38 AM

Jarrott2 wrote:

I hated it that they blew up the Enterprise. One of my beefs with all the movies is that the Enterprise was never really grand it always ended up getting pumeled or destroyed.

Uh...it got destroyed for a very good reason in Trek III though -- because Kirk was trying to save his f'n life. One of my favorite scenes of all Trek when the Klingons walk on to the bridge and find the computer counting down to 0. And Kirk is obviously upset at having to have destroyed it. Very dramatic.

DataRules · December 26 2008, 01:11 AM

Therin of Andor wrote:

SchwEnt wrote:

I imagine she jammed comms, prevented interception, all kinds of mayhem. Kept everyone off their back.
Later on, she caught up with them on Vulcan.

Yep. As detailed in the novelization, but not compelling enough to add scenes to a movie.

I wish the producers had given us one scene - even one in passing - of her messing things up for Starfleet. Her absence from the rest of the film would have made so much more sense. It would have been cool watching her outfox Starfleet.

Peach Wookiee · December 27 2008, 04:56 AM

That really would've been fun.

December 1 2008, 08:32 PM	#17
guardian Commodore	Re: Why so little Uhura in ST3? I agree, I think he did a good job with the supporting cast in keeping them happy. It would have been bad if any had jumped ship because they didn't get their little spotlight scene. I was more commenting on the folks who think that somehow under nimoy their roles were big or substantial. Yeah, for the most part in TSFS & TVH they got 1 day each if they were lucky where the focus was on them. I gotta feel bad for the folks whose favorite character is, say, Uhura and they think she had a decent role in TSFS because she had one scene with 20 lines and had another 20 throughout the rest of the movie!!

December 2 2008, 06:30 AM	#19
Cky Captain Location: Cky	Re: Why so little Uhura in ST3? All of Starfleet to contend with? Enterprise is always the only ship in the quadrent. __________________ Oh, I'm sorry! I thought this was -- Zombie Jesus? What are you doing here?!

December 27 2008, 04:56 AM	#30
Peach Wookiee Cuddly Mod of Doom Location: Peach Wookiee	Re: Why so little Uhura in ST3? That really would've been fun. __________________ Peach's Websites http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1373040/ http://peachwookiee.deviantart.com/ http://peachwookieesparty.blogspot.com/ Check them out!

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