Was Star Trek 11 too similar to Star Wars?

[teacake]

I don't get this. Was Spock in Star Wars? NO. There is not even a wannabe Spock character in Star Wars. There is no one like Spock in Star Wars. Spock IS Star Trek, the TOS era. Any similarities are the similarities you find in all great tales.

[Herkimer Jitty]

The question we should ask, is:

Is Star Wars too similar to Star Trek?

I mean come on. Proton Torpedoes? You're not fooling anyone, buddy.

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

People were complaining that Star Trek had become too similar to Star Wars back when Wrath of Khan was released. See: "Indiana Skywalker Meets the Son of Star Trek" in Best of Trek #7.

Any resemblences story-wise are superficial. Kirk being raised on a farm? That goes back to The Original Series, before Star Wars was a twinkle in George Lucas' eye. WMD's? Villains with grudges? Action sequences? Fights? All staples of action movies, no matter if they're set on earth or deep space.

[Valin]

^And the wise old mentor even predates Merlin to Arthur. In "The Odyssey", Odysseus was mentored by, well, Mentor.

[BillJ]

KingDaniel wrote:

---

Any resemblences story-wise are superficial. Kirk being raised on a farm? That goes back to The Original Series...

When? I don't remember any mention of Kirk being raised on a farm in TOS. But, I'm getting old and may not remember something.

[Saul]

Too similar? No. Alike in many ways? Yes. Phasers now shoot like Lasers, the Enterprise goes to Warp in a hyperspace style. Luke/Kirk similar stories of following their real destiny. Heck, Star Trek 11 even has R2-D2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0gpuYWCHtw

I think it's a perfectly fair argument to say that JJ wanted to make his Star Trek film in a Star Wars way since he is a very big fan of Star Wars and knows little about Star Trek.

Of course the people who argue otherwise are probably the same ones who said the NX looked nothing like the Akira class...

[Brainsucker]

"Use the force, Kirk!" said Captain Pike

"Spock, I'm your father!"

"May Force be with you!"

[King Daniel Into Darkness]

BillJ wrote:

---

When? I don't remember any mention of Kirk being raised on a farm in TOS. But, I'm getting old and may not remember something.

Hmmmm.... I checked Memory Alpha, there's no mention of him being raised on a farm in TOS. I checked The Making of Star Trek, it just says Kirk is from "a small town in Iowa"

But "farmboy" Kirk definitely predates STXI. Maybe it's from one of the James Blish novelizations or original Bantam novels in the 70's?

[Ryan8bit]

There are a lot of similarities that are very hard to ignore. But something being "too similar" is pretty subjective, nor is it even really that much of a complaint. Star Trek being more like Star Wars is really a good thing for Trek movies.

[Galileo7]

^Agree on these points.

[Temis the Vorta]

No, Star Wars has been a big influence on blockbuster movies overall so you can't expect Star Trek to be the exception.

[Dukhat]

AllStarEntprise wrote:

---

Nero and the Romulans having facial tattoos like Darth Maul from Phantom Menace.

The tattoos were meant to distinguish the Romulans from the Vulcans. And the tattoos looked nothing like Darth Maul's.

Kirk being stranded in the wilderness on an snow/ice planet. Like Luke was in Empire Strikes back

The planet was irrelevant. It could have been a desert planet or a jungle planet, and the results would have been the same. The fact that it was an ice planet was completely arbitrary.

Kirk nearly getting eaten by a dino crab on the ice planet. Just like Luke nearly getting eaten by a snow monster with horns in Empire Strikes Back.

The Wampa attacked and killed Luke's TaunTaun, then knocked him out, then tied him upside down in a cave in order to eat him later, where he then used his Jedi powers to retrieve his light saber, kill the Wampa, and escape before almost freezing to death. The anal-prolapse monster only chased Kirk into a cave before being scared away by Spock Prime. How is this is any way the same?

Kirk getting a vision about his future destiny from elder Spock on the ice planet, similar to Luke's vision on Hoth to go to the Dagobah system from old Obi-Wan.

Kirk didn't get a vision about his "future destiny." He got a vision about the circumstances of the creation of his universe by Spock's actions.

Luke living on a moisture farm before leaving for his jedi training. Kirk living on a farm before his enlisting in Star Fleet.

I must have been in the bathroom when they showed Kirk living on a farm in the movie, because I don't recall seeing anything like that. Or are you assuming that, like Uhura did, just because he lives in Iowa, he must be a farmer?

Nero being a hated nemesis of Spock for things that were out of Spock's control. Attempting and using a benevolent machine (Genesis/Red Matter) as a WMD. Obessive compulsion to make Spock suffer. etc

Yeah, because no other movie has ever had those kind of plot elements. Just Star Wars and Star Trek.

The Romulans being bald miners who wear trench coats. Just like the Remans of Nemesis who were bald, miners and wore trench coats.

The Remans were Nosferatu rejects, and were slaves, not independent miners. They did NOT wear trench coats; they wore leather getups straight out of a Tim Burton Batman movie.

The Scimitar and Narada looking like sibling ships.

And the Scimitar also looked like a Dominion battlecruiser, and an oversized Klingon BoP. Your point?

Now people give NEM shit for saying the slave Remans could never build the Scimitar. But Shinzon says it was built at a secret base. Being apart of the military it was most likely not a secret from the Tal Shiar or the military. No way it could be. Probably a secret from the Praetor and senate. With the Narada as it fits in the context of the movie we have no idea where Nero got it, and it's presented that's it's always been that way. The special feature on the dvd say it was upgraded at the HUB after the destruction of Romulus, just like the prequel comic does. Although the timeline of events in the movie contradict that. As well as what the Narada is capable varies of in the movie, comics and special features.

I can't think of a single instance in history were a group of slaves managed to build a huge warship, without help from anyone else, completely under the noses of their overseers, and use that warship to overthrow their masters. But that's what explicitly happens in Nemesis. It's patently absurd.

I was REALLY irritated by all the praise critics and audiences were giving Star Trek XI back during it's debut. Saying it's the best film out of all of them is laughable because if these people saw the other movies they'd quickly realize that this is a copy and paste film with themes, ideas and imagery lifted from other sources and disguised in a $150 million budget. Presentation is great but you could dissect the movie very easily and find it's parent material in the other NEM, TWOK, A New Hope, TESB, and TPM

Yeah, because lifting ideas from other movies to create a hugely successful new movie NEVER happens...[cough]Avatar![/cough]

[The Wormhole]

Thing is, doesn't Abrams basically admit that Trek XI is influenced by Star Wars in a DVD interview? You know that thing where he talks about how he considers Trek to be the classical music of sci-fi and Wars to be the rock n' roll and says "I've always felt classical music could use some rock n' roll mixed into it."

[Kruezerman]

The Wormhole wrote:

---

Thing is, doesn't Abrams basically admit that Trek XI is influenced by Star Wars in a DVD interview? You know that thing where he talks about how he considers Trek to be the classical music of sci-fi and Wars to be the rock n' roll and says "I've always felt classical music could use some rock n' roll mixed into it."

If the Transsiberian Orchestra can do it, why not Abrams?

I just don't see this as a bad thing.

[T'Girl]

Dukhat wrote:

---

kill the Wampa

I though Luke just cut off one of it's arms. Not necessarily fatal.