I'm hoping it's at least good. I'll go to see it day of release, certainly. As long as it's good then it will mean that the last Star Trek ever made wasn't "These Are the Voyages" but something somebody put some effort in to instead.
That's a good point. Even if it doesn't change my esteem of his talent, J.J. seems like he at least deserves an 'A' for effort. No problem, Captain Intrepid. Here's to hoping your brain gets over itself. See, now that was a better platitude, now wasn't it?
I hate to say it, but I do think this will be the last Star Trek ever. I think it was a critical mistake to release it as a summer movie. It does have the potential to be a much bigger box office disaster than The X-Files was.
It does seem like there's been a very large amount of thought invested into this movie. Unfortunately we won't be able to tell what it'll turn out to be until next year. :P At least there's always debating abortion in TNZ to get my brain juices working again!
Well, personally, I wouldn't mind seeing it go away for awhile so that I could be the one to bring it back. My point being, Star Trek isn't going anywhere. At least, not permanently. It's too pervasive, too profitable, and too many people (especially ones in a position of power) are fans of it. You might be right about the schedule change, though. However, it depends on a lot of factors and there's just very little we can do to predict the outcome. This place is gonna have a conniption fit next summer though, that we can be certain of.
It already went somewhere. Paramount just looked at their list of franchises and decided which ones they could exploit. With the direct to DVD market growing, I imagine there's a future for it there. The two Stargate Direct-to-DVD movies sold very well, and that's a much less well known franchise.
If they continue to do crap with it, then yeah, that's where it'll be headed. It's a step up for the Stargate franchise to be able to do something like that, but with Star Trek, it's a step down. I'm not commenting on the quality of either, just the commercial viability.
There's an audience for Star Trek. I don't think it's enough to justify a series of big budget movies and there's diminishing room on TV for science fiction. Direct-to-DVD is one answer.
As it stands now, no. I agree. I just think Star Trek could have a larger audience if it was done well.
Too late for that, IMHO. Most of the population doesn't respect Star Trek. They think it's a stupid show for nerds full of cardboard sets, people... who talk... like... this with cheesy plotlines, hammy acting and ridiculous outfits. Unless Star Trek does what Lost does, which is to pretend it isn't a science fiction show, it will never be truly popular.
I almost think it'd be better for it if Trek disappeared from the public radar for a decade or two. Then all the negative reputation it has for being übergeeky (in the not good way) would have faded some, and the new audience could take a more levelheaded objective view at it.
^ EDIT: I don't think it's neccessary, but it might be a good idea anyway. Hermiod, you're right that Star Trek would probably have to position itself as a character drama first and foremost to reach a large audience, but that's true of almost all drama today. Doesn't mean you have to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Adam West Batman left just as an indelible memory on culture as Star Trek did, but they managed to overcome that with the Burton and Nolan movies. TNG did the same thing for Star Trek in the early nineties. It's wholly possible.
^Even TNG is viewed as "cheesy". The Star Trek Gene Roddenberry wanted to make back in the sixties was viewed as "too cerebral" and I don't think audiences have gotten any smarter. I don't want to be Mr. Negative. I'm looking forward to the new movie as much as anyone, but I don't believe that Star Trek has that much of a mainstream future.
have you watched the trailer yet? http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/ it's going to get hammered because it's opening a week after Wolverine. and unless Wolverine succks ass (which i doubt), Trek's going to do no better than 2nd.