Just watched Star Trek V - pros and cons

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by Aslan ch'Shran, May 23, 2010.

  1. Cadet49

    Cadet49 Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    I have to agree with you - I really enjoyed this movie when I saw it, regardless of the cheap production effects; the acting was a bit off, and some of the jokes were eye-rollers, but this movie has the most feel of the TOS series and exploring the unknown, which was missing from the other movies - it felt like a TOS episode!



     
  2. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Star Trek the series was primarily plot driven. The movies were also plot driven, but a couple were character driven. However, in the classic Trek movies, there was character growth. Also, TV standards of the period required your hero to be the same person at the end of 51 minutes as he was at the beginning. Kept things easy for the syndication boys.

    As for TFF, I always enjoyed it. I like all the movies, honestly, so they all get a pass in some way.

    Pros: For a guy with a reputation for running roughshod over the “Gang of Four,” Shatner made sure each of them had something to do. Either interesting or humorous, but still more than Sulu and Uhura had in TWOK or TSFS.

    Good, well shot and cut action sequences.

    A sense of SCOPE. Not “on location in San Francisco” kind of cheap scope, but the “let’s build elaborate sets and shoot out in the desert” kind. Think about what this film had to pay for: a new bridge, a hangar deck, an observation room, Paradise City, two full size shuttlecraft, not to mention mostly new, straight from New Jersey special effects. Even when some of them failed, others were amazing. Plus, they had a guy climbing a real mountain (this is also a con).

    Heart. You really felt the love between the Big Three.

    Assault phasers and combat gear!

    Of course, Jerry Freaking Goldsmith.

    Amazing Klingon make-up.

    Laurence Luckinbill. He makes you think this is a great film.

    Khans:

    Kirk free climbing a mountain. I would have bought the sequence if he used ropes. I mean, regular mountain climbing is plenty dangerous and there are lots of ways to fall screaming to your death. Chubby Shatner doing that would have been tough to accept, but still a lot more plausible than free climbing.

    The fall: Kirk’s “whoooooooa!” and the godawful blue screen work (WIND anyone?) just ruiin any sense of danger. As soon as that scene was over, all of the atmosphere created by the pre-credits was ruined. It was gonna be THAT kind of movie.

    Too much humor. I don’t mind character humor, but slapstick and pratfalls are just too much. They could have had humor without Scotty’s head bump, and Kirk’s “you made that up” stuff.

    Shatner: really great at framing shots and planning sequences. Really terrible at self-direction. He was more over the top than ever.

    The story: a dead end from the beginning. And to this day, Shatner believes actually meeting Satan, rather than an alien pretender, was a better idea. Why does being named director mean he has to create the story? Couldn’t someone else come up with something less horrible and have him direct it? Still, the film could have been saved with some rewrites and the excision of some of the humor.

    The effects: ugh, when they’re bad, they stink on ice.

    Anyway, I mostly enjoy it still, but I wish someone was tougher on Shatner regarding the story. There’s a great film in there, but not as is.
     
  3. Python Trek

    Python Trek Commodore Commodore

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    A group of people searching for God when they've already met about a dozen "omnipotent" beings in the past just doesn't work for me. Maybe it would have worked if I'd never seen an episode of TOS, but otherwise....

    And there are two other things that I absolutely cannot forgive: Scotty knocking himself out cold on a bulkhead and Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura betraying Kirk. Total lack of respect for the characters. Bad film. :(
     
  4. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah it's not like they were being brainwashed... :rolleyes:
     
  5. Ssosmcin

    Ssosmcin Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I do wish they had made that clearer, rather than implying that everyone was so happy to have their "pain" eased that they'd follow Sybok on any fools errand. And the whole "one life changing pain" thing was a little weird. Not everyone carries a "secret pain." And even if we all did, so what. Okay, I admit, I carried around a "secret pain" for 23 years. But after talking to my shrink, I got past it. And while I think she has awesmoe legs and I'd hit that in a heartbeat, I wouldn't betray all my friends to do it.
     
  6. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Tony? That you?

    Guess not.
     
  7. Peach Wookiee

    Peach Wookiee Cuddly Mod of Doom Moderator

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    I liked the fan dance. I hope I look that good when I'm the age she was.
     
  8. Bishop76

    Bishop76 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    ^ It wasn't her.
     
  9. Phantassm

    Phantassm Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ...Funny. How can you agree that its underrated but...horrible? ;)
     
  10. Lonemagpie

    Lonemagpie Writer Admiral

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    IIRC the Fan Dance was her, but the singing wasn't.
     
  11. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    That's correct. Nichols tells the story that the dying Roddenberry asked her if those were really her legs, and she assured him they were.
     
  12. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    This much is true. Other than the TOS bridge, this one is my favorite - it is the closest thing to an enhanced and updated version of the TOS set that we're ever likely to get.
     
  13. RandyS

    RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I was REALLY disappointed when they didn't reuse it for The Undiscovered Country.
     
  14. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    They did. It is the very same bridge set, just in different colors. And maybe they changed the postion of the doors, I'm not sure exactly.
     
  15. buckeyenation

    buckeyenation Lieutenant Commander Red Shirt

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    The thing with TFF I keep trying to figure out is who to blame for it. Is it Shatner? Paramount? Screenwriter David Loughery? Looking at film with an unjaundiced eye, I can concede the plot has some good ideas....but, my goodness, horribly executed. So therefore someone must stand accountable. Just tell me who.

     
  16. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Paramount. TFF is not what Shatner really wanted, so we can't say if his version would have sucked.
     
  17. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Shatner. Conceptually it was his and he directed it.
     
  18. A beaker full of death

    A beaker full of death Vice Admiral Admiral

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    It was Shatner's movie; the "wasn't what he intended" stuff is excusism -- where none is needed. It's a very good film, IMO.
     
  19. JarodRussell

    JarodRussell Vice Admiral Admiral

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    So when an architect designs a building and a meteor hits it, it is the architect's fault? ;)
     
  20. RookieBatman

    RookieBatman Commodore Commodore

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    When in doubt, I always blame the studio. :techman: