Have you ever gone back and changed your mind about a film?

Now, the above review was written exactly 9 years ago. However, after some time and distance away from watching TNG rerun episodes ad nauseum and comparing the film on its own merits and not that of the true A-grade sci-fi classics such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien, Aliens, Back to the Future, etc. it's a pretty, fun-filled ride of a film.

I still have issues with the fact that the film feels not so smoothly cut and editted, and the obviousness to the viewers that the scale of this Borg epic was shot on a modest studio budget...but, you have to admit that it's a really fun, feel-good action film that pretty much paved the way for the J.J. Abrams film in terms of that particular cinematic feel that you put into Trek that pulls in a massive worldwide audience at the box-office.

To tell you the truth, nowadays I would probably use the above review to either refer to Insurrection or Nemesis. I was in that whole "You have to shoot it like Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and James Cameron" mode of thinking back in my 20's, but as of now in my 30's I judge a film's merits particularly on how it ultimately makes me feel. Not all films have to cater to the "thinking man" to be considered the cream of the crop. Heck, before Alfred Hitchcock passed away his 2 favorite films in recent years were Smokey and the Bandit and Benji.

Director Jonathan Frakes proudly earned his 3-stars for this one!

 

I thought TUC was excellent when ot came out. Now it's cheesy and militaristic. You know, I left the theater liking most of the films and I think I could only ise the term "like" for I and II now. But that's me. I'm either crankier or more discriminating now.

 

I'm the exact opposite. Was lukewarm to The Undiscovered Country when I first saw it, now it's one of my top two Trek films along with The Motion Picture.

Just watched it along with First Contact yesterday.

 

I don't think TVH held up as well over the years.

FC is as exactly as I remember it when it came out - popcorn flick. Too rushed at the beginning, and wrapped up too nice and neatly and quickly at the end.

TUC - It's still a fine Trek flick. The attempts at humor with the supporting cast falls flat for me now. Doohan, Nichols and Koenig's acting just comes off painfully bad.

 

I go back and forth on my rankings - but as it is with many viewers' opinions - I do know for a fact that the TOS films tend to be regarded in the top-tier and the TNG films are ranked towards the bottom-tier.

TUC is still considered my favorite of the 11 Star Trek films, eventhough my opinion on it wavers now and then (Considering I reside in South Korea and have the real potential threat of North Korea up north kind of diminishes that...); but me thinking it is the greatest thing since sliced bread is long gone. However, it is still a fine, solid film with rich dialogue that is rarely ever heard in today's CGI/action-packed cinema.

 

TMP hasn't aged well.

 

TUC is one that was great when I first saw it in the theater but has grown cheesier over time. Personally, I think it was so well received back then because we were following the dismal TFF. But even so, it's a good Trek film, but I find the "whodunit" aspect to not hold up at all. The peace accords, the conspiracy bits are all still great, but the mystery plot is badly done and it makes the supporting cast look like idiots: the phaser alarm, Crewman Dax and his feet, Uhura and the books. Seriously, Chekov was borderline retarded in this movie. Plus the fact that Burke and Samno were killed and dumped in a hallway and Kirk and everyone just HAPPENED to stumble upon them on their way to (I guess) the bridge. Funny how nobody else did as it seemed to be a main walkway. Even if they were just recently killed, they weren't hidden very well (at all).

I won't mention the door that reveals them slides UP through the conduits in the ceiling. ;-)

Even if Cinefantastic didn't blow the reveal before the film opened, it wasn't hard to figure out the traitor: Velaris was the only new main character on the ship.

Also, some of the humor was "meh," some of it felt like it should have been ion Trek 5. Everyone laughs at the Kirk/Martia-Kirk "must have been your lifelong ambition" joke, but it's really meta humor. It points up Shatner's ego, not Kirks (tell me when did Kirk demonstrated loving himself so much), so as far as the characters go, it makes no sense. It's also badly acted by Shatner who uses every facial muscle to make the joke land. It's out of place and looks like a late entry into the scene. It certainly works well without it. Good character humor is funny (most everything from Spock), but the gags in Trek really were wearing thin. It was a far cry from the seriousness and maturity of the first 3 movies. And Nick Meyer's staging of his extras is distracting. He overloads the bridges of both ships with people wandering around doing nothing. In the beginning, it looks like the Excelsior's bridge is The Place to Hang Out. There are so many now they all wear name tags. The clothing search is hilarious in its busy-ness. When the door opened and the guy with the Space Divining Rod walks in with goggles saying "coming through!" the audience laughed. Every time.

But even with that stuff, it's a fun flick and it moves fairly quickly. I just wish they spent more time on Kirk and Bones on Rura Penthe and less on the Scooby Doo crap.

I admit, it's nitpickery form a person who has seen the movie a few times too many, but that's what Trekkies do. :-)

 

Good to know.

The watercooler discussion in regards to FC back then (in the states where I lived) was that it was a good film, but it still felt staged like a 2-part episode just like Generations.

 

I've grown to enjoy TVH less and less over the years. I was really disappointed with NEM when it came out, but after a few years I watched it again and it wasn't as bad as I remembered.

 

For me, it's mostly FC. I still like it a lot, but it doesn't feel like Trek. Which is weird, since a lot of people hate Insurrection, which I feel is more Star Trek then FC, which so many people seem to love to death.

 

I recently watched "Insurrection" for the first time in a long time, and it wasn't as bad as I had remembered it. I agree with many people who say they feel it would have been a better TNG episode than a film, but I have to admit that I did enjoy watching it.

 

That's the thing though, they say it would've been better as an episode. But wouldn't that be a GOOD thing, since we as fans are supposed to like the episodes?

 

But non-fans go to a movie expecting a movie experience, not a tepid TV style outing.

 

Yes. The very first time I saw The Search For Spock I thought, "That's it?". Now, nearly twenty-eight years later, I attribute that attitude to the fact that at the time I saw it, I was fourteen and didn't know any better, and also, it was my first outing after a two-week hospital stay for surgery on my legs, followed by another seven weeks in a home-rented hospital bed with casts on both legs. When we left for the drive-in that night, I was suffering from severe cabin-fever, and was REALLY looking forward to the outing more than the movie (despite already being a life-long Star Trek fan even then).

Now, III is my second most favorite TOS movie right after IV.

 

Yes, I have gone back and changed my mind about a Trek film before. I originally did not want to watch First Contact now I enjoy it as much as anything else. I also liked Nemesis a lot when it first premiered, but found the film lacking in recent years thanks to the influence of fellow doubters. Now I like Nemesis again. Go figure!

 

Pretty much how I feel.

 

Well there is usually a certain amount of hype surrounding these films so it makes sense to come out excited and on anatural high after the initial viewing of a Trek film during that timeframe. But over time things can dampen such a mood and you don't feel quite the same way as you did anymore.