The Official STAR TREK Grading & Discussion Thread [SPOILERS]

welcome to the forum, WJT.

I like your review. you write well. however, I disagree with your opinion that this movie has no depth.

could you please define what is "dramatic depth" to you? and please do not give me examples from other Trek films. you have already done so in your review. I want to know from you, in so many words, what signifies "dramatic depth" to you.

thanks.

 

I love Gene for creating STAR TREK but lets face facts his vision was flawed...ST cancelled after 3 seasons, 1st movie recieved mixed reviews at best and TNG season 1+2 were not exactly stellar. You see TNG getting better and TWOK (where Trek got big again) had smaller involvement from Gene than the stuff that struggled.

Plus this is J.J's Trek now not Gene's.

 

Trek will always, no matter who's in charge, carry Gene's vision. it's Trek. it'll always be about a hopeful future for humankind.

 

So "movie for dumb people" (your words), does not mean what it says? The implication is quite clear. As for "being sensitive", I couldn't care less about a comment aimed just at me (it would be anonymously sourced directed at an anonymous person). What I find objectionable is the notion that those who do not dislike like the film (in other words, the vast majority of people) are "dumb" (your word) or "idiotic" (used by a number of other posters) or "lack critical thinking skills" (someone else's term). Such an attitude suggests that those who are disdainful of the film are somehow "smarter" than those who like it simply by virtue of their disdain. In other words, the dissenters simply "know better" than the rest of the viewers. That is not only wrong on the face of it (one's subjective opinion about pop culture is not a clear indicator of one's intelligence), it's irritating to see over and over again. If your "movie for dumb people" had been one of a very few such comments, I wouldn't have bothered to single it out. However, such comments have reached a level of frequency around here that I find irritating and so I pointed it out.

The next time you want to say

don't call it a "movie for dumb people".

 

Re: Saw the movie again today and........

by the time they saw what was going on communications was lost due to the interferrence from the drill.

they probably only got one message out just as the it got started.

whatever..

people of diverse backgrounds coming together to over come and
achieve a a common goal.

 

I finally managed to see Star Trek on Friday. In a nutshell: I was very well entertained.
Here’s just some things I liked and disliked in brief.


What I liked:

- Characters: For me, the characters were the thing that made this work. Some of the material with Kirk, McKoy, Spock, and Uhura was really entertaining and fun. I think they’ve managed to establish a great basis and can move on very well from here. I also think it was a great move to set up Spock and Uhura as a couple.

- Humor: The movie was very funny in parts. Some of the scenes surrounding Kirk, in particular, really had me laughing quite a bit at the cinema. The timing was good, and I think they used it well to keep the movie fun.

- Designs: I really liked what they did with some of the designs such as the costumes and the bridge. This is what I had hoped to see back on ENT. It all looks modern or futuristic but has a retro feel to it that pre-dates that of TOS. That’s how to make it feel like a prequel.


What I didn’t like:

- Opening scenes: The opening with the birth and the chatter between Kirk’s parents was one of the worst scenes I have ever seen on film. I have no idea what they were thinking when they wrote, let alone filmed this. Myself as well as all of my friends with me at the theater absolutely cringed at these scenes. I can’t state enough how bad and unnecessary they were in my mind. I also found the scene with kid Kirk annoying. I get the point they’re trying to make. But what they put on screen was probably one of the most annoying ways to do it, I felt. On the bright side, they actually managed to lump together the two worst scenes in the entire movie at the very beginning, and it just kept getting better from there on.

- Bad guy’s plan: Really, wasn’t there one single little ground-based vessel or missile or torpedo that could have simply killed the drill? You could damage it with a phaser, so it shouldn’t have been that hard to take out. Plus the whole drilling really seemed to take some time. Kill the drill, and the bad guy’s plan is passé. Plus I do have to wonder about the strength of that ship. It may be from the future, but it’s still just a mining vessel. I would have been happier with a battle ship, I think.

- Goofyness: I said above that I liked the humor. I also have to say, however, that I did feel the movie was really goofy at times. A prime example is Scotty ending up in the conveniently see-through water pipes that lead straight to the rotating knives (or some such). Scenes like that felt more like watching a Galaxy Quest movie rather than a new Star Trek film.

- Action: Some of the action could get a little tiresome and didn’t really feel very engaging, I thought. The space battles, in particular, came across to me as little more than a colorful frenzy with lots of noise. All in all, however, I thought the amount of action wasn’t too excessive and the fight scenes, in particular, were quite enjoyable.

- Lense flares: Maybe I only noticed this because I’d read about them, but I really feel they need to cut down on the amount of lense flares in the next film.


One more thing I’d like to note that struck me as odd (but it’s hard to really hold it against the film at this point) is that, to me anyway, the Federation seemed just a tad totalitarian. There were quite a few scenes on Earth that reminded me of Starship Troopers. And a cop coming up to someone and calling them “citizen” never seems like a good thing in my mind.

I’m a bit concerned about where the reborn franchise will go in terms of portraying the Federation. I fear it might become a ‘friendly’ but essentially totalitarian and militaristic organization that’s depicted as far more benevolent than it would be in the real world. But, again, this is nothing I’m holding against this film. We simply haven’t seen enough to be able to form an opinion on this matter, I think.

Anyway, I came out of the film having really enjoyed myself. My friends also had a great time, and we talked quite a bit about the film afterwards. It also really motivated me for the first time in a long, long time to use and enjoy the Vulcan greeting as well as saying what I will use to finish this post:

Live long and prosper.


P.S.: I almost forgot to grade the film . I was generous and went with "Above Average" although I almost chose "Average". I think for a Trek film it certainly is above average. I'd certainly take it over TFF, GEN, INS, or NEM any time. I'd probably put it a bit above TSFS (which is quite average for a Trek film, I think). I think I see it more or less on par with TMP, TWOK, and TVH but below TUC and FC. A really amazing sequel might yet shift the whole scale a little, we'll see.

 

the narada could probably shoot down anything before it got to the drill.
the jellyfish had the advantage of just dropping down and being there.

and how knows.. it is so advnced it could have been made of some material that only a ship of the same time period could cut through.

 

^
It being able to shoot down any ships or missiles coming up is certainly a possibility. But we never actually get to see it. Plus everyone on the planets just seems to be standing around helplessly, wondering what's going on rather than actually taking action (even at Starfleet HQ, we see no ships going up or, for that matter, ships being shot down).

As for 'current-day' ships not being strong enough to take the drill out, I don't quite buy that. A rather simple phaser (not sure if it was one from the future or not) was sufficient to cause some major damage. So I figure ship-based phasers or torpedos or missiles, for that matter, should be enough to get the job done.

Don't get me wrong, this is something that doesn't bother me all that much, really. I just think it could have been done more elegantly and seem more plausible. A lot of it seemed to be part of the usual wanting the Enterprise and her crew do it all.

 

Man, you take 24 hours out to rebuild a PC, and the pages grow like mushrooms...

I'm still getting a very strong vibe from the people who didn't like it of "If you like this film you must be stupid, simple, distracted by pretty lights, shallow, have ADD, or all of the above". Seriously.

I really liked this flick, but am not unaware of its flaws, thanks for pointing them out.

If you want to discuss them in a constructive manner, and how it will hopefully be done better next time, fine, that's cool. But don't just come in here with assumptions about the people who did like it.

As has been pointed out before, come down to TNZ, where the discussion is harmonious as well as robust.

 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who finds this annoying.

 

what do you mean you are sure it was from the future.

the jellyfish was prime spock's ship and it was noted to be very advanced even for its time.

 

wow! would you believe that you're the only person I know who finds that opening Kelvin scene bad? seriously, everyone I know loved it. it's one of the best scenes in the movie, IMO.

amazing how subjective art is, truly.

 

[John Locke]Were gonna need to watch that again[/John Locke]

Very good. Just short of excellent for me.

But, I'll say this:

The Kelvin sequence is probably the most emotional I've been watching anything from the Star Trek franchise. That was fracking beautiful. No BS about warp engines, or daft-techobabble.

Just a guy trying to save lives, including his wife and kid.

Beautiful. And the somber music at the end of that part was the icing on the cake.

 

Quite right.

 

Don't worry- you're not the only one.

 

I'm sorry, I wasn't very clear. I was referring to the phase rifle that Kirk used to sabotage the drill after they'd lost the charges.

It certainly never ceases to amaze me.

Seriously though, if I may ask, what did you like about it?

For me, it would have been ok had they simply left out the whole thing with the birth going on at the same time as the attack and Kirk's parents talking, choosing a name, picking a kindergarten (just kidding ), etc. That just seemed incredibly contrived and (I can't think of a better word right now) cheesy to me. And, as I mentioned, all of my friends felt exactly the same way.

 

^^ I didn't find the Kelvin scene that emotionally moving either. In fact, the lack of some emotional texture is what really hurt this film. Even the weaker films of the franchise incorporated that sort of thing more effectively.

 

^^^ Absolutely loved the Kelvin scene as did every single person that saw it with me all three times.

Judging from what I've read on this board, I'd say it's one of the most popular scenes of the entire movie.

 

This is kinda surprising, because I know that for me that opening scene is the only scene in Star Trek to get me tear up at all, and I've already done it all three times seeing this movie. None of the other movies have ever really gotten an emotional response out of me.

 

Perhaps you simply got distracted by the pretty lights.