STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS - Grading & Discussion [SPOILERS]

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies: Kelvin Universe' started by Agent Richard07, Apr 18, 2013.

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Grade the movie...

  1. A+

    18.8%
  2. A

    20.6%
  3. A-

    13.2%
  4. B+

    11.1%
  5. B

    7.9%
  6. B-

    4.1%
  7. C+

    5.7%
  8. C

    5.0%
  9. C-

    3.5%
  10. D+

    1.5%
  11. D

    1.6%
  12. D-

    1.3%
  13. F

    5.7%
  1. ConRefit79

    ConRefit79 Captain Captain

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    I saw it.
     
  2. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    The Batman serials and Fu Manchu come to mind. :lol:
     
  3. Kpnuts

    Kpnuts Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    They seem to like getting it in as much as possible. It's amazing how much fan service and easter eggs JJ and co put into these two Trek films, and yet still the extreme fanboys whine and complain. I think it's remarkable how they've managed to create two fantastic movies catering to both fans and non-fans in equal measure.
     
  4. ConRefit79

    ConRefit79 Captain Captain

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    I don't know, stuff like that makes me cringe.
     
  5. Greylock Crescent

    Greylock Crescent Adventurer Admiral

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    When I was young, seeing two people kiss on screen made me cringe. Then I grew up. :techman:
     
  6. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Fanboys always whine and complain. If you don't give them new stuff, they want it. If you give them new stuff and it's not different enough, they complain that it's the same all over again. If it's different, it's not Star Trek anymore.

    You just can't win. This is why the target audience is NOT Star Trek fans.
     
  7. Squiggy

    Squiggy FrozenToad Admiral

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    You're the reason we can't have nice things.
     
  8. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And there's nothing you can do about it. :p ;)
     
  9. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Alright, here are my full-on thoughts about the movie.

    Out of all twelve films, I rank it as my third favorite. I still think the 2009 film has the advantage in the fun department. I thought Cumberbatch's depiction of Khan was well-executed. I thought to myself, "If there are ever to do Khan again and update him for today's audiences, I think this is what I'd expect to see." For a few moments, I even felt sympathy towards him as he explains himself to Kirk and Spock. I had a little trouble getting my head behind his motivations after he killed Marcus, but it didn't detract me.

    I also really liked how the film had dual villains. About halfway in, I remember leaning over to my friend and saying, "Who exact;y is the villain in this movie?" For a short time, anyway, I thought we were just being mislead and it would turn out that Khan wasn't going to be the baddie at all. It was interesting to see Kirk and Khan worked together, too. I was shocked to see that Khan wasn't killed in the end; just captured and put back into stasis.

    A friend of mine whined that this was just a pale imitation of The Wrath of Khan. I don't think that statement could be any farther from the truth. What they did was exactly what I hoped they would. I had no problem with them using an existing character from Trek lore, but just don't rehash Space Seed or The Wrath of Khan. Use them again, but do something completely different with them; which they did here. And as a fan, I certainly appreciated and enjoyed that.

    My biggest complaint in this one; Karl Urban was once again underused. He had some good moments in this film, but he didn't seem to have a whole lot more screen time than he did in the previous one. I was really hoping to see the Kirk, Spock, McCoy relationship start out in this one, but I guess since they are now going to start their five year mission, some boding time comes out of being in space for so long. But I also have to say: I don't know about the rest of you, Urban's portrayal of McCoy is surreal. He just channels De Kelley so well that there were times when I thought it actually was him.

    I think Simon Pegg really stole the show. He was absolutely amazing in every scene he was in. I really love his portrayal of Scotty. He does such an amazing job.

    At first, I was turned off by the lines and moments lifted directly out of The Wrath of Khan, but viewing it a second time, I was ok with it. The reverse death scene, I thought, wasn't really needed -- at least with Kirk. Who actually thought (Trekkie or not) that Kirk was going to die. I had the idea later, what if that was Pike in there instead? He did legitimately die. What if, after given back the Enterprise, Pike did, indeed, sacrifice himself to save the ship? I don't know, I thought that would have worked a bit better. The fact that Kirk was brought back using Khan's blood diminished whatever impact that moment had.

    But, overall, I thought it was an excellent movie. I'm real excited to see what they do next. The Klingons seem to have been the punching bags in these last two movies. I imagine by now, they must be getting pretty pissed. :lol:
     
  10. Count Zero

    Count Zero No nation but procrastination Moderator

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    People are just assuming that it is Praxis. There is no mention of it in the movie. More discussion about that aspect can be found in this thread.


    Well, I did say that the dialogue was much better in this one than in the previous movie but I didn't explicitly mention the humour.

    Hooray! Welcome to the club. :D
     
  11. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

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    Probably because fan-service and easter eggs don't mean jack in regards to a good story well told?
     
  12. Greylock Crescent

    Greylock Crescent Adventurer Admiral

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    Good thing STID had a good story to tell, and told it very well. The fact that it also managed to incorporate easter eggs and fan service only reinforces the skill of the filmmakers.
     
  13. Admiral Buzzkill

    Admiral Buzzkill Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Everyone here who's seen this movie paid to see it - let's not bullshit ourselves.

    A frame from Brian McFadden's "The Strip" in today's New York Times:

    [​IMG]

    :lol:
     
  14. ConRefit79

    ConRefit79 Captain Captain

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    Well they tried too hard sometimes. The cut is one. The "homage" just totally kills it for me. And the Mudd thing was trying too hard. Just say prep Mr. Mudd's confiscated shuttle for departure.
     
  15. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Somebody tell me the Harry Mudd reference. I saw the movie twice and missed it both times.
     
  16. ConRefit79

    ConRefit79 Captain Captain

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    After Kirk leaves the bridge Sulu tells the shuttle bay to ready the ship confiscated in the Mudd incident last month for departure or something like that.
     
  17. Amasov

    Amasov Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Interesting. I'll look for it when I see it for the third time this weekend. :)
     
  18. OdoWanKenobi

    OdoWanKenobi Admiral Admiral

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    I really liked this film. Sure I have some quibbles like Spock's scream being such blatant homage that it sucked me out of the film (leading my non-trekkie friend that I was with to wonder why I busted out laughing.) As far as big summer action movies go, though, this one is the tops. Sure, Star Trek has always been at its best when it's about larger ideas, but the fact that this one doesn't present itself as an allegory for some current event, or explore the human condition does not change the fact that it is still a damn entertaining film with great special effects, a brilliant score, good performances, and breakneck pacing.

    I'm all for being faithful to source material, but Star Trek is a franchise that had long before collapsed under its own weight. It had become stale and repetitive. With these last two movies Abrams has breathed new life into the series and brought in a whole new group of fans that never would have considered watching Star Trek before. My friend that I was with now wants to watch Wrath of Khan so that he can get all of the references.
     
  19. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    And in case anybody's wondering, it's from Coundown to Darkness, the comic, which is far less related to the movie than the previous Countdown was.

    Actually, the amount of references is slightly bothering to me, and has been since Enterprise (or maybe even Voyager's premise), because I feel like they're trying to recapture the glory days of the 60s, which I think is ill-advised. I hope the next one mostly skips references and is fresh and new.
     
  20. OdoWanKenobi

    OdoWanKenobi Admiral Admiral

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    I thought that, the scream aside, the references were pretty well integrated. The fans will catch them and smile, while those who don't get them won't notice or feel like there's something that they're missing.