20 most Cringeworthy Scenes in the New Trek films???

[Franklin]

Was it Kirk who called himself a "Stack of Book with Legs"? I could swear it was Gary Mitchell?

It was Mitchell. Kirk describes himself as "positively grim" in "Shore Leave" when talking about Finnegan. But he was probably a Freshman at that point and I'm sure some things changed as he grew comfortable with his surroundings.

The same guy who was also described as being no "boy scout". So he's seems to have made different impressions on people.

He was at least no boy scout when it came to the ladies. We met a number of women from his past in TOS and heard of one he almost married. That doesn't have to mean he wasn't a straight arrow when it came to academy work. So it really isn't contradictory information or behavior.

I think something about the K-M test affected TOS Kirk in a more profound way than it did nuKirk. Maybe the experience bothered him because it made him begin to realize there were flaws in Starfleet's thinking, and they wanted him to accept something he couldn't. So, he better do more thinking for himself and use the rules and regulations merely as guidelines rather than seeing them as immutable. His "coming out" was the rigging of the test.

When nuKirk rigged the K-M test, he was still making a statement, but for him, I think it was more of a problem-solving stunt, not necessarily a changing point in his life. I don't think nuKirk was ever "positively grim" at the academy and never had the same respect for rules and regulations TOS Kirk had while at the academy. TOS Kirk probably had to think deeply about whether or not to rig the K-M test, while I doubt nuKirk did, because he was probably already more comfortable with such actions and not afraid to be brash.

 

[Commishsleer]

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

And when it comes down to it, I don't care about Kirk's different upbringing I just care about who he is now. I mean nuScotty's totally different from TOS Scotty but I still like him.
Yet I still find nuKirk to be a bit of an arrogant jerk.

 

[BillJ]

He was at least no boy scout when it came to the ladies. We met a number of women from his past in TOS and heard of one he almost married. That doesn't have to mean he wasn't a straight arrow when it came to academy work. So it really isn't contradictory information or behavior.

I think something about the K-M test affected TOS Kirk in a more profound way than it did nuKirk. Maybe the experience bothered him because it made him begin to realize there were flaws in Starfleet's thinking, and they wanted him to accept something he couldn't. So, he better do more thinking for himself and use the rules and regulations merely as guidelines rather than seeing them as immutable. His "coming out" was the rigging of the test.

When nuKirk rigged the K-M test, he was still making a statement, but for him, I think it was more of a problem-solving stunt, not necessarily a changing point in his life. I don't think nuKirk was ever "positively grim" at the academy and never had the same respect for rules and regulations TOS Kirk had while at the academy. TOS Kirk probably had to think deeply about whether or not to rig the K-M test, while I doubt nuKirk did, because he was probably already more comfortable with such actions and not afraid to be brash.

Once again, we really have no evidence about Kirk in the Abrams films. He could have been every bit the straight shooter TOS Kirk was until he also failed the Kobayashi Maru twice.

We're trying to compare two characters but the most important material necessary for the comparison is missing.

 

[The Doctor]

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

That scene is hilarious. Here's Kirk in all his shit-eating-grin glory, thumbing his nose at the instructors and their 'unwinnable' test. I'd be smarmy as fuck too, had I pulled something off like that.

 

[Franklin]

He was at least no boy scout when it came to the ladies. We met a number of women from his past in TOS and heard of one he almost married. That doesn't have to mean he wasn't a straight arrow when it came to academy work. So it really isn't contradictory information or behavior.

I think something about the K-M test affected TOS Kirk in a more profound way than it did nuKirk. Maybe the experience bothered him because it made him begin to realize there were flaws in Starfleet's thinking, and they wanted him to accept something he couldn't. So, he better do more thinking for himself and use the rules and regulations merely as guidelines rather than seeing them as immutable. His "coming out" was the rigging of the test.

When nuKirk rigged the K-M test, he was still making a statement, but for him, I think it was more of a problem-solving stunt, not necessarily a changing point in his life. I don't think nuKirk was ever "positively grim" at the academy and never had the same respect for rules and regulations TOS Kirk had while at the academy. TOS Kirk probably had to think deeply about whether or not to rig the K-M test, while I doubt nuKirk did, because he was probably already more comfortable with such actions and not afraid to be brash.

Once again, we really have no evidence about Kirk in the Abrams films. He could have been every bit the straight shooter TOS Kirk was until he also failed the Kobayashi Maru twice.

We're trying to compare two characters but the most important material necessary for the comparison is missing.

Yeh. It's all just probabilistic speculation, but they seem like logical inferences based on what little we do know. TOS Kirk's dad was Starfleet and a bridge officer (we know that from ST09) who lived, so TOS Kirk at the academy may had more overall respect for Starfleet and its discipline, and took it more seriously than nuKirk, who essentially jointed Starfleet because there was no other place for him and he needed the discipline.

Just overthinking.

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

That scene is hilarious. Here's Kirk in all his shit-eating-grin glory, thumbing his nose at the instructors and their 'unwinnable' test. I'd be smarmy as fuck too, had I pulled something off like that.

Yep. And without being at all contrived, it's a neat Easter egg to TWOK.

 

[fireproof78]

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

That scene is hilarious. Here's Kirk in all his shit-eating-grin glory, thumbing his nose at the instructors and their 'unwinnable' test. I'd be smarmy as fuck too, had I pulled something off like that.

I like it too, just because it is nuKirk's character to a tee, plus the attitude reflected of, "I don't like to lose."

He is arrogant and that is part of the interesting part of his character arc. He goes from this unteachable, annoying, irritating punk, to showing some of the talent that would lead to him being a great captain.

I don't like him either, at first, until he warns of the Romulan attack and saves Sulu. Those moments are hints of the deeper character beneath and the potential to become the Kirk we know.

 

[Smellmet]

I loved the Kobyashi Maru scene in ST09 - for me that was not only a superb and very welcome call back but also the most 'Shatner-like' Pine has been in either movie. I thought it was great.

 

[BigJake]

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

And when it comes down to it, I don't care about Kirk's different upbringing I just care about who he is now. I mean nuScotty's totally different from TOS Scotty but I still like him.
Yet I still find nuKirk to be a bit of an arrogant jerk.

Didn't much care for it either (although I have a simpler method for not seeing the scene ). Kirk being dumb enough to think he can get away with that kind of open arrogance and smugness is... well, not to say it isn't in keeping with the character presented, but does make the character beat a bit meh. (The "oh look they're doing to a callback" thing did little for me precisely because of that.)

 

[Jedi_Master]

I find the most cringeworthy scene in any Star Trek movie (aside from Kirk's death in GEN) as the apple chewing Kobyashi Maru test in ST09.
When it comes on I hold my hands over my ears and go nahnahnahnah until it finishes.

That scene is hilarious. Here's Kirk in all his shit-eating-grin glory, thumbing his nose at the instructors and their 'unwinnable' test. I'd be smarmy as fuck too, had I pulled something off like that.

I loved that scene, it was a great way to establish how incredibly arrogant and wild nuKirk had become.

 

[Smellmet]

I always saw it as that scene would've played out the same way in both universes.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I always saw it as that scene would've played out the same way in both universes.

nuKirk seems to be a bit more unhinged and impulsive, and is not inclined to think before acting.

 

[Ovation]

I loved the Kobyashi Maru scene in ST09 - for me that was not only a superb and very welcome call back but also the most 'Shatner-like' Pine has been in either movie. I thought it was great.

Exactly.

 

[Sector 7]

I loved the Kobyashi Maru scene in ST09 - for me that was not only a superb and very welcome call back but also the most 'Shatner-like' Pine has been in either movie. I thought it was great.

Exactly.

Well said, Ovation!

 

[Sector 7]

I loved the Kobyashi Maru scene in ST09 - for me that was not only a superb and very welcome call back but also the most 'Shatner-like' Pine has been in either movie. I thought it was great.

Exactly.

Well said, Smellmet!

 

[Hypaspist]

I think they could have done it better than simply having the computers short out and all of a sudden 'well Captain, their shields are down.' Maybe like it was done in some novelization where he programmed the Klingons to fear "the Kirk." It was obvious that he was thumbing his nose at the whole thing and kind of wanted to get caught as a kind of protest against an unfair test. It could have been done a little better.

 

[Sector 7]

^ I may be in the minority, but I thought protesting against an unfair test was just an excuse. That is how it appeared to me.

 

[Cyke101]

Yep. And without being at all contrived, it's a neat Easter egg to TWOK.

Even if we remove the TWOK connection, there's the age-old trope that a character eating an apple symbolizing knowledge, either that they have it or are seeking it. And in both '09 and TWOK, Kirk eats the apple to indicate that he knows something that his opponent(s) don't know. That's one of my favorite things about that scene. Riker does this too in Encounter at Farpoint, and the bowl of apples is among one of his first clues that something's wrong with the station.

I always saw it as that scene would've played out the same way in both universes.

That wasn't my first thought with the scene, but frankly I really wished that '09 included the part where Kirk was commended for original thinking. The argument with Spock could have steered that way had it not been for that pesky Nero attacking Vulcan.

 

[Franklin]

I always saw it as that scene would've played out the same way in both universes.

nuKirk seems to be a bit more unhinged and impulsive, and is not inclined to think before acting.

I thought so, too. My guess would be TOS Kirk played it out more seriously. After all, in TWOK he says he reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to win. It's hard to say, but that could mean there was still a chance to lose if he screwed it up. He wanted what he saw to be a fair test, and he beat it. If he lost, he could at least accept there was the chance he could've won. Of course, nuKirk obviously rigged it to win no matter what. Both took a stand for the same reasons, and either is in character depending on the proportion of maturity in each Kirk at the time.

As far as how nuKirk acted during the test, I don't think any of the writers would've cared if we didn't like him, then. He didn't seem to be a very likeable guy, after all. Far too impulsive and cock-sure of himself.

 

[Franklin]

Yep. And without being at all contrived, it's a neat Easter egg to TWOK.

Even if we remove the TWOK connection, there's the age-old trope that a character eating an apple symbolizing knowledge, either that they have it or are seeking it. And in both '09 and TWOK, Kirk eats the apple to indicate that he knows something that his opponent(s) don't know. That's one of my favorite things about that scene. Riker does this too in Encounter at Farpoint, and the bowl of apples is among one of his first clues that something's wrong with the station.

Pardon if there's a double post.

Cool. Didn't know that trope. Now I like both scenes even better.

 

[fireproof78]

I always saw it as that scene would've played out the same way in both universes.

nuKirk seems to be a bit more unhinged and impulsive, and is not inclined to think before acting.

I thought so, too. My guess would be TOS Kirk played it out more seriously. After all, in TWOK he says he reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to win. It's hard to say, but that could mean there was still a chance to lose if he screwed it up. He wanted what he saw to be a fair test, and he beat it. If he lost, he could at least accept there was the chance he could've won. Of course, nuKirk obviously rigged it to win no matter what. Both took a stand for the same reasons, and either is in character depending on the proportion of maturity in each Kirk at the time.

As far as how nuKirk acted during the test, I don't think any of the writers would've cared if we didn't like him, then. He didn't seem to be a very likeable guy, after all. Far too impulsive and cock-sure of himself.

Exactly. To me, he was not supposed to start out as Kirk known in TOS, but the raw material that has not been used properly. There is potential, and intelligence, but is is unused and underdeveloped.

The way I always read it was that Kirk's intelligence was the same as primeKirk, but he never applied it and never used it. Things came easily to him, so he was bored and caused trouble, got in trouble with the law and generally didn't care because he could beat anyone. Just look at his response to the cadets in Iowa:

Even after the fight he is still ready with a wisecrack. Reminds me a bit of Deadpool with the sarcasm. But, as the stakes get raised, we see that impulsive side give way to a fierce loyalty and desire to keep people from dying.

I think we start to see those glimmers in his trying to save the ship from ambush, trying to save Sulu, and even in ID and the reactor scene, it is impulsive nature that leads to him to sacrifice himself to save the ship.