My Gripes with STID!

[loghaD]

I wrote to Paramount after each movie telling them I'll never watch another one.

To the topic but unrelated to the above comment:

Lens flare must have been mentioned in this thread by now. It's my gripe because I loathe mindless habit, and trying to pass off what was once a sign of amateurish work as now being somehow artful is dumb. Puh-lease. Emperor's clothes.

I'm quite fine with the lens flare in space scenes (and even cityscapes); it's a neat little visual quirk, and it's not like Star Trek hasn't played it fast and loose with lighting and color in space in the past.

However, the way it's used on the bridge really bugs me. Take this scene for instance, especially at around 1:45 and onwards; having all that flare blocking Carol Marcus' face just strikes me as distracting and unnecessary.

 

[IrishNero]

However, the way it's used on the bridge really bugs me. Take this scene for instance, especially at around 1:45 and onwards; having all that flare blocking Carol Marcus' face just strikes me as distracting and unnecessary.

Carol Markus has a face? I don't remember her face.

 

[Smellmet]

I like the lens flare and I hope Lin includes it in the next movie. It just makes everything look shiny and futuristic to me.

 

[urbandefault]

Frankly, I don't notice the lens flares at all unless I'm watching for them. I guess I'm able to turn that part on and off. Must be my aging brain and failing vision.

 

[Mudd]

I never noticed the lens flare as distracting while watching the movies.

 

[fireproof78]

I like the lens flares better on the big screen. Watching on my computer or TV is a touch more noticeable, but it passes quickly.

 

[eyeresist]

I guess it beats besting the same ol' Klingon Birds of Prey, captained by Doc Brown/Jim Ignatowski.

I really hope they don't re-re-use that exploding BOP as a "tribute".

I thought the opening scene of ST09 was spectacular, but no subsequent scene has lived up to it. I'm hoping that, with a new director, we'll see a couple of really grandiose space shots in the new movie.

Couldn't agree more. I loved STID, but I thought some of the visual effects bordered on the cheesy.

At the risk of opening a can of worms, I thought the space shots in STID looked too much like something from a comic book. Only cinema can really show the grandness of space.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Enterprise took some early hits, but after a needed change of captains wiped out the Death Ship that had destroyed a big chunk of both the Federation and Klingon fleets. Not too shabby for a shakedown cruise.

I dunno, there was kind of a ginormous black hole in the middle of the Narada that helped Kirk out...

 

[martok2112]

Then Kirk is true to form in both universes, as luck seemed to favor him, most of the time.

 

[IrishNero]

Luck, shmuck. If kirk doesn't get saved by convenient plot devices, it's the antagonist's lack of restraint and Spock that saves Kirk's bacon.

 

[Jedi_Master]

The lens flares were a bit annoying, but overall there is no doubt in my mind that the nuTrek films are visually spectacular. Even the film's critics generally acknowledge that it was 'slick and flashy'.

 

[Smellmet]

At the risk of opening a can of worms, I thought the space shots in STID looked too much like something from a comic book. Only cinema can really show the grandness of space.

I agree - I know they're going for this colourful TOS-style romp, but they took it too far with STID with some of the visual effects. The moon on the Klingon homeworld is a perfect example - It was just there to look 'cool' but just looked too comic book like, like you said. I hated the warp effect too, it just came across as cheesy. Films like Gravity show that you can make space look awe inspiring by just making it look realistic.

The jupiter shots looks excellent though - I wish they'd have done the rest of the space shots like this.

 

[IrishNero]

I must say that NuBSG did a very good job with space effects. Star Trek, on the other hand, has a history of romping all over the physics of space and time. Not that it necessarily makes it any less enjoyable, but sometimes it just deserves a noisy guffaw. I sometimes must strain to maintain my suspension of disbelief.

 

[martok2112]

Luck, shmuck. If kirk doesn't get saved by convenient plot devices, it's the antagonist's lack of restraint and Spock that saves Kirk's bacon.

touche'

At the risk of opening a can of worms, I thought the space shots in STID looked too much like something from a comic book. Only cinema can really show the grandness of space.

I agree - I know they're going for this colourful TOS-style romp, but they took it too far with STID with some of the visual effects. The moon on the Klingon homeworld is a perfect example - It was just there to look 'cool' but just looked too comic book like, like you said. I hated the warp effect too, it just came across as cheesy. Films like Gravity show that you can make space look awe inspiring by just making it look realistic.

The jupiter shots looks excellent though - I wish they'd have done the rest of the space shots like this.

Admittedly, I can agree about Q'onoS and Praxis in STID. In a way, they, and definitely the planets and space effects appear in the end titles reminded me of the opening sequence of Superman Returns, especially when we see the planet that had one side blasted out of it.

 

[Smellmet]

That's exactly what they remind me of too. The thing for me is in STID, they seemed to want to fill every space shot with some nebula or something in the background, the Praxis scene just looked flat out dumb, it was just a bit too much for me. I hope they tone that down a little for the next movie, it just looks cheesy and a bit childish and hurts the films credibility. This isn't supposed to be like Frakes' Thunderbirds is it?

 

[Jedi_Master]

That's exactly what they remind me of too. The thing for me is in STID, they seemed to want to fill every space shot with some nebula or something in the background, the Praxis scene just looked flat out dumb, it was just a bit too much for me. I hope they tone that down a little for the next movie, it just looks cheesy and a bit childish and hurts the films credibility. This isn't supposed to be like Frakes' Thunderbirds is it?

You want all the space shots to be generic "here's a few stars in the background"? Why?

 

[Jeyl]

You want all the space shots to be generic "here's a few stars in the background"? Why?

Shots of just stars in the background doesn't have to be boring. How about using that kind of a setting to showcase the incredible expanse and emptiness space?

We're not asking a shot to be boring. Just give us something to remind us that space is freaking huge.

 

[Timo]

Those backgrounds serve another purpose - of showing space (at least in Star Trek) to be diverse. They establish different locations where stock shots of starfields could not.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jedi_Master]

Of the long list of things that could possibly irritate me about a film, having a splash of color on a starfield background is not one of them.

 

[Myko]

Shots of just stars in the background doesn't have to be boring. How about using that kind of a setting to showcase the incredible expanse and emptiness space?

Surely "incredible expanse and emptiness" is the very definition of boring?

I think the space seens in the two newer movies look great, but I think the Enterprise design is uglier than before.