Reasons to be happy / not happy about a 4th film.

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

To clarify: I don't like the nuTrek cast or how their characters are written. There was exactly one line in STiD I liked. I didn't like the overall story of either of the previous two movies. I don't think this 'reboot' was necessary at all.

So no, I'm not looking forward to either the 3rd or any other of these movies, if they will involve this particular group of actors or this particular setting (Abramsverse, for lack of a better term) or this particular way of presenting these characters.

But I'm not saying that people who do like it shouldn't. We all like what we like, and if I end up observing the 50th anniversary with the older material that I prefer because TPTB don't give a damn that there are people who are Star Trek fans but not nuTrek fans, so be it.

I think there is still some misunderstanding going on here. I never said they should have VHS, and if they want to buy DVDs, I never said they shouldn't do that, either. I am just pointing out that there are fans who do not own the DVDs either because they don't want to or because they can't afford them. Therefore it's unreasonable to assume that "everybody" has already seen whatever extra material is on the DVDs, and it would be nice if that could be shown on TV.

Again, it's a matter of assuming that because there may not be interest in one medium, there won't be interest in another. Not everyone subscribes to Netflix, whether by choice or because they can't afford it (yes, I know it's inexpensive, but I had to give up something else in my entertainment budget to be able to afford it as I can't have both). I've never even heard of "The Captains." When was that available?

It was also a 50th anniversary, and the BBC made a fantastic effort to celebrate it. I did subscribe to the Space Channel for this, and it was worth it - many hours' worth of programming, showing old episodes, interviews with surviving cast members, and much more even before getting to the main event itself.

It's such a shame that Star Trek apparently isn't held in similar regard.

That's unfortunate. I wasn't a B5 fan at first, mostly because it kept getting pre-empted for sports and other stuff. I never knew when it would be on from week to week, so I gave up. It wasn't until many years later, after JMS was the GoH at a science fiction convention I attended that I decided to give it another try (by that time B5 was available on the Space Channel). I've got most of the B5 DVDs, but as with most of what I buy in that medium, I had to wait until they were on sale).

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

For the record, I still have VHS tapes, two dual VHS/DVD players, and a Laserdisc collection with a functional Pioneer CLD-3070 Laserdisc player upon which I play them. I have these because, as a software developer, the philosophy of maintaining the ability to read old media is important to me. I also have an Oppo Blu-ray player which sees most of the use now. But I don't use cable TV because of commercials and those ridiculous ghosted logos at the bottom of every channel. Also, I don't subscribe to any streaming service such as Netflix. Except for VHS, I buy and use all optical, commercial- and logo-free recordings to make the best use of my time. TV is a horrendous waste of time. You only get two billion heartbeats in your lifetime, more or less. I can't stand the thought of spending 25% of them on commercials while watching TV.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Thing is, we simply don't know what is going on yet for the 50th Anniversary. It is still fourteen months away. We'll get Star Trek Beyond in July and a TOS trilogy from Pocket Books.

So maybe look around and realize we're still pretty far out for all the plans to have been finalized.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

My thinking is that the fact that the 3rd nuTrek film is on its way and at least one more is planned shows that Star Trek is a viable entertainment property, and that there is a chance that something more than a film every three years, a bunch of random merchandise, or a book every couple of months might be produced.

If Trek remains a viable property, there is a chance that it might work its way back on to television. If nuTrek were to fail completely, then the chances for new Trek on TV are almost zero.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Just to clarify, it's not "every couple of months" where the books are concerned.

A new STAR TREK book is published every month like clockwork, and has been for ages now. And that's not counting bonus ebooks, the occasional non-fiction tome, coffee-table books on the costumes or ships or whatever, children's books, humor books, etc.

The book line is going strong. Which means I should probably get back to writing!

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Yes please, I need to add to my GC collection.

But even though I enjoy purchasing Trek books, I don't want books to be the last place to find new Trek material. I want these films to work.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Fair enough. My post was intended to answer gazomg's query about why, hypothetically, someone might still be interested in a fourth movie even if they had issues with the first two.

Don't forget. Trekkies are nothing if not optimistic. Heck, we sat through the entire first season of TNG waiting for it to get good . . .which it eventually did, And DS9 had some growing pains as well, but eventually found its own voice and identity.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

I actually liked some of the first season of TNG. So did most of the members of the local Star Trek club I belonged to at the time, judging by how worn out my VHS tapes were getting (club meetings often included tossing a tape in the VCR... I lost track of how many times people wanted to see "Skin of Evil").

This nuTrek situation is like other 'reimaginings' I don't care for. I've been asked "if you hate it so much, why watch/read it?" Well, there is always the possibility that it will improve, at least a little.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Perhaps for reasons similar to someone who thinks the new films are "shit" and the third film will be "crap", yet takes the time to create a wallpaper from the first image released from the third film.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

I'm curious, since I don't remember and the Inter-webs was not as strong 25 years ago, but how much lead up occurred for the 25th? Didn't we get a movie then too, but Paramount put something like a 1/4 of the budget Trek V got due to the massive overages? Only due to a change in the power structure did Trek VI get a better budget and release.

My point is, is there any indications that CBS has to do something right now to do anything for the 50th? What is their history, and why should I concerned right now? :???:

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Your correlation makes zero sense, but allow me to address it anyway.

I think Geodi LaForge is one of the most boring characters I have ever seen in trek, he is even worse than wesley and other dismal characters, but since I make art pics it would be pointless to leave them out if I am doing everyone else in terms of main characters.

Likewise with banners and logos, crests, uniforms etc, if I do one series , might as well do them all

I am going to let you in on a secret, just because I might not like something does not mean others might not like them. or maybe I do nu trek stuff as a lot are requests,

did that ever dawn on you ?

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

It's unfair to say something like that without giving us the line. So what was the line?

Was it "Kahhhhnnn!"?

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

I seem to recall a lot of complaining about the Doctor Who 50th starting around a year before it happened. A split season? No 8th series during the 50th year? Nothing much known to be happening. Later it was "Only Big Finish is going anything for the 50th", or "they'll wasting their money on some dumb 3D TV movie instead of giving us a proper season". And then "They show a trailer as Comic-com but not to anyone that paid for it in the UK?"

It seemed to be almost wall to wall complaints until November of that year.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Well, TNG was still on the air when the 25th Anniversary rolled around, so we already had a TV series and a movie series at the time. And Pocket Books was publishing at least two new novels a month, so we were covered there, too.

There was a lot of hype about Nimoy finally guest-starring on TNG, but I don't recall that being tied in with any 25th Anniversary hoopla, except in that it was mostly intended to promote the new movie.

One challenge when it comes to celebrating the 50th is not repeating what was done on the 20th, 25th, the 30th, the 40th, etc. Just the other day, while doing some belated spring cleaning, I stumbled onto some souvenir "tribute" magazines put out in honor of the 30th Anniversary, twenty years ago!

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

The problem as I see it is the challenge to come up with a unique way of celebrating the 50th anniversary of "Star Trek". I'm not sure it can be done. What's left that's new to tell about Trek? What's out there that we haven't already seen before? What stories and anecdotes haven't already been told many times? Would a big special "clip show" and "round table" of Trek actors and behind-the-cameras people aired to celebrate the anniversary create new fans, or even interest those who like the new movies but still don't know a Gorn from a Horta? Would they even care who Walter Koenig was, let alone that he wore a mop top wig for a while to look like Davey Jones and Paul McCartney? (Would they even know -- or care -- who Davey Jones and Paul McCartney are?)

Maybe we should just take Trek out for nice dinner, see the new movie, and if Trek's ankles aren't swollen, top the night off with drinks and some dancing.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Strange but true: They put out a special "STAR TREK" crossword puzzle magazine for the 30th Anniversary.

But will we get crossword puzzles for the 50th? The galaxy holds its breath . . .

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Of course it doesn't have to do anything right now, but it would be nice if they'd bother to mention that they're aware that the 50th anniversary is coming and say whether or not anything is planned. Of course some people would demand to know exactly what is planned, but for me it would be enough if there was something that included references to all the different TV series (including TAS).

No.

The line was one spoken by nuSpock: "I am expressing multiple attitudes simultaneously, sir. To which are you referring?"

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

Again, I would argue that putting out a $180 million movie counts as "something."

That's Job One. Anything else is gravy.

(Although I certainly wouldn't object to some nice plomeek soup as a side course.)

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

It's something for the people who like nuTrek. But for those of us who don't, it's the same as nothing if there aren't any acknowledgements that Star Trek actually was around prior to 2009.

It's like Doctor Who, and this renumbering of the seasons. Sorry, but Season 9 happened over 40 years ago, in the Pertwee era. The third Star Trek movie was The Search for Spock.

As for Star Trek crosswords, quite a few fanzines had those... long before the 25th and 30th anniversaries. I used to write word puzzles myself for the local clubzine, back in late '87/early '88. They're quick, easy filler material and an extra treat for readers who are into themed puzzle solving.

 

Re: Reason why I am not happy for a 4th film.

So long as they don't do a Trek version of 'Dimensions in Time', I'm happy. The BBC weren't always so keen on Doctor Who anniversaries when the show wasn't actually on air.

You know what has a 30th Anniversary next year? The publication of Urotsukidōji. I want an announcement for television airings of the anime and plushies, dammit!