General Chang

[Terok Nor]

I recently watched TUC and although I still love the movie I've changed my opinion about Chang. I used to think he was a good villain but rewatching the movie I found him annoying, over the top and hammy. Easily the worst part of the entire film. How opinions change as you get older...

 

[Terok Nor]

Chancellor Gorkon's daughter wasn't anything to write home about either but she's a minor presence compared to Chang.

 

[locutus101]

I don't know. I really liked Chang, as a villain that is. What I found annoying was the pink blood, so not Klingon.

 

[Paradise City]

I think Chang is excellent. He showcases a different variety of Klingon, an urbane and learned one, yet still a warrior to a hilt. He entirely defies "they are all the same" prejudice of the two crewman/assassins.

 

[Terok Nor]

I get he was different for a Klingon but I was right there with Bones when he said he'd pay real money if Chang would shut up

 

[Paradise City]

I think of him as a powerful courtier and schemer. A kind of renaissance prince archetype. He wants to menace you and unsettle you before he delivers his death blow. He's Kirk's answer to Bond's Francisco Scaramanga as it were.

 

[locutus101]

Scaramanga got a bullet between the eyes for his trouble. I still like Chang. I like villains with style and education. There aren't many like that anymore. Where did the old times go?

 

[Tosk]

I dig every Klingon that doesn't fit the mold of what Klingons are "supposed to be like".

 

[RAMA]

First half of the movie. not bad, second half..disappointing.

 

[DarKush]

I just watched this film again the other day. I still like General Chang. I thought he was a pretty cool villain. I also liked Azetbur. I wished we could have seen more of her, post-Undiscovered Country. I know they wrapped up her story in Trek Lit. but still I would've liked to have seen her and the post-Undiscovered Country scene revisited on TNG or DS9 in some way.

 

[M-Red]

I very much enjoy Chang. For me, he's the second most effective film villain, behind Khan of course.

I appreciate his distinct visual depiction, and the metallic screwed-in eye patch demonstrates his toughness and warrior ethic. But he's also sophisticated and absolutely believes he's pursuing the right course for the Empire and his people.

Oddly, he's in agreement with Kirk on the broader points of interstellar politics, and he clearly respects Kirk's accomplishments.

That he knows Shakespeare so thoroughly is easy for me to accept, as he likes to understand his enemy extremely well. And I think there are probably a small handful of writers and artists from each of the most prominent species that are well known by other species. Shakespeare is one of those for humanity.

Just about like everything else in TUC, Chang really works for me.

 

[locutus101]

I wish Spock hadn't said that line about Klingons not having tear ducts, because it's just bizarre. You need something to oil the track.

 

[FormerLurker]

They may well not have tear ducts, as that literally is the tube from the tear gland to the eye. Said tear glands may well open directly onto the eye, without the ducts in between, and Spock, not being an expert on Klingon anatomy (Bones would know better, and he even admits he's no expert) may well have misunderstood that lack of ducts to mean that Klingons do not produce tears.

 

[Tosk]

I wish Spock hadn't said that line about Klingons not having tear ducts, because it's just bizarre. You need something to oil the track.

Someone better tell all the rabbits and goats.

 

[locutus101]

They may well not have tear ducts, as that literally is the tube from the tear gland to the eye. Said tear glands may well open directly onto the eye, without the ducts in between, and Spock, not being an expert on Klingon anatomy (Bones would know better, and he even admits he's no expert) may well have misunderstood that lack of ducts to mean that Klingons do not produce tears.

But it was his argument, justifying that Azetbur had not cried when she learned of the death of her father.

 

[eyeresist]

Chang is a fun villain. The makeup is great, and Plummer really chews the scenery, as prompted by Nick "rent-a-quote" Meyer's script.

But he is not on the same level as the other villains in the first 10 movies, precisely because he's having too much fun. You never really buy his motivation. There are complaints about the vengeance motive being overused for Trek villains (highly debatable and inaccurate IMO), but at least vengeance gives the character passion and direction. You don't really get that with Chang.

But, as I said, he's a lot of fun. There are certain actors and characters you can enjoy the hell out of even when you don't buy the reality (e.g. Nicholas Cage, Jack Nicholson). This is one of those cases.

 

[Timo]

There's a plot rationale for him going overboard with the quotes in the end, actually. Remember what his ship is armed with? Lookalike Starfleet torpedoes that can knock out the artificial gravity of Kronos One without destroying the ship. They'd need to be convincing fakes if the idea was to have records of the assassination survive and implicate Starfleet. Where did Chang get those? If Cartwright supplied them, he'd make sure the torps could do what was required of the conspiracy, and no more.

So Chang is essentially challenging Kirk to an asymmetric duel, himself packing an assassin's Derringer while Kirk is toting a standard assault rifle. If Kirk realizes he has the upper hand, Chang is toast. So Chang does well to pretend he's a "sadistic villain" drawing it out for his personal enjoyment when shooting Kirk's ship to pieces one teeny weeny bit at a time, rather than reveal he's factually too weak to do anything more effective than that!

I like the fact that Chang is a cool-as-cucumber villain, an extremely rare instance of Kirk being pitted up against a disciplined soldier (essentially a mirror image of himself). Chang is just doing his day job when plotting war against the UFP or killing Chancellors or fighting heroes. He's not even evil - he just happens to be the enemy.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[locutus101]

It's doesn't matter if Chang's ship is weaker than Kirk's because he has, apparently, a decisive advantage. So maybe he could have destroyed Enterprise a lot quicker but he doesn't have to and that's why he takes his time.

 

[Timo]

As we see, he doesn't have a decisive advantage - time is on Kirk's side both in terms of the space battle, and in terms of the overall assassination plot. If Chang knows* there's going to be an assassination down there, he should be desperate to stop Kirk from reaching the planet. Yet once the Excelsior (or any other ship) arrives, Chang will have to divide his fire, which lets Kirk get to transporter range and spoil everything (as we see, he has plenty of time as is).

That Chang doesn't immediately blast Kirk to bits must be either because he cannot, or because he's an idiot. The character is much more fun when not idiotic, is all.

Timo Saloniemi

* The assassination is going to implicate the Klingons. Should Chang really side with those responsible? He may not care, as long as the war gets going. Or he may not know. Heck, for all we know, he has a parallel scheme ongoing, with a Klingon masquerading as a human ready to stab the Chancellorette in the back at a suitable moment...

 

[wayoung]

I like Chang. I find him much more effective than the typical feature film Trek Vengeance villian. I loved Shatner and Plummer's playing off of each other. Two Shakespearean actors (Shatner was Plummer's understudy back in their Stratford days, for the few that didn't already know that) having a hell of a scenery chew-off.

"We need breathing room!"
"Earth, Hitler, 1939."