Not my favorite Trek film by a long shot, but obviously it was very appealing to people, particularly more general audiences.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
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Not my favorite Trek film by a long shot, but obviously it was very appealing to people, particularly more general audiences.
If that's what the numbers say, I don't dispute that. I just don't understand it.
I get it. The reasons behind the popularity of some forms of Star Trek completely eludes me. And the hatred or unpopularity of other forms does too.
TVH doesn't surprise me, though. Audiences know enough about who Kirk and Spock are in popular culture (space adventure guys from the future) to understand the fish-out-of-water scenarios in the film and appreciate the humor associated with them.
Again, not my favorite Trek movie by a long shot, but the appeal of it doesn't confuse me.
For a contemporary (1980s) audience it was easy to watch I guess. By which I mean no space stuff (or little of it) and a clear ecological message which was really starting to become au faix. People like whales and they like the idea of saving them. Plus, by that point Kirk and co. had been embedded in popular culture for more than a decade and a half.
Plus, the act of juxtaposition is always something that has mileage. The first Thor movie does the same trick. Take some people who are heroes in their own narrative world, then throw them into one where they are a fish out of water. There's dramatic mileage as well as comedy potential there.
The other TOS Star Trek movies are science fiction action flicks. The Voyage Home managed to reach a wider audience because it was an action flick and a buddy comedy with a strong and relevant message. Plus, it's not heavy, it's easy to watch and fun to sit through. In TWOK and TSfS, there's death left right and centre. One ends with the death of Spock, whilst the other ends with the death of Kirk's son and lets the Enterprise burn. Our heroes win pyrrhic victories at best. Finally in the 4th movie, we get a truly happy ending for the team.
TVH is light and breezy, doesn't discard plot threads from the previous films (whilst making them accessible), allows the cast to be comedic whilst not letting them drift into parody and has a heart warming ending. I think it's easy to see why it was such a draw. It's probably the first Star trek movie that has the feel-good factor.
I will push back slightly on this. My wife and I enjoyed Avengers and that was really her last experience with Marvel. We recently watched Infinity War and Endgame and both cried. I'm not saying more knowledge would help but this idea of special knowledge makes this better is something I find quite odd.
Same thing with ST 09. My wife knew nothing about Trek, and my mom almost resented Star Trek but both were fully moved by ST 09. Good characters will move audiences.
Yes, please. And until it is defined I will wear "fake fan" as a badge of honor.
I feel as you do. I have Treks I prefer, and Treks I typically skip. I have Treks I consider canon, and Treks I'm not so sure about. But it's all Trek, and if others enjoy it, it's fine.
*applause*
Here's my ultimate unpopular opinion ;-)
I’ve determined the cause behind all of the inconsistency in the various iterations of Star Trek.
We know that Christine Chapel joined Star Fleet in hopes of finding Roger Korby. She found him, but that didn’t pan out like she had hoped. In a weakened mental sate, she transferred her affections to Spock, where they would never be reciprocated. At the end of the 5 year mission, however, it became clear that Spock was leaving her life for good (or at least that was his plan). Her mental health deteriorated rapidly, and she was put in a facility for those with mental illnesses.
From there, everything we see is her fevered dream/nightmare/fantasy. You can’t expect her, a nurse, to have paid a great deal of attention to the shape or even the color of the Enterprise, so when she’s imagines the adventures of Discovery she imagines the Discoprise. For her mind, it’s close enough. Her purpose is to try to find a way to reunite with Spock, even if it’s through imagining a non-existent half sister whom she can pump for information about her half-brother. Details of what the Enterprise really looked like are more or less irrelevant to her.
Other elements are taken from deeper in her subconscious. Her goal with Spock was to start a family, so when she first imagines a future Federation (in which Spock appears, natch) she subconsciously imagines an Enterprise which looks pregnant. Another part of her mind recognizes, however deeply, that she needs mental help, so she imagines a counselor on the ship.
Really, this theory can explain everything. Just like the “It was all a dream” explanation in Dallas when the producers decided to bring back Bobby Ewing, which retconned a season, this can retcon multiple series. The only thing that’s “real” is TOS/TAS.
I’ve determined the cause behind all of the inconsistency in the various iterations of Star Trek.
We know that Christine Chapel joined Star Fleet in hopes of finding Roger Korby. She found him, but that didn’t pan out like she had hoped. In a weakened mental sate, she transferred her affections to Spock, where they would never be reciprocated. At the end of the 5 year mission, however, it became clear that Spock was leaving her life for good (or at least that was his plan). Her mental health deteriorated rapidly, and she was put in a facility for those with mental illnesses.
From there, everything we see is her fevered dream/nightmare/fantasy. You can’t expect her, a nurse, to have paid a great deal of attention to the shape or even the color of the Enterprise, so when she’s imagines the adventures of Discovery she imagines the Discoprise. For her mind, it’s close enough. Her purpose is to try to find a way to reunite with Spock, even if it’s through imagining a non-existent half sister whom she can pump for information about her half-brother. Details of what the Enterprise really looked like are more or less irrelevant to her.
Other elements are taken from deeper in her subconscious. Her goal with Spock was to start a family, so when she first imagines a future Federation (in which Spock appears, natch) she subconsciously imagines an Enterprise which looks pregnant. Another part of her mind recognizes, however deeply, that she needs mental help, so she imagines a counselor on the ship.
Really, this theory can explain everything. Just like the “It was all a dream” explanation in Dallas when the producers decided to bring back Bobby Ewing, which retconned a season, this can retcon multiple series. The only thing that’s “real” is TOS/TAS.
Oh joy. Yet another "it's all in some character's mind" theory.
I assume you mean it as a joke, but really not only has that basic idea been proposed by thousands of people on the internet for every single franchise and fandom that exists, but it's absolutely pointless since it brings nothing of value to the table.
If we can't have fun with our fandom, what is the point of being fans?
Will "Strange New Worlds" be part of the "Chapel-verse"?
It remains to be seen :-)Will "Strange New Worlds" be part of the "Chapel-verse"?
Just like with TVH what's considered funny can vary wildly from person to person.
V
Vale
Guest
The nature of TV is you get bad episodes and brilliant ones. YMMV as to which is which.
Science Fiction will tell you more about the time it is written than any portrayed future, also the people that write it.
Try being a psychologist and watching Troi for all this time…
Thank you no, I like what little sanity I have left.
Stop the thread, we've found the most unpopular opinion of all!
Oh, I could probably think of a few less popular ones.
Someone (not me) should go through all 388 pages and give us a greatest hits of 'worst' opinions.
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