I rate it as a 3 because functionally it is a film with a narrative.
Spoilers STAR TREK: SECTION 31 - Grading & Discussion
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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How many new viewers will it bring in? I didn't see a lot of buzz about the film before it premiered.
I am sure that Yeoh did the film for the same reason that Michael Caine gave for being in Jaws 4: The Revenge. They did if for the money.
I read in one review that the film was set in 2333. Were there any elements in it that suggested that date? I can't think of any.
And, can anyone please give me a better understanding of the 20th century's man history? I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
I am sure that Yeoh did the film for the same reason that Michael Caine gave for being in Jaws 4: The Revenge. They did if for the money.
I read in one review that the film was set in 2333. Were there any elements in it that suggested that date? I can't think of any.
And, can anyone please give me a better understanding of the 20th century's man history? I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
According to the Stardate Calculator the film is set 2324. Which would line up with what we know of Garretts service history.
The only real positive takeaway was that from a technical standpoint it looked great. The art direction is the same unimaginative generic crap we have been getting since Picard and Disco 3 though. The team in particular are awful and remind me of an intentionally funny version of Rick Sanchez Vindicators crew.
It passed pretty quick though mostly because it has an all action Transformers style pace. Its essentially a series of action set pieces.
There is nothing recognisably Star Trek about it though. In one way I am glad they didn't try shove in references to try fake it but on the other hand at no point did I think I was watching something in the same universe as the other series.
It passed pretty quick though mostly because it has an all action Transformers style pace. Its essentially a series of action set pieces.
There is nothing recognisably Star Trek about it though. In one way I am glad they didn't try shove in references to try fake it but on the other hand at no point did I think I was watching something in the same universe as the other series.
They did in discovery
People asked "define real Trek"
Well it's impossible to pin down but the only thing recognisably Star Trek about this movie was the name. It's like one of those scripts that had a famous name attached retroactively a la Cloverfield.
So what's "real Trek" well for me the minimum is some recognisable Starfleet ships and most of the main cast being in silly looking uniforms.
Well it's impossible to pin down but the only thing recognisably Star Trek about this movie was the name. It's like one of those scripts that had a famous name attached retroactively a la Cloverfield.
So what's "real Trek" well for me the minimum is some recognisable Starfleet ships and most of the main cast being in silly looking uniforms.
It felt like a Rebel Moon clone, with a touch of Mission Impossible and Suicide Squad sprinkled in. The color palette, cinematography, acting, even some of the plot points with a rag tag team, felt very rebel moon to me. The beginning with Control describing the mission felt very Mission Impossible to me. The weird part is that the space scenes looked gorgeous but the planet scenes and interior scenes felt like bad fan fic but I think that was mostly due to the bad acting and dialogue. The whole thing felt like a "big budget" fan fic project.
it felt like a pilot for a series which we are never going to get.
I don't think it was as awful as the reviews suggest. It was OK. Not amazing. I liked some of the characters. Didn't like how they offed Zef and Mellie so soon.
As for not looking like Trek: well, much of Disco, and first two seasons of Picard didn't visually much look like traditional trek either.
It was a decent, dumb fun romp. Not awful, not amazing
I don't think it was as awful as the reviews suggest. It was OK. Not amazing. I liked some of the characters. Didn't like how they offed Zef and Mellie so soon.
As for not looking like Trek: well, much of Disco, and first two seasons of Picard didn't visually much look like traditional trek either.
It was a decent, dumb fun romp. Not awful, not amazing
i don't see it bringing in new fans.
Paramount will never stop making Star Trek movies. If this one fails, they will go back to making Star Trek movies for theaters, not for Paramount Plus, but for a reasonable budget.
It wasn't as bad as the trailers suggested. It felt more like a television pilot than a movie, which isn't necessarily bad though it does hurt it when comparing it to Star Trek films that had a more cinematic feel or scope. Section 31 had stakes as big as the movies, special effects better than many of the older ones too, but it still felt smaller. That might be because of the tight focus on Georgiou and her personal growth/redemption arc as opposed to the larger mission and its galactic implications. A little more world building would've been nice, so we get a sense of the galaxy in that time period.
Michelle Yeoh looked like she was having a ball, and the rest of the cast had potential. That said, it was unnecessary to have Garrett on the team outside of fan service. Her mission to keep them in line didn't quite jibe and just felt like an excuse for fan service. The actress was fine, but I would've been okay with her just being a neophyte agent or something and that she didn't have to be Garrett. Though Garrett's inclusion was one of the things that did interest me in this movie, and I still like that the character does get a little more spotlight too. I didn't care for the late goofy side they gave her toward the end. Fuzz is an interesting concept, one of the most interesting we've seen in Trek, but I think the accents being used are for comic effect and it didn't work for me. I would've liked to have learned more about Zeph. I liked Alok's backstory which did give him a reasonable distaste for Georgiou.
If this movie was intended to appeal to casual viewers, I thought the choice to start it in the Terran Empire made no sense. I think they should've held back those scenes for flashbacks later. It seemed like that would confuse casuals right off.
I thought they did a good job introducing the team though the interactions felt rushed. Perhaps more development would've been teased out if this had gone to series.
I did like a lot of the costuming and tech. Not sure the final space battle made a lot of sense though. The villain turned out to be lackluster, albeit maybe that's because his heart wasn't really into it.
I would've liked to have seen more nods to Trek and guest appearances/cameos like say Mirror Sulu,
Chekov, Demora Sulu, or Harriman waiting on the opposite side of the rift. Or their Prime equivalents at the end or something. It would've been nice to see say the Enterprise-B, Excelsior, or Stargazer too.
Michelle Yeoh looked like she was having a ball, and the rest of the cast had potential. That said, it was unnecessary to have Garrett on the team outside of fan service. Her mission to keep them in line didn't quite jibe and just felt like an excuse for fan service. The actress was fine, but I would've been okay with her just being a neophyte agent or something and that she didn't have to be Garrett. Though Garrett's inclusion was one of the things that did interest me in this movie, and I still like that the character does get a little more spotlight too. I didn't care for the late goofy side they gave her toward the end. Fuzz is an interesting concept, one of the most interesting we've seen in Trek, but I think the accents being used are for comic effect and it didn't work for me. I would've liked to have learned more about Zeph. I liked Alok's backstory which did give him a reasonable distaste for Georgiou.
If this movie was intended to appeal to casual viewers, I thought the choice to start it in the Terran Empire made no sense. I think they should've held back those scenes for flashbacks later. It seemed like that would confuse casuals right off.
I thought they did a good job introducing the team though the interactions felt rushed. Perhaps more development would've been teased out if this had gone to series.
I did like a lot of the costuming and tech. Not sure the final space battle made a lot of sense though. The villain turned out to be lackluster, albeit maybe that's because his heart wasn't really into it.
I would've liked to have seen more nods to Trek and guest appearances/cameos like say Mirror Sulu,
Chekov, Demora Sulu, or Harriman waiting on the opposite side of the rift. Or their Prime equivalents at the end or something. It would've been nice to see say the Enterprise-B, Excelsior, or Stargazer too.
The one guy who should've been mentioned is Mirror Spock. Heck he might've even been used to explain why San lived so long. Something like San saying, "High Chancellor Spock found me and shared my plans for a different Terran Empire, and I let him have his try first. He put me into stasis while he had his shot, but as I predicted he was too weak and failed and I had to be awoken to make things right" or something like that.
For one, it should be recognizable that it takes place in the Star Trek universe. So yes, there should be recognizable ships from typical Star Trek spacefaring races like Starfleet, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian etc...
But I also think it is important that the values presented are recognisably Trek as well. For me Trek is summed up by the iconic line, "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before." Of course, not every series needs to be about the starship Enterprise. We've had many Trek shows that did not feature the Enterprise. But to be Trek, I think it absolutely needs to speak to those themes of exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilization and boldly go where no one has gone before. This means that there should be themes related to exploring the unknown both space out there but also the space inside us, exploring new life and some type of scifi message. There should be a sense of adventure but with an underlying philosophical message.
Not opposed to that. I think it was a missed opportunity to tie San's mission to finding new territory for the Terran Empire to them being driven out by the Klingons and Cardassians. Spock could've sent him on the mission.
In the movie I was a bit confused because it seemed like San wanted to conquer the Alpha Quadrant but then also wanted a more benevolent empire. Involving Spock might have provided more clarity.
That certainly wasn't great, but it kept me entertained enough. I got a few genuine laughs and the action sequences were fun. I would certainly watch this again before the likes of The Alternative Factor, Code of Honor, Let He Who is Without Sin, Threshold, or These Are the Voyages again.
I was going to give it a 4, but then I realized that all 1s should be ignored, and votes that were cast as a 1 before the movie even aired should be ignored twice, so I gave it a 5.
I was going to give it a 4, but then I realized that all 1s should be ignored, and votes that were cast as a 1 before the movie even aired should be ignored twice, so I gave it a 5.
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