Certainly a fair point, which is why he kept Decker as XO.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
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Certainly a fair point, which is why he kept Decker as XO.
I’m willing to bet who ever wrote the novel knew more about Trek continuity than who ever wrote the film.
I know what it's like to get older in the real world we live in.
Just as a 50 year old today look a lot better due to health and lifestyle reasons than a 50 year old in 1925, 1825, 1725, 1625 and further back. I would expect in the Trek universe a 50 year in 2325 and 2425 to look at least and be as strong as early 40s with their medical advances or even younger. A 57 year old Crusher had a son in the 2380s, in the Trek universe that should be as normal as a 40 year bring pregnant in 2025. Humans in Trek universe either have a long youth period or long middle age period. Dr McCoy managed to walk around a spaceship without a walking stick at 130 plus years old. Very few centenarians in real life can manage that in 2025.
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50 felt old to me...
Yeah, me too.
I'm not running down to engineering to see why we don't have power when I can delegate.
Well, maybe I am since engineering would be the circuit breaker box in my basement. Still...
Looking at those old photos from the turn of the (20th) century, there were people being shown in their 30's and 40's who looked like 70's or 80's today - particularly western homesteaders and mining prospectors. Some of them look seriously rode hard and put away wet, proving the old adage, "it's not the years, it's the mileage".
The point is that Kirk "feels" old, not that he objectively is old. He feels useless and directionless, lacking a purpose. They never actually mention his age in the film.
By the end of the movie he says he feels "young", despite everything that has happened, and all the death. He has a new appreciation for what he does have, not what he feels he's lost.
He's looking forward again, not dwelling on the past in his room full of antiques.
By the end of the movie he says he feels "young", despite everything that has happened, and all the death. He has a new appreciation for what he does have, not what he feels he's lost.
He's looking forward again, not dwelling on the past in his room full of antiques.
The film needed to address age in a way that was socially relevant. Was Kirk really going to be the the captain of the ship again? If it wasn't part of the plot, it would look silly. But at fifty years, Kirk being in that position would be odd. I'm not sure we know what his billette was, but as an Admiral, he probably oversaw large parts of Starfleet's operations, having a broader, probably deeper influence on its success than as the commanding officer of a ship. And if this were real life, he might feel alone: Scotty, Uhura, McCoy, and Sulu probably would have been retired, and the only old colleague would have been Spock, a captain working with Academy, and Chekov, training for the captaincy. Of course, everyone hangs together for another nine years, but they all would have thought about whether it would be worthwhile staying in the service. And in the early eighties, men of Kirk's importance probably thought 60-65 would be a goal for retirement. Isolating the movie alone, yes, it might make more sense to age Kirk, but it the broader context, Kirk was exactly the age he needed to be.
He turns 52 in TWOK, but yeah, it's more about how he feels and how rudderless and directionless his career and life now seem to him than it is the chronological age of a man born in the early 23rd century.
Yep. Same. 46 and I just feel tired all the time, mentally and physically.
The past is heavy and every year it gets heavier.
There aren't that many Centenarian's IRL compared to the rest of the Human Population.
Current Estimates Globally are 935,000 Centenarians in 2024.
Interesting how Shatner looks much older when he was 52 y/o in TWoK.
Where as Anson Mount is currently 52 y/o and looks very spry for his age.
It's all in the hair. Hair can age you by making you younger or older.
54 here. About to turn 55. I wish I could say "it gets better"...
I really wish I could say that.
Here I thought it was the wrinkles in the face.
Cause Anson Mount doesn't have nearly as many wrinkles as Shatner when he was 52.
Both have Gray Hair.
Shatner's hair is timeless. Or something like that
I figured that one out already. All downhill from here.
I don’t wanna complain, I love my job, I love my wife, I live in a great house…
But…
Yeah.
But.
I revisit TWOK every five years or so and every time the state of Kirk in that movie hits me more and more.
yeah. 40 didn't phase me. 50... sucked.
And Shatner was actually 50 when he filmed those scenes and 51 when the movie was released.
We should all do so well as to have such a long and full life as Shatner has had so far. Astonishingly, he still doesn't show many signs of slowing down as one might expect from someone of his advanced age. I saw some bullshit clickbait site claiming he had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but I'm pretty sure it was exactly that - bullshit.
Sadly, we are gonna wake up one day and he’s gonna be gone. Some way or another.
How that’s later rather than sooner though. A 100 year old Shatner would be awesome.
How that’s later rather than sooner though. A 100 year old Shatner would be awesome.
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