What hell is this?
I know- I know! It's a prop!
First Look At Alien From New Trek Film - Serious
- Thread starter Admiral Buzzkill
- Start date
I know- I know! It's a prop!
One of the things I have always admired about Trek vs Star Wars is the technology presented in Trek has always been based (well mostly), even if extremely vaguely and optimistically, on real existing concepts. The same cannot be said about technology in Star Wars, where it is quite often simply "magic"..
But when it comes to representation of alien species, Trek has never done a very good job, both for reasons you yourself have highlighted and also because of budget concerns.
I don't think any of us here are expecting a completely rational and realistic vision of what membership in a real 'Galactic Federation' would be like. This is after all is said and done, a practical fantasy.
But I don't think showing us some weird and wonderful alien species would constitute a Star Wars rip-off, but rather a little injection of some of the reality we are more likely to actually find out there if we did get up off our collective arses and did start exploring the galaxy, and I think it would be silly to berate the production for getting a few things this side of plausable.
But when it comes to representation of alien species, Trek has never done a very good job, both for reasons you yourself have highlighted and also because of budget concerns.
I don't think any of us here are expecting a completely rational and realistic vision of what membership in a real 'Galactic Federation' would be like. This is after all is said and done, a practical fantasy.
But I don't think showing us some weird and wonderful alien species would constitute a Star Wars rip-off, but rather a little injection of some of the reality we are more likely to actually find out there if we did get up off our collective arses and did start exploring the galaxy, and I think it would be silly to berate the production for getting a few things this side of plausable.
Indeed.
Also in as much as we (well most of us) understand that we are talking about a fictional show. One point to consider when designing an alien species is that the viewer will have to be able to relate to the creature on some level. The Companion was a gaseous anomaly, but it showed compassion and love so we all said Awwww.
Guys. It's a crowd scene. It's an easy opportunity to throw a bunch of funky aliens into the background, just to remind us that Starfleet is an equal opportunity organization and that we are watching a sci-fi movie.
Then, once we get back to the movie proper, most of the aliens will look pretty much exactly like us. Relax.
Then, once we get back to the movie proper, most of the aliens will look pretty much exactly like us. Relax.
Samuel T. Cogley — The Voice of Reason.
Absolutely.
The film 2001: A Space Odyssey went out of it's way to portray realistic space transport - there is no woosh when a ship passes by in space for instance, but instead dead silence (and perhaps a little Johann or Richard Strauss).
That's all well and lovely, but it also makes for a rather sterile experience, and not at all what Star Trek is about.
A truly realistic war movie would consist of extreme periods of boredom, and is something no one would pay to see. Well maybe a few anorachs like myself...
There has to be a balance, I understand that and agree with those sentiments..
The film 2001: A Space Odyssey went out of it's way to portray realistic space transport - there is no woosh when a ship passes by in space for instance, but instead dead silence (and perhaps a little Johann or Richard Strauss).
That's all well and lovely, but it also makes for a rather sterile experience, and not at all what Star Trek is about.
A truly realistic war movie would consist of extreme periods of boredom, and is something no one would pay to see. Well maybe a few anorachs like myself...
There has to be a balance, I understand that and agree with those sentiments..
Is it?
Why not eight eyes, around the head for 360 vision?
Why not tenticles?
Why waste enrgy on a wastefull digestive track when you can absorbe nutrients through your skin?
The bees seem to disagree on that point.
Sorry, just a biologist's rant...
What hell is this?
I know- I know! It's a prop!
No, no! It's Uncle Owen's moisture vaporator. You know how much he'd be pulling down if he set it up in the middle of San Francisco?
Yep, and nuBSG is great.
One thing I know is that when people use nuBSG as an example of what can go wrong with a remake they're revealing tastes that have little in common with mine - so a "Star Trek" movie that really pleases me and folks like me will anger and disappoint them.
Let it. I'd much rather enjoy a movie that other people hate than hate a movie that other people enjoy.
You know, I think we got a look at this object/fixture/kiosk/thingy once before (though not nearly as close as this.) Going back to this post in the earlier "Starfleet Academy Spy Photos" thread, you'll see one view, and a link to a thread elsewhere containing others. (Someone with a giant monitor and some image zoom may be able to spot more aliens, as well.)What hell is this?
I know- I know! It's a prop!
No, no! It's Uncle Owen's moisture vaporator. You know how much he'd be pulling down if he set it up in the middle of San Francisco?
I have always wished that Star Trek would have more "alien aliens" and not just bland bumpy forehead types. I think Farscape did it best when it showed us a wide range of aliens that looked extremely different looking from each other, but at the same time were very interesting characters that the audience could love (or love to hate) and relate to.
Too late. The bar in ST III, when McCoy goes AWOL looking for a starship to take him back to Genesis, and has to be taken in by Federation Security, is populated by some of ST's wackier aliens and was a purposefil homage to SW's cantina scene. In fact, the storyboards labeled the building "Star Wars Bar" and this survived into the comics adaptation, IIRC.
Most scenes at Quark's in DS9 are reminiscent of SW. Sightings of weird aliens was hardly "rare".
And a quick scan across the Federation Council scenes in ST IV shows numerous quirky aliens - some are even puppets! - as attendees.
But in those recent spy pics, for all the huge number of human extras in that scene, there was only a smattering of aliens (ie. two), and neither are any more bizarre than any alien Dabo girl or jumja seller we have met. Why worry?
I'd much rather enjoy a movie that other people hate than hate a movie that other people enjoy.
Marco Palmieri, ST editor at Pocket Books, once said (and I'm not quoting here, just recalling) he'd rather have Pocket publish ST novels that polarize the readers - ie. some will love it and say it's the best ever; others will detest it and wail about the end of Trek Lit; and all reactions between these two extremes - than to publish bland, middle-of-the-road novels that don't stir strong emotions or the status quo, and that people can't remember too well after a few months.
In the years since he's been editor he's managed this balance very well.
A bit of passion for a ST movie is what JJ Abrams needs, and I think it's what he's aiming for. TMP, ST IV and "First Contact" probably achieved the best balance of hugely popular ST movies that also split the fanbase about whether they were good examples of ST or not.
I know! It's the long sought and never quite seen toilet!
Someday I'd like to see a sci fi series that makes an effort to show some truly alien aliens and not just people with prosthetics. But that would put a lot of actors out of work, and it's not the Star Trek style.
Oh try to get that past the Zoning Board, I dare you. Owen would die of old age before it was approved.
Speaking as a San Francisco resident who has tried for TEN YEARS to get permission to cut down a tree in front of my house...never mind. I'm just bitter.
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