New ST:XI trailer

[Vulcan Soul]

I agree that the driving the car-off-the-cliff scene really set the wrong tone for that trailer. The trailer would have been much better without it.

You're missing the point, that scene NEEDED to be in the trailer, its the hook that catches the attention of those who otherwise would dismiss a standard scifi/Star Trek trailer out of hand.

Exactly, Sharr!

I can't believe all these long-time Trekkies proclaiming that the trailer isn't their cup of tea. Guess what? It's not. Star Trek will never be successful without new fans who don't already hang out a Trek BBS or buy Reliant Christmas ornaments.

The trailer needs to hook all the people who went to The Matrix, the Star Wars prequels, the Lord of the Rings films, superhero movies, etc.

The start of the trailer was a great hook for non-fans.

Someone over at trekmovie.com suggested this trailer was custom-tailored for the Bond movie and Bond fans, and I can totally buy that.

But you know, what is so very wrong with all this is the whole notion of "let's do it for the non-fans". My opinion - if you have to throw away your product and turn it into something completely else in order to sell it, why bother trying to sell it in the first place, and not make something completely new that is "ahead of the times"? What this reeks of is desperation - and that is true for that particular group of fans who are anxious to see Trek being accepted by the mainstream as well. I sense some deep psychology going on here. All these years of having to hide your passion from your buddies, and suddenly a chance to be cool at last - JJ's giving you a chance not to be an outsider anymore!

Well, I couldn't give a shit. Either you have enough self-confidence to stand for what you like - and that includes cardboard sets and rubber mask aliens then - or you should really think about whether you truly appreciate Trek for what it really is, or abandon ship at the first chance of getting the pretty swan at last.

 

[JoeZhang]

Well, I couldn't give a shit. Either you have enough self-confidence to stand for what you like - and that includes cardboard sets and rubber mask aliens then - .

Trek is a business - that stuff will not make money in 2009 unless you making some low-budget b-movie.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I sense some deep psychology going on here.

Your intuition, in this regard, is worthless.

 

[Sheridan]

The trailer really boosted my confidence in the movie. It will take me a while to get use to the new voices(faces I'm fine with). I've seen the trailer about 20 times by now and I think this movie will truly be a success but if it turns out to be a flop there's always the Rifftrax for it to look foward to so in the end you can't lose.

 

[Captain Fine]

Frankly, a Star Trek film for Star Trek FANS will NOT MAKE MONEY.

Wake up. Paramount Pictures is a business. They looked for someone NEW to provide fresh blood to the franchise. It's been a profitable franchise in the past, and they want to milk the cow, like any other cow in their stable (e.g. Indiana Jones).

Paramount Pictures itself doesn't give a rat's ass if the new film is in with the old continuity or not. They just want it to be popular and make money. And they know Kirk and Spock were popular. So they brought in someone who has a pretty good track record (Lost, Alias, Fringe) and asked him to revive it, with young Kirk and Spock. Personally I think we're lucky we have Abrams and his team who are avid Star Trek fans, so they can make it all "kewl" and shit but still adhere to continuity at the same time (and no I don't mean continuity porn like the existence of Captain April).

Abrams surely had a list of things Paramount wanted:

1. Use Kirk and Spock
2. Use your magic, i.e. make it a GOOD MOVIE that people will WANT TO WATCH, not because it's Star Trek, but because it's a good movie. If it's a GOOD MOVIE, that will bring in the $$$.

 

[Sharr Khan]

2. Use your magic, i.e. make it a GOOD MOVIE that people will WANT TO WATCH, not because it's Star Trek, but because it's a good movie. If it's a GOOD MOVIE, that will bring in the $$$.

That is actually all I desire of this film, that's its a good movie first and foremost.

Sharr

 

[Tom Servo]

You're missing the point, that scene NEEDED to be in the trailer, its the hook that catches the attention of those who otherwise would dismiss a standard scifi/Star Trek trailer out of hand.

Exactly, Sharr!

I can't believe all these long-time Trekkies proclaiming that the trailer isn't their cup of tea. Guess what? It's not. Star Trek will never be successful without new fans who don't already hang out a Trek BBS or buy Reliant Christmas ornaments.

The trailer needs to hook all the people who went to The Matrix, the Star Wars prequels, the Lord of the Rings films, superhero movies, etc.

The start of the trailer was a great hook for non-fans.

Someone over at trekmovie.com suggested this trailer was custom-tailored for the Bond movie and Bond fans, and I can totally buy that.

But you know, what is so very wrong with all this is the whole notion of "let's do it for the non-fans". My opinion - if you have to throw away your product and turn it into something completely else in order to sell it, why bother trying to sell it in the first place, and not make something completely new that is "ahead of the times"? What this reeks of is desperation - and that is true for that particular group of fans who are anxious to see Trek being accepted by the mainstream as well. I sense some deep psychology going on here. All these years of having to hide your passion from your buddies, and suddenly a chance to be cool at last - JJ's giving you a chance not to be an outsider anymore!

Well, I couldn't give a shit. Either you have enough self-confidence to stand for what you like - and that includes cardboard sets and rubber mask aliens then - or you should really think about whether you truly appreciate Trek for what it really is, or abandon ship at the first chance of getting the pretty swan at last.

Or some of us would like to see Trek succeed in some form, seeing as how it's lost much appeal over the last decade. And one way to do that is to make it have a successful blockbuster movie, and to do that, one has to make it more mainstream. Trek has fallen into a rut, and in order to get out it needed new blood. I am quite willing to allow the new people to make some changes if it makes the story better.

I am a trekkie, and all my friends know it, and they are still my friends. Of course I get shit for it sometimes, but its all in good fun. Hell I am a VFX Major, a major where pretty much everyone is a nerd, and even within that, being a trekkie is a nerd. Do I care, no. I like what I like, and this new movie...I like what I see so far. It has nothing to do with being accepted by my friends or anything like that, and the fact people who do not like what they see from this movie, make that excuse as to why some of us do like it, is quite insulting and arrogant.

Hell all I want from this movie, is a fun film, and entertaining film. I want a ship called the Enterprise, some guys named Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty, some fist fights, some pretty starship battles, a good story, and fun characters. If they can add some sort of message into it, sure they can do that too. However, my enjoyment is not hinging on weather or not they mention a guy named Capt. April, or whether or not the Enterprise was built on earth.

 

[Guartho]

]Erm... no. I'm pretty sure he jumped. Where did you see an ejection system?

It was right before the car went over the edge. The kid gets out of the car and doesn't continue over the edge from inertia. That couldn't have happened without something like a futuristic vehicle escape system saving his ass.

I don't know, maybe some kind of system that damps inertia. Is there a precedent for that kind of technology existing in Star Trek?

 

[Sector 7]

]Erm... no. I'm pretty sure he jumped. Where did you see an ejection system?

It was right before the car went over the edge. The kid gets out of the car and doesn't continue over the edge from inertia. That couldn't have happened without something like a futuristic vehicle escape system saving his ass.

I don't know, maybe some kind of system that damps inertia. Is there a precedent for that kind of technology existing in Star Trek?

NO.
I do not recall such a system at this time.

 

[Dale]

An inertial dampening system in an antique (at that point nearly ancient) Corvette. OK.

Kirk bails out using "muscle power." He doesn't slide off the cliff because if he did the movie would end very early.

 

[Guartho]

No fair invoking extra-universe influences! <-- that's a pouty face.

I suppose I have to take the iPod out of my '91 car now. Those seat-belts I put in my '79 Postal Jeep should go too because it's not realistic to install newer safety systems in an older vehicle.

Anyone remember when we used to have fun coming up with in-story explanations for stuff that didn't jive?

 

[Dale]

I'm sorry, I missed the game.

Clearly Young Mr. Kirk is tied to his Iowa farmhouse by a very long tractor beam tether designed to keep him away from places like cliff edges. He is yanked from the car remotely. All his kicking and grunting is clearly suicidal young James T. trying to throw himself off the cliff and losing the battle to the stronger tractor beam.

 

[Guartho]

No sweat, it's easy to forget to have fun with Star Trek around here.

Tractor beam... Yeah, it's just like putting your dog on a line in the back yard, only the kid isn't necessarily aware of the line.


Say, what if that scene was on Tarsus IV and young Kirk stole the 'vette from one of those re-enacting places as he attempts to escape execution? There could be one on every populated planet, like Disney World. Maybe in the 23rd century there's lots of interest in 20th century America. Like, there are as many romance novels set in 20th century America then as there are set in 18th century England now.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I think it's just called "movie physics."

You know, the kind that enables James Bond and another combatant to crash thirty feet through a rain of plate glass shards, then get up and start hitting one another.

Trek has always employed its share of faux physics where the actors are concerned. There's a story Shatner told years ago on a TV show about nearly getting into a fight with a couple of toughs in a hotel lounge - he gave a second's thought to trying the Kirk Flying Kick, and realized that it was insane and that he'd wind up flat on his back and stomped to death by these guys. So he politely backed away.

 

[Guartho]

Sure. But we are among the lucky few that get to have plausible in-universe explanations for movie physics.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Clearly some obscure definition of the word "plausible" that I'm unfamiliar with...

 

[Dale]

Holodeck saftey protocols were in effect.

 

[Plum]

Physics arguments aside...

I loved the trailer!

We are pulled in by the odd combination of past and future. And the kid is James Tiberius Kirk! Lots of people, fans or not, get this... more or less.

Kirk is the centre of the story. It's his destiny! Perfect! Of course Kirk should be the centre of this film, except for Spock. And his childhood is featured in the trailer.

Then, see Spock and a new beaming effect! Coolio Julio!

Lots of flash cuts... and I mean lots and flashy! It's a real tease, this trailer *choke*. But it's exciting and sexy! And seemingly a fun sexy and not the blue gel decon cheezie sexy.

The ships look great in action. The Kelvin is an incredible design, love it!

The story is about how Kirk and Spock fulfill their futures, their destiny. But that's not such a terrible place to start. And it's rather like how some other successful 'reboots' have appeared in the theaters. 007, Batman, etc.

 

[enlisted person]

Why I can't buy the obsession with old cars, either by Tom Paris in Voyager, or by young Kirk in what, 2250 (give or take a year.)

If someone of OUR time was obsessed by a vehicle from around 1768, it would have to be something like a curricle or some similar vehicle that young men would want (race, etc.)

Doesn't happen. We're so far removed from that time frame that almost no one has an interest in that stuff.

And so would it be for young Kirk (or for Paris in Voyager.) They wouldn't be obsessed with vehicles from 240 years before their time.

Ah, but don't we still race horses, love. That goes back a few hunder years.

 

[Guartho]

Holodeck saftey protocols were in effect.

*shudders* You've just given me this terrible feeling that the movie is going to end with a random 1701 bridge officer turning out to be Data and saying "Computer, end program." Geordi enters from off camera and says "Well?" Data replies, "I have made up my mind. Observing the actions of an earlier Enterprise's science officer has lead me to conclude that I would like you to insert the emotion chip just as we discussed in my quarters a few moments ago when we were both several pounds lighter."