Well, Cogs, I'm with you all the way. Though my own views on this film are far harsher. However, I'll refrain from jumping into that right now.
I do want to address one idea you brought up: the original TOS actors were like friends to us. How true. And like you said, these aren't our friends.
The truth is, what bothers me most about this whole thing is that, even if the film does very well, Star Trek will only be back in a temporary fashion. By this I mean that this cast will not have the staying power of Shatner and Co. They're not going to inhabit these roles for another 40 years. They're going to maybe make the inevitable trilogy and then move on to other roles, should this film be a success.
And if it isn't, there won't be any sequels, so these actors will split up and move on to other work.
This is why I think a re-casting is a fundamentally flawed idea. You can't really do it with the TOS cast. A lot of people have brought up the Bond franchise, the Batman franchise, and other franchises that have seen re-casting work. But NONE of those ever once saw an actor or set of actors stay in place for four decades. That's a tremendous legacy that can never be equalled or surpassed.
I'm sure an apologist will pop in and say, "so what?" (probably Dennis Bailey) But that doesn't change the fact that Trek is now no longer a family legacy experience. It's now truly a series franchise to be whored out. And while Paramount did this by rushing the post-TNG series into being, those series still managed to last longer than three movies and four to six years and contained new characters and a shared continuity.
My point: I just don't see a reason to get invested in this new Trek. I'd be getting invested in maybe three films, and then what...more re-casting? And Trek truly becomes just any other series of films like Bond or Batman?
I think not. Star Trek TOS exists on my DVD shelf and contains three seasons and six feature films.
And I'm just fine with leaving it at that.
Sometimes, not having to have more of a good thing is itself a very good thing.
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In another thread someone talked about modern audiences preferring to have their movies spoon-fed to them. And he was wrong about that.
Modern, flexible audiences can adapt and enjoy new versions of old stories or franchises.
Your display of intellectual inflexibility shows that you can't.
You and all those like you are actually the ones who want to be spoon-fed with the ever-same tasting, ever-same looking product.
First off all, don't you dare pretend you know one damn thing about my intellectual flexibility. I'm fairly certain it's light-years ahead of your own, proof of which is the fact that I can actually understand someone else's point.
My point is not that I want the same "ever-tasting, ever-same looking product" (bad English, BTW). It's quite the opposite, which you obviously didn't have the sense to realize.
I don't want, as Cary so well said, ANY more TOS. It was done and done damn near perfectly, and I'm happy to leave it at that.
What I would've preferred, as many Trekkers here have said over the last few years, are new stories set in the TOS timeframe. The TNG era had its run, and it was pretty good, though not everyone agrees on which series was the best.
But there's still a verdant pasture of Trek potential waiting to be sown and reaped, namely, the TOS era. Set a new movie there, or a new series, with new and different characters in familiar settings. But tell the stories differently, as Abrams clearly has a knack for.
But don't "re-invent" something that doesn't need it. TOS is one such thing. I could see Bond needing re-invention, even The Batman or other superheroes, but not TOS.
If Abrams was making a new Star Trek film set during the TOS era with new characters and situations, I'd be all for it, assuming it was well written, acted, and made, AND that it respected the continuity that's come before.
However, he's tossing continuity out the window and "re-inventing" iconic characters.
They don't really need further stories, outside of the novels.
However, the universe is a big place, and so a TOS film or series would've been great and could've truly introduced a whole new fan base to Trek, while at the same time keeping the old ones.
As it is, Abrams will have alienated the original fan base in the hopes of securing a new one. It's a risky gamble, and I have the feeling he's going to lose.
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