I hate to open a can of worms...but why is Vulcan so important? Its not as if the Vulcan RACE has been wiped out. They still exist as a species. An endangered species yes, but its not the be all end all of Vulcan society. In the context of the story, Vulcan was a big enough target on the characters to elicit a powerful emotional response, but in other stories set in this universe? What is the significance of the planet Vulcan that im missing out on?
Well again, I guess I can't keep a promise because I said wouldn't post anymore, but here I am.
Dac I just think it's either something you feel or you don't. I've said again and again that I don't understand the point of view that's it okay to blow it up, but I also recogonize, as you're pointing out, that you don't really understand why someone like me opposes it.
For me at least, it was just a part of the legend, the mythos, a part of the Star Trek universe that should not have been tampered with. I didn't get caught up in all the discussion about where the Enterprise was built, and so forth. But this discussion drew me in, because it seemed more important to the Trek universe and seemed a little more personal to me. But I readily recogonize I'm in a small minority of fans that feels that way.
Something
Starship Polaris said made me rethink what I said about it being my age. That's probably a crutch. It's probably more about my personality and resistance to change. I was able to accept a lot of the changes to the ship, and I wasn't particularily caught up in the back story of the characters. So I can roll with the punches on that. But to think of a TOS Star Trek universe going forward where the planet Vulcan does not exist . . . I'm sorry but I just see that as just wrong.
A fair point indeed. Just like the look and feel of the ship has a resonance with me, I can understand how Vulcan would have the same impact.
However, what I want to make clear is that, Yes, while Vulcan is destroyed, it DOES have a lot of the screen time devoted to its destruction after the fact, its something which makes
this universe what it is. The original trek universe still continues on which is part of the beauty of this remake. Its a remake without actually being one. Which means only the first minute or so takes place in the original series. The second the Narada pops into existence, the new universe is created and anything from that moment on is possible. Its Chaos Theory. One simple event starts a chain reaction from which anything is possible. Just so happens, Drama is born from stuff happening out of the ordinary, and Vulcan getting blown up - well, from the very passionate reaction generated by this thread, it evokes the right emotions the writers wanted. Grief and sorrow, but also hope in the face of evil. Life from the jaws of death. Something which Star Trek has prided itself upon for many many years. And in the death of Vulcan, Earth is saved which if you want to go all poetic about: Earth is the home of the federation, the new beacon of hope in the galaxy, whereas Vulcan is history symbolised in the fact that it has existed for so long. Its allegorical for the franchise. In the death of Star Trek, It is reborn into something different yet fundamentally the same. Which is what this movie is all about, and I cant help but hope the loss of Vulcan will ruin your enjoyment of what is essentially a brilliant movie.
). There's no reason they couldn't have put all this effort into telling us the story of how the crew met and the story of their first mission together.
) The fleet warps away, Enterprise is stopped by Sulu's unfamiliarity with the controls, THEN they go to warp. Then we cut to kirk, who is being treated by McCoy for the alien flu he gave Kirk to get him on the ship, and then he injects kirk with a sedative. We cut to Pike and Chekov giving the annoucement about Vulcan, during which Kirk comes too. I assumed this cut was immediate, but it could as easily be hours later. Kirk hears about the "Lightning Storm in Space" comment and then rushes to Uhura for confirmation, Then they all rush to the bridge where Chekov states they are 3 minutes away from Vulcan when Kirk is saying its a trap and they should stop.
