Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix STV-

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

^ That was his daughter Melanie in the film. Lizabeth is the one who wrote the book on the making of Trek V. And, yes, Melanie would have gotten paid. Can't recall if she had any lines or not. But even if she didn't, union rules would have required her to get paid the standard day rate for an extra at least.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

Oh ok, my bad... I don't think she had any lines, she was just making faces everytime something tore up.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

^ I think you're right. I don't recall her having any lines. Unless... was there one point at which she said "captain on the bridge" or something like that? I can't recall. But she would have been paid as an extra, even if she hadn't had any lines. Union rules don't allow someone to appear on screen and not get paid, even if they're the director's daughter.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

Darn rights I would buy it. I'd rather watch bad Trek with the Classic cast, than any of the other stuff!

I dont think a reworked ending would be enough to improve this movie, but it would still be fun to see. Personally, I think they should have gone with the Gary Mitchell storyline instead of the Sybok one...but thats just me.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

^ The Gary Mitchell storyline?

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

Yeah. Back in 88/89, before the film came out, there was a bootleg script floating around that was supposedly Shatners original script. In hindsight, I think it was one of the "substitute scripts that Paramount had done and tried to force onto Bennett/Shatner in place of their story.

Essentially it followed a similar premise of the Enterprise being hijacked by a madman, except Sybok wasnt Spocks brother (or called Sybok for that matter). I think he was a teacher or an Admiral??? its been 20 years and I read it at a comic shop, so I cant remember all the details.
The thing at the center of the universe--who was controlling "Sybock" , was Gary, at the edge of the galactic barrier and he was trying to escape from Delta Vega. Long story short, Kirk had to kill him all over again!!

It would have played better than what we got, plus the title made sense--the original series used the end of the mantra "where no man has gone before" as a title...and was the second pilot, where this film borrowed its title from the start of the mantra for what was touted at the time as the possible last film.
As I recall, the only complaint I had with the story was Dr. Dehner wasnt in it ...wasnt even mentioned!

I'm sure others have read this script. It might even be on-line somewhere...although this was a wee bit before this internet thingie caught on.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

As far as I know, the Mitchell thing is strictly a fan take on TFF ... I've seen nothing indicating it was ever considered for a feature, and it certainly isn't ever mentioned by either of the other people who were writing the movie. You're the first person I've ever seen say they saw it before the movie came out ... are you sure about that?

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

Yep, I'm sure I read it. I dont know if it was fake or not...I was told it was Shats original story, which I know its not. If it is real in any way, I figure it was one of the alternate scripts that Paramount commissioned because they were never happy with Shatner/Lougherty/Bennetts story line.

It could be fake?..... but it was pretty good!!

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

I'm not getting this alternate scripts thing. The alternate was the fountain of youth/Eden thing B&L came up with while Shatner was shooting something else. You're saying Paramount went away from their hired producer and screenwriter and director to offer a whole separate story? If I were Bennett and they pulled something like that, I would have walked.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

I havent heard of the fountain of youth script...sounds interesting? (although I was aware Bennett and Lougherty did write a seperate script)

I read somewhere that Paramount (IMDB?) wasnt happy with the script as it was and commissioned alternate story lines that were presented to Shat and co. As we know, Shatner and Bennett held their ground and we got the Final Frontier. Its not uncommon for this to happen. Look at Trek 6. Bennett was adamant that the Academy film be made. He was actually in pre-production, and casting was underway (Ethan Hawke as young Kirk, dont recall who was signed for young Spock)When they decided at the last minute to change directions and go with the original cast, Bennett did bail.

Another good point, there was a writers strike on during the early stages of Trek 5, making it difficult for Paramount to flesh out their storylines....so, you could very well be correct and the script I saw was hooey written by a fan?..I'm not contesting that...I still liked the story as I remember it.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

That doesn't sound right. I don't think they were that far along. They might've been talking casting, but you don't actually cast until your production is a go if you are a big studio not looking to use "names" to attract investors.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_First_Adventure

Heres the link to Bennetts Trek 6.
I'll see if I can find the site that listed the actors chosen for young Kirk and Spock.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/110205.html

This article mentions Ethan Hawke as Kirk and John Cusack as Spock. But your right, it says they were approached....doesnt say they were signed up...My bad.

http://www.treknation.com/interviews/harve_bennett_2006.shtml

This article says the idea was greenlit.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22789

For what its worth...

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

That's what I always heard.
They came up with a 'Shang-ri-la' outline while Shatner was away. Shatner then forced them to steer it back more toward his origianl idea.
Normally I would say that the post was just a flat-out made up story, but I've got enough problems around here.

So I'll say perhaps he was 'had' by someone hawking a FAKE script.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

While I can assure you the story isnt made up, I cant confirm if the script was real. Like I've said, it was the late eighties...the internet wasnt what it is now, if it was even around then. The guy who ran a local comic shop (alas its a used applince store nowadays) used to always seem to have movie scripts sent to him for movies that hadnt been released yet. For the most part, at least the ones I read, these scripts were on the money, except for a few odd bits. For example, the Batman film script he had was close to the Burton film, but had scenes with Batman chasing the Joker on a horse, and as I recall, the ending was different. On the other end of the spectrum, the Superman 4 script he had was nothing like the finished film.

In short, I'm not saying the Gary Mitchell script was gospel. It could have been a fake, but it was a darn sight better than what we ended up with.

I've backed up my Trek 6 comments with the above web-site links. There are tons more if these dont satisfy anyone. I cant find anything on Trek 5 (which I find odd), be it the Shangri-La story, or Gary Mitchell...so I leave it up to each of you to make up your own minds about that.

I assure all you folks, I'm not trying to start anything...just commenting on what I've seen, and I'm sorry if that rubbed anybody the wrong way!

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

I'm not disputing you, I actually thinking there might be something to this ... A noted poster here, THE GOD THING, had info about the woman who originally wrote the MAKING OF ST5 book, who was paid off and her manuscript junked before Shatner had his daughter do the published version. Apparently it was a lot more 'warts & all' than the published version, but nobody has ever said much in the way of acknowledging it. Maybe there were whole other drafts of the film or a whole separate unpublished history ... but she isn't talking (he sent me her email, and I tried a couple times unsuccessfully to get a response from her ... this was a couple years ago.)

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

I dunno if the Gary Mitchell story is real or not, but it is dang kewl. Love the dovetail of the titles....

I don't understand why Paramont, a company that we all know loves to squeeze all the juice out of Trek it can, didn't put the remastered team or the TMP-Docherman team on TFF. They know most of us would plunk down money for it. As for cost, there alot of fans with skills that'd work on it for just name recognition

New CGI, trim some of the stuff that doesn't work, and reconstruct what you can of the ending. I'd buy it.

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

HEAR THAT, PARAMOUNT????

 

Re: Hypothetical: If Paramount ponied up the cash for Shatner to fix S

.