Budweiser Factory Enterprise, Good or Bad Idea?

[Tom]

So I was watching the BluRay DVD 2 special, 'Starships' and thought it was really wierd seeing them run around a Budweiser factory shooting interior scenes of the Enterprise. They filmed the Kelvin in an older power plant. I can see what JJ was trying to go for, but a brewery? It just does not work for me. How about you?

 

[Dukhat]

So I was watching the BluRay DVD 2 special, 'Starships' and thought it was really wierd seeing them run around a Budweiser factory shooting interior scenes of the Enterprise. They filmed the Kelvin in an older power plant. I can see what JJ was trying to go for, but a brewery? It just does not work for me. How about you?

It worked fine for almost everyone. It worked for Abrams and crew, because they saved millions of budget dollars. It worked fine for the millions of casual moviegoers who watched the movie, because they wouldn't have known or even given a crap about a detail like that. In fact, the only people who it didn't work for are the extremely small percentage of hard-core Trek fans who whine and bitch about every little thing. Unfortunately, 100% of them post on this site.

 

[OneBuckFilms]

I can understand why it was done, and the scale and scope work well for me, but my feelings are mixed on the execution of this.

I have two issues with this:

- It is too recognizable as a Brewery/Factory.
- There is not enough definition or sense of geography.

Stylistically though, I don't have an issue with it. In some scenes, it works really well, but for others, it is a little more problematic, and one can tell that it is a real-world location.

Much of the same can be said about the Kelvin Engineering scenes.

A combination of sets, Greenscreen and CGI set extentions could achieve better results.

Saying that, however, the basic idea behind it was great, and it works well enough for the most part.

 

[I-Am-Zim]

So I was watching the BluRay DVD 2 special, 'Starships' and thought it was really wierd seeing them run around a Budweiser factory shooting interior scenes of the Enterprise. They filmed the Kelvin in an older power plant. I can see what JJ was trying to go for, but a brewery? It just does not work for me. How about you?

Didn't work for me either. In my opinion it looked rediculous. I'm used to seeing the engineering sets from starships, not steam ships. No engineering section in the history of Star Trek has ever looked like that. Not even close. I have to agree with OneBuck's first two points. It is instantly recognizeable as a Brewery/plant of some kind from 19th/20th century Earth. It looks in no way futuristic at all. This doesn't look like a 23rd century starship at all as I see it. I also agree with the lack of definition or sense of geography. It's too frakkin huge. There's no scope of scale at all. It just looks like the interior of a giant building. It's too obvious that it is not set on a starship travelling through space in the future. It could have been made better with a combination of physical sets, green screen and CGI to give it at least a little bit more of a futuristic look. But overall, it looked absolutely ludicrous to me.

 

[Amaris]

I can understand why it was done, and the scale and scope work well for me, but my feelings are mixed on the execution of this.

I have two issues with this:

- It is too recognizable as a Brewery/Factory.
- There is not enough definition or sense of geography.

Stylistically though, I don't have an issue with it. In some scenes, it works really well, but for others, it is a little more problematic, and one can tell that it is a real-world location.

Much of the same can be said about the Kelvin Engineering scenes.

A combination of sets, Greenscreen and CGI set extentions could achieve better results.

Saying that, however, the basic idea behind it was great, and it works well enough for the most part.

Agreed. I, personally, love the Engine Room, but there are scenes where it is incredibly obvious, mainly the communications room. They could have worked on that one a bit.

 

[thumbtack]

Beer is obviously an eco-friendly alternative to anti-matter.

 

[I-Am-Zim]

In fact, the only people who it didn't work for are the extremely small percentage of hard-core Trek fans who whine and bitch about every little thing. Unfortunately, 100% of them post on this site.

Flattery will get you everywhere.

 

[Amaris]

Beer is obviously an eco-friendly alternative to anti-matter.

I think this just makes the future brighter.
And noisier.
And will someone answer the damn phone!?

Gah! Lens flare! Close the blinds! Christ!

 

[Captain Rob]

In my previous career as a movie theatre manager, I've probably screened over a thousand movies. It always took me out of the movie, especially a science-fiction one, when a scene took place on a particularly recognizable location that didn't match the flow of the movie. The brewery scenes did that for me immediately. Even my brother felt the same way when we watched Star Trek again when it came out on DVD. And he's not a Star Trek fan.
To add insult to injury; we were watching Robocop 2 and 3 last week on one of the crappy movie channels and there were scenes in one of them that were shot in the same brewery.

 

[Amaris]

In my previous career as a movie theatre manager, I've probably screened over a thousand movies. It always took me out of the movie, especially a science-fiction one, when a scene took place on a particularly recognizable location that didn't match the flow of the movie. The brewery scenes did that for me immediately. Even my brother felt the same way when we watched Star Trek again when it came out on DVD. And he's not a Star Trek fan.
To add insult to injury; we were watching Robocop 2 and 3 last week on one of the crappy movie channels and there were scenes in one of them that were shot in the same brewery.

Also, the most common comparison is when V shot on location in the same brewery. It is instantly recognizable. I love the movie very much and have seen it 77 times, and I like the design of the engine room, but a little tweak work here and there wouldn't have hurt anything.

 

[Captain Rob]

I think that the only justification for the brewery is that since the Enterprise was fresh out of its' construction dock that not all of its' interior spaces were completed. I would expect that the Enterprise of the next movie would be finished out with some improvements. I would like to see a more compartmentalized engineering section with added protection for its' more volatile components, i.e. warp core. Also, please change the corridors. If you painted them blue they would look like the set of Ugly Betty.

 

[Rii]

My main issue with Budweiser engineering is that some shots can only be interpreted in one of two ways:

1. That the ship is freaking huge. Like, an order of magnitude larger than the ships we're used to. Star Wars scale, basically.

2. A significant proportion of the secondary hull, if not the secondary hull in its entirety, is a singular compartment, with all the implications that has for a hull breach in the area.

 

[Warped9]

So I was watching the BluRay DVD 2 special, 'Starships' and thought it was really wierd seeing them run around a Budweiser factory shooting interior scenes of the Enterprise. They filmed the Kelvin in an older power plant. I can see what JJ was trying to go for, but a brewery? It just does not work for me. How about you?

It was probably not only cheaper production wise, but it was also conceptually cheap as well.

Certainly didn't work for me.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

So I was watching the BluRay DVD 2 special, 'Starships' and thought it was really wierd seeing them run around a Budweiser factory shooting interior scenes of the Enterprise. They filmed the Kelvin in an older power plant. I can see what JJ was trying to go for, but a brewery? It just does not work for me. How about you?

It worked fine for almost everyone. It worked for Abrams and crew, because they saved millions of budget dollars. It worked fine for the millions of casual moviegoers who watched the movie, because they wouldn't have known or even given a crap about a detail like that. In fact, the only people who it didn't work for are the extremely small percentage of hard-core Trek fans who whine and bitch about every little thing. Unfortunately, 100% of them post on this site.

Had no problem with it at all in the movie. I've seen still pictures where the nature of the place is obvious in various annoying ways, but not in the movie itself - and that's all that counts.

 

[Warped9]

In fact, the only people who it didn't work for are the extremely small percentage of hard-core Trek fans who whine and bitch about every little thing. Unfortunately, 100% of them post on this site.

You know I'm getting real tired of this rant that's trotted out to instantly dismiss any criticism of Abrams' sacred art. It's a cheap shot to paint all dissenters the same colour and it's bullshit.

You want to depict a large and complicated looking Engine Room? Fine. But show some freakin' imagination. I didn't much care for the TMP depiction of the Engine Room, but at least it didn't look like anything I can easily recognize and see today.

My criticism of ST09's set design isn't based on that it doesn't look like the TOS original. My criticism is based on my view that it looks fucking stupid and wholly unconvincing as a piece of far future technology and science.

 

[Jeyl]

Brick floors....On a Starship.....

That, and it's the same set that is identical to the one used in "Get Smart".

 

[Tom]

It's the presence of all the huge tanks everywhere that gets to me, sure in a pre-replicator timeline they could have carried water and other liquids, could be fuel but that's real scary when you have those comunications stations up agaist the tanks. It just does not work. Why not film on an aircraft carrier and dress that up a bit for the lower decks?

It would interesting to see if they stick to this setup in the next movie or not.

 

[Warped9]

Why not film on an aircraft carrier and dress that up a bit for the lower decks?

You know that actually would have been far more convincing.

 

[Sabataage]

My suggestion for the producers (not that they asked me) would be to take aspects of those real world locations and combine/re-jigger them on a new set. I love the yellow crossbeams/pylons (whatever they are) Kirk and McCoy walk under and around after arriving on the Enterprise ("There's that pointy eared bastard"). I like the multiple giant tanks above Pike when he's walking toward the turbolift later on (even if they are filled with beer). I would take those details and incorporate them into a more futuristic set that's made from scratch.

 

[M'Sharak]

<snip>

To add insult to injury; we were watching Robocop 2 and 3 last week on one of the crappy movie channels and there were scenes in one of them that were shot in the same brewery.

Also, the most common comparison is when V shot on location in the same brewery. It is instantly recognizable. I love the movie very much and have seen it 77 times, and I like the design of the engine room, but a little tweak work here and there wouldn't have hurt anything.

While scenes from V were indeed shot in the same brewery, those in Robocop 2 were filmed in an Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston, TX.