In the JJ-verse: is it time for an overt Star Wars shout-out?

[JarodRussell]

They already hyperspaced the warp jump and blastered the phasers, re-did the Death Star, had a R2 cameo, turned Kirk into a version of Luke Skywalker, had him getting shot down to Hoth (with the escape pod scene being a visual homage to the probe entering Hoth's atmosphere) and probably a couple of more references I didn't catch. How many more Star Wars references do you need?

I'm surprised nobody said "I have a bad feeling about this" in the movie. Oh wait, I did.

 

[6079SmithW]

Nobody is trying to turn Star Trek into Star Wars

Well actually, I think he's pretty much said he's trying to turn Trek into Star Wars.

Yes, Abrams said that he had never been a Trek fan and liked Star Wars better. He also said he wanted to add a lot of Star Wars elements to this movie.

 

[F. King Daniel]

IIRC in the DVD extras he said he was going for the "epic scale" of Star Wars, as well as the amount of action.

I personally find Star Wars boring. It's got lots of action, but I never connected with any of the characters nor did I care what happened to them. Star Trek XI on the other hand, had loads of action, but a cast of characters I instantly liked, and I cared about them.

Really, everything in Star Wars has been done by Trek at one time or another anyway (Big space battles, gun fights, Death Stars, sexy under-dressed ladies, Exocomps/R2, the trench run, goofy OTT baddies, super powers, aliens in bars, desert planets etc). In fact, Star Trek did many of those first.

 

[number6]

Nobody is trying to turn Star Trek into Star Wars

Well actually, I think he's pretty much said he's trying to turn Trek into Star Wars.

Yes, Abrams said that he had never been a Trek fan and liked Star Wars better. He also said he wanted to add a lot of Star Wars elements to this movie.

Abrams never said he was turning Star Trek into Star Wars.
You can't live in a vacuum. ILM has been doing Trek and SW for years and many of the artists and illustrators have been involved with both productions over the years. Nobody whined as much about the cameo of the NCC-1701 in Attack of the Clones..
As far as statements about Tatooine Moments and such, so f*cking what? There is nothing wrong with being influenced by Star Wars considering how much Star Trek influenced Star Wars. What. Ever.

In injecting the action/adventure flair of SW, they came closer to the action/adventure flair of the original series, something the Trek films and series rarely do.

Star Trek needed to be injected something to make it fresh again. I am just glad it was influenced by a film that I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed the original Star Wars, in the same way I enjoyed the 2001 elements of TMP. The only difference in the two for me is that ST:XI was truer to the characters and chemistry of the original show.

Even Abrams cited parts of TMP as influence with the look and the scale of the space shots, especially the initial flyover of the Enterprise at the docking bay.

Also don't forget that the whole space station design is directly influenced by the old StarFleet Technical manual from the 70's. They cherry picked some nice design nods to the original show, while making it look real. Now we may disagree with some of these qualities because you seem to only post about your hatred of the film. I doubt strongly in your ability to make a cogent balanced opinion of the attributes of this film, based on your posts.

I don't think they're turning the franchise into Star Wars. That statement couldn't be more unfounded. There is no doubt that they were influenced by it, but there is no doubt that they knew they were making a Star Trek film. If you listen to the same commentary, you'll hear plenty of statements to that effect.

 

[6079SmithW]

Now we may disagree with some of these qualities because you seem to only post about your hatred of the film. I doubt strongly in your ability to make a cogent balanced opinion of the attributes of this film, based on your posts.

Was this directed at me or someone else? If at me, I was simply pointing out that, as far as I know, Abrams had stated he was more of a Star Wars fan and wanted to bring elements of that series into Star Trek. I'm fine with that. In fact, I'm thankful that he did because it refreshed Star Trek and made it more exciting and enjoyable then the previous installments (Nemesis and Insurrection). I am all for the so called "starwarsification" of Star Trek and I love this movie.

 

[number6]

Now we may disagree with some of these qualities because you seem to only post about your hatred of the film. I doubt strongly in your ability to make a cogent balanced opinion of the attributes of this film, based on your posts.

Was this directed at me or someone else? If at me, I was simply pointing out that, as far as I know, Abrams had stated he was more of a Star Wars fan and wanted to bring elements of that series into Star Trek. I'm fine with that. In fact, I'm thankful that he did because it refreshed Star Trek and made it more exciting and enjoyable then the previous installments (Nemesis and Insurrection). I am all for the so called "starwarsification" of Star Trek and I love this movie.

No. My comment was directed in general to those who insist that somehow Abrams and the creative team hate the original show and are trying to turn it into something else.
This is becoming the "Birther Movement" of the franchise.

To one point I will agree on one thing. Abrams DID change Star Trek into something else: A Summer Blockbuster.
What he brought to the table was the same fresh blood the fans and haters alike have been clamoring for the last decade. Not everyone agrees that change is good or that one has to like it, but change is necessary and Star Trek needed to change.

Abrams wanted to make a good movie first.

GR wanted to make a good television show first.

A lot of others just wanted to make a good Star Trek, but sometimes that has a limited audience because so many disagree on what makes good Star Trek.
The more memorable and more successful films of the franchise (and even some of the episodes) were moreso because they achieved both by doing the former before the latter.

That's why TOS still holds up for me.

That's why I liked the new film.

 

[Eleanor_zhDarjel]

I would not mind. Some nice discrete and subtle thing that is. A Kirk I am you father or a Death Star in the Alpha Quadrant would be a no go. Even he light katana would be cheesy, although quite funny...

 

[ST-One]

Star Trek (2009) already quoted the lines, "punch it!" and "I hope you know what you're doing," as well as an easter egg featuring R2-D2. Does a sequel really need overt references as well?

Those must be the lamest Star Wars reference ever.

A google search for "Punch it" gave me a whole of 2 (in words: two) hits to SW on the first 10 pages.

The second quote gave me not even one - but a whole lot of other films and series that use that line (which is, btw, "I sure hope you know what you're doing").

You can't even see R2-D2 without freezframing (so much for 'overt').
But I guess they tried to turn First Contact into Star Wars too when they added the Millennium Falcon in one of the battle shots, or glued it to the Rodger Young in Starship Troopers, or Battlestar Galactica into Star Trek when they added the Enterprise into one of the fleet shots in the mini-series.

 

[Alienesse]

I think it's ok to bring the production values of Star Wars into Star Trek, but referencing SW characters and lines is a bit too much. It's like trying to fix something that is not broken. Star Trek has enough history behind it to stand on its own and has no need to overtly reference other SciFi franchises in order to get approval from the audience.

 

[JarodRussell]

Star Trek (2009) already quoted the lines, "punch it!" and "I hope you know what you're doing," as well as an easter egg featuring R2-D2. Does a sequel really need overt references as well?

Those must be the lamest Star Wars reference ever.

A google search for "Punch it" gave me a whole of 2 (in words: two) hits to SW on the first 10 pages.

Well, there's this:
http://tinyurl.com/2buxbya

And this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIbqQVBdGoQ

And the scene where the Enterprise suddenly appears to save Spock from the missiles was pretty much staged like the Falcon's sudden appearance during the battle of Yavin.

And the death star laser beam.

And this: http://oi34.tinypic.com/20f6g40.jpg

And this of course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0j97RhZUQ

And many, many, many, many more references.


Nothing against R2-D2 floating by at some point, but when you structure your entire movie like "that other movie", then that sucks pretty much, imo.
They didn't base this on the Hero's Journey, they based this on Star Wars (at least subconsciously).

 

[ST-One]

Well, there's this:
http://tinyurl.com/2buxbya

I'm spectacularly sure Pike doesn't order Chewbacca to 'punsh it'.

And this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIbqQVBdGoQ

Yeah... have you seen TNG's "Where no man has gone before"?
Or the transwarp conduits in Voyager?

And the scene where the Enterprise suddenly appears to save Spock from the missiles was pretty much staged like the Falcon's sudden appearance during the battle of Yavin.

No.
The Enterprise didn't abandon anyone just to come back surprisingly.
She was kept at a distance so as to not be destroyed.

And the death star laser beam.

Yes, that scene in Voyager's 'Scorpion' was a total rip-off.

And this: http://oi34.tinypic.com/20f6g40.jpg

Uhh... they've got grey uniforms... those are sooo Star Wars-ian.

And this of course: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0j97RhZUQ

And many, many, many, many more references.

Nothing against R2-D2 floating by at some point, but when you structure your entire movie like "that other movie", then that sucks pretty much, imo.
They didn't base this on the Hero's Journey, they based this on Star Wars (at least subconsciously).

Yeah... when you move the plot-points in Star Trek out of order, changed the characters completely and provided a whole different set-up... then, yeah, I can see that.

 

[F. King Daniel]

There's a similar video on YouTube "proving" that STXI's a scene-for-scene rip-off of Starship Troopers.

But if it's already a scene-for-scene rip off of Star Wars, that must mean that Starship Troopers is Star Wars!

You might as well post a K/S video as "proof" that Kirk and Spock were lovers during TOS, for all the relevance it would have.

 

[Devon]

Those must be the lamest Star Wars reference ever.

A google search for "Punch it" gave me a whole of 2 (in words: two) hits to SW on the first 10 pages.

Had Pike said "engage" like he did in the pilot, then some of the same people would have been saying that it was "the writers showing their TNG bias and are obviously ignorant of Trek's rich and consistant history and made it for the ADD generation in attempt to make money" or something similar.

 

[kkozoriz1]

April: Told you I did. Reckless is he. Now, matters are worse.
Pike: That boy is our last hope.
April: No. There is another.

 

[M'Sharak]

Seems like that ought to go "Now worse, matters are," doesn't it? Oh, well.

 

[kkozoriz1]

Gorkon: There will be a substantial reward for the one who finds the Enterprise. You are free to use any methods necessary but I want them alive - no disintegrations!

Kor: As you wish.

 

[doubleohfive]

I don't know that I'd consider "Punch it!" specific enough to credit as a Star Wars "reference." Sure, Han Solo says it memorably, but it's rather obscure and using the statement in that context doesn't solely originate from the Star Wars films.

 

[M'Sharak]

I don't know that I'd consider "Punch it!" specific enough to credit as a Star Wars "reference." Sure, Han Solo says it memorably, but it's rather obscure and using the statement in that context doesn't solely originate from the Star Wars films.

By the same token, the bit Jarod mentioned upthread about the Enterprise's arrival at the final showdown:

And the scene where the Enterprise suddenly appears to save Spock from the missiles was pretty much staged like the Falcon's sudden appearance during the battle of Yavin.

Maybe that scene is staged just so as a conscious nod to Star Wars--I'm just fine with it if it is--but the Millennium Falcon's sudden appearance in that movie was really nothing far removed from what happened in the last reel of countless old Saturday-matinee Westerns when the US Cavalry rides over the hill, just in the nick of time, to save the day (and our hero.) It's "the good guys to the rescue" - it's a trope, not anything which originated with Lucas and Star Wars.

Besides...

Whatever happens, Mister Sulu, if you think
you have the tactical advantage, you fire on
that ship, even if we're still on board. That's
an order.

...they were only following orders given earlier in the movie.

 

[Gojira]

Nobody is trying to turn Star Trek into Star Wars

Well actually, I think he's pretty much said he's trying to turn Trek into Star Wars.

Yes, Abrams said that he had never been a Trek fan and liked Star Wars better. He also said he wanted to add a lot of Star Wars elements to this movie.

Long before JJ came along I had always wished that someone would put more Star Wars elements into Star Trek so I am very happy someone finally did that. Maybe that is why I loved the movie as much as I do.

 

[doubleohfive]

I love the 2009 Star Trek film because it's a good movie.