So I just got this. You know that scene where Spock, McCoy, Sybok, and Kirk are on the planet in the center of the galaxy - "Sha Ka Ree" - behind the "Great Barrier"? When the rocks come up around them, it is very reminiscent of Stonehenge, the mysterious rock formation in England. I think the writers or whomever were going for this effect. I think they were implying something about what Stonehenge is/means - it's a place where some supremeish being came to interact with humans. Thoughts?
Yeah that much was obvious the first time I watched it. Though being Stonehenge predates the monolithic religions a single "god" would represent, by at least a thousand years, there's no real relevance between the two beyond setting a certain atmosphere.
I just think they thought having a rock temple suddenly spring out of the ground all around you looked suitably impressive and like something a badass ancient godlike being would do, and it could be accomplished on a relatively tight budget with minimal effects on a sound stage. While it likely may have been inspired by the look of Stonehenge from a production standpoint, in-universe I don't think they were trying to imply any direct connection between the two. Of course, they also put Nazca lines on Mt. Seleya on Vulcan, so who knows?
I think it looks more like a rib cage, than Stonehenge. Seemed biblical sorta, in a Shatner, butchering Star Trek sort of way. VERY fake looking as well. Makes the Galileo 7 Styrofoam rock scene look good.
I was hoping that they would form into a rock monster that Capt. Kirk would have to fight hand to hand.
All the pillars were supposed to turn into monsters and fight Kirk but the budget wasn't there so they just shot one monster.. and apparently the scene was so bad they cut it. All the flashy effects and cgi wouldn't have saved STV as written anyways. Not even Sean Connery.
Been around for ages, talked about in interviews, but here's the wiki page snippets of relevant info... And here's a picture of this ugly thing:
I've read of plenty ridiculous ideas for STAR TREK movies, and many ridiculous ideas actually made it to the screen. But this bit about the practical FX guys using cigarettes to smoke the monster makes this story sound like BS. If you want stage smoke, you use a mineral oil smoke machine, A/B smoke chemicals and other techniques. Next we'll be hearing that the FX crew banged chalky erasers together to get "smoke."
^Actually, Metryq, you can read that account in Star Trek Movie Memories. Mr. Shatner confirms about the method of loading the monster with smoke.
None of which says the pillars were going to become the Rockmen, which is what you implied previously.
I could be wrong, but if memory serves, the creatures were suppose to become animated after the pillars collapsed. I think the idea was that the rockmen were formed from the rubble of the collapsed pillars.
No mention of the pillars. Furthermore, the shooting script indicates that the shaft of light containing the false God erupts from the core of the planet, and, post-torpedo, mentions a "gaping hole" where the light shaft had been. Sorry to be a stickler, but there are so many inaccurate account about these movies and shows that I feel it's important to be accurate.
Gargoyles would have been pretty cool! Despite some of the film's flaws, I still love STV. I just hope we can get a special edition someday, and that they fix some of those bad FX.
Sorry to hear that. You have seen Into Darkness already? Lucky you, I am seeing it tonight, so I can judge the Abrams movies, plural.
The previews of STID looking like SW, made me decide not to see it. There is a reason I became a trekkie, and it was not because of the poor and cheap CG. It was the vision of an united world, americans russians japanese blacks and whites exploring the universe together, acting as "real" humans, getting into "real" trouble, not looking like Marvell comic heroes. But ofcourse this is all offtopic.