Klingons in STID--why do they look like [SPOILERS]?

[cooleddie74]

I guess by "credit" I meant a phone call or message saying "your Trek novels were an immense help in influencing how we might want to portray the character in our upcoming film. Thanks, Mr. Cox, for helping educate us a little bit." That kind of thing. There was obviously nothing on screen that could be credited to your books, though it would have been cool had Khan himself mentioned he'd been the product of a classified genetic engineering project called Chrysalis that was carried out on the Indian subcontinent.

 

[Greg Cox]

I guess by "credit" I meant a phone call or message saying "your Trek novels were an immense help in influencing how we might want to portray the character in our upcoming film. Thanks, Mr. Cox, for helping educate us a little bit." That kind of thing. There was obviously nothing on screen that could be credited to your books, though it would have been cool had Khan himself mentioned he'd been the product of a classified genetic engineering project called Chrysalis that was carried out on the Indian subcontinent.

I admit I'm hoping the new movie boosts sales of the old books, but, in general, I'm usually a few steps removed from the actual movie and TV productions. I mostly deal with the publisher and the licensing departments, not the actual filmmakers. I don't expect to hear from the movie people directly.

(Although I did once get a nice letter from one of the UNDERWORLD screenwriters telling me how much he liked my novelization of the movie . . . and they even invited me to the premiere party. That was fun.)

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

They certainly -look- Klingon enough, but they all got gunned down rather easily so it's not like it matters much.

One of them must be Worf's ancestor, I'm guessing. Showed up, looked super badass, got their asses kicked by the bad guy to show how powerful he is.

 

[F. King Daniel]

You may already have answered this in another thread, but did anyone connected to the new film ever contact you or admit to reading your Khan/Eugenics Wars trilogy to do research on the character and period of Earth history he came from? I suppose it's possible that somebody on the crew read your books and didn't contact nor credit you for anything but I was just curious if your Khan novels got any attention from J.J.'s people.

Several months ago, one of the screenwriters mentioned in an interview that he'd read my Khan books, which was cool. Not sure why they'd want to contact or credit me with anything, since I hardly invented Khan. Heck, I was only seven years old when Khan first appeared on STAR TREK!

There's nothing to "admit to" here. We're all playing in the same sandbox.

In the movie when Spock said that Khan's goals included "the extermination of all those not genetically superior" (or words to that effect) I immediately thought of his plan to exterminate all non-genetically engineered humans with his mother's modified strain of strep-A.

That Into Darkness went to such lengths to remain consistent with the old when it really wasn't necessary that it do so was pretty damn cool.

 

[Irishman]

Re: Klingons in STID--why do they look like a burned Kryten?

He looks more like Darth Maul than a Klingon. The head has a cube-like shape, that thing running down the head doesn't resemble a ridge, the whole head looks like it was dunked in BBQ sauce and put on the grill and he doesn't have any hair.

That's right! Klingons have NEVER been bald in Trek before.

 

[Irishman]

Re: Klingons in STID--why do they look like a burned Kryten?

In the same ballpark, yes.

I wish that there were some better stills of Klingons from ID online to look at.

Yeah, cause I think you imagine the difference to be more marked than it is.

 

[BillJ]

Re: Klingons in STID--why do they look like a burned Kryten?

In the same ballpark, yes.

I wish that there were some better stills of Klingons from ID online to look at.

Yeah, cause I think you imagine the difference to be more marked than it is.

I loved these Klingons, they look menacing.

 

[cooleddie74]

Re: Klingons in STID--why do they look like a burned Kryten?

That's right! Klingons have NEVER been bald in Trek before.

They think that guy doesn't look like a Klingon? Has he not seen the mythical figure Fek'lhr, seen briefly in "Devil's Due(TNG)"? I know he's supposed to be a mythological character in Klingon religious lore and didn't actually exist, but he's supposed to be a Klingon nevertheless.

The STID Klingon might as well be a background warrior from TOS who got little or even no makeup compared to that....thing.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Looks Klingon to me.

 

[Mach5]

The version they went with doesn't suck, but I loved the 2009 design better.

Brow ridge, nose bridge, eyes, the hair, those wrinkles, I liked every bit. Now imagine this guy with forehead ridges. Would've been sweet.

 

[cooleddie74]

I have to admit, the 2009 design that was kept under the helmets and never seen was a little better. That said, both are great tributes to and interpretations of the look we've been used to since 1979 and I'd have enjoyed seeing either one in the newest film.

 

[Hober Mallow]

A lot of Trek fans really need to drop the idea that Star Trek is anything more than entertainment with a message. It doesn't matter that the new Enterprise doesn't look like the original Enterprise because the Enterprise isn't real. It's a plot device that carries the characters to an adventure.

I came to understand how ridiculous canon vs. non-canon arguments were when I realized it was a question of "real fiction" vs. "fake fiction."

 

[Set Harth]

That way J.J. honors continuity but doesn't step in a huge nerd minefield by changing some detail about Khan's age, the wars or his ship.

Just his race.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Which is IMO preferable to having an Indian or Middle Eastern -looking guy playing the crazy space terrorist.

 

[Set Harth]

So they Mandarin'ed the guy? Nice.

 

[BillJ]

Which is IMO preferable to having an Indian or Middle Eastern -looking guy playing the crazy space terrorist.

I think this may have actually played into casting Cumberbatch. First time around they were really vague on what Khan had done during the Eugenics Wars. In this film, we see Khan initiate a brutal terrorist attack, gun down military officers and be downright brutal on the Vengeance.

Maybe they thought the outcry from Trek fans would be far preferable than the outcry from Middle Eastern communities?

 

[BillJ]

So they Mandarin'ed the guy? Nice.

I do wonder why it was so important that Cumberbatch be Khan when they practically ignored it in the advertising for the film?

 

[Set Harth]

Maybe they thought the outcry from Trek fans would be far preferable than the outcry from Middle Eastern communities?

Yeah, the only thing Trek fans are liable to blow up is the comments section of a blog post...

 

[BillJ]

Maybe they thought the outcry from Trek fans would be far preferable than the outcry from Middle Eastern communities?

Yeah, the only thing Trek fans are liable to blow up is the comments section of a blog post...

Not about blowing things up, it's about possibly offending hundreds of millions of people when they feel like they're being stereotyped in Hollywood movies.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

So they Mandarin'ed the guy? Nice.

I do wonder why it was so important that Cumberbatch be Khan when they practically ignored it in the advertising for the film?

Because nobody gives a crap about genetically engineered Star Trek badguys who aren't Khan.