DS9 deserved a movie

[Jarvisimo]

I would not really enjoy a movie - it wouldn't be true to the complexity or variety of DS9. In truth, I'd just rather the novels set after the series were better-read. They really were surprisingly good, sometimes beautiful - and far more suitable to DS9 than any film or even another series of tv could be.

In terms of serialisation, the DS9 Relaunch or 'Season Eight' followed on from the end of the show. Set on the station it did not run away from the fact that many familiar faces were gone. And like the show it chose to cover a wide range of characters both Starfleet and civilian. These included familiar faces who had remained at the end of the show, such as Kira, Quark, Dax, Bashir, Kasidy, Jake, Nog, and others. But also many new faces who would naturally fill positions left vacant after the loss or departure of others. But it also sought to consider the wider Federation, and the situations of Cardassia, Bajor, Feringinar, the Gamma Quadrant and even the Dominion after the series.

Importantly the editor Marco Palmieri set as his book line's first 'season end' the original goal of the tv series, that is, Bajor's entry into the Federation (i.e. Sisko's mission profile in 'Emissary'). New cast faces also mean new situations and ideas, including Andor in the 24th century, Federation politics, what it is to be a civilian in this world (or these worlds, rather), more diverse GQ species, and lots more.

Truly I love those books, which were the real germ of the lush and diverse Treklit world as it stands today, and wish you would all read them.

Read David R. George's Introduction in the omnibus with Avatar, the first novel in the 'season eight', in it and tell me you aren't intrigued?

As I read Avatar, I quickly realised that, as high as the dramatic potential for DS9 had been on television, the stakes had been raised in these new books. The limitations of sets and budgets no longer applied, nor did the restrictions imposed by the structure of the television episode. The availability of actors no longer mattered either; any character could be brought back to these new tales, or even resurrected for them. Anything that could be imagined could be included in these stories without regard to the practicality of filming it. Further, with the series off the air and no apparent prospects for a DS9 feature film, real-life production consdierations no longer protected the characters. That is, an actor’s multiyear contract would not prevent their role from being written out of the show. Coupling all of that with Marco Palmieri and Paula Block’s commitments to publishing compelling Star Trek literature, I suddenly understood that Kira Nerys could quit her post on the station, perhaps chasing after Odo or going home to Bajor to pursue a spiritual life. She could find another love, suffer a debilitating injury, even die. Kira and all the rest of the characters were at risk in ways they hadn’t necessarily been during the run of the show.

It began with Avatar, a duology, then a series of books that culminate in the amazing Rising Son and Unity. This was followed by other wonderful books following each major world in the tv series and relaunch (Cardassia, Andor, Trill, Bajor, Feringinar and the Dominion). Set before 'season eight', but after the series, are also the autobiography of Garak that Andrew Robinson wrote, A Stitch in Time, and a Martok series JG Hertzler co-wrote, The Left Hand of Destiny.

 

[JD5000]

I think maybe more of us have read the relaunch novels than you think. Some just have the desire to see the action unfold on screen.

 

[Jarvisimo]

I think maybe more of us have read the relaunch novels than you think. Some just have the desire to see the action unfold on screen.

JD, I did recognise several treklit forum posters in this thread, but still there are others who might not have read the books & would, if they began reading them on googlebooks, probably appreciate them, as this thread suggests. Since there never will be more action on a screen involving DS9, it seemed an appropriate place to recommend the books in a heartfelt manner - especially since they are so easily previewed on google books.

But as much as I understand a desire for more screen trek, as a book person I can't help but recommend the opportunities presented by what is available on the written page. It's interesting that what DRG wrote in my quotation above parallels what George RR Martin says often about his decision about how to write A Song of Ice and Fire in the 90s. GRRM wanted to write a book with the massive scale of A Game of Thrones because he was frustrated by and limited by the budgets, casts and effects he had encountered as a television producer in the 1980s-90s. The DS9 books and the imaginations that fueled them (and other treklit) allow both a macrocosmic inflation of the number of characters and ships and so on in comparison to what could be achievable on a tv series or film series. Yet, like ASoI&F and other big-world book series, they provided authors with the same opportunity for minute detail, extended and changing characterisation, an abandonment of the status quo, and many slow thoughtful moments.

 

[JD5000]

Since there never will be more action on a screen involving DS9, it seemed an appropriate place to recommend the books in a heartfelt manner - especially since they are so easily previewed on google books.

That's a great goal, I apologize for assuming that you thought the rest of us were idiots.

 

[Jarvisimo]

Since there never will be more action on a screen involving DS9, it seemed an appropriate place to recommend the books in a heartfelt manner - especially since they are so easily previewed on google books.

That's a great goal, I apologize for assuming that you thought the rest of us were idiots.

Merci

 

[Joel_Kirk]

People were also going back and forth on how TOS was dated and wouldn't work on the big screen, and really in denial of how anything can be updated; it's just about the execution. Of course, we now have the AbramsTrek. Of course, I have my opinions on how it's currently being executed.

I personally wouldn't mind seeing a DS9 spin-off from the Abrams TOS franchise. (Yes, I'm talking about skipping over TNG, right into DS9). Maybe giving us three strong films before attempting either TNG or VOY next or concurrently. (Just be sure to keep the go-go boots and the skirts, and the sense of adventure).

The question is: Would they have Sisko and Dax be an item in this version?

 

[Jarvisimo]

Do you mean, Joel, something not faithfully remaking per se - more a reimagining of what it is to be stationary in the trek world? Not necessarily DS9 even - rather something different but similar?

But - everyone - what is it that is attractive about DS9? What is it that is core to the series?

Would you want it to still be about frontier living, in the way DS9 was planned to be? If so, would you want a relaunch that focused on how the frontier comes into a state - a show or series as subtle as Deadwood?

Or what aspects of the setting or series premise or characters would interest you in a new kind of DS9 show? What other aspects other than the frontier setting of DS9 would you prefer brought to the fore in a remake? The story of the father-son, the war story, the world of conflict resolution, the 'everyone comes to DS9' idea, the Gamma Quadrant, the politics, the culture of Bajor, the religiosity, the spirituality, etc?

What would you want to see in a nu-ds9?

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Do you mean, Joel, something not faithfully remaking per se - more a reimagining of what it is to be stationary in the trek world? Not necessarily DS9 even - rather something different but similar?

Well, just basically a trilogy that has a Captain - Sisko - put in charge of a station who needs to not only help a planet called Bajor rebuild itself, but deal with Cardassians who join a mysterious group called The Dominion who wants to - based on their name - dominate the universe. Throughout this trilogy, this Captain learns to 'find himself' after the loss of his wife (who may or may not still be dead in the Abramsverse) and make Bajor a major player in the United Federation of Planets, especially since Vulcan is no longer present. This Captain manages, by way of wormhole aliens The Prophets, to bring Bajorans, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians and eventually The Founders, together and create an understanding between the cultures that will hopefully create a sense of goodwill and exchange of ideas rather than war.

Obviously, there will be skirmishes and intrigue before that understanding comes into play.

But - everyone - what is it that is attractive about DS9? What is it that is core to the series?

Would you want it to still be about frontier living, in the way DS9 was planned to be? If so, would you want a relaunch that focused on how the frontier comes into a state - a show or series as subtle as Deadwood?

Or what aspects of the setting or series premise or characters would interest you in a new kind of DS9 show? What other aspects other than the frontier setting of DS9 would you prefer brought to the fore in a remake? The story of the father-son, the war story, the world of conflict resolution, the 'everyone comes to DS9' idea, the Gamma Quadrant, the politics, the culture of Bajor, the religiosity, the spirituality, etc?

What would you want to see in a nu-ds9?

I kinda hit upon it earlier, but here it is again in bullet form:
*Father-son coming to a frontier setting.
*Father depressed, doesn't care.
*Drama w/Bajor-Cardassia, drama w/Founders and The Dominion
*Wormhole aliens tell Sisko he has a higher purpose
*Sisko finds the 'frontier' needs a sheriff, and not only gets inspired by a hypothetical love interest (e.g. Dax, Kasidy Yates, or some new character) but also finds he has to live for his son, and can inspire others.
*By the third film, Sisko is 'Captain' or 'Commodore'...and Bajor is a major player. Other life forms, new and old civilizations, have also been inspired by Sisko after The Dominion War ends in a truce.

 

[DonIago]

I fear you're asking for a lot from a trilogy of films that I suspect would not be appreciably longer than 2 hours and need to appeal to people who aren't familiar with DS9.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I fear you're asking for a lot from a trilogy of films that I suspect would not be appreciably longer than 2 hours and need to appeal to people who aren't familiar with DS9.

Star Wars managed to cram a lot in the original trilogy of films. It was very simple storytelling and direction with excellent pacing.

Writing is difficult. And, a lot of the writing today in 'Hollywood' is lazy. Even the movies in the current Abramsverse needed a lot of work...particularly the previous entry, STID.

I think a big challenge will be to produce something that will build on the TOS Abrams films, but give audiences who are not really Trek fans something deep but fun. Empire Strikes Back is a good example of a film that gave us lessons and was deep, but was also action packed. (IMO, it's one of the most perfect films ever made, and I'm saying that as a cinemaphile not as a Star Wars fan).

 

[GalaxyX]

ST09 and STD scripts are just as bad as the Nemesis script. The execution saved them.

Paramount dumping 3 times as much into the budget of ST9 and STID as compared to ST:NEM is what saved them.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Money doesn't equal emotional investment in characters. THAT is what made ST'09 and ID successful.

I think Voyager would be far more suited to an Abramsverse-style movie than DS9, with the whole thing being told in two hours like that Lost in Space movie from about a decade ago.

 

[JarodRussell]

ST09 and STD scripts are just as bad as the Nemesis script. The execution saved them.

Paramount dumping 3 times as much into the budget of ST9 and STID as compared to ST:NEM is what saved them.

Budget is part of "execution".

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

I think Voyager would be far more suited to an Abramsverse-style movie than DS9, with the whole thing being told in two hours like that Lost in Space movie from about a decade ago.

I can't imagine much worse than DS9 getting NuTrekified.

It was a series of character, plot and substance, to have all that destroyed for flashy special effects and pretty young actors would be unforgivable. Sisko would be flying off the handle and shouting all the time, Kira would be whinging and bitching at Odo at inappropiate times, Worf would have a face full of bling, Dax would be stripping off to her undies (because that's what female scientists apparently do), Bashir would only get a fraction of his previous lines, and O'Brien would go off in a sulk if he didn't get his way.

 

[F. King Daniel]

...which I would infinitely prefer to seeing the DS9 actors reprise their roles at this stage

 

[Hober Mallow]

People were also going back and forth on how TOS was dated and wouldn't work on the big screen, and really in denial of how anything can be updated; it's just about the execution.

The difference is that there was a demand for more Star Trek; the audience for Star Trek grew and grew throughout the 70s. There is, sorry to say, no demand for an all-but-forgotten 90s spinoff of a spinoff of Star Trek.

 

[Ensign Ro]

I really do not see DS9 or even Voyager should get a movie. With DS9, sure they can make one. Just do not see the final cast members from 1999 wanting to get back into character again for a movie to lead to what? It is already bad to read books of Ezri Dax as Captain Ezri Dax in a starship even bigger and more powerful then the one Picard has. Just do not see that at a movie.

Anyway, the old cast members are making more money with their characters being used and their images on the cover of books then they can make with a new movie to show they are much older. True, they can have new cast members for the movies, and that is not going to happen.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

People were also going back and forth on how TOS was dated and wouldn't work on the big screen, and really in denial of how anything can be updated; it's just about the execution.

The difference is that there was a demand for more Star Trek; the audience for Star Trek grew and grew throughout the 70s. There is, sorry to say, no demand for an all-but-forgotten 90s spinoff of a spinoff of Star Trek.

The same thing said about TOS before the Abramsverse hit the screens. (Which I just realized I already said in a previous post. We seem to do a lot of repeating on Trektoday, I see!). Moreover, a lot of 'forgotten' property from the 80s is now being remade or 'reimagined' so I'm sure there is a possibility of having DS9 on the big-screen soon...

Denzel Washington is portraying the 'Equalizer' and not too many people know about that show. However, Washington's name is going to bring the money and the interest. A good script will keep the audience coming back for a second, or third watch.

There were (and still are) people who didn't even know Mission: Impossible was a television show before Tom Cruise made a franchise out of it. And the original television show was back in the 1960s.

If there is money to be made and there is interest, it will happen...despite what is said back and forth on a message board.

 

[Hober Mallow]

The same thing said about TOS before the Abramsverse hit the screens.

No it wasn't.

Star Trek is a part of pop culture. DS9 isn't. It's as simple as that.

And you're treating Star Trek and DS9 as separate and equivalent. They aren't. DS9 is a spinoff of a spinoff of the source material. Star Trek is that source material.

 

[Ensign Ro]

If they were going to find new cast members for a DS9 movie. I think Kristen Stewart would be great as Kira.