Anyone else Prefer Pine to Shatner

[CommanderRaytas]

Different eras, different purposes, different Kirks. Same response: love 'em both.

And you love them both equally? Are you a long time TOS fan?

I adore Pine's Kirk, but seriously, folks, Cakes is right -- there is no comparison... yet.

Shatner is still The Kirk.

Thank you Indranee...can we pin this post and mount it around the board...??? Somebody is actually agreeing with me...and further said I was right so I'd like to remember this day for all time.

I would like to seize the opportunity to jump the bandwagon.

I gave this some thought and decided you girls are right.

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

I know how controversial this question is, but I wanted to ask it anyway. I saw the movie for the second time yesterday and one of the things I was thinking was how much I really loved the casting of Chris Pine as Kirk. I remember he was on one of the night shows when the movie came out (I think it was Letterman) and he was talking about the flack he got from people just because he was cast as the character Shatner created. After watching the movie, I can't wait to see Pine in the role again, probably moreso than any other character.

Don't get me wrong, I like Shatner but it seemed like the Shatner from movies changed from the Shatner of the series and I preferred the Shatner of the movies.

That's interesting because I still see Shatner as Kirk. I shouldn't be so difficult about it, but hey, Zachary Quinto was born to be Spock and the other actors slipped into their roles pretty easily (though I still see Andy Bray as Chekov from Phase II).

I had a similar problem when New Voyages/Phase II started up. It took me a while to accept Jim Cawley as Kirk, but I eventually began seeing his face when writing something about the good captain.

Also, Kirk has always been my favorite Trek character and that may make me slow to accept others than William Shatner in the role.

On the other hand, I've seen the movie three times and am planning on seeing it again if any of the IMAX theaters in the area start showing it again. So what do I know?

 

[Top41]

I really enjoyed everyone's performances in the new movie, but it was probably Pine who impressed me most. Shatner's Kirk had his hits and misses (some episodes and movies he was top of his game, others not so much, but that's to be expected I think, given how much time he spent playing Kirk over the years), but overall I always liked the character of Kirk.

And that's the point for me, before the new movie, I only liked Kirk. Now, after the movie, after watching Chris Pine as a younger Kirk (an alternate Kirk without a father, who despite this and other changes, is still 'Kirk' as we know him at his core), I'm actually more impressed with him as a character than I ever was before.

Chris Pine's Kirk was great. He was great because he's got me rewatching TOS and appreciating Shatner's Kirk in a whole new way. Not because I think one is better than the other, no, I think both actors play the character fantastically. But Pine was able to portray Kirk without stooping to imitation. It was all in the little things. The way he walked, moved, some of the looks he gave, even some of the ways he said things, they all reminded me of Shatner's Kirk.

As a result I have a better appreciation of Kirk, both Shatner and Pine's versions.

But I wouldn't say one is better than the other. They're both great in their own ways.

That's probably the closest to how I feel. Well that, and Pine is incredibly hot--Shatner never did it for me, but Pine?

I already prefer Quinto to Nimoy (thats not something I ever thought would happen)

For me that's probably the one that will never happen. I thought Quinto was awesome and amazing, but Nimoy just is Spock for me. And I crushed on Nimoy's Spock as a kid.

I do like that both Nimoy's Spock and Quinto's Spock literally co-exist in the same universe. That's pretty cool.

 

[tomalak301]

I have been reading this thread and the opinions are quite interesting. I don't know what it is about the original series Shatner that I couldn't grab hold to. He wasn't bad, and there were many times when I did like him in Seasons 1 and the front half of season 2, but I really did enjoy him better in the movies. It might be the Toupee issue, or just Shatner being more mature, but whatever it is, that doesn't mean kirk in the series was bad.

As for quality over quantity, I think it should be measured on Quality. The first thing I thought after leaving the theater the first night was a sense of "Ok, I've seen the movie, what next." Maybe I do want a series because I want to see these characters more. With what we have though, I liked the energy Pine brought to Kirk that I never saw from Shatner. If Kirk is known as this brash arrogent SOB, I do perfer Pine's take on it but again, not taking anything away from Shatner.

As for Quinto and Nimoy, sorry but whenever I saw Quinto, I thought he was going to rip someone's head off on numourous occasions.

 

[Jeyl]

At least Shatner's Kirk apologizes.

 

[TrekNut87]

I like them both, but I prefer Pine's Kirk over Shatner's, not by much though.

Both of them bring a certain unquieness to the character that really makes each man's portrayal his own. I thought Pine did an outstanding job of capturing the essence of Kirk, while still making him believeable. His cockiness and self confidence just really clicked with me when I first saw the movie and had me screaming inside my head "Ok, this IS Kirk, no question about it."

When I watch Shatner's Kirk honestly, I just want to laugh. Not because he was exceptionally bad, I did think he was pretty good, but his hamminess and tendancy to overact is what killed his portrayal for me.

As for Quinto and Nimoy... I actually thought Quinto was better than Nimoy, which, coming from me is huge, because I really like Nimoy and had a major crush on Spock (I still do to tell the truth )

 

[Trilliam]

Was it hamminess, or coming from a stage background projecting to the back of the theatre? Look at other tv programmes of the era, are the actors that much different?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Was it hamminess, or coming from a stage background projecting to the back of the theatre? Look at other tv programmes of the era, are the actors that much different?

As regards the first point, that's a false choice - it's hamminess and theatricality.

As regards the second point...depends on the actor. Shatner is good, and likeable, and popular, but he was not then and is not now one of the great actors of his generation on TV, movies or stage.

I'm sentimentally attached to Shatner's Kirk, in the first year of TOS. Given where he went with the character in the later seasons and certainly in the movies it's not difficult to prefer Pine in several respects.

 

[Trilliam]

I started rewatching TOS yesterday, obviously from season 1. 2 things I've noticed:

1) So far, Shatner is yet to "go over the top" - then again our local tv actors here, may be over the top anyway, so I can't see the difference.
2) Watching WNMHGB - the new Trek movie is spot-on, capturing the ambience of this episode at least. Well for my money anyway. YMMV.

 

[indranee]

Shatner had plenty of quiet moments to balance out his "over-the-topness". I believe that accusation was distilled during the syndicated years and I don't really find much truth to it. sure, he was a bit theatrical in the role, but he made it his own.

 

[Vicki]

Pine, very much so.

I'm sorry to say I that I've never really liked Shatner's style of acting. I was always aware that he was acting.

For me anyway, Pine IS Kirk.

 

[Phantassm]

Same here. It's "Jim Kirk". Shatner had the task of playing a character. He created a beloved icon. Pine had the even harder task of stepping into the Starfleet issue boots of said icon, hoping his feet were big enough.

He did and they were.

Kudos to them both, for giving life to Captain James Tiberius Kirk.

Well said!

 

[Tralah]

As much as I loved TOS, it was Spock that made it one of my favorite shows. I didn't care that much for Shatner's acting at all, and found the character of Kirk to be rather annoying at times. So, it's easy for me to prefer Pine's take on the character. His extra hotness doesn't hurt either. Even Shatner in TOS didn't turn me on the slightest, but Pine? (Although he doesn't hold a candle to Quinto).

For Spock, I'd say I love both Nimoy's and Quinto's take on the role equally. I don't think I can choose between the two at all.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

As much as I loved TOS, it was Spock that made it one of my favorite shows.

This is true too. When Trek ran on NBC, Spock was the "breakout character."

Shatner hads his subtle and underplayed moments and was quite good - but the vast majority of that is in the first year of the series. Kirk became a parody of himself in the later years.

 

[indranee]

actually, when I re-watch TOS, I find he did some of his best work in some of the worst eps in S2 and S3.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

I already prefer Quinto to Nimoy (thats not something I ever thought would happen) and Saldana to Nichols (more understandable, given that Uhura has been revised to be far more dynamic and important to the story). The others are fine, except for Pegg, who is grossly miscast and needs to be replaced.

Urban stole the movie. Every moment golden.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

When talking about Shatner's "overacting," I think we also need to examine some of the material that he was given at the time, where there really couldn't have been any other interpretation. I think Chris Pine would run into the same problems if you gave him the script for "The Enemy Within" or "Turnabout Intruder."

So far, I can't forsee a time where I will prefer Pine over Shatner but I think there may be a time when they will be equals. This new movie had moments where I thought Pine totally nailed the role, particularly when he was flirting with Uhura. But there were others where I didn't think he fit quite as well. But then, it's very hard to say because we're also looking at the character at a very different point in his life.

I'd say we need to give it at least one more movie to see if the character grows into something more recognizable and to see if Pine, Quinto, & Urban develop the same chemistry that Shatner, Nimoy, & Kelley did.

I already prefer Quinto to Nimoy (thats not something I ever thought would happen) and Saldana to Nichols (more understandable, given that Uhura has been revised to be far more dynamic and important to the story). The others are fine, except for Pegg, who is grossly miscast and needs to be replaced.

Quinto better than Nimoy? That's crazy talk. Heck, I think Mark Lenard & Tim Russ both better captured the essence of Spock than Quinto did.

In some ways, I'd say Saldana is the closest to her predecessor of any of the new cast. Although, her sassyness is more like Uhura from the movies (particularly The Search for Spock & The Final Frontier) than Uhura from the original TV series.

It's obvious that Simon Pegg isn't at all trying to do anything resembling James Doohan. Yet Scotty had so little to do on the original series, I don't at all begrudge Pegg's new take on the character, owning it in a way that Doohan never did.

But again, we may need to wait and see these characters grow into something more recognizable, particularly developing the intense workaholism of Kirk & Scotty.