Are there any SPECIAL EFFECTS that you actually like in TFF?
- Thread starter Phantassm
- Start date
And you seriously think Avatar would have been still nominated with only subpar VFX?
Someone else did write the screenplay. David Loughery wrote it, from a story by Shatner, Harve Bennett, and Loughery. Shatner conceived the story, and as the director he guided the screenwriting process in conjunction with Bennett as producer. But he didn't actually write it himself.
The problem was more in the concept than the writing. They got hung up on the "search for God" idea, and when it became clear the studio wouldn't go for it, they just watered it down and left it kind of pointless. What they should've done was started from scratch and come up with a different premise altogether.
And that when there's nothing wrong with the "search for God" idea at all. Indiana Jones was looking for the Holy Grail the same year for crying out loud!
Yeah, it's classic Trek. They find "God", he turns out to be a nasty alien with delusions of grandeur. God knows why Roddenberry hated this film, it's right up his street.
Oh wait, I know. It's because he had no say in it.
Ugh. give someone else a chance to be creative Gene. sheesh.
Apparently that alien was meant to be the devil. Fans were upset that Indy would go on to do the alien thing. Imagine what they would be like if Star Trek did the supernatural thing
Got to agree. I loved Avatar but BEST PICTURE??
The story borrowed so many elements from other films and its message hit you over the head so hard. It was not worthy of best picture or even to be nominated for that matter. It was a decent film held to higher regard due to visual effects alone.
A lot of people seem to like the bridge for some reason, but to me it's the ugliest one of the films with the original crew.
As for reworked effects, Shatner asked Paramount for the money to do that when the film the first two-disc DVD of the film was released. Paramount said no.
^ I agree. In some shots it looks kinda nice.
My favourites are the TWOK bridge and the TUC bridge
My favourites are the TWOK bridge and the TUC bridge
Which happens to be the TFF bridge only with a different (much better, in my opinion) color scheme, though.
It was never meant to be the devil, that's an urban legend. It was always meant to be an alien impostor, using the imagination of Kirk, Sybok, etc... against them. So first he claims to be God, showing them all possible images of all the various Gods (like in the movie), and when they start to doubt him, he gets angry and turns into the frightening image(s) of the devil, and attacks them.
Actually, Shatner himself has said initially, he intended the God pretender to be the devil and that would mean God exists by inference. It's pretty well documented in most of the interviews of the time and in his own "making of" book(s).
William Shatner: "With Harve and the studio suits both worrying that my story, featuring appearances by both God and Satan, would more than likely offend a lot of moviegoers, Harve came up with the idea that perhaps we should alter the story and turn God and Satan into an evil alien pretending to be God for his own gain. This was a huge change, lightening the script considerably, and as I look at it now I can clearly see my acceptance of this most basic revision as my first mistake."
William Shatner: "With Harve and the studio suits both worrying that my story, featuring appearances by both God and Satan, would more than likely offend a lot of moviegoers, Harve came up with the idea that perhaps we should alter the story and turn God and Satan into an evil alien pretending to be God for his own gain. This was a huge change, lightening the script considerably, and as I look at it now I can clearly see my acceptance of this most basic revision as my first mistake."
pffft. First mistake, besides deciding to direct.
Yeah, just like Nimoy demanded to direct Star Trek III in order to return as Spock...
Seriously, all this hatred for Shatner is just amazing, especially since the thread was supposed to be a discussion of the SPFX for TFF.
Seriously, all this hatred for Shatner is just amazing, especially since the thread was supposed to be a discussion of the SPFX for TFF.
I always understood it more as a matter of contractual dictate -- the "favored nations" clause saying that anything Nimoy got, Shatner would get too, and vice versa. Since Nimoy had gotten to direct, that meant Shatner was entitled to a directorial gig as well.
Because it could be rationalized as an alien psionic ability rather than something divine or magical. If you call it "telepathy" or "psionics," give it a Latin or Greek name, then people perceive it as Science even if it's functionally indistinguishable from mysticism.
