Bad plot devices in Star Trek movies

[Jeyl]

In other words, it was a little more realistic and not the hippie Utopian dream of the 60's. DS9 was the same way -- what Star Trek *should have been* from the start.

DS9 had women in command, big huge set pieces, no rappelling, energy shields, a believable Captain and a true love for what Trek is all about. It took the real risks Star Trek needed. Not risks that involve blowing up planets, but ones that questioned what the whole message of Star Trek was about.

EDIT
And did I mention the female officers didn't wear short skirts?

 

[Shazam!]

And did I mention the female officers didn't wear short skirts?

Such a shame : (

 

[urbandk]

Bad plot devices:

TMP: doomsday device
TWOK: doomsday device, deadbeat dad, aging crew
TSFS: leftover doomsday device, deadbeat dad, aging crew
TVH: time travel, doomsday device, aging crew
TFF: attemps at humor, the whole movie
TUC: aging crew
GEN: doomsday device
FC: time travel
INS: never saw this one
NEM: khan redux, doomsday device, other assorted lameness
STXI: khan redux, doomsday device, time travel

 

[SilentP]

I'm not sure how aging crew is a bad plot device in some of these movies. Care to elaborate? Especially in regards to TUC?

 

[John Picard]

In other words, it was a little more realistic and not the hippie Utopian dream of the 60's. DS9 was the same way -- what Star Trek *should have been* from the start.

DS9 had women in command, big huge set pieces, no rappelling, energy shields, a believable Captain and a true love for what Trek is all about. It took the real risks Star Trek needed. Not risks that involve blowing up planets, but ones that questioned what the whole message of Star Trek was about.

EDIT
And did I mention the female officers didn't wear short skirts?

Mmmm, I think DS9 did have rappelling, but either way, you hit many of the points on the head regarding DS9. The female characters were solid and active, not mere background fodder. The stories were gritty and realistic, proving that humanity isn't going to undergo some miraculous evolution in 400 years and just trot around the galaxy.

 

[Ssosmcin]

To me, TOS was always about Kirk, Spock, McCoy & Ensign Redshirt beaming down to some wacky planet, being greeted by scantily clad bitches and then uncovering some nefarious shit.

There it is, the only way to ever describe Star Trek to anyone again! I bow to the awesomeness of this and will steal it forthwith.

Going in my signature line, right...about.....now.

 

[Shazam!]

lol

 

[urbandk]

I'm not sure how aging crew is a bad plot device in some of these movies. Care to elaborate? Especially in regards to TUC?

"Another crisis, we're too old for this!"/"Let's get the old gang back together again!" was a little stale by the time of TUC.

Don't get me wrong, I love TUC especially, but if the Simpsons could make fun of it, I know I'm not alone in my opinion.

 

[Chimpy Chompy]

Tho I did like Trek11, I'm kind of bored of time travel myself.

 

[Myasishchev]

I agree with this, not necessarily the down-to-Earth part though.

Engineering and the Shuttlebay Areas being shot on location in a real Brewery.

Yeah, this sucked. I was really disappointed in the lack of imagination here. They had the budget for an unbelievably impressive engineering set/CGI thing, but they went for the gritty feel of Space Mutiny.

Vulcan having a clear blue sky instead of an orangy/red sky.

Now this doesn't bother me a bit, and shouldn't be a bother. Vulcan has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. It should preferentially scatter blue light toward observers on the ground. Outside of Australia-like atmospheric conditions (and thanks Therin for those cool pics ), M-class worlds should ordinarily default to a blue sky. Trek's fetish for using weird colors for skies and seas despite the fact that no planet with a green sky or purple ocean is going to be remotely pleasant (ah, the Planet of P-T Extinction is such a nice place to visit) has always bugged me, and I was surprised and pleased that they got away from this.

Big plastic freezer drapes that separate sections of a shuttle craft.

All right, this struck me as both cheap and stupid. I thought, "Hey, why is Robau restocking the chicken tenders at a time like this?"

 

[JarodRussell]

Detonating a warp core to escape a singularity. First time in Insurrection was actually rather nice. Second time... not so much.

 

[Bones2]

^
Especially as instead of maliciously and pointlessly firing at the Narada (it was a goner anyway), they could have made a quicker escape.

 

[Jeyl]

^
Especially as instead of maliciously and pointlessly firing at the Narada (it was a goner anyway), they could have made a quicker escape.

Why...... what was the point?.........It's like if a man was sinking in quick sand and you offered to help him. He says no but instead of just walking away, you pull out your gun and shoot him! And the time it you to completely unload on him, you find yourself sinking in quicksand. WHAT WAS THE POINT!? It's neither heroic or brave, it's just kicking someone while they're down and are about to meet their end anyways.

Arena? Where are you? Oh, good. There you are.

Spock: You mean to destroy the Alien Ship captain?
Kirk: Of course.
Spock: I thought perhaps the hot persuit alone might be sufficient. Destruction may be unnecessary.
Kirk: Colony Cestus III has been obliterated Mr. Spock
Spock: The destruction of the alien vessel will not help that colony Jim.

Star Trek 09? Any words?

Kirk: Show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulas. It's logic Spock. Thought you'd like that.
Spock: I just lost my entire planet. To hell with logic!
Oh, I'm sorry. I was quoting the book.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.

......I don't want Spock to put aside logic.......

 

[JarodRussell]

^
Especially as instead of maliciously and pointlessly firing at the Narada (it was a goner anyway), they could have made a quicker escape.

Why...... what was the point?.........It's like if a man was sinking in quick sand and you offered to help him. He says no but instead of just walking away, you pull out your gun and shoot him! And the time it you to completely unload on him, you find yourself sinking in quicksand. WHAT WAS THE POINT!? It's neither heroic or brave, it's just kicking someone while they're down and are about to meet their end anyways.

Arena? Where are you? Oh, good. There you are.

Spock: You mean to destroy the Alien Ship captain?
Kirk: Of course.
Spock: I thought perhaps the hot persuit alone might be sufficient. Destruction may be unnecessary.
Kirk: Colony Cestus III has been obliterated Mr. Spock
Spock: The destruction of the alien vessel will not help that colony Jim.

Star Trek 09? Any words?

Kirk: Show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulas. It's logic Spock. Thought you'd like that.
Spock: I just lost my entire planet. To hell with logic!
Oh, I'm sorry. I was quoting the book.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.

......I don't want Spock to put aside logic.......

Hey great, may I use this post in a discussion over at the ST XI forum?

 

[Mr. B]

Earth in danger has to take the top spot in spite of the abomination we got thanks to an "alternate universe."

 

[Jeyl]

Hey great, may I use this post in a discussion over at the ST XI forum?

Sure!

 

[thumbtack]

And did I mention the female officers didn't wear short skirts?

Right, just those skin-tight catsuits that really let an actress know why she is in the show.

 

[Jeyl]

Right, just those skin-tight catsuits that really let an actress know why she is in the show.

And where do you see me praising or even mentioning 7 of 9 or T'Pol?

 

[Aike]

Why...... what was the point?.........It's like if a man was sinking in quick sand and you offered to help him. He says no but instead of just walking away, you pull out your gun and shoot him! And the time it you to completely unload on him, you find yourself sinking in quicksand. WHAT WAS THE POINT!? It's neither heroic or brave, it's just kicking someone while they're down and are about to meet their end anyways.

That is not true. Narada would have gone thru the black hole and ended up somewhere else. They had to destroy it or it would start all over in another time period.

Arena? Where are you? Oh, good. There you are.

Spock: You mean to destroy the Alien Ship captain?
Kirk: Of course.
Spock: I thought perhaps the hot persuit alone might be sufficient. Destruction may be unnecessary.
Kirk: Colony Cestus III has been obliterated Mr. Spock
Spock: The destruction of the alien vessel will not help that colony Jim.

Star Trek 09? Any words?

Kirk: Show them compassion may be the only way to earn peace with Romulas. It's logic Spock. Thought you'd like that.
Spock: I just lost my entire planet. To hell with logic!
Oh, I'm sorry. I was quoting the book.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.

......I don't want Spock to put aside logic.......

In Where No Man Has Gone Before, Spock recommended that Kirk killed Gary Mitchell before he became too powerful. Maybe he was more logical there since he was older and hadn´t lost his mother, but he still sometimes recommend a violent solution to problems.

 

[Myasishchev]

Yeah, it should've been more clearly explained, but I'm okay with pursuing the Narada past the point of no relativistic return,since they had seen it pop into and out of a black hole once already, without a scratch.

Detonating a warp core to escape a singularity. First time in Insurrection was actually rather nice. Second time... not so much.

This kind of bothered me. No matter the kinetic energy of the explosion, it should not have been able to push the Enterprise past the escape velocity of a black hole. Of course, maybe they weren't beyond the Schwarzchild/Kerr/whatever radius after all, as they don't actually say. But even if it was just being drawn toward the event horizon, though, a working exception to the rules of gravity strikes me as muchmore useful in that sort of circumstance than using an extremely inefficient antimatter rocket.

Bugged me worse in Insurrection, though. At least it's common sensical that a explosion pushes. But why should a bunch of gamma rays and neutrinos close a hole in spacetime?