CBS/Paramount sues to stop Axanar

[Squiggy]

I see that has come to pass...

To be fair, they only said they were reaching out. They could've called Shatner's agency and offer him the role and posted they were offering it to him. Doesn't mean there's a chance in sweet-shit the actor would take it.

And why wouldn't a guy with a gig on Luther want to star in someone's fan film for next-to-nothing?

 

[Squiggy]

Don't know who this guy is, but he nailed the Axanar situation some months ago over on Reddit:

The Case For Not Funding Axanar

Do you need that much money to put Richard Hatch in a turtle head and make him shoot torpedoes that move at 10 miles an hour? Because between the cast saying "edgy" things like "bitch-whore" that's about all Prelude was.

For the life of me I don't see why so many hardcore fans wank over this so much. Is it only because it's set in the Prime Universe?

 

[Mudd]

For the life of me I don't see why so many hardcore fans wank over this so much. Is it only because it's set in the Prime Universe?

For all that many fans insist that the story content of nuTrek is what they object to, they spend a lot of time complaining about the way it looks. I suspect a lot of the support for Axanar goes no deeper than the fact that sets, costumes, make-up designs and so forth are so heavily TOS-influenced.

 

[oswriter]

For all that many fans insist that the story content of nuTrek is what they object to, they spend a lot of time complaining about the way it looks. I suspect a lot of the support for Axanar goes no deeper than the fact that sets, costumes, make-up designs and so forth are so heavily TOS-influenced.

I think a lot of it also has to do with how Peters and Burnett aggressively marketed themselves as "real fans" who knew what other fans wanted. I'm not saying that's true, but after some of the silly PR missteps by Bad Robot--e.g., hiding the true identity of Kahn, Abrams admitting he wasn't a big Trek fan--a certain subset of fandom was receptive to the idea of proving Bad Robot "wrong" by embracing a professional-seeming production overseen by "true believers".

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

Don't know who this guy is, but he nailed the Axanar situation some months ago over on Reddit:

The Case For Not Funding Axanar

That was one of the few things I saw that kept me from donating to the Indigogo.... the questions raised there were legitimate, and never really directly dealt with by production. (ie. what's stoping the scope creep/budget bloat).

I loved Alec's tirade... it just demonstrates that he doesn't really get it.

 

[Mudd]

Yeah, probably that as well.

There's a real lunatic fringe that's active on Facebook - the aforementioned Para Mobius being a ringleader - that's been pushing Axanar for exactly that reason.

 

[SuperSpaceMan]

I think a lot of it also has to do with how Peters and Burnett aggressively marketed themselves as "real fans" who knew what other fans wanted. I'm not saying that's true, but after some of the silly PR missteps by Bad Robot--e.g., hiding the true identity of Kahn, Abrams admitting he wasn't a big Trek fan--a certain subset of fandom was receptive to the idea of proving Bad Robot "wrong" by embracing a professional-seeming production overseen by "true believers".

That sort of makes sense, but then I go back to TWoK... which is universally seen as one of the best, if not THE best Star Trek Film released.. it's typically rated in top 100 of all time films, and neither the EP, nor the Director were fans....

 

[starburst]

Not to forget his 'vision' of:

1. Setting up a company to further profit from Star Trek in an underhanded manner (Lincoln Enterprises)
2. Rewriting good scripts
3. Gaming the Hugos to get episodes nominated for awards
4. Underwriting female characters (Deanna Troi was to have four boobs, Tasha Yar was based on [some would say ripped off of] Vasquez from Aliens)
5. Casting his mistress as the lead female on the pilot of his show
6. Sleeping with one other actress on his show and promising her that he'd give her more to do when he didn't

I could go on and on, but I won't-you all know the rest.

They haven't been shy on confirming that Tasha was based on Vasquez in the past and even considered the actress who played her in Aliens.

Which actress does point 6 allude to?

 

[Jedman67]

For all that many fans insist that the story content of nuTrek is what they object to, they spend a lot of time complaining about the way it looks. I suspect a lot of the support for Axanar goes no deeper than the fact that sets, costumes, make-up designs and so forth are so heavily TOS-influenced.

I was interested because I thought Prelude looked interesting, I wanted to see what else they could do. But it seems the professional 'polish' was only superficial; the way I put it on fb was: "I call bullshit, because $1.3 million and 4 years later they still don't have a cast signed. Smell the bullshit, very potent, eh?"

 

[Jedman67]

That sort of makes sense, but then I go back to TWoK... which is universally seen as one of the best, if not THE best Star Trek Film released.. it's typically rated in top 100 of all time films, and neither the EP, nor the Director were fans....

The difference is that the director of TWoK was a very good director, JJ Abrams, like George Lucas (in my opinion) is not a good director. He's great with creativity, attention to detail, worldbuilding, marketing....but he's not so good at breaking a plot into a script, nor is he so great at directing actors (not bad...just mediocre). I"ll grant that he has been extremely successful at churning old films into popcorn blockbusters, but so is Michael Bay and nearly everyone agrees that the Transformers franchise leaves much to be desired. Or Ninja Turtles (The Onion had a field day).

 

[Tim Thomason]

They haven't been shy on confirming that Tasha was based on Vasquez in the past and even considered the actress who played her in Aliens.

Which actress does point 6 allude to?

Nichelle Nichols, maybe.

 

[GeorgeKirk]

Not to forget his 'vision' of:

1. Setting up a company to further profit from Star Trek in an underhanded manner (Lincoln Enterprises)
2. Rewriting good scripts
3. Gaming the Hugos to get episodes nominated for awards
4. Underwriting female characters (Deanna Troi was to have four boobs, Tasha Yar was based on [some would say ripped off of] Vasquez from Aliens)
5. Casting his mistress as the lead female on the pilot of his show
6. Sleeping with one other actress on his show and promising her that he'd give her more to do when he didn't

I could go on and on, but I won't-you all know the rest.

Gene's idea of what Star Trek was varied so much between 1964 and 1991 that the only sure answer to the "What Would Gene Roddenberry Do?" question is:

1. Try to make money from Star Trek.
2. Try to have sex with any woman that was not legally his grandmother.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Rewriting good scripts

I don't know about that. GR was a pretty good rewrite man and probably had a better grasp of what could be done on TV than some of the original writers.

 

[Jedman67]

Again -- these guys are utter buffoons and idiots when it comes to public relations.

I almost want to join that "Axanar Fan Group" just to post this so the sheep over there can get a dose of much needed cold water.

I tried that. A few people listen, everyone just rages. It's not worth it except for the trolling value

 

[jamestyler]

The difference is that the director of TWoK was a very good director, JJ Abrams, like George Lucas (in my opinion) is not a good director. He's great with creativity, attention to detail, worldbuilding, marketing....but he's not so good at breaking a plot into a script, nor is he so great at directing actors (not bad...just mediocre). I"ll grant that he has been extremely successful at churning old films into popcorn blockbusters, but so is Michael Bay and nearly everyone agrees that the Transformers franchise leaves much to be desired. Or Ninja Turtles (The Onion had a field day).

I'd say the difference was expectation with a hint of rose tinted glasses and to a large degree in a small minorty of fans, emotional dysfunction.

There are some who violently and aggressively pick apart flaws with the new whilst with the same anger and passion defend flaws of old or pick apart JJ for not being a fan, yet pass over/forgive others for committing the sane sin.

 

[Jon1701]

I think a lot of it also has to do with how Peters and Burnett aggressively marketed themselves as "real fans" who knew what other fans wanted. I'm not saying that's true, but after some of the silly PR missteps by Bad Robot--e.g., hiding the true identity of Kahn, Abrams admitting he wasn't a big Trek fan--a certain subset of fandom was receptive to the idea of proving Bad Robot "wrong" by embracing a professional-seeming production overseen by "true believers".

Nobody knows what the fans want. Such a bullshit argument. I'm a fan and I dont even know what I want.

After 50 years there are so many fans, so rich, so diverse that pandering to the lunatic fringe is ridiculous. If that's the Star trek they want, good luck to them. Unfortunately it looks like they didnt play by the (unwritten) rules.

A good friend of mine loves DS9, doesn't care much for the other shows. He's still a fan. My Dad has so many episodes of TNG on his Virgin (tivo) box and doesn't know how to delete them but ask him to name a character from Enterprise and he'd come unstuck. He's still a fan.

All this true believer spirit of Gene Roddenberry crap makes me annoyed.

We all love at least one incarnation of this show, a lot of us (on here) like all the shows. Some have very specific likes and dislikes. The great thing about Trek is there is an episode for every mood, action, comedy, drama...even the "pew pew pew" has its place ( I hate that quote).

All this "they speak for all fandom" is bollocks.

 

[Ion]

For all that many fans insist that the story content of nuTrek is what they object to, they spend a lot of time complaining about the way it looks. I suspect a lot of the support for Axanar goes no deeper than the fact that sets, costumes, make-up designs and so forth are so heavily TOS-influenced.

Dunno. I know Prelude caught my attention simply as a somewhat unique take on Star Trek, which gave me hope for more good Star Trek. That it was prime universe, or not nuTrek, was irrelevant. One Trek every few years just isn't enough.

But then I learned some of the details of who was behind it, and my excitement level dropped to a vague hope.

Nobody knows what the fans want. Such a bullshit argument. I'm a fan and I dont even know what I want.

 

[E-DUB]

Not so much about the suit but just a general statement. There was a time when everybody knew what Star Trek was. Star Trek was a science fiction television show set in the twenty-third century aboard the Starship Enterprise as it "trekked" about our corner of the galaxy and featured James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy, and starred William Shatner, among others.

Now since then, we've had movies, twenty-second century and twenty-fourth, a non-starship setting, a distant setting, different characters, and different actors portraying the "big three".

My point is that Star Trek isn't just one thing anymore. As, was it Whitman, said: "It contains multitudes." Maybe you liked "Prelude", maybe you didn't but even if you didn't, you must concede that there were plenty who did. My feeling is the more Trek there is, the likelier it becomes that they'll be some that you like, whichever directions your taste may lean.

I know that there are people who gag at the concept of "Roddenberry's vision". Well, that's a fairly easy thing for me to articulate: To use the medium of science fiction to make commentary on contemporary society and to do so in a manner which both entertains and provokes thought. If it only entertains but offers nothing more, then what is it that you can't get in a dozen other places?

 

[Franklin]

Nobody knows what the fans want. Such a bullshit argument. I'm a fan and I dont even know what I want.

After 50 years there are so many fans, so rich, so diverse that pandering to the lunatic fringe is ridiculous. If that's the Star trek they want, good luck to them. Unfortunately it looks like they didnt play by the (unwritten) rules.

A good friend of mine loves DS9, doesn't care much for the other shows. He's still a fan. My Dad has so many episodes of TNG on his Virgin (tivo) box and doesn't know how to delete them but ask him to name a character from Enterprise and he'd come unstuck. He's still a fan.

All this true believer spirit of Gene Roddenberry crap makes me annoyed.

We all love at least one incarnation of this show, a lot of us (on here) like all the shows. Some have very specific likes and dislikes. The great thing about Trek is there is an episode for every mood, action, comedy, drama...even the "pew pew pew" has its place ( I hate that quote).

All this "they speak for all fandom" is bollocks.

Where are the emojis on this new site? Oh. There they are. OK.

If I knew what I wanted, I'd be on Indiegogo right now trying to get it produced.

I get a lot of, "Eewws!" from folks when they find out I love anchovies. But no one has ever told me that because I do, I obviously don't know what real food is, and I've never told anyone that because they can't appreciate them, then they don't know what good food is.

The following is probably a bit over-stated (just a bit), but true Trek for Gene Roddenberry was whatever sold.

 

[seigezunt]

Yeah, probably that as well.

There's a real lunatic fringe that's active on Facebook - the aforementioned Para Mobius being a ringleader - that's been pushing Axanar for exactly that reason.

That nitwit saved me $20. I guess I have to be thankful.