Could ID Opening Sequence been made into a better film.

[ConRefit79]

I did not like ST:ID. But thinking about the opening sequence has me thinking they could have made that story into a feature length film. It could have been like so many TOS episodes where they struggle to rescue some primitive people. In some ways it could have had that fish out of water quality we saw in ST:TVH. Then there's the potential drama between Kirk and Spock trying to forge a friendship.

Who knows, maybe they'll do something like that for the next one. Hollywood really needs to learn how to strike a balance between eye candy and story telling.

 

[BillJ]

Since I loved Into Darkness, I'd say it's unlikely.

 

[photon70]

I think a Star Trek movie consisting of 2 or 3 unrelated away missions, with an 'A' story to tie them together would work very well.

The best way to watch Trek in my opinion is to play 2 or 3 of your favourite episodes back to back to back.

It would be great if somebody would come up with that style of script.

 

[fireproof78]

As much as I enjoy ID (and I do, a lot), I can see the potential for expanding the concept from the first 20 minutes of a film to either a full length episode, and possibly a full length film, though I'm skeptical on the last part.

You certainly could introduce a more info dump of a sequence with Pike, debriefing Kirk and Spock after another mission, and describing this mission. That way you can bookend the film with Pike.

The above is not necessary, and you certainly can have Kirk going over the observation of the Nibiru natives and the established protocols. Once arrived, the volcanic situation can be problematic but not, threatening, though observation becomes more difficult.

As an added twist, you can have Nibiru be closer to Klingon space, or in disputed space with another power creating a tense situation where the Enterprise has to leave in order to prevent their contaminating the natives, while Spock tries to figure out a way to prevent the volcano from destroying them.

So, you can have the space action with the Klingons, and planet based action sneaking around. Could work.

 

[Kor]

This was a "James Bond intro" in my opinion, in that it was an exciting mini-story in itself, but had almost nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

And since I'm a James Bond fan, I find this perfectly OK.

Kor

 

[Mudd]

The concept from the first twenty minutes would have made a passable TNG film.

IOW,

 

[Franklin]

It wasn't a stand-alone story. I think it's purpose was to evoke the idea that Kirk and the crew had probably been in similar preposterous situations over the previous year, but this one took the cake. It set the table for Pike to finally have to admit Kirk wasn't ready for command when he got the Enterprise. The Kirk at the end of the movie would've never approached that situation on Nibiru the way Kirk did at the start of the movie.

 

[Jedi_Master]

I don't think you could have stretched the story contained in the opening sequence very far - at most an hour. Beyond that it would have become lots of TNG - style discussion options and looking at charts and conferencing.

 

[Cyke101]

It wasn't a stand-alone story. I think it's purpose was to evoke the idea that Kirk and the crew had probably been in similar preposterous situations over the previous year, but this one took the cake. It set the table for Pike to finally have to admit Kirk wasn't ready for command when he got the Enterprise. The Kirk at the end of the movie would've never approached that situation on Nibiru the way Kirk did at the start of the movie.

This is precisely it. The opening scene was the start of Kirk's character arc for the movie. According to Pike and the Starfleet Tribunal (and no doubt many viewers), the whole Nibiru situation could have been handled with a lot more care and foresight, rather than the obvious seat-of-your-pants improvisation that Kirk employed. He tried that approach with the Vengeance ("Don't worry! We're at warp! Trust me!") and it cost him the lives of several crew members. It almost cost him the ship and all hands as well, and that's why he apologizes when it seemed all was lost.

The opening scene established Kirk's ineffective command style. It was also an indictment of ST09. His style was flashy, fun, immature, and ultimately messy; good cinema, but not ideal for command. It took the events of STID to teach him that lesson.

 

[Franklin]

It wasn't a stand-alone story. I think it's purpose was to evoke the idea that Kirk and the crew had probably been in similar preposterous situations over the previous year, but this one took the cake. It set the table for Pike to finally have to admit Kirk wasn't ready for command when he got the Enterprise. The Kirk at the end of the movie would've never approached that situation on Nibiru the way Kirk did at the start of the movie.

This is precisely it. The opening scene was the start of Kirk's character arc for the movie. According to Pike and the Starfleet Tribunal (and no doubt many viewers), the whole Nibiru situation could have been handled with a lot more care and foresight, rather than the obvious seat-of-your-pants improvisation that Kirk employed. He tried that approach with the Vengeance ("Don't worry! We're at warp! Trust me!") and it cost him the lives of several crew members. It almost cost him the ship and all hands as well, and that's why he apologizes when it seemed all was lost.

The opening scene established Kirk's ineffective command style. It was also an indictment of ST09. His style was flashy, fun, immature, and ultimately messy; good cinema, but not ideal for command. It took the events of STID to teach him that lesson.

Yep. And Spock apparently having a death wish of sorts, or at least a life crisis affecting his judgement, didn't exactly provide him with a stable first officer, either. Can anyone imagine Spock Prime of that time thinking it's a good idea to be sent down into a volcano on a cable to manually detonate essentially a bomb?

 

[BillJ]

Yep. And Spock apparently having a death wish of sorts, or at least a life crisis affecting his judgement, didn't exactly provide him with a stable first officer, either. Can anyone imagine Spock Prime of that time thinking it's a good idea to be sent down into a volcano on a cable to manually detonate essentially a bomb?

To save an entire civilization? Yeah, I think Kirk and Spock of TOS would have pulled out all the stops.

 

[Mudd]

Yep. And Spock apparently having a death wish of sorts, or at least a life crisis affecting his judgement, didn't exactly provide him with a stable first officer, either. Can anyone imagine Spock Prime of that time thinking it's a good idea to be sent down into a volcano on a cable to manually detonate essentially a bomb?

To save an entire civilization? Yeah, I think Kirk and Spock of TOS would have pulled out all the stops.

On top of which, nuSpock's logic may be uncertain where the destruction of entire civilized worlds are concerned.

 

[Franklin]

Kirk Prime and Spock Prime probably would've pulled out all the stops to try to save an entire planet, but I doubt the plan in STID would've been their first choice. Of course, it may not have been the first choice in STID, either. I just have a feeling it was. Then again, it's not like TOS Kirk and Spock didn't find themselves in absurd situations. "Fools rush in...," and all.

 

[Smellmet]

Kirk Prime and Spock Prime probably would've pulled out all the stops to try to save an entire planet, but I doubt the plan in STID would've been their first choice. Of course, it may not have been the first choice in STID, either. I just have a feeling it was. Then again, it's not like TOS Kirk and Spock didn't find themselves in absurd situations. "Fools rush in...," and all.

I almost get the impression that the Enterprise rising from the water was included because of the Vengeance crashing into the water scene existed, or vice versa, in order to make a cool trailer for the movie.

 

[Kemaiku]

Almost as if there was a large body of people who's entertainment was a priority in the designing of the scene *scratches chin* I guess we'll never know.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I think it would have made a fine film, but that's not a reason to scratch Into Darkness either. Some of us enjoyed it, you know. Personally, my disappointment with it wasn't because the story wasn't all like the Nibiru sequence. I was more with the storytelling here and there. For example, I would have liked more of the attitudes of regular people after the destruction of Vulcan, like a short scene of how it affected them, and another one after the mauling of the half of San Francisco. Previous film had the mourning of the survivors from Vulcan, the new one felt like it lost an inch of empathy somewhere at the very end – or rather, it was all there, but it was there in the most busiest part where all the emotions were flowing, so it was hard to lose it. It's personal preference, I guess, but I would have picked a different kind of pause there. Like Kirk waking up in the hospital, opening a PADD and stumbling upon a video of people mourning in SF.

That would have contrasted perfectly with the opening. You started off with Kirk and Spock's to same a doomed race they knew nothing about. Then we all made that personal, with the hospital scene, switching to something we can all relate to. So somehow, making the personal bit and the mass destruction bit meet at the end in such a scene, with Vulcan's destruction also hanging in the air (there should be Vu, would have completed something that, for me, felt incomplete. Dunno, I am probably wrong.

Other than that, the storyline of both movies was fantastic. Any new films are welcome, but please don't ask for replacing them – there are other people watching.

Another note: The Nibiru sequence seemingly unrelated inclusion suggests that this is somewhat frequent for Kirk and crew. Not everyday frequent, but not something that is rare either. The new film is (hopefully) set in deep space, there are no Starfleet to go to (and at best they can come with a starship), so whatever catches up to Kirk in their routine, it will be what the next one is about. So it will be kinda like an extended Nibiru sequence...

 

[JarodRussell]

The whole bit with the ship under water should have been at the end: Kirk hiding the ship from the Vengeance where no Starfleet Captain has gone before: under water.