Different Favorite Character(s) than Original Versions?

[Sabataage]

It occurred to me the other day when watching XI that the characters I consider my favorites from TOS aren't my favorites in this new incarnation. Which I find funny, because at the root, they're the same characters, right?

In TOS, Kirk and Spock where my favorites. But in XI, I find McCoy advanced to the top, with a tie of Scotty and Sulu for second place.

Likewise, I never cared much for TOS Uhura, but I'm quite fond of XI Uhura, whom, all respect to Nichelle Nichols, actually seems to have a back-bone, something I know they wouldn't really allow a woman, let alone a black woman, to demonstrate back in the 1960s.

It's a bit surreal to me. Anyone else find this true?

By far the biggest improvement has to be Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike. Not just over the dude in the wheel chair in "Menagerie" but when I actually watched the full original pilot again with the original Captain Pike, I just like the Bruce Greenwood version loads more (by his first scene no less) than Jeffrey Hunter.

The cast here is almost too good. Actors like Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Simon Pegg and Anton Yelchin have and will continue to have fruitful and diverse careers outside of Star Trek. It feels like they'll almost certainly feel wasted if it the film series becomes too centererd on Pine and Quinto as the original did with Shatner and Nimoy.

My current favorite characters are "Madeline" (so-called on the DVD special features), the alien chick with chrome colored eyes on the bridge and the burly giant alien you see in the background during the Academy hearing in the hangar bay and below decks on the Enterprise in the Topedo Room. Those two need are in need of a comic tie-in.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Well, I liked Uhura better than I did in the original.

 

[Clancy_s]

Spock was and is my #1 character, in either verse.

Kirk's probably still #2, and Sulu in with the mob as he always was.

The biggest improvement in a character for me was in Pike, with Uhura a close second. I also like Chekov and Scotty better in reboot.

 

[Pauln6]

NuPike was certainly more interesting than the original. I really liked Nicholls' Uhura - she was the most competent, efficient member of the original crew (apart from Spock) and if anything I though Saldana's version seemed far less confident (but that's ok since she is only 18 in the movie). Both McCoy's are cool, although NuMcCoy is starting to look a bit racist to the modern eye.

Least favourite portrayals were NuScotty who was a tad too manic and unprofessional, and NuAmanda who seemed to have a personality bypass so that all of her sense of humour (and one assumes that to live among Vulcans one MUST have a sense of humour) was absent and we were left with a bland shell for use as a plot device.

 

[Tara]

I love Jeffrey Hunter's Pike, but Bruce Greenwood has just this twinkle in his eye that won me over completely, and I love love love that the films have given Pike a different future.

Also, I admit I like Chekov in the film more than TOS.

Sulu and Uhura in both incarnations are awesome, tho I love love love the expanded role Saldana's Uhura has in STXI. I think the structure (her and McCoy's and relationships with Kirk and Spock really worked for me, in terms of fleshing out Kirk and Spock, and highlighting the differences between the Prime Universe characters and their STXI counterparts).

McCoy was always my fave in the original series, and that holds true for the new film as well. And I have to admit, I like Jim Kirk in the new film a bit mroe than Shatner's Kirk, only because I only ever really loved Kirk in WOK, and not TOS itself.

(Blasphemy, I know. Sorry! I was a McCoy and Spock fan as a kid... Kirk just wasn't my type.)

 

[Sector 7]

Good topic!! This is something I had not thought about before.

I think my favorites have changed since the movie. Spock has always been my favorite Star Trek character since I first watched TOS in the 1970s. Now things have shifted, so here are my thoughts:

CHARACTER... TOS... ST09
Kirk.............. #2..... #2
Spock.......... #1..... #3
McCoy......... #3..... #4
Scotty......... #4..... #5
the rest
Pike............. #?..... #1

The surprises of this movie are Pike and Spock.

Christopher Pike, as portrayed by Bruce Greenwood, became the father figure for me that TOS never had. I found myself wishing I had been the one Pike spoke to in the bar, challenging ME to do better.

Spock was always the one to whom I related most in TOS. This time around he was too emotional, IMO; his relationship with Uhura was a turn off for me. Much of Spock's appeal was his alone-ness as an outcast who never really fit in, either on Vulcan or an Earth vessel. In TOS he was a child of neither world; in ST09 he became a 'child of two worlds', able to choose his own path and walk between both worlds.

 

[Shadowcat_559]

I liked the new cast a lot. While the old cast will always have a warm place in my heart, these characters were long overdue for a revamp.

Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, and Simon Pegg were my favorites of the new cast. Urban's McCoy was cranky and cynical just like DeForest Kelly. Saldana's Uhura was professional and determined. I know this comment will be controversial, but I really liked Simon Pegg's portrayal of Scotty. I liked his take on Scotty as an eccentric engineering genius. While I liked James Doohan's portrayal of Scotty, Simon brought new energy to this character.

 

[Jeri]

I was a Kirk fan then, I am a Kirk fan now. I do like all the others...

I'm with you, my friend.

 

[Beef Squatthrust]

I used to love Scotty, sadly the new one doesn't work at all for me. Not even a little bit. I've always liked Sulu, but I don't think the new one is quite as good as Takei. In fact the only one I thought was an on par with TOS was McCoy.

 

[Tribbles]

As a disclaimer, I admit that I watched the new movie first, then moved on to watching TOS.

That said, Spock is easily my favorite in both versions.

I like Kirk fine in TOS, but I admit that I don't care for him in the new movie. I am looking forward to more character development for him in the sequels and hope I can grow to love him (I really want to!)

I love McCoy in TOS, and I really enjoy his banter with Spock. Again, I'm not as taken by him in the new movie. However, my parents, both moderate TOS fans, thought Bones was the best part of the new film. They laughed at everything the man said.

I love Uhura both in the new movie and in TOS. I feel I'm able to get to know her better in the new film, though.

Chekov is boring to me in TOS, but I think he's pretty darn adorable in the new film. Sulu has little impact on me either way. And no matter who's playing him, Scotty is always lots of fun.

 

[startrekrcks]

I think all the actors in the new film were brilliant as their characters sorry if I don't have any complaints or negative views on the matter.