Do repeated viewings of Star Trek 09 hold up so far?

[Wynterhawk]

I had my second full viewing yesterday after *finally* receiving the dvd from Amazon. I was surprised how much more I'd enjoyed it. I was pretty lukewarm about it the first time round. It definitely improved the second time. I'm certain it will continue getting better upon subsequent viewings.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Yes.

No.

For you, no. For me, yes. Might as well argue with me on "rabbit season" vs. "duck season."

 

[mattburgess]

Franklin - "Well, I've taken the time to read the novelization of the movie."

LOL!!!!!!

MyRojo - "So you've never watched a movie more than once?"

No, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying why watch it constantly for days (as people have done here - 12 viewings and it only came out a week ago!).
With a running time of 122 minutes (just over 2 hours) - that's 24 hours worth of sitting in front of the tv watching the same movie over and over again, in a period of time shorter than a week.
A whole days worth of stuff you could have been doing. Books you could have read, work you could have got done, exercise, being sociable, learning new skills, another language, first aid, etc etc etc. At the very least, a variety of different films.
And watching the same film so much, you'll start seeing all the flaws in it, you won't forget what happens next, you'll never be surprised by it - basically, you'll just get bored with it so much quicker.
I'm sure this opinion will make me very unpopular, but I don't care. I still think there's so much more people could be doing with their time off than watching the same film over and over again.

Middyseafort - It'th Wabbit Thhhhheason!

 

[Bad Atom]

The plot holes are more obvious on repeated viewings but fortunately the film's just so much gosh darn fun that I can still enjoy it.

 

[Borgminister]

Not gonna dredge up an old thread but thought it might fit in under the "repeated viewings" heading--the IMAX in Monterey is still showing Star Trek. It started by itself, was then paired with and outlasted Transformers and subsequently Harry Potter.

This last week, it has had 24, 14, 20, 14 and 45 people, M-Fr, 15 minutes before showtime, respectively. At 13 (14 online) bucks a pop, you can see the theater is still making money, because people are still flocking to the movie.

With 5 1/2 hours before tonight's showing, 9 people have already purchased tickets...

After 17 or so times, and having purchased the Blu-Ray, I'm afraid I'll likely not be going to the IMAX again, but knowing it can still pull in people makes this old Trek heart happy...

 

[Jeri]

^ Mine, too. Thanks for the news, Borgminister!

 

[Devon]

I actually found upon repeated viewings that the film got a little deeper than the viewing before. I definitely favor the first half of the film to the second half, but we aren't talking about a huge margin here.

I also noticed that some of the F.A.Q.s became "answered" upon paying close attention to the film.

 

[Gertch]

Man, I thought I was crazy watching it 5 times on DVD. My family certainly does. But I guess I'm in great company.

Each time I pick up on another element that just makes me say wow. For example, when Spock materializes after his mother dies the dirt on his cheeks makes him look like child Spock. At the same moment we have child and mature Spock dealing with the death of his mother wonderfully played by Quinto.

So yes, repeated viewings do hold up. I'm almost sorry to say I enjoy this one the most of all the Trek movies. And this from a TOS first runner.

 

[T'Cal]

My family and I saw it 9 times at the theaters and I've watched it twice on DVD. Yes, it holds up. I still get choked up at George and Winona's conversation. Many non-fans of past Trek have made a point of telling me how much they enjoyed this film. My kids convinced my 76 year-old mother to watch it and she was misty at the aforementioned scene and when Pike turns over the Enterprise to Jim. She's also not a fan but thoroughly enjoyed the film.

Like most, I tend to rewatch movies I enjoy but I often find myself nitpicking the details and looking for flaws. It drives me crazy! But, the ones in this movie are so minor I look past them with relative ease and enjoy the story. Generations OTOH gets worse with each viewing. I want so bad to like this film but the plot holes are so glaring that I just get aggravated. It has a few really good scenes but not enough to make up for the bad ones.

 

[T'Cal]

... For example, when Spock materializes after his mother dies the dirt on his cheeks makes him look like child Spock. At the same moment we have child and mature Spock dealing with the death of his mother wonderfully played by Quinto...

You are so right! I saw that too.

 

[Clancy_s]

The first time I saw the movie I was pleased Spock got the girl but now I wonder if it'll make the character less appealing to today's geeky teens.

Yes, really. You said it yourself that you were pleased; and I think you don't have to worry, because personally I don't think it's going to last.

I'm not worried as such - just commenting that although I'm a Spock lover it wouldn't have been my call.

Going on the commentaries JJ really likes the Spock / Uhura romance so it may stick around, but if we're going to get 2 hours every 3 years or so (? x3) they're probably not going to get enough depth of character development for it to matter.

MyRojo - "So you've never watched a movie more than once?"

No, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying why watch it constantly for days

IMO varying degrees of obsessive compulsive trait, at least for me. I watched it 5 times in the theatre, bought the novelisation, managed a sub whilst waiting for the Bluray and have watched the bluray 5 times in 5 weeks.

Which will probably do me for a year or so, but up to a (fairly saturated) point I like total immersion in a story I love. I see stuff I missed the first time and it's relaxing and reassuring (high stress day job).

As that's not your way you'll probably never empathise with it, anymore than I empathise with people who like watching football or who care how big the Enterprise is: just accept it as harmless folly.

 

[Classic Fan]

Yeah, it holds up pretty well. Ive watched it twice at home in the past week and three times in the theatre.

There are plot holes here and there, but they do get answered to an extent. I notice a lot more in home viewing. Especially tiny little details thrown into the mix whether they be sounds i havnt noticed before, references i havnt noticed etc etc.


But, i have my gripes along with the next person, but, its an alternate reality so i dont give a damn, all that i give a damn about is that the film is a helluva load of fun to watch.

 

[mattburgess]

Clancy_s wrote:

mattburgess wrote:

MyRojo - "So you've never watched a movie more than once?"

No, that's not what I'm saying, I'm saying why watch it constantly for days

IMO varying degrees of obsessive compulsive trait, at least for me. I watched it 5 times in the theatre, bought the novelisation, managed a sub whilst waiting for the Bluray and have watched the bluray 5 times in 5 weeks.

Which will probably do me for a year or so, but up to a (fairly saturated) point I like total immersion in a story I love. I see stuff I missed the first time and it's relaxing and reassuring (high stress day job).

As that's not your way you'll probably never empathise with it, anymore than I empathise with people who like watching football or who care how big the Enterprise is: just accept it as harmless folly.

A fantastic explanation and perfectly understandable. I can certainly empathize with it, when it's explained so well. Good job.

(I don't understand peoples' obsessions with football, either, or the need to work out exact lengths of the Enterprise, or the desperation to make all books/films that disagree with each other fit some sort of continuity, when it clearly doesn't. Ah well, to each their own.)

 

[Nerys Myk]

shouldn't the Kelvin and it's crew look like they were from "The Cage". Shouldn't they have been wearing those uniforms...

Doesn't the opening of the movie take place twenty years (or so) before the Cage? Why would they have the same unforms?

 

[Cyke101]

shouldn't the Kelvin and it's crew look like they were from "The Cage". Shouldn't they have been wearing those uniforms...

Doesn't the opening of the movie take place twenty years (or so) before the Cage? Why would they have the same unforms?

Yeah, I thought the uniform color schemes were more than enough to link the opening to The Cage, even if the colors were switched (after all, red disappeared between ENT and the Cage, and TMP also had a blue/yellow structure that was largely interchangeable).

 

[Harvey]

The uniforms worn by the Kelvin crew are different than the ones worn twenty years later, though. The color schemes are completely different than the red-gold-blue (which doesn't make a bit of sense considering Enterprise used the same red-gold-blue color scheme, but alas, Starfleet just seems indecisive when it comes to settling on a uniform).

I'm still not a big fan of the opening with the Kelvin. George Kirk's sacrifice strikes me as melodramatic rather than genuine emotion, although the score goes a long way almost selling the scene.

Spock Prime's explanation of what happened in the 24th century still is a muddled mess. It's easily the weakest plot point of the movie, although it's far from the weakest scene, since Nimoy so effortlessly sells it.

The characters (save Nero, who had his role reduced by half in the editing room if the deleted scenes are any indication) are all wonderful, and easily the strongest part of the movie. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are pitch-perfect in their roles. Uhura is stronger here than she ever was before, save, perhaps, her scenes in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

I'm noticing the influence of Star Wars more and more, though. Not only the brief appearance of R2-D2 and the film's use of the hero's journey structure, but the errant line of dialogue ("Punch it!" and "I hope you know what you're doing"). I hope the series moves away from that vein in further installments.

All in all, my reaction to the movie hasn't changed much. I still rather like it, although it's not the best in the series.

 

[Amaris]

I am on my 20th viewing. It is still awesome.


J.

 

[Tom Servo]

You know, all I can say is this:

Even though we have analyzed this film do death, nit picked the good and the bad, and gone over every error or mistake with a fine toothed comb, whenever I hear that Leonard Nimoy speech at the end, the Enterprise jumps to warp, and TOS theme starts playing, I have a huge smile on my face.

And thats all that matters to me.

 

[Gepard]

The more distance I get from my original viewing, the more I realize my core issue with the film is the character of Kirk and all that surrounds his development (or lack thereof) ; he's a douchebag. I hate that guy. Last night, I skipped to some random, Kirk-free parts and discovered I rather enjoyed them. Then, bam, Chris Pine entered the frame in and my feelings went sour. Given that the hero's journey archetype mentioned by Harvey is given to Kirk, it's pretty difficult to ignore his impact on the movie; arguably, this movie should be his story, not Spock's, but Spock is the only one who gets any real character arc.

Repeated viewings, to me, just emphasize the movie's sloppy elements. I can see why people like it so much – there are a lot of fun moments – but as I don't like the protagonist(s), Trek XI still gets a thumbs down.

 

[startrekwatcher]

NO, in fact it only makes the flaws with the film more noticeable. The first time through it is entertaining enough and so fast-paced that you don't get a chance to process everything. Then going back you can absorb it and reflect on it and all the plot holes really stick out and issues there from the first time are still there i.e. weak villian in Nero, lack of emotional resonance, the underwhelming inclusion of Spock Prime. The film is really just a hollow bit of sound and fury. It didn't re-ignite my enthusiasm for Trek unfortunately, in fact, it made me realize maybe Paramount should have just have left it be.

I'm sure there were a lot of new fans created and I won't begrudge them their enjoyment or the fact there is another film coming--this simply is just a Trek film for this generation and simply doesn't appeal to my tastes--but that isn't anything new since I find a lot of contemporary entertainment--tv, films, music--quite lacking and shallow.

I have no problem with action films but they usually have more than just big explosions and visuals--they at least attempt to have a tiny bit of a core.