Good freaking lord: the movie

[jayrath]

It appears that, besides being penned by toy writers, the new film will be crewed by production cronies and male models whose finest past work was "Xena" and "Hercules."

Perhaps these performers' best work is yet ahead of them, but the bar seems to be set rather low. Here's the biggest budget of any "Star Trek" film, and it's not being spent on the finest writers and actors possible?

If this tanks, "Star Trek" really will be dead.

 

[Amaris]

jayrath said:
It appears that, besides being penned by toy writers, the new film will be crewed by production cronies and male models whose finest past work was "Xena" and "Hercules."

Perhaps these performers' best work is yet ahead of them, but the bar seems to be set rather low. Here's the biggest budget of any "Star Trek" film, and it's not being spent on the finest writers and actors possible?

If this tanks, "Star Trek" really will be dead.

Maybe they are. Maybe they haven't had a chance to really do what they want to do. Maybe they lack direction or motivation. Who knows? I don't think it helps, however, to cast them aside, as it were, before they've had their chance to show how good they can be.


J.

 

[Kelso]

jayrath said:
It appears that, besides being penned by toy writers, the new film will be crewed by production cronies and male models whose finest past work was "Xena" and "Hercules."

While it's true that Karl Urban, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have all worked on Xena and Hercules... I don't think anyone could classify those two shows as "their finest past work"

Everyone has got to start somewhere.

 

[Maurice]

Have you *seen* William Shatner in "Alexander the Great" or Nimoy in "Zombies of the Stratosphere"? How can you cast stones at actors for having played on Herc and Xena when the original Kirk and Spock played such awful parts earlier in their careers? It's both unfair and hypocritical.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

^ TOS may have been saddled with mediocre actors, but at least Gene Roddenberry made it a point to engage heavyweight LitSF writers to pen episodes even if some - such as A.E. van Vogt and Philip José Farmer - turned in treatments that were unfilmable on a television budget and schedule.

TGT

 

[RAMA]

jayrath said:
It appears that, besides being penned by toy writers, the new film will be crewed by production cronies and male models whose finest past work was "Xena" and "Hercules."

Perhaps these performers' best work is yet ahead of them, but the bar seems to be set rather low. Here's the biggest budget of any "Star Trek" film, and it's not being spent on the finest writers and actors possible?

If this tanks, "Star Trek" really will be dead.

Well they're not exactly Shakespeare, or even A C Clarke, but perhaps your post is a misrepresentation of the facts. The writers have worked on "Alias": a well received show in general; Mission Impossible III(good critical reaction); The Island (an above avg SF action movie); and of course the ultra successful Transformers. If the studio is looking for currently "in demand" writers that will produce a big action/adventure that will finally make ST movies a major box office draw, then they've made the right move. The budget and talent are the right match.

PS Simon Pegg is a male model? Who knew!

RAMA

 

[shatastrophic]

The God Thing said:
^ TOS may have been saddled with mediocre actors, but at least Gene Roddenberry made it a point to engage heavyweight LitSF writers to pen episodes even if some - such as A.E. van Vogt and Philip José Farmer - turned in treatments that were unfilmable on a television budget and schedule.

TGT

There is nothing mediocre about Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, and William Shatner

 

[GodThingFormerly]

shatastrophic said:
There is nothing mediocre about Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, and William Shatner

Compared to, say, Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole in Becket or Innokenti Smoktunovsky and Mikhail Nazvanov in Hamlet these clowns would have been lucky to make it as far as their respective high school drama clubs.

TGT

 

[Kegek]

^
King Lear is better, and anyway, the best thing about both of these Russian adaptions of Shakespeare is Dmitri Shostakovich's score.

In any case, Star Trek has been the purview of strictly TV writers for decades now. I'm afraid that's not something that's going to change, which is a pity - its action-adventure element has been elevated at the expense of all else.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Advice: see the movie. Then decide it if it's good.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

ssosmcin said:
Advice: see the movie. Then decide it if it's good.

I don't need to eat a dog turd to know that I am not going to enjoy the flavor.

TGT

 

[Mr Awe]

The God Thing said:
^ TOS may have been saddled with mediocre actors, but at least Gene Roddenberry made it a point to engage heavyweight LitSF writers to pen episodes even if some - such as A.E. van Vogt and Philip José Farmer - turned in treatments that were unfilmable on a television budget and schedule.

TGT

As far as I'm concerned, it's the difference in writing that made TOS timeless and what has made the more "modern" series age badly and more quickly.

Mr Awe

 

[The Laughing Vulcan]

More advice: Ignore the film, donate your money to charity, save a whale or something. Watch the movie when it comes on free to air TV.

 

[Forbin]

I.... I liked Xena.
In amidst all the camp and comedy, there was, occasionally, some absolutely stunning human drama.

 

[Smiley]

Why not wait for a trailer and/or reviews before passing judgment on a movie?

BTW, why is this here and not in the Trek XI forum?

 

[Kegek]

Forbin said:
In amidst all the camp and comedy, there was, occasionally, some absolutely stunning human drama.

Think that's the Trek XI equation - camp, comedy, and some drama just for kicks?

 

[Warped9]

The God Thing said:

ssosmcin said:
Advice: see the movie. Then decide it if it's good.

I don't need to eat a dog turd to know that I am not going to enjoy the flavor.

TGT

:thumbsup:

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Warped9 said:

The God Thing said:

ssosmcin said:
Advice: see the movie. Then decide it if it's good.

I don't need to eat a dog turd to know that I am not going to enjoy the flavor.

TGT

:thumbsup:

Indeed. All indications are that this movie will suck more than Little Oral Annie.

 

[Mallory]

Smiley said:
BTW, why is this here and not in the Trek XI forum?

Because I like Lord Garth and Kira's Mom.

Maybe TBonz will disagree, but I don't have a problem with the occasional Trek XI thread in here. Especially if it relates to the original series in some form or fashion.

 

[Amaris]

Brutal Strudel said:

Warped9 said:

The God Thing said:

ssosmcin said:
Advice: see the movie. Then decide it if it's good.

I don't need to eat a dog turd to know that I am not going to enjoy the flavor.

TGT

:thumbsup:

Indeed. All indications are that this movie will suck more than Little Oral Annie.

What indications say that?


J.