How well did Countdown tie in with the film? [spoilers]

[BorgPhil]

Well, not perfectly tbh.

Firstly, I have to say, without the Countdown backstory, I can imagine Nero's motivations might seem a bit weak and not particularly well fleshed out.

as for the continuity?

well, the Jellyfish itself says it was commisioned by the Vulcan Science Academy - hmm - unless Geordi is a member of the VSA, not quite.

Spock Prime in the film says he was on his way to save Romulus when the star went nova. Was he? Don't think he was.

I'm aware this is just good nit-picking, and ultimately Countdown did a great job in providing some backstory. Calling Worf over to the Narada like he would do with Robau and Pike was a nice touch.

 

[SalvorHardin]

Yes, there were a couple of problems there
But I'll have to see the movie again to pick up and remember everything.

One thing that I remember is mentioning the Hobus star as just a supernova while it was made clear in the comics that it was more than that, an unusual powerful phenomenon.

 

[Eddie Roth]

I suppose it would've required the exposition to go into way too much detail with too much potential to confuse if they had clarified the nature of the Hobus star in the movie. I thought the mind-meld scenario was pretty apocalyptic as it was.

 

[Jono]

Was it clear in the movie that the star wasn't the one Romulus orbited?

Also in the movie they make no mention of the Naranda's Borg implants. They also make it seem like Spock and Nero meet for the first time during after Spock has created the blackhole.

Very minor, in the comics the Naranda is shown to be armed with phasers/disruptors while in the movie she just has those missile things.

 

[Corran Horn]

No mention of the Enterprise-E being there (I thought a quick visual would've been cool) during the Jellyfish/Narada final encounter in the 24th century.

 

[DarthPipes]

Spock mentioned that the Narenda's captain "called himself Nero and said he was the last Romulan emperor." He said it in a way like they hadn't met until that point but they clearly had some kind of relationship.

 

[RAMA]

Well, not perfectly tbh.

Firstly, I have to say, without the Countdown backstory, I can imagine Nero's motivations might seem a bit weak and not particularly well fleshed out.

as for the continuity?

well, the Jellyfish itself says it was commisioned by the Vulcan Science Academy - hmm - unless Geordi is a member of the VSA, not quite.

Spock Prime in the film says he was on his way to save Romulus when the star went nova. Was he? Don't think he was.

I'm aware this is just good nit-picking, and ultimately Countdown did a great job in providing some backstory. Calling Worf over to the Narada like he would do with Robau and Pike was a nice touch.

Commissioned, not designed or built.

RAMA

 

[Destructor]

No mention of the Enterprise-E being there (I thought a quick visual would've been cool) during the Jellyfish/Narada final encounter in the 24th century.

Well, I got the impression the film was trying to make Spock's basckstory as simple as possible for the uninitiated.

 

[Jeri]

I was definitely glad we got "Countdown" first; I'm getting the tie-in as soon as it comes out so I can find out details.

 

[Myasishchev]

Was it clear in the movie that the star wasn't the one Romulus orbited?

I thought it was pretty clear, if not explicit, from the fact that Spock-1 had time to even fail. Eight minutes probably wouldn't be enough.

I totally haven't read Countdown--I don't understand how they couldn't protect Romulus from a supernova in another system, by say putting a shielded starship far enough out that its "shadow" would encompass Romulus, or at least evacuate the planet in the years they had remaining. Or was it more of a Praxis-type, for-some-reason-much-faster-than-light natural disaster?

 

[Jono]

It had to be much faster than light, I don't think there is a set timeline of events but the events of Countdown from learning that the sun is starting to erupt to the destruction of Romulans seems at most to be a few weeks. The star seemed to be continually exploding with each eruption reach further and further out from the star.

 

[ThereAre4Lights]

I thought it was pretty clear, if not explicit, from the fact that Spock-1 had time to even fail. Eight minutes probably wouldn't be enough.

I totally haven't read Countdown--I don't understand how they couldn't protect Romulus from a supernova in another system, by say putting a shielded starship far enough out that its "shadow" would encompass Romulus, or at least evacuate the planet in the years they had remaining. Or was it more of a Praxis-type, for-some-reason-much-faster-than-light natural disaster?

Praxis-type stretched to the extreme and with no explanation whatsoever. At least in the Praxis case, they had the decency to handwave the issue by calling it a subspace shock wave. Here, they don't go beyond vague and ambiguous statements like "something we never seen before", "extremly unusual" and so on.

 

[Lynn Minmay]

I just read Countdown and was pleasantly surprised.

Aside from the TNG reunion it was a decent read.

 

[Eddie Roth]

Was it clear in the movie that the star wasn't the one Romulus orbited?

I thought it was pretty clear, if not explicit, from the fact that Spock-1 had time to even fail. Eight minutes probably wouldn't be enough.

I totally haven't read Countdown--I don't understand how they couldn't protect Romulus from a supernova in another system, by say putting a shielded starship far enough out that its "shadow" would encompass Romulus, or at least evacuate the planet in the years they had remaining. Or was it more of a Praxis-type, for-some-reason-much-faster-than-light natural disaster?

They explained it as a somewhat unusual phenomenon where the star expands and increases its energy even more with every planet etc. it absorbs. Which is why, after Romulus, the rest of the galaxy, is in danger too. Nero blames Spock for Romulus' destruction because he thinks the Vulcans only became concerned about the problem when they found out it would affect them as well, not caring either way what happened to Romulus.

The Romulan senate, IIRC, didn't take the problem seriously either because the Hobus star was far away. Then, when they realized it would reach them, the only thing they had time to do was evacuate the senate members, save their own asses - which is why Nero kills the praetor on sight and takes his staff that is described as the symbol of the Romulan Empire. Nero uses it because he deems himself the only true remaining Romulan, or the only one who really cared about their planet.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I bought the Countdown with all4 issues onlya few day before the movie, and the good thing is that it at leasts gets the Nero part warmed up for you. As I watched the movie on Wednesday I thought "Jeez, this explanation of where he came from and his relation to Spock may seem rushed and confusing to someone who has'nt read the comic."

 

[Jeyl]

It's not too hard to come up with the conclusion that the Narada was heavily modified. In my mind, a simple mining vessel regardless of faction and timeline shouldn't be capable of destroying a whole fleet of Federation and Klingon cruisers. If their simple mining vessels are supposed to be this tough, their real warships should be able to destroy an entire planet with just one disrupter fire!

Plus there are many aspects in the film that would suggest that the ship is Borgified. For one thing there is a ton of open space which the Borg love, and the ship appears to regenerate completely even after colliding with a Federation ship that exploded on impact.

 

[Myasishchev]

Was it clear in the movie that the star wasn't the one Romulus orbited?

I thought it was pretty clear, if not explicit, from the fact that Spock-1 had time to even fail. Eight minutes probably wouldn't be enough.

I totally haven't read Countdown--I don't understand how they couldn't protect Romulus from a supernova in another system, by say putting a shielded starship far enough out that its "shadow" would encompass Romulus, or at least evacuate the planet in the years they had remaining. Or was it more of a Praxis-type, for-some-reason-much-faster-than-light natural disaster?

They explained it as a somewhat unusual phenomenon where the star expands and increases its energy even more with every planet etc. it absorbs. Which is why, after Romulus, the rest of the galaxy, is in danger too. Nero blames Spock for Romulus' destruction because he thinks the Vulcans only became concerned about the problem when they found out it would affect them as well, not caring either way what happened to Romulus.

The Romulan senate, IIRC, didn't take the problem seriously either because the Hobus star was far away. Then, when they realized it would reach them, the only thing they had time to do was evacuate the senate members, save their own asses - which is why Nero kills the praetor on sight and takes his staff that is described as the symbol of the Romulan Empire. Nero uses it because he deems himself the only true remaining Romulan, or the only one who really cared about their planet.

Overall, I think I like Nero's origin, and wish more of this had actually, you know, found its way into the movie.

As for the threat... man, might as well have made it an antitime eruption, for as much sense as that makes.

It's not too hard to come up with the conclusion that the Narada was heavily modified. In my mind, a simple mining vessel regardless of faction and timeline shouldn't be capable of destroying a whole fleet of Federation and Klingon cruisers. If their simple mining vessels are supposed to be this tough, their real warships should be able to destroy an entire planet with just one disrupter fire!

I don't see why a mining vessel shouldn't be powerful. A mining vessel's job is to crack open celestial bodies to reveal the goodies inside. The Narada is probably going to have tools even more powerful than the Scimitar or D'Deredix class warbirds' weapons, but designed with asteroid- not ship-busting in mind. The fact that she's just this mining ship is one part of Trek11 that I loved--she's not a superweapon, per se, she's just better than anything the current era has to offer.

The interior, however, looked absolutely retarded. Even worse than the Scimitar.

 

[VOODOOXI]

Without reading the comics Nero's motivation is vague at best. Even with the comic book his motivation is questionable, but at least it is clearly stated.

I would suggest reading the comic before going to see the film. Countdown was very well done.

 

[Nardpuncher]

^^^ I agree...at least when you see Nero deciding that destroying whole planets is a good idea you've at least seen him wallow in grief first-hand.

I said that semi-sarcastically, as his motivation in the film (which I adored) is very hard to believe. the comic at least shows you some stuff so that you feel him just a little bit more.

 

[Delta1]

I don't see why a mining vessel shouldn't be powerful. A mining vessel's job is to crack open celestial bodies to reveal the goodies inside.

The ability to destroy a planet ... er, I mean, the ability to extract ore from a compliant chunk of rock does not translate directly into combat power. Bucket wheel excavators are truly terrifying, immense constructs capable of cracking open the crust of our planet, but one's not going to stand a chance against a tank.