How Would You Have Done Star Trek (2008)?

[AC84]

Time to play pretend!

Lets say Paramount came to you, a recently established filmmaker on the rise of popularity, to do the next Star Trek feature--which is a big project equal only to its budget. They want preproduction to start very soon, so you're going to pitch them your idea for that greenlight next week. In the meantime, all these thoughts and concepts are undoubtedly swarming around in your head. Time to get down to business. To write down something preliminary and think about what you'll probably end up doing the week after next. What phones calls you will make and to who.

So...

How would you have gone about it? What direction would you take?

Who would you hire to write, score and do the special effects for the film? Would you stick with the old production crew from previous films and series? Or bring in young fresh blood? Who would you get to direct if not you?

Would you have an idea in mind for the story? Which future century would the film take place and what alphabet letter, if any, would come after NCC-1701? Or perhaps you're sick of doing the Enterprise. Do you even have a title?

What actors would you consider for your characters? Are the characters original or already established icons?

And last but clearly not least, would you follow the written bible that is canon? If so, how strongly? Or would this be a new beginning? If so, what kind of new beginning? What would you carry over, if any, from the old canon into your new canon?





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I'll start off, but I don't have time to go into any great detail.

*Overall Direction*

I'd have gone down a similar rout they're going down now. A TOS Prequel set on the Enterprise. It will be only loosely set in the old canon, but clearly consistent in look and feel with TOS and the previously established continuity. Just slightly updated à la Singer's Superman Returns. Meaning the sets will have a strong resemblance to the old sets and overall art design, but updated with modern times. I'd be more conservative with the actors than J.J. Abrams was. Meaning the actors simply must have an equally strong resemblance to those original actors, but not to the point where I'd be picking relative unknowns. I want the studio to be happy and have confidence in this picture.

*Story*

The story would probably be Commander James T. Kirk about to take command from Captain Christopher Pike at the very start of the five year mission. And it would go like this:

After the promotion ceremony of Kirk and Pike aboard the Enterprise, a sudden new assignment is given to the USS Enterprise, which happens to be sitting in drydock, nearing the end of its refit. The Federation has lost contact with another one of its starships in an uncharted sector of space. The Enterprise is to lead a small fleet of medical and science ships to the unknown area of space, not knowing what to expect. Sensing the importance of the mission, both Fleet Captain Pike and Commodore April, who was attending the ceremony, butt heads for temporary command of the Enterprise despite Kirk being assigned as CO just moments ago. Eventually, Starfleet Command swings in favor of April, making Pike the XO. During their mysterious journey, Kirk must prove himself as the rightful Captain of the Enterprise.

*Art Design*

The look of the Enterprise is a mish-mash kit-bash of the two pilot models with missing hull plating for a more cool, detailed appearance and unfinished look. Taking a page from Transformers, the Enterprise has a battlemode appearance in the case of shield failure. The most significant change in appearance would be the bridge dome lowering itself within the primary saucer-section hull to look more like the bridge dome we saw on the actual series.

The only sets that will be faithful to the original pilot sets will be the bridge and transporter rooms, but even those will be significantly updated. The bridge will have the same structure and layout (including the exact shape of the central command chair) but the consoles and display screens will look more like Archer's bridge from Star Trek: Enterprise if not more advanced. I liked how Pike's overhead display screen(s) looked like one big display screen with smaller minimized information boxes/windows like our computers! All bets are off for main engineering, corridors and other rooms like the shuttlebay, but I'd ask my art director to come with designs that are at least somewhat recognizable. No recognizable Warp Core. I always thought those were silly and impractically placed....out in the open....three yards away from the entrance doors. Engineering will have one or two big eye-candy objects for sure. But they'll be more realistic and maybe even caged like in TOS.

Seeing as how I still see nothing wrong with the old uniforms, the uniforms would be very faithful to the two pilot uniforms in appearance unless my costume designers "wows" me, which I'm sure she...err...they will [/political correctness]. I'd definitely implement minor changes, including a much needed structured ranking system. The audience will actually be able to tell rank apart from the the arm sleeve braids which will be lifted from TMP. The Enterprise arrow-head patch will be more dynamic and prominent like in WNMHGB. The colors will stay the same except engineering/operations will be gold as well, instead of the light purple we saw on the pilots. Personnel will be wearing the correct department symbols on their patches. A lot of you may be rolling your eyes thinking this is a huge mistake, but I honestly think the only reason those old costumes look dated is because of the hair styles of the actors.

*Cast*

Kevin Connolly ...... Captain James T. Kirk

Mark Wahlberg ...... Lieutenant Gary Mitchell

Zachary Quinto ...... Spock

Ray Liotta ...... Fleet-Captain Chris Pike
(Ray would be ask to lose 40 pounds)

Stephen McHattie ...... Dr. Boyce

Michelle Forbes ...... Number One
(The actress will have the same hairstyle and will be given a name)

George Clooney ...... Commodore Robert April

 

[Jon1701]

Before Abrams came along I had no idea what to do. Pretty much thought Star Trek was dead.

I still had hopes of flogging the TNG corpse (repairing some of Nemesis's damage) but I didn't really think that would happen. It was a terrible way for that franchise to die out, which is one of my big Star Trek regrets. Deserved better than that.

All things considered, a recast TOS movie is a great idea - it's come at the perfect time for the franchise. I'm glad they are doing it and frankly, its the only idea has the potential to recapture the imagination of joe public and the disenchanted and fractured fan base.

Oh, and Michelle Forbes would be a great number 1.

 

[Plum]

Certainly, recasting and redesigning the TOS universe for a new age (like now baby) would have been the way I'd have gone.

Though, personally, I'd have begun rather like TOS did and not gone the "young Kirk and Spock meet" origin story route. I've always maintained Trek works best when the characters come upon a story as opposed to the story being about them.

I still love how WNMHGB begins... just jumps right into the story and doesn't bother with any set-up. It assumed the audience was smart enough to keep up.

Having said that I find the JJ Abrams effort is certainly making their "Star Trek Begins" (a la, Batman Begins) interesting - a story with terrific scope, if reports are any indication.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think Abrams has the right general idea. I would have cast Eion Bailey as Kirk and Paul McGillion as Scotty. And Michael C. Hall was born to play a Romulan.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

There's a lot to be said for the "in media res" kind of introduction that WNMHGB represents - I find most pilots pretty dull, particularly those bloated 90-minutes-plus-commercials affairs intended to introduce one hour dramas.

Nah, I won't be parked in front of the TV for "Sarah Connor" this evening - but if I hear good things about the show after a couple of weeks I may jump into it in the middle.

 

[aridas sofia]

I'd have set the story about forty years before TOS, and picked up some nondescript deep space mission right smack dab in the middle of some boring mapping assignment. And taken it from there, with the best SF writer I could lure proposing stories to my team of Hollywood scribes. I'd spend a year getting all the techy and science stuff right, and try very hard to do something noted more for being a good film than being a good Star Trek film.

All of which might be a death knell for anyone hired to make a Trek film.

 

[number6]

Five simple words:
Cute Cuddly Alien Space Nazis!!

 

[T'Cal]

I would've made a miniseries based on one of the novels, namely Imzadi, Crossover, The Devil's Heart, Dark Mirror, or Q-Squared. I would've updated the story to fit it post-NEM onboard the ENT-E or Titan. While I am very open-minded about JJA's film and am impressed by all of the confirmed information, I am a bigger fan of TNG. I believe the ensamble cast-series based in the 24th century are better suited for TV while the epic stories of Kirk, Spock, and Bones are better off on the big screen.

 

[ancient]

First, I'd budget $100 mil towards a resurrection machine to be used to recreate Roddenberry, Deforrest Kelly, and James D.

Then I'd budget another $20 mil on research into satanic rituals to be used to reclaim their souls.

And $2 million in lightning insurace.

After having drummed up a huge amount of free advertising in the form of protests and possible exile to Brazil, I'll use the remaining ~20 mil to pay Shatner, GR, DK, and JD, as well as any other former trek actors willing to work for $4.50 an hour, to do improv in my basement for 3 hours.

The result will be available exclusively on-line for $100 per view.

I bet it'll make ~$500 million.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'd want to do something pretty much like what they're doing, but much more visually similar to the original series than this redesigned version.

Mind you, you didn't say I had to be responsible for turning a profit for the studio. I'm just pleasing myself, here.

 

[Holytomato]

"How Would You Have Done Star Trek (2008)?"

Exactly the way JJ Abrams & Co. are doing it. :thumbsup:

Ohhh wait...sorry...

Continue TNG!

Continue Enterprise

 

[trevanian]

23rd century, but not with established beloved characters. Maybe April or Pike era. I've already mused over the notion of taking the unused PLANET OF THE TITANS storyline and working that over, so you have an action adventure film with some (if folks are inclined to look for it) mythological aspect.

Alternately, I would do a film that is a ship to ship thing like BALANCE OF TERROR; in fact, I remember outlining on trekbbs back in 2000 or so how to make BOT into a first voyage of the E feature if you threw continuity out the window. I wouldn't choose to do a recast trek, but I'm saying if you did, BOT has all the elements to intro the cast, especially if you spend another 35 minutes on amplifying aspects of the story.

I'd cast the film like THE RIGHT STUFF, using good actors who didn't cost an arm or a leg, and hire tech folks who already shoot and cut in a style that works for my look (say, Ron Cobb for art direction, for one.) Music, I'd go with Christopher Young if he could trot out another Goldsmith-like thing like his unused stuff for the INVADERS FORM MARS remake.

Most importantly, I'd shoot ON FILM, and I'd shoot at least a third of the film on location, and I would absolutely use miniatures for at least the beauty shots of the ships. I'd want the thing to look like MY conception of STAR TREK, certainly not something that was Bermanesque in the slightest.

Now if we were talking series instead of feature, I still like doing the e-b, since that is an 'end of the frontier era/beginning of boring utopia' series of stories.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Like this current production, I would go back to the original characters and their relationships, delving into who they are and what made them chose the life that they are leading. To help write and develop the story, I would go outside to some of the current crop of science-fiction writers such as Cory Doctorow and John Scalzi.

Visual, I would retain the silhouettes of the original ship and the interior; as well with the uniforms. I would bring in scientific advisers from JPL and consult with futurists to project what is on the horizon into the 23rd century. I would, however, keep things recognizable so that a 21st century audience could still relate to it.

Above all the story, setting and technology should be about humans like Trek has always been. Those things should never get in the way, as Roddenberry stated in interviews, of the story about the people. It should all be background that brings out the story of our characters.

 

[Kegek]

Naturally, I'd like to ad one very pragmatic caveat: This is me outlining a Star Trek movie that in all likelihood would only appeal to me. And I don't mean 'hardcore Trek fanbase' or some other subset, I mean me, period. This should seem clearer with what I've outlined below. If I was really given the reins of the franchise, I'd probably be trying to do what Abrams is doing now - he seems to be moving in a pretty financially sound direction.

This caveat in mind...

Overall Direction:
Okay, I'm going to say this is a TOS reboot. I don't really have any great ideas; but for the re-imagining I have in mind going back and latching on to some familiar basics makes sense. This is, for reasons many others have pointed out, in medias res. It's not about Star Trek as a mythos, it's not about how iconic these characters are. We know that. I'm not going to explain who Kirk and Spock are; the original series never did, and audiences today would know far more then those who initially tuned in. It's about an interesting science fiction adventure using the Trek framework. It's not even about the reboot.

Story:
I'd buy the rights to a good sci-fi novel - or at least an interesting sci-fi novel or short story - and then have the premise reworked into a Star Trek script. I don't know which one, but most definitely a space opera that has a prominent use of a starship (or could be concievably rewritten to be such a story). Could be anything; from the mind-bending perplexities of Dick to the sharp satire of Laumer. Whatever the heck strikes my fancy.

Art Design:
Two words: Art Deco. Everything is Art Deco. Interiors, exteriors, et cetera. Our characters should look like they wandered out of a Tamara de Lempicka painting. Furthermore, this film is a CGI rotoscoping animation, like Renaissance and A Scanner Darkly. Those films really impressed me; particularly in the former case how such an evocative - and stylish - future world could be constructed on such a small budget. This could easily be a leaner budgeted film than Abrams', but with his budget I could really go nuts on this Art Deco animation. I'd want it to look it as strongly as painting-like as possible.

Cast:
Nobodies. In fact, more than one - I'd cast different actors to be rotoscope models than the ones who are cast as the voices. I'm not looking for actors who mimic Shatner, Nimoy et al; I'd want these actors to resemble the archetypes of these characters. A tall, thin actor with a reserved body language would make a good Spock in my mind.

Music:
Get me Philip Glass. I'd want a symphonic score from him. Or buy the rights to any of his pieces, same difference .

So, as you can see, this is an obviously abysmal idea for a franchise movie. Nobody really wants to see Star Trek as a pretentious moving Art Deco painting with a Philip Glass soundtrack, except me.

I just hope whatever we do get is a fun ride. :thumbsup:

 

[Plum]

Kegek said:
Art Deco

Gotta say... all the ships designed for the ST: The Motion Picture were pretty much Art Deco.

So, been there, done that.

 

[Kegek]

We haven't done a stylised Art Deco painting in motion.

 

[Plum]

I so don't understand that sentence.

 

[Kegek]

Heh. I thought it was kind of obvious from my post. Let me put it this way: The movie is animation. Animation made to look like, well, this, stylistically.

That's certainly a bit different from TMP, no?

 

[Plum]

That??? Isn't that a famous Canadian cubist artist??? That's just wild, design wise.

 

[Kegek]

Polish, actually. Tamara de Lempicka. And yeah, it's totally wild. And cool as hell. I love it!