If you could choose any Director...
- Thread starter DAMjim
- Start date
Bryan Singer.
We almost got him too...
We almost got him too...
i wouldn't want stracsyzinski(whatever) within a mile of Trek in any capacity except as a live target for the newly hatched Jem'hadar platoon's first live-fire exercise.
i'd go for Michael Bay
*really piss people off!*
i'd go for Michael Bay
*really piss people off!*
I actually think I'd go for one of the prolific directors from DS9 such as Mike Vejar or Allan Kroeker. I could also imagine Mike Rymer from nuBSG doing a very good job.
I know they're tv directors mainly (as far as I know anyway) but I have the impression they'd be able to pull it off really well. In Vejar's and Kroeker's case you'd have the bonus that they know a fair amount about making good Trek.
Otherwise, I think I'd possibly go for somebody such as Ridley Scott (if he was even remotely close to Blade Runner form when making it). I think he'd be able to tell a good story and create a great style and atmosphere.
Speaking of style, I think Soderbergh might be interesting. Although I wouldn't want Trek to be like that, I really like his "Solaris" and wish he'd make more SciFi films. I just love his visual style and (in many cases) the way he tells his stories.
I know they're tv directors mainly (as far as I know anyway) but I have the impression they'd be able to pull it off really well. In Vejar's and Kroeker's case you'd have the bonus that they know a fair amount about making good Trek.
Otherwise, I think I'd possibly go for somebody such as Ridley Scott (if he was even remotely close to Blade Runner form when making it). I think he'd be able to tell a good story and create a great style and atmosphere.
Speaking of style, I think Soderbergh might be interesting. Although I wouldn't want Trek to be like that, I really like his "Solaris" and wish he'd make more SciFi films. I just love his visual style and (in many cases) the way he tells his stories.
Well obviously if you're ok with Trek remaining as bland as Voyager and Enterprise then there's no need, but given that Straczynski is a massive fan of the original series, and B5 itself is a far superior version of DS9 (which I love), it's a no-lose situation.
Straczynski raised a franchise from scratch, even when the market was completely dominated by Star Trek at the time. He also wouldn't stand for network intervention, which apparently Berman/Braga yielded to with both Voyager and Enteprise.
I can't think of a better showrunner for any future Star Trek series than Straczynski.
^
Honestly, I'd probably have a problem with him myself. At the time when B5 and DS9 were on, he seemed to be bent on bashing DS9 at every turn. Suffice it to say that didn't sit well with me at the time, and it still doesn't today.
Don't get me wrong, I'd give it a try and would be happy to see him turn it into something interesting. However, I'm not sure that's what would happen.
Another thing, which is probably more important, is that I've found most of what JMS has created outside the B5 tv show to be somewhat underwhelming. For example, most of the B5 movies IMHO were pretty bad. So I'm not sure he'd necessarily bring an upturn.
And for the record: B5 is NOT a better version of DS9 - it's a great version of something very different IMHO
Honestly, I'd probably have a problem with him myself. At the time when B5 and DS9 were on, he seemed to be bent on bashing DS9 at every turn. Suffice it to say that didn't sit well with me at the time, and it still doesn't today.
Don't get me wrong, I'd give it a try and would be happy to see him turn it into something interesting. However, I'm not sure that's what would happen.
Another thing, which is probably more important, is that I've found most of what JMS has created outside the B5 tv show to be somewhat underwhelming. For example, most of the B5 movies IMHO were pretty bad. So I'm not sure he'd necessarily bring an upturn.
And for the record: B5 is NOT a better version of DS9 - it's a great version of something very different IMHO
I was kind of lukewarm on JMS's Star Trek pitch, truth be told. A lot of it seemed like warmed over B5 ideas (a mystery why the captain was appointed? Gosh!) part of it seemed to not get the point (JMS seemed to think that exploring space was a dubious notion), but I did like his idea to try and court literary writers into writing episodes on his show, he got a lot of the archetypal relations right, and, given his track record with B5, I would have been interested to see what he'd come up with.
Hmm. That reminds me.
I'd also like to see Andrei Tarkovsky's take on Star Trek. I love his Solaris, and also Stalker, as two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made.
Hmm. That reminds me.
I'd also like to see Andrei Tarkovsky's take on Star Trek. I love his Solaris, and also Stalker, as two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made.
----> Trek Movies. 
To be fair, he was fairly justified to hold a grudge IMO. Common knowledge that B5 was originally pitched to Paramount, who held the series bible long enough to come up with the idea of DS9, before rejecting JMS's series proposal.
- Huge story arc set against the backdrop of a galactic war
- A space station set next to a transfer point/wormhole
- An everyman captain who becomes a spiritual leader
- A feisty female second-in-command
- Enigmatic God-like aliens who mold the captain to their will/need
- A supposedly insurmountable enemy who enlist a decadent power close to home
- A recent occupation that involved the subjugation of a religious people
- They get a kickass starship with which to take on the enemy
- The beligerent super enemy are beaten only by an alliance of the region's superpowers
- At the end of the series, the Captain, about to die, is taken in by the god-like aliens
Which series am I on about?
B5 was written first, announced first, filmed first (The Gathering preceded Emissary).
Given the above, if I were JMS, I'd take every chance I could to take a swipe at DS9 as well. Fortunately, I'm not him, I've not been sleighted, and I loved both!
JMS's criticism of DS9 broadly took two forms, from what I've read on the internet.
1) Being irked about the apparent 'coincidences' that happened on DS9. Examples he mentioned which Angel didn't were the Homefront/Paradise Lost arc (which even used an actor B5 was using prominently in its own version), and that DS9 had a redhead named Leeta (i.e., like Lyta).
2) Theories as to what was behind this. JMS said that Berman and Piller would not have been privy to the B5 Bible and if they were they'd never intentionally plagarise him, it was the Paramount execs who were drip feeding them 'hints' which they were taking, unbeknowst to the DS9 creators and writers, from his bible.
This is distinct from his complaints against Star Trek in general.
There was only one admitted influence B5 had on DS9: Robert Hewitt Wolfe said the series' use of the term Grey Council made him change the name of the Grey Order in a script of his... to the Obsidian Order. Many others, like Ira Behr, are adamant to this day they haven't watched B5.
And I'm adding David Lean to the names of directors I'd like to see tackle Star Trek only who all happen to be dead.
1) Being irked about the apparent 'coincidences' that happened on DS9. Examples he mentioned which Angel didn't were the Homefront/Paradise Lost arc (which even used an actor B5 was using prominently in its own version), and that DS9 had a redhead named Leeta (i.e., like Lyta).
2) Theories as to what was behind this. JMS said that Berman and Piller would not have been privy to the B5 Bible and if they were they'd never intentionally plagarise him, it was the Paramount execs who were drip feeding them 'hints' which they were taking, unbeknowst to the DS9 creators and writers, from his bible.
This is distinct from his complaints against Star Trek in general.
There was only one admitted influence B5 had on DS9: Robert Hewitt Wolfe said the series' use of the term Grey Council made him change the name of the Grey Order in a script of his... to the Obsidian Order. Many others, like Ira Behr, are adamant to this day they haven't watched B5.
And I'm adding David Lean to the names of directors I'd like to see tackle Star Trek only who all happen to be dead.
^^ You forgot the Dukat/Ducat one as well
Robert Foxworth was the actor in question, who turned up in Homefront/Paradise Lost. They killed him off off-screen on B5 in a very off-hand manner
I think as far as cast goes though, B5 had their fair share of Trek thespians; Walter Koenig, Majel Roddenberry, Dwight Schultz, Vaughan Armstrong are the obvious ones that spring to mind.
Robert Foxworth was the actor in question, who turned up in Homefront/Paradise Lost. They killed him off off-screen on B5 in a very off-hand manner
I think as far as cast goes though, B5 had their fair share of Trek thespians; Walter Koenig, Majel Roddenberry, Dwight Schultz, Vaughan Armstrong are the obvious ones that spring to mind.
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