Alan Smithee
If you could choose any Director...
- Thread starter DAMjim
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Nicholas Meyer if, and ONLY if, he had a producer like Harve Bennett to keep him in check. He is an absolute creative genius, but he also has little respect for the trappings that make Star Trek uniquely Trek. Bennett kept his more outlandish ideas in check on TWOK. With no one to do that in TUC we got "right standard rudder," and people running around the ship with metal detectors.
James Cameron
Bryan Singer was my first reaction, but I honestly don't know how a character-oriented director would handle starships in space. It's a complete unknown. Then again, Singer knows how to deliver a coherent story. Who's to say?
My picks would be Zack Snyder, John Hillcoat, Singer and David Fincher.
My picks would be Zack Snyder, John Hillcoat, Singer and David Fincher.
GodThingFormerly
A Different Kind of Asshole
Amen. I have also long appreciated the films of Francis Ford Coppola and Terrence Malick, although their lack of experience (and interest?) in the sci-fi genre may render them unsuitable choices. David Cronenberg, on the other hand, would be a definite contender.
TGT
George Lucas 
I'll agree on Ridley Scott and Bryan Singer.
Just for the sheer fun of it, I would like to see what David Lynch would do with Trek.
Just for the sheer fun of it, I would like to see what David Lynch would do with Trek.
Wolfgang Petersen, Alfonso Cuarón, Steven Soderbergh or Peter Weir. Maybe the team of Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron.
Among dead guys, I'd would have liked to see a Star Trek film by Otto Preminger, Franklin Schaffner or John Frankenheimer (perhaps with Rod Serling adapting a suitable work of written SF) .
Among dead guys, I'd would have liked to see a Star Trek film by Otto Preminger, Franklin Schaffner or John Frankenheimer (perhaps with Rod Serling adapting a suitable work of written SF) .
^ I think the key word there is verisimilitude, and the method would be appropriate to the story. For a near-future dystopia, he used elements of our time, in part to make the story seem "nearer." I'd like to see him tackle the idea of a near-utopia like that Roddenberry envisioned to be the world that sent out his starships. I'd think the same depth of thought he put into "Children of Men" would be put to good use. I can imagine that just as his dystopian film ended in hope, a utopian film might end in something very complex and unsettling.
Deleted 2
Vice Admiral
But in that case, would it be fair or sensible to call such a beast Star Trek? Even at its creative peak, Star Trek was a tv show with a fairly limited thematic scope. The Manifest Destiny of Man in the Universe, The Superiority of Man over Machine and The Rejection of Solipsism. None of these themes are particularly unsettling (indeed, together they form more of a feel-good mantra for the Space Age), and I wouldn't expect to see (or appreciate seeing) any of them shown unchallenged in a modern piece of fiction with any real pretensions of depth.
Why drag along all the continuity and baggage of Star Trek (not to mention the rabid fanbase) to make a movie that, thematically, will have to stand on its own anyway, if it is to be worth a damn?
I think, ultimately, it is best for a new Star Trek movie to take the most conservative route. With any luck, J. J. Abrams will be able to produce a by-the-numbers facsimile of Star Trek that is succesful, pushes the right nostalgia buttons for 80% of the fans, connects thematically with some of the better first season episodes, and is utterly, utterly irrelevant.
Well, not to rile anyone, but if I were devoted to seeing a truly extraordinary movie that happened to bear some connection to Star Trek, then canon or continuity wouldn't matter -- to me. A great writer and great director should be given great leeway, with only a medium connected to the spirit of Gene Roddenberry there to rewrite the thing continuously in an effort to keep it "Trek".
Well I'm a big J.J. Abrams fan, and he's already directing Trek XI, so...
Other than him? Michael Rymer was suggested - he directed the nuBSG miniseries and has gone on to direct many episodes of the series. I quite like what he's done. James Cameron would probably do something epic and interesting, but I'm not sure I trust him with the franchise. Same with Bryan Singer. We all know he loves Trek, but after what he did to "Superman Returns" I'm not sure how I feel about him doing Trek.
Other than him? Michael Rymer was suggested - he directed the nuBSG miniseries and has gone on to direct many episodes of the series. I quite like what he's done. James Cameron would probably do something epic and interesting, but I'm not sure I trust him with the franchise. Same with Bryan Singer. We all know he loves Trek, but after what he did to "Superman Returns" I'm not sure how I feel about him doing Trek.
Francis Ford Coppola in his prime would have made a fantastic Trek film. Wasn't Insurrection originally supposed to be a bit like Star Trek meets Apocalypse Now?
I don't really trust FFC to make a good film these days though. I think a David Lynch take on Trek would be interesting
I don't really trust FFC to make a good film these days though. I think a David Lynch take on Trek would be interesting
If he'd do a meta-textual, post-modern, sparkly-fake-rocks-and-red-backdrop-sky take on it, I'd second that easily. Not sure if his brand of ultra-violence would fit, though.
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