Influences of Star Wars on the New Trek

[awesomeocalypse]

So, JJ has said he's much more of a Star Wars guy than a Trek fan, and while this definitely was not a Star Wars film, I think some of that Space Opera influence was immediately recognizable. A few things felt close to overt references to me, and many more just felt influenced:

-Spock (Prime) turning and dramatically saying "I am not your father" was a fun reversal of everyone's favorite Star Wars quote.

-Sulu fencing was clearly not only a nod to the character's past, but also to the inherant awesomeness of swords in space that Star Wars tapped into. His sword even expanded from a handle into a full blade like a lightsaber.

-Kirk did a very good job of bringing the original back to life, but I really felt like there was more than a little of both Han and Luke in this new character: Han's swagger and humor and recklessness, Luke's farmboy origins and unshaking idealism.

-Scotty's little assistant felt like any one of Lucas' tiny sidekicks, from jawas to R2 to *shudder* ewoks.

-The new warp effects felt very hyperspace to me, which I like because I've always thought the visual style of going to hyperspace was awesome.

Anything else strike people as reminescent of Star Wars?

 

[clint g]

The weaponry definetly had a star wars feel to it, from the hand phasers to the ship mounted cannons

 

[Dane_Whitman]

The Delta Vega sequence with the monsters is similar to a scene in one of those horrendous Star Wars prequels.

 

[awesomeocalypse]

The Delta Vega sequence with the monsters is similar to a scene in one of those horrendous Star Wars prequels.

See, to me it felt more than anything like Hoth. I mean, anytime a sci-fi movie maroons someone on an icy planet full of monsters I can't not think of Hoth.

 

[Acheron]

They changed the warp effect so that the protagonists don't know what they are warping into anymore in order to up the suspense. Still, it's a shame that they took this route, which is used in the majority of sci-fi (bsg, star wars, stargate, babylon 5 etc).

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

A columnist somewhere online (can't remember right now) has gone over this in some detail and finds a lot of correspondence to the original Star Wars movie.

- Young man growing up aimlessly in a rural setting. Father dead. Urged by a surrogate father figure to "leave the farm" and step up to fulfill his destiny. Oh, the kid likes hot rods.

- Dude, the enemy has like the biggest ship ever and it blows up planets! And now, it's coming for yours!

- Let's end up by giving that young man a medal in front of a cheering throng!

...and about a half dozen more points of correspondence like that.

 

[Carpe Occasio]

The cockpit of the Jellyfish (future Spocks ship) looked like the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.

 

[awesomeocalypse]

The thing is, as a lifelong Star Wars fan, this felt like the movie I'd been looking for since I first saw A New Hope. Don't get me wrong, Empire was great, but thematically it was a pretty sharp turn, then Jedi was inconsistent and derivative, and the prequels traumatisingly bad. This felt like the thematic successor to everything I loved about the first Star Wars--the lovable characters, the sense of sheer fun and adventure and wonder, the classic heroes journey, told well and without cynicism. The plot similarities are interesting, but you can do that sort of parallelism with a lot of other works that don't nearly capture the feeling of pure adventure. It was the feeling this gave me, of being a kid again, and being utterly transported to some faraway place.

Its funny, but for years Star Wars bashed Trek and visa versa, and now there's a Trek movie that tackles Star warsian space opera better than any Star Wars movie has since the original, and it seems like both sides are finally appreciating that the other mythos really did have something to offer all along.

 

[erebus]

now that you guys mention it there is a lot of correspondence but for some reason i never saw them at the time. I'm not sure if that says anything good about me

 

[USSPhilippi]

The Delta Vega sequence with the monsters is similar to a scene in one of those horrendous Star Wars prequels.

"There's always a bigger fish" (or in this case, ice planet monster).

Edit add: Just be glad nuTrek didn't have a Jar-Jar-like character.

 

[urbandk]

Yeah every time I see that polar bear gorilla monster I think of the scene where Han rides in to Luke's rescue on Hoth. I half expected a mirage of Obi Wan to tell Kirk to go to the Dagoba system.

 

[Ryan8bit]

The Narada seemed to have a lot of platforms, and people jumping onto and falling off of them, just like on Naboo in the Phantom Menace.

The movie was more space opera / fantasy instead of science-fiction.

 

[Rii]

Indeed the influence is pervasive, consider the following exchange rumoured to be found in the Director's Cut:

Spock: You are so... beautiful.
Uhura: It's only because I'm so in love.
Spock: No, it's because I'm so in love with you.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

The Delta Vega sequence with the monsters is similar to a scene in one of those horrendous Star Wars prequels.

"There's always a bigger fish" (or in this case, ice planet monster).

Edit add: Just be glad nuTrek didn't have a Jar-Jar-like character.

I don't think J.J. is that stupid.

There's one sequence in the score that reminded me of Star Wars, where Sulu is fighting that Romulan lackey. Sounded a bit like the Jedi-getting-kicked-by-Darth-Maul sequence.

But as far as the prequels go, Star Trek kicks their arses big time. Just compare the dialogues and the romance. *shudder*

 

[erebus]

.
... it seems like both sides are finally appreciating that the other mythos really did have something to offer all along.

I liked you comment. I think you're onto something. I never really thought about this, but i'm definently beginning to now.

 

[JTK2099]

The fact that thematic elements were taken from Star Wars is one of my biggest problems with the movie. It fundamentally alters that philosophy of Star Trek. I wrote quite a bit about this on my blog. There is a link in my signature if anyone is interested in reading it.

 

[Sky]

Yeah every time I see that polar bear gorilla monster I think of the scene where Han rides in to Luke's rescue on Hoth. I half expected a mirage of Obi Wan to tell Kirk to go to the Dagoba system.

No, instead you get Spock in a cave telling young Kirk to go to the Enterprise.

Who knew. To make Star Trek finally cool, you just had to remake it as Star Wars.

 

[Gepard]

A columnist somewhere online (can't remember right now) has gone over this in some detail and finds a lot of correspondence to the original Star Wars movie.

- Young man growing up aimlessly in a rural setting. Father dead. Urged by a surrogate father figure to "leave the farm" and step up to fulfill his destiny. Oh, the kid likes hot rods.

- Dude, the enemy has like the biggest ship ever and it blows up planets! And now, it's coming for yours!

- Let's end up by giving that young man a medal in front of a cheering throng!

...and about a half dozen more points of correspondence like that.

Interesting points. Luke didn't get made captain of a flagship right out of the academy, though.

 

[urbandk]

Yeah every time I see that polar bear gorilla monster I think of the scene where Han rides in to Luke's rescue on Hoth. I half expected a mirage of Obi Wan to tell Kirk to go to the Dagoba system.

No, instead you get Spock in a cave telling young Kirk to go to the Enterprise.

Who knew. To make Star Trek finally cool, you just had to remake it as Star Wars.

There's a quote that has been attributed to Dostoevsky: "There are only two books written: Someone goes on a journey, or a stranger comes to town."

 

[T'Baio]

There's definitely some Skywalker Sound sound effects in there. The Enterprise's engines on powering...down? I think?...sounded exactly like some of the craft in Star Wars.

However, I think any and all similarities are probably purely coincidental.