It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first pl

[cgervasi]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I don't know if it would have been better, though, to go through a bunch of dialog to explain what's happening to the audience even though it seems like the characters should already know.

Seriously? Two-thirds of the movie's dialogue to that point has been iterations of ``the warp drive is untested and we do not know exactly what will happen when it's put to warp speed'', and you believe the warp drive malfunction needs more explanation?

I'm saying the way it was shot it was not obvious that the wormhole was not an unrelated anomaly of the week. (I know that wasn't yet cliche at the time.) It just seemed like the warp drive worked. Then they encounter the wormhole. No one tells the viewer that it's a known failure mode of warp drive.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I don't know if it would have been better, though, to go through a bunch of dialog to explain what's happening to the audience even though it seems like the characters should already know.

Seriously? Two-thirds of the movie's dialogue to that point has been iterations of ``the warp drive is untested and we do not know exactly what will happen when it's put to warp speed'', and you believe the warp drive malfunction needs more explanation?

I'm saying the way it was shot it was not obvious that the wormhole was not an unrelated anomaly of the week. (I know that wasn't yet cliche at the time.) It just seemed like the warp drive worked. Then they encounter the wormhole. No one tells the viewer that it's a known failure mode of warp drive.

Immediately after they get out of the wormhole, Scotty says, "Captain, it was the engine imbalance that created the wormhole in the first place. It'll happen again, if we don't correct it." So, yes, they do explain it to the viewer.

 

[Maurice]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole and the transporter accident are both plot devices used to illustrate how unready the Enterprise is and how dangerous it is to try to use it untested. The Wormhole is also used to demonstrate how ill-equipped Kirk is for the job and the danger he himself poses.

Do you think these plot devices work?

I know it's been forever, but I never saw this question before today.

I believe they work (with a caveat*), but I also believe they're pointless because the movie doesn't have any arc for Kirk, so the problems his rustiness present are quickly and conveniently forgotten. In fact, since everything on the Enterprise works A-Ok once Spock comes aboard, the whole "ship isn't ready" thing ultimately doesn't matter one iota.

*CAVEAT. While the wormhole scene does illustrate the danger of Kirk's unfamiliarity with the ship, the sequence as filmed is a disaster because it's just not exciting and sloooooow.

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The wormhole and the transporter accident are both plot devices used to illustrate how unready the Enterprise is and how dangerous it is to try to use it untested. The Wormhole is also used to demonstrate how ill-equipped Kirk is for the job and the danger he himself poses.

Do you think these plot devices work?

I know it's been forever, but I never saw this question before today.

I believe they work (with a caveat*), but I also believe they're pointless because the movie doesn't have any arc for Kirk, so the problems his rustiness present are quickly and conveniently forgotten. In fact, since everything on the Enterprise works A-Ok once Spock comes aboard, the whole "ship isn't ready" thing ultimately doesn't matter one iota.

*CAVEAT. While the wormhole scene does illustrate the danger of Kirk's unfamiliarity with the ship, the sequence as filmed is a disaster because it's just not exciting and sloooooow.

That helps me understand my uneasiness with the movie. All the characters learned something and grew, usually after shedding some part of their being (V'Ger, quite literally). Kirk, though, is much the same man at the end of the film as he was in the beginning. He bullies his way into regaining command, makes a number of poor decisions that lead to poor outcomes, yet everything works out in the end.

Quite a contrast with the Kirk we find in TWOK.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

makes a number of poor decisions that lead to poor outcomes

One area where Kirk makes good decisions is in bluffing V'ger that they know why the Creator hasn't responded. That's classic Kirk, as in "The Corbomite Maneuver." That sort of strategy seemed to be beyond Decker. Sure, Decker saves the day in the end by joining with V'ger, but without Kirk bluffing their way to give the information directly to V'ger that couldn't have happened.

Kirk is also on the ball making good tactical decisions in the approach to the cloud. Decker might also have stopped Spock from returning scans, but at least Kirk doesn't fuck that part up.

Additionally, Kirk's order to approach the vessel to 500 meters might have precipitated the intrusion of the energy probe that digitized Ilia and resulted in the subsequent Ilia probe. Without the Ilia probe, communication with V'ger would have been impossible and Earth would have been destroyed. Decker seemed predisposed to play it cautious, but Kirk played it riskier "I'm not too scared to get in close to you" which might have provoked that critical response.

 

[GNDN18]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

^"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

Kirk was more interesting to me in TWOK. In TMP he solved puzzles and saved the Earth, but as a character he was a flat line.

The bridge scene, though, that was classic.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

I agree completely that Kirk is much more interesting in TWOK.

And, yes, Kirk was basically a flat line in TMP. In TMP, Spock had a definite arc, Kirk not so much.

I was just simply pointing out that not every decision Kirk made in TMP was bad. It was downplayed, but without Kirk's decisions, they wouldn't have made it. That's just part of the mixed bag that TMP is.

 

[Maurice]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

The issue with Kirk in TMP is that nothing in the story motivates the change in him. He comes in like a bull in a china shop, makes mistakes, then out of nowhere he's got his mojo back and Decker's calling him "Jim" they're being chummy.

 

[Tribble puncher]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Warp drive operates by, well, warping space. If the engines aren't working right, and the warp field is unstable, the effects could be catastrophic. Literally anything could happen.

Sounds like the Infinite Improbability Drive from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" would have been funny if the Enterprise came out of the wormhole a pot of tulips.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Oh no, not again....

 

[publiusr]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

An warp, you want space to wrap about your ship. tiny wormholes are not navigable.

One wonders how close they might have been to hyperspace of SW.

In Trek--you avoid wormholes--unless large, open and stable.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Doesn't a wormhole open a gateway to another part of the universe? The entire premise of Deep Space 9 was based around this wasn't it?

I'm by no means what so ever an expert on such things, but I would speculate:

A wormhole, since we know so little about them, could open anywhere. It could open in America (let's call that the Federation) and end up in China (another spot in the universe), or it could open in Whynot, Mississippi and end up in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.

They accidently created a wormhole and have no control over it, from creating, longevity, to stabilization. D.S.9. featured a stable wormhole.

 

[Borjis]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

It was the engine imbalance....but what CAUSED the imbalance?

The formula by the "rookie" under Scotty.

"I can't do much better." he says

I never understood this on viewing the movie the last couple of years.
It's as if he could be a scapegoat....god-thing forbid, Scotty couldn't do a proper inter-mix formula...he's Scotty!

 

[Mytran]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Doesn't the underling present his formula to Scotty who approves it as the best they could do under the circumstances? Scotty is totally implicated in that mess!

Although honestly (and also according to McCoy in the film) the blame has to lie with Kirk, for pushing too hard and inappropriately.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Doesn't the underling present his formula to Scotty who approves it as the best they could do under the circumstances? Scotty is totally implicated in that mess!

Although honestly (and also according to McCoy in the film) the blame has to lie with Kirk, for pushing too hard and inappropriately.

Yeah, they weren't ready, as they said over and over. They really meant it.

 

[Borjis]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

good point.

 

[Indysolo]

Re: It was the Engine Imbalance that created the wormhole in the first

Scotty had placed both warp engines on the port side of the Enterprise. Spock's advanced mind noticed this subtle flaw and had them move one warp engine to the starboard side so now there was one on each side of the ship.

Hence the imbalance was fixed.

From MAD Magazine (courtesy "My Star Trek Scrapbook")



Neil