Great, great thread.
The first Trek film I saw in the theater was Generations. I was in middle school and had to scrounge a ride from my friend, since our small-town movie theater wasn't showing it. Worse, I'd been teased by the (AWESOME) TV publicity festival -- the commercials and full-length trailers -- for weeks leading up to opening, and then a sudden sickness the morning of opening day pushed the trip back a week! Argh!
Anyway, the day finally came, and we drove an hour and a half up-island to see it. This was pre-mainstream internet, and so I wasn't exposed to all the temptations of spoilers that I am now. My friend and I were both floored when the Ent-D bought the farm. I remember hearing Data's line, "Core breach in progress," and thinking to myself, "jeez, how the hell are they gonna get outta this --" BOOM! "Oh, holy crap."
It was just magical to see the TNG cast on the big screen, and to see Data playing with emotions, and to see little bits of for-the-fans continuity thrown in there like the TOS-era black laquered engraved panels on the Amargosa observatory walls, etc. I agree that it doesn't stand up well, but those memories will always be grand.
I went to see First Contact in the same theater with the same friend. By this time we were a bit older, so we were allowed to wander the mall before and after the film -- quite a treat for a farm boy whose most common exposure to mass merchandise was the local stationary store. Especially excellent in those days, when Trek merchandise lined the shelves of ToysRUs and Spencer's Gifts. I snapped up a First Contact Phaser II that very night -- the original Playmates Phaser II had been one of my favorite Trek toys, and to pick up the updated version on the same night I saw it in the film was priceless.
Anyway, the movie started late, as the theater was packed. Then, right as Data was about to say "to hell with our orders," his face melted away and took the bridge with it. Film malfunction. So we had to wait 15 minutes for them to get that fixed, and then they started the film again. Right as Picard's jamming to his tunes in the Obs lounge, though ... the film cuts out again. Turns out enough additional customers had come in late to convince management to restart the film from the top.
As you might imagine, people were upset ... but in the traditionally jovial manner of the more kind-hearted Trekkers. One person said, "I guess they must be getting assimilated up in the projector room," which got a laugh. Someone else followed that up with "this movie theater must be of Cardassian manufacture!" and the room roared. My friend and I looked at each other and he said, indicating the crowd, "my people!" It was truly a communal experience. I'll never forget it.
As others have said, INS and NEM really didn't incite the same feelings or atmosphere. Although, I will say that during the final few minutes of Nemesis, when Riker was trying to remember what tune Data had been trying to emulate when they first met, several people in the theater either began whistling it or muttering, frustrated (and certainly with a twinge of sadness), "it's Pop Goes The Weasel, man."
Very much looking forward to XI.
The first Trek film I saw in the theater was Generations. I was in middle school and had to scrounge a ride from my friend, since our small-town movie theater wasn't showing it. Worse, I'd been teased by the (AWESOME) TV publicity festival -- the commercials and full-length trailers -- for weeks leading up to opening, and then a sudden sickness the morning of opening day pushed the trip back a week! Argh!
Anyway, the day finally came, and we drove an hour and a half up-island to see it. This was pre-mainstream internet, and so I wasn't exposed to all the temptations of spoilers that I am now. My friend and I were both floored when the Ent-D bought the farm. I remember hearing Data's line, "Core breach in progress," and thinking to myself, "jeez, how the hell are they gonna get outta this --" BOOM! "Oh, holy crap."
It was just magical to see the TNG cast on the big screen, and to see Data playing with emotions, and to see little bits of for-the-fans continuity thrown in there like the TOS-era black laquered engraved panels on the Amargosa observatory walls, etc. I agree that it doesn't stand up well, but those memories will always be grand.
I went to see First Contact in the same theater with the same friend. By this time we were a bit older, so we were allowed to wander the mall before and after the film -- quite a treat for a farm boy whose most common exposure to mass merchandise was the local stationary store. Especially excellent in those days, when Trek merchandise lined the shelves of ToysRUs and Spencer's Gifts. I snapped up a First Contact Phaser II that very night -- the original Playmates Phaser II had been one of my favorite Trek toys, and to pick up the updated version on the same night I saw it in the film was priceless.
Anyway, the movie started late, as the theater was packed. Then, right as Data was about to say "to hell with our orders," his face melted away and took the bridge with it. Film malfunction. So we had to wait 15 minutes for them to get that fixed, and then they started the film again. Right as Picard's jamming to his tunes in the Obs lounge, though ... the film cuts out again. Turns out enough additional customers had come in late to convince management to restart the film from the top.
As you might imagine, people were upset ... but in the traditionally jovial manner of the more kind-hearted Trekkers. One person said, "I guess they must be getting assimilated up in the projector room," which got a laugh. Someone else followed that up with "this movie theater must be of Cardassian manufacture!" and the room roared. My friend and I looked at each other and he said, indicating the crowd, "my people!" It was truly a communal experience. I'll never forget it.
As others have said, INS and NEM really didn't incite the same feelings or atmosphere. Although, I will say that during the final few minutes of Nemesis, when Riker was trying to remember what tune Data had been trying to emulate when they first met, several people in the theater either began whistling it or muttering, frustrated (and certainly with a twinge of sadness), "it's Pop Goes The Weasel, man."
Very much looking forward to XI.
Thank GOD that the crass, cheap Berman era is over.
So stayed up late and talked about what the new movie was going to be like and got up the next morning and saw the first showing...I remember being slightly disappointed it wasn't as good as all the others but still I was getting to hang out all day and watch Star Trek so it was all good back then. After the movie, my friend and I walked to the local comic shop and bought a bunch of comics, including the Star Trek V comics adaption and revisited all the scenes we had just watched. Later on that summer another theater near me had Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade paired with Star Trek V as a double feature and my whole family went - my first and only double feature ever! Great fun!
I remember crying at the end of the movie with the autographs..that was amazing.
! How hilarious!
