Was this a highly anticipated movie, or was it kind of a small notice only for Trek fans?
Movie anticipation for undiscovered country
- Thread starter Hawkeye_90
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From my perspective, as a fan, the anticipation was off the scale. We knew it would be the final TOS adventure, there were persistent leaks that the crew would all go down in a blaze of glory (cleverly fanned by the ambiguous comments made by old Spock in the TNG episode "Unification"), and it was the 25th anniversary.
I have no idea how excited non-fans were getting over it - judging by its box office, it seems to have been a big improvement over STV:TFF, but nowhere in the league of the first four films.
There was a ton of media coverage for TUC : it was the 25th anniversary, the movie was cleverly teased in a Next Gen episode (Unification), there was loads of new merchandise coming out all throught 1991 to cash in on the anniversary, and there were rumours flying around suggesting some of the crew might get killed off.
Given all this media excitement, you'd have to guess Paramount were disappointed with TUC's performance, otherwise the TOS crew would have been on the bigscreen circa 1993. So my guess is for non-fans it didn't really cut through.
I have no idea how excited non-fans were getting over it - judging by its box office, it seems to have been a big improvement over STV:TFF, but nowhere in the league of the first four films.
There was a ton of media coverage for TUC : it was the 25th anniversary, the movie was cleverly teased in a Next Gen episode (Unification), there was loads of new merchandise coming out all throught 1991 to cash in on the anniversary, and there were rumours flying around suggesting some of the crew might get killed off.
Given all this media excitement, you'd have to guess Paramount were disappointed with TUC's performance, otherwise the TOS crew would have been on the bigscreen circa 1993. So my guess is for non-fans it didn't really cut through.
I remember lots of hype for it and Trek's 25th anniversary. Lots of television specials and the like, pictures in magazines etc.
i remember before VI came out reading the updates of info from various sources like the letters editorial in the back of the Trek DC comics at the time (which I bought monthly for a couple of years), The Official FanClub magazine (which I bought occasionally) and various magazines like Starlog and Starburst (which I very rarely bought, just flicked through). Obviously there was no net back then so checking out the magazines in comic stores on a Saturday was they way to do it.
I remember being fascinated that it was to be a klingon based story (the first proper klingon film since III), that it would involve the klingon homeworld, an ice prison planet, Captain Sulu, the excelsior, a new BOP and battle cruiser (not seen since TMP!), new space dock scenes (not just reusing FX from previous films), romulans, possible TNG connections, a TNG tie in episode, and of course Meyer directing again...there were also rumours a major character would die (Kirk?). It all sounded really exciting - far more so than the previous one. Almost like the ultimate Trek movie was being made - encompassing elements of all the previous films (unlike V which was pretty stand alone) and even TNG, whilst also being a sort of 25th anniversary capper so expect some strong visual ties to TOS (which I felt the previous films didn’t do so much). I don’t think the regular film goers/media were that bothered about VI - due to V being ridiculed, TNG becoming a real force (due to its great 3rd season), and the fact it was the sixth film (so in the eyes of non fans it was almost getting like Police Academy in terms of cracking them out) But for me the anticipation was HUGE (despite the disappointment of the last film) and usually when its at that level a film can only disappoint - but it didn’t. in fact it surpassed my expectations, and for a while (maybe a couple of years) I considered it the best Trek film (yes even better than Khan!). Actually I think it was pretty much the same in Trekdom e.g. Check out the Trek VI Cinefantastique issue and in there Ed Gross reviews all the films in a sidebar that goes throughout the magazine and he gives VI a higher rating than II and said it was now considered the best Trek film.
It was also good to see the regular Movie goers/media give it great reviews, buzz etc. almost like a ‘sleeper’ they weren’t expecting anything of due to the reasons mentioned, yet it turned out to be a great film so it became one to see for even non fans
I remember being fascinated that it was to be a klingon based story (the first proper klingon film since III), that it would involve the klingon homeworld, an ice prison planet, Captain Sulu, the excelsior, a new BOP and battle cruiser (not seen since TMP!), new space dock scenes (not just reusing FX from previous films), romulans, possible TNG connections, a TNG tie in episode, and of course Meyer directing again...there were also rumours a major character would die (Kirk?). It all sounded really exciting - far more so than the previous one. Almost like the ultimate Trek movie was being made - encompassing elements of all the previous films (unlike V which was pretty stand alone) and even TNG, whilst also being a sort of 25th anniversary capper so expect some strong visual ties to TOS (which I felt the previous films didn’t do so much). I don’t think the regular film goers/media were that bothered about VI - due to V being ridiculed, TNG becoming a real force (due to its great 3rd season), and the fact it was the sixth film (so in the eyes of non fans it was almost getting like Police Academy in terms of cracking them out) But for me the anticipation was HUGE (despite the disappointment of the last film) and usually when its at that level a film can only disappoint - but it didn’t. in fact it surpassed my expectations, and for a while (maybe a couple of years) I considered it the best Trek film (yes even better than Khan!). Actually I think it was pretty much the same in Trekdom e.g. Check out the Trek VI Cinefantastique issue and in there Ed Gross reviews all the films in a sidebar that goes throughout the magazine and he gives VI a higher rating than II and said it was now considered the best Trek film.
It was also good to see the regular Movie goers/media give it great reviews, buzz etc. almost like a ‘sleeper’ they weren’t expecting anything of due to the reasons mentioned, yet it turned out to be a great film so it became one to see for even non fans
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My memory was that TMP, TWOK and TSFS were much more highly publicised.
I may be wrong though.
I may be wrong though.
I remember a particularly attention-grabbing early teaser:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERAc0ipha0[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERAc0ipha0[/yt]
yes maybe if VI had been a IV sized hit there would have been a VII with the original crew for 93 as was rumoured there could be at the time (maybe Ashes of Eden directed by Meyer or Nimoy or even Shatner as itd be his story - in fact the AOE comic was very much like a comic adaptation of a Trek VII) maybe TNG could have done another couple of years on tv instead of DS9/VOY, then theyd have done Generations for the 30th anniversary in 96 (more Yesterdays Ent than what was done), or alternatively still finished in 94 but waited 2 years before hitting the big screen.
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There was also considerable relief that VI was a continuation of the original crew and not the rumoured Starfleet Academy prequel.
That teaser got my heart pumping--brilliant to finally embrace TOS in the marketing for the movie.
"This is not just the 6th movie In a series---it's the culmination of 25 years of a beloved franchise."---was what it was saying.
Agreed. That's how I remember it, too. I would add IV in there, as well. I think it was mainly due to the poor execution of V.
Is that Plummer doing the voice over?
Not sure, but it sounds like him.
The teaser still hits me where it counts after all these years. And back when I first saw it, whatever movie I was seeing, it was quite the unexpected surprise.
The teaser still hits me where it counts after all these years. And back when I first saw it, whatever movie I was seeing, it was quite the unexpected surprise.
That's been my impression of ST09 since I first heard about the premise...that TPTB were finally getting their long-kicked-around Academy movie, after a fashion.Sounds like Star Trek 2009!
With the 25th anniversary of Trek and the film openly being promoted as the final adventure for the original crew, there was a huge amount of hype for TUC.
Yeah, it grabbed my attention!
It was quite well-expected. I remember the Arts section of The New York Times giving its full (sectional) front page over to the movie and a huge (black-and-white, as befit the era) publicity photograph from the film. I kept that for a while until it was ridiculous to haul such a thing around.
I just wanted to add, not knowing that an academy prequel was thought about for this movie. That is exactly how I described star trek 09 when I saw it, because that is totally what it is.
For my generation, middle schoolers at the time, there was a lot of anticipation. Just about every kid I knew at school was aware of Star Trek, if not into it, due to the success of ST4 and TNG. Klingons were cool back then. My group of friends ended up seeing it and Terminator 2 back to back for as many weekends as we could.
When we first saw the trailer, with Takei stating, "This is Captain Sulu of the Excelsior," my brother and I looked at each other and our jaws dropped. Star Trek fans in my peer group went nuts over that 'spoiler'.
And Kirk was seen dissolving by disruptor burst in the trailer!
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