Nicholas Meyer's Autobiography

[Maurice]

Just curious if anyone else is reading Meyer's autobiography: The View From the Bridge. I picked it up yesterday and and breezing right through it, having hit the halfway mark. It's a quick easy read and I find Meyer to pretty honest about his own strengths and weaknesses, as well as coming across as level-headed about things that others would rant about.

I just finished the section on TWOK and am about to read the chapter about The Day After. One thing that surprised me is that he relates how close TWOK came to not happening at all. Apparently the studio had locked in a release date, and at the point where Meyer offered to write the script, they were 12 days away from a drop-dead date with ILM, who would not guarantee they could meet the release date if they didn't have the script by that deadline 12 days hence. If no script had been whacked out in that crazy deadline, the project would have been canceled, and who knows what Paramount would have tried the next time around.

My only real complaint about the book thus far is that the editor/proofer appears to have been asleep. There are a number of consistently misspelled names and some outright actual errors that five minutes with Google would have fixed (seventy-six TOS episodes?).

 

[Kirk1980]

Seventy-six?

I guess he wasn't kidding about not being a Trek fan beforehand.

 

[Maurice]

Seventy-six?

I guess he wasn't kidding about not being a Trek fan beforehand.

I don't expect anyone to know that figure off-hand, but I expect the publisher to do some basic fact-checking.

 

[Kirk1980]

A Trek fan would

S'all I meant.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Maybe he's deleted "Spock's Brain" and "And the Children Shall Lead" from his personal canon.

 

[Maurice]

A Trek fan would

S'all I meant.

You'd be surprised.

 

[Maurice]

So, I finished the book. It was a good read, and it was for the most part genteel. Meyer doesn't character bash. In fact, even when he talks about heated arguments and explosive confrontations, he doesn't judge or demonize those on the other side. For instance, he relates how Nimoy exploded at him over editing TUC, but coolly relates what happened and his own reaction but never beat Nimoy up.

There are a number of nice stories, but very few about actors or being on the set. Anyone looking for lots of new insights on the making of the Trek films may come away disappointed, but there are gems there. The backstage politics, fighting over the budget, and why Harve Bennett left, all very fascinating.

 

[cb31]

I'm looking forward to reading this! Most of the Autobiographies I've read have been from the actor's point of view, it'll be the first time I've read one from the perspective of a writer and director.

 

[Grant]

Just read the book and i was most interested in the filming and editing parts about Trek 2 & 6.

What a dis-appointment !!!

He tells the story of the re-shoot of the Kirk/David revelation scene COMPLETELY ASS-BACKWARD WRONG.


The real story.

As scripted and shot the scene had Carol reveal to both Kirk and David their father/son relationship during their confrontation in the tunnel. Kirk later asks Carol "Why did't you tell ME?"

The studio bosses for some reason didn't like that Carol had kept Kirk in the dark and had Meyer re-shoot the scene with Kirk, already knowing, saying, "Is that David?" Later, alone with Carol he says, "Why didn't you tell HIM?"

Meyer tells the story completely backward, saying the studio didn't like the fact that Kirk had taken no effort to have a relationship with the son he KNEW existed and made him reshoot it to where Kirk doesn't know !!!!

Anybody who has seen the movie (as meyer recently did when he taped the new Blu-ray commentary) would know that Kirk clearly KNOWS of David.

In fact, it was the studio interference that caused the very theme that Meyer says they objected to--------

Kirk knew he had a son and never reached out to him for 25(?) years.

He makes a similar mistake when talking about the alternate versions of Trek 6.
In that case he mentions that trek 6 has a version where he made small changes to two scenes that added up to less than 15 seconds, but he seems totally unaware that there are THREE versions of the the movie: The theatrical, the 1992-2001 video version with 3 min26 seconds of added footage and the 2002 2-disc DVD version with the minor changes (and the 3 min 26 sec). He therefore doesn't give the reader any insight into how/why the 3 min or so were first cut and then added back for video. Was that version his preffered version? Were the 3 min his decision to cut? If not, whose? Does he prefer the longer cut or the theatrical cut or the 2 disc cut or some combination (The theatrical with the few seconds altered)

If his memory is wrong on these two things I know about----what else has he mis-remebered?

 

[Grant]

Here's the part of the movie in question, as originally scripted and filmed...................
_____________________________________________________
BONES
Genesis, I presume.

They walk by a group of crates. It all happens very
fast: David leaps out and tackles Kirk, throwing him to
the ground and landing atop him, a knife at his throat.

At the same time, Bones and Saavik reach for their
phasers, but Jedda, already armed, steps out. He has
them covered and helpless.

125 ANGLE FAVORING DAVID 125

DAVID
You're the sonavabitch who
committed mass murder up there.

He raises the knife --

KIRK
I'm Admiral Kirk...

DAVID
We were still there, you dumb
bastard! We could hear the screams
all the way to the transporter room --

Again he raises the knife --

KIRK
Where's Dr. Marcus --

DAVID
I'm Doctor Marcus!

Carol reaches the tunnel entrance to the cave --

CAROL
David --

DAVID
Mother, go back!

Carol sees Kirk --

CAROL
Jim --

DAVID
Go back. I'm going to kill him.

CAROL
(takes a breath)
You do that and you'll have murdered
your father.

All react. David and Kirk, facing each other, are
turned to stone. Bones, Jedda and Chekov turn to look
at Carol, wondering. Terrell very casually takes the
phaser from Jedda.

126 NEW ANGLE (FORMERLY SCENE 134) 126

TERRELL
(cool)
I'll hold onto this.

But Kirk and Carol ignore them and walk towards each
other. There are tears in Carol's eyes. She reaches
up, trying to smile and touches his hair --

CAROL
You've got a little grey --

She can't. Kirk takes her and holds her tightly, look-
ing at David, over her shoulder. He stands there,
stunned, looking back.

KIRK
Carol. Is that true?

She nods --

KIRK
(continuing)
Why didn't you tell me?

DAVID
She's making it up! My father was
Professor --

CAROL
David, you're just making this
harder --

TERRELL
I'm afraid it's even harder than you
think, Doctor.
___________________________________________________

Could Meyer not at least have pulled out his/a script of TWOK to refresh his mind before writing the book?

 

[Shatmandu]

^^^

"Chick-a-Bow-Wow" porno music begins playing, and they all make a big pile.


Joe, scripter

 

[Grant]

Yes, Terrell surely was a braggart.

How does he know how hard Carol thinks it is?
Hell, she built a whole world---no doubt she could design one that a cat couldn't scratch.

 

[Maurice]

Please cite a page number, Grant. I don't recall reading a single word about the fight. He talks about why the line "Why didn't you tell him/me," was changed. So perhaps I am forgetting something?

 

[Grant]

Please cite a page number, Grant. I don't recall reading a single word about the fight. He talks about why the line "Why didn't you tell him/me," was changed. So perhaps I am forgetting something?

He talks about the scene in general but doesn't mention the fight.
The fight scene happens to be linked to the scene he's talking about.

He's saying that the studio didn't like the fact that Kirk KNEW and didn't reach out---when in fact Kirk (in the original) DID NOT KNOW.

There were two scenes re-shot because of their objection:

The fight scene shown above (Because it clearly shows Kirk didn't know)

AND
the later scene with Kirk/Carol where he originally said.
"Why didn't you tell me?"

If you read the book (I'm not holding it)---he clearly has this whole plot-point backwards.

He claims the scenes were shot originally with Kirk KNOWING.

Yes, he does specifically mention the latter re-shoot but he doesn't mention the earlier re-shoot (Which you can read in my post above)

But they are integrally linked as both needed to be re-shot when the studio wanted the change.

 

[Grant]

Here's another scene ne that had to be edited down (but not re-shot) when they decided to make vague when David finds out........

______________________________________



SAAVIK
No use, Admiral, they're still
jamming all channels.

BONES
(looks across Chekov)
It wouldn't make any difference.
If Enterprise obeyed orders she's
long since gone. And if she couldn't
obey, she's finished.

DAVID
So are we, it looks like.

CAROL
I don't understand.
Who's responsible for all this?
Who is Khan?

KIRK
It's a long story.

DAVID
We appear to have plenty of time.
--------------------------------------from here
BONES
(dry)
You and your father can catch up on
things.

DAVID
(bitter)
My father. I hope you realize
another man has just been killed
because of...

BONES
Because of you, son. You shouldn't
have tried to rush someone holding
a primed phaser. Anyway it isn't
one man dead, it's two, in case
you've lost count.
----------------------------------------to here
David has been effectively spiked. Long silence.

KIRK
Do you have anything to eat? I
don't know about anyone else, but
I'm starved.

BONES
How can you think of food at a time
like this?

KIRK
Our first order of business is survival.

CAROL
There's food in the Genesis cave,
enough to last a lifetime -- should
that be necessary.

BONES
We thought this was Genesis.

 

[Maurice]

Grant, I have the flipping book...but you're the one claiming he said this. PAGE NUMBER please.

 

[Grant]

^^^WOW

Very simple if you have the book, go to the section where he discusses the line/scene he reshot from TWOK and in it

HE VERY CLEARLY STATES THE STUDIO WANTED HIM TO CHANGE THE SCENE BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT IT MADE KIRK LOOK LIKE AN ASS FOR NOT REACHING OUT TO HIS SON.

But that IS NOT the way it was originally shot---it was shot where Kirk DID NOT KNOW.

Please read the script excerpt above---Kirk does not know in that original version. They changed it to him KNOWING ALL ALONG.

He got it backwards.

If you cant't find it I'll post the page number tomorrow.

 

[Maurice]

There's nothing to "wow" over. I simply want to review for myself the claim you're making. I looked at the page which I believe is the source of your ire about Kirk and David, and the item is barely a blip. I wanted to make sure I was looking at the same thing.

It would not surprise me at all if the story is in error. I've myself pointed out that there are a number of errors in the book, and whether these are the fault of Meyer, the editor or a lack of fact-check I don't know. Furthermore, I've yet to see a book of this type that got all its facts straight, even those by noted film scholars.

To wring ones hands over the accuracy of such small details is to miss that the story is about Meyer's life and how he handled of mis-handled his life, directing, etc., not the minutia of every production.

I suspect we'll disagree on this point.

 

[Data Holmes]

Huh... I wonder if this shot had to be re-shot twice...


Once when the studio was unhappy that kirk got beat up by his kid, the second time, after they changed the fight but not the dialogue, when they felt that it made Kirk look like a dead beat dad.

 

[Grant]

Huh... I wonder if this shot had to be re-shot twice...


Once when the studio was unhappy that kirk got beat up by his kid, the second time, after they changed the fight but not the dialogue, when they felt that it made Kirk look like a dead beat dad.

Well you got it backward just like Meyer.......

In the ORIGINAL version Carol was the villain for NOT TELLING KIRK OR DAVID
(imo THAT'S BETTER BECAUSE SHE'S THE ONE-SHOT CHARACTER)

They changed it to Kirk KNEW all along and didn't do anything to reach out
(imo that's bad because Kirk is the hero of the series)

So in my opinion and in the context of what Meyer wrote in the book.....they hurt Kirk's character by making him seem indifferent to having a son---the exact opposite of the script's original intent.


And Sega, yeah it's barely a paragraph on PAGE 128, but it mattered to me because i wanted insight into how the changes were made and he got it wrong.
Sure it's an interesting read and he's a witty guy, but what I wanted most out of it, is suspect now, for me at least.

At least he fought for and kept the final scene between Kirk & David which they really tried to get him to take out.