Novels that would make great movies

[Damian]

I always thought the Titan books would make a great TV series. The Titan has an eclectic crew (much like New Frontier) and they started off with real exploration. Now they're tied into events closer to home, but the first several books would make for interesting TV movies or a TV mini series of sorts.

 

[roneill]

Better to rip the "canon" bandage off with one swift yank than suffer the endless torture of countless tiny little continuity glitches. It may sting for a moment, but you're better off in the long run.

It's a pity Discovery didn't follow your advice.

 

[Damian]

It's a pity Discovery didn't follow your advice.

I tend to agree. I think they would have been better off just saying it's a reimaging and get it over with. Instead I think they backed themselves into a corner.

They could have said the storyline fits with the existing prime timeline but they've reimaged the show (ships, sets, nu-Klingons) for today's audience. It might not satisfy all the critics, but at least they could say 'hey, we told you it was a reimaging.' Instead they try to dance circles around it.

Someone on another site compared it to going to McDonalds and ordering a Big Mac, and them giving you a Quarter Pounder and insisting they really gave you a Big Mac.

Now, I've admitted I've only seen the first episode. But that was enough for me to clearly see it's a reimaging, no matter what anyone might try to tell you.

 

[Tuskin38]

I tend to agree. I think they would have been better off just saying it's a reimaging and get it over with. Instead I think they backed themselves into a corner.

They could have said the storyline fits with the existing prime timeline but they've reimaged the show (ships, sets, nu-Klingons) for today's audience. It might not satisfy all the critics, but at least they could say 'hey, we told you it was a reimaging.' Instead they try to dance circles around it.

Someone on another site compared it to going to McDonalds and ordering a Big Mac, and them giving you a Quarter Pounder and insisting they really gave you a Big Mac.

Now, I've admitted I've only seen the first episode. But that was enough for me to clearly see it's a reimaging, no matter what anyone might try to tell you.

They never said it wasn't a re-imagining, it just isn't a different timeline.

New visuals, same story/lore.

 

[Christopher]

They could have said the storyline fits with the existing prime timeline but they've reimaged the show (ships, sets, nu-Klingons) for today's audience.

Why do they need to say what's already obvious just from watching the show?

 

[Damian]

They never said it wasn't a re-imagining, it just isn't a different timeline.

Why do they need to say what's already obvious just from watching the show?

Everything I read seems to indicate they want you to think this is 10 years prior to the original series and that this will tie in neatly to that. For instance, they try to say the nu-Klingons are just a different sect of the Klingons we know, that we've somehow never seen before. I think they should have just said, they are reimaged Klingons period. They seem to twist themselves into knots trying ways to explain this is prime timeline and should fit very neatly into basically the original series timeline when I don't think that's really the case.

What I mean by my timeline comment is I think they'd be better off just freeing themselves of those constraints, if that is indeed what they want to do, though they can certainly still say the general story is part of the prime timeline.

I wonder, though, would a true prequel really have failed. I get the impression they are doing Discovery this way because they don't believe a true prequel that looked like, say "The Cage" (since that is the period roughly this takes place in), would be poorly received. What if they had made Discovery a la 'The Cage'? Maybe combine elements of the remastered original series (updated effects, realistic planetary sets) along with some of what we saw in "In A Mirror, Darkly" such as updating the computer consoles and graphics. Would that have truly been a bad thing?

 

[Tuskin38]

They would never recreate the original sets.

It wouldn't work on modern TV. Even the ones in Enterprise still looked like they came from the 60s.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Why do they need to say what's already obvious just from watching the show?

It's pretty clear from watching Discovery that the story doesn't fit with the classic show except in X-Men movieverse-style ultra-broad strokes.

 

[Damian]

They would never recreate the original sets.

It wouldn't work on modern TV. Even the ones in Enterprise still looked like they came from the 60s.

Hmm, I wonder. It wouldn't work in a movie definitely. But what about a TV show? I'm not saying an exact set for set recreation, after all, the ships in Discovery are still different ships. But you could update the graphics from the computer screens and the special effects of course. You could even adjust lighting and do little things to make it appear more advanced than today (even in Enterprise, they still had push button consoles, but they made some adjustments so they appeared more advanced.

 

[Tuskin38]

It's pretty clear from watching Discovery that the story doesn't fit with the classic show except in X-Men movieverse-style ultra-broad strokes.

We've must have watched different shows.

 

[Tuskin38]

Hmm, I wonder. It wouldn't work in a movie definitely. But what about a TV show? I'm not saying an exact set for set recreation, after all, the ships in Discovery are still different ships. But you could update the graphics from the computer screens and the special effects of course. You could even adjust lighting and do little things to make it appear more advanced than today (even in Enterprise, they still had push button consoles, but they made some adjustments so they appeared more advanced.

I'm sure when we see the Enterprise's bridge it will look familiar.

 

[Damian]

I'm sure when we see the Enterprise's bridge it will look familiar.

Maybe. I was just wondering. I though "In a Mirror, Darkly" they did a pretty good job with the Defiant. Somehow it looked like the original series Enterprise yet still looked more advanced then the NX-01 era and had more teeth to it. Of course, that's just one episode. Would that work for an entire series? Well, I guess that's what I was wondering.

 

[Tuskin38]

. Would that work for an entire series?

With some more detail. It's a good design.

 

[F. King Daniel]

We've must have watched different shows.

Brush up on your TOS

 

[Damian]

I look forward to seeing Discovery once they release it in some hardcopy (Blu Ray preferably). As soon as I saw the first episode on CBS though, I knew it was a reimaging, no matter what anyone might try to indicate. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like it. I've enjoyed the two novels thus far and the characters seem like strong characters, though Saru in the first book was a bit trying at times. And I am curious about yet another member of the Sarek family that seemingly appeared out of nowhere (I wonder how Sybok fits into all this now, BTW). I hope the show addresses that somehow.

But I saw enough in the premier episode that I do want to see more, and enough that I decided to buy the novels even though I have not bought a CBS All Access subscription.

 

[Jinn]

For instance, they try to say the nu-Klingons are just a different sect of the Klingons we know, that we've somehow never seen before. I think they should have just said, they are reimaged Klingons period. They seem to twist themselves into knots trying ways to explain this is prime timeline and should fit very neatly into basically the original series timeline when I don't think that's really the case.

They don't really do that, they said it's a visual reboot, which means that the visuals differ without an in-universe explanation being required, being there is no in-universe visual change. So, the Klingons we see in Discovery in-universe look like the normal ridged Klingons and their ships look in-universe like other Klingon ships, without explanation needed. Their point is that the story and the lore etc. still fits with TOS. I don't really want to give examples, because you haven't watched the show but there is something in episode 2 that sparked a lot of debate over wether it fits with TOS and at the end of the season that got basically explained away, so the story still fits.

 

[Tuskin38]

Brush up on your TOS

Already did

 

[Greg Cox]

Exactly. Every change in art direction or casting doesn't require an "in-universe" explanation. Sometimes "because it looks new and cool" is all the explanation we need. (See the Klingon's makeover back in 1979.)

It's the same universe. It just looks different now.

Same history. Different sets and costumes . . . because, you know, it's a TV show. It's not a historical document, let alone Holy Writ.

 

[Valenti]

They want it both ways and down the middle too, just like the movies have it. Jealousy sometimes..

 

[Damian]

They don't really do that, they said it's a visual reboot, which means that the visuals differ without an in-universe explanation being required, being there is no in-universe visual change. So, the Klingons we see in Discovery in-universe look like the normal ridged Klingons and their ships look in-universe like other Klingon ships, without explanation needed. Their point is that the story and the lore etc. still fits with TOS. I don't really want to give examples, because you haven't watched the show but there is something in episode 2 that sparked a lot of debate over wether it fits with TOS and at the end of the season that got basically explained away, so the story still fits.

Ok, it was just back when they first released images of the nu-Klingons someone from the show had said these were a different sect of Klingons, that the old Klingons we saw in other shows were still out there, this was just a never seen before element of Klingons, which I really didn't buy. I'd frankly rather they'd say it's just a reimaging.

I mean, I liked the episodes of Enterprise that went to the trouble explaining why the Klingons from the original series had smooth foreheads. I know some people eye roll that, but it sort of started with Trials and Tribble-ations when Worf said 'we don't talk about that' and it just answered the question they sort of brought on themselves. You know "ok guys, you acknowledged Klingons looked different in the original series, now why" that sort of thing. And it was a prequel show and one of the things they wanted to do was answer some of those questions. And those were good episodes (I liked season 4 a lot and wish the show had sort of started there) and it did make some sense--I always figured it was related to genetics in some way.

But when Discovery introduced a 3rd element of Klingons and when someone was trying to indicate this was yet another sect, it was just like, enough already. Now maybe that's not the case or someone was speaking out of turn, or someone misquoted them, but at the that was what I read (I'll try to find it, I believe I read it on trekmovie's website, but it was last year so it may take some time)
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