One and Done: Improve the movie with one suggestion

[Pauln6]

No. I hate this suggestion. I love Kirk brashly saying "hit em with everything we got. Sure, Trek is all about optimism and hating your enemies, but this is also Krik, and you really want him to be as bad ass a character as when he starte d(even considering that he did try to offer to help). To do this suggestion would castrate the whole film.

I don't think that showing Kirk acting in self-defence as opposed to summarily executing his foe would castrate the film. If you think that making Kirk a 'bad ass' means he has to kill people when it's unnecessary then I'd say you've missed the point of Trek! Kirk's 'bad ass' reputation should come from his (often ludicrous) ability to take calculated risks and win.

In a modern context, if an armed suspect puts down his gun and a police officer aware of that fact then shoots and kills him, the officer would be investigated and probably punished unless he could show sufficient reason why he genuinely believed his suspect still posed a threat.

In STIII Kirk didn't kill Maltz even though Maltz wanted him to. I'd have been appalled if he had done so.

 

[DonIago]

Kirk offered to rescue Nero's crew...Nero declined. The Narada was in the midst of entering a Red Matter-created black hole, which we -know- at this point has the ability to seriously damage the timeline.

I would have blown up the Narada too. It's not about killing people, it's about preventing another temporal disruption.

 

[Pauln6]

Kirk offered to rescue Nero's crew...Nero declined. The Narada was in the midst of entering a Red Matter-created black hole, which we -know- at this point has the ability to seriously damage the timeline.

I would have blown up the Narada too. It's not about killing people, it's about preventing another temporal disruption.

I agree with this explanation but that's not how it was presented on screen. They didn't mention the possiblity of the Narada surviving a wormhole and relished destroying Nero so much that Kirk had to go out of his way to justify NOT blasting Nero's helpless ship to ashes at the first opportunity.

 

[DonIago]

I don't see how anyone could claim that Kirk "relished" destroying Nero. Maybe if he hadn't offered to try to save him first.

I wouldn't say he was particularly upset by Nero's refusal to be saved, but really, the guy had just destroyed the vast majority of the Vulcans, kidnapped and tortured Kirk's CO, and previously killed Kirk's father. Can you blame him? Or is Kirk supposed to be so much better than the average person that he doesn't feel such things?

Hell, as evidenced, Spock wouldn't have even offered to rescue the Narada's crew first. In that light Kirk seems eminently reasonable to me.

 

[Pauln6]

I can understand why the characters would want to summarily execute Nero on some level. Spock is allowed to indulge in these feelings because he is emotionally compromised and can barely suppress his rage. However, the fact that the writers felt that Kirk had to justify his decision NOT to execute Nero immediately to the audience (using Spock as the device) demonstrates that they expect most of their audience to be baying for Nero's blood. That Nero's execution proceeds for no on screen reason other than our heroes want to punish him panders to the basest of human emotions and suggests that vengeance is a valid goal after all.

As I said, NuBSG deals with this kind of double standard much better by showing us that on many levels the cylons are a less unpleasant species than humans and might actually be more deserving of our sympathies even though we instinctively want to root for the humans.

I want the Federation to be above that kind of thing. I don't want them to be perfect but I want them to aspire to it and I think that only executing Nero if there was no other choice and for reasons other than revenge would have demonstrated that the Federation tries to take the moral high ground even when faced with adversity.

Remember Janeway doggedly trying to interpret the Prime Directive and Federation ideals when throwing them away would have served her better. I'm hoping that the spirit of that isn't forgotten completely when modernising Trek. If they feel the need to sweep that aside, I'm not sure what that says about modern audiences!

 

[Withers]

After having just re-watched the movie I decided that the crew of the Enterprise was a bunch of lemmings. Every time anything crazy happened on the bridge they all just stood there waiting for someone to tell them what to do next. After 3 years in the academy didn't any of you grow any sense of initiative? The acting Captain and a cadet he tried to maroon on Delta Vega are slugging it out the security officers who brought him to the bridge are just like "Uhhh?" That's to say nothing of the fact that before that moment they all decided, as though it were a democracy, their course of action while sitting on the bridge. Where's the conference room?


Just a few more minor irritations.

-Withers-​

 

[Ryan8bit]

Better science.

 

[Set Harth]

Remember Janeway doggedly trying to interpret the Prime Directive and Federation ideals when throwing them away would have served her better. I'm hoping that the spirit of that isn't forgotten completely when modernising Trek.

There seem to be some intimations that a sort of Temporal Prime Directive may be observed.

 

[rschrumpf]

And another question on the Red Matter. Why was Spock carrying so much of it - he only used a large drop of it to create the black hole needed. So why have a 3-foot wide ball of the stuff?

 

[Devon]

And another question on the Red Matter. Why was Spock carrying so much of it - he only used a large drop of it to create the black hole needed. So why have a 3-foot wide ball of the stuff?

Same reason you may have a full tank of gas if you're only making short trips. You want to have plenty in case a little isn't enough.

 

[DonIago]

Alternatively, the process which created Red Matter created the amount that was on Spock's ship. When you make a cake, you don't generally end up with only enough for one slice.

 

[Maurice]

Zoe Saldana: Full Frontal Nudity.

Faran Tahir: Full Frontal Nudity.

 

[Ryan8bit]

Alternatively, the process which created Red Matter created the amount that was on Spock's ship. When you make a cake, you don't generally end up with only enough for one slice.

Maybe if you had a cake that had a million slices this analogy would be appropriate.

 

[DonIago]

Ah. I didn't realize we had an expert on the creation of Red Matter here with us today.

 

[Ryan8bit]

Ah. I didn't realize we had an expert on the creation of Red Matter here with us today.

Nah, I'm just a guy with common sense. If you have a ball of red matter as big as Spock did, and all it takes is a drop, then there are probably close to a million drops in there.

 

[DonIago]

Since you don't know how red matter is made, you can't say for certain that it's practical (or necessarily possible) to make it in smaller quantities. Much like the dilemma I face if I want to make Belgian waffles for myself...one egg yields 3 waffles...well, if I wasn't in the mood for 3 waffles, I'm more likely to freeze the rest than try to get a fraction of an egg.

 

[Warped9]

One suggestion to improve the film? My suggestion has two words: total rewrite.

 

[Jeyl]

Since almost everyone looks at this film as sheer perfection at what Star Trek can offer, I'll offer something that won't harm much.

Don't model the Enterprise after a hot rod! Model it after the freaking Enterprise!

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I've always been lukewarm about the film. They got the characters and the chemistry, as well as the overall spirit, quite right. A lame villain nearly ruined it.

However, after seeing the new Clash of The Titans, Trek is a masterpiece in popular entertainment!

 

[ST-One]

2) after their confrontation, Spock first orders Kirk to be thrown in the brig. When McCoy informs him that the brig was destroyed in the attack, Spock says "Very well" and the next shot is of the escape pod being launched.

I like that idea.