Orci Interview Re: Trek XI

[MadBaggins]

Ahh... I love when someone says something silly and thinks it sounds superior.

But you couldn't pay me to see a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls.

 

[ancient]

My only point to "belabor" is that Orci's filmwriting credits are The Island, The Legend of Zorro, and Transformers. If someone would like to explain to me what was entertaining or intelligent about any of those flicks, I'll be happy to listen.

Well, two of those were directed by shameless hack Michael Bay, who you can count on to make dumb films regardless of who the writer is.

Zorro I know nothing about.

I don't think you can always judge someone by their past works if they've never done anything similar to their current project. I mean, Peter Jackson directed cheesy horror films, who knew he would handle epic so well? Perhaps the source material elevated the artist, but there's no reason that couldn't happen here too.

Peter Jackson had directed "Heavenly Creatures", a widely critically acclaimed film, and the primary reason he was able to successfully pitch LotR to New Line.

Besides, we're not talking about a director here, but a writer.

In movies, the writer has to make something the director likes, he doesn't own the story in the same way an author does. His style is in the mix to be sure, but the director is who actually creates the movie, the writer(s) is/are his employees.

Are you telling me I can't judge Stephen King's new books by the other material he's written?

Of course I'm not. But as I said, an artist can be elevated by the medium he is working in. (Trek being that 'medium' in this case.) Now if you don't like the style of anything Orci has ever written, which I'm sure isn't limited to Mike Bay films, then I guess you're out. Simple as that.

 

[trekkerguy]

I don't think it sounds superior. I just see no reason to pick movies down
to a point I don't enjoy them like it seems every does anymore.

I see very little in those movies that was't entertaining so your point
doesn't really go anywhere with me. It's all opinions. What you think is
the worst movie ever could in fact be the best movie ever to someone
else, what I think is a great movie you find to be crap.

In the end most of these points in these threads really don't matter cause
rarely are you going to find two of us with the same tastes for the same
reasons. What I wanted to show is that your reasons for not appreciating
the writers is the same reasons I infact do appreciate them.

All of what you stated about the films, is opinion not fact.

Of course it's opinion. Of course opinions will differ. I never claimed any of my opinions to be fact. Neither did I say that you enjoying movies uncritically was in any way bad. Yet you have twice implied it was in some way bad to enjoy examining movies - that's what sounded condescending. But I appreciate that this was not your intention.

You said that you would listen if someone made a case for them being
entertaining or inteligent. I made my case, I failed. I rest it.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I thought The Island and Transformers was entertaining but not intelligent.

Unfortunately, Star Trek needs to be both.

That would certainly be a novelty for the film series, at this point.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

But you couldn't pay me to see a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls.

Hmm...probably best answered by:

Ahh... I love when someone says something silly and thinks it sounds superior.

In point of fact, you're clearly not the audience that very successful film was intended to reach - since a large proportion of them were in fact eager to see a film based on their "boys dolls." It stands to reason that you're ill-positioned in that case to evaluate to what extent the writers succeeded in their assigned tasks.

(Never saw it, BTW, since I'm too old to have played with Transformers and found a required trip to take one of my children to see the animated movie version some decades ago...painful in the extremis.)

 

[jeff lebowski]

My only point to "belabor" is that Orci's filmwriting credits are The Island, The Legend of Zorro, and Transformers. If someone would like to explain to me what was entertaining or intelligent about any of those flicks, I'll be happy to listen.

I somewhat agree.


I thought The Island and Transformers was entertaining but not intelligent.

Unfortunately, Star Trek needs to be both.

First order of the day: Box Office Success.
Remember, Spock's Brain wasn't Shakespeare either.

Ohh, I know Star Trek has had it's fair share of bad stories.

I just don't think now is a good time to have one.

And I hope that's really not the first order of the day.

 

[jeff lebowski]

I thought The Island and Transformers was entertaining but not intelligent.

Unfortunately, Star Trek needs to be both.

That would certainly be a novelty for the film series, at this point.

I disagree.

I think most of the Trek Movies stayed true to what Trek is all about. They did have some intelligent ideas but perhaps a couple of them could have been written better.

They just had more action on average than the episodes.

 

[Nowhere Man]

I'm glad Orci cleared up a few things and definately showed his basic Knowledge of trek and even mentioned specific episodes, but it does bother me that the "Robo-Cop" issue still is left up to us to figure out.I know it's a small point, but still it would have been nice if that would have been cleared up. I'm glad he cleared up the Captian Robou thing about him being born in Cuba, but bieng mid-eastern.Apparently there is an explanation for the Enterprise being built in Iowa and on Earth in the movie, so I'm glad that will be made clear.There are still things that have not been answered, but at least he gave us something.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I thought The Island and Transformers was entertaining but not intelligent.

Unfortunately, Star Trek needs to be both.

That would certainly be a novelty for the film series, at this point.

I disagree.

You have the right. It's pretty difficult, though, to defend the Trek film series as particularly ambitious or successful given the number of films produced and their overall quality. There are really about two-and-a-half really good entertaining ones at most.

 

[Nowhere Man]

But you couldn't pay me to see a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls.
Action Figures

 

[Borgminister]

I just don't think now is a good time to have one.

And I hope that's really not the first order of the day.

Have you read the script? Maybe it'll surprise you, maybe not.

Trek V was "deep", but... well, failed.

Didn't I read somewhere that XI was being compared to Khan in terms of the action/depth quotient?

 

[trekkerguy]

(Never saw it, BTW, since I'm too old to have played with Transformers and found a required trip to take one of my children to see the animated movie version some decades ago...painful in the extremis.)

Odd... I never once played with Transformers nor have I watched the cartoon... I loved the movie.
To me, it's just a good scifi/action flick.

 

[M'Sharak]

I just don't think now is a good time to have one.

And I hope that's really not the first order of the day.

Have you read the script? Maybe it'll surprise you, maybe not.

Trek V was "deep", but... well, failed.

Didn't I read somewhere that XI was being compared to Khan in terms of the action/depth quotient?

You might be thinking of the item quoting Roberto Orci which was reported in TrekToday here:

http://trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=66949

He says TWoK was a source of inspiration to him in the writing phase, for a number of reasons.

The complete IESB article can be found here.

 

[xortex]

I just don't think now is a good time to have one.

And I hope that's really not the first order of the day.

Have you read the script? Maybe it'll surprise you, maybe not.

Trek V was "deep", but... well, failed.

Didn't I read somewhere that XI was being compared to Khan in terms of the action/depth quotient?

Doesn't anyone realize it was written by Captain Kirk. How good could it be ?

 

[SalvorHardin]

but it does bother me that the "Robo-Cop" issue still is left up to us to figure out.

Well, he did say that in his mind there is a man under that suit even though there is no evidence either way on screen.

So personally, I'll addopt the writers intent and accept it as a flesh and blood cop.

 

[marksound]

I guess I haven't seen an Orci/Kurtzman film, but I'm not ready to piss on the fire just yet. That privilege will cost me 5 months and 9 bucks.

BTW, I see 6 lights.

 

[trekkerguy]

I guess I haven't seen an Orci/Kurtzman film, but I'm not ready to piss on the fire just yet. That privilege will cost me 5 months and 9 bucks.

BTW, I see 6 lights.

Now there's the spirit.

By the way, welcome.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I guess I haven't seen an Orci/Kurtzman film, but I'm not ready to piss on the fire just yet.

Didn't they work on "Xena?" Good stuff.

Here's a list of Orci's credits:

Link

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Ahh... I love when someone says something silly and thinks it sounds superior.

But you couldn't pay me to see a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls.

Why does that earn a roll eyes? All I did was state a couple of facts - you couldn't pay me to see Transformers, and it was a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls. Do you care to dispute either of those facts? It was not intended to sound superior, but to express my opinion of what I saw as a Hollywood project devoid of anything other than crass commercialism. I did not say anything negative about anyone who did see or enjoyed the movie, so I don't see how I can be accused of trying to sound superior.

Well, two of those were directed by shameless hack Michael Bay, who you can count on to make dumb films regardless of who the writer is.

Zorro I know nothing about.

I don't think you can always judge someone by their past works if they've never done anything similar to their current project. I mean, Peter Jackson directed cheesy horror films, who knew he would handle epic so well? Perhaps the source material elevated the artist, but there's no reason that couldn't happen here too.

Peter Jackson had directed "Heavenly Creatures", a widely critically acclaimed film, and the primary reason he was able to successfully pitch LotR to New Line.

Besides, we're not talking about a director here, but a writer.

In movies, the writer has to make something the director likes, he doesn't own the story in the same way an author does. His style is in the mix to be sure, but the director is who actually creates the movie, the writer(s) is/are his employees.

That's not exactly true. Both writer and director are contracted to the studio, and writer, director, producer and studio work together to create the final product. But it is probably true that the writer generally has the least amount of power in the whole thing.

Are you telling me I can't judge Stephen King's new books by the other material he's written?

Of course I'm not. But as I said, an artist can be elevated by the medium he is working in. (Trek being that 'medium' in this case.) Now if you don't like the style of anything Orci has ever written, which I'm sure isn't limited to Mike Bay films, then I guess you're out. Simple as that.

It's not his style, but lack of it. His work is very standard. No flair. I'm not saying that it's impossible this may be a fantastic screenplay, but I think it's fair to evaluate his writing by his previous work, and, in my opinion, his writing is the screenplay equivalent of Brett Ratner's directing. Competent, but forgettable.

But you couldn't pay me to see a movie based on a bunch of boy's dolls.

Hmm...probably best answered by:

Ahh... I love when someone says something silly and thinks it sounds superior.

See above - if you'd like to dispute either fact in my statement, please do.

In point of fact, you're clearly not the audience that very successful film was intended to reach - since a large proportion of them were in fact eager to see a film based on their "boys dolls." It stands to reason that you're ill-positioned in that case to evaluate to what extent the writers succeeded in their assigned tasks.

As I've said repeatedly, I think Orci fulfills his "assigned tasks", but that's all he does. You might, like several others here, engage with the issues at hand that are actually interesting - what makes a good writer, a good screenplay, the interplay between writer and director. The relative value of my personal opinions is really not that interesting, so to make them the subject of discussion is... boring.

 

[RobertScorpio]

My only point to "belabor" is that Orci's filmwriting credits are The Island, The Legend of Zorro, and Transformers. If someone would like to explain to me what was entertaining or intelligent about any of those flicks, I'll be happy to listen.

Well...to YOU they might not have been entertaining...but I liked Zorro and I like Transformers, and last I looked? They both out drew more than three times as much as the last two TREK movies...so what is your point??? To have another BERMAN trek??? Direct to DVD? or not star trek at all...

The main goal of this movie, incase you haven't guessed, is to make TREK more mainstream...meaning..more like TRANSFORMERS and lest like Nemesis...if you prefer Star Trek movies like Nemesis then you are out of luck...


Rob
Scorpio