Post here if you actually loved this movie!!

[Grup]

I'm assuming this thread is not requiring spoiler tags. Be warned that they are in this post however.


I went to the midnight early (first) showing. There were about 30 people in the theater. I was the third one there. I was very surprised to see that I was clearly the oldest, at 50, to be there. The entire audience was clearly under 30. I guess Paramount is getting their new audience.

That being said, my reaction contrasted very differently to the rest of the audience. My group reacted positively to 'Khan' whereas I groaned inside. I really wanted a new bad guy. Especially after being assured that it would not be Klan by TPTB. When Kirk was dying, one member audibly muttered a confused 'WTF'? I don't think it was a 'why rehash this scene with Kirk? "wtf", but more of a 'Holy crap.' And 'How are they gonna fix this' "wtf"

Overall the audience responded very well to the movie with applause at the end. I did enjoy the movie. I thought it was well done. I'm still struggling with the 20 year discrepancy of Khans appearance and the parallel/alternate occurrences and reactions to what occurred in the original timeline. I think if you can separate what 'we' know has happened and view it through fresh eyes, this is a very good movie. I'm going again this afternoon. btw.

 

[Franklin]

I'm assuming this thread is not requiring spoiler tags. Be warned that they are in this post however.


I went to the midnight early (first) showing. There were about 30 people in the theater. I was the third one there. I was very surprised to see that I was clearly the oldest, at 50, to be there. The entire audience was clearly under 30. I guess Paramount is getting their new audience.

That being said, my reaction contrasted very differently to the rest of the audience. My group reacted positively to 'Khan' whereas I groaned inside. I really wanted a new bad guy. Especially after being assured that it would not be Klan by TPTB. When Kirk was dying, one member audibly muttered a confused 'WTF'? I don't think it was a 'why rehash this scene with Kirk? "wtf", but more of a 'Holy crap.' And 'How are they gonna fix this' "wtf"

Overall the audience responded very well to the movie with applause at the end. I did enjoy the movie. I thought it was well done. I'm still struggling with the 20 year discrepancy of Khans appearance and the parallel/alternate occurrences and reactions to what occurred in the original timeline. I think if you can separate what 'we' know has happened and view it through fresh eyes, this is a very good movie. I'm going again this afternoon. btw.

The theater I saw it in was about 3/4 full at 7:30 (IMAX 3D). There were quite a few of us AARP-types, 30-somethings, and my daughters were relieved to see a smattering of tweens and teens.

The only audible sound I heard when Harrison revealed his true identity was an, "OOOh," from a woman a few rows ahead of me. And it was an, "oooh" as in, this is going to get interesting.

My wife (an unspoiled non-Trek fan) truly said a confused, "Wow," as in "they really did that?" when Kirk died, and looked at me like, "Kirk's your man, why aren't you sobbing?" (Of course, it's because I was spoiled rotten.)

As far as having fresh eyes goes, to paraphrase Kirk in TUC, if there's going to be a brave new world, our generation (of fans) is going to have the toughest time living in it. Fans can be very frightened by change.

 

[DigificWriter]

I don't typically see movies in a theater more than once, even if I loved them (and I indeed did love STiD), but this is going to be a definite theatrical rewatch. Taking the classic Trek stories Space Seed and The Wrath of Kahn and mashing them together with Star Trek Insurrection was a stoke of storytelling brilliance only made better by the fact that there wasn't even the slightest indication/inkling in the leadup to the film that Peter Weller's Admiral Marcus was a bad guy, to the point that I'm now convinced that Abrams and Co. deliberately made Cumberbatch's character's identity an 'open secret' so as to preserve the secrecy and integrity of the broader story they wanted to tell, which, quite frankly, is pure genius.

 

[Franklin]

I don't typically see movies in a theater more than once, even if I loved them (and I indeed did love STiD), but this is going to be a definite theatrical rewatch. Taking the classic Trek stories Space Seed and The Wrath of Kahn and mashing them together with Star Trek Insurrection was a stoke of storytelling brilliance only made better by the fact that there wasn't even the slightest indication/inkling in the leadup to the film that Peter Weller's Admiral Marcus was a bad guy, to the point that I'm now convinced that Abrams and Co. deliberately made Cumberbatch's character's identity an 'open secret' so as to preserve the secrecy and integrity of the broader story they wanted to tell, which, quite frankly, is pure genius.

That thought crossed my mind, too. Cumberbatch was a red herring. Unlike the other actors, Weller wasn't even involved much in promoting the movie. His character flew almost completely under the radar right up to the opening. I honestly believed he had essentially a bit part in the Daystrom Room scene where his character just advanced the plot, then he'd be killed along with Pike and others or if he survived, be in one more scene to grant Kirk his chance his vengeance against Harrison.

 

[Captain Atkin]

I have seen it twice now. Totally loved the film.

 

[golddragon71]

I saw the 12:01 showing Wednesday Night and I was really happy with the way the film went. i wasn't paying too much attention to how the others in the theater reacted. (partly because my theater converted some of the auditoriums to an all Lay-Z-Boy seat format and I was in heaven) anyway.
I hope the young Spock contacting old Spock for advice bit is dropped. It's cool to see Leonard Nimoy of course but I think it would get a bit old and make the new crew seem less effective if they have to refer to Spock Prime on every BIG mission.

 

[chardman]

Loved the "homages" to TWOK, because patterns repeating/reasserting themselves over multiple timelines has always been a great SF theme.

 

[sj4iy]

Loved everything about it It was like the episode I've always wanted involving Benedict Cumberbatch.

 

[cooleddie74]

I had the goofiest smile on my face when I spotted the NX-01, Ring Ship and NX-Alpha test flight models sitting on the desk. Just that moment alone showed J.J. respects the franchise and its history and cares about what we think and might like to see.

 

[I am not Spock]

Count me in. Die hard fan, own all the series on various formats, and I loved this movie. Good old fun and adventure, nice to see that in Trek again!

 

[Maestro]

My only disappointment was it was the ol' Evil Admiral Behind It All plot. Then again, it was well executed and had some good twists. I was really hoping that CumberKhan was actually Ben Finney, but I even enjoyed this twist.

It was Star Trek in a lot of ways, but the commentary on the human condition (this time FAMILY, a common one in Trek anyway) was fabulous.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Yeah, second time I watched it I was...amused by Peter Weller's attempt to overcome the cliche aspects of his part.

OTOH, Marcus is in the grand TOS tradition of "when someone very famous or in authority over Kirk is introduced, he's a lunatic or a meddler or both." It wasn't always true on TOS, but way too frequently was, with everyone from Matt Decker to Ambassador Fox to Daystrom to Garth to Tristan Adams to Nilz Barris to...

 

[RyuRoots]

Just got back from seeing the movie and I have to say that not only am I pleased, I am *astonished*.

Star Trek XI was, frankly, not very good as far as I'm concerned. It has a nonsensical plot and characters who served little purpose aside from spouting familiar quotes. Not to mention that I felt like it didn't stand on its own legs with so much 24th century stuff in the movie (who were poor representations of Romulans to begin with).

But STID? I really had a great time, and I was watching the movie with a really scathing eye this time around. Unlike Wrath of Khan, which is a moronic, nonsensical movie with a short-sighted idiot as a villain, I took STID's Khan seriously and he actually acted intelligent and dangerous unlike Montalban's. The characters all had more depth, we got to see a little more of the Star Trek world, both on and off Earth, and there wasn't this dull section in the middle.

I didn't like the magical blood subplot, but at least they set that up early in the movie so it didn't seem like they pulled it out of their ass. I also felt there were a few too many shots of the Enterprise crew dying and felt a little uncomfortable after a while and felt like "Yeah, I get it...", and Spock Prime's little scene was basically pointless. More cracks in the armor may show up on repeat viewings but I still dig the movie despite these gripes.

It was a lot of fun, it was much more TOS-centric, and everything from the plot, to the characters, to the pacing (and even the scoring) was better. Yes, they did reuse a lot of stuff from one of the Star Trek movies, but it was a terrible Star Trek movie and they made those elements work here where they didn't before. Cumberbatch gets a thumbs up from me, as does the rest of the movie.

 

[rocketdave]

I've been avoiding this bbs for months because I was terrified of spoilers.

I lucked into free passes to an advance screening last Wednesday. Now I wanna go back and pay to see it again. I was not a fan of the 09 Star Trek. I wanted to like it, and I gradually came to appreciate it a little more with subsequent viewings, but I remember sitting in the theater and getting this sinking feeling, like a balloon with the air being let out. I had the complete opposite reaction this time around. The previous movie just didn't totally feel like Star Trek to me, but Into Darkness did. When the movie was over, one of the first things I said was, "There was a lot more Star Trek in this Star Trek movie." I get the sense the writers must have taken some of the criticisms fans had and set out to address them with this movie. This is undoubtedly the most action packed Star Trek, but at the end of the day, it really feels like a reaffirmation of the ideals that are at the core of the franchise.

 

[Amaris]

Glad you liked it! Yeah, you can see where J.J. and the writers took the constructive criticism given and built upon it. I love ST09, but STiD is just head and shoulders above it, and is my favorite at this point.

 

[Maestro]

I also think they changed their clothes too much in this movie, but then again in the Prime Universe, they never change their clothes at all, so you just can't please me when you come to uniforms! And Alice Eve in her skivvies, yeah, gratuitous, but it was cool.

 

[KittyDuran]

Unlike Wrath of Khan, which is a moronic, nonsensical movie with a short-sighted idiot as a villain, I took STID's Khan seriously and he actually acted intelligent and dangerous unlike Montalban's.

I wouldn't use your adjectives but I never understood the love that TWOK received. Except for the last scenes the rest of the movie IMHO was lacking and to take a weak villain from TOS was lame (but hey, that's what some are griping about STID!).

But to my review of STID... I laughed, cried and was awed. I think the plot was well chosen, it gave old fans some familiarity but it also turned it around, in more ways than one. I see no fault in cherry-picking from another ST movie since many of the movies borrowed some from TOS to keep the fans interested. The alternative timeline means anything goes.

Tried to stay away from the spoilers so my only worry were the reports that Bones' role was pretty diminished. The movie is heavy on the Kirk-Spock bromance - but Bones still gets some great lines (and looks good doing it ).

If you have the funds see it in IMAX 3D .

 

[KittyDuran]

I've been avoiding this bbs for months because I was terrified of spoilers.

Same here, but I've been avoiding the bbs for years... when I logged in yesterday it said "last visited: January 2011"!

 

[The Transformed Man]

Saw it a second time last, and Into Darkness has now vaulted to #2 in my all time Trek movie list. I absolutely loved the film, and in particular Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto own the roles of Kirk and Spock. The rest of the cast is absolutely fantastic and Benedict Cumberpatch just dominates every scene he's in and is supremely menacing.

Loved the story, loved how certain scenes echoed moments from Star Trek II. And just like the great trilogy of Trek's II-IV, the characters took center stage and propelled the story forward.

Bravo JJ!

 

[Maestro]

I read a lot of reviews that bemoaned that Uhura has replaced McCoy in the "trilogy," and that Bones had been backbenched. I really didn't find that to be the case. If anything, STiD found ways to bring all the characters from the OS onto center stage.