Preview reaction in Australia - "Looks a sure bet"

[donners22]

Very positive article in the Herald Sun (major newspaper of Victoria, Australia - hometown of Eric Bana):

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24742161-2902,00.html

A quick quote:

A sneak preview of the sci-fi flick yesterday showed that after 42 years Star Trek is just as adventurous, funny, sexy and scary as director J.J. Abrams said he hoped it would be.

Its computer-generated tricks also make George Lucas's most recent Star Wars look positively archaic.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I'm not 100% sure...but I don't think anybody has seen the whole movie yet.

Funny to think that if they'd kept the original release date...we'd be seeing it in about three weeks!

 

[M'Sharak]

I'm not 100% sure...but I don't think anybody has seen the whole movie yet.

This sounds like it's the same press screening (c. 20-minutes of footage from the movie) which has been presented in London, Paris, Madrid, New York, etc. over the last couple of weeks, but with Abrams' introductions to the four segments now given via recording rather than delivered in person. The reaction would seem to be in keeping with those at the other presentations.

 

[Tom Servo]

I do like the line about the CG making the CG in the SW prequels look archaic.

I think we will be in for a treat visually in this film. It seems ILM went all out for it.

 

[trekkerguy]

Very positive article in the Herald Sun (major newspaper of Victoria, Australia - hometown of Eric Bana):

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24742161-2902,00.html

A quick quote:

A sneak preview of the sci-fi flick yesterday showed that after 42 years Star Trek is just as adventurous, funny, sexy and scary as director J.J. Abrams said he hoped it would be.

Its computer-generated tricks also make George Lucas's most recent Star Wars look positively archaic.

I may have to move to Australia if there more reasonable people like this there with their heads on straight.

 

[donners22]

After a half-page photo of Bana as Nero last week, there's another half-page article with several photos today. I have never seen this much hype for anything Star Trek related.

 

[Procutus]

I do like the line about the CG making the CG in the SW prequels look archaic.

I like that too. It's kinda hard to get a feel for the visuals from the trailer, due to the speed they're thrown at us, but I'm hopeful that they turn out as good as we all hope they will.

 

[TK421]

I'm not 100% sure...but I don't think anybody has seen the whole movie yet.

Funny to think that if they'd kept the original release date...we'd be seeing it in about three weeks!

I wouldn't be so sure. According to this website, there's a private screening of the entire film this Friday.

link

 

[StarTrek1701]

I do like the line about the CG making the CG in the SW prequels look archaic.

I like that too. It's kinda hard to get a feel for the visuals from the trailer, due to the speed they're thrown at us, but I'm hopeful that they turn out as good as we all hope they will.

What's ironic is the effects are being done by the same company that did the SW prequels - ILM!

 

[trekkerguy]

I do like the line about the CG making the CG in the SW prequels look archaic.

I like that too. It's kinda hard to get a feel for the visuals from the trailer, due to the speed they're thrown at us, but I'm hopeful that they turn out as good as we all hope they will.

What's ironic is the effects are being done by the same company that did the SW prequels - ILM!

They've outdone themselves

 

[Tom Servo]

I do like the line about the CG making the CG in the SW prequels look archaic.

I like that too. It's kinda hard to get a feel for the visuals from the trailer, due to the speed they're thrown at us, but I'm hopeful that they turn out as good as we all hope they will.

What's ironic is the effects are being done by the same company that did the SW prequels - ILM!

I have many issues with the Star Wars prequels, and the VFX, especially in Episode 3 is one of them. I feel that while ILM did as good as they could for the films, I feel Lucas relayed on them WAY WAY WAY too much. I mean it got to the point of insanity, and I really feel thats why partially the prequels do not have the lived in feel that the OT had.

However, after hearing Abrams interviews, and listening to him say he is trying to do as many practical effects as possible, I feel that the VFX in this film are going to be mind blowing, and most likely Oscar worthy.

 

[ian_tee]

It's good to see some positive press in Australia about the film. I live in Melbourne, but have also lived in London and the New York. In the UK and US I always copped a bit of flack for liking Star Trek - but it was always in a good natured way. And most people I spoke to did appreciate Star Trek on some level - be it a certain series or movies, the action or effects.

However I feel that Star Trek has always been treated very harshly in Australia. People over here immediately associate Trek with geek and therefore Trek must be crap. It is always relegated to very late night broadcasts (and erratic scheduling).

With shows like Alias, Lost, Heroes bringing interest in more sci-fi/fantasy shows to the general public. I am hoping the new Star Trek film does the same here in Australia.

 

[I am not Spock]

Wow. Trekdom in Australia is normally a very underground thing. It certainly doesn't seem to be as mainstream as it is in the UK or Europe. You rarely ever hear people talk about it here, and if they do, its normally derogatory talk.

For god's sake, they only screened DS9, VOY, and ENT at about 12am, first run, a timeslot where you get all those 1800 number 'hot gossip' advertisements.

News like this, especially from the Herald Sun, is pretty encouraging. I think Abrams has done wonders with the casting. Bana and Urban should bring in the Antipodean audience, whilst Pegg has the Brits covered. Etc.

 

[donners22]

TBF, at least Voyager had a few weeks in prime time, and actually got good reviews - as did Enterprise, for that matter.

Still, I remember the Herald Sun when First Contact came out. In the same Hit liftout that had a four-star review, they also had a column on what to do if you meet a Star Trek fan (with the final advice being to run away) and a whole article on why Star Wars was better than Star Trek.

 

[I am not Spock]

TBF, at least Voyager had a few weeks in prime time, and actually got good reviews - as did Enterprise, for that matter.

Still, I remember the Herald Sun when First Contact came out. In the same Hit liftout that had a four-star review, they also had a column on what to do if you meet a Star Trek fan (with the final advice being to run away) and a whole article on why Star Wars was better than Star Trek.

Yeah, it's always been hard to be a Trekkie in Australia. Hopefully, Abrams'
film will change that attitude.

For some reason, in Oz, it seems Star Wars is OK, but Trek is nerdsville and to be avoided at all costs.

I've always preferred Trek, myself (shrugs). It's more intelligent, and there's more than three good movies in the series. And there's no Muppets.

Star Wars, I find, is geared towards the masses. Sci fi for dummies. It's more fantasy in sci-fi clothing, actually.

I hope this new Trek film will turn the tide.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I like that too. It's kinda hard to get a feel for the visuals from the trailer, due to the speed they're thrown at us, but I'm hopeful that they turn out as good as we all hope they will.

One thing that intrigues me is how perfectly those distant Iowa towers or arcologies are integrated into the live action - the camera whips around a lot during the corvette chase, and the towers really appear to be part of the landscape. I don't know if that's easily done now, but it wasn't that long ago that such things were maddenly expensive and complicated.

 

[davejames]

I have many issues with the Star Wars prequels, and the VFX, especially in Episode 3 is one of them. I feel that while ILM did as good as they could for the films, I feel Lucas relayed on them WAY WAY WAY too much. I mean it got to the point of insanity, and I really feel thats why partially the prequels do not have the lived in feel that the OT had.

However, after hearing Abrams interviews, and listening to him say he is trying to do as many practical effects as possible, I feel that the VFX in this film are going to be mind blowing, and most likely Oscar worthy.

Yeah I think the prequels proved that CGI on top of CGI on top of CGI just doesn't work. No matter how beautifully rendered every little creature and alien landscape is, the end result is you still feel like you're watching some fake videogame world where nothing is real.

What LOTR did (and hopefully this new Trek movie will do), is ground the CGI more in the real world.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Wow. Trekdom in Australia is normally a very underground thing. It certainly doesn't seem to be as mainstream as it is in the UK or Europe. You rarely ever hear people talk about it here, and if they do, its normally derogatory talk.

Umm, excuse me?

Not in my experience. Or at least, it certainly wasn't underground in the 80s and 90s.

I ran a Star Trek club in Sydney, ASTREX, entering as member #222 in 1980 and, by the time TNG was at its peak, we had over 1000 members. While Australian's are great a good-natured digs at almost anything, I encountered very few negative comments about ST here. Melbourne had (and still has) a club called AUSTREK, and they had good numbers, too. Every capital city had a ST club, and there was even an Australian Official ST Fan Club, but the politics involved in that tended to kill off interest for many fans.

Mind you, after a brief attempt at running TNG in prime time (the tapes were already out on sell-thru), Aussie TV buried ST in a late night timeslot, so it certainly slipped out of the collective consciousness of average Aussies. Especially with kids, unless their parents are already fans who taped episodes or buy boxed sets of DVDs.

So I don't believe the situation here is all that different to parts of the USA. Galaxy Bookshop, here in Sydney, continues to maintain a huge ST book section, and new ST novel titles are stocked by chains such as Dymocks and Borders.

I might mention - for those too young to remember - that when ST: TMP was imminent, in 1979, one of our Sydney newspapers ran a series of five daily double-page centrespreads (ie. in our biggest circulation afternoon newpaper). The reporter was Australian James Oram, a highly respected journalist, who had flown to LA to do a set visit. Big bikkies! Then Paramount brought out Persis Khambatta and DeForest Kelley to promote the movie. The novelization was being sold in display racks at supermarket checkouts. ST was no secret Down Under!

it's always been hard to be a Trekkie in Australia. Hopefully, Abrams' film will change that attitude.
For some reason, in Oz, it seems Star Wars is OK, but Trek is nerdsville and to be avoided at all costs.

That has never been my experience, although SW is certainly very popular with young people, and most of today's kids simply don't get exposed to ST.

 

[donners22]

^ My observations of Trek fandom here are certainly along the lines of the earlier posters, but I'm certainly glad - if not envious - that you have had better experiences.

 

[Orac Zen]

I'd rather this had turned up in something a bit more...reputable than a Murdoch tabloid rag, but I suppose it's better than nothing.

I ran a Star Trek club in Sydney, ASTREX [...]

...which, as it turns out, I was a member of back in the day.