Rating The Directors

[Danny99]

As Space Channel replays each of the first ten movies and I finish up a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, I can't help but analyze the movies by directors and the work they did. Here's my list:

1) Nicholas Meyer (TWOK, TUC): Meyer directed my two favorite TOS crew movie outings. In TWOK, he brought so much to the franchise, including uniforms that made sense and one of the most touching moments in Star Trek history. In TUC, he tackled the problem of racism and hatred. His only failing was trying to put Trek more in modern times (example: the books in TUC)

2) Jonathan Frakes (FC, INS): Frakes slides in above Nimoy, probably to many people's chagrin. Frakes' two movies had a great "feeling" to them through lighting, sound, location etc. In FC, the mood of the Borg-ifed Enterprise is helped by the choices in lighting and sound. In INS, the location and music choices while in the Ba'ku village are again spot on.

3) Leonard Nimoy (TSFS, TVH): Nimoy does two solid outings, but he is not the demigod of directing that some have annoited him.

4) Stuart Baird (NEM): NEM is visually a great movie, but Baird made several decisions in the script and editing phases that left alot of us scratching our heads. Example: Isn't Worf an Ambassador?

5) William Shantner (TFF): Similar to Baird. Nice looking movie, but loses points for story. God is never really a threat as he is killed by a couple torpedoes. The rest of the cast is pushed to the background in a Shatner wank-fest with great one liners like "God's a busy man!" for the Shat.

6) David Carson (GEN): Beats Wise by a hair. My main issue with GEN is the pussification of Patrick Stewart. He is easily beaten up in every fight he gets into, even though we have seen him resist torture in TNG and will see him playing action hero in later movies. All of this is done to make him look secondary to Shatner. Carson also wastes Malcolm McDowell, who had potential to be another great Trek villian.

7) Robert Wise (TMP): Wise was the big name brought on for the revival. But as Leonard Nimoy once said, the actors never felt that they were playing the characters they were had built. Add in the unneeded effects onslaught, the million different uniforms, and a sterile looking Enterprise with a crew right out of diversity today (Native American in the briefing scene, dressed like he/she should be holding a bow and arrow) and Wise takes the cake as the worst director in Trek movie history.

That's my list! Thoughts? Comments?

 

[Xerxes1979]

Wise has an extremely solid body of work that guarantees his legacy regardless of how TMP is viewed.

Can that be said of the others?

 

[Danny99]

^^
I based it on the one Trek movie he did, even if it was just a blip in a glorious career.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I agree with most of what was said, although even though I didn't like the first Star Trek movie, I think Wise should be ranked higher than Baird. I think Baird's direction smacked of not understanding or giving a damn about Star Trek and making a movie that showed little reverence for the series and characters. At least Wise tried to give his movie a suitably epic look and feel.

It's nice to see Frakes getting some praise. I don't think he gets enough credit for how well he directed his Star Trek movies, perhaps partially because Insurrection had a lousy story and mishandled its characters. I love those Space marathons. One of the perks of Canada is its having that station, which does show some love to long dead series. I wouldn't have been able to see most of DS9 in order almost ten years after it was first broadcast if not for them, and I love their Star Trek movie marathons. The jingle they made for the Christmas one was adorable.

 

[Claudia]

I agree with most of what the OP said - but I'd equally rank Baird and Wise last... because I think that both didn't quite get "Star Trek" and/or its characters. Wise tried to turn ST into some kind of epic space opera, something TOS never was - and Baird... I don't think he (and Logan) ever watched a single TNG-episode. Visually it was a stunning movie, but had nothing to do with ST except in name.

Merely from the technical PoV, Shatner has to take away the price for the most ridiculous scene in the whole of ST-movie-verse. That whole Kirk dropping down the mountain scene makes me cringe every time I see it. But he at least got the characters right and that alone has him a huge step up from the other two.

 

[Pineapples101]

William Shatner above Robert Wise...
Im literally at a loss for words

 

[Warp Coil]

My ranking, real quick:

Nicholas Meyer
Jonathan Frakes
Leonard Nimoy
Robert Wise
David Carson
Stuart Baird
William Shatner

 

[Joker]

That's my list! Thoughts? Comments?

Crap.

 

[Morphi]

Crap.

QFT

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I mostly agree with your list, but I think I would switch Meyer and Frakes. I think Insurrection was brilliantly directed, and First Contact was well-done, too. The scenes with the Borg Queen were chilling.

 

[Xerxes1979]

My ranking, real quick:

Nicholas Meyer
Jonathan Frakes
Leonard Nimoy
Robert Wise
David Carson
Stuart Baird
William Shatner

I agree with with this ranking. Haven't seen ST:V in long time though, Nemesis has been on cable a lot recently so its flaws are very fresh in my mind.

 

[Maurice]

While I'm no huge fan of Wise's work, I think he's being critiqued here more for the script than his actual direction. The characters "don't act like themselves" because the script calls for them to be in a different place in their lives, and that their relationships are strained. That's hardly the fault of Wise's direction. There's not much action in TMP, and I can't see Frakes of Nimoy doing a better job with scenes like those in TMP with the characters trapped on the bridge for half the movie.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Wise has an extremely solid body of work that guarantees his legacy regardless of how TMP is viewed.

Can that be said of the others?

Shatner, Groom Lake, 'nuff said.

 

[Xerxes1979]

 

[trevanian]

Wise has an extremely solid body of work that guarantees his legacy regardless of how TMP is viewed.

Can that be said of the others?

He's also the only one who can be directly credited with ruining a masterpiece, specifically THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS. Not just ruining it (on studio orders), but not having the guts to save a copy of the original, which is even worse, downright despicable.

That can't be said of the others either.

 

[Basil]

Robert Wise
Nicholas Meyer
Jonathan Frakes
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner
David Carson
Stuart Baird

Only Wise and Meyer approached their projects with any real sense of cinema, though Wise is the better auteur. The rest more or less directed the films in a workmanlike, TV sort of way, albeit with better lensing and bigger budgets. Of course, none of the Star Trek films compares well to even minor movie classics.

 

[trevanian]

I think Carson is actually a very talented guy; look at some of his stuff like REDEMPTION II and you can see how he used long lenses to stack characters, making scenes a lot more crowded and real than they actually were. If he hadn't been sabotaged by Bernie Williams (Berman's alter-ego on GEN), he might have delivered in a more engaging fashion.

I think Carson and Shatner both had really interesting visual styles, and I think Meyer was kinda hit-and-miss in that regard, but miles ahead of Nimoy. Frakes was a good TV director, but the features just didn't seem like movies to me at all.

Baird, even after three movies (all terrible), simply cannot shoot for shit. I knew film students who had a better idea of how to shoot when started out than him, so a career as an acclaimed film editor doesn't get him any points in directing, because he just doesn't get how to work on a set.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Emphasis mine

I think Carson and Shatner both had really interesting visual styles, and I think Meyer was kinda hit-and-miss in that regard, but miles ahead of Nimoy. Frakes was a good TV director, but the features just didn't seem like movies to me at all.

I agree, both set up some nice shots in their respective movies, especially Shatner, who despite his budget still managed to make use of the entire frame in interesting ways.

 

[Eddie Roth]

I think Robert Wise actually directed TMP as the master that he was. Remember what ended up in theaters wasn't really a finished product. The DE is indeed very elegant, just a different kind of ST film, which is totally fine. That said, I do think Nicholas Meyer's films were more kinetic - a quality Trek needs in the long run.

Both Nimoy and Frakes got better on their second Trek. They developed better timing and sense of space. With Frakes, it's only in INS that the Enterprise feels like an actual ship, in FC it was still a set, almost like a stage, especially the bridge, which seemed to always be shot from the front (viewscreen perspective). Frakes ranks lowest for me overall - good TV director, but no sense of scope.

Carson is generally underrated. He made some of the most atmospheric, visually interesting episodes, and GEN is no different. The script wasn't so good, but I think he made the most of it.

Shatner had obvious difficulty with scenes that were supposed to be fast and action-packed. He couldn't really convey these qualities in the way he set up his scenes. Other than that, he did OK in my eyes. Just, again, more of a TV approach here.

Stuart Baird, well, the action wasn't so bad. You can tell he's an editor. But the film oozes indifference, towards the characters, towards the plot, everything. You feel detached from what's happening because the director was detached and didn't bother to add detail that could make you care.

 

[Xerxes1979]

Carson is generally underrated. He made some of the most atmospheric, visually interesting episodes, and GEN is no different. The script wasn't so good, but I think he made the most of it.

My biggest problem with Generations is the completely untested use of the color yellow. While some might say TWOK was too red or TSFS had too much blue, they six had films to try different lighting schemes.

The depressing amber mood ligthing is how my beloved Enterprise-D went out and I am pissed. TNG had so many opportunities to do this before hitting the big screen.