RLM finally did it / Plinkett reviews Star Trek

[Robert D. Robot]

Jennifer did look a bit rough in her scenes, though. The harsh make-up and lighting probably added to that (and I don't think she looks good as a blonde) and, well, then there's the whole "she was giving birth at the time" thing.

I agree!.... in a movie about which we have complaints about how the Enterprise could not have escaped from a black hole by ejecting and detonating her warp core(s!), in which Spock Prime should not have been able to see Vulcan explode from Delta Vega, in which we find a huge, bright red creature on an ice planet... the film makers actually get it right in that a woman in labor is not going to look like she just walked off the set of a shampoo commercial!

(Of course, if you are from Capella IV and your name is Eleen, you may come through the experience without even working up much of a sweat)(What else would you expect, though, from a Catwoman?)

 

[Captrek]

...in which we find a huge, bright red creature on an ice planet...

That’s only a problem if you assume the creature was indigenous to the area. Maybe it was exiled there because it scared Admiral Archer’s dog.

 

[G2309]

New Star Trek Xi review (funny)

This is a new review from red letter media.
I dont really want to open the door to a new wave of star trek xi bashing but I found this review really entertaaining. I like the referencing to other Trek and its hilarious at times.

http://www.redlettermedia.com/

 

[Robert D. Robot]

...in which we find a huge, bright red creature on an ice planet...

That’s only a problem if you assume the creature was indigenous to the area. Maybe it was exiled there because it scared Admiral Archer’s dog.

 

[M'Sharak]

Re: New Star Trek Xi review (funny)

This is a new review from red letter media.
I dont really want to open the door to a new wave of star trek xi bashing but I found this review really entertaaining. I like the referencing to other Trek and its hilarious at times.

http://www.redlettermedia.com/

Congratulations! Yours is the third thread posted so far about the Red Letter Media review of Star Trek (2009). Hold on a sec while I merge it with the other two.

 

[sonak]

Was I the only one kind of disappointed with the review? It seemed like the humor was pretty dialed down and the whole thing was more low key.


The first review of "his" that I saw was TPM, and that one and the AOTC one were just pants-wettingly funny. Maybe it's because the Star Wars prequels are easier material to work from, or maybe it's because this was an overall positive review.


Whatever the case, it didn't have the feel of the previous, much funnier reviews.

 

[FalTorPan]

I'm glad that "Plinkett" dialed down the serial killer angle and dialed up the film discussion angle. I also liked that, for once, he genuinely liked a film, and shared why he liked it in addition to the things that he didn't care for.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Was I the only one kind of disappointed with the review? It seemed like the humor was pretty dialed down and the whole thing was more low key

I didn't mind his humour in the end after I'd watched the whole Ep2 review. I'm guessing that there was room after the multiple parts of the SWs reviews to build up the psychopath story. This was only two parts, so less room for that.

 

[Psion]

The pleasant thing about his approach is that, in addition to his gimmick, he's put serious thought into his reviews and he's often shed new light on old films. He's a clever fellow.

Is it just one guy? I was under the impression that Harvey Plinkett was a nom de internet for a team of people behind these reviews.

Ah, thanks for the heads-up about that. I've been under the impression that Harvey was just one, lone film student with a little extra time and a couple of lady friends who don't mind playing hookers in the basement. Seriously, I have a couple different friends who talk like he does. They don't slur their speech and go off on wild, serial-killer tangents as often, but they are real film buffs who like to talk about things like narrative and composition. One even likes to make amateur movies now and then and lets me hold the mic or camera or do the makeup. Anyway, I could easily imagine her doing reviews like Plinkett's.

 

[G2309]

I really like his insight an interestging point about multiple universes. Star Trek time travel has gotten really anoying. I liked it in this film as it was out of the characters control avoiding the obvious pitfalls.
His comments on the characters was spot on. Star trek 4 was the only film to really utilise an ensemble cast and it was great to see them all have a moment to shine in this film.

The comparisons with 60s Trek made me smile too. Especially comparing how they walk the corridors. Fond memories.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I love how he "syncs' things in all of his reviews. In the past, he'd show two similar scenes simultaneously, with a brilliant touch of editing. Here, he does it with the whole "turbolift" analysis that is spot on!

 

[TedShatner10]

His review videos drag on for a 145 minutes and while he makes a few decent points along the way (like time travel changing things being common place) he's banging on about the same points over and over again and preaches to the converted. I take his reviewing with a pinch of salt when he prefers The Motion Picture to the other Shatner Trek films and thinks 2009's Star Trek is superior to First Contact and The Wrath of Khan (all on his stupid quality spectrum chart).

I don't get his appeal (as opposed to Spoony, Linkara, the Nostalgia Critic, and SFdebris).

 

[Char Aznable]

^ I'm pretty sure his preference for TMP (the most boring one) was intended as a partial joke. Plinkett is supposed to be an old man, so he's bound to like the more slow moving movies. Also, remember he said the best thing about TMP was he could leave and do whatever and return to not miss a thing. Clearly, this is a thinly veiled swipe at the movie.

 

[TedShatner10]

Yes, the general impression I got as well and he says that Star Trek from 2009 is a guilty pleasure.

And I dislike his selective, propagandistic editing that I find rather dishonest (where he juxtaposes Qui Gon talking and the Enterprise crew beaming up the protagonists, when the same editing trick would've had the same effect if you juxtaposed the pod racing scene and Sarek talking).

Mr. Plinkett fools a lot of people but he doesn't fool me.

 

[Amaris]

^ That's great. It's nice to be smarter than everyone else.

 

[TedShatner10]

^ That's great. It's nice to be smarter than everyone else.

You don't have to be smart to pick up on some of RLM's more bullshit arguments.

 

[Amaris]

^ That's great. It's nice to be smarter than everyone else.

You don't have to be smart to pick up on some of RLM's more bullshit arguments.

Well, no, it's this comment:

Mr. Plinkett fools a lot of people but he doesn't fool me.

On which I am noting. It's like the people who say that anyone who loves the movie is just being fooled and are rubes for liking it. The key is to take the review, like the movie, with a grain of salt and enjoy it for what it is. What you're saying is that the people in here who enjoyed and agree with the review are being fooled (the aforementioned rubes), but somehow you are equipped with the clear sight needed to know better.

 

[sonak]

Let's try to remember here that his reviews are first and foremost for humor, so yes, while he does do "selective editing," it's all tongue-in-cheek. He's not a professional film critic. Yet he does frequently make smart points. And I agree that I don't see how he liked Trek XI and not First Contact, since they're both basically special effects-blockbuster-action-popcorn movies. But you see a lot of inconsistency in rating movies.


Just to clarify, I wasn't referring to the Plinkett-character shtick when I said this review was less funny than usual, I just meant the whole package, including the movie comments was all just a little more toned-down humor wise. Again, I think reviews like this work better when the reviewer had more issues and criticisms of the film than if he/she liked the film overall.

 

[TedShatner10]

He calculates to annoy and that gets in the way of him making genuinely good points - he's spot on about the complaints of the major timeline change being essentially pointless, when it's been changed many times over in earlier Star Trek movies and TV episodes, but then he bags over the popular "Parallels" from TNG in the process. He then bags over the Dominion War arc from DS9, although it was still a good generator for some great DS9 episodes. He's right that Abrams Star Trek was tailor made to be a solid action-adventure blockbuster that maximises profits and cynically achieves an artistic compromise in the process, dispelling all the baggage from the previous Berman franchise, that pleases most but upsets some (something that First Contact is a bit less guilty of) but then bangs on about it over and over again.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yes, the general impression I got as well and he says that Star Trek from 2009 is a guilty pleasure.

And I dislike his selective, propagandistic editing that I find rather dishonest (where he juxtaposes Qui Gon talking and the Enterprise crew beaming up the protagonists, when the same editing trick would've had the same effect if you juxtaposed the pod racing scene and Sarek talking).

Mr. Plinkett fools a lot of people but he doesn't fool me.

Keep in mind the Qui-Gon talking and the "negotiations" scenes take place at the very begining of TPM. ST:09 opens up with a fairly fast-paced action piece. TPM opens up with two Jedi entering a trade negotiation. :yawn:

The Sarek talking, and other exposition heavy scenes in ST:09, comes after action scenes and are done with an ounce ot two of drama. Tell me what the loooonnnng, boring, and mostly useless "dinner scene" between Qui-Gon, Jar-Jar, Anikan and his mother serves at all? This is a scene that takes place fairly "deep" in the first part of the movie after a few actions scenes and it's a scene that is mostly not needed as nothing is really learned.

Without timing or looking into it, I suspect the Tatooine dinner scene in TPM takes place about the same time the bar-fight scene in ST:09 takes place, possibly even as late as Kirk's talk with Pike and/or Kirk considering his future while looking at the Enterprise.

If anything this should show how much ST:09 has in common with ANH. Kirk's looking at the Enterprise, considering his future, is much like Luke doing the same thing watching the twin sunsets of Tatooine.

TPM's plot plodded along and gave us mostly nothing and it was broken up with action pieces. ST:09 paces along a bit better and while it has its exposition-heavy scenes in those scenes the exposition means something. The "talk scene" between Spock and Sarek serves the character, provides drama and is also fairly strongly acted. It also follows a tense fight/outburst between Spock and Kirk and drives Spock into the last part of the movie and to meet his destiny with his best friend, Kirk.

What use did the dinner scene with Qui-Gon and company have? Oh, ha ha ha ha ha, Jar Jar has a big tounge. Hee hee!

He then bags over the Dominion War arc from DS9, although it was still a good generator for some great DS9 episodes.

He nailed something about DS9 that I've been saying for over 15 years now. The War did more damage to Trek than almost anything else in it's history. The War turned Trek from a show about human goodness and exploration and turned it into OMG!!!SpaceBattles!!!!