So Cadet to Captain in what... a week?!

[darkshadow0001]

I
Then later we see Kirk and MCcoy as cadets graduating (kinda strange but fine ok). Then they leave earth have the whole adventure. Now can someone hypothesize for me how Kirk is a Captain at the end? I know he gained the rank of Captain faster than anyone else in the fleet up till TNG time, I always assumed that was like 10 years. I know, just my silly assumption.


Any thoughts?

Well, in Star Trek IV he got demoted from Admiral to Captain by the end of that film, so I find it plausible for him to be captain by the end of this movie. Sometimes if you prolong the story the movie can get boring. Kirk has always done something outstanding so it could go either way.

 

[Logical Leopard]

Six years from what? When we first meet Riker, we have no idea how old he is or how long he's been in Starfleet.

I admit, I have not researched it myself. A poster above, or maybe a page or two back, stated that Riker went from Ensign to Commander that quickly, I believe. I don't think he mentioned how long Riker was an Ensign for though, but if it's true, that's four ranks in six years.

Mostly because they were so far away that they couldn't be promoted. I don't think Janeway has the authority to do it herself. (Starfleet did, OTOH, promote a lot of them two steps in rank when they returned home, to make up for lost time. That's why Kim is a full Lieutenant, Tom Paris is a LCDR, etc.).

If Janeway was able to give criminals (the Maquis officers) field ranks, I think she should have been able to do the same thing for Harry Kim. Of course, they wouldn't be "official" until they got back, or made contact with Starfleet, but when you're on the other side of the galaxy, you can pretty much do what you want.

 

[GilmourD]

Six years from what? When we first meet Riker, we have no idea how old he is or how long he's been in Starfleet.

I admit, I have not researched it myself. A poster above, or maybe a page or two back, stated that Riker went from Ensign to Commander that quickly, I believe. I don't think he mentioned how long Riker was an Ensign for though, but if it's true, that's four ranks in six years.

According to Memory Alpha, he graduated in 2357 and was promoted to commander and first officer of the Enterprise in 2364.

 

[cultcross]

The line from Pike about making captain in 4 years was ludicrous enough as it was.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the line "Be promoted in 4, have your own ship in 8 years?"

But it's insane. We know that in this flick, Kirk goes to the academy, and three years later is smuggled onto the Enterprise, still a cadet... and ends up IN COMMAND within a few days.
....
Imagine... 2LT Nixon, after a couple of days in the field, being miraculously promoted to take the position of "the old man" in "Band of Brothers."

That's what we're talking about in this movie. It's NONSENSE.

You seem to know a lot more about this movie's plot than everybody else, where are you getting this from? All we've seen is descriptions of 4 scenes, potentially not even in order, showing events from the film, and a number of 2 second or shorter clips almost certainly out of sequence. Anything else is supposition on your part.

We're fairly sure that this movie has TIME JUMPS in it, isn't it likely the movie will pick up years later?

Sharr

I thought that at one point, but I don't anymore. I only see evidence of a single "jump" from the time that Kirk and Co, under the command of Pike, leave Earth.

Maybe I'm wrong... but as far as I can see, there's no evidence anymore to support that.

There's a lot more evidence to support the concept of time jumps in the film than there is to support your 'cadet to captain in a few days' theory.

Edited to add an example: In all the scenes with black shirted Kirk and Spock hating/hitting him, Kirk has that injury under his eye - on the shot of him on the bridge in a captains shirt and giving Spock a friendly backslap, his hair is subtly different and his injuries are gone. Odds are that scene does not follow on in any quick succession from the 'black shirt' scenes.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

In all the scenes with black shirted Kirk and Spock hating/hitting him, Kirk has that injury under his eye - on the shot of him on the bridge in a captains shirt and giving Spock a friendly backslap, his hair is subtly different and his injuries are gone. Odds are that scene does not follow on in any quick succession from the 'black shirt' scenes.

Also, in the latter shot, Kirk is wearing the stripes of a full Captain.

 

[M'Sharak]

In all the scenes with black shirted Kirk and Spock hating/hitting him, Kirk has that injury under his eye - on the shot of him on the bridge in a captains shirt and giving Spock a friendly backslap, his hair is subtly different and his injuries are gone. Odds are that scene does not follow on in any quick succession from the 'black shirt' scenes.

Also, in the latter shot, Kirk is wearing the stripes of a full Captain.

Which would be why cultcross described it as "a captains shirt", presumably.

(And it's McCoy on the receiving end of the slap on the shoulder, I believe.

)

 

[seigezunt]

I will admit I am pretty confused on the timeline of things for lack of a better term. In this movie we see Kirk as a kid, fine ok. I guessing Tarsus 4 won’t be brought into this.


Then later we see Kirk and MCcoy as cadets graduating (kinda strange but fine ok). Then they leave earth have the whole adventure. Now can someone hypothesize for me how Kirk is a Captain at the end? I know he gained the rank of Captain faster than anyone else in the fleet up till TNG time, I always assumed that was like 10 years. I know, just my silly assumption.


Unless the story advances years after he first arrives as a cadet I’m very confused. If he makes Captain in a week how can we take that realistically? I know realistic has little to do with it.

Any thoughts?

where does it show him making Captain?

 

[Timo]

There is that single shot the two posters above discuss: Kirk in gold shirt that has Captain braid, backslapping somebody and a voice(over?) saying "Let's buckle up!". That's the last bit in the second trailer.

It should be noted that the sequence in the trailer shows Kirk and McCoy as simultaneous cadets - but later shows McCoy as a Lieutenant Commander. So it's not just Kirk's career that moves forward. We have every reason, then, to think that a significant amount of time passes between the "Kirk and McCoy are cadets" scenes and the "McCoy is a Lieutenant Commander" scenes, hence giving time for Kirk to climb the rank ladder, too.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[ancient]

So...what, McCoy becomes a commander right out of the academy but Kirk remains a cadet...in command of the ship...With Chekov, Sulu and Uhura all graduated before them...And Spock already on the ship.

Me thinks the trailer scenes may be a little out of order or something.

 

[Kirk1980]

So...what, McCoy becomes a commander right out of the academy but Kirk remains a cadet...in command of the ship...With Chekov, Sulu and Uhura all graduated before them...And Spock already on the ship.

Me thinks the trailer scenes may be a little out of order or something.

That's very common for trailers. Very very common.

I think it's kinda ignoring the common sense knowledge of how trailers are constructed to take this trailer seriously.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In all the scenes with black shirted Kirk and Spock hating/hitting him, Kirk has that injury under his eye - on the shot of him on the bridge in a captains shirt and giving Spock a friendly backslap, his hair is subtly different and his injuries are gone. Odds are that scene does not follow on in any quick succession from the 'black shirt' scenes.

Also, in the latter shot, Kirk is wearing the stripes of a full Captain.

Which would be why cultcross described it as "a captains shirt", presumably.

(And it's McCoy on the receiving end of the slap on the shoulder, I believe.

)

Watch it Jim. Looks like Bones is about to go all Gary Mitchell on you.