The Sobering Effect of the Star Trek XI Trailer

[Samuel T. Cogley]

So, I've seen the trailer. Read the breakdowns. Read the fan reactions. And had time to reassess my thoughts on Star Trek XI.

I am visiting a friend in another part of the country, and I showed him the Star Trek XI trailer last night. His tastes are similar to mine. After viewing the trailer, he responded: "Feels like 'Lost in Space.'"

And, for me, he nailed it.

Now, first, let me tell you where I stand on 'Lost in Space.'

I saw it as a visually re-imagined, updated-for-modern-times version of the original. While it was not financially as successful as had been hoped, I found it to be a satisfying action/sci-fi movie with beautiful visuals. I was glad I watched it, but I'll be fine if I never see it again. And it didn't beg a sequel, much as it tried to set one up.

So, back to Star Trek XI. The visuals looks fantastic, if not a little too busy. The casting seems to be inspired. But something is missing. It just doesn't feel like Star Trek to me. Granted, I have not yet seen the movie. And what, exactly, is it missing? I can't be sure. Nor is it my burden to figure out what that is. So don't ask.

Now, before you try to put me in a box...

I am absolutely going to watch this movie.

I am excited about this movie.

But, after digesting the trailer, I have placed it on the back burner of "one of a handful of movies I want to see next year." I no longer need to obsess about every detail. It has become just another (hopefully great) summer movie that comes out next year.

I also realize that this is a real opportunity to reinvent Star Trek for a new generation, and I am excited about that. It's their time now, and I hope they embrace it wholeheartedly. (Not timidly, like they did with 'Lost in Space.')

A poster here said that, while watching the trailer in the theater, some of the crowd laughed, and not in a good way. I sincerely hope that is the exception to the new audience, not the norm. Star Trek XI looks to have the makings of a big hit. And I wish it well.

But it doesn't really feel like my Star Trek.

Thankfully, I still have my Star Trek on DVD, so there's little to worry about.

There's a magic that I feel when watching the original series. It feels as if I have come home, and I am among close friends. There was a time in my life -- strange as it may sound -- that I felt as if they were my friends. (And I have seen those sentiments echoed here many times over, so I know I am not alone.)

When I saw the new trailer, I realized, those are not my friends. They belong to a new generation.

But they still have to earn it. And I hope they do.

I am not among the camp that insists that everything must follow perfect canon. (Although, I can certainly see why those people exist, especially since Paramount exploited that concept, like some greedy Pied Piper, to keep us all on the hook and entice us to buy lots of merchandise, no matter what 'long road' that canon tried to force us down. So the willingness of many fans to let that slide should make Paramount very happy.)

I am also not among the fans that are so excited and loyal to a movie they have never seen that they will insult and mock the more cautious (or disappointed) fans, in some bizarre defense of a product that has yet had the opportunity to earn our trust.

So, in summation: The trailer looks great. The movie looks fun. I will definitely see it. However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me. It appears that my hopes and dreams -- unrealistic as they probably were -- may not be satisfied by this film, as was probably going to be the case no matter who made it. So I'll watch it and hopefully enjoy it. But like a proud father who hands a favorite toy to his child, I am all the more hopeful that whatever Abrams has done will keep the concept alive for future generations.

And maybe, just maybe, Abrams will prove me wrong, and I'll come running back here on May 9th to say how he nailed it. And how this is my Star Trek.

 

[ancient]

Well, they had me sold.

Until I noticed that Tom Cruise wasn't anywhere in the trailer. They really blew it. They showed Kirk hiding under a bed, when I was all set to see Tom Cruise hiding in the closet. But they didn't show that part.

I also noticed that they didn't bother to show SHAT's secret cameo, but that's understandable, since it is a secret.

 

[SGCSG1]

Yeah, I'll never read a book I haven't read before.

I only eat at restaurants I've been to before.

I don't listen to new music.

I never go anywhere I haven't already been to.

New actors? New story? New art design? Nah, I'll just stay home and watch my old dvds.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

Yeah, I'll never read a book I haven't read before.

I only eat at restaurants I've been to before.

I don't listen to new music.

I never go anywhere I haven't already been to.

New actors? New story? New art design? Nah, I'll just stay home and watch my old dvds.

And this has exactly what to do with my post?

 

[tranya]

Well, respectfully, I understand your opinion but it not "feeling" like your Trek should be pretty understandable, right? I mean, this is a first trailer intended to hook new audiences, and trailers (especially the first out of several) are rarely representative of a whole film, right?

It's a slam-bang actionfest of a trailer, and it's likely to be much more action-oriented and, ahem, fun than any Trek movie has been in a long while. But, that's not to say that it doesn't have the character bits that draw most of us to Trek in the first place -- it's just to say that those elements are not exactly what will draw new audiences to Star Trek.

The longstanding Trek fans will likely be appeased by a later trailer, I'm assuming. Right now, their bigger concern is drawing in a new audience and hopefully the old one will be curious enough to check it out as well.

 

[Franklin]

I kinda smell what you're cooking, Cogley. To me, I'm excited about the movie, can't wait to see it, but the trailer finally hit home with me that this is new.
Fans of Batman and the other superheroes, and even fans of James Bond have been used to reinterpretations of their icons. All incarnations of Trek to this point have been variations, not reinterpretations. This is the first. And, I'm confident it will feel like Trek as the movie progresses, but like old Spock in the movie, old fans may feel a little out of place, anyway. The baggage of the past is there even for those (like me) with an open mind.

I can't help but look at the glitz and detail in that movie and almost feel sorry for the TOS cast. They had so much less to work with, but nonetheless it's their work that ultimately made this movie possible. To an extent, they got their chance at first-rate in TMP. But never again. In a way, I view the trailer and feel sorry that TOS never got this treatment before with the old cast.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

I guess what I'm saying is that I was happily getting drunk on the infinite possibilities of this capturing the look and feel and magic of the original show, fueled (intentionally) by the comments of many of the creative types involved.

This was going to re-capture my childhood, make me young again, and enlarge the size of my penis.

Then, I saw the trailer and sobered up, realizing that this was just a movie.

Which is all it was ever going to be.

 

[General Kang]

This does look very different in tone and visuals than any past incarnation of the Trek franchise - TNG set the tone for all of the series that came later, i think, tho Enterprise was trying to bridge the gap.

But why I think this will not bear much resemblance to the TOS most of us know is because we viewers came into that series with the dynamics already set - the triad of Kirk-Spock-McCoy had their different roles, and we grew to know the characters in the context of those roles. But in this incarnation, those roles won't be fleshed out yet... if, indeed, they wouldn't be changed irrevocably by Abrams & company. But regardless, the triad won't exist, or at least won't resemble the one we know - and because of that, this Trek will be very, very different from TOS or the movies involving TOS characters.

That being said, there's no saying that the movie won't be good... but if people are going to expect to see their old Trek w/new actors, sets and SFX, they just aren't going to get that.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Don't sweat the negative reactions to your heartfelt post, Sam. It is a lovely and generous set of thoughts you offer, many of which I echo. It would be fantastic if this film does indeed find its place and time, whether that be with me or other fans of Trek or with a whole new audience. But, I'm at most mildly curious to see whether or not I personally find it entertaining, which is the exact sentiment I've held since the first teaser. What has been produced under the name Star Trek long ago ceased to embody the things I loved that went with that name, and I'm not really seeing anything here to make me believe that has changed. But more power to them with the project. IDIC and all that - what I call Star Trek does not in any way have to be all that Star Trek is.

 

[ST-One]

However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me.

How should a Trek-movie feel?

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me.

How should a Trek-movie feel?

Like I said in my original post, don't ask.

 

[God Magnus]

But it doesn't really feel like my Star Trek.

Perfectly summed up methinks. I felt this too. I'm enthusiastic, I'm happy etc. but you're right - there is this feeling that "Wow, our 'age of Trek' is over." but at the same time "Something new is beginning." I've had this feeling before with other franchises, but Trek was one of the last to be untouched until now so the emotional impact has a much bigger "wow" factor.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me.

How should a Trek-movie feel?

There's no should involved. It either does or it doesn't, in each person's individual estimation. It's like humor or sex - you either laugh at something, or get turned on by something, or you don't. It's not rational, hence the word "feel".

 

[ST-One]

However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me.

How should a Trek-movie feel?

Like I said in my original post, don't ask.

Okay, then don't tell.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

How should a Trek-movie feel?

Like I said in my original post, don't ask.

Okay, then don't tell.

Doesn't work that way.

Lapis Exilis nailed it above.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

I'm so used to your witty posts that I had to sort of do a double-take here and realize you were being 100% serious. FYI, great post.

So, I've seen the trailer. Read the breakdowns. Read the fan reactions. And had time to reassess my thoughts on Star Trek XI.

I am visiting a friend in another part of the country, and I showed him the Star Trek XI trailer last night. His tastes are similar to mine. After viewing the trailer, he responded: "Feels like 'Lost in Space.'"

And, for me, he nailed it.

Now, first, let me tell you where I stand on 'Lost in Space.'

I saw it as a visually re-imagined, updated-for-modern-times version of the original. While it was not financially as successful as had been hoped, I found it to be a satisfying action/sci-fi movie with beautiful visuals. I was glad I watched it, but I'll be fine if I never see it again. And it didn't beg a sequel, much as it tried to set one up.

So, back to Star Trek XI. The visuals looks fantastic, if not a little too busy. The casting seems to be inspired. But something is missing. It just doesn't feel like Star Trek to me. Granted, I have not yet seen the movie. And what, exactly, is it missing? I can't be sure. Nor is it my burden to figure out what that is. So don't ask.

Now, before you try to put me in a box...

I am absolutely going to watch this movie.

I am excited about this movie.

But, after digesting the trailer, I have placed it on the back burner of "one of a handful of movies I want to see next year." I no longer need to obsess about every detail. It has become just another (hopefully great) summer movie that comes out next year.

I also realize that this is a real opportunity to reinvent Star Trek for a new generation, and I am excited about that. It's their time now, and I hope they embrace it wholeheartedly. (Not timidly, like they did with 'Lost in Space.')

A poster here said that, while watching the trailer in the theater, some of the crowd laughed, and not in a good way. I sincerely hope that is the exception to the new audience, not the norm. Star Trek XI looks to have the makings of a big hit. And I wish it well.

But it doesn't really feel like my Star Trek.

Thankfully, I still have my Star Trek on DVD, so there's little to worry about.

There's a magic that I feel when watching the original series. It feels as if I have come home, and I am among close friends. There was a time in my life -- strange as it may sound -- that I felt as if they were my friends. (And I have seen those sentiments echoed here many times over, so I know I am not alone.)

When I saw the new trailer, I realized, those are not my friends. They belong to a new generation.

But they still have to earn it. And I hope they do.

I am not among the camp that insists that everything must follow perfect canon. (Although, I can certainly see why those people exist, especially since Paramount exploited that concept, like some greedy Pied Piper, to keep us all on the hook and entice us to buy lots of merchandise, no matter what 'long road' that canon tried to force us down. So the willingness of many fans to let that slide should make Paramount very happy.)

I am also not among the fans that are so excited and loyal to a movie they have never seen that they will insult and mock the more cautious (or disappointed) fans, in some bizarre defense of a product that has yet had the opportunity to earn our trust.

So, in summation: The trailer looks great. The movie looks fun. I will definitely see it. However, it doesn't feel like a Star Trek movie to me. It appears that my hopes and dreams -- unrealistic as they probably were -- may not be satisfied by this film, as was probably going to be the case no matter who made it. So I'll watch it and hopefully enjoy it. But like a proud father who hands a favorite toy to his child, I am all the more hopeful that whatever Abrams has done will keep the concept alive for future generations.

And maybe, just maybe, Abrams will prove me wrong, and I'll come running back here on May 9th to say how he nailed it. And how this is my Star Trek.

Well, they had me sold.

Until I noticed that Tom Cruise wasn't anywhere in the trailer. They really blew it. They showed Kirk hiding under a bed, when I was all set to see Tom Cruise hiding in the closet. But they didn't show that part.

I also noticed that they didn't bother to show SHAT's secret cameo, but that's understandable, since it is a secret.

Well, that's what happens... the two are tied together. See, it'll be Shat who's trying to convince Cruise to come out of Lieutenant Kyle's closet...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I identify a lot with what Sam has to say. I'm about fifteen years further down the line in certain respects, and that affects my enthusiasm for the new movie - which is very high.

The original series is "my Star Trek." Not the TOS-based movies, and not anything that came afterward.

Now, I loved TNG. I got to do some work, briefly, on the show and it was a peak experience in so many ways - the people I got to deal with, the production, the whole studio thing. It was a fantasy come to life.

That said, I've never felt about modern Trek or the movies the way I did about the original. The original series is part of my childhood.

Walter Koenig had a really smart thing to say about childhood preoccupations in his book about making the first "Star Trek" movie. As an adult collector of a series of children's books, he noted that he wasn't "recreating my childhood," but "recreating an escape from my childhood." That's exactly it. As children we escape through books and movies and other pursuits from the familiar world that we know into bigger, more exciting and colorful, more frightening...and ultimately simpler worlds which remarkably suggest more complex and unknown experiences to us. "Star Trek" was that escape from the time I was twelve until...oh, fourteen. Seemed like a much longer time.

Anyway, see, there was this National Air And Space Museum exhibit about the original Trek series that ran for somewhere over a year (it was extended once or twice, I think) back in 1991/1992 or thereabouts. All these costumes, props, set pieces that dated to the TV series - not the movies or TNG (okay, there were a couple of model spaceships from the movies, but that was it). They actually had the real navigation/helm console from the show on display behind glass.

I worked two blocks away at the time and visited the exhibit a couple of times a week for as long as it ran.

So, it was during that period that I sort of let go of my attachment to all of the "Star Trek revival" that had gone on starting in the late 1970s and accepted that all I really care about, to any extent, is a couple of years of a TV show I watched in 1966/1968. I feel about it all sort of like Sam says he feels watching the new trailer. I enjoy modern "Star Trek" a lot, but I'm not invested in it to any great degree.

Well, okay, except on the occasions that I obsessively am. But they pass pretty quickly.

Now, the odd and exciting thing for me about watching the trailer is that it reminds me of watching the original show, particularly early on. I didn't know much about "Star Trek" - no one except the people making it did because most of it had yet to be broadcast.

After the first few weeks I had high expectations when I sat down on Thursday night but they were very general, open expectations - I expected to get swept up in something exciting and largely unfamiliar and to get at least a little sense of "gosh wow that's amazing" out of it. Then at the end they'd show a little ad - which usually turned out to be misleading in various respects - for "Next Voyage" and I would just wonder all week what that was going to be about.

There was always the promise of something huge in scope, and I never noticed that they weren't spending all the money and resources in the world on the show - that so much of what astonished me was actually just going on in my own imagination was something I wouldn't notice for some time.

 

[Butters]

The Lost in Space vibe, I see that too.

I had high hopes for that film, the resolution at the end (time travel again ) was unsatisfying though, but the feel of it, the sets, costumes, banana-beef, joe from friends, the theme remix, all somehow worked for me. Not a favourite film, but enjoyed it.

Yep, wasted opportunity, could have made a good trilogy.

 

[maryh]

"I also realize that this is a real opportunity to reinvent Star Trek for a new generation, and I am excited about that. It's their time now, and I hope they embrace it wholeheartedly."


I'm not sure what there is to update about a classic. As a matter of fact one probably shouldn't try to change a classic at all.

If TOS is classic and people are still watching it, being intrigued and getting hooked -- why are we changing it to appeal to the next generation? As if TOS Trek does not? As if TOS Trek didn't appeal to us when we were 14?

IMO TOS Trek worked and it DID appeal to the main stream (it was the later spin-offs that has less main stream appeal). It's become a classic. They should have tried to recapture THAT and wriiten a great movie, a new episode, which mimics TOS as closely as possible. I have no problems with updating the bridge, the sets, effects etc. But, it seems like the characters may be Kirk, Spock, McCoy etc in name only. The mission may be extremely altered and the Universe that TOS occurred in may be so different that it looses the appeal that TOS had.

My teenaged sons think the trailer looks so contrived.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

"I also realize that this is a real opportunity to reinvent Star Trek for a new generation, and I am excited about that. It's their time now, and I hope they embrace it wholeheartedly."


I'm not sure what there is to update about a classic. As a matter of fact one probably shouldn't try to change a classic at all.

If TOS is classic and people are still watching it, being intrigued and getting hooked -- why are we changing it to appeal to the next generation? As if TOS Trek does not? As if TOS Trek didn't appeal to us when we were 14?

Because no one is making TOS any more. They haven't made an episode in almost forty years.

Abrams is making a movie based on that series, because the studio wants to revive their Trek franchise. Kids today are not buying the same toys, reading the same books, or spending their free time and money in the same way they did when I was a kid. There is zero evidence that they will pay much attention as a group to TOS - they don't now. A few do - everyone on the board will probably tell you that their kids do - but most simply do not and will not.