My first introduction to Trek was seeing the Motion Picture in the theater back in 1979. Needless to say I was extremely young at the time, and had no concept of what Star Trek was, but I still enjoyed the film. Although it was slow I enjoyed the visuals. The film provided a spectacular window into the far future.
TMP began Trek's second era; the first being TOS. TNG began a third era of Trek. An era which included DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. Due to it being stylistically different than previous Trek it took some getting used to. I can only imagine what fans of TOS must have felt when they first saw TMP.
With this new film its pretty clear Trek is entering a new era. The film will certainly challenge our whole notion of what Trek is, and will certainly take some getting used to. They are keeping a pretty tight lid on this one, so its hard to tell what to expect. With that being said there are definately a few things that could ruin it for me.
The first being shakey hand held cameras. For some reason contemporary directors are obsessed with carrying a camera around and filming scenes like an amature home video. Everything is shaking, the image is zoomed in too close and to add insult to injury they edit the film so each shot last less than a second. It's like a 2 and a half hour music video. I don't understand the logic of spending millions on special effects only to have the camera shaking around so much you can't tell what's going on. Get a damn tri-pod! Just film the scene and let the actors act!
Another thing that could ruin it for me is the angry captain syndrome. Directors of science fiction are obsessed with recreating Han Solo from the Star Wars films. Han Solo was not a lead character. He was a supporting character. He was a plot device whose sole purpose was to transport Luke Skywalker from point A to point B. He is not the type of character who can carry a story on his own. I hope they don't go that route with young Kirk. I don't know if I could except Kirk as a cynical loner.
The third thing that could ruin it for me is if the crew beam down to a planet and have a shoot out. I like my Trek set in space. The Enterprise is an amazing place; there is no need to beam away from it.
Those are my three major concerns. If they avoid doing those things, I think I might be able to enjoy this movie.
TMP began Trek's second era; the first being TOS. TNG began a third era of Trek. An era which included DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. Due to it being stylistically different than previous Trek it took some getting used to. I can only imagine what fans of TOS must have felt when they first saw TMP.
With this new film its pretty clear Trek is entering a new era. The film will certainly challenge our whole notion of what Trek is, and will certainly take some getting used to. They are keeping a pretty tight lid on this one, so its hard to tell what to expect. With that being said there are definately a few things that could ruin it for me.
The first being shakey hand held cameras. For some reason contemporary directors are obsessed with carrying a camera around and filming scenes like an amature home video. Everything is shaking, the image is zoomed in too close and to add insult to injury they edit the film so each shot last less than a second. It's like a 2 and a half hour music video. I don't understand the logic of spending millions on special effects only to have the camera shaking around so much you can't tell what's going on. Get a damn tri-pod! Just film the scene and let the actors act!
Another thing that could ruin it for me is the angry captain syndrome. Directors of science fiction are obsessed with recreating Han Solo from the Star Wars films. Han Solo was not a lead character. He was a supporting character. He was a plot device whose sole purpose was to transport Luke Skywalker from point A to point B. He is not the type of character who can carry a story on his own. I hope they don't go that route with young Kirk. I don't know if I could except Kirk as a cynical loner.
The third thing that could ruin it for me is if the crew beam down to a planet and have a shoot out. I like my Trek set in space. The Enterprise is an amazing place; there is no need to beam away from it.
Those are my three major concerns. If they avoid doing those things, I think I might be able to enjoy this movie.
) of the Enterprise, but will he have the assured poise, the command presence, of the Kirk we know from TOS, or will he still be a man of rough edges to be smoothed in future films, like Bond at the end of Casino Royale?
