What NuTrek Got *Better* Than the Original?
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I think the new film making some connections clear that were only vaguely alluded to in the orignal series and films.
For example:
It was established that Spock's mother was human, his father was a Vulcan ambassador to earth.
It was established that Spock was bullied as a child for being different.
It was established that Spock was kind of a rarity in Starfleet.
It was established that he was accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy and that was what his father wanted.
Yet the writers of the film threaded these togethr using something that was so simple that you almost don't notice: that Spock made the choices he made because of his mother. This gave the individual points I mentioned above more resonance, while not violating what was established. Indeed, it didn't really matter (at least not much) that this was a new timeline.
For example:
It was established that Spock's mother was human, his father was a Vulcan ambassador to earth.
It was established that Spock was bullied as a child for being different.
It was established that Spock was kind of a rarity in Starfleet.
It was established that he was accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy and that was what his father wanted.
Yet the writers of the film threaded these togethr using something that was so simple that you almost don't notice: that Spock made the choices he made because of his mother. This gave the individual points I mentioned above more resonance, while not violating what was established. Indeed, it didn't really matter (at least not much) that this was a new timeline.
It is hard to really say, the fx, and a lot of the updates look better to us, but I'm sure I would say they got it better than TOS given when tos came out and the fx technology of the time.
Giving the characters a back story is probably the only thing they got better, they got the back story of the characters in to the movie within the time allotted. Kirk and Spock had plenty of back story from the movie (and deleted scenes), and the others had enough. And i'm not really sure if it is actually better, just more concise.
The goal of the movie was to introduce the characters give them enough back story and have them all on the bridge of the Enterprise by the time the closing credits rolled.
I can't stand those uniforms because they strike me as cheap knock-offs of the TOS uniforms.
I don't mind the Kelvin uniforms.
I have no issue with the cadet jumpsuits.
And I like Pike's TMP-inspired Admirals uniform.
But the TOS copied uniforms grate on me.
The SOUNDTRACK!
ONE--EPIC--LARGER THAN LIFE--SOUNDTRACK!!!
Pike was supremely awesome, too. Bruce Greenwood makes Jeffery Hunter's Pike look like a WHINER in comparison!!!
ONE--EPIC--LARGER THAN LIFE--SOUNDTRACK!!!
Pike was supremely awesome, too. Bruce Greenwood makes Jeffery Hunter's Pike look like a WHINER in comparison!!!
Like others said, amore firm backstory for several of the characters, and attempting to explain why they can do what they do, and why they are on the Enterprise. A starfleet officer/cadet having an itneresting life outside of their duty, it was a part of their life, and not the other way around.
Totally agree here. AS colourful, but more textured.
Also scope. Bigger looking galaxy & all that.
I love the duty uniforms and think they were magnificiently done. However, they grate on me because they don't fit thematically with anything else in the movie. These Starfleet professionals dress in uniforms that are so neat, clean, militaristic... until they go on duty, dressed in a rainbow hodgepodge of frumpy clothes.
As for what the movie got better than TOS -- I think its main strengths were in the technical areas: visual and sound effects, music, modern cinematography, pacing, etc.
i liked the Romualan make-up design, specifically the little bit of skin that connects the bridge of the nose to the browline (the only apparent genetic difference between them and Vulcans). The V-shaped ridges in TNG (et al) never sat right with me.
I liked the badass longcoats the Klingons wore in the deleted scenes. It looks like practical clothing, not something a wardrobe assistant would have to help you put on like what they usually wear.
I liked the scorch marks on the shuttlecraft. As well the whole design of the Kelvin shuttles. I'm hoping that'll be the standard "hero" shuttle for sequels, not the "troop carriers" you see Kirk and McCoy board when they go to Star fleet and then the Enterprise.
I liked all the activity on the bridge. Rather than four principles and an extra waiting to be killed, you have a large number of people running the ship. as a result the bridge looks more a like a central hub (like the C.I.C. on BSG or NASA's Mission Control as a real world example).
I liked the lens flares and sweeping camera movements during the outer space sequences. Its something TOS, TNG, etc never could have done, and it helps keep those sequences belivable and from feeling too stately or removed.
I think all of the supporting cast has been upgraded. John Cho, and Anton Yelchin being real standouts. I could easily watch a whole movie about those two.
I liked the badass longcoats the Klingons wore in the deleted scenes. It looks like practical clothing, not something a wardrobe assistant would have to help you put on like what they usually wear.
I liked the scorch marks on the shuttlecraft. As well the whole design of the Kelvin shuttles. I'm hoping that'll be the standard "hero" shuttle for sequels, not the "troop carriers" you see Kirk and McCoy board when they go to Star fleet and then the Enterprise.
I liked all the activity on the bridge. Rather than four principles and an extra waiting to be killed, you have a large number of people running the ship. as a result the bridge looks more a like a central hub (like the C.I.C. on BSG or NASA's Mission Control as a real world example).
I liked the lens flares and sweeping camera movements during the outer space sequences. Its something TOS, TNG, etc never could have done, and it helps keep those sequences belivable and from feeling too stately or removed.
I think all of the supporting cast has been upgraded. John Cho, and Anton Yelchin being real standouts. I could easily watch a whole movie about those two.
Spock is hotter. HOTTER.
I'm gonna stop right here.
The uniforms DON'T FIT! Uhura's was fine, but the men's uniforms just look like random fabric draped over them. They're just not form-fitting, and they look tacky.
Cinematography.
Special effects, obviously.
All of the supporting performances - Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov.
Pike.
Pacing.
A lot of other stuff, but that's right off the top.
The duty tunics were no better or no worse than the originals - I'm sentimentally attached to the odd 1960s shades of those colors - but the trousers were certainly an improvement.
Special effects, obviously.
All of the supporting performances - Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, Chekov.
Pike.
Pacing.
A lot of other stuff, but that's right off the top.
The duty tunics were no better or no worse than the originals - I'm sentimentally attached to the odd 1960s shades of those colors - but the trousers were certainly an improvement.
Lens Flares make it more believable? Too stately? I'm a bit confused. I personally like it when an image stays on the screen for more than .015 seconds. Perhaps I'm just getting old.
Perhaps so. I've got to agree that the outer space sequences were far more immersive and persuasively "real" than anything Trek has managed in the past.
The music, catchy though it may have been, does not compare to the music from TOS at all. I'll take the score from The Doomsday Machine over "Enterprising Young Men" any day.
And while I agree that Bruce Greenwood did an excellent job portraying Pike, I still prefer Jeffrey Hunter's protrayal as a man whose job has worn him out and now wants nothing more than to be a pimp for green skinned women, until he learns to be careful what you wish for.
I am very grateful that the whole feeling of Trek has been modernized, helping bring in many new younger fans. My kids, and they range from 16 - 29 thought that it absolutely "rocked". They have now asked me about other episodes in all the other incarnations of Trek. Long may it live.
I love them both, in a lot of the same ways, as well as different ways. I don't think Hunter's Pike would always have been so burnt out--those were extraordinary circumstances, and his arc for much of "The Cage" is overcoming that depression and reclaiming his zest for life in Starfleet. While he probably never would have been quite so adept at fostering personal and casual relationships among his crew as Kirk ahd done, that's simply a difference in command styles and not a drawback for Pike. I think in a lot of ways, Picard was modelled much more on Pike than any previous commander. As was Janeway (particularly given her almost-romance with her XO).
Whereas what I love about Greenwood's Pike is his wry sense of humour. There's just a spark there. Also, when the Enterprise arrives at Vulcan, he's shown to be an excellent commander, completely in charge and able to make lightning-quick tactical decisions during the absolute chaos of the battle. He is absolutely the kind of captain his crew would give their lives for because he so clearly puts them and the ship first in his life, and you trust him because he radiates confidence and competence--just as Hunter's Pike does at times in :"The Cage". After all, his brand-new yeoman who's worked for him for all of a day is devoted enough to volunteer to go down to Talos to rescue him. he also inspires that kind of loyalty in his crew.
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