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What sunk the TNG movie franchise: Insurrection or Nemesis?

I barely managed to get through the first Transformer film. That was more than enough for me. That the guys writing it also wrote ST09 doesn't factor into it for me. Different movies.

I was at the store today and saw some poor bastard buying the three Bay Transformers on dvd. Wanted to shake him violently and yell the names of some good movies for him to watch instead.:lol:
 
I personally don't have any huge issues with INS (though I could have done with less of the cutsie Data-Artem stuff) it's no TFF!

NEM was just bad. Gaping plot holes and story elements that made little sense (Worf and Wesley back in uniforms, Shinzon's hatred of a planet he's never set foot on, pointless nature-vs-nurture debates between Picard and Shinzon, the fact that there are uncharted planets along the Neutral Zone [probably the best patrolled region of space there is], Troi seemingly unable to press buttons by herself), needless buggy ride on an world where aliens are hostile for no reason, the E-E growing multiple decks with a massive chasm that goes nowhere and does nothing.

But the biggest thing that ticks me off about that film is B-4 and the fact that Data's death is cheapened by having him there as a back-up at the end of the film. If they are going to kill off Data, then do it and do it right (don't do a Spock and leave a loophole in there in case more films get made).

The FACTS are that Nemesis graded rather well with audiences. My previous post mentions Insurrection probably decreased expectations for a STNG film. If more people had ventured out to see it, I think the lack of BO take in first run theaters wouldn't have been as much of an issue.
 
I barely managed to get through the first Transformer film. That was more than enough for me. That the guys writing it also wrote ST09 doesn't factor into it for me. Different movies.

I was at the store today and saw some poor bastard buying the three Bay Transformers on dvd. Wanted to shake him violently and yell the names of some good movies for him to watch instead.:lol:

Surprisingly I enjoyed Transformers1. I dont apologize for it. It is what it was meant to be. Star Trek is a better movie on every level though...do you see Transformers getting a Writer's Guild Award nom?? ST09 did...
 
The FACTS are that Nemesis graded rather well with audiences.
What "facts" are these?

If more people had ventured out to see it, I think the lack of BO take in first run theaters wouldn't have been as much of an issue.
That doesn't make any sense. If more people had gone to see it, the BO take would have been higher.
 
Exactly. It's possible to attach too much importance to somebody's previous credits. Different jobs, different approaches.
I actually find them to be quite similar. TF1 and ST11 both share a "something happens because the script says so, regardless of logic" mentality that gets swept under the rug to a certain extent in the name of fun. That said, ST11 is easily the better film. Abrams vs Bay? No contest.

No apologies for TF2 though. What a mess. (TF3 was just as bad, but can't blame that one on K&O. :) )
 
honestly what sunk the TNG movie franchise was the TNG tv franchise in its whole (meaning DS9 and VOY). DS9 gave us some great encompassing arcs and stories. it always had a feel of something huge going on in the galaxy. generations, first contact, and insurrection all are pretty much self contained. first contact is the closest it comes to being a big story, but in the end in boils down to one/two men and their pasts/futures.

never release ds9 and voy, turn ds9 war stories into a trilogy for tng and we'd probably have spinoffs of those movies still on tv today.
 
The FACTS are that Nemesis graded rather well with audiences.
What "facts" are these?

If more people had ventured out to see it, I think the lack of BO take in first run theaters wouldn't have been as much of an issue.
That doesn't make any sense. If more people had gone to see it, the BO take would have been higher.


Box Offcie Guru:

Paramount reported that the Nemesis audience was 64% male and predominantly over 25. Fans were pleased as those polled by CinemaScore.com gave it an encouraging A-. However, long-term prospects seem cloudy. Most of the sci-fi/fantasy crowd is already purchasing advance tickets for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers which opens on Wednesday. Plus Trek movies traditionally attract a large share of their audience on opening weekend meaning hefty declines in future weeks seem like.

In other words, people who went to actually SEE it liked it.

The comment was based off of my last post...IE: IF ST Nem had better expectations due to Insurrection's performance.
 
Fans were pleased as those polled by CinemaScore.com gave it an encouraging A-.

What does this even mean? What's the science behind this statement?

Is it referring to a scientific poll of the general audience who saw the film, and then is that A- an amalgamation of the grades assigned by those polled who self-identified as Star Trek fans? If that's what it was, then what was the grade assigned by everybody else?

Or what?

Link, please?
 
I would say the latest Star Trek movie is leagues ahead of any Transformers movie. The latest Star trek movie was fun, the Transformers movies are about as fun as a root canal.

Transformers as coming of age drama is not that far off from Kirk being a rebel without a cause and driving his car off of a cliff. Some of the humor in Transformers is not that different from the slapstick with Scotty in the brewery-engine-room. Adolescent intrigue between Shia and Megan Fox is not that different from Kirk getting in bar brawls or escapades in the academy or Spock and Uhura in the turbolift. And of course, the visual style with sh*t wizzing past the camera is pretty much the same. Not to mention we're dealing with trying to revive two preexisting franchises. I mean, there was a reason those guys were chosen to write Trek in the first place. It was because they write popcorn fluff movies that make tons of money for films that get, at best, grudgingly lukewarm reviews.

The reason TF1 was actually watchable was that it was basically a testosterone-laden E.T. with a big fight tacked on at the end. And of course, whenever Peter Cullen speaks as Optimus, it always seems epic, but that's about him, not his script. You could say the same thing about Nimoy's cameo.
 
Fans were pleased as those polled by CinemaScore.com gave it an encouraging A-.
What does this even mean? What's the science behind this statement?

Is it referring to a scientific poll of the general audience who saw the film, and then is that A- an amalgamation of the grades assigned by those polled who self-identified as Star Trek fans? If that's what it was, then what was the grade assigned by everybody else?

Or what?

Link, please?


Here, let me Google that for you.
 
I mean, there was a reason those guys were chosen to write Trek in the first place. It was because they write popcorn fluff movies that make tons of money for films that get, at best, grudgingly lukewarm reviews.

The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

---

Fans were pleased as those polled by CinemaScore.com gave it an encouraging A-.
What does this even mean? What's the science behind this statement?

Is it referring to a scientific poll of the general audience who saw the film, and then is that A- an amalgamation of the grades assigned by those polled who self-identified as Star Trek fans? If that's what it was, then what was the grade assigned by everybody else?

Or what?

Link, please?


Here, let me Google that for you.
Thanks, but what's there doesn't exactly shed any light on anything, does it. The article there cites only home page links to Exhibitor Relations and EDI for where its data comes from. No answers.
 
The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

Ebert gave it two and a half stars. That's about what it deserves. It was fun to watch while you're in the seats but you forget about it within minutes of the lights coming up again. To be fair, I felt the same way about Insurrection being forgettable, with the added insult of it being dull.
 
I mean, there was a reason those guys were chosen to write Trek in the first place. It was because they write popcorn fluff movies that make tons of money for films that get, at best, grudgingly lukewarm reviews.

The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

---

What does this even mean? What's the science behind this statement?

Is it referring to a scientific poll of the general audience who saw the film, and then is that A- an amalgamation of the grades assigned by those polled who self-identified as Star Trek fans? If that's what it was, then what was the grade assigned by everybody else?

Or what?

Link, please?


Here, let me Google that for you.
Thanks, but what's there doesn't exactly shed any light on anything, does it. The article there cites only home page links to Exhibitor Relations and EDI for where its data comes from. No answers.

No problem. A little more Googling gets us to the CinemaScore website which has the following information on the "About Us" page:
CinemaScore is the industry leader in measuring movie appeal. We provide unbiased measurement of audience response that helps gauge movie appeal and success by polling movie audiences on opening night for their reaction to the latest major movie releases.
In 1978, CinemaScore was born when its founders saw a need for theatre audiences to have a "public voice" for their opinions about movie appeal. Professional movie critics often dominate public conversations in the news about movies; while movie critics' interpretations are interesting and helpful, their reviews often emphasize a movie's meaning, not whether the movie appealed to live audiences. And while a movie critic only provides a single perspective on a movie, a statistically robust sample of a national audience offers a broader and more varied point of view.
CinemaScore's movie research brings the opinions of theatre audiences into the public arena. On opening night around the country, CinemaScore polls moviegoers for their opinions on new movie releases. Audience members fill out ballot cards right at the theatre, grading a movie A to F and providing demographic information. CinemaScore uses this direct balloting approach to establish a movie's grade—its overall "CinemaScore."
With such a wide variety of entertainment options available and so many different ways to watch movies today, the need for a "movie-quality benchmark" is greater than ever. CinemaScore helps moviegoers make better choices about what movies to watch—people can more easily find the on-screen stories that appeal to them, as well as spend more quality time with family and friends. After providing reliable, audience-generated movie reviews for over 34 years, CinemaScore has earned the respect of Hollywood studios and news organizations—including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Hollywood Reporter—as well as moviegoers worldwide.
 
The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

Ebert gave it two and a half stars. That's about what it deserves. It was fun to watch while you're in the seats but you forget about it within minutes of the lights coming up again. To be fair, I felt the same way about Insurrection being forgettable, with the added insult of it being dull.

Personally, I think that's about the right way to rate Star Trek (2009). My caveat there is that I rate most Trek films worse than that! Consequently, the 2009 film is in my top three Trek films.

Clearly, however, some critics thought it was better.
 
I mean, there was a reason those guys were chosen to write Trek in the first place. It was because they write popcorn fluff movies that make tons of money for films that get, at best, grudgingly lukewarm reviews.

The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

---


Thanks, but what's there doesn't exactly shed any light on anything, does it. The article there cites only home page links to Exhibitor Relations and EDI for where its data comes from. No answers.

No problem. A little more Googling gets us to the CinemaScore website which has the following information on the "About Us" page:
CinemaScore is the industry leader in measuring movie appeal. We provide unbiased measurement of audience response that helps gauge movie appeal and success by polling movie audiences on opening night for their reaction to the latest major movie releases.
In 1978, CinemaScore was born when its founders saw a need for theatre audiences to have a "public voice" for their opinions about movie appeal. Professional movie critics often dominate public conversations in the news about movies; while movie critics' interpretations are interesting and helpful, their reviews often emphasize a movie's meaning, not whether the movie appealed to live audiences. And while a movie critic only provides a single perspective on a movie, a statistically robust sample of a national audience offers a broader and more varied point of view.
CinemaScore's movie research brings the opinions of theatre audiences into the public arena. On opening night around the country, CinemaScore polls moviegoers for their opinions on new movie releases. Audience members fill out ballot cards right at the theatre, grading a movie A to F and providing demographic information. CinemaScore uses this direct balloting approach to establish a movie's grade—its overall "CinemaScore."
With such a wide variety of entertainment options available and so many different ways to watch movies today, the need for a "movie-quality benchmark" is greater than ever. CinemaScore helps moviegoers make better choices about what movies to watch—people can more easily find the on-screen stories that appeal to them, as well as spend more quality time with family and friends. After providing reliable, audience-generated movie reviews for over 34 years, CinemaScore has earned the respect of Hollywood studios and news organizations—including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Hollywood Reporter—as well as moviegoers worldwide.

OK. Thanks for that. That is more helpful.

It still doesn't answer the basic question I had, though, which is why did the quote from boxofficeguru.com grammatically say that it was the fans that gave it an A-. It's a poorly written sentence, then.

It should just simply say that the CinemaScore was A-, and leave it at that, if that's what they meant.

Any inference about what fans thought is, in that case, totally unsupported by the data.
 
The 7.9/10 average rating that Star Trek (2009) gets from the Top Critics at Rotten Tomatoes is better than "grudgingly lukewarm" [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_trek_11/]. Further, if not all of them rated it the exactly same, then at least one of them thought it was even better than that.

---


Thanks, but what's there doesn't exactly shed any light on anything, does it. The article there cites only home page links to Exhibitor Relations and EDI for where its data comes from. No answers.

No problem. A little more Googling gets us to the CinemaScore website which has the following information on the "About Us" page:
CinemaScore is the industry leader in measuring movie appeal. We provide unbiased measurement of audience response that helps gauge movie appeal and success by polling movie audiences on opening night for their reaction to the latest major movie releases.
In 1978, CinemaScore was born when its founders saw a need for theatre audiences to have a "public voice" for their opinions about movie appeal. Professional movie critics often dominate public conversations in the news about movies; while movie critics' interpretations are interesting and helpful, their reviews often emphasize a movie's meaning, not whether the movie appealed to live audiences. And while a movie critic only provides a single perspective on a movie, a statistically robust sample of a national audience offers a broader and more varied point of view.
CinemaScore's movie research brings the opinions of theatre audiences into the public arena. On opening night around the country, CinemaScore polls moviegoers for their opinions on new movie releases. Audience members fill out ballot cards right at the theatre, grading a movie A to F and providing demographic information. CinemaScore uses this direct balloting approach to establish a movie's grade—its overall "CinemaScore."
With such a wide variety of entertainment options available and so many different ways to watch movies today, the need for a "movie-quality benchmark" is greater than ever. CinemaScore helps moviegoers make better choices about what movies to watch—people can more easily find the on-screen stories that appeal to them, as well as spend more quality time with family and friends. After providing reliable, audience-generated movie reviews for over 34 years, CinemaScore has earned the respect of Hollywood studios and news organizations—including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Hollywood Reporter—as well as moviegoers worldwide.

OK. Thanks for that. That is more helpful.

It still doesn't answer the basic question I had, though, which is why did the quote from boxofficeguru.com grammatically say that it was the fans that gave it an A-. It's a poorly written sentence, then.

It should just simply say that the CinemaScore was A-, and leave it at that, if that's what they meant.

Any inference about what fans thought is, in that case, totally unsupported by the data.

Agreed. CinemaScore knew some simple demographics about respondents, but probably didn't include any questions like, "Are you a fan of the series?"

Or did they? There's no way to tell from here. I'm done pestering Google tonight. :D
 
Agree, Insurrection was no more than a weak television episode and not worthy of a movie.

Insurrection was the tailspin, and Nemesis was the franchise smashing into the ground.

I think it started earlier than Insurrection and Nemesis.

When I first watched Generations on VHS, I thought it was the beginning of the end of the TNG franchise. Generations seemed like a mediocre extended two-part episode. I didn't have any high expectations for further TNG movies.

When First Contact came along, I was pleasantly surprised as to how excellent it was.

By the time Insurrection came along, I was disappointed in how it went back to resembling a mediocre extended two-part episode. When Nemesis came along, I really didn't care anymore.
 
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