but the substantive difference between NuTrek and other changes in incarnation is very real. With due respect to the standard "we've seen this all before" line, I would not compare it to other fandom rows, since the property has undergone a genuine and deliberate transition to a different sub-genre.
I disagree with this, actually. Reason being:
It's just that the novelty of seeing Trek get the truly big-budget Big Dumb Action Movie treatment is gradually wearing off (as it was always going to do).
For my money, this is nothing new, and didn't start with Abrams. With the exception of TMP and TVH,
all of the Trek films have been action-adventure pieces set in space, with the ultimate goal being to defeat a singular, identifiable "villain" who is at the center of it all. Some are good, some are not so good, some are just plain stupid, and none can match the best of the various TV series for depth, for a more serious, cerebral science fiction story, for a sense that there's more to it than JUST an entertaining sci-fi adventure romp (excepting TMP, which had that very notion as its core concept, but failed in execution). The Abrams movies are no different. You've got STXI, which is fun to watch but has a plotline that's dumber than a brick (I wouldn't put it anywhere near the top of my list of Trek movies, but it would easily best the likes of TFF or NEM), and STID, which was a solid action-adventure piece with just a bit of a social/political "message" going on (and I
would put it near the top of my list). The only major shift that has occurred when it comes to films I-X vs. the two Abrams films are that the budgets are bigger and the sensibilities more modern.
Also, I wish that said fans would just stick to the old shows and movies (as well as the fan movies/shows) instead of seeing the new movies and constantly bitching about them.
No. People will continue watching new content and will continue to form their own opinions about it. Suck it up.
If you are saying that people are entitled to watch any new content that they wish, form an opinion, and post here (or in other appropriate places) about said opinion, even if it's an extremely negative opinion, then I agree completely.
But, if what
Shaka was referring to were the "haters", i.e. people that keep bringing up how Abrams Trek films have destroyed the very idea of intelligent Star Trek every time said movies are discussed at all, or people who compare Abrams to the devil, or - my favorite - the people who slagged on STXI and/or STID
before the movie in question was even out, then... well, they still have a
right to post here, sure. But it is really damn tiresome.
And there are still old-school Battlestar Galactica fans who rage (pointlessly) against the more recent version.
Why is it pointless to say I thought nuBSG was ridiculous?
You might as well say it's "pointless" to give an opinion on
anything you don't like - some TV show or movie, a book, or your least favorite green vegetable.
Making the same differentiation that I just made in reply to
BigJake: I very much doubt
Greg meant to say, or even imply, that it's pointless for you to engage in a discussion about nuBSG while holding the opinion that it was terrible (and to voice that opinion in the discussion). The word "rage" in his post was, I would imagine, quite intentional, and he was talking about the same people I was above, who fly off the handle into over-the-top histrionics if anyone so much as mentions that the new incarnation of BSG (or Trek or... whatever, this could apply to a huge number of other franchises in various mediums that have been refreshed/rebooted over the years) might be better in their eyes vs. the old incarnation. Or people who insist on entering thread after thread despite having nothing to say other than "I hate this", inserting themselves into a conversation about the newer incarnation just to remind everyone that they hate it.
Of course, I don't mean to speak for
Greg Cox here, he's perfectly free to correct me if I'm way off in my interpretation of the quoted post.
By the standards of big budget movies, both NuTreks are excellent movies.
But I'm going to judge anything with the name 'Trek' on it by Star Trek standards.
I think both Abramsverse films are good movies by Star Trek standards.
As I said above, I think STXI is "okay" by Trek movie standards; middle of the road. Whereas STID is among the best.
As for Trek movies vs. "big budget movies", I don't tend to make that kind of distinction, really. Because on the one hand, there are certainly plenty of big-budget movies that couldn't hold a candle to even the worst of the worst of Trek films (i.e., Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), and on the other, there are some big-budget, high-profile movies that are leagues ahead of
any Trek film (i.e., Inception).
