Wil Wheaton's comments about the movies.

[Cheapjack]

I know this is a bit out of date, but:

What does everyone think about his comments? He said only about four of the movies are any good!

The thing is, I think, unless you were around in the 80's, you wouldn't understand how great it was to see these figures on the big screen. A lot of us were brought up with TOS lot as heroes. Just seeing them saying anything, even the alphabet, would have been great.

ST4 is my favourite film of all time.

I think First Contact was terrible, though. The ending made me cringe!

 

[msbae]

All Trek films are good films. Some are just better than others.

As for Wheaton, I have just one thing to say... Shut up, Wesley!

 

[Evil_Kirkneivel]

Wheaton's opinion is just that: an opinion. It has no more relevance than basically anyone else's opinion. Yes, he was a teen actor in a Trek series, but that does not give him any more expertise in judging Trek movies; it just has afforded him a more visible forum for expressing his views.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Wil who?

 

[Augustus]

Yeah, I just don't care that much about what this guy says...
but he can hold whatever opinion he wants about the movies.

I don't think he is right on his outlook for the new flick.

 

[cardinal biggles]

He's not too far off the mark, though. Trek has always been better on TV than in the theaters, with the big problem being that most of the films (especially the TNG films) felt like expensive episodes. The production values might have been better, but the stories weren't any more epic than what you might get during a Sweeps month two-parter.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

I have a feeling that if Wil Wheaton had been given a big role in the new Star Trek movie, he'd be gushing about how wonderful the film franchise has been.

Given that his only appearance in the a Trek movie was his 10 seconds in Nemesis (and all of his lines hit the cutting room floor) I'd credit this to sour grapes than anything else.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Not really. He's frequently been openly critical of when Trek is bad (and just as supportive when it's good). In the last year or two he's written a series of reviews of early TNG episodes where he rips into all aspects of the episodes, including his own character.

http://www.tvsquad.com/bloggers/wil-wheaton/

 

[FordSVT]

I have a feeling that if Wil Wheaton had been given a big role in the new Star Trek movie, he'd be gushing about how wonderful the film franchise has been.

Given that his only appearance in the a Trek movie was his 10 seconds in Nemesis (and all of his lines hit the cutting room floor) I'd credit this to sour grapes than anything else.

Do you read his blog?

 

[Bacl]

I liked when Wheaton said he listened to the director's commentary for Star Trek: Nemesis, and the guy couldn't even remember the some of the primary actor's names! Wheaton reflected on the fact the director kept thinking LeVar Burton's character was an alien, and concluded, "Maybe they should have gotten someone who gave a damn and knew something about Star Trek."

I concur.

 

[RaymondJames]

This reminds me of the episode where Beverly slaps Wesley. First Contact was the best of the TNG trek films.
Closely fallowed by Generations. And its atoss up between Insurection and Nem. I personally think Nem was a little better than Insurection.

 

[ClayinCA]

Where are these comments of Wheaton's about the movies to be found?

 

[cardinal biggles]

The quote about the movies sucking comes from his own blog, in an entry posted back in May (and reported on over at TrekToday)

Down near the end:

I'm going to commit heresy right now and say what few people are willing to say out loud: most of the Star Trek movies are absolute garbage. There have been ten Trek movies, and I'd say that two of them are accessible to mainstream audiences, another two are great, and the remaining six are nearly unwatchable. If JJ Abrams wants to make his new Trek movie unlike the 80% of Trek movies that aren't that good, that's just fine with me.

I just read through the three pages of comments on that entry, and WW won't spill on just which are the "accessible" films and which are the "great" ones.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'd say that two of them are accessible to mainstream audiences

I'm guessing TVH and FC.

another two are great

One of them is probably TWOK. Don't know about the other one but let's see if I can figure it out.

the remaining six are nearly unwatchable.

Most likely TFF, GEN, INS, and NEM are among The Six.

That leaves TMP, TSFS, and TUC.

TMP: Roddenberrian.
TSFS: Connects to TWOK and TVH, completing the trilogy.
TUC: Conforms to the old even/odd theory.

EDIT

I'm not feeling it with TSFS. TUC, I don't know. If Wil Wheaton is a Roddenberry fan, which makes the most sense, not having read the links above, I'll say The Four are...

... TMP, TWOK, TVH, and FC.

 

[Philo]

^ that sounds pretty believable.

Wheaton's opinion is just that: an opinion. It has no more relevance than basically anyone else's opinion. Yes, he was a teen actor in a Trek series, but that does not give him any more expertise in judging Trek movies; it just has afforded him a more visible forum for expressing his views.

Sure, but like anyone else's opinions, if I find them to be enlightened and intelligent the first time through, I'll give them more weight the second go around.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I liked when Wheaton said he listened to the director's commentary for Star Trek: Nemesis, and the guy couldn't even remember the some of the primary actor's names! Wheaton reflected on the fact the director kept thinking LeVar Burton's character was an alien, and concluded, "Maybe they should have gotten someone who gave a damn and knew something about Star Trek."

I concur.

You mean a Geordi isn't a race of blind aliens? You know, Klingons, Romulans, Geordis, etc.

They don't call it Nemesis for nothin'. A good example of what not to do with a franchise film: try to force it into a Hollywood mould.

 

[Iamnotspock]

The quote about the movies sucking comes from his own blog, in an entry posted back in May (and reported on over at TrekToday)

Down near the end:

I'm going to commit heresy right now and say what few people are willing to say out loud: most of the Star Trek movies are absolute garbage. There have been ten Trek movies, and I'd say that two of them are accessible to mainstream audiences, another two are great, and the remaining six are nearly unwatchable. If JJ Abrams wants to make his new Trek movie unlike the 80% of Trek movies that aren't that good, that's just fine with me.

I just read through the three pages of comments on that entry, and WW won't spill on just which are the "accessible" films and which are the "great" ones.

Accessible: TVH, TUC

Great: TWOK, FC

"Unwatchable": The rest.

I would consider Wheaton's "unwatchable" films, "good" or "enjoyable" from a fan POV, if not very accessible to the mainstream.

 

[The Old Mixer]

^I'd switch TUC and TWOK in that list. Or maybe not. It's hard to tell if "accessible" is supposed to be better or worse than "great" in context of Wil's quote.

I love TMP, but I can perfectly understand why many might consider it "unwatchable".

 

[Bacl]

I have a feeling that if Wil Wheaton had been given a big role in the new Star Trek movie, he'd be gushing about how wonderful the film franchise has been.

Given that his only appearance in the a Trek movie was his 10 seconds in Nemesis (and all of his lines hit the cutting room floor) I'd credit this to sour grapes than anything else.

Do you read his blog?

I used to poke around his blog, but he talks very little about old Star Trek memories anymore and I find myself bored.

Early on, he'd be frank with his stories about life on the set and even getting ditched for the Star Trek X premiere. He named names. It was real and great.

 

[Iamnotspock]

^I'd switch TUC and TWOK in that list. Or maybe not. It's hard to tell if "accessible" is supposed to be better or worse than "great" in context of Wil's quote.

I thought about that, and I expected someone to switch them around. The thing is, I do think TUC is more accessible as I think it works as a political allegory. When it came out in 1991 it was dealing with contemporary issues surrounding the end of the Cold War, with the clear Chernobyl/Praxis allegory.

TWOK, while a great action/adventure film, is more connected to the mythology of TOS. Although the Kirk/Khan backstory was explained in the film, it's not as resonant without having seen Space Seed.

Having said all that, I suppose a case can be made that Kirk's character arc in TUC has more resonance if you've seen TSFS, so I just don't know anymore! lol.

I love TMP, but I can perfectly understand why many might consider it "unwatchable".

Agreed.