J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness

[CelticPredator]

well too be fair, star trek was never about action or epic scenes. It's a think movie, that combines morality, philosophy, history, meaning of life etc.. with relatively believable science-fiction elements. You can just have a bunch of guys sitting around talking in the same few rooms and not get bored. That's the beauty.

As epic as the new star treks are, it lost a lot of the old charm. They are more action movies - bad guy kill your friend, you kill bad guy.

JJ Abram will be perfect for star wars as a director though.

The ones I saw were those ****ty TNG movies which tried to be action movies, but ended being horribly boring and just frustrating to watch. Especially as a kid.


I think if they do a new show, it should be about thoughtful, and philosophical, and the films should be fun, adventure flicks. But done right.

 

[gdb]

That movie was epic!!!1

Loved the Harry Mudd reference and all the Wrath of Kahn stuff!

Did anyone else think the back of the Klingon ships look like a Firefly class ship?

 

[dsokyra]

It was actually Mudd's daughter they were referencing...the official prequel comic tells how they got that ship from her.

 

[gdb]

I like to go in fresh. I avoid trailers, commercials and prequel comics.

 

[screamingmetal]

That movie was epic!!!1

Loved the Harry Mudd reference and all the Wrath of Kahn stuff!

Did anyone else think the back of the Klingon ships look like a Firefly class ship?

More like they took the Radiator Baffles from the original BOP and put them all over it's rear.

 

[gdb]

More like they took the Radiator Baffles from the original BOP and put them all over it's rear.

Now I see it.

 

[a-dev]

The ones I saw were those ****ty TNG movies which tried to be action movies, but ended being horribly boring and just frustrating to watch. Especially as a kid.

What about First Contact? I always thought that film was very actiony and accessible. I wouldn't have called myself a big fan of Star Trek when I first saw that film but it opened me up to it. I had to admit to my friend in school, with whom I had a Star Wars VS Star Trek thing going, that it was a really good film.

 

[Adolfo]

First contact was a great one

 

[Gruson]

this movie was awesome one of the best, but I am still hoping for a non actiony Star Trek like the voyage home - one of my favorite. Probably too much to ask when it comes to jj abram.

It would never work out with the new cast because they don't have the same chemistry as the original cast. Voyage Home was great, a serious movie with some good comedy but not over the top stupid comedy like 2009 Trek.

Insurrection over Nemesis any day of the week too!

 

[JAWS]

This is HAS SPOILRS so STAY AWAY if you don't want to know about the film.


Let me start off by saying that I am not a die hard Trek fan. I love the original cast, show and movies but I hate TNG and could care less about any of the other shows.

I also really Enjoyed JJ Abrams first ST film.

Having said that my feelings about the new ST film was that of disappointment. It is a well made film with some fun moments but it lacked the important character moments that is so important to the ST universe. Basically it's a ***** to the wall action film and that left me feeling empty.

I though the first film did a great job of giving us a fresh spin on introducing to us again the entire crew of the USS Enterprise. It did a nice job of giving us a new ST universe while being respectful of the old. Making us aware of how important these relationships are.

The new film is too focused on the action and does not build ion the relationship of these characters. Even though these are the same characters that we have seen in the show and films they are still "new" in a sense that we are being introduced to a slightly alternate version of them.

Having said that, I don't "feel" the friendship/bod between Spock and Kirk. Why do they like each other?? They could barley tolerate each other in the first film and things did not seem to change much since then. Spock still pisses Kirk off and actually stabs him in the back. Now while this may be true to the Spock character it really does not show why they would think of each other as friends.

I guess what I am saying is that I did not get the feeling that this crew was close. The film could have helped with that by letting us see quieter moments with them. But it's so busy being an action film that we never really get to se some great interaction between them.

I also thought that it was pretty easy to guess how everything in the film was going to play out 15 min before anything happened. JJ is good at keeping his secrets before his movie came out but he telegraphs everything I his films far to much so that surprises are not surprises. Now I stayed away from reading anything about this film so I really went into it with no "guessing" about any secrets but I could sill see things coming a mile away.


Kirk used as a pawn to start a war and weller is the bad guy saw that as soon as kirk was given a mission.
Khan - yep
Kirk and Spock switch roles in the saving of the ship - yep
Khans blood used to save Kirk - yep


I don't know if I would say this is a bad thing but after the fact that the character relationships are kind of dull, all that we are left with is the story and it's surprises. So it sort of failed there also.

I hated the twist on the "Ship out of danger" stuff.

Spocks death in II meant something because we new and loved these characters. You loved the relationship between Kirk and Spock. You knew there was years of friendship and love between these two men. The film also had the ***** to end on Spock's death. You were not sure if you would ever see him again.

You know Kirk is not going to die and you don't have any feeling for the bond between Spock and kirk. Again all Spock is to Kirk is a pain in the A$$ and Kirk was ...... Well I am not sure what he was to Spock.

Was I supposed to laugh at Spock's screaming of "Khan" ?? Because I sure did.

I am a bit tired of Spock ACTION STAR! I know why they are doing it with the Alternate universe Spock being effected by his planet being destroyed but now everyone on the ship is an Action star. Spock was always the one who used his mind to solve problems. I miss that.

I also did not like "original" Spock showing up to be the "Oh there he is again" cameo. He served no purpose other then to explain a little more what Khan was (did not need it) and to be asked how to defeat him (never told). It was pointless. And as far as Original Spock being worried to tell new Spock anything in fear of messing with time.. Well that moment seems to have left as everything in this Universe is all upside down so original Spock should get over it and just tell the crew of the Enterprise everything there is to tell since it no longer seems to matter.

I still love everyone who is cast in the roles of the crew and I think that Chris Pine makes a great young Kirk.

I loved the return of Khan and loved the actor who played him. I basically enjoyed the twist on his story for the most part.

Again not a bad movie just not really a Star Trek movie. Someone here said it best when they said JJ Abrams will be perfect for the SW films. I basically agree with that but I do hope he spends a bit more time developing the characters.

I would give the film 6 out of 10.

 

[JAWS]

I also felt this film suffered a bit from Superman Returns syndrome. It's a remake but not a remake. Which sort of made it boring.

I also looked at ST 1 as a sort of Wrath Of Khan only it was the Wrath of Nero.

Oh well. At least I enjoyed it more then IM3

 

[IrishJedi]

Whether you like the movie or not, this is damn funny:



WARNING: SPOILERS!!!




Sam Strange Remembers: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

With my Star Trek for Jocks all put together and running smoothly, I could finally start breaking some ****. It was time for my Star Trek to Star Trek into some darkness.

Kirk and the rest of the Kelvin babies have been learning the hard way how to run their own Star Trek, the Enterprise. When we first meet them, they are ****ing up royally. It's okay. They're young and need to learn. That's what this movie's all about.

See, they're on this brand new planet called National Geographic. There are only 17 inhabitants and they don't have any technology yet. Kirk and Spock are on a routine "new planet" checkup when they notice that an angry volcano is about to destroy the entire race of new people. Rather than let this natural occurrence take place, Kirk and Spock decide to sneak down and nullify the volcano. The problem is, they can't be seen by the National Geographites, or they'll alter their cultural development. This is called the Prime Directive, and it guides all Starfleet exploration. You CANNOT affect the developmental path of a civilization dumber than your own.

But Kirk is a good guy and good guys don't just sit back and let naked face-painters get wiped off the face of existence because of a stupid rule. So Kirk puts his outer space vessel underwater. Then he makes all the National Geographites chase him in a direction opposite the volcano while Spock puts on a volcano suit and jumps into a volcano to set off an ice bomb.

Unfortunately, Spock does not count on the volcano being full of lava and as a result faces certain death once he gets in there. Kirk can't beam him up, either. He wants to go pick Spock up with the Enterprise, but that would break the Prime Directive. While mulling over his options, Spock tells him "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." That seals it. There are four hundred people on the Enterprise who need Spock and only 17 National Geographites who need to not see the Enterprise.

So Kirk takes his Star Trek out of the water. All the National Geographites look upon it with awe. Unfortunately, while turning around, one of Kirk's thrusters burns them all alive. So there's some growing pains.

This gets Kirk in big trouble back home. It appears the question "Is this cocky ******* who cheated through Academy too young to be captain of his own Star Trek? has been answered." For some reason Kirk's defense: "They're all dead, so it's not like it matters if they saw my dumb Star Trek" does not sway them.

He does get a little back up from Admiral Pike, his old buddy and surrogate father. Pike tries his best to get Kirk reinstated, but Starfleet is well aware that Pike did his doctoral thesis on the Kelvin babies and sees Kirk not as a cadet but as an almost God-like celebrity. Being demoted makes Kirk cry a tear and listen to the Beastie Boys as loud as possible.

Meanwhile, across town, some nameless man has a sick kid. Suddenly a shady guy shows up and offers to fix his kid, so long as he do something bad in return. The man agrees. The next day, he puts some of the stranger's blood into his daughter's IV. And just like that, she's fixed. So now the guy has to fulfill his end of the bargain. He goes to Starfleet headquarters, kisses a picture of his family, says a prayer, and pulls the fire alarm.

Per Starfleet regulation, anytime a fire alarm is pulled, the heads of every department and any other people important to the film must convene at once and complain about "kids these days." So Pike, Mr. Starfleet, and some other old guys all show up, as do Kirk and Spock. Then that shady guy flies a helicopter to their window and opens a fire on them, killing Kirk's biggest fan, Pike.

During the attack, Kirk hits his head so hard he forgets how guns work. So instead of shooting the shady guy, he ties his rifle to a fire hose and throws it. This actually works. The gun hits the guy on the head and he beams himself across the galaxy to the planet Klingon. Even on accident, Kirk's a cheater.

Klingons are black people with head cancer. They and Starfleet do not get along. Kirk wants to go after the shady guy who killed Pike, but he must be careful because if any Klingons spot him, it could spark a Star War. Starfleet does not want to start a Star War with the Klingons because they are afraid it will make them look racist.

Mr. Starfleet tells Kirk to park their Star Trek just outside of Klingon spacespace where they can lock onto the shady guy's location and shoot him with "Blood Bombs," special secret missiles designed by Starfleet's shady organization Section Sith.

Under no circumstances is Kirk to deviate from this very specific set of instructions. And because he just got demoted, he's feeling way more obedient than usual. But then to confuse things, Spock tells him he thinks the plan is really bad and Kirk should do something different. Scotty even quits over it. Because Kirk is so young, he really doesn't know what to do.

Eventually he follows his heart, which tells him to do whatever Spock says by default. So instead of shooting the shady guy with blood bombs, Kirk decides to beam down to the planet and arrest the guy. And that's exactly what he does, right after he and the shady guy team up to kill a ****load of Klingons.

On the Enterprise, the guy tells Kirk that he is a superhuman named Khan who was created 300 years ago by Section Sith. He's actually one of 73 and his whole mission is getting his people safe and sound and out of Starfleet's evil hands. He's only awake now because Mr. Starfleet is so afraid of Klingons that he needed Khan's genius to help make badass but scary weapons. Retelling the story makes Khan cry.

Kirk doubts Starfleet could be so diabolical. But then it turns out the 72 blood bombs Kirk brought onboard were not bombs at all, but other frozen super people. Mr. Starfleet tricked them! Now Kirk's really confused about whose rules he's allowed to break.

Just then, Mr. Starfleet himself appears in a big, black Star Trek adorned with a massive skull and crossbones. Instantly, Mr. Starfleet disables the Enterprise's mobile capabilities and threatens to blow it up completely if Kirk does not hand over Khan and the other popsicles.

So Kirk and Khan team up again, this time to kill Mr. Starfleet. They beam over and shoot everyone. But Khan has something special in mind for Mr. Starfleet, a move of his called The Skullcrusher. It is at this point that Kirk finally remembers that Khan killed Pike and is not his new BBF. Coincidentally, this is also the point where Khan starts beating the **** out of Kirk.

Now in command of his own badass Star Trek, Khan demands his popsicle crew be beamed over or he'll blow up the Enterprise. Spock gets scared so, like always, he calls up Old Spock and asks what he's supposed to do. Old Spock rolls his eyes and tells him to grow the **** up already.

Spock then begins to think more like Kirk, a cocky smartass. Khan wants his missiles, so Spock beams them over, but without the popsicles. So instead of reuniting with his loved ones, Khan's Star Trek just blows up. Unfortunately Kirk blows up with it.

Khan's pretty strong, though, so he survives the blast as well as the fall through space, Vulcan's atmosphere, a Vulcan airplane, two birds, and a Vulcan Fiat.

Back on the Enterprise, Spock is really crying a lot because of all the many good bromance years he lost with the death of Kirk. So he beams onto Vulcan and begins an epic Khan beatdown. At first Khan has the upper hand due to his formidable Sith powers. But with Spock's anger totally unchecked and flaming, it is finally revealed that he is part Sith, too! Every time Khan gets close enough to use The Skullcrusher on Spock, it brings him close enough for Spock to respond with a sad mind reading or a Vulcan massage. This goes on for quite a while. Eventually people get bored and Uhura shows up to shoot Khan with an old fashioned bullet gun. It knocks him out long enough to freeze.

While doing tests on Khan's blood, however, Spock discovers that if he injects some into a dead Tribble, the Tribble will come back to life. Unsure if it will work or not, he ties a bomb to Khan's body and floats him out to the exact spacespace where Kirk died and blows him up, spreading his magic blood everywhere.

It works! Kirk's body first reforms and then reanimates! Back on Enterprise, everyone is congratulating him on cheating even death when he trips and falls through one of the Enterprise's arbitrary panels of see-through glass. The take blood from one of the other popsicles and bring him back to life again. While eating his welcome home banquet, Kirk chokes on a grape, but they just put more blood in him. It's no big deal.

As long as they keep those popsicle people alive, Starfleet has basically destroyed the concept of death. Unfortunately, the human race does not get long to enjoy immortality thanks to the initial Tribble Spock brought back to life, which multiplies exponentially until there is no more empty space in the entire known Universe. Whoops.

(three stars)

 

[a-dev]

It would never work out with the new cast because they don't have the same chemistry as the original cast. Voyage Home was great, a serious movie with some good comedy but not over the top stupid comedy like 2009 Trek.

Insurrection over Nemesis any day of the week too!

Yeah the humour worked in Voyage Home. I found it interesting though that watching Final Frontier last night the humour just fell flat. It was cringeworthy, just didn't work for some reason.

As to Insurrection and Nemesis, yeah I should have said I could interchange my ranking of them too. Nemesis certainly has its share of cringiness aswell.

 

[JAWS]

It would never work out with the new cast because they don't have the same chemistry as the original cast. Voyage Home was great, a serious movie with some good comedy but not over the top stupid comedy like 2009 Trek.

Insurrection over Nemesis any day of the week too!

I think the new cast seem to have great chemistry. They just have not been allowed to use it. With the exception of Spock (his character is too different), I feel all of them embody their characters very well. Now does that mea they could pull off a Comedy? I don't know. We still would need many more years of them being together to appreciate seeing them put into a strange situation like we did in TVH.

 

[saintsyn]

Saw it last night and found it enjoyable but I do have to gripe about the lens flares... I know it's a stylistic choice and has become a running joke to bash on, but every time they were on the bridge I found them to be just too damned obtrusive... There is a scene of Carol talking and for half of it her FACE IS COVERED by the damn lens flare.... He just need to reign it in a little. Other than that minor nitpick I liked the move and the twists on history...

 

[IrishJedi]

It'll be hilarious if there is not a single lens flare in EPISODE VII.

 

[Adolfo]

Yeah the humour worked in Voyage Home. I found it interesting though that watching Final Frontier last night the humour just fell flat. It was cringeworthy, just didn't work for some reason.

As to Insurrection and Nemesis, yeah I should have said I could interchange my ranking of them too. Nemesis certainly has its share of cringiness aswell.

Remember ST5 was directed by Shatner after being jealous of Nimoy directing ST3 and ST4. I still thought it was ok but not great

 

[darthviper107]

It'll be hilarious if there is not a single lens flare in EPISODE VII.

There's flares in all of the Star Wars movies so it wouldn't be surprising.

 

[Reinhardt]

So, IMAX 3D for this one? Love IMAX, don't love 3D (unless it is done well), then it's tolerable.

 

[Niltusk]

Loved this movie beginning to end. Pine seemed very much "Kirk" in this one where I just didn't dig him as Kirk in the 2009 release. I also think all of the actors wore their roles better, I really love Karl Urban as Bones and I remember hearing about this casting years ago and going wtf?
I thought the role reversals were well done and if I hadn't just watched WoK last night, I probably wouldn't have remembered any of them as I'm just not a Star trek nerd.
I'll definitely be seeing this again within the next couple days.