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Saw the Star Trek movie

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Buzz Mooney

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Nov 22, 2009, 10:32:06 AM11/22/09
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I finally saw t new Star Trek movie last night; (the one with the
whole new cast) I know some people didn't like it, but I really
enjoyed it. Most of the characters were a bit different from the
original, but at the same time, they didn't really contradict the
originals, either. I'd have to say that my favorite performance was
Karl Urban's Dr. McCoy, who was every bit as irascible as DeForrest
Kelley's version, and even looked a fair amount like a younger version
of Kelley's McCoy. My favorite bit was the scene in which McCoy
"smuggles" Kirk aboard t Enterprise, while Kirk is on academic
supension. I also got a kick out of the reason Uhura wasn't interested
in Kirk. Now I have to got out and see which figures TRU has left!


Buzz

Jackel

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Nov 22, 2009, 11:31:14 AM11/22/09
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I really liked it too Buzz. I saw it when it came out. I can't wait
to pick up the DVD and see it again!

Jackel, ITFC 00018

Sean Huxter

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Nov 23, 2009, 4:38:12 PM11/23/09
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You can drive the Enterprise through the huge plot holes, though.

Sure, fun fanwank, but made no damned sense including why Spock hid out on a
moon of Vulcan knowing what he knew, and only miles away from a Federation
starbase.

That, and the many, many holes in the plot just made it painful to watch.
But yeah, for some reason, fun at the same time.

Sean.

"Buzz Mooney" <buzz....@gmail.com> wrote in message
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Garry Douglas

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Nov 23, 2009, 5:23:01 PM11/23/09
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"Sean Huxter" <sean....@SPAMverizon.net> wrote in message
news:p_WdnY-hUNZbnZbW...@giganews.com...

> You can drive the Enterprise through the huge plot holes, though.

You are going to love 2012 then :-)


Tom Mahaney

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Nov 24, 2009, 9:07:36 AM11/24/09
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I have to say as a longtime Star Trek original series fan, that it was
more painful than fun for me. I agree with Buzz that Karl Urban's McCoy
was both the best performance as well as the most consistent with the
original character. The special effects for the most part were awesome
(though sometimes overdone), and I especially loved the uniforms.
Although I wished that the Enterprise herself was more retro.

My main issue with the movie (other than the "plot") was Abram's need to
"reinvent" all the characters. One of the great attractions to me as
fan (not only of Star Trek, but any "fantasy world/environment") is the
amount of internal consistency in the story lines. In the case of the
cartoon series that followed the original series, this was accomplished
quite well. The creator(s) of that series built upon the original
series without repudiating what came before.

In the case of the new movie however, JJ Abrams clearly didn't have the
chops to maintain the internal consistency, and so simply did away with
it by "reinventing" the series. To me that was not only disrespectful
of what came before, but also quite lazy. The fact that he did it with
a time travel gimmick only made the story that much less interesting.

Finally, there is the acting itself. While I liked most of the casting,
Chris Pine just wasn't Kirk. He looked good, but he never seemed to
capture the essence of Kirk, which is too bad since he is nominally the
main character. While I'm sure that he'll remain Kirk until they run
this horse into the ground, I'm hoping that they consider recasting the
role in any future movies.

Sean Huxter wrote:
> You can drive the Enterprise through the huge plot holes, though.
>
> Sure, fun fanwank, but made no damned sense including why Spock hid out on a
> moon of Vulcan knowing what he knew, and only miles away from a Federation
> starbase.
>
> That, and the many, many holes in the plot just made it painful to watch.
> But yeah, for some reason, fun at the same time.
>
> Sean.

----------
Tom Mahaney
tmah...@admin.umass.edu

KenX

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Nov 25, 2009, 4:35:00 PM11/25/09
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The new Kirk is different because he had an entirely different
upbringing, so he's Kirk-ish without being exactly Kirk.

William

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Nov 26, 2009, 8:21:25 AM11/26/09
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> > tmaha...@admin.umass.edu- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I don't see any Kirkishness at all.
The original Kirk was full of internal conflict. He was an intensly
lonely person but also obsessed with being a Star Ship captain part of
an small elite who's position neccessarily seperated them from others
who could have wives and families. The new Kirk is just standard
issue hollywood hero filler, bad boy makes good by bucking the system
(yawn)
William

.iLYa

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Nov 26, 2009, 12:28:51 PM11/26/09
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"William" <dws...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:aad72a2c-2fcd-429d...@k4g2000yqb.googlegroups.com...

I won't beat a dead horse - in this case the Baby Toon remake of of my all
time favorite childhood TV show. Then again, the glue factory needs hooves.

So with tongue slightly in cheek...

ST: The Block Buster is a Saturday morning cartoon compared to ST:TOS, the
Gone With The Wind of TV SciFi. Not even a good cartoon like vintage Merry
Melodies, Hanna-Barbera or Bugs Bunny, but a shitty, worthless one like
[your choice]. TOS was written in ink, ST:TBB is scribbled in crayon - and
they used (over-used) every friggin color in the 120 pack of Crayolas;
including the newest one - Lens Flare.

As for the 'Renditioned Kirk' - surely this was torture - all the poor kid
could really do is read the lousy script they gave him and jump thru the
hoops. The moodiness, the introspection and loneliness of command for James
Kirk is likely hard to fathom when you're channeling the slapstick of the
Keystone Cops, chasing your Chief Engineer thru a pipe in a brewery or
trying to shake off a swollen hand, the size of which would make Mickey
Mouse's animators proud.

Alas, TOS certainly had its warts and pimples given its TV pedigree and
tethers to 60s cultural dogma. So with 40 years in the rear view mirror you
would think that someone in all of God's creation could make a movie that
expanded upon the original and have something worthwhile to say about
exploring the great unknown of that final frontier and its impact on the
human condition.

[He stops, looks around and considers the entertainment world dominated by
the Bruckheimers, the Bays, the Abrams and the public's seemingly needless
thirst for brain numbing, big screen comic book adaptations...]

Or as that great western philosopher, Emily Litella [Gilda Radner], once
said...

"Never mind" ;-)


iLYa

Buzz Mooney

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Nov 27, 2009, 6:46:29 PM11/27/09
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> >The original Kirk was full of internal conflict.  He was an intensly
> >lonely person but also obsessed with being a Star Ship captain part of
> >an small elite who's position neccessarily seperated them from others
> >who could have wives and families.  

> The moodiness, the introspection and loneliness of command for James
> Kirk is likely hard to fathom when you're channeling the slapstick of the
> Keystone Cops


Not to ba an a-hole, guys, but are you talking about the same Original
Series I am? From my perspective, Shatner's Kirk never showed any
internal conflict, introspection, or depth beyond the level of a
cheesy shoulder roll or torn shirt. Don't get me wrong; I'm a fan of
the Original series, but Shatner's performance at that point was only
a notch above Adam West's Batman. However, he was a lot better in the
movies, provided they gave him a decent script. Actually, my favorite
Shatner performance is as Denny Crane in Boston Legal. He MADE that
series, IMO.

Now keep in mind that this is my opinion, and I have no intention of
trying to tell you guys that you're wrong, just that I don't see what
you see in TOS.

Still, no matter what you or I think of Shatner's Kirk, the Kirk in
this movie took a back seat to several of the other characters, and
will be forgotten long before Shatner's Kirk is. Whatever differing
opinions we may have of Shatner's work in TOS, his Kirk is a pop-
cultural icon, and TOS and the movies wouldn't have been the same
without him.

Oh, and I was annoyed in S.T. GENERATIONS that Picard was there when
Kirk died; it blew Kirks' prediction in one of the TOS movies that he
had always known he'd die alone.


Buzz

Astro Dan

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Nov 27, 2009, 7:49:58 PM11/27/09
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In my favorite review of this movie, the critic complimented all the
young actors for nailing the persona of their characters, except for
Chris Pine's performance of Kirk. The critic complimented Pine for
NOT portraying Kirk as Shatner did. :-)

A bit of Joe-related trivia. Anyone notice that Uhura's roommate the
Orion cadet was played by Rachel Nichols who played Scarlett in the
Rise of Cobra? Ah, red-heads... :-)

- Daniel

.iLYa

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Nov 27, 2009, 10:53:54 PM11/27/09
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>Oh, and I was annoyed in S.T. GENERATIONS that Picard was there when
>Kirk died; it blew Kirks' prediction in one of the TOS movies that he
>had always known he'd die alone.
>
>
>Buzz

Kirk's not dead. There was a temporal disorder in that TOS episode where
they returned to 1968 an inadvertently brought down the F-104. When they set
everything back the way it was they failed to rescue the Kirk that was being
held by the Air Cops. They got one Kirk but left another. You'll be happy to
know that he remained on Earth for 41 years and after a stint as a LAPD cop
he has been successfully practicing law for a number of seasons... er,
years... in Boston. He may die alone - but it will be on a balcony with a
glass of scotch, a cigar and his toupee.

And unfotunately for those Temporal Cops from DS9 - that makes 18 temporal
prime directive infractions chargeable to Kirk's account.

8-)

iLYa


.iLYa

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Nov 27, 2009, 11:37:34 PM11/27/09
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"Buzz Mooney" <buzz....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:55fd5ee1-5b62-49ba...@m38g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...

> >The original Kirk was full of internal conflict. He was an intensly
> >lonely person but also obsessed with being a Star Ship captain part of
> >an small elite who's position neccessarily seperated them from others
> >who could have wives and families.

Me said

> The moodiness, the introspection and loneliness of command for James
> Kirk is likely hard to fathom when you're channeling the slapstick of the
> Keystone Cops

Buzz said

>Not to ba an a-hole, guys, but are you talking about the same Original
>Series I am? From my perspective, Shatner's Kirk never showed any
>internal conflict, introspection, or depth beyond the level of a
>cheesy shoulder roll or torn shirt. Don't get me wrong; I'm a fan of
>the Original series, but Shatner's performance at that point was only
>a notch above Adam West's Batman.

Adam West's Batman is a head and shoulders more serious portrayal than 2009s
Baby Kirk - but I digress.

As for Shatner's Kirk - The Edith Keeler episode where he has to let her die
to set things right. Pretty good, poignant look inside Kirk. The episode
where they get a buggy passed from hand to hand and in the process lose all
inhibitions - damned good look at what makes Kirk tick and his inner most
fears. The two Kirks for the price of one episode where the lascivious skirt
chasing Kirk is displayed in all his glory versus the weaker half and all of
his flaws. Probably the most uncomfortable look inside Kirk of all. The
shore leave episode where Kirk is reminded of the heavy personal price he
paid to be a Starfleet Captain - and continues to pay each and every day. In
the shallower end of the pond we still have the Kirk who disobeyed Starfleet
orders to save his first officer's life - risking the career that means more
to him than his life. Or the countless times Kirk never said die - even to
the point of taking a beating from his half breed, circus freak of a first
officer whose father was allegedly a computer - to regain his ship. To name
but a half dozen or so examples of how Kirk was a very well developed three
dimensional character thanks firstly, to some very good writing for its day
and secondly to Shatner who breathed life into it.

Granted you can watch Trek on different levels. As a kid I saw a lot of judo
rolls and hero shots. As I grew older I saw shades of grey, other angles and
the not so subtle subtext. What you see is what you get I suppose. I think
it was a lot more and a lot better (so was Shatner) than a few blinking
lights, a dramatic score and the ubiquitous 1960s fight scene. Probably why
it has lived on to enjoy such a long celluloid life.

Until JJ Abrams (Codename - Lens Flare) turned it into a brain dead cartoon
of CGI porn.

And now, to be completely fair here's what I liked about the movie:

[crickets]

;-)

iLYa


William

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Nov 28, 2009, 8:41:02 AM11/28/09
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On Nov 27, 11:37 pm, ".iLYa" <HERRstolizn...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> "Buzz Mooney" <buzz.moo...@gmail.com> wrote in message

Ilya, you nailed just what I was talking about.
William

.iLYa

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Nov 28, 2009, 2:37:17 PM11/28/09
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"William" <dws...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:e123db95-f0d2-4681...@h10g2000vbm.googlegroups.com...

Actually, you stated it pretty well. Much more succintly and precise than I
did. I just kind of pulled a Shatner and raised the volume a little, flailed
my arms a bit and provided a few examples even the casual Trek watcher is
sure to remember.

Trek might not be dead. It occurs to me that the thing may someday come full
circle and Trek might return to TV. In the process becoming something more
akin to the original than its illegitimate mega-budget, blockbuster stepson
fathered by JJ Satan. ;-)

Well, at least that's the new hope which replaces the old hope I had last
year when the 2009 flick came up on radar.

Speaking of Joes... heh heh... did they by any chance do any 12" figs from
Abrams Abomination? Old Spock might be a worthwhile addition. Especially if
I can cobble together an Undiscovered Country uniform for the good Captain
Spock. Come to think of it, the New Spock might look right in one of the
really old TOS uniforms from the two TOS pilots.

Well guys - I'm supposed to be hanging Christmas lights right now. Later.

iLYa


.iLYa

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Nov 28, 2009, 2:45:20 PM11/28/09
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> Speaking of Joes... heh heh... did they by any chance do any 12" figs from
> Abrams Abomination? Old Spock might be a worthwhile addition. Especially
> if I can cobble together an Undiscovered Country uniform for the good
> Captain Spock.

Google is my friend, huh.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3426242

Playmates, figures. If anyone has one of these, chime in.
Previous Playmate Trek figs were useful for the heads only.


> Come to think of it, the New Spock might look right in one of the really
> old TOS uniforms from the two TOS pilots.

Still my friend

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3426241

Doesn't look like any Spock I've seen. Could be useful as a generic Vulcan
or TOS ROMULAN!
Hey now, wonder if I Can crochet one of those old ROmulan uniforms. Ouch.

Waitin' on the January clearance sale.


>
> Well guys - I'm supposed to be hanging Christmas lights right now. Later.

Still waiting on me... outta here.

iLYa


Sean Huxter

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Dec 3, 2009, 6:42:35 AM12/3/09
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"Garry Douglas" <ga...@douglasSPMOFF1959.plus.com> wrote in message
news:-L2dnWwkYMXxEZbW...@brightview.co.uk...

No, despite the fact that I consider Cusack a god, I will not be seeing that
film.

Sean.


Sean Huxter

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Dec 3, 2009, 6:44:52 AM12/3/09
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But in his defence, this Kirk is a young, brash kid who grew up without his
father. The Kirk you know from the series and movies is literally a
different person. Not to mention, a lot of things happened between this
movie and the Kirk of the old series. His characterization should not have
been the same as the Kirk we knew.

Sean.

"William" <dws...@verizon.net> wrote in message

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