Star Trek Into Darkness discussion *SPOILERS*

will see it sunday, can't wait. will watch the 1st one again this weekend to get "caught up".

 

I just viewed it.

I'll second that I enjoyed the soundtrack. Infact, if you stay after the movie, and after the big final credits when the credits are actually rolling- they play a very haunting piece.

I thought the movie was good. At times very good. But I can't go so far as to say I thought it was great.

I actually think it's pretty challenging to do what is attempted with the latest Star Trek canons, that is create a movie with new actors that connects to the original characters even connects with characters and story lines that are familiar to long devoted fans. It's going to be hard to please everyone with everything.

I thought this movie did a pretty good job trying to balance all those traits.

SPOILER ***

There is a small part with Leonard Nimoy that I thought was practically unnecessary.

While I know I'm clearly dealing with Science Fiction and Fantasy and so I am always willing to suspend disbelief to a great extent, there were some scenes that I thought simply did not ring true enough even through the prism of fantasy and science fiction.

Most notably a scene where an attack on the Enterprise happens at warp speed. Scenes of hull section being ripped away and crew members being sucked out into space while the Enterprise was conceivably traveling at or near warp speed, were presented similarly to disaster scenes in other movies where airplanes are suddenly ripped open and people are sucked out of the plane. That is their bodies are visible, with hands and legs waving. I find it hard to believe that people suddenly sucked out into the vacuum of space, and sucked out from a starship at warp speed would survive even for a split second in this manner.

Bigger Spoiler Alert**** Also the scene in which Scotty is confronted and distracted by a what is revealed to be a relatively innocent man, simply working security on the "other" ship, IMO just doesn't work. Outside of simply creating momentary drama by creating a dynamic where the question becomes will he get the door open in time or will be not? It reduces Scotty from a character used in a relatively lightly an almost a comedic light, to a character that is forced to kill an innocent man, to try to make sure Kirk and fellow traveler can get oboard.

But overall I found the movie entertaining and good.

I would honestly want to see them make another Star Trek movie, using these actors and characters as presented ASAP. As the familiarity with these "versions" of the familiar Star Trek original have been established, less and less time can be spenty "planting" the familiarity with this "New" Spock, Kirk, Uhuru..on and on....

Anyway for me, it was good, for summer movie fair I'd grade it a B.

 

The funny thing is most of the people I know, and my friends really like the job Zachary Quinto does as the "new" Spock.

And he does do an excellent job.

But I'm actually more impressed with the re-imagining of the Kirk character as done by Chris Pine. I think that makes me a bit of a rarity. In my opinion, it's easier to redo Spock in this day and age. First of all, it's easier just to flat out look like Spock, the tall lanky body type and the black haired bowl cut make looking like Spock much easier. Also I think Spocks character, being shrouded in unemotional Vulcanism often makes "acting" Spocks part easier.

In my opinion Kirks character pose's a much bigger challenge. The character as played to iconic status by William Shatner simply does not work today as it did in the 60's. While I think you CAN take the Spock character very much as it appeared in the original series, and subsequent movies and move it into a 2013 rendition, I think moving Kirk into a modern retelling is far more difficult. The beloved but often admittedly over the top acting of William Shatner that appeared in many episodes of the television series, simply would not translate onto a big screen rendition today.

So I REALLY like what Chris Pine, and the writers involved so far have done with the James T. Kirk character. It's NOT someone trying to play Shatner, playing Kirk. It is a much more indepth Kirk character. He's still presented with enough "Kirk" like character traits that he is acceptable as a re-imagining of the character, but there are enough sophisticated nuances added to the character that I think it moves the character viably into a modern 2013 retelling.

So anyway, it's not that I don't think Zachary Quinto isn't doing a good job, but I think publically he seems to get all the kudos and attention. I think this is mostly because he plays and looks the character much closer to the remembered original.

So while I don't think anyone is going to look at Chris Pine as Kirk, and blink twice and go "Is that a young William Shatner playing Kirk?" I do think a little more credit should be given to Pine and the new Kirk character.

PS.

To any Star Trek purists I don't mean the preceding commentary in any way to be a knock on William Shatner or the original Kirk. There are reasons characters become beloved and iconic and Shatner and the original creative team involved made that happen over the course of years and decades.

Chris Pine would have to do this for several more movies and perhaps hair graying decades before he could even lay a simple claim to having created anything near what has been created by Roddenberry, Shatner and the original writers of many episodes of Star Trek.

 

Agreed totally. Kirk is played very well. Different enough to not be a Shatner wannabe, but close enough to continue the story and fantasy of it all.

Hikaru Sulu as played by Harold, err John Cho, did a great job with his 15 seconds of fame in the captain's chair. But I doubt he will be remembered as much as Takei.

 

loved it

 

It is funny to me, what people bother to be offended by....

For obvious reasons...I have no problem with Alice Eve in her Bra and Panties. And even though it can be argued that the scene was gratuitous, I would argue it does lend itself to establishing character. The Kirk character and I would also say the original series, does have a history of interaction with beautiful women. This is part of Kirks character.

I know taken as a whole? I enjoyed episodes of the original Star Trek when I was 8-10 years old, for "different" reasons than when I entered adolescence. Many of the costumes and wardrobe that was used in the original series was very revealing. Come on? In the original series, we are basically dealing with an entire Star Ship of women wearing mini-skirts.

Yes times have changed. BUT IMO sexy and beautiful women ARE part of the Star Trek cannon. I definitely, certainly am not going to complain about that scene.

 

I stayed as long as I could but eventually, the 'flicker' got to me. Sad to say but my eyes see the 'flicker' on the screen, especially on the edges but sometimes in an action scene when things are passing from one edge to the other. Yet I can see the same film on TV and no problem.

I had problems with the plot and characters although I thought young Spock asking a question of old Spock . . . that really wasn't needed. As for bringing in young Kahn . . . well Ok but he wasn't high up on my list.

I don't regret the ticket as much as not interested in a second viewing . . . my eyes and the flicker.

Bob Wilson

 

Good movie. I recall the original Kahn versus Kirk (William Shatner) on TV and the second show a movie and now this one. It had it's good moments. Kahn was more the lady's man in the first original TV Show.

The current Kirk is very good but Shatner he set the bar. Both had to be very clever to defeat Kahn.

Khan Noonien Singh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

So when they showed the scene where all the admirals and captains were meeting after the bombing, who else thought "holy crap that's robocop!"

Peter Weller - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sidenote: RoboCop (2014 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia