To Boldly Go Where No Metrosexual Has Gone Before
Posted by Dirty Harry on Thursday, October 16th, 2008
Oh, look, it’s the Beverly Hills 90210 costume party.
EW has a whole spread on the new film. I can’t bear to read it. Someone go take a look and let me know if the villain is something other than unruly hair.
UPDATE: A brave reader finds the following in the EW article.
I made some edits to the quote in order to avoid a full body dry heave.
See if you can find them!
“This is a franchise that offers hope for unity — and so does Bill Ayers’ Friend,” says Quinto, who has stumped for He Who Will Kill Jobs With Tax Increases On Small Businesses. When this movie comes out, and He Who Sat In God Damn America’s Church For 20 Years is in jail for RICO violations relating to ACORN, hopefully there will be some parallels.”
Filed in General |
Christian Totoon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:18 pm 1i still have a smidgen of faith, but this could be 2009’s signature train wreck.
John McClainon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:22 pm 2You were right Harry, it took no time to see this quote
”I think a movie that shows people of various races working together and surviving hundreds of years from now is not a bad message to put out right now.”
What an Obamanation!
Die Hard Fan
David123456on 16 Oct 2008 at 2:23 pm 3From that article:
“This is a franchise that offers hope for unity — and so does Barack Obama,” says Quinto, who has stumped for the Democratic presidential nominee. ”When this movie comes out, and Obama is president, hopefully there will be some parallels.”
So sick of these Liberal crassly inserting their moronic agenda into absolutely EVERYTHING in Hollywood.l
Dirty Harryon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:25 pm 4See I take the hit for you guys in the theatre, you do it for me on the pages of liberal movie rags.
This is a good relationahsip.
soulpileon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:27 pm 5Dear Hollywood,
Stop stabbing the dead horse. Walk away from Star Trek. It died with Gene.
Seriously? Where did all the men go? I see a room full of girls, but no guys. I’m confused - did all the men die off in the future, so girls were forced undergo rudimentary sex changes? Or just cut their hair?
ECMon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:29 pm 6Hey, is that Harold back there! How can this film fail!
/sarcasm
whiskeyon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:29 pm 7This movie will suck. First, too Metrosexual. Everyone looks like they came out of a Target Ad.
Second, it’s Multi-culti PC time, the very thing that KILLED Trek in the first place. Optimism is fine, but crummy PC restrictions that drain out all the real drama is the big problem with Trek. There in the beginning, but not very much.
Third, the bad guy from Heroes is so well known that no one is going to believe that he’s a good guy. He’ll come across as Sylar, looking to eat people’s brains or something.
It’s like Ed O’Neil’s part in “Few Good Men,” cut because he generated nothing but laughs when he came onscreen. Quinto plays a very creepy villain well, but that’s all he’s ever going to be … particularly in a sci-fi role.
Capt. Nemoon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:30 pm 8Maybe their doing another alternate universe episode where Kirk and crew are transported to a universe where testosterone is a chemical impossiblity.
I say they should do another time travel movie with The Next Generation crew. They crash land near Boston, get in trouble with the local authorities and have the fate of the universe hinge on their eccentric lawyer.
Denny Crane!
Steve W.on 16 Oct 2008 at 2:30 pm 9“Oh, look, it’s the Beverly Hills 90210 costume party.”
Awesome line. And dead-on accurate.
whiskeyon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:34 pm 10I don’t think there is anything with simply showing people of all races and backgrounds working together. That was one of the cool things about Trek — the humans among the Aliens found the ALIENS weird/icky, and little differences among them.
But human nature is human nature. The original Trek series had the Aliens as generally, the bad guys (Klingons, Romulans) in thinly disguised Cold War metaphors for the Russians and Chinese.
The original Trek did not preach treacly Obama-esque rainbow PC/Multiculti diversity. EVERYONE had the same dang culture. It was always the Russians and Chinese aka Klingons and Romulans who were the enemy.
But then Roddenberry served on board the Enterprise during WWII, and pretty much based the ship on his experience. Even the name. It’s doubtful that JJ Abrams can do much but metrosexual/PC the thing up.
Kensingtonon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:34 pm 11Look, I knew Chris Pine (Kirk) a few years back when we worked together in Massachusetts. He was a remarkably nice, smart young man, and his talents were obvious and undeniable. I wish him decades of success.
That said, this does not look promising.
OldSchoolMatton 16 Oct 2008 at 2:42 pm 12Costumes look good. Karl Urban looks good. Simon Pegg is always welcome.
Cherokee Jackon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:44 pm 13Oh.
My.
Gawd.
Abrams, the second you replaced William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy with those…THINGS…you sacrificed all credibility that you might have gained in my eyes by making Lost. I can only take solace in the fact that the fanboy Trekkies will hate you just as much as I do.
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 2:56 pm 14Well, at least Scotty in the back looks a bit macho.
Jaredon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:58 pm 15Not a Trekker by any means, but I find it doubtful that Shaun of the Dead could save this from what I read. I wonder what they’ll say if McCain wins… Probably change the plot to a group of Evil Guys went back in time to make the Federation a bunch of hate-everyone-who-isn’t-white and make the Klingons victims of Federation aggression.
JamesTon 16 Oct 2008 at 2:58 pm 16Star Trek 90210. This has enormous comedy potential.
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:01 pm 17Could Abrams do to Star Trek what Schumacher did to Batman?
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:03 pm 18GOD DAMMIT!
They are supposed to be ADULTS, not College kids.
Hell, the guy with the curly hair makes Wesley look like John Wayne!
Scriveneron 16 Oct 2008 at 3:05 pm 19Funny you should ask, Cherokee …
I’m a pretty serious Star Trek fan. I’ve seen every episode of the original series multiple times, even when they hurt bad. Same for Next Generation. Seen all of the movies multiple times, if only to laugh at (not with) a couple of them. I missed only one DS9 episode, but that was the one so bad Trekkies do not even speak its name. Every episode of Voyager, God help me. And I stuck through a season and a half of Enterprise until a scene where Captain Archer apologized for humanity’s violent past — to a *Klingon* — finally made my remote control finger twitch.
After reading this, there is no way I am going to watch this movie. I might just have borne black-shirted emo Kirk, but Zachary Quinto talking like he’s been assimilated by the Borg (or the reasonable facsimile we’ve got) broke it.
I’d switch my allegiance forever to Star Wars, except George Lucas won the “make my franchise politically and aesthetically toxic” race years ago.
I think I’ll go read a book now.
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:09 pm 20Scrivener,
I heard Enterprise got pretty good in the last two seasons.
TNG was kind of a cool mystery show.
DS9 upped the testosterone unseen until THE UNIT came along.
Haven’t been able to watch VOY, techno-babble bothers me too much.
Capt. Nemoon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:10 pm 21Isn\’t Kirk supposed to be involved with someone that would bear him a child at this point in his life?
Cherokee Jackon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:12 pm 22“I’d switch my allegiance forever to Star Wars, except George Lucas won the “make my franchise politically and aesthetically toxic” race years ago.”
Well, if you notice, J.J. wants his new version of Trek to be more like Star Wars because he thought the original movies weren’t ‘visceral’ enough. True blue Trekkie there.
The Ugly Americanon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:12 pm 23Oh yeah, this movie will make money.
Maxtypeon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:16 pm 24Please let Trek die. PLEASE! No more of this kicking the corpse.
Oh,and Whiskey-Roddenberry didn’t serve on the Enterprise,and he wasn’t in the Navy. He was a Army Air Force B-17 pilot in the Pacific Theatre,and then an airline pilot before becoming an LAPD officer and moving into TV writing.
JamesTon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:17 pm 25How does a metrosexual Spock perform a Vulkan mind meld?
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:17 pm 26Abrams wants to copy STAR WARS?!?!?!
THE HELL?!?!
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:18 pm 27JamesT,
“How does a metrosexual Spock perform a Vulkan mind meld?”
By touching the %$&#.
I’m going to hell.
JamesTon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:20 pm 28No, thats the metrosexual Vulkan neck pinch,
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:21 pm 29JamesT,
“No, thats the metrosexual Vulkan neck pinch”
Oh yeah. Got ‘em confused.
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:23 pm 30“Maybe their doing another alternate universe episode where Kirk and crew are transported to a universe where testosterone is a chemical impossiblity.”
*Snort!*
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:25 pm 31To boldly go where no MAN (or boy) has gone before.
JamesTon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:25 pm 32Kelly’s Bones: “Dammit Jim, I’m a doctor, not a miracle worker!!”
90210 Bones:
Fill in the blank.
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:25 pm 33USS Ben,
Maybe, maybe.
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:26 pm 34Soundbites from the new Star Trek:
“Not in the face! Not in the face!”
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:26 pm 35JamesT,
Dammit Jim, I’m an actor not a doctor.
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:27 pm 36Stunt doubles needed for shaving.
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:28 pm 37New Bones: “Darn it, Jim! I’m a metrosexual, not a southern doctor!”
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:30 pm 38New Scotty: “Here, have some Romulan green tea, Captain.”
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:30 pm 39Stunt doubles needed for scenes requiring the dangerous stunt of walking.
HA! USS Ben! Upped ya!
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:31 pm 40Wait! Wait!
Is that curly-haired guy Bones?
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:31 pm 41Kit- LOL!
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:32 pm 42Slow-mo walking = action sequences.
wfon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:35 pm 43I´m usually one for reserving judgement, even willing to ignore the inevitable hymn to Obama. But those pix do not inspire confidence.
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 3:36 pm 44The new Uhura needs a stunt double that has boobs and an apple butt (hey harry!).
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:36 pm 45Better one:
Stunt doubles needed for dangerous and difficult stunt of acting.
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 3:37 pm 46The teaser of the building of the Enterprise was the only good bit. (Leonard Nimoy’s voice helped it . . . alot)
Johnny Ed's Babyon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:09 pm 47Harry, the actors in the pictures look too young to be in 90210. I think the original series had actors well into their 30s playing college kids by the end.
Sharon Fergusonon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:11 pm 48Ok — so NOW can I reiterate the desire…no the NEEEEED for a return to Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin? How about a series based on the 20 books? I promise you, the Royal Navy Sea Captain and his medical/spy friend would make the new Star Trek look like…well, like *those* guys in that picture. And there isnt any of this “cant we all just get along” business either. REAL MEN. REAL CHARACTERS. REAL BATTLES. REAL DRAMA.
Just ask the debauched sloth…
I promise you, reading the Aubreiad was sometimes like reading Star Trek…only far far far far better!!!
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:13 pm 49Just testing - I’m having posting issues.
Templaron 16 Oct 2008 at 4:13 pm 50Soundbites from the new Star Trek:
“Not in the face! Not in the face!”
SPOOOOOOOOOOOONN!!!
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:15 pm 51I was waiting for this one. My thoughts:
1. Yes, the Obama mention in EW was a bit annoying and completely irrelevant. But that’s not the movie - it’s just one actor getting his opinion in. (And shame on EW for mentioning it.) And he didn’t trash McCain in the process. The other filmmakers (most of whom I assume lean to the left) aren’t saying anything. I honestly think J.J. is smarter than that.
2. I’d hardly call Karl Urban or Simon Pegg metrosexuals. As for Pine, we’ll have to wait and see. It would be nice if they didn’t have to “youthify” everything, though. I know they’re at the Academy but Nolan’s Batman films proved you can make a summer film with actors over 35.
3. The Trek universe has always been about equality and diversity. But the thing is this: Uhura didn’t get her job on the Enterprise because she’s black - she did because she’s qualified.
4. Yeah, TNG got a bit preachy at times. (I don’t know all the gossip but some of the folks on a Trek BBS I go to think Roddenberry started losing it when he started believing his own hype.)
5. Despite #3, TNG had some excellent episodes. And I personally think, of all the modern Trek shows, DS9 was the best and most complex.
6. Voyager had some very good episodes but never lived up to its potential. (I blame UPN. TNG and DS9 were syndicated so they had a little more freedom than Voyager and Enterprise did).
7. And yes, Enterprise starting getting better near the end but by then the damage was done.
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:17 pm 52Why am I having trouble posting?
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:19 pm 53Okay, my thoughts:
-Yes, the Obama mention was annoying but it’s just one actor shooting his mouth off at a magazine more than wiling to publish it. He didn’t insult McCain or Palin in the process and I think JJ is too smart for that sort of thing.
-I’d hardly call Karl Urban or Simon Pegg metrosexuals.
-TNG did get preachy at times. Some on the Trek BBS believe he started losing it when he started believing his own hype. TNG did have some excellent episodes.
-DS9 I think is the best of the modern Trek shows. I partly blame UPN for the demise of Voyager and Enterprise. Enterprise got good later on but by then the damage was done.
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:19 pm 54-By “he”, I mean Gene Roddenberry.
Bennett Marcoon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:23 pm 55Is that Billy Bibbit on the left?
“W-ww-ww-wa-wa-wa-warp drive engaged, c-c-c-captain.”
ScottDSon 16 Oct 2008 at 4:35 pm 56Dammit! My first duplicate post!
Oh, and Sharon, I’d love another Master & Commander film too. Have you ever seen the Horatio Hornblower TV movies?
Blackiswhite, Imperial Agent Provocateuron 16 Oct 2008 at 4:44 pm 57Hornblower rocked. Someone rising through the ranks in the Royal Navy on merit alone. I would like it if they would do some movies on the later books, as well.
whiskeyon 16 Oct 2008 at 5:07 pm 58Hmmm … good point on Roddenberry flying B-17s but Wiki has him in the Pacific Theater. Hmmm … where did I see/read he was on the Enterprise?
ArchiCrashon 16 Oct 2008 at 5:21 pm 59I may just have to watch some Hornblower movies to get this image out of my head. I mean, serously? The uniforms of the future are bright colored t-shirts? Weak…
Kevin J waldroupon 16 Oct 2008 at 5:40 pm 60“last, best hope for science fiction baen book “.
http://www.baen.com/
USS Benon 16 Oct 2008 at 5:49 pm 61I liked the Enterprise episode where Archer tortured the alien to get vital information to save the Earth.
It was like 24 in space. LOL!
StevefromMKEon 16 Oct 2008 at 6:19 pm 62Oddly enough, just passing through the article, I found this google ad on EW:
“Vote Early in Wisconsin
Find Your Early Voting Location Online and Help Elect Barack Obama!”
Kenn Christensonon 16 Oct 2008 at 6:26 pm 63“Vote Early in Wisconsin
Find Your Early Voting Location Online and Help Elect Barack Obama!”
-Think they forgot about the “vote often” part in the ad.
mrsideouson 16 Oct 2008 at 7:58 pm 64Sooo…Paramount put a man in charge of the new star trek movie that doesn’t like star trek. Hmmm…sounds promising…
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 8:00 pm 65Simon Pegg looks like he is trying to channel Jack Nicholson in that movie.
“Well, hello, hello, hello . . . Captain.”
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 8:01 pm 66Oh!
Watch this, and weep:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdOv5jpYxUI
Jack Marinoon 16 Oct 2008 at 8:22 pm 67The original Star Trek was a great sci fi show of the 60s. A wagon train in space as Gene pitched it. However, it had this underlining socialistic imperialism. Every planet they came to HAD to join the Federation ‘for your protection’ It was more then gun-ship diplomacy. They always broke general order of interferance.
Besides Kirk was oversex he would sleep with any alien in human form. - “kinky” as Hedly Lamarr would say…
I never like the Next generation, but i did see the Borg as liberal democrats who were taken over by the religion of liberalism
Kiton 16 Oct 2008 at 8:39 pm 68Jack Marino,
I enjoyed TNG for the mystery aspect.
DS9 was probably the most conservative of the Star Trek shows.
Yes, the Federation was socialist utopia, but there was a HUGE respect for individual achievement. Each person doing what is best for himself and the group. Not Randist, but not single-minded communist.
The Borg, on the other hand, were Communist through and through.
No diversity, no individuality, just single-minded purpose to the goal of assimilation and conquest.
When I watched DS9, it seemed that the writers were trying to move AWAY from the socialist fantasy of Gene Roddenberry. The world was pretty gloomy in DS9.
Wayfareron 16 Oct 2008 at 8:43 pm 69Wow.
I’m going to have to side with DS here. I’m not a Trekkie, by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoy the occasional Trek episode and actually want to see this movie.
With that being said, what’s wrong with the picture? I’m not seeing much “metro-ness” at all. The shirt of Kirk kinda fits the personality if I remember correctly. He was a show-off, always had to look good and win the girl at the end of the episode. But maybe that’s just me.
I’m that JJ will pull this off. He’s got done good stuff before, so, lets wait until some more substantial clips start to surface before we write this off as another sequel Hollywood should have never made.
Scuffleon 16 Oct 2008 at 8:59 pm 70No surprise that they’ve made Uhura black in this version. It’s political correctness gone mad.
NeoConJedion 16 Oct 2008 at 11:44 pm 71I love the origiginal Trek, but my favorite is easily Enterprise.
Before you laugh, you should watch seasons three and four. It’s some of the most conservative stuff ever produced for TV.
Season three’s Xindi War is an allegory to the war on terror, even beginning with a 9/11-style attack on Earth. The crew, along with a military special forces unit named the Makos go after these terrorists.
And it was all written by Manny Cota, who was exec. producer of The Half Hour News Hour, and wrote 24 when it was good.
I think this new Trek is a bad idea. Something bolder that focused on the Romulan/Klingon story would be AWESOME!
bvorkaon 17 Oct 2008 at 12:47 am 72Pegg as Scotty still looks good, even if (as someone mentioned) he appears to be channeling Nicholson. I had hope (hope, I say) when Urban was cast as McCoy. I laughed out loud because it seemed so perfect. Seeing him in that picture, though, makes my stomach churn.
The rest of the cast…? Oh. My. God.
The production designs?!? The bridge of the Enterprise as interpreted by Apple Store designers? Abrams bragging that the bridge set is so cool it makes Apple Stores look uncool. He must think the set designs for Logan’s Run are just uber cool and not some Texas shopping mall. Oh wait…. And ooh, handrails for crew to hang onto when they hit turbulence. How exciting!
Star Trek as interpreted by George “Jar Jar” Lucas would be an improvement. Shatner is often accused of chewing the scenery. Pine doesn’t look capable of gumming Shatner’s premasticated scenery.
I’m not going to pretend to be unbiased since I’ve been watching Trek since Trek first aired, and yes I mean the original series, premier night for “The Man Trap.” But even allowing for the attempt to “reboot” the franchise this thing just looks like all kinds of suck. Horrible cast, horrible look, horrible set designs. The cover shot from the mag gives me the dry heaves.
Yet I’m with Toto and will probably end up seeing it opening weekend, if nothing else then to see just how massive a wreck it is. Pray for me, I will probably need Don Julio fortification.
And Scuffle, I’m assuming you’re being sarcastic or else have no clue as to who Nichelle Nichols is.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 4:05 am 73Scuffle,
Maybe you were joking, but Uhura WAS BLACK in the Original series.
Proof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0kn5ycwk2A
ScottDSon 17 Oct 2008 at 5:31 am 74Kit -
I agree with everything you said regarding DS9. I’d be very interested to get people’s reactions to episodes like “In the Pale Moonlight”. In addition, DS9 had what TV Guide called the best Trek episode ever made - a touching father/son story called “The Visitor.”
As for the writers, on the commentary for Star Trek: First Contact, Ron Moore (later of Battlestar Galactica) jokes, “Oh, I get it, it’s a socialist state!” when Picard says they don’t use money in the 24th century. You are indeed correct; the writers were trying to break away from Roddenberry’s utopian ideas - we have Ron Moore and Ira Behr (later of The 4400) to thank for that. Listen to the Ron Moore/Brannon Braga commentaries on Generations and First Contact - very insightful.
When the National Review (which I don’t read but this attracted my attention) had their Star Trek week, one of their writers said one of the best moments on Enterprise was this exchange of dialogue:
Reed: If only Dr. Cochrane had been a European; the Vulcans would have been far less reticent to help us. But, no, he had to be from Montana. Probably spent his nights reading about cowboys and Indians.
Trip: I don’t recall any Europeans figuring out how to build a warp engine.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 6:53 am 75ScottDS,
Love that Trip quote. LOVE IT!
John McClainon 17 Oct 2008 at 6:56 am 76So I guess instead of the USS Enterprise it will be the
USS BenDover
To boldly go where several men have gone before…
Die Hard Fan
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 6:59 am 77John McClain,
That was bad.
Bennett Marcoon 17 Oct 2008 at 7:12 am 78“Star Trek,” and all its various movies, spin-offs, and sequels, is noteworthy for one thing and one thing only.
When Jeri Ryan (she played some sort of robot with a great rack in one of the later series) filed for divorce, she set in motion a chain of events that helped bring us Barack Obama.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 7:20 am 79“When Jeri Ryan (she played some sort of robot with a great rack in one of the later series) filed for divorce, she set in motion a chain of events that helped bring us Barack Obama.”
Enlighten us.
Bennett Marcoon 17 Oct 2008 at 7:33 am 80Kit,
Check out the story of Jack Ryan (not the Tom Clancy character; a real guy).
Ryan was the 2004 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Illinois. He dropped out of the campaign after details of his divorce from Jeri were made public (in what seems to be a clear violaton of his privacy). Anyhow, it seems that Jack was a randy sort, who pressured the Mrs. to accompany him to “swingers’ clubs.”
Alan Keyes was brought in as an emergency replacement-candidate and got buried by Obama (70% of the vote).
Would Ryan have beaten Obama? We’ll never know…
Leslie Bateson 17 Oct 2008 at 7:45 am 81Hopefully this cinematic turd will descend into the black hole of suck and Paramount will hire someone with a “full set” to do a proper reboot of the series.
Start with a cinematic remake of THE CAGE. Good G-d! They already own the script that Roddenberry wrote. Was that TOO good and simple an idea for them?
John McClainon 17 Oct 2008 at 7:57 am 82Sorry, Kit
I did have very high hopes for this movie but it is going to be 90210.
Die Hard Fan
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 7:57 am 83Why not let it rest a few years. Just let people MISS Star Trek for about 10 years. Then come back and do a whole new series. Or you can do a GENERATIONS like thing where you have the demise of the TNG/DS9/VOY casts.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 7:59 am 84John McClain,
I thought your comment was funny, but bad in the crude way.
Stephanieon 17 Oct 2008 at 8:19 am 85From what I remember, Ryan had a pretty decent lead when this shit came to light. A total screw job. Jeri really is a bitch to have allowed it to happen. Why is it that none of these raging bitches in a divorce proceeding ever think of their kids? Damn.
John McClainon 17 Oct 2008 at 8:48 am 86Kit,
No worries, it was crude.
Die Hard Fan
Tallguyon 17 Oct 2008 at 9:01 am 87Wow. I thought liberal Trekkies were rabid. CONSERVATIVE Trekkies! Whoooo!
Harry, enough with the MS. I agree with you on the problem. I disagree that this is an example of it. Pine looks like he shaves. Urban looks like he has had beer. And Pegg is Pegg. (Chekov is SUPPOSED to look like a kid.) The key for me is that Pine LOOKS like Kirk (not Shatner). Even in stills he has that swagger. Is anybody Newman-esque? No. But go look at The Shat c. 1966. He wasn’t Newman-esque either.
I hate the new bridge (the iBridge) but everything else looks like a hoot.
There’s a lot of ways for this to go wrong. But so far I don’t think it’s the cast.
Oh, and you name me an original cast Republican? MAYBE Doohan. (Yes, I know he was Canadian.) NOT Shatner or Nimoy.
I’ve got much higher hopes for this than ANYTHING by Mr. Spielberg. And that just hurts.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 10:09 am 88Tallguy,
Its Chekov’s hair. There is something . . . just a bit TOO young about it.
Spock looks the most . . . metrosexual.
But maybe you will be right. As DH said, its in the acting.
Mighty Skipon 17 Oct 2008 at 11:33 am 89Stephanie,
In Jeri’s defense, she did indeed come out on her ex-husband’s side. She went on television and spoke very well of his character and said that these instances should not reflect on his ability. I have the quotes somewhere I’ll have to dig up.
Also, in typical Obama fashion, these were sealed records that his campaign managed to get a hold of. The details of which are still a bit fuzzy to this day.
Bennett Marcoon 17 Oct 2008 at 11:41 am 90Skip,
From what I’ve read, the circumstances of how the records became public are certainly funky. I think Jack and Jeri agreed to release the divorce proceedings, but also agreed to keep sealed the custody proceedings, which apparently is where all the sex-club stuff was entered into the record.
Templaron 17 Oct 2008 at 12:12 pm 91From what I remember, Ryan had a pretty decent lead when this shit came to light. A total screw job. Jeri really is a bitch to have allowed it to happen.
Now Steph, don’t you think you’re just being a tad, shall we say, misogynistic?
Bubbaon 17 Oct 2008 at 12:13 pm 92Dear Hollywood,
Stop stabbing the dead horse. Walk away from Star Trek. It died with Gene.
In Trek’s defense, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE rawked.
My belief is that Trek died with DS9 and is living on, in spirit, in secondary media, comic books and especially the novels.
The thing is, DS9 was a bold break from The Next Generation. As interesting as the Farscape-ish premise was for Voyager, it was executed as a poor TNG knockoff, and Enterprise was a poor and backwards-looking knockoff of Voyager.
Even after moving away from Rick Berman, a wise move in itself, the powers that be at Paramount forgot the underlying premise of Star Trek.
To boldly go where no man has gone before.
You can’t do that going back to the same well over and over again.
Bubbaon 17 Oct 2008 at 12:41 pm 93I promise you, reading the Aubreiad was sometimes like reading Star Trek…only far far far far better!!!
Bless you, Sharon.
ScottDSon 17 Oct 2008 at 12:43 pm 94Bubba - Nice to meet a fellow DS9 fan!
Personally, as much Berman is to blame, I also have to point to UPN for the demise of Voyager and Enterprise. As I indicated in a previous post, TNG and DS9 were syndicated and had a little more freedom while Voyager and Enterprise had to deal with bullshit television bureaucracy and marketing hacks who didn’t know or care what Trek was.
As for Berman, he kept the trains running on time but he was never a great writing producer like Ron Moore or the late great Michael Piller. He focused more on Voyager while Ron Moore and Ira Behr got to do whatever they wanted (almost) on Deep Space Nine. Another popular whipping boy (re: Voyager and Enterprise) is Brannon Braga who I believe is now on 24 with Manny Coto. I think Braga wrote some great episodes (Parallels on TNG for example) but he needed reigning in now and then. And a lot of it was studio politics. If you listen to the commentaries on Generations and First Contact, Braga is wonderfully candid about what he felt was done right and wrong.
By the time they brought in Manny and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens on Enterprise, the damage had been done. And it’s a shame since I thought Enterprise had the best technical credits on television; it was failed by the writing.
Read any good Trek novels lately? I just finished the first Destiny novel by David Mack. Good stuff so far.
soulpileon 17 Oct 2008 at 12:51 pm 95DS9 was good for the first couple seasons. I lost interest after that and from what I’ve read, I’m glad I did. I’ll concede that at first it was a good continuation.
Voyager definitely killed Star Trek for me, though.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 1:10 pm 96I think Deep Space Nine was supposed to be a combination of the Frontier Fort movie and Casablanca. The space station was on the outskirts of the Federation surrounded by hostile and unfriendly enemies.
On the new movie: I would have preferred the Wrath of Khan era costumes. (Coolest uniforms in Star Trek!)
Bubbaon 17 Oct 2008 at 1:15 pm 97In terms of good Trek books, I’m a HUGE fan of the DS9 relaunch, and my wife likes New Frontier, so I’m collecting the NF comic book mini-series partially for her. The new IDW comics aren’t bad at all, I think.
I would agree that having Voy on UPN probably didn’t help things, and I bet that the network put pressure on them having stand-alone TNG-esque episodes when the very premise required more serialized storytelling that was seen on shows like Farscape, which had, very broadly, a very similar premise: a space traveler lost far, far from home with a very diverse crew aboard a living ship. (Remember how Voyager supposedly partially organic components?)
Deep Space Nine showed that sci-fi on TV had grown into a mature form, and Voyager was a step back: the premise required lasting changes, supply shortages, etc., and the producers provided nearly purely episodic television.
And, as a guy who met Avery Brooks at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this year, and whose admiration for Brooks and Sisko is somewhat embarassing, I think there’s another big difference that dealt with political correctness:
Sisko was the first black commanding officer on a Trek series, but he was presented as a commander who happened to be black.
Janeway, on the other hand, was heralded as the first female captain and I don’t think she ever transcended stereotype and cardboard characterization.
Look how well we knew Sisko by the series’ end: a stern officer and affectionate father; a man of abiding faith; a man of passion, romantic to Cassidy, and practically vengeful toward Eddington; a chef, ship-builder, singer, and baseball player; the hero who compromised his principles to win a war; the Captain, the Emissary, Dad.
Janeway wasn’t well understood by Voyager’s end, and I would argue that its series finale even raised more questions about who she was than it answered.
And Sisko was one of a very large ensemble cast. Add all the recurring guest stars — Bajorans like Winn, Cardassians like Garak, Klingons, Starfleet, and Dominion — and there are about fifty well-rounded characters on the show.
“It’s Only a Paper Moon” largely featured two of those guest stars: Nog, the Ferengi who grew from Jake’s trouble-making friend into a Starfleet officer; and Vic, a holographic 1960’s Vegas lounge singer. I would argue that even this episode was better than pretty much any episode from Voyager, and a large number from Enterprise.
Deep Space Nine enjoyed an embarassment of riches.
Kiton 17 Oct 2008 at 2:46 pm 98Bubba,
Good piece. I intend to buy at least on relaunch book.
I just watched “Trials and Tribble-ations” on youtube.
Good episode.
Scuffleon 17 Oct 2008 at 11:59 pm 99#73, Kit
Maybe you were joking, but Uhura WAS BLACK in the Original series.
Yes, dear, that was the joke. It was audacious casting at the time, but the fact that she was black was never mentioned. It was assumed that in Space Year Whateveritwassupposedtobe, it wouldn’t be a big deal. It wasn’t a bad message at the time, so it’s a shame to see people frown at the concept of ‘unity’ just because a presidential candidate is… y’know… one of them. It’s libewal pwopaganda!
There’s nothing wrong with that picture of the crew, by the way, apart from the uniforms. They’re as camp as they always were, but there’s no way they could have been changed. Wrestling a crocodile with a nuclear warhead in its mouth is safer than upsetting the Trek faithful.
I’m surprised that many of you seem comfortable with Simon Pegg as Scottie, as he’s the weak link in the cast as far as I’m concerned. Then again, maybe he’ll be able to replicate Doohan’s Irish/Pakistani accent, and all will be well.
Kiton 20 Oct 2008 at 2:02 pm 100Scuffle,
Good to know that it was a joke.
Never can be too careful, this is the Internet, after all.
And there are ALOT of idiots here (not you).
After giving the cast image some thought (and sleep) I think that the actor who played Kirk may not be that bad. (Shatner was a HORRIBLE actor and director)
Anyway, the main reason everyone is suspicious about this movie, I believe, is because of the last one (it was a convuluted mess).
Kiton 20 Oct 2008 at 2:26 pm 101Oh well, at least the TEASER looked good:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZiR-NETDr0
GMKon 12 Nov 2008 at 9:20 am 102How did this happen, Forrest?