Star Trek

[tongodeon]

I just got out of seeing the new Star Trek. It was a fun movie but I think it's most noteworthy not as a movie but as a business decision. Here's my theory. (Fourth paragraph includes actual spoilers, but I encourage you to not read any of this until after you see the movie

Comments

I agree

[psymbiotic]

You nailed it right on the head. It was a *smart* script from Paramount's viewpoint. They are no longer shackled by past cannon, but instead are allowed to craft a new mythos. It was a good movie, but it also has paved the way for future endeavors.

Frankly, I'm interested in seeing how this new mindset will deal with Klingons and other well known "Trek" icons. :D

Egan

Re: I agree

[erikred]

"Frankly, I'm interested in seeing how this new mindset will deal with Klingons and other well known "Trek" icons. :D"

Right on. Given Abrams' past record for characters keeping and wrestling with secrets, it will be interesting to see how much the Old Spock lets slip about the various threats he knows are out there. Then again, it's not like he's going to mess up his own timeline by telling anyone, so where's the harm?

Imagine all of the redshirts he could save!

Re: I agree

[schwa242]

I've been going through all the TOS films trying to figure out what gets taken care of and what doesn't.

I Spock may try to get the Federation to go visit V'Ger a few years early.
II Spock recommends a general quarantine on the whole Ceti Alpha system, leaving Ricardo and the Chippendales to rot in their broken down sand-covered homes filled with decaying rich Corinthian leather.
III Spock's rebirth is kind of a non-issue, with Khan left to rot. And if Kirk doesn't knock up Carol Marcus, then Genesis won't get developed with protomatter, whatever the hell that is.
IV Grab some whales early, before all those ships and planets get their cable scrambled
V Hey, maybe Sybok died on Vulcan too.
IV Spock sends a coded message to the Klingon high command warning them of the dangers of deregulating their lunar energy industry

Re: I agree

[terebision]

II: He's not there yet -- he's still asleep waiting to be found. But I gues Nero was there, since he got one of those kriturs to put in Pike's budy.

In fact, apart from all the things I didn't like about it, the idea of being freed from canon is extremely liberating: they can tell the Khan story for the first time again, or not at all (why do Khan anyway? I don't remember any eugenics wars in the 90s nor would a new audience). They can do a whole movie based on the idea of the mirror universe. Or dealing with the Guardian of Forever. Or whatever they want.

IV: Well, yeah, it would be pretty irresponsible of Spock not to mention to them to start bioengineering Whales stat. Or, hell, counting this flick Spock knows about 9 ways to time travel. Send a team back now.

V: Somehow, the alteration of the timeline by Nero wiped Sybock out too.

VII/Generations, etc: Come to think of it, the existence of the Borg is something Spock should mention.

[rimrunner]

I haven't seen it yet (going this afternoon), but that sounds very much like what happened with the Bond franchise, and for similar reasons.

And it worked with Bond, at least from my perspective. I had no real interest in the series until they got Daniel Craig in and injected some life into the scripts.

[swingland]

I love how in the beginning combat scene, where Kirk, Sulu, and Redshirt #1 go skydiving down to the drill, and they never missed a beat in having the redshirt killed off in the first 30 seconds.

[tongodeon]

Don't read this post. Enjoy the movie with a clear slate and get back to me after you've seen it.

[tongodeon]

I'm also not one of these folks who gets pissed by spoilers, but if I knew the answer to the question that you asked I would have enjoyed the movie a lot less. I would have missed out on a whole lot of "they can't ... how did they just ... holy crap".

[scothen_krau]

Just saw it, and even as one of those diehard fans, I have to agree. It wasn't just the big stuff. Even the little details of Trek lore had become brdensome, and they dispensed with them nicely, even letting the Trekkers know they were doing it. I could almost hear them saying on the future commentary track, "This wasn't a mistake, we know it violates the original canon, and we're changing it because (for example) it doesn't make sense that Vulcans never knew what Romulans looked like."

The old Star Trek was a creature of the Cold War, showing its age. This is Star Trek for the 21st century.

Also, Scotty has a henchman. How cool is that?

[tongodeon]

Also, Scotty has a henchman. How cool is that?

From the way that the 'henchman' seemed heartbroken that Scotty was leaving him behind I was thinking that Scotty had a catamite.