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[Jon 79]

Also another nice little throwback to the original series..

When Kirk and Sulu parachuted down to the drill/laser, the bloke with them who got cocky and snuffed it was in red suit!

I guessed that'd happen when you see the 3 of them in the shuttle before that.
It was such a satisfying pay off, I laughed and almost applauded.

[Everlong]

I guessed that'd happen when you see the 3 of them in the shuttle before that.
It was such a satisfying pay off, I laughed and almost applauded.

Yeah, I thought "Red Suit, uh-oh".

Then as soon as they're diving, he's being cocky and Sulu and Kirk are yelling at him to open his parachute, It's pretty much a confirmation the dude is a goner.

[GundamGuy_UK]

Here's Joe's review:

I loved it. Perhaps not quite as amazing as some people made me think, it was hardly God's gift to cinema, but I had great fun watching it. It managed to perfectly capture the feel of the original movies, and bring it into the 21st Century. The effects were sublime throughout, the casting perfect, and everything else was great.

My one complaint is that even though I avoided almost all spoilers, I was still always 1 step ahead of the plot and figured out practically everything that was going to happen. Off the top of my head, Scotty's introduction was the only surprise to me. And even then I knew he'd be coming along shortly, because I thought he'd somehow be involved in helping Kirk and Spock there.

Speaking of Spock, this was really his movie. Kirk was of course brilliant, and every bit as reckless and arrogant as a young James T should be. But everything centred around Spock, and I liked that. He was perfectly acted, and his story felt right for the character. The rest of the cast didn't really get much screen time, but again they were all right for the part and felt like the younger version of my childhood heroes.

The Enterprise itself was also lovely. Externally, it even looked like a model somehow. It was wonderful to look at, and moved and sounded perfect. Inside, it was very different, but still very familiar at the same time. I loved the design of it completely.

From the opening scene when I heard all the sirens and computer noises, I was hooked. I remained hooked throughout, though like I said I knew too much of what was going on. The level of action was far higher than any other Trek outing, but it felt right in context and the whole product felt like Trek at heart. I loved all the little references and quotes, and the soundtrack was amazing.

Overall, a brilliant and worthy addition to the franchise, and easily on-par with II-IV. It had all the elements that made each of those films great (or merely "good", in III's case) - the cast, the baddie, the humor, the action. It's not the best in the series, but then I struggle to think of what is.


Roll on Star Trek 2.



EDIT: I can't wait until July when Chelsea is next here. I've managed to rope her into watching movies II-IV on my parents lovely huge plasma screen and loads of speaker system (though it hardly took any effort - she loved this new one and even saw it before I did, and has never seen any other Trek before). I've not seen them in years, and I'm tempted to watch one now. But I'll wait because it'll look and sound so much better than my little 19" TV can offer. Even though it is a nifty TV.

EDIT 2: Just in case you were wondering, the Star Trek soundtrack blaring out at full volume (so loud my drink is shaking) is in fact just as awesome as you might think.

This post has been edited by GundamGuy_UK: May 16 2009, 05:33 PM

[Omniscia]

It was a great movie, but was it a great Star Trek movie? I'm not sure. Clearly, it wasn't meant for the old Trekker in me, but the further away I get from my adolescence, the more I seem to be losing that element. These days I guess I'm what you'd call a nominal Reform Trekker.

It took me a little while to get beyond my outrage at the liberties they were taking with the old characters and the utter glee with which they destroyed the old timeline, but once I did get beyond that, I had a hell of a lot of fun. I didn't even notice the gratuitous lens flares.

As with Joe, I too avoided every spoiler possible, and still often found myself a step ahead of things. But that's all right for a shiny, high-concept sci-fi actioner.

The casting, for the most part, was pretty darn good. I didn't like Chris Pine as Kirk, 'cos he was too much the brash, overconfident, hunky rebel for my liking, and I haven't been a 14-year-old girl for, like, ever... And Anton Yelchin certainly had the comic Russkie accent, but otherwise he was no Chekov. But Zachary Quinto made a very decent Spock, really bringing the conflicted nature of his dual-heritage to the fore without completely abandoning Nimoy's more cerebral original take. And Karl Urban was excellent as McCoy.

[Sean of the Dead]

Just saw it: Spock Notch Entertainment.

EDIT: I sat there with a James Tiberius smirk on my face as it was all such RomuFUN. Vulcan great.

This post has been edited by Sean of the Dead: May 16 2009, 09:33 PM

[Atara]

[widowspider]

Also another nice little throwback to the original series..

When Kirk and Sulu parachuted down to the drill/laser, the bloke with them who got cocky and snuffed it was in red suit!

I guessed that'd happen when you see the 3 of them in the shuttle before that.
It was such a satisfying pay off, I laughed and almost applauded.

Yes indeed. I geeked out over that too.

[GundamGuy_UK]

The beginning of Wrath of Khan links so beautifully to this movie, thanks to all the references. They feel connected on an even greater level than Star Wars III and IV.

I love how they've managed to do what Lucas intended, and done it almost by accident, too.

EDIT: To copy what I said on MSN to someone:

I'm almost glad that movie had a few problems. I was starting to worry it'd completely outclass the originals, and that would be a shame really, if people would see the new one and not be able to go and watch the others. If anything though, seeing the new one makes Wrath of Khan even better. Which is incredible, especially as they're completely unrelated
They just link perfectly
Even closer than the new and original Star Wars movies do
And it's not as intentional or essential as them, either
What they put into the new movie as intended little homages and references has accidentally gone so much further and made this new movie incredibly epic and made it completely span into their later lives too, through Wrath of Khan
They did what Lucas wanted to do, and didn't completely intend to do it, either. It works on such a level it's impossible that that deliberately did it, it's too subtle and too obvious at the same time. You'll see in July.
I think part of that is because everyone, cast and crew, loved the project and loved Star Trek. And I don't think that was the case with the new Star Wars movies. It never feels like Lucas loves Star Wars as much as he should
Their love and respect for the project carries into the final product

This post has been edited by GundamGuy_UK: May 17 2009, 05:16 AM

[Sean of the Dead]

One thing...
Nero's Evil Plan: "I SAW MY HOME PLANET BE DESTROYED BY SPOCK'S INABILITY TO GO FAST AND SO NOW THAT I HAVE GONE BACK IN TIME, I SHALL DESTROY EVERY FEDERATION PLANET IN ORDER TO PROTECT MY OWN DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS WILL ULTIMATELY ACHIEVE NOTHING AS THAT STAR WILL STILL GO SUPERNOVA AND DESTROY MY PLANET, AND THOSE THAT COULD HELP ME NOW THAT I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE TIME TO WARN THEM WILL ALL BE DEAD! MY PLAN IS FLAWLESS! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

[NiteFall]

I think it was less "by doing this I shall save my world!!" and more "By doing this I shall have evil over the top revenge on the man that failed to save my home!!". At least, that's how I interpreted it.

[Jimmay]

It was really really good.

One thing...
Nero's Evil Plan: "I SAW MY HOME PLANET BE DESTROYED BY SPOCK'S INABILITY TO GO FAST AND SO NOW THAT I HAVE GONE BACK IN TIME, I SHALL DESTROY EVERY FEDERATION PLANET IN ORDER TO PROTECT MY OWN DESPITE THE FACT THAT THIS WILL ULTIMATELY ACHIEVE NOTHING AS THAT STAR WILL STILL GO SUPERNOVA AND DESTROY MY PLANET, AND THOSE THAT COULD HELP ME NOW THAT I HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY AND THE TIME TO WARN THEM WILL ALL BE DEAD! MY PLAN IS FLAWLESS! MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Oh yeahhhh. Hmmm, that was silly of him.

[maian]

This has been bothering one of my very Trekkie housemates and I thought I'd throw it open to everyone here to see if there is a suitable explanation:

Romulus was not destroyed in any continuity that follows TOS. Even given the amount of time that Spock says has passed, 136 years, I think he said, the puts the destruction of Romulus well within the timeline of other TV shows in which Romulus was not destroyed. My question is, then, does that mean that the film only considers TOS to be canon, even before any time travel shenanigans occur, or did something alter the timeline and cause the star to die when it shouldn't have?

If anyone could offer an explanation my housemate an explanation then I'd appreciate it since it would finally shut him up.

Also, Joe, could you expand upon your theories about the connections between Star Trek and Wrath of Khan, I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

This post has been edited by maian: May 18 2009, 11:30 AM

[NiteFall]

It's actually all explained in the comic series that was published. Basically all of this takes place just after Star Trek: Nemesis. Spock is living on Romulus as the Vulcan ambassador, striving for reunification (as was shown in the TNG 2-parter called Reunification), LaForge has left Starfleet and is making a living designing ships (he made the one that old Spock takes back in time with him) and Nero's ship got all big and badass through Romulan experiments with Borg technology. Long story short, the Federation knew Romulus was going to be destroyed, Spock tried to help, but was held up by the Vulcan High Command, Nero mined the red stuff that they were going to use to stop Romulus being destroyed and when that failed he went a bit crazy and decided it was all Spock's fault, stole some top-secret Romulan military experiments from a space station and went back in time.

[GundamGuy_UK]

I just mean that watching Khan I can think back to the references to it in Star Trek, and it fits nicely.

Khan is in no way a sequel, because it's a different timeline. But the crew were the same people when they were younger, and the ship simulation etc is a nice tie-in.

[Atara]

Show him this timeline, Maian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Star_Trek

Edit: I missed that

This post has been edited by Atara: May 18 2009, 11:43 AM