Cavey wrote:
Grim... wrote:
The lack of depth in the first Star Trek reboot film was quite a shock after the deep intellectual stuff in Star Trek Nemesis. Oh no, wait, the other thing. And aslo I suspect you're forgetting just how dire the Star Trek: The Motion Picture was.
(Holy shit, is that Tom Hardy in Nemesis? It is!)
Actually, I reckon Star Trek: The Motion Picture was nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be (IMO); it had a good, genuine Trek storyline to it and at least it took itself seriously, unlike this fluffy kid-fodder. I'm not saying it was great or anything, but not a bad first attempt (and you know, it's really, really old, 1970s stuff).
Star Trek Nemesis was indeed shit (but STILL not as bad as Darkness), but the original crew were pretty fucking ancient by then. You don't judge an entire film franchise by the last really shit one of the series though, man.
Shocking kinda agree with Cavey time again.
The first Trek movie, even though relentlessly slow moving, has enough awe and spectacle about it to rescue the film. It feels pretty epic in a way. I also like how it's not about blowing stuff up, which is in keeping with the largely lovely original Trek movies.
The (Slow) Motion Picture: Investigate dangerous new energy cloud. Discover it's a vast spaceship. Discover vast spaceship is a machine intelligence. Discover odd story of origin of particular machine intelligence and its goals. Reason with it and catalogue new life form.
The Wrath of Khan: Neglect on the part of Captain Kirk results in the death of Khan's wife, who swears vengeance and steals Genesis, a device that can give life to a planet - and take it away. Kirk must face his own mortality, his relative innocence and the loss of his closest friend in a thrilling space-nautical adventure that has ensigns running about pulling gratings covers off torpedo tubes whilst James Horner swashbuckles the soundtrack, because Star Trek's DNA is Horatio Hornblower, friendo! A film where the exciting climax is simply trying to survive the dying hate of an already defeated enemy.
The Search for Spock: Committing mutiny, Spock's friends steal a ship and head to Genesis to retrieve his body - all on the word of McCoy who has his spirit fused with his own. Spock endures a painful rebirth, Kirk loses his only son and the Enterprise to the Klingons and the Vulcan race is revealed to be stranger, magical and more powerful than their wry logic based society hitherto indicated. The film ends with all the friends reuniting, but with a sense of loss also.
The Voyage Home: A giant probe approaches Earth and attempts a fearsome energy based communication with an extinct oceanic life form, gradually vaporising Earth's oceans and knocking out all power to electrical systems within the immediate Sol system. The band of contrite mutineers, on the way back to Earth in a captured Klingon Bird of Prey attempt time-travel back to early 80's San Francisco in an effort to retrieve a couple of humpback whales to resolve the problem. A gripping comedy adventure ensues as the crew encounter culture-shock, get in trouble with the US military, terrify a whaling crew, and seemingly break the neck of a impolite punk earning the applause of fellow passengers on the 20th century mass transit system. Everyone hugs at the end and Kirk gets his ship back.
The Final Frontier: Terrible film but actually an excellent premise. "What would God want with a starship?" Tapping into fears of all the cults cropping up in the 80's, Star Trek V has a pretty strong story where Spock's brother, a charismatic cult leader with seemingly the power to take away pain, takes over the Enterprise and heads off to find God in unexplored territory. Kirk must find a way to win back his ship from the brainwashed crew, and stop whatever strange entity is behind it all.
The Undiscovered Country: Praxis explodes and the Klingon empire has only twenty years left to live! A cataclysmic industrial catastrophe on a Klingon mining-moon wrecks their war economy and the system's ecology and forces a mass evacuation within Klingon space. Only the federation can help their warlike enemies and peace must be forged. Kirk, one of the great warriors of the Federation, is chosen as an ambassador, being a man the Klingons would grudgingly respect. Overtures of peace are sabotaged however as elements within the Federation and the Klingon Empire strike up their own secret alliance to ensure that the war goes on. A parable of Chernobyl and the breakup of the Soviet Union, Star Trek VI also finds time to fit in an Agatha Christie mystery and a prison-break movie.
Star Trek - Nemesis: A villain vows revenge for past wrongs and builds a super-weapon to destroy Federation.
Star Trek Reboot: A villain vows revenge for past wrongs and builds a super-weapon to destroy the Federation.
Star Trek Into Darkness: A villain vows revenge for past wrongs and builds a super-ship to take over Federation.
Star Trek Beyond: A villain vows revenge for past wrongs and works with an alien super weapon to destroy the Federation.
Of the first three TNG movies, First Contact is obviously the best but sets up a worrying precedent for subsequent action-orientated Trek. Generations has some good ideas but is generally cringeworthy. I have a fondness for Insurrection as there's a good story at the heart of it, and some interesting 'needs of the many vs the few' conundrums and soul-searching. It's just ultimately let down by the blandness of colony they're trying to save, and a desperately rote conclusion. Nemesis is fucking awful and the worst Trek movie to date, even worse than Into Darkness, which is insultingly awful in a way that gradually reveals itself. I actually quite enjoyed Beyond, but it's part of the depressing conclusion to keep doing the same fucking plot again and again.
Oh well, at least Star Wars keeps it fresh with new
OH NO!