New Star Trek

[Edward]

Well its rumored to be at Starfleet Academy... but the director has said it might not be...its still up in the air.

However I would really like to see how they interpret the look of the early starfleet academy years...looked like a fun fun place in SFA:2 (videogame)

I always thought Starfleet Academy could be a great setting for a new Trek series. It was rumoured to be one of the options on the cards when they went with Voyager, back when.

 

[Edward]

Here's why I admire Spielberg MUCH more than Lucas: When the more kid-friendly version of ET was released onto DVD, Spielberg included the unaltered, '80s cut in the same package! Purists still had the opportunity to own the original even though Spielberg's "vision" had changed.

Conversely, it took YEARS of fans begging Lucas to finally do the same thing with Original Trilogy of Star Wars. He can keep his "Special" Editions, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, even then they were just thrown on as an "extra" to the "special" editions..... Quite honestly, I'd rather have a to-DVD transfer of the old VHS issue.... I foolishly waited for the SEs before I bought the videos (yeah, the VHS special editions) as I beleived that they would be just cleaning up the prints, not this nonsen of adding in a whole bunch of extra stuff that wasn't needed. Ok, sometimes I like Director's Cuts - I truly wish they would rerelease Little Shop of Horrors with the proper ending (where the plant takes over the world - this is what you'll see in the stage show, and is more faithful to the original movie source as well, but the focus groups complained about the $6million end sequence, wanting a happy ending, and so the studio obliged.... ). But really.... George, why don't you go back and update the cars in American Graffiti? They sure look out of date now...

 

[Jovan]

It's been said that it won't be a reboot as in a Batman Begins or Casino Royale reboot, just a reboot in the sense of giving a revive to the franchise. They're not going to mess with established continuity.

 

[anabolina]

It's been said that it won't be a reboot as in a Batman Begins or Casino Royale reboot, just a reboot in the sense of giving a revive to the franchise. They're not going to mess with established continuity.

Haven't we heard that before? I also hope they don't mess around with it too much. Maybe little things, not stuff like meeting the Romulans early or... hmmm, I actually didn't watch Enterprize enough to know any more licenses it took with the established history of Star Fleet.

 

[Jovan]

That's what's been officially stated, and I think the writers are big enough fans not to mess with it. To completely redo the early story would be pretty useless anyway, given that "microtapes," the computer making loud processing sounds (like a 1960s computer rather than a 2260s one!) and all have been part of canon for 40 years now, even with the onset of TNG, DS9, VOY, and yes, ENT.

Maybe Enterprise contradicts the source books a bit, but I can't really see anything that directly contradicts what's been established before in the series themselves. In Enterprise, they never actually saw the Romulans, which doesn't contradict what was said in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror." They had a war, but the Romulans used automatons to do most of the fighting. Hence, Spock and Kirk's surprise at the striking similarity between Vulcans and Romulans.

 

[anabolina]

Hmmm, makes sense. I'll admit I stopped watching Enterprise after the first half of the first season I just go by what others complain about. The family still kept up with ENT for the most part, but I got tired of the character they chose to focus on after the first 10 episodes. Porthos was cute though They never focused on Hoshi and I had trouble keeping up with the episodes. I suppose there's so much on tv, Trek just went by the wayside. This last year is the first one I actually watched current tv shows as they were broadcast since that first season of Enterprise. I'm happy I picked this year because I got Heroes, Jericho, and Psych

 

[Jovan]

Hey, you forget they have TOS Remastered in syndication, too.

 

[MrBern]

Well I've read that Young Spock is cast. And Nimoy is in the movie. Not clear about Shatner.
But here's a leak on the age of the younger incarnations. Would seem to put MattDamon out of the running:

CastingCALL FOR NEW TREK

 

[MrBern]

Yeah...Id heard about it while on vacation.
tell u the truth, I'm thrilled. He's great on Heroes.

I've always thought the kid w/ th videocamera in American Beauty also had the right intensity for that sort of alien role.

anyway, hope casting Kirk works out too.

 

[pretty faythe]

Well, he already sucks powers, so yeah, I can see him as melding minds.[huh]

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049407,00.html
I hope they don't put Scott Bakula in it,... How about Brad Pitt as Kirk?

 

[pretty faythe]

Well, he already sucks powers, so yeah, I can see him as melding minds.[huh]
I like Scott, don't see where he would fit in, in this conception of Trek though.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049407,00.html
I hope they don't put Scott Bakula in it,... How about Brad Pitt as Kirk?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I like Scott, don't see where he would fit in, in this conception of Trek though.

Bridge Gopher?,...Bartender?

 

[Leading Edge]

As another that grew up with Star Trek, had some resistance to Star Trek: New Generation, and even more resistance to Deep Space Nine series, but who ultimately treasured each, I am very hopeful that Zachary Quinto will present a very credible Spock based on something Leonard Nimoy's said of him during an interview with J. J. Abrams, Zachary Quinto, and Entertainment Weekly. Nimoy says of Quinto, ". . . he has an interior life, which is vital to the character. . . "

Those who have followed Star Trek's Spock through his various permutations on the small and large screens but also know of Leonard Nimoy, the man, the poet, the philosopher will recognize that this is indeed the quintessential quality for anyone presuming to "put on the ears".

On the other hand, Matt Damon as Kirk?
My question is: does Matt Damon have the range to generate that unique unabashed arrogance that William Shatner was able to impart to the James T. Kirk character?

I have seen Damon's performance in films such as Good Will Hunting, Dogma, The Departed, Syriana, the Ocean's and Bourne series (except the most recent, Bourne Ultimatum), and that wonderful episode of Will & Grace. Admittedly, these are not all his works or maybe even his best works. Nonetheless, I believe they are representative enough to form an opinion.

IMHO, although many of the characters he portrayed present very well Damon's ability to project Kirk's other essential characteristic of youthful ebullience, in none of these does Damon demonstrate the ability to portray that quintessential innate arrogance of Kirk which is a unique combination of a proudly unassailable self-assuredness moderated and tempered by an obsessive dedication to his ship and crew.

 

[MrBern]

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20049407,00.html
I hope they don't put Scott Bakula in it,... How about Brad Pitt as Kirk?

Bakulah...bleh.

Pitt... far too old going by the casting call linked in my post. Theyre looking for 23-29. MAkes it look less likely that even Damon would be cast after so many months of rumours.
After all, isnt Spock older than Kirk? McCoy & Scotty as well.
Kirk was the youngest starship Capt in teh fleet in the original show. ZachQuinto playing Spock is 29, so whoever coems in as Kirk would have to be younger.

Anyway, its my pet peeve that most actors playing Vulcans dont get it right. They play it boring like theyre on a laxative commercial. Nimoy was NEVER boring.

I look forward to the new trek being young & vibrant.

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I think they should recruit younger, relatively unknown actors for all the key crew members' parts. This way we have no preconceptions and expectations.

 

[MrBern]

Well th question is what type of Kirk are we talking about? TOS Kirk was about 33 & incredibly dynamic even amongst his peers.
In the original series, references to Kirk in his academy days describe him as a walking stack of books. Then you have the Finnegan upperclassmen character that hazed him so badly he still dreamed of punching him out 15 years later in the ShoreLeave episode.

This could be like the most recent Bond film that showed Bond emerging as th character we expect to see.
Especially if a 23 year old is cast as JAmesTKirk....

As another that grew up with Star Trek, had some resistance to Star Trek: New Generation, and even more resistance to Deep Space Nine series, but who ultimately treasured each, I am very hopeful that Zachary Quinto will present a very credible Spock based on something Leonard Nimoy's said of him during an interview with J. J. Abrams, Zachary Quinto, and Entertainment Weekly. Nimoy says of Quinto, ". . . he has an interior life, which is vital to the character. . . "

Those who have followed Star Trek's Spock through his various permutations on the small and large screens but also know of Leonard Nimoy, the man, the poet, the philosopher will recognize that this is indeed the quintessential quality for anyone presuming to "put on the ears".

On the other hand, Matt Damon as Kirk?
My question is: does Matt Damon have the range to generate that unique unabashed arrogance that William Shatner was able to impart to the James T. Kirk character?

I have seen Damon's performance in films such as Good Will Hunting, Dogma, The Departed, Syriana, the Ocean's and Bourne series (except the most recent, Bourne Ultimatum), and that wonderful episode of Will & Grace. Admittedly, these are not all his works or maybe even his best works. Nonetheless, I believe they are representative enough to form an opinion.

IMHO, although many of the characters he portrayed present very well Damon's ability to project Kirk's other essential characteristic of youthful ebullience, in none of these does Damon demonstrate the ability to portray that quintessential innate arrogance of Kirk which is a unique combination of a proudly unassailable self-assuredness moderated and tempered by an obsessive dedication to his ship and crew.

 

[Atomic Glee]

The new teaser poster:

 

[MrBern]

I really hope the costumes & sets are retro.
The art direction of ST:Enterprise really didnt give the sense that it pre-dated TOS trek. It mightve been more interestign had they made the ship more like a submarine & then you could get a sense of limited technology.

Anyone else think this movie could be a disaster like...LostinSpace?

 

[Doctor Strange]

As an old-school Trekker who watched from the very first broadcast, I refuse to let myself get enthused about this: frankly, I'd just be priming myself for a big letdown.

Even if the film is not a disaster, it's simply not going to be for me... I'm just not the target audience. Now that I've been through Jackson's King Kong, Superman Returns, etc., I know better. Inevitably, my teenage kids love these films and think that they're wonderful masterpieces, but I am disappointed that so many horribly wrong storytelling choices were made, and that so much self-indulgent, self-aggrandizing bloat and overkill is evident.

Oh, I'll see it, and I might even enjoy it. But for an aboriginal Trekker like myself, Trek has been on a steady downhill slide all along, and maybe it's time to admit that the 60s idealism that spawned the show is ancient history in today's mega-cynical, everything exists to be mocked and milked, climate. (Sure, there were great moments in the later series, especially TNG, and some of the movies were fun - but Trek's glory days are now long over.)

I have yet to see a "re-imagining" or "rebooting" that I'm totally happy with (Batman Begins comes the closest), and it's just really hard for me to have much hope for this film... I figure that the lower I keep my expectations, the greater the chance that I might actually be surprised if it doesn't turn out to be awful!

 

[Edward]

Anyway, its my pet peeve that most actors playing Vulcans dont get it right. They play it boring like theyre on a laxative commercial. Nimoy was NEVER boring.

Though Nimoy, of course, wasn't playing a Vulcan - he was playing a half-Vulcan, half-Human hybrid.





But yes, none of the rest of them have really hit the spot the way Nimoy did - it's that sense of benevolent bemusement at the emotional behaviour of humans rather than the stick-up-ass, puritan disapproval of same that so many of them project. Spock also always betrayed more of a sense of humour than was immediately obvious.

According to the established continuity, when did they first encounter the Bajorans? I've long had a bit of a thing for Bajorna ladies....