Would Gene approve of the new movie?

[subcom]

Was it good? Absolutely. Would Gene have approved? Absolutely not.

But that�s not necessarily a bad thing. Gene was from a different era and as the creator he designed his story to communicate the message he wanted to share. We�re in a different time now, as sure as if we had boarded the Tardis. One of Star Trek�s strengths, and the secret to its longevity, is its ability to evolve, and suit the needs of its fans. I felt this movie brought Star Trek into the 21st century. It was the way it did it that disappointed me.

This movie started off strong � real strong. Now I felt for each character on a personal level because I now knew something about each one, what made them tick, and all those typical human foibles that stump us all. These larger-than-life characters had been taken off their pedestal.

The storyline was full of deceptively minor details that wove two series decades apart together: Sulu�s fencing, McCoy�s nickname of Bones, Christopher Pike, the Kobayashi Maru test, calls to board the Farragut, Kirk romping with the Orion hottie, and so much more. Trek trivia never came in so heavenly helpful.

This heady euphoria lasted just about until the middle of the movie when I realized what Paramount had done. Suddenly the plight of these beloved characters didn�t seem so important anymore as I found myself in the middle of Jerry Seinfeld�s Twilight Zone skit where everything�s the same just different.

Star Trek has done lots of stories like this one so this movie was still well within the Trek universe parameters. But was this Star Trek? Well, let�s see. They permanently crippled a major player and mostly eliminated a second, most likely in an effort to bring the Klingons to the forefront and make them the bad guys again. The warp, torpedoes, transporter and phaser FX have been revamped [again] to resemble a cross between Aliens, Starship Troopers and the SciFi Channel�s Battlestar Galactica series. They keep alternating between doppelganger uniforms of the original and newer hottified ones. The Boy Genius formula did wonders for Wesley; I�m sure it can�t fail for Chekhov. And what they�ve got going on between Spock and Uhura there, well, that�s just wrong.

The jury�s gonna be out on whether this is really Star Trek for awhile. I was able to enjoy this movie as long as I kept it in its correct context, that this was simply another incarnation of the original no different from STNG, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise.

These new characters (and they are new � when you see the movie you�ll understand) have been dealt an extra handicap though. We grew to love Picard, Kira, Janeway, Tom Paris etc as individuals. No matter what they do, no matter how much love they generate, it will always funnel backwards to the original crew. They will forever be the tool by which Star Trek was remade in another man�s image and their familiarity used to cushion the shock of transition.

I try never to be a spoiler so I�ve waited a full 10 days before posting this review. By now anyone serious about Star Trek has seen this movie. So also by now you agree that the door is wide open for Paramount to switch back to the original formula (Gene�s formula) the moment they realize �Hey, how come this ain�t working?� Like most pilots, this movie was very restrained and had to hold back on a lot. But the Reset button has been pushed, the initial setup of this Bizaro Star Trek is complete and the intro is out of the way. It is the next movie of these new characters that will tell the tale if they live long and prosper or get startled by the Klongon death scream.

Paramount is already scripting the next movie for a 2011 release. We need a new Sci-Fi series to tide us over in between.

That�s why I created my own.

[lionhead]

[neo_viral]

Would Gene have approved - Like you said ,and for some fans around the net,its a no.BUT we also have to remember Gene passed away during Season 1 of TNG.So a question remains - Would Gene have approved of what makes up the Bulk of the Trek we know ? (well...maybe if the female officers wore skimpier uniforms he would have ;/)

If you take TOS and its messages of exploration,cooperation,peace,would Gene have approved of a lot of the scripts and direction of later TNG,DS9,Voyager,Enterprise,and the later movies ,with the war and conflict and huge space battles ? Also probably not.Would he approve of a Race like the Borg ? Or the Dominion ? (he was well known for veto-ing stuff).Like you said,Trek is in itself about change,and it changed when he passed away.The Core of it was still his vision but it was fleshed out even more.It got darker,grittier sometimes.More realistic ? Even today there are fans who refuse to call anything other than TOS true trek,or the new movie Trek.

Yes it a new era and a lot has changed.Now,we dont have the full story from a movie,if your a true fan,you have to buy the comic books to get the backstory that the movie didnt show.As for taking out two major players....well that opens up things for the future even more.Its an alternate timeline (Like in Sliders),it doesnt destroy the characters we know so well already.It has even been said that this is a major plot event in some sort of temporal cold war because the System went Nova way ABNORMALY fast (Was it to give Spock a sense that he failed or was there something even more sinister behind all this ?)

It was obvious after Nemesis Trek was stagnant and dying (lack of reruns ? Lack of Paramount support ? The list could go on) .We could all watch our DVDS untill the end of days but across the web,forums like this were even slowing down because of no NEW trek.If the movie was the wrong way to have done it....what WOULD be the right way ? To appeal to the old and the new fans ? As you also said,there was a lot of little details for the trek fan,but maybe,just maybe,the director & Paramount was playing tongue in cheek with the FANATIC,to tease around with the "trekkies" (Spaceship Built on Earth.A weapon called a "Gun".Incorrect Insignia,etc),to rile them on purpose.

To say,maybe,just enjoy it,dont let small details ruin it for you.And wait eagerly for whatever we can get from fans like yourself`s own projects...or Paramount.

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[commander tuviks]

I didn't find myself disapointed at all. The movie was everything I had hoped it would be. I liked all the characters and the ship although it was a suprise to see Spock and Uhura together but it made scence to me since it was before Spock had purged himself of all emotions. I did find a visual mistake in the movie which was when Kirk and Sulu were free falling and were transported aboard they slammed into the transporter pad and shattered it but in the next shot it fine, oh well but over all it was great and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

[Cosiris]

The direction this movie took to kind of start everything over from scratch and then make it an alternate reality just so it could tweek things just the way it wanted is not my choice of storytelling. Still, it managed a good enough movie.