Slashdot Mirror
The Business of Star Trek
angkor writes "Paramount claims merchandise sales have exceeded $4 billion over Trek's lifetime; 470 people have actually paid $5,000 apiece for a life-size replica of the villain Locutus." And that my friends, is why Nemesis didn't even have to be a really good movie.
mmmmmmm princess madeleine...
But it was!
And you thought live long and prosper only applied to Vulcans!
A life sized Beverly Crusher... Maybe.
"Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"
Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
At least they found a new way to skill the red-shirt guy on the bridge.
...and what was that industry claim, again, about how pirate DVD's are hurting the industry...and why anyone should care?
Or does the USD$4bil include estimates of perceived gain as well (as opposed to projected loses)?
There are so many serious problems with that article that it is hard to take it seriously.
First of all, it refers to Rick Berman as the "new" honcho of Star Trek. Huh? He has been the honcho for more than a decade.
Second, it "buries the lede." That is a journalism phrase to indictate that the most important element of the story has been pushed to the bottom. At the end of the article you will find that "Enterprise" is the lowest rated Star Trek show in history, achieving one third of the ratings of Voyager. And Voyager's ratings were always quite low.
Sometimes an editor gets an idea for an article and it remains despite the article no longer representing the headline. The headline wants you to believe Star Trek is continuing to be lucrative for Paramount, but when you read the article you begin to scratch your head. The box office chart is not adjusted for inflation and if it was, you'd see each movie seems to do basically less worldwide box office with each iteration.
Etc etc
Why would someone pay that kind of money for a big giant borg doll when Realdoll sells one that actually looks pleasent. If you need companionship due to your nerd induced ugliness and low social status, don't compound your unnattractiveness by screwing a giant borg man. Go buy a sexy lingerie doll and pretend its a real girl, its good practice for pretending you actually have a life.
--Nuintari
slashdot : where an opinion can be wrong.
Wow, a life sized LoB model? And here I was happy with my Borg Cube Christmas ornament! "We are the Borg, Enjoy your hollidays, Resistance is Futile!"
People are more violently opposed to fur than leather
because it's safer to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs
is pre- or pro- Roddenbury?
I wonder why they didnt use the RIAA method of calculating sales. I bet the 'actual' number would be around 300 trillion.
Lets see, you have to count lost sales as 'stolen revenue', so every time someone looks at an episode of star trek without watching commercials, lost revenue. Every utterance of a copywrighted line from any star trek, lost royalties...you get the idea...
Shut up...its funny to me, but Ive been up since the day before yesterday doing networking layouts...
Intel has made lots of money off of computer processors, but to say that they can release a substandard chip and not care about it is wrong.
It's the same way with Nemesis. I've sworn off seeing these Treks in the theaters anymore. After Insurection and now this turkey of a movie, I've decided it just isn't worth it. I'll wait until someone else buys the DVD, or I'll download it from Kazaa. If you take into account that I saw the STII:TWOK in the theater three times and STIV:TVH twice, I think it's safe to say that Paramount stands to lose money from bad movies.
Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
The US has been in an economic pit for the past two years. Now's the time to be spending money on whatever you damn well please. I it's Christmas, buy yourself some new LOTR costume that you can prance around the woods in.
It's your duty as a consumer to buy you country out of the recession!
Sheesh.. how broad an assumption is that?
How the hell would you automatically assume that 470 lifesize borg figures were all sold to Open Source 'zealots'?!
They are more likely to be bought by wealthy collectors, or movie memorabilia stores.
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
Use that computer you claim to know so much about and buy Quicken or something. It will really save you dearly in the end, and perhaps save your family.
Dammit, when are you going to learn? You've got to wait for GNUicken of XQuicken or Open K Quicken to be done first. In the mean time, any idea where I can get one of those full-size replicas?
Funny I saw nowhere in that article where it said that the main demographic of the people that purchased the life sized replica were people making $30,000 a year with a family, 2 kids and a dog.
Go troll someplace else.
I mod down any one who says "I'm sure I will get modded down for this"
I'm a pretty big trek fan, as trek fans go, and I REALLY liked the film. I'm terrible at writing reviews without giving away plot hints, but I'm here to say that it was probably my #3 favorite trek film.
One thing, though. I can see people interested in Locutus, Borg Queen, Khan, or a few other star trek-related bad guys. But this film's bad guy? He's just picard with a narrower, younger head. He was still a good bad guy, I thought, but I don't think he has the sinister style that sticks with people like the other bad guys I mentioned.
But anyway, go see the movie... it was excellent.
-- Minds are like parachutes... they work best when open.
All jokes aside, what makes you think all that stuff was bought by Slashdot readers? Why do you link nonuse of Microsoft products to a belief in entitlement to free software, etc., when attacks on M$ here are usually over its business practices and/or the quality of its products? And what makes you think all sci-fi fans/collectors are in families scraping by on $30k a year? Do you have any facts to support any of this at all?
its no the movie or the tv shows that make its money its the star trek universe itself. although it was the shows/movies that get people into that universe... that said nothing good will come of this.
I'm trying to remember what that movie was that had a street urchin selling pieces of shit saying something like "tuppence for a piece of shit!". Maybe it was a Python movie.
Personally, the only reason I watch Voyager is to get an eye-full of Jeri Ryan wearing that skin-tight catsuit, and to laugh at that snivelling idiot Berman because the only reason Jeri Ryan is shagging him is to make sure she gets a part on the forthcoming fifth installment of the Berman/Braga celebration of shit.
If you really want to buy your country out of a recession, you should buy things that further develop the economy. A stupid doll isn't going to do anything once it's been purchased.
And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
I've sworn off seeing these Treks in the theaters anymore
Star Trek is TV, not movie fare. Despite having been a great fan of the franchise (books, tech manuals, models, etc. when I was much younger - I'm 40 now), I've never seen a ST film in a theatre. It's not worth the money - Star Trek is the Malk version of milk when it comes to science fiction. No amount of teeth-shattnering, ear-blasting, logofied THX sound effects or gonzo CGI will change this.
How this post got mode so far up is a mystery to me. All that is being said is that some poor folk spend their money unwisely on entertainment, and other nonessentials. This is, or at least ought to be, common knowledge.
There are people who will cough up major bucks going to casinos, playing lotto, and getting drunk or stoned. Others will spend big cash on sporting events, and/or sporting goods that they can ill afford. Still others will spend more than is prudent on homes that are in "exclusive" neighborhoods, sports cars, big @$*!^ SUV with all the bells, and whistles, or parade float sized limos. The list is finite but none the less large.
I'm not immune to this sort of behavior, though I do like to think that my case of consumeritis is a mild one. I spend way more than I need to on fishing tackle. Not to mention computer gear, and associated gadgets, and gizmos.
"...but ask yourself if you'd rather have three meals a day, or some new LOTR costume that you can prance around the woods in."
Given the obesity rate here in the US I'd say that a lot more Americans need to be vigorously prancing around around (be it in the woods or elsewhere, or in costume or no) than consuming three meals a day.
"Oh drat these computers, they're so naughty and so complex, I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian
beckie
www.geekmom.net
===== Fiction ebooks and paperbacks.
Who the hell bought that Trek chess set from the Franklin Mint? (Does anyone really fall for that $30/month .. for the next five years. [Do the sales people get a Five Year Commission?])
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I'm sorry, which doll was it that we were talking about here? :^P
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
> Don't mean to sound vicious or judgemental or anything, I just worry about our nation's families and whether people are budgeting money properly. (I'm an accountant!)
Therefore your life is probably the most boring one in existence.
You have no idea what you are talking about. Free software is about freedom to reuse, redistribute, and change software that you use. That has nothing to do with whether you pay for the software or not. I have paid a lot of money for free software over the years, as have many other people. In fact, tech support and services are some of the main ways in which free software advocates recommend making money with free software.
Don't mean to sound vicious or judgemental or anything,
No, you just sound stupid.
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As opposed to what? The kind of thing your average, red-blooded American male lusts after? Like fast cars, snowmobiles, guns, boats, and hookers? Thanks: I'll continue spending my money on geek crap, and you can spend yours on the other crap.
...CHILDREN save YOU!
i'm sorry but nemesis was a good movie.
You can't make fun of religion
If Trent Lott used the word "niggling" in a sentence, do you think the dumb fuck democrats would call for censure for him being a racist? I think so. The entire African Black Caucus or whatever in the Congress would call for his resignation. ROFL.
Precisely. Churning out these heavily advertised schlock movies is no longer about quality, and hasn't been for quite some time. Back when Star Wars prequel 1 was in the works I was working in the special effects industry, and a full year in advance of its release date I remember hearing from the higher-ups at Lucas that the movie was already guaranteed profitability, because of all the merchandising follow-ons and themed advertising partnerships that were already in place. It made me feel ill, and I have refused to go see prequel 1 or 2, and in fact will not see another star wars movie. I'd rather have the time for other experiences.
.
- First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then ???, then profit.
So they learned from George Lucas's book "How to turn 4bil without even trying that hard casue your fans will follow you off a cliff". Dont blame the studio, blame the fans for blinding following. If the fans stood up and said "hey we arent going to take this" then maybe the studios would listen and stop making movies that suck. But until then we are all going to have to put with bad movies.
Seriously. If people are spending money on Locutus of Borg dummies (how much would a lifesize, vibrating 7 of 9 go for?), you know that they would buy a PCS phone that looks like a classic trek communicator. Paramount can't be so much above being greedy that they cannot have figured this one out.
Then again, maybe that would push the creation of the Church of Star Trek, and if you watch Futurama, you know what that means...
144l. ph34r my 133t l3g4l 5k1lz!
Even adjusting for inflation doesn't do it. You have to adjust for changes in ticket prices, which have accelerated well beyond inflation. Throw that in, or look at the actual number of tickets sold, and the picture gets even grimmer.
Everyone knows the Borg are an evil, closed-source monopoly.
"For a successful technology, honesty must take precedence over public relations for nature cannot be fooled." -Feynman
Interesting ideas, I guess... your post WAS kind of "vicious and judgemental", or at the very least "judgemental", and I think you know it. Still, I think it's great to question America's cultural materialism. Post away!
[[Insert Sophomoric Movie Quote Here]]
...OKay, I occasionally get MOD points which I really enjoy using. I usually focus on modding up/rather than down. It is completely solipsistic to use mod points to mod someone down just because you don't like what they have to say, just for expressing an opinion. Y0w! Isn't that what we're all here for?
The original post0r was doing just that. Exprssing an opinion, not intentionally fanning the flames of ignorance. Apparently that was the moderator's job in t1hs instance. Offopic? That shit was about as on-topic as you could want, tho brief, and not terribly expressive. That too is/should not be cause for an Offtopic mod. And if your MOD turns up on my meta-mod list, trust me my f1rend you will feel The Stark Fist of Removal.
Oh well. Moderating/Meta-Modding was phUn while it lasted but I felt it had to be said.
Quod scripsi, scripsi.
Now it's considered a troll to put forth your own opinion?
What's the difference between star trek and star wars?
Can someone explain it?
Thanks so much!
Jenny
I don't know. This troll didn't flow quite as well as one could hope. Good sig though.
It constantly amazes me that there are numerous readers of slashdot that take posts like these at face value.
two reasons even their built-in audience might give this a miss:
one and two
the people who own/write/act/produce trek are bored with their cash cow
'Be the change you want to see in the world' - Al Gore
- It incorporated the theme from the TOS movies. While the original TV theme is a requirement, the TOS movie theme is the domain of the TOS cast, in my opinion, and shouldn't have been used in a TNG movie.
- The Star Trek logo was changed in a way just for this movie. While it might have been appropriate to change the Star Trek logo for a genre of movies, such as all TNG movies, or a trilogy of TNG movies at the smallest subset, changing it for just one movie is just too haughty.
Brent Spiner obviously put his heart and soul into this movie. But he wasn't humble about it, for the above reasons, and because he went through the whole movie with that p***ed off look. I can't believe I haven't read the comment on Slashdot yet, "Why was Data constipated the whole movie?"Every appearance of this movie was not that it wasn't intended to be just another movie in the franchise (as suggested by this article, being published at the time of the movie release), as Insurrection was (it was just a TNG episode, not an epic). This was intended to be a good movie, and I might have even thought it better than ST8 if it hadn't been for the haughtiness.
You are massive fail! No fp, fucker.
I think GnuCash is more likely to be what you are looking for if you want a Quicken replacement.
http://www.gnucash.org
Kapital is the
--
I'm A.C. mod me up!!!
470 people have actually paid $5,000 apiece for a life-size replica of the villain Locutus.
Wow, 470 people .. times 5000 dollars apiece .. carry the 2...
That's almost 2 billion right there! Damn!
<wisper>it's only a movie</wisper>
This looks like a job for... WHEATON-MAN!
Like a bolt of lightning from the skies, WHEATON-MAN shall materialize within this article, and make a comment about the MILLIONS he's (not) made from Wesley Crusher dolls.
Then, like a bolt of lightning that goes back from the ground to the sky (or something like that, humor me here), WHEATON-MAN shall leave us, never to return (unless he comes back).
Yup.
The domain fetish-is-futile.com IS available, for what it's worth.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
some poor folk spend their money unwisely on entertainment, and other nonessentials
I'm guessing you posted from a computer, yes? Let's not cast stones here.
Keep your packets off my GNU/Girlfriend!
Only if it's limited-edition, officially licensed Star Trek shit.
... or sold by Apple
Uhm.. You miss the point compeltely.
Speaking as someone who would never use MS products, not becuase they cost money (duh, I could have a dozen free copies of just about every MS OS there is), but becuase they suck, becuase they are incompatible, becuase MS is an illegal monopoly.
However, I would not pay $5000 for a Star Trek mannequin either. In fact, about the only thing I would or have spent money is to watch the movies themselves..
Anyway. you are confusing 'free' (as in beer) with 'free' (as in speech). I prefer open source software becuase its authors arent trying to prevent anything else from existing.
I thought that over all, it was a good scifi movie. It had the visuals, cools toys, and special effects that looked good. The acting was actually far better then I thought it was going to be, especially the bad guy Shinwa (or however they were saying the name) and Picard. The way that the film makers made you think about origins and the way one turns out in life was cool. However, I had a hard time believing that a human that grew up with a bunch of aliens would have an English accent, but whatever. He was still a dark and ominous character. I do remember some of the series plotlines and character relationships, so it was nice to see the way that some of them have evolved. This aspect seemed well done, especially when you consider that this is the last film. I also liked the way that Data went out, that was pretty suprising.
In response to your first point, I think the old theme was used to signal a change in the TNG films. "Generations" and "Insurrection" were basically about saving some no-name planet or no-name people from something no one cares about in the first place; "First Contact" was more or less a continuation of the series. "Nemesis" was an entirely new story line and focused on saving Earth.
:-) )
On your second point, if you change the title for a subset of movies, there always going to be a first movie in the series; in other words, how do you know there will not be more movies that continue the story line. ("The Search for Data"
I thought the acting was great in the movie. The antagonist role was almost too reserved (usually a part that is over-acted in Trek films).
And they still havent made any money
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PHEAR PHIRST POAZT, fucker.
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You were the second post. I was the first to Mod you down with Redundant Because you were not first.
Fast cars, snowmobiles, guns, boats, and hookers?
Good God, I've been wasting my money on food and clothes. Sign me up.
The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. - Gen George S Patton
"Oh dear, no way would I use Microsoft products. Everything should be free! Free software, free tech support, free ISPs, etc."
That's why we need free software, free tech support, free ISPs ect, cause we need money for StarTrek accessories!
I'd say no stones have been cast.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
I saw it, and loved it.
I was appalled by the review that R. Ebert gave it. I can't trust him to dis bad movies anymore because he "shit the bed" on his remarks about Nemesis. He might plug some pretty good ones, but how can we trust a critic who spoils one of the best scenes late in the movie? Don't trailers do enough of that!
As for this article, people have already pointed out how flawed the research is.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
I just wish folks would budget their money more wisely. Use that computer you claim to know so much about and buy Quicken or something. It will really save you dearly in the end, and perhaps save your family.
Well, if you were really budgeting your money, you would just use gnucash... that is free.
Obviously you have never watched star trek so how can you compare? you're probably one of those windows people who flame unix all the time but have never used unix in your life. boo - A proud OS X user http://www.geekmom.net
===== Fiction ebooks and paperbacks.
>>> Have you watched StarTrek? NO you havent have you. Heres my two cents 1: Federation ships will usally not attack a ship unless attacked first 2:None of the Enterprises are sluggish infact there alot faster mainly due to the Warp drive 3:Photon Torpedoes can be possible, and they already have sort of phasers 4: You forgot the tractor beam? 5: Millenium Falcon doesnt have energy shields do they? 7: They enterprise is proably twenty times bigger. 8:and for the guy who replyed about photon torps earlier they have matter too. otherwise they would not have the ability to due as much damage due to the Matter/Antimatter Energy.
===== Fiction ebooks and paperbacks.
The above comment was written by my young son with my account. So, even he knows more than you!
===== Fiction ebooks and paperbacks.
Indeed, Nemesis sucked. One of the most brain-dead "sci-fi" movies I've paid money to see in a long time. Almost as stupid as "Enterprise" which ought to be renamed "60 Minutes of Sexual Tension, Nonsensical Technobabble, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer Advertisements".
Before Nemesis, I had never seen an actual Star Trek movie.
And you dare to call yourself a nerd?!? Hang your head in shame, young man!
GMD
watch this
I think it was yellowbeard
I do not think that word means what you think it means...
Notice the grandparent admitted this:
I'm not immune to this sort of behavior, though I do like to think that my case of consumeritis is a mild one. I spend way more than I need to on fishing tackle. Not to mention computer gear, and associated gadgets, and gizmos.
Why not fork?
I hope they ship the dvd with the entire movie not the sliced and diced movie they released.. THey cut i think 45mins of stuff
in actually buying one of these, in the Las Vegas Hilton in their Star Trek wing (seriously) they have a store where you can see the life-sized locutus for real (and other such rich-folks collectibles), and buy them if you like.
Maybe it's just me, but I'd never buy anything like that unless I've seen it up close in real life.
... Also for $12,000 you can have them (the paramount wardrobe department) custom make you a Klingon Warrior Uniform.
...Also, I didn't know Buggalo could fly.
Remember he also LOVED Fast and the Furious. Also, let's not forget he gave a wonderful review to Tomb Raider. The list of crappy movies he likes goes on and on...I just don't trust him anymore.
-Mark
Dovie'andi se tovya sagain.
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The movie kicked ass and was great. People who think it was a bad movie should stick to their damn Powerpuff girl movies.
Subject says it all, bitches.
Two British parents immediately ensures that whilst you might know the rules of cricket, the skills and tactics of the game are totally beyond you...
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
--Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
but, the article says that Enterprise is the sixth show in the franchise,
1: Original Series
2: The Next Generation
3: DS9
4: Voyager
5: Enterprise
That's only 5. Or, is the author referring to the animated show, too?
I'm nowheres near being an 'official' trekky or whatever, but i always loved Star trek, and couldn't care less about pro reviewers opinions of it. Someone mentioned that it was exactly like a 'bigger' version of the TV show, and THAT is exactly why it's so cool to see TNG films. I have a theory that, like watching others have sex, or the average workady job, syndicated, or long-running shows, are fundamentally ridiculous. Fair enough. Not everything has to be 'important', or 'new' ... Remember the TV episode 'A Fistful of Datas'? That was amazing. Clever, witty, good scripting, and film making. A lot of us 'want' the films of TNG to remain loyal to cast and such, it was awkward to see the original cast in a higher-tech 'world'. One missed the funky recycling of late 50s early 60s Franco-Spanish gladiator outfits and Christmas tree lights and BS that that shows production people had to work with. I look forward to nenesis, even more, now.
i will mod you down because YOU ARE REDUNDANT!!
I liked the movie alot.
What the heck was that up on two wheels four wheel drive dune buggy thing!?!?
Picard crashing into the other ship was awesome.
Simmons...
You forget that a home will pretty much go up in value, making a home a good investment. besides, exclusive neighborhoods are usually safer and have better schools. Why not spend the money if you can afford it? Thats pretty much all you can do with it.
Estimate according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Paramount could have made Trek much, much bigger had they marketed aggressively rather than passively.
You mean you actually read his reviews? He's always been famous for liking every movie he sees. Didn't he give Congo a half-decent review? OTOH, he writes pretty well about the movies that, by coincidence, are geniunely good.
Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
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I had always thought many years ago (probably after watching the Deep Space Nine premiere) that the only future Star Trek had left was self-parody. They franchise has run out of gas, the writers, producer and fans take themselves far too seriously and, frankly, sci-fi in general is getting boring and redundant. Galaxy Quest stole thier thunder. Imagine, an entire series based on self-parody. Sure the pure Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever would die, but they are the ultimate target of the joke, anyhow. As Shatner said, "Get a life". I had always imagined Billy Crystal as captain, not because I find him very funny, but he is is the anitithesis of the typical Star Trek captain (kinda like Micheal Keaton as Batman). When was the last time you laughed during an Enterprise eposide? At least TOS had a sense of character and humour. It's not too late. If Paramount doesn't have the cajones, perhaps the folks behind Galaxy Quest will see the light (and the cross-over audience potential). Can you say, Cha-Ching?
I've come to the conclusion that slashdot movie commentary is worse than useless. It's annoying.
Please, stick to tech. I can only pay attention to your movie reviews for the sake of doing the opposite of what you recommend.
I almost didn't see Nemesis because of the stupid comments here about it. That would've been a mistake. There are numerous other examples.
And what's with this fascination with Anime? Does it really have Anything to do with techies? I'm sure there are some techies who like Anime, but I'd guess it's far from the majority. In fact, if it weren't for slashdot, I doubt most of us would know what it is (I would, but I'm weird
470 people have actually paid $5,000 apiece for a life-size replica of the villain Locutus
While I'm sure there are some trek weirdos and collectors that have these sort of things... how many were collected by theatres, conventions, and other businesses/events that wanted to promote some $tar Trek cash inflow?
"And that my friends, is why Nemesis didn't even have to be a really good movie." I probably won't see Nemesis until January, but it's not because of all the naysaying. My father and I need to break apart from our separate lives and we WILL see this movie in the theatre. And no, neither of us is a true Trekkie. My question here is this: what do you all expect from a Trek movie? It is just like Star Wars, in that, every movie that comes out is never immediately embraced like the previous or the original. But I say, just like music albums, you cannot always go into a movie or TV series expecting it to be as good as your past favorite. Hope to be as good? Sure. Expect to be as good? No, because that is what ruins it for you before you have even seen the flick. That's why I ignore movie reviews. I read one every now and then, but I force myself to go in only expecting to be entertained. Sure, my fav Trek is "First Contact" and my least fav is "Generations." My father's fav is "Search For Spock" and his least fav is also "Generations." But I'm not expecting Nemesis to meet or beat those cult favs. I simply know that I will am going to see some of my fav characters on the big screen again, one last time.
...you might as well skip the Xmas celebration completely, and instead
sit in front of your linux computer playing with the all-new-and-improved
linux kernel version.
-- Linus Torvalds
- this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...