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Star Trek Spoof Top Finnish Movie

Dotnaught writes to tell us Reuters is reporting that the science fiction spoof "Star Wreck: in the Pirkinning" has become Finland's most viewed movie. From the article: " [...] relying on free distribution over the Internet to reach more than 3 million viewers in less than two months. "Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning" is a full-length feature in Finnish with English subtitles. It was made by a group of students and other amateur film makers with a bare-bones budget and a few home computers to create elaborate special effects."

190 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Reuters forgot to mention by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Funny

    it is also the only Finnish movie

    1. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Informative

      Finland has a reasonably strong cinematic history. Probably the most notable film for non-Finns recently would The Man Without a Past which was nominated for best foreign film at the Academy awards, and won the grand jury prize at Cannes, among numerous other awards.

      If you don't stoop to watching foreign film and hence never heard of that, you could always try the Hollywood films from Finnish director Renny Harlin which includes wonderful schlock such as Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Deep Blue Sea, and The Exorcist: The Beginning.

      Jedidiah.

    2. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Interesting

      the difference is vast. finnish is a whole different language family.

      the most widespread language family in europe is the indoeuropean. the exceptions are: finno-ugric language family (finnish, estonian, sami, hungarian), and the basque language (isolated language, no family)

      --
      Conservatism: The fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is your inferior is being treated as your equal.
    3. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      the difference is vast. finnish is a whole different language family.

      Yeah; if you live in the UK and buy Gillette shaving foam (IIRC), you can compare the Finnish blurb with other Scandinavian languages- totally different. (No, I don't know why Gillette use the same supply of cans for Scandinavia and the UK(!))

      Anyhow, what's up with all those double-dots above half the letters in Finnish? They're *everywhere*!

      The supermarkets' own brands may be 2/3 of the price, but you don't get Finnish on the back of them :(

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    4. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by master_p · · Score: 1

      "The man without a past"? absolutely dreadful movie, not from an artistic point of view, but from a content point of view.

      Today's cinematographers have forgotten how to tell a meaningful story. All they want is to convey their own feelings to the public.

    5. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      (No, I don't know why Gillette use the same supply of cans for Scandinavia and the UK(!))

      I do not know the reason why Gillette does that, maybe they have come to same conclusion as I have, citizens of UK are more close to Nordic people than they are to central european people. :)
      For me it is easy to come by with the Brits, same kind of humour and attitude, weather can be harsh in both places and you can drink beer like real men and you are not some kind of wine sipping fancy-pants like those central/southern europeans. :)

      Anyhow, what's up with all those double-dots above half the letters in Finnish? They're *everywhere*!

      You mean letters ä and ö, right? Otherwise English and Finnish have exactly the same alphabets (well, okey. There is a letter å but that is a Swedish letter not to be found in any Finnish word). Ä and ö are vowels (just like a, e, i, o, u and y) and Finnish has a lot of vowels in it. For more info click here.

    6. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by WWWWolf · · Score: 1
      Anyhow, what's up with all those double-dots above half the letters in Finnish? They're *everywhere*!

      Ä and Ö are just two quite uninteresting and somewhat unaesthetic vowels. Quite similar to the sounds found in middle of "bad" and "girl" pronounced in American.

      But they're quite important, as most people's lives start with exclamation "Ää!" and end with "Öö..." =)

    7. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1
      If the grandparent was from a neutral country (e.g. Italy[1]), then another neutral country would be on his side.

      [1] Yes they were. On average.

      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
    8. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by fbjon · · Score: 2, Informative
      They're just two more vowels that you don't have in English:

      Ä or ä - like 'a' in 'at'
      Ö or ö - like .. um.. somewhat like 'u' in 'burden', but a bit higher sound.

      These dot's are called "umlaut" sometimes, coming from their German counterpart. Notice though, that they are not 'umlaut' in Finnish or any other nordic language, because they belong to the letter itself, they don't modify it. In Finnish they're called simply ä and ö, and the dots are ä-dots or ö-dots. Info on these vowels.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    9. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by CortoMaltese · · Score: 2, Interesting
      "The man without a past"? absolutely dreadful movie, not from an artistic point of view, but from a content point of view.

      Today's cinematographers have forgotten how to tell a meaningful story. All they want is to convey their own feelings to the public.

      I would like you to be a bit more elaborate on why you think The man without a past lacks content and has a meaningless story. I thought it was a great film with critique of the society and sharp observation about the human nature. It was about Life.

      I wonder, how would someone tell a meaningful story without conveying their own feelings to the public? Please, give us some examples of such movies! And how exactly could you, for example, critisize the society without being somewhat subjective? There's no ideal society you could objectively compare to.

      Of course, your mileage may vary. Familiarity with the Finnish culture, mentality and language might make a big difference in this case, even though the world of Kaurismäki is just one view of it.

    10. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by szo · · Score: 1

      youre american, right?

      --
      Red Leader Standing By!
    11. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by cloudmaster · · Score: 1

      Finnish director? Does he live in Finland? Was he working in Finland at the time those films were made? Was he even born in Finland? I don't know, but I'll bet at least a couple of those are "no"...

      Ok, so I feel like nit picking today. :)

    12. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by IdleTime · · Score: 1

      Ohhh nooohhhh!

      The pain from my childhood... Tuesday nights with TV theater (Fjernsyns teatret) with black and white Finnish productions. Should be outlawed for the exact same reasons as torture! I was scarred for life!

      --
      If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
    13. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by petril · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can also highly recommend Koirankynnenleikkaaja (Dog Nail Clipper (English title)), it is by far the best finnish movie ever made in my opinion.

      It was my first time I have cried in a cinema when I saw it. (And before someone who thinks he's being funny, suggests that I cried because it was so bad, that wasn't the case.)

      IMdb entry for Dog Nail Clipper can be found here

      --
      "Never give up, never surrender!"
    14. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      i'm lazy.

      --
      Conservatism: The fear that somewhere, somehow, someone you think is your inferior is being treated as your equal.
    15. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      No, I didn't mean that. I meant, why the "UK + Scandinavia" combination?

      Other countries are closer to Scandinavia than the UK, and the UK is closer to other non-Scandinavian countries.

      For example, at some cheap shops which source goods from various places, I can buy the same can of foam, but with the text in (IIRC) German, French, Spanish and so on. I could have understood better if the English language was printed along with those instead (look at a map of Europe to see why I think this).

      There's probably a good reason for it, I just don't know why.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    16. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by martalli · · Score: 1

      I don't think I have heard so much Finnish in my life before. With all the one-word put downs during the battle, you could be well armed to start a bar fight in Helsinki after watching this.

      The subtitles are a riot...I have read elsewhere that they are a play on words at times...more written for the Finnish audience than the outside world. There are several more subtitles in the works...maybe someone will come out with an American or UK English version of the movie.

      One last send-up for Satu Helio, the lovely Ivanovitsa. Actually, this movie was full of great looking ladies...this makes it look like being a geek in Finland has its rewards!

    17. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by hicksw · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should try to find "Leningrad Cowboys go America",

      inspired by Russians(?), made by Finns, financed by Swedes.

      Commercial but hilarious.

    18. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by master_p · · Score: 1

      Ha ha. I am Greek.

    19. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by master_p · · Score: 1

      Indeed it was a good way to critisize society, for the first 10 minutes. Then the average viewer like me got the message and was ultimately bored.

      Why does a movie with a message have to be so slow, present so few facts, be so boring?

    20. Re:Reuters forgot to mention by szo · · Score: 1

      then you have no excuse :)

      --
      Red Leader Standing By!
  2. Great movie by updatelee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    its worth the watch, its quite good.

    1. Re:Great movie by mashade · · Score: 1, Informative

      I tried to sit through it, and I *almost* got to the end... But it was just too cheezy, and I didn't get many chuckles out of it.

        -- Shade

      --
      Technology tips and tricks.
    2. Re:Great movie by Donniedarkness · · Score: 4, Funny

      Heh... well, I watch most of the stuff that I do for the cheese. Why else would I watch Star Trek: TOS? What, do you think battle scenes between Kirk and Klingon soldiers to be action-packed?

      --
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    3. Re:Great movie by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      Did you at least watch it until the Babylon 5 crossover?

    4. Re:Great movie by JoshRosenbaum · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I suffered through ...err.. enjoyed it as well. :)

    5. Re:Great movie by tylernt · · Score: 1

      At least it was better than Episode III.

      --
      DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'
    6. Re:Great movie by lifterx · · Score: 1

      Regardless of how good this movie is, I'm just glad that people haven't completely given up on one of the coolest internet "features" (the spoof movie/game/some), due to the fear of getting crushed by the big bad MPAA and Co.

      I'll definitely check this out.

      --
      SonicNonsense.com - Random stuff from a bunch of random people.
    7. Re:Great movie by ms1234 · · Score: 1

      Maybe I'm just old and grumpy but I found it juvenile at best. Good effects though.

    8. Re:Great movie by HoboMonkey · · Score: 1

      I don't know about the movie yet, but it's also quite the T-shirt (see the site). For some strange reason I just bought three.

    9. Re:Great movie by giorgosts · · Score: 1

      Disaggree: After you've watched a performance, whether cinema or theatre, you are left with the sensation, the illusion, that you've been there and lived the story. In this one, there is absolutely no moment where you have that feeling. (Ok, when the frame has no people perhaps). The actors look as if they want to go about their business and we (the filmakers, the viewers) are buggering them. (ok, this Russina President guy is an exeption). There are so many talented people in drama schools. Why did they have to choose these lot? Good story, good setting, good graphic art bad, very bad acting.

    10. Re:Great movie by h4rm0ny · · Score: 3, Insightful


      There's a sudden shift in the quality of the film about twenty minutes in, when they complete the spaceship. Something radical must have happened at that point in making it as it becomes much more impressive and a lot funnier.

      They get Sheridan and Ivanova down perfectly. I've only ever seen a couple of episodes of Star Trek (thought it was grim), but Babylon V is very well parodied. Love the boot screen, on the weapon too (blink and you'll miss it).

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    11. Re:Great movie by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      To be honest, I didn't think it was that good.
      The movie has some great special effects, especially considering the budget, but lacks a good story.
      It's supposed to be a spoof on Star Trek and Babylon 5 but fails to deliver any truely funny moments (finnish humor?). The best you can expect is a mild grin, but that's about as amusing as it gets.
      Still, it's nice to see it, just to see what they did.

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    12. Re:Great movie by 21st+Century+Peon · · Score: 1
      There are so many talented people in drama schools. Why did they have to choose these lot?

      Because talented drama-school types want money. Enthusiastic fanboys are free.

      --
      "Knowledge, sir, should be free to all!"
      ~Harcourt Fenton Mudd
  3. Torrent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    1. Re:Torrent by tortap-0 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Torrent is good and all but you probably will get better speed with the direct downloads from the mirrors. 15 kb/sec vs 1500 kb/sec. Your choice.

    2. Re:Torrent by olman · · Score: 1

      Version with the burned-in subtitles has crappy quality, or so I'm told. You can get the subtitles as a separate .sub file which most media players can handle without problems.

    3. Re:Torrent by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      Torrent is good and all but you probably will get better speed with the direct downloads

      I'm not disagreeing, but I'm still sharing it on BT.
      It was a great movie and I have recommended it to a few friends since getting it when Slashdot told me it was out.

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
  4. Star Wreck... by Donniedarkness · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's quite good, I'm told. I've not got access to broadband, but I hear that it will be coming to DVD (not that anyone expects to make any money off of it). I'll be getting it, and from what I've heard it's one of those movies that I would buy on DVD even if I DID have access to broadband. I encourage anyone who has any intrest in it to check it out.

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    1. Re:Star Wreck... by Icedman · · Score: 5, Informative
      The DVD has been for sale from August. The order form is on the main site. One thing about the DVD: It's in PAL format. IIRC, they were making an NTSC version of the DVD. So all of you who don't own a DVD-player which can play PAL DVDs, I recommend you wait for the NTSC version.

      Here's the link for their Foreign orders page: http://www-us.starwreck.com/dvd/index_e.html

    2. Re:Star Wreck... by shadowbearer · · Score: 1


        If you're only on dialup, then get it with one of the download apps with resume capabilities. It's really not that huge, and it's well worth the pain (believe me, I know, I was on dialup until just a couple years ago).

        It being freely distributed, AND good, means you have a lot of different routes to find it and get it, even on dialup.

        Just make sure to burn it to CD right away so you don't have to go thru the pain again ;)

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    3. Re:Star Wreck... by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      It'll probably only take you 2-3 days to download. It's 541 mb, and BitTorrent downloads are resumable. You can also try having a friend download and burn it to CD.

    4. Re:Star Wreck... by Devar · · Score: 1

      So all of you who don't own a DVD-player which can play PAL DVDs, I recommend you get a DVD-player which can play PAL DVDs. :-)

      --
      It's a Bagel.
    5. Re:Star Wreck... by d.valued · · Score: 3, Informative

      Are you kidding?

      On any kind of broadband, this should run to your system super-fast. There are hundreds of seeders for this thing!

      Even a 56k modem should get this chunked through within a day.

      --
      I used to be someone else. Now I'm someone better.
      Real life is underrated.
    6. Re:Star Wreck... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      how about you just use mplayer which CAN play pal and ntsc :)

    7. Re:Star Wreck... by Ian+Peon · · Score: 1

      So all of you who don't own a DVD-player which can play PAL DVDs...
      ...AND either a display that can show PAL or a transcoder that can turn it into NTSC...

      PAL has more data fed at a different refresh rate than NTSC. It's not just a matter of the player - which will spit out a PAL signal - the display also has to be able to handle it.
    8. Re:Star Wreck... by Carthag · · Score: 1

      Amazingly, you could have it down in roughly 22 hours with a 56k maxed out.

    9. Re:Star Wreck... by olman · · Score: 1

      Only you can't buy it from US. They don't want to spend 20x movie budget on Paramount attack lawyer's fees. So even if they make NTSC DVD, you can't buy it :-)

    10. Re:Star Wreck... by Mr+Europe · · Score: 1

      I've got the DVD and it it The First movie that I did watch the making-of's ! You should see the "computer farm" used for rendering. Four old PC's in the kitchen corner...

    11. Re:Star Wreck... by drsquare · · Score: 1

      You're assuming consistently high speeds, and an uninterrupted connection.

      Come out of your broadband bubble for a moment, and realise that people with dialup don't have it on 24/7. There are constant cut-offs, and time quotas. Not to mention when you need the phone. And that when you're downloading something on dialup, you can't download anything else, web pages take ages to come up. You can't leave it on all night because it disconnects too often and you'd miss phone calls.

      541MB, at an optimistic 3kB/sec is 51 hours. If you're on the Internet for about 2 hours a day then that's nearly a month to download.

    12. Re:Star Wreck... by Short+Circuit · · Score: 1

      *looks at his connection speed* Hm. 28.8kbps.

      IME, 56k modems rarely, rarely connect higher than 28.8. Care to revise your estimate?

    13. Re:Star Wreck... by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      I was assuming they might have a poor connection. It turns out that if you're too far out to get cable, you're probably too far out to get a good quality phone line too. Back when I had dialup, I regularly connected at 19.2k with my 56k modem, with 10-30% packet loss. Random disconnects about every hour. Occasional 20 second pauses where no packets got through. After I moved, sure, I probably could have gotten 48k with very rare packet loss, but why ever use dialup when you can have cable for the same price?

  5. Light Balls? I thought you said "Light Beers?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... and who could possibly forget the awesomely powerful weapon ...

    The Twinklers!!!

  6. well done by NoGuffCheck · · Score: 2, Funny

    It amazes me to see what can happen when corporations and communities embrace these sort of online ditribution methods. If it were in america you'd have who ever produce Star Trek screaming about pirates stealing the food out of their mouths and the shirts off their backs..

    Well done, this can only lead to more free entertainment.

    --
    serenity now!
    1. Re:well done by stubear · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, Roddenberry's son, the guy who owns the rights to the Star Treck franchise, allows fan films to exist as long as they do not make ANY money from them. I don't think this is unreasonable at all, in fact I think it's pretty damn generous. There's an article in the recent issue of Wired that discusses another Star Trek fan project. Personally I find it sad that far too much attention is paid to fan films and music mixes instead of the the truly inspiring original works such as the shorts on AnimWatch, the stuff done by studios like , or the music from thousands of small bands too numerous to list here.

    2. Re:well done by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 3, Informative

      Spoofs and such can't be prevented by the rights owner. For example, the Barbiegirl song, in Mattel v. MCA Records.

    3. Re:well done by Jafar00 · · Score: 1

      Well done, this can only lead to more free entertainment.

      Here, here. I've been enjoying free online entertainment for quite a while now. SHows like Diggnation, WASD, Hak.5, DLTV, The Scene, Pure Pwnage, Open Alpha, Rocketboom etc..
      Sure, the acting may be a bit off, and the sets a bit cheap, but there are some talented writers out there with interesting stories and tech shows that show it all without the corporate "the lawyers say we can't say/do that" mentality.

      To all the free online TV and Video Blog show makers, we salute you!

      --
      RebateFX.com - Spread rebates for Forex traders
    4. Re:well done by Golias · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Personally I find it sad that far too much attention is paid to fan films and music mixes instead of the the truly inspiring original works...

      An easy sentiment to applaud, but if said original works were so darn inspiring, wouldn't they manage to, oh I don't know, inspire more attention?

      The flash-based Strongbad letters on homestarrunner.com managed to carve a niche mostly through word of mouth, as have various on-line comics such as Penny Arcade, Megatokyo, and Order of the Stick.

      Now, the vast majority of people doing that sort of thing don't really manage to make any money (though Piro managed to quit his day job and live of t-shirt sales and book deals), but if something deserves attention in this content-starved age, it usually gets it.

      Besides, spoof, fan-fiction, "shipper" stories, doujinshi, etc., are an art form in and of themselves. Some would argue that they are a more pure art from than the stories they are derived from, since they were motivated entirely by love of the subject matter and the desire to create, rather than to meet some TV station's shooting deadline and get a paycheck.

      I'm not saying I'd rather read an erotic "Spuffy" fan fic than watch the final episode of Season 6, I'm just saying that there's really nothing that makes such a composition any better or worse, culturally speaking, than some starving writer's attempt at a first novel.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    5. Re:well done by Spacejock · · Score: 1

      Strongbad is hilarious. Some of the pieces are laugh-out-loud funny, and it's one of the sites I recommend to people. Who then think I'm wierd...

    6. Re:well done by ThosLives · · Score: 1

      You made me pick a new sig.

      --
      "There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
    7. Re:well done by Spacejock · · Score: 1

      Strongbad's bottom 10 is one of my favourites. After you've watched that one, hit this one for my all-time favourite. I laughed so hard watching that one I had tears running down my cheeks, and it's still funny twenty times later.

  7. Slashdot timeline by karvind · · Score: 3, Informative
    Star Wreck Trailer (December 12th, 2003)

    Star Wreck 6 Finally Complete (August 22nd, 2005)

    Star Wreck Released as Download (October 1st, 2005)

    1. Re:Slashdot timeline by griffster · · Score: 1

      There is the theory of the Moebius... A twist in the fabric of space where time becomes a loop... hmmm.. maybe that explains the feeling of Deja Vu every time I see the name "Xbox 360" in a headline on the front-page. oh wait... news just in... we've escaped ;)

    2. Re:Slashdot timeline by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      So what you're really saying is that this story is a dupe?

      Just for all the "OMG ITS A DOOP" crowd, The /. editors have been known to repost stories that didn't get enough attention the first time around.

      For example, I didn't see this when it was first posted, but now its in my bittorrent queue.

      rock on /. eds

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
  8. Now downloading.. by UniXY · · Score: 1

    Started the BT and already downloading at 500KB/s! 20 mins remaining... I think that's shorter than the commercials I have to pay to watch at the local theatre. I hope this proves to some here in the U.S. that restricting the ways we share data will just limit our creativity as a society in the long run.

    1. Re:Now downloading.. by Directrix1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Creativity is not directly proportional to profit, therefore corporate America (including Joe Dumbass who let himself be bought a long time ago) do not care about relaxing any of these restrictions.

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
  9. VERBS by smart.id · · Score: 5, Insightful

    USE VERBS IN YOUR HEADLINES! Where is the verb? Star Trek Spoof is Top Finnish Movie! Does this piss anyone else off?

    --
    blog & fiction: jd87
    1. Re:VERBS by cli_rules! · · Score: 1
      USE VERBS IN YOUR HEADLINES! Where is the verb? Star Trek Spoof is Top Finnish Movie! Does this piss anyone else off?

      Yes this me off too.

      ---
      verb tutorial

    2. Re:VERBS by Supurcell · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought "Finnish" was the verb and something called "Star Trek Spoof Top" was the subject.

    3. Re:VERBS by ctr2sprt · · Score: 1
      Actually, I thought "top" was the verb, like "Star Trek spoof tops [beats] Finnish movie." This is why newspaper-style headlines are retarded and worthless. Is it really so much more difficult to write "Star Trek spoof is the top Finnish movie?" Or hell, this is Slashdot, we can probably assume most people know the name of the spoof: "In the Pirkinning is the top Finnish movie."

      Although these micro-headlines do give us such gems as these, lifted from James Taranto:

      • "Black Faces Day in Chicago Court"--headline, Globe and Mail (Toronto), Nov. 22
      • "Door Thwarts Quick Exit for Bush"--headline, BBC Web site, Nov. 20
      • "Source: Cheney Isn't Woodward's Source"--headline, Associated Press, Nov. 17
      • "Bird Flu Drug 'Safe' Despite Death Link"--headline, Daily Telegraph (Australia), Nov. 19 - "Gee, that's 'comforting'"
      • "Man Arrested for Stealing Car, Alluding Police"--headline, Jackson (Mich.) Citizen Patriot, Nov. 16 - "'Look Out for That Guy in the Uniform, if You Catch My Drift'"
      • "Superman Returns Trailer"--headline, IGN.com, Nov. 17 - "It's About Time That Mooch Gave It Back"
    4. Re:VERBS by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      Overrated. I, for one, we're better without them.

      Just to be pedantic, I have to point out that "we're" is a contraction of "we are", and of course "are" is a verb.

      Damn funny comment though. :-)

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    5. Re:VERBS by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 1

      Not really. Is it so hard to decode a headline? There is a whole article explaining it anyway. You did read the article, did you?

    6. Re:VERBS by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 1

      ``USE VERBS IN YOUR HEADLINES! Where is the verb? Star Trek Spoof is Top Finnish Movie! Does this piss anyone else off?''

      No, and I don't think it should, either. This headline is perfectly comprehensible without the verb, and I think in a headline, this omission doesn't even make it sound wrong. Not more wrong than "Star Trek Spoof To Become Top Finnish Movie", anyway, and that's a very common form for headlines to take.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    7. Re:VERBS by Bueller_007 · · Score: 1

      Then shouldn't your subject line have read "USE VERBS"?
      And doesn't it bother anyone else when people type the subject all in caps?

    8. Re:VERBS by dascandy · · Score: 1

      No problem this.

    9. Re:VERBS by Feanturi · · Score: 1

      I thought it meant there was only one Finnish movie in existance and some Star Trek Spoof had topped it.

    10. Re:VERBS by bkhl · · Score: 1

      Not really. Dropping the copula is pretty common, especially in these kinds of construction.

    11. Re:VERBS by jc42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      USE VERBS IN YOUR HEADLINES!

      Ah, but part of the fun of English-language headlines is that so many words can be misread as verbs. As others have already pointed out, both "spoof" and "top" can be verbs in this headline (though an 's' should probably be added if you're American). Also, "Finnish" can be read as a mistyping of "finish" and treated as a verb, which is a standard pun in some circles.

      One of my favorites, from around 15 years ago, was the newspaper headline "American Ships Head to Gulf". I just did a check, by googling for "Ships Head to Gulf", and found that at least one Australian and one Russian have also shipped their heads to the Gulf.

      Or maybe I'm misreading them, and these three people shipped someone else's head to the Gulf ...

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    12. Re:VERBS by dhammabum · · Score: 1
      My favourite was a headline in the Port Lincoln Times in South Australia: "Parents Watch Son Pass Out". The article referred to a college graduation ceremony where, in Australia and I think the UK, students are said to "pass out" of the college when they graduate. It was intentional, the journalist wrote some really pathetic headlines.

      --
      I am not a robot. I am a unicorn.
    13. Re:VERBS by drewness · · Score: 1

      My favorite has always been "British Left Waffles On Falklands". I'll leave it to the reader to figure out what it means.

    14. Re:VERBS by martalli · · Score: 1

      Not meaning to troll, but I don't think we had google in 1990. I still remember irc with number channels (the Finns had their own numbered channel back then). Your only internet search would have been a '/' on 'nn' or maybe on gopher (I think 1990 predates gopher, too).

      Of course, maybe you got the year wrong...ahhh the memories, though!

    15. Re:VERBS by jc42 · · Score: 1

      Indeed, and that's probably why google didn't turn up the "American Ships Head to Gulf" headline. If I recall correctly, I saw it in a Usenet article that was a collection of funny headlines. Later, I also saw a book that included it in a much larger list of headlines. But the Australian and Russian headlines were more recent, so they showed up in google.

      Ambiguous headlines are an ongoing (and cheap ;-) source of humor.

      We did cross over some sort of cultural threshold about 10 years ago, as news organizations and search engines started to appear online.

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
    16. Re:VERBS by cornjchob · · Score: 1

      favorite*

      --
      We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
  10. Re: Does this piss anyone else off? by digitaldc · · Score: 1

    Yes, it really pissed off the grammar nazis - to the extreme.

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  11. woohoo by nemik · · Score: 3, Funny

    can't wait for the slashdot effect on the torrent...it is rather sluggish.

    1. Re:woohoo by juventasone · · Score: 2, Informative

      I watched the movie when it was released, enjoyed it, and have been seeding it ever since in hopes it'd help more people watch it. At this moment there's actually more seeds than peers. I say bring on the slashdot effect, this is what torrents were created for after all.

    2. Re:woohoo by dancallaghan · · Score: 1

      The slashdot effect has begun! (For me at least.)

      I intended on downloading this movie after it was firsted posted to /., but forgot. I just started the torrent ten or so minutes ago and it's nearly complete! My ~7Mbps connections is running flat out ... yay bittorrent!

  12. But where is the next Star Trek movie? by msbsod · · Score: 1

    Doesn't the interest in a spoof proof that people still like to see Star Trek? Where is the next Star Trek movie? I would love to see an IMAX production.

    1. Re:But where is the next Star Trek movie? by Jupix · · Score: 1

      They are already making one. It will be out in 2007. Sad part is it won't feature any of the current Star Trek cast. And we don't really know what it will be about.

    2. Re:But where is the next Star Trek movie? by CaptnMArk · · Score: 1

      There's also Kirk-less Star Trek 7 edit available out there.

      I haven't seen it yet, but it could be much better then the actual movie.

      I was always of the opinion that ST7 should have been cut right after Kirk dies (the first time). (This would be the prequel then).

  13. it just has to be said. by tito13kfm · · Score: 1

    That depends what your definition of IS is.

  14. Not JUST a Star Trek spoof by Phroggy · · Score: 3, Informative

    To be fair, they also spoofed Babylon 5.

    --
    $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
    $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    1. Re:Not JUST a Star Trek spoof by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

      No they didn't, you're just not sitting upright in your chair.

  15. ARTICLES by Aurisor · · Score: 1

    USE ARTICLES IN YOUR COMMENTS! Where is the article? Star Trek Spoof is the Top Finnish Movie! Does this piss anyone else off?

    1. Re:ARTICLES by jc42 · · Score: 1

      Nah; the Finnish language is one of the roughly 50% of languages that don't have definite articles. So omitting the "the" is quite appropriate.

      Either that, or you do the standard Finnish-learning-English mistake of using "the" incorrectly. But there's really no good incorrect placing in this headline. "Star Trek the Spoof ..."? I don't think so.

      Actually, I noticed the verbal ambiguity more. I was wondering which top Finnish movie Star Trek was spoofing. Or was maybe some Star Trek spoof topping [the rating of] some unnamed Finnish movie? Which of those verbs is missing its final 's'?

      (And, this being /., would there be an apostrophe before the missing 's'? ;-)

      --
      Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
  16. Avoiding the infamous Klingon Copyright by Alien54 · · Score: 4, Funny
    it is also the only Finnish movie

    I thought it was some newly invented star trek language, to get around the copyrights on Klingon.

    Klingon is copyrighted, yes?

    although this is still a good tactic.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
    1. Re:Avoiding the infamous Klingon Copyright by corpsiclex · · Score: 1

      I guess they failed to secure the copyright in time on this newly invented language....I hear people are using it in Sweden now.

      --

      eBayDig 1s a typo saerch engien
    2. Re:Avoiding the infamous Klingon Copyright by WWWWolf · · Score: 1

      Actually, Star Wreck: In The Pirkinning has been translated to Klingon... The subs and an annotated translation is somewhere in the subtitles forum. Quite an interesting read, even when I don't know that much of Klingon language myself. Why don't real Trek movies get this treatment? =)

  17. Subtitled by phorm · · Score: 1

    For that that would like to watch, it is subtitled (or at least the version I saw was) and also quite good. There's a little lost sometimes in the translation, but the overall plot is interesting, FX are decent (and quite good in some places) and there are a lot of funny additions/quirks.

  18. Here's the Torrent by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

    Likely their site will /. soon....
    Torrent Link!

    --

    ----
    Go canucks, habs, and sens!
  19. Leningrad Cowboys Go America by quenda · · Score: 2
    Finland has a reasonably strong cinematic history. Probably the most notable film for non-Finns recently would The Man Without a Past...

    How could you not mention Aki's greatest work, "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" ?
    It was a big hit as far away as Australia, where the band actually did a concert tour - I swear!
    It didn't hurt its popularity that the movie was mostly in English. Well worth watching, if you like twisted humour.

    1. Re:Leningrad Cowboys Go America by JanneM · · Score: 1

      It didn't hurt its popularity that the movie was mostly in English.

      Well, the movie was mostly in angsty, awkward silences, as befits any good Scandinavian movie production. :)

      I agree with the poster, though; it's hard not to put Leningrad Cowboys somewhere in the top three of Finnish movies. Of course, the Kaurismäki brothers would probably fill the other two slots as well...

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    2. Re:Leningrad Cowboys Go America by psavo · · Score: 1

      ..., awkward silences,...

      They're not awkward, at least not to a finn. If you don't have anything to say, you don't have to and nobody expects you to.

      --
      fucktard is a tenderhearted description
    3. Re:Leningrad Cowboys Go America by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Well, when the manager comes out with a bag of onions for the bandmembers to eat, the silence isn't exactly companionable :)

      I really, really love this movie, jsut so you know.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
    4. Re:Leningrad Cowboys Go America by CptPicard · · Score: 1

      Well, the movie was mostly in angsty, awkward silences, as befits any good Scandinavian movie production. :)

      A small gripe.. strictly speaking Finland is not Scandinavian, and I have always thought myself that our non-talkativeness is considered a specifically Finnish trait even in our neighbourhood. Just compare and constrast the local stereotypes the Nordic peoples have of each other.

      I dislike the Swedes in particular trying to co-opt our national character when it is, for once, becoming cool ;-)

      --
      I want to play Free Market with a drowning Libertarian.
    5. Re:Leningrad Cowboys Go America by JanneM · · Score: 1

      Yep, strictly speaking, we're all Nordic, but that sounds so... skiing-related. And since most peoiple have no idea why it's called Scandinavia and happily include Finland and Iceland, I took the easy way out.

      However, I'd say Finland in no way has a monopoly on the long silence. Most Swedes would think of northern Sweden and Ingmar Bergman, not Finland and Kaurismäki, respectively, if asked about it.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  20. Don't bother ordering if you're in the US by psi42 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Unfortunately, they wouldn't sell me a disc, citing "legal reasons." Oh well, maybe I'll buy a t-shirt or something.

    --
    Defenestrate Windows...
    1. Re:Don't bother ordering if you're in the US by Blind_Justice · · Score: 2, Informative

      The disc is now available for US too. Just took a while to make the legal assesment of the liabilities and fair use analyses. Try again.

  21. Better than the Turkish "spoof?" by Almonday · · Score: 2, Funny
    From the Seanbaby video review:
    "In the original Star Trek, Captain Kirk was all that is man. He'd tear his shirt off and fight a lizard monster from a space couch covered in green alien sluts. In Turkish Star Trek, reverse all of that. The movie starts with Kaptan Kirk practically prancing over to his chair to sit down cross-legged and daintily lisp out orders...."
    --
    Posterity, my posterior.
  22. Re:Light Balls? I thought you said "Light Beers?" by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 1

    I like the rope lights, personally.

    Better for cube adornment. :)

  23. That movie was cool by Silkejr · · Score: 1

    It really was outstanding considering it was done on zero budget. Quite entertaining, I hope they make more movies.

    1. Re:That movie was cool by Leroy_Brown242 · · Score: 2, Funny

      What?

      Zero budget?

      Well, hollywood has just informed me it cannot be good without a budget in the millions!

  24. Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by OzPhIsH · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There was a German Star Trek parody that came out last year called (T)Raumschiff Surprise - Periode 1. I haven't seen it, but I saw ads on television for it when I was in Germany last year, and it looked pretty goofy. Raumschiff is the German word for spaceship, but Traumschiff would be like "dreamship". So it's like a dual meaning. Periode is Period. 1 is 1. Has anyone seen this movie? Is it worth watching? My German is only so-so, but my Trek is pretty good:) Will I be able to understand enough of this movie without a universal translator? Cause I'd really like to see it.

    --

    "To lead the people, you must walk behind them"

    1. Re:Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by ammoQ · · Score: 2, Informative

      I've seen it; but honestly I don't think it's worth seeing, unless you think that the 602nd gay joke is just as funny as the 601st.
      "Kirk" and "Spock" in this movie are a gay copule, and almost all supposed-to-be-funny scenes bear on that.

    2. Re:Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by hughk · · Score: 1

      I'm surprised that they got away for it. Pro-7, a major German network was behind it with various merchandising too. The whole thing started as a regular spoof in a German comedy show, and then someone decided to spin it out into a movie, this was perhaps a little too far. I speak and understand German but it was funny for about 15 minutes and definitely not after the advertising campaign.

      --
      See my journal, I write things there
    3. Re:Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      "Periode is Period"
      Well, not in the "at the end of the sentence", but the "menstruation" sense, which is a nod to the gay main characters.

    4. Re:Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by schmu_20mol · · Score: 1

      btw 'Traumschiff' is also a pun on an old school german series... it's a cheesy one about some luxury cruise liner with plots aimed at the elderly (classic romance, some doc issues, etc)

      --
      "Nae Kin! Nae Quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!"
    5. Re:Periode 1 - A German Trek Parody by Aciel · · Score: 1

      Is that like Space Taxi?

  25. I watched it a couple weeks ago by saskboy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you keep in mind that it's a comedy first, and a drama second, then you won't be disapointed. It's not supposed to be Star Trek, it's Star Wreck, another universe, so don't be whining about how it doesn't match Star Trek canon.

    The ending kinda disapointed me, but mostly because I wanted more! So overall I think I gave it a [5/10] because for an amateur production it's 10/10, but up against real actors and writers it's more like a 3/10. The special effects are top drawer though, in any league.

    For other Star Trek spinoffs, look up http://www.newvoyages.com/ they have two episodes of original Trek available for free by torrent. A third is on the way soon and features Star Trek TOS and Babylon 5 actor Walter Koenig [spelling?] - Chekov / Bester.

    --
    Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
    1. Re:I watched it a couple weeks ago by Jace+of+Fuse! · · Score: 1

      So overall I think I gave it a [5/10] because for an amateur production it's 10/10

      I don't think it's really quite fair to make that comparison. I've seen "professional" films that weren't this good, and they weren't even subtitled! This is one of those films that it pays to watch a second or third time to catch the little things. It's really quite funny. It also helps catching everything watching over because it is subtitled, after all.

      There is a lot of humor here, including a lot of concept gags. The very idea that an Alien Warrior could be running a hot-dog stand cracks me up. There really is LOTS of funny stuff in this, at least to me.

      I'd rather watch stuff like this than pay to see the garbage on cable or sat. It's more entertaining to me, it's legal for me to download, it was made for entertainment purposes, NOT profit, and I can legally share it with my friends.

      I would love to see MORE of this kind of stuff.

      --

      "Everything you know is wrong. (And stupid.)"

      Moderation Totals: Wrong=2, Stupid=3, Total=5.
    2. Re:I watched it a couple weeks ago by rca66 · · Score: 1
      So overall I think I gave it a [5/10] because for an amateur production it's 10/10, but up against real actors and writers it's more like a 3/10.

      I don't agree. Most actors are quite amateurish - but - for this movie this is absolute perfect and gives it just the right kind of humour. Think of Pirk or Fukov - they are complete morones, standing outside of this world - and this is really good reflected by the acting. The persons seem a bit silly because of the acting? That's the point: in this world everbody is just silly, especially those who are usually presented so serious. Pirk tries to impersonate an emperor, although he is completely nuts. Which better way you can show this, as by an actor acting a little out of line? Especially the actor of Fukov gives a good example: he has a second role as Festerbester, the captain of that powerfull ship which was attacked by the light beer. Fukov is absolutely over the top, his Festerbester is cool and sober, bringing his dry lines just on the spot.

      Overall I think this is a very enjoyable film, not just when seen as an amateur product. Replace the actors by mediocre professionals you can see in dozens of other productions, let them speak plain English, and the film wouldn't be half the fun it actually is.

    3. Re:I watched it a couple weeks ago by Cl1mh4224rd · · Score: 1
      So overall I think I gave it a [5/10] because for an amateur production it's 10/10, but up against real actors and writers it's more like a 3/10.
      The fact that you even felt compelled to rate it in comparison to the efforts of "real actors and writers" should say a lot about the quality of work that was put into this fan-made film.

      Although, still, that's an arguable comparison, since you haven't qualified what you consider to be "real actors and writers".
      --
      People will pass up steak once a week, for crap every day.
    4. Re:I watched it a couple weeks ago by saskboy · · Score: 1

      "you haven't qualified what you consider to be "real actors and writers"" ...Ones who speak English.

      Close your jaw, I'm just kidding. Ones who are paid to act, naturally. We're all actors and the world is a stage, but people who make a sole living out of it tend to be a little more confident. Although it could have been the camera work that just didn't scream "Pros did this scene," to me.

      --
      Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
  26. Re:So what does Lucas think? by Lillesvin · · Score: 1

    That's Star Wars... This is Star Trek.

    --
    "Live free or don't."
  27. Re:So happy I could make this lame joke... by CyanDisaster · · Score: 2, Funny

    In Soviet Russia, jokes shoot you.

    Hope be with ye,
    Cyan

  28. More Realistic by miyako · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Amature films, as these guys have shown, are all the time becomming more realistc. With the computer power and high availability of digital camcorders any group of friends can write, film and star in a full length movie. With the open source Cinipaint and Blender special effects can even be done on a home computer that can rival a lot of the best special effects of movies from the mid to late 90's, and in some cases even very recent movies.
    I've been working on just such a project, doing special effects for a fantasy film that's going to be shot in greece. The entire group consists of the writer/director, a camera/lighting guy, a makeup artist/costume designer, a set guy, 3 actors, an actress, 1 guy doing editing and postprocessing, and myself, doing CGI. That's 10 people, working on a budget of about 12,000. [shamless self-promotion] The script is quite a bit better than most of the dreck that comes out of hollywood- without having the pretentious or preachy feel that people (wrongly) associate with independent films. The makeup effects and costumes are top notch considering the budget (the makeup artist studied with Tom Savini of Night of the Living Dead fame), and the special effects are comming on quite nicely- there is a scene we affectionatley call "Helms Deep" with over 200 creatures that should be one of the main story arcs that I've been working on for about a month.
    The movie is going to be released free on the net, with DVD sales hopefully making up for the financing that's come out of pocket from a lot of the people who've been working with the project.
    I think this is the reason the MPAA is afraid of Peer to Peer networks, and the internet in general. People now have the ability to make and distribute movies all across the globe for less than the catering budget of most big hollywood movies. It's not that they are afraid that people are going to pirate their movies, it's that they are afraid people are going to make the obsolete.

    --
    Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
    1. Re:More Realistic by squoozer · · Score: 1

      Is there a website with more information? I tried your profile home page address but it's busted.

      --
      I used to have a better sig but it broke.
    2. Re:More Realistic by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ``It's not that they are afraid that people are going to pirate their movies, it's that they are afraid people are going to make the obsolete.''

      I'm pretty sure this goes for the RIAA. It's probably true that the spreading of music that P2P has brought about increases the popularity of the music, and it's not hard to imagine this would lead to increased sales of RIAA-endorsed media.

      However, movies are different. A movie costs much more to make than a song, and ends up being watched far less often than most songs get listened to. So you both lose a lot more when someone gets your movie for free instead of paying you for it, and people are far less likely to pay for a movie once they've seen it.

      In short, I think the movie industry has a good reason to fear lost sales due to piracy. In addition to that, of course, there's the fact that the 'net and distribution methods like Bittorrent facilitate competition. I couldn't say which is the bigger threat, though.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
    3. Re:More Realistic by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Insightful

      A large part of the reason movies are so expensive is what people in california cost.
      In fact, I'd guess that over 60% of your 100 million dollar budget is not spent on physical consumables.

      So... doing the math... thinking about how hollywood folks are different than skilled programmers... I can't see why outsourcing is not a severe threat to them too. There are millions of talented people who can make increasingly high quality entertainment for less and less money every day. At the very least, I can't see why you would spend $120k on an editor when you can get an editor in india for a tenth of that (who has probably edited a LOT more films since they still make a lot more films over there).

      And as far as the 'talent' goes- I found at least a third of the actors in Star Wreck to be pro-level acting and only a couple seemed poor (after taking into account it's a spoof). I personally find it hard to get up the interest to see a Tom Cruise film since I don't respect him after the Brooke Shields thing where he came across as a world class idiot.

      Now when I see MI I see Jim Phelps (world class idiot) fighting the bad guy (as an idiot) and going on a mission (as an idiot).

      So seeing a decent looking actor, who can read the lines well and just play the damn part who doesn't have a trainload of baggage seems more appealing every day.

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    4. Re:More Realistic by miyako · · Score: 1

      No website set up just yet, filming isn't set to begin until summer. Right now we're working on developing some of the CGI ahead of time- scouting locations, planning some of the special effects, working on costumes, stuff like that. I think a website should go up around the time filming starts. AFAIK the writer/director wants to have a photo-blog of the set during production.
      Also, thanks for reminding me that I need to change my website URL in my profile, changed domain names a few weeks ago.

      --
      Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
    5. Re:More Realistic by MrSteveSD · · Score: 1

      Sure, you can do great effects, have a great script, even have some great locations. The problem with amateur films though, is that the actors are usually fat, spotty, ugly and can't act.

    6. Re:More Realistic by miyako · · Score: 1

      This is simply untrue. There are a great many actors who are not hollywood actors. Think about all the theatres in a large metro area, there are a lot of stage actors who can do this sort of thing. Sure, not everyone may be "hollywood beautiful", but I would much rather work with a classically trained stage actor who looks like a real person than an untalented anorexic primadona "star" anyway.

      --
      Famous Last Words: "hmm...wikipedia says it's edible"
  29. talking about budgets and quality by kwench · · Score: 1

    The movie is amazingly amazing! The quality is superbe. Not only do they have nice clothes and fancy computer stuff in the background, also the computer generated graphics are marvelous. (Except for the "alien" ships which seem to have a slightly worse 3D modell.)

    Now: why do the "professionals" need so much time and money for something like this? For example, the European re-take of "Dune" was just hillarious, the dunes for example - and there were a lot of dunes in Dune :) - didn't look real at all.

  30. Also rips on B5 a lot by loraksus · · Score: 1

    Bah, everyone is saying this is a star trek spoof - it also parodies B5 quite a bit too (and, IMHO, a bit better)
    If you haven't seen it, do. CGI is pretty damn good for a project with basically no budget.
    The subtitles are kind of bad, but in a funny kind of way.

    --
    1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcfv gbhnjmk,l.;/
  31. Re: Does this piss anyone else off? by Mathinker · · Score: 1

    You missed it. After years of research, it has been discovered that Star Trek was just a spoof of a "top Finnish movie".

    *ducks*

  32. Fire the Twinklers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Ensign:   Sir!  Klingons are approaching!
    Captain:  Fire the Twinklers!
    Ensign:   The... Twinklers?  Is it just me, or are these new weapons really gay?
    Captain:  Ensign!  Think progressively.  What do you think happens when we bust a Twinkler in their ass?
    Ensign:   They'll die laughing?
    Captain:  Exactly!  That's why they're so lethal.
    Ensign:   ...

  33. Babylon 5 spoof too? by slashdotmsiriv · · Score: 1

    I haven't STFM (Seen The Full Movie) but from the title, I guess it is not only Star trek's spoof but Babylon 5's too ( Babylon 5: The Gathering/In the Beginning).

  34. Understood 'to be' or not 'to be' by Narcogen · · Score: 1

    Even in formal English it is possible to have an 'understood' form of the verb 'to be' in a sentence. In journalism, while copy and desk editors are usually exhorted to have active verbs in headlines whenever possible, sometimes using a weak, passive verb such as a form of 'to be' is unavoidable, and in those circumstances, many simply opt to use an understood form of it. This is more common in narrow columns of newspaper text where headline space is at a premium, but obviously some people have just gotten used to writing heds this way and have carried those habits over to other media, or have gotten so used to seeing newspaper headlines written that way that they have chosen, consciously or subconsciously, to emulate it. Lighten up. It's entirely correct and quite a common practice.

    1. Re:Understood 'to be' or not 'to be' by Timothy+Chu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The reason a verb is necessary is that the word "Spoof" could be interpreted as the verb, making the headline sound like Star Trek is doing the spoofing.

    2. Re:Understood 'to be' or not 'to be' by Narcogen · · Score: 3, Informative

      Then it would need to be "spoofs", at least in American English, since "Star Trek" would be considered a collective singular noun. In British English, if the rule for referring to collective nouns as plural even when the word itself seems singular, such as in the names of sporting teams, applies in this case, then I suppose the line could be misconstrued as you mention.

    3. Re:Understood 'to be' or not 'to be' by Phroggy · · Score: 1

      "Top" can also be construed as a verb; random example.

      --
      $x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
      $x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
    4. Re:Understood 'to be' or not 'to be' by geoffspear · · Score: 2, Informative
      In British English

      I prefer the term "English English", to further distinguish it from any peculiar usages in Wales and Scotland.

      --
      Don't blame me; I'm never given mod points.
  35. maybe cow on warl... by poptones · · Score: 1

    terl us about "sprit infinitives" next grammah resson...

    No, it not piss off me.

  36. Re:GNAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'd be much more impressed with the alien technology if it could create earthquakes in new Orleans and hurricanes in Pakistan and Turkey, instead of the other way round!

  37. I've by Ricken · · Score: 1

    seen it, and apart from them speaking Finnish, it was actually good. Im amazed to see what a bunch of amateur students and some computer-skills can do, the effects are similar to hollywood 15 years ago.

  38. Previous top movie by emakinen · · Score: 3, Informative

    Before Star Wreck previous top movie was made 1955, and in 50 years it has gathered an audience of 2,8 million. The movie is called Unknown soldier (Tuntematon sotilas), and it is based on novel by Väinö Linna. Basically it's a story of a finnish army unit in second world war, and it's point is to tear down the myth of clean and heroic finnish soldier.

    About Star Wreck being the most popular: can you really compare a strictly finnish audience with a potentially global audience? Excluding Aki Kaurismäki's Man without past, this is one of the few finnish movies, that have ever got any international distribution.

    1. Re:Previous top movie by EvilNTUser · · Score: 1

      "Basically it's a story of a finnish army unit in second world war, and it's point is to tear down the myth of clean and heroic finnish soldier."

      I haven't seen the movie, but the book does have its fair share of heroes despite not being idealized.

      "About Star Wreck being the most popular: can you really compare a strictly finnish audience with a potentially global audience? Excluding Aki Kaurismäki's Man without past, this is one of the few finnish movies, that have ever got any international distribution."

      Yes, you can, because:
      a) Even if SW has an "unfair" advantage, that's still more people.
      b) The fact that Tuntematon sotilas wasn't interesting for foreigners means that SW actually deserves to be more popular.

      --
      My Sig: SEGV
    2. Re:Previous top movie by WWWWolf · · Score: 1
      I haven't seen the movie, but the book does have its fair share of heroes despite not being idealized.

      Ah, maybe the expression was a bit misleading. The point was, before the novel, the army always tried to paint a picture of shiny, upstanding soldiers who always were heroic and shiny and disciplined and well-behaving and all that. The book, and the movie, was a bit more realistic: Soldiers were just ordinary men, doing completely human things, not believing in orders for orders' sake or discipline in discipline's sake. Ordinary men who were called to the war and fought the best they could. Of course, this was completely against the shiny picture the army wanted to give, and completely against the tradition of giving shiny, heroic, patriotically inspiring picture of Finnish soldiers. So the army and the literature critics didn't like it much, but the people knew it was the truth.

  39. An objective assessment of this movie by ThufirHawat · · Score: 3, Informative

    As a non-Finn who speaks fluent Finnish and has an extensive knowledge of the Finnish movie world let me add a few things on this fan movie.
    The lead character is a sterotyped Finnish youth, i.e. loud, half-drunk, not very subtle nor very polite.
    The plot is not that clear, but the special FX are not too bad.
    Should you ever make the mistake to consider that this is a typical Finnish movie, please don't: go look for movies made by Aki Kaurismäki and see by yourself what a master Finnish director can produce.
    All in all this is neither brilliant nor dreadful. Nothing to write home about either.
    I recall a Star Wars spoof which was quite more successful at spoofing, but perhaps they got a "cease and desist" letter meanwhile...

    --
    Thufir Hawat
    Part-time Mentat
    1. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by taursir · · Score: 1

      I saw the trailer, and I swear I saw a ship with the label Mannerheim on it go by. Makes me wonder what other Finland in-jokes/humour might be in it. Perhaps the reason it is so popular in Finland is that it has some Finnish context? Guess I better watch it.

    2. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by richardablitt · · Score: 1

      It's quite useful reading through the translator's notes (http://www-fi3.starwreck.com/annotated_translatio n.pdf). Seems that quite a bit was lost in the subtitling.

    3. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1
      As a non-Finn who speaks fluent Finnish
      Why?
      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
    4. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by ThufirHawat · · Score: 1

      Because I don't use the subtitles and I am quite familiar with the Finnish culture.
      As to why I speak Finnish is a long story and probably it would not interest /. readers.

      Cheers,

      --
      Thufir Hawat
      Part-time Mentat
    5. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 1

      The lead character is a sterotyped Finnish youth, i.e. loud, half-drunk, not very subtle nor very polite.

      That's a sterotyped youth from anyplace. Finland does not have a monopoly on loud, half-drunk, obnoxious people.

    6. Re:An objective assessment of this movie by Bloke+down+the+pub · · Score: 1
      Well it interested me, or I wouldn't have asked.

      It's an incredibly difficult language. I used to know some Finns and one told me the reason so many Finns speak excellent English is that the effort to learn it pays off in the long run. I think he was only half joking - if my mother tongue had 19(?) cases I'd probably prefer to speak something else.

      --
      It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
  40. oh that was a fast torrent. by iocc · · Score: 1

    | 5 star_wreck_in_the_pirkinning_xvid.avi 541.3MiB 4.6MiB/s 45.2KiB/s |
    | (61.5%) ETA in 0:02:05 - 8 peers 72 seeds 1 dist copies - 4.6MiB up 333. |

    I like the DL/UL ratio on this :)
    46 Mbit/s....

  41. Re:GNAA by woolio · · Score: 1

    Well, Louisiana does have sesimic faults!!! (Baton Rouge for one, has at least one running through the city [and it is moving])

    And hurricanes do strike the eastern coast of India...so it seems plausible that Pakistan (on India's west coast) *could* get one....

    I'd be really be impressed to see alien technology for energy production...

  42. Similar spoof in friulian language by VDM · · Score: 1

    We had something similar last year, with a funny Star Trek spoof in friulian language (a minority language spoken in North-eastern Italy), with enemies speaking in the dialect of a nearby city): "Star Trek Chel Just" (something like Star Trek the Original). You can find information on it on the Furlanist blog (http://ilfurlanist.splinder.com./

  43. Re:GayNiggers from OuterSpace by gauge+boson · · Score: 1

    No. No it is not. The first and only time in /. history a GNAA reference was not off topic was here: Ask Slashdot: What's the Worst Movie You've Ever Seen?

    --
    This is sqrt(not) a sig.
  44. Re:GayNiggers from OuterSpace by peterpi · · Score: 1

    No. It's the second time ever. The first one was a few days ago.

  45. I am told ... by hummassa · · Score: 1

    that a lot of (USofAn-marketed) DVD sets have the capability to read AND transcode on the fly PAL DVDs to their NTSC (*) outputs.
    But I woudn't know by first hand, we use PAL down here.

    (*) = Never Twice the Same Color ?

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    1. Re:I am told ... by Kazzahdrane · · Score: 1

      Not Terribly Shitty, Chap, according to the Barenaked Ladies.

  46. I agree with the other guy ... by hummassa · · Score: 1

    Remember that "spoof" is used in verb form, too, and many people (me included) read
    subject(star trek) verb(spoof) object(top finn movie)
    instead of
    subject(star trek spoof) predicative(top finn movie)
    at first glance.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  47. Call me shallow but... by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    ...who's the babe in the leather gear? I can't find her mentioned
    anywhere on the site.

    1. Re:Call me shallow but... by Coeurderoy · · Score: 2, Funny

      I do agree totally, but of course I'm sure the reason her name does not appear is because I'm the only one who needs her name and phone number :-).
      (Now I wonder why I didn't get it yet, must be all that spam clogging down the Internet.)

        Cheers ;-)

    2. Re:Call me shallow but... by SenorCitizen · · Score: 1

      Not on the site, perhaps, but her name was in the movie credits. Tiina Routamaa.

  48. best thing is ... by schmu_20mol · · Score: 1

    .. it got a host of instant classics - fukov!!!!

    --
    "Nae Kin! Nae Quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!"
  49. Lousy movie by gaijin99 · · Score: 1

    I can't agree with you. I suffered through the whole thing, hoping that at some point it might become funny, or at least cleaver. Unfortunately the writing basically sucked.

    It was an impressive effort, the special effects were well done for home computers, the costumes weren't bad, and the acting was vastly better than it is in most fanmade films. But the script. Gads. It was just plain awful, and utterly unfunny.

    --
    "Mission Accomplished" -- George W. Bush May 1, 2003
  50. New copyright regime by hey! · · Score: 1

    Obviously you're not up to date on copyright practices.

    Old practice: Freedom of the press belongs to those who can afford one.

    New practice: Freedom of the press belongs to those who can afford lawyers.

    By the time an ordinary person has paid for a semi-competent lawyer to go through the motions of getting the case laughed out of court, it runs into life changing amounts of money for most folks. The worst case is if the other guy has a point to prove. Then you'll end up in court, and strategically speaking, you can't win. If you lose in court, you lose. If you win in court, you've spent more money and time on this than you want to. Either way you're an example.

    --
    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  51. Star Trek: New voyages is not a spoof by voss · · Score: 1

    In fact its probably the best Star Trek to come along in quite some time(despite some of the low budget special effects). Id put the two episodes above the first three seasons of enterprise and anything from Voyager(mind you thats not saying much)

  52. Loved it by Progman3K · · Score: 1

    Well worth the time.
    Got quite a few laughs from a tough critic I know.

    Also it is inspirational to see a small group with basically no budget or resources produce something so epic.

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  53. Re:Previous top movie - And still is! by CortoMaltese · · Score: 1
    About Star Wreck being the most popular: can you really compare a strictly finnish audience with a potentially global audience?

    Yes, you can, but can you really compare people who saw Unknown Soldier in movie theaters to the number of people who downloaded/bought Star Wreck? I've seen Unknown Soldier maybe 5 times. It's shown on TV almost every year, and it's probably the only war movie parents generally let even small kids watch. I don't know anybody who has seen Unknown Soldier in a theatre, because that was decades ago!

    So I don't think the comparison is fair, and I don't think Star Wreck is the most popular Finnish movie, at least not yet.

  54. Ummm.... no? by TubeSteak · · Score: 2, Informative
    Unless my math is screwy, you can't DL 541MB through a 5.6KB modem in under 24hrs

    5.6 KB/s * (60 sec / 1 min)
    336 KB/m * (60 min / 1 hr)
    20.160 MB/hour

    541.38 MB / 20.160 MB/hour = 26.8541666666 hours

    Close, but not quite 24 hrs.

    /I retain such esoteric knowledge from my 56Kb days

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Ummm.... no? by Carthag · · Score: 1

      Ah well that'll teach me to do math in my head just after I get up.

    2. Re:Ummm.... no? by 2008 · · Score: 1

      56k modem is 56 kilobit is 7 kilobyte/second, not 5.6

      22 hours was right.

      --
      I quit!
    3. Re:Ummm.... no? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      7k total, but when you account for the fact that 56k is over both phone channes and that your connection does need to talk back, that eats into one of the channels and drops your effective bandwidth. Not to meantion tcp overhead for each connection. 5.6kb - 6kb is a more likely estimate.

      But still not totally unrealistic if you download when you are at work and sleeping, it should only take about 3 days.

  55. Check their Webhost by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

    http://www.magenta.net/public/

    01.10.2005
    Magenta hosts one of the biggest online-movie distributions in the Internet history
    Read more

    08.10.2005
    Star Wreck goes over 1M downloads
    Read more

    21.11.2005
    Star Wreck takes the lead as the most watched finnish film of all time!
    Read more

    Today [21.11.2005] Magenta has distributed 2.948.462 copies of Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning globally. ... Magenta estimates that the total number of downloads is already past the 3.5 million mark (probably closer to 4.0 million). This estimate includes all the mirrored sites, bittorrent downloads and other means of distribution.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  56. You are Right. by hummassa · · Score: 1

    But notice that I mentioned "at first glance"... and that many /.ers (like me) are not native English-speakers (and we forget the third-person-"s" sometimes).

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
  57. I guess you could say... by stalky14 · · Score: 1

    It's funny from Star to Finnish!

    Zing!

    I'm here all week, etc... ...Sean.

  58. Helm by mikekinasz · · Score: 1

    I'm in love with the woman at the helm. All I can say is "DAMN!"

    1. Re:Helm by mikekinasz · · Score: 1

      Looks like her name is Tiina Routamaa. Would like to see her in more movies!!!!! http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9 MTEzNzYmbnI9OQ_3_3,00.html

  59. Trailer Direct link by Compile+'em+all · · Score: 1

    Here is a direct link to the trailer http://www-us.starwreck.com/trailer.php

  60. i watched the trailer by circletimessquare · · Score: 2, Informative

    all i can say is i didn't know i would be learning the finnish word for "fragfest" today, but there you go

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  61. Two dots in English by Simonetta · · Score: 1

    Two dots over a vowel in English is called a dyersis. It is never seen except in The New Yorker magazine, and less commonly, over the word naïve.
        It is used when two seperate vowel sounds are associated with the same letter.

    1. Re:Two dots in English by fbjon · · Score: 1

      Yes, but I meant that English-speakers are probably more familiar with the word 'umlaut' than 'dieraesis', at least from what I've read previously in these discussions. Thus there's three different meanings to two dots like that: dieresis, umlaut, and no meaning but part of a letter.

      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
    2. Re:Two dots in English by Pope · · Score: 1

      I went to high school in Massachusetts, and a LOT of the text books, history mainly, used the 'umlaut' in words like cooperation. I've never seen that usage anywhere else in English-language text books; it was very strange! Did the writers think that US readers wouldn't know how to pronounce it?!

      --
      It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
    3. Re:Two dots in English by Simonetta · · Score: 1

      The first syllable is pronounced like 'coop'- as in chicken coop or Harvard Coop. But not like coup-d'etat, which generally has the French pronounciation.
          I grew up in Mass -sneeze - setts also but I've never seen the duo dots except in the New Yorker. Maybe we should make a list: cooperate, reenter, naive, uh ... out of ideas.

  62. Right. by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 1

    That is the way some of the corporations work (especially Mattel). But there are exceptions, if you can get help. Look at Paul David, he got the ACLU to help and Mattel paid over $1M in legal fees to the ACLU. There is also the EFF. http://www.taubmansucks.com chronicals something similar.

    Mattel tried to shut me up, but I fought and they lost.

  63. this flick is way cool by chivo243 · · Score: 1

    I'm going to date myself here, but I used to watch Star Trek-yes Kirk, first run on TV(I was pre-school then), and have watched every series of ST since.... I am a big fan, but Star Wreck is really f@#k9n& funny, I loved it. I have a degress in film as well, didn't do squat with it, but I "know" how much work really went into making a film such as this. Nicely done.

    --
    Sig Hansen?
  64. I watched it a couple of minutes ago by coastwalker · · Score: 1

    Im very impressed, its a cracking movie, just watched it. Enjoyed it more than the last episode of the Matrix that I had missed and just got around to seeing on a supermarket remaindered DVD. Good acting if you bear in mind that these are Finnish people and not Italians doing the acting. Great makeup, lighting, sets
    special effects, camera work, sound, music. This is a polished piece of work and funny to boot.

    The thing that keeps it fresh all the way through is that its stuffed full of references of all different kinds.

    amongst many

    Heating the ground with twinklers to keep warm - somebody is going to tell me which original episode of Star Treck had this.

    Never on a Thursday - is all the action only supposed to happen on Friday and Saturday night in Finland?.

    Endless mindnumbingly dull speeches - Babylon 5

    fukov - most nordic people speak english

    Vodka sinking Soviet presidents, Viking spirit and vodka. Vodka and vodka. Vodka.

    Check out the product placement with fake products, bone achingly funny.

    And for my money the space battles looked more like I think they should look than anything Hollywood has come up with. I could spend a good few hours watching each clip repeatedly and working out the storyboard for each one, killer.

    Great world movie too, figure out which character relationship bits are traditional american roleplay and which bits are Finnish and which universal.

    Works on tons of levels, great entertainment, im putting it in everybodys christmas stocking when I visit my folks and giving everyone I know in Plymouth a copy asap.

    Its in my collection of favorite unique classics already.

    --
    Facts are history now plebs have politics for religion on social media.