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Star Trek XI - What We Know

Jean Lucy writes "TwitchGuru has an article outlining in detail what is known about Star Trek XI. The film is in the early stages of production, led by J.J. Abrams (creator of Lost), and the movie will most likely be a prequel featuring Kirk and Spock in their younger years. No word of Matt Damon to play Kirk, though..." From the article: "As reported in early September, even former Star Trek actors are saying that CBS has kicked Rick Berman off the Trek bandwagon. This helps to allay the fears of those who say that 'they' will screw up this movie as 'they' have been doing for the past several years. As Anthony Pascale put it to me, however, 'There is no they any more. Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone. There's now a totally different production team running Star Trek. This is what people have been asking for now for years.'"

341 comments

  1. What's known? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "TwitchGuru has an article outlining in detail"

    It will, like the last 3-5 movies, suck.

    1. Re:What's known? by Nos. · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I could live with it if you said 3-4, but 3-5? The fifth last movie is The Undiscovered Country, usually considered the second best move (after The Wrath of Khan). Though it had one major error (the equipment for cataloging gasious anomalies was on Excelsior, not on the Enterprise) it was still a great movie with a wonderful storyline.

    2. Re:What's known? by rkcallaghan · · Score: 1
      Nos wrote:
      The fifth last movie is The Undiscovered Country,
      Actually, the fifth movie sucks donkey. You are right however that The Undiscovered Country was pretty good, but its the sixth.

      Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
      Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

      Cheers!
      ~Rebecca
    3. Re:What's known? by Rob+Kaper · · Score: 1

      He said fifth last, not fifth.

    4. Re:What's known? by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      She's probably still in denial over Nemesis. It's the first Star Trek film I've ever considered walking out of the cinema in the middle of; if I hadn't been there with friends I would have done.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    5. Re:What's known? by camperdave · · Score: 1

      Although it was bad, it brought to light the second rule of Star Trek movies (the first being even==good, odd==bad), that being: every fifth movie sucks.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:What's known? by rkcallaghan · · Score: 1

      I'm not really sure what "Nemesis Denial" has to do with any confusion around "fifth last". It's a confusing method of describing a series of movies; I just misread the GP as talking about movies 3-5 which is only one off from using you know, their actual titles.

      ~Rebecca

    7. Re:What's known? by Sillygates · · Score: 1

      kirk@enterprise# touch -f CommunicationsOfficer

      --
      I fear the Y2038 bug
    8. Re:What's known? by Ucklak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, they all pretty much suck.
      ST:TWOK(2) is good entertainment.
      ST:TUC(6) is decent entertainment on par with ST:TSFS(3) and ST:TVH(4).

      What I mean by "they all suck" is that they don't hold up well today. Watching them is like watching Logans Run, severely dated and off.

      The only one that stands out as a decent timeless piece of science fiction is ST:TMP(1).
      ST:TMP holds up as well today as it did then; slow, kind of boring, pretty to look at and listen to.
      It is not nearly as dated as the rest of them and has a better vision of technology in the future.

      One of the worst offenders of displaying future tech was ST:G(7). That movie is as dated as any Twilight Zone/Night Gallery episode that dealt with future technology.
      Why the hell do camera crews have huge cameras on their heads when a starship can view, while in orbit, people on a planet at a comfortable distance?

      The worst one was ST:TFF(5) followed by ST:N(10),ST:G(7),ST:I(9) as far as being unwatchable.
      The only watchable Next Gen crew movie was ST:FC(8).

      Alien holds up extremely well today. The only dated piece is the `mother` computer room but maybe by then, Linux will really have a foothold and command line interfaces will be commonplace.
      Planet of the Apes (1968) is another timeless piece of Sci Fi.
      Star Trek:The Motion Picture is probably the best Star Trek movie in terms of what Star Trek is about.

      --
      if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
    9. Re:What's known? by Trogre · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Really? I'm curious, what didn't you like about it?

      I actually liked it a lot more than IX - Insurrection and V - The Final Frontier.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    10. Re:What's known? by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      Down Syndrome Data, nuff said.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    11. Re:What's known? by Kenshin · · Score: 1

      Insurrection was horrible.

      I knew so when they started talking about their breasts.

      --

      Does it make you happy you're so strange?

    12. Re:What's known? by Blackhalo · · Score: 1

      You are too damn young. Five, Sroking Kirk's Dick, the Shatner directed desecration of Trek where Kirk confronts God and wins, is the walk-out movie of choice.

      --
      "There is nothing to do it. But to do it." -Floyd Pepper
    13. Re:What's known? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      I noticed that too. But TNG movies ruined that.

      And if that holds now, then Star Trek XI is already of too a bad start

    14. Re:What's known? by Trogre · · Score: 1

      Hehe point taken :)

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    15. Re:What's known? by dpilot · · Score: 1

      It's pretty bad that you've got all the movies properly numbered abbreviated into initials.

      It's much worse that I know what you're talking about.

      I'll throw in a vote for Forbidden Planet. The theme was great, even if much of the tech looks silly now.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    16. Re:What's known? by 14CharUsername · · Score: 1

      Star Trek:The Motion Picture was the best Sci Fi movie of the bunch, but not the best Star Trek movie. Star Trek != Sci Fi. Star Trek is a mix of Sci Fi, a little fantasy and some comedy. ST:TMP was scifi, but it just wasn't really all that fun and therefore not very good as a Star Trek movie. There has to be a balance between the SciFi elements, the dramatic elements and the comedic elements. Star Trek:The Motion Picture lacked this balance so isn't as well liked as Star Trek 2, 4, 6 and 8.

    17. Re:What's known? by Ucklak · · Score: 1

      I thought about mentioning Forbidden Planet but I figured that some might be offended that the technology was based on 50s technology being able to do anything.
      Huge transformers, jacobs ladders everywhere, huge rooms with dials everywhere (which incidently are reused for the Twilight Zone `future` episodes).

      I forgot to mention that Futureworld was a horrible display of science fiction. Westworld was much better, both as a movie and conveying technology.

      --
      if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
    18. Re:What's known? by CodeArtisan · · Score: 1

      You are too damn young. Five, Sroking Kirk's Dick, the Shatner directed desecration of Trek where Kirk confronts God and wins, is the walk-out movie of choice.

      And you, sir, are too damned old. The entire point of the movie was that the being in question was not God. It was a force, trapped on a planet, needing a starship to help it escape.

      The movie did really blow chunks though.

    19. Re:What's known? by CopaceticOpus · · Score: 1

      Wow, you sure know your Trek.

      I'm gonna have to disagree with you on ST:TMP(1). I find it agonizingly slow, and this is coming from someone who enjoys 2001:ASO. I think ST:TMP is a perfect example of a movie which does not hold up, because it's so enamored with its special effects that it shows them for far too long, and now they're not anything special. I do like the concept of the movie and I think the story has a certain timeless quality to it, but the execution negates it.

    20. Re:What's known? by Mad+Marlin · · Score: 1

      It is called "space opera". Like Buck Rogers.

  2. Harsh by frosty_tsm · · Score: 5, Funny

    to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone

    Poor guy...

    1. Re:Harsh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you hadn't downloaded movies and music on the internet, he and the set painter guy still would have their jobs.

    2. Re:Harsh by edwardpickman · · Score: 3, Funny
      to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone

      Poor guy...

      Don't feel too bad for him he's head of programing now.

    3. Re:Harsh by g1zmo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Must have been all that piracy.

      --
      I have found there are just two ways to go.
      It all comes down to livin' fast or dyin' slow.
      -REK, Jr.
    4. Re:Harsh by TrappedByMyself · · Score: 1

      Poor guy...

      Yeah, first they cut Wil's scene, and now this.
      What a shame.

      --

      Help me take back Slashdot. When did 'News for Nerds' become 'FUD and Conspiracy Theories for Extremist Nutjobs'?
    5. Re:Harsh by eclectro · · Score: 1

      Poor guy...

      He probably was the one responsible for killing Data. Berman probably didn't know how to end the movie, so he asked the janitor and he said "kill the android." I say let him hang.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    6. Re:Harsh by Gospodin · · Score: 1

      ...at Slashdot?

      --
      ...following the principles of Heisenburger's Uncertain Cat...
    7. Re:Harsh by hardaker · · Score: 1

      You'd think he should have been smart enough not to show up to work in a red shirt.

      --
      The next site to slashdot will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and start slashdotting it early!
    8. Re:Harsh by Starfleet+Command · · Score: 1

      No...they killed off Data because the actor, Brent Spiner, felt he was getting to old to play an android that did not age.

    9. Re:Harsh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always loved that argument, cause I GUARANTEE that they're union, and always get paid.

    10. Re:Harsh by Tablizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If you hadn't downloaded movies and music on the internet, he and the set painter guy still would have their jobs.

      No, it is because he wore that red shirt.

    11. Re:Harsh by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I always loved that argument, cause I GUARANTEE that they're union, and always get paid.

      Less total money in the movie biz is going to sock it to *somebody*. It may not be a particular actor, but it could be somebody(s) else who would have joined the union, for example, if there was enough to go around.

      If they only let Hitler into art school :-)

    12. Re:Harsh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That "poor guy" who sweeps the floors is, I will have you know, the principle and proximate cause of the massive failure of all Trek Movies since ST: II The Wrath Of Khan. So be careful with your sympathies, lest ye forgive one not worth the dust he (poorly) sweeps away, allthewhile grinning with evil intent.

    13. Re:Harsh by novus+ordo · · Score: 1

      Well, not the painter. Apparently he was "painting" with the secretary.

      --
      "You're everywhere. You're omnivorous."
    14. Re:Harsh by Yfrwlf · · Score: 1

      Yes, since of course at the time, everyone was recording the daily shown and broadcast to everyone in every city of the US Star Trek episodes off their local TV station and then SHARING it with others! *gasp* Over dial-up! Evilllll!

      --
      Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    15. Re:Harsh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, I was referring to the painter guy, the actors and directors get jacked around all the time, but there would be hell(real unions) to pay.

  3. CBS? by iambarry · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I thought Star Trek was owned by Paramount...where does CBS come in?

    1. Re:CBS? by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Insightful
      CBS and Paramount are tied up in the same megacorp.

      You do realize that only half a dozen distinct corporations control 99% of the entertainment industry, don't you?

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    2. Re:CBS? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Here's the story- if you can follow it

      Basically, CBS created Paramount, which split off back in the 1970s, which was eventually aquired by Viacomm, which got swallowed back up by CBS.

      Since corporate splits and mergers rarely make sense to me- go read the wikipedia article instead.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    3. Re:CBS? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      Viacom owns Paramount. CBS owned Viacom. Viacom and CBS split, each taking part of the pie. Don't ask me to detangle it any further. My head already hurts trying to figure out who owns who.

    4. Re:CBS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're saying we shouldn't discuss, for example, CBS/FOX Video, which released films made by CBS, 20th Century Fox, MGM, UA, BBC...

    5. Re:CBS? by Ponga · · Score: 1
    6. Re:CBS? by AKAImBatman · · Score: 1

      Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...

      Cruel bastard. :P

    7. Re:CBS? by lostboy2 · · Score: 1

      CBS created Paramount, which split off back in the 1970s, which was eventually aquired by Viacomm, which got swallowed back up by CBS.

      Wait, wasn't that a Star Trek episode where the giant space amoeba ... oh never mind.

    8. Re:CBS? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 1

      I never noticed it before, but the new logo is the Eye of Sauron sat on Barad-dûr.

      "The new name brings together two of the most iconic symbols in entertainment -- the CBS Eye, one of the most recognized logos in the world, and the Paramount mountain,"


      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    9. Re:CBS? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ok, this confirms it:

      Separated at Birth!

      --
      liqbase :: faster than paper
    10. Re:CBS? by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

      Not quite accurate, according to the Wikipedia article:

      There was CBS, it created Viacom to syndicate old tv shows. Westinghouse bought CBS, renamed to CBS Corporation, Viacom bought CBS Corporation. Viacom didn't like the new structure so split into two groups, one named CBS Corporation and . . . Viacom.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    11. Re:CBS? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      CBS and Paramount are tied up in the same megacorp. You do realize that only half a dozen distinct corporations control 99% of the entertainment industry, don't you?

      Actually, It's only ten.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re:CBS? by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, all-seeing demonic eye watches you!

    13. Re:CBS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I, for one, welcome our ... shit, they're already in charge. Damn it.

    14. Re:CBS? by notNeilCasey · · Score: 1

      For an overview, watch Robert Smigel's truly amazing 'Conspiracy Theory Rock', a very funny cartoon on this very topic which was shown once on Saturday Night Live and censored from subsequent reruns by NBC, because apparently media companies get a kick out of proving their critics right.

      Windows Media
      Quicktime

      Kindly hosted by the fine folks at crooksandliars.com

    15. Re:CBS? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, all-seeing demonic eye watches you!

      Soviet Russia, being an atheistic state, cannot logically believe in the existence of demons, since they are supernatural entities and atheism means denial that such entities exist. Therefore, the correct form is:

      In Soviet Russia, all-seeing eye watches you!

      And, seeing what other article was in the front page, I'd say that:

      In Corporate America, the Ear is upon you!

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    16. Re:CBS? by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

      You know, "demonic" can just mean fiendish, cruel, evil, etc. It doesn't tag along with an entire belief system (or lack thereof).

    17. Re:CBS? by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is why I am so glad that we in the UK have at least one major media outlet that doesn't always have to think of the bottom line - the BBC.

  4. New Trek Comics by tverbeek · · Score: 2, Informative

    For those who can't wait until this movie comes out (or who may not want to think about it), there's an alternative in the meantime: upstart comics publisher IDW has announced that they'll be launching a new ST:TNG comics series in January (loosely tied to the series' 20th anniversary next year), with TOS and perhaps other Trek titles coming later. More details here.

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:New Trek Comics by chanio · · Score: 1

      Do not loose hope!

      There is still:

      Stone Trek

      (fun)

      --
      Rwe obliged 2 save our future by choosing:O3 hole-greenhouse effect instead of accepting everydays gossip-nonsense chat?
    2. Re:New Trek Comics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do not loose hope!
      You're right. We should tighten our grip on hope.

    3. Re:New Trek Comics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For those who can't wait until this movie comes out (or who may not want to think about it), there's an alternative in the meantime: upstart comics publisher IDW has announced that they'll be launching a new ST:TNG comics series in January (loosely tied to the series' 20th anniversary next year), with TOS and perhaps other Trek titles coming later.

      There's also a Star Trek manga based on TOS already out in bookstores. And it has giant robots.

  5. Everyone gone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone.

    They fired Steve? Bastards!

    1. Re:Everyone gone? by Tackhead · · Score: 1
      > Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone.
      >
      >They fired Steve? Bastards!

      But also in TFA:

      "...the movie will most likely be a prequel featuring Kirk and Spock in their younger years"

      So sure, they fired Berman from his janitorial duties, but because there a slash-fic author managed to sneak into the focus group, so they hired that Foley creep in his place.

      "There's clingons on the aft nacelle, scrape 'em off, Rick!"

  6. I don't care about young Kirk! by avalys · · Score: 3, Informative

    Just because they've replaced the production team doesn't mean it'll be any better. And if their best idea is to churn out a freaking prequel, I'm betting these people will be no better than who they're replacing.

    --
    This space intentionally left blank.
    1. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      I quite like the idea of an Earth-Romulan War film / series. Unfortunately, you're now going to need a lot of retconning to go from the 'war fought with primitive nuclear weapons' in ST:TNG to all the much more modern weapons in Enterprise (not to mention the fact that in Enterprise they encountered the Romulans for the 'first' time, and they were flying in TOS-era ships. Actually, probably better to just pretend Enterprise never happened; I think most of the fans have.

      The real problem with prequels is trying to squeeze existing characters into them (yes George Lucas, I'm looking at you). A prequel to Star Wars with Luke in it would be very dull (he was just a farm-boy, after all), or it would destroy continuity. A prequel to Star Trek that had both Kirk and Spock in it would just leave the fans wincing.

      Prequels themselves are not a bad idea, but they are difficult to execute. There is a lot of Star Trek continuity you are constantly running into. The first episode of Enterprise had me wincing as they seemed to be trying to cram as many continuity errors into 40 minutes as possible. Sequels are generally easier, although it would be difficult to follow the Voyager finale where Janeway single-handedly defeated the Borg using a shuttle from a couple of decades in the future (are the Federation really only 20 years behind the Borg in terms of tech?). I might be tempted to take the series in a completely different direction; make a show about a group of Vulcan and Romulan terrorists/freedom fighters on Romulus pushing a reunificationist agenda, for example. Have the occasional interaction with the Federation (possibly some weapons being smuggled to them by Star Fleet Intelligence, and the moral issues involved with supporting 'terrorists'), but keep it mainly focussed on the Romulan Star Empire.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by DragonWriter · · Score: 1

      The prequel seems similar to the Academy movie that was one of the original ideas for a Star Trek movie (IIRC, fully developed into a script before the idea of bringing back the original cast and doing what became ST:TMP came up), and seems to be the most frequently batted around but never-gets-done idea in Trek.

      My prediction: It will suck, hard, particularly with no one previously involved in Trek involved. A prequel works, if it all, by carefully balancing new insights with fidelity to the original characters, and its going to be really hard to do that without any continuity in either the cast or the creative team.

      I think they'd be better to do a trek-universe film with an entirely new set of characters, either in a previously unused point on the timeline or overlapping one of the previous series or movies, and give themselves something new to build on without the risk of either doing caricatures of previous characters, or unrecognizable characters with old characters names.

    3. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1
      are the Federation really only 20 years behind the Borg in terms of tech?

      The Borg has always disappointed me for just this reason. They've been wandering the cosmos for ages scooping up races. They should have technology that makes ours utterly pointless. But I guess it's okay given that Star Trek is fantasy, not Science-Fiction :P

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by rainman_bc · · Score: 1

      Just because they've replaced the production team doesn't mean it'll be any better. And if their best idea is to churn out a freaking prequel,

      No kidding. I'd much rather see a movie that took place in the future with Riker as Captain of the Enterprise with that uber-awesome cannon on top where the federation was in chaos. Kickass space battles, the universe at war, lots of death and phasers and really cool stuff...

      None of this prequel crap. it sucked with Star Wars. It sucked with Enterprise, and it'll probably suck with this movie too, because ultimately we know the ending.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    5. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What to do, what to do? A young Kirk and Spock, I really don't think that considering Spocks age they would have been contemporaries at the Academy?

      The movie franchise would really have to go in a different direction to be successful. Enterprise tried, but blew the continuity. TOS had plenty of fodder for follow ups besides Khan. Those should really be explored. The big success of TOS was that it dealt with contemporary problems of the 1960s in a science fiction context. In many cases it was subtle enough that people didn't really notice at first. Some of it was right in your face (the half-white, half-black guys). Any new movie or series attempt needs to look at what is going in the world and work on that. Think the widening class divide in the U.S., war and terrorism (explored somewhat in TNG and DS9), political polarization, religious fundementalism, secularism and so on.

      They had a real chance with Enterprise and blew it and never gave a chance for "The adventures of Capt. Sulu" which could have been a great series. Like the Doctor Who hiatus, we need a break from Trek for a few more years for it to really be relevant again.

    6. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Chris+Daniel · · Score: 1
      A prequel to Star Trek that had both Kirk and Spock in it would just leave the fans wincing.
      I'm sure that Kirk and Spock did other things in their lives before becoming, respectively, captain of the Enterprise and science officer. What about a prequel which didn't necessarily involve interaction between the two, but instead focused on their individual stories separately, and on any effects they may have had toward the same ends? "Oh wow, I wish they knew each other ... oh wait, they will!"
      --
      Don't blame me -- I voted for Roslin.
    7. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Kjella · · Score: 1

      Sequels are generally easier, although it would be difficult to follow the Voyager finale where Janeway single-handedly defeated the Borg using a shuttle from a couple of decades in the future (are the Federation really only 20 years behind the Borg in terms of tech?).

      Q: If an indian armed with bow and arrow met a white man with a rifle, how long until they were on comparable levels of tech?
      A: About the time it takes to shoot with the bow and arrow and take his rifle.

      A few decades can be next to forever when you're in a war. If they managed to research and adapt Borg technology in that time, I could easily believe a Federation ship could take on the Borg from 20 years ago. Think for example a modern warship compared to not so long ago. You wouldn't even get close enough to fire, and if you did there'd be counterfire to make sure the missiles/torpedos/whatever never reached them. You could send an almost endless stream of old ships but they'd never get anywhere. With sci-fi shields it's even easier - if you can't penetrate their shields, well then you're screwed.

      Besides, Star Trek is hardly the worst case of techno-inflation. In 10 seasons Stargate SG-1 has gone from essentially current-day tech to weapons that could destroy a galaxy or three, and since it's one big series I assume that means it's supposed to have happened over 10 years(!).

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    8. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Schemat1c · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Think for example a modern warship compared to not so long ago. You wouldn't even get close enough to fire, and if you did there'd be counterfire to make sure the missiles/torpedos/whatever never reached them. You could send an almost endless stream of old ships but they'd never get anywhere.

      What a short memory you have.

      USS Cole bombing

      --

      "Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown
    9. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by memfrob · · Score: 4, Funny
      I might be tempted to take the series in a completely different direction; make a show about a group of Vulcan and Romulan terrorists/freedom fighters on Romulus pushing a reunificationist agenda, for example.

      Or... or... an entire series about the Mirror Universe! Fu-manchus and gold bikinis all around! They could even recast the same actors, use half of the same plots, and rebuild all of the old sets... just EVIL!

      You could even have it written and directed by the Mirror Universe Rick Berman, who makes thoughtful, entertaining, and understated cinematic art.

      --
      The Wizard utters the word 'frobnoid!' and cackles gleefully
    10. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by japhmi · · Score: 1

      Besides, Star Trek is hardly the worst case of techno-inflation. In 10 seasons Stargate SG-1 has gone from essentially current-day tech to weapons that could destroy a galaxy or three, and since it's one big series I assume that means it's supposed to have happened over 10 years(!).
      At least SG-1 argues that they gained this technology via interactions with aliens. Star Trek usually makes it something humans or another race with similar technology gaining huge jumps in short times.

      --
      "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys" P. J. O'Rourke
    11. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      The point is that humans are supposedly inventive enough to create new weapons, sometimes faster than the Borg can adapt.

      What's always been disappointing for me is how the Borg are slow, stupid, and robotic. Yes, it's creepy, but the Strogg managed to be creepy, while still being realistically mobile and actually scary. The Flood are creepy, scary, and actually more mobile than the Chief, who's arguably much more mobile than Picard. The Strogg are also perhaps more realistic -- good, old-fashioned bullet wounds are going to hurt flesh, reanimated corpse or not. I guess the Borg just have personal shields now, to make that impossible?

      But seriously, unless I've missed something important, any idiot should be able to outrun the Borg on foot. Why are they scary, again?

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    12. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1
      A prequel to Star Trek that had both Kirk and Spock in it would just leave the fans wincing.

      Right. Who wants to bet they'll forget The Menagerie and the fact that Spock served under Captain Christopher Pike before he served under Kirk?

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    13. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by werewolf1031 · · Score: 1
      Star Trek usually makes it something humans or another race with similar technology gaining huge jumps in short times.
      As if that doesn't happen in real life? Have you been paying attention at all in the past decade? Nevermind advances in genetics, astronomic understanding, and physics over the past decade, as well as the jet engine revolution in aircraft in the late 40s/early 50s, the 60s jump in space travel, the sudden dominance of armed helicopters on the battlefield in the late 60s, ad infinitum. These things happen all the frickin' time. If anything, technological progress as depicted in the "Star Trek" universe is too damned slow.
    14. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by novus+ordo · · Score: 1

      Prequel:
      Pronunciation: 'prE-kw&l
      Function: noun
      Etymology: pre- + -quel (as in sequel)
      : We have run out of ideas and so are attaching a parasite on the other side of the successful ideas to seem more refreshing.

      --
      "You're everywhere. You're omnivorous."
    15. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Rogerborg · · Score: 1
      >USS Cole bombing

      That was their own fault for lowering their shields and powering down the warp engines.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    16. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by Steve001 · · Score: 1

      SanityInAnarchy wrote as part of a post:

      But seriously, unless I've missed something important, any idiot should be able to outrun the Borg on foot. Why are they scary, again?

      One thing I've noticed about The Borg is that they can withstand and adapt to all sorts of energy weapons, but an old-fashioned physical attack (club, breaking their neck ala Data) always works. They never seem to adapt to that kind of attack.

      Note to the next starfleet captain to encounter The Borg: Issue your crew baseball bats.

    17. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by tehcyder · · Score: 1
      Prequels themselves are not a bad idea
      Apart from Wide Sargasso Sea I can't think of any decent prequels, so I would say that they pretty much are a bad idea in themselves.
      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    18. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by cozziewozzie · · Score: 1

      I like the idea about a Romulan-based series/movie, as I do love Romulans the best, but after seeing the mess they made of "Nemesis", I'm not sure I'd like to see it. :(

    19. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by CaptDeuce · · Score: 1

      Neither do I.

      As for young female cadets in mini skirts...

      --
      "Where's my other sock?" - A. Einstein
    20. Re:I don't care about young Kirk! by rtechie · · Score: 1

      A few decades can be next to forever when you're in a war. If they managed to research and adapt Borg technology in that time, I could easily believe a Federation ship could take on the Borg from 20 years ago.

      This would assume technology progression in Star Trek makes any sense. It doesn't. Why does Earth come to quickly dominate TECHNOLOGICALLY many races that have been spacefaring for literally centuries (Vulcans, Romulans, Klingons, Dominion, etc.) The series make clear that most significant technological innovation in the Alpha Quadrant comes from Earth. In Star Trek it is clear that humans are somehow fundamentally smarter and more "evolved" than other races, and that that they will eventually absorb or restrain any adversary. If you think about it, all the various enimies of humanity (Romulans, Klingons, Dominion, etc.) seem much more benign in this light.

  7. Re:interesting by Yonder+Way · · Score: 1, Insightful

    "for as long as i can remember everytime I trip on shrooms I get bombarbed with homosexual thoughts. Do any of you guys get this as well? I'm straight (or at least I think I am), and for the first few times I was devastated and confused because I thought I was a closet homo somehow unknown to me. I think now I realize that I was either acting out an insecurity when I was tripping, or it was one of those modes where you just become some foreign entity. I've also "morphed" into a girl before, seen things thr"

    That's what you get for leaving your screen unlocked.

  8. I don't know if a complete replacement is good... by Faizdog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't know if I like the idea of a complete replacement of the behind the scenes Trek crew. Sure I'm glad that B&B are gone, but what about folks like Mike Okuda? The man behind the TNG techincal manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia? Who is reported to have the entire continuity in his head?

    I think that replacing the problem people is a good idea, but replacing some of the other key old hands who know Trek inside and out? This along with the report on NPR this morning that A TON of old Star Trek memrobelia, props, costumes, ship models, etc are being auctioned, has me worried.

    Sure Trek was really going downhill fast since Voyager, but fix the problem, don't just toss it all away. We still want our Trek, not something new.

    --
    -"Those who fought today will die tommorow."-
  9. Everyone? by exley · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone.


    I don't know if this is exactly what people have been clamoring for. Quite a few people, yeah, they needed to go to get some fresh blood in there. But to mix in some new people and still have have some people around who have a history with Trek and who understand what the franchise is about wouldn't be so bad. Hopefully.


    I guess it could go either way, though. You could bring in all new people who also have an understanding as to what it's all about and have them really rejuvenate things. Or they could get people like that guy who directed Nemesis (Stuart Baird) who was so clueless about the franchise that he thought Geordi was an alien for awhile.

    1. Re:Everyone? by nine-times · · Score: 5, Funny

      Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone.

      I don't know if this is exactly what people have been clamoring for.

      I was. I hated the guy who swept the floor.

    2. Re:Everyone? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      The people that did the design, effects & post work were doing a good job. The problem is the directors, producers, executive producers and the network nitwit meddlers weren't doing a good job. Anyone that did the writing needs to be able to write something better than a fanfic.

    3. Re:Everyone? by aztracker1 · · Score: 1

      It's going to be a "re-imagined" series.. Kirk will be played by Anthony Michael Hall, and Spock will be played by Andie MacDowell... that's right, a CHICK!

      Okay, jokes aside, in any case, I guess it's more of a wait and see thing at this point.

      And to those who are gonna slam me re: the BSG ref, I like the new series.

      --
      Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
    4. Re:Everyone? by wild_berry · · Score: 1

      With a nod to Ricky Gervais' Extras Series 2: "Management interference -- are they havin' a laugh?"

    5. Re:Everyone? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      It wasn't much of a job, really. I just swept the dirt into the plot holes.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    6. Re:Everyone? by NormalVisual · · Score: 1

      Spock will be played by Andie MacDowell

      I am *so* there.

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    7. Re:Everyone? by henry7 · · Score: 1

      I wonder if Majel Barrett is still in?

    8. Re:Everyone? by SamSim · · Score: 2, Funny

      See, in TOS you had the brushed kind of metal/plastic grey floors that were so classic in the sixties. You couldn't see dirt or footprints in that, you waxed it - it was shiny, it was a little camp, a little primitive by today's standards, but you kind of look past that, you see the show for what it really is at the core: a clean, shiny floor.

      TNG took a while to find its own direction, but I think carpets were a good logical development on the theme. You brought in new technology - vacuum cleaners, carpet brushes - but they did stay true to the theme - exploring and developing new ways of keeping the floor clean in a universe essentially full of darkness and dirt.

      DS9 was a bit different - most of the time it was so dark you couldn't even see the floor, it could have been covered in dirt for all you knew. But this was new, it was interesting. It wasn't something Trek had done before. They brought in religious themes, it was a fresh idea. What if neatly swept floors took a back seat? What if you let the Federation get their hands and their floorings a little bit dirtier?

      But Voyager... Voyager tried to take the TNG angle, which was already tired, and they just shoved perfectly, ridiculously clean carpetry into a quadrant of the galaxy where they should barely have had access to soap, let alone the carpet shampooing requirements that a typical Federation starship needs. It was implausible. They were exceeding the general cleanliness of a fully-tooled-up Federation, on their own, half a galaxy from home. As for ENT - did you see all that shimmery metal, and no sweeping in sight? Not even a Borg-created alternate timeline could account for that kind of discontinuity.

      So, yes. The standard of sweeping in Trek has been steadily decreasing for the best part of a decade right now. It's time for a change. I'm thinking... rugs?

    9. Re:Everyone? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      It's going to be a "re-imagined" series.. Kirk will be played by Anthony Michael Hall, and Spock will be played by Andie MacDowell... that's right, a CHICK!

      But will this increase or decrease the number of pornographic fan fiction stories featuring the two ?-)

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  10. Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cause odd/even principle will show that this movie will be terrible anyway so lets just get it over with.

    1. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Goalie_Ca · · Score: 1

      Nemesis broke it! :( We're fucking owed. 2 bad ones in a row!

      --

      ----
      Go canucks, habs, and sens!
    2. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by camperdave · · Score: 1

      No. The second law of Star Trek movies is: Every fifth one sucks.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    3. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by sharkey · · Score: 1

      Star Trek XII: So Very Tired

      The ship... is drafty and damp. I'd... complain but... nobody listens.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    4. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by bteeter · · Score: 1

      I stopped watching Star Trek about the end of STTNG and the 3rd or so season of DS9.

      I caught a couple episodes of Voyager years ago I don't think I watched to the end. DS9 was alright, but never held my interest. I never made it through an Enterprise episode either...

      Did I miss anything worth seeing? I'd like to like Star Trek again but I didn't see much to like past STTNG...

      Take care,

      Brian
      --
      SiteChanged.com: Web Site Tracking

    5. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Judeccan · · Score: 1

      DS9 actually got a lot better after those first three or four seasons. A lot of the Dominion War stuff was pretty excellent, as was the ending. If you have a TiVO there's no reason not to record some episodes in syndication and see how you feel about it. Voyager? Not so much with the good stuff. It didn't have a particularly great started -- then once one of the few interesting characters left the show, and they ran into the Borg, and it all went straight to hell. It turned me off to Star Trek for a very long time. Enterprise didn't help, nor did the abominable Star Trek X.

    6. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by masdog · · Score: 1

      Like Jude said, I would take a look at the Dominion War arc of DS9. It was a side of the Federation that we haven't seen yet, and it had some of the better character development of the Trek Franchise.

      I'd take a pass at Voyager. I watched it for a few seasons, but it really wasn't worth it. After the first season, it went downhill, and the writers and producers went from a ship on the verge of conflict to a happy-go-lucky Federation starship. Sure, there was Seska and that spy for the Kazon, but after that, the ship functioned normally.... And lets not forget the lack of character development.

      I never really watched Akiraprise. I didn't like the premise and the mess it made of the established canon.

    7. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by aarku · · Score: 1

      Star Trek X, Nemisis, buried that principle, poured 10 gallons on it, then lit the grave on fire.

    8. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by jesterzog · · Score: 1

      DS9 got better and better as the seasons went on, and the writers developed a very good story-arc. Reportedly this was influenced a lot by Babylon 5, which was also active at the time, and there have been a lot of claims that Trek ripped off the space station idea after JMS tried to sell it. This may be partly true, but I think the fact that DS9 was actually good had more to do with the fact that Berman and friends left DS9 to focus more on Voyager, allowing the DS9 writers and directors more freedom to actually produce a good continuous story.

      I re-watched TNG a while ago, which I enjoyed the first time around. There are some good shows in there and it's nice to reminisce, but it's quite dated. DS9 would definitely be my first choice to watch again if I found the time to watch any of it, but I wouldn't bother with Voyager or Enterprise.

    9. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by mibus · · Score: 1

      Has nobody considered the possibility that it's the sum of the digits that has to be even?

      1 = 1 = Odd
      2 = 2 = Even
      (etc)
      9 = 9 = Odd
      10 = 1 + 0 = 1 = Odd
      11 = 1 + 1 = 2 = Even

      So, XI will actually be a good film :)

    10. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Maserati · · Score: 1

      Have you picked up on Battlestar Galactica ? If you like that, Ron Moore also was executive producer on the last 4 (5 ?) seasons of DS9. BSG really feels like it picks up where DS9 left off in terms of how good science fiction is written for television. DS9 became very character driven under Moore. With the Dominion War he put them into a desperate situation and produced wartime character dramas. And he introduced (or played up, I don't remember exactly when he showed up) the Cardassian tailor Garrick, who is one of the best characters in all of Trek.

      Check it out, those last 4 seasons of DS9 are the best Trek ever made.

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    11. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by starlageek · · Score: 1

      Especially if MATT DAMON has anything to do with the movie. Blech. Can we just let the series die, please? Hollywood, this is one sequel/prequel we just don't want.

      OTOH, i can't wait to see what the Filthy Critic would say about it.

      2-slashdot@sapm.org (don't mind me, just trapping spam...)

    12. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      As the abyssmal number X has proven, the even/odd theory was wrong, the next theory is for even/odd checksums, explaining X and there's hoping for a good XI...

    13. Re:Hurry up and make this, then make Star Trek XII by Keith+Russell · · Score: 1

      You're understating it:

      Trek movies evenly divisible by five are so bad, they are disavowed by the producers as non-canon, and erased from the timeline.

      I'm not sure that's officially happened with Nemesis yet, but I'm sure none of it will survive the inevitable retconning of the Romulans. (Where's Diane Duane when you need her?)

      --
      This sig intentionally left blank.
  11. Amazing by Jason1729 · · Score: 1, Funny

    CBS has kicked Rick Berman off the Trek bandwagon

    Someone at CBS actually has a brain?

    1. Re:Amazing by pavkam · · Score: 1

      Considering the latest "productions" I'd say - no?

    2. Re:Amazing by kfg · · Score: 1

      Someone at CBS actually has a brain?

      He keeps it in a jar on his desk.

      KFG

  12. janitor by nEoN+nOoDlE · · Score: 0, Redundant

    ...to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone.

    Lenny?! Oh no! I didn't know he got laid off!

    --
    Don't trust a bull's horn, a doberman's tooth, a runaway horse or me.
    1. Re:janitor by Brad1138 · · Score: 1

      Lenny?! Oh no! I didn't know he got laid off!

      Yea, I thought it was Carl also.

      --
      If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
    2. Re:janitor by Dachannien · · Score: 1

      And here I thought it was Scruffy.

  13. New production crew, why not new characters? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    New production crew, why not new characters?

    I don't like the idea of introducing new characters and a set in a Star Trek movie, but I dislike the idea of bringing back old characters in their early academy days even more.

    What is this movie going to be about? Kirk spent the night with a girl when he should have been studying for his final test, Spock tries to warn Kirk, but Kirk doesn't listen. Now Kirk may not pass and become a officer. The future of the entire Alpha Quadrant is at stake, Kirk won't be able to fly the Enterprise around and seduce alien women!

    Let's move beyond prequels let's even pass up the 24th century. We already know the past, lets see the future of the Federation of Planets in the 27th or beyond.

    1. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by eclectro · · Score: 1

      Let's move beyond prequels let's even pass up the 24th century.

      The problem is that they can't. They already invented all the neat tech in the space-faring Sheraton of STNG. So the only way to go is back in the days when there was none of it. They can't go back to the beginning, that was Enterprise. So that just leaves academy days.

      --
      Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    2. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by Explodicle · · Score: 1

      That's "United Federation of Planets". SOMEONE SHOOT ME IN THE HEAD.

    3. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by Random832 · · Score: 1

      How about a show about the enterprise-C - sure we'd know how it ends, but it was in service for, according to a novel it was in, 12 years.

      Or the enterprise B, for that matter, which hasn't been explored at all in canon apart from Generations.

      Or some OTHER show.

      Or a show about what enlisted life is like in starfleet.

      Or a show about all the interesting stuff that happens on earth in any era [weren't they planning on building a new continent?]

      There's plenty of room for a new and different show other than some other show's main cast's academy days.

      --
      We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.
    4. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by masdog · · Score: 1

      How about the aftermath of the Dominion War? Thats something that hasn't been explored, and it has unlimited stories that can be told.

    5. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      Why not take that scene in season 3 of Enterprise where Archer is transported forward in time to the future where the xindi are part of the federation or whatever it is and set a movie or TV show in that time period?

    6. Re:New production crew, why not new characters? by westlake · · Score: 1
      I don't like the idea of introducing new characters and a set in a Star Trek movie, but I dislike the idea of bringing back old characters in their early academy days even more.

      You have an entire galaxy to play with and all you ever see of it is an idealized Federation military. You'd think there would be something else of interest happening here.

  14. Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by dparnass · · Score: 1

    I wish on the Star Trek movies they could get away from the Federation and do a Klingon Movie about the Klingons, all in Klingon. But I don;t think that would fly. I did have one friend who wants it to be the Pirates of Pinzance in Klingon. Now that would never fly. It would be interesting though. And no my friend was not on drugs, she is weird enough with out them.

    1. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      Save for keeping the language, it would do well as a TV episode (similar has been done in Trek-dom), but I don't think it would make for something that will have a decent mainstream pull to justify a theatrical movie. It's hard enough getting people to watch a foreign film with subtitles, I think the set of people in the US that are willing to watch a subtitled Star Trek movie is too small.

    2. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by WRX+Gav · · Score: 1

      Be brave and do it in Klingon without subtitles - it worked for Mel Gibson :)

    3. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by AlfieJ · · Score: 1
      It's hard enough getting people to watch a foreign film with subtitles

      Yeah, Passion of the Christ only made about $600 million.

    4. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by Mad+Marlin · · Score: 1

      I think the Romulans would be a better choice. The Klingons have been rather thoroughly explored already. But yeah, a Klingon movie would have a lot better chance of not sucking than Kirk in his frat days.

    5. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have ALWAYS said that what Star Trek needs now is a Klingon installment, all subtitled and completely lacking in Federation presence. Voyager was iffy, DS9 blew and Enterprise I don't even like to think about. I don't believe a film would be the way to go with a Klingon story though. I think I'd rather see a well though-out mini series, say four or six hours, with approriate production values. ;)

    6. Re:Other Ideas people have had on the new movie by masdog · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, Passion of the Christ only made about $600 million.

      I don't think The Passion of Kahless would bring in the Christian movie-going crowd.

  15. Re:interesting by Moridineas · · Score: 1

    That's what you get for leaving your screen unlocked.



    Ahh, I see you're not familiar with the illustrious GNAA... (I'd prefer not even to type what that stands for)

    Ich.
  16. my eyes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This blog hurts my eyes. And when will Slashdot learn to bypass the blog and go straight to the article?

  17. Well, presumably by xC0000005 · · Score: 1

    there will be stars, and some sort of treking, but not wars (unless you want George Lucas involved).

    --
    www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
  18. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by Chris_Jefferson · · Score: 1

    While I agree that I still want the spirit of Trek, I'm not convinced this is a bad idea. For a start, the continuity of Star Trek has been messed up beyond belief by Enterprise anyway. While I want things keeping generally the same, I'm not too bothered if maybe some planets get rearrange a little, or the time-line gets a clean-up.

    Comparing to Marvel, I think their "Ultimate" universe restart was one of the best ideas they had had in a long time, as while the characters were basically the same, it helped sweep up a lot of rubbish which had built up. It is also a great help to those who haven't seen all the ST series. On one hand, I'd really like a series set after Voyager + DS9. On the other hand I accept you would either have to ignore much of what had gone on in DS9 in particular, or the storyline would be too complex for new viewers.

    --
    Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
  19. To the guy that sweeps the floor. by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Funny

    But they PROMISED us if we stopped pirating films, the little guys would get to keep their jobs!

    NOOOOOOOooooooooo!!!!!!

    --
    She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    1. Re:To the guy that sweeps the floor. by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 1
  20. They Killed Data... by ThinkFr33ly · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...and as far as I'm concerned, if you kill Data you have to go.

    1. Re:They Killed Data... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      I don't know, my willing suspension of disbelief was having problems keeping up with the idea of an android that could put on that much weight over a few years. Especially after a film in which he explained that his body measurements would stay the same for his entire lifespan...

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:They Killed Data... by onosendai · · Score: 1

      It was entirely (afaik) Spiner's decision, basically for that reason, that he was getting too old to play Data (hence his appearances as Soong in ST:ENT)

      --
      <? include ('signature.inc'); ?>
    3. Re:They Killed Data... by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 1

      There was plenty of good Trek after they killed Spock, even with many of the same people in the production crew.

      That said, I dunno if the new movie will be any good, I'd rather see the Federation in the 27th-29th centuries.

    4. Re:They Killed Data... by masdog · · Score: 1

      There was plenty of good Trek after they killed Spock, even with many of the same people in the production crew.

      Of course there was. The entire next movie was dedicated to bringing Spock back to life.

    5. Re:They Killed Data... by Psiren · · Score: 1

      Actually, Brent Spiner wanted that to be his last appearance as Data, as he felt he was getting to old to play a character that doesn't age. Which he was, to be fair.

    6. Re:They Killed Data... by Steve001 · · Score: 1

      onosendai wrote:

      It was entirely (afaik) Spiner's decision, basically for that reason, that he was getting too old to play Data (hence his appearances as Soong in ST:ENT)

      Spiner's decision makes sense, although it is somewhat undercut by the introduction of B4 in Star Trek - Nemesis. It seemed to give us an ending without an ending.

      If they were to eliminate Data due to Spiner bowing out, I think a better way would have been to have Data's body be destroyed to a point where it couldn't be repaired, but his brain is intact. The brain is put into a new body. This allows a new actor to take over the role.

    7. Re:They Killed Data... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know, I had managed to block that out from my memory. I managed to forget the whole movie even existed. And now you had to go and remind me of that travesty. Thanks a lot for bringing that back up. I hate you.

    8. Re:They Killed Data... by mattt79 · · Score: 1

      That's always worked for "The Doctor"

  21. Prequel!?! What's next? by B11 · · Score: 4, Funny

    'Nsync cameos as red shirts?

    --
    insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
    1. Re:Prequel!?! What's next? by 3waygeek · · Score: 1

      Most of us would consider that a good thing.

    2. Re:Prequel!?! What's next? by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      'Nsync cameos as red shirts?

      Britney Spears cameos as an Orion slave girl. While pregnant. Again.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  22. Trek needs NEW, not OLD by rkcallaghan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Enterprise failed because its just not that interesting to watch the "old" again. I don't want to see young Kirk.

    Bring back any of the TNG/DS9/VOY actors that want a job; seed the environment with a couple familiar faces. Everybody loves Worf and Michael Dorn basically never turns down a chance to come back, get him. Get some new blood and tell a new tale. How about the crew of the Titan; heading up that task force near the neutral zone, that has some options and I'm sure Frakes needs a job. How about a period of recovery for the Alpha Quadrant post Dominion War; paralleling the WW2 Europe -> European Union evolution?

    Maybe you like my ideas, maybe you don't. All I'm saying is seek out new life, and new civilizations; and don't try and cowardly go where we've already been a billion times. Unless you're trying to duplicate the success of Enterprise

    ~Rebecca

    1. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Municipa · · Score: 1

      I rather see new stuff too, but remember how many old fans are out there. If they do old stuff right it can be good.

    2. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Changa_MC · · Score: 1

      Enterprise failed because it had no storyline. Terrorists travelling back in time to destroy our world? Lame!

      The idea was great, and although the dialog in the first episode sucked, it had potential. But they had no vision, no purpose to it at all.

      --
      Changa hates change.
    3. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not only does everyone love Worf, but imagine a series where he pilots the defiant in the gamma quadrant!

    4. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by AlHunt · · Score: 1

      >Enterprise failed because its just not that interesting to watch the "old" again. I don't want >to see young Kirk.

      Enteprise failed due to the arrogance of the producers. They gave not a rat's ass what the fans wanted - they wanted to do what they wanted to do and the fans be damned. Right down to that freaking *awful* theme song. Enterprise died a merciful, unspectacular and much deserved death.

      --
      1 in 4 Maine children in struggle with hunger.
    5. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 1

      Enterprise was impossibly politically correct and too technologically sophisticated and basically didn't even fit with existing canon.

      The ship should hve been more primitive.
      The conflicts should have been more primitive and cold war-ish. It should have been more like the old days when you saw people different than you, many of them just attacked right away and did terrible things if they had the upper hand.

      It should have been as close to 'hard' sci-fi as possible (no phasers, etc).

      You think about Kirk's comments about war with the romulans- the use of nuclear warheads- things like that.

      Battlestar has done it right so far.

      I love bakula and quantum leap and I think they could have pulled off a good enterprise.
      But they failed.

      Would have been someone cool to have the first time he transports use the QL visual affect tho. ;)

      --
      She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
    6. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by yuriyg · · Score: 0

      This needs to be rated: 10, TV Execs Need To Read

      I especially liked "...seek out new life, and new civilizations; and don't try and cowardly go where we've already been a billion times. "

      Thanks, rkcallaghan

    7. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Actually the Time Travelling Terrorists thingie was one of the better plot elements of the show. One of the few things that was consistant (strangely enough) and had real drama.

      The real problems were that seasons 1-2.5 tried to have a cameo of everyone from all the other series, even when it really didn't make sense and that anyone thought Scott Bakula could act his way out of a paper bag after having wached any episodes of Quantum Leap at all.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    8. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Funny, I don't think TOS had much of a storyline, either. Or at least, they were too cowardly to ever bother changing it. The biggest change I've seen so far (I'm on Episode 20 of Season 3) is replacing Mr. Desau (or however you spell it) with Mr. Checkov. I mean, most TV shows get a little cowardly with their main characters after awhile, but come on! Stargate at least lets a few gods die, even if they get replaced. O'Niell gets promoted. Teal'c grows hair, loses symbiote. Even TNG: Riker grows a beard for the second season. In TOS, it would seem that things are about to change, but the weirder the episode, the harder they flail at the end to try to wrap things up and get back to normal.

      Or not. Quite often, the "ending" feels like someone just shouted "Time!" and they completely leave the problem unsolved.

      I'm not saying you're wrong about Enterprise, I haven't seen it, but I think when most people criticise new Trek, they forget just how bad the old Trek could be. Frankly, I'd welcome even a lame storyline by now, provided it actually changes even a little bit.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    9. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Imagine a Beowulf cluster of Worfs!

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    10. Re:Trek needs NEW, not OLD by Changa_MC · · Score: 1

      I guess it worked if you believe in terrorists. But you've just reinforced my point, really. That was the best storyline they had. Lame.

      I really liked Scott Bakula in QL, but I was very young. At any rate, "Star Trek Captain" needn't be a challenging role: I think even Keanu Reeves could handle it. Or... not.

      --
      Changa hates change.
  23. Lucille Ball! by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

    *ahem* Desilu Productions? You forgot that part of the story!

    *Ricky Ricardo voice*: Luuuuuccyyy, I'm back from the Romulan Neutral Zone! (hits bongo drum)

    - Bee Tiberius Beard

  24. No one's gonna watch this movie because.. by eebra82 · · Score: 4, Funny

    What? A prequel? That means outdated technology? How on earth do they expect Star Trek fans to enjoy a film where space ships can only go to warp 5?

    1. Re:No one's gonna watch this movie because.. by camperdave · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You mean like the Enterprise-D? Federation vessels were limited to warp 5 when it was discovered that warp drive destroyed the fabric of space-time.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:No one's gonna watch this movie because.. by xkenny13 · · Score: 1

      Federation vessels were limited to warp 5 when it was discovered that warp drive destroyed the fabric of space-time.

      I thought that limitation only applied to that specific warp corridor?

      Riker takes the Enterprise to Warp 13 towards the end of "All Good Things".

    3. Re:No one's gonna watch this movie because.. by camperdave · · Score: 1

      "The Council decides that until a way to counteract the warp field effect is found, the best course of action to take is to slow it down. To slow the effect down, areas susceptible to warp fields are to be restricted to essential travel only and all Federation vessels are to travel no faster than Warp factor 5 except in cases of extreme emergency." ST:TNG - Force of Nature

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  25. J.J Abrams by Gli7ch · · Score: 1

    The creator of Lost? Wow, I'm sure this is going to be a cinematic masterpiece.

    1. Re:J.J Abrams by Versatile+Dinosaur · · Score: 1

      Lost was a program which I tried to avoid but occasionally I would see bits of it. If "they" want to kill Star Trek, those responsible for Lost will probably do it.

    2. Re:J.J Abrams by Gli7ch · · Score: 1

      And here I was thinking I was the only sane one.

    3. Re:J.J Abrams by PCM2 · · Score: 1
      And here I was thinking I was the only sane one.

      Meh, Lost is kinda crap but it's entertaining crap. They took an ensemble cast and let fly with all kinds of wild ideas about where they all came from and what they're supposed to be doing. When people start analyzing every frame of the episode and reading hidden meanings into it, I tune right out. Timeless classic, it ain't. It's fun popcorn TV. I'll be watching the new season.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  26. Bring back the Gorn, dammit! by GuyMannDude · · Score: 1

    Fuck, a prequel? That's pretty damn sad. Didn't they learn anything from Enterprise?

    You know what I want to see (it's there in the subject line so you shouldn't have to guess too hard). That's right, the friggin' Gorn. That was the coolest damn alien in the original series and he only got one episode. Stronger than hell but also very clever. They seem like they would be an interesting species to have as an enemy. There was a ST:TNG comic featuring the gorn that made them sound like just another warrior civilization like the klingons. What a cop-out. The way the gorn captain meticulously made traps for Kirk on that planet suggests to me that there's a lot more to them than head-bashing, adrenaline brutes. I'd wager that Star Trek fans would love to see more Gorn; why else would they have stuck that CGI abomination in the mirror universe episode of Enterprise if not for fan service?

    The problem is that gorn makeup probably costs more than the usual bumpy-forehead-of-the-week aliens we're used to seeing in Star Trek so it's probably prohibitive for a TV show. So why not feature the gorn in a movie? This prequel idea sounds like a TV show. Don't waste the movie budget on special effects. Spend it on some interesting aliens.

    A prequel featuring Kirk and Spock, even for just a short cameo, just screams of lack of ideas.

    GMD

    1. Re:Bring back the Gorn, dammit! by transwarp · · Score: 1

      One of the characters in DS9, Kassidy Yates, was from the planet Kirk and the Gorn got into the fight over, and it was apparently a large colony. It even had a decent-sized baseball league. Since in the original they claimed it was in Gorn territory, either the UFP walloped them, or they worked out a peace treaty.

    2. Re:Bring back the Gorn, dammit! by mattt79 · · Score: 1

      That's no conflict... In TOS, when the Gorn captain was defeated, all of the Gorn were destroyed - including on their home planets.

    3. Re:Bring back the Gorn, dammit! by mfrank · · Score: 1

      In the short story "The Arena" that the episode was based on, the alien race was destroyed, but in the ST episode Kirk asked that they not be destroyed.

  27. Not so fast! by BeeBeard · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Non-nerds usually consider The Voyage Home the best one (Non-Nerd: Is that the one with the whales in it??). But I agree, The Undiscovered Country was great. Kirk rules, Picard drools!

    1. Re:Not so fast! by Mattintosh · · Score: 1

      The only question that I thought was hard was 'Do I like Kirk or do I like Picard?' - "Wierd Al" Yancovic, White and Nerdy

    2. Re:Not so fast! by jonadab · · Score: 1

      > Non-nerds usually consider The Voyage Home the best one (Non-Nerd: Is that the
      > one with the whales in it??). But I agree, The Undiscovered Country was great.
      > Kirk rules, Picard drools!

      Insurrection is also sometimes liked by non-nerds.

      I do like ST6:TUU, although the alusive quotes get a bit old after about the eightieth one. I disagree with the traditional odd/even rule, though: I actually rather liked ST3:TSFS, perhaps better than STIV:TVH. The worst, beyond any question, is STV:TFF, which is so terrible it frankly does not deserve even to be considered canon. I generally consider ST2:TWOK the best of the ones with Kirk, and either First Contact or Insurrection (I cannot decide which) the best of the ones with Picard. The trouble with ST:TMP is that the special effects were too large a part of the movie, and of course they have not aged well. The plot, as far as it goes, is not bad, there just needed to be more of it and fewer flashes of light.

      I am not a big fan of Generations and am withholding judgement on Nemesis until I can put it in proper perspective. It may turn out to be a mixed bag. I *think* I agree with the decision to kill off Data, although of course it was heartbreaking, but it depends somewhat on what (if anything) they do subsequently with B4. If they handle that wrong (e.g., have B4 almost immediately become just like Data always was), it could end up being the lamest thing of all time. If they handle it *well*, however, B4 could be a good enough character to be worth the sacrifice of Data, and in some ways more, both because he's a new character, and also because he'd presumably be mostly emotionless, and the previous three movies had explored the emotion chip pretty fully already. The backstory behind Praetor Chinzon left something to be desired, and the theileron[1] radiation weapon was a terrible plot device, but OTOH I really liked the way the movie developed the Reman race and culture, and the major Romulan characters, notably the female captain, were also well portrayed and interesting IMO.

      [1] I'm not sure how to spell that, having never seen it in print.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  28. Thank GOD! by davygrvy · · Score: 2, Insightful
    'There is no they any more. Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone. There's now a totally different production team running Star Trek. This is what people have been asking for now for years.'

    It was bad enough hearing Berman defend his crappy opening credits music choice for Enterprise on the first season DVD.. About time he got the boot.

    I for one welcome the new trekkie overlords..

    --
    -=[ place .sig here ]=-
  29. Paraount! CBS! Star Trek! Lost in Space! by fm6 · · Score: 1

    You've got the story slightly muddled. Paramount dates back to the silent movie era. The CBS radio network was founded in 1927, partly with backing from Paramount.

    The company that CBS created was Viacom itself. Viacom started out as CBS's syndication division, and got spun off in 1971. Somehow, Viacom became this massive media conglomerate, buying up dozens (literally!) of companies, including both Paramount and its former parent CBS. When it bought CBS it renamed itself CBS.

    And that why's CBS owns Star Trek. I'm looking forward to the crossover episode with Lost in Space!

    1. Re:Paraount! CBS! Star Trek! Lost in Space! by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      It'll actually be named, "Lost in MySpace" in the trailers in order to draw in a new generation.

  30. Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    # Has a bigger spaceship, which can separate into two spaceships.
    # Quotes Shakespeare all the time. Hell, even the ability to speak without pausing every two to three seconds puts him above Kirk
    # Not only the president of the Enterprise, but also a client.
    # Was turned into a robot. Robots are cool.
    # Can say "Make it so" in 43 different inflections in 6 different languages.
    # Isn't a walking sexual harassment suit. Hiring Picard instead of a skirt-chaser like Kirk is estimated to have saved the Federation 23 billion credits worth of legal fees and hush money paid to the mothers of illegitimate children spread out across hundreds of star systems.
    # Has an annoying techno song compsed totally of his lines. Then someone took the time to make a music video by finding the scenes the lines were from, and editing them to fit the song. Crazy.
    # Wasn't made an admiral. Kirk told him not to let starfleet promote him, and he didn't. Therfore Picard is better.
    # Picard would never, ever tell his fans to GET A LIFE!
    # Kirk was a leader of followers. That's the only reason he (almost) got away with it.
    # Picard's worst episodes were originally written for Kirk.
    # Picard discovers new life, new civilizations and strange new worlds, not discarded movie sets from 1950s period dramas.
    # Picard can act out entire Shakespearean plays, not merely remember 5 or 6 lines.
    # Picard can get his ship to orbit a planet in both directions.
    # Picard would never ever date a shape-shifter who had previously morphed into a little girl.
    # Picard doesn't need to wear glasses.
    # Picard has so much backbone Starfleet designers had to cut out a section of his command chair for it all to fit in.
    # Picard didn't have to reprogram a computer to give him better grades in order to graduate from Starfleet Academy.
    # Picard has to contend with crap Starfleet Admirals. If he stole a starship only to have it get destroyed, he'd get vaporized, not given captaincy of a new one like in the easy old days.
    # Picard commands his ship using the big head.
    # Picard has a ship whose engines can take it.
    # Three words: seven whole seasons.
    # Picard never uses Grecian 2000.
    # Picard has to contend with the "Prime Directive", a ruling imposed on him by Starfleet after they saw what a complete shambles resulted when they let Kirk meet new alien races.
    # The only way Picard would allow Tribbles on his ship would be as hors d'oeuvres.
    # Picard never met Joan Collins.
    # Picard's bridge doesn't sound like an aviary.
    # Picard participates in the odd archaeological dig. Kirk would make a suitable subject for one.
    # One question: to which Captain would you entrust the safety of your daughter?
    # Picard is far too cool to beam down to a planet, strip to his waist and wrestle with some guy in a rubber lizard suit. He lets his First Officer do all that for him.
    # Picard never shot his best friend's body into space in a photon torpedo.
    # Kirk probably thinks a concerto is a kind of ice cream dessert.
    # Picard doesn't need hair, real or not.
    # Picard's crew are too sophisticated to be taken over by a bunch of women in gogo boots and have the most intelligent person aboard controlled by a box that has less buttons than a Super Nintendo joypad.

  31. Viacom by SeaFox · · Score: 1
    Here's the story- if you can follow it [wikipedia.org]Basically, CBS created Paramount, which split off back in the 1970s, which was eventually aquired by Viacomm, which got swallowed back up by CBS.
    That's how it happened but it's sorta turned around when you state it like that. The Viacom of today is not the same as the Viacom media giant we all used to know.

    Viacom didn't get swallowed back up by CBS, CBS got swallowed up by Viacom, which then split itself into two entities, the larger one took the CBS name and the other took over the Viacom name.

    So it's sorta like the SBC/AT&T merger. SBC buys AT&T, then changes its name to AT&T, which to most consumers makes it look like AT&T actually swallowed up SBC. Only here the result is two smaller companies instead of a single larger combined entity.

    One sticking point here though, according to the Viacom article, Viacom holds Paramount's movie studio, CBS only has the television side of Paramount.
  32. "You killed my franchise. Prepare to die." by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 5, Funny
    "There is no they any more. Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously, from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone. There's now a totally different production team running Star Trek. This is what people have been asking for now for years."
    "I want Gene Roddenberry back you son of a bitch."
    -- Ensign Montoya
    --
    Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  33. PPF and Star Trek. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Boarding the Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles and the Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek

    "Trekkies and Trekkers alike will get starry-eyed over this eclectic mix of essays on the groundbreaking original Star Trek series. Star Trek writers D. C. Fontana and David Gerrold, science fiction authors, such as Howard Weinstein, and various academics share behind-the-scenes anecdotes, discuss the show's enduring appeal and influence, and examine some of the classic features of the show, including Spock's irrationality, Scotty's pessimism, and the lack of seatbelts on the Enterprise. The impact of Star Trek on subsequent science-fiction television programs is explored, as well as how the show laid the foundation for the science fiction genre to break into the television medium.

    About the Author
    David Gerrold is the author of the Hugo and Nebula Award-nominated The Man Who Folded Himself, When Harlie Was One, and the Chtorr, Dingillian, and Star Wolf series. He also wrote "The Trouble with Tribbles" episode of Star Trek, which was voted the most popular Star Trek episode of all time. He lives in Northridge, California. Robert Sawyer is the author of several science fiction novels, including the Nebula Award-winning The Terminal Experiment and the Hugo Award-nominated Calculating God."

  34. I know what would spruce it up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Daleks!

    C'mon, that's still got to be the best idea they've got. Also, if they could answer the age-old Enterprise Vs Death Star question, that's would be just dandy.

    1. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 2

      I think Enterprise vs Death Star was settled long ago. Just for the record:

      The original Death Star did not have any kind of energy shield. I've also never seen the Death Star go faster than light, although I presume it must, in order to travel from planet to planet -- regardless, anything faster than light in Star Wars must enter hyperspace to do so, which is difficult, takes a lot of calculations and preparation.

      The Enterprise can go Warp 8 easily, and actually be maneuverable at that speed. If Luke can fly fast enough in his X-Wing to be a problem for the Death Star's turbolaser turrets, the Enterprise should be able to easily dodge anything the Death Star can throw at it, including the superlaser and TIE fighters. But they don't have to fly along a narrow trench and use the Force to aim a pair of proton torpedoes down an exhaust shaft. They can simply orbit at warp 2 or 3 so as to avoid blaster fire, just longe nough to beam over a small chunk of antimatter from the warp drives, assuming they have any power left. And when antimatter and matter collide...

      They don't need to beam any significant amount over, either. They should be more than close enough to hit some critical systems -- and they don't need many bothans to die to give them a technical schematic, they can simply scan it and have Spock figure out where to aim it. If they can set off a chain reaction, it should give them more than enough time to warp away, enable shields, and watch the fireworks.

      Now, the Force could possibly present a problem here, but assuming it is actually Enterprise vs Death Star, there aren't likely to be any force sensitive people on board the Enterprise for Vader to influence. It would probably be tricky to aim a mind trick from that far away, but even if he could, the crew of the Enterprise has handled various forms of mind control before. And the whole thing will likely be over before Vader can so much as figure out that the Captain's name is James T. Kirk.

      Supposing that a Jedi (or dark Jedi, or Sith) could get on board the Enterprise, of course, it becomes an entirely different story. The crew of the Enterprise has exactly as much hand-to-hand combat training as Austin Powers: "Judo...CHOP!" Annakin Skywalker, once actually aboard, could slice through half the crew before Red Alert sounded, and the other half before Uhura could send a distress call. The Vulcan Nerve Pinch requires that you actually manage to touch the enemy's shoulder, and I somehow think Spock would have trouble doing it once Annakin sliced off his hands.

      No, the things that have yet to be determined is the paradox of a battle between the Red Shirts, who always die a moment after appearing, and the Stormtroopers, who can't hit the broad side of a planet. There are exceptions, though -- Stormtroopers can hit often enough to tragically wound someone important, and Scotty, as Someone Important, is guaranteed to not die, even though he's a red shirt. Thus, I think Scotty would be tragically wounded, but would win the fight and then go on to be treated back to health by McCoy.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    2. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by Steve001 · · Score: 1

      The problem with mixing the characters/ships from different series is that they have their own logic that alters the premise for both stories. Another series to consider is Star Blazers, an anime series from the 1970s. In one story I read, the Enterprise encounters the Argo (the main ship from Star Blazers). The Enterprise does massive damage to the Argo, then the Argo fires the Wave Motion Gun. The Enterprise is completely destroyed and the Argo travels on. You could get the same result by combining many series.

    3. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by 14CharUsername · · Score: 1
      I don't think going to warp speed is as simple as you make it sound. They have to plot a course and "enagage" similar to how Han has to make the calculations to make the jump to lightspeed. And although it is possible to use warp drive in tactical combat, it is very risky to use warp drive while comabatting a stationary opponent. There is the "Picard manouever" but that's only going to get you in close to make one or two shots before the turbo lasers tear you up.

      Now the enterprise computers are probably more powerful than those on the X-wing fighters so they may be able to make better calculations to guide their torpedoes in so they have a pretty good chance at destroying the death star. But its not a forgone conclusion.

    4. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is anyone surprised that there are folks who spend more that 5 seconds thinking about this stuff?
      Yikes.

    5. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Plotting a course takes the Enterprise crew about 2 an a half seconds. It can take a minute or two for Han or Chewie.

      The Picard manouever is actually quite adequate. Warp in, beam over the antimatter, warp out. It just seems likely that they wouldn't have to stop at all.

      Also, the Enterprise seems to have a full range of sublight speed. Star Wars ships definitely have one top speed for sublight, and one for light speed. Thus, while the TIEs are easily more maneuverable, the Enterprise is simply faster.

      And all this is ignoring the question of how much turbolaser fire the Enterprise's shields can take, or whether they can effectively do "fair" combat. They could easily be within transport range and phaser range but well out of range of the turbolasers, and the phasers should be more than a match for the TIE fighters, seeing as they actually move at light speed and have quite a range, meaning by the time a TIE would get close enough, he'd likely already be destroyed.

      There is also the question of just how much damage the Enterprise's phasers and torpedoes (a different kind of torpedo) could do to the Death Star directly. I think this is what most people think of when they call this a debate. But here, assuming the Enterprise can withstand 10 seconds or so of turbolaser fire, they simply have to move in and phaser/torpedo out any turrets in their area -- assuming they need to get that close -- and then proceed with the beaming over of the antimatter.

      However, I didn't want to go there, because considering Kirk runs his ship like an Iowa tractor, it seems unlikely that he or his crew would have fast enough reflexes to do any of this, or that any of them would be smart enough to program the computer to do it for them. Also, it's not really relevant -- no TIE is going to get close enough in the 3-5 seconds it would take to beam over the antimatter, plot the course, and warp back out, and I seriously doubt they would have to get within range of the turbolasers if they can beam through miles of atmosphere and miles of solid rock in the same trip. Assuming a TIE did, worst that happens is a little bit of damage (one pass won't do a lot), which will be repaired by the next episode.

      There is also the argument that the Enterprise still exists, after ten seasons, while the Death Star has been blown up at least twice now, once before it was even finished. Of course, I don't think it's the same Enterprise for TNG as it is for TOS, but I do think the Enterprise stood up to more than just a few rebels with a mysterious force. That said, Vader was never taken hostage, and was at least faithful to Padme before he went completely psychotic.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    6. Re:I know what would spruce it up... by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      More important than Enterprise v. Death Star is Redshirts v. Stormtroopers. A bunch of guys who always die in the first scene versus a bunch of guys who couldn't hit the broad side of a planet!

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  35. Sounds Best In Klingon by Shihar · · Score: 1

    I could see a Klingon movie in Klingon being pretty nifty. I mean hell, even Shakespeare sounds best in its original Klingon.

  36. from the creators of Lost by eadint · · Score: 3, Funny

    Lets see here, there are rope traps in the hallway.
    half of the crew is the enemy.
    there is a lot of sexual homosexual hermaphoditic and beastial sexual tension going around.
    you have two watch 10 movies just to know what is going on.
    oh yea and their trapped in an alternate univers that they cant get out of.

    1. Re:from the creators of Lost by Teancum · · Score: 1

      So.... what is your point? TNG covered all of that and more, and DS9 more yet.

      Of course.... is a Klingon-Ferengi conjugal visit beastiality or not?

      And being trapped in alternate universes is very standard fare for Star Trek...

  37. The new army has arrived! by chanio · · Score: 1

    Thanks god we are now having all that SCI-Fi nonsense aside and working on what matters:
    The new army has arrived!
    These people are willing to bring peace to all their universe!
    Dump away all those hippies!
    And let's EXTERMINATE every terrorist that might still be daring to boldly go, where this new generation is!

    --
    Rwe obliged 2 save our future by choosing:O3 hole-greenhouse effect instead of accepting everydays gossip-nonsense chat?
  38. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by FuturePastNow · · Score: 1

    I agree. There are a lot of people who were responsible for the look and feel of Star Trek, when only a few executive producers and writers screwed it up. Hopefully the summary is just hyperbole, the article itself doesn't say "everyone" was fired.

    --
    Give a man fire, and you warm him for the night. Set a man on fire, and you warm him for the rest of his life.
  39. Prequilitis by mrmeval · · Score: 3, Funny

    *another* prequel? They never learn.

    So Kirk will be 12 and Spock will be 100 and McCoy will *still* be 90 and Uhura will not have developed yet.

    It will die quickly.

    --
    I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
  40. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by chanio · · Score: 1

    # Picard was also Magneto (the head of the evil Mutants).
    # He only admited Kirk's beloved nurse to work as a computer voice ;) in his shop (sorry) ship.

    --
    Rwe obliged 2 save our future by choosing:O3 hole-greenhouse effect instead of accepting everydays gossip-nonsense chat?
  41. I have an idea! by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Q could wipe out the entire Enterprise timeline. Then we could all feel good about ignoring it

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:I have an idea! by cptgrudge · · Score: 1

      Insightful and funny! I have warm fuzzies.

      *Q flashes in*

      Capt. Archer: What the hell?
      Q: I'm really sorry, Scott, but the Network has decreed that your timeline should never have existed.
      Capt. Archer: But...but this timeline can be an offshoot! And who's Scott?
      Q: No time for chit-chat; Paramount is listening to the fans this time.
      Capt. Archer: What? Those motherfu-
      Q: I know. *snaps fingers*

      *flash*

      --
      Qualitas edurus commercium, nullus penitus net rimor, nullus deus beneficium
  42. The plot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The enterprise gets diverted from its course by a mysterious electromagnetic beam which attracts the ship to a habitable planet. This beam breaks the ship into three separate parts, which crash into different parts of the planet. Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew are stranded on the planet, where they fight a fog-like creature, some polar bears, and an alien race known as "The Others".

    1. Re:The plot by masdog · · Score: 1

      they fight a fog-like creature

      Who happens to be 34 and still lives in his mother's basement.

  43. Conditional by bigtimepie · · Score: 1

    The movie will be good as long as William Shatner DOES NOT make a cameo.

    1. Re:Conditional by mh101 · · Score: 1
      The movie will be good as long as William Shatner DOES NOT make a cameo.
      Even if his cameo involves him wearing a red shirt?

      --
      Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
  44. Brokeback Enterprise by dangitman · · Score: 4, Funny
    and the movie will most likely be a prequel featuring Kirk and Spock in their younger years

    Kirk and Spock were young men with dreams of trvavelling the universe. As they tweaked the knobs on their prototype spacecraft, Kirk let out a sigh and said "Is it getting hot in here, Spock?" The nubile, yet distinguished young Vulcan replied "My temperature sensor does indeed indicate much wamrth and humidity." Kirk nodded coyly to Spock as he peeled off his lycra bodysuit. "That seems like a logical thing to do," noted Spock as he proceeded to do likewise, revealing his silky-skinned chest. Striking up a conversational mood, Spock enquired "What is this thing you humans call fisting? Is it a medical procedure?" Kirk winked and said "It's the way we calibrate the Warp Drive." Unaware of Kirk's subtext, Spock replied "Most interesting. Would you care to demonstrate these techniques in the interest of knowledge?" Kirk tried to subdue his enthusiasm. "Oh damn, I dropped my wrench. Could you bend over and pick it up for me?" Kirk could no longer control himself. "Engage! Engage like a pig!" he cried, as he set his thrusters to full.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
    1. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by frogstar_robot · · Score: 3, Informative

      That's funny but it is generally agreed that Spock is the pitcher and Kirk is the catcher. After all, Spock is MUCH stronger than a human.

    2. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by dangitman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You see, that doesn't really matter. We are talking about trangression here. Often submissives are people who are strong, but want to give themselves up to another. Likewise, dominants are often people who are weak, but crave power. Sex is often about role-reversal. After all, Spock chooses to defer to a "Captain" who is much dumber than he is. Spock could make a much better Captain and lead Starfleet to glory, but he chooses to belong to a hierarchy where his skills are undervalued.

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    3. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by Maserati · · Score: 1

      I can't believe this fanvid hasn't been linked yet.

      --
      Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
    4. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Erm... this is Slashdot, not "slash"dot .

      Crap, now that I re-read that, "slashdot" looks like a really odd word, doesn't it?

    5. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      I the BDSM-circles I frequent that role-reversal is widely believed to be a myth. Do you have any statistical data on it, or is that a preconception from the manager-meets-domina-genre of cliches?

    6. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by dangitman · · Score: 1
      Wow, that's pretty incredible. You don't think that people can reverse roles? And you want statistical data? How would this data be obtained?

      Why do you believe that people are stuck to one "role" in life, and can't change? It seems pretty obvious from observation. For example, those who are owtwardly prudish and obey strict rules, are frequently found to to be disobeying those rules in their private lives. Likewise, those who proclaim to be wild and non-conformist, often are quite rigid and "straight."

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    7. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      I didn't say people didn't reverse roles, where did you get that from? I specifically disagreed with the notions "Often submissives are" and "Likewise, dominants are often", "often" implying a majority of cases. That is, with all the dominants and submissives I know personally, including, but certainly not limited to, me, what is considered myth, based on the fact that there are professional dominatrixes (and very few doms, one might add), but few professional slaves, combined with the fact that the former are rather expensive, which leads to the inevitable assumption that more submissive rich, and thus usually powerfull, men exist, because they get more media "limelight", being more easily available for contact, as the dominatrixes are usually listed somewhere, so they can be found by their prospective clients and so by the the media as well (Most BDSMers I know keep their sexuality in their own homes and look with as much disgust onto "professionals", as many other "normal" people I know don't exactly appreciate prostitutes). From observation of BDSMers known to me personally I arrive at an even distribution of "strong"/"weak" dominants and submissives. But I don't claim that my observations are fact, I don't have any scientifically collected data on the topic (the sample would probably be too small anyway), so I asked if you could provide some for your statements, because I'm genuinely interested in the topic.

    8. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by dangitman · · Score: 1
      I didn't say people didn't reverse roles, where did you get that from?

      Where you wrote: "that role-reversal is widely believed to be a myth." If role-reversal is a myth, then that means it doesn't actually happen.

      so I asked if you could provide some for your statements, because I'm genuinely interested in the topic.

      Well, that's going to be pretty hard to obtain. My use of the word "often" does not imply a statistical percentage, just that I've observed that to be the case a fair number of times. I'd love to be able to give you figures, but I can't, sorry.

      --
      ... and then they built the supercollider.
    9. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by Hakubi_Washu · · Score: 1

      Where you wrote: "that role-reversal is widely believed to be a myth." If role-reversal is a myth, then that means it doesn't actually happen.

      I read and meant that differently, with the emphasis on "that", but I see how that misunderstanding came about. I should be more careful choosing my words.

      Well, that's going to be pretty hard to obtain. My use of the word "often" does not imply a statistical percentage, just that I've observed that to be the case a fair number of times. I'd love to be able to give you figures, but I can't, sorry.

      For me, "often" does imply a percentage, so that was a misunderstanding, too. "a fair number of times" is much closer to my impression of "about even" :-)

      Thank you.

    10. Re:Brokeback Enterprise by coaxial · · Score: 1

      only on /. would this be "informative"

  45. consider running as a neo-con congressman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You sounds like you could easily be a good republican congressman.

  46. I can already think of one problem by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

    It's the same problem that can befall any prequel: Inconsistent production values! Sure, the episodes from the original series represented the state of the art for the 1960's (and cost Desilu a ton to produce each episode). And sure, the original series-based movies used movie-making technology from the 1980's/1990's...but how do you make a new film that looks like it belongs in the original series star trek universe but still incorporates modern production values? Seems tricky.

    It's just like in the Star Wars prequels, where due to advances in special effects and costuming, the newer Star Wars movies (episodes I-III) look far more modern even though they're meant to be prequels.

    1. Re:I can already think of one problem by bigdavex · · Score: 1

      It's just like in the Star Wars prequels, where due to advances in special effects and costuming, the newer Star Wars movies (episodes I-III) look far more modern even though they're meant to be prequels.

      That wasn't a problem for me.

      Did you watch the King Kong remake? Did you think, "Wow, this CG is way too good for the '30s?"
      --
      -Dave
    2. Re:I can already think of one problem by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

      No, actually I thought "This is one of the worst movies I've seen all year. I can't believe this got good reviews" and the four other people I saw it with all agreed. Between the wooden acting, gratuitous gross-out scenes, and hamfisted symbolism that assumes the audience is retarded, it was just an overall bad time. Innocent, popcorn storytelling is one thing--shitty moviemaking is another.

      "It's not about being brave, Jimmy." *groans*

      Give me the 1933 classic instead any day.

    3. Re:I can already think of one problem by king-manic · · Score: 1

      No, actually I thought "This is one of the worst movies I've seen all year. I can't believe this got good reviews" and the four other people I saw it with all agreed. Between the wooden acting, gratuitous gross-out scenes, and hamfisted symbolism that assumes the audience is retarded, it was just an overall bad time. Innocent, popcorn storytelling is one thing--shitty moviemaking is another.

      "It's not about being brave, Jimmy." *groans*

      Give me the 1933 classic instead any day.


      I was thinking "Wow, first date and she has her hand in my pants." what was the movie about?

      --
      "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
  47. the best part by bone43 · · Score: 1

    The best part of the Star Wars saga ran down Princess Leia's leg "ask Han Solo" way back in 1977 when it was fresh.

    1. Re:the best part by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      eww...

  48. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Ruff_ilb · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just uh, btw, Picard = Patrick Stewart = Prof. X. Ian McKellan, who played Magneto, was (afaik) never in any star trek production.

    # Picard's adventures spun off three new series, each longer than Kirk's run. Kirk only inspired a one-seasoned cartoon, and six movies.
    # Kirk's First Officer played some form of Vulcan harp, an instrument that makes the trombone look like just about the most macho thing this side of Kirk's toupee.
    # How many innocent yellow-shirted security officers have been killed by crazed aliens who had taken pot shots at them in the mistaken belief that they were actually shooting at Kirk?
    # Kirk commands his ship as if he's driving a tractor across an Iowa wheat field.
    # When Picard was 37, he was the Captain of the lowly Stargazer. Starfleet soon learned the value of "progressive experience" having witnessed the disastrous consequences of letting someone take charge of a real ship when their previous vehicular experience extended only as far as driving a tractor across an Iowa wheat field.
    # If Kirk had a doctor like Beverly Crusher, Starfleet would have to relocate the command chair in sickbay.
    # If Kirk was captain when Tasha Yar died, he would have tried to do her corpse.
    # Picard has more than one token black person on his crew.
    # Picard isn't afraid to go places without a security team.
    # Picard doesn't wear pansy sailor-boy markings on his cuffs.
    # Picard has shuttlecraft that can travel faster than Kirk's ship.
    # Picard would never have said "He's had too much LDS".
    # Picard never has to say stupid things like, "I...am a Gr'up!" in front of young teenage girls who fancy him.
    # Picard was actually in his own show's pilot episode.
    # Picard never visits planets that look suspiciously like a Californian desert, except for that time he met Kirk.
    # Picard won't spend his retirement writing science fiction books or making cameo appearances in Zemeckis & Zemeckis films.
    # Picard was never demoted to a lieutenant in the L.A. Police Department.
    # Picard is too slim to require a Kellogg's All Bran diet, and too dignified to turn up in an ad for such things.
    # Picard's doctor doesn't have to keep reminding him what her job is.
    # Picard doesn't have to operate his turbo lifts using hand pumps.
    # Picard's main viewer is a 200 inch hi-definition TV with Nicam and Pro-Logic surround-sound.
    # Picard's ego wouldn't demand $7 million for a 10 minute appearance in a movie.
    # Picard can spend more than 15 minutes on a planet before being shot at or locked up.
    # Picard's ship was never taken over by a door-to-door salesman.
    # If the Borg had assimilated Kirk, they wouldn't have learned anything.
    # Picard's First Officer eats the things that attack Kirk in alien forests.
    # Picard would never blow up his own ship.
    # Imagine you have to impose your authority: "This is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise." Now introduce yourself as "James Tiberius Kirk, but you can call me Jim." See the difference?
    # If Q had met Kirk instead of Picard he would have destroyed humanity before Kirk got two words out.
    # Who ever heard of the Patrick Stewart foundation?
    # One word: Intelligence.

    --
    http://www.TheGamerNation.com/Forums
  49. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Amazing+Quantum+Man · · Score: 1

    No, Picard was Professor X.

    Also:

    # Picard - Won the Academy marathon as a freshman. Kirk - A stack of books with legs.

    --
    Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
  50. Early concept designs by kindbud · · Score: 1
    --
    Edith Keeler Must Die
  51. Haiku by lelitsch · · Score: 1

    Star Trek Number Nine
    Attempt to reap more money
    It will suck and blow

    1. Re:Haiku by The+Good+Reverend · · Score: 3, Funny

      "XI" is 11. Thanks for playing.

  52. The Fanfilms are as close as you'll get. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you liked the Gorn (and the Tholians for that matter); might I suggest you download "The Tressaurian Intersection"? Rather a good STOS fan episode.

  53. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by BridgeBum · · Score: 1

    Picard was Professor X, not Magneto.

    --
    My UID is the product of 2 primes.
  54. Section 31 Movie by savorymedia · · Score: 1

    Actually, I'd like to see a down and dirty script featuring the shadowy Section 31 and their role in one (or a few) of the most important moments in ST history. Pick a moment...any moment. I don't care. I just want to see something other than the warm-fuzzy-utopian crappola.

    --
    1 is the square root of all evil.
    1. Re:Section 31 Movie by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      I had Section 31 at the back of my mind when constructing the Vulcan-Romulan concept. They are exactly the group that would be involved in attempting to undermine the political stability of the Romulan Star Empire.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:Section 31 Movie by Big+Z · · Score: 1

      That was my biggest disappointment with the way DS-9 ended.

      I liked the Founder Virus and the Cardassian Reversal.... ..but I wanted to see Federation & Klingon Dreadnaughts developed by Section 31 and their Klingon equivalent. ( Sub-Space Weapons, Fire when cloaked, etc.... )

      The Alpha Quadrant was fighting for its very survival....how far would you go to persevere?....what principles were you willing to jettison?....

      Intead, "Link with me and I'll show you the error of your ways."

      Horse-shit.

    3. Re:Section 31 Movie by bubkus_jones · · Score: 1

      Yeah, DS9 got a little too spiritual for my tastes.

      I've been toying with an idea for a new ST series incorporating Section 31 (to some extent), but I'll keep it to myself till I get some good stuff written.

    4. Re:Section 31 Movie by werewolf1031 · · Score: 1
      I've been toying with an idea for a new ST series incorporating Section 31 (to some extent), but I'll keep it to myself till I get some good stuff written.
      Please let us know when you do, and provide a URL. Thanks in advance.
  55. Myspace Alert by Noodlenose · · Score: 1
    Dude,

    you're extremely brave to post the URL to THAT myspace page. I have seen people on Slashdot hanged, drawn and quartered for much less.

    1. Re:Myspace Alert by Starfleet+Command · · Score: 1

      I am not too concerned. I have my Get Out of Hanging, Drawing & Quartering Free Card.

  56. Three Words by flinxmeister · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Captain
    Wesley
    Crusher

    1. Re:Three Words by uNople · · Score: 0, Troll

      Here's another three words:
      He. Must. Die.

    2. Re:Three Words by MadMoses · · Score: 1

      That's actually a really interesting idea. They should let Wil Wheaton write the script for that one, too.

      --

      Do not be alarmed. This is only a test.
    3. Re:Three Words by Maltheus · · Score: 1

      I hated Wesley at the time, but that would interest me more than some Starfleet academy crap. Of course, isn't he on the road to becoming Q-lite right now?

  57. blah by nomadic · · Score: 1

    Come on, Roddenberry ruined Star Trek on his own plenty of times, you don't need to blame Berman for everything. Star Trek's success was always that they managed to get decent writers to write the episodes. The stuff Roddenberry was responsible for was occasionally good but frequently bad too.

  58. BS by Mycroft_514 · · Score: 1

    This rumor has been around for years about this idea for a film, and has been explicitly DEBUNKED as being the plot of the next film. So quit rehashing this garbage.

  59. G0d D@mn It...No More F*cking Prequels by ubuwalker31 · · Score: 1

    Or more accurately, no more shitty prequels or sequels. I want good quality movies and acting, damn it!

    I think this goes for both Star Trek and Star Wars.

    Lets be more specific though...no more prequels with the original cast of characters. It introduces too many continuity errors and other 'suspension of disbelief' problems. That means that prequels, if you have to make them, should be set in the distant past, so that any errors can be accounted for in the movie as *actual plot twists* as some sort of lost history.

    Sequels are easier, since no one knows what happens yet. Except that in both the Star Trek and Star Wars Universe, where there have been tons of books outlining the franchise history, there is tons of *future history* and *past history* which has to be dealt with. The real fans view a lot of books as canon, and thus get upset, when Exar Khun isn't mentioned at all in the Star Wars prequels.

    Unfortunately, studio execs can't seem to get either prequels or sequels right. Or movies in general. They just care about money.

  60. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by PCM2 · · Score: 1
    what about folks like Mike Okuda? The man behind the TNG techincal manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia? Who is reported to have the entire continuity in his head?

    People like that should be the first against the wall.

    Seriously.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  61. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by driftingwalrus · · Score: 1

    Credits? Credits?! We don't use no steenking credits here! Latinum, pure and simple!

    --
    Paul Anderson
    "I drank WHAT?!" -- Socrates
  62. Harsh-er. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And if you hadn't written all that free software, Microsoft would still be with us.

  63. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by masdog · · Score: 2, Interesting

    On one hand, I'd really like a series set after Voyager + DS9. On the other hand I accept you would either have to ignore much of what had gone on in DS9 in particular, or the storyline would be too complex for new viewers.

    I think you confused Voyager for DS9. The aftermath of a war would make a good story, and if it is properly executed, you can entice new viewers to the series while tying it into past continuity. It can even be used to increase sales of DS9 on DVD.

    Think about it. The setting is a Federation gearing down from a war footing and getting back to its mission of peaceful exploration. The shipyards are full of ships being repaired, completed, or prepared for a return to mothballs, and much of the Federation's resources are being poured into the rebuilding of Cardassia. Your officers and crew were forged in the crucible of war and don't have the polished diplomatic training of Picard. There is an interesting character development angle, especially with the use of metaplot. Watch as the Captain, against the advice of the first officer, creates a hostile relationship with a small power in unexplored territory.

    Now Voyager, on the other hand, should be mostly forgotten. Keep the idea that the ship was lost in the Delta Quadrant, but forget most of that series.

    On second though...I don't think that anyone at Paramount could properly execute a series set in the aftermath of DS9. Maybe we are better off forgetting it.

  64. It happened during First Contact... by petrus4 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There was a very funerary feeling about the last few minutes of that film for me. The meeting with the Vulcans seemed as though it was meant as one last look at what Trek was about, and I don't think any studio executive can be expected to know what I'm talking about there, either.

    Although if they'd wanted to portray it in a humorous manner, (although it would have clashed with the existing vibe at the end of the film, as I said) as the Enterprise left Earth at the end of First Contact it would have been appropriate I think to have a spacebound shark at the bottom of the screen, with the Enterprise entering warp above it.

    Star Trek is dead. Let it rest in peace.

  65. I wanna see the Promethius in Action by caarot · · Score: 1

    With Admiral Janeway at the Helm. Activate the Auto-seperation Sequence. Beep beep, bip bip bip??? We can have Andy Dick back as the EMH Mark II! Let's go forward not backard and have some fun at the same time.

    1. Re:I wanna see the Promethius in Action by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Prometheus? That would be going backward several centuries.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    2. Re:I wanna see the Promethius in Action by caarot · · Score: 1

      I think you are confuddeling your promethiei. The Promethius was a Star Trek ship long before it was a twinkle in Stargate's eye. Not in the 'History of the Sci-Fi Future' timeline, but in 'Which Sci-Fi show named a ship the Prometheus first' timeline. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/VOY/e pisode/71743.html

  66. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by SurturZ · · Score: 1
    I don't know if I like the idea of a complete replacement of the behind the scenes Trek crew. Sure I'm glad that B&B are gone, but what about folks like Mike Okuda? The man behind the TNG techincal manual and the Star Trek Encyclopedia? Who is reported to have the entire continuity in his head?


    I think it is a good thing. With any franchise, "continuity" or "canon" enhances the enjoyment only up to a certain point. After a while, the writers start having to ditch good stories because they would mess up the continuity too much. At that point the franchise needs to be rebooted.

    This is not necessarily bad - look at the new version of "Battlestar: Galactica". Enough homage for fans of the original series, but a totally different approach to the original concept. (And Richard Hatch is far better utilized as Tom Zarek than he ever could have been as an ageing Apollo!).

    What Trek needs is a new crew that has a reverence for the TOS->Enterprise universe, but can start with a fresh slate.
  67. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Wishful · · Score: 0

    -- # Picard would never blow up his own ship.

    I guess you are forgetting First Contact ?

  68. "Balance of Terror" Contradicts Berman's Star Trek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    I watched the first episode of the newly enhanced "Star Trek: The Original Series". The episode was broadcast about 2 weeks ago and was titled "Balance of Terror".

    Did anyone notice a contradiction between what was stated on that episode and what has occurred in "Star Trek: Enterpise"? Spock mentions that the neutral zone was established in the time period after Captain Archer flew his star ship. Spock specifically states that the war culminating in the creation of the neutral zone was fought by primitive ships that had no visual capabilities. In other words, the crew of the Federation ship could not see the Romulan ship.

    Yet, the star ship flown by Captain Archer clearly has visual capabilities since the ship has a front view screen that can give an image of any ship within the vicinity.

    When Rick Berman created "Star Trek: Enterpise", he created a storyline that does not fit the facts presented in "Star Trek: The Original Series."

  69. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by westlake · · Score: 1
    # Has a bigger spaceship, which can separate into two spaceships.

    expensive to animate. eats up story time. gives Riker a chance to prove he's more macho than a computer. manual docking of ships this size by sight alone? give me a break.

    # Picard has to contend with the "Prime Directive", a ruling imposed on him by Starfleet after they saw what a complete shambles resulted when they let Kirk meet new alien races.

    Picard simply lucks out. meaning the writers give him a convenient escape route from the artificial dilemma they have created. Picard is never more insufferably santimonius than when invoking the prime directive. at least Kirk knew bull---- when he sees it.

    # Picard's bridge doesn't sound like an aviary.

    no. but on both ships, one sneeze, a slip of the hand, and you've jettisoned a pod or launched a photon torpedo. where are the physical interlocks, the safety mechanisms, to protect any of these systems?

  70. Creativity by Jerim · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That entire problem with Star Trek has and will continue to be creativity. TOS was very original. TNG was a comlete 180 from TOS. DS9 was just more TNG. Voyager was just more TNG. Enterprise was just more TNG. They either need to set a story in the past or way in the future. Ditch all the flashy LCD screens. Go with holo-displays or organic walls that can display any type of wall texture or video. Something, anything that is different. Gene had the vision for not just one series but for two. I want to see a comletely differently interior design/architecture scheme. I want to see different fashion. I want to see different ways of doing things. We need as big a jump from TOS to TNG from TNG to what ever comes next.

    I say set the next story 60 years in the future. Have the Vulcans break away from the Federation to pursue their own logical ideas. Have the Klingons a now extinct race. The Romulans haven't been heard from in 30 years. The Ferengi have been accepted into the Federation. The Borg have become completely independent from the Collective, yet they continue to assimiliate. Make them evangelicals of a better way of life. You know, just shake everything up. Make it completely foriegn from the Star Trek we have come to know, but also have it link back to the prior series.

    1. Re:Creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd have to say that DS9 was not "just more TNG."

    2. Re:Creativity by DuranDuran · · Score: 1

      Yep, I'd vote for this.

      --
      "You can justify anything by putting it in quotes, adding a famous name and making it a sig" - Albert Einstein
    3. Re:Creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My dream for the future of Star Trek can be summarised in two words: Mirror Borg.

    4. Re:Creativity by labradort · · Score: 1
      Space 1999 had the best aliens, and they had cheap special effects. The original ST series had aliens that went outside of expectations of size and place. The new generation ST stuff is always humans dressed for Halloween. Boring.


      Why not one eyed blobs that can morph like in Space 1999? Some of the creatures Moira could change into were interesting. If the essense of space travel is adventure, make it adventurous, not merely politics and war in space with more aliens that are like humans.


      The other thing they can drop is 18th century cannonball style warfare between spaceships. It is so annoying that they pause for 10 seconds after a hit before the captain orders shields raised. In the future, warfare would likely be over in nanoseconds. Perhaps it would be so deadly that, like nuclear weapons, no one would ever use them.

    5. Re:Creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. Good ideas. Please, do NOT create a prequel. That would be a BAD idea.

      Very simple.

      Prequel = BAD IDEA.

      Brand new series set at least 60 years into the future past the last Voyager timeframe = GOOD IDEA.

    6. Re:Creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      DS9 was just more TNG.


      You fail. You are no longer allowed to talk about Star Trek again. Anywhere. Ever.

      From the rest of your comments, it seems that you define Star Trek purely in terms of the available technology. If you can't understand why this is the least important part of any given series, you're as big a failure as the people who ruined the franchise to begin with.
    7. Re:Creativity by FauxPasIII · · Score: 1

      > My dream for the future of Star Trek can be summarised in two words: Mirror Borg.

      Yes please.

      --
      25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
    8. Re:Creativity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right. DS9 wasn't just more TNG. It was more TNG that *wanted* to be Babylon 5, but wasn't.

      DS9 almost had good continuity. It would have been actually good if they had figured out the general plot line of the continuity beforehand (like Babylon 5) instead of making it up as they went along.

    9. Re:Creativity by Maltheus · · Score: 1

      They're called cylons.

  71. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by _Stryker · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'm actually in New York this week attending the Star Trek auction at Christies and I spoke with Mike Okuda and his wife Denise. Both of them are onboard for the next movie. They are also working on the remastering of the original series right now too. // Sean

  72. New series, non-star_treky by posterlogo · · Score: 1

    I'm a huge fan, but I think a new storyline/universe altogether, would be a much better idea -- not necessarily for a movie, but for a series. I think Sci/Fi's Battlestar Galactica is the best example of what I'm thinking of. Perhaps something borrowed from Isaac Asimov, or Arthur C. Clarke. A Sci/Fi drama about human/robot interactions in the vein of Asimov's Robot novels, perhaps. Many "star-trek-like" series have done ok, and some not-so-well, like babylon, or andromeda, or firefly. what is it about that star-trek formula? maybe it's all the human-centrism...feel-goodism...nerds-are-coolism.

    1. Re:New series, non-star_treky by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

      sorry nitwit, this is about star trek. go watch your kevin sorbo reruns and leave the trekkers alone.

      a new storyline/universe wouldn't be star trek.

      and firefly was sublime. it's ashame to lump it in with babylon 5(crap) and andromeda(hercules trek)

      that's probably why the firefly fans got their(our) movie.

      --
      They're using their grammar skills there.
    2. Re:New series, non-star_treky by posterlogo · · Score: 1

      Actually, the only future/sci-fi series I've ever watched and enjoyed were the Trek series and Firefly. It's sad to think a fellow fan could be so dimwitted. There were many posts along the lines of how it would be possible to refresh the series, or what a prequel would add to it. I feel the series has run its course, and should not attempt to continue past its prime lest it degrade in quality and darken the whole franchise. On an another note, I find it difficult to believe a true Trekkie would resort to offensive language on a basically anonymous board such as this. Picard would be ashamed. Mal would probably just shoot you.

  73. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Wow! Is this guy related to the master Chuck Norris? Maybe a grand grand son?

  74. My apologies to Matt Damon by atlasdropperofworlds · · Score: 1

    I'm sorry Matt, we just didn't have time to slot you in the for the role of Kirk, could you come back tomorrow?

  75. Re:I don't care about young Kirk either by Kris_J · · Score: 1

    Please, please, please, if any Star Trek people who are still involved in the franchise read this, I want a TV series that picks up after the end of DS9, or Voyager if you must. A wonderful universe had been built, great factions, tension, political upheaval and technology. I don't care what happened before, I want to see the universe continue.

  76. I should mod you where you stand. by Sloppy · · Score: 1

    Fuck yeah! I like it.

    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  77. Matt Damon as Kirk? by yellowstone · · Score: 1
    No word of Matt Damon to play [young] Kirk, though...
    Given that Matt Damon is actually older now than Shatner was in '66 when TOS premiered, seems like that ship has "left the starbase"...
    --
    150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for slashdot.sig (129323052 bytes).
  78. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by Sloppy · · Score: 1
    Mike Okuda .. Who is reported to have the entire continuity in his head?
    Yeah, they'll never find anyone else who has watched all the episodes!
    --
    As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
  79. Fresh Ideas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you're looking for something that mixes the social aspects of Star Trek with a fairly large amount of firepower I would suggest any of the Bolo series of novels by Keith Laumer (pleas pardon the butchered spelling.
    Sure they're huge and overpowered sentient tanks but they do form relations with their human commanders.

    If you're into just tweaking what's currently there let me make two major reccomendations.
    Put in physical restraints: you'd be amazed how casualties go down when the crew doesn't go flying after every hit.
    Pockets: Most items can survive if carried loose. It also makes palming alien gear so much easier.

  80. What was so bad about Voyager? by Guspaz · · Score: 0, Troll

    Am I the only one who liked Voyager? It was my second favourite series after TNG. It was enjoyable escapist entertainment that amused me enormously.

    I seem to be some sort of freakish minority that hated all of DS9 from start to finish, and loved Voyager from start to finish. Often I get funny looks when I say that. Bah, what do I care. I enjoyed the series, and no matter what anybody else thinks, I still enjoy it. And I'm going to keep on enjoying it. Not like I should care if other people didn't like it. When the new movie comes out, I'll evaluate that on my own terms and either like or dislike it by myself without anybody else telling me that I shouldn't like it because it was "bad".

    1. Re:What was so bad about Voyager? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're not alone. Loved Voyager, hated DS9. DS9 seemed to be more like "let's put as many weird faces/aliens in as a cramped space as possible". It is easy to create new stories that way but it is difficult to follow how the characters develop.

      And another thing, the Enterprise *intro* killed that series for me. I never got around watching it more than an episode here or there because the singer sounded like Bryan Adams (which I hate). The episodes themselves felt like the production of Buffy/Angel which I don't like either. Maybe it was the light settings or the decor. Something just didn't feel right.

      P.S. I am not OP posting as AC ;)
      P.S.S The post above is not a troll because (s)he speaks his mind and you disagree.

    2. Re:What was so bad about Voyager? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you are not alone ...

  81. Here's da movie (with Trent Reznor soundtrack)! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A Jonesy and Killa joint.

  82. JJ Abrams by ripcrd · · Score: 1

    So Enterprise will crash on a mysterious island and no one will know what is going on for the first hour of the show. I will have left before the second half because I just can't buy invisible monsters. Predator notwithstanding.

    --
    --Somewhere there is a village missing an idiot.
  83. Screw Prequels and Sequels. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TNG or DS9 era show.

    The Klingons.

    Enough of the Federation already. Four series of, "Blah blah blah, yay peace and democracy!" is enough. We need a freakin' Klingon series already.

    (That, or a series devoted entirely to Garek.)

  84. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by phaggood · · Score: 1

    # Picard never shot his best friend's body into space in a photon torpedo.

    Picard didn't have any friends; just a bunch of subordinates whom he talked to every once in a while when he didn't feel like staying in his room watching chick flicks in that girlie robe they made his wear.

  85. Ack... JJ Abrams... by Concern · · Score: 1

    I have to grudgingly admit the guy is better than Berman and Braga. Basically because they were about the worst in the business. I think the Olsen Twins would have made better trek than those guys. At least appeal more to the youth market.

    But if you've watched Alias or Lost, you have an idea where this is headed. The franchise needed a Terry Gilliam or a James Cameron. Or for god sakes, get Peter Jackson. He'd be bankable. Fuck it. Get me John Carpenter, or Edgar Wright, or fucking Dan O'Bannon before you bring me "J.J."... that motherfucker will reveal that Kirk killed Spock's mother, and McCoy is Spock's cousin. That's his idea of a "twist." I don't think he's going to be taking any interesting creative risks.

    Oh well. At least it's not Joss Whedon.

    Whatever happened to Nicholas Meyer anyway? They lose his phone number or something?

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    1. Re:Ack... JJ Abrams... by ajs · · Score: 1

      JJ Abrams is probably the right choice.

      First off, I think you're a bit confused over what you think he can't do. You say that he won't take creative risks, and then you say that you don't think he will be able to make a popular Trek with younger viewers. Have you seen what's popular with younger viewers? Do you think Tokyo Drift was about "creative risk?" Perhaps Jackass II was the reneagade art flick you were looking for?

      No, Abrams may not make the most popular Trek film ever, but he'll bring several things to the franchise:

      * A much needed shot in the arm to the business side. He's a "name".
      * An excellent ability to grab the audience with a compelling story.
      * An eye for sparing, yet effective use of FX

      What he brings that concerns me is:

      * An inability to follow through long-term on the plot (not an issue for a movie? perhaps.)
      * An over-zealous interest in the minutae of his characters' lives (a good polisher can save him here, easily, even if he writes)

      Overall, I'm more excited about the idea of another Star Trek movie than I thought I would be, but that's not saying a lot. I've been burned for years, and I'm not holding my breath for this one, though I might actually go see it in the theater which I haven't done for the last two Trek films.

    2. Re:Ack... JJ Abrams... by Concern · · Score: 1

      Actually I wasn't thinking Abrams wouldn't go over with the younger crowd - just made a joke that the Olsen twins would. :)

      I mean, if you're a fan, no offense. There's no accounting for taste, and I think Class of 1999 was a good movie, so take me with a grain of salt.

      I think Abrams' approach is all style and no substance. Kind of like a Chris Carter-lite. Take Alias for instance. Obviously written by someone whose sole source material is other spy fiction. But this isn't his biggest sin. He clearly learned in drama class that family relationships are like the lucky rabbit's foot of storytelling, and he's rubbing that little tchotchke so hard it's catching on fire. Her mother killed the father of her boyfriend who now works for her father, hunting down, for instance, her aunt... Jesus christ. OK, Darth Vader being luke's father - that was cool in the 70's. But how are you supposed to take this shit seriously? Jerry Springer is secretly executive producing it under an alias.

      And, right or wrong, there's no fans who need take their shit more seriously than trek fans. :D

      I understand that he can shoot in expensive filmstock, and with a phone call can arrange to have Jennifer Garner doing Krav Maga to house music in a leather bustier. This is all well and good. But his obvious boredom with plot and consistency... In a way it's hard to think of a better person to torture trek fans with. If they just went out and hired Akiva Goldsman then at least we'd all know not to watch it. But this could be worse, because it might be better...

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    3. Re:Ack... JJ Abrams... by ajs · · Score: 1
      I mean, if you're a fan, no offense. There's no accounting for taste, and I think Class of 1999 was a good movie, so take me with a grain of salt.


      I'm not a fan of Abrams, really. I've got very mixed feelings. I don't think he finishes projects (let alone well), but I have an appreciation for the attention-grabbing quality of his TV shows.

      Note that most of your concerns about Alias came in well after hour 2 of the show. If you look at the pilot for that show as a stand-alone movie, the family thing is a bit out there, but not too bad, and certainly not enough to counteract the solid action/drama that the show has to offer.

      That's really my feeling about his doing a trek movie. It will be solid, most likely, but if he does a series of movies (or gods help us, a TV show), it will likely turn as bland as the second season of any of his TV shows to date. He's a bit like Neal Stephenson (though I heard Stephenson is getting better). Great start, but can't finish to save his life. ... yet. Of course, I have to give the man the benefit of the doubt and allow for the fact that he may grow out of that problem.
  86. Continuity Problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    //turning off life

    Maybe I'm stupid about Star Trek -- I stopped watching it once I got my first real, non-holodeck girlfriend -- but I thought Kirk and Spock did not meet until Kirk took over the Enterprise in the second(ish) episode of the series. (Maybe it was the first, after the pilot. A better Trek geek than I should be able to answer that.) If the movie chronicles a young Kirk and Spock, then would the (already decimated) continuity of the Trek franchise be (again raped, beaten, and overall) compromised?

    Of course, maybe I'm a little off here. Heck, maybe they can do a whole runaround explanation about how this happened (both got amnesia at the end of the movie maybe?) just like they did with the whole "What the heck are Klingons doing in 'Enterprise'" issue.

    Can't say I'm looking forward to the movie, unfortunately. After "Nemesis" I pretty much swore off Star Trek in favor of Star Wars. At least there the only major continuity issues involve incest. (I'm looking at you Princess Leia! But please, don't stop...)
     
    //turning life back on

  87. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    # Picard was actually in his own show's pilot episode.
    ...where he managed to parlay a harshly worded threat into a trial because he wanted to lecture Q instead of trying to figure out what he was going on about.

  88. Let's be fair. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

    Pardon any inaccuracies, I'm most of the way through TOS, but I've only seen the first season of TNG.

    • Contrary to popular belief, Kirk can make his ship orbit a planet in both directions, at the same time, just not in the same universe.
    • Picard actually tries to follow the Prime Directive and his orders. Kirk doesn't bother, but it does exist during one or two TOS episodes.
    • Call it harassment, but Kirk at least gets a kiss now and then. Picard only has vague sexual tension, awkward situations, and jaded memories.
    • Kirk can strip down to his waist and wrestle people. But then, Picard doesn't have to.
    • Picard has never been played by an Elvis impersonator.
    • Picard has lavish comforts, including a Holodeck and a computer that sounds like a human female. Kirk has Chess and a computer that sounds like a Binar female.
    • Picard boldly goes where no one has gone before. Kirk goes where no man has gone before, to pick up women.
    • Picard has to deal with strange, alien forms of life. Kirk has to deal with humans with pointy ears, angled eyebrows, ludicrous amounts of eyeshadow, and evil-looking goatees.
    • Even people who have never heard of Picard have heard of "Beam me up, Scotty," and "He's dead, Jim." Saying "Beam me up, LaForge" or "He's dead, Jean-Luc" just sounds stupid.
    • Kirk wears real pants. Picard wears a spandex jumpsuit.
    • Imagine Kirk and Picard circling, phasers drawn. Picard lowers his weapon and says "Real men don't need phasers." Kirk drops his phaser. Picard stuns Kirk with his phaser, then beams him to the brig. Picard saves honor for things that really matter, not chest-beating stupidity.
    • That said, if some alien influence drove Kirk insane, he'd look good beating his chest. Do the same to Picard, and it may scar us for life.
    • Kirk possibly discovered the Q (The Squire of Gothos). Picard outsmarts Q on numerous occasions.
    • I don't think Picard has ever called it "The Spaceship Enterprise." Scotty would be ashamed.
    • Kirk's first officer can mind-meld, nerve-pinch, and "estimate" with more accuracy than the computer. Picard's first officer looks kind of like Chuck Norris, and only after the first season. Unfortunately, in a fair fight, Riker cannot win through sheer intimidation, as Spock has no emotions, and doesn't know who Chuck Norris is anyway.
    • Kirk's token alien guy is Spock. Picard's token alien guy is Worf. Any questions?

    And yes, I know Spock has taken out "Klingons". But they were not Klingons, they were just evil humans with funny eyebrows, evil goatees, and chain mail. Worf does not need chain mail.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    1. Re:Let's be fair. by Nanpa · · Score: 0

      Picard actually had a couple of token Aliens, between the blue guys and the ones that are some sort of parasite (The ones that manifest as a weird sort of Herpes). I can't remember their names though

  89. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by apharmdq · · Score: 1

    #Kirk may have beaten up a Klingon with his bare hands, but Picard has the balls to stand in the middle of an entire roomful of Klingons and ARGUE with them!

  90. Re:I don't care about young Kirk either by sdnoob · · Score: 1

    bitch all you want about the recent star trek movies... but they still can't compare to the class of suckage that was ST:V.

    but trek should go forward, not backwards. just from a logistics standpoint, how will they construct "technology" that looks older than TOS? card board & duct tape? with a shuttle pod made from a radio flyer?

    ds9 was excellent. sisko & kira were the best "one-two punch" of any of the series. avery brooks ("hawk" from the spenser:for hire tv series) fit the actor to the role (of captain) better than any of the others, even patrick stewart. its premiere, movie-length episode (emissary), surpassed anything the franchise has put in theatres (with the exception, perhaps, of ST:IV).

    as deep space nine was different in that it was focused on a space station instead of a space ship; voyager also differed in that there was no "federation" to call for backup; and like ds9, it was also an excellent series. imho, these were the best two series in the franchise -- the ones that weren't just TOS-redux.

    enterprise had potential, but the TPTB mukked everything up: starting with dropping 'star trek' from the title and progressing through each and every storyline inconsistency... and bacula was a huge disappointment, imho, not even coming close to fitting the role of a star trek captain.

    as far as a starfleet academy-based "prequel" goes.... spock graduated around the time that kirk entered the academy (both ocurring in 2050). so if the premise is their time together at the academy, it'll be an even shorter series than enterprise was, or a single movie tied around one specific event they both participated in. the novel 'aftershock' is about the only existing thing to draw from, and if 'the crew' was busy with that plotline during kirk's first acadamy year, that doesn't leave much time to "create" something new to squeeze into the timeline for cadets spock & kirk to get mixed up with.

    mccoy and ulhura where in the academy around the same time as kirk (they were a year ahead of him).. so that *might* work. no sulu or checkov though, as they didn't start at the academy until several years after kirk graduated. also keep in mind that kirk entered the academy at age 17, so you'd have to go A LOT younger and find some (early) 20-something actor with no talent to play the role. reference: http://pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Startrek.htm

    as much as i'd rather see trek move forward, if they go backwards.. the most interesting part of enterprise (even if its delivery wasn't that great either) was the retelling of carbon creek in episode 2 of the second season (originally in a trek novel from the late 80's or so, iirc). a movie or series based upon the vulcan's life on earth in the 1950's would be a hoot. eliminates all ties to the future and "known" trek universe (less chance of contaminating the 'timeline', so-to-speak). so in my book, this would be the next best thing to just starting after ds9 or voyager.

  91. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by NormalVisual · · Score: 1

    For a start, the continuity of Star Trek has been messed up beyond belief by Enterprise anyway.

    Meh - I'd accept a story that says "Enterprise" was merely a bad joke that Q played on the population of Earth in the 21st century.

    --
    Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
  92. Pilot. by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

    You just described the original pilot episode, which is technically canon, as it was re-shown in the series proper. Spock served under Captain Pike before he served under Captain Kirk. Which also makes a prequel with both Kirk and Spock just that much more annoying.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  93. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by GimliGloin · · Score: 1

    When faced with the following two options:

    A. Destroy the borg collective by implanting a trojan horse computer virus into a displaced borg android.
    B. Respect the "individual" rights of Hugh Borg and let him decide his own future.

    KIRK WOULD NOT have chosen option B.

  94. The Gorn? You're joking... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

    A walking lizard-man who's smart. That's it.

    Star Wars and Trek both have obvious flaws. The weapons are always fun -- in Star Wars we have the laser that magically stops just far enough out to make a sword, and the laser that shoots a bolt of laser light that travels slowly enough for a human to dodge. In Trek, you have individual implausible episodes -- if you can dodge a phaser blast because you're supposedly moving so fast, how can you see anything if the phaser moves at the speed of light? How does a phaser set to stun do exactly enough damage to knock someone out, but set to kill, it somehow magically figures out where a person is, and vaporises just the person, not the ground under them?

    Anyway, this could've been a much longer rant, but the point is: Ok, maybe the Gorn was cool-looking, but why even bother to mention bumpy-forehead-of-the-week if your solution is the Gorn? He's biped, with two arms, he's reptillian, with insectoid eyes -- basically, he's just stitched together from a few things we know of on Earth. He's hardly something that would've evolved completely independently -- we have stranger life-forms on Earth anyway.

    Gorn may be fan service, but he's hardly an interesting alien. You want an interesting alien, look at some of the TOS energy beings, or maybe the silicon-based creature. But one thing Star Wars got at least somewhat closer to right -- most aliens look much more interesting than the Gorn, even in the original Star Wars.

    As for Gorn being somehow better than Klingons, I think Worf is at least as intelligent as the Gorn, and I can't say who would win a fair fight. Besides, the Gorn was trapping Kirk -- that's not saying much. If it was Riker down on that planet, it might be a different story.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  95. What? Enterprise rules. by Werrismys · · Score: 1
    Actually, probably better to just pretend Enterprise never happened; I think most of the fans have.

    Bah, better to forget the rest of the series. Enterprise was fun and T'Pol was hot.

    --
    'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
    1. Re:What? Enterprise rules. by Rogerborg · · Score: 1
      >Enterprise was fun and T'Pol was hot.

      Don't make me break out the gingification gun and send you back where you came from.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
  96. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by todd10k · · Score: 1
    "but on both ships, one sneeze, a slip of the hand, and you've jettisoned a pod or launched a photon torpedo."

    Not really. they dont exist. :)

  97. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Propaganda13 · · Score: 1

    ''I'd just like to say that most of us begin life suckling on a breast. If we're lucky we end life suckling on a breast. So anybody who's against breasts is against life itself. Denny Crane.''

    Shatner for the win.

  98. Re:interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gay Nigger Association of America.

    Let's start a new trolling org under this name:

    SCAA: Straight Cracker Association of America
    or
    SHAA: Straight Honkey Association of America

    Who's up for it?

  99. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by 10Ghz · · Score: 1

    "# Picard never visits planets that look suspiciously like a Californian desert, except for that time he met Kirk."

    # When Picard met Kirk, only one of the survived.

    --
    Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
  100. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by 10Ghz · · Score: 1

    ...only one of THEM survived. D'oH!

    --
    Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
  101. Re:"Balance of Terror" Contradicts Berman's Star T by h00pla · · Score: 1
    ... the war culminating in the creation of the neutral zone was fought by primitive ships that had no visual capabilities

    Spock actually said, more or less, that the ships had no 'ship to ship visual communication', which implies that they couldn't see each other while talking. Though it's interesting that Lt. Stiles, the bigoted navigator, knew what a Romulan ship looked like, but Captain Kirk did not.

    I haven't watched too many episodes of 'Enterprise', so I'm not the best judge, but the few episodes I've seen show that their knowledge of Vulcan customs was quite advanced, while it's clear that in the original series, Spock was somewhat reluctant to showcase these customs and the crew seemed like they were finding out about these things for the first time. So the writers of 'Enterprise' obviously have bent a few rules there.

    --
    I've been swashdotted -- Elmer Fudd
  102. Romulan War Series . . . by SEE · · Score: 1

    Erase Enterprise from the continuity. Entirely, completely, totally.

    Set this series 2155, shortly after a Romulan force destroyed an Earth exploration vessel that they believed was an invasion force, igniting the Earth-Romulan War. The series runs 26 episodes a year -- 13 set on the United Earth Space Probe Agency ship Intrepid, 13 are set on the Imperial Romulan Warbird Indomitable. Time passes one year per season, with a peace treaty establishing the Neutral Zone occuring in the sixth season after the fifth-season-ending Battle of Charon.

    The Intrepid is all-human in crew; the Federation does not yet exist, and no nonhumans are trusted to serve in the military. And this is a military ship, part of the new Star Fleet formed to defend Earth. In the show's sixth and seventh seasons, the crew moves from patrolling the Romulan border to new, science-and-diplomacy tasks culminating in the formation of the Federation at the end of season seven.

    The Indomitable is a mix of Romulans and Remans. The Remans are full and equal members of the crew, and the head of the Empire is indeed an Empress, though a semiconstitutional monarch, for the first five seasons. The evolution of the Empire to being Praetor-headed and Reman-supressing happens in the wake of the Romulan defeat at the Battle of Cheron, as a military coup places a Reman-blaming admiral in charge, power being consolidated in the hands of this dictator at the end of season seven.

    The two crews, of course, never meet face to face, because it's established in TOS that no one in the Federation knows what a Romulan looks like. There is still room, of course, for humans to wind up meeting the Romulans and never getting the opportunity to report back to Earth . . . and the two ships, of course, will clash in several encounters during the series.

  103. Not interested any more by Macka · · Score: 1


    I've been a Star Trek fan all my life and don't think there has been a series released that I've not watched at least twice. But I was so disgusted with the hatchet job they did at the end of Enterprise that it turned me off to the whole franchise. Unless this latest film turns out to be a miracle of wit, cunning and WOW, I doubt very much if I'll even give it the time of day.

    Enterprise started of weak, and I've never been a fan of Scott Bakula. But it did get better, a lot better, and by the end I was well and truly hooked. I'll never forgive them for what they did to that series. It was disgusting. I'll never go back to that, especially now that BSG has shown us how it should be done!

  104. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yay! A Denny Crane quote!

    Denny Crane is Shatners best role TO DATE, and that's saying something considering that I'm a die-hard Trek fan.

    For all of those who have NO IDEA who Denny Crane is... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402711

    -Jar.
    (Dammit, I wish I hadn't moderated on this thread now...)

  105. Exactly: ST : TNNNG by cyclomedia · · Score: 1

    The timeline with (limited) crossover between TNG, DS9 and VOY was great and as a set of series they lasted throughout my teen geek years. But for a franchise to be both Trek and New they need to at least do another TNG and add 70+ years to the "current" stardate again, worked like a charm last time around.

    --
    If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
  106. ST should explore the unknown in the 24th century by master_p · · Score: 1

    Star Trek, as its title theme says, is about boldly going where no one has gone before.

    Picard claims at one TNG episode that "at his time, only 19% of the galaxy is mapped".

    Therefore, here is your chance CBS: explore the rest of the galaxy! show us new interesting astronomical observations and physics, new societies and social structures, new characters and new technology, new ships and new enemies.

    The only limitation is YOUR imagination, CBS, and nothing more!

    By the way, if the new series was in the early 24th century, you could easily bring back the old characters as guests, just like you did in TNG with the TOS crew. It would be interesting to see the TNG crew, Spock and even the original Kirk as old people for one or two episodes.

  107. Recycling by code601 · · Score: 1

    Im glad to see that Star Trek is leading the way be recycling old ideas as much as possible, new ideas cost a lot of coffee and drawings, sets, aliens etc. SAVE THE WORLD, USE PREQUELS!!! They are trying to just "recreate" the glory days of tng or the original, rather than invent something really new, Havent they tried that already. Wasnt thier some show with the chinese babe? Prequels SUCK, you know nothing major is going to happen because you already know the end of the story, Try reading he last chapter of a book first, ITS A FLAWED IDEA! And dont get me start on bringing in the guy from lost, I mean nothing actually happens in lost, thats the opposite of what a new star trek needs, and please no more every ship needs an alien/robot deal, rewrite the dynamic; break the rules etc. It needs to lead and not follow! Bring some new ideas to the table guys and you shall have a new TNG

  108. Re:"Balance of Terror" Contradicts Berman's Star T by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not really, without trying to 'spoil' Enterprise too much, the Vulcan civilisation go through a major culture shift during (and presumably after) the Enterprise timelines.

    Thus, human members of Starfleet not knowing much about Vulcans 2 generations on, kinda fits.

    Kinda...

    -Jar.

  109. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Steve001 · · Score: 1

    apharmdq wrote:

    #Kirk may have beaten up a Klingon with his bare hands, but Picard has the balls to stand in the middle of an entire roomful of Klingons and ARGUE with them!

    Not only that, but Picard has challenged a Klingon to one-on-one combat in one episode (when he told a Klingon he was welcome to challenge the assumption that a Starfleet officer would not fight). He also took on three Norsicons and received a blade through the heart.

  110. Let them die! by rexbinary · · Score: 1

    Just let Trek rest in peace, we have BSG now.

  111. Starship Exeter. by macwarriorny · · Score: 1

    The current prequel idea has Hollywood screwup written all over it. Why don't they buy the rights to "Starship Exeter" and do a big screen/big budget version of that? Now you've got a whole new story line set in a familiar ST era following all the known ST rules.

    --
    Life is such a sweet insanity. The more you learn, the less you know.
  112. Two Words: by aquatone282 · · Score: 0, Troll

    F*ck

    No

    --
    What?
  113. 10 to 1 by Snaller · · Score: 1

    That this is *not* what people have been asking for for years, just a different kind of crap. Who the hell wants to see "kirk the early years" - good grief.

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
  114. hey everybody, I have NOTHING to report!! by toonworld · · Score: 1

    WTF??

    I read the entire article and to me I can sum it up saying "yeah this may happen, but we don't know yet. It might be about this, but I don't know yet"

    The script wasn't even written yet!! For crying out loud! Are we so desperate to see another Star Trek movie that we'll speculate on everything? And GAWD I hope they don't really do the "a look back in the yonger days of..." I am so sick of seeing that clich&#233;!

    Instead, bring us back to the timeline where Voyager left off. The Romulans have been out of the picture for too long, write a good script with them in it! Anything but "Kirk, the younger years"... PLEASE! How many times do we need to kill him off? :P

    --
    It's not the destination that matters, but rather the journey.
  115. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by PriceIke · · Score: 1

    > # Picard won't spend his retirement writing science fiction books or making cameo appearances in Zemeckis & Zemeckis films.

    Um, what Zemeckis movie did Shatner cameo in? Maybe you meant "Zucker & Zucker" although if you meant that in reference to Airplane 2 you'd still be wrong, the Zuckers didn't do that one.

    --
    It's not a lie. It's the truth with lossy compression.
  116. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by First+Person · · Score: 1

    # Has an annoying techno song compsed totally of his lines. Then someone took the time to make a music video by finding the scenes the lines were from, and editing them to fit the song. Crazy.

    Video Didn't believe it until I saw it.

    --
    Given one hour to live, the student replied: "I'd spend it with professor FP who can make an hour seem like a lifetime."
  117. CORRECTION: STXI is not (yet) "in production" by iRobogeek · · Score: 1

    Call me nitpicky, but... I have to take exception with the erroneous "in production" statement in the linked article (and the "in the early stages of production" description in Lucy's post). "In production" means actually filming ("early stages of" could maybe be stretched to mean casting and set construction), but as of now there isn't even a completed (much less approved) script - not to mention a budget, cast, crew, sets or even a greenlight from the studio. STXI is more (_most_) accurately described as "in active development."

    --
    I think, therefore I am. (I think.)
  118. Re:The Gorn? You're joking... by fmoliveira · · Score: 1

    Those star wars blasters are not lasers, and dont move at the speed of light. The phasers are probably not lasers too, it could be something that only affects organic matter or something.

  119. Re:"Balance of Terror" Contradicts Berman's Star T by tbannist · · Score: 1

    No, Berman and Braga (who had writing credits on most of the Enterprise episodes) have no clue what consistency means. Unless it's consistently stupid. They made a "new trek" that was exactly the same as the other shows, but worse. That show is still too painfully bad to watch. The only good episodes in the series were in the final season, but don't watch the series finale, it was written by Berman and Braga.

    --
    Fanatically anti-fanatical
  120. No, the cat does not "got my tongue." by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    > "As reported in early September, even former Star Trek actors are saying that CBS has kicked Rick
    > Berman off the Trek bandwagon. This helps to allay the fears of those who say that 'they' will
    > screw up this movie as 'they' have been doing for the past several years. As Anthony Pascale put
    > it to me, however, 'There is no they any more. Everyone who has worked on Star Trek previously,
    > from the top executives at the studio to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone. There's
    > now a totally different production team running Star Trek. This is what people have been asking
    > for now for years.'"

    "...although," he continued, "nobody's been asking for 'young Kirk' 'for years', so I really don't know why half their head is still up their @$$."

    Ahh, yes, "the younger years", that member of the mystical, aeuteur-wannabe, executive producer-driven triumvirate of craptastic ideas, along with "the girls all get up and do a dance to a Motown tune" and "it must have a giant mechanical spider in it!"

    At least Batmans and Supermans have been able to dodge "make it more campy" for the last 30 years.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  121. Groupthink by Sigg3.net · · Score: 0

    Why did they kick the guy sweeping the floor?!

  122. Genie Francis by Tteddo · · Score: 1

    I don't think Jonathon Frakes WANTS a job. He's married to Genie Francis.

  123. Lucy had to approve Star Trek by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Star Trek occurred when she was in control of DesiLu. Very smart business women. She wasnt a rabid fan, but did approve a second pilot when the first stalled. You see DesiLu credits on the refurbished STTOS now back TV.

    )I think they use the same goofy studio band on the sound track as I Love Lucy.)

  124. Andromeda - money over art by mpitcavage · · Score: 1

    Remember that Andromeda was Roddenberry's vision of the Trek universe. The Andromeda was the last ship in the Federation. All the ideas are always, go back, go forward, seperate area of an existing timeline, but this is the winner. Far in the future, different set of technologies, different agendas. I would have been all about Andromeda if it was done this way.

    Too bad its always about the money and never the artist creativity. ***COUGH *** SG-1 ***COUGH****FARSCAPE ****CO... screw it, Firefly, Sliders, Futurama, The Sci-Fi network, Star Wars, you know, anything that's not a book.

  125. Lance Bass for young Spock by peter303 · · Score: 1

    Lance has similar goofy facial expressions as Spock, including the strange eyebrows.

  126. In zero G, keypad could be the best interface. by Tungbo · · Score: 1

    "command line interfaces will be commonplace."

    Perhaps that's a good solution for zero G situations. It's got to be easier to type on a keyboard than to nudge around a mouse floating in the air.....

  127. Yep - we all owe her bigtime by BeeBeard · · Score: 1

    That's all true. Very few people were willing to take a chance on sci-fi in those days. She green-lit the series despite the risk and the cost (180-200k an episode was not chump change in those days). Without her, there very likely would have been no Star Trek at all, and possibly even no Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and so on.

  128. Soul Starship by epylar · · Score: 1

    Yeah, now the people who made Soul Plane can bring us a Star Trek movie!

  129. Yes, it's technology.... by default+luser · · Score: 1

    Yes, they've all ben replaced by...

    The AWESOM-O 4000! Guaranteed to do everything from sweeping the floors to writing new movie scripts.

    Soon to be released:

    Star Trek 11, starting Adam Sandler.
    Star Trek 12, starting Adam Sandler.
    Star Trek 13, starting Adam Sandler.
    Star Trek 14, starting Adam Sandler.
    Star Trek 15, starting Adam Sandler.

    Isn't technology wonderful?

    --

    Man is the animal that laughs.
    And occasionally whores for Karma.

  130. Re:The Gorn? You're joking... by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

    Yes, it's obvious that they don't move at the speed of light. However, it's also obvious that George Lucas didn't have a clue, or felt like completely ignoring the laws of physics. They are still called "turbolasers", and "lightsaber" certainly suggests that it's made of light, laser or not -- and let's not forget the crystals used to focus the energy. There are many things that simply don't make sense here in that context -- light does not collide, so lightsabers couldn't block a blaster bolt or another lightsaber; light moves at the speed of light; light does not shine at full intensity for about a meter before stopping for no apparent reason. Anything to the contrary is people retconning Star Wars to attempt to make it match some laws of physics, because lightsabers are cool.

    I'll admit one thing: Lightsabers are cool, and I wish they could actually exist.

    As for phasers, they do affect things other than organic matter. We've seen phasers kill robots, temples, enemy ships, and other inanimate objects, not to mention cut slowly through a door in the same way as a lightsaber would. It seems like a phaser simply vaporises whatever it's convenient to think of as a single, solid object, and if that doesn't work, they act as real lasers should. The same can be said of transporters. And this, too, suffers the same pathetic attempts to make a space opera -- admittedly a cool-looking one -- at least plausible in physical reality.

    Really, you should start by actually understanding what technology and physics we know of which are close to what you want to create. Try to make it realistic before you start. Otherwise, you're going to have the same stupid mistakes, like hearing explosions in space, and people will either willfully ignore them (because they enjoy the show) or attempt to explain them away in some strange and complex way. In fact, almost any attempt to explain them scientifically is going to ruin whatever made them cool in the first place -- remember the Force? One word: midichlorians.

    And then there are the unintended consequences. For instance, if midichlorians are all it takes, why don't the Jedi have a human breeding program, similar to the Bene Gesserit? Why don't the Jedi attempt genetic engineering, or find a way to inject large amounts of midichlorians into someone who isn't force-sensitive at all? Why hasn't anyone created force technology, either utilizing midichlorians or the principle behind them? Why do we rarely have force-sensitive creatures that aren't even vaguely humanoid -- a sith Rancor, for instance? You can avoid the whole discussion by leaving the Force the way it was in the original Trilogy -- a completely mystical, unexplained, virtually unknown power.

    Ah, well. For every handwave Lucas gives to well-established laws of physics, there are at least as many plot holes in Star Trek that are relatively unrelated to its equally vigorous handwaving of physics.

    --
    Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  131. Re:interesting by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

    Straight Honkey Organization of Europe. SHOE.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  132. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

    No, Chuck Norris is a hack. Picard is related to Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson.

    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  133. Re:I don't know if a complete replacement is good. by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1
    the continuity of Star Trek has been messed up beyond belief by Enterprise anyway.
    Star Trek had continuity?
    --
    Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
  134. Carpet cleaning by Foerstner · · Score: 1

    But Voyager... Voyager tried to take the TNG angle, which was already tired, and they just shoved perfectly, ridiculously clean carpetry into a quadrant of the galaxy where they should barely have had access to soap, let alone the carpet shampooing requirements that a typical Federation starship needs. It was implausible. They were exceeding the general cleanliness of a fully-tooled-up Federation, on their own, half a galaxy from home.

    One of the (very few) lines I remember from that series was a joke Chakotay made about cleaning the carpets while Janeway was off dealing with the Borg.

    --
    The US free market: two halves of a government-granted duopoly are free to set the market price.
  135. I...have had...enough...of...yyyooouuu. by Celsius10 · · Score: 1

    For me it ended in 1984, seriously.

    --
    "Little things hitting each other. THAT'S WHAT I LIKE!" - Time Bandits
  136. Re:Nuh uhhhh, Picard * by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the other side, there is no Wesley Crusher on Kirk's Enterprise.



    And Piccard is a French cheese-eating surrender monkey, while Kirk is a all-American boy, born and raised in a good Republican State.