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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.'"
to the guy who sweeps the floor on-set, is gone
Poor guy...
I thought Star Trek was owned by Paramount...where does CBS come in?
They fired Steve? Bastards!
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."-
Cause odd/even principle will show that this movie will be terrible anyway so lets just get it over with.
...and as far as I'm concerned, if you kill Data you have to go.
I was. I hated the guy who swept the floor.
'Nsync cameos as red shirts?
insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
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
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
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?
Full Tilt
# 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.
-- Ensign Montoya
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
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.
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!
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.
Captain
Wesley
Crusher
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.
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