Slashdot Mirror


Star Trek To Return Christmas 2008

Tycoon Guy writes "Paramount today announced the new Star Trek film is scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2008. The studio also confirmed the film will be directed by J. J. Abrams, who said the film will 'embrace and respect' Trek canon, but will also 'chart its own course.' Also today, rumors are out claiming Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise will play Kirk, Spock, and Scotty, respectively."

358 comments

  1. I've got a bad feeling about this by micpp · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Somehow those rumours frighten and shock me. A Kirk that isn't Shatner and a Spock that isn't Nimoy?
    What about a DS9 movie?

    1. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by soft_guy · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think they can make a DS9 movie because of the law they passed that hollywood has to make only movies that suck.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    2. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by anagama · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not just a DS9 movie, but one set in the alternative universe.

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
    3. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by mrchaotica · · Score: 4, Informative

      What about a DS9 movie?

      (Warning: spoilers)

      At the end of the series, they dismantled basically the entire crew (Sisko ended up in the celestial temple/wormhole, Odo went to join the great link, Garek stayed on Cardassia, Dukat died, etc. They'd need to either use a different cast (which would suck) or come up with an excuse to reunite everyone (which would most likely seem ridiculously contrived), which makes a DS9 movie relatively unlikely.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    4. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by earnest+murderer · · Score: 5, Funny

      I don't think they can make a DS9 movie because of the law they passed that hollywood has to make only movies that suck.

      I hear Shatner is in negotiations.

      --
      Platform advocacy is like choosing a favorite severely developmentally disabled child.
    5. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by DevelopersDevelopers · · Score: 1

      Perhaps they take some sort of perverse pleasure in crushing and soiling our childhood loves. If they had any sense in them they'd start a film series based on the DS9 Relaunch series of novels. Those are actually pretty entertaining and worthwhile stories unlike, say, Insurrection and Nemesis.

    6. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Babbster · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, there are books that continue the story (an "8th season" of sorts) of Bajor, DS9, the Gamma Quadrant, etc. in some pretty cool ways. At the end of the first "arc" (that's as far as I've read) they even managed to get everyone back on Bajor in a way that made sense (at least in the context of DS9). I won't spoil any of it for those who might be interested in reading the books and I'll give a reading list/order below for anyone who cares:

      1. Avatar 1-2
      2. Section 31: Abyss (haven't read)
      3. Gateways: Demons of Air and Darkness (haven't read)
      4. "Horn and Ivory" from Gateways: What Lay Beyond (haven't read)
      5. Mission Gamma 1-4
      6. Rising Son (haven't read)
      7. Unity
      8. Worlds of Deep Space Nine (three books - haven't read)

      Again, from the list above (cribbed from a post on trekunited.com by "wildcard1377") I've read seven of the books and only missed a few references while still enjoying the primary arc of the story. I'll get to the rest at some point when I have time to get down to the "big bookstore" and grab them up, but I definitely recommend the ones I have read to DS9 fans.

    7. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by textstring · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      you don't watch many movies do you?

    8. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by jcr · · Score: 3, Funny

      How would a DS9 movie break such a rule?

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    9. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by arodland · · Score: 1

      If you didn't want to do anything too heavy on long-term plot, I'm sure you could find enough space between the end of Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2 to fit a movie's worth of plot. None of the episodes at the end of S1 really established anything important, and there was no real plot carry-over and no established timeframe btween "In the Hands of the Prophets" and the arc started by "The Homecoming". I'm not sure that I'd want to see such a thing done -- in fact, probably not. But I'm just saying, it could :)

    10. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by iamacat · · Score: 1

      It's just a movie, they could just discard a few episodes at the end and restart with an alternative story. Would even feet the alternative universe thing nicely. Sisko threw a coin, it landed face up instead of down and he decided not to involve Romulans in Cardassian war or something.

    11. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by RatRagout · · Score: 4, Funny

      Does that mean this will be a Star Trek "holiday special" ? (http://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/)

    12. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by TXGB324 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What about a DS9 movie?

      Well, since Babylon 5 is over, what storyline would they have to steal? I suppose the writers at Paramount could just ask JMS to please write a few more episodes, so they'd have something to copy from, but I hear he's pretty busy these days with other projects... ;)

    13. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by sorak · · Score: 4, Funny

      Somehow those rumours frighten and shock me. A Kirk that isn't Shatner and a Spock that isn't Nimoy?

      What about a DS9 movie?

      Starring Will Smith as Cisco, Macaulay Culkin as quark, and Wilmer Valderrama as Dr. Bashir

    14. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am afraid that a DS9 movie WOULD suck. The reason that DS9 was so good, was that the characters had real developments and had to deal with problems that were not easily solved with technobabble. With 40-minute episodes, you can afford a "bad" ending, in which a major character suffers a great loss, or fucks up big time, or discovers that he or she did exactly what the enemy wanted. This happened frequently in DS9. With a movie, it has to end well in order not to alienate the general public (or so Hollywood thinks).

    15. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by webbod · · Score: 2, Funny

      J.J. Abrams is one of the guys who brought us "Lost" - coming December 2008 "Star Trek XI - Lost in Space" - Brent Spiner to play Robbie the Robot with a cameo from Matt le Blanc playing crewman #7.

    16. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by markov_chain · · Score: 1

      What about a "when they were young" take on TNG? I'd love to see Michael Rosenbaum play Picard.

      --
      Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    17. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by nightsweat · · Score: 4, Funny

      I - I would pay to see that, I'm afraid to say.

      --

      the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
    18. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by ACORN_USER · · Score: 1
      So true. I'm really disturbed. Shattner, weirdo that he is, IS Kirk. Nemoy, just IS Spock. Watching Tupal on Enterprise, I just kept thinking that the franchise has messed up the whole notion of 'what' makes a true Vulcan. Roddenberry created the characters, the species, the universe and was true to it. And then along came the money moguls, and whilst they were still giving us 'good' trek, they just kept messing up the universe, which I always hoped would resemble the place where geeks go when they die. Now, I'm not 'so' sure that I still want to go there. Scotty is dead. Let him RIP. I'm sure that he's shuffling in his grave right now.

      We have a whole universe to explore, why is it that they have to go back and screw with the original legend?

      And yes. I would love to see a DS9 movie. If you have issues with this, it is clear that you stopped watching after the first season.

    19. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Clock+Nova · · Score: 1

      It might yet. But it has one advantage that should help:

      DS9 didn't suck.

      For the most part.

      --
      There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
    20. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Kirin+Fenrir · · Score: 1

      Because Se7en ended on such a happy note. ;)

      I do see your point though, that studios try to play it safe. It's still a load of rubbish that they think we always want happy endings, or that a movie will do poorly without one.

      --
      Caffeine is my anti-drug!

      Duranin - A NWN2 Roleplaying Persistent World
    21. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 1

      Why bother if they all suck?

      --
      Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
    22. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by teflaime · · Score: 1

      What are you smoking? DS9 was the 2nd worst of the Star Trek franchises. Only Voyager was worse.

    23. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by nomadic · · Score: 1

      Well, since Babylon 5 is over, what storyline would they have to steal? I suppose the writers at Paramount could just ask JMS to please write a few more episodes, so they'd have something to copy from, but I hear he's pretty busy these days with other projects... ;)

      They could always just steal directly from the people JMS typically steals from...

    24. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by MrNiceguy_KS · · Score: 1
      Scotty is dead. Let him RIP. I'm sure that he's shuffling in his grave right now.

      Not as such, but there is a small container of ashes that has developed a slight variation in its orbit.

      --
      Redundancy is good And also good.
    25. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by brouski · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm sorry, but did you even watch Enterprise?

      --
      Proud member of the American Non Sequitur Society. We might not make much sense, but boy do we love pizza!
    26. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by SquareVoid · · Score: 1

      Well he is working on straight-to-DVD B5 stories. They could always use that. I believe they are meant to be prequal-like episodes, with each DVD being its own mini-arc.

    27. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by teflaime · · Score: 1

      Yeah, It sucked but it was never as outright stupid as DS9.

    28. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      No Enterprise was worst for the very basic reason that it didn't stick to it's premise. If you say you are going to do a show that is historical to an established timeline, you don't then go making time travel, an advanced concept in the time line, the major feature in the show. And if you do go making time travel a feature, you need to include more perspective from those people sitting in the future. Enterprise got back on track in the last season, but apparently by then it was too late. Voyager did suffer from the "We can't let them get back in the Alpha quadrant too soon so lets have them make bad decisions or experience nonsensical incompatibilities" issue though. I didn't realize how proprietary "Federation technology" really was. Looking at Voyager, I don't know how they ever got that Cardassian technology working again on DS9.

    29. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Evilest+Doer · · Score: 1

      I - I would pay to see that, I'm afraid to say.
      I'm afraid I probably would too, but I would have to sneak in a *lot* of vodka!
      --
      I feel like death on a soda cracker.
    30. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Bob+Uhl · · Score: 1

      They'd need to either use a different cast (which would suck) or come up with an excuse to reunite everyone (which would most likely seem ridiculously contrived), which makes a DS9 movie relatively unlikely.

      Because everyone knows that the Star Trek franchise has scrupulously avoided 'suck' and 'ridiculously contrived' up until now...

    31. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bullshit. DS9 had the only really good story arc in Star Trek's history. Generally speaking the episodes were well written and well acted. Sure, they had their share of corny episodes, but nearly as many as ST:NG (I watched some of the episodes of that series first season and it was laughable). Voyager was a joke, but Enterprise was just plain goddawful. ST:NG got better as time went on, but I still think DS9 was the better of the two series.

      Actually, what I found interesting as how much liked the Original Series. My wife got me the first two seasons on DVD for Christmas, and there are some episodes they made in the way-back-when which kick the crap out of anything that came later. The Doomsday Machine has got to be my favorite all-time Star Trek episode. You actually forget that they're battling a giant badly-rolled cigar.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    32. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by JargonScott · · Score: 1
      Best. Quote. Ever.

      Bruce Vilanch, co-writer
      (from the Combustible Celluloid website)

      On the 1978 "Star Wars Holiday Special" (Bruce co-wrote the movie):

      Bruce: It was hilarious. It was between "Star Wars" and "The Empire Strikes Back" and George Lucas wanted to keep the flame alive. It's hysterically bad. I just saw it. I got it from a collector. I didn't realize how poor. I worked on it with George. That's how I got to know him. And he pulled the story out of the vault. It was like "Episode 32" of the saga, and it was the one that was set on the planet of the Wookiees, and the Wookiees were the central characters. Unfortunately all the Wookiees look like me and sound like fat people having orgasms. So, they're tough to write for. Every line of dialogue is 'oh, ee, ahh'. How do you write that? The Wookiees can't speak, but the Wookiees were the central characters. So I said, 'well we have to load this up with stars who sing and dance and do schtick to cover up that the story is about these walking carpets. It was one nightmare after another, but it's a very funny show. At the Cantina on Tatooine, Bea Arthur is the bargirl. To give you some idea what the show is like. Jefferson Starship is on it. Carrie Fisher sings something. It was Thanksgiving.
      --
      Nuke Gay Whales for Jesus.
    33. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by notbob · · Score: 0

      DS9 was horrible

      Babylon5 was way way way better

    34. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by triso · · Score: 1

      Why bother if they all suck? Sucking is irrelevant if the movie pulls $50M in its opening weekend.

    35. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by hooded_fang · · Score: 1

      Ugh. DS9 sometimes had to be the painful experience for television watching. Take a pointless episode, through in some superficial drama, some schmaltz and a lesson that is more suitable for a Saturday mornng program and there you have it - DS9. I wont deny that I do love science fiction with a plot but then Im looking more for something like Philip K Dick. But for adventures in space? The other Star Trek stories will do for me.

    36. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by irm · · Score: 1

      They'd need to either use a different cast (which would suck)

      Of course. Clearly it didn't work for Battlestar Galactica.

    37. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by cashman73 · · Score: 1

      Sucking is irrelevant if the movie pulls $50M in its opening weekend.

      The problem with that is its opening is Thursday, December 25, 2008. Is anybody going to go to the movies during the christmas holiday?!?! It's almost like Paramount gave this the death sentence before it was even produced!
    38. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by be-fan · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uh, yes? Christmas day is actually a very busy time for movie theaters, since everybody is off work and lots of people go to see movies with their family after Christmas eve celebrations the night before. It's quite common for a studio to release a big budget movie on Christmas day. All three LOTR movies were released on Christmas day, for example.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    39. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by soft_guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Unless I'm getting a percentage of the revenue, why do I care how much money a movie makes?

      On the other hand, whether it sucks or not certainly has an impact on my enjoyment.

      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
    40. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by operagost · · Score: 1

      Just curious... name your (least) favorite stupid DS9 plot line.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    41. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by bigbigbison · · Score: 1

      I say it every time Star Trek comes up on slashdot but I still think that a lot of possibilities open up when you mash together the casts from TNG, DS9 and Voyager. You could have a lot more actors to pick from, as well as a lot more plot lines to pick from. You could also kill off a few of the characters without alienating a lot of the audience. I'd love to see a situation where Sisco comes back from the wormhole aliens and he faces off with Picard. Then we have Worf and O'Brien caught in the middle of who to side with. We have the hologram Doctor and the DS9 lounge singer who could bond. We have Odo and Data (or B4 or whatever the stupid Data-replacement was) compare notes on trying to be human. There's a lot more here than some revamp/prequel thing which would not attract any new fans and piss off all the current fans.

      --
      http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
    42. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by jo42 · · Score: 1

      and who is going to play "The Others" after the starship crash lands on a desert island like planet?

    43. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To see Kirk, Sock, Scotty, Uhura, McCoy, Chekov, Sulu not played by the original actors (well ok the latest one had Walter Koenig, guest starring, and the next one has George Takei making a guest appearence.) surf over to www.newvoyages.com , It is a fan created show, with some of the original production crew from the tv, and movies.

    44. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by beckerist · · Score: 1

      Yeah. Non-Christians, not-practicing christians, christians who need something to do Christmas day, etc...

    45. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With a movie, it has to end well in order not to alienate the general public (or so Hollywood thinks).

      You mean like Million Dollar Baby? Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, directed by Academy Award winning director Eastwood, hated by everyone who ever saw it?

      I think in this regard, hollywood is right. MDB proved it. Great acting, great writing, great directing, the whole movie was excellent... until Maggie breaks her neck. Awful movie!

    46. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by feepness · · Score: 1

      DS9 started out pretty poorly but ended very strong.

    47. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by juiceCake · · Score: 1

      DS 9 is my favourite of the Treks, followed by TNG/Enterprise, then TOS, then Voyager. Opinions, it seems, greatly differ.

    48. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by mrmeval · · Score: 1

      . After the exposure of what they did to Will Wheaton and others, their arrogance towards the fans in the past and in that statement wrt canon, their incompetence at managinge Gene's legacy I'm done with it.

      They finally made me not want to bother anymore. I won't spend a damn dime on anything else they produce.

      --
      I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
    49. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by feepness · · Score: 1

      Voyager was a joke, but Enterprise was just plain goddawful. ST:NG got better as time went on, but I still think DS9 was the better of the two series.

      I also liked DS9 and agree Voyager was pretty bad (though it had it's moments with Equinox and Year of Hell)... but I would give the third and especially fourth season of Enterprise another look. The three episode arcs were usually very strong.

    50. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by bckrispi · · Score: 1

      All three LOTR movies were released on Christmas day, for example.
      Ummm. No they weren't.
      --
      Xenon, where's my money? -Borno
    51. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      Or Batman.

      Or James Bond.

      Or Mission Impossible.

      Or The Munsters.

      Oh, wait. Strike that last one. "We went to sleep/ Many years ago/ When we woke up/ We had a brand new show!" ARGGGGGH! Kill me now!

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    52. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Dionysos+Taltos · · Score: 1

      Greek mythology? That was available the first time around and Star Trek didn't steal it. Star Trek producers lack knowledge of history, even their own.

    53. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My biggest problem with Enterprise wasn't the crappy story arcs, or even the really bad writing that seemed to affect the show. For me Star Trek had always been about the chemistry between the characters. I thought TOS and DS9 were the strongest in this regard. The dynamic in both these series was excellent. TNG felt forced to me, and it was only the long run of the series which really built that dynamic. Voyager always seemed artificial, and Enterprise seemed to take the worst aspects of the earlier series; with all the overacting and horribly artifical moral dilemas. I just couldn't get into the characters. They were all slightly off, as if the actors never really got a good feel for what they were doing.

      In part I can't really blame the writers or the actors. That inter-character chemistry, like the Kirk-Spock-Bones trinity, is as much a product of the chemistry between the actors as anything writers can do. They lucked out with TOS and DS9 almost right away, so that even bad episodes didn't necessarily have the souring effect that one would expect. TNG took a few seasons to get that feel. Enterprise failed, I think, because while good episodes could be very good, bad episodes got weighted down by all the contrived and never-quite-real relationships between the main characters. In other words, if you could empathize with the characters, could feel that there was a real spark to their relationships with each other, even a very crappy episode had some redeeming quality.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    54. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by kindbud · · Score: 1

      (which would most likely seem ridiculously contrived)

      Yeah, that would be totally out of character for DS9.

      --
      Edith Keeler Must Die
    55. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by be-fan · · Score: 1

      Apparently, I can't read or write. LOTR did not open Christmas day. They're among the movies with the highest Christmas-day gross ticket sales.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    56. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Original+Replica · · Score: 1

      I'm sure you could find enough space between the end of Season 1 and the beginning of Season 2 to fit a movie's worth of plot.

      A story of Picard just out of the academy could be interesting.

      --
      We are all just people.
    57. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by feepness · · Score: 1

      I definitely see your point on interactions. DS9 has incredible interactions and deep characters. Enterprise had little similar. It was in it's infancy with the Andorians. I did still like the overall stories they presented, but I can see you don't get as attached without liking the characters as well.

    58. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Da+Cheez · · Score: 1

      My favorites, from best to worst, are as follows: TNG, VOY, TOS, DS9, ENT. Enterprise was absolutely AWFUL. I think the only good things it did were to establish that, yes, Andorians can in fact wiggle their antenae. It was also nice to finally learn exactly why it is that TOS Klingons have no cranial ridges (other than the budget).

    59. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Lucas123 · · Score: 1

      Agreed. Bring your barf bags.

    60. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by laffer1 · · Score: 1

      The problem with enterprise is that it jammed the time travel shit down everyone's throats. I hate time travel episodes. They make no sense. I didn't mind part of the first season. There are 3 or 4 great episodes. Season 2 and 3 of enterprise were terrible. Season 4 began to show hope but it was clear someone pulling strings still didn't get what was wrong with the show. I think the actors worked miracles with those bad plots and weak writing. The writers at the end were obviously decent.

      As for star trek shows, everyone will have an opinion about what is good or bad. Some people just like space battles, others like the episodes/shows which focused on social issues. I think TOS is by far the best and I was a TNG guy for a long time. The second half of DS9 is great and the first part grew on me after watching it via netflix. I didn't appreciate DS9 when it was on. Voyager was very hit or miss. I preferred season 4-6. Part of season 7 was ok.

      I really wish we would get a movie or show about sulu as captain. The era between the last TOS film and TNG would be interesting and its not corrupted by enterprise. Jumping another 100 years is lame. Another idea would be to do a show about one of the other cultures. Perhaps a klingon or romulan show? Wouldn't it be interesting to see battles against the federation from the other perspective?

    61. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck you.

    62. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the matter, don't like strong women?

    63. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by nomadic · · Score: 1

      Babylon 5 mined deeply from decades of written science fiction. I can't think of a single thing on Babylon 5 that I hadn't run into some form of in a sci fi book.

      Babylon 5 was a good show, better than any of the Star Treks even, but it wasn't especially original.

    64. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Clock+Nova · · Score: 1

      There you go. Though I would argue that the poorness of its start is relative; compare it to the first season of TNG, and virtually every episode seems like a masterpiece. As a matter of fact, one of the series' all-time best episodes, "Duet," was a season one episode. Late season one, but season one nonetheless. You can thank the fabulous character development and interactions, even at that early date, for that. Some of the rest from that season were pretty silly ("If Wishes Were Horses" and "Move Along Home" come to mind), but there weren't as many groaners as TNG had in season one. But by season three, DS9 had definitely hit its stride and was cranking out some of the best written and developed episodes of any Trek show.

      I think what makes some people hate the show so passionately is that it diverged from the "future is all rosy and perfect" formula that seemed to define the first two Trek series. It actually allowed issues like religious intolerance, the brutality of war, and even homosexuality (in a trite, but clear way) to take center stage. Even Earth, Paradise itself, came under attack a few times, both from within and from without. Personally, I think that's just what Trek needed. I can understand, however, why the purists might take exception to this but I think it made for good drama. It's why I like the new Battlestar Galactica so much, but that's another show and another thread.

      --
      There they were, sitting in the van with all those dials, and the cat was dead. -V. Marchetti, CIA
    65. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Da+Cheez · · Score: 1

      I don't know about that. A lot of people like seeing the future from a human perspective. That's partially what sci-fi is all about. And making any movies/series in the past is a mistake because you'll inevitably screw up something in the trek time line. Star Trek just needs to rest for maybe 5 to 10 years and then come back with a new, fresh series. One that takes place in, say, the 25th century. I think it's about time that we give the 23rd and 24th centuries a break. Then neat stuff could be done like making transwarp standard issue on all Federation starships, effectively enabling pan-galactic travel.

    66. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Randseed · · Score: 1

      This happened frequently in DS9. With a movie, it has to end well in order not to alienate the general public (or so Hollywood thinks).

      Then how do you explain "The Departed?"

    67. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by scottrocket · · Score: 1

      If you liked the doomsday machine episode, check out "In Harm's Way" at http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/ It's a little cheesy, but I respect their effort...

    68. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Cpt_Kirks · · Score: 1

      Matt Damon? Playing Ma-wah?

      OK, I can see that. At least they didn't pick that turd Affleck.

    69. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by jwo7777777 · · Score: 1

      You are simply pointing out that there is nothing new under the sun. People enjoy twists on familiar stories. That way they are comfortable relating to the characters with minimal risk.

      It's the same principle behind people having favorite actors and stars drawing people to the box office, even when everyone knows the movie premise is crappy.

    70. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 1

      Is that a Star Trek movie? I think not.

    71. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Bastard+of+Subhumani · · Score: 1

      IANAA, but if everybody decides not to go see it - a somewhat reasonable decision if it does indeed suck - then it might have a slight downward effect on takings.

      --
      Only three things are certain; death, taxes, and apocryphal quotations - Ben Franklin.
    72. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no reason other than the budget.

      ENT had production values and nothing else.

    73. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Randseed · · Score: 1

      Is that a Star Trek movie? I think not.
      No it isn't. It was, however, a movie that made a lot of money, was widely seen in theatres, and which took away several Oscars last Sunday, thus any assertion that a movie has to end well to be popular with the public is false.
    74. Re:I've got a bad feeling about this by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      The problem with enterprise is that it jammed the time travel shit down everyone's throats. I hate time travel episodes. They make no sense.

      I'm not sure I completely agree with that. After all, Babylon 5 had a significant time travel thread running across several series. However, they used it subtly and sparingly, and it was consistent throughout. I think that was an example of a good time travel story arc in a sci-fi show, which is a long way from the one-off, inconsistent, self-referential stereotypes that featured too often in Star Trek series.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  2. Gah by Jethro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is going to suuuuuuuuuuuck!

    --


    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is kinky.
    1. Re:Gah by laejoh · · Score: 0, Funny

      Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnn nnnnnnnn!

    2. Re:Gah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As space is a vacuum, nothing sucks, it just blows!

  3. And the April 1st date didn't tip anyone off? by Chas · · Score: 1

    Come on.

    Is this Slashdot or a fscking tabloid?

    Oh wait...never mind! ;-)

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:And the April 1st date didn't tip anyone off? by StarfishOne · · Score: 1

      You must be new here..

      (sorry, just had to say it ;-) )

  4. oh good by User+956 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The studio also confirmed the film will be directed by J. J. Abrams, who said the film will 'embrace and respect' Trek canon, but will also 'chart its own course.'

    It's great that the guy charting that course is best known for a show called LOST.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:oh good by CaptainNerdCave · · Score: 2, Funny

      i honestly can't tell if you're being sarcastic or serious

    2. Re:oh good by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Considering Lost has a suspiciously large number of similarities to an old show called "The New People", perhaps Abrams is the right person to resurrect the spirit of another show from the sixties.

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063935/plotsummary

      So...serious?

      --
      Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
    3. Re:oh good by (Robo_Bro) · · Score: 1

      LOST...then shouldn't it be a Voyager movie?

      --
      "It's never the things that happen to us that upset us, it's our view of them." -Epictetus
    4. Re:oh good by l3v1 · · Score: 1

      It's great that the guy charting that course is best known for a show called LOST.

      Well, at least we can be sure that there will be a sequel, since most probably at the end of the movie people will just look to their neighbors and see that I-don't-have-a-clue-what-just-happened look on their faces.
       

      --
      I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I can think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.
    5. Re:oh good by Skreems · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Not that similar. If you want to get technical, both are ripping off Lord Of The Flies, but the details are so different that it's basically a non-issue. There's only so many basic settings like "people crash on a mysterious island"; you're going to have some repetition of the basic plot. If anything, Lost is ripping off The Prisoner more than The New People.

      --
      Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
      The Urban Hippie
    6. Re:oh good by jfb3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I thought Lost was just a re-hash of Gilligan's Island with just enough 90210 brooding and staring thrown in to make you think something is actually going to, eventually, advance the plot (assuming there is one, which I doubt).

    7. Re:oh good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...directed by J. J. Abrams, who said the film will 'embrace and respect' "

      The correct process should be "Embrace, extend and extinguish..."

    8. Re:oh good by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 2, Funny
      The correct process should be "Embrace, extend and extinguish..."

      More properly, "Embrace, Extend, Exterrrrmmminnnnaate!!!"

      Oh, that's gotta happen. Will Smith as The Doctor. Shatner as Davros. Wil Wheaton in a cameo with a red shirt.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    9. Re:oh good by roo766 · · Score: 1

      J.J. is best know for Alias not Lost. He is the co-creator of the show and a producer, but hardly has anything to do with the show past its first season. He is a great tv writer/director, but MI3 was bad so who know how well he will do with a Star Trek movie.

    10. Re:oh good by Chelloveck · · Score: 1

      Oooh, I'd almost pay to download the torrent of that!

      --
      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    11. Re:oh good by Larus · · Score: 1

      There's also the fact that a lot of Baby Boomers grew up with Star Trek, not B5 or BSG. The market is obviously catering to the psychological need to reminisce back to the fetal good days - by resurrecting those good 60's feelings being on top of the world after WWII and economic prosperity. Unfortunately this is already alienating many younger viewers, whose views on life are not as cheerful as their older generations. The only other thing good about prequels is a younger cast, which appeals to younger adults. I'm sure it will still draw crowds, but our younger audiences will not watch those happy shows forever - they eventually grow up and face a crueler world of global competition and conflicts. And sadly, nor will our older ones - they eventually succomb to Alzheimer's and can't even tell what they are watching.

    12. Re:oh good by AJWM · · Score: 1

      There's only so many basic settings like "people crash on a mysterious island";

      Well, you said it yourself: Lost is ripping off Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. (If you're going to steal, steal from the masters.)

      --
      -- Alastair
    13. Re:oh good by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I see the real problem here being that the original cast so thoroughly occupy their roles that someone else, no matter how good, stepping in just won't work. I felt that way about Steve Martin playing Inspector Closeau. It just didn't feel right, it was like a parody. But then again, that Pink Panther movie made a helluva lot of money, so who am I to tell a movie studio what to do?

      It's just very hard for me to visualize someone other than De Kelly as McCoy, or Nimoy as Spock, and the line between Shatner and Kirk is completely blurred. These aren't just simply characters, they really have become cultural touchstones. I wish them all the best, and they sound like they've got a pretty good lineup of actors. I can't wait to find out who plays Rand (meow!).

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    14. Re:oh good by CaptnMArk · · Score: 1

      The Prisoner is brilliant!

      I've been watching old British shows like Doctor Who (Tom Baker), Blakes 7 and The Prisoner is the best one I've seen (Doctor Who episodes are too variable from boring to great, and the Blakes 7 got "lost" somewhere before the end).

    15. Re:oh good by Afrosheen · · Score: 2

      Yeah personally I can't picture Adrian Brody and his ungodly nose being a vulcan. It's like his mother was the chicken lady from those Kids in the Hall skits and his father was Gérard Depardieu.

      Fuck these casting people if these are indeed the actors for these parts. Here's a real winning lineup.

      1. Kirk to be played by none other than Mark Wahlberg (for the Kirk-esque physique if nothing else)
      2. Spock to be played by Christian Bale
      3. Bones to be played by Josh Holloway (Sawyer from Lost, for the countrified accent and pissed-off look)

      Furthermore if you expand the cast you get alot more options.

      4. Uhura played by Wanda Sykes
      5. Chekhov played by Yakov Smirnoff (in space, aliens find YOU)

    16. Re:oh good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Considering Lost has a suspiciously large number of similarities to an old show called "The New People",

      I take it you've never seen either?

      They crash on a mysterious and once-populated island, yes, but that's about as far as it goes. The New People heavily focuses on the fact that the survivors are all young people not indoctrinated into Cold War-era society. It doesn't deal with mystery or the backstories of the characters, it's mostly surviving the physical dangers of survival, and the social dangers involved in trying to create a new society.

    17. Re:oh good by Milo77 · · Score: 1

      I think LOST is more like Giligan's Island actually.

  5. Scotty != Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't know if the editors decided not to RTFA, but TFA doesn't talk about Scotty at all, rather is saying that the role is for Bones.

    1. Re:Scotty != Bones by Edward+Teach · · Score: 1

      Actually, it DOES talk about Scotty, just not Sinise playing him. BTW, I'll watch any movie Sinise is in.

      --

      Setting his threshold to 5, Sparky eliminated most of the trolls on /.

    2. Re:Scotty != Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I don't know if the editors decided not to RTFA

      What, and break with tradition? You insensitive clod!

    3. Re:Scotty != Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Actually the story begins with Scotty and Bones being merged in a transporter accident.

    4. Re:Scotty != Bones by dabraun · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't know if the editors decided not to RTFA, but TFA doesn't talk about Scotty at all, rather is saying that the role is for Bones.

      Shhhhh .... scotty doesn't know.
    5. Re:Scotty != Bones by itlurksbeneath · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but WTH??? I thought it was supposed to be an "academy days" movie, or at least something that took place before the original series. And they get Gary Sinese? Don't get me wrong, I like Gary Sinese, but isn't he a little old to play an academy noob? He's 50 something years old. Just for reference, DeForest Kelley was 46 at the start of TOS (Shatner was 35, Damon is 36).

      It's the wrong movie, but I sense a disturbance in the force....

      --
      Have you ever considered piracy? You'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.
    6. Re:Scotty != Bones by NormalVisual · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a mechanic!! Oh, wait..."

      or

      "This is normally a 5 hour surgical procedure, but I'll have you buttoned up in two!"

      --
      Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
    7. Re:Scotty != Bones by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      I vote for a very violent, very drunk version of Scotty--played by Robert Carlyle.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    8. Re:Scotty != Bones by coren2000 · · Score: 1

      I second the motion. All in agreement say *ey capt'in*

    9. Re:Scotty != Bones by CodeArtisan · · Score: 1

      Actually, it DOES talk about Scotty, just not Sinise playing him. BTW, I'll watch any movie Sinise is in.

      Maybe we'll even get a Scotty with a real Scottish accent.
    10. Re:Scotty != Bones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I don't know if the editors decided not to RTFA, but TFA doesn't talk about Scotty at all, rather is saying that the role is for Bones."

      Maybe this is the point they bring in Welshie for the yodeling parts?

    11. Re:Scotty != Bones by daenris · · Score: 1

      Thank god... I haven't read the article yet, but my first thought on the summary was, "Gary Sinese looks kinda like McCoy... why would he be playing Scotty?"

    12. Re:Scotty != Bones by Yonder+Way · · Score: 1

      That leaves the Scotty role open for Ewan McGregor, who would fit into this cast nicely. Best of all, he doesn't have to fake the accent.

  6. Only One Question by Psx29 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Will dax be in it!?

    1. Re:Only One Question by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Which Dax: Curzon, Jadzia, Ezri, or whatever host lived at the time of Kirk?

      (If you just want to see Terry Farrell (the actress who played Jadzia), you ought to just hope she's in it as a different character.)

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    2. Re:Only One Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My vote is for Joran!!! Now that would be an interesting Trek villain.

    3. Re:Only One Question by Nappa48 · · Score: 1

      None of them, he was speaking of Daxflame of course.
      Daxflame - last blog ever
      *puts hand on head*

    4. Re:Only One Question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Rumors are that JLo will play Dax.

  7. Fascinating... by cold+fjord · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...they are attempting to build a vehicle to harness the power of the stars. I wonder if they will achieve worf capability?

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  8. Beating a Dead Horse by El+Torico · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The "franchise" ran its course. Everyone should let it go and make way for other science fiction series.

    --
    In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is usually crucified.
    1. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
      No one wants to be defeated
      Showin' how funky and strong is your fight
      It doesn't matter who's wrong or right
      Just beat it, beat it
      Just beat it, beat it
      Just beat it, beat it
      Just beat it, beat it

    2. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Funny
      On a serious note, there is plenty of room for reimagining Star Trek, retelling the adventures with fresh faces or perspectives, or picking up on story lines open but never followed. What happens to future crews on the shore leave planet? What happends to the star ship that goes to collect next years taxes on the planet in "A Piece of the Action"? Just look at the evolution of Batman from camp series to the Keaton movie to Batman Begins.

      On a humorous note, imagine John Madden playing Spock:

      Spock: Captain, if you look here (circles empy space on viewer) this is were the bird of prey would be if you could see it, but you can't see, so it's invisible, and you can't see it. And when you can't see a ship, it's cloaked. Now as it moves laterally (Draws diagonal line from empty circle), and you can't see it, but you fire photon torpedoes, sort of like a Brett Farve pass that explodes, and it hits the bird of prey, well then, BOOM, and that's one dead bird of prey.

      Kirk: Sulu, fire at Spock's coordinates!

      Sulu: Aye Captain! .... A hit! We destroyed the bird of prey!

      Kirk: No Sulu, I meant shoot Spock, I can't take this any more!

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    3. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bringing back Serenity (FireFly) might be a good option I think. ;-)

      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303461/

    4. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by israel_zayas · · Score: 1

      Namely letting Babylon 5 take the lead...

    5. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by Chris+whatever · · Score: 1

      I disagree ,Star Trek should rest in peace, let it go, i was a Star trek fan as well but now it's been stretched thin, i'm tired of seeing the same god damn crap.

      There are a lot of other series that could have made it to the big screen like Babylon 5 shit that serie was incredible, farscape.

      Soon the trekkies will all be dead anyway

    6. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by BruceCage · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of a video on my YouTube playlist, Frank Caliendo - Letterman - Impressionists Week. Frank Caliendo does an impression of John Madden, should help those who haven't heard of him get the joke above.

      --
      Perfect is the enemy of done.
    7. Re:Beating a Dead Horse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With the crappy cast they've chosen and the rehash of Kirk/Spock era, I agree. Don't bother sticking a fork in it, it's dead already. Paramount leave Star Trek to the fan filmers, at least they can get it right and be entertaining at the same time.

  9. Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise?!? by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 4, Informative

    NOoooooooo! Why not Brendan Gleeson? Both Him and Gary where born in 1955, so they're the same age. And Brendan looks and TALKS much more like what I would settle for a Scotty. I could see Sinise as McCoy, hell he even looks a bit like him. Ohhh wait.. submitter got it wrong. Sinise will be McCoy and James McAvoy is going to be Scotty. James McAvoy?!?!?!? He's a slight and frail little man! He's not close to passable as the boisterous and strapping chief engineer before his more plump years. He better start gorging on meat pies.

  10. Not too bad. by Cyno01 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'm a pretty big trek fan (currently watching all of it in chronological order), and these casting choices dont seem terrible. I hope the movie is better than the last two, although nemesis was kind of ok, but i think trek could use a rest. Watching/rewatching all of it has given me some perspective on all the series compared to watching them randomly in syndication on spike. So far IMHO, DS9 S4-7 > TNG S4-7 > DS9 S1-3 > TOS > TNG S1-3 > ENT S3-4 > VOY > ENT S1-2 > TAS. That may change, i may split voyager up, but im only on the first season of it/the third season of DS9 right now and i havn't seen an episode of voyager since it originally aired. General conclusions are still DS9 is the best, TNG is overrated, and ENT is very underrated. Oh, and Star Trek V still sucks.

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:Not too bad. by mrchaotica · · Score: 2, Interesting

      After having gone back and watched all of ENT (in order), I've actually come to the conclusion that it didn't suck after all. Perhaps it's still not quite up to DS9 or later-TNG standards, but I think it gives TOS a run for its money (that could also be due to the fact that I'm young, so I'm not viewing TOS through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia).

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    2. Re:Not too bad. by Edward+Teach · · Score: 2, Funny

      The old adage still seems to hold: Even numbered Star Trek movies don't totally suck.

      --

      Setting his threshold to 5, Sparky eliminated most of the trolls on /.

    3. Re:Not too bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. ENT is very good.

      TNG > TOS > ENT > DS9 > VOY

    4. Re:Not too bad. by Skreems · · Score: 1

      That's not saying much, though... I mean, TOS really kinda sucked. DS9 4-7 and TNG 4-7 were some decent sci-fi, but the writing and acting pretty much everywhere else in the franchise blows quite hard.

      --
      Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
      The Urban Hippie
    5. Re:Not too bad. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Aside from the really lame ways in which they utilized time travel on numerous occasions (as cheesy as it was, though, I think the aliens working with nazis thing was the most plausible way they could hide funny-looking aliens on earth given all the nazi propaganda about having mysterious secrets and shit) I think Enterprise was actually a fairly decent show. I cared a lot more about most of the characters than I have ever cared about any prior character except Marina Sirtis' boobies. And when Manny came in to try to save the show, he did a damned fine job. He had the slate pretty much swept clean, in as elegant a fashion as possible, when they terminated the project.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Not too bad. by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1

      Season 4 was enough to fix the rest. I gave up somewhere in 3... bought season 4 thinking that it couldn't possibly be worth the $100. I was floored. I stopped just before it got good.

      No wonder they canceled it.

    7. Re:Not too bad. by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      You apparently missed the last two even-numbered Trek movies.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    8. Re:Not too bad. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A guy I used to work with explained it this way. Command beards make the show.

      TOS - no beards - sucked
      TNG first few series - no beards - sucked (ignore Worf - he wasn't in command)
      TNG later series - Riker had a beard - cool
      DS9 first few series - no beards - sucked
      DS9 later series - Sisko with beard - cool
      Voyager - no beards - sucked
      Enterprise - no beards - sucked

      So if Janeway had grown a beard Voyager would have been cool!

      (posting anon as mod points used in this thread)

    9. Re:Not too bad. by TheMadcapZ · · Score: 2

      She had a bearded clam, if she took it out once in a while ratings would have gone up.....along with my lunch.

    10. Re:Not too bad. by profplump · · Score: 1

      There was nothing wrong with ST:X. Just pretend it was ST:II with a new cast:

      Evil clone dude hates Enterprise captain. Evil clone dude plants mind-controlled spy with Enterprise captain. Spy fails, but evil clone dude gets starship and nearly destroys Enterprise in conventional battle. Enterprise eventually hides in nebula, causes significant damage to clone dude's ship. Clone dude is mostly disabled but activates super-destructo-weapon with a really, really long countdown sequence. Enterprise is no longer being shot at but cannot escape the super-destructo-weapon in time. Science officer transfers his mind into another character, then sacrifices himself to save Enterprise. Evil clone dude dies when the super-destructo-weapon goes off, Enterprise makes it away safely.

    11. Re:Not too bad. by feepness · · Score: 1

      After having gone back and watched all of ENT (in order), I've actually come to the conclusion that it didn't suck after all. Perhaps it's still not quite up to DS9 or later-TNG standards, but I think it gives TOS a run for its money (that could also be due to the fact that I'm young, so I'm not viewing TOS through the rose-colored glasses of nostalgia).

      No way. I watched TOS in the early 80s as a wee lad and loved it... but I thought ENT was highly underrated as well.

      It started out poorly, but the last two seasons really shaped up. Too bad they were expecting so much.

    12. Re:Not too bad. by Skreems · · Score: 1

      That's an awesome theory. It may actually have some basis in logic, too. The ultra-sterile futuristic space thing of the beardless seasons gives way to deeper characterization, and an integration of the fact that these are still humans despite the fancy technology.

      The new BSG series managed to be awesome without beards, although I have to say this season has been my favorite, and Baltar went all mountain man there too...

      --
      Slashdot needs a "-1, Wrong" moderation option.
      The Urban Hippie
  11. Oh jeez... by Cyno01 · · Score: 1

    I didn't RTFA, so i didnt catch that. So scotty is the kwisatz haderach now?

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:Oh jeez... by tm2b · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, but he might be the Kumquat Haagen-Dazs.

      --
      "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
  12. The Navigator by deathcow · · Score: 4, Funny


    Funny One:
    http://www.videosift.com/video/George-Takei-respon ds-to-Tim-Hardaways-homophobic-comments

    I wonder who will replace our flamboyant navigator.

    1. Re:The Navigator by Evilest+Doer · · Score: 1

      I wonder who will replace our flamboyant navigator.
      Sulu: "Let it be known, Kirk. Someday, when you least expect it, I *will* have sex with you! Bwa-ha! Bwa-ha! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
      Kirk: "Ssuuulluuuuu!"
      --
      I feel like death on a soda cracker.
    2. Re:The Navigator by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd rather they made a movie about Captain Sulu of the Excelsior. It was a good-looking ship with a dignified captain in the coolest-looking era of the series. Those old bridges actually seemed like the command center of a starship.

    3. Re:The Navigator by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I'd rather they made a movie about Captain Sulu of the Excelsior. It was a good-looking ship with a dignified captain in the coolest-looking era of the series. Those old bridges actually seemed like the command center of a starship.
      I was hoping for a Captain Sulu movie. The very brief glimpse of him in that role in ST6 was enough to sell me. I think he'd be a kick-ass captain.
      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  13. Not only are they beating a dead horse.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're making glue...

  14. Good news! by edwardpickman · · Score: 1

    The Raliens have managed to clone all the original stars. In 18 years they'll be able to do Star Fleet academy with all the original actors! Next thing to tackle is a time machine so the fans don't have to wait nearly two decades for the new series. Paramount is so confident that time travel will be perfected that they have scehduled the premiere of the new series for this Fall.

    1. Re:Good news! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear Sir, Madam, or other xenosexual life form:

      We regret to inform you that your plan is in violation of the Temporal Prime Directive. This thread will cease to have ever existed. Thankyou for your time. No, that was not a pun.

      ---------

    2. Re:Good news! by fellip_nectar · · Score: 5, Funny

      This is Slashdot. You may not post "Good News" without the "Everyone".

      --
      Worst. Signature. Ever.
  15. Hey. Stop it. by cbrichar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Seriously.
    Quit it.

    Star Trek was a fantastic series - heck, I enjoyed all of the runs, which is more than a lot of fans would claim - but if you want to bring back the brilliance and optimism of Roddenberry's world (FTA), you don't do it with a "when-they-were-young" storyline which would most assuredly contain:
    1 - A necessarily predictable storyline, to the extent that we know who manages to pull through into their later years.
    2 - Shameless references to the more familiar versions of the characters (e.g. A young Scotty trying unsuccessfully to fix a coffee machine and making references to a lack of available power OMGHILARIOUS.)

    So yes.
    Stop it.
    Okay?
    ...okay.

    1. Re:Hey. Stop it. by SamSim · · Score: 1

      One of these days I want to do an "Ask Slashdot: What would you do with the Star Trek franchise?"

    2. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      One of these days I want to do an "Ask Slashdot: What would you do with the Star Trek franchise?" Write a story announcing that the entire Star Trek universe was a fiction created by The Master within the Doctor Who TV series, created to distract nerds everywhere from his plans to take over the universe and turn Tom Baker into Peter Davison :-P
      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    3. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Mjlner · · Score: 1

      1 - A necessarily predictable storyline, to the extent that we know who manages to pull through into their later years.
      Well, at least the guy in the red shirt lives, right?
      --
      Lemon curry???
    4. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Flyboy+Connor · · Score: 5, Funny

      How about: "Star Trek: The Crusher Adventures", in which Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, of course, who is about the right age now) uses his Traveller powers to explore far reaches of the Universe. During the first six or seven episode, Wesley roams the known part of the Galaxy to round up a crew of ultra-geniuses whom he can also teach the Traveller gifts. No Vulcans, since they are too "logical" for such advanced knowledge, and no Klingons because they are too stupid. Several humans, of course, such as Mature-Guy, Black-Guy, and Hot-Babe, and several aliens, such a Plaster-Face, Funny-Hair, and a CGI-generated energy-based lifeform. Perhaps even Orion-Slave-Girl. While originally being able to travel without any visible means of transportation, Captain Wesley decides in season 2 that it would be a good idea to have a cool ship, as a place to call home and to transport aliens and goods. As an hommage to his mentor, he calls it the USS Traveller.

      I am joking, of course, but I would not be surprised to find that this has already been the subject of several novels and a whole lot of fanfic.

    5. Re:Hey. Stop it. by shadowcabbit · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How about: "Star Trek: The Crusher Adventures", in which Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, of course, who is about the right age now) uses his Traveller powers to explore far reaches of the Universe.


      Been there, done that. Actually, come to think of it, there's no storyline that the Trek folks could come up with that someone won't say is ripped off.
      --
      "Why Subscribe?" Good question...
    6. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Jesus_666 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually, they have an all-new concept:

      - Scotty has wry humor and uses the sentence "I'm an engineer, Jim, not a *" all the time.
      - McCoy maintains that logic is the answer to everything.
      - Spock has slept with every female on the planet.
      - Uhura can fix any machine in half the time she should be able to.
      - Kirk is rarely seen without a metal dongle in his ear. And a mini skirt. Starfleet Academy wasn't his most glorious time, you see.

      Also, every character who wears any kind of red uniform cannot be killed by any means whatsoever. Indeed, Starfleet is experimenting with ship plating made of redshirts.

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    7. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3 - The unlikely assumption that all the major members of the enterprise's crew all went through academy at the same time, knew each other well, and were friends.

    8. Re:Hey. Stop it. by nine-times · · Score: 1

      It's really not clear that it's going to be a "when they were young" movie. It's not as though Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise are teenagers. It might just be a "before they were old" movie, meaning a rewrite of the original series.

    9. Re:Hey. Stop it. by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 2, Funny

      Star Trek: Klingon Glory

      They aren't the most cunning warriors in the empire. They get in alot of trouble, sent on a mission to protect the backwater sectors. But it all works out in the end.

      (Cameos by Dorn and Frakes)
      Captain Riker: "These have to be the stupidest klingons I've ever met!"
      First Officer Worf, holding forehead in his hand, just sighs...

      Mostly as a Lone Gunmen-esque action comedy, complete spoken in thlinganHol with subtitles. It could work!

    10. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      If Wil Wheaton had made this post, Taco would have upped the Funny mod up to 6, just for him.

    11. Re:Hey. Stop it. by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      Just think of it as a non-gay version of Dr. Who.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    12. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      For me, Star Trek was always about the future. I was cool with Star Trek as long as they stayed with that premise. Funny thing about it, now that they have charted the future history of that universe through Voyager and Deep Space 9 anything previous to that is about the *past* and not the *future*. I refer specifically to First Contact and to the Enterprise show. Can't stand either one of them. Sorry, I just can't.

      Bring back the exploration, the mystery, the OMGWFT is that thing eating a planet and how do we stop it. Lets see the andromedans attack the federation along side some other extra galactic race. Wow me, be imaginitive, do something different, just stop making all the reruns that never were. And yes, I agree, filling in all those historical blanks just means that we will see the same old jokes and all the wink-wink-nudge-nudge references to stuff they already did the wink-wink to in a movie, and frankly, thats just tired.

      Give me back the future. That's why people started watching Trek in the first place.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
    13. Re:Hey. Stop it. by kshade · · Score: 1

      I'd start a war*. Then I'd focus on the stories of several crews of the different factions. Benefits:

      • It's not "us against some evil, drug addicted alien forces" - Character development on both sides
      • Officers /can/ die, not only redsirts
      • Spotlight on romulan spies behind enemy lines, a bunch of klingons on their wrecked ship seeking a way to get their warp drive running again etc, not only federation bussines
      I think it could work and feel "new".
      * Yes, we had DS9, but I never liked it all that much for the pseudo-spirituality, the Defiants varying levels of power (really, first they have troubles fighting a dominion vessel, couple of episodes later they blow them up like space invaders) and so on.
    14. Re:Hey. Stop it. by Pablo+El+Vagabundo · · Score: 1

      "How about: "Star Trek: The Crusher Adventures", in which Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton, of course, who is about the right age now) uses his Traveller powers to explore far reaches of the Universe."

      Is it me or does this sound like a really good show!!

      Maybe I need to lie down.

  16. Matt. . . by rodentia · · Score: 1

    Damon.

    --
    illegitimii non ingravare
    1. Re:Matt. . . by cold+fjord · · Score: 4, Funny


      Damon, Matt..... so the Ferengi are in it too?

      Lets just hope the audience doesn't just walk out screaming:

          We've been Khaaaaaaaannnnnnneeeedddd!!!

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    2. Re:Matt. . . by nytes · · Score: 1

      Godammit! I never got that joke until just now!

      --
      -- I have monkeys in my pants.
  17. Watch for the iguana to pop out... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...and William Shatner to cameo as a futuristic Priceline.com commercial salesman, dockside

    ---
    +1 for creative use of CAPTCHA

  18. We come in peace (shoot to kill) by hack++slash · · Score: 1

    Just in case, set phasers to suck.

    Look what they did with Lost In Space, took a classic 60's tv show and turned it into a complete Hollywood schlockfest of a film. Here's hoping there's some people involved with the creative side of the film who are die-hard Trekkies to steer it in a good direction.

    *feeling a little guilty he likes the LIS film and is actually quite looking forward to a new trek film*

    --
    To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
  19. Shatner is Kirk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    1. Re:Shatner is Kirk by anagama · · Score: 1

      Awesome. Love the crater.

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
  20. I can't say those actors are a bad choice. by AbRASiON · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I mean, I'm not a gargantuan star trek fan - I enjoyed 4 (who didn't?) I loved 2 and well the original series is camp fun at best.
    Also TNG is good but yeah I'm not a circle jerk star trek loon (sorry guys, I know I should leave now)

    honestly I don't see a need for anything to be re-made BUT - well gee wizz those 3 actors are pretty darn good for their roles.
    could be interesting.

    1. Re:I can't say those actors are a bad choice. by textstring · · Score: 1, Funny

      it's ok, you can come out of the closet on the internet

  21. The cast by C4st13v4n14 · · Score: 0

    Matt Damon and Adrien Brody as Kirk and Spock I can see. But Gary Sinise as Scotty? I think someone mucked up the rumour mill there, Gary Sinise looks more like Dr. McCoy.

  22. Gary Sinise? by nytes · · Score: 1

    Maybe I'm old, or too into older movies (or both). I've enjoyed Sinise in most of what I've seen, but I feel the aura of Peter Lorre every time I hear he's in something. Is that a proper character for Scotty?

    "She would always treat me mean, so I took a can of gasoline (and a match) to... my... old... flame."

    --
    -- I have monkeys in my pants.
    1. Re:Gary Sinise? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Besides, he more resembles Bones than Scotty.

  23. Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Cordath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not going to claim that Star Trek was the most original piece of entertainment ever conceived. (They could have called it The Forbidden Planet: Weekly) However, it was at least somewhat fresh since nobody had made a TV show quite like it before. (just movies) Some of the subsequent spinoffs managed to carve out their own niches, but the last couple (i.e. Voyager and Enterprise) were unabashedly formulaic retreads. Boldly going where no man had gone before somehow became little more than cashing in on an old idea. Safe Trek. Safe Trek became marginally profitable Trek and eventually TV ratings rat poison.

    So what does the franchise need? A couple years of laying fallow after the abysmmal Nemesis? (I am one of the few nuts who dutifully went to see that flick in theaters. I wanted to like it very badly. It was an even numbered Trek episode after all! But what did they give us? Picard expounding upon the appreciation of finer things in life, such as joy-ridding through pre-contact societies in a monster truck.) Well, Nemesis did suck, but its Enterprise that really killed Trek off. Sure, maybe it got better in its third season, but who was watching after the first two seasons?

    Now, I'm sure we could debate the finer points of why Enterprise lost its audience for days. However, I would contend that there was one insurmmountable problem with the show that made it a sure fire failure.

    TV Series #3 aboard the freakin' Star Ship Enterprise.

    The Star Trek universe is vast and filled with limitless possibilities. Why keep going back to the same bloody ship? Give us a border-patrol ship with the rejects and misfits of the acadamy instead of a bunch of the same boringly perfect people. Heck, dive into the seedier side of the Trek universe. Give us a show about the orion syndicate or privateers. Heck, even Maquis terrorists would be a change. (Voyagers crew didn't really count since they were perfectly assimilated into perfect star trek life from day #1.)

    Is this against Gene Roddenberry's vision? It's against his vision for the *first* Star Trek show. However, if the fellow were alive today I'm sure he'd realize it's time to move on and open up other aspects of the Trek universe instead of retreading the Enterprise yet again. Just because the setting is less than ideal doesn't mean your characters can't tell inspirational tales. (Likewise, despite its "perfect" setting one could easily critisize Enterprise for turning the Vulcans into hypocritical pricks and relentlessly extolling superiority of mankind like aryan suprecists.)

    That being said, not only are we going back to the Enterprise (If not in this movie, certainly in the sequels, profits allowing), we're retreading the same characters! It's possible J.J. could make a good movie, but frankly, be choosing to do yet another retread of the same tired old Trek he's really making things more difficult for himself.

    1. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Cordath · · Score: 5, Funny

      P.S. I'm posting about Star Trek while sloshed. Life can sink no lower.

    2. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by 1u3hr · · Score: 1
      Heck, dive into the seedier side of the Trek universe. Give us a show about the orion syndicate or privateers.

      Just watch Firefly and imagine Star Fleet logos on the Alliance uniforms.

    3. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, maybe it got better in its third season, but who was watching after the first two seasons?
      It's true, I've been catching the odd rerun and many episodes are actually quite watchable. The other things that killed it for me initially were that appalling soft rock theme song and crappy scheduling (in the UK.)

      I definitely agree that Trek should get grittier with more imperfect, and hence BELIEVABLE, deeper characters; when DS9 was at its best it was really good for that reason. However, the fact that DS9 was never as popular as TNG ratings-wise may sadly persuade the studio execs away from that direction.
    4. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wanted to like it very badly. It was an even numbered Trek episode after all!


      Ahh... though it had the promise of an even numbered Trek, don't forget that it was also a multiple of five, dooming it to suck to high heaven.
    5. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Kev_Stewart · · Score: 1

      For someone who had never seen Star Trek, Enterprise was probably quite entertaining in it's own right.

      However, the Star Trek brand carries with it SO much baggage, it was never going to succeed. It would have been so much better if it had been called something else - WITHOUT the Star Trek branding. It could have appealed to all those folks who rave about BSG now. Or better still, it could have been a cross between Battlestar Galactica and Space: Above and Beyond(one of the most underrated sci-fi series IMO) ...maybe with a hint of 24 thrown in ;-) Capt. Jack Bauer drilling holes in the sensitive body parts of space terrorists. Yeah

    6. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Dimentox · · Score: 1

      Thats why i liked DS9.. It was not a damn Ship it was different! They could totally do something in the ST universe.. but they want fam. not new.

      --
      string sig = llGetSig("dimentox"); llSay(0,sig);
    7. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by sconeu · · Score: 1

      For someone who had never seen Star Trek, Enterprise was probably quite entertaining in it's own right.

      However, the Star Trek brand carries with it SO much baggage, it was never going to succeed. It would have been so much better if it had been called something else - WITHOUT the Star Trek branding.


      It was. The first two seasons were simply called "Enterprise".

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    8. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I dunno about Roddenberry's attitude. He was quite against what he viewed as the militarization of his universe, but since he had lost effective control, all he could do was bemoan it. Let's face it, he was an unapologetic idealist, but the audiences rarely were. That's why a more philosophical piece like The Motion Picture was always viewed as being inferior to the action-packed gunship film Wrath of Khan.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    9. Re:Boldly going where we went in the Sixties... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm posting about you posting about Star Trek while sloshed while sloshed. Life can sink no lower.

  24. Resuming by OpenSourced · · Score: 3, Interesting

    who said the film will 'embrace and respect' Trek canon, but will also 'chart its own course.'

    Resuming, it'll 'embrace and extend'. I just hope the warp drive keeps compatibility with earlier versions.

    --
    Rome taught me patience and assiduous application to detail. Virtues which temper the boldness of great, general views.
    1. Re:Resuming by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

      A photon torpedo wants to destroy your port nacelle.

      [Cancel] [Allow]

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  25. Film by committee by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The series were successful in other time, where what they offered was novel, and wearing spandex as a uniform wasn't ridiculous.

    I can't be too wrong that they will come out with a mix of references/cliches from the original series, in attempt to please the fans, and also try to modernize everything, to make it look plausible for a new audience.

    The result would likely be something like the upcoming Transformers movie. Pissing off both the fans and the new audience looking for a serious movie in attempt to please both.

    It doesn't matter however, since a new Star Trek movie isn't about movie making. It's about reusing a very very popular brand to sell many tickets. Even if it sucks, many people will go to see it.

    1. Re:Film by committee by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The result would likely be something like the upcoming Transformers movie. Pissing off both the fans and the new audience looking for a serious movie in attempt to please both.
      The Transformers movie isn't even out yet. How can you make such statements?

      (For the record, I liked Transformers when I was a kid, although I was never a hardcore fan; I am looking forward to the new movie. The trailers made me mildly giddy.)
    2. Re:Film by committee by suv4x4 · · Score: 1

      (For the record, I liked Transformers when I was a kid, although I was never a hardcore fan; I am looking forward to the new movie. The trailers made me mildly giddy.)

      A version of the full script leaked out and people reacted very negatively against it. Full of cliches, we have also "the nerd gets the girl in the end" moment other such non-sense.

      The trailer confirmed not much of the script has changes as well. When people reacted negatively to the early Superman script, it was dropped and rewritten (granted to something very bland, but at least not absurd). We don't have this situation here.

      I can tell you that there's no such a situation out there: a good movie with a terrible script. Of course, the effect might redeem seeing the movie in the end: It's a bunch of giant battle robots that can turn into cars. They got the kids for sure.

  26. This *could* be a good move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Personally I'm a prequel hater. Every time I think of what I'd do if I had to produce a new ST movie, the answer is always like this:
    put it a hundred years after the last episode of any ST series, throw away all commodities (holodecks, food replicators, etc), start from the point when something terrible happened that left a bunch of inhabitable planets in the entire galaxy and make the crew(s) go around to see what happened and reorganize things. Make it so they have to travel at low speed in small ships then, maybe, after a half season they discover a bigger federation spaceship that the above didaster didn't touch, etc.
    Another possible plot would involve the exploration of a different galaxy, which would bring the good premises Voyager had (being alone,far from home) without the sucking technobabble, but this time life must be very rare (ie, not a new alien race every episode). Of course one could mix the two plots and make a seres about a federation fleet that reachs a distant galaxy to find that something destroyed nearly all lifeforms. The point is that if you bring a powerful spaceship filled with healthy people into a space full with developed planets, the show's scifi factor disappears and it soon becomes a fanta-politics show. That can work for 4 episodes in a year, not for 25.

    Now, about this prequel, the only way to make it productive IMO is to throw away everything, and I mean everything, we know about ST after the first series, movies and good series (DS9) included.

    If they'll start from scratch a new ST concept and will develop it further after that prequel, this could really be a good move.
    I'm not holding my breath though.

    1. Re:This *could* be a good move by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      throw away all commodities (holodecks, food replicators, etc), start from the point when something terrible happened

      And make it postapocolyptic?

      Alright, between TOS and TNG, we added the holodeck, we fleshed out the transporters and assorted technobabble a LOT, formed an alliance with the Klingons, added cloaking technology, made the communicators tiny, eventually added a holographic version of the viewscreen -- and that's just what our own race discovered.

      It wouldn't necessarily satisfy all Trek fans -- and nothing ever could, really -- but I know for a fact that we have plenty more ideas for what we could do with technology. Certainly, we easily have enough to step a few hundred years into the future, and add completely new technology, people, and plotlines (and kill off some of the old ones).

      Just for starters: Peace with the Romulans, conquer or subdue the Borg. The Dominion isn't theatrical enough, and I'm not entirely sure what to do about them. All of these things are stories which should be told, but not in a movie, and not with a huge budget -- Star Wars tied this kind of thing up nicely by throwing the whole Clone Wars into a cartoon miniseries between ep2 and ep3.

      And what would the enemy be? I don't know. I actually liked the first Star Trek movie, although it was a bit predictable and WAY too slow, and borrows some ideas from one of the episodes. But whether you like it or not, it's the right approach for any more Trek movies: something completely out of nowhere, refreshing and new for longtime fans, and also accessible to newbies (since you can't rely on decades of Trek trivia if you're inventing something truly new).

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  27. LOST in space by goombah99 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I heard the working title of it was going to be "LOST in Space"

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:LOST in space by Ed+Avis · · Score: 1

      Since Star Trek was originally called 'Wagon Train to the Stars', this would have some precedent.

      --
      -- Ed Avis ed@membled.com
    2. Re:LOST in space by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't get it: why is the latest Enterprise the NCC-4 8 15 16 23 42?

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    3. Re:LOST in space by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      I don't get it: why is the latest Enterprise the NCC-4 8 15 16 23 42?

      Because the shuttle that came with it is called the Powerball 3.
  28. Old news by kahrytan · · Score: 1


      This is an old rumor from StarTrek.com. I've known about for few months now. This article just confirms CBS' support for the fan movie.

        I think any true Star Trek will be glad to see Rick Berman and Brannon Braga won't be involved in the movie. I hope JJ Abram calls in support from Majel Roddenberry if she can help out. No one knows Gene's dream better then her.

    Also, check out StarTrek.com's article.

      Maybe next year, CW will have some Trek marathons to advertise the new movie.

    --
    \
  29. Obligatory by popo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Mmmaaaatt Daaaamon

    --
    ------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
    1. Re:Obligatory by gbjbaanb · · Score: 4, Funny

      Spock: "Captain, the warp coils are overloaded and the enemy has us locked in weapons range".

      Kirk: "Yes Spock, looks like we need a montage".

  30. Just like MI III by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's interesting - I used to have this professor at Oxford, okay? Doctor Wickham, his name was and he was, like, this massive fat guy, you know? Huge, big guy. We used to call him - you know, well, I won't tell you what we used to call him, but he taught biomolecular kinetics and cellular dynamics. And he used to sort of scare the underclassmen with this story about how the world would eventually be eviscerated by A BAD STAR TREK FILM. You see, it was inevitable that a BAD STAR TREK FILM would be created which he referred to as the 'WORST STAR TREK FILM EVAH'. It was like an accelerated mutator or sort of, you know, like a, an unstoppable force of destructive power, that would just lay waste to everything - to buildings and parks and streets and children and ice cream parlors, you know? So whenever I see, like, A FILM COMPANY willing to spend this amount of money on a mystery STAR TREK FILM, I always assume... it's the WORST STAR TREK FILM EVAH. End-of-the-world kinda stuff, you know... But no, I don't have any idea what it is. I was just speculating.

  31. Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You may as well spit on the Koran and burn the bible: there is no such thing as a non-Shatner Kirk.

    Fools! The movie will flop, just like all the other remakes, and you can go back to the drawing board trying to figure out how to convince Trek fans to spend more money than they already have on a franchise you built to such geeky specificity that anything but the original is merely a misty shadow of its former glory.

    Here's a hint, you gomers: the instant you mix well-known non-geek-adored actors with angsty dystopian plots into the geek-dominated positive-outlook Star Trek universe, all the geeks out there no longer empathise with the characters or feel the familiar hope that Trekkie escapism provides and you're just wasting your stupid-ass time.

    Life's bleak enough without you idiots making more Blade Runner hopelessness with impossibly good-looking male actors that no geek could ever feel anything but thinly-veiled jealous contempt for.

    Bah.

    1. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      there is no such thing as a non-Shatner Kirk.

      <trekkie>Actually, you'll find at least one episode in which Kirk switches bodies with a woman. That woman is Kirk, and most definitely is not played by Shatner.</trekkie>

      But seriously, give the man a chance. It could be much worse -- at least they aren't trying to replace Picard. Matt Damon can laugh, I imagine he can act, and he certainly can do physical violence. All he really needs is the arrogant swagger. Because that's really what Kirk did -- swagger arrogantly, get his shirt ripped, beat up the alien, and fuck the hot alien chick -- in other words, just like Riker.

      I don't like them replacing Kirk, but I don't think Matt Damon is such a bad choice.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    2. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by Peet42 · · Score: 1

      Why not spend Matt Damon's salary on giving James Cawley (http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/) acting lessons? It could only benefit the Trek universe as a whole... :-)

    3. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 1

      I imagine he can act
      As a matter of fact, he can It's not the greatest, or the most original movie, but he doesn't do a bad job.
      --
      You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
    4. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by paganizer · · Score: 1

      I sort of think we need to wait until virtual thespian's get more advanced before they try to do any more Kirk stories; you Just Can Not Replace Shatner as Kirk.
      And...Damon is too pretty, in my opinion.
      On the other hand, I think he is a pretty good actor. maybe he could pull it off? He is about the right size and build.

      --
      Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
    5. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by sig226 · · Score: 1

      "I imagine he can act"

      Since when is that a prereq?

    6. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by paganizer · · Score: 2, Informative

      One of the reasons shatner did so well as Kirk was because he brought a couple of things to the roll that were just exactly right, namely the bearing (if not the sensibilities) of a Naval captain. Swagger arrogantly is a little bit of a cheap shot, and not accurate.
      Besides, Riker was wrong. a lot. he did have a lot of obvious Kirk mannerisms, but he missed being a kirk-like figure by a large margin; Kirk was set up and described repeatedly as a Tactical Genius, War Hero, and the best problem-solver the federation had.

      --
      Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
    7. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by Guerilla*+Napalm · · Score: 1

      The only way I can support Damon as Kirk, was if he died in the opening credits of the movie. In a horrible way.

    8. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by llZENll · · Score: 1

      Anyone who is associated with Ben Afleck can't be good.

    9. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by pl1ght · · Score: 1

      Shatner is definitely not one who can be replaced by anyone easily, if at all. But its going to be done and it has to be done. I never would have placed Matt Damon in the role, but the more ive heard and read about it and looked at Matt Damons track record and acting, the more convinced i become that he is one who could potentially pull it off. Ive boggled my mind trying to think of another actor who could possibly do it, and always come up emtpy. At least Damon could probably make a valiant effort to play Kirk. We all just need to keep in mind that no one will replace shatner and we shouldnt expect as much. Gary Sinese on the other hand looks like a Perfect fit for McCoy. Their looks are uncanny.

    10. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Somehow, I just don't think that would be enough.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    11. Re:Matt.. Damon.. as Kirk?! by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 1

      Kirk was set up and described repeatedly as a Tactical Genius, War Hero, and the best problem-solver the federation had.

      Set up? You could certainly say that. It really does seem that Kirk often just got lucky. Tactical genius a few times, but problem solver? He does seem to get them into problems as much as he gets them out... a bit like Riker.

      But yes, Shatner did Kirk well, and I do think Damon can do Kirk well, though of course it will be a bit different -- a bit like James Bond changing over the years.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
  32. Probably another time travel episode by Dachannien · · Score: 2, Funny

    Adrian Brody as Spock, huh?

    The plot: Kirk, Spock, and crew travel back in time to early 21st century Earth using the tried-and-true slingshot effect. They are arrested by police for their suspicious activities as they recon various historic landmarks in the United States. When a policeman removes the dew rag that Spock is wearing around his face, Kirk must convince him that Spock's appearance is due to a childhood accident in which his nose was caught in a mechanical rice picker.

  33. Who are these uninitiated? by tm2b · · Score: 2, Funny

    They're going to worry about it being viewable by the UNINITIATED? Like, the 3 of them who will see this movie?

    Guys, you've already lobbed ten of these over the fence and saturated 2nd tier television stations with reruns of the myriad TV versions. ANYBODY (okay, anybody who was older than 6 when the last one came out) who is likely to see this stinker is pretty going to have to know at least the basics about Star Trek - except perhaps for that Bedouin family that's been lost in the deserts of Cleveland since the Korean war ended 24 years ago.

    Of course, they'll probably have to find a mysterious advanced technology device from the past, with a drawing of Kirk embedded in its design along side a warning. No worries, that's actually Kirk's sister. Spock's father will play a role in having deceived the Andorians into helping form the Federation, and his mother will have hidden his lost sister away behind a mysterious hatch on a jungle moon. Everything will go topsy-turvy when the Klingons take off their masks and turn out to have been from Secion 31 the whole time, and everything will end with no satisfying explanation having been given for any of this. But by that time, everybody will have forgotten why they entered the theater in the first place.

    --
    "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
    1. Re:Who are these uninitiated? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please clarify... The Korean War ended in 1983?

    2. Re:Who are these uninitiated? by tm2b · · Score: 1

      There are clues in the same sentence in that reference-laden riff. What famous mass media character was from Cleveland and made jokes about being a Bedouin? And, what TV show was the biggest event exactly 24 years ago this night?

      Follow the link above for the answer. It was the most watched episode of any TV show in history.

      --
      "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
  34. Did someone say April 1st? by ravenspear · · Score: 1

    OMG! PONIES!!!!!!!

    1. Re:Did someone say April 1st? by Linker3000 · · Score: 1

      Ah, April 1st - the day when I seriously contemplate checking out Digg but generally end up at Fark or doing some work.

      --
      AT&ROFLMAO
  35. New Star Trek Movie? by jdubois79 · · Score: 1

    khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

    * Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
    * Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.

    --
    --------
    Nothing can be done before the tremendous power!
    RabidComics
  36. oblig ... by joeyspqr · · Score: 1

    It's a trap!!

    --
    +1 fashionably cynical
    1. Re:oblig ... by TommydCat · · Score: 1

      So, trap?
      Trap.

      We going in?
      Only but a few hours out...

      Yeah, but remember the part where it's a trap?

      --
      This comment does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the author.
  37. I just hope by clickclickdrone · · Score: 2, Funny

    That they are found by the Galactica and Adama promptly puts them all out their misery.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    1. Re:I just hope by J-Doggqx · · Score: 1

      Just launch them out of the airlock.

      --
      END OF LINE
    2. Re:I just hope by Versatile+Dinosaur · · Score: 1

      Yeah, sure. The most any of the Battlestar Nuerotica crew could manage would be to kill a few red-shirts. After that the Neurotica would be an expanding ball of debris.

  38. Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by iamacat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We need a different film for a different society. People no longer expect computers to be operated with fixed touch panels or consoles to explode from feedback as if 802.11n remote controls were never invented. More fundamentally, US audience would no longer accept "USS" Enterprise as total do-goders. More likely, we'll support Cardassians in their fight against ruthless and religious Bajorian terrorists.

    1. Re:Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by clickclickdrone · · Score: 1

      Wish I still had some mod-points - insightful+1

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    2. Re:Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by tm2b · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Wireless controls on a warship (or a vessel likely to be in engaged in combat) seems like a really bad idea. One good jamming at the right frequency (or, say, an EMP), and the ship is dead in the water. Worse, they get your encryption key and now you're fighting on the enemy's side (and no, that's different from what Kirk did to the Reliant in STII:WoK).

      Warships need to be hardened. The Galactica is the right idea - heavily shielded cables.

      --
      "It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
    3. Re:Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by gbjbaanb · · Score: 1

      The first series was shockingly different not because of the 'advanced' technology, but because of its portrayal of a society where we've put aside our petty tribal differences. I mean, they had a *black* *actress* as a major character.

      To do the same kind of shock today would need a female Muslim character in charge of the photon torpedoes, a gay security chief, and a Frenchman for captain.

    4. Re:Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Wireless controls on a warship (or a vessel likely to be in engaged in combat) seems like a really bad idea. One good jamming at the right frequency (or, say, an EMP), and the ship is dead in the water.

      Quite true. This is why they would use fiber. You can even transmit power that way, if you don't need much power, and it's quite resistant to surges. Even imagining this with current technology, you could send the light to run the display down a fiber cable, and use DLP-style tech from the side with reflectors to get a nice flat display with good contrast and that runs without much local power.

      Even if you hardwire the fucker, though, has no one ever heard of a fuse? Or better yet, a circuit breaker?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Just like bringing "I love Lucy" back by aquabat · · Score: 1

      To do the same kind of shock today would need a female Muslim character in charge of the photon torpedoes, a gay security chief, and a Frenchman for captain.
      well, two out of three ain't bad:

      TNG: Captain Jean Luc Picard.

      Enterprise: Lieutenant Malcom Reid.

      --
      A republic cannot succeed till it contains a certain body of men imbued with the principles of justice and honour.
  39. JJ Abrams? by Cinnamon+Whirl · · Score: 1

    The guy who ran both Alias and Lost into the ground inside three series?
    Great....

  40. What about Ewan McGregor? by ZeusAndHades · · Score: 1

    What about Ewan McGregor? He looks and acts like a young William Shatner.

    --
    -=Zeus=And=Hades=-
    1. Re:What about Ewan McGregor? by micpp · · Score: 1

      And have people confusing the two large sci-fi franchises with "Star" in the name?

    2. Re:What about Ewan McGregor? by gmb61 · · Score: 1

      Actually Ewan would be better playing Scotty, since he really is Scottish. Another good Scot to play Scotty would be Gerard Butler from "Phantom of the Opera" and "300".

  41. kill it by rucs_hack · · Score: 4, Insightful

    No really.

    It was good, well in places it was great, but not everywhere, but all they are doing is trying to get more money from a story that has been told and retold until they are inescapably trapped in a quagmire of ever repeating storylines.

    Enterprise was a good example. They assembled a team of great actors, then forced them to regurgitate shit storylines until even the diehard fans started to cry out in pain. Its the only star trek where if I see its on I won't flick over to watch it.

    If they left it for a decade or three that might be good. Let the dust settle, let some fresh talent tackle the story in a new way.

    1. Re:kill it by ghjm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You must have missed the last season of Enterprise. It sucked for a long time, but it got good again - right before they cancelled it.

      -Graham

    2. Re:kill it by rucs_hack · · Score: 1

      I had heard that they changed writing style and went to a three episode story arc thing for the last season. However it was too little too late, by that time I was so fed up with the awful writing that had preceeded it that I'd given up on the series.

      Out of morbid curiosity I did watch the last episode. It was sheer desperate self congratulatory nonsense, I struggled to stay watching.

      When it comes to new style star trek (as in post original series) that had to be the worst ever final episode, closely followed by DS9's finale (and I liked that series). The final voyager episode did suck on first viewing, but then it grew on me, becoming rewatchable. The only really good finale was the tng one, which stands out as being an interesting story with great acting, one of my favorite star trek double episodes.

    3. Re:kill it by ghjm · · Score: 1

      Yeah, the final episode blew chunks. A lot of people stopped watching midway through the first or early in the second season, then tuned in for the finale and said "yep, didn't miss anything." Except they did. The third season really was worth watching.

      -Graham

    4. Re:kill it by zippthorne · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Yes, that's a common complaint. However, most of the episodes were actually pretty good. Even the shameless super-anachronistic vague Borg reference episode.

      You clearly suffer from what I like to call "Bad Theme Song Syndrome." The theme song was so unbelievably not-trek that you couldn't get over that (and your misplaced nostalgia: no trek has ever been the height of literary greatness) and enjoy some good television.

      Further, there was only one character who was static and uninteresting, but still miles ahead of the previous character played by Scott Bakula.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    5. Re:kill it by p3d0 · · Score: 1

      You flick over to watch Voyager? Now that was an awful series. It should have been the story of Chakotay, former rebel suddenly called upon to take a second-fiddle position to a Federation captain for the good of everyone lost in the Delta quadrant. Think of the conflicts and drama that could have arisen. Instead, upon entering Voyager's bridge, he instantly transmuted into the Supreme Good Guy, and the story shifted focus to Harry "cure-for-insomnia" Kim and Cooking With Neelix.

      --
      Patrick Doyle
      I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
    6. Re:kill it by DreamingReal · · Score: 1
      I feel exactly as the grandparent poster did. Enterprise was unmitigated shit, IMO. I faithfully have watched every incarnation of Trek, knowing some was great, most was good, and occasionally there was a stinker in the bunch. But that show was unwatchable. I suffered through the first two seasons hoping that the "creative" team could find their stride and start turning out passable television. Not so. It is a shame that it did get better towards the end because it seemed as though they were trying to polish a turd by that point and most of us who left weren't coming back.


      That said, your post is condescending and unoriginal in the extreme. You clearly suffer from what I like to call "An Arrogant Trekkie Choad Who Regurgitates A Thoroughly Discredited And Tired Argument Syndrome". I liked the theme song but thought the show blew donkey dick. Other people hated the show AND hated the theme song. I don't think anyone would argue that if they had done a classical theme song in the tradition of earlier Treks, then the show would have been a smash hit. Except you.


      Obviously something went horribly wrong with Enterprise that drove away legions of long-time faithful fans. If you're not discerning enough to see a reason other than a contemporary theme song, then I'm not surprised you would label a show "good television" that the rest of us consider a steaming load from Berman & Braga.

      --
      We want some answers and all that we get
      Some kind of shit about a terrorist threat

      - Ministry
    7. Re:kill it by MrDoh1 · · Score: 1

      Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one that watched every episode of Enterprise and liked every one. OTOH, I did not like DS9 past the first season or so, and never liked voyager at all. I did also like TOS and TNG, heck even the TAS.

      --
      I am Homer of Borg. Resistance is Fut.. Mmmmmmmm, Donuts!
    8. Re:kill it by rucs_hack · · Score: 1

      dammit, now I have that themesong running round my head. You're right though. I sat down to watch episode one, and was reduced to a shocked silence by the theme song.

      Every episode of the few I watched after that was muted until the last few dregs of theme tune crept through the digibox and slunk away in shame.

    9. Re:kill it by rucs_hack · · Score: 1

      Yes I do watch voyager...

      three reasons:

      1: seven of nine.

      2: seven of nine.

      3: seven of nine.

      I rest my case.

  42. This Movie Will Rock If They Cast Ben Affleck As by MCTFB · · Score: 1
  43. emmmm...No by master_p · · Score: 1

    The new Trek does not have to be like the old one. As our world progresses into the future, there are new things to tell, and Star Trek is a perfect environment for it.

  44. What I want to know is when by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 1

    is Paramount going to bring back the TV franchise. Before "Enterprise" reared it's ugly head - I thought they had a sure fire winner-in-waiting with the USS Relativity. I'm a sucker for the time-travel episodes, and the appearance of what looked like a very non-temporary bridge set for the Voyager episode it appeared in (which was a hoot btw) had all the ingredients of Dr. Who and the Star Trek universe.

    This is pissing in the wind of course, but I'm curious if anyone else might like to see something like this?

    I mean the whole point of a good science fiction series is providing as open-ended structure as possible to hang good stories. Time travel is a godsend in this regard.

  45. Re:great by Broken+scope · · Score: 1

    Then you went back home and got beat on by your dad because he is a mean drunk who drinks to forget the fact that his football dream never happened and that his son will probably never amount to anything either.

    --
    You mad
  46. Eh just make Star trek continue forward by Gamecraze · · Score: 1

    Screw prequels, that got us Star wars 1-3 and enterprise. All of which are inferior to the older one's. Continue after voyager. Rehire the DS9 writers that went to 4400 and continue it. I personally want a Borg invasion of the alpha quadrant but that's just me. We've seen Star Trek in peacetime, and avoiding war, so how about alliances against a common foe. Besides almost every Borg ep of all the series that had them + the movie are the best Trek episodes anyway, so just go with it. Exploration for added allies and defense technology, is a good goal to me.

    1. Re:Eh just make Star trek continue forward by Jesus_666 · · Score: 1

      I personally want a Borg invasion of the alpha quadrant but that's just me.

      Are we talking about the TNG Borg (aka "Oh shit, Borg. We're so dead") or the Voyager Borg (aka "Look, it's the Borg. They'll die if we make really mean faces")? I mean, really, from TNG to Voyager the Borg have been so massively gimped that one single Federation ship managed to destroy the collective while using its transport infrastructure at the same time. The post-Voyager Borg would be about as much of a threat to the Federation as a bar brawl at Quark's.

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    2. Re:Eh just make Star trek continue forward by wolf369T · · Score: 0

      Yeah, that TNG-Borg were the "real" ones. I remember wainting a full week to see the part II of TBOTBW (on TV, no torrent or eve Internet access back then). I was absolutely terrified by them (only 13 years, or so). And I also don't understand why the Borg in VOY are green-ish and how could a ship lost 78,000 ly from home, with limited resources, to penetrate a quadrant full of Borg... USS Voyager can be a better ship then NCC-1701-D, but still.

  47. Battlestar Dramatica? by IdahoEv · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I just hope that they are found by the Galactica and Adama promptly puts them all out their misery. Not bloody likely, now that we're in season three of Anguishstar Dramatica. When was the last time anyone fired a weapon or flew a ship in combat on that show? I think Adama's crew is getting soft on military tactics.

    OTOH, if the Enterprise crew needs a showdown debating the finer points of depression, suffering, love triangles, class struggle, and generalized angst, Adama's crew will lick 'em good.
    --
    I stole this sig from someone cleverer than me.
    1. Re:Battlestar Dramatica? by Nemi · · Score: 1

      Oh, how I wish I could mod you up. My fav show of all time has become Grey's in Space. It is a sad time.

    2. Re:Battlestar Dramatica? by 14CharUsername · · Score: 1

      Yeah, we should abandon the phrase "jump the shark" and replace it with "atmospheric viper launch". It's simply amazing to witness a series go from such a spectacular highpoint to pure shit in so short of a time.

    3. Re:Battlestar Dramatica? by darkshadow · · Score: 1

      We need a Homeboys in Outer Space movie.
      http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115206/

      --
      -Darkshadow (There was a thing called Heaven; but all the same they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol.)
    4. Re:Battlestar Dramatica? by clickclickdrone · · Score: 1

      Depends what you want from a program, I guess. Personally I love it. I can only think of one duff (the boxing one) and one half duff (Adama's wife - duff/Chief in airlock - good) episode to date.

      --
      I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
    5. Re:Battlestar Dramatica? by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Good point. Battlestar is a soap opera set in space and they STILL use shakey-cam "technique" (some cinematographer probably thinks that it still looks "edgey" and causes viewer eyeballs to pay attention). I can watch it for about 10 minutes and then I tune out.

  48. Welshie!!! by ndb · · Score: 1

    The real question is who will play Welshie!

  49. Don't forget by Snaller · · Score: 1

    Britney Spears as Uhura - it is a reboot after all, ment to appeal to the masses (the new masses - the old ones went into coma after Berman mistreated Star trek over the years)

    --
    If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    1. Re:Don't forget by boxlight · · Score: 1

      No -- Britney Spears as Lt. Ilia.

    2. Re:Don't forget by markov_chain · · Score: 5, Funny

      No - Britney Spears as Picard.

      --
      Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
  50. Surprise news by johnw · · Score: 1

    I didn't even know that Star Trek had taken Christmas 2008. Surely that was the grinch?

  51. And there's that scary phrase by Badfysh · · Score: 1

    "Our goal is to make a picture for everyone -- life-long fans and the uninitiated"

    Whenever I read something like that, I know it's going to be crap. It's a dead giveaway that their only motivation is to catch as wide a demographic as possible. "For everyone" can be translated into "not too techie, not too geeky, not too clever, plenty of explosions, hero gets the girl" etc. In other words, an average movie for average people. Surely by now they know that any Trek production has to be written for the fans in order to be successful.

    --

    I was conned by an old man in a cloak. It turns out those *were* the droids I was looking for.

    1. Re:And there's that scary phrase by srobert · · Score: 1

      "not too techie, not too geeky, not too clever, plenty of explosions, hero gets the girl"
      But wasn't that what made the original series successful?

  52. YAY by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They did 3 prequels, now they are gonna go after the original 3!
    I don't know what characters you guys are talking about, guess I didn't pay enough attention.
    I wonder if Luke will teach Leia the force. Can't wait till '08!

  53. Re:Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise by duffetta · · Score: 1

    Sinise. No. Mike Myers would be a much better Scotty. His accent alone qualifies him. Especially if he can find the ogre suit.

  54. "The Death of ... Schlock? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



    'Cmon people! Give it a Rest already; for oh, at least a Generation or so....

    That which is not Dead
    Can unchanging Lie
    And with Strange Eons
    Even Death may die.....
                    -H. P. Lovecraft

  55. Re:Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise by HatofPig · · Score: 1

    But... Scotty wasn't fat during the show! Maybe he plumped up for the movies (can't put that widescreen to waste!) but during the TV show he was pretty fit (he was in the military for number of years) and this movie takes place before the show, so he should be a lean, mean, engineering machine.

    --
    Silicon & Charybdis McLuhan Kildall Papert Kay
  56. Dominion Federation War Movie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What they should do, is a movie that takes place during the dominion war. It doesn't even have to include much of DS9. They could do it from the perspective of a few different ships and crews, perhaps with some minor involvment from both Enterprise E and the Next Gen crew, and the Defiant and the DS9 crew. There's lots of potential there for some really good space battles with all new footage, as well as things like the Breen attack on earth, the loose of Bajor to the Dominion, etc. It could make an INCREDIBLE movie. Too bad they're going to do a shitty sequel instead.

  57. I'm worried. by Nullav · · Score: 1

    Does this mean they'll be using these?

    --
    I just read Slashdot for the articles.
  58. People like cool new technology not old stuff by ken-doh · · Score: 1

    we like metaphasic torpedoes and ablative armour etc etc. not silly old warp 7 and photons we learned that no one cares about a grappler and a few laser cannons... PLEASE for the life of god pick up the next gen or a later series.. we need new enemys from a different quadrent and cover the death of the federation - like andromeda was supposed to do - but never did cause it was not trek

  59. thinkofthechildren tag missing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After seeing the rumored casting the first though that came to mind was:

    "Won't someone think of the children!"

  60. False Information by johndmann · · Score: 1

    This post shocked me at first. It states "Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise will play Kirk, Spock, and Scotty, respectively." Gary Sinise as Scotty?! I just couldn't fathom that - he looks nothing like him. Accent could be faked, but still - Sinise?

    I went and checked the 'source' which clarifies that Sinise is thought to be playing Leonard "Bones" McCoy, not Scotty. The original author wrote, "Recent rumours have also suggested that Scottish actor James McAvoy might be in talks to play engineer Montgomery Scott..." Which makes a bit more sense.

    Sometimes I wonder how closely the media pays attention to the source when they are writing their stories. Obviously in this article, not very much.

  61. Re:This Movie Will Rock If They Cast Ben Affleck A by TheVelvetFlamebait · · Score: 1

    How could you say no to that site design!

    --
    You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
  62. MAT DAAAAA-MON MAT DAAAAAA-MON 8-O by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You are a huge nerd *comic dog robot voice*

  63. Interesting Casting by divisionbyzero · · Score: 1

    Matt Damon as Kirk might be interesting. I could see Sinise as McCoy (not Scotty!). But there is no way on earth Brody is going to play Spock. It ain't gonna happen.

  64. Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I definitely agree that Trek should get grittier with more imperfect, and hence BELIEVABLE, deeper characters; when DS9 was at its best it was really good for that reason. However, the fact that DS9 was never as popular as TNG ratings-wise may sadly persuade the studio execs away from that direction.

    The thing is, what sets Star Trek apart from other sci-fi shows is exactly that it isn't gritty and believable. It is sci-fi in a near-perfect universe. The ships are clean inside and out, and the uniforms are pressed immaculately (unless the bridge is already on fire). When an entire starship blows up, the crew of the Enterprise take it stoically. Whole wars go on, yet the main characters are mostly unaffected either physically or emotionally. Poverty is eliminated. Medical science can cure almost anything.

    Compare and contrast with any of the other major future/space sci-fi series in recent years, from Babylon 5 to Battlestar Galactica. Consider the obvious plot device of killing off a character...



    [[[Warning: Spoilers for early Star Trek films, early TNG series, Voyager finale, Babylon 5 season 4 and early reimagined BSG series follow]]]

    In the TNG episode Thine Own Self, Troi is training to become a command officer, and is faced with a dilemma of sending a friend to his death to save the ship in a simulated test. In the Babylon 5 episode The Long Night, Sheridan sends a whole group of Ranger ships to certain death for real, with no guarantee that his plan will even work. He asks the captain of the lead ship whether he's married, after he's given the order. The episode later watches Sheridan sitting in his office listening to the radio chatter as they all die.

    In the final episodes of Voyager, we see an alternate Janeway sacrifice herself for the good of her ship. It's brief, and then we're back to celebrating. In B5, Sheridan is told long before leaving for the Shadow homeworld that if he goes there he will die, and deliberately chooses to go anyway. The story arc of the consequences of that decision runs right up to the final episode, Sleeping in Light, set 20 years after the main story. That last episode contains one of very few TV moments that still brings a tear to my eye.

    In one of the early Star Trek movies, Kirk's son is killed by a Klingon. Kirk swears and makes a pained expression. In BSG, Adama's son is killed in an accident, caused by the negligence of someone very dear to him, and we see the consequences and how they both have to live with it.

    [[[End of spoilers]]]

    You can look at many other issues from the series the same way. In Star Trek, we have hints of underclasses. In B5, we have the area of "down below", which features prominently in several episodes, where real people suffer real problems because of real mistakes. In Star Trek, when a shuttle is in trouble we bounce it off an atmosphere and tractor beam it home. In BSG, it crashes or explodes, killing or stranding whoever was on board, even if there are major characters involved. In Star Trek, admirals are good guys or traitors. In BSG, we have the whole Pegasus story arc, where very bad stuff happens because two good people have different perspectives.

    Basically, the thing that makes the Star Trek franchise different from everything else is the fact that their universe is clean and tidy and full of good people Doing The Right Thing(TM) and with a happy ending to each episode. Many other series have done Gritty Realism(TM) already, probably better than anyone in the ST world ever will. They should not go there.

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
    1. Re:Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Nimey · · Score: 1

      That last episode contains one of very few TV moments that still brings a tear to my eye.


      Dammit, now you've got me all wanting to cry.
      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    2. Re:Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since you've clearly seen it all, you may be amused that Gaeta is frequently called a Star Trek character in a BSG universe. :)

    3. Re:Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that Star Trek should remain Star Trek. The Federation is a model for Doing Things The Right Way (at least from our point of view). I only wish they had to face (more) situations that couldn't be neatly resolved through teleporter magic or some other contrived plot device, and show how they would still uphold their principles in the face of tough decisions. And it wouldn't always work out for the best.

    4. Re:Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Durandal64 · · Score: 1

      The thing is, what sets Star Trek apart from other sci-fi shows is exactly that it isn't gritty and believable. It is sci-fi in a near-perfect universe. The ships are clean inside and out, and the uniforms are pressed immaculately (unless the bridge is already on fire). When an entire starship blows up, the crew of the Enterprise take it stoically. Whole wars go on, yet the main characters are mostly unaffected either physically or emotionally. Poverty is eliminated. Medical science can cure almost anything.


      Which makes it utterly boring. It's a universe designed by nerds. Notice how there is basically never any mention of team sports in TNG. I remember when I liked the show, but it has not aged well. Watching TNG episodes now is like watching paint dry. They're boring and predictable. Even with talent like Patrick Stewart, there's only so much that can be done. At least the new Star Wars trilogy had action and a non-utopian atmosphere to go along with the shitty acting. TNG just has uninspired space battles (where ships sit, unmoving about a kilometer apart and fire at each other), a world that is so perfect that you want to gag and puke and actors that were made to be wooden boards for their duration on-screen.

      The good Star Treks have always been the ones that don't focus on how perfect everything is and do actually focus on plausible situations which create drama. In Star Trek II, Khan killed people. In the bloody fashion, not the sanitized "OMG they vaporized!" nonsense that TNG has. In Star Trek VI, Kirk has to come to grips with and overcome his own racism and prejudice. In TNG, there's no such thing as racism! (Except from one non-human species to another, of course. Humans are "enlightened", by and large.) In Star Trek: First Contact, Picard has to deal with his hatred for and desire for revenge against the Borg, which his own society frowns upon like a disappointed parent.

      There have been Star Treks which dealt with actual real-life problems in an actual, real-life way. And they were all very good. It's the shit ones that are different. And different, in this case, is not better.
    5. Re:Gritty can be good, but it's not Star Trek by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

      I see what you're saying, and I don't think I disagree with it. But with the possible exception of Khan, the examples you described still come from that nice, clean, tidy universe. The good guys still win, at least the vast majority of the time. If The Best of Both Worlds had been an episode in a darker series, the final line would have been "Feeling... is irrelevant" in a monotone voice, with a slow turn of the head to show that the Borg modifications had grown back.

      --
      If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  65. Better yet, Ben Affleck as Kirk by turing_m · · Score: 1

    He can do the swagger, he can do the arrogance and has similar acting ability/range. What's not to like?

    --
    If I have seen further it is by stealing the Intellectual Property of giants.
  66. What about "The Watchmen"? by StressGuy · · Score: 1

    I've heard there are plans to make that into a movie....my understanding is that it also does not "end well".

    Then again...they could do the "Count of Monte Cristo" treatment to it.

    For that matter, the original Count of Monte Cristo did not end well, nor does Casablanca....but those are "old movies", so perhaps you have a point.

    --
    A goal is a dream with a deadline
    1. Re:What about "The Watchmen"? by mstahl · · Score: 1

      I've heard there are plans to make that into a movie....my understanding is that it also does not "end well".

      Maybe that's why it's been delayed and un-announced multiple times since I first heard rumours about it two years ago. I'd love to see it made into a movie, but I don't really know if the general movie-going populace would like it as much as I liked the comic books.

  67. Jin from Lost to play Sulu by BarneyL · · Score: 2, Interesting

    According to this article http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/767/767783p1.htm l Daniel Dae Kim ("Jin Kwon" on Lost and also had minor parts in both Enterprise and Voyager) is in early talks to play Sulu.

    1. Re:Jin from Lost to play Sulu by databoing · · Score: 1

      He was also the telepathic first officer (forgot the character's name) on the Babylon 5 spinoff "Crusade".

    2. Re:Jin from Lost to play Sulu by kindbud · · Score: 1

      Daniel Dae Kim also played the second in command of Excalibur on "Babylon 5: Crusade" so he also has TV sci-fi cred.

      --
      Edith Keeler Must Die
  68. I dunno... by Vacardo · · Score: 0

    Lt. Dan as Scotty?? Heh...

  69. Who has taken Christmas 2008? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I didn't know it was missing.

    Where is it now?

    Do we want it returned?

  70. I can see it now! by ZonkerWilliam · · Score: 1

    "Star Trek XII:The Search for Ben"

  71. Shatner: "Matt Damon will not play Captain Kirk" by Brian+Cohen · · Score: 1

    Why not get the answer from Shatner himself?

    Sorry about the split video and bad quality, my camera has a small SD card and I didn't expect the question to be asked. A fan had asked Shatner if Matt Damon was playing Kirk the day after I showed him this at the dinner party.

  72. casting? by Secret+Rabbit · · Score: 1

    Matt Damon as Kirk, ok
    Adrien Brody as Spock, ok

    I can see this. But, Gary Sinise as Scotty? Don't really think that'll work well. He looks more like a Bones to me.

  73. SPACED by Burning+Plastic · · Score: 1

    It's inevitable, just as night follows day, sure as eggs is eggs, just like every odd-numbered Star Trek movie is shit...

    --
    [All Your Fish Are Belong To Us]
    1. Re:SPACED by k_187 · · Score: 1

      Because number 10 was sooo awesome. I will admit I haven't seen it, but with all the ill-will I've heard about it, I don't want to.

      --
      11 was a racehorse
      12 was 12
      1111 Race
      12112
    2. Re:SPACED by Burning+Plastic · · Score: 1

      Meh, it's a quote...

      OTOH, X wasn't a bad movie with the exception of who they killed off...

      --
      [All Your Fish Are Belong To Us]
  74. Scotty, Checkov, Sulu, and Uhura by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kirk, Spock, and Bones is a good place to start, but it takes more than 3 to fly the enterprise.

    Any suggestions for the rest of the crew?

  75. Re:Shatner: "Matt Damon will not play Captain Kirk by pl1ght · · Score: 2, Informative

    He said he wasnt signed from what i could hear. Doesnt say anything definitive about Matt Damon not being able to play the next Kirk still.

  76. The Trek Franchise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Star Trek isn't a dead franchise, TV has changed since TOS, or even TNG, Star Trek needs to be edgier and more realistic to appeal to today's audiences, Enterprise was getting there right before it was canceled. Captain Archer got cool for a few episodes and just about the time I felt like my religiously watching the show was going to pay off, they canceled it. The writers need to quit looking at the past Star Treks as a template for new ones. They should look to the books, William Shatner writes a compelling version of the Federation and Starfleet where it's powerful, but it's not totally indestructible as the shows and movies depict it. They need to do a show where The Federation is in jeopardy, facing a complete breakdown of the entire infrastructure. Show a captain who doesn't do everything by Starfleet regulations, TV shows should never be held back by bureaucracy. Thats what made TOS great, you had a captain who loved the Federation and Starfleet, but did what he thought was right, regardless if it was at odds at what Starfleet thought was right. It made for a compelling character. And make the episodes compelling, where you really wonder what the hell is going on, one of my favorite Trek Episodes is 'Frame Of Mind' Where Riker starts out in a mental institution and doesn't know whats real and whats not. They should try to confuse the viewer in each episode like that, without using cheap tricks to do it so you have a chance to figure things out. Have a serialized story line where not everything is wrapped up in a nice package at the end of 40 minutes. All these things with some really great writing and actors, keeping the original moral undertones and modern day allegory that Star Trek is famous for in tact. And I guarantee another great star trek with good ratings could be made. But until the mesh the best of the old Star Treks with modern television storytelling, they won't have anything but another 'Enterprise' or 'Voyager'

  77. Dancing With Spock by goombah99 · · Score: 1

    planned spinoffs include
    Dancing with Spock
    Federation Idol
    Transparent Aluminum Chef (with shatner)
    Richard Simons Kilingon Workout
    More?

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
  78. Sigh who modded you interesting by technoextreme · · Score: 1

    You can look at many other issues from the series the same way. In Star Trek, we have hints of underclasses. In B5, we have the area of "down below", which features prominently in several episodes, where real people suffer real problems because of real mistakes. In Star Trek, when a shuttle is in trouble we bounce it off an atmosphere and tractor beam it home. In BSG, it crashes or explodes, killing or stranding whoever was on board, even if there are major characters involved. In Star Trek, admirals are good guys or traitors. In BSG, we have the whole Pegasus story arc, where very bad stuff happens because two good people have different perspectives.

    Obviously you haven't watched enough Star Trek because even I know that your argument is a completely wrong. All of those issues were dealt with in DS9 and is probably the main reason why I can't watch BSG because plot wise they are essentially the same. Substitute the Cylons with shapeshifters and you essentially have the same plot points and issues for good reasons.
    --
    Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
    1. Re:Sigh who modded you interesting by Darth · · Score: 1

      That makes sense considering that the basic structure, characters, and most of the elements of the story arcs for DS9 were literally stolen from B5.

      --
      Darth --
      Nil Mortifi, Sine Lucre
    2. Re:Sigh who modded you interesting by technoextreme · · Score: 1

      That makes sense considering that the basic structure, characters, and most of the elements of the story arcs for DS9 were literally stolen from B5.

      Which would in turn make BSG a ripoff of a ripoff. Then again the whole entire plot points may just cliched to the point of oblivion.
      --
      Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
  79. Prediction - JJ Abrams by XenoChron · · Score: 1

    Since JJ Abrams is doing this I'll make a prediction and say that he'll use the exact same plot element he's used in almost everything he's ever done. He'll start the movie by showing you the ending and then the entire rest of the movie will be a whole series of flashbacks or one big one if we're lucky. Oh, someone will get tortured too.

  80. Christmas 2008 by howman · · Score: 1

    You, Klingon. What's today?
    nuq?
    What's to-day, my fine turtle head fellow?
    To-day? Why, It is a good day to die sir!
    A good day to die, I haven't missed it. Do you know the Targ merchant on the next street, at the corner?
    p'tahk! Of course I do!
    An intelegent Klingon! Do you know if they've sold the prize Targ that was hanging up there?
    Dor-sho-gha! Of course it is!
    Go and buy it.

    --
    flinging poop since 1969
  81. Ok, so the pre-Kirk serie flopped... by Yvan256 · · Score: 1

    and now they're making a movie "Kirk beginnings"... That sucks. Seriously.

    What I found fun to watch were those "Alternate Universe" episodes, including the fake propaganda against the Voyager crew. Using borgs as weapons, destroying anyone who dared annoy Janeway, etc.

    Since there's much less "history" already told by only a bunch of episodes (of almost every series), it would be easier to came up with a story that didn't mess with the original Star Trek history.

  82. Question by rlp · · Score: 1

    I lost track - is this an even or odd StarTrek movie?

    --
    [Insert pithy quote here]
  83. One correction... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 3, Funny

    Instead of Will Smith, get Samuel L. Jackson.

    "Fire the GOD DAMN PHASERS AT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS."

    --
    Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    1. Re:One correction... by sorak · · Score: 2, Funny

      Instead of Will Smith, get Samuel L. Jackson.

      "Fire the GOD DAMN PHASERS AT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS."

      I don't want to see "Snakes on the Defiant"

    2. Re:One correction... by cashman73 · · Score: 1

      Instead of Will Smith, get Samuel L. Jackson.

      "Fire the GOD DAMN PHASERS AT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS."

      I don't want to see "Snakes on the Defiant"

      Didn't they already do an episode of, "Tribbles on the Enterprise." Granted, Samuel L. Jackson in that episode would've been great!
    3. Re:One correction... by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

      > Didn't they already do an episode of, "Tribbles on the Enterprise."
      > Granted, Samuel L. Jackson in that episode would've been great!

      I do not, in fact, grant that.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    4. Re:One correction... by subl33t · · Score: 1

      "I don't want to see "Snakes on the Defiant"" ...or "Pulp Science Fiction"

    5. Re:One correction... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get these motherfucking cardassians off my motherfucking spacestation!

  84. Risa based TV series by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Looking at how well Baywatch did, and soap operas do,
    just set the next whole star trek tv show on
    Risa .

    The only Star Fleet people you see are the ones who land.
    Interesting relationships and backstory development.

    A pleasure planet, full of eye candy.
    Who wouldn't watch that every week!?

  85. Roddenberry's vision, updated by ProteusQ · · Score: 1

    RODDENBERRY: "Hi, I'm Gene Roddenberry, and I want to introduce to you my vision of the future. It's one where humanity evolves into a higher form than it is now -- no, I don't mean we grow wings or turn purple! I mean where humanity's consciousness evolves. Where we rise up against our petty differences and create future of tolerance, happiness, and --"

    JIHADIST: "Jihad!"

    RODDENBERRY: "I'm sorry, I wasn't done speaking about the glorious future that I see for us."

    JIHADIST: "In your future, does Allah rule the world?"

    RODDENBERRY: "No, everyone's an atheist essentially -- like me -- huh, huh, huh -- but --"

    JIHADIST: "Then my mission is clear: I must kill you to please Allah and get my 72 virgins in Paradise!"

    RODDENBERRY: "Kill me?! Why? Don't you see that in my future everyone will enjoy free love and there will be no jealousy and -- put that sword down!"

    JIHADIST: "You disagree with Allah! Allah be praised! Die, infidel, die! And by the way: it's a scimitar, not a sword, wuld ilgahba!"

    RODDENBERRY: "'Infidel'? Isn't that somewhat extreme?! I embrace all creeds and cultures -- except certain Christians who don't believe me when I tell them about the glorious future I envision. But I have lots of friends who aren't atheists! Buddhist friends, Muslim friends --"

    JIHADIST: "Muslim?! Like who?"

    RODDENBERRY: "Well, my assistant, Gregory Ali, for one!"

    JIHADIST: "Ma tunfukhhumlish! I don't believe you!"

    RODDENBERRY: "Well, I'll call him. Greg?"

    GREGORY: "Yo! What's up?"

    RODDENBERRY: "Well, this scimitar-wielding gentleman doesn't agree with my vision of the future and --"

    JIHADIST: "Are you a Muslim, Gregory?"

    GREGORY: "Well, yeah...!"

    RODDENBERRY: "And you support this man in his ravings?!"

    GREGORY: "I work for him if that's what you mean, but --"

    JIHADIST: "Then die!" ::hacks Gregory to death with the scimitar::

    RODDENBERRY: "Gregory! My vision of the future! My carpet!"

    JIHADIST: "We will now recreate your Satannic series based on the premise of the return of the 12th Imam. He rules the world and kills all Jews. After that, we go to space and kill all Jews -- or aliens -- whatever. If you try to stop me, I will convene a press conference to label you a religious bigot and then slaughter all of your wives."

    RODDENBERRY: "I-- I only have one wife...."

    JIHADIST: "You passed up on Uhura? You are not only a pig but an idiot!"

    RODDENBERRY: "But... what about peace and tolerance?"

    JIHADIST: "That comes after all of you infidels are dead! Are you never satisfied?!"

  86. They're returning Christmas? by colinbrash · · Score: 1

    Thank God. I thought we'd never get Christmas 2008 back after I heard they'd taken it.

  87. Christmas Special by plopez · · Score: 1

    I can't wait for the Star Trek Xmas Special. They could broadcast it back-to-back with the Star Wars Xmas special.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  88. A better casting for Spock by AnalogDiehard · · Score: 3, Funny
    Put Keanu Reeves in the role of Spock. Not only would he look the part...

    Kirk: Spock, what is your analysis of that space anomaly that is about to assimilate this ship?
    Spock: Whoa!

    --
    Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
  89. Firefly by lymond01 · · Score: 1

    If they're going to continue a series, it should be Firefly. That is all.

    1. Re:Firefly by ProteusQ · · Score: 1

      I second the motion. I'd give it a looksee despite the factthat Wash is gone. Plus, I was waiting for Weedon write a scene where Mal said: "Jayne! Stop this crazy thing!"

    2. Re:Firefly by Mybrid · · Score: 1

      River Tam meets Spock?

      That might be an interesting conversation.

      Captain Reynolds meets Captain Kirk? Six shooter vs. phaser? Ultimately that depends on who can draw faster and aim better. Star Trek never had a scene where in one shot Kirk killed a guy holding a hostage, doing so without breaking stride of a brisk walk.

      Although, for my money I'd really like to see how Captain Kirk could handle Yosaphbridge.

      That would be fun.

    3. Re:Firefly by lymond01 · · Score: 1

      Although, for my money I'd really like to see how Captain Kirk could handle Yosaphbridge.

      No doubt ending with Kirk's shirt being ripped from his body and him throwing the Assassin bodily over a balcony.

      It's Shatner...how else could it end?

  90. I agree, star trek is dead NT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NT

  91. Pre-Warp Star Trek TV / Movie? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What would be great is a story line that bridges
    the total collapse of civilization, then the rise of
    the Augments, ending the show with Khan, and his crew,
    being driven to escape the planet in that submarine space ship thing.

    The Great Wars , genocide, economic collapse, biological warfare, dictators, fragments of society scraping by to survive, then finally meeting the Vulcans on a fluke test flight.

    First Contact came late, after Khan.

    This time period is untouched, (in the movies and TV show anyway) - are the decades between the fall and First Contact.

    A rich vein of Drama to mine, if there ever be one!

  92. Zachary Quinto should play Spock by amrust · · Score: 1

    I mean, look at him on Heroes, as Sylar.

    Now that's your Spock, right there.

    --
    VOTE!
  93. good news. bad news. by cashman73 · · Score: 1
    Well, on the bright side, at least the movie wasn't handed to Brannon and Braga. I don't think ANYBODY on slashdot would see that movie.

    But on the flip side, I think the whole Star Trek franchise has been pretty much beaten dead. Is ANY producer/director capable of revitalizing Trek? I probably wouldn't even let Spielberg or Lucas have a go at this thing! On second thought, if George Lucas were to do Trek, that might actually end up worse than anything Brannon or Braga would come up with,... ;-)

  94. They're too old by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If this is indeed an 'academy' film I think there will be some issues with the actor's ages here. In 2008, Sinise will be 53, Damon will be 38 and Brady 35. By contrast, in 1966, when TOS went to air, Nimoy and Shatner were each 35 and Kelly was 46.

    ...and TOS was supposed to be *after* Spock had already served for some years on the Enterprise under Pike and Kirk had served on both the Republic and the Farragut.

    1. Re:They're too old by vanyel · · Score: 1

      Speculation about name actors like that is silly. They only way they'd use big names is if they wanted to be in it so bad they took a *major* pay cut. Trek movies just don't bring in Harry Potter/X-Men/Spidey $$$'s any more. It would take some major cahones to gamble that putting names in it would change that, when you're pretty much guaranteed at least a little profit if you use decent unknowns to make it relatively inexpensively. And if JJ does manage to resurrect interest with a good story, they win big with a less expensive production.

      And you're right: if this is to be a prequel, it needs 20-somethings in it.

  95. Starfleet Intelligence by ncc05 · · Score: 1

    The best thing to do would be to move the series forward into post-Voyager time and start fresh. And by fresh I mean "totally different outlook". Just like TOS, TNG, and DS9 represented a lot of the values and goings-on of the 60s and then 80s/90s, a fitting show now in the Star Trek universe would ditch the "ship show" concept and move into something totally different. And thus, a great idea would be a show following people in Starfleet Intelligence. The advantages of this are:

    • More sinister, DS9-like environment (much more believable)
    • Taps into the national psyche right now
    • Hello? Run-ins with rogue Section 31-ers? Perfect!

    Also, this may be off the wall, but I would love to see more of Earth in the late 2300s. Maybe set it in New York, or London, or anywhere other than San Francisco or Paris for a change!

  96. Beyonce as Uhura... by howardcohen · · Score: 1

    ...and do what you want with everyone else.

  97. You, like everyone else by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    stopped watching Enterprise in the second season. It was an excellent show in the third and fourth seasons.

    --

    +++ATH0
  98. Picard by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    had a full head of hair back in the day.

    --

    +++ATH0
  99. Why? by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    I just kept thinking that the franchise has messed up the whole notion of 'what' makes a true Vulcan.

    I think it deepened the concept that "Vulcans have emotions, they just repress their expression, at first, and then seek to abolish them entirely." Not everyone is going to be perfect at that process.

    --

    +++ATH0
    1. Re:Why? by ACORN_USER · · Score: 1

      Very true. But those who have reached the hights of Vulcan power should be the ones who best represent the Vulcan ideal. Te'pal continually acted as though it was that time of the month. Perhaps that's just another aspect of Vulcan physiology which I never picked up on.

  100. George Takei for the win by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    God, that was hysterical. That man is a genius.

    --

    +++ATH0
  101. Fillion as Kirk by whitehatlurker · · Score: 1

    From the suggestion at El Reg, I recommend that there be a write in campaign for Nathan Fillion as James Tiberius Kirk in the new movie. Matt Damon would not be a my favourite choice.

    --
    .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
  102. How about Ray Liotta... by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

    ...as Christopher Pike? If there was a Star Trek role he was born to play after Geoffrey Hunter's demise, surely that's it.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  103. You know, this is a great point by StarKruzr · · Score: 1

    Why are all the fan productions so, so awful? Many of us really COULD do a better job. Can't they, you know, hold a casting call and see if they can't find someone better?

    That said, George Takei is going to be in ST:NV in the next episode, which is pretty awesome all by itself. But yeah. Why do they have to be so uniformly terrible?

    --

    +++ATH0
  104. Re:MAT DAAAAA-MON MAT DAAAAAA-MON 8-O by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Funny

    "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters."

    Triumph robot dog voice: You have read this deeply into an article about the casting of a Star Trek movie.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  105. I Said It.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..When DS9 was out.

    I said it when Voyager was making a mockery of Trek.

    I said it after saying Enterprise would get cancelled, before Enterprise got cancelled.

    KLINGON.

    TREK.

    SHOW.

    Everyone knows the only real value DS9 had were the Klingon episodes. And everyone's tired of Starfleet values saving the day.

    Give us a show about a Klingon ship, with a Klingon crew.

  106. Re:great by MightyMartian · · Score: 0, Troll

    I rather suspect that you were the guy in the Klingon uniform, and you're now fantasizing, wishing that you hadn't been the pathetic prick that you were. The real sad part is that you're still a pathetic prick.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  107. Gary Sinise by darkshadow · · Score: 1

    I always thought, based off old video, Gary Sinise looked alot like a young DeForest Kelley. So, I really think he'd be a better Dr. McCoy, but maybe he isn't in the movie.

    --
    -Darkshadow (There was a thing called Heaven; but all the same they used to drink enormous quantities of alcohol.)
  108. Worst actor choices ever by kindbud · · Score: 1

    OK, Matt Damon may not be bad as Kirk, but Gary Senise was born to reprise the role of McCoy, not Scotty. And Adrien Brody - fuggeddaboutit. We need a crew of scenery chewers, dammit, not this slate of pretty boys. This is Star Trek, for pity's sake!

    Here's my picks for a recast of TOS "The Academy Years"

    Kirk: Seann William Scott
    McCoy: Gary Senise
    Spock: Jason Schwartzmann (although, he will need to stand on a box, but this time Kirk won't)
    Scotty: Billy Boyd
    Commander, Star Fleet Academy: Kurtwood Smith
    Harry Mudd: Samuel L. "Mother Fucking" Jackson

    --
    Edith Keeler Must Die
  109. The time is just not right for a prequil by 56ksucks · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The 24th century was left wide open in the trek universe. DS9 was left open ended and so was TNG. Even though Nemesis was not the best movie ever it was still left open ended. They have enough open endedness in the 24th century to make an awesome sequel before they go backwards. A movie including the return of Sisco, Riker on the Titan, the return of Odo, a peace treaty with the Romulans and Data being resurrected through the memory transfer with the B4 unit would all make a great movie even if Patrick Steward thinks he's too big for Picard's britches. There need not be any Enterprise involvement if we had all this in a movie. That is unless we're going to be given a Star Trek:Titan TV show. Now I'd watch that.

    --

    ---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"

  110. Re:Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise?!?!?! Gary Sinise by garyok · · Score: 1

    James McAvoy is going to be Scotty.
    Oooh, I dunno about that. As a scot (and, oh dear God, an engineer) I'm not sure his performance will feel like Scotty if he has a genuine Scottish accent - it'd lose the vérité somehow. Maybe if they make him say "braw" and "cannae" a lot... Yeah, that'll work.
    --
    One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors - Plato
  111. Worst. Signature. Ever. by Mariner28 · · Score: 1

    Wasn't that a Shatner quote from TOG? :-)

    --
    "A little misunderstanding? Galileo and the Pope had a little misunderstanding."
  112. Help!! by tuxlove · · Score: 1

    rumors are out claiming Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Gary Sinise will play Kirk, Spock, and Scotty, respectively

    No no no nonononooooooooooooooooooo!

    Sacrilege! Nobody else is to play these characters, ever! Especially not Matt Damon!

  113. what about your further enjoyment? by snuf23 · · Score: 1

    Let's say you like a movie. It doesn't make any money. You would have liked to see another one but since there wasn't enough money made there won't be another one. This impacts your future potential enjoyment.

    You see a lot of people seem to feel this way about Serenity..

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.
    1. Re:what about your further enjoyment? by soft_guy · · Score: 1

      Let's say you like a movie. It doesn't make any money. You would have liked to see another one but since there wasn't enough money made there won't be another one You are making the assumption that a sequel to a good movie would also be a good movie. I have not generally found this to be the case.
      --
      Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
  114. Re:MAT DAAAAA-MON MAT DAAAAAA-MON 8-O by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "News for Nerds. Stuff that matters."
    Which one is it?
  115. Matt Damon? by jafac · · Score: 1

    All they need to do is add Ben Affleck, and hand it all over to Kevin Smith.

    Here's a good working title:
    "Jay & Silent Bob Trash the Star Fleet Academy"

    --

    These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
  116. Let Shatner pick the cast ... by Balbas_Scriptor · · Score: 1

    ... as he knows more than anyone about the characters.

  117. Generally yes by snuf23 · · Score: 1

    But you must admit Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was much better than Star Trek the Movie. Hence the potential for greater entertainment does exist.

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.