Actually, I thought AOTC was pretty good -- if you cut out all of the scenes featuring Anakin.
Heh, yeah, ditch the main character and you're fine.
Seriously, I agree with you totally. The only scene in the movie that I really enjoyed was Obi-Wan on that rainy planet discovering the clones. I thought that the clones being based off of Boba Fett's dad was a little cheesy -- clearly Lucas was trying to capitalize on Boba Fett's popularity. And the aliens in that scene were a clear cut ripoff of Spielburg's AI.
So even the best scene in the movie had some serious flaws. As for the love *cough* scenes... yeah, they were truly pathetic. I have died a little each day since seeing that movie.
If it were me, Padme would have rejected Anakin and he would have raped her. That would have signified his journey down the dark side and would explain the pregnancy resulting in Luke and Leia. It would not, however, look good on a lunch box.
Bingo. To me, the real problem with TPM and AOTC was not the overuse of special effects (which was a problem, just not the real problem). It was the awful^3 script.
The best SW movie was Empire Strikes Back. Lucas didn't direct (Irvin Kershner) or write (Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan) that one, and, surprise, it was the best one.
I think the true turning point was the scene in Return of the Jedi where Luke and Leia are talking on that bridge on Endor. Leia is saying, "You have this power? I don't understand." (or words to that effect). It is such poorly written crap. Of course, Brackett didn't figure in on that script, though Lucas did.
Anyway, who really gives a shit anymore what George Lucas is doing? The guy is a flat out joke. AOTC was so pitifully bad that surely he has lost all credibility with the masses.
Until today, I had always suspected, but never was fully convinced that so many assholes read Slashdot.
Posts like this leave no doubt.
This whole thread has been littered by egocentric, self-important assholes who have nothing better to do than insult other people to feel better about themselves.
This is the music that Pete illegally downloaded from the internet
This is musician who performed the songs that Pete illegally downloaded.
This is the money that the musician lost because Pete didn't pay $15 for a CD.
This is the terrorist orginization that is angry at the United States for launching a war against Iraq because American musicians could not raise enough money to have enough rallies and protests to make a dent in the warmongering machine of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
I *have* seen Being John Malkovich and Vanilla Sky, and didn't like her in either.
She wasn't _terrible_ in BJM, but she was outright AWFUL in Vanilla Sky. That movie in general was pretty bad. But that's a whole different conversation.
Yelling a lot and curling up your lip isn't acting. Watching her next to John Cusack (utterly underrated) proves just how overrated Diaz is.
...but you can't fault a film for doing what it sets out to do.
Sure I can!!:)
I thought Quaid was great in The Rookie and Innerspace, but neither movie took itself as seriously as Heaven. I understood the movie attempted to take a look at modern issues through the lens of 50's mentality - I don't begrudge the concept of the movie. But my beef was that it was laid on so thick.
I think the musical score is a perfect example of what I mean. Several times in the movie, after a tense moment, the score kicks up with the bright canary-like music that presents life as perfect and lovely, attempting to push you back in time. But the fifth or sixth time this music is just jammed down your throat, it ceases to become a device and becomes a major hindrance.
I thought Pleasantville did a lot of the same things Heaven attempted without making my teeth hurt. You can appreciate simpler times and the inability to deal with real issues openly without resorting to stupid, stupid dialogue and situations that make no sense. One minute Julianne Moore is crying and the next she's surrounded by African Americans in a bar. Come on!!
I respect what you're saying, and I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate this movie. However, there are other thought-provoking movies that I've enjoyed or appreciated, and this movie just strikes me as strikingly bad.
I think you make some excellent points, and I agree that the movie was visually beautiful and attempted to explore a time and place that really hasn't been tapped much. I would go so far as to say that, had this movie been trimmed to two hours, it would have been somewhat enjoyable.
But I think Day-Lewis' performance is just overrated. There are moments in the movie where he is captivating, and there are moments where you are wondering what accent he will use next. Compare him to Hanks in Catch Me If You Can who manages to maintain the same accent throughout the entire movie. DiCaprio's accent also comes and goes, as do his cuts and scars.
I agree with your assessment, I just don't understand why it receives such lofty praise. Saying some individuals demonstrated great craft is much different (and more accurate) than lauding Gangs as a triumph of cinema and the best picture of the year.
Yes. Tecmo Super Bowl was the greatest sports game ever. You have to compare titles to their peers, and in my opinion, TSB was so far greater than any sports title of its time, it is #1.
When TSB came out, cartridges with batteries that stored information were a relatively new concept. Legend Of Zelda is probably the best example of an early game that carried that feature. Tecmo Bowl was a pretty fun football game, but it didn't have the full compliment of players or NFL teams.
Then Tecmo Super Bowl came out. First, it had all 28 NFL teams. Second, it had full lineups on the field and even backups on the rosters, each with their own attributes that matched their real life personas. Third, it kept track of an entire seasons, statistics and all. The players even had hot and cold streaks. And the game didn't have major bugs or crashes like games released today do.
This game had it all - it was rather amazing in its day, and is STILL a fun game to play. In my personal opinion, TSB is the best GAME ever. But I like sports titles. Best sports title ever? Compared to its peers, IMHO Tecmo Super Bowl is #1.
I am by no means a cinematic expert, but like most people, I enjoy movies and I see my fair share. I think I can appreciate an off-beat, artistic movie (Adaption), as well as a solid dramatic piece (White Oleander) or a hard-edged cop thriller (NARC). You might like or dislike any of those movies, but in my opinion they all have appeal and I enjoyed them.
Far From Heaven, on the other hand, was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I saw it with my two closest friends, and we left after 90 minutes of agony. I've only walked out of one other movie in my life (Bloodwork), and the three of us spent the rest of the evening talking about how painstakingly bad Far From Heaven was.
And then I look at the internet. Almost every movie critic thought Far From Heaven was a masterpiece. Why? The dialogue was painful, the story was farfetched and flat out laughable at times, and I thought Dennis Quaid's acting was a joke (I ordinarily like him). What do these critics see that I am missing?
Anyway, I'm glad that Paul Newman received an Oscar nomination for Road to Perdition. I was greatly disappointed by this movie as Tom Hanks is my favorite actor and the movie just wasn't very interesting. But Paul Newman was stellar in his role and very much deserved a nomination.
Another movie that has received critical acclaim of which I do not understand is Gangs of New York. Leo DiCaprio was pitiful in his role, and Daniel Day Lewis spent half the movie talking like Deniro, and half the movie talking like some guy from Brooklyn. The story was flat out boring - revenge stories have simply been done to death, and this added nothing new. Cameron Diaz was especially bad in this (as bad as she is in everything). Yet this movie received tons of critical acclaim. Why? DiCaprio was very good in Catch Me If You Can, where he could play a young, cocky kid who schmoozes his way through life. But he has no edge, and looking angry for two hours doesn't count.
White Oleander was one of the most underrated movies of the year in my opinion. Alison Lohman was just fantastic in this role, and this movie was very interesting and entertaining at the same time. Minority Report was probably my favorite movie of the year, but was dismissed.
Anyway, I don't understand what makes movie critics tick. Adaptation was an inventive movie, that I liked. I can understand critics liking it. But Far From Heaven and Gangs of New York were total throwaways as far as I'm concerned, and I don't understand how anyone could watch them and come away thinking, "that was great!"
"It's got 3 super hilarious quotes...'no beer no tv make homer something something'"
The next line is Marge saying, "Go crazy", and Homer insanely replies, "Don't mind if I do!!"
And that exchange is just classic Simpsons. It's funny in a way that you can't explain, because you can both laugh at and sympathize with Homer Simpson at the same time.
Picking a best episode is impossible. But I always liked the Planet of the Apes episode, where Troy McLure plays the part of... are you ready... the human! The part he was born to play!!
"I hate every chimp I see... from Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee..."
I have this argument with my significant other all the time. She gets hiccups fairly regularly - perhaps once a month. I haven't had the hiccups in over 15 years.
When I was young, I remember reading an article that suggested hiccups were purely psychological. Since then, I've been convinced that it was purely a matter of will.
Occasionally I'll get a single hiccup - usually after drinking a carbonated beverage of some variety. But I know that hiccups are psychological, and I never have a second hiccup. As I said, this has worked for over 15 years.
My significant other? She swears that it's some biological function. Her hiccups? They last for at least five minutes - sometimes up to half an hour.
Wow... two of the people I put on my "Friend" list are in this thread! This is the highlight of my day.
Don't judge - I'm tied to a desk for eight hours a day, I'll take whatever thrills in life I can get...
Anyway, I buy AMD because they're less expensive than Intel and I've never had a problem with them. Plus, it's sort of the Microsoft-effect. I have grown to detest the big dog in the computer markets, whether it is Intel or MS or Nvidia. It makes me want to support the little guy, so I guess I root for AMD, Linux and ATI.
Of course, I have a GeForce4 VC, but look, it's not a religion or anything.
I suppose the only real substance I'm providing to this discussion is that I'm on my third AMD processor and I've never had a single problem, and I was even overclocking the last one (Athlon 800 -> 950).
Am I the only one out there who likes CDE? It seems like so many people are bashing it because it's... boring? Outdated? Ugly?
Huh?
I'm a UNIX Sys Admin, and I do 99% of my work on... drumroll... a TERMINAL WINDOW. What difference does it make if I have CDE or GNOME or whatever... I'm still using text commands to do my work. VI won't open any prettier in GNOME than CDE.
Anyone out there who actually uses Solaris for a living have a major problem with CDE?
And how many frikkin times to the Romulans have to cross the Neutral Zone before the Feds get off their asses and make some cloaking devices?
Could'nt agree more. I mean, come on already. They should just develop the cloak and say, "ha ha, fool you, we've been making nuclear weap-- err, cloaked ships all along..." Really, the Klingons and Federation should just team up and destroy the Romulans and be done with it.
My girlfriend and I play this game when we watch TNG -- any time Worf is on the bridge and says a line we add, "... stupid humans."
For example:
"It could be a trick... stupid humans."
"We should raise shields... stupid humans."
"We should not allow them to escape..."
Well, you get the idea. It's hysterical to watch his facial expression and body gestures when the peace-loving humans take mercy on --insert alien species here-- rather than blow them to bits. And, ironically, by the end of the episode his concerns are almost always vindicated.
BTW, not sure if it's sadder to know or not know the correct spelling of the Klingon word bat'tleh. I must confess, I had to hit Google myself. Not sure if that makes me less geek or more in check with reality. Most likely neither.
Yeah, but wouldn't it be great to have both?! Minority Report comes to mind as a movie that was absolutely gorgeous, and at the same time had, in my opinion, a terrific script. It didn't have the character depth of the TNG series (my original point all along being the genre of television played to the strengths of the series, which fails miserably in feature length film), but it had a twisting turning plot and a compelling hero. Plus, it examined, albeit superficially, the questions of the future of crime prevention and the inherent dangers of relying on technology.
I can appreciate going to the cinema to see the big picture and full sound. But it would be nice to see a full plot and mature dialogue to accompany it.
Ok, I'll take that bet. I'm willing to wager that all of the following lines can be appropriately attributed by the faithful readers here at Slashdot...
I have never been a fan of the original series or Voyager/DS9/Enterprise. I could hardly be called a Trekker or Trekkie or whatever. But I do love The Next Generations seasons 3 through 7, and in my opinion, that show ranks as one of the top ten of the past 20 years.
What worked so well with TNG was a blend of an ensemble cast and fantastic writing. The viewer cared about the relationships between the characters -- Geordi and Data forging a friendship despite the latter's inability to love, Jean-Luc's unwielding stoicism in the face of his crew's attempts to humanize him. Furthermore, the scripts were just great -- they came up with interesting ideas and stuck to a space trek, rather than try to create some sort of epic battle of good vs. evil and sprinkle in one-liners. Who didn't cringe in Insurrection when Data said, "Saddle up. Lock and load?" He didn't say those sorts of things in the TV series because each episode was (as much as can be expected) consistent and well planned. Data's role was that of artificial life desperately trying to grow in a manner impossible. That, in itself, is epic.
These movies continually attempt to appeal to a broader audience and insist on childish humour instead of intellectual wit. The result is a frustrating mix of my favorite cast and crew with a pedantic, immature script.
Finally, the TV series worked well because it was only an hour long and there were 20-25 episodes a season. With that format, you can devote an entire episode to Worf hurting his back or Geordi turning invisible (twice). Each character could be featured for an entire episode, such that at the end of seven years we had a closeness with each. These movies clear emphasize Data and Picard, and the rest are sadly shoved to the background.
I already have my ticket for Nemesis which I'll be watching in about six hours and I'm excited. I suspect there will be plenty to be disappointed about, but I still care about these characters and will watch them until they stop making movies. But in retrospect, it would have been so much better to have a few more years of the TV series than these movies. And as for critics -- well, they assured me that Attack of the Clones was good. And I have died a little each day since wasting that eight bucks.
Slashdot Mirror
Just a quick scan reveals that A LOT of U.S. military folks are replying to this thread.
Yes, the article is B.S. But so what? Get back to work!! Slackers!!!
There is definitely an overabundance of elitist philosophical assholes on Slashdot...
But I guess that is like pointing out that there is a lot of corn in Nebraska.
Actually, I thought AOTC was pretty good -- if you cut out all of the scenes featuring Anakin.
Heh, yeah, ditch the main character and you're fine.
Seriously, I agree with you totally. The only scene in the movie that I really enjoyed was Obi-Wan on that rainy planet discovering the clones. I thought that the clones being based off of Boba Fett's dad was a little cheesy -- clearly Lucas was trying to capitalize on Boba Fett's popularity. And the aliens in that scene were a clear cut ripoff of Spielburg's AI.
So even the best scene in the movie had some serious flaws. As for the love *cough* scenes... yeah, they were truly pathetic. I have died a little each day since seeing that movie.
If it were me, Padme would have rejected Anakin and he would have raped her. That would have signified his journey down the dark side and would explain the pregnancy resulting in Luke and Leia. It would not, however, look good on a lunch box.
Bingo. To me, the real problem with TPM and AOTC was not the overuse of special effects (which was a problem, just not the real problem). It was the awful^3 script.
The best SW movie was Empire Strikes Back. Lucas didn't direct (Irvin Kershner) or write (Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan) that one, and, surprise, it was the best one.
I think the true turning point was the scene in Return of the Jedi where Luke and Leia are talking on that bridge on Endor. Leia is saying, "You have this power? I don't understand." (or words to that effect). It is such poorly written crap. Of course, Brackett didn't figure in on that script, though Lucas did.
Anyway, who really gives a shit anymore what George Lucas is doing? The guy is a flat out joke. AOTC was so pitifully bad that surely he has lost all credibility with the masses.
Hasn't he? Hello?
Bah. Ya got me.
Until today, I had always suspected, but never was fully convinced that so many assholes read Slashdot.
Posts like this leave no doubt.
This whole thread has been littered by egocentric, self-important assholes who have nothing better to do than insult other people to feel better about themselves.
To those assholes I say fuck you.
There, now this egocentric asshole feels better.
Agent Smith says in the first movie that "whole batches were lost" when they had the "perfect" society type Matrix.
This is Pete.
This is the music that Pete illegally downloaded from the internet
This is musician who performed the songs that Pete illegally downloaded.
This is the money that the musician lost because Pete didn't pay $15 for a CD.
This is the terrorist orginization that is angry at the United States for launching a war against Iraq because American musicians could not raise enough money to have enough rallies and protests to make a dent in the warmongering machine of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy.
I guess that's a stretch...
I *have* seen Being John Malkovich and Vanilla Sky, and didn't like her in either.
She wasn't _terrible_ in BJM, but she was outright AWFUL in Vanilla Sky. That movie in general was pretty bad. But that's a whole different conversation.
Yelling a lot and curling up your lip isn't acting. Watching her next to John Cusack (utterly underrated) proves just how overrated Diaz is.
But everyone has his or her own tastes :)
Sure I can!! :)
I thought Quaid was great in The Rookie and Innerspace, but neither movie took itself as seriously as Heaven. I understood the movie attempted to take a look at modern issues through the lens of 50's mentality - I don't begrudge the concept of the movie. But my beef was that it was laid on so thick.
I think the musical score is a perfect example of what I mean. Several times in the movie, after a tense moment, the score kicks up with the bright canary-like music that presents life as perfect and lovely, attempting to push you back in time. But the fifth or sixth time this music is just jammed down your throat, it ceases to become a device and becomes a major hindrance.
I thought Pleasantville did a lot of the same things Heaven attempted without making my teeth hurt. You can appreciate simpler times and the inability to deal with real issues openly without resorting to stupid, stupid dialogue and situations that make no sense. One minute Julianne Moore is crying and the next she's surrounded by African Americans in a bar. Come on!!
I respect what you're saying, and I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm just not sophisticated enough to appreciate this movie. However, there are other thought-provoking movies that I've enjoyed or appreciated, and this movie just strikes me as strikingly bad.
I think you make some excellent points, and I agree that the movie was visually beautiful and attempted to explore a time and place that really hasn't been tapped much. I would go so far as to say that, had this movie been trimmed to two hours, it would have been somewhat enjoyable.
But I think Day-Lewis' performance is just overrated. There are moments in the movie where he is captivating, and there are moments where you are wondering what accent he will use next. Compare him to Hanks in Catch Me If You Can who manages to maintain the same accent throughout the entire movie. DiCaprio's accent also comes and goes, as do his cuts and scars.
I agree with your assessment, I just don't understand why it receives such lofty praise. Saying some individuals demonstrated great craft is much different (and more accurate) than lauding Gangs as a triumph of cinema and the best picture of the year.
Yes. Tecmo Super Bowl was the greatest sports game ever. You have to compare titles to their peers, and in my opinion, TSB was so far greater than any sports title of its time, it is #1.
When TSB came out, cartridges with batteries that stored information were a relatively new concept. Legend Of Zelda is probably the best example of an early game that carried that feature. Tecmo Bowl was a pretty fun football game, but it didn't have the full compliment of players or NFL teams.
Then Tecmo Super Bowl came out. First, it had all 28 NFL teams. Second, it had full lineups on the field and even backups on the rosters, each with their own attributes that matched their real life personas. Third, it kept track of an entire seasons, statistics and all. The players even had hot and cold streaks. And the game didn't have major bugs or crashes like games released today do.
This game had it all - it was rather amazing in its day, and is STILL a fun game to play. In my personal opinion, TSB is the best GAME ever. But I like sports titles. Best sports title ever? Compared to its peers, IMHO Tecmo Super Bowl is #1.
I am by no means a cinematic expert, but like most people, I enjoy movies and I see my fair share. I think I can appreciate an off-beat, artistic movie (Adaption), as well as a solid dramatic piece (White Oleander) or a hard-edged cop thriller (NARC). You might like or dislike any of those movies, but in my opinion they all have appeal and I enjoyed them.
Far From Heaven, on the other hand, was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I saw it with my two closest friends, and we left after 90 minutes of agony. I've only walked out of one other movie in my life (Bloodwork), and the three of us spent the rest of the evening talking about how painstakingly bad Far From Heaven was.
And then I look at the internet. Almost every movie critic thought Far From Heaven was a masterpiece. Why? The dialogue was painful, the story was farfetched and flat out laughable at times, and I thought Dennis Quaid's acting was a joke (I ordinarily like him). What do these critics see that I am missing?
Anyway, I'm glad that Paul Newman received an Oscar nomination for Road to Perdition. I was greatly disappointed by this movie as Tom Hanks is my favorite actor and the movie just wasn't very interesting. But Paul Newman was stellar in his role and very much deserved a nomination.
Another movie that has received critical acclaim of which I do not understand is Gangs of New York. Leo DiCaprio was pitiful in his role, and Daniel Day Lewis spent half the movie talking like Deniro, and half the movie talking like some guy from Brooklyn. The story was flat out boring - revenge stories have simply been done to death, and this added nothing new. Cameron Diaz was especially bad in this (as bad as she is in everything). Yet this movie received tons of critical acclaim. Why? DiCaprio was very good in Catch Me If You Can, where he could play a young, cocky kid who schmoozes his way through life. But he has no edge, and looking angry for two hours doesn't count.
White Oleander was one of the most underrated movies of the year in my opinion. Alison Lohman was just fantastic in this role, and this movie was very interesting and entertaining at the same time. Minority Report was probably my favorite movie of the year, but was dismissed.
Anyway, I don't understand what makes movie critics tick. Adaptation was an inventive movie, that I liked. I can understand critics liking it. But Far From Heaven and Gangs of New York were total throwaways as far as I'm concerned, and I don't understand how anyone could watch them and come away thinking, "that was great!"
You could also say that Ferrari are kicking Ford's ass, since they make a faster car - it just doesn't work like that...
I thought this was a good analogy, and I agreed with everything else you said. I was pretty surprised to see all of the replies disagree with you.
If you are looking to build a system that is both powerful and inexpensive, then an AMD-based system is the way to go.
"It's got 3 super hilarious quotes...'no beer no tv make homer something something'"
The next line is Marge saying, "Go crazy", and Homer insanely replies, "Don't mind if I do!!"
And that exchange is just classic Simpsons. It's funny in a way that you can't explain, because you can both laugh at and sympathize with Homer Simpson at the same time.
Picking a best episode is impossible. But I always liked the Planet of the Apes episode, where Troy McLure plays the part of... are you ready... the human! The part he was born to play!!
"I hate every chimp I see... from Chimpan-A to Chimpanzee..."
*sigh* You just gotta love the Simpsons.
I have this argument with my significant other all the time. She gets hiccups fairly regularly - perhaps once a month. I haven't had the hiccups in over 15 years.
When I was young, I remember reading an article that suggested hiccups were purely psychological. Since then, I've been convinced that it was purely a matter of will.
Occasionally I'll get a single hiccup - usually after drinking a carbonated beverage of some variety. But I know that hiccups are psychological, and I never have a second hiccup. As I said, this has worked for over 15 years.
My significant other? She swears that it's some biological function. Her hiccups? They last for at least five minutes - sometimes up to half an hour.
Call me crazy, but at least I'm hiccup-free.
Wow... two of the people I put on my "Friend" list are in this thread! This is the highlight of my day.
Don't judge - I'm tied to a desk for eight hours a day, I'll take whatever thrills in life I can get...
Anyway, I buy AMD because they're less expensive than Intel and I've never had a problem with them. Plus, it's sort of the Microsoft-effect. I have grown to detest the big dog in the computer markets, whether it is Intel or MS or Nvidia. It makes me want to support the little guy, so I guess I root for AMD, Linux and ATI.
Of course, I have a GeForce4 VC, but look, it's not a religion or anything.
I suppose the only real substance I'm providing to this discussion is that I'm on my third AMD processor and I've never had a single problem, and I was even overclocking the last one (Athlon 800 -> 950).
Am I the only one out there who likes CDE? It seems like so many people are bashing it because it's... boring? Outdated? Ugly?
Huh?
I'm a UNIX Sys Admin, and I do 99% of my work on... drumroll... a TERMINAL WINDOW. What difference does it make if I have CDE or GNOME or whatever... I'm still using text commands to do my work. VI won't open any prettier in GNOME than CDE.
Anyone out there who actually uses Solaris for a living have a major problem with CDE?
And how many frikkin times to the Romulans have to cross the Neutral Zone before the Feds get off their asses and make some cloaking devices?
Could'nt agree more. I mean, come on already. They should just develop the cloak and say, "ha ha, fool you, we've been making nuclear weap-- err, cloaked ships all along..." Really, the Klingons and Federation should just team up and destroy the Romulans and be done with it.
My girlfriend and I play this game when we watch TNG -- any time Worf is on the bridge and says a line we add, "... stupid humans."
For example:
"It could be a trick... stupid humans."
"We should raise shields... stupid humans."
"We should not allow them to escape..."
Well, you get the idea. It's hysterical to watch his facial expression and body gestures when the peace-loving humans take mercy on --insert alien species here-- rather than blow them to bits. And, ironically, by the end of the episode his concerns are almost always vindicated.
BTW, not sure if it's sadder to know or not know the correct spelling of the Klingon word bat'tleh. I must confess, I had to hit Google myself. Not sure if that makes me less geek or more in check with reality. Most likely neither.
Yeah, but wouldn't it be great to have both?! Minority Report comes to mind as a movie that was absolutely gorgeous, and at the same time had, in my opinion, a terrific script. It didn't have the character depth of the TNG series (my original point all along being the genre of television played to the strengths of the series, which fails miserably in feature length film), but it had a twisting turning plot and a compelling hero. Plus, it examined, albeit superficially, the questions of the future of crime prevention and the inherent dangers of relying on technology.
I can appreciate going to the cinema to see the big picture and full sound. But it would be nice to see a full plot and mature dialogue to accompany it.
Five for five!!
Although, I believe the correct spelling is W-O-R-F, not to be confused, of course, with W-O-P-R
:)
Ok, I'll take that bet. I'm willing to wager that all of the following lines can be appropriately attributed by the faithful readers here at Slashdot...
Any takers?
I have never been a fan of the original series or Voyager/DS9/Enterprise. I could hardly be called a Trekker or Trekkie or whatever. But I do love The Next Generations seasons 3 through 7, and in my opinion, that show ranks as one of the top ten of the past 20 years.
What worked so well with TNG was a blend of an ensemble cast and fantastic writing. The viewer cared about the relationships between the characters -- Geordi and Data forging a friendship despite the latter's inability to love, Jean-Luc's unwielding stoicism in the face of his crew's attempts to humanize him. Furthermore, the scripts were just great -- they came up with interesting ideas and stuck to a space trek, rather than try to create some sort of epic battle of good vs. evil and sprinkle in one-liners. Who didn't cringe in Insurrection when Data said, "Saddle up. Lock and load?" He didn't say those sorts of things in the TV series because each episode was (as much as can be expected) consistent and well planned. Data's role was that of artificial life desperately trying to grow in a manner impossible. That, in itself, is epic.
These movies continually attempt to appeal to a broader audience and insist on childish humour instead of intellectual wit. The result is a frustrating mix of my favorite cast and crew with a pedantic, immature script.
Finally, the TV series worked well because it was only an hour long and there were 20-25 episodes a season. With that format, you can devote an entire episode to Worf hurting his back or Geordi turning invisible (twice). Each character could be featured for an entire episode, such that at the end of seven years we had a closeness with each. These movies clear emphasize Data and Picard, and the rest are sadly shoved to the background.
I already have my ticket for Nemesis which I'll be watching in about six hours and I'm excited. I suspect there will be plenty to be disappointed about, but I still care about these characters and will watch them until they stop making movies. But in retrospect, it would have been so much better to have a few more years of the TV series than these movies. And as for critics -- well, they assured me that Attack of the Clones was good. And I have died a little each day since wasting that eight bucks.
Don't forget...
Perl sucks and PHP rules d00d!