Star Trek: Into Darkness trailer and thoughts

[Greg Bernhardt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAEkuVgt6Aw

I saw this trailer on ultra screen in 3d and I was captivated. No doubt a very well made trailer, but still I'm pretty stoked for the movie! Even if it just reaches the success of the first, it's been a nice series reboot.

 

[HallsofIvy]

I did not like the first movie and probably will not even go see this one. I don't think it can be considered a "reboot" in any sense when they have changed the basic story so much.

 

[BobG]

I liked the first one.

As long as they maintain the same relationship between the characters, a new series of movies with new actors is great. It's really no different than making new James Bond movies even though you don't have the same actor playing James Bond in each movie.

 

[phinds]

I thought the first one was outstanding and I'm looking forward to the next one.

 

[davenn]

I also enjoyed the first, was great to see a background of the characters and how they came together

havent seen the new one yet ... maybe this weekend :)Dave

 

[Evo]

Erhm, doesn't appeal to me. I guess I'm too old and remember the original too well.

 

[davenn]

Erhm, doesn't appeal to me. I guess I'm too old and remember the original too well.

LOL Evo naaa you can't be older than me ;)
But on the other hand I have been a die-hard trek fan "since Adam was a boy" Dave

 

[BobG]

LOL Evo naaa you can't be older than me ;)
But on the other hand I have been a die-hard trek fan "since Adam was a boy"


Dave

Same here. In fact, I'm the same age as Adam.

(I presume you must be talking about Adam Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy's son.)

 

[dkotschessaa]

To sum up my feelings, I am compelled to watch anything Startrek (Except DS9, though I'm trying).

But as far as this latest incarnation, the magic is really gone. So I'll see it and enjoy it on some level.

 

[Ibix]

I enjoyed the last one until I started thinking about it. Then it made less and less sense. I think I'll give this one a miss...

 

[dkotschessaa]

I enjoyed the last one until I started thinking about it. Then it made less and less sense. I think I'll give this one a miss...

Has anyone seen the "honest trailer" for the previous movie?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTfBH-XFdSc

 

[FlexGunship]

At 0:35 in the trailer you can see that they're reusing the Dr. Strangelove set!

"You can't let him in here... he'll see the big board!"

 

[dkotschessaa]

I just watched the trailer. It looks bad. Real bad. Still have to see it though.

 

[FlexGunship]

...Benedict Cumberbatch...

...as freakin' Khan...

If the movie consisted of 50% Carly Rae Jepson singing "Call Me Maybe" and 50% Star Trek with Cumberbatch as Khan I would still watch it.

 

[Borg]

I didn't like that Vulcan was destroyed in the first one. Vulcan was the embodiment of many of the good things in the Star Trek universe. As far as I'm concerned, the first movie took a giant dump on the entire franchise.

 

[HallsofIvy]

I also enjoyed the first, was great to see a background of the characters and how they came together

havent seen the new one yet ... maybe this weekend :)


Dave

My objection is that it wasn't the "background of the characters". We were told it was an "alternate reality". Certainly it wouldn't have made sense to have all of these characters, from Captain Kirk, down to Ensign Sulu, to be the same age and attending the Academy at the same time.

 

[Fredrik]

I saw it today. (The movie, not the trailer). I thought it was OK, but not much better than that. The lens flares are smaller in size, but there are still lots of them. They irritated me in the first few minutes, where they didn't appear to know what a volcano is, or what fusion is. I didn't like all the high speed motion through narrow passages. Cumberbatch was great though.

 

[Ibix]

I didn't like that Vulcan was destroyed in the first one. Vulcan was the embodiment of many of the good things in the Star Trek universe. As far as I'm concerned, the first movie took a giant dump on the entire franchise.

Also, Enterprise warped away from Vulcan for a while before they dumped Kirk... on a planet where Spock was able to watch the destruction of Vulcan with his unaided eye. A snowbound planet inhabited by bright red predators.

Musn't get myself started on this...

 

[dkotschessaa]

yes but...it's star trek!

 

[Fredrik]

yes but...it's star trek!

That means that the writers has to make the story inconsistent with relativity. It doesn't mean that they have to make it inconsistent with the most basic things in biology and geology.

 

[Ibix]

yes but...it's star trek!

You don't like Deep Space Nine. Your opinions are clearly worthless.

I don't require my science fiction to be super-hard; under some circumstances I'll swallow utter nonsense. The black-and-white guys from Let that be your last battlefield are a classic example. I can't think of an evolutionary pressure that could lead to such beings - but it's OK by me because it's such an elegant way to make a point about racism in a difficult environment.

Abrams' Star Trek mostly seemed to me to be a long string of things that made no sense and were there for no good reason. I could forgive Spock being able to see the destruction of Vulcan for its emotional impact if nothing else. It's just that there's the predator, and Kirk being on the planet at all, and the Scotty-in-the-water-pipes scene, Kirk's promotion to Captain on his first trip outside the Academy, Nero never going to warn the Romulans about the future,... The list goes on. I stopped cutting it slack...

 

[dkotschessaa]

You don't like Deep Space Nine. Your opinions are clearly worthless.

Yeah, because a big floating ring in space that doesn't go anywhere is compelling sci-fi.



Seriously, I *tried.*

I don't require my science fiction to be super-hard; under some circumstances I'll swallow utter nonsense. The black-and-white guys from Let that be your last battlefield are a classic example. I can't think of an evolutionary pressure that could lead to such beings - but it's OK by me because it's such an elegant way to make a point about racism in a difficult environment.

Abrams' Star Trek mostly seemed to me to be a long string of things that made no sense and were there for no good reason. I could forgive Spock being able to see the destruction of Vulcan for its emotional impact if nothing else. It's just that there's the predator, and Kirk being on the planet at all, and the Scotty-in-the-water-pipes scene, Kirk's promotion to Captain on his first trip outside the Academy, Nero never going to warn the Romulans about the future,... The list goes on. I stopped cutting it slack...

*These* days I prefer my sci fi rather hard. (The only stuff I really read anymore is from Analog magazine, whose contributors are usually scientists who write sci-fi part time. Or rather hard core researchers).

But star trek just has a special place in my heart because I grew up with it. So it's allowed to get away with a lot of B.S. I am compelled to watch it out of sheer attachment.

-Dave K

 

[Ibix]

Yeah, because a big floating ring in space that doesn't go anywhere is compelling sci-fi.

If he weren't dead, I'd tell Larry Niven you said that...

Seriously, I *tried.*

It certainly has its flaws, and a lot depends on how much you get on with Avery Brooks' acting (or lack thereof, as some would say). I like the continuing arc, its prescience about reactions to "them" maybe being among us, and that the characters are allowed to grow and change in a way that never really happened in the other series. I also like its sense of humour ("Have you heard? The chief is going to have a baby!" "Really? I thought your females carried your young.")

*These* days I prefer my sci fi rather hard. (The only stuff I really read anymore is from Analog magazine, whose contributors are usually scientists who write sci-fi part time. Or rather hard core researchers).

But star trek just has a special place in my heart because I grew up with it. So it's allowed to get away with a lot of B.S. I am compelled to watch it out of sheer attachment.

I know what you mean. But I think Nemesis and the Xindi kind of broke the compulsion for me. Maybe I should check out Analog, though - some of the first SF I remember reading was my Dad's "Best of Analog" collections.

 

[krash661]

i agree with greg.
awaiting patiently.

 

[OmCheeto]

i agree with greg.
awaiting patiently.

I've yet to be one of these new fangled "3D" movies.

Do they make you wear funny glasses, and take pictures of you, like in the 50's?

and call you an Avatard?

My friends posted a picture of themselves in funny glasses after that movie came out, and, referred to themselves as Avatards.

---------------

I love Star Trek, because it takes you where, you've never been before.
And the sensory visual input is meaningless, compared to the message.

--------------

Ok. Time to go home...

-------------------
and yes, I've not seen Avatar yet...

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'm going to see it Sunday!

 

[dkotschessaa]

If he weren't dead, I'd tell Larry Niven you said that...

Ok, maybe one THAT big is interesting. Though I got lost around the end of the Ringworld Throne. (Another thread perhaps).

And he's not dead! But perhaps you were kidding...

I know what you mean. But I think Nemesis and the Xindi kind of broke the compulsion for me. Maybe I should check out Analog, though - some of the first SF I remember reading was my Dad's "Best of Analog" collections.

Oh right. I forgot about Enterprise. I seriously just *forgot* about that entire series. I guess that sums up my opinion of it!

Analog is awesome. I once posted here asking if anybody read it and got no replies, which I found confusing. You would think people here would be more into hard sci-fi than "Stargate" or something. There are also science fact articles in Analog, which I used to point out to justify all the time I spent reading it. That magazine actually influenced my decision to go back to school to study physics and math (now I just study math.) Ironically now that I'm in school I don't have time to read it.

-Dave K

 

[krash661]

I've yet to be one of these new fangled "3D" movies.

Do they make you wear funny glasses, and take pictures of you, like in the 50's?

and call you an Avatard?

My friends posted a picture of themselves in funny glasses after that movie came out, and, referred to themselves as Avatards.

---------------

I love Star Trek, because it takes you where, you've never been before.
And the sensory visual input is meaningless, compared to the message.

--------------

Ok. Time to go home...

-------------------
and yes, I've not seen Avatar yet...

i have no clue,

i'm not sure if i would even last 10 minutes in the theater.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Saw it last night and like the 2009 one I thoroughly enjoyed it. Like the former film the writers still haven't managed to make a plot that makes much sense when you stop and think about it but overall I didn't find that a problem. I've read quite a few negative reviews that point out legitimate problems like this but mostly the negativity seems to come from fans of the series not liking the direction this is going. I watched a few different star treks as a kid but am not particularly loyal to the franchise (lets face it, a lot of the TV and film stuff was low budget technobabble with a healthy dose of overacting) so whilst I recognised a lot of the references I'm not terribly fussed that previous canon has been thrown aside.

There are however two things about the film that concern me: the casting for Khan and the role/appearance of women. I thought Cumberbach did a great job as a convincing bad guy but it strikes me as another example of Hollywood white washing. As I said above I'm not particularly concerned about changing canon (this is a reboot after all, Star Trek wasn't exactly flying high in terms of popularity before) but I am always unsettled by how widespread it is in Hollywood to cast white actors in ethnic roles and Khan is meant to be Indian. This wouldn't be a big problem except for the fact it's so common, especially in book adaptations to film.

The use of women in this film is similarly Hollywood bad. There are two main female characters only and they are only really presented in their relationship to men rather than as independent characters. Uhura is consistently portrayed as "girlfriend of Spock" aside from a couple of scenes where she is doing her own thing and Carol Marcus flips between being portrayed as helpless admiral daughter or eye candy for Kirk (seriously what is the point of the 2 second scene of her in underwear?). Lastly why on Earth are all the female crew members in miniskirts? It seem's as out of place as if all the men were wandering around in tight fitting tank tops.

As I said I really enjoyed this film even though these two areas (and the plot holes) were disappointing.

 

[OmCheeto]

Saw it last night and like the 2009 one I thoroughly enjoyed it. ...

Yay!

... Lastly why on Earth are all the female crew members in miniskirts?...

I'm pretty sure it's based on the original series. You have to remember, it came out in the 60's.

I got a kick out of the costumes in the 2009 film. They were worse fitting than in the original 60's series.

I'm really glad I don't know enough about modern culture to complain about who plays who in this new movie. So far, I've not recognized a single name.

 

[Fredrik]

I'm really glad I don't know enough about modern culture to complain about who plays who in this new movie. So far, I've not recognized a single name.

You mean the actors? Wow. Chris Pine (Kirk) was relatively unknown before the first movie, but I certainly knew of Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg. (You haven't seen any of the Pegg/Frost comedies?) I had at least heard the names Karl Urban and Zoë Saldana, but I'm not sure I knew who they were before. Benedict Cumberbatch has become a pretty big name recently, because of the success of Sherlock.

 

[OmCheeto]

You mean the actors? Wow. Chris Pine (Kirk) was relatively unknown before the first movie, but I certainly knew of Zachary Quinto and Simon Pegg. (You haven't seen any of the Pegg/Frost comedies?) I had at least heard the names Karl Urban and Zoë Saldana, but I'm not sure I knew who they were before. Benedict Cumberbatch has become a pretty big name recently, because of the success of Sherlock.

I watch no TV, and the last movie I saw in the theatre, was, um, the last Star Trek movie... So, yes, I know the Pine and Quiznos characters, but the rest mentioned in this thread? um... shhhhhh...

 

[Ibix]

And he's not dead! But perhaps you were kidding...

No - just clueless. I was sure he'd died (no idea why, now) so didn't bother checking. There's a lesson there somewhere...

Analog is awesome. I once posted here asking if anybody read it and got no replies, which I found confusing. You would think people here would be more into hard sci-fi than "Stargate" or something.

Hm. My problem with hard science fiction is that I can sometimes see where the author hasn't quite understood everything, and I find that much more grating than flat out silliness like Stargate. But done well, it's great. I'll check out Analog magazine when I've finished my current reading list.

Well off-topic now - better shut up.

 

[Julio R]

While it's true in my opinion that the older Star Trek had a better story...the Enterprise sort of looked like a child's toy. No offense to die-hard Star Trek fans.

 

[OmCheeto]

While it's true in my opinion that the older Star Trek had a better story...the Enterprise sort of looked like a child's toy. No offense to die-hard Star Trek fans.

It looked more like a pizza cutter to me.

Just saw it.

10 out of 10 stars. :!)

Classic Trek, from start to finish.

-------------------------
The only bad part was sitting through the 10 previews.
I think Ender's Game looks good. Elysium looks interesting. Everything else creeped me out. Except for that animated movie with the one eyed yellow tylenol shaped creatures. That looked like it will be fun. Btw, does anyone know if "The Hobbit" has been released yet? I really liked the LOTR series.

 

[Fredrik]

The second movie was offensive to vulcanologists. The first one was offensive to people who study Vulcans.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I'm seeing it tomorrow. Rewatched the first one last night. Sooooo excited :)

 

[Julio R]

I thought it was good. I saw it today :D

 

[AnTiFreeze3]

... (You haven't seen any of the Pegg/Frost comedies?) ... Benedict Cumberbatch has become a pretty big name recently, because of the success of Sherlock.

Hot Fuzz continues to be one of my favorite movies to watch.

And Sherlock is brilliant.

On topic, I'm visiting my uncle this upcoming weekend, and he's a huge Star Trek fan, although I have no idea of his opinion on these newer movies. However, I'm sure we'll still go out to see that, and possibly Iron Man 3 (his kids, 6, and 3, know the names of pretty much all superheroes and always dress up as a Marvel character for Halloween. He's a pretty cool dad.).

 

[OmCheeto]

...
On topic, I'm visiting my uncle this upcoming weekend, and he's a huge Star Trek fan, although I have no idea of his opinion on these newer movies. ...

If he's a fan, then he should like it. Even if he weren't a fan, he should like it.
I watched an interview last night, after watching the movie, and JJ mentioned a problem; "How does one make a movie, where people have had 47 years of Star Trek experience, and others, have had none."

I think he did it.

I would provide a link to the above image, but it includes commentary, which might spoil things.

But I'll provide a pair of nasty little spoilers:

Spoiler

The highest score was provided by a pair of 50+ women? I can only surmise that it was "that" conversation during the movie, that made me spit on the bald headed man sitting in front of me. It was that funny.

Spoiler

Spock is gay. Or, at the very least, it explains how Sarek swooned Amanda into marrying an alien. Good god, Vulcans are freakin' smooth!

 

[OmCheeto]

ps. Hopefully, Greg is in the theater, and doesn't ban my silly butt.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Just got back from seeing it! Definitely lots of fun and some nice plot twists. It was fairly long, but it almost felt short. There was a lot they could have further developed.

 

[OmCheeto]

just got back from seeing it! Definitely lots of fun and some nice plot twists. It was fairly long, but it almost felt short. There was a lot they could have further developed.

Sequel !! :!)

 

[FlexGunship]

Saw it last night.

Way better than the first in the reboot series (probably because they didn't spend half the movie explaining why there's a reboot). I do want to share one complaint, though (I don't think it's a spoiler or anything, but I'll hide it anyway) that's been bugging me a lot.

Spoiler

I know Star Trek is not a bastion of realism, and I especially know that J.J. Abrams failed 3rd grade science when he did his science fair project on lens flare. That being said... losing power in your spaceship does not cause you to "fall out of orbit." In fact, the EXACT opposite is true. You're totally stuck there!

Oh, and what are the odds that, at warp, you'll accidentally come out 250,000 miles from your destination? At warp 1, that's like, 1.3 seconds away and Sulu had that warp-lever-thing pegged. It wasn't even really an inconvenience.

That being said, the re-imagining of Khan is pretty decent. I'm a solid Cumberbatch fan anyway, ever since Sherlock.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Flex I took it that they weren't in orbit in the first place, rather in typical SF fashion they were hovering with antigravity or some such. Either way though you're right in pointing out that science isn't rigorous here, that's not typically a bad thing as long as it's entertaining but it can make it shallow.

 

[FlexGunship]

Flex I took it that they weren't in orbit in the first place, rather in typical SF fashion they were hovering with antigravity or some such. Either way though you're right in pointing out that science isn't rigorous here, that's not typically a bad thing as long as it's entertaining but it can make it shallow.

I've recently had this discussion with a friend, and this is my only argument to "antigravity" (setting aside the physics of actual antigravity):

Spoiler

Assume they arrived about 500km from the surface of the moon. Add in the radius of the moon (~1700km), assume a mass of 7*10^22kg and solve for orbital velocity. I get about ~1.5km/s give or take a couple hundred m/s. Calculate the force of acceleration due to gravity at that distance and you get about 1m/s. After 25 minutes (25*60=1500) it doesn't make sense to point your antigrav stuff down... you should've been pointing it tangential and gone into orbit. I mean, it doesn't take more than 45 seconds to run through that calculation.

Furthermore, when they lost power... why are they falling towards Earth? Earth's pull is three orders of magnitude smaller at that distance. It's not even a competition! Moon wins!

It's as though they define the entire universe in terms of "some altitude above San Francisco."

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Yup it still doesn't make much sense. But if we start picking at the physics of soft science fiction the whole thing falls apart lol.

 

[OmCheeto]

I've recently had this discussion with a friend, and this is my only argument to "antigravity" (setting aside the physics of actual antigravity):

Spoiler

Assume they arrived about 500km from the surface of the moon. Add in the radius of the moon (~1700km), assume a mass of 7*10^22kg and solve for orbital velocity. I get about ~1.5km/s give or take a couple hundred m/s. Calculate the force of acceleration due to gravity at that distance and you get about 1m/s. After 25 minutes (25*60=1500) it doesn't make sense to point your antigrav stuff down... you should've been pointing it tangential and gone into orbit. I mean, it doesn't take more than 45 seconds to run through that calculation.

Furthermore, when they lost power... why are they falling towards Earth? Earth's pull is three orders of magnitude smaller at that distance. It's not even a competition! Moon wins!

It's as though they define the entire universe in terms of "some altitude above San Francisco."

Pfft!

Can you imagine how boring that movie would have been sitting through 3 hours of; "Captain, it will now be only 1 more hour of drifting silently through space, until we reach the upper atmosphere, and start burning up!"

Just pretend, in the future, that they edited out the real physics empty time, where Kirk and the crew played charades, or pictionary, or are watching "Fast and Furious 893", or something.

 

[Julio R]

Pfft!
Just pretend, in the future, that they edited out the real physics empty time, where Kirk and the crew played charades, or pictionary, or are watching "Fast and Furious 893", or something.

Ha! Priceless comment! :D

 

[OmCheeto]

Ha! Priceless comment! :D

I was 16 once. Believe it or not.

-----------------------
You can see more, in the "Man Cave" section of PF called "Automotive" something or other.