New ‘Star Trek’ Footage: Thoughts?
by Tom Tapp
Is Kirk a jerk?
Two new “Star Trek” clips have hit the web and I like one, but not the other.
The first is called “A Shot of Love,” and it debuted over at MTV. It has Kirk (Chris Pine) hitting on Uhura (Zoe Saldana) before mouthing off to some barroom degenerates.
Kirk comes off as a spoiled brat and, from the cut on his face in other video that’s been posted, it doesn’t look like he comes away unscathed. (MTV also has some exclusive “Star Trek” video from the film’s set.)
I was much more impressed with “Star Trek’s” second trailer, which still reminded me of Kirk’s challenges, but not why I might loathe him.
Anyway, today’s second new clip is called “Disease and Danger” and it’s posted over at Yahoo. “D&D” is much more of what I love from the franchise: It details the first meeting between Kirk and an argumentative and hypochondriac Dr. “Bones” McCoy. Good stuff. I can’t wait to see this movie.
What do you think?
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99 Comments
I wasn't sure if I was going to see this or not – until I saw the clip you pointed out that's introducing Dr McCoy. I'd see it just for him! I was howling.
I have to watch the rest of he videos, but that one just tickled me.
Director JJ Abrams has admitted that 'he isn't a fan' of the series. Which shouldn't preclude him from the shoot, but one wonders if the really tone dead footage we've seen so far is what to expect… the casting is suspect and it does seem, as Mr Nolte has said more Trek 90120 than anything else. Therein lie the rub- will future starships be driven by LA slacker types? Spielberg lamented about casting for 'Private Ryan' that none of the American actors looked like they had done anything in their lives; he toyed with an all Aussie cast… Ridley Scott actually did that pretty much with 'Blackhawk Down'.
Some say that no matter what this Trek will be better than the unlamented 'Star Trek The Motion Picture'. We wouldn't bet on it…
I thought the trailers were pretty good. Even when I was a mere slip of a child watching the original Star Trek, I suspected Kirk might have been a bit of a punk when he was younger. And he certainly found a way to end up with the ladies during the series. And talk about a guy who didn't care what color the lady was!
Of course from the trailers we can't tell much about plot yet. But the special effects looked good. I think the hardest thing for the young hero to do will be to sound like Kirk. You know. Sound . . . like . . . Kirk. Didn't hear it so far. I'm reserving judgment.
The movie looks like it might be fun but it seems obvious that someone in hollywood wrote this movie. Kirk as a character could never have been a wild child who finds discipline and the talent to lead by joining star fleet. Star fleet, it seems to me, would be the U.S. Naval academy multiplied by 1000. They should have researched actual millitary academy students to see what they actually are like. They tend to be "A" students, type A personalities, athletic, student council presidents, and straight arrows. Kirk, of course, would be all of those things but even better. Not some hot head rebel who needs to learn discipline. I hope the movie at least lives up to the dynamic of the star fleet men and women being the thin line, in space, between the good guys and the bad guys.
kirk was always a bit of a smug jackass.
i am more worried by the murky confused fx shots. hope they make more sense n a big screen.
You have to see the movie. I won't spoil anything for you, but there's a reason he's "jerky." It's inferred in the trailers that things are a bit different this time around.
Aside from what I said below, I did catch the L.A. slacker tone. That worries me.
"from the cut on his face in other video"
Gonna have to watch it, I guess. Was it true to the original, and Kirk's shirt was torn as well?
"from the cut on his face in other video"
Gonna have to watch it, I guess. Was it true to the original, and Kirk's shirt was torn as well?
mere slip… ho! We were quite fond of th original series but thought they made even better films; largely because they were so 'grown' in their roles…
The Ain't It Cool folks all seem to like it, if not love it. I only skimmed the posts, and don't know how much I trust those fellas, but so far it looks like it might be an entertaining flick.
He was cocky and self-assured in the face of outrageous elitism and bigotry. If his character was a jerk, he would have backed down from the provocation of the redshirts in the bar. They were the bad guys, the jerks and idiots in that scene – not Kirk.
I'm going to see it when it hits video, but I don't have much hope for it. I think the "soul" behind the original series is so foreign to modern Hollywood that they can't recapture it. Hollywood is simply too cynical, too obsessed with youth, and too shallow to give us even a hint of what made the original series so great and so timeless. It's all pretty boys, chase scenes and CGI smoke and mirrors now.
The key to enjoying any movie nowadays is to go in with low expectations.
The punk should have gone off that cliff, not the priceless car.
I have been a fan of Star Trek from the beginning. ( Yes, I mean the television series: THAT beginning) I always wanted to see how 'once and future' special effects could enhance the story. The movies were OK, but just OK.
Just as the 4th Star Wars movie was just OK. ( something gets lost over these long years)
Now this one looks good to me. And I will go to see ANY movie with Karl Urban. Since LOTR Karl Urban has been one to watch. He has been in some stinkers since LOTR but I like the guy. That clip as Bones McCoy is classic.
Well, the kid's got guts, you gotta give him that, car over the cliff notwithstanding. So you know how he is going to fly his star ship.
Yeah, and alas. Special effects weren't that great, they had a one hour time constraint, and next to nothing to guide them as to where the series should go. And then they got canceled. I'm just imagining what they could have done with those good plots and today's special effects to go with them. And as dcase mentioned above, they would have done it without having to rely on L.A. slacker types. And I assume we all agree that the first movie should be hidden away in Superman's ice cave in the arctic. As much as I've enjoyed the next generation movies, I never felt they had the oomph of the original series and the original cast movies. Kahn, Khan, he's the mahn, if he cahn't do it, no one cahn.
I am 43 years old and a TOS fan. Picard is my waiter, not my Captain. This movie will be different. The characters will be different. That is ok, because …
We …. have….. the original series. Back. Spock. Dammit. It's back….. and I am….. going to love it.
LOL!! OMG, I can envision an entire row of Kirk-impersonator cheerleaders all chanting your Khan line!
Apologies if this appears three times. I have re-posted it, sans links (sigh).
I was skeptical at the very beginning (a prequel?) but with the hype in full swing, I have to say I'm excited. I loved the clip of Karl Urban as Bones. The visual effects look amazing (nice to have ILM back after thirteen years) and I'm looking forward to Michael Giacchino's score.
Paramount did a cool thing. The film was set to premiere in Sydney (which it did) but they pulled the wool over the Aint It Cool guys and premiered it at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, where a room full of Trekkies thought they were going to see Wrath of Khan, followed by a ten minute preview of the new film. Instead they were treated to the new film in its entirety, introduced by Leonard Nimoy himself. I wish I was there!
I've also been blogging at Film Score Monthly. I've been writing about the Star Trek films and their respective music scores. I have no formal music education so don't go looking for any deep analysis.
Sorry, but it lost me when I saw the Enterprise being built on Earth's surface. Besides it's abandoning the long-accepted concept that Star Fleet vessels the size of an aircraft carrier were built in orbit. The scaffolding and supports needed to build something that huge, heavy and unbalanced would be ridiculous. (Also, how the heck do they explain how to launch it into space?)
Billc, I think you are right about Academy selection.
My Brother is an Air Force Academy Grad.
His rebellious streak was tamed before his Congressional appointment to USAFA.
Many things about ST are far from reality and protocol.
Can you imagine the Captain and First Officer of a US Navy Destroyer
or Aircraft carrier being the first on shore in a potentially hostile situation?
If a Star ship was sent on a 5 year mission of exploration, diplomacy, and defence,
would a captain as young as James T. Kirk really be the first choice?
No, and no.
but, it makes a great vehicle for good stories, interesting characters,
some fine entertainment, and lots of conversation.
And then to the sounds of Offenbach's "Orpheus in Hades," they can lift their skirts and do the Kahn Kahn.
I have never seen anything by J.J. Abrams that I've liked so I won't be catching this movie until it hits broadcast television or a non-premium cable channel. The 'D&D' clip actually makes me less inclined to see the movie. It's funny right up until the point when you realize there's no way someone with that many phobias about going into space would enlist in Star Fleet to explore strange new worlds and encounter strange new civilizations. The plot "twist" of history having been altered, thus changing everyone's character, seems like an excuse to be lazy and not even try to match the original series characterizations.
I know what you mean. The original trek aired during the cold war and vietnam. The klingons and romulans were the bad guys, the federation the good guys. Kirk did what it took, violating the prime directive of non-interference with developing civilizations, when it was necassary, in order to protect them from the klingons. The klingons were not a "contingency operation" they were the enemy,a substitute for the soviets. In a hollywood that cannot define muslim radicals as the threat that they are, how can they be expected to understand Kirk, Spock, Scotty and McCoy? Maybe the romulan bad guy in this is actually a romulan buisness man or a "rightwing" talk show host.
I don't think I Kahn take much more Cap'n.
That's definitely a good example. The thing about the original series is that it was all about morality tales. They asked difficult moral questions, designed characters with differing points of view (unlike the personality clones on the next gen ship), and let the story unfold with the idea that the right choice would lead to a good result and the wrong choice would lead to a bad result. It made for a really interesting mix of drama and philosophy.
Modern Hollywood can't recreate that because (1) they don't understand morality anymore, they see all morals as relative, (2) they don't create characters with genuinely different personalities anymore (everyone wants to be the cynical anti-hero now), and (3) Hollywood is obssessed with dark, ironic endings. Irony tends to undermine the point to a morality tale, because it means a bad result is guaranteed no matter what choice you make. Unless Hollywood can overcome those three traits, the new movie will be little more than any other slick Scifi movie.
Those who Khan, do. Those who Khan't, practice law. Wait a minute. Did I just insult both of us?
And worst of all, I keep reversing the letters in Khan. Finger fatigue.
But Kirk, as often as he violated it, was a true believer in the Prime Directive.
TOS was mid Vietnam, but it was also mid-hippy-commie-flowerchild.
And it shows.
Ahh I think you may have not been to any naval training, of any kind. They turn these "punks' into leaders every day. Take note from wikipedia:
Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, [John] McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. There, he was a friend and informal leader for many of his classmates,[10] and sometimes stood up for targets of bullying.[5] He also became a lightweight boxer.[11] McCain came into conflict with higher-ranking personnel, he did not always obey the rules, and that contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899), despite a high IQ.[10][12] He did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he struggled with, such as mathematics.[5][13] McCain graduated in 1958.[10]
It's gonna suck…
I thought it was impossible insult a lawyer?
By the way, I was only able to see this comment now (35 minutes later). They need to fix this.
Well, you Khhhhhaaaaaan stop anytime.
I think that's just silly.
In some respects, yeah, academy students are paragons of virtue. I've heard stories, some pretty good pranks, and others of various sorts that go something like this… oh… survival training, live off the land for long enough to get really really hungry. So what do you do? Pick up supplies and sneak in ahead of time and bury caches of goodies. Not everyone does stuff like that, but I know someone who did when he was at the Air Force Academy. Even in ROTC, I know people who got caught ordering pizza and having it delivered secretly to "survival" training, and rather than get in trouble they got commended for the planning and execution. No lie. I was pissed.
We also stole each others boots.
If you want "real" it means somehow figuring how how to figure out how not to get expelled for a honor code infraction and which sorts of things will be perceived as showing initiative and ingenuity. There was a video a while ago of some Naval cadets dropping the worlds largest water balloon on a (luckily) unoccupied porta-pot. Destroyed it. Consider the physics! They should have known better being the best and brightest.
I will say that John McCain is the closest we have to a real live James T Kirk. What if Kirk endured torture and imprisonment for years? See John McCain.
I'll file an amicus brief in support of the counsellor here. To borrow a phrase from that other big sci-fi space franchise, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
http://www.khaaan.com
Awesome. That is so going in my favorites.
Actually, Mad Magazine was the first to make a joke about Catain Kirk being Captain "Jerk" back in the 1960s. It also made some, how should I say it, jokes that, by today's post-Don Imus standards, might get me thrown under the bus. I.E. Mr. Spock being depicted as half-Vulcan, half-Puerto Rican. In other words, it rhymes with "ick". Don't say I didn't warn you. This was back before a parking lot company owned Mad Magazine, when it was still published by EC Comics. How I hate political correctness.
I for one like all the clips and trailers I've seen. And I have been following Trek since TOS (when I was just a kid). I don't care much for the new Trek shows. Some episods here and there are OK, but none of the new characters really grabbed my attention except some minor ones on DS9.
This new movie seems to have captured the flavor of the old show, the sense of wonder missing from the new shows, and seems to have spent time on characterization. So I am looking forward to it.
Looking at the bar scene clip, Kirk seems like so many obnoxious jerks one sees in bars, and deserves to get his butt kicked.
But I have a friend – movie nut – sci fi nut – and he is counting the days. He turned me on to the late series Firefly. Now that (having just seen a the 16 episode series) – was some innovative science fiction.
I expect this to be one of the better movies this year; therefore it will not be considered for the Academy Awards.
And I think I saw a clip where the young Kirk is driving a 63 Corvette Stingray split window coupe? He has to have some coolness to him although with the fictional time that car has to be ancient.
Because you miss racial slurs in mainstream publications? To each his own. It's hard to imagine that MAD was 'edgy" at one time. I believe the editor, William Gaines, went before Congress when it was investigating comics as the Next Great Threat to America's youth.
According to the original Trek lore, McCoy joined Starfleet because he was running away from a failed marriage. He never wanted to visit space.
Dude, my husband said the EXACT same thing. What are they gonna do, beam it into space?
I have fundamental doubts about this film.
As back ground, back in the early 1990s, franchise film producer Harve Bennett floated an idea of doing a prequel to the original Star Trek TV series involving the original cast reminiscing about their days back at Starfleet Academy. Star Trek fans were outraged, and Paramount shelved the idea, cashiered Bennett, and called up the Next Generation team to take the field.
Now wunderkind JJ Abrams wants to resurrect the franchise by … doing a Starfleet Academy film.
The whole concept of this film is wholesale revisionism designed to replenish Paramount's corporate coffers and gratify JJ Abrams' creative animus while jettisoning any semblance of continuity or consistency, and fan loyalty be damned.
I fear JJ Abrams may do what NBC, Fred Frieberger, Rick Berman, Brannon Bragga, Ronald D. Moore, Stuart Baird, John Logan, and, yes, the Great Bird of the Galaxy himself Gene Roddenberry, could not do — kill Star Trek once and for all.
Definitely like the "Disease and Danger" one. The second trailer… is this about James T. Kirk or Helen Zilwicki?
(I'm a David Weber fan. Enough that the thought of building a heavy cruiser on the ground instead of properly in space is a bit jarring as well.)
He may not have wanted to visit space but he wasn't afraid to. The only phobia I can recall him having in the original series was a rather understandable fear of having his molecules disassembled, scrambled, broadcast across space, and reassembled at some other point by the transporter. Since that's more of an occasional thing and something that apparently got stronger as he aged, it not being mentioned until the movies, it was reasonable while not crippling. This new McCoy is apparently putting himself into a situation where he's going to be afraid every minute of every day and that's not reasonable, I don't care how bad your failed marriage is.
Exactly, Andrew.. I'll wait til video most likely, but considering Abrams comments… I'm not holding out hope that this is the Star Trek i grew up on and loved.
The dialogue in the first trailer was majorly cheesy; second trailer was definitely better and made me feel like a kid again, wanting summer to get here so I could go see movies with my friends. Hey, it helps that Chris Pine is pretty good looking, too.
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
The original Trek was "thinky" social commentary with an optimistic perspective. Roddenberry once said something like the shows of the day all portrayed the future darkly (think Twilight Zone). Trek had strong stories, enough action to keep me hooked as a kid and, as is well known, a $35 weekly FX budget.
From the trailers, the movies appears to be everything the original series was not.
The trailers go way overboard in showing Kirk as a troubled bad boy and that kind of annoys me. Yes, he's a troubled youth living up to the reputuation of a father he's never known (see also Top Gun), we get that. But I hope that this isn't the entire thrust of the movie. I agree Tom, the second trailer is the best.
That said, I'll be there opening night. I love spaceships. I love explosions. I love spaceships exploding. Besides, this "re-imagining" might actually be good .
CrankyGordon, you are only half right. The original pilot was "too cerebral" for the network and he was forced to redo the series. What we got out of it was less Capt. Picard like Pike, but Capt. "Jerk" Kirk. Frankly, I don't mind because I like both versions. This one? Continuity bothers me a lot and the characterization and history is off enough to be suspect. On the other hand, I am glad they didn't make the book "Enterprise," yet another telling of the first voyage of the ship and its Kirk crew, into a movie; very boring.
Deadly accurate, Andrew… and McG belongs to the 'amp it up' crowd of louder is better (Michael Bay filmmaking; he's just better at it) so we suspect Blu-Ray and a couple of High Life's is the trick here…
According to "The Making of Star Trek" (which is admittedly considered non-canonical,) the original Enterprise was built on the ground and assembled in space. So, this somewhat breaks that. In TNG, they were built on a skybase in geosynchronous orbit over Utopia Planitia on Mars.
Paramount never gave a crap about Star Trek, their goal was to put as little money as possible into it that would still generate a return. The movie laserdiscs didn't even have chapters. Seriously though, I think you are overestimating Trek here, for a while now it's been the only period for decades that hasn't had an ongoing Trek series on the air. It's pretty sad that I as someone who is only casually interested in Star Trek knew more about Star Trek than the writers of Voyager, and Enterprise was pretty lousy. I think you were right the first time, it's an attempt to resurrect an already dead series. They are trying something new because the old formula just didn't work anymore. Anyway, if it sucks they'll just try again in a few years anyway. I feel like there will probably always be Star Trek fans waiting if Hollywood can just produce something they want to see.
Firefly was brilliant on so many levels. The idiots over at Fox didn't let Joss have enough time with that show.
u serious? he has to start out as a spoiled brat to have a character arc. geez
That seems to be the only thing I'm getting from the trailers. Kirk gets a bloody nose in a bar fight, Kirk trashes a classic car, etc.
I hope there is more to the story than that.
Boo!
"Blue-Ray and a couple of High Lift's" — LOL!! Good call.
Yeah, Abrams comments don't give me a lot of confidence either. Sounds like it's going to be a lot flash, but no substance.
It's space opera, so I'll be there at midnight on opening day.
I work with two crusty old guys who watched TOS when it first aired, and haven't missed an episode of anything since then — and they can not wait for this film. I think that's interesting.
I still insist that Simon Peg is miscast as Scotty. He should be the next Doctor Who with Nick Frost as his companion.
I adore the original Star Trek so I have to admit I have my reservations about this. At this point, I'm just hoping they don't put in some stupid shoutout to Obama like they did in the last episode of Life on Mars.
Uh, oh. I think I just heard a discouraging word. OK, no mas.
It makes me depressed. Why can't they just leave Star Trek alone? And the excuse that several actors have played Superman, James Bond or Batman doesn’t wash. I love those characters but with all due respect they are much more generic and two dimensional than the characters of the Star Trek shows and movies. Leonard Nimoy turned Spock into a real three dimensional character. Many of the character’s traits (the neck pinch and Vulcan salute) were creations from Nimoy’s mind as an actor. You can’t just find some pretty boy and plug him into the part.
Crap like this is why I hate modern Hollywood.
It is not an Academy film. The Academy years are covered with "3 years later".
The goal of this project is to relaunch Trek from the beginning, and do so in a way that allows them to do some things differently without completely trashing the established continuity its fans have embraced..
Sorry Hawk, with the delay in comments, I didn't realize that you had a thread going.
Just being Khantankerous.
[part one]
Watching the D&D clip, hearing how Karl Urban speaks in the role of McCoy,
I couldn't help but be reminded of the vocal delivery of Owen Wilson,
particularly in Armegeddon, the moment where he stops the briefing to emphasize
'Okay, I get it, we're being sent into the worst possible situation. Just wanted to be sure I got that straight.'
Has Karl Urban sounded like that in other roles?
The new flick might be enjoyable enough (in a 'leave your brain at the door' kind of way),
but so far (from these various clips) it looks like it reeks of self-consciousness and calculation,
aimed to flatter the self-image of the young target demographic ticket buyers.
I agree with whomever said that having JJ Abrams guiding this project lowers my hope that I will like it.
Prediction: slick, empty, callow.
[part two]
It looks like young Kirk is a retread of Maverick in Top Gun!
Sheesh.
The moment when he first sits in the captain's chair, it looks like he feels entitled to it, because he's special,
like a prince getting crowned king.
Wouldn't it make more sense if his response was 'My God what a huge responsibility I have now.' ?
Wouldn't that make for better drama?
Did any of you watch TOS? Read the books? Kirk DID feel entitled to the center seat–that's one of the things that made us love him–he wasn't an explorer like Picard–he was an adventurer.
A 'tin plated dictator with delusions of godhood'–and that came from a friend.
He was a jerk sometimes–and a big enough man to take it and try to fix it when he got called on it.
He NEVER wanted to give up that center seat.
First star to the left…..and straight on till morning…..
No need to apologize. The conversation had played itself out anyway, so we Khanned it.
Star Trek needs to be replaced with a new, original series. Why do we have to magically change the entire backstory? Might as well make it an original movie and toss the Star Trek part.
It will take more than a couple. Trust me
Actually in the trailer, if you look close you can see a very large section of a rubber band…..
I bought the DVD set and am about 1/2 way through. So refreshing to see good writing and acting. Why does quality seem to end up in the garbage bin and not get recycled?
Ok, I have to ask. How old is crusty?
Well, that clip established that The Vagina Is In Charge, which is the primary suck of all post-masculine movies, and frankly that last clip is about enough to get me to pass on the whole thing. Hey, guess what: I don't care if it's 2008 or 2508, women cannot make a man sit down. So sorry if this is news for anyone. Of course the point of it is simply to deball men and to demoralize them. It's not like women get off on that stuff either.
Probably, but I'm an optimist! Besides, moe beer is not necessarily a bad thing…
Both the Bennett 1990s scenario and the Abrams 2009 retread posited a "young" Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc., participate in adventure before Star Trek the Original Series (TOS) as noted in Wikipedia entry on Harve Bennett:
"Following Star Trek V, Bennett developed an idea for a sixth Star Trek film that would take a different approach from the previous films. Titled "The Academy Years," it would have focused on the characters of Kirk and Spock when they were much younger and cadets at Starfleet Academy. It would have delved into the early relationships between these characters, and shown how they developed such a close friendship over the years. While William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy would have had cameos at the beginning and end of the film to "bookend" the story in flashback form, new actors would have portrayed most of the roles in the film, including the young Kirk and Spock."
Sound familiar, doesn't it? As a 54-year-old first-generation Trekker, I know a wet tribble when I smell one.
From all the posts, there are obviously numerous opinions.
Mine is that I downloaded the trailer, and I watch it every few hours. I get goosebumps watching it. Having grown up with Kirk & Co. I was adamantly opposed to the idea of bringing ST back to life, especially under J.J. Abrams. But….he won me over.
Why is May 8th so far away??
I dunno. Maybe America's attention span isn't long enough for it…
speaking as one who was enraptured in front of the set watching as Roddenberry once described trek as"wagon train to the stars", i just thought it was cool. as the years have passed i go back to trek as a vision of roddenberry's view of the future. the lessons are just as true today as they were then. fight for what's right, sometimes rules need to be broken for the greater good. and always look for the third option. i hope the new movie does not crap on the vision.
At least someone at Big Hollywood has an open mind on the Trek reboot. Whenever I read of John's 90120 rants against this movie, I think back to how he gushed over the Quantum of Solace trailers, only to have that one blow up in his face.
Star Trek meets Monthy Python is a much better trailer.
Kalroy
Let's add to your list, even though it is only a TV show:
-Don't they have elnisted personnel? I mean, other than the sexy yeomen who provide emotional support to the Captain.
-As command billets are limited, competition is intense and intensely political. Assuming Kirk survived long enough to screen for command, it's certain that by now he's pissed off so many of the wrong people, he'd never make the cut.
-Does anyone salute?
-Who goes into a potentially hostile environment wearing bright red (or yellow, or blue) Shoot Me shirts?
-Skin-tight mini-skirts for the female crew are impractical for shipboard operations. Every guy on the ship is going to eagerly let the ladies go first up the ladder.
-They can track a single heart-beat from 20 miles up, but have to wait for the landing team to phone in before locating them. Ever hear of a Blue Force Tracker?
It'd be fun to run the DVD with a commentary not from the actors or directors, but from a retired Marine infantry officer or Sgt Major picking it apart as it went along.
I think you may have missed what I was trying to say. My thought was that going to a millitary academy would not be a last minute decision in a young persons life the way the trailer seems to be portraying it. Everything you are saying is true, I read a book called Commando that had a chapter on Navy Seal hell week. The students from the previous cycle went out on the water with cookies and drinks for the trainees on the course. Kirk would not have been a last minute recruit to the academy and would probably have been the top student in his class regardless of whatever pranks he may have played.
Bill
I think you may have missed the point I was trying to make about kirk in the trailer. The academy would not be a last minute decision by someone who had been a screw up their entire educational career. I seems as though an academy education would be something planned for well in advance, regardless of the personaliy of the student entering the academy. Also, I think Kirk would have had all the traits you mentioned of John Mccain, but also would have been the type to make it to the top of his academy class anyway as well as be an exceptional student.
The original Star Trek was 'Wagon Train to the Stars'. It was a western in space. If they'd had the money to do shoot 'em ups every week, they would have (actually, they did most weeks anyway). It wasn't until TNG that you had 'bottle' episodes where things slowed down and you saw more interpersonal activity on the ship. TOS was a new adventure, a new big bad, a new planet every week. I don't see anything about this new film that deviates too far from that.
And TWOK (as well as a few TOS stories) firmly established that Jim Kirk had a checkered past and was 'never a boy scout'. He also was no stranger to a bar or the ladies. He frequently disobeyed orders and broke from the chain of command. The only difference here is he's not yet a man with a purpose. But he'll become that man.
Besides, Rodenberry wanted to reboot TOS with The Motion Picture (and essentially did). If you read the novelization (which he wrote) he deems much of TOS as 'apocryphal' or at least highly exaggerated.
The original Star Trek was 'Wagon Train to the Stars'. It was a western in space. If they'd had the money to do shoot 'em ups every week, they would have (actually, they did most weeks anyway). It wasn't until TNG that you had 'bottle' episodes where things slowed down and you saw more interpersonal activity on the ship. TOS was a new adventure, a new big bad, a new planet every week. I don't see anything about this new film that deviates too far from that.
And TWOK (as well as a few TOS stories) firmly established that Jim Kirk had a checkered past and was 'never a boy scout'. He also was no stranger to a bar or the ladies. He frequently disobeyed orders and broke from the chain of command. The only difference here is he's not yet a man with a purpose. But he'll become that man.
Besides, Rodenberry wanted to reboot TOS with The Motion Picture (and essentially did). If you read the novelization (which he wrote) he deems much of TOS as 'apocryphal' or at least highly exaggerated.
This is what I always think. All these producers and directors who have credentials from Ivy League and prestigious film schools and this is what they come up with: another Star Trek movie. And not even something like a “Next Generation” or "Deep Space 9" where you have to actually make up new characters. Coming up next from the geniuses in Hollywood: The Godfather
[...] (Hat tip: Tom Tapp at Big Hollywood.) [...]
If anyone is still reading this thread, here's some cool news – they're showing the new movie to some of the troops ahead of the official premiere:
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/04/militar...
You piqued my curiosity about Gene Roddenberry's own military experience.
Wikipedia says," Roddenberry…joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1941,and flew many combat B-17 Flying Fortress missions in the Pacific Theatre with the 394th Bomb Squadron (H) 5th Bomb Group who called themselves the "Bomber Barons." He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his service."
At http://www.sfsite.com/gary/rodd01.htm , in a 'warts and all' bio of the man writes," his military service during World War II … had the greatest impact on his creations. "
Did it? Perhaps the only enlisted type he wanted to see
was the Yeoman Rand type, and who could blame him?
"Go on up the ladder first, Yeoman.
No , really, I insist."
firefly was/is THE most under-rated vehicle that could have stood a chance to supplant TOS a viable place for a series of movies and spin-off series.
and this is from a guy who has all of TOS and all the movies on a hard drive for instant access.
love the idea of "first generation Trekker", and i always thought "the trouble with tribbles" was one of the weakest episodes of all. and yet it comes up as highly rated on most peoples favorite lists.
Hey! i resemble that remark, and i will be there opening day as well, just like i was for iron man, and the dark knight
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