New Trek: A love letter (with some spoilers)

I couldn't get this up on this blog right as I saw the film, but Blogger had somehow reset my language to Hindi....

I have only one nit to pick, so I’ll do that first….for 99% of the film none of the older musical scores were referenced or used in their entirety.

Reasons I love this:

The writing got almost everyone nailed (McCoy occasionally skated perilously close to parody, and even that was lovable…. and when he wasn’t doing that he was amazing.)

Favorite McCoy line: "I'm a doctor, not a physicist!"

I completely bought into: Chris Pine’s Kirk, (Kirk in particular was marvelous…stripped away of the parody that he got made into, he resonated with such original series episodes as “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” and “Balance of Terror.”), Bruce Greenwood’s Pike, Sulu and Uhura.

Favorite Kirk setup and line (I'm regretfully paraphrasing)

Security Dweeb confronts Kirk wanting to beat him up: "Look, cupcake, there are four guys here..."

Kirk: "Bring a fifth guy and it'll be a fair fight."

Zachary Quinto’s Spock took a bit longer, because from the trailers he was clearly “outside” the level of emotional control we’d seen from Nimoy’s Spock in the original, except under alien influence or, well once every seven years.

But the movie has a reason for a less controlled Spock, and a compelling one, which I bought wholeheartedly.

Favorite Spock setup and line:

(The Vulcan Science Academy has obviously been studying "How to make a mind blowingly stupid remark in polite company," in the Human Emotions Dictionary)

They praise young Spock for his outstanding work that merited him a place at Vulcan Science Academy, but wonder what possessed him to apply for Starfleet as well...)

Admissions Chairperson: "But you've done so *well* despite your disadvantage!"

Spock: "To what disadvantage are you referring?"

Admissions Chairperson: "Your human mother!"

Spock then politely with perfect diction and a quiet tone of voice, tells them that he has made a decision to enroll in Starfleet. The room erupts. No one has ever turned down a post to the Vulcan Science Academy!!!

"What emotion are you trying to convey?" Accusing Spock of the ultimate Vulcan faux pas.

"The only emotion I wish to convey is gratitude."

That's Vulcan for "Kiss my ***!"

There was plenty of homage to the original, and many Trekker’s might say too much.

(It was fine for me. I’ll take beloved lines and attitudes and riffs whenever they come.)

Unlike “The Motionless Picture,” (the first ever Trek Film) you didn’t waste 15 minutes of film staring up at the FX of the movie sized Enterprise…

But she was a brilliant piece of starship, as I’ve noted prior (and that was the first time I teared up a bit.)

One liners referenced both the original series, and, indirectly the animated series of the seventies, with an elementary school age Spock being tormented by his classmates. as well as the last primetime spinoff “Enterprise.” The villain felt like “Nemesis,” the last film before this, in the design and colors of his ship.

Nimoy as elder Spock…a graceful turn firmly in continuity with the nuanced character he’s given us before… as per usual for him. (Yeah I cried.)

There have been some changes though, that I can’t recount without spoiling things.

Non-fans and fans alike: Tempus Fugit. Quick. Go see this film.

The word is given. Warp speed.

A newer trailer than I'd seen before.

Unable to upload, but here's the link .

Trek Reviewing: Why It's Fraught With Peril

I'm glad I've studied history...because as one looks at primary source material, instructions are given to understand the time and place that the source material comes from.

Also if one is a student of history, de facto, if you want to study it, you have some respect for some of it. (Granted, anyone who 'respects' the Inquisition or the Holocaust needs serious medical help, but that's neither here nor there.)

Trek itself is now something of an historical artifact...going on 45 years old.

And, as such, you have to respect the time, place and budgets (and good writing or lack thereof) connected with TOS, TAS, the spinoffs and the films...

Mark Altman, founder of Geek Monthly reviewed the trailers and twenty minutes of film footage....


He is mainly positive about the new film, that makes me happy.

I agree with his stance on the Romulans, because after all in the Pre-TOS time period Spock states

"No Human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other."

(Granted, a couple of renegade Vulcans and Aenar have, but it's likely Vulcan and Andoria never made those instances public. And starships getting assembled in Iowa? Give me a break.)

I disagree with his concerns about Zachary Quinto's Spock. If that kid can make Sylar on "Heroes a complex anti-hero to root for (as I did last week...first time I *ever* wanted to see the carving out of brains.)

he'll do fine with Spock.

And, if Altman could have just stopped the column after reviewing the new film, it would be a great review....

But he somehow had the need to rag on the older films.

"all the original Trek movies looked cheap and, well, cheap.'

Oh please. Compare those movies to the original pilot with it's worse-than-the rest of TOS chauvinism, and *paper* output of the ships computer, non digital analog timers...and they look magical. There was a fifteen year gap in SFX technology then. (not to mention some [slight] evolution in attitudes towards women.)

He felt that

"...by trying to get Scotty, Uhura and Sulu into the action as well as Chekov, they’re doing the big three a disservice. Chekov’s played for comic relief, much as he was in Star Trek IV, and, at the end of the day, who really needs him."

They're part of the fabric, they need to be there. Period. This is what I mean about respect for history.



And, being a Spock fan, I just cannot abide what he said about Mr. Nimoy's cameo.

"...the new kids on the block wouldn’t have to listen to long, ponderous scenes like Leonard Nimoy as Spock explaining technobabble to Scotty that he’s from the future and Captain Kirk needs to get Spock emotional to take command. That’s Next Generation, guys, and as much as I loved seeing Nimoy on screen as Spock again, I couldn’t but help feeling it was like dropping Jar-Jar into a scene in The Empire Strikes Back."

Mr. Altman, the clock is ticking for the remaining TOS actors. Abrams has said that he didn't want to do the film unless he had Nimoy on board.

There will be a time when we can't have the TOS Spock in a film, just as we cannot have TOS McCoy or TOS Scotty now.

I'm glad he's there, long-winded and technical or not.