Trekstravaganza: Movie Edition

(Yeah, we didn't really manage to get to TOS Season 2, but what the heck. Season 1 had a lot of memorable episodes. I guess I'll have to post that season 2 Trekstravaganza then... one day)

Star Trek Movies! Nothing beats sitting back, relaxing, and watching a movie you've probably seen hundreds of times already. I remember being 3 and hearing about Star Trek IV premiering. I was in the best place to watch it too... in San Francisco, where all the space whales were at. I really don't remember if I went there with my aunt or not, but...]

For more on the pictures that grace this post, take a look at the Star Trek Reel Rewind series: http://cromeyellow.com/?tag=reel-rewind
And:
http://rodolforever.deviantart.com/art/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness-371459964

Capsule Reviews, Engage!


Star Trek: The Motion Picture

 

The motion picture had Isaac Asimov as science consultant, experienced director Robert Wise at the director's helm, and the original cast all back for what should have been a balls out crazy Star Trek Adventure. What came out at first was a chore to watch: it was basically reaction shot: the movie. When Wise had a director's cut released a few years ago, it was a bit better. And the director's commentary helped a lot.

This movie is about a massive... thing called V'ger headed on a direct course towards earth. The United Federation of Planets calls on Admiral James T. Kirk, badass extraordinaire, to reassemble his old crew and go kick some ass.

I was astounded by the scale of V'ger, and I never really understood what it looked like with all the clouds and everything.

 

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

I really have nothing more to say about this film. This is the greatest Star Trek film of all time, and one of the best Sci-fi films. It's Horatio Hornblower in space! Also, it's a film about growing old and Kirk having a midlife crisis. He was banging alien chicks and random Enterprise crew members, debating computers to oblivion and punching Gorn in the face. Now, he's beginning to develop that beer belly, he's relegated to a desk job and things aren't as hotly exciting as they used to be. His past then punches him in the face in the form of Khan. But Kirk doesn't take punches sitting down, no sir.

I did notice that Kirk and Khan are having the fight of their lives but they never physically come face to face (Space Seed showed us that it was a bad idea.) There was originally a scene where they would engage in a fist fight but it was scrapped.

 

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The Search for Spock is, at best, a film trapped in between two really good films. It almost feels like filler, in a way. But nothing capitulates the spirit of this movie better than one exchange near the end of the film:

Sarek: "Kirk, I thank you. What you've done is - "
Kirk: "What I've done, I had to do."
Sarek: "But at what cost? Your ship. Your son."
Kirk: "If I hadn't tried, the cost would have been my soul."

You could say that it kinda ruins all the things Wrath of Khan established (that everyone has to face a no win situation) but that's up to your personal taste. The best scene here was when Kirk kicked Doctor Brown in the face. Also that scene where the Enterprise leaves Spacedock and the Excelsior sputters like a limp balloon.


 

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

 

Space Whaaaaaaaaaaaales! Star Trek takes a lighter, slightly comedic turn in this movie. But it was fun! That scene in the hospital where Bones gives this old lady a pill that makes her regrow her kidneys is awesome and a bit funny at the same time.

Once again, gigantic probes speaking in Humpback threaten earth, and it's up to Kirk and company in a Klingon Bird of Prey to save the day. I wonder if the Treaty of Algeron also applies to Klingon cloaking devices...

Our crew now starts to get used to the Earth of the late 20th century with boomboxes and nuclear wessels and "double-dumbass-on-you."

The first time I saw the Enterprise-A bridge, I thought it was sparkling white. The effect was almost reminiscent of the time I saw the Alternate Enterprise bridge in the 2009 movie. But upon rewatching the movie, I see my memory has been playing tricks on me.


Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 

I'll confess this: I liked The Final Frontier. I read the novelization first, that really fleshes out a lot of things about the characters, especially the three hostages on Nimbus III and the Star Trek Trinity (Kirk, Spock and McCoy). It's Shatner's film, and it shows. The El Capitan scene for example figures in a lot of his Shatnerverse novels. I guess the whole thing influenced my viewing(s) of the film and I didn't hate it as much.

Kirk then finds the ultimate guy to debate with, after being tired of debating with computers: god himself. And he kicks divine ass by asking just one question. "What does God need with a starship?" Old floaty head then gets exposed like the charlatan that he is and gets fucked by Spock in a Klingon Bird of Prey. That sentence didn't make a lot of sense, did it?

I wonder what a Shatner Director's cut would have looked like. Based on his description in Star Trek Movie Memories, it would have had rock monsters, angels and crazy shit. That would probably have been insane.



Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Man, the Nick Meyer Trek films are really a cut above the rest. Klingons become Space Russians (after the fall of Communism). Shakespeare references abound. And one of the most suspenseful space battles in the six Trek films so far is basically Chang taking potshots at Enterprise and Excelsior. It is glorious.

I've almost memorized all the lines by heart. Christopher Plummer is badass. Plus Worf drops by for a cameo! It's a fitting end to the TOS films and I really couldn't ask for anything more. I can't believe Gene Roddenberry wanted to do the JFK assassination thing instead of this film.

 

Star Trek: Generations

Generations has a lot of things on its back. You have a film where Kirk dies... how the hell do you do something like that? I really don't know how, and I bet the writers of this film had a hard time too (they even had Kirk shot in the back in an early edition of the film.) It also killed off Picard's family (as seen in Family, one of the best episodes of TNG.) It also has Data finally getting emotions! It's a very ambitious film and in that respect, one understands why it wasn't as good - it tried to do something with too much.

There were a lot of fun moments in the film, and thanks to a bit of spy work a small Bird of Prey manages to destroy a Galaxy-Class Starship... which is kind of a bummer. Kirk's death was really sad, but I would have preferred to have him fade away and live a normal life somewhere... like in the Shatnerverse novels. They're really nice to read, although they're not compatible with the continuity of the series and films that have come since then.

 

 
Star Trek: First Contact

First Contact is a great film. It has Borg, and it has Picard going all Die Hard on them instead of being diplomatic like he usually is. I guess that's out of character, but hey, why the hell not. (Apparently some people aren't too cool with this.) Although he did manage to get some emotional closure after "Family," something as traumatic as Borg Assimilation never does leave someone's psyche that easily.

The Dixon hill reference was nice, and the cameos by Neelix's actor and the EMH are nice additions (some cross publicity for Voyager ain't bad.) Having Reg Barclay there was also cool (I didn't notice him until after seeing the film a couple more times.)

This movie also introduces a number of new ship classes, like the Akira and Steamrunner classes. They're destroyed by the Borg Cube, of course, but they still looked great before they blew up.



Star Trek: Insurrection

Insurrection was an indication that the TNG movies were starting to lose their steam. This movie felt like a TNG two parter or a made for TV movie. Again Picard goes all gung ho and blasts his way to free the Baku from being oppressed. Riker pilots the Enterprise with an Atari 2600 joystick and Geordi gains sight for the first time.

There was an interesting movie idea after Insurrection came out where Patrick Stewart and co. were thinking of a movie where the Enterprise would rebel against a corrupt Federation. That would have been a pretty good idea for a movie, but instead, they made...

 

Star Trek: Nemesis
 

...sigh. I wanted to like this film, but you know that this movie is like someone took the script for Wrath of Khan, photocopied it, and they deleted all of the names and replaced them with TNG members. Data sacrifices himself for this one, and his loss is not as heavily felt as Spock's sacrifice in Wrath of Khan. The Enterprise faces off against a really powerful Reman/Romulan ship, but the Romulans as villains didn't seem that fleshed out. Shinzon as a character also felt kinda flat, even though Tom Hardy is an awesome actor. And did he really have to be bald!? I guess the connection wouldn't have been as obvious. I think the whole Picard clone thing was ridiculous in the first place.



Star Trek (2009)

It's fun, but it's riddled with a ton of plot holes. I'd recommend reading the comics/novelization to get the full experience of the film. It's a nice film that manages to respect the continuity of the original (by presenting itself as an alternate continuity) and launch itself as a new thing.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness

It's also fun, but it has more plotholes from the first, and in retrospect, it wasn't as good as I'd thought. This is the SECOND film that borrows from Wrath of Khan. Come on, guys, that was a good film, but please don't keep on cannibalizing it for the sake of making new films.

That's it for now. Hopefully before the 23rd century really comes along, I'll be able to post that TOS season 2 Trekstravaganza.