05 February 2013

FWS Topics: Is Star Trek II: into Darkness Military Sci-Fi?


Okay, I admit it, I am not a fan of J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek. I hated the first one with such burning passion that I thought I had an STD. It was not was not the Trek grew up with, and the lens flare bugged me to the point of a seizure. When I heard that another heresy movie was coming out, I rolled my eyes, my wife begged me not to rant, and I moved on...but then someone at work, asked me if I was going to see it. 
I asked why before flying into a rant, and they said, and I quote: "It looks like military science fiction, and you're all about that." So, I watched the trailer, and I could see where someone would say that. The new heresy Trek seems more MSF than the original ST universe, which I'm sure thrills Gene Roddenberry to no end if there is an afterlife. So, readers of FWS, I ask you, is Star Trek II: Into Lens Flare military science fiction? If it is...someone else is going to have to review for FWS...because I am not seeing this heresy because I might be turned into a pillar of salt!

3 comments:

  1. Well, whoever is going to review Star Trek II (assuming it is military science fiction) is sure NOT going to be me. I might shoot the screen with my phaser pistol. The whole reboot is just pure heresy, or, as the owner of another blog I visit frequently stated, they went for the quotidian and lost all uniqueness. The reboot is simply not Star Trek!!! And the sequel to the reboot is going to be even worse.

    Have you seen the trailer for STII? Don't, if you value your computer screen- you might punch it in a sudden rage. It is SO pretentious, and the action looks like a bad fantasy game. I was suddenly having fond memories of the first Star Trek reboot after watching it.

    However, I have found a new Star Trek show that is worth watching. Have you heard of the fan-made Star Trek: The New Voyages? The idea is that they are going to make the last two seasons of TOS and complete the five-year mission. While you have to get used to new actors playing the old roles, they do a WAY better job than that abysmal ST reboot, and whole show is built to resemble classic Trek.

    Some of their episodes are a bit unpolished and clearly fan-made, but I found a few that are actually really good. The episode "World Enough and Time" had a great story, good special effects, and George Takei reprises his old role as Sulu- this time as a Sulu who was abandoned on an alien world suspiciously similar to Barsoom* and returns a John Carter-esque swashbuckler!!!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o639tUM0jwY&list=PL148B1BDCFA706AAE&index=1

    The next really good episode was "Enemy Starfleet", in which the Enterprise encounters a lost Federation starship- and finds that it has fallen into the hands of a rather unusual and dangerous woman who intends to use it to take revenge on an entire race of people. But she hasn't factored Captain Kirk into her plans...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-ncYhAlbAw

    Anyone who dislikes such honest attempts at honoring the original series will get locked in a turbolift with a sword-wielding Hikaru Sulu. XD

    *The Barsoom from "A Princess of Mars", not the recent movie. With some of Ray Bradbury's Mars from "The Martian Chronicles" thrown in. Watch for when Sulu mentions a dead civilization, a sea of sand, and watching the twin moons hurtle overhead while sitting by a campfire.

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  2. I will have to check out that fan-made ST series! Excellent find, Mr. Phoenix!
    I am very glad that some people out there hate the new Trek films, because Abrams gave the middle finger to all of Original Trekkies (OTs!) for the cash!I was ashamed that so many die-hard trekkies went to see it and worshiped at the feet of J.J. Abrams. I was so disguised by the reboots and how they abandoned the show's history and any science, and what about Spock making out with Uhura?! I mean what the double fuck was up with that?
    My favorite scene of STII is the crash-landing of the Enterprise into the ocean...can you imagine the reality of that? The Enterprise spaceframe could not withstand atmospheric reentry, plus there is the large amount of Anti-Matter stored onboard. Big Bada Boom!
    I was very worried that Abrams was going to remake STT:TWOK...that would have earned him an angry mob at his home!
    I totally agree with you...the Abrams Trek is not my Star Trek! And I have tried to make FWS a place without these films....I bash the original Trek universe...the new one is just too easy...like Lindsay Lohan after some bars of coke.

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  3. Well,
    the new Star Trek is a child of its time, so unlike us, gentlemen :)
    Its all about effects, effects, teenage rebellion (how can you make a character so unlikeable as the young kirk? He has nothing for him either, he is neither intelligent, neither bold, neither adaptable or cunning, he is just a stupid opportunist, fine leadership -but hey, that's what the young ones ask for, I suppose, when they see too much reality TV)... ah , I forgot, more effects.
    The late sixties was a different time, there was the space race, good ole sputnik and a crash course in education programs then (after the sputink, that is). Different viewers, different program. No one would be interested in making the same stuff again I suppose -yawn-.
    Ah, more effects please, and I do not want to tire my writers by having them read script, let's just wipe it all, and put more effects and teenage rebellion inside.
    Funny, this all looks to me as "puberty in space", doesn't it for you ?
    Perhaps the "final frontier" is finally giving the finger to papa ?

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