GWC Podcast #165: Trek XI

Podcasts Galactic Watercooler
#41

I was only disappointed with the movie in one regard - the soundtrack. The music wasn’t up to par with most Star Trek movies; however, if they used more of the music budget on the special effects - good call!

Some of my favorite good things in this movie:
Sulu - I loved the warp drive parking brake! Oops! I bet you’ll get no credit for it but you did more to save the ship by screwing that up than Kirk did by telling Pike to show up to the dance with the shields up.

Of course the base-jumping “red shirt” dies. Anyone else think the bottom of the laser digger was a lot like a clown car where the Romulans kept crawling out of it?

Seriously, more escape pod ejections - a great way to solve arguments!

I like the idea of Uhura as an intelligence/communications officer. Most military units and vessels have an intelligence officer as a critical member of the staff; a key piece missing in most Star Treks… of course… I can’t think of a military unit with a “science officer” on staff either.

#42

I thank Hoshi for giving the comms officer a job other than controlling what’s on the view screen.

Now Uhurah has a cool job.

#43

Spouse and I were also disappointed by the soundtrack. We quite liked the piece used in the previews… and then what we got was nothing like it, at least from what I was paying attention to when we saw the film.

#44

I liked the Giachino’s new hook well enough, but they used it too many times, without any secondary themes. Agree that there should have been a little of the preview music thrown in.

#45

The remixed TOS theme at the end was kinda good though. Something you could bob your head to. =\

#46

I think my favorite Trek Soundtrack is ST3. After that I’d say 6, 2, and 1 in that order.

#47

I didn’t see Uhara as being “reduced” to anything. Her unique talents produced key information that saved everbody. At some point, everybody stepped to the plate and saved the day, using their distinct specialties.

No, we didn’t get to see her beat anybody up. But as she was portrayed, I got the impression she could have held her own in a bar fight. She was a love interested, but I think they presented her with overall integrity.

#48

Wow, great cast. I really enjoyed the movie. Nothing is perfect, but I think it met my expectations, and maybe went a little higher. I’ll probably have to see it again to come up with a more detailed review.

My cousin wrote an article on the new movie which I thought was pretty good:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3877-DC-Film-Industry-Examiner~y2009m5d10-Star-Trek-recreated-as-a-mass-market-appeal
Check out his blog too, he has lots of good stuff on movies, and a lot of it is sci-fi related:
http://www.examiner.com/x-3877-DC-Film-Industry-Examiner

#49

It might have been more useful if she mentioned the info to, say, her Captain, and not just her roommate and the mouth-breather she brought home.

That said, for a supporting character she has a pretty big role. Larger than Nichelle had in most of her outings.

#50

I enjoyed your cousin’s article. Good read.

I’d like to add that, to me, one of the biggest pleasant surprises from a “who the ‘f’ is that” standpoint is Chris Pine. The pressure of portraying Kirk not withstanding, he pulled it off great, without doing a Shatner impression even once. It’s actually kind of amazing: here you have two actors in Shatner and Pine, with completely different approaches to the character, two completely different acting styles, but they are BOTH KIRK! There’s a shared essence there that’s undeniable once you see the movie.

#51

Me too. Pity they pulled out of Baltimore. The Sun isn’t going to last much longer.

I’d like to add that, to me, one of the biggest pleasant surprises from a “who the ‘f’ is that” standpoint is Chris Pine. The pressure of portraying Kirk not withstanding, he pulled it off great, without doing a Shatner impression even once. It’s actually kind of amazing: here you have two actors in Shatner and Pine, with completely different approaches to the character, two completely different acting styles, but they are BOTH KIRK! There’s a shared essence there that’s undeniable once you see the movie.

Yeah, the characterizations are awesome. I’m still a little put off by the Spock/Uhura thing, and I’m disappointed that they did movies Scotty instead of TOS Scotty, but they all sold the characters. That gives me hope for the next one.

#52

I hate to admit abut after they got be and my girlfriends money twice ( a total of $34 plus snacks) for two viewings of Star Trek. I did download the Bit torrent copy to atch again and again for nitpick and question purposes. I just was too excited the first two times to take it all in.

I noticed two things that esaped me the fist few times.

1: Spock never got to say goodby to Kirk after generations. I felt that “thrusters on full” line was a personal goodbye to Kirk ( and maybe the crew as well)

2: Uhura on third viewing deserves NON of the praise we ( I. I can’t believe I have said good things about her!!!) I have been her big fan so far!!!) have been giving her… she is the worst officer ever. She intercepted ( no doubt classified- the method used to gain the information was classified making the ino classified) information that says that the Romulans have jsut destroyed 47 klingon ships and she just decided to go back to her room tell her roomate and go to bed!!! She told no one in command?! WTF?!

I hate to bring the real world into this… But I work in Signal Intelligence… that is what we call a “flash” message. If i intercepted a msg traffic that said the “chineese just launched an attack agaist Vladivostoc with a giant Aircraft carrier and destroyed the Russian Pacific fleet” I would be put in prison if I went back to an unsecure area and told my roommate and another uncleared soldier ( in an uncleared environment) and just went to bed!!!

But I still love the movie (second to ST2) sorry first contact… this has Kirk and Spock!!! Suck it baldy!

#53

See now, I had assumed that she found this out during a training exercise or something & would have reported that to her trainer which should have resulted in the information being distributed up the cyhain of command. Ultimately, she can’t be responsible for the dissemination of the information. I would also assume that since Pike was seemingly not aware, that would be a plot hole more than anything else.

#54

In response to the comments about the soundtrack:

My first reaction to the soundtrack was “wait, this isn’t the same music from Trailer 3” (which I love), so I was disappointed. However, going into the movie the second time I found I really liked the soundtrack. Over the course of watching the movie twice and listening to the soundtrack a half a dozen times, i’ve really fallen in love with it.

To be honest, while the Trailer3 music was cool, I think it would have been much too dark for this movie. Very “Batman Begins”-esque too, I might add. To me, the new Trek theme has a good range, in battle/action mode it is heart-pumping and does the spectacular visuals justice, but the same theme is also played in a soft/mournful mode that definitely has heart, as well as another rendition that is more playful. Also, the music from the Kelvin has a more old-timey sci-fi feel to it, that reflects the onscreen ‘past Starfleet’ look, complete with the space-pajamas costumes.

Also, finally a Trek movie to use modern music as more than just “ooh we’re from the future, this music isn’t jazz or opera so I don’t know what it is” as we’ve seen in Star Trek IV and VIII. The track that plays when Spock tells off the council is awesome, and makes him appear as a badass. Also, the scene with young Kirk (awesome future-Nokia ringtone, btw) driving the car through farm country blasting Beastie Boys was the moment I was sold on this movie.

So overall, give the soundtrack a chance. Sure it’s not Trailer3’s feel, but listen to the story it tells and I think you’ll agree that it’s a soundtrack worthy of a repeat listen (or ten).

Oh, and my overall review of the movie?: AWESOME

#55

Still listening though and haven’t gotten to the end yet, but I couldn’t resist commenting.

The idea of a universal translator, while appealing (so we can all understand eachother) strikes me as… um… impossible. Beyond the technology required, the concept of a universal translator totally ignores all the complexities of translation, even between languages that are related to one another, much less languages that have nothing (?) linguistically in common. It’s somewhat irresponsible to think that just plugging something in will automatically translate the meaning (and multiple meanings) of what someone is trying to say. As anyone who is speaks two or more languages is well aware, there are some ideas that have to be approximated rather than translated. A universal translator erases all awareness of those nuances.

It’s like if babelfish (the horror!) were coming out of the mouth of whoever wasn’t speaking whatever language is your native language.

And yes! Learn more languages! Besides being good for job prospects these days, it’s also just a great way to widen your horizons - every language class I’ve taken or taught isn’t just grammar and vocabulary, you learn a lot about culture and the world in general. Very cool.

#56

I agree, and Enterprise tried to pull off stories based on this very fact (Hoshi frantically trying to translate alien languages) - but by the end of the series they all just wore universal translators on their jackets and called it a day.

Unfortunately, its one of those conceits we all have to live with in order to tell a story involving aliens without having the cue card “3 years later, once they’ve learned each others’ languages” popping up every time they meet a new species. :stuck_out_tongue:

#57

I enjoyed the movie, but I think if they had stuck to the Kobayashi Maru solution that Kirk came up with in the book it would have been much funnier (in the book the Klingons cooperate because they realize they are dealing with THE Captain Kirk).

As for the next movie I think a movie version of Space Seed with the guy who plays Sayid on Lost would be great.

#58

I think that guy that played the skipper on the Kelvin would have been a great Khan. That guy was kinda baddass ( until he wasn’t)

#59

To me, the whole “everyone speaks English” and “most aliens look like humanoids of some sort” issues fall into the “willing suspension of disbelief” bucket. I’m not going to get all hung up on stuff like that if the story is otherwise enjoyable.

#60

Young, pre-Starfleet Kirk reminded me of Good Will Hunting. I’d like to see a Good Kirk Hunting TV show.

I also had to first-row experience, but with SW Episode 2. Man, that was disorientating (sic).