Surprise premier

April 7, 2009 7:46 AM

One for the fans.[A]t the Fantastic Fest Star Trek event at the Alamo Draughthouse Theater in Austin, Texas on Monday night. Star Trek filmmakers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof kicked things off by telling the crowd of around 200, that they would be seeing the Star Trek preview after Wrath of Khan. Two minutes in to the showing of TWOK, the film appeared to have ‘melted’ and the guys came back out on the stage and appeared to be stalling for time while the film was fixed…and then, wearing a ball cap, Leonard Nimoy came out in front of the audience holding a film can. Nimoy noted to the crowd that it just didn’t seem fair that people in Australia were the fist to see the film and asked them "wouldn’t you rather see the new movie?"
posted by caddis (111 comments total)

FOX, take note. Giving gifts to Super Fans equals Boffo Buzz.
posted by The Whelk at 7:48 AM on April 7

holy fuck! the new Star Trek fucking rules the universe - Harry Knowles, AICN

Ah, good old Harry, subtle and measured as usual...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:54 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

tbh this is the summer movie I'm most looking forward to, certainly more than I did for Watchmen or do for McG's Terminator
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 7:57 AM on April 7

As sad as I am about the lack of well-marketed original material in the movies these days, I'm totally psyched for this movie.

I know Trek is a sacred cow for a lot of people, but it's been so very crappy for so very long that a reboot is the best way to keep it even remotely interesting to those of us who more or less gave up after Deep Space Nine.

Cheers to Paramount for allowing this. This is how you treat moviegoers.
posted by hifiparasol at 7:57 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

It was at the Alamo Drafthouse. Note they had a restriction on cellphones and cameras "for security reasons."
posted by birdherder at 8:00 AM on April 7

...the best way to keep it even remotely interesting to those of us who more or less gave up after Deep Space Nine a few good episodes of TNG.

FTFY
posted by DU at 8:01 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Man, at the preview I went to, after The Wrath of Khan "melted" a guy stood up and ran up to the stage with a film can, just like Nimoy did in Austin. Except at my showing, the guy running up was Rick Berman. He managed to shout out "Wouldn't you rather see-" before the entire theatre of Trek fans charged the stage and beat him to death with the film canister, wrapping his corpse with the film and setting it all on fire.

So what I'm trying to say is, our preview screening was better.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:02 AM on April 7 [26 favorites has favorites]

a few good episodes of TNG.

I have a friend who is no fan of Star Trek but agreed to watch TNG finale with the rest of us geekwads. There was a drinking game going on, you had to pick a word and then down a shot every time it was said. Not thinking, he choose "Tachyon"

And it was a time-travel episode.

I don't think he ever forgave us for that.
posted by The Whelk at 8:08 AM on April 7 [16 favorites has favorites]

Man, I hope these reviews are on the money. I WANT to like this movie.
posted by brundlefly at 8:08 AM on April 7

And it was a time-travel episode.

By the end of the episode his tequila bottle had become a worm hole.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:11 AM on April 7 [24 favorites has favorites]

Drat, everything after the link is a direct quote from the article and should be italicized.
posted by caddis at 8:12 AM on April 7

I'm actually a little bit angry about how much I want to see this film. I've successfully avoided the siren call of the Trek universe for decades now, though I've seen many good friends fall deeply into the pit that is hard-core fandom.

But as news of this has leaked out, it's been slowly killing me.

"Hey, new Star Trek film's gonna come out. And it's being done by the dude that did Alias..."

"The guy that played Darwin Tremor in Smokin' Aces is gonna be Kirk... and Sylar is Spock!"

"Hey, Harold from the White Castle stoner movie is going to be Sulu. That's cool!"

"Man, did you hear? Karl Urban is going to be Bones. Wasn't he the guy from Riddick and Doom? What an odd choice for a doctor..."

"Holy shit! Simon Pegg! Simon fucking Pegg!"

And so on. It went from a curiosity, to an interest, to an obsession just based on the press releases of who was being cast. Now I'm at that point where I'm trying to figure out how to be there opening night.

And I suddenly realize what I've become.
posted by quin at 8:12 AM on April 7 [5 favorites has favorites]

Navelgazer's hilarious take on the writing in Star Trek.
posted by hifiparasol at 8:14 AM on April 7

> And I suddenly realize what I've become.

Join the Dark Side...no, wait, that's not quite right.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:18 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

GOLD PR. Whoever came up with this stunt deserves a point.
posted by mwhybark at 8:18 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

At my screening, when the Wrath of Khan melted, aXXo came out and emailed us all Star-Trek[2009]DvDrip-aXXo.torrent and we all rejoiced.
posted by Pastabagel at 8:18 AM on April 7 [24 favorites has favorites]

As with Watchmen, I remain cautiously pessimistic about the new film! As with Watchmen, I will get increasingly excited as the release date nears, and rush out to see it on opening weekend! As with Watchmen, I will likely be all kinds of gripey about it afterwards!
posted by Greg Nog at 8:19 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

A CHUD.com reader's take.
posted by brundlefly at 8:22 AM on April 7

@Robocop is Bleeding: Sounds wonderful! But the act of cleansing will not be complete until you do the same thing to Brannon Braga. Show no mercy. You know what you must do.
posted by willmize at 8:22 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm just enough of a fan to be really excited, but not enough of a fan to have a big personal investment in it. I really hope it is good (and I think it WILL be good!) but if not, well, at least I ate some overpriced nachos in the dark.
posted by dirtdirt at 8:23 AM on April 7

I have one beef with the trailers I've seen: there is no fucking way you'd construct the Enterprise on the ground. Orbit, motherfuckers, orbit. Sure, it's a great visual, but it galls.
posted by COBRA! at 8:23 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

I will jump at any excuse to link to this YouTube video of Q and his mariachi band.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:24 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

I have one beef with the trailers I've seen: there is no fucking way you'd construct the Enterprise on the ground. Orbit, motherfuckers, orbit. Sure, it's a great visual, but it galls.

If you can travel faster than the speed of light, escape velocity is probably not much more than a sneeze.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:24 AM on April 7

brundlefly: "A CHUD.com reader's take."

the movie taken on its own...well, it doesn't suck.

Can they use that in the TV ads?
posted by Joe Beese at 8:25 AM on April 7

STAR TREK

"Meh." - Guy On Internet
posted by brundlefly at 8:29 AM on April 7

If you can travel faster than the speed of light, escape velocity is probably not much more than a sneeze.

Yea, but everyone knows you can't build inertial-less gravity repulsers right in the middle of a gravity well.

Sheesh.
posted by thanotopsis at 8:29 AM on April 7 [7 favorites has favorites]

I'm pretty psyched about this.

Then again, I'm a total Spock fangirl.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:30 AM on April 7

And anyway, is the whole disc-and-nacelles thing really built to handle moving through an atmosphere?
posted by COBRA! at 8:31 AM on April 7

I amused myself this weekend by watching this sampler pack of most of the Borg episodes. The sampler manages to cut across Enterprise, The Next Generation, and Voyager. I've seen the original series, of course. And this reminded me that, well ... Star Trek just isn't very good. I can forgive the laughable sets and bad special effects. I can mostly ignore the acting from people who said, "Yes, I will wear some kind of jumpsuit for the whole of my employment." The writing, though; it's just slightly more complex than Sesame Street in Space. I know science fiction often presents as social fiction, but must the weekly moral quandary be so wretchedly simplistic? Does the science part demand such weakness that one must jump through hoops to defend it?

Don't get me wrong, it's nowhere near as bad as Stargate: SG-1, but if this is what science fiction represents to the world, no wonder it gets a bad rap.

I'm annoyed at the fact that I will probably shell out money to see yet another installment in this crappy franchise. I know when you like science fiction you have to set the bar just a bit lower, but damn. I wish they'd let it rest for about fifteen years, hire a lot of scientists (a biologist, a chemist, a physicist, an electrical engineer, some computer scientists, and an astronomer) and a pack of good writers before squeezing out another NCC.
posted by adipocere at 8:31 AM on April 7

*points, laughs*
posted by goatdog at 8:32 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Imagine the surprise of everyone who buys a ticket for this new movie and sees The Wrath of Khan instead.
posted by mazola at 8:34 AM on April 7 [5 favorites has favorites]

It was at the Alamo Drafthouse.

The Alamo Drafthouse is the best movie theater I've ever been to. Movies + booze is such a good idea that I'm surprised more places don't try it. I went to the original one, apparently there are many now and that one closed down. Oddly enough the movie I saw Star Trek V, where a group of comedians gave it the MST3K treatment. Good times.
posted by burnmp3s at 8:34 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Yea, but everyone knows you can't build inertial-less gravity repulsers right in the middle of a gravity well.

Foolish hooman, just run the quantum teleporters to beam the ships molecular structure to a Lagrangian point.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:34 AM on April 7

*italics miraculously appear.
our admins are awesome
posted by caddis at 8:34 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

I have one beef with the trailers I've seen: there is no fucking way you'd construct the Enterprise on the ground. Orbit, motherfuckers, orbit. Sure, it's a great visual, but it galls.

They solve this by beaming up the entire ship. No worries.
posted by mikepop at 8:38 AM on April 7

The writing, though; it's just slightly more complex than Sesame Street in Space. I know science fiction often presents as social fiction, but must the weekly moral quandary be so wretchedly simplistic? Does the science part demand such weakness that one must jump through hoops to defend it?

I think the worst piece of television writing I've ever seen was an episode of Voyager where some crew member had anger problems and was addicted to violence. As a viewer, I knew this because he kept saying in simple, declarative sentences that he had problems with anger and was addicted to violence.
posted by COBRA! at 8:38 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

Boyfriend and I already watched Wrath of Khan two weeks ago (in memory of Ricardo Montalban) and are now foaming at the mouth to see the new joint... lucky pre-screening bastids, I say!

*shakes fist at internets and in Austin's general direction*
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 8:40 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

At the preview I went to, two minutes into TWOK, Khan stepped out of the screen, holding a film can. Shouting, "suck it, bitches!" he pulled a phaser out of the film canister, pointed it towards the audience and pulled the trigger. And then we all sort of melted...

(BTW, I'm typing this on my phone, using someone else's fingers)
posted by daniel_charms at 8:42 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

The sampler manages to cut across Enterprise, The Next Generation, and Voyager. I've seen the original series, of course.

Enterprise and Voyager are the worst of Star Trek, and (although it's certainly arguable) the Borg episodes aren't really the best of TNG. It always seemed to me that they were more about the special effects of the time, which were amazing then, but really meh now.

If you want something well written, take a second look at TOS, or pick up DS9. DS9 is totally complex, nuanced sci-fi--and offers a universe where both humans and aliens act like believable, flawed characters. The problem in some of the other series wasn't that they were bad science fiction, but that they were built off Gene Roddenberry's post-OS idea of everyone getting along. Which just makes for bad television.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 8:42 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'm all for blue pussy.
posted by bardic at 8:43 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

adipocere: "Star Trek just isn't very good. I can forgive the laughable sets and bad special effects. I can mostly ignore the acting from people who said, "Yes, I will wear some kind of jumpsuit for the whole of my employment." The writing, though; it's just slightly more complex than Sesame Street in Space."

Star Trek - 100 Names in 100 Seconds
posted by Joe Beese at 8:44 AM on April 7

The Alamo Drafthouse is totally awesome, and if I were to pick any movie theater in the world for such a thing to happen, it would be that one.
posted by solipsophistocracy at 8:45 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm all for blue pussy.

(NOT BOLIAN-IST)
posted by Greg Nog at 8:47 AM on April 7

(NOT BOLIAN-IST)

[PA'U ZOTOH ZHAAN-IST]
posted by quin at 8:53 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Oh, and here's a great ask.metafilter question for anyone who wants to up their geek-cred before seeing the new movie.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:53 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

"Holy shit! Simon Pegg! Simon fucking Pegg!"

Wait. What? Now you have my attention.
posted by inigo2 at 8:53 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is super cute. Awwww.
posted by lunit at 8:54 AM on April 7

Unsurprising that the CHUD review brundlefly linked to was lukewarm. They're not really behind the film at all over there. Granted, the reviewer was a "longtime reader" and not a staff writer, but I imagine the sentiment spreads to the readership.

I'm all for blue pussy

Totally.
posted by hifiparasol at 8:55 AM on April 7

[PA'U ZOTOH ZHAAN-IST]

"... and then the Andorian said, 'This is not my antenna!'"
posted by Greg Nog at 8:56 AM on April 7

The Alamo Drafthouse is totally awesome

YES.

I haven't been there for a long time. I saw Big Trouble in Little China there, and it was the best thing in the world.
posted by louche mustachio at 9:03 AM on April 7

...the best way to keep it even remotely interesting to those of us who more or less gave up after Deep Space Nine a few good episodes of TNG.

FTFY

DS9 was miles better than TNG. By far the best ST evar!

The writing, though; it's just slightly more complex than Sesame Street in Space. I know science fiction often presents as social fiction, but must the weekly moral quandary be so wretchedly simplistic? Does the science part demand such weakness that one must jump through hoops to defend it?

This sums up the entire Star Wars franchise in a nutshell only it's way too kind.
posted by juiceCake at 9:04 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

everyone knows you can't build inertial-less gravity repulsers right in the middle of a gravity well

They stamp them when they're small.

Also, a wizard did it.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:07 AM on April 7

I was excited about the new movie, then wary about the changes, but firmly back in the excited camp again. What a superb PR coup.

DS9 is totally complex, nuanced sci-fi--and offers a universe where both humans and aliens act like believable, flawed characters.

Objection!
posted by panboi at 9:11 AM on April 7

Deep down, I know that I'm going to see this movie. Deep down, I know it's going to break my heart.

J.J. Abrams is the small god of disappointed expectations. He's never done anything that's failed to grab my attention and get me excited, and he's never done anything that's failed to kick that excitement right in the nuts by its conclusion.

I told myself that I'd wait to see the film, and that I'd hold back and see what other people thought of it before shelling out ten bucks to see it on the big screen. Then I heard that Simon Pegg was playing Scotty, and I saw him in the preview and he just looked so happy, and my heart melted and I knew right then that I'm going to line up to see it opening night.

It's going to break my heart. J.J. Abrams is going to let me down again. I'm going to suddenly remember that, as much as I love Simon Pegg, he's also been in some fairly crap fare.

If anyone wants me, I'll be in my room... CRYING.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:12 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Agreed that there are a few really good episodes of TNG. But the show more or less outlined how to write bad SFTV for a generation. Hack science-babble, simpleminded conflicts, humor that can best be described as either "Data misunderstands some human concept or idiom despite the fact that he's got the entire history of philosophy and psychology stored in his brain" or "Jonathan Frakes smirks like a pedophile," shallow allegory... it all just combines to be pretty insulting.
posted by hifiparasol at 9:14 AM on April 7

Nice selective character smudging there on Karl Urban. Next time, you might want to pick an actor that didn't have a prominent role in The Lord of The Rings; that is if you expect it to fly under the radar in a movie fanboy thread.
posted by Brocktoon at 9:14 AM on April 7

I remember being on this course where you had to do a five minute bit about something in your life and this woman did how all her family were big fans of Star Trek, had it all on video (was a few years ago) watched it all the time etc - I don't think they went as far as dressing as the characters or going to conventions or anything really hard-core. But what surprised me when I talked to her later was that it was obvious that they were not interested in any other form of science fiction at all on tv, films books etc. Which I thought was a bit limited and sad.

I really loved the original series when it was on tv - probably because I was a kid at the time - I've never really got into anything that followed; seen the first half dozen films and odd episodes from the other series. This wasn't helped by the fact that in the UK TNG and just about everything that followed was only on Sky for years, which I didn't have. Once saw the bloke who played Q doing a signing in a sf book/comicshop and couldn't even be bothered to, ahem, queue.

I hope the reboot puts some life back into it because from what I've heard about Enterprise and the later films the franchise had got very stale (just like Who... )
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:20 AM on April 7

Objection!

To my opinion?

To be fair, I thought DS9 was a snooze-fest when I first saw it (airing back to back with reruns of TNG, which I loved) when it originally ran when I was 14 or so. But rewatching the series, in order, I could really see the deep care the writers put into the story--and I don't just mean the overall story arcs (which are great), but also some of the standalone episodes, like "The Visitor" and "Far Beyond the Stars".

And DS9 has Garak, who I think is easily the most well-written and well-acted Trek character . . . well, ever. And that's in spite of my deep, enduring Spock-love.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:20 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Damnit. This is why I miss living in Austin and going to the Drafthouse every week.
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:21 AM on April 7

I have one beef with the trailers I've seen: there is no fucking way you'd construct the Enterprise on the ground. Orbit, motherfuckers, orbit. Sure, it's a great visual, but it galls.
When I first saw the teaser/trailer (the one that shows some guy welding, then pans back to show the Enterprise sitting on the ground), I nerd-outed myself by shouting, "What?!?". Everyone knows the Enterprise was constructed in orbit.
posted by ObscureReferenceMan at 9:25 AM on April 7

There's a new Star Trek movie? Is Chewie in it?
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 9:36 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

PhoBWanKenobi: I've never grasped why DS9 is held in such high esteem. I always found it a dull series populated with mostly dull characters (I'll give you points for Garak though). I just found it difficult to identify with or care about any of them.

Also, kids in space is always bad news (and you'd think they learned that lesson from TNG).
posted by panboi at 9:41 AM on April 7

Is Chewie in it?

Nope.
posted by hifiparasol at 9:46 AM on April 7

...the act of cleansing will not be complete until you do the same thing to Brannon Braga. Show no mercy. You know what you must do.

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of Braga.
posted by vibrotronica at 9:48 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Also, kids in space is always bad news (and you'd think they learned that lesson from TNG).

You'd think! But the idea of having them on a permanent space station makes a lot more sense than having them on the Enterprise, which despite being supposedly an exploratory ship, sure got pulled into military situations a lot. And aside from a few early episodes, the writers wisely used Jake and Nog judiciously--plus, their growth ended up being pretty interesting, overall. At least they weren't totally Gary Stus like Wesley Crusher (a genius, piloting a space ship in his teens, and able to time travel! Wow!)

But again, I felt the same way you did until I started the series in order. It starts about the same quality as some of the more middling TNG episodes, but by the beginning of the second season, this shift happens--maybe the writers or the actors settled into the characters better, but it just congeals into something more. That intangible second-layer of meaning and character development is what I find lacking in most of the other Trek series.

Man. I'm a nerd.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 9:55 AM on April 7

I've never grasped why DS9 is held in such high esteem. I always found it a dull series populated with mostly dull characters

There are a lot of things I love about the characters in DS9. The Bashir/O'Brien friendship is great, and I think they did an excellent job with Worf: after seven seasons of TNG making him this untouchable moral noble savage, you get to see him married and hanging out with lots of other Klingons, and it becomes increasingly clear that the dude isn't an exemplary representative of some humorless warrior-race that does little but glare at people all the time; he's just this guy with a stick up his ass. As far as characters trying to be better than what they're "supposed to" be, Odo was leaps and bounds more complex than Data, but I think both of them pale in comparison to Nog, who's just adorable by the end of the series. (and slowly transitions to being adorable from initially being a genuinely creepy little money-grubbing misogynist, rather than the flawless stand-in for all the Aspies watching at home). I'm also a huge fan of the Romulans, so I'm sorta biased toward DS9 in that there are some great Romulan plotlines later on. Man, I could geek out about that endlessly.

Also, for those of you who doubt Star Trek's realism, ND makes a compelling case for the idea that we're headed toward Federation society right now.
posted by Greg Nog at 9:56 AM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

But again, I felt the same way you did until I started the series in order. It starts about the same quality as some of the more middling TNG episodes, but by the beginning of the second season, this shift happens--maybe the writers or the actors settled into the characters better, but it just congeals into something more. That intangible second-layer of meaning and character development is what I find lacking in most of the other Trek series.

It's been a while since I watched it but didn't DS9 get a whole heap better when Ron Moore took over as showrunner in season 3?
posted by aldurtregi at 10:06 AM on April 7

I've never grasped why DS9 is held in such high esteem. I always found it a dull series populated with mostly dull characters.

QFT.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:09 AM on April 7

DS9 was awesome when I was a kid because they actually had space battles. In the later seasons, HUGE space battles, every other episode! Now that I've watched them again, it's even more amazing because of the level of character development, and the ability to have long-lasting story arcs. It's really much more of an involved space DRAMA than any other incarnation of Star Trek. Ron Moore, who was the producer of that show for its last four (?) years did a lot of stuff that set the groundwork for what he'd later do with Battlestar Galactica.


PhoBWan: I agree with you about Garak, and actually think that all the station aliens (Quark, Rom, Dukat, and even Odo) were much better acted and better written than the more human-looking characters. Also, I'm embarrassed that I'm a big enough nerd to deduce what 'gary stu' meant.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:15 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

didn't DS9 get a whole heap better when Ron Moore took over as showrunner in season 3?

Yes.


(also, Next Generation got a whole lot better after its Season 3, when they hired Ron Moore as head writer)
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:18 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Patrick Stewart has girl boobs.
posted by homunculus at 10:27 AM on April 7

Another vote for DS9: by far the richest universe of the Treks, the best characters, best storylines, best writing. It had an awesome feeling of epicness that none of the other Treks can touch. Garak was my favorite also - probably the most lovable borderline sociopath in TV.

I'm kinda torn whether to be annoyed they never made a DS9 film, or relieved that they didn't screw it up like the TNG films. Although the ending didn't leave much room for a film, it's such an interesting universe I'd've forgiven a little jiggery-pokery if a decent film came out of it.
posted by MetaMonkey at 10:38 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Patrick Stewart has girl boobs.

Is Hwil Hweaton in this new movie at all?
posted by inigo2 at 10:41 AM on April 7

Also, kids in space is always bad news (and you'd think they learned that lesson from TNG).

I disagree. IMHO, it was nice to see the show pay attention to the O'Brien family. Through them, we got a chance to see some of the inevitable difficulties that can arise when a career noncom lives on a military outpost with his wife and children. Of course, not all of their storylines were believable.

But as a husband (and now as a father,) I can certainly thought the conflicts the O'Briens dealt with were familiar -- down to their new baby that refused to sleep unless it was being held. :)
posted by zarq at 10:49 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

well ... Star Trek just isn't very good. ... I'm annoyed at the fact that I will probably shell out money to see yet another installment in this crappy franchise.

Any irritation that I might have at the inevitable "Star Trek sucks" posts in any MeFi Star Trek thread tends to be mitigated when I remember that, if I don't like a particular movie or TV series, I just don't watch the fucking thing. Even if I'm stuck with a bunch of people that insist on watching, well, that's why I have Bejeweled on my phone.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:02 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

In order for me to enjoy this movie as much as I enjoyed the original Star Trek, is has to be sort of bad.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:03 AM on April 7 [3 favorites has favorites]

Also, dittoes on the DS9 lurve. Good plots, great acting, and a lesbian kiss so intense that, when they finally break off, you can see a little thread of spit hanging between their lips for a second. Good times, baby.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:06 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Part of my irritation is that I am like Charlie Brown; I am going to take another shot at that football. I am almost positive that I am going to land on my butt. Yeah, I'll go for another Trek, mostly due to Pegg, Quinto, and a little bit of Abrams. I'm going to be disappointed, most likely. Sometimes, hope is the cruelest thing.
posted by adipocere at 11:17 AM on April 7

*shakes fist at internets and in Austin's general direction*

*from hell's heart, stabs in Austin's general direction*
posted by The World Famous at 11:28 AM on April 7

Frakking trekkies.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:32 AM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

pick up DS9. DS9 is totally complex, nuanced sci-fi

DS9 is certainly streets ahead of every other Star trek series on that front. It's pretty much the only one I can really sustain any interest in, and year, it's because there is a long-term arc and some character development involved.

Let us not scrutinise the timing of its inception and the pitching of a certain other TV show about space stations to Paramount too closely, however.
posted by rodgerd at 11:54 AM on April 7

I've never grasped why DS9 is held in such high esteem. I always found it a dull series populated with mostly dull characters.

Think of something you really hold in high esteem and that others do not. It's like that, except in reverse. Think of a band you really like and a friend, lover, or relative doesn't. It's like, that, except, in reverse.

Garak was my favorite also - probably the most lovable borderline sociopath in TV.

He was great. Also quite liked Damar and Weyoon not to mention Martok.

Let us not scrutinise the timing of its inception and the pitching of a certain other TV show about space stations to Paramount too closely, however.

And let us not attribute token and totally generic similarities to plagiarism, particularly in drama and literature.
posted by juiceCake at 12:17 PM on April 7 [4 favorites has favorites]

Speaking of plagiarism and Wrath of Kahn...
posted by burnmp3s at 12:33 PM on April 7

Let us not scrutinise the timing of its inception and the pitching of a certain other TV show about space stations to Paramount too closely, however.

And let us not attribute token and totally generic similarities to plagiarism, particularly in drama and literature.

Thank you thank you thank you. Any and every conversation that I've had with a B5 fan comparing it to DS9 only reinforces my belief that B5 is Star Trek for people that have an innate horror of being thought of as Trekkies.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:37 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Gaaaah! I heard about it this morning. I live maybe 2 min away. Love the Alamo Drafthouse, and the SoLa location is probably the best with a "crashed" little green alien saucer in the lobby, and free donkey kong.

I'm pretty much a dyed in the wool trekkie, (minus Enterprise, I have some standards), but I was not at all excited for this movie. JJ hasn't proven that he can end a plot, and the initial reviews sound like it's all a set-up for the next handful of movies. But, if it's gonna be like the first two seasons of Lost, I guess I'm willing to be led on. And yeah, this fantastic PR stunt has convinced me to see it opening week.

Also, I've resisted urge to scour local hotels for Leonard Nimoy.
posted by fontophilic at 12:44 PM on April 7

Thank you thank you thank you. Any and every conversation that I've had with a B5 fan comparing it to DS9 only reinforces my belief that B5 is Star Trek for people that have an innate horror of being thought of as Trekkies.

Apropos of nothing, many actors guest-starred on both series, including, of course, the late, great Andreas Katsulas. Bruce McGill even wound up on one of B5's blooper reels when he forgot a line and instead said "General Hague.... is doing Deep Space Nine."
posted by zarq at 12:49 PM on April 7

DS9, absolutely. Favourite charcter in any Trek is Garak hands down. Weyoon, O'Brien and Dukat also outstanding (though Miles only in DS9, and only when not with Keiko, who seriously annoyed me).

And outstanding episodes: In the Pale Moonlight, Far Beyond the Stars, Honor Among Thieves. As for kids on the show, it worked a heck of a lot better than TNG. I even really like the sappy space sailing episode Explorers.

Yeah, a DS9 movie would have been terrible.

Also:
The Alamo Drafthouse is totally awesome...YES. I haven't been there for a long time. I saw Big Trouble in Little China there, and it was the best thing in the world.

WOW.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:52 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Actually, now that I think of it... Katsulas never guest starred on DS9. Just on TNG.
posted by zarq at 12:58 PM on April 7

I thought it was really kick-ass in the first trailer when Kirk Skywalker bullseyed the womp-rat in Beggar's Canyon by dropping the same 'vette on it that he drove in Corvette Summer.

This reboot is going to be great. I hope it's got a bad guy who wants to blow shit up and that young Kirk assumes his destiny as a great commander by stepping into a convenient power vacuum and, y'know, stopping the bad guy from blowing shit up. That'd be awesome.

And I'm encouraged by the reviews that call it "accessible", and "easy to understand". Whew!
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:17 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who liked Enterprise. But then, I think I may have been the only one who watched season three, which made the whole series worthwhile.
posted by ewagoner at 2:17 PM on April 7

I didn't mind Enterprise. Season three I thought was rather horrible but season 4 was good. It wasn't as bad as Voyager though it attempted to be at times.
posted by juiceCake at 2:29 PM on April 7

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who liked Enterprise.

Nah, I kinda liked it too, but then, I did have a bit of a crush on (predictably) T'Pol. All my friends who were big Trek fans explained that the reason I liked it and they didn't was that many of the plots they used were pretty much just taken from the other shows. As I hadn't watched them, it was all new to me.
posted by quin at 2:37 PM on April 7

Here's the Alamo Drafthouse blog entry, with video.
posted by rush at 2:38 PM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Enterprise managed to make Scott Bakula dull, humorless, and awkward.

Anyone who's seen Quantum Leap understands how wrong this is.

I did like that he had a dog, though. You'd think more of these people would have pets. I completely adored it when Data got his cat and named him Spot.
posted by tzikeh at 2:41 PM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who liked Enterprise. But then, I think I may have been the only one who watched season three, which made the whole series worthwhile.

Enterprise was a pretty good show. Not great, but pretty good. Certainly better than Voyager. I think you'll find that most of the people who call it horrible often have some reason like (whiny, nasal voice) "it didn't follow established continuity, for example, the Federation didn't make first contact with the Ferengi until the TNG episode 'The Last Outpost' in the 24th century, and yet we see them boarding and taking over Earth's first warp 5 capable vessel in the 22nd century! Are we to believe no one made a note of the greedy aliens with the big ears at the time? I hope someone got fired for that! And don't get me started on the Klingon augment virus stuff! I will die a virgin". In other words, dorks.

Count me in with the DS9 love. The whole Dominion war arc (basically most of seasons 4-7 and parts of 3) is the best story Trek ever told by far.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:43 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Thank you thank you thank you. Any and every conversation that I've had with a B5 fan comparing it to DS9 only reinforces my belief that B5 is Star Trek for people that have an innate horror of being thought of as Trekkies.

Based on what I know about both series, I wouldn't be surprised if it did rip it off a bit. I've always wanted to watch B5--the concept sounds great, I love story arcs and well-developed aliens, I was into Space Cases in middle school, which tried to do the same sort of story arc thing for kids and shared some personnel. So I rented it on Netflix a few years ago. Fell asleep twice during the pilot. Sat down with a friend, thinking that would help sustain my interest. We both ended up passing out.

No matter how dull I thought DS9 was, it never had that effect on me!
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 3:10 PM on April 7

Woohoo! DS9 love! I can't believe nobody yet has mentioned my favorite character ever, Jadzia Dax! Why, because she is the only multi-dimensional female character in any ST franchise.

To wit:
The wishy-washy, overly-feminine, romantic love interest type - Deanna Troi/Beverly Crusher/Kes
The overly-aggressive, bitchy, militaristic type - Tasha Yar/Kira Nerys/B'Elanna Torres
The whole-point-of-this-character-is-to-put-the-woman-with-the-biggest-boobs-in-the-tightest-costume type - Seven of Nine/T'Pol

Whereas Jadzia is smart, but also funny, and sexy and playful, but also strong, and sometimes flawed.

Ezri Dax was the absolute worst thing to happen to DS9 and ruined the last season for me.

and yes, Garak was awesome
posted by DiscourseMarker at 3:29 PM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

On Babylon 5:

Fell asleep twice during the pilot. Sat down with a friend, thinking that would help sustain my interest. We both ended up passing out.

No matter how dull I thought DS9 was, it never had that effect on me!

Not only does the show not get good until season 2, the story doesn't even really start until season 2. The only purpose of season 1 is to set up a few things that happen later. You could entirely skip season 1 and start with the first episode of season 2 and really not miss anything, as the few important points are all explained via flashback/recap. Babylon 5 takes a while to get going, but once it does it's really great. You should give it another try, starting with the second season and just reading Wikipedia or whatever to fill you in on season 1.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:04 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Nimoy noted to the crowd that it just didn’t seem fair that people in Australia were the fist to see the film...

He's wrong: it's not fair we should have to see this at all.
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:05 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ezri Dax was the absolute worst thing to happen to DS9 and ruined the last season for me.

Totally. I never understood why Terry Farrell left the show. I mean, there was only one season left! And then we had to endure the several "Ezri works out her personal problems, mostly by whining about them constantly" plots/subplots of season 7. Bisexual Mirror Universe Ezri was totally hot, though, so that's something.
posted by DecemberBoy at 4:11 PM on April 7 [1 favorite has favorites]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who liked Enterprise.

I would have like it better without that stupid theme song.
posted by Tenuki at 4:31 PM on April 7 [4 favorites has favorites]

Sometimes, the Star Trek's overlords really get how to treat their fans. While this isn't quite as cool as Astro Zombie's Wall-E story, it is still a pretty cool thing to do for the fans. They've generated a mountain of good will towards the movie from their base, as it were.

Smart marketing, but also really a great gift to those folks at the Alamo.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:10 PM on April 7

Deep Space 9 was the best of trek? What the hell are you people smoking? That was a snooze fest, all personal interaction, little battle, and the characters were less than compelling. This was like a failed soap opera, the Guiding Light in deep space. I know some people are intrigued by the fact that their soap opera occurs in space rather than some mid-sized berg in Ohio. Meh. The original Trek was the best, even with its low production values and over acting etc. It stood out, it provoked thought. The Next Generation was great in that it embodied all of Gene's altruism, and it was altruism that was the touchstone of Star Trek's greatness, with a few better production values. The other shows not so much. They never seemed to embody that altruism the same way. Deep Space Nine was all washing dishes and taking out the trash in space. You know, that is life, but I want conflict, that is the interesting stuff. Khan was the most interesting thing in all of Trek and there was nothing even close to that level in DS9. I will agree that it probably had a more coherent arc, but I am not one to watch every show for what Millie will do next week. Arc is ok, not so important as big themes. Enterprise wanted to do this, but I have not seen enough shows to say they succeeded. They didn't suck, they had high ideals, I am not sure though that they had the personalities to make it click.
posted by caddis at 7:18 PM on April 7

(although it's certainly arguable) the Borg episodes aren't really the best of TNG. It always seemed to me that they were more about the special effects of the time

I dunno. I developed this theory that the Borg were a perhaps unintentional parody of the shibboleths of the Federation. A collective entity spreading outward through the galaxy, absorbing all cultures in its path. The Borg truly showed the hypocrisy of the Prime Directive. The ideals that Trek seemed to imbue were shown in a scary flipside, perhaps the way they look from the other side. So rewatch them, perhaps, with this semi-anti-imperialist critique in mind.

The best thing about Voyager, which is not saying much, was Seven of Nine, because she was able to throw back Janeway's crap in her face all the time. It made for better philosophical debates at least, because there seemed to be a defensible position about the losing side.

Anyway, I liked a lot of TNG. One of the great things about the finale, "All Good Things", was the way it managed to make the execrable pilot nostalgically interesting, and in some ways approached making Q a Tommy Westphal for the Trek Universe. (And of course Q was the original catalyst for contact with the Borg, to begin with.)

DS9, I think, was simply a Trek written at a more deliberate, slower, lower-key pace. It was not my favorite for a while, but as I tuned in to it, became much more watchable.

B5, to answer to that, was almost always written to be an anti-Trek -- at times, to its detriment. I think it was a useful rebellion against the cookie-cutter, last-act-reset mindset that became endemic to the Trek franchise.

The movie? Hey, I hope it's fun. I hardly fear it will ruin Trek even if awful.
posted by dhartung at 10:48 PM on April 7 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who liked Enterprise. But then, I think I may have been the only one who watched season three, which made the whole series worthwhile.

I'll go a step further.

Enterprise is my favorite Trek. And I've watched nearly every episode of every Trek except Voyager in the past couple of years--thanks, SurfTheChannel.

I do admit that they ripped off a bunch of plots from previous shows, but the uniqueness of the rubber suit isn't the point.

I loved the low tech capabilities of the show. While they did have their share of Solutionic Resonators, for the most part the plots are resolved through some character's action and not through Geordi finally finding the right page in the owner's manual. I found the crew's distaste for the transporter to be the most refreshing consistent change. Although I found it rather a cop out that they functionally replaced shields with "polarized armor"--I was really hoping to see them have to recover from serious structural damage more often.

But, the thing I liked best was not having the Federation. There's no Prime Directive, no fleet, no allies but the Vulcans. I simply adore that we get to watch the humans screw up he whole peaceful exploration thing over and over. I love it when Archer goes all cowboy and decides he's going to make the universe a better place. I love the Andorians (and the particular one whose name I forget, but who keeps showing up) and the Tellerites. I like the resentment toward the Vulcans that so many Terrans feel.

I loved Enterprise basically because it was the first show since TNG to actually change the formula. And it changed it in an exciting and edgy way, while still clearly being "historical" Trek.

DS9 is my second favorite. Especially the Dominion War. Why? Because it's the only fucking Star Trek franchise where you actually had a decent chance of seeing a space battle. TNG's space battles either never started, having been defused by endless Picardian diplomacy, or they consisted of two motionless ships exchanging slow, deliberate salvos until one or the other ship decided it was outmatched and ran away.
posted by Netzapper at 3:50 AM on April 8

it just didn’t seem fair that people in Australia were the fist [sic] to see the film

Did the movie leak in Australia? Or is it just coming out there first (which would be weird)?

I recently watched my very first episode of Star Trek: TOS ("Mirror, Mirror"). I've seen some of the TNG episodes and liked them, but the 60s sexism of the old show kind of bothers me. I know all these years on it's fun and campy, but the miniskirts on away missions just seem stupid. Is the new movie supposed to be more of a "reimagining" of the show?
posted by bluefly at 4:24 AM on April 8

Did the movie leak in Australia? Or is it just coming out there first (which would be weird)?

The film officially premiered at the Sydney Opera House.

ooh! mention of "spock ears" when describing the fans! everybody take a drink!
posted by Spatch at 5:56 AM on April 8

I was into Space Cases in middle school,

You, me and the other 5 people that watched it.
posted by The Whelk at 7:18 AM on April 8

Khan was the most interesting thing in all of Trek and there was nothing even close to that level in DS9.

You mean, a genetically-engineered sociopath with bad hair, bent on galactic domination?
posted by Greg Nog at 12:41 PM on April 8 [1 favorite has favorites]

Khan was the most interesting thing in all of Trek and there was nothing even close to that level in DS9.

You mean, a genetically-engineered sociopath with bad hair, bent on galactic domination?

Or Dukat.
posted by juiceCake at 7:31 AM on April 9

Star Trek's Pon Farr Fragrance Ads Help You "Leave Logic Behind"
posted by homunculus at 11:16 PM on April 14