Star Trek, the movie [MAJOR SPOILERS]

[Tuor]

Not as good as the best movie "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (the whale one) but generally a good and entertaining movie- obviously set up for a sequel(s). However, perhaps a chief criticism to me is that it's just too "noisy" in comparison to all other Star Trek tv and movies.

Alert: Watch for a big catfight in the sequel between Uhura and Nurse Chapell over a certain pointy eared intellectual.

Btw, when seeing it for the first time wait for Scotty's great scene stealing late in the movie and Chekov's way over the top accent.

And from the Los Angeles Times:

it was a role Pegg approached with care.

“I went to live in Scotland for five years and studied as an engineer," Pegg joked in his practiced deadpan. "I’m that method."

Pegg also got in touch with Christopher Doohan, whose famous father died in 2005. The younger Doohan plays Scotty’s assistant on the ship, too, which gives a bridge to the past -- as does the presence of Leonard Nimoy, the original Spock who turns up in this film as a time-traveling touchstone to the past of the series.

“I was able to feel a connection with James through Chris,” Pegg said. “That really helped. As for the accent, I just listened to my father-in-law.”

And what about acting alongside Nimoy?

“Oh, it was incredible!” Pegg gushed. “It’s a testament to his ability that he has created a character, which is essentially a pointy-eared alien, and has given him such dignity and sort of gravitas. To actually act with him when he’s doing it ... you get the feeling that you really are in the presence of greatness. To act with that character -- having known that character for so long -- was an extraordinary experience. To have him look at me and say, ‘You are Montgomery Scott,’ was kind of almost distracting to me because I was tempted just to sit back and watch Leonard Nimoy as Spock.”

[Pirateship1982]

I just saw the film yesterday. I have mixed feelings.

The special effects were awesome and the scene with the enterprise maneuvering through a debris field was cool. After decades of seeing starships turn on a dime in these movies it's nice to see one that actually behaves like a lumbering mass of metal. It made the debris field scene more exciting, that's for sure.

I like the weapon emplacements, it's about time we saw a starship throw down in manly fashion. I always thought that single phaser bank was kind of wimpy.

But I would have liked to have seen more starship battles. The fact that the one ship drastically outmatched everything actually makes the battle less exciting because in the event of an "extra" ship the conclusion is pretty much predetermined with no suspense and if it's the main character's ship instead of flashy broadsides they have to do something creative that doesn't amount to the use of heavy artillery. I was hoping for at least one straight up gunnery duel.

For purist sake I should point out that the Federation wouldn't have had any experience with Romulans because first contact occured during the TV series when the Enterprise played The Enemy Below with the Warbird.

[Cicero]

I just saw the film yesterday. I have mixed feelings.

The special effects were awesome and the scene with the enterprise maneuvering through a debris field was cool. After decades of seeing starships turn on a dime in these movies it's nice to see one that actually behaves like a lumbering mass of metal. It made the debris field scene more exciting, that's for sure.

I like the weapon emplacements, it's about time we saw a starship throw down in manly fashion. I always thought that single phaser bank was kind of wimpy.

But I would have liked to have seen more starship battles. The fact that the one ship drastically outmatched everything actually makes the battle less exciting because in the event of an "extra" ship the conclusion is pretty much predetermined with no suspense and if it's the main character's ship instead of flashy broadsides they have to do something creative that doesn't amount to the use of heavy artillery. I was hoping for at least one straight up gunnery duel.

For purist sake I should point out that the Federation wouldn't have had any experience with Romulans because first contact occured during the TV series when the Enterprise played The Enemy Below with the Warbird.

They made the ship alot more "ship-like" in this Star Trek. They made it appear much more related to modern naval ships than they have traditionally. Did it not seem shocking that for the first time (and multiple other times) we are finally shown a bunch of piping in the ship? We see a bunch of pipes, some that are clearly water piping but this was a real first in Star Trek. Then they changed the phasor banks to not fire beams but pulsed shots that look more like bullet tracers. They modeled it much more closely to a ship at sea than they have done traditionally in star trek. I guess the trend in sci-fi is to make ship battles more familiar to something we can identify with, kind of like how in the last Star Wars film the ship-to-ship battles appeared modeled after the engagements of old ships-of-the-line combat.

[TJAdams]

For purist sake I should point out that the Federation wouldn't have had any experience with Romulans because first contact occured during the TV series when the Enterprise played The Enemy Below with the Warbird.

The Federation had first contact with the Romulans in 2152. The the Earth-Romulan War was from 2156-62. Kirk had first visual contact with the Romulans, ever, after a 100 year silence from them in 2255.
The first time the Romulans were introduced in the series was in the "Balance of Terror" episode.

[Naffenea]

I gave up a long time ago with the series following any timeline.

[TJAdams]

I know Naffenea, at times the story writers don't follow any cannon law either. But, that's what time travel is for.

[Martok]

As a life-long fan I am still having trouble with the whole alternate time-line story.

Whats next? The Alternate Original Series? To be followed by Star Trek, The Alternate Next Generation? To be followed by Deep Space Thirteen?

I don't know, it gives them a whole new set of actors to carry the franchise forward, but I never understood why they didn't just pick up the story line where DS9 left off, in the Alpha Quadrant we were all familiar with and they spent so much time building up. It isn't like the Federation vanished when Sisko and company went their seperate ways.

[TJAdams]

I know Martok ( good ST name there). The current movie is a hook to get new fresh blood into the series with ignoring as much as ST cannon as possible. I saw the movie, liked it very much, but I know this current creation will have to fall back on the mammoth backbone of ST storyline to have any future.
> I would have enjoyed seeing a movie with the ST-DS9 crew or even ST: Voy. The Delta Quad would have been rich for a new series and movies.

[Pirateship1982]

The Federation had first contact with the Romulans in 2152. The the Earth-Romulan War was from 2156-62. Kirk had first visual contact with the Romulans, ever, after a 100 year silence from them in 2255.
The first time the Romulans were introduced in the series was in the "Balance of Terror" episode.

Ah, I stand corrected. I had forgotten about that first shootout.

Balance of Terror was the episode I was referring to. I had forgotten it's title. But it did have an Enemy Below feel to it.

[Siberian HEAT]

I'm glad they cut loose from canon, and frankly they have almost no need to abide by any of it, other than strictly historical bits that took place before the attack on the Kelvin. The next movie could in fact take place BEFORE any of the TOS episodes were supposed to have taken place.

I do think that Spock prime needs to die though. It is entirely conceivable with his knowledge that he could direct the Enterprise to take care of all sorts of problems (deliver salt to the salt monster, tell the miners about their Devil in the Dark, drop a nuke on Ceti Alpha VI, etc) which would be silly.

Since the tipping point of this alternate timeline was the attack on the Kelvin, think of all things that have already changed in this timeline - mostly dealing with personnel. While I think it was a stretch that Kirk ended up in Starfleet anyway, imagine how difficult it will be for Picard/Riker/etc to end up in Starfleet. With a weakened Federation without Vulcan, I suspect the Klingons will be a lot more aggressive this go round.

There are many opportunities for some great stories using familiar characters, ships, species, etc. but not being tied to the minutia of the original book of Law that was Star Trek Canon. Sometimes you just have to cut the cord.

[TJAdams]

The current movie painted itself into a corner with no more Vulcan or Romulan major influence. The next movie is going to have to deal with Klingons if it's going to be successful.

[Siberian HEAT]

The current movie painted itself into a corner with no more Vulcan or Romulan major influence. The next movie is going to have to deal with Klingons if it's going to be successful.

Actually the Romulans are alive and well. Nothing has changed for them except that in 300 years their home star will explode.

The Vulcans are the X-factor. Without their tech to help drive the growth of the Federation, the door is wide open for Romulans/Klingons/Gorn/etc to push back hard.

[Naffenea]

I hated Voyager, and Janeway. Lets hope in this alternate universe she never makes it through the academy.

[Tuor]

Which of these two scenarios is this movie universe:
1) An alternate universe (like the evil Kirk, Sulu, etc. one in the tv series)- so the original Star Trek Universe still exists.
2) A replacement universe?
I prefer the first, especially since it gives scope for alternate universes
crossovers.

As to vulcans, I think you're underestimating both the recuperative powers of vulcans , and the creative plans of writers/producers. having seen the movie once over a week ago I'm not sure, but didn't someone say there were thousands (10,000?) vulcans saved? And what if a vulcan starship was also not destroyed? Oh, and what was it Spock's mom and dad were saving before they (well, one of them ) was rescued? Might that be involved in a surprisingly rapid vulcan recovery?

How about a title for the sequel: Vulcan II needs women!

[Redwolf]

As a life-long fan I am still having trouble with the whole alternate time-line story.

Whats next? The Alternate Original Series? To be followed by Star Trek, The Alternate Next Generation? To be followed by Deep Space Thirteen?

I don't know, it gives them a whole new set of actors to carry the franchise forward, but I never understood why they didn't just pick up the story line where DS9 left off, in the Alpha Quadrant we were all familiar with and they spent so much time building up. It isn't like the Federation vanished when Sisko and company went their seperate ways.

Because all the fans know all the details of the old timeline, but the writers do not, or those who do feel it is constraining them too much.