Amph JJ Abrams' Star Trek Into Darkness

I never realized that Tower Bridge was really small.

 

I didn't know they were actors. I thought Star Trek was real.

 

Iowa is real.

 

Unfortunately.

 

The best comment I've seen so far about this movie comes from AICN:

"In this timeline, the even numbered movies suck"

 

Nemesis already started that, and Search for Spock was worse than the two that bookended it, but it wasn't that bad-- certainly doesn't deserve to be lumped in with Final Frontier and Insurrection.

See: I am nerdily irritated by the common "rule" regarding Trek films.

 

Was Nemesis worse than Insurrection though?

 

I don't know, but does their relatively quality really matter when they both suck?

 

In my book, yes.

 

I haven't seen either for years, but I suppose an argument for Nemesis being "worse" is that it mattered more-- like a clone of Picard, a Romulan sibling species we'd never heard of before, a Soongian android that makes no sense even with the "twist," and Data's death. Insurrection was equivalent to an inconsequential mid-season episode for all that its plot mattered.

 

Add to that said Picard Romulan clone mind - raping Troi.

 

Agreed. The lack of inclusion of the Dominion War, aside from a single throw away line and one reference to Ketracel White is particularly inexcusable. The Enterprise is a capital starship and the Federation is at war. Ideally Insurrection should have focused solely on the Dominion War, but failing that, Insurrection's story arc should have consisted of an A plot and a B plot. The A plot is Picard and Geordie taking a shuttle and tracking down Data. The B plot is Riker and Worf kicking Dominion ass. The Dominion War would also provide a way to insert Worf into the story in a way actually makes sense, like the Enterprise shielding the Defiant from the Borg in FC.

 

I've said it before, but the Dominion War was far too complicated to heavily feature it in a film. That would just be begging to tank at the box office. People who didn't follow DS9 (and that's most people) would've been completely lost without, say, an hour of exposition. And it would be awkward to start a film with the Federation well into a conflict with an entity DS9 (again, which most people didn't watch) introduced. The throwaway explanation that the Feds didn't want to put their flagship in great peril was fine.

 

"Deep Space Nine spent most of its lifetime as the number one syndicated first-run show on television despite its falling number of viewers. Even when it became a near-serial show (usually, long-term serial shows are ratings disasters -- witness Babylon 5) airing in prime-time in less than 60 percent of the nation, DS9 managed well over a 4.0 average in its final two years."

- http://www.trektoday.com/articles/ratings_history.shtml

Whether that is hyperaccurate or not, 4.0 in syndication would put it at 10th most popular show in a week.

If it's a 4.0 rating for a non-syndicated show (they are measured differently, hence I'm assuming it's using the 4.0 Syndicated ratings) it would be the second most popular show in a week these days (behind Big Bang Theory). It wouldn't draw those numbers now most likely, but to say it wasn't popular I think does it a disservice...

 

I'm not sure that I completely agree with that. You don't necessarily need to drag in Sisko or the Prophets, which would complicate things unnecessarily, but DS9 isn't TOTALLY unknown to TNG fans, as Dr. Bashir cameoed on TNG in Birthright. Voyager left for the Badlands from DS9 and there a number of spoken references to DS9 in TNG's later seasons. Additionally, the Enterprise has carried out missions against the Cardassians on a number of occasions. First Contact drew inspiration from the Best of Both Worlds, so maybe Insurrection should have drawn inspiration from The Wounded and Chain of Command.

 

The raw number of households in 1998 tuning into all Trek combined doesn't appear to counter my argument. Sure, DS9 would be the second-highest rated show today, but that's because today's numbers are so dismal that there's a serious chance that one or more of the four major broadcast networks could fail.

 

I think SF Debris had the right idea, and make Insurrection a "family squabble" amongst the TNG cast. Have Picard lead one side supporting the Ba'Ku, and Riker the other committed to following their orders from Starfleet.

If they really wanted to do a "questioning Starfleet's orders" storyline, they should've gone all out, not the half-arsed version they did.

 

That's an idea that worked a lot better in First Contact where Worf wanted to stop the Borg by destroying the Enterprise and Picard basically told him to piss off. There is ABSOLUTELY no way that Riker would argue for the destruction the Ba'kus' planet. Not when it's effectively genocide and ethnic cleansing.

 

When you put it that way, I suppose you're right. They should've waited until DS9 was over, and started fresh on an all-new idea, but this is just hindsight thinking.

 

Geeks passing judgment on movies they haven't seen yet? Awesome. What is this, a Star Wars prequel?

 

Everything is a Star Wars prequel.