Amph [NERRRD] Observations, rhetorical questions, comments & 55 Years of Star Trek (General Thread)

If you're thinking of The Conscience of the King - while Kodos used eugenic theories to decide what portion of the population to execute to prevent starvation, the incident itself took place long after the Khan era:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Kodos

Colonel Green was another eugenics-based murderer- but again - this was 21st century whereas Kahn was late 20th:

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Phillip_Green

 

Re: "Turnabout Intruder", last I heard it was a bit controversial among some Trekkers due to it being perceived as sexist. Specifically, it's been viewed as saying that women weren't qualified to be starship captains. I understand this is from two lines, one from Janice ("Your world of starship captains doesn't admit women") and one from Janice/K ("A position she warrants by neither temperment nor training").
Personally, I don't see the problem here. The former line seems to refer more to Kirk than Starfleet (as in the only woman Kirk will allow in his life is the Enterprise). And the latter line is true; Janice Lester can't be a captain because she's untrained for it, and is mentally disturbed.

My problem with the episode is that so many of the crew, especially Security, go along with Kirk/J when he's obviously not acting in character and is breaking major league regulations. You'd think after "Enemy Within" they'd be more careful, and ordering an execution is clearly grounds for Article 184. The scenes where Chekhov and Sulu stand up to him are well-played, though.

I do agree that Sandra Smith does a good job as Janice/K. And, according to one of David Gerrold's books, the episode did provide a funny blooper. Reportedly, during the scene where McCoy gives Kirk his physical, De finished the scene by announcing, "Captain, you're pregnant." Gerrold wrote that Shatner nearly hit the floor laughing.

 

Lest we forget...



...designer Matt Jefferies, who died on this date in 2003.

 

Um, IIRC from the Star Trek Encyclopedia printed in the late 90's, Enterprise-A wasn't hastily built. It was actually just an existing Constitution craft re-christened with the name and registry #. The Georgetown I believe, one of the craft disabled by the Rama Whale Probe as it approached Earth. I always assumed that it crapped out when it jumped to warp because its repairs or refit didn't pass QT.

 

It was the Yorktown.

 

Personally, I'd have preferred that Enterprise-A had been seriously damaged in a dangerous assignment, rather than be a lemon from the get-go. The latter makes you think Star Fleet decided to stick Kirk with a clunker as a punishment for all the diplomatic hassles he'd been part of in recent days.

 

At least Scotty got it working between V and VI, although General Chang did his best to make it even more worthless than a lemon.

 

A Christopher Plummer Klingon Reference! A good note to return on..

 

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is pretty darn great, really.



Okay, well, that is a rather spoilerly trailer. Anyway, Voyage Home I felt takes awhile to kick in, there's a bit too much placesetting from Star Trek III's fallout although there is a nice build of menace with the probe being unstoppable. (I also kind of love how the President of the Federation basically says "Well, we're dead, bye universe") the time-travel scene itself has a great wind-up but I'm always a bit befuddled by the abstract floating heads. And it's almost 40 minutes until the crew lands in the past. but it's got an amazing stretch for about an hour of the crew in '80s, and moreso than some other TOS movies, each crewmember gets some little bit of memorable business or a great line. Chekov has some truly hilarious stuff when he talks to a snarky military guy. Aside from a very strong environmental message, I think a big theme of this movie is Spock regaining his humanity and affection for his friends. Search For Spock is sort of about the Vulcan stuff, and Spock got more Vulcan-y in between the movies, so this is Spock learning to be Kirk's friend again. And it has some of the best Spock moments in possibly the entire series, especially when Spock demonstrates he can't quite figure out colourful metaphors. But he still tries anyway, even when they're leaving Earth "One damn minute, Admiral!" Super fun movie, especially everything in the past with is some of the best cast chemistry.

Then there's just Star Trek



Great moviemaking and, more importantly, a really great Star Trek movie as well. Yes, people talk really fast (which befits the movie's pace) yes the camera shakes and lens flares (but it gives the film a distinct visual style which hasn't been seen in Star Trek before). Some shockingly good casting of the TOS crew, which is made even more surprising since the original characters are so iconic. A really well written script with some great dialogue exchanges "What is it, you like being the only genius repeat offender in the Midwest?" is a line that always sticks in my head which shows that Kirk is hella smart but this Kirk has to learn to grow. And one of the most clever usages of time travel in the series by creating an alternate reality which blows out the increasingly complex continuity baggage yet still has to work within certain confines of that beautiful stew of Trek lore and continuity, mostly sorta, by having things from the original "Prime" timeline still occur, but a tad sideways (however, that notion is explored more in the next film). But, like good Star Trek, it has a moral/character/philisophical conundrum in the relationship between Kirk and Spock, where they have to overcome their differences. Which Kirk gets a little help from via the original Spock. Which is amazing. Hellva flick, really.

Then there's Star Trek Into Darkness



The opening 10 minutes of this movie is really great and flows very nicely from the end of the first film, and the punchline to the scene is grand. Which flows into the "real" opening of the movie, sorta, with an almost all musical montage of an officer who has to make a pretty horrible decision and it's a nice slow burn. Overall, this movie plays with the notion of the alternate Trek reality wherein the pieces of the original continuity are still showing up but a tad sideways and askew. What happens when a Shifty Admiral tries to use Khan for Starfleet black ops missions? It all goes to hell because it's freakin Khan. It has a bit more on it's mind with a moral conundrum about government sponsored assassination missions that Kirk has to crew on for a bit, which is a nice piece of Star Trek morality play. actually holding back on the poster-baddie until about an hour into the flick and not even revealing the real baddie of the movie, Admiral Marcus, until even later, is pretty neat. Heck, basically the movie unfolds in real time from when the Enterprise pops out of warp at Kronos until the end, while it may not have many spots to slow down for the fun character interactions that were the heart of the previous film, it makes up for it in just basically being a giant action scene. And the cast chemistry is so good even if they're just running all over the place,they still play off each other well. And I really like how this is truly Kirk's movie, like a lot of classic TOS is.

And then Star Trek Beyond....
.... which starts in 40 minutes, ahhh! Well, okay with trailers 50. Anyway, I gotta go, bye!

 

ST: IV is my fave Trek movie. I don't tend to go for light or funny but this works for me. The Humanity of Spock's journey is awesome.

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned here, but the Heroes & Icons channel will be running all five series on Sunday nights starting this Sunday. Here's the schedule: http://www.heroesandiconstv.com/schedule/2016-7-24

 

Adam of Nuchtern

He's got my vote!

 

STD .

 

Ugliest Trek ship ever? It's certainly a contender.

 

Probably very early CGI. I guess it will look better later.

I still don't know what to think of it. I really had hopes for a post-VOY/Nemesis series in the 25th century, but the registry number NCC-1031 implies that this is set in the post-ENT/pre-TOS era. Kind of a bummer if that is true.

 

I'm not talking about the CGI, but the actual design. I know it's based on the McQuarrie idea for the Enterprise refit but I've always thought that design was terrible.

 

Looks like a pie tin with a bridge stuck on top. Either that or a cheap hub cap.

edit: Actually, it's like a roulette wheel with a starship theme.

 

Yeah, that's an ugly ship. Inspired by Phase II concept sketches, I think. Sketches I never cared for.

 

I never liked the McQuarrie Trek starship designs. The one painting I did like of his was the star base inside an asteroid. That was cool.