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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph Star Trek Beyond

Discussion in 'Community' started by DarthMane2, Dec 5, 2014.

  1. ma_petite

    ma_petite Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 26, 2006
    Loved the Death Star cameo!


    Sent from my iHorse
     
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  2. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014
    Not defensive, just an honest question my friend:)

    on another note is Lin a Star Wars fan? its something I was wondering about since he got the gig to direct a Star Trek film, with all the talk of Abrams being more of a fan of Star Wars then Star Trek?
     
  3. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Though always in flux (and just-released films inevitably tend to settle down further after the initial rush wears off), my initial ranking impression:

    2/6/8/4/3/7/13/10/11/12/1/5/9

    But I could easily swap 7 & 13, 2 & 6 or 11 & 12 depending on my mood.
     
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  4. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    Krall: Make Humanity Great Again
     
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  5. BigAl6ft6

    BigAl6ft6 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2012
    short one sentence: I like the two Abrams movies, especially Star Trek, a hair better than Beyond mostly because they're more ambitious but this is a pretty fantastic standalone adventure in the series. Not quite spoiler heavy but here's me unedited review of the film (remember to check out reviews every Thursday at www.viewmag.com Plug! Shameless plug!) but spoiler tag'd anyway.

    Having been around in hundreds of episodes and thirteen movies for about five decades, Star Trek has had various different takes on the subject. The most recent movie, Star Trek Beyond, smartly instead of trying to sum up the entire 50 years of the series, it actually goes back to basics and delivers a classical Star Trek series format story. It’s a really fun movie that has a lot of very Star Trek type of things which is a testament as to why this world has endured for so long. While Director J.J. Abrams didn’t return (he was busy directing the other big “Star” franchise) Fast and Furious director Justin Lin picks up the slack and delivers a piece of stirring space adventure.

    In the 23rd Century, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are in the midst of their five year mission to deep space and Captain James Kirk (Chris Pine) is getting increasingly worn out by the void. When the Enterprise investigates a distress call, they’re attacked by the menacing alien Krall (Idris Elba) and his swarm of fast, deadly ships that literally tear apart the Enterprise and sends the crew scattered across an unknown planet. With Sulu (John Cho), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), and most of the crew captured, it’s up to Kirk, Ensign Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto), Doctor McCoy (Karl Urban) and Engineer Scotty (Simon Pegg, who also co-wrote the film) to save their shipmates with some unexpected help from a tough local, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella).

    Abrams’ last two movies, Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, played with the central conceit of the new Star Trek reality, upended and bending expectations based on what came before. This movie isn’t quite as ambitious, settling on a standalone adventure. There is some welcome fan service, referencing the original crew, a wacky misadventure from the original series where the Enterprise got caught by a giant hand, and, remarkably, there is a lot of continuity used from the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise in here.

    The Star Trek trope of “Crew ends up abandoned on hostile world, have to escape unfriendly natives” is a sturdy mainstay of every Star Trek TV series incarnation. Generally this happens to the crew after every three episodes or so. Funnily enough, aside from a sequence or two, the crew stranded on a hostile alien planet has never been a driving plot of an entire movie, which is kind of bizarre since it’s the basic format of numerous Star Trek episodes. By marooning the characters with a planet of new aliens, it does feel very much like the show, which works for the anniversary.

    The different pairings are interesting, Kirk spends a lot of time with Chekov with some fun back and forth and it’s great to see Yelchin play Chekov one final time exuberance. Kirk and Chekov get in a gangbusters action scene at the wreckage of the saucer section of the Enterprise that has a great, explosive progression. The most fun stranded duo is Spock and McCoy as the two trade quips as Spock is badly injured, and even in one moment the detached Spock shows some emotions and McCoy says “My God, you’re delirious!”

    Another scene that has happened in previous Star Trek movies is the destruction of the starship Enterprise. The Enterprise gets beaten up every movie, sure, but it’s slightly rarer when the ship itself is blown into pieces, as it has only happened in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek: Generations. The destruction of the big E in Beyond is a fairly menacing, jaw dropping shocker of a sequence, as when the Enterprise first encounters the Swarm the ship’s engines are almost immediately torn off, leaving half of the ship and it’s much longer, much scarier as the Enterprise starts to fall apart piece by piece as evil aliens invade the ship. It’s easily the best action scene in the movie, possibly of the last few movies and it’s so well done and early on that inevitably some of the action scenes pale in comparison. Not to say the other action scenes are awful, they’re pretty good. Lin’s action may not have the kinetic kick that Abrams did but he does throw in some nifty scenes. The movie opens with a pretty hilariously oddball scene of Kirk trying to negotiate with some overtly aggressive aliens which goes wrong pretty quickly. Kirk ridding in a dirtbike to save his crew is odd but it is zippy and works nicely with a concurrent battle Jaylah is engaged in. Near the end when the crew once again takes on the alien ships, the solution is so deliriously wacky that it’s kind of awesome.

    All of the actors have settled into their parts nicely, although Saldana’s Uhura seems a bit snippier than usual. Pine gets to show Kirk trying to keep it together even though the pain of losing his ship is weighing heavily on him. Urban’s McCoy has some of the funniest reactions in the film. Quinto’s Spock is mulling mortality after hearing about the passing of his older, time-travelling self, as Beyond mourns for the death of original Spock Leonard Nimoy by stating that elder Spock has died. Krall enters the movie in the fantastic Enterprise destruction sequence, although he spends most of the film doing broken English monologues about how he’s stronger than the Federation. The eventual reveal of Krall’s backstory does make him interesting for the finale, giving the movie a Star Trek style moral quandary at its centre. Boutella’s Jaylah is a fun addition to the cast as her outcast is living in a crashed, older model starship, listening to “classical” Earth 20th Century music she has found saying she “likes the beats and the shouting”. She has one of the best lines of the movie when she tells Scotty “Make my house fly!” to get them off the planet.

    Star Trek Beyond manages to celebrate Star Trek by contributing a engagingly entertaining instalment that feels like a classic, mysterious alien planet episode of the original series. It may not be the most ambitious Star Trek movie ever made but it certainly has flair.
     
  6. Nobody145

    Nobody145 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2007
    Huh, I liked that a lot. I don't care about Fast and Furious, but after how awful Into Darkness was, I was hoping change of director would help, not to mention Simon Pegg co-writing, and it turned out to definitely be the best nuTrek movie. Most fun movie since... IV probably (First Contact was mostly serious, and its better to ignore the rest of the TNG movies).

    I am disappointed that the Enterprise went down so easily. Fighting against that many swarm ships is tough, but still, even after the nacelles were blown off, I was hoping they could salvage the wreck later. But after the saucer crashed... nope. Actually, I was surprised the saucer was still kind of in one place even after crashing and after Kirk jumpstarted the engines and turned it over. I hope they come up with a newer design for the A by the next movie though. Still sad that the Enterprise (which I think was a new ship in the '09 movie?) was destroyed so quickly, especially compared to the original timeline Enterprise.

    As an Enterprise series fan (I rate it well above Voyager), I loved all the references. From the NX Franklin (first Warp-4 ship) to of course Edison's past. I think they said Edison used to be a MACO, one of those soldiers that was stationed on the Enterprise in later seasons. I think he also mentioned the Xindi and Romulans as enemies he's fought, I love references to past history like that that hasn't been altered.

    Great pace, plenty of action, and I love all the character interaction. Kirk is a lot more tired and melancholy now, a lot better than the hothead in nuTrek and Into Darkness (especially when he violated the Prime Directive, with the Enterprise having to hide underwater, then expecting Spock to just cover it up). Of course Karl Urban was excellent as McCoy. Is this the first time Spock and McCoy had so much screen time together? Usually it was Kirk and Spock in the earlier movies.

    Almost everyone had at least some screen time (Scotty and Keenser's almost hug was cute, along with Keenser getting a new friend in one of those little aliens by the end). I am disappointed the Enterprise did so little, with it being blown up early on, but seeing them salvage the Franklin was fun, along with the take-off scene then flying through Yorktown. That is one crazy space station, reminds me a bit of the Citadel from Mass Effect (with the cities and lower gravity in some places.

    I maybe almost felt a little bit sorry for Edison. He was probably always an ax-crazy soldier, but being stranded far out there really drove him crazy (not that that excuses everything he did later of course). I am glad we got to see Ilba out of the full mask a few times (flashback and at the end), it was a waste to have an actor like him in a mask and a heavily filtered voice.

    I'm glad the Spock/Uhura romance had less focus this time (it wasted too much time in STID), it was more Spock worrying about his people, and I liked that photo of the original timeline crew (RIP Nimoy and Anton). Though it led to that funny moment later about that radioactive necklace. Though rather than Star Wars, this one seemed to borrow a few elements from Guardians of the Galaxy (which isn't that bad of a thing either). With the whole TOS episode feel, I didn't mind the silly moments or items that stretched credibility (like the motorcycle and launching the Franklin again).

    If this was the last nuTrek movie, I would be glad to end it on a high note like this. With them already announcing a fourth one, I just hope they follow the trend this one set.
     
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  7. Healer_Leona

    Healer_Leona Squirrel Wrangler of Fun & Games star 9 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2000

    I thought her 'snippiness' was scripted as she did just go through a breakup.
     
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  8. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014
    First of all I hope it is ok to post this here if not I have no problem with the MODS removing the video?

    I was just wondering if the Original TOS theme that is featured in this video is in fact in the credits of Trek Beyond, if not that will take my rating down a little bit,
     
  9. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    Well that was fun.

    A few things I didn't like:

    Kirk's motorcycle mayhem would not have been as dumb if there wasn't so much of it.

    The ending mish mash of chasing and jumping and gravity control was a mess, but it didn't entirely suck.

    I realize the heroes have to save the day but the station's security was non existant.

    But none of that kills the move. It was way too much fun.

    All the shots of the Enterprise and the Station were incredible.

    I thought perhaps the destruction of the Enterprise would have seemed trite but the drama of it was well done.

    I thought the planetside uniforms they wore were cool.
     
  10. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014
    I am heading off to the theater in less then a our!
     
  11. Lord Vivec

    Lord Vivec Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Apr 17, 2006
    an our what?
     
  12. DaddlerTheDalek

    DaddlerTheDalek Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2014
    Just saw it & I love it! Maybe the best nu-Trek movie to date. :)
     
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  13. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    I still think the original new ST is best. If they made a 3rd like they did the 2nd that might have ended it.
     
  14. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014
    [I just got back, me and my parents loved it, although I felt the Two Abrams Treks were better, one knock on the film was it's over abundance of CGI, I mean did Kirk riding the motor bike have to be done in all CGI, as Abrams has taught us in his two Treks and Super 8 and TFA is he mixes CGI and Practical really well. what I did Like was the pairing of the different characters and the comedy, the writing was really good, great job Simon Peg! The film did have the original TOS theme over the credits! did not care for the Rihanna song in the credits but I loved the inclusion of the Beastie Boys song in the end battle as a call back to the first two Abrams Treks!]
    by the way my dad thinks this is better then Abrams two Treks...
     
  15. Diggy

    Diggy Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2013
    It was a much better Weath of Khan remake than Into Darkness.
     
  16. VadersLaMent

    VadersLaMent Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 3, 2002
    It made 56 million so far.
     
  17. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005
    Need to see it more but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. A few wth moments but overall a lot better than Into Darkness and on a par with ST09. A few of the things I liked and didn't like:

    Likes:
    * Showing the monotony of the five year mission. Sure we may like to romanticise it as some great adventure and I'm sure parts of it are, but I liked that the film shows that it's also quite monotonous.
    * That an enemy finally exploited the glaring weaknesses of the Starfleet design standard. As much as I love the classic look, the thin nacelle struts and necks are obvious areas to exploit and I'm glad an enemy has finally done so.
    * The death of the Enterprise was well done. Scotty getting the impulse engines back up to give some false hope (in spite of having seen the trailers) was a highlight for me. Seeing the Enterprise trying to escape in spite of having a knackered deflector and no nacelles showed both how good an engineer Scotty is and how tough they build ships in the Kelvin Timeline. Speaking of tough, their EPS conduits are built of sturdier stuff than in the prime universe. Despite all the punishment she took, I don't remember seeing one console explode or any shower of sparks on the bridge. If that had been a prime universe ship it would've looked like the fourth of July.
    * Jaylah is an excellent addition to the Trek canon. Hope she turns up in the next film.
    * The Franklin. Tough little ship.
    * More Bones is a delight. Urban has been the best thing about the reboot and he was criminally underused in the two Abrams films.
    * Nods to other parts of Trek lore were great. The Who Mourns For Adonais reference, mentions of the Xindi and Romulan War, MACO's, Commodore Paris (surely a relative of Tom), the Enterprise uniforms in the Franklin's log were the few that I caught on but I'm sure there are more in there.
    * The photo :(
    * Comedy! After the dour and po-faced Into Darkness some actual comedic moments, usually from Bones, were more than welcome.

    Dislikes:
    * The Beastie Boys destroying the swarm. I may warm to this in time but sitting in the cinema I just kept thinking "Really?"
    * No redesign on the Enterprise-A. Yes I know there wasn't for the Prime version, but that was almost universally loved. Just streamlining the nacelles would've been enough for me.
    * The away team jackets aside, I don't particularly like the new uniforms. Of all the changes and updates the reboot has done, the uniforms in 09 and ID were the things I liked the most.
    * Krall was underwhelming.

    So yeah, much more likes than dislikes and even the dislikes there are tend to be nitpicks. Good film.
     
  18. soitscometothis

    soitscometothis Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2003
    I really enjoyed it. There were a few things I didn't like, but overall this makes up for Into Darkness and makes me feel more hopeful for the franchise. Urban's Bones is wonderful, very smart move to give him more screen time.
     
  19. Mustafar_66

    Mustafar_66 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 20, 2005
  20. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Yeah I agree with all of this. Star Trek Into Arse-ness was terribad, but this is a solid film and I loved you could just sit back and enjoy it. It was also low key in terms of the relatively confined setting - in that sense it reminded me in spirit of the series and TNG.
     
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  21. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    I dunno, I looks the same to me. The neck position always bothered me but the secondary hull is still undersized and looks like it's a growth on the neck/struts (which feel unnaturally connected).

    Original:
    [​IMG]
     
  22. DarthMane2

    DarthMane2 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 20, 2003
    Really enjoyed this, and I'd probably say its the best ST film since Undiscovered Country for me. I think ST 09 is great too, but I have to look at it as a separate entity given what it had to do to reboot the franchise.

    Very much as said, an extended episode of TOS. Thought Krall became a pretty interesting villain by the end.

    Spock finding that pic of the old crew got me in the feels.
     
  23. DaddlerTheDalek

    DaddlerTheDalek Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 31, 2014
    Me too buddy.
    Interesting is that it is a promo picture from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
     
  24. Leoluca Randisi

    Leoluca Randisi Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 24, 2014


    yea that was cool and nostalgic, and I guess Bill Shatner got in the film after all!
     
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  25. Ender Sai

    Ender Sai Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Feb 18, 2001
    Was it from V or VI though?