Caught In The Whirlwind
Posts tagged star trek
Deep Space 9
May 20th 2009
All this talk about Star Trek recently made me want to get back into watching the TV series. I had always been a Next Generation fan, and I did watch some of the original series episodes, but they really haven't stood the test of time for me. I do appreciate the thought that went into them, but they haven't aged particularly well…
Which left me really wanting to get into the two trek series (I don't count Enterprise…) that I haven't really watched much of: Deep Space 9 and Voyager. So I started getting the DS9 DVDs from Netflix, and so far…7 episodes in…I've got some mixed feelings.
I can see the potential is there to be really good, but the acting, particularly in the role of Commander Sisko leaves me laughing at his attempts at being angry.
But I'm sticking with it. I hear it got really good a couple seasons in…and granted even Next Generation's first couple seasons were really rocky. So I'm hopeful for an improvement once the main story gets rolling.
Star Trek ("Holy Crap It's Actually Good!!" Edition)
May 18th 2009
This weekend I got to see the new Star Trek movie…and I've gotta say that I'm incredibly surprised at how good of a movie it actually was.
Back when this thing was first announced I had my worries. It sounded like they were trying to do a young original series cast back in the academy and it was going to be horrible. And after they lost all my good will by allowing Nemesis to be made, I was ready to just ignore the new movie.
But then it started getting closer…and it started looking good. And then it came out. And the reviews were amazing. So I went with my friends yesterday to watch it. And dear lord, it was AWESOME.
No spoilers ahead, or very limited unimportant spoilers, just to let you know. The first thing is, yes, this is a reboot of Star Trek. But it's not done in that sort of "just forget about all that old stuff" sort of way. The way they explained why things ended up being different was VERY cool.
The actors they got to play the younger versions of the original series crew were perfect. I especially enjoyed the guy they got to play McCoy. There was a lot of nods to the original material in the sounds and dialog. Lots of fan service, sure, but it was good fan service and was nostalgic rather than lame.
I also must say I'm happy how they did the ship designs and special effects. Instead of taking the Star Wars episode 1-3 approach of making everything look more shiny and high tech, they updated the effects from the TV shows, but they did it in such a way that it looked like it fit. The engine room of the ships is a maze of pipes, wires and other bits of machinery. The bridge is high tech as it should be, but the way the controls work and the viewscreen technology gives the impression of the technology not being all there yet as it was in the era of The Next Generation and beyond.
The story was good as well. But I'm not going to say anything at all about that here.
All in all, I'm VERY impressed by this movie. There were a few little gripes I have with it (especially the misguided Nokia product placement right at the beginning), but overall this is the best Star Trek since First Contact came out. They must do a sequel. Now.
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