Chris Pine Talks Kirk & Trek December 30, 2007
by Charles Trotter , Filed under: ST09 Cast , trackback
One Star Trek actor we have heard very little from is Chris Pine who is stepping into some big shoes to play James T. Kirk. In a new interview with Hollywood Today the actor talks about the pressures and responsibility he feels for taking on such an iconic role. He also confirms and discusses the part of Kirk’s life we will be seeing in the new movie.
One would think that portraying Kirk would be a nerve-wracking experience. However, the 27-year-old actor says that he hardly feels the weight of the world on his shoulders, thanks to the directing talents of J.J. Abrams.
When you are attached to something of this scale, you have more attention on you than you’ve ever had before. JJ is able to make such a big experience seem small. You never get the sense that you are working on this grand event, you just focus on that scene.
Nonetheless, Pine realizes the importance in his portrayal of Kirk.
It brings a big responsibility. It’s not your standard tentpole movie. It has a 40-year history attached to it. These are iconic roles that have been done, and done well.
Describing the new movie, Pine explains:
It’s a Batman Begins. You get the birth, the childhood and beginning of the main characters before the Five-Year Mission. That’s what is going to be great. You get a sense of where they came from and how they began. Plus anyone who is a lover of big action films is going to love this.
Pine believes that fans new and old will "enjoy this new installment" in the Trek franchise, stating:
It’s not like anything they’ve ever seen before: the humor, production, effects and action blend into a great package. There’s enough humor and drama and action to satisfy everyone. This is movie for fans and non-fans alike, it’s going to create new generation of fans who have never been exposed to it before – for my generation and younger.
In addition, Pine explained that his scenes do not call for him to work with Winona Ryder, who portrays the mother of Spock, Amanda Grayson. He does, of course, have many scenes with Zachary Quinto, who plays the young Spock. Pine also says he will be working on the new Trek film until April 1st. It was previously reported that filming would wrap up in March.
Pine also discussed his upcoming movie Bottle Shock, which opens at Sundance next month. The filmmakers will allow Pine some time off from Trek to attend the festival. For more, see the full interview at Hollywood Today.
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Comments»
FIRST!!!!!!
Action movie, huh?
Sounds good, love the Batman Begins comparison.
I’m first…. so what?
sounds so cool – i loved batman begins.
4TH FCK YEAH!!!!
So why couldn’t Ye ol JJ make and original ship and crew?
I also liked Batman Begins, but the important thing is that someone needs to read that, and completely misconstrue Pine’s intended meaning.
I want to hear more about the bad guys in the film…
RE: Batman Begins
Waaay back a year ago in one my ’star Trek XI’ updates (months before Abrams agreed to direct and before the film was greenlit) I wrote that the film would be like “Kirk Begins”
Just for fun…take a look back at what we knew 12 months ago
http://trekmovie.com/2007/01/03/star-trek-xi-update/
some of the comments are interesting too
At Last!
Nice Interview!
BTW I found some clips from his movie “Confession”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewWujpC3VAc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2gTy4vd_Hk
hahahhaha..the guy sounds like shatner but dosent look like shatner, a perfect match just like patrick stewart and tom hardy. completely identical.. cant miss..sure thing..no one will be able to tell them apart…
action movie… nemesis comes to mind
Yup, I knew it. Before the Five Year Mission, so this allows for all new stuff that is Within Canon, but Outside of Canon, as well.
Aimed straight at the 15-30 year old market. Plus, its pacing and music to be very similar to Cowboy Bebop and one other movie I forgot, “Firefly”. Don’t think JJ and Orci didn’t miss out on that show’s popularity.
Very much the same, but totally different. Wham bam slam bang.
6. Thomas – December 30, 2007
I also liked Batman Begins, but the important thing is that someone needs to read that, and completely misconstrue Pine’s intended meaning.
************
Maybe I’m misconstruing YOUR meaning, Thomas, but…what the heck do you mean? Aside from “I also liked Batman Begins,” the rest of your sentence doesn’t make sense. Do you think Pine meant something other than that Trek is going to be a restart like Batman Begins?
Paul. I think Thomas, in his own dry, sardonic fashion, was trying to suggest that a number of posters here have a “tendency” to misconstrue published information……twisting it to their own subjective perceptions…..but, then again, maybe I’m guilty, at this very moment, of doing the same thing…..huh, WOW…..BRAIN FART!! :)
This is going to be good!
Gawd, who is that Maxim chick?
Well I hated Batman Begins personally. It was better than B&R but not up to the other three imo. But the concept is a good one and I am looking forward to its application in the ST universe.
When we had family over this holidays, through conversation, we got onto Trek, and the films and television shows. I explained that I was always more interested in the feature films, but that I understood that opinions varied. She said, “Yeah, I really enjoyed all the movies with the original cast, but when they expanded it, moved forward, they went into a whole other direction…(sigh)” She clearly had no interest in TNG or beyond.
When I explained to her what they were doing with a new movie, her face lit up, and when I mentioned that Nimoy was in it, playing “Old Spock,” her face lit up, and she said, “Oh wow…”
This opinion from a casual movie watcher shows where the general populace is at when it comes to caring about Trek on the big screen. For most, The Original Crew is IT. If J.J. can pull off pleasing the old fans, and bringing in general audiences, this movie will be a winner.
14. Harry Ballz, that is exactly what I meant. It wouldn’t be a thread if someone didn’t totally read a published statement and automatically jumped to conclusions.
#8 Anthony
A blast from the past… interesting to see what we, the posters said then. Doesn’t appear much has changed.
Re; Story.
It sounds like he’s thinking along the right lines. I am thinking I will have to wait until Christmas night before I can slink away to the theater. Family always ends up here. December 25th is a Thursday, btw
Well, I read YOUR published statement and automatically jumped to THAT conclusion!
This is what i’m expecting:
A big-budget, mass-appeal, broad-scoped prequel that tells the early story of the TOS cast. This includes other characters like pike before the chair.
What I am concerned with is that:
#1 ABOVE ALL. They DO NOT ignore/contradict canon and rewrite Trek. JJ can tell a story and flesh in the details of the early years with out ruining what has been laid down.
About the Big E:
Let’s hope they can pull it off. This is “PREQUEL” Meaning a jump backwards in time. Technology, in what ever form it first appeared, generally looked less sophisticated in the past. This was a prob in Enterprise but that’s said and done.
There is plenty of time to work with.
what are the chances that pine has actually SEEN batman begins… of course i have insufficient data to make that calculation but i do loathe the BB buzzword… to quote our fellow connoisseurs “its this years little miss”.. ahem.. “batman begins” lol and stuff.. i wonder how the execs will react to the cloverfield turnout considering the demographic… of topic to be sure…but not quite domesticated.
Was Pine suppose to give us that much information about what the movie was about? It seems like a lot with all the secrecey.
16,
what Maxim chick?
I’m even more stoked about this movie after reading this interview. I personally loved Batman Begins, and I don’t mind at all that this “buzzword” is being used as a way to convey the approach of this film.
#6 Thomas – I was thinking the same thing, haha. It’s an inevitability on these threads, it seems…
Also, those film clips from Confession that someone posted were interesting to watch. As I understand it, Pine is also a stage actor, and for whatever reason, I think that gives him more credence in terms of acting ability–at least for me. Anyway, I seriously look forward to seeing this film. Ugh, the waiting…
Thank goodness that some of the other cast members are being unleashed to talk about the film.
26
She was in an ad — upper right corner. Now… she’s gone.
Would have made a terrific Orion slave girl for our new Jimmy K.
My gut tells me that we will be pleasantly surprised at how good Pine is.
Or not.
How’s that for commitment?
What’s everyone doing for New Year’s Eve?
#30 THX1138
Romulan Ale and Tranya… but I am not driving.
I’ve been expecting and not yet seeing a little Pine-trashing on this thread because he’s not Shatner. Glad to see it’s not happening.
Yo, THX…I’m still picking up the pieces from my Cancun trip…what a time I had…..a new low, I’m SO ashamed!
Probably be low-key for New Years…..how’s about you??
One of the few years that I don’t have to play, so I’m going to be low key. I’m hoping that Xai will send me some Tranya, as I have drank everything in sight over the Christmas holiday.
Harry, if you set a new low I think it only right that we arrange some sort of relief fund for the citizen’s of Cancun.
Think I’ll play some poker tomorrow evening and enjoy some ice-cold Crown.
360 days to go.
If Star Trek 2008 is anything like BB I will be thrilled. It is one of the best action/adventure movies made in years.
Funny that you suggest a relief fund for the citizens of Cancun…..I think they felt relief when I LEFT! :)
Has there been any talk of Gary Mitchell in the film? From WNMHGB, Kirk & Mitchell were buddy-buddy in the Academy. I don’t mind the idea of Kirk and Spock knowing or meeting each other in the Academy. But Mitchell was obviously an important relationship for Kirk before Spock.
Comments like #18 always baffle me. “Such and such acquaintance in my life professed a lack of interest in TNG and beyond, therefore the general public as a whole never cared about it.”
I am fairly certain that the ratings for TNG series and the box office grosses of FC at the least (and GEN as well, though mentioning it opens the can of worms that Kirk was the draw to a highly profitable film) prove otherwise.
The general public was quite interested in TNG. 2 horrible films and 3 less than successful spinoffs killed that particular golden goose. That doesn’t diminish the fact that it most certainly WAS a golden goose at one point. To poo poo TNG now would be as foolhardy as doing the same to TOS during TNG’s grand heyday of the ’90s.
I’m glad they picked Pine he’s realtivly unknown and that’s better than Cruise or Hanks playing the role.
^
I’m drinking the Tranya ultra-lite keeping fit in all.
Actually, Cruise and Hanks were only ever being considered for Pike…
Hi all, accidentlally came across a romantic-comedy this morning on the box co-starring Chris Pine.
Very good & shows he can do serious & light. I think he will be a great Kirk, and be able to be his own man. It is a bit like Bond (James). From what I have seen I look forward to the new vision.
“It’s not like anything they’ve ever seen before: the humor, production, effects and action blend into a great package. There’s enough humor and drama and action to satisfy everyone. This is movie for fans and non-fans alike, it’s going to create new generation of fans who have never been exposed to it before – for my generation and younger.”
Maybe I’m just being pissy today, but this is pretty much what has been said about every Star Trek film that has been made in my lifetime. I’m excited about the movie, but still hold a few reservations. Only a couple weeks until the teaser, then I we’ll start to separate the hype from the goods.
This interview told me zilch. I don’t blame Piney, since Trek was only briefly touched upon, but I’m eager to know how he’s approaching the role of Kirk internally, as an actor. Some of the things Quinto has said about Spock sound promising; I want to hear what Pine thinks of Kirk as a character. The “action movie” talk just made me roll my eyes.
Something tells me Iowagirl is gonna be underwhelmed. ;)
Wait a minute. Chris Pine is actually allowed to say something about the movie??? Was Quinto not around for another interview? ;)
#43: It seems so. lol
re: 41
“Only a couple weeks until the teaser, then I we’ll start to separate the hype from the goods.”
The teaser will likely show nothing of importance.
For all you Trek fans that look for reasons to pick apart Chris Pine or Quinto, or Pegg or any of the others…shame on you!!! Be happy that people are trying to give this franchise a new beginning. Reserve judgment for the final product. Whether or not you believe in JJ’s ability to do what he has said he wants to do means nothing to those of us who truly hope he can….we want Trek…old trek, new trek…doesn’t matter…just good trek. Leonard Nimoy’s confidence and commitment, along with JJ’s ability to tell a good story and Paramounts willingness to back that with real dollars is encouraging. If it’s crap…we will all know and see it, but if it’s good we all all see it as well. Until then, get on board and hope for a rebirth of something we all love and be positive. If you can’t do that then please say nothing, because you have no place in the positive Universe that is Star Trek.
#46 you don’t seriously believe that we will be in agreement as to whether the film is ‘crap or good’ do you!? lol
The arguments will rage on for years after release as to the quality!
IMO, this interview only proves what I was suggesting some threads earlier. To me, it reads like an “alibi-interview” as Pine isn’t actually saying anything substantial with respect to the character he’s about to portray. He’s stating some truisms and is giving us some cues which can be understood by some means or other. In doing so, he’s walking along the line given by Abrams & Co., a line that may have been drawn as long as the Shatner issue is still pending.
I don’t know yet what to do with the “..before the Five-Year Mission” information. It sounds as if they were exclusively dealing with that period which I would appreciate as it would reduce the risk of violating canon we’ve become fond of, but then it somehow contradicts the involvement of Nimoy, as well as the suggestion of different timelines.
All things considered, a rather pointless and inconsistent interview at best. I would have wished for a more significant interview considering the fact that this is the first real statement we get from the actor who is about to portray one of the most iconic characters of pop culture.
#42
There you are, buddy. ;-)
#13
Pine can perfectly mean that they are giving a believable origin story for our loved characters. Not necesarily (Is that the propper spelling? I’m Spanish) that they are changing everything to do so.
Batman had five or more possible continuity canons to attend to and Returns did very well to match most of them while giving it a reallity twist.
I’d love to see that done with Tos. I don’t believe the objective in this is to explain us where Jimmy T got his idea to save the universe in his pijamas, but to make people believe it.
Yet, I insist I’d like Pine to be told about Shatner’s first mind state for Kirk: The joy of living as a way of life.
Oh, regarding the recast there’ something I’ve wanted to tell for some weks:
I’ve had the luck of not having seen the cast before (Only Quinto) in other movies, so I had the chance to watch all of Pegg’s movies thinking of them as “movies in which Scottie plays other parts” and It’s been great. I recomend to go watch Hot Fuzz with that mentality. If half of the cast is so likeable and good, its going to be great. Pegg is already the young Scottie for me.
I had never heard of Simon Pegg before this. I’ll be renting Fuzz for sure now. He’s that good? Cool!!
my favorite Kirk tribute ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS1B2Ofd_J4
Go for it Pine!!
I don’t think we can read too much into it to be honest, but it’s nice to hear from him. I’ve not read any interview with any actor in any film that wasn’t excited by the new and exciting excitement that the new direction the film is taking takes it to. AND it’s going to have Big Epic CGI. And Action.
So Nemesis was Epic yet poor, but it wasn’t the CGI or even the plot there that was at fault, it was poor direction, bad plotlines and just some really grating stuff. I think you could probably edit out 20 minutes and have a decent enough film to be honest.
I finally bought Transformers this week and was fairly horrified at the dialogue but in the context of a film about toys aimed at 14 year olds, I suspect it was fine. It didn’t make me automatically think that the new Trek film will or won’t have a great story, dialogue or plot though (and I’ve no idea how much they messed with Hasbro Canon though I recall something about Autobot Fanboys being upset about Maximus Prime’s servos being at the wrong pitch) but this is a different animal, so I’m not all bent out of shape either way.
So I think we have to strip out most of what we hear from Quinto, Pine, JJ and the writers, since of COURSE it’s the best film ever with the best special effects, the best jokes and it’s got frikkin’ LASERS and slave girls and everything.
But what they all say, all the time, is that it respects trek canon, tries to be true to the old casts’ protrayals, and is trying to reach out to a new audience as well as keeping all the fans happy.
While it might, at the end of the day, still suck and be the Phantom Menace of 2008, I do think that they are trying in most of the right places, so it’s all still good.
So far.
Just please, no fart gags and don’t let the Enterprise turn into a giant robot. Not even once.
Action movie…
Perhaps Star Trek should be named “Star Wars Episode VII” then…
I just found something I think you’ll like to hear.
It is from the new year interview the fans made to him at Simon Pegg’s fan website:
“Stephanie (Kapuhi): Aloha Simon. :) Your fans are in large part deploring McSpaced. Yet you accepted a role played first by Doohan decades ago, and the Trekkers are deploring STXI. Are you seeing any interesting parallels, having mixed feelings, coming down more on the ‘remake’ side or the ‘leave it be’ side?”
Simon: No, because JJ’s ST isn’t a remake at all. It’s an extension of the mythology. I think they are different kettles of fish.”
You can read the whole interview, in which he doesn’t say almost anything more about trek here: http://www.peggster.net/interviews/xmas07.html
You all missed the interesting point – that the movie will finish shooting later than expected, and this with a writer’s strike. If this is right and say it means an extra week or two, this means that the movie is proving more complicated than expected (in blocking, in locations, in performances, in physical fx) but it can’t mean additional scenes or re-writes/re-shoots.
HB’s well you get my drift….. :)
^
And #46 are you for real…..
#54 “Action movie…
Perhaps Star Trek should be named “Star Wars Episode VII” then… ”
Hey, I’m, all about the action. Star Trek..not the spin offs…was, when all the dust settled, a fun action adventure show, where the final frontier was very dangerous and very different as incredible and wildly imagintive adventures awaited these very real people at every turn. Roll in the dirt, rip your shirt fistfights, mixed with space combat mixed with some sexy romance and some cool other worldly weirdness is bascially what TOS was all about. Add to that the wonderful characters and how they were affectred by it all and you get a fun show. The spin-offs lost sight of some of that and became very talky and dull.
PIne says it has humor, drama and action….so far so good.
#36-I have brought this up many times before. How can they possibly exclude Gary Mitchell from this film. Him and Kirk were BEST friends, long before there was a friendship with Spock (so much for respect to canon). Can anyone explain to me how there is no Gary Mitchell?? That is a HUGE oversight!!
#48-Iowa Girl — you could not have stated it any better!!!!
Action Movie :(
Nemesis Part 2
I hope they do something more than an action move. ST always was a mirror of todays society, always was social critical, just think of STVI, ST always was much MORE than an action move.
“Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence, the concept around which it revolves, has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all.” – Isaac Asimov
That’s what Star trek has to be like!
#60 – Right on the Money!
First contact also was an action movie. And I think most people agree is the best of TNG’s
re: 58
“PIne says it has humor, drama and action….so far so good.”
What else is he GOING to say?
And you could pretty much SAY that about ANY movie.
Do you think anyone connected with it is going to come out and say something like “Well, it might not be all that good.” ?
It’s a good thing there are people like yours truly around to provide THAT service.
I don’t envy JJ & co. on the balance they have to strike to make this thing successful.
Again, I just hope they acknowledge what’s come “B4.”
I’m watching FC last night. Man that movie is overrated.
It’s so “Voyager,” in retrospect. (So, how can the Borg exist in a vaccuum, when they require certain environmental conditions, like temperature?)
I don’t like the new Acin rumor on how he cheated :
“Is it an amazing bit of reprogramming? Nope. In true Kirk fashion, he persuades a chick he is banging to alter the simulator so that it is winnable (my source’s exact words). He uses pure animal magnetism and his power over the fairer sex to cheat”
WTF…..
Im not kidding its on acin…check it out..
Mr. Orci ..plese tell me this is not true
PLEASE!!!!????
Hhaha!! I’ll still see the movie anyway…
Happy New YeaR!
Hmmm…after thinking about it for a min or 2…
I change my mind…I like the idea….
Cool news! If true..of course.
:) Happy holidays!!
@#62
Sure, FC was great, coz the Borg were until that point still a great species. It was the star trek type of a horror movie mixed with an action film. You never saw something like that in Star Trek before.
But I think St9 ist the best of all TNG movies, it is closer than the otherTNG movies to what TNG was as serie, with a moral question as central topic. Only Paramount destroyed ST9 a bit, coz originally it should become a drama, but Paramount wanted it to be comedy, so they had to include some bad jokes and things like that, had to change the script, let Data survive e.g.
I hope this action movie will become like FC and not like Nemesis. But i wished it would become more than just an action move, more profound, not just something for the EYES, but also something for the BRAIN.
As someone who is not 15-30, I recognize that movies that don’t cater to that demographic usually fail. But, I hope the new flick doesn’t turn out to be something noisy filled with a lot of bright shiny objects. Or, for that matter, a smarmy collage of episodes during the adolescences of our respective heroes. It would be too easy to load up the audience on youthful, cloying, displays of Kirkism and Spockisms. (Kirk reprograms his parents’ kitchen so he can eat all the cookies he wants?)
No doubt it will be filled with moments intended to make long-term fans go all gooey and heartwarmy inside, but laden with enough humor, drama, whatever, to keep the eyes of the newbies from glazing over.
Trek is best, I think, when it deals with realistic issues and treats its characters as adults. It’s at its worst when it simply pushes Kirk forward in his brash cowboy persona, which is, after all, just an update on Flash Gordon or any other space cadet hero from the golden age.
(FWIW, I find the Kirk in the movies a much more compelling character, and Shatner a better actor, than in TOS. Seeing those episodes now is often cringe-producing.)
#60 says “ST always was a mirror of todays society, ”
Boy is that urban legend ever overblown. True, some episodes of TOS were , not so subtle, commentaries on current events but they hardly represent Star Trek. I mean they were good and some were thought provoking…but out of 79 episodes I can count these “commentaries” on two hands. For every “mirror of modern times”, episode like “Let That be Your Last Battlefied” or “Private Little War”, there are a dozen like “I, Mudd” or “Squire of Gothos” that were just fun imaginative adventurous entertainment. It’s about time Trek stopped being so pretentious and starts to be entertaining again.
In the true spirit of TOS, this new crew of space explorers, facing the challenges of the unknown should get back to the basics. It should be fun, it should be adventurous, it should be thought provoking…but it should never ever EVER be talky and dull.
69#
“It’s about time Trek stopped being so pretentious and starts to be entertaining again. ”
Amen!
@#69
It was very strong in TNG and also in DS9.
But it was there in TOS too, although some things can’t be recognized on nowadays perspective anymore, because a black on a bridge just became normal, or a black kissing a white, because the cold war is over and russians can bee seen everywhere on the streets.
But that is what science fiction once was.
That is what Star Trek once offered.
That is what a great movie differs from a good movie.
“It’s about time Trek stopped being so pretentious and starts to be entertaining again”
To get entertained i needn’t to watch Star Trek. Star Trek needs to offer more than just cheap entertainment to me.
At least I finally want to see a movie again where the effects and the action act in pursuance with the story. And not the story acts in pursuance with the action.
Explosions after explosiomns and action fanatics just bore me
Don’t mess with Zpock.
http://s2.supload.com/free/s2promo3.jpeg/view/
It is going to be soooooo strange seeing another actor such as Chris Pine in the long-standing William Shatner ‘Captain Kirk’ role, although at the same time, I am well aware that this Movie will be the ‘first’ introduction to these roles for a newer, younger audience.
I just hope that all the elements in this Movie, actors included, can gel and renew interest in the ‘Star Trek’ brand. Not many of J.J. Abram’s choices in various departments that have been indicated thus far, have given me absolute blind faith that this is a guaranteed hit, unfortunately, and I remain to be convinced about the rumoured storyline, and production design direction…but I am ready and willing to be impressed by the trailer, amongst other things.
So in the spirit of goodwill, I will only say one FINAL time, that an actual Scotsman in the role of ‘Scotty’ would have been welcome, but I wish Simon Pegg all the best in the meantime.
May I wish everyone here a very happy New Year, and all the best for the year ahead. Slange!
Once again, there’s very little information in what Pine’s saying. What is there is enthusiasm for the role and the movie. That’s cool. I can’t believe how much some of the posters here have read into what little is on the page, though. I kinda hope you’re not in the audience when I go to enjoy this film next Christmas. I want an audience with an open mind.
#69: “Talky and dull” can be blamed on bad writing. It’s common for fiction, especially science fiction, to extrapolate on current scenarios, and to take a position on political and social issues. Good writing doesn’t treat its audience as children. Bad writing simply telegraphs the message by making characters deliver speeches.
Ummm… Wheres the cast pic?
Mr Orci promise us we’ll get to see it before the new year…
I want to know what they look like with their uniform…
most of them do look the part…
Hmmmm:
http://s2.supload.com/free/s2promo3.jpeg/view/
What’s the point of these interviews? PR. It would be best to simply ignore them unless they give out real details.
I am getting the feeling that the film is going to split the difference and stick very true to canon and history, but look radically different. I am personally confused to how I will react to something like that.
Anyone else?
Remember when Star Trek was about telling about a good story and not worrying about not upsetting people regarding continuity?
re: 79. Wink Cornflake – December 31, 2007
“I am getting the feeling that the film is going to split the difference and stick very true to canon and history, but look radically different. I am personally confused to how I will react to something like that.”
I’m not confused. Making it look radically different is a disgusting thought. If it is going to have different actors and look radically different (we don’t know that part YET), then it might as well not be called Star Trek. The canon part makes no difference with imposters in the roles.
Changing the ship, the sets, and uniforms beyond better materials and a little more detail to what is already there is more than bothersome.
As much as I don’t care for the additional series that came after Star Trek, at least they used new characters and were set in a time period removed from that seen in Star Trek.
Make up something original if you want to be different.
#81 — Stanky — you just hit a GRAND SLAM with your comments! That is why I’m very nervous (get so more and more each day). This movie just might turn out to be an “All-Style, No Subtance Bomb”. Again — no mention of Gary Mitchell!!! Also very bothersome to me!!!!
I always had a feeling this was going to be a Batman Begins kind of thing. Cool!
For those that want to be spoiled !!!!!! – Go to Aintitcool right now and read today’s post (NEW YEARS EVE) anout how exactly Kirk , err,,, reprograms the test. Cool if true!!!!!
#69
I don’t think TOS ever has been pretentious; it is demanding, ambitious and challenging. It set forth to create entertainment that was ready for action and adventure, that was witty, sexy, and worthily melodramatic, and that at the same time was able to make a lasting statement, to give us a positive and sometimes revolutionary sociocultural and political view without preaching.
You are certainly right, there are episodes that are just fun or just adventurous or just…just. But these episodes are exemptions, most of them deliberate ones. IMO, SciFi that can only provide action and adventure is alright, but it’s the combination that always has made TOS so special.
But I tend to agree to your conclusion – considering the main target group and the new approach of the film, I think it would rather be obstructive for Abrams & Co. to resume with a fine tradition of not only showing great adventure, but of revealing something significant, let alone a message. This is what made TOS huge and enduring – maybe we should leave it at that.
#84 – #65 had posted that. Sort of interesting. But now we’re going to into major spoiler zone here!
I said for those who want to be spoiled!!! View at your own risk. But if true i love it!!!!!
no Gary Mitchell would be a huge blunder, especially if Chekov is there. This would perhaps more then annoying than changing the exterior of the Enterprise. Kirk gets a chick to change the simulation, that would be another blunder, Kirk is a computer genious…
They promised a cast photo by New Years
If not posted most here’ll be reduced to tears
It’s the uniforms they want to see
Whether it’s pajamas or even Gucci
TOS fans wish to allay their own fears!
#85…I agree that TOS was never pretentious…the spin-offs however are another story…it’s that 24th century feeling of self importance that I feel this movie needs to..and will…get away from.
And I agree, the success of TOS is on many levels. TOS got very lucky and managed to fire on all cylinders. Can all the planets align themselves again and deliver the magic? Hope so.
This site posts a report of the programming for the Kobayashi Maru test being changed by “a chick Kirk is banging”……….
I allude to the same incident in a limerick using the word “slamming” and you erase it? I’ve seen posts here, on many occasions, that used much saltier and more graphic language, yet were allowed.
If you’re going to have rules of conduct on this site, can we at least go into 2008 with them being enforced equally? Sheesh!!
If it is set in pre-5-Year-Mission time, that provids license to use different uniforms, different ships, etc. Starfleet seemed to change uniform styles about as often as, umm, Paramount released a new movie.
One thing, though. I hope they dress the women in slacks. Putting them in miniskirts will mark the production with the kiss of camp.
Re: #81 and “…The canon part makes no difference with imposters in the roles..” –
They aren’t impostors, They’re other actors. No new actors, no new TOS-era movie. It’s OK to prefer TOS, but to condemn any departure from it is foolish. Trek is TV and movie franchise, not sacred text.
#90: “TOS got very lucky and managed to fire on all cylinders…” –
It got lucky because it was brought back from the dead after the second season. You cannot shine the light of later Trek success back in time to make TOS look brighter than it actually was.
Finally, for those who want Trek to avoid any and all messages and subtexts, consider this: The biggest, most blatant, mesage Trek delivers is that it depicts a future in which humanity has not only survived but prospered and grown in wisdom. Given today’s pessimism, and the pessimism and fear of the Cold War era, that’s a very potent message.
I think if you would like some insight into the swagger that Pine can bring to Kirk, you only need watch the movie “Into The Blue” It’s about as eye friendly as any movie can be… you’ll see why once bikini-clad Jessica Alba swims by.
I saw this movie on Showtime a few weeks ago and the reason for Pine being Kirk became abundantly clear, he can pull off the “Corbomite Maneuver” confidence… plus the dude is more ripped than Sharter could ever hope to have been.
They need to dump canon and just deliver a good story. How can anyone seriously believe the events of Spock’s Brain, Voyager and Nemesis are important pieces of the Star Trek timeline that must not be touched?
re: 92
“No new actors, no new TOS-era movie.”
Good thinking, but alas, too late.
It doesn’t seem likely that the character “Welshie” will appear in this picture.
#93
Paul Walker?
I hope the first starfleet crewmember that dies is wearing a red shirt.
TOS maybe wasn’t pretentious, it was very much entertainment, but it was a mirrior of the 60s society and brought very liberal ideas into the TV, in a time when there still had to be a clear evil bad guy, blacks still were quite suppressed. It showed russians and chinese, the american enemy, on an earth bridge as officers only a few years after the cuba incident, when the danger of a 3rd wordlwar almost got reality.
I have to admit, I am especially a Niner, coz DS9 is together with babylon 5 the best scifi serie ever produced, and a TNG Trekkie, coz together with DS9 it had in almost every episode a moral, socialcritical, philosophical message. But it works with TOS as well. And there are enough modern topics, that could be taken behind an entertaining story.
#95: I’m confused. At least two TOS actors are dead. All of them are 40 years older, and typically 40 pounds heavier. A movie using the original cast might need to include the phrase “assisted living’ in its title.
Yes, the batman begins comparison is apt. That movie re-energized the batman franchize very very well. And it had an excellent big name director behind it to help it along it’s way. And I think that movie allowed itself a huge scale like now other had, especially BATMAN & ROBIN and BATMAN FOREVER. I just recently saw the DARK KNIGHT trailor and am stoked beyond belief. well, back to topic. I hope that Trek is a similar aproach. Really letting the full canvis show itself, and play out in a way that maybe one or two of trek movie did.
I am going out on a limb here but stating with full confidence that the new Trek movie will pull in more than its projected $150m budget; that “serious” movie reviewers will give it 2- 2.5 stars [you know the type I write of- those reviewers who think any movie with a British cast based upon some archaic and arcane nonsensical love story involving Royalty or Shakespeare is always 'the best picture of the millenium', until the next one is ground out, like so much hamburger for the smitten 'critics']; that Quinto’s performance could be a breakout performance that should garner some award chatter, but won’t due to the ’subject matter’; just as the entire film will be ignored by critics due to its ’subject matter’ and the preconceived notions that it’s just another stale old venture into the Star Trek Universe, whether it is or isn’t just that.
#100
“Star Trek XIX: You Kids Get Off My G*DD*#@ Lawn!”
(sorry. couldn’t resist, although I should have.)
Peace. Live Long and Prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
#81, 82
Agreed. In spades.
#100, #103: well said.
It’s like complaining that a Broadway producer can’t mount The Sound of Music without the full original cast from 1959. Wouldn’t it be just a tad incongruous to haul 64-year-old Lauri Peters out of retirement to sing “I Am Sixteen, You Are Seventeen?”
And like all popular Broadway shows and Hollywood classics, they undergo rethinks, revivals, and remakes, often with some updates — changing a reference that a contemporary audience wouldn’t get here, updated costumes and sets there, all the way up to the “radical reinvention” end of the scale.
It’s a show about IMAGINARY future people zipping around space in velour jumpsuits and having adventures, with a good dose of liberal-humanist philosophy on the side.
Trek doesn’t belong to us: it’s a property of Paramount Pictures. They can do whatever they want with it, including painting the Enterprise candy-striped pink, and I just know there’s a certain kind of fanboy who will whine about it not being like the original show, but will still pay $20 to gorge on popcorn while watching it in the theatre on the first day.
I think the franchise is in good hands. The Abrams / Orci / etc/ team seem much more sensitive to the material than Berman and Braga ever were. They have fans inside the production at the highest levels, for heaven’s sake. But more importantly, they are people that understand how to make great dramatic action shows and movies.
I mean, Alias — was that show really about the Rambaldi-artifact-of-the-week or more about the constantly shifting dramatic tension between people who can’t trust anyone (Arvin Sloane, Sydney Bristow, Jack Bristow, etc) — the reason you watched week after week, aside from the thrills of seeing Jennifer Garner kick peoples’ butts, was Alias’ soap opera. And it was brilliant.
As to the look-and-feel issue — I have technology sitting on my desk that makes anything seen in the original series’ run look like the sets of Flash Gordon serials, aka Captain Proton. People now have TVs at home that are bigger than the bridge viewscreen. We have iPhones and Bluetooth headsets much smaller than Uhura’s salt-shaker-in-the-ear. We deal with ever-shifting user interfaces that don’t require a fixed button layout.
I’m sure they will extrapolate the “Trek design language” — colour palettes, shapes, materials — from TOS, but you can’t seriously expect the cardboard and Lite-Brite sets of the past to translate to an IMAX screen. It has to be updated. Subtly, sensitively, but it has to look believable and cool to an audience of non-Trekkies.
Enterprise NX-01 was a believable extrapolation of ‘what interfaces might look like in 2154, knowing what we know now’, with none-too-subtle hints and references to the TOS Enterprise’s designs and graphics. Extrapolate another hundred years on from that and I don’t think you get gumdrop lights. mechanical dials and physical switches. Unless we want to go in some sort of steampunk direction…
#59-It is not a foregone conclusion that the character will not make an appearance, although I do not recall (I have not seen the episode in awhile) it actually being said that they were “best” friends–just friends. Kirk was obviously an authority figure to Mitchell (an Academy instructor) from the start of their relationship, so he was probably a bit older at least. They do share an obvious skill at scoring with the ladies, though, and that could be entertaining.
TOS does need to be updated so that it looks like it’s the future, not the past. Although it was visionary for it’s time, real-life tech has caught up and passed it in so many ways, that it has to be made futuristic again.
The trick is to update the tech and keep the style.
re: 100
Yes, you are confused. The point is they should make no “TOS” era (hate that term) movie because of the age and/or deceased factors.
I think putting Batman, even a teenage Batman, in the new Star Trek film is a big mistake…
So what, it’s another universe.
Maybe change some things, but not very many.
I’m hoping for pilot uniforms. And yes to the other poster, that WOULD mean putting the women in slacks.