Orci & Kurtzman To Answer Fan Questions At TrekMovie + Transcript Of Last Week’s ‘Impromptu’ Q&A May 18, 2009
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Orci/Kurtzman, Star Trek (2009 film) , trackback
Late last week over a couple of days Star Trek co-writer Roberto Orci dropped by one of the TrekMovie.com article comment threads and started an impromptu online chat/Q&A discussion. Today we present that as an easier-to-read Q&A. Plus Bob and his writing partner Alex Kurtzman have also agreed to continue the online fan discussion this week. Details below [SPOILERS]
Orci dives in to the comments and answers fan questions/concerns
The vast majority of visitors to TrekMovie.com just read the articles, but you can really miss out by not reading the hundreds of comments made here every day (even if you aren’t going to make your own). In the Tidbit article covering the WGA event that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman attended, many fans began to comment about some of their questions, concerns and nitpicks about the Star Trek movie. And then, as he sometimes does, Bob Orci joined in and started answering questions.
Bob answered questions regarding clarifications of events in the film, aspects of various technologies and ships, and more. The biggest debate/discussion has been regarding the nature of the time travel and specifically how the alternative timeline presented in the movie relates to the original ‘prime’ timeline. To make it easier for regular readers, TrekMovie is posting the pertinent parts of the online discussion below in a Q&A format (broken into subject categories).
But first, Do you have a question for Bob & Alex?
TrekMovie has asked Bob if he and his writing partner Alex Kurtzman would want to continue to answer some fan questions and they agreed. So if you have a question, just post it in the comments section below. We ask that you focus on the Star Trek movie and treat this like Jeopardy by making comments in the form of an actual question. To make it easier for Bob and Alex, start your query by typing ‘QUESTION’. For example:
QUESTION:
What rank was Scotty when Kirk and Spock Prime met him on Delta Vega?
Over the next week they will pop in from time to time and answer question and when this article rolls off the front page, TrekMovie write up a new article taking their comment section answers and put them into a new single Q&A article. They will try to get to as many questions as possible.
Wednesday UPDATE: Q&A over
After hundreds of submissions and answering as many questions as possible, the Q&A is now complete. Feel free to make comments, but no more new questions will be answered. TrekMovie will post a simple Q&A transcript soon.
TRANSCRIPT OF LAST WEEK’S Q&A WITH BOB ORCI AND TREKMOVIE.COM
The following is taken from the comments made over the last four days in the comments section of our Tidbits article from Thursday. The questions have been broken into categories. Note: where possible comments were ‘clipped’ to focus on the ‘question’ and spelling errors were fixed.
TRANSPORTERS
moauvian moaul: …How could Kirk and Scotty beam aboard the Enterprise from Delta Vega – half way across the galaxy? I know Spock gave Scotty the formula but, if they could transport at that range why the need for starships? Why a Star Trek to begin with? Am I missing something and wouldn’t that undermine most of the plots on ALL the various series and movies?
BobOrci: Interesting. We discussed that very question. The short answer is that it is entirely too dangerous. Scotty was almost killed, and we even had a line before they beam out where Scotty says, “If the calculation is off by even .oooooox (insert crazy number) we could end up 3 meters OUTSIDE the ship!” Remember, Spock Prime actually made the calculation. It’s possible there’s something key that he did not tell Scotty so that he could not reproduce the results. Interesting.
KELVIN LAYOUT
martin: When Robou (sp) goes to the shuttle bay, why does his very construction site looking elevator come down to the floor instead of coming up? Isn’t the shuttle bay at the top of the ship?
BobOrci: Oh-oh! Let me go study the matter and get back to you!:) I can’t remember now since the Kelvin is introduced mid-rotation — I can’t remember which way is up! Nice.
SHIELDS
RaymondJ: …when the Kelvin and later the Enterprise are under attack, and the helmsmen claim “the shields are at 32%” for example, incoming debris and weapons smash the ship as though there were no shields at all. Shouldn’t they bounce off or be deflecting until the shields were no longer there?
BobOrci: I too miss the glow of the egg-shaped shields. I can’t fully speak for JJ on that one, but I can imagine that he felt it might have seemed TOO protective and somehow rob the scenes of the visceral danger of SPACE right out the window (as evidenced but the genius shot he came up with where a poor crew member gets sucked into SILENT SPACE. Shields seemed to get in the way of that, and I seem to recall conversations about different ways to think of the shields (sealing the hull damage) and providing some kind of electro-tension effect on the hull itself that increased it’s natural strength or something. Nonetheless, I feel ya!
STARFLEET’S MISSION/FEDERATION ETHICS
ety3: My only real concern with the film comes near the end when Kirk offers an olive branch, and Spock — almost jokingly — questions it. Not to get all high-minded and what-not, but isn’t Spock’s reaction antithetical to the peaceful exploration mindset that Starfleet is supposed to imbue in its members? If Spock had been flat-out angry about the olive branch, that would, at least, have made some sense, character wise. But to play it off as a joke?
BobOrci: I can understand that. Entertainment value weighs heavily there!
Matt Wright: One of my concerns with the film is the total glossing over of the fundamentals of what the Federation is and stands for. There is no dialog about the philosophy of explorations, tolerance, etc. “Humanitarian and peace keeping armada” sounds like some possibly very dangerous doublespeak that opens a can of worms about going after WMD’s, etc.
A second comment I have is that now with Vulcan gone there is a great chance to intelligently discuss what a people displaced from their home feel. This Diaspora could be used with great care and offer commentary on the current state of post-colonial peoples. DS9 did something somewhat similar with the Bajoran people very well.
BobOrci: So you agree there is one line at least, even if you don’t like it LOL! You’re right that It is a slight contradiction worthy of being labeled Orwellian double-speak. The question I would pose is, does that contradiction somehow reflect a truth or perception about power in our times?
As for exploration, the last line of the movie mentions that. But you are right that this movie is not about the exploration of the five year mission, it’s about what happened to get us there.
Agree with you about Vulcan. Juicy territory.
TIMING OF FILM EVENTS
VZX: How much time passed between the destruction of the Narada and Kirk getting his medal and becoming captain? I would prefer at least a year or two, as it would make a little more sense than a cadet automatically becoming captain, regardless of how many people he saved. It is just too hard to swallow and it kind of took a lot of believability away from the movie, making it even less realistic. I know you guys wanted to end with the movie with Kirk as captain and everyone in their place, but some line or two of explanation would have been nice.
BobOrci: There a are few subtle transitions in the movie that are purposely ambiguous to allow debate about how long things took to happen, like warping to Vulcan or the very thing you bring up in order to leave it in the eye of the beholder. But yes, we wanted to absolutely end with Kirk as Captain.
KATRIC ARK
Jason: …what were the Vulcan’s doing in the ark — praying? Why no contact/no escape ship?
BobOrci: Bingo on the Katric Ark [in reply to Tim Thomason who stated "I bet the Vulcans (and Amanda) were doing something with the katras in the “Katric ark” while awaiting a rescue ship.']
NIMOY v PINE ‘SPACE/FINAL FRONTIER’
Robogeek: Since, among other things, the movie was about Kirk’s (altered) origin and journey to the Captain’s chair of the Enterprise, did you not think it should end with us seeing and hearing him make That Speech for the very first time, as the perfect bookend/punchline/finale to the entire film? I have to admit I was surprised and disappointed that we didn’t get that moment (which I sort of felt the entire film was leading up to brilliantly). I was also a little mystified by the choice of having Spock Prime give the speech, since frankly that’s already been done to more powerful/resonant effect (at the end of Star Trek II).
Can you talk about this decision, and whether you considered (or even tried) having Chris Pine do the speech? And dare I ask if you ever considered asking Shatner to do it?
BobOrci: We certainly did consider all of the above as you would’ve. Ultimately, we felt that from a canon and fandom point of view, Spock Prime (Nimoy) had really made this voyage possible (literally within the plot and karmically through his support of the movie), and as such, he deserved to announce the “continuing voyages” which would’ve seemed odd for Pine to say since it’s his first real voyage. But we certainly debated it all at length . Fun stuff.
TIME TRAVEL/TIMELINES
Robogeek: Why doesn’t Spock Prime try (or even want) to fix/restore the timeline, and save Vulcan?”
BobOrci: Two reasons: The RED MATTER Device is destroyed, so even if he wanted to go back in time, he can’t.
Secondly, our story is not based on the linear timeline of Einstein’s General Theory of relativity upon which most movies about time travel are based (like say, BACK TO THE FUTURE, or TERMINATOR, both of which I LOVE). The idea of a fixable timeline has been a wonderful staple of sci-fi since the 50’s, but in reading about the most current thinking in theoretical physics regarding time travel (Quantum Mechanics), we learned about the speculative theories that suggest that if time travel is possible, then the act of time travel itself creates a new universe that exists in PARALLEL to the one left by the time traveler. This is the preferred theory these days because it resolves the GRANDFATHER PARADOX, which wonders how a time traveler who kills his own younger grandfather would logically then cease to exist, but then he’d never be around to time travel and kill his grandfather in the first place. Quantum Mechanically based theories resolve this paradox by arguing that the time
traveler, in killing his grandfather, would merely split a previously identical universe into a new one in which a man who is his grandfather in another universe is killed in the new one. The time traveler does not cease to exist, although he is no longer in his own original universe (where he is now missing). Or something.
To summarize above on the time travel issue, going back in time is the equivalent of stepping into a parallel universe, according to current speculations based on Quantum Mechanics.
Starfleet and Spock, basing their decisions on this theory, would see that their is NO SUCH THING as “rectifying” the situation in a MULTIVERSE.
… and finally, my ace in the hole, a TEMPORAL PRIME DIRECTIVE.
RenderedToast: a Temporal Prime Directive that Spock Prime doesn’t seem too concerned about following…
BobOrci: He and Nero were sucked into the black hole against their will. Nonetheless, Kirk calls him on it, saying changing things is “Cheating…”
Vapad: Even though the writers say that this movie exists in an alternate timeline, nowhere do you get that impression when watching the movie, even Prime Spock refers to Vulcan as his Vulcan from his past timeline. After watching the movie I was enraged by the fact the Prime timeline had been changed/destroyed.
BobOrci: 2 things. First, see [above answer to Robogeek].
But more importantly, in the scene with the two Spocks, you may recall that Spock asks Spock Prime, “How did you persuade [Kirk] to keep your secret?” And Spock Prime replies, “He (KIRK) inferred that universe ending paradoxes would ensue…” In other words, he is saying that Spock Prime lead Kirk to ERRONEOUSLY believe that time travel worked like it has in the movies since the fifties, when in actuality Spock Prime knows there are no universe ending paradoxes in a multiverse. They are in a parallel reality, as Uhura said.
Dunsel Report: …my only thought about the time travel thing was whether you ever wrote a scene in which Nero finds out it’s impossible to fix the timeline? Since he’s a Romulan working Joe, you’d think this would be on his mind–until, perhaps, he kidnaps Spock, finds out there’s no way to save Romulus and then does the madman thing.
BobOrci: Interesting. I would argue that it’s equally possible that since Nero is from the future, he may be sufficiently acquainted with how reality works that he KNOWS there is no such thing as fixing the timeline… all he knows is that he watched his wife and world die as a result of the inaction/corruption of the federation. So he’s going to make the best of it by make those responsible pay not just for vengeance, but to rid THE UNIVERSE of what he considers to be a threat to the existence of his home world. And though he can’t ever meet his wife again, who is not even born, he can at least know that once she comes into existence, she will have A LIFE.
Vapad: When watching this film there, nowhere does it say or implied that it is a alternate timeline. It’s not there, and I think Bob is grasping for straws.
BobOrci: Uhura says it, and I quote, “An alternate reality.” To which Spock responds, “Precisely.” And then Kirk and Spock debate it, with Spock telling him that Nero’s actions, beginning with the attack on the Kelvin, have set them on a chain of events that neither side can predict because these are alternate events. But I will agree that it goes by so fast that you may need to see the movie, with friends, 20 or 390 times to really catch it.
Jean-Luc: Could you explain why a black hole created from a single drop of “red matter” can swallow a star, yet allow two spaceships to pass to the alternate universe without crushing them? Same thing with Vulcan – since the ships passed into alternate universe, should we assume that same thing happened with debris of Vulcan (i.e.. the black hole spit it into an alternate universe)?
BobOrci: In our research, we read some highly theoretical, but nonetheless learned stuff from Kip Thorne and Archibald Wheeler, and they talked about the fact that it surely is likely impossible for anything to ever escape death at the center of a black hole, but that POSSIBLY one could survive the fall into the singularity in a ROTATING BLACK HOLE by somehow avoiding the singularity through the topography of space created by the rotation (if memory serves). But you still can’t escape back into you’re own universe, you would avoid the singularity and be ejected into another universe/time. So that got us thinking that of course that would only work with a sufficiently advance vessel capable of surviving and navigating the extreme forces or in some other unknown way taking advantage of this theoretical loophole. Think of the debris of the planet as getting sucked into a whirl pool, and Spock’s ship is a boat/vessel that navigates around the whirlpool.
RD: …to ignore the fact that Prime Spock never traveled through time before to restore timelines in ST IV among others, basically ignores canon, in which case Prime Spock could be from any universe, not necessarily the one we’ve been watching in syndicated TV and feature films for 40 years.
BobOrci: Star Trek IV is an interesting case in that it is MORE consistent with the idea of a multiverse in the following way: Kirk and Spock travel to the past, take two whales, thus creating an alternate timeline in which those two whales (and a Marine Biologist) are missing. Our gang then returns to THEIR ORIGINAL UNIVERSE, and the whales tell the probe what to go do with itself. In a way, this is a less irresponsible interpretation, because otherwise, they are necessarily playing loosey goosey with interfering with their present by taking the potential grandmother of the doctor who cures cancer out of history and really changing their own universe! Kirk could in theory cease to exist by removing someone from the past. Not so in the multiverse.
Charles Trotter: The ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ episode “Q2″ established that Kirk’s five year mission in command of the Enterprise began in 2265 and ended in 2270. Was it your intention to have the alternate Kirk gain command of the Enterprise earlier than Prime Kirk, or do you think Prime Kirk could have taken command of the ship by that time in the Prime Universe?
BobOrci: Interesting question. Sounds like a good area of potential new fiction. I won’t bias it with my opinion.
Vapad: Maybe your concept of time travel in this film is too complicated for the casual viewer to grasp, when it has to be explained online from the author. Or I guess I’m to dumb and all my friends and family to grasp.
BobOrci: a movie should layers to be discovered, no? Although I really mean it when I say the movie goes by fast and I understand how things can streak by. On the other hand, the movies is designed to be enjoyed and understood just as well even given Kirk’s assumption, that time travel works like we all think it does.
Robogeek: Yes, I’ll of course grant you the red matter was destroyed — and I won’t even question what the hell red matter is, or where it came from ;-) — but there are clearly any number of other well-established methods of time travel available and known to Spock Prime that he could employ, and has even used before himself (the Guardian, slingshot effect, etc.). Plus, my question is not merely why he doesn’t restore/repair the timeline, but why he doesn’t even express any wish/desire/need/compulsion/obligation/necessity to, when circumstances seem to so clearly demand it. (Dude, you blew up Vulcan, and killed almost the entire race.)
I will also grant you that your intent was indeed for time travel in the film to be “quantum” and not “linear” (and that you’re not simply retconning), and I wholeheartedly respect, embrace and appreciate that choice — but my question is not about your intent, but your actual execution (or, to put it in Supreme Court terms, your final ruling of record, i.e. the film itself). In other words, if that’s what you intended, why didn’t you / the film just say so? Because you didn’t.
Given that the most clearly established and highly regarded precedents for time travel in both Star Trek (City on the Edge of Forever, Yesterday’s Enterprise, All Good Things, etc.) and Abrams’ other work (Lost) are Einsteinian/linear and not quantum mechanical, did you not also feel a particular/extra necessity/obligation to make it crystal clear in the film, and definitively manifest your intent? Because I’ve seen the film twice, and it pretty clearly indicates a single timeline has been altered and replaced with a new one. There is simply no evidence, information or argument presented within the film itself that the characters are in a parallel timeline/universe instead of a replacement timeline/universe. In my view, your intent wasn’t manifested.
Finally, if you can play the “Temporal Prime Directive” card, so can I — and I dare say mine trumps yours. It’s Spock Prime’s fault the timeline has been altered, so it’s clearly his primary responsibility (above everything else) to restore/fix/correct it at any and all cost. Furthermore, if you are going to claim a “Temporal Prime Directive” applies, are you not conceding that the timeline has indeed been altered, and that Spock Prime is not in a parallel universe but rather an altered timeline of his own making? I’m sorry, but you can’t have it both ways — even with quantum mechanics. ;-)
BobOrci: For those who care to truly analyze the movie, a parallel reality is clearly expressed both by the dialogue (Uhura) but more importantly by the plot and how the characters behave within it (like the fact that Spock talking to himself doesn’t interfere with his own existence, etc…). However, I understand for some it is a distasteful or unintuitive concept, and for those people, the movie works just as well if they think of it as linear. Just like the movie is both a prequel and a sequel, depending on your point of view.
Vapad: I took Uhura’s line as it’s an alternate reality from which they could of been in if Nero hadn’t changed the future.
BobOrci: What you’re saying is still true. From Uhura’s point of view, Nero has changed her future from what it would’ve been if he had never arrived.
Robogeek: I completely agree that a movie should have layers to be discovered. I think what I (and others) are saying is that there seems to be a crucial layer missing, which might be as simple as a single word. …Yes, Uhura says they’re in an _alternate_ reality, i.e. one that has been altered, and is different than the original Prime reality. But no one in the film ever says they’re in a _parallel_ reality / separate timeline that coexists with the original Prime one. That’s the problem.
BobOrci: And funnily enough we’ve been accused by some of dumbing it down.
Perhaps it could be clearer, but our goal in that scene is to get our scientists to talk as they would talk, and the fact that the Next Generation is still alive and well in another universe would not be their primary point of curiosity or concern. They would be concerned with what happens to them now. It’s more of an intellectual curiosity for the audience to ponder than for the characters, in my opinion. And as stated above, key characters behave in ways that can only be explained if they subscribe to the multiverse theory. I concede it could be clearer, but I will say it is exactly as clear as we wanted it to be. I’ll bet many more people enjoyed it than would’ve otherwise because they can see it either way.
Vapad: Exactly, it was never expressed they were in a parallel reality.
BobOrci: I concede that the word PARALLEL is not in the movie.
CaptainRickover: I honestly have to disagree about your time travel mechanics explanation. Even if it’s true that Quantum theory might be the right theory about time travel, it don’t work for Star Trek. Since TOS the timeline is considered as a linear process where you could go back and forth. Take First Contact for example. Picard and crew were able to watch on screen, how the timeline changed after the Borg travelled back in the 21st century. If that time travel would have created an alternate universe, Picard & Co. shouldn’t even aware that something has changed.”
BobOrci: I don’t disagree that we are breaking with SOME canon in the way we treat time travel. However, we are doing so purposely, in order to have our theoretical physics conform to the most current and sophisticated theories.
BrF: …There’s almost no major plot point that, after you think about it for five minutes, makes any sense. Most glaring to me were the incredible range of transporters now, and how it takes five minutes now to get from planet to planet.
BobOrci: Well, I would argue it’s slightly impressionistic to give the appearance of real time. For example, it seems as though Chekov immediately gives a ship-wide briefing and then Kirk immediately realizes it’s a trap and that they arrive at Vulcan in four seconds. But if you notice, when Kirk wakes up after hearing Chekov, BONES has completely changed into his blue uniform, indicating an undetermined passage of time.
BobOrci: (to no specific poster) For all those decrying fate, there is actually a quantum mechanical basis for the “fate function” in this film that we have discussed previously. In a multiverse where, as Data once said “anything that can happen, does happen, in a parallel universe…” there is a probability (a number) associated with each possible configuration. Those events that are most probable are theorized to occur more often in more similar universes. Thus, the idea that Kirk and Spock and Bones come together is merely an indication that the probability assigned to such an event is very high in the multiverse. Some may mistake this for blind fate.
Dan: Spock Prime could go back in time and stop Nero, like all the other ways they have done before in movies and TV shows in the past Trek lore, he doesn’t need Red Matter to only go back in time to stop Nero. It’s lame for Bob to say that Prime Spok can’t do time travel without Red Matter. When they could just fly around the Sun like he did in Star Trek IV, or Picard did in First Contact.
BobOrci: In our Universe, as long as I am here, you can’t just slingshot around the sun and linear time is a misconception from the middle part of the 20th century.. A good analogy for what we have done here would be to imagine we were rebooting the modern adventures of a sailor, who at the time that his stories were told, it was believed the earth was flat. Now, years later, here in the re-whatever, we know the world is round. So our story exists in a world where the world is now round, despite that being a “canon” violation.
GaryS: Was the timeline that Nero visited the original past up to the point that George Kirk is killed? Or was it always an alternate timeline because Nero was destined to travel there?
BobOrci: We think of it is as identical to the original until Nero arrives.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW – WHAT QUESTION DO YOU HAVE?
If you have a question for Bob and Alex, type it in below (preceded by ‘QUESTION’ to help identify it). It seems that the whole timeline thing has been covered pretty thoroughly so hopefully we can explore some new territory.
Comments»
I wish I didn’t need to read this to understand everything.
QUESTION:
Should “Star Trek: Countdown” be considered speculative or definitive?
(and I know it’s been asked many times, but if there’s been a clear answer, my apologies as I’ve missed it in all the hubbub)
QUESTION:
What sort of process did you go through in preparing to write this movie with respect to adhering to a certain level of “canon”? (i.e. what episodes/movies did you watch, what novels did you read, what reference books did you skim, etc. and which ones actually really helped you in writing the story?
- Thanks a lot for your time, guys!
Some good stuff there. Nice to have some things (like the nature and ’start point’ of the AU) nailed down in this fashion.
QUESTION
Engineering? Whats the deal?
Question:
Do you think of bring some characters from TNG era in future Star Trek?
QUESTION:
The Enterprise jettisoned a lot of little pods when its ‘core’ was ejected. We’ve been wondering what these are. Does the Enterprise now have multiple cores, with the singular ‘core’ term just being a, for lack of a better term a traditional name? Are the pods we see just antimatter storage pods? What’s the dealey-o?
Starship shields were variously depicted through all the series and movies. Sometimes as the “egg shell” around the Ent-D, sometimes as a protection across the surface of the hull, like in the Khitomer battle.
The egg shell might make more intuitive sense, but it looked rather silly.
QUESTION:
I see a lot of talk of ‘alternate reality’, yet this seems like it’s an alternate timeline, vs an alternate reality like the mirror universe. What is your take on this?
QUESTION:
Is Admiral Christopher Pike now a paraplegic? Is he permanently paralyzed or temporarily affected by the Centurian slug?
Again I ask people to precede their queries with ‘QUESTION’ on its own line in all caps. This way it is easy to distinguish from a regular comment.
Also, I second #6’s question. I’ve no idea if it’s within the purview of the writers (nor do I know if my question was), but it can’t hurt to ask!
QUESTION: Will the Federation be able to prepare for eventual meeting with the Borg, or will it prefer to see how it plays out with Picard in its future (the 24th Century)? The Borg were introduced with Picard’s specific participation, but the events of the film haven’t left the 23d.
Will there be a newly created future-historical agency acting as a guardian of information that will assure that, if there is a Captain Picard in the future, he will not alienate the Q?
If the answer is, everything is unpredictable, would that still mean that the Federation therefore will not do anything to prepare?
2 – It’s definitive, considering that Orci and Kurtzman wrote the story.
I also ask people to be as concise as possible with questions.
The rules of Time Travel in Star Trek have been clearly established multiple times. You change the past, it effects YOUR future. No alternate timelines here, bitches.
QUESTION:
Have you guys ever considered bringing Vulcan and Romulus back? And if not, how many survivors are there from both planets? (By the way, I LOVE the movie and have seen it eight times, and am aiming for twenty. Thanks)
QUESTION:
A lot of future toys have made their way into 23rd century. We’ve been assuming that scans of the Narada made by the Kelvin allowed Federation science to progress more rapidly than in the prime timeline. Transwarp beaming would allow an almost Stargate-style transporter network to exist, bridging star systems upon which the system is established. And Spock Prime would be a wealth of information, assuming he’s willing to talk. So my question is, will we see this rapid technological growth continue in Star Trek XII, and should we expect to see the new timeline substantially diverge from the prime timeline as a result?
QUESTION:
Do you plan to use Admiral Pike again?
And what did the Klingons in the movie look like before they were left on the cutting room floor?
sorry about that lol
QUESTION:
(1) I like the idea that you came up for Bones’ nickname – but was it really necessary? I mean, it isn’t a stretch for a ship’s surgeon to be nicknamed ‘Ol’ sawbones’ is it?
And why oh why oh why does the book completely fluff this line by saying “only left me with my skeleton” leaving the otherwise ill educated reader bemused as to why Kirk suddenly calls him Bones?????
(2) The Transamerica Pyramid has moved suspiciously close to the Exploratorium – was this your doing??
(3) Can you explain why a Red Matter induced wormhole or black hole (whatever) allows time travel for the Narada once, but crushes it at the end of the movie?
(4) Why, when Titan orbits in the same plane as Saturn’s rings, do we see the rings at a high angle when the Enterprise emerges from the top of Titan’s ludicrously thick atmospheric haze (PORCOOOOOOOOOO!!) ? And don’t give me that artistic license shenanigans – hire a science consultant or don’t.
(5) I seem to recall from Star Trek IV that the journey from Vulcan to Earth takes several days at warp speed, yet the Enterprise appears to arrive very quickly indeed. Discuss (and show your working).
QUESTION:
While probably somewhat of a nitpicky question/observation by the Nutty Fanboy here: What happened to off-world Vulcans? The lines in the movie indicate 10.000 survivors overall, which seems rather low for a space-faring species – especially that very likely have off-world colonies.. or was the 10.000-line pointed towards survivors escaping Vulcan itself?
QUESTION:
(just in case, with Q added this time)
Can you provide us one definitive answer on the size specifications of the Enterprise and the Kelvin? Length, width, height, tonnage, crew members, ship class, etc.
There have already been 5 conflicting answers. One from Bad Robot, three from ILM and one from the Enteprise Experience site. It would be great to be able to put these questions to rest with a ruling from the Supreme Court. Thanks!
again I ask people to be concise and to also not be repetitive with questions already asked or those previously answered (see above transcript)
HAS off-world colonies, of course. Forgive me, my Engrish is broken. :P
QUESTION:
What are the ‘fates’ of other canon Vulcans such as Tuvok, T’Pol, Saavik, and Spock’s half-brother Sybok?
Thank you.
While my biggest beef with the movie was Nero’s asinine reasons for trying to destroy the Federation, I have to say I have a great appreciation for what the writer’s did in creating this alternate universe. It frees them to do whatever they want, while still acknowledging what came before. I like that. They could have straight up rebooted and ignored everything, but they didn’t. Some fans want to argue about how it still “destroys canon”, but really, all those dvds you bought over the years aren’t ceasing from existence. I look forward to the the new adventures of the Enterprise, and am open to seeing what they bring to the table. I just hope it has a better villain next time.
COMMENT
The “changes in timeline cause parallel universes” thing is nothing new. The concept was presented in Fantastic Four comics in the 1970s, for example. I can accept it in Star Trek easily enough. Also everyone should keep in mind that the talk among Spock, Uhura, and the bridge crew about it was only speculation on what they thought had taken place. It should not be taken as definitive within the story.
QUESTION
In the Foster novelization, Spock Prime told young Spock that he planned to freely share his knowledge of the future. This line was not in the movie. What is your thinking on this and how do you see the future role of Spock Prime in the new universe? It seems that with his technical knowledge, he would be a valuable resource for Starfleet or someone else perhaps?
QUESTION: Exactly how big is the Enterprise?
Some of us on the forums are pulling our hair out trying to figure it out!
Theres too many numbers floating around from different sources!
MESSAGE:
Yeah so this isn’t a question! I just wanted to thank you for being willing to answer our nitpicky questions, congratulate you on a fantastic film, and wish you the best of luck for many more to come. :D
Question:
If Khan is going to incorporated into the sequel, as some recent press has suggested, will LOST alumni Nestor Carbonell be offered the part?
also –
Will the new films ever return to the “Strange New World” model, something the films have never really done?
QUESTION:
…and speaking of Sybok: where was he, guys? :)
I totally got the idea of the alternate timeline from watching the movie once.. What’s wrong with you people?
More to say about how the shields are depicted…
“Egg shell” shields make for poor drama. An enemy fires, the egg shell lights up, this ship is fine. Dialog in the ship is someone announcing the percentage: Shields at 42 percent! At 41 percent! At, um, 40 percent!
With STVI (and the new movie’s) style shields, a ship hit by a torpedo is knocked about, takes surface damage, and has sparks and explosions inside. It makes battle dangerous and scary.
On the chance this reaches their eyes, this is why Orci & Kurtzman were correct to handle shields as they did. Nothing but “32% shields left, otherwise we’re fine” is boring.
Fascinating explanations for the time travel aspects. While many argue that Star Trek time travel stories assume the linear timelines, there is also that Next Generation episode (the name escapes me) where Worf becomes unhinged from his universe and keeps flipping through various alternate universes. While not strictly speaking a time travel story, it does illustrate what essentially has happened here: the creation of an alternate universe due to Nero’s trip through the black hole.
My question is somewhat more simple. It is not mentioned anywhere in the movie one way or the other, but my impression from the movie is that Jim Kirk is an only child. Does his brother Sam exist?
QUESTION:
Perhaps it’s more of a question about production, but anyway I am curious…
I read somewhere in this website that Marc Okrand is listed in the movie credits as a Vulcan and Romulan consultant. However I didn’t hear a single line in alien language during the movie(unless I miss something). IMHO that’s too bad because I always thought that the use of alien languages in ST movies increased realism, and even Star Wars used alien language a lot (though I understand that some dramatic moments are better left in English). Anyway, what happened? Were the alien lines recorded but never used (I understand that most ST movies inserted them during post-production). And in case they were recorded, any chance of adding them to the movies when it is finally released on Bluray?
The solution is quite simple. Forget “EVERTHING” you’ve read in the comics & novels, seen on tv and films for the last 43 years and your good to go! It’s just a movie damnit, it’s just a movie! Move out of your parents basements!
QUESTION:
(Love the movie) – I miss the Star Trek 2 style ship phasers. Do you think we will ever see that style again? Or do you think the new future direction of space combat is too fast for this kind of effect. Thank you!
Question:
Reports show that the new Enterprise is about 4x the size of the original Enterprise, even larger than the 1701E…..is this true…what s the crew compliment..at least 800 + since the Kelvin had 800 rescued…
Vulcan…red sky or not?
I beleive, based on the Star Trek Chronology and episodes, that this is the right time frame…
In the Deadly Years 1967…or 2267 Kirk states he is 34 years old…if he was born in 2233 when the Kelvin is destroyed…this would be correct timeframe…Can we assume that the Enterprise is being built 2245..the established launch date? since we see her in action for the first time in 2258?
And lastly….why in Iowa and on the ground?
QUESTION:
How do you tell the rank of the female officers since they do not have the long sleeves like the males with the rank on the cuff of their uniform.
I love all the timeline talk. I understand that they are changing the idea of time travel from linear to quantum, and I like it. Trek has contradicted itself enough to where it’s forgivable. Besides, they needed to do that so that the Prime Universe wouldn’t be “destroyed” by this new movie.
Otherwise, all the story for Star Trek Online wouldn’t happen, and I wouldn’t have a new MMO to look forward to!
QUESTION
Where was Majel Barret’s voice in the movie? I heard a lot of computer voices and none of them sounded like her very distinctive tone.
QUESTION What class of ship is the USS Kelvin?
I don’t want to stir up the Shatner issue again (though I would have loved to see him in this movie or the sequel), but I was interested in the MTV account of the scripted but unfilmed Shatner scene. You once mentioned that you might post the scripted dialogue after the film was released, is that still possible? If not, anything else you can say about that scene?
Also, it might be my imagination but some places in the film seemed to echo Generations (like Pike saying to Kirk your dad leaped before he looked and saved 800 people – see if you can do better, Kirk hanging onto edges about 4 times and not falling, Spock saying “Captains can’t cheat death”). Was any of that an intentional reference to Kirk in Generations?
Question:
OK, so I get the whole “This is another timeline in the multiverse that is Star Trek,” a la TNG’s “Paralells”. But how do you reconcile the fact that other Trek Time adventures have been linear time travel plots? Sisko in Trials and Tribbleations even said that even though they did change some stuff, they aren’t in a paralell timeline.
Second, and probably more fun question.
Can or is this timeline be linked to the Prime timeline in the same way the mirror universe is? In other words, can we have Sisko pop out of the wormhole here, or Guinan drop out of the Nexus, or any other charicter from the prime timeline show up (other than Spock?) Obviously Nero and Spock both ended up here, albiet at different times.
Even if you dismiss the MWI/QM application to ST09 and choose to view the time travel in the film in the manner in which it has been treated in the past, I fail to see why Spock Prime’s behavior is being questioned.
There is plenty of reason for Spock to logically deduce that changing the past is not a good option here, and neither is offering up the necessary knowledge for others to do so (slingshot effect calculations).
Not only would they have to be successful in saving Vulcan, but they would also have to be able to count on being able to recreate the same set of circumstances that allowed them to defeat the Narada before. And there would be no guarantee that they would be successful in either case.
They could actually end up making things much worse instead. At that point (where Nimoy’s Spock emparts the future knowledge to Scotty and to Kirk), the objective is to make sure Kirk assumes command of the Enterprise, and gets to Earth in time to save it. They were fortunate to stop Nero and defeat him permanently in the process.
It should go without saying that they wouldn’t risk not being able to do the same thing all over again.
And holding up their efforts further by trying to convince the younger Spock to buy into the slingshot effect (which, in the original timeline, was discovered by accident later on) could have so delayed them that the Narada would have been lying in wait for the Enterprise in the Sol system (having already destroyed Earth)…and of course a head-on encounter with the Narada would likely have been the end of the Enterprise.
Just because you have the knowledge to try—doesn’t mean it is a good idea, especially if you could end up making things worse in the process.
We have seen this theme dealt with previously in Trek (VOY “Year Of Hell”).
As Bob suggests, fans have an easy out either way. Either you believe that he cannot change the past and accept the retconning of Star Trek time travel, or you can reason that—although he can try—it isn’t the logical choice.
QUESTION:
While I definitely understand why you guys had to essentially reboot the franchise, aren’t you still bound my canon in many ways? The events of the movie should have no bearing on the Fesarius, the Doomsday Machine, the vampire cloud, V’Ger, and so on…all arguably major events. Won’t you be forced to acknowledge these threats as they appear in the timeline in future stories (and therefore retreading)?
QUESTION
In the movie (which I enjoyed immensely) Spock notes that some 10,000 Vulcans survived. Now, Vulcan like Earth likely had colonies (P’Jem?) as mentioned in Enterprise. I think it was also mentioned somewhere that Tuvok was born on one. That being said, was it 10,000 Vulcan survivors who managed to get off the planet in whatever ship they had available, or 10,000 Vulcans period?
20. I can answer two of those!
(3) The first red matter wormhole was created near the Narada, and the ship passed through it. The red matter at the end of the movie was detonated inside the Narada, after Spock rammed it, and the ship collapsed on itself.
(4) When depicting Saturn on a high budget big screen, modest artistic license for stunning imagery is completely defensible. This isn’t a science documentary.
Sorry Anthony, can you please delete the original 43.
QUESTION
I don’t want to stir up the Shatner issue again (though I would have loved to see him in this movie or the sequel), but I was interested in the MTV account of the scripted but unfilmed Shatner scene. You once mentioned that you might post the scripted dialogue after the film was released, is that still possible? If not, anything else you can say about that scene?
QUESTION:
Also, it might be my imagination but some places in the film seemed to echo Generations (like Pike saying to Kirk your dad leaped before he looked and saved 800 people – see if you can do better, Kirk hanging onto edges about 4 times and not falling, Spock saying “Captains can’t cheat death”). Was any of that an intentional reference to Kirk in Generations?
QUESTION:
Why was the Enterprise built in Iowa instead of San Francisco? There was no event in the movie that could explain this change.
#48
(3) Fair point, many thanks.
(4) Grumble grumble – you’d think that with a science ‘expert’ who studies Saturn and Titan they could manage a little versimilitude. Grumble, whinge…… etc.
Thanks anyway mate.
QUESTION:
How can Spock observe the destruction of his homeworld from the surface of Delta Vega. Even if Delta Vega wasn’t near the edge of the galaxy, you couldn’t watch the implosion from a neighbouring planet. You couldn’t see Earth from Mars either. Is Delta Vega a Vulcan moon or what?
That was my only letdown with your script.
Apart from that: great movie! Thank you very much.
Now bring on Javier Bardem as KHAAAAAAN! Show us the Eugenic Wars first and then let Botany Bay drift into the Galactic Barrier, turning him into an even more powerful creature! Show the rebuilding of his superhuman Empire in space…Make him the Emperor of Star Trek…Let him turn entire planets into Clone Worlds in his own image or introduce him as the Magneto of Trek, transforming whole populations into true ESPers by employing the mutagenic energy of the Galactic Barrier…Let it be EPIC!
Question:
Where did the idea of giving Scotty a little alien companion come from? Keenser looks similar to the aliens in Star Trek Nemesis who chase Picard and Co. while they’re in the Argo on Kolarus. Was there meant to be a similar look. Does it really make sense to have this alien on the Enterprise in the end?
QUESTION
What’s the deal with Chekov’s age change? I’m totally willing to buy that Nero’s interference could have moved his birth four years earlier I’m just wondering what your reasoning for that change (in terms of an in-universe explanation).
Question:
Was there any thought to pushing the timeline forward a bit to depict Kirk’s promotion a few years later? It seems that, since the defeat of the Narada takes place in 2258, you guys had alot of make-believe time to play with. I cannot help but feel that promoting and permanently handing Kirk the keys to the Enterprise in say—2265—would have lended the scene more credibility, without reducing its impact (not to mention set the crew on their way at virtually the same point as in the original timeline).
#14: “It’s definitive, considering that Orci and Kurtzman wrote the story.”
Gene Roddenberry put his name on the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but it’s still “fanon” that Willard Decker is the son of Commodore Decker (and so on for other such details). You and I may disagree with that in spirit, but it’s not up to us: traditionally, only those details on-screen (not on paper) are considered the real McCoy (so to speak). The question remains as to whether that tradition holds with “Countdown.”
I want to second #29 (and partially 36). Great job, Bob and Alex! And thank you so much for taking your time to talk to fans.
Please keep in my mind how narrow our view of Trek Universe is–feel free to expand it and ignore many of the “nits” brought up by us Trekkies. For Trek to live on, an “alternate” Trekdom must arise. Can’t wait for the next movie.
As for the questions… “egg” shields vs non-egg shields… SERIOUSLY?!! I think Nemesis got those right–what a great film that was…. :/
QUESTION: What did Nero and the other Romulans do during the 25 years that passed between Kirk’s birth and Spock Orime’s arrival? Did they just wait for Spock to arrive? I’d be pretty pissed at Nero if I was one of his colleagues and he just forced me to wait around for 25 years doing nothing.
Okay, this is one of the 5 questions from the Memory Alpha Q&A session that didn’t make it to J.J. Abrams, maybe you could shed some light on this?
QUESTION
If you visited Memory Alpha, you may have come across one of the many “Unnamed X” articles where we try to collect and list all the characters / species / … that haven’t ever been named by the producers. Of the past films, only some of the background species used in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home have been named (and subsequently been sold as action figures ;)), whereas nearly every alien from the Star Wars movies has a name and background story, including even the whole bunch of aliens seen in the famous Cantina scene! Obviously, it is much more fun for all involved to have a name for every alien, or starship, or planet. So, can you provide names for some or all of these, after the release? Especially, can you give us the name of the character played by Randy Pausch?
QUESTION:
In the Kelvin scenes, Captain Robau first is seen wearing a Starfleet insignia on his uniform. Then when he sits down in his command chair, does not have one on his shirt. When he leaves the bridge to head to the shuttle bay, it’s there again.
Why wasn’t this caught? Did you, as writer, have the opportunity to participate in the post-production process as “another set of eyes” to make sure that something like this didn’t occur?
Great movie by the way, I’ve seen in 5 times now and taken at least 20 different people (non-trekkies) to see it with me. Kudos all around.
QUESTION:
I understand that you fudged the location of Delta Vega for the sake of continuity name-dropping, however, Spock states in “The Man Trap” that Vulcan has no moon. So, didn’t you violate canon?
Question:
How do you explain the fantastic range of the transporter on Delta Vega? The Enterprise was way way way way way out of range of any planet side transporter by the time Kirk and Scotty were beamed back.
QUESTION
Is the “Admiral Archer” mentioned in the film intended to be Johnathan Archer from Enterprise? If so, he would be over a hundred years old Does the Enterprise timeline exist in this new reality?
Are there any plans for Spock and Uhura to get married?
If Khan were to be included in the next film, would you use the Eugenics Wars novels as an influence for the story? Would we see Gary Seven?
QUESTION:
Was there ever any thought put into developing something more along the lines of a Pike era movie series. There were years of unexplored territory…Spock and Pike served together for something like…ten years maybe? Bruce Greenwood was such an amazing force in this film…and in the end, I found myself wishing for more adventures with him in charge of the Enterprise. Wouldn’t have required the reboot…and feels a bit like a missed opportunity.
QUESTION:
This one has bothered me since I saw the movie. How does Nero know that Spock Prime will be appearing exactly 25 years after he does when he goes through the singularity? I could understand it if Nero were returning to this region of space every year, hoping to catch Spock Prime arriving (it would also add nicely to his obsessive nature), but it seems like he just knows that Spock Prime will pop out at that precise time and simply waits for him to show up. I kept thinking, “How did Nero know there would be a 25-year gap?”
Firstly, great of you guys to take the time over this.
Great film and only a couple of disappointing elements in these questions-
QUESTION:
As already asked, Engineering…I understand the grand scale idea but, if you’re going to have a ultra modern Bridge, surely the Warp Core and Engineering should be equally so? There was no warp core I could see in my 2 viewings (a strange place where Uhura is when big-hand Kirk comes to find her)….. and what were thise things ejected to create the shock wave? Warp CoreS? Hmmm. That escape could have been better.
Q2:
Do you wish you’d had more time to do the Enterprise ‘reveal’. The musical score is excellent but it could have used a bit longer introduction. More in II please.
Oh, and I think I have a CONTINUITY ERROR for you/JJ – when Kirk takes command, Uhura is over to the back right of the Bridge, then she appears in front of him for the “I hope you know what you’re doing..”…tiny thing but it stuck out to me !
Excellent job though.
3rd view Weds… was great in IMAX
Question:
Why is Chekov 17 years old in 2258? In TOS, we learn that he is 22 years old in the second season (whatever point of the five-year mission that represents), yet the five year mission does not (canonically) even begin for another 7 years after 2258.
Was it so that he could be included? If so, why set the story in the 2250’s, as opposed to the 2260’s?
QUESTION: The fan community has been trying like hell to figure out what to call this new alternate timeline. We already know that the old timeline is called “Prime” because of Spock Prime’s mention in the credits; however, how do we refer to the new timeline? Thus far, the suggestions “Abramsverse, Alternate Reality, Red Matter Timeline, New Timeline and Changed Destinies” have been posited, but none of those names has been satisfactory. Do you guys have anything to say on the matter?
QUESTION:
(1) What exactly is the whole fleet doing in that far-away sector of space? It was mentioned two or three times in the movie. Just a plot-device to get our cadets on the Enterprise and into the action possibly something else? An easter-egg setup for XII? (like maybe that sector is somewhere near the Klingon border or something and they assembled the fleet there for a reason).
(2) Why did Spock jettison Kirk in an escape pod? Don’t they have brigs in the new timeline? (and don’t tell us that they don’t arrive until Tuesday…)
QUESTION:
Why do the phasers only fire bolts and not beams like all the other Treks? This applies to the hand phasers as well as the ship versions. Seems like they would be called “disrupters” rather than phasers, no? Idea for movie 2 would be some phaser fights the classic “beam” way.
Thanks for your time.
QUESTION:
How is it possible that the Kelvin’s crew uniforms feature a delta patch (which, according to the original timeline, would have been U.S.S. Enterprise exclusive before being adopted by the entire Starfleet by the times of TOS movie era.) BEFORE Narada’s arrival?
QUESTION:
Did the timeline change precipitated by Nero’s incursion affect the size of Federation starships? It seems as if the Big E is a bit bigger now (IIRC, 700 or more meters and 1,200 crew). And was this in response to Nero’s attack on the Kelvin?
COMMENT:
I’ve seen Star Trek twice now (and plan to see it at least a third time — unprecedented for me), and want to give a heartfelt “thank you” to Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman and J J Abrams. Y’all did yeoman’s work (pardon the expression) in rescuing the franchise from the ashheap of history. I was actually crying at points the second time I saw it, it was so good.
QUESTION:
Why so many limited female roles? Even the memorable characters like Yeoman Rand, Nurse Chappel and the very first Trek lady of all, Number One are very absent in this movie.
The reason I’m concerned over this is because Trek’s treatment on gender issues has changed dramatically over the years where we’ve had a female officer in every position from Ensign to Captain, and most importantly in greater numbers. But now with this new Trek, it’s back to a male dominant society where men outnumber the female characters on an 5 to 1 ratio.
#63: Sarek
I was thinking the same thing. i was doing the math and (estimating Archer’s age at about 40-45 when Enterprise started) he would’ve been nearing 150 years old by the late 2250s… that’s a bit of a stretch considering McCoy was 137 in the TNG pilot and that seemed to be a somewhat unusual thing.
#50 – there was too. First 10 minutes of the movie and conversation with Pike in the bar
Oops… I think my question was addressed in the article. sorry.
How about this one…
Question:
Why Nimoy doing the famous narration at the end and not Chris Pine as Kirk? In my mind, it would have been more appropriate. And why use the “No one” version instead of the more correct, “No man”?
And consider this a bit nit-picky but I wanted to hear the term “Landing Party” and NOT “Away team”.
Wow, please, Bob, do yourself a favor and resist the urge to try to explain things. I was on board for this movie years ago and generally liked the new flick, but the more justification you try to give for some of the poorer choices in this film, the more awkward it becomes. The seams are showing and they’re about to rip.
#64 says: “Bruce Greenwood was such an amazing force in this film…and in the end, I found myself wishing for more adventures with him in charge of the Enterprise.”
Amen to that. More echoes of the Star Wars prequels, for me … after seeing Episode I, I kept thinking “that guy Qui-Gon was the coolest character in the movie; can’t we see more movies about him before this all happened, instead more movies about dipshit protege boy?”
Paste in “Pike” over “Qui-Gon” and I feel pretty much the same way about Greenwood; he was impressive. I want either movies about Pike or movies entirely about Uhura :)
QUESTION:
Was there a line or scene that was cut that explained why the Enterprise was being built on Earth rather than in space, or was it just for the dramatic effect of having Kirk gaze at her while contemplating his future?
QUESTION
Was there a reason you had Spock and Uhura show their affection in a traditional human way, as opposed to the Sarek and Amanda Vulcan finger touching usually associated with Vulcan love?
Why not a mix of the two?
It wasn’t something that upset me, it just made me wonder.
QUESTION:
Could the Borg Crisis from “First Contact”/”Star Trek Enterprise: Regeneration” be responsible for the upgrade in starship design and technology seen in the new movie as opposed to TOS?
It’s been floating in my mind for a while now.
@61: One theory I’ve herad mooted about (and maybe boborci can confirm or deny) is that Delta Vega is a bit farther out, but that Nero had broadcast a holographic transmission to Spock, a “command performance”, as it were.
QUESTION:
I’m in favour of Khan and/or Klingons for the Sequel. Fighting the Gorn. Klingons and Khan fighting the Gorn.
Thoughts?
I’m not kidding.
Question: Your movie has gaping plot holes.
BobOrci: Interesting. (though that’s not a question.)
OK. No more questions until I read the entire article!
My 2nd question was already addressed!
I would like to know if they could include Jeffrey Combs (who played alien roles like Brunt, Weyoun and Shran in other Trek shows) in a future movie. This guy did more Trek shows than any other non-main character and is just simply an amazing actor. He’d deserve a bigger role.
check out
http://jeffreycombs.blogspot.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs
if you don’t know who I mean
QUESTION:
While star trek was progressive for it’s time, there’s still only a single woman in the original cast, and she worked the phones. I loved the way BSG was pretty much beyond sexism and conversely am resentful of the token female presence in Star Wars. I know it’s difficult to squeeze enough time in for the entire ensemble, but are there any plans to introduce new characters, specifically females?
Loved the movie. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
#71—”How is it possible that the Kelvin’s crew uniforms feature a delta patch (which, according to the original timeline, would have been U.S.S. Enterprise exclusive before being adopted by the entire Starfleet by the times of TOS movie era.) BEFORE Narada’s arrival?”
I hope you won’t mind if I offer my own fanon suggestion as an answer to that.
Remember that in 2233, the USS Enterprise doesn’t exist. Just imagine that the delta insignia belonged at that time to the USS Kelvin, and–in the Prime timeline–was passed along to the Enterprise upon the Kelvin’s decommissioning.
However, in the altered timeline, Starfleet has adopted the delta shield as universal in honor of the brave actions of the Captain and First Officer of that ship in 2233.
If they can erect a shipyard (as well as USS Kelvin salt-shakers) in Riverside, Iowa in honor of George Kirk, then why not?
QUESTION:
I understand it was a movie, but wasn’t giving a 3rd year cadet a promotion to Captain (one rank below Rear Admiral) after one mission a little rushed and forced just to get Kirk in the captain’s chair?
QUESTION:
With ninety comments before you’ve had time to get started, are you now very much regretting doing this? :p
#88: That’s very well-done fanon thinking! Bravo. Given Pike’s established fondness for the Kelvin, he may have personally requested it, even.
BIG QUESTION
In the novelization, Spock Prime says to Kirk, in the ice cave on Delta Wherever, that the Kirk he knew was born *on a farm in Iowa*
Kirk/Pine counters that *he* was born on a spaceship.
You’re doing or ADF’s??
If it’s you, then does this mean that the timeline was different PRIOR to the arrival of the Nerada??
QUESTION:
Is Kirk’s origin completely governed by FATE? Doesn’t that dehumanize him — make him more of a ‘tool of the gods’, rather than the blue-eyed humanist hero?
QUESTION:
1. What of the USS Constitution? It’s been stated that the Enterprise is Constitution-class in this Universe like the main one, so there has to be one out there.
2. Why did the Enterprise launch in 2258 as opposed to 2245? Was it to upgrade the ship with the new technology the Kelvin shuttles scanned from the Narada, or was one of the crewmembers aboard the Kelvin that died a part of the Constitution-class development project in the Prime universe?
3. Why did you choose 2258 over 2266?
QUESTION:
1) Even though they make little sense militarily, I love the viewscreen windows on the Enterprise and the Kelvin. However, it shows that the bridge has been moved down a bit from the large dome on the top of the saucer. any idea whats up there now?
2) All the little in-jokes to the original series and movies were part of what made the movie so much fun for this Trekkie to watch. Did you have a favorite reference/in-joke in the film? Something that gave you shivers when you wrote it? Something that made you giggle?
3) Was there something you really wanted to get in the movie, some scene, reference, joke, or other that you couldn’t?
46.
I think that is why they started earlier with kirk, spock and the gang, fresh off the farm. I think someone asked why they set it earlier than Kirk’s main voyage. I think you answered that for us–this way there are no retreads (thankfully–I like those stories just the way they are).
Just my opinion though.
-P
#91—To S. John Ross
Thanks!
Leaving aside the story…as one of the producers, was there any decision made on the movie in terms of visual design, approach etc that gave you pause or worried you at the time it was made – as in “I really don’t know how people who have expectations about ‘Star Trek’ are going to react to this?”
#92: Fanon thinking-cap says that the Kelvin would have been docking back on Earth soon, and Kirk would have been born on a farm in Iowa, but the stress of the attack by the Narada brought about premature childbirth. Either that, or it was all those midichlorians.
SILLY QUESTION
In the book (again), Nero says that his name is Oren (with a bunch of weird accents I can’t do on here), but that it is the Romulan style to reverse the name to make it pronouceable.
Does that mean that Ayel’s name is actually Leya in Romulan, and is this a pitiful bit of fun poking at Star Wars?
By the way – love the movie, hate the book. Go figure.
Just like to say I think it’s really cool that Bob is taking his time (and patience, I’m sure) to take and answer these questions.
QUESTION:
Are you considering tweaking scenes/dialogues for the DVD/BlueRay release of the movie to clarify some plot issues, or are you satisfied with the theatrical cut as it is?
QUESTION:
In “Countdown”, the Narada effortlessly destroyed an armada of 24th century Klingon warships and disabled the Enterprise-E with one volley. However, in the film, the Kelvin (and early 23rd century ship) actually managed to exchange fire and survive for at least several minutes. It even managed to damage the Narada by ramming it. Logically, this makes no sense…. it should have been destroyed immediately (and Kirk&mother killed) given the firepower possessed by the Narada.
This is like the Merrimac surviving a firefight with the Bismark.
Care to explain this inconsistency?
Question
Was the assistant alien that was a friend to Scotty a member of Starfleet too, or was he just at Delta Vega when Scotty got there?
QUESTION:
Are you guys going to release the script? As an aspiring screenwriter I’d love to get my hands on it!
#98
oooh, damn you’re good.
QUESTION:
If Spock Prime was so aware he was in an alternate timeline, why would he imply the saying “live long and prosper” would be self-serving?
NOW HERE IS A SILLY QUESTION:
SINCE SO MUCH BACKSTORY WAS OMITTED DUE TO TIME, SPCE, COST, FLOW OF STIRY,.. WHATEVER.
HAS ANYONE EVER THOUGT OF ANIMATING COUNTDOWN AND RELEASING IT DIRECT TO DVD PRIOR TO OR AT SAME TIME AS TREK IS RELEASED TO DVD??
JUST THINK HOW COOL THAT WOULD BE!!
QUESTION:
Did you realize that the worst Jackie Chan movie user better rationale and choreography for disarming characters to allow hand-to-hand combat than what occurred on the mining platform?
#92—”In the novelization, Spock Prime says to Kirk, in the ice cave on Delta Wherever, that the Kirk he knew was born *on a farm in Iowa*
Kirk/Pine counters that *he* was born on a spaceship.
You’re doing or ADF’s??
If it’s you, then does this mean that the timeline was different PRIOR to the arrival of the Nerada??”
I’m not Bob, but that seems an easy one to reconcile, unless you feel it is difficult to believe that the Narada’s attack upon the USS Kelvin could have accelerated Winona Kirk’s delivery.
But it is irrelevant in any case, since the only previous “canon” entry suggests that Kirk is *from* Iowa—-not that he was actually born there. The novels (even those which are adaptations of the films) are not generally considered canon.
QUESTION:
Actually a couple:
First off, Nero goes back in time destroys the Kelvin, which was some tiny ship on the edge of the frontier, 800 lives are saved which, is most of the crew, Kirk’s dad is killed. But, how much affect does this truly have on the timeline? regarding the technology, look of the Enterprise, etc.? All that should have changed was Kirk’s life. How can you explain all of the discontinuity between stuff we saw in TOS and this film, it should not be that much different considering many things would have already been on the drawing board around the time of the Kelvin.
Second:
‘The Cage’ to the time of ‘The Menagerie’ was 18 years, obviously Pike only commanded the Enterprise in the film for what, 2 days? So, now with Kirk in command, is the timeline pushed back? are things 18 years before they should take place in the ‘prime’ timeline? Kirk at this point should only be 16 and Chekov should be around 2, during the timeline in your film.
Third:
Is Kirk’s elder brother alive and well? Since the prime timeline existed until Nero came through, Kirk’s elder brother should be out there? Or was that the kid he drove by in the Corvette?
Fourth:
Are you saying that the ships rotate in space to maintain the gravity?
Fifth:
It seems like the timeline is now relatively unaffected, Kirk is in command, everyone is where they should be, etc. So, how much different will this timeline be?
Finally, I wanted to say, excellent film, and I cannot wait to see more! I plan to go see this one 3 or 4 more times! (I have seen it 3 times already!)
#108: Ha. You might as well just question why 24th-century Romulans still haven’t invented safety railing :)
QUESTION:
In our present time, when it is dark, we all enjoy looking at the moon. Sometimes it is closer, sometimes it is farther. Ok, stick a pin in that for a minute and hold that thought. Now … there is a scene where Spock is on Delta Vega watching the destruction of Vulcan and it really takes me out of the story everytime because in order for Spock to see the destruction of Vulcan from the surface of Delta Vega in the first place, then Delta Vega would have to be at least as close as OUR moon is to earth and if that were the case then spock would get sucked into the singularity destroying Vulcan in the first place. I’m having a hard time making that work. So (finally) my question is, instead of having Spock watch the destruction from Delta Vega (which doesn’t work for me) … couldn’t Spock Prime & Young Kirk escape to a starship (or something along that vein) where Spock Prime is too late to save Vulcan as he was too late to save Romulus, and thereby watches the destruction of Vulcan from a Starship (or something like that)?
30–
Interesting casting but…do people forget Khan was a Sikh from India?
Ricardo Montalban was of Latin decent, so everyone’s throwing around Latin actors (I really don’t even want another Khan movie…PLEASE use something else!!!!!!!).
I would suggest Naveen Andrews, Sayid from Lost.. On occation his character from Lost will speak very regally and it always makes me think of Khan at diner in Space Seed etc..
“… entertain me.”
QUESTION:
You cited the novel “Prime Directive” as something that you read and were influenced by. I read and loved that book. Is there anything particular, plot or character development in the movie that is a “tip of the hat” to that story?
#106—”If Spock Prime was so aware he was in an alternate timeline, why would he imply the saying “live long and prosper” would be self-serving?”
Spock Prime (despite the facade) was never lacking in a (albeit dry) sense of humor. Some of his best moments came when delivering a joke. I don’t see the problem.
QUESTION:
1. Do you see the new direction of the franchise allowing for more moral and ethical discussions in future movies? Such as the Genesis device in Wrath of Khan? Surely the new Battlestar Galactica has shown that realistic character drama can be combined with a sci-fi social commentary and be enjoyed by a wide audience, including people who say they don’t like science fiction.
2. I was amazed at how you balanced the new timeline scenario while also making it feel like these characters will grow to be the people we know. Part of what I feel makes the film enjoyable is that we do know who these characters become later, that Kirk mentions his solution to the Kobayashi Maru during Star Trek II, etc, that they become the family we know. Do you agree? Where do you think the balance is between the happy nostalgia of knowing who these characters are and what’s ahead for them, and keeping them in honest peril?
3. Last geeky question that you’ve probably been asked already….one can assume that the star that destroyed Romulus is still headed for that fate some years later, no events in the new universe seemingly changed that….did Nero destroy Vulcan in vain? It also held the technology to save Romulus.
Also, thanks for Countdown! It really added to the movie’s story. Great job on the film, I for one think you guys were the right ones for the job.
I think that, even if some of the time travel conceits don’t necessarily match what’s been done before, a major appeal of Trek has been it’s adherence to the most up-to-date science available. This is not, “a long time ago in a galaxy far far away.” That is fantasy, this can be our future. And Quantum Mechanics is our best understanding to date.
Also, if you think about it, Spock Prime couldn’t go back in time again to stop Nero. He can’t go forward from this altered timeline, and if he went back, how could he stop him? Especially without the Red Matter, not to travel through time, but to destroy the Narada like Kirk & Spock did. And Spock Prime, genius that he is, would have worked that out almost immediately, hence his obvious acceptance of his circumstances.
Give Bob & Alex a break huh? They wrote a hell of a Trek movie, & if a few changes are the cost of bringing Trek back into the mainstream where it belongs, Bring it on. Let everyone know the world we live in today was shaped by Trek, & let it be again
#113: “(I really don’t even want another Khan movie…PLEASE use something else!!!!!!!). ”
I know; we’ve had at least three already :(
QUESTION
Will we see more ships(Federation/Alien) in the sequel? Some of the new designs were really interesting and I think we’d all like to see more of them.
OK. This was not addressed above…
Question:
What happened to Sam Kirk? Kirk’s older brother who would have still existed since he was born before Nero changed the time line. It seems to me this could have easily been addressed with just a couple of lines. First, when George Kirk asked “What is it?” Wynona could have answered “Another boy!” or “You have another son!” Or something like that.
Also, the kid on the side of the road was older than Jim, could have been referred to as “Sam” and Jim roared by in the corvette.
#108—”Did you realize that the worst Jackie Chan movie user better rationale and choreography for disarming characters to allow hand-to-hand combat than what occurred on the mining platform?”
If that is your opinion, shouldn’t that be a question for the film’s director—rather than its writers?
QUESTION:
Did ever watch the episode “The Immunity Syndrome” in which Spock violently doubles over in the reaction to the death of 400 Vulcans before having him respond blankly to the death of billions?
Both of my favorite Star Trek races have been decimated, one in each timeline. Couldn’t you guys have picked on the KLINGONS instead? ;)
@116
One can assume that Prime Spock still holds the knowledge to make the technology again and not to mention they have about 100 years to develop it again.
I’d like to second the question asked by Robert St. John at #22, please: What is the size of the Enterprise in your film? And, if the Enterprise is much bigger than the versions previously depicted on film, why does the new version share so many details (like the saucer bow windows) with the smaller versions?
Thanks for your courtesy,
–MyClone
As a Physicist by training your alternative reality seems to make sense. However, the dialogue seemed unnatural, too much effort toward telling the audience something, rather than feeling natural in the scene. Specific criticisms: (1) They seem to refer to their own timeline as an alternative reality they are starting. This is fine for the audience (especially trekkies trying to come to terms with the implications) but I don’t think anyone would refer to their own timeline as being an alternative. For them it is the reference to which they will compare. (2) When you exclude the possible what is left is probable. There is so much that was in TOS from the Organians to gods that Spock doesn’t even blink at. I find it hard to believe that Romulans from the future is the only answer Spock can come to for why they have such advanced weaponry. Can you explain that scene better. Maybe I’m missing something but it seems you wanted to try to tie things together in a bow for people who are wondering “why.”
Question.
Why did you guys feel there was a need to change the established continuity? Star Trek was a proven success and perhaps what made it so successful was the continuity it tried so hard to adhere to. I can certainly understand wanting to update the look and perhaps explain the updated look but why change the backstory of the characters? Why alienate so many hard core Trekkers? Also if you were going to make changes why didn’t you go back further and fix things such as the Eugenics Wars which we know never occured in the 1990’s? In my humble opinion you could have had a more succesful film that woul have pleased both new viewers as well as the hard liners.
#116—”Surely the new Battlestar Galactica has shown that realistic character drama can be combined with a sci-fi social commentary and be enjoyed by a wide audience, including people who say they don’t like science fiction.”
Actually, beyond this forum, I don’t know anyone who has ever seen that show. Until I started coming here, I never even knew of its existence. I think you might be overestimating its appeal beyond a certain niche.
#102 – I had an idea on that. The Naruda has just come through the rift in time; and it weakened its defense systems. Thus didn’t have the same amount of firepower available that it did when it took care of those Klingon ships.
Question:
The probe from The Voyage Home would be unaffected by the time line change. So therefore will the Earth be destroyed by it in 2286?
Question
Since the begining of this movies production, Shatner was out because he was supposed to be dead. I envisioned different ways to bring him into the movie, until I saw the movie. I understand why it would’nt work out. However, since we are now in an alternate time line, Shatner is not neccessarily destined to be killed, It would be neat to have Shatner portray Kirk of the future with Nimoy(as Quinto’s Spock) sitting around a campfire talking about the good old days.
Did you find it fustrating not having the ability to amend the script as they where filming because of the writers strike? And is their opportunity to clear up any holes or confusion with the release of the DVD?
QUESTION:
Vulcans, their culture and their planet have obviously had a huge influence on the Federation since it’s inception. From science, to art, to mysticism, Vulcan has always been as much apart of Federation culture as Earth. With Vulcan destroyed in this parallel timeline, will the Federation unfold in a way that it should, or will it become something completely different, completely… Human? And don’t say “you’ll have to wait and see.” I want to know your opinion on the matter.
QUESTION:
Everyone wants to hear your thoughts about the new layout of Engineering.
I will not ask about steam or water pipes because I am a former US Navy Nuclear Reactor Operator and anyone who has been in engineering on a navy nuclear (or conventional for that matter) knows that steam & water pressure are one of the most efficient ways of generating any number of things from hot water, to humidity control, drinking water, electrical power generation, propulsion, blah-blah-blah … and using electrical power for these things is highly in efficient and in the end a starship is no different from a navy vessel in that once you are in space (or at sea) you have finite resources that once they are gone, they’re gone and you’re screwed. Asside from that, even the warp core has finite limits on the amount of power it can put out. Point is (finally) the presence of steam & water pipes don’t bother me from an engineering point of view.
Ok, so having said that, there is a quick shot of the new engineering that appears as if the whole shebanga-bang is fashioned out of aluminum sideing. It looked … Low Tech in a way that no one expected (ie … compare against The Motion Picture’s view of engineering & the warp core – or for that matter the original series version of engineering)
What were the thoughts on the look of engineering and how it was laid out? What feeling or tone was it that you wanted it to have in order to add to the story?
#103
I’ll answer that, if you don’t mind – re-watch the film and the final scene he appears in he’s clearly wearing Engineering Red.
QUESTION:
1)Since they appear to be very similar, was there any point where you considered simply using Ceti Eels instead of Centauran Slugs?
2)Was the Spock/Uhura romance something you came up with off the top of your heads, or was this based on the few subtle allusions to Uhura’s crush on Spock from TOS?
3)When Spock Prime sees Vulcan destroyed, was this figurative, meaning he sensed it, or was he literally witnessing it from the planet’s surface?
Thanks so much!
#126—”Why alienate so many hard core Trekkers?”
How many would you estimate are actually ‘alienated’???
Their numbers don’t seem very significant, and no matter what direction the film took—-they were never going to please everyone.
And the dramatic benefit going forward is obvious. The fates of the characters (and the universe around them) is no longer set in stone. Thus ST09 (and everything from this point on) avoids the handicap inherent in most other prequels.
I think the main point I have regarding the film and its adherence to Canon is that Abrams and company has saved the Star Trek franchise. To fix the mess Trek was in required that all canon could not be saved. The franchise had run its course and I believe there were so many alternative solutions and scientific ideas, some great and some poor, Abrams picked the best one possible. Abrams and team had such a fine line to walk and they did a splendid job of getting us back to the Trek we missed. The fact remains that these sci-fi components under scrutiny from the film do not even really exist in our present time (such as time travel effects, understanding black holes in their totality, etc.) and therefore, why nitpick? High praise to Alex and Bob for a great story and JJ for a great movie!
QUESTION:
Was the irony provided by Spock stranding Kirk on Delta Vega worth the cost of repositioning it across the galaxy without providing any plausible explanation?
QUESTION:
Whose idea was it to give Scotty an Ewok companion?
Not a question, more so a thought after reading the long discussion about changing timelines and alternate/parallel universes. It’s already been well established in the Trek “world” (considering the Trek world as the set of all trek universes) that parallel universes do “split off” based on something happening differently at some point in time, but that they all still exist. And Trek lets characters move between them as it serves the storytelling. Hence we have all the mirror universe stories, among others that deal with the idea. My interpretation is that this timeline is a third universe that stories will be told in, but that there are more (infinitely many based on the underlying theory).
Walter’s explanation is Fringe was a great counterpoint to the release of this film.
Given the rules of of the Trek world shown so far, nothing precludes someone in this timeline paying a visit to the prime timeline. It’ll be interesting to see how stories (wherever they’re told) continue to play off this idea.
A QUESTION:
you may not be able to answer this but were there any A list cameos that very nearly happened – e.g. Harrison Ford, Cruise, Hanks etc…maybe even Patrick Stewart in a Picard cameo (mind meld flashback)
ANOTHER QUESTION:
Will we see the Klingon massacre on the dvd deleted scenes or was that not done FX wise?
AND ONE MORE FOR GOOD MEASURE!
In Countdown its revealed that the Narada has Borg technology….was there any consideration to have the borg mentioned directly or indirectly in the movie?
QUESTION:
Why did you give the simulated Klingon ships a Romulan name? They don’t even resemble birds ;)
Question: Is this crew ever actually going to explore the galaxy instead of the Enterprise versus the supervillain du jour? Remember when Star Trek used to actually go where no man had gone before? How about a movie that inspires people to become scientists, doctors and astronauts? As Picard famously said: “Remember when we used to be explorers?”
Comment: After all the hype about this movie, it’s really kind of disappointing that all that is supposedly fresh about this incarnation of Star Trek that the first outing is another trip to the well of tired plots. No more time travel and revenge seeking villains looking to destroy Earth please! I would have preferred an honest reboot and started with a truly clean slate.
Request: Please don’t revisit anything from TOS story wise. Since this is some kind of different timeline, tell ALL NEW stories. No Khan, no Dr. Soran, none of that, not even the Doomsday Machine. Pike challenges Kirk to join Starfleet, I challenge you to write an original Star Trek story that doesn’t recycle plots. Do that, and you’ve brought this fan back into the fold.
#140—”Whose idea was it to give Scotty an Ewok companion?”
Regardless of whose idea it was, my young children thought he was funny, so it was effective.
Here’s a much simpler solution to the time-travel issue: there was no travel, either through time or any related dimension in space. “Nero”, “Spock” and their ships were ejected as Hawking radiation from random black holes through pure coincidence. They’re causally unrelated to any other Nero or Spock who may happen to exist anywhere.
Having accepted that level of improbability, the other issues fade into noise level.
#136
Sorry, I meant to address that answer to #104, not 103.
BIG QUESTION: What’s the deal with Old Spock being able to see Vulcan being destroyed from Delta Vega? Vulcan, as established in Enterprise is about 18 light years from Earth, yet Delta Vega, as established in TOS is at the edge of the galaxy, being several hundred, if not thousands of light years from both Earth and Vulcan. Please explain why that decision was made? Why make it Delta Vega at all and not just some additional planet in the Vulcan system? To me, that was the biggest flaw with the film. Otherwise, it quite rocked!
QUESTION:
First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed the new movie, and I believe that the alternate universe aspect was explained well enough to allow me to suspend my disbelief.
In a more general sense, do you believe that Star Trek, as a franchise, falls more into the general category of “hard” science-fiction or “soft” science-fiction? I ask because it seems to me that Star Trek is and always has been very “soft” sci-fi, in which it is the characters and the social and intellectual ideas that are most important, rather than so-called scientific “accuracy.” And I like it that way, because really, none of us can claim to have much of a clue about what science and technology will be like in the 23rd century.
#145
Red Shirted Monkey is clearly determined to troll, so I guess we should let him have his fun ;)
QUESTION:
First off, and I don’t see it here, as a fan of all the Star Treks to date, I want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for writing a great movie that I loved and my family loved from my six year old through my teenagers all they way to my wife and I who are pushing forty. Thank you for taking care to keep a myriad of nods to the original and handling the material so well and yet taking things in a new direction (and I like the Alternate/Parallel Timeline thing and understood it without issue like everyone else is having, but then I am an engineer).
So, could you give us just a hint of something that might be in the sequel? I realize that you can’t give anything big away and I wouldn’t expect you to. But I am hoping for a bunch more of these films and was wondering if you could just give us a glimmer of something that you might be thinking about for the sequel, please, pretty please. I would buy my ticket now if I could :)
Question:
As you contemplate writing the sequel are you leaning towards a stand alone story independent of this film or do you plan on making a true ‘trilogy’ story with the first and second films building towards the third film? You know, Star Trek: The Romulans Strike Back and Return of Starfleet, for example lol…..
Just dropping a note of thanks to those who are doing the Q&A, loved the movie, love hearing you chime in here.
Thanks!
Reading that transcript I have to shake my head at the denseness of some people. My god, we are Scifi fans, Trek fans, how many times have we read/watched/thought of alternate realities, time travel, parallel universes. Exactly how difficult is it for some to use their imaginations, must everything be spelled out?
Orci, Kurtzman and JJ et al, I’d like to thank you for a great film and my elderly parents saw it with me when I went for my second showing, they weren’t confused by all this parallel universe jazz and they loved every minute of it. Please get another one out as soon as possible.
Question
1. Is Pike actually confined to a wheelchair at the end or was that just because he was recovering from injury (as well as an homage to the original fate of Pike)
2. Cannon question: Why was the Enterprise being built in Iowa as opposed to the traditional SF?
Thanks for taking the time to do this. The nitpicker in me must be satisfied!
103.
Maybe the trip through the black hole crippled the Narada? Seeing what it did to Vulcan, I could believe that.
-P
QUESTION:
Was it logical for Spock Prime to risk the existence of Earth in order to nurture the friendship of young Spock and Kirk, and if your answer includes the phrase “needs of the one” don’t you think that’s a stretch?
QUESTION:
There was not clarity in the film where Delta Vega is located, was it a near by planet? Enterprise ejects Kirk after leaving Vulcan, suggesting it was near by. But was it close enough to see Vulcan implode, yet not get sucked into the black hole?
QUESTION 2:
I’m also curious why the shipyard where Enterprise is built is located in Iowa, and Enterprise dedication plaques in the past list San Francisco or mentions built at San Francisco Naval Shipyards?
Thank you for taking the time to come by and indulge us!
QUESTION
This is merely a question of curiosity and not one out of complaint: Why did you choose to set most of the movie in 2258 rather than around 2262? After all, that’s when the prime Chekov would have been 17 and it would have been two years before the start of prime Kirk’s five-year-mission in command of the Enterprise. I know you stated the timeline was trying to mend itself, but it seems like maybe it was trying to do it a bit too quickly.
Thanks, guys! Loved the movie! :)
#155—”Why was the Enterprise being built in Iowa as opposed to the traditional SF?”
I think I can answer that.
When you rewatch the film, pay close attention to the salt-shaker in the bar scene. The answer is there, without actually spelling it out in front of mainstream moviegoers who probably thought nothing of it.
QUESTION:
Have you given any thought as to how relationships between the characters might be further developed in future movies?
QUESTION:
As compared with Spock Prime, Amanda’s premature death triggering an earlier resolution of Young Spock’s estrangement with Sarek (an estrangement which Spock Prime arguably never quite fully resolved given the “Sarek” and “Unification” TNG episodes), and the earlier resolution of Young Spock’s struggle with logic and emotion perhaps triggered by the same event (a struggle which Spock Prime only began to resolve after his encounter with V’ger) — were these intentional decisions made when first setting out to craft the movie’s story outline?
QUESTION:
What is your response to all of the science errors detailed in the below trekmovie review, and will you employ a technical advisor for the next movie?
http://trekmovie.com/2009/05/09/bad-astronomys-review-of-the-science-star-trek/
QUESTION:
Why is the Vulcan sky blue? I know it hasn’t always been red in every instance, but it has always been red-ish and/or orange-ish like color…..never close to blue
QUESTION:
What does tribble taste like? Clearly it can’t be that good, since Mr. Scott had one sitting in a cage, completely healthy and purring.
Question:
There has been endless debate, discussion and anger about the way engineering was produced and displayed on both the Kelvin and the Enterprise. You two are supposed to care a great deal about details and the “character” that is the Enterprise.
My question is this, since it is an obvious mistake why not make the minor changes using CGI that could easily mask or update valves, tanks etc.. perhaps install a central warp core in the background etc… and “fix” the film for dvd?
Also, why not use a combination of an industrial complex and CGI expansion to create a believable, and well designed engineering space for the future films. There can be no greater or more important character than the Enterprise herself and it really does matter. Also BSG did this with much success
PS: Don’t tell me JJ said to do it, you guys have some influence!!!
QUESTION
What inspired you to put Spock and Uhura together? By the way, I loved the movie!!!!
~Catie
QUESTION:
Did the makeup/FX people come up with species names for the various background aliens, and if so, could you share those names with us? For instance, what are the species names of: Keenser; the big-eyed woman who delivered baby Jim; the brown-skinned alien officer on the Enterprise bridge; and so forth?
For #52, #82, #113, #139, and others…
ANSWER (regarding Spock Prime watching Vulcan collapse from Delta Vega):
This actually didn’t bug me very much. As we ‘see’ this during Spock Prime’s mind meld with Kirk, I simply assumed that this was a combination of storyteller’s license and Kirk’s impressions of what Spock experienced, and that Spock didn’t actually physically _see_ the destruction of Vulcan. My interpretation was that Spock ‘felt’ the destruction of his race in much the same way that he felt the destruction of the USS Intrepid in “The Immunity Syndrome”, and the on-screen depiction was Kirk’s interpretation of the mental trauma Spock experienced at that point.
For Orci/Kurtzman/et al.:
COMMENT
While I certainly understand a lot of curiosity about all the established canon events that have most likely _not_ been affected (yet) by the events of the new timeline — the Borg, Khan, Whale Probe, etc. — I’d like to add myself to the voices asking that we _not_ revisit those for future Trek films. My guess is that you’d probably prefer to come up with new adventures and new dilemmas for the Enterprise and her crew, and I hope that this is one area where you hold true. Let the “new universe” versions of Prime-established events be handled by others, whether that be fanfic or new novels. You’ve done _such_ a good job at reinventing and reinvigorating Star Trek, please don’t fall into the trap of settling for rehashing old stories.
(And, really, to those of you so excited about the possibility of a “new-universe” Khan — _really_? Yes, Abrams/Orci/Kurtzman did an incredible job, but given that TWoK is widely regarded as the best of the original series films — and many people regard it as one of the best films ever made — is that _really_ what you want A/O/K to spend time on? Attempting to remake a film that many of you already consider to be a masterpiece? To me, that just seems like a waste of A/O/K’s time, and even more of a recipe for disaster than this film was feared to be in its early stages. Enjoy TWoK as the excellent piece of work that it is, and let the “new-universe” crew find their own adventures!)
164,
The sky is blue because it is a N/O atmosphere, much like our own. Oxygen reflects blue light via a phenomena known as Rayleigh Scattering. This is why water also appears to be blue.
This is also why Spock does not pass out and die when he shares an environment on the E, because of its atmospheric content.
If the sky were yellow, it would indicate a CO2 atmosphere, more similar to that of Mars.
QUESTION:
(Sounds like Dwight Shrewt)
The Joseph Campbell hero journey was very evident with Kirk in the movie, but I enjoyed the story of Spock even more, it was more “Star Trek.” Was this done on purpose?
QUESTION:
Some passages in the movie seem to indicate that there’s still some kind of monetary economy in the Star Trek Universe. How else could, for example, McCoy have “nowhere else to go” after his divorce?
Have you been aware of the fact that mainly this plot point (along with other, less crucial, ones) couldn’t withstand close examination given the fact that there is no money in the Star Trek Universe? (I mean: He’s a physicist – how could he NOT be of service on earth?)
#163—”What is your response to all of the science errors detailed in the below trekmovie review…”
Why should they be held to a higher standard than any other previous Star Trek movie writer/producer?
If you were sitting around enjoying your life and some Johnny-come-lately who hasn’t even been born yet comes along and tells you that your life is ‘wrong’ and should never have existed in its present state- would you actually LET him try and restore the ‘true’ timeline, thus wiping out all your memories/ experiences?
Hell, I wouldn’t.
QUESTION:
What did Nero and his crew do during the 25 years after they destroyed the Kelvan? With the advanced technology they had, they could easily have taken over Romulus or Starfleet, for that matter. Was Nero’s hatred of Spock so strong that he was willing to wait until that ship came through the anomaly?
111. – not answering your questions but just offering some opinions:
“First off, Nero goes back in time destroys the Kelvin, which was some tiny ship on the edge of the frontier, 800 lives are saved which, is most of the crew, Kirk’s dad is killed. But, how much affect does this truly have on the timeline? regarding the technology, look of the Enterprise, etc.? All that should have changed was Kirk’s life. How can you explain all of the discontinuity between stuff we saw in TOS and this film, it should not be that much different considering many things would have already been on the drawing board around the time of the Kelvin. ”
i think the kelvins destruction caused all the changes – i believe its established in the novels that Kirks father was instrumental in designing the enterprise? – therefore thats why stuff looks different?
“Second:
‘The Cage’ to the time of ‘The Menagerie’ was 18 years, obviously Pike only commanded the Enterprise in the film for what, 2 days? So, now with Kirk in command, is the timeline pushed back? are things 18 years before they should take place in the ‘prime’ timeline? Kirk at this point should only be 16 and Chekov should be around 2, during the timeline in your film.”
wouldnt it be that due to the Narada destroying the kelvin – its sets off a change of events which means the Enterprise isnt constructed until much later so Pike never commands it for The Cage..?
hope boborci answers these – id be most interested
QUESTION:
For me, the main characters, Kirk, Spcck & Nero (as antagonist) are largely fleshed out with cut scenes and cliche’s…. ie Kirk is a badboy because he gets into car fights, wrecks cars and has no father… I feel there is a lack of both clear motivation and emotional impact as a result.
Do you think this is a result of script, editing, directing, or do you disagree? Also, is it possible we’d see more in a directors cut dvd?
Doug L.
QUESTION:
Why change the Engineering Section so radically? Its rather out of place from the rest of the ship.
Secondly, why several warp cores and not just one?
Question:
What was with the water Nero was wading through in the room where he held Pike?
Comment:
Loved the film. Please give us an original tale for the sequel. Khan has been done!!
QUESTION:
Why didn’t Kirk, Sulu and Olsen take any phasers on the mission to the drill? (Other than to show us a cool fist/sword fight, of course)? Please ignore this question if this was somehow mentioned in the movie and I missed it.
QUESTION:
Why was there a lightning storm in space both near Vulcan (mentioned by Chekov, I think) and near the Klingon prison planet (the transmission Uhura decoded)? The original lightning storm (mentioned by Kirk) was apparently caused by the temporal rift the Narada passed through. When the Jellyfish came through 25 years later, a similar storm was seen. So how could such a storm be at those other two locations when there was no Red Matter-induced time travel anywhere nearby?
I would also really like an “official” answer to #71 – the Starfleet arrowheads on the Kelvin.
Thanks for a very enjoyable movie. The one thing I’d like for the sequel: the crew “boldly going” again instead of just saving the Earth from a villain. And please, no Khan.
#172—-There was money in the mid-23rd century. See “The Trouble With Tribbles”, etc.
The idea that money was no longer used did not rear its ugly head until STIV, which is set around 27-28 years after the scene to which you are referring.
It would be contradictory if the film suggested that money was not used in 2255 (when that scene takes place)…not vice-versa….
#170
Sorry to be picky but that isn’t quite right. It’s the size of the scattering molecule that’s important, not so much what it’s made of. The reason the martian sky is pinkish is from dust – the surface is a reddish hue due to abundant iron oxides.
I always thought that Vulcan’s sky was red because it orbited a red dwarf star, 40 Eridani or something.
I guess this is yet another point their planetary advisor screwed up.
QUESTION: Since it’s all new, Kirk could meet Khan, be adversaries and then they could face some challenge together and be BFF.
We’ve already seen ‘Khan the veangeful’, let’s see another Khan. He’s an alpha type, Kirk’s an alpha type. Hell, we could put him in Starfleet and make him a Captain. Spin-off tv series, ‘Captain Khan’.
Are you guys doing crazy ‘outside the box’ thinking like this?
QUESTION:
How big is the new Enterprise supposed to be?
PS: For the love of God, please fix engineering in the next movie.
QUESTION:
REGARDING THE NEXT GENERATION:
In this parallel/alternate reality/universe what happens to the Next Generation crew and events? I’m more of a TNG fan than TOS so I would like to see what happens to this crew in this alternate timeline along with the Borg etc. Wouldn’t you love to do a movie where the Borg, arguably the most lethal enemy of any time/reality/galaxy, are the central villains and perhaps do a parallel reality TNG movie?
#180—”Why didn’t Kirk, Sulu and Olsen take any phasers on the mission to the drill? (Other than to show us a cool fist/sword fight, of course)?”
They did, but were conveniently disarmed in order to depict said fight. And Olsen never even made it onto the platform. :)
QUESTION:
As creative people yourselves who obviously respect the Star Trek that came before, I’m extremely interested in what you think of Star Trek Torch which is MY nod to you, and original Trek.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FAynFz5SYw
Thanks.
Why can’t people just enjoy the movie? It’s only fiction, folks.
#45 CLOSETTREKKER WROTE: “I fail to see why Spock Prime’s behavior is being questioned.”
LOL. Really? Because Prime Spock is NOT behaving the way he has behaved for 40 years of film & TV episodes! You even had to write a mini-dissertation to explain it for yourself! LOL
While I respect your well thought out logical “fanon” explanation for his actions in this alternate parallel universe, it is in the end, MERELY YOUR OPINION and NOT CANON. Simply because it seems more logical to you is all the more ironic since there is NOTHING logical about much of the way TOS Spock behaved in the context of some rather contradictory and illogical stories of the past.
Ultimately, Orci’s explanation trumps ANY fanon theory: linear time-travel doesn’t apply here, ergo Nimoy/Spock has no option to time travel anywhere. Of course that in itself does not fit with pre-existing canon and is itself not explained within the film and therefore NOT canon anyway.
Either way, the only reason this debate exists is because of the need to make a distinction as to whether the film is a technical REBOOT, voiding all connection with past canon, or simply an alternate timeline which continues previous canon into this alternate universe via Nimoy/Spock, the conceit of which is based on the multiverse theory and thus voiding vast tracks of said canon.
And this is exactly why Abrams’ acknowledges his “reboot”will NOT please everybody. And why I further surmise that much of the onscreen canon has been left intentionally vague.
has anybody of the supreme court explained why the engine rooms of the big e and the kelvin look like a beer brewery or something other mid nineties industrial area with all these valves, pipes, staires and catwalks? and why there are multiple (three?) warpcores?
i hope i didn’t miss the answere somwhere else…
thanks for clearing this up in advance.
(sorry for my bad english)
180 – I remember seeing Kirk’s phaser flying over the edge.
Olson died with his phaser in holster. Sulu? Not sure.
QUESTION:
Were there spores from Omicron Ceti III in the transporter room, and if not, why would Spock respond to Uhura the way he did while on duty?
QUESTION: (plot)
Why did Pike decide to send a three-person raiding party to sabotage the drill? Couldn’t he have simply shot at it with torpedoes and damaged it? (It didn’t look like it had any special protection). Admittedly it would have provoked a nasty response from Nero’s missiles, but worth trying surely?
QUESTION: (writing)
What, for you, is the underlying theme of the movie? Or as Michael Piller once said, “What is it *about*?” (Obviously I know what the story is — I mean the thematic basis you were hoping to convey? I’m interested to know what the primary concept was for you guys).
Thanks for taking the time to answer! :-)
Question; In the prime time-line we have witnessed many species changing universes, i.e. the mirror-verse. Now how can’t mighty spock brain devise a method for altering the transporter to get him back?
182,
Also true. It’s the same reason why our own sky appears pink/orange in the evening.
184,
2379.75 feet.
sh*t, i should have marked it with “QUESTION”, right?
In case you missed it, here are the three categories of answers:
1. Hmm, Interesting. I didn’t think of that!
2. Because we’re lazy.
3. Oh yeah. Darn.
#169
Yours was actually a pretty good explanation, although I believe Spock Prime explains to young Kirk that Nero specifically strands Spock Prime on Delta Vega with the expressed purpose of having him watch helplessly the destruction of Vulcan. Although I hadn’t actually thought of your particular explanation … Thank You.
———————–
169. Michael Hanscom – May 18, 2009
For #52, #82, #113, #139, and others…
ANSWER (regarding Spock Prime watching Vulcan collapse from Delta Vega):
This actually didn’t bug me very much. As we ‘see’ this during Spock Prime’s mind meld with Kirk, I simply assumed that this was a combination of storyteller’s license and Kirk’s impressions of what Spock experienced, and that Spock didn’t actually physically _see_ the destruction of Vulcan. My interpretation was that Spock ‘felt’ the destruction of his race in much the same way that he felt the destruction of the USS Intrepid in “The Immunity Syndrome”, and the on-screen depiction was Kirk’s interpretation of the mental trauma Spock experienced at that point.
QUESTION:
Did you have any involvement in the look of engineering?
It does not work, to low tech and detracts from the rest of the movie which looks great.
Can you have a word in Mr Abrams ear and sort this out for the next movie?
PS. Good work apart from that and thanks for bringing Trek back.
QUESTION:
While it made a nice running gag, why did Kirk not find out about Uhuras first name when they were at the academy?
#190—”LOL. Really? ”
Yes. Really…
“You even had to write a mini-dissertation to explain it for yourself! LOL”
I chose to be somewhat thorough and elaborative. I could have simply said that he would recognize that doing so would quite probably create more (potentially worse) consequences.
“Ultimately, Orci’s explanation trumps ANY fanon theory: linear time-travel doesn’t apply here, ergo Nimoy/Spock has no option to time travel anywhere”
I think you’re follow-up to that pretty much refutes this.
“Of course that in itself does not fit with pre-existing canon and is itself not explained within the film and therefore NOT canon anyway.”
There are no “degrees of canon”. Either it is—or it isn’t. With all due respect to Bob, I don’t view his offscreen explanation as any more valuable than my own. As you say, neither explanation is canon.
You cannot say that Orci’s commentary is not canon and then turn around and use it to refute my own…at least not credibly, anyway.
QUESTION:
Can it simply be assumed that the reason the pieces of the universe are all falling back to a familiar state / fate with our crew meeting up and all is due to the fact that somewhere Q is watching, and will not tolerate the elimination of his pet Picard from the timeline?
A SECOND QUESTION:
Seriously, how big is the new enterprise? It looks like its the size of a galaxy class star ship! (btw, I must say I miss the art deco influences from previous starship iterations… sigh). If this is the case, what does it mean for our good Enterprise D in this universe? The size of starbase 1?
Note for rest of society – think of the time travelness this way, the singularity 100% for sure branched us into a parallel universe. Maybe there is time travel within this universe or not, but we’re now in a strange new world / universe. I say, live it up!
KHAN!!!!
QUESTION:
why do the engine rooms of the big e and the kelvin look like a beer brewery or something other mid nineties industrial area with all these valves, pipes, staires and catwalks?
QUESTION:
why are there multiple (three?) warpcores? are they ejected through a forcefield or some kind of airlock? at this ejection speed there must be a forcefield because otherwise there would be a decompression?!
QUESTION:
why does the enterprise have a water treatment plant? water could be replicated (or is this a tech of the 24th century?). don’t they have sonic showers?
i hope i didn’t miss the answeres somwhere else…
thanks for clearing this up in advance.
(sorry for my bad english :-( )
QUESTION
If we accept that the new film takes place in an alternate / parallel reality, why does Spock “care” about the destruction of Vulcan? It is clear he has no memories of it (otherwise he would also have memories of the other new events in this universe, like Kirk not being the captain) and he therefore logically still remembers his mother etc…
Nero’s actions simply haven’t worked because Spock Prime is not affected. Only new Spock, and he’s not responsible for the destruction of Romulus…
I’m not going to read through all 151 posted questions so far to make sure none of these have already been asked, so here goes:
QUESTION 1:
When Spock says only 10,000 Vulcans of 6 billion survived, does he mean only 10,000 made it off the planet or only 10,000 in the entire universe are accounted for? Because considering Vulcans had been space-faring for many years prior to humans (as seen in First Contact and multiple other examples I’m sure), they’re bound to have lots of ships out in space and colonies on other worlds that would bump the number up significantly. Incidentally, since Spock doesn’t make this issue clear, it’s easy to ret-con it later should you decide you need more than 10,000 Vulcans after all.
QUESTION 2:
Was it considered at any point to put Number One in the script (ie. the female first officer that the network refused to let Gene Roddenberry keep because it was “too unrealistic” to have a female commander)? That really would have been a nice nod, even if she did get killed off in the attack so you can put Sulu in her place.
Just as a general comment, I think it’s mighty courageous of you to come here and try to answer questions that, for the most part, are going to be impossible to answer – you pretty much used this rebooting as a way to get rid of the confusing past of Trek and start it over as what it really should be, which is fun and enjoyable, but of course that’s sort of negated by the fact that we have old Spock with his memories and experiences in the timeline. But you know….so what if Spock should know he can slingshot around the Sun to go back in time? That’s a stupid idea and should be forgotten, even if it was the deus ex machina that gave birth to a great Trek film. A film that was good for the same reasons your Trek was good, because it was fun.
So, while there’s frankly a pile of things I didn’t love about your movie (coughKEENSERcough), I congratulate you on doing a genuinely great job. I doubt there’s anyone else who could have pulled off making Star Trek appealing to the masses as well as being at least accepted, and in many cases loved, by the old school fans, and you knocked this one out of the park.. But…
I dare you to do better.
And I double dare you to make Scotty more than comic relief.
#190—”Simply because it seems more logical to you is all the more ironic since there is NOTHING logical about much of the way TOS Spock behaved in the context of some rather contradictory and illogical stories of the past.”
Is it not unreasonable to suggest that he might have a more refined point-of-view well over a century later? Or are we to assume that he is no wiser now?
Question: As a Trek and Wars fan, I was excited to read that R2D2 appeared in Trek, but exacatly where?
Also, my dad and I had a problem with Pike at the end of the film. He was crippled but shouldn’t he have been crippled to a further extent since the slug latched onto his spinal cord? In the TOS Episode “The Menagerie” he was basically a vegetable, only able to communicate with lights due to his torture from the Talosians. Why didn’t you guys take his injuries this far?
BobOrci, you and Alex are flippin’ genius’. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing that you guys are thinking (in regards to the whole time travel thing) in a modern scientific way, rather than the mid 20th century view, even though it ‘violates’ canon. I prefer modernization to canon adherence. Your explainations for it were also quite well done. I don’t see how it should cause anyone to make a fuss. Well excecuted dude.
QUESTION
In what universe would Spock have sex with a cadet who was subordinate to him? Did Nero’s incursion have some sort of effect on Spock’s characterization prior to the destruction of Vulcan?
QUESTION
Where the heck is “Delta Vega” such that it affords someone on its surface a view of the planetary disc of Vulcan being crushed?
QUESTION
How does destroying the warp core HELP someone escape the pull of a black hole?
QUESTION
In 25 years, no one on the Narada said: “Hey, Mr. Nero, why don’t we go home and have sex with Romulan women…. or WARN them of the impending supernova…. or STOP the impending supernova with some of the RED MATTER we have?
QUESTION
If Spock Prime KNOWS he is on a planet with a Starfleet base, why does he not simply go to this base and warn the Federation of the Nero threat? Does Spock Prime also KNOW that PineKirk will be marooned there by QuintoSpock?
QUESTION
Are you using stardates or Julian calendar dates? It sounded like a bastardized combination in the film.
“Is it not unreasonable to suggest …”
That should read—”Is it not reasonable to suggest…”
Sorry if it has been asked but I couldn’t find it:
QUESTION:
How do you tell a female officer’s rank if she chooses to wear short sleeves?
Some of you guys crack me up with your questions! LOL!
Look the movie is done, it’s out there, you can’t change it. It’s a new start.
It doesn’t negate or erase what came before, but honors it. Why do we care so much that Vulcan and Amanda are gone? Did we feel bad when Romulus was destroyed? We feel it it because we came to admire Vulcan civilization through many years of great story lines.
I’m certain that Orci/Kurtzman love Vulcan as much as we do, but by killing it they remind us that (unlike in TWOK/TSFS) death is final.
QUESTION
Why did you decide to try to make this film fit the existing universe?
I loved the film but hated the fact that it has changed the in-universe beyond all recognition. Vulcan & Romulus destroyed??? New-look ship etc etc…
I would have given you more respect if you had simply said, “look, here’s our story” and stuck to the original history but given it an updated look.
At least if you had positioned it as a complete reboot (which it clearly is) we could have just accepted “young minds, fresh ideas” and been tolerant. As it stands, you’ve destroyed all that has gone before. Seemingly unnecessarily.
Is it important to you that the Star Trek franchise continue to break new ground and continue to serve as an allegory for contemporary issues rather than rehashing stories that have come before?
QUESTION:
On the Enterprise series with Captain Archer:
Can we expect more nods to the Enterprise series, given that this is essentially the only canon that’s valid in the alternate timeline? I would love to see a guest appearance or cameo by one this series’ actors in the sequel.
Somebody asked this before but is Adm. Archer the same Archer from the Enterprise series?
158: My guess would be that the red matter black holes are rather short lived phenomena. Once the Narada emerged and attacked the Kelvin it was never heard from again. A black hole of a planetary mass like Vulcan would also evaporate pretty quickly which in the long term would disturb orbits of the system.
I don’t have the time right now to read all the question that, have been posted, so sorry if mine have already been asked, but I really would like to hear the answer.
QUESTION:
Should we consider Nero’s Klingon imprisonment as never happened ? If it happened, the Klingons had 25 years to study the Narada…..
QUESTION:
If the travel time to Vulcan can be seen as longer than 5 minutes, why does Sulu report “maximum warp” in the same scene as Chekov begins his announcement. Is the trip that short, does the E accelerate really slow or does Sulu just report something obvious again ?
QUESTION:
Kirk says to Nero, that the Narada is too close to the singularity to survive without help, which he is “willing to provide”. Why does he fire on the Narada after Nero refuses his help and risks his ship and crew by remaining there ?
QUESTIONS:
I understand why destroying Vulcan on the alternate timeline was ‘necessary’ for the movie. Did you also consider the effect of destroying Romulus in the Prime timeline or was it entirely secondary to what you wanted to achieve in the movie?
Was it ever an issue to consider to effects of the movie on the Prime timeline?
Do you think there should ever be a return to the Prime timeline and the post TOS characters?
I wondered. Since everything before Nero changed the timeline is as it was. Does that mean that Star Trek: Enterprise still happened in this new Star Trek universe? So Archer, T’Pol, Trip etc. and all their adventures happened?
QUESTION – Did you guys EVER have any discussion of Gary Mitchell?…….. he’s one character and the Kirk/Spock/Gary/McCoy story that has tremendous potential.
Question
What was the starfleet procedure for jumping Kirk from cadet(even with a great accomplishment) to captain? It would be impossible in our navy to go from ensign to Captain in one fell swoop
QUESTION:
One of the cool things I liked were the little continuity nods, like how some of the Admirals in the SFA scene were from TOS, the tribble on Scotty’s desk and how Jim was eating an apple during the Kobayashi Maru (just as he was when recounting the incident in TWOK). Were those written in by you guys, or were they just put in by Abrams or the set director?
Thanks, it was a great movie.
QUESTION
Who is admiral Archer and who is his dog? Does this iteration of TOS still take place ~100 years after ENTERPRISE, thus necessitating new characters to fill these roles?
#218—”Should we consider Nero’s Klingon imprisonment as never happened ? If it happened, the Klingons had 25 years to study the Narada…..”
Seems to assume that the Narada and its entire crew was captured, rather than potentially just Nero.
QUESTION: There has been much negative debate about the Engine “brewery” look, and I agree its the only part of the film that disappoints me, So, because of fan reaction do you see a more advanced 23rd century looking engine room in the sequel?
QUESTION:
How was Carol Marcus and Nurse Chapel originally in the script? Any chance they (along with others like Yeoman Rand and Lt. Kyle) show up in the sequel?
Not A question.. but please know this;
Thank you for making my heros live again. I missed them. I need them in my life. Now I have them back. Thank you.
#202 CLOSETTREKKER WROTE: “You cannot say that Orci’s commentary is not canon and then turn around and use it to refute my own…at least not credibly, anyway.”
Fair enough. I guess the point here is, nobody’s opinion is more correct.
#207 – as for getting wiser with age, absolutely. I respect your point of view and your thoughtful rectification of this particular problem.
For me, I would argue given advanced preparedness of Nero’s actions and motivations, not to mention Nimoy/Spock’s familiarity with the weaknesses of Nero’s 24th Century technology put the odds for success in their favor (and original Spock is a stickler for quoting those odds in such circumstances). While a few people might die who did not before, “the needs of the many [(Vulcan)], outweigh the needs of the few or the one”, or perhaps this more experienced Spock has rethought that axiom as well? In my mind he has not.
And that’s where it lies. You have your illusion and I have mine. May your find your way as pleasant.
Question:
Given this new alt or parallel timeline is it concievable/probable that the Borg might be introduced earlier and appear in ST sequels??
This isn’t really a question, but more of a response to Mr. Orci’s comments on ST IV: “Kirk and Spock travel to the past, take two whales, thus creating an alternate timeline in which those two whales (and a Marine Biologist) are missing. Our gang then returns to THEIR ORIGINAL UNIVERSE, and the whales tell the probe what to go do with itself. In a way, this is a less irresponsible interpretation, because otherwise, they are necessarily playing loosey goosey with interfering with their present by taking the potential grandmother of the doctor who cures cancer out of history and really changing their own universe!”
The way I understand Quantum Mechanics and time travel is that time is a railway track. All of science is based on the premise of determinism, causality, that one thing must always impact the next thing. Biology, physics, chemistry, math, are all about causality, determining universal equations and then using those equations to predict and understand and foresee. Without causality, math and science would be rubbish. It is a fundamental principle.
If time is a railroad track then, the answer is NO, nobody’s playing loosey goosey with the future. Because at the time when the Enterprise sling-shotted around the sun, that was the one and only thing that could happen at that time, based on the years and years of causality that resulted in that action. If time is a railway track, we go back in time because that is what MUST happen. And back in time, whatever we choose to do or not do is all an impact of causality anyway, too. So it’s not changing the future… because the future MADE it happen! We have to do what we do, we have to take the whales, because that is why we went back in time, and we went back in time because we recognized the message the probe was sending, and we could go back because we knew how, based on the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise. (Causality of course is far more complicated and intricate than this, but surely you get the idea.)
So the big question, Where did the universe begin if something needed to come before? Ultimately, we cannot logically or scientifically determine what began the universe because something would have had to come before it to cause it — and something would have had to come before that, and before that, oh wait, so what started the universe???? That is the key question. And since that question has challenged Quantum Mechanical Physicists for years, their answer is ultimately that the universe begins with the end of the old universe. That it must be a cycle. That it must be a track.
Spock and Nero went back in time because there was no other way for events to unfold. Your idea of Quantum Mechanics and parallel (or as they are called “alternate”) timelines suggests that changing one thing sets us on a course down one of the other millions of possible outcomes. Unfortunately, Quantum Mechanics and pretty much all of science (except astrology :P) say that there is only one outcome. We can only do one thing. The reason we can change it is because we have the causal history from the future… which sent us back…
Spock and Kirk and all had their backs covered in ST IV. They were following Quantum Mechanics very nicely. Different than you, but more correctly, I would surmise.
QUESTION:
As the dust has (slowly) begun to settle from the release of the movie, do the two of you guys feel like you have the best job in the world, or the worst?
UNRELATED QUESTION:
Were you worried that the ending to Season 1 of “Fringe” would be considered insensitive (I didn’t consider it so, but I’m sure some may have)?
@199
4. It was mentioned in the movie.
5. Some production design isn’t made by the screenwriters.
6. The movie was given a budget, albeit huge given the track record of recent S/T films’ B.0., but not a blank check.
Wow, I’m amazed. I thought I was a fairly die-hard trekkie but some of the questions being asked are… a bit much. Seriously, it’s a movie. It’s a very entertaining movie that I’m extremely proud to have seen on opening night. What difference does it really make how some made up piece of technology works with another made up piece of technology and how it interacts with a made up anomaly? They are plot devices that move a story along in hopefully an entertaining way. Does it really matter how the stardates work? Does it really matter how many “cores” a warp core have? Wow people…
I want to thank Bob for having the (extraordinary) patience to answer these questions. And thank you for making an extraordinary movie.
Huh. Weird.
(The following sound very nit-picking, but they come from a person whose reaction to The Movie is 3% Huh? and 97% AWEsome!)
QUESTION
Can we puh-LEEZE get rid of the warty-looking Ewok (Scotty’s little friend(?)) in the next movie?
QUESTION
Have you seen the Star Trek/Star Wars side-by-side video? Was it intentional to have so many plot points match up?
QUESTION
What’s up with the uniform overshirts? They only look good if the character is standing still. Otherwise they look sloppy bc they just don’t lay right.
COMMENT
You know, Spock prime could affect the future in the current timeline/universe. He could help develop “Red Matter” sooner, and send a message to Starfleet to be opened at a later date–later, but not too late to save the Romulan homeworld.
It worked in Quantum Leap!
QUESTION:
***** As a proud Scotsman and fan of Montgomery Scott, I understand the huge comic potential of having an actor like Simon Pegg fill the role, however i’m a little concerned that for the next film the character will become little more than a source of comedy with no real weight. Will we see more of Scotty’s reputation as “a miracle worker” and also his surly, work-driven aggressive side?
… and will his alien sidekick be returning?
QUESTION:
If the U.S.S. Kelvin appeared as it would have in the prime universe in 2233, then why does it’s outside appearance look like that of the “movie-era” starships rather than something closer to TOS? ie, the mosaic hull plating, name and registry type font. I think brushing up on those details would have tied the change from original Trek to Abrams-new Trek stronger. The command staff wearing blue instead of gold was also odd, since even the ST:Enterprise series established gold was command colour pre-TOS as well.
REQUEST:
(Pretty) Please could you post what you scripted for the Shatner Kirk scene? I’d really like to read what you wrote for him. Thank you!
PS. I thought the film was awesome – bring on the next one! :)
QUESTION:
Is it important to you that the Star Trek franchise continue to break new ground and continue to serve as an allegory for contemporary issues rather than rehashing stories that have come before?
(sorry for the double post, wanted to conform to the guidelines)
QUESTION:
Are the Klingons in this universe ridgeless as was explained in Enterprise?
We see in the trailers that the Klingon guards are wearing helmets with ridges on them. Are these helmets ceremonial, hiding their shame of the Augment incident? Or form-fitting to existing ridges?
Moreover, do the events of Enterprise apply to this universe?
Boborci,
Loved the film to the bone. The time travel thing….whatever. It’s Star Trek, and it works for me. Same characters, same strange new worlds, different timeline. Sounds like fun!
My question for you is: Were you a fan of DEEP SPACE NINE at all? Reason I ask is for one specific reason. In the episode “Trials and Tribbleations,” in which the DS9 crew lives the “Trouble With Tribbles,” Jadzia Dax (a Trill, who has lived many lifetimes,) makes a wonderful mention about having known Leonard McCoy in the past, somewhat intimately…..and that he had the “hands of a surgeon.”
I think having Karl Urban’s McCoy bed a sexy, spotted alien hottie by the name of Dax would be a fun nod to Star Trek continuity in a future film. Even if it’s just a quick little scene.
Do you think there is the possiblity of any cameos by characters who lived both in the time period that these new voyages are taking place in now, and the eventual TNG time period? Whoopi Goldberg’s character, John De Lancie, and many more.
Heck, there are even a number of alien civilizations we could see pop up! (Already established the Cardassians with this film!)
Forgive me if this has already been covered… I haven’t been following the boards like I used to.
Question:
Since this parallel universe split off from the prime universe, is it safe to assume that some MAJOR known threats are still on the way that will need to be dealt with? E.g. V’Ger is still on the way home looking for the Creator, the probe is still on the way back to say hello to the humpbacks, and isn’t the Hobus star STILL going to be an issue again?
I know that you only have a trilogy to worry about, but what are your thoughts on how these known threats will be handled with Spock Prime’s experience available?
QUESTIONS
How long does it take to fly from Earth to Vulcan?
Why did Spock not beam back to the Enterprise with Kirk and Scotty and share his knowledge of advanced technology, of Nero and his motivations and methods, etc.? Just so his younger self and Kirk could have the bonding experience he thought they ought to have?
AND
Thanks for dipping into the conversations.
QUESTION
Star Trek was a great movie! Have you, as a writer or possibly in a producer roler, already met with the studio for a follow up to the film? As in a direct sequel, or some previously unseen mission that took place during the Enterprise’s so-called five-year tour? (Which is what I’m hoping for and a villian or situation that is completely original. Even if it means not using a previous known like Kahn, Trelane, et al.)
QUESTION
Are you going on record as stating that some plausible amount of time has passed in between Admiral Tyler Perry granting a medal and Kirk assuming captaincy of the Enterprise?
OR…
Can Kirk be promoted from Starfleet cadet (not even graduate) to Captain, with no intermediate steps? Was everyone else on the SpaceCamp voyage of the Enterprise also granted immediate commissions? Why does Kirk get to be Captain, whilst Uhura is a lieutenant, Chekov is an ensign, etc.? Why would anyone who had been in Starfleet and earned various promotions in rank prior to this event take orders from Kirk?
QUESTION
Does this timeline negate Spock having served 11 years and change with Pike on the Enterprise? Does it indeed substitute Kirk for Pike as captain during that time period?
#227—”How was… Nurse Chapel originally in the script?”
Actually, Chapel is in the film, although she is only heard…not seen.
McCoy barks an order to her (calling her by name), to which she is heard to respond in the film (away from the camera).
QUESTION
Do nit-picking fans annoy you?
;-)
Honestly, thanks for being willing to engage picky nerds like ourselves.
#204
Let me take a crack at this one and see what everyone thinks …
1) Stairs & Catwalks: Even in TOS they had stairs like that in engineering … in TNG they have something similar in engineering access in the Jeffries Tubes … the short version is getting access to critical spaces when space is limited
2)Where there are pipes, there must be valves if for no other reason than to isolate piping for maintenance or simply to re-route for other usage. The presence of pipes in the first place … does no one drink water in the 24th/25th (or watever, century) … how is humidity controlled? Temperature Controlled? Even in ST4: The Voyage Home when Kirk & Scotty have to beam in the whales & a crap load of water, Scotty explains that doing so takes huge amounts of energy. To replicate massive quantities of liquid on this scale would take away from critical systems like warp proplusion, shields, life support, impulse control, etc, etc. The benifits of using water (asside from the fact that we need water to survive) is that water can be a self sustaining entity …. convert water to steam, then back to water again … urine can be filtered to water … it is a self sustaining cycle that requires very little energy to produce or control, but produces a relatively high level of energy output compared to the relatively low level of energy to produce … and … you don’t have to siphon lots of power from the warp core. There is only a finite amount of power that the warp core can produce and you and I know that Kirk is always calling for more power and Scotty never has enough. Scotty has enough problems without Kirk always needing more power … so … the necessity for a self sustaining cycle of energy production that does not rely on the warp core proper is clear (to me at least) …
Let me know what you guys think … JB
——————–
204. silverplated – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
why do the engine rooms of the big e and the kelvin look like a beer brewery or something other mid nineties industrial area with all these valves, pipes, staires and catwalks?
QUESTION:
why are there multiple (three?) warpcores? are they ejected through a forcefield or some kind of airlock? at this ejection speed there must be a forcefield because otherwise there would be a decompression?!
QUESTION:
why does the enterprise have a water treatment plant? water could be replicated (or is this a tech of the 24th century?). don’t they have sonic showers?
QUESTION 2 (sorry, forgot to add this!)
At the beginning of the film on the Narada, the holographic image of Spock Prime appears different to how he did when he turned up later on, ie more aged “in person” with grey hair etc… why was this so? The hologram was more approximate to how Nimoy looks now. What’s the story?
Question: Many of the problems I have with the film involve actions that seem to be very out of character. How do you justify young Spock leaving the Enterprise to try and save his parents, despite the fact that Captain Pike is gone, and he is in command during a battle situation. Spock’s devotion to duty has been demonstrated over and over again, and this is something that this character simply would not do.
QUESTION:
Is the mind-meld as complete as canon always told us, i.e. a complete transfer of experiences? If so, young Kirk would know all about the Prime timeline as old Spock lived it. Any plans to show him using that knowledge?
Or is this a new, more selective type of mind-meld that contained only the transfer seen in the movie?
In any case, thanks and well done! Loved it!
re 177 Due to embarrasment, I’m reposting my Question without typos.
QUESTION:
For me, the main characters, Kirk, Spock & Nero (as antagonist) are largely fleshed out with cut scenes and cliche’s…. ie Kirk is a badboy because he gets into bar fights, wrecks cars and has no father… I feel there is a lack of clear motivation and emotional impact as a result.
Do you think this is a result of script, editing, directing, or do you disagree? Also, is it possible we’d see more in a directors cut dvd?
Doug L.
#214.
Only Vulcan is destroyed. Romulus is still there as of 2258… Where our heroes left off.
QUESTION:
Why does Starfleet in this universe use windows instead of viewscreens on the bridge? In the prequel series Enterprise the NX-01 had viewscreens and the TOS Enterprise had a viewscreen not a window.
QUESTION
Even though we are now living in a parallel/alternate reality, it has been pointed out that several pre “zero event” items that are still in play: V’ger is on it’s way back to Earth, the Botany Bay is still adrift in space, the probe is listening for whale song, etc. Do you feel obliged to address these issues? Personally, I think this would be covering ground that has already been examined, but I am wondering how you see it playing out in the new timeline.
250.
He is saving the elders though, right? That is the sum of the knowledge of his race–this would seem to be a higher duty, higher than chilling on the bridge and watching.
Just a thought.
-P
250.
I think his making out with Uhura on the transporter pad (no doubt for comic relief and to clearly establish their relationship…and to throw her name in) would be a better example of his breaking with character. At least in my opinion that is.
-P
QUESTION:
Scotty isn’t going to be part of a double act with that little alien… is he?
QUESTION:
Whose idea was it to introduce jewellery to the crew (rings, watches, etc)… does anyone else have a view on this?… I’m not sure…
Question:
Where the heck did Nero and his crew go for 25 years? And if their ship was taken by Klingons, explain how there was not an explanation for why the Klingons ended up getting whipped when Nero escapes Rura Penthe?
If the Narada was taken by another alien race during those 25 years, will we see the repercussions of that in the next film? Or did they merely park the ship next to a moon to remain undetected for 25 years?
I just need some kind of explanation as to why this was not covered in the film?
Thanks a million, still loved the movie!
http://io9.com/tag/star-trek/
this link is alot of fun. just thought i’d share it with you all
The Enterprise is now built in Iowa. Is this a brand new ship or are they just REFITTING the ship? I’m just not clear if Captain Pike has already commanded the USS ENTERPRISE or is this a second tour of duty?
Also to everyone who feels KHAN should be brought back – Please Please DO NOT DO THIS (If it aint broke don’t fix it).
250.
Sorry, one more thing. Since we are seeing an earlier Spock (ala The Cage) it is logical that he would be a little less, er, Spocky? In The Cage (or the menagerie) Spock was pretty different. I even remember him smiling and having messy hipster hair. I think this Spock is a pretty decent combination of TOS Spock and pre-TOS spock. I feel you though. I had a guttural reaction to a couple of Spock scenes…they didn’t feel right a first. I had to think about it later. I am hoping in the next movie he will be more like the Spock we know.
In addition, in a couple of TOS episodes, Spock did show his love for the ladies (in a very logical and subdued way, of course). After watching one of those episodes the other night, the Uhura stuff didn’t bother me as much.
-P
QUESTION:
Did you consider killing McCoy in a shuttlecraft ejection accident to remain truer to the original Top Gun source material?
QUESTION:
What was the Starfleet doing gathered in another solar system while Nero was headed to Earth?
Spock left (the remains of) Vulcan and was taking the Enterprise to meet up with the fleet when Kirk and Scotty beamed on board and eventually had Enterprise head for Earth.
I really really hate calling Spock, Spock Prime. Spock is Spock. Context is an indicator, y’all. Spock and Spock were only at the same place at the same time in one scene. Sheesh.
I think other people have mentioned this, but I’m just not convinced by the whole ’staying immensely angry and vengeful for 25 years’. I mean, the longest I’ve ever stayed really obsesses and angry with someone/thing (and I am a total gudge bitch) is about ten years. There just comes a point where you get on with life and other worries take over, like running out of washing powder or cat food, or paying a bill. Actually, where are the Romulans doing their shopping? They have to eat, right. Are they ordering on the internet?
If I was one of Nero’s henchmen, after about ten years or so, I’d be thinking, ‘oh not another day stood at one of these f*****g consoles’, and ‘why can’t someone do the c*cking cleaning round here, there’s water everywhere.’ I guess that’s why I’d be a rubbish henchman. Worrying about vacuuming and getting an early night.
QUESTION:
How much did Damon Lindelof contribute to the story?
231. cagmar – May 18, 2009
Your questions on time and the structure of the universe pose interesting ideas to think about.
What about this? Star Trek is just a movie. Time travel is a theory that was used just to get us to a point where the new outcomes become unknown for future outings. It reconned the past shows while still paying tribute to them by having Nimoy as Spock in the film.
Personally, do I believe that faster-light-travel is possible? No
Do I believe the universe had a definite beginning? Yes
Do I believe that time travel can happen either to the past or future? No.
Universes created due to time travel or multi-verses, as they are called, in my opinion to not exist. Are you telling me that a soul is instantly created by an event such as time travel which would be a scientific and physical event by a person or persons? Whole universes are created out of thin air every time time travel happens? Time travel is too complex. If you were to travel back in time. If you were to travel back in time, you could find yourself in a different galaxy, etc, due to the relativistic motion of the universe. A device created for time travel would have to literally know the exact “coordinates” of the universe at all times, which cannot be done because time cannot be measured per some universal scale, as it’s only based on our earth’s rotation around the sun, etc.
Time travel will never happen unless God allows an individual to witness an event such as their own birth, etc.
In my opinion, we operate in linear time that is temporary. If the universe is created, it will be destroyed, as we know it. Nothing physical lasts forever, nothing. Chaos reigns in the universe which is so complicated and intricate that the greatest scientists who ever lived have not even begun to understand it. We cannot even understand the human brain yet, nor cure the common cold.
The only way we will travel through time is when we are out of time, in other words when we are dead, meet our maker, and perhaps are shown our entire life and what we’ve done or haven’t done at our judgement.
Star Trek, albeit a very good literary device to propel us to a more elightened future where life and peace can prosper, is just a continuing story, and will really not mean much for me at the end of my life. And I say all that being a very big fan of the offsprings of Roddenberry’s created world of the not-so-distant future.
NOTE!
Above there are several questions concerning the number of Vulcans that survived. Please provide us with an answer.
Robert & Alex,
First of all I want to congratulate you on your reframing of Star Trek. All previous Star Trek iterations where done by children of the cold war. Thus the hope and optimism that made Trek Trek reflected that. The millennial Generation has a very different cloud over their heads. The cloud over their heads is about more people competing for less resources, global warming, terrorism …. I think from this point forward Star Trek’s allegorical stories need to reflect that.
Here are some thoughts
There was that wonderful Episode where Picard was Tortured by Cardassians. Picard was told of a time where Cardassians were starving and their military took over in order to make Cardassia better. What drove Cardassia to chaos?? Was it internal or external??
We still have Section 31. The new timeline thread started at the the time of Kirks birth which means that Star Trek Enterprise is still Canon. They touched on beginnings of Section 31 in two episodes in season 4.
Damn it I want Klingons!! Tom Hanks would make a wonderful Captain Koloth. It was obvious that Kirk met Koloth before their encounter on space station K7.
Connect those dots then you should be able to give me what I want.
Respectfully,
Jose Kuhn
Boborci:
Question of the Year: Did Gaila escape in one of the pods off the Farragut?
We want our Green Goddess back!!!
Question:
Are we nit picking a really fun movie to death here or what?
O.K. so maybe you can run the scripts by someone that know a star that goes supernova should be blue. After that stop wasting your time here and get to work on the next great script!
PS: thanks for letting my wife take a picture of you guys with me at the LA premiere.
Question:
With Vulcan destroyed, and 10,000 Vulcans milling about “increasing the species as fast as they can”, won’t pon farr become a thing of the past, only remembered by elders?
Question:
There are those of us fans who are pretty hardcore into tech manuals, explainations, and lots of pretty pictures of ships and props. If we aren’t going to get the first two things anytime soon, at least can we get a book or magazine with lots of stills of the various ships, props, etc.?
Question:
SpockPrime mindmelded with Kirk. Did Kirk retain any collateral knowledge of SpockPrime’s memories, i.e. things he has yet to encounter in the future? I know this is a different universe and all, but I still have a sneaking feeling that space amoeba, doomsday machines, and the like are lurking out in unexplored realms.
Comment:
Loved the movie. Make more. Many, many more. :-)
#268, cool your jets. All I’m saying is that if we want to start picking, as Mr. Orci did, whose idea of time travel is more safe or more reasonable, then I wanted to defend ST IV because theirs was, in fact, closer to the accepted Quantum Mechanics time and causality theories than his own. His trick is that he says it is the most accepted theory, and yes, Quantum Mechanics is, but the parallel universes theory is not.
But for the record!! I LOVE Mr. Orci’s explanations and I enjoy his perspective immensely. I thank him for taking time to engage all of us fans.
I am a believer that in order to explore all the potential of time travel we must be open to different interpretations that open up different issues and ideas. So bring it on.
QUESTION:
I got the impression from the movie, which I loved, that the lightning storms occured only when a ‘temporal disturbance’ occured. Or was I mistaken, were the lightning storms just by-products of the Narada’s warp travel?
COMMENT:
I enjoyed the movie even more than I expected, it surpassed my greatest expectations and I was even backing it as the biggest blockbuster of the year last December! Just on a tangent, will a future sequel feature the much-loved Gary Mitchell? If so, any chance you will consider me, or another Trekkie?
My main concern in the movie was that 25 yrs passed between Nero arriving back in time and then meeting up with Spock Prime. I would think that after 25 yrs, he or his crew would have “gotten over it.” 25 yrs is a long time to plot a revenge. It seems as though nothing has changed for them in that 25 yr gap-they look the same, the ship looks the same. I would think they would have eventually decided that they could use their knowledge of the future to try and help the empire–perhaps use the red matter to destroy these other worlds as soon as they got there, rather than waiting on Spock Prime to show up. Also, for waiting 25 yrs, Nero seemed surprisngly non hostile. He called the Captain’s by the first name-he was almost polite. Did you consider giving him more of a “insane” persona that would explain why he had been planning for this moment for so long?
I think its ashame that we as the audience didnt get to see a little more development on the characters particularly Jim Kirk. I’m fully aware that there is so much you can do within a 2 hour movie.
He (Jim Kirk) becomes cadet then First Officer then Captain. Yes this is an alternate timeline but lets also be a little realistic to the character. Show Kirk as a leader at the academy, teach, win awards and show that he is not just any typical cadet in Starfleet Academy but someone who is special and will become the beloved starship captain that he is destined to be.
I left the theatre thinking that Kirk was given the keys to a brand new Porche without truly deserving to be in command.
The movie rocked – no doubt about that.
Question
Having read Ray Bradbury’s short story, “A Sound of Thunder “, I get how all these differences between the movie and established cannon occurred, either directly ( the destruction of the Kelvin ) or indirectly ( the differences in Enterprise design ). However, there are two changes that cannot be explained by the interference of Nero’s travVulcan’s sky was ael through time: In the original cannon, Kirk’s father and mother were never Starfleet officers…they were farmers ( and why no mention of Kirk’s older brother, Sam? ); and 2): Vulcan’s sky was a pale blue, when it should have been red. How do you explain these changes?
By the way, I was disappointed in the film…I went, expecting to hate it, but found it to be one of the best films I’ve ever seen, no matter the genre!
QUESTION:
The technology. We never got a good look at it (with the exception of the transporter interface). In the next film do you think you will be more able to show the technology that everyone is using throughout the film? Because on one hand we the gadgets they are using multiple times, but if it werent for playmates toys i would have no clue what any of it looks like.
thanks :)
otherwise i loved the movie. i just wish it would have been longer and used just a smidge more technobabble
QUESTION
Will the Enterprise get redesigned to a more familiar shape? Will we get red nacelle scoops?
And you can’t be serious with this 700m nonsense. Make the ship the same size as the original.
QUESTION:
oh also can we please have some more moments of reflection and talk about the situation. like a 60 sec clip of kirk talking to the computer for a capatains log would be great. just something that didnt make it seem all about the lens flares and shaky camera?
I promise i am not that picky. but this whole movie would have been made on a personal level 100x better and more satisfying if there was maybe another 5 mins of just gadgets and discussion sprinkled in it
QUESTION 1:
Did you have any input regarding the design of the new Enterprise? Was there any description whatsoever in the script regarding of what you wanted in terms of design for the ship?
QUESTION 2:
When you saw the film, were you two proud of what you did? Were you blown away as well?
Wes Huntington
Loved what you did! Can’t wait for the sequel!
QUESTION:
A little in-universe info: When Starfleet receives the distress call from Vulcan, Admiral Richard Barnett (aka Tyler Perry) notes that the fleet is “engaged” in another system. I was just sort of curious as to what exactly the fleet is up to. Engaged in battle, or in some other mission? I understand that the fleet just couldn’t be around for the story to work, but did you have anything specific in mind going on in that system?
QUESTION:
As a fan, what were you thinking by destroying Vulcan, Romulus and killing Spock’s mother? Was it really necessary?
QUESTION:
Boborci,
Loved the film to the bone. The time travel thing….whatever. It’s Star Trek, and it works for me. Same characters, same strange new worlds, different timeline. Sounds like fun!
My question for you is: Were you a fan of DEEP SPACE NINE at all? Reason I ask is for one specific reason. In the episode “Trials and Tribbleations,” in which the DS9 crew lives the “Trouble With Tribbles,” Jadzia Dax (a Trill, who has lived many lifetimes,) makes a wonderful mention about having known Leonard McCoy in the past, somewhat intimately…..and that he had the “hands of a surgeon.”
I think having Karl Urban’s McCoy bed a sexy, spotted alien hottie by the name of Dax would be a fun nod to Star Trek continuity in a future film. Even if it’s just a quick little scene.
Do you think there is the possiblity of any cameos by characters who lived both in the time period that these new voyages are taking place in now, and the eventual TNG time period? Whoopi Goldberg’s character, John De Lancie, and many more.
Heck, there are even a number of alien civilizations we could see pop up! (Already established the Cardassians with this film!)
Basically, do you and the rest of the supreme court feel it is important to incorporate established elements’s ot Star Trek’s history into future films? The Archer reference was great :)
I don’t have anything against original ideas, but Star Trek is so rich with material waiting to be expressed in greater detail, it would be a shame not to dig something out of the annals of Trek lore and glorify in the same fashion as Khan.
(sorry for the double post, forgot to add QUESTION the first time)
QUESTION:
Since Uhura goes with Spock:
Will you introduce Yeoman Janice Rand as Kirk’s new love interest in the sequel?
–I’ve heard Abrams once considered Mary Lynn Rajskub for the role
#283
Yes, what *was* the ENTIRE fleet doing the Laurentian system? No doubt someone there was having one of this ‘oh crap I’ve left the gas on’ moments’, thinking I hope no-one notices that we’ve left Earth (yes, the one that’s the HQ of Starfleet and the entire bloody Federation) utterly undefended. Oh, it’ll be fine… no, really, no-one’ll notice.
And then you get home and find the house has burnt down.
Silly f******s.
QUESTION:
Why didn’t the Romulans have the head ridges as seen in latter-day Trek? Especially if they were from the 24th century…
QUESTION:
The TOS episode ‘Amok Time’ establishes that Vulcan’s atmosphere is thin. But in the film, Kirk and Sulu do some serious Romulan smackdown on the drill platform above Vulcan with very little heavy breathing — despite being miles in the sky. How did you resolve this one as you developed the story?
COMMENT:
Loved the film, outstanding work. And the multiverse explanation makes sense — though I suppose now I’ll have to rewrite the SF manuscript I just finished that leans on linear time travel…. :-)
Bob-First of all I absolutely LOVE the movie. It was not as easy task you guys had to reinvent the franchise, draw the masses, make the hard core trek fans happy and please a studio. I think all and all you guys did a great job. I have read Countdown and I love it, I do feel that more of the events in Countdown should be on the screen than is. Makes one wonder what was cut out in editing. As it stands now the explanation for Nero and Spock’s presence in the past is too expository and the execution of the mind meld was not one of the best that have been put to screen. A lot of the mysticism that has been present in the past mind melds seemed mssing here.
BIG question why is the Enterprise built in Ohio AND much later and much larger than in the PRIME timeline?
A lot has been said about the multiverse theory but in reality in cinema and literature it isn’t as sexy as having the dire straights of all your family and friends wiped out by an incursion into the past such as Nero’s. I do love the idea that in this instance that the Prime timeline remains intact.
I do think that keeping in with the TREK tradition firnly hammered home by Enterprise that we mind screw ourselves into believing that one can travel back and forth in linear time and mess things up and have instances like in Enterprise “In a Mirror Darkly” did you see that by the way? -where an anonomly takes you back in time AND jumps or creates the tangent universe.
Although not perfectly in line with current phyisics it seems to be the only answer that works in satisfying the hundreds of time travel stories TREK has done in the past as well as the new film and our desire to preserve the present timeline.
Just like Janeway. I hate Quantum Mechanics.
190:
RD:
“LOL. Really? Because Prime Spock is NOT behaving the way he has behaved for 40 years of film & TV episodes! You even had to write a mini-dissertation to explain it for yourself! LOL”
No: Required viewing: This Side of Paradise, Amok Time, TMP, TWOK, TSFS, TVH, Unification II
In the last film, he says to dad: “Tell her (Amanda) I feel fine,” which ends the whole conflicted character arc for Spock, and allows him to grow older as a man comfortable with emotion as a key part of his being.
Nimoy slips back into that character, and it is extremely well done.
QUESTION:
Why the choice to make the Enterprise so much larger in size than the previous ships.
Love the design, was just surprised when I heard how big it was supposed to be.
QUESTION:
I’m not sure if someone has already asked this, but are there scenes that you’ve cut out (like the Rura Penthe/Klingon storyline) that you will be re-incorporating into the DVD/Blu-Ray release of Star Trek in the future? Like maybe an Extended Edition for the fans?
QUESTION: Even taking the QM-based approach to time travel into account, why wouldn’t Nero just detonate the Red Matter next to the star that will go Supernova and destroy Romulus? Even if it creates another alternate timeline, he would still have a chance of finding his pregnant wife when he gets home.
QUESTION: Why is it that neither Vulcan nor Earth have any appreciable planetary defenses? I can’t see why these two planets weren’t lit up like London during the Blitz. And are we to assume that not a single person at Starfleet Academy has a ‘live’ weapon with which to target the drill?
QUESTION:
Did you and Alex ever think that Nero would say “Hey! What a stroke of luck! Let’s go home to Romulus and try to start our lives over” after arriving when they did?
Or if he didn’t want to, that his crew would most definitely mutinee to get back home?
#225
If it was only Nero, why wouldn’t his crew get him out of there. After all, they still have a superior albeit damaged ship.
QUESTION:
now that the timeline has changed (including the look of the NCC 1701, what will future starships look like… will the Enterprise D or E have Blue Nacelles?
Could some one with Good photoshop skills give us a modified D, E or even Voyager with possible new funky engines
I wait with baited breath!!
QUESTION
What are you calling this new universe? I mean, you’ve already labeled the original as the “Prime” universe, so how do we now label the new one?
QUESTION:
Would you guys consider bringing in writers from past Trek series, such as Deep Space Nine, only perhaps on an advisory basis in order to better familiarize yourselves with the Trek universe and its dynamics?
This could maybe help avoid having to go through Q&As like this!
GREAT movie, nevertheless, BTW.
#299 Sub-Prime
QUESTION:
I DO have a “Jeopardy” like actual question, but first I need to set up my question with the complains that underlie them so you know exactly what I mean.
1. The Spock-Uhura romance is a buzzkill. In a film that has SO much else going on, this is one thing that didn’t need to happen, and which could’ve switched places with some thing essential that should NOT have been cut out of the film, like the green babe getting Kirk’s email that sets up the Kobyashi Maru test.
I understand why you hooked Spock and Uhura up for this movie, so this might be more a complaint about the next movie, that is, if I’m time traveling correctly and seeing what you are preparing to do for the next one.
But if you embroil Spock in a full blown romantic relationship with Uhura, then you turn Spock into a pointy eared human, you lose the identity crisis Spock has, and most importantly, you lose one of the most important and still relevant points of Star Trek which the Vulcan race and Mr. Spock were created to illustrate, which is that logic isn’t enough.
Sure, while I might see Uhura attracted to Spock temporarily because he‘s so mature, Uhura is also an adventurous full blooded human who goes to bars and likes to have fun, something she would always have to do without Spock, unless of course you turn Spock into a pointy eared human who does all the same things, in which case you have radically altered something far more important to keep the same than the shape of the Enterprise.
Uhura is not a follow-your-Vulcan-anywhere type of woman like Spock’s mom. So I’m having a hard time seeing where you’re going to go with this in a way that I would find credible.
The Mr. Spock that we know and love is on a momentous voyage of self discovery that takes decades, not moments, to complete. But you seem to be in a hurry to erase that journey and rush him straight to the outcome, humanizing him without the experiences that catalyze Spock’s moment of realization we see near the end of ST-TMP.
I want to see how the crew I know and loved became who they were, not an altered history Star Trek where a bipolar Spock publicly sucks face with Uhura on the transporter which is TOTALLY out of character for a guy who didn’t even like his mother fussing with his clothes in the same movie.
In addition, this Spock is one syllogism away from applying the Vulcan death grip to anyone who asks him the wrong question. I’d be careful about what I said to this guy unless I was safely locked away from reach in a titanium cage.
While Spock in the original series was occasionally prone to acts of violence, impatience, or obvious emotion, they were usually the result of some extraordinary cause: The seven year itch of Ponn Farr (Amok Time), flower spores (This Side Of Paradise), biochemical influence (The Naked Time), mind control (Plato’s Stepchildren), or time travel to the past when Vulcans were savages (All Our Yesterdays).
I know that Spock was more smiley faced in the early episodes of Star Trek before Leonard Nimoy settled on how to play the character, but the arrogant “pointy eared bastard” in this film is definitely more Clint Eastwood than Leonard Nimoy.
In addition, Spock is the contrast that defines Kirk. If you make them too similar you lose the contrast and end up with two characters who are too similar and don’t help to define the purpose of the other. You need the logical Spock to be more of a contrast to the more emotional, flirtatious, and crafty Kirk.
Finally, there are some things you can’t change with the time travel plot device, although you seem to be going in that direction. Nero may have altered the lives of the characters from the moment he went back in time, but that isn’t going to alter any history before that moment, so Vulcans are going to be the same types of people we saw in the series, which means they should be logical, which means they should perform the same STRUCTURAL purpose in your movies as they did in the series which is, again, to show that logic is not enough.
The issue has never been in my mind whether or not Vulcans have feelings (all living things do and must have them to survive), but how they control and display them, and how you had Spock display them here was a little bit disturbing.
2. Kirk getting his ass kicked five times in one movie. This Kirk has been slapped around so much he’s in danger of becoming an interstellar Dom Deluise.
So you’ve done the little time travel plot trick thingy that enables you to do almost whatever you want, so my question is:
Are we going to see this crew pull together to be the people we know and love? Are you going to turn Spock into a pointy eared human or move him away from that? And is Kirk going to get tired of being choked all the time and start doing some JiuJitsu, whether Vulcans, Romulans, and Klingons are stronger than humans or not?
Because I love these characters from TOS, and this is not the original BSG or Transformers cartoon, i.e., there’s not as much room for improvement here as there is for those other things.
Good Stuff, thank you!
#295
Vulcan’s defenses could be among the debris of the Federation starships. Nero would have taken care of them first. We just don’t get to see it.
Nero gained access to earths’ defenses through Pike’s codes, so he could simply turn them off.
QUESTION
Don’t the Nokia and Budweiser product placements contradict the post-capitalist Trek Federation envisioned by Gene Roddenberry?
I was wondering why Nero blamed the Federation and Spock for the destruction of his home world? I know that Spock said that he will try to destroy the event with red matter, but it wasn’t his fault that it didn’t happen before Romulus was destroyed. Was this event a sudden thing? I would think that Spock would have gotten there in time, but even if he didn’t, he tried his best to prevent it. In Countdown, it showed that Spock and Nero got along. I know that for plot purposes, we needed to give Nero a reason for vengence, I just think he would have needed a better reason to hate Spock and the Federation.
On the subject of red matter-the red matter device was destroyed, but whats to stop Spock from making another one? Why was so much red matter there if only a tiny bit was needed for the mission? At the end when the red matter is destroyed, wouldn’t that large amount have caused a greater explosion than the tiny amount used before?
One last thought. I think a better ending would have had Spock flying the ship into Nero’s vessile, sacrificing himself to save everyone. I think this would have set things right (no two spocks running around) and would have been a great way for him to go out. Having older spock around, with his knowlege of things to come (even if the time line has changed, some things would be the same-the borg for example) he could give the federation a lot of information that would come in too handy.
First :
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions
Next: Are we going to see the “Beam” style Phaser being fired from either the Enterprise or Hand Phaser in the next movie, or have we completely scraped the idea. I’m not going to lie the continuous beam was, to me at least, really cool. I honestly did not like the burst fire, it seamed to… and I hate to say it… Star Wars.
And:
Are you considering starting the 5 year mission in the next movie?
Thanks again!
QUESTION:
Can you clarify the transporter scene from Delta Vega? I know this has been asked before but how can they beam such vast distances from the planet to the Enterprise?
Thank you in advance.
Loved the movie!
#298
Thought about that, too. This time, when the D encounters the Borg, the cube will be the small vessel :)
QUESTION:
If the timeline in the movie is identical to that of TOS up until the moment the Narada appears before the Kelvin, as you suggest, where is Kirk’s older brother Sam? I can see how, from a scriptwriting standpoint, he might have been a distraction, but logically he should have been there on the shuttle, right?
Nerds, This is why we couldn’t bring in new viewers over the last few series/movies.
TOS was never perfect when talking about consistency…..TOS never found the need to OVER explain the mechanics to the viewers.
Having a show/movie which is entertaining is one thing, that brings in viewers….Having one which explains itself every step of the way is another, that bores viewers…..maybe doesn’t bore die hard Trek fans….but Die hard Trek fans aren’t keeping the franchise alive anymore…we need more people.
Oh I for one would have loved to see who they would have cast as Nurse Chapel….don’t forget she’s in this movie also.
QUESTION
If the time line is identical to the original until Nero arrives, then why does the USS Kelvin not look anything like the TOS Enterprise or the pilot version? Why does it instead look like the post Nero altered Enterprise? Why is it NCC-0514 and not NCC-514?
QUESTION
Why does it take 5 mins to get to Vulcan? When in The Motion Picture Scotty says it will take 4 days to travel to Vulcan from Earth? At the same time why does it then take Nero more than a day to get to Earth from Vulcan?
QUESTION
How does the Enterprise get to Earth before Nero does when the Enterprise 1st has to drop Kirk on Delta Vega, then set course towards the Federation fleet, before setting course for Titan?
QUESTION
Why does Spock set course for the fleet at warp 3 and not warp 8?
QUESTION
Where all those Temporal Time Cops to fix the timeline like we saw on Enterprise, aka crewmen Daniels?
QUESTION
How is it that the older USS Kelvin can last several minutes of battle with the Nerada while the newer federation fleet can’t last 2 minutes? OR the Enterprise can’t take more the 2 hits herself?
QUESTION
I saw one shuttle named Moore, which I assume was a nod to Ron Moore. (And loved the incoporation of Battlestar Galactica-like camera moves when showing things in space.) But this fan of all things Trek can’t place the name Gilliam on another shuttle. (First time I saw the movie I thought it said Gillian, which I thought was fun nod to ST-IV.) Which Gilliam is that shuttle named for?
QUESTION:
The Kelvin: her design doesn’t seem to match that of the TOS era and registry presents a bit of a continuity puzzle. I love the design and all (and it’s a tough little ship), but I was wondering how the design came about and why so much differentiation from TOS designs, as it was supposedly from the original TOS timeline, until Nero’s arrival, and what the deal with the registry was, as we have seen three-digit registries before (e.g. USS Grissom NCC-638 from Search for Spock), so what prompted the decision to go with NCC-0514 vs. NCC-514? Also, is the Kelvin inspired by/intended to be of the Saladin/Hermes class or is it supposed to be a vessel of another class? Final question on the subject of the Kelvin: the uniforms of the Kelvin crew are noticeably different from that of those from “The Cage”. Assuming Nero messed with the timeline, were they intended to be a predecessor uniform to those, or were they intended to be the same ones?
Lastly, what will you be calling the sequel: Star Trek 2(which will cause issues), or will it have a subtitle?
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Absolutely loved the film and congrats on having the #5 top grossing movie of 2009 and good luck with the sequel!
#291, I’m not entirely clear on your comment, but I wasn’t speaking to his mannerisms or composure, rather his sense of duty. Besides, there were two more films in canon after TVH were Spock continues to calculate the odds and do what is necessary for the best interests of the Federation and “the many”, which is what he is doing in unification, even more so for “Vulcan”. Further, in Unification Spock is betrayed. That makes me wonder how he was so easily betrayed by Nero. Nevertheless, his feelings for Vulcan are evident. What if the Romulans in unification had succeeded in invading Vulcan. Since they were so willing to destroy themselves at the end of unification, what if facing a Federation liberation force, destroyed all of Vulcan and themselves rather than suffer defeat in their conquest? I believe the Spock of unification would have sling-shot himself around the sun to fix it. Likewise with the new film, if one choses to view it as a linear timeline rather than the way Orci prefers. In the Trek universe the events in the film take place only about 17 years after Unification. So in that time, Spock has gotten so old and so disillusioned that he doesn’t care that Vulcan has been destroyed? Is he so concerned his odds are so low that it’s not even worth trying? That’s what I mean and what others are commenting on as well. The only good explanation is the one Closettrekker offers up, but even that one stretches the bounds of my disbelief given previous canon, despite his 17 years of “enlightened wisdom”.
But I am fine with this film being a complete REBOOT. I do NOT need this film to be attached to previous canon in any way shape or form. It is enough for me that Spock has come from THIS future universe, whether he is the exact same Spock I know from 40 years of film & TV. The new movie is not about him or the past, but rather the “alternate” crew.
REVISED:
QUESTION:
The Kelvin: her design doesn’t seem to match that of the TOS era and registry presents a bit of a continuity puzzle. I love the design and all (and it’s a tough little ship), but I was wondering how the design came about and why so much differentiation from TOS designs, as it was supposedly from the original TOS timeline, until Nero’s arrival, and what the deal with the registry was, as we have seen three-digit registries before (e.g. USS Grissom NCC-638 from Search for Spock), so what prompted the decision to go with NCC-0514 vs. NCC-514? Also, is the Kelvin inspired by/intended to be of the Saladin/Hermes class or is it supposed to be a vessel of another class? If so, was it given a name? Final question on the subject of the Kelvin: the uniforms of the Kelvin crew are noticeably different from that of those from “The Cage”. Assuming Nero had not messed with the timeline, were they intended to be a predecessor uniform to those, or were they intended to be the same ones?
Lastly, what will you be calling the sequel: Star Trek 2(which will cause issues), or will it have a subtitle?
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Absolutely loved the film and congrats on having the #5 top grossing movie of 2009 and good luck with the sequel!
QUESTION:
While I am aware the Enterprise is simply bigger in the alternate reality, some have commented the Kelvin is too big to fit in between the ENT and TOS eras. Would you confirm the AR Enterprise was the logical defensive progression from a large ship that succumbed to an unknown attack, whereas in TOS the smaller Enterprise was a result of a Federation that felt safe and did not need to size their ships up so much?
QUESTION:
What kind of bear is best?
no, sorry, couldn’t resist the reference to “The Office”
Mr. Orci, Mr. Kurtzman, I’d like to know how similar is the film visually to what you two imagined in your minds as you wrote out this story?
Secondly, when you two were approached to write this film and you all started out….did you perhaps feel kind of like Jerry and George when they had to write that pilot in “Seinfeld”…..or did the story just flow immediately and come together quickly? and how well do you two take constructive criticism? Or does it depend on who’s giving the critique?
Feel free to answer any, all or none of these questions.
Excellent work on the film…..I haven’t been excited for Star Trek in some time.
Question
Are the tribbles in the movie timeline neutered?
231- Cagmar,
These guys are able to pull in top tier scientific advisors, so I’m sure they will give you a clear answer (if they answer you at all). I’m guessing that somewhere in their group of advisors there are experts on string theory or proponents of multiple worlds quantum theory who advocate that there are parallel worlds being created with each roll of the dice; that we end up moving forward in time along one thread of sequential outcomes (the deterministic world you know and love) but this does not negate the presence of the parallel worlds being created. Frankly, there are alot of goofy things in Physics that open up debates like this. Some hypotheses are hard to prove but equally hard to disprove…
Anyways, if this is the case, they will probably comment that there is a point in time, space where the Narada and old Spock either could or could not return out of a black hole in front of the Kelvin. In TOS timeline, that occurance did not happen (since Kirk had a father). In this movie’s timeline it did happen. Other variations between the universes are also possible, which may be completely unrelated– again every point in time splits by this theory into all of the possible outcomes (I assume in a weighted way). Inconsistencies such as different Enterprise designs, different Kelvin designs, Spock and Uhura getting down can be attributed to this. They are not consequences of the Narada’s return but are attributable to the fact that this is an alternative reality that frankly always existed.
First of all I just would like to say I enjoyed the movie very much.
Something I found really confusing was what the entire plot hinged on. OK, so Nero becomes genocidal because Romulus is destroyed{fair enough}. But it looks like he was sucked into the black hole right after Romulus is destroyed. So he has to have become genocidal at that split second he is going into the black hole. Whereby he comes out the other side and has decided to destroy Vulcan and the Federation. Also why is the Narada {a mining vessel} the size of the Death Star and so heavily armed. Also why was the Narada hanging around while the Sun was going Nova and not helping evacuate Romulus?
One other question. Why didn’t Starfleet go looking for the Narada after the Kelvin survivors were rescued? There are other questions I have but this will do.
COMMENT:
Bob and Alex, I just read all these people’s questions about time travel, and how it’s not really possible, and how beaming so far isn’t really possible, and where on the Robau the shuttlebay is, and I just want to tell you, thank you for just giving us all a chance to see these guys again, regardless of the methodology. That’s all I cared about: Having something new.
QUESTION:
So all Spock Prime had to do to save Vulcan would be to crash his ship into the Narada when he came out of the singularity/black hole/thingy?
QUESTION: Spock watches Vulcan die from Delta Vega, making Nero’s revenge complete. Ouch! Great moment! Narada enters the past, destroys USS Kelvin. Spock Prime is captured some time later (didn’t enter this timeline when Narada did! Time travel is weird this way, it seems), his ship taken by the Narada and Spock marooned on Delta Vega… a Vulcan … moon?
Vulcan has no… never mind. ;p
Is Delta Vega a ‘moon’? Couldn’t it be an asteroid? Dwarf planet? Ice chunk? Hey, even Pluto gets knocked around in this sort of debate!
QUESTION: How does a mining vessel, even one from 2387, destroy 6 Federation Cruisers with no effort?
QUESTION: How does Amanda go from her home to the “Elders” in ten minutes without beaming and by no visible craft? For that matter why would the “Elders” allow Amanda there at all as Vulcans are shown as highly prejudiced?
QUESTION:
For the next film, have you considered using Q? Introducing him would be a perfect way to explain some of the differences between the timelines that can’t be explained by Nero’s presence, such as Vulcan’s sky, the age difference between Pike and Kirk, the pulse-style weaponry, etc.
QUESTION: If Pike was looking for personnel with extensive hand-to-hand training why not get someone from Security?
#129, Closettrekker
“Actually, beyond this forum, I don’t know anyone who has ever seen that show. Until I started coming here, I never even knew of its existence. I think you might be overestimating its appeal beyond a certain niche.”
Maybe I did overstate it, it certainly wasn’t on NBC primetime programming, but I personally do know a lot of people who watched Battlestar outside of this forum who aren’t your typical sci-fi fans. One friend in particular specifically told me he didn’t like sci-fi and loved Battlestar, and he watched it well before we met. It was widely praised in the media as well, though I would guess that many people stayed away from it just because it was on SciFi network. I’ve heard of people who said the Star Trek trailer looked good, but when they saw the title they suddenly didn’t want to see it…so there’s always going to be that no matter what. My main point was to use it as an example of a successful blend of realistic character drama and science fiction social commentary.
QUESTION
What is the progression of Uhura’s rank during the movie?
When the cadets are being sent to their assignments, Spock refers to Uhura as Lieutenant but clearly she is one of his best students. Also, Kirk and Pike refer to her as crewman or cadet on the Enterprise as she makes her way to Vulcan. What’s up with that? =)
I have to say, I was also a little disappointed with the alteration of the Star Trek timeline that I know and love. However, I look at the movie similarly to the way Bob describes the MULTIVERSE theory… the movie is good set apart from the rest of Star Trek. Its a great movie, though I can only enjoy it if I look at it as a separate entity. The movie is not really a part of Star Trek. Bob describes it as a parallel universe; I describe it as a movie in a parallel Star Trek… its based on what we know, but not a part of the same series.
In summary… its a great movie which is based on Star Trek, but its not true Star Trek.
QUESTION
In “The Cage/ Menagerie” Spock is a lieutenant serving under Number 1 and Captain Pike. In the film, he is a full commander before ever boarding the Enterprise. Did Nero’s attack on the Kelvin alter Spock’s career as well as Kirk’s life?
QUESTION:
Was there any specific reason Dr. Piper or Dr. Boyce wasn’t used as chief medical officer aboard Pike’s ship? I hate to kill them off, but it would have made for a great geek moment to hear their name when McCoy is forced into duty.
Question:
What the hell was the deal with that little fella hanging around with Scotty?
He looks like a member of the race that chased Picard, Data and Worf off their planet in Nemesis…
Did we all learn nothing from Jar Jar Binks????
If there is a sequel, please don’t put him in….because if you do, it will end up with him pressing a button or something and saving the Enterprise…
….And I’ll die a little inside hearing people laugh about it…….
QUESTION:
One of the iconic images of Spock, is the image of the science officer looking intently into his viewer, taking sensor reading while blue light flashes across his face. I thought for sure we would have something similar. Any particular reason you guys didn’t put the new Spock in that situation? I mean, it’s like Uhura without her trademark earpiece. Thanks!
QUESTION:
Although Nero’s going back in time changes events in the characters lives and events of a political or technological nature for the Federation, it would not change natural events or far-off events. For example, it wouldn’t change the eventual supernova of the Hobus Star. Nor would it change the course of the Probe that comes to talk to the whales or the course of V’Ger to Earth or the coming of the Borg. What may be an interesting thought is that your future movies may not have a need to deal with these otherwise big events because Spock Prime may, in a sense, neutralize them by briefing Starfleet and enabling them to plan ahead and provide solutions before they become crisis situations. Is it Spock Prime’s intention to do this?
QUESTION
Can you just clarify how long Spock has been abandoned on Delta Vega? In the book, there’s a quite bizarre decision to have had him there for a while, occasionally visiting the Federation outpost to try and send messages (and yet oddly going back to live in a snow hole), and Scotty noticing that he’s the hobo who pops in every now and again (yet has never spoken to, let alone asked for a sandwich). Where the hell did *that* come from??
3. warp_10 – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
What sort of process did you go through in preparing to write this movie with respect to adhering to a certain level of “canon”? (i.e. what episodes/movies did you watch, what novels did you read, what reference books did you skim, etc. and which ones actually really helped you in writing the story?
- Thanks a lot for your time, guys!
We read everything. And watched everything. Lots of scripts of the original series and the Next Generation. We read college dissertations on the meaning of Star Trek. We read the novels, fan fiction, Trek inspired books (like The Physics of Star Trek, Picard’s management book, etc…).
Every aspect of immersing ourselves in Trek helped.
5. Jerry – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Engineering? Whats the deal?
————-
The deal is that we were pursuing the aesthetic of trying to shoot as many things practically as possible to contribute to the feeling of reality. The analog feel was also part of the ethic of having the future we are presenting seem right around the corner. Also, the location we used gave us a production value that would’ve cost millions if we merely tried to build it.
6. Data – May 18, 2009
Question:
Do you think of bring some characters from TNG era in future Star Trek?
——————-
If we can do it organically, perhaps.
Bob Orci. Question. Have you started to think about writing the next movie or are you waitng a bit. Or have you started already.
COMMENT
Thanks Bob and Alex for all your hard work on the movie. It’s really great. I understand we make concessions with our scientific accuracy for dramatic effect and fun. But I think it’s great you are using the latest quantum mechanic theorys. You guys did awesome. Simple as that. This lifelong hardcore Trekkie had lots of fun watching it! Cheers!
338. There was no reason to try and build a pipe-filled 20th century industrial space for a starship 250 years in the future.
336. ucdom
Well, I can’t speak for the writers, but if you recall in the movie, just after the title card says “Three Years Later”, we see Nero capture Spock’s ship. While this is happening, Kirk is talking to McCoy about taking the Kobyashi Maru test again the next day. After the exam, little time passes before Kirk’s trial for cheating, during which starfleet receives a distress call. Then boom, waam, baam, they’re on their way to Vulcan. As Vulcan is destoyed, Spock is watching from Delta Vega. So, it is logical to assume that Spock was on Delta Vega for a period of a day or two at least, but not for too long. It still remains a good question that I would like some clarification on.
“176. screaming satellite – May 18, 2009
111. – not answering your questions but just offering some opinions:
“First off, Nero goes back in time destroys the Kelvin, which was some tiny ship on the edge of the frontier, 800 lives are saved which, is most of the crew, Kirk’s dad is killed. But, how much affect does this truly have on the timeline? regarding the technology, look of the Enterprise, etc.? All that should have changed was Kirk’s life. How can you explain all of the discontinuity between stuff we saw in TOS and this film, it should not be that much different considering many things would have already been on the drawing board around the time of the Kelvin. ”
i think the kelvins destruction caused all the changes – i believe its established in the novels that Kirks father was instrumental in designing the enterprise? – therefore thats why stuff looks different?
“Second:
‘The Cage’ to the time of ‘The Menagerie’ was 18 years, obviously Pike only commanded the Enterprise in the film for what, 2 days? So, now with Kirk in command, is the timeline pushed back? are things 18 years before they should take place in the ‘prime’ timeline? Kirk at this point should only be 16 and Chekov should be around 2, during the timeline in your film.”
wouldnt it be that due to the Narada destroying the kelvin – its sets off a change of events which means the Enterprise isnt constructed until much later so Pike never commands it for The Cage..?
hope boborci answers these – id be most interested”
Well, from what I said earlier in post 111, I forgot to explain the thing about the Kelvin and the birthdates. The birthdates of Chekov, etc. should be unchanged regardless of the Kelvin, so, their ages should be the same. I guess, you could say that the Enterprise isnt constructed until later so, no Talos IV, etc. And Pike becomes captain of the 1701 at a much older age, because she was not constructed. So, I guess you could make that argument.
Several things! Great movie! Some of your questions indicate you need to get out more and realise this is actually a film! I would be hugely happy simply to accept this film as a 100% prequel of Star Trek and just go from there as it was amazing and fixed many of the bug bears that I had with the original! If only that hand’t of had to include the alternate reality stuff to please some of the people on here! I know Star Trek is important and it is as special to me as it is to you…but it had to be modernised, and I can’t help but feel like some of the problems with the film are actually the fault of the die hard fans…
…perpares to be killed! I am on your side guys…I just feel like we need to move onwards and upwards and accept that this AMAZING film is both the future and the beginning of Star Trek! I agree with number 322’s comments, its just nice to have the whole team back!
7. Thasc – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
The Enterprise jettisoned a lot of little pods when its ‘core’ was ejected. We’ve been wondering what these are. Does the Enterprise now have multiple cores, with the singular ‘core’ term just being a, for lack of a better term a traditional name? Are the pods we see just antimatter storage pods? What’s the dealey-o?
We think of those as being the matter/anti-matter chambers of the reactor assembly. Just like a battery compartment can have multiple batteries.
Ill say this. After haveing seen this movie 7 times and 3 times at the Imax this is the best Trek Movie of all time. Even beating out Trek 2 which i did not think could happen. I can’t wait to see how You guys will top trek 11 with Trek 12.
9. TREKKIE369 – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
I see a lot of talk of ‘alternate reality’, yet this seems like it’s an alternate timeline, vs an alternate reality like the mirror universe. What is your take on this?
———————-
In our minds, the terms are interchangeable.
Just to throw this out there, I thought the industrial stuff worked great and I had comments from friends that they liked seeing that. The complaints seem kinda silly. If you want to go back to industry or create your own for the next one, I’ll be just fine with it either way.
10. Pragmaticus – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Is Admiral Christopher Pike now a paraplegic? Is he permanently paralyzed or temporarily affected by the Centurian slug?
———————-
Who can say? We’ll find out together, I hope!
QUESTION:
Why the Romulans of this movie are different from the TNG-DS9-VOY Romulans? If this Romulans came from the same universe of TNG-DS9-VOY.
Congrats for the movie boys.
17. TREKKIE369 – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Have you guys ever considered bringing Vulcan and Romulus back? And if not, how many survivors are there from both planets? (By the way, I LOVE the movie and have seen it eight times, and am aiming for twenty. Thanks)
————
Recall that in this new Universe, Romulus is still out there, as Captain Pike indicates. As for Vulcan, Spock, in his Captain’s Log, estimates that there are approximately 10,000 survivors.
Bob Orci a question. Are you and Alex going to write the next Trek and if so have you started yet or are you waitng. Also Congradulations on the Movie. Fantastic writing.
18. Thasc – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
A lot of future toys have made their way into 23rd century. We’ve been assuming that scans of the Narada made by the Kelvin allowed Federation science to progress more rapidly than in the prime timeline. Transwarp beaming would allow an almost Stargate-style transporter network to exist, bridging star systems upon which the system is established. And Spock Prime would be a wealth of information, assuming he’s willing to talk. So my question is, will we see this rapid technological growth continue in Star Trek XII, and should we expect to see the new timeline substantially diverge from the prime timeline as a result?
—————————————-
The timeline may diverge dramatically, but we imagined that Spock Prime would adhere to some for of temporal Prime Directive in which he tries to minimize knowledge of the future from affecting his new present.
19. Gorn Captain – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Do you plan to use Admiral Pike again?
And what did the Klingons in the movie look like before they were left on the cutting room floor?
sorry about that lol
———–
Same answer to both. We’ll see!
311. “AdmiralCain”
A television show or movie can be BOTH entertaining and internally consistent. It has been done before. It is not “nerdy” to ask for both. It is called having good critical taste.
20. ucdom – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
(1) I like the idea that you came up for Bones’ nickname – but was it really necessary? I mean, it isn’t a stretch for a ship’s surgeon to be nicknamed ‘Ol’ sawbones’ is it?
And why oh why oh why does the book completely fluff this line by saying “only left me with my skeleton” leaving the otherwise ill educated reader bemused as to why Kirk suddenly calls him Bones?????
(2) The Transamerica Pyramid has moved suspiciously close to the Exploratorium – was this your doing??
(3) Can you explain why a Red Matter induced wormhole or black hole (whatever) allows time travel for the Narada once, but crushes it at the end of the movie?
(4) Why, when Titan orbits in the same plane as Saturn’s rings, do we see the rings at a high angle when the Enterprise emerges from the top of Titan’s ludicrously thick atmospheric haze (PORCOOOOOOOOOO!!) ? And don’t give me that artistic license shenanigans – hire a science consultant or don’t.
(5) I seem to recall from Star Trek IV that the journey from Vulcan to Earth takes several days at warp speed, yet the Enterprise appears to arrive very quickly indeed. Discuss (and show your working).
—————————————————-
1.) We wanted to hear the word “BONES” and we figured a surgeon would not use that word organically in a scene, as in “I’m a surgeon, and they call us “sawbone’s” sometimes.
2.) Not my doing.
3.) It is the technology of the interstellar ship (the Narada) that allows one to survive crossing through a black hole. At the end, the Narada is damaged and compromised by Kirk’s attack. Like a ship, it sinks when it’s damaged.
4.) Director’s discretion.
357. boborci – May 18, 2009
(5) I seem to recall from Star Trek IV that the journey from Vulcan to Earth takes several days at warp speed, yet the Enterprise appears to arrive very quickly indeed. Discuss (and show your working).
———
Asked and answered above in body of article.
21. That Nutty Fanboy – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
While probably somewhat of a nitpicky question/observation by the Nutty Fanboy here: What happened to off-world Vulcans? The lines in the movie indicate 10.000 survivors overall, which seems rather low for a space-faring species – especially that very likely have off-world colonies.. or was the 10.000-line pointed towards survivors escaping Vulcan itself?
————–
True. Let’s just say then that the 10,000 does not count off worlders!
22. Robert Saint John – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
(just in case, with Q added this time)
Can you provide us one definitive answer on the size specifications of the Enterprise and the Kelvin? Length, width, height, tonnage, crew members, ship class, etc.
There have already been 5 conflicting answers. One from Bad Robot, three from ILM and one from the Enteprise Experience site. It would be great to be able to put these questions to rest with a ruling from the Supreme Court. Thanks!
————————
I have no idea.
22. Robert Saint John – May 18, 2009
We’ll hear the case very soon!
OK. Pretty much the flaws and faults, major an minor, other people are finding don’t bother me. I either don’t see them, or else I don’t care, so overjoyed am I to finally, after the better part of two decades, have new Star Trek that, to be frank, doesn’t SUCK. However, I would like to respectfully suggest/request the following: If you guys have ANY say over it, please, please, PLEASE work with any novelists, comic book writes/artists, game designers, et al, to keep their work consistent with this and future films, rather than existing in that nebulous maybe/maybe not realm that all the previous licensed Trek fiction existed in. Nothing bothered me more than to find out that, essentially, all those novels etc didn’t “really” happen because they were not shown on screen (though Paramount was more than happy to take in the cash from them). Star Wars has gone out of its way to find a place in continuity for just about every scrap of licensed ancillary material. Babylon 5, in its sadly abbreviated existence, attempted to integrate such works with the ongoing show from the get go. Please, PLEASE follow their model for the rebooted Trek. Starting with COUNTDOWN and the movie’s novelization by Foster, and any that may follow. Since you guys were inspired by some of the better novels from Trek’s past, I hope you will have some sympathy for this request. (Hell, I’d *love* to see new original Trek novels from some of those authors–Carey, Duane, McIntyre, P. David, the Reeves-Stevenses…or hell, why not even Gerrold, Fontana and Ellison!) Just please lodge this request with whomever is the current keeper of canon and continuity at Paramount licensing–you have a shiny new (yet familiar) universe here. Leave some dark corners and some room for interpretation, but do all you can to make sure that, for the most part, it all fits together well.
That is all. Godspeed and best wishes on your continuing mission. You have the support of this lapsed former Trek fan driven away by the increasing de-evolution of the B&B era. I trust you won’t repeat their mistakes. May you guard this franchise for a long time to come. And maybe do it for B5 someday too.
QUESTION: How emotional was it for you and the whole production gang to track your level of box-office success during the 1st weekend of release, and now the 2nd weekend? (btw – GRATZ!)
COMMENT: I agree with #138. Star Trek storytelling became like an impregnable fortress, presumably due to canon. If you know how characters die, you can never go back and put them in any real jeopardy. I think you picked the best solution: “alter the timeline…the benefit of doing it this way is that the universe is not entirely changed, but is not entirely predictable anymore. So the same characters can encounter [similar] situations, but have different outcomes.”-4/30/09 Geek Magazine Interview-Extended Version.
Star Trek canon has already well established the thought of other/multiple/parallel universes. I’m surprised that no one has mentioned TNG-”Parallels”, although #141 comes close and does refer to the “Mirror Mirror” universe.
I also like how you have played the “quantum mechanical fate function” card.
After a lot of discussion with family and friends who are old & new Trek fans, I think the reason why many people find the multiple-universe theory to be a distasteful concept is that it seems to cheapen our individuality; our lives; our souls. If one of me dies, there is an endless amount of other-me’s still around. All life is precious, but life feels less serious when you dwell on the possibility that there may be an infinite number Farrah Fawcett’s out there. We really care about our one and only Farah !!
Additionally, if the “other universe” card is played to much, you risk losing your desired effect…..to have a sense of urgency, risk and peril for the characters.
SUGGESTION: For the sake of future story telling and to avoid putting in more stones to a seemingly impregnable story-telling fortress by saying that what we saw in Star Trek was another universe, keep your options open.
There’s room for a linear timeline of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, Quantum Mechanic multi-universe scenarios, even a blend of both theories which has also been told in stories such as DS9-”Past Tense” and the entire ENT Season 3 Xindi epic. The theory-blended “Temporal Prime Directive” card and related organization may be the best one to use because it seeks to preserve the major events of a timeline while not guaranteeing the future of any one individual within that particular timeline.
“…the movie works just as well if [people] think of it as linear…I’ll bet many more people enjoyed it than would’ve otherwise because they can see it either way.”
Story-telling freedom may be more important than conforming theoretical physics to the most sophisticated theories. (Blending theories may have the same success as the “compromise” regarding representation that was put forth by Benjamin Franklin when the U.S. Congress was first established.)
THANKS AGAIN FOR A GREAT MOVIE AND BRINGING STAR TREK BACK !!!
(I carefully read through 277 posts, then I hit “refresh” and there were another 24, then another 7…Please forgive me if I missed something.)
QUESTION:
Where do you see the new film taking this franchise in the next 10-15 years? Between movies and television series which time line will be utilized the most?
And secondly as an aspiring writer (and recent graduate/victim of the economy), I was curious if there are any internships or writer/producer assistant positions open for any of your upcoming projects.
NOTICE
Guys, It is great to see so many questions. Bob has already started answering some, but there is no guarantee he can get to them all as that would take up his whole life. He will try to get to as many as possible.
Again I implore…do not be repetitive with previously asked questions in this or the last session. And try and be brief. Also dont forget the ‘QUESTION’ thing.
Question:
Why on earth did the shuttle engines sound like something from the Jetsons cartoon? Sounded really corny.
Comments:
1. I also thought Checov’s accent was overkill. Too much ‘wessel’
2. Sulu’s charctor had no stage/screen presence (charisma).
3. There appeared to be a huge contrast in technology between the bridge and engine room. It was inconsistant.
4. The romance with young Spock was so unlike the charactor we have all come to know, emotionless, cold, logical, intriguing and so forth.
So basically this movie takes place in an altered parallel universe (the altered part beginning at when Spock Prime and Nero enter it through the black hole)?
If so, would this mean that in the prime universe that the planet Vulcan is still there but Romulas is destroyed?
I hope that my understanding of all this is correct because then that could explain everything about the look of the film. The Enterprise, star fleet uniforms, even the naming of Delta Vega in the Vulcan system would mean that those were just the normal developments of that universe.
Hey Anthony. A Question for you. How Nervous or excited were you during the first week when the box office numbers came in.
QUESTION:
Did you consider giving Quinto-Spock an “Obi-Wan” moment when Vulcan was destroyed, based on what happened to him when the Intrepid was destroyed? If so, why was it omitted?
# 361 – boborci, thank you very much!
QUESTION: DVD Packaging
Will your Star Trek DVD packaging mirror the past collector’s set releases?
Question:
Why was the closing (epilogue), sequence parallel to the same kind of closing sequence as Galaxy Quest? I cringed and just couldn’t take it seriously either.
Question:
When the Enterprise first encounters Nero at Vulcan, Captain Pike makes a comment about contacting Romulus in order to negotiate a ceasefire, etc. Nero responds that he does not speak for the Empire. My question is, assuming the timelines between the two realities were the same up to the point that Nero arrived, how would the Federation have had relations with the Romulans, given that in TOS they had had no contact with the Romulans, and didn’t even know what they looked like, until Balance of Terror.
Thanks! Loved the movie.
Mike
well I imagine that my feelings were nothing compared to people at bad robot/paramount. I wanted the film to do well because I liked it and I want the franchise to succeed. I was confident the film would do well in the US but was worried about non-english speaking markets overseas. And as it turns out the film has done even better than i anticipated in the US and about what i expected overseas, maybe a bit worse. I had assumed the film would do around $200m US and $170 overseas. My new estimate is $240 US $140 overseas (which is about where paramount are guessing now).
but i remember after the ad age thing came out I got a little worried. I thought that it could be that even with all the buzz and trailers and commercials and positive reviews, that maybe the mainstream would still not trust something called ’star trek’.
COMMENT:
One more thing guys. I don’t mind Spock Prime’s voiceover closing this film. But maybe Pine’s Kirk could do it as an opening for the NEXT film?
Bob,
I think you guys handled the time travel stuff perfectly in the film. Its succinct, and gives the gist of the pertinent info for those who care to think about it, and for those who don’t, its not too talky. I certainly think its a great way to provide an intro to quantum mechanics. ;)
Bravo on the film as well. I think you and the rest of the supreme court have crafted a marvelous film. I think its interesting that some fans have tried to nitpick so many points, especially the “convenient” coincidence meetings of so many characters. I guess maybe some fans would have preferred replacing Chekov with Ensign Ricky, or Bones with Walter Bishop. :)
I LOVE the film, my entire family LOVES it, and my older cousin that doesn’t really like Star Trek is completely hooked. Thank you for putting up with your fellow fans, and thanks for a great movie.
QUESTION: And not having read through all 359 comments please forgive me if this has already been addressed.
First, from the main article:
###
GaryS: Was the timeline that Nero visited the original past up to the point that George Kirk is killed? Or was it always an alternate timeline because Nero was destined to travel there?
BobOrci: We think of it is as identical to the original until Nero arrives.
###
Now my question, based on what I see at Memory Alpha (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/2233)
In the prime universe James Kirk is born in Iowa. In the alternate timeline, he is born in the shuttlecraft. If the timelines were identical shouldn’t his birth occur in the same general location or does this suggest that each has their history?
A handful of really stupid questions in that lot.
In the scene where Kirk and Scotty beam onto the Enterprise what was the water turbine for. I just can not get a handle on how it fits into a starship engine room.
QUESTION:
In the scene where Kirk and Scotty beam onto the Enterprise what was the water turbine for. I just can not get a handle on how it fits into a starship engine room.
QUESTION:
Can you give us some insight into any advice your science consultant gave the production team, or any things you changed or adapted based on her advice?
I’m surprised so many of the nitpicking is technological instead of story…
Thanks Anthony. Always good to get your insight as well. I was expecting trek to do About 175 domesticly but im very happy to be very wrong. Now im expecting to do at least 250 and 150 world wide. 400 million is a great target.
QUESTION:
Awesome movie first of all.
Now with the Vulcan Elders, you had them in the Katric Ark. Someone already asked and you confirmed that they were doing “something” with Katras. Would this be retrieving the Katra of Surak and other maybe Vulcans? So does Sarek now have Surak’s Katra? Was there a thought to have one of the other Vulcan elders carrying the Kir’Shara?
I am sad that Vulcan was destroyed, not from a canon point of view, but from the point of view that a species has been decimated :(
But oh well, it was an awesome movie moment that’s for sure.
That’ll teach those Vulcan’s not the help Earth during the Xindi attack ;)
QUESTION:
Does this new reality mean that the Star Trek Voyager episode “Threshold” never happens? If so, I am behind this completely!
Seriously, I have to thank the entire Star Trek production team and the new management of Paramount for taking the chance on giving the ol’ girl new legs.
Wonderful film. You will be getting money from me for quite a long time.
QUESTION:
How do you reconcile the rapid promotions of certain members of the crew? Kirk wasn’t the only one who made a quantum leap in rank and stature.
This was the one part of the movie that bugged me and I’d love to hear your thinking behind it (beyond the narrative convenience of it all, of course). I’ve figured out that certain events, like Kirk’s enrollment in Starfleet, happen later in this timeline than in the prime timeline due to Nero but other things, like the promotions, happened at light speed.
QUESTION:
Absolutely stunning movie!!!
Could you promise that you will, for the sequel, insist Paramount UK will actually advertise “Star Trek 2″ – because i must admit, whilst the international takings for Trek have been strong – they probably could have been better if Trek had had the same amount of publicity (Bill board posters, Bust stop posters, TV ads before the opening week, posters on the sides of busses etc…) as Wolverine had.
QUESTION:
If there was a desire to avoid recreating GalaxyQuest, why was Scotty’s water tube ride heading into superfluous choppers?
QUESTION:
1) What is the reasoning behind bringing Damon Lindelof on board as co-writer of the sequel (instead of his previous role as Producer)? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy and respect Mr. Lindelof’s work (especially on Lost), but it seems to me that you guys did an excellent job on your own. Why mix it up?
Does he have some bad-ass idea for a sequel, and all of you guys are just acting coy? Seriously, you knew how good this movie was way (at least a year) before we did , and I find it hard to believe The Supreme Court hasn’t at least bounced some ideas off of eachother.
2) If you simply cannot resist “doing Khan” for the sequel, how important will casting be for the role?
Sorry, this has not been brief as instructed, but please indulge a few more comments. If you do find yourselves revisiting Khan, please at least flip the Kirk/Khan revenge motif. Maybe Khan could kill infant David Marcus, sending Kirk on an uncontrolled mission of vengance. And no, I don’t presume to tell you how to write your script, just saying something I’d like to see, if I have to see Khan. Whatever you do, I’m sure you will deliver another wonderful film. Thank you both, so very much, for taking your time with this Q & A, and for not only resurrecting Star Trek, but actually making it better!
QUESTION:
1. Where was Delta Vega in relation to Vulcan such that Spock could watch Vulcan being destroyed from Delta Vega? This was very confusing. When Star Trek fans hear Delta Vega, they think the planet Kirk tried to maroon Gary Mitchell on, which is closer to the edge of the galaxy. And as Spock himself said in TOS, Vulcan doesn’t have a moon (a fact which wouldn’t be changed in this film by Nero’s time traveling). Yet Vulcan was fairly large in the sky of Delta Vega in the film.
2. So why did you use a name that was already used in another part of Trek for the planet Kirk was marooned on in this film, since its hard to see how they could be the same planet?
By the way, I think it is pretty awesome that the writers are taking the time to answer these questions. Hats off!
@386:
The Kirk promotion thing bothered me as well, but after seeing it a second time it actually made sense to me. I posted my explanation at Darth Mojo, and I’m reposting it here:
Okay, I am hereby apologizing for and rescinding my complaint that Kirk’s promotion was contrived. I Saw the film a second time last night and I have to admit that Kirk’s promotion actually makes a hell of a lot more sense.
First of all, Pike urges Kirk to join Starfleet because he likes Kirk’s “leap before you look” attitude which is something Pike thinks Starfleet has lost.
So it makes sense that Pike promoted Kirk to be Spock’s First Officer immediately before he (Pike) leaves for the Romulan ship.
As First Officer, Kirk became Captain after he manipulated Spock’s emotions and forced him to resign. And it was Kirk’s assumption of command and his countermanding of Spock’s order to rendevouz with the rest of the fleet in the Laurentian system that actually saved the Earth.
If the Enterprise had followed through with Spock’s course of action, the Earth would have been destroyed like Vulcan. Plus, we wouldn’t have had that awesome image of the Enterprise rising up out of Titan’s haze.
So if saving the planet isn’t good enough to get you a formal promotion to the very position which enabled you to save the Earth, what is? Pinning the medal on Kirk was a formality. Not only did Kirk beat the Kobyashi Maru in a real world scenario that would have had Spock giving up, but Kirk proved his superior leadership capabilities.
Now that I consider all this, Kirk’s promotion seems well deserved.
i understand that this specific feature had certain goals in regards to reintroducing and rebooting the franchise.
however, as writers, do you have any intent or desire to write more dramatic or more message-oriented stories?
of is the flavor of star trek that you and J J intend to offer your audience, more of the “bad-ass” action-oriented characters and plots.
QUESTION: The engineering section of the ship is god awfull. Will a set be built for it in the next movie? Scotty looks ridiculous standing there in the middle of a brewery!
QUESTION
The Enterprise seems to be moving slowly throughout the movie. “Warp 4″ was spoken of as a difficult barrier, and at no point (that I saw) did the viewscreen’s warp factor indicator exceed 4.503. Was the warp scale recalibrated, or did Nero’s incursion somehow reduce Starfleet engine speed?
QUESTION
Forget with it was Admiral Jon Archer (as it obviously was!): is the beagle mentioned Porthos? Has veterinary science advanced so much? (Please say yes!)
QUESTION
IO9 recently speculated that the only way to explain the commonalities between all of JJ’s work is to assume that “JJ Abrams is a time-traveler from a parallel Earth here to prepare us for some kind of upcoming reality shift. Really, it’s the only solution that makes sense.” Is this true? If so, what can we expect in the impending reality-wide blue screen of death?
Thanks for participating, as always!
QUESTION:
I know that in the regular timeline, the first face-to-face encounter with a Romulan wasn’t until Kirk’s first year as captain of the Enterprise. Now, the entire crew knows what a Romulan looks like, and I wouldn’t doubt that many others do, as well. Could this seriously alter relations between, say, the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire?
re: #380, Charliehorse43.
I’m no expert on Trek Tech, but I don’t believe replicators have been invented at the time this film takes place. If this is true, then the Enterprise would have a large demand for water: drinking, cooking, cleaning, medical, etc. It would only make sense to add some sort of power generating component to the water system. That way, the water system “pays for itself”, at least in terms of power/energy. And power management seems to be a critical aspect of starship operations.
First off, I greatly enjoyed the new movie and the careful attention that you paid to continuity in writing it. A reboot that fully respects the original – almost unthinkable, but you pulled it off! Thanks.
At the same time, I do have a couple of nitpick questions. One is the whole Romulans known before the events of Balance of Terror thing already asked by others, but I also would like to know about the following….
QUESTION:
The mind-meld flashback was a nice plot device, but I wonder how you decided on the content of the recap. A supernova threatening the galaxy? It makes sense knowing the uniqueness of the situation from Countdown, but why no mention of the mass-into-energy growth in the movie? Similarly, the backstory of Nero in the comic is so detailed and enhances his character so much; why does Spock make no mention of working with him to try and prevent Romulus’ destruction? Something along the lines of, “Together we pled our case before the Vulcan Science Ministry, but they refused to help, believing that the Romulans could not be trusted with their technology. Eventually, I was able to convince them to let me use the Red Matter, but Nero had already returned home in frustration.”
QUESTION:
Did you consider adding bits of known Trek technology to the Jellyfish and Narada? It was a brilliant choice to make both vessels types never before seen: a mining ship and a civilian experimental design. However, it would have been amazing to see Nero’s men wielding some scavenged Romulan, Reman, even Klingon or Dominion weapons. It would have been a subtle, but telling visual for the fans familiar with the other shows.
QUESTION
Okay, so at the risk of seeming like a fanatic, I have a follow up on the time to Vulcan, which in post 358 boborci says is answered in the body of the article. So the answer is: intentionally vague, is that right? I’d just enjoy knowing a ballpark time frame. Are we talking… an hour? A day? A week? Because in the movie it feels like an hour, and I guess that’s what feels off to me. Artistic license is a fair answer; I’d just like to hear if that’s what the filmmakers intended to do. Thanks again.
QUESTION:
Bob and Alex:
1.) do you now understand the phrase “armchair quarterback” after reading some of the 300+ questions?!
2.) Was there any conscious decision by yourselves to leave out for example the Andorians (or any of the other races shown previously) in the film, even as background extras?
It’s not a nitpick, just wondering if you decided to shy away from the more established races bar the Vulcans and smokin hot Orion’s. It’s just something I noticed from the Academy scenes, there were a small few that weren’t recognizable and of course Gaila but none of the more well known or even previously known species.
3.) Remember we were asking a few months back about a possible companion behind the scenes book? well just copy and paste your comments from here and it’ll sell out quicker than it takes the Kelvin to crash into the Narada….
and lastly in my best Hurley impersonation:
Dudes, seriously, take a break for a while!
@388:
Yeah, I laughed when I saw the choppers and thought of Galaxy Quest too, but in reality, the water isn’t going to move throughout the ship by itself. You need a turbine to pump the water, and that’s what it was.
QUESTION:
I am a firm believer that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Why did you guys feel the need to reimagine Star Trek?
#397 :: Hm, I don’t know how clear you are on that replicator thing. I know that near the end (I believe) of the first season of The Original Series, they had a food replicator. It made some guy a bowl of soup. (But that may have been the only replicator on board.)
This is, though, again, an alternate timeline. And, who knows, maybe it hadn’t been installed yet.
re 402 Gary…
Really? After Nemesis tanked at the box office in a major way, and after Enterprise declined to the point of ratings sink hole?
Think it might have been broke yo…
Doug L.
#404 :: Correction: Enterprise did not exactly decline in ratings. It actually got fairly high praise as a series. The main reason it cancelled and is considered “failed” is because it got so few viewers. Like many good shows, it just didn’t get enough people watching.
I’m not bothered about the “canon violations” or the time travel theories, i for one saw it as a good sci fi film based on Star Trek….it was just as much a reboot as any other “reboot” out there, compare Mission Impossible to the 60s show, Batman Begins to the Adam West version…we’ve been lucky to have the Star Trek continuity untouched for all these years! even down to The Prisoner, most, if not all, 60s TV shows that were remade have had necessary changes made…
however, there are certain things that didnt jive with me…
QUESTION:
I’d mainly like to ask what purpose those spinning blades in engineering served? when i saw that scene after Kirk and Scotty beamed in the first thing i thought was “Galaxy Quest”, this is supposed to be 200+ years in the future, i would assume that the blades would be made of soft rubber or would have a stop mechanism in them so that as soon as something touched them theyd automatically shut down, why would there be something this life threatening on a starship, 200 years in the future? there is no reason for them to be dangerous as far as i could see, their only purpose is to pump water through the pipes and/or filter it….and assuming that they were infact safe, and Kirk didnt realise this…then why does he know exactly how to shut them down, but not that theyre harmless? i just saw Tim Allen and the chompers at that scene…
Also, do you think that this film would have been as successful if it was marketed in the same way that Batman Begins had been, without any real connection to past trek? as a fan i would have preferred that the film left out the references to the original timeline and the time travel…if it was marketed as a reboot from day 1 i would have been fine with that, i would have also loved to have seen a true prequel to TOS, although we all know that in the real world this would have just been the last nail in the coffin for Trek. but i think blending these two ideas, and thus the dual demographics, made the film more complicated than it needed to be. I don’t think that the trekkie fanbase are as close minded as people think….and i think that if we had been told that this was a reboot rather than a Prequel to the Original Series, the same amount of trekkies, if not more, would have been interested in the film.
in retrospect, do you think that connecting this much to the original timeline while simutaneously changing everything we know was the best course of action?
not necessarily a straightforward question i know, but i would be interested to hear the writers views on this “canon confusion” and if it should have/could have been avoided :)
Thanks
Izzy :)
# 405, Are you sure you know what “ratings” are?
#404. The core concept Star Trek wasn’t broken. That is not why Nemesis tanked. Nemesis tanked because of poor writing. The essential Star Trek as we know it works very well. Just look at some of the great new stories that have been written in the books that Orci & Kurtzman admired so much.
QUESTION
I don’t know if this has been asked or explained anywhere, but I would still like to know what those barcode scanners on the bridge are for?
I hope Bob and Alex are still reading this far….
QUESTION:
As you were writing the character of Jim Kirk as we now see him in the film, what for you were the most important of his personality traits that you felt needed to be emphasized in the film to make the audience (especially those who don’t know Trek) believe that he could be a competent leader, and someone an impressive crew like that of the Enterprise would willingly follow and trust?
COMMENT:
Thanks for taking the time to answer the fans even if you really don’t have to because the movie should speak for itself. :) I personally think it pretty much did, especially if you read between the lines. Also, I love the multiverse concept because it is so Fringe (love the show!). :)
#402
Because it was a reimagination or a dead franchise, take your pick….a “True To Canon” film would have ruined an already dead franchise, lets face it….there were too many ties to the original IMO.
#373
“Question:
When the Enterprise first encounters Nero at Vulcan, Captain Pike makes a comment about contacting Romulus in order to negotiate a ceasefire, etc. Nero responds that he does not speak for the Empire. My question is, assuming the timelines between the two realities were the same up to the point that Nero arrived, how would the Federation have had relations with the Romulans, given that in TOS they had had no contact with the Romulans, and didn’t even know what they looked like, until Balance of Terror.
Thanks! Loved the movie”
Since first contact with Nero was with the USS Kelvin, by Pikes Enterprising time Star Fleet would be aware of what they look like from that encounter.
# 403 Yah, I’m not sure about the replicators at all. I’ve never really watched TOS. Thanks, I wasn’t aware of the soup thing. I just assumed they need a lot of water for *something*.
#411. With all due respect. a “True To Canon” film would not have killed Star Trek. All it needed was a truly talented writer and director. If you build it, they will come.
Gentlemen. Simply put: Great job. This franchise was (unfortunately) a rotting corpse after Nemesis (not to comment on the last movies – just on the results). You and JJ have breathed life into it to ensure that Trek will live on far into the future. You’ve preserved the spirit of Trek and refreshed it to make it contemporary and fun again. And to all the nit-pickers and critics, I ask what they have done or accomplished – or even tried to do – to compare to all you’ve done in your careers.
It’s easy to criticize. It takes courage to take a chance and DO, and I salute you for that – and thank you for bringing Trek back. To paraphrase Bowie – the writer and filmmaker make the movie, not the critics.
Somehow, the world feels a little better with the Enterprise flying high again. Thank you.
Idea to ponder:
With computer graphics being now at the level of reproducing anything the imagination can come up with (Final Fantasy as an example), which is now approaching a decade old, has it been considered to animate photographically anyone? Imagine how freaky it would be (using the ever overindulged alternate timeline thingy), to see DeForrest Kelly walk onto the bridge in the next movie? How about River Pheonix or John Wayne? IT IS POSSIBLE.
Being animated would also allow morphing etc a lot easier. the mind boggles. No one has really ever tried this before to this extent but someone has to be first and like everything else, its only a matter of time. remember this is Sci fi! Let’s really be open minded.
Question:
Does the new Enterprise have replicator technology?
#414
True enough in regards to story line, but for it to not be a reimagination theyd have to make all the sets/costumes/props etc look like the original, atleast somewhat like the originals….and who’s gonna take buttons and switches seriously in 2009?
as i said in a previous post, i’m surprised Trek lasted this long without any major upheavals, i cant think of any other 60s TV show/franchise that has kept its continuity as straight as Star Trek over the last 4 decades…
i guess you’d have to look up the true definition of a “reboot” or “reimagination” in film terms to actually know how much of a margin there is, and where you cross the line….but i dont see as how the producers could have made a succesful film that seamlessly leads into the TOS episodes that we all own on DVD :/
QUESTION!
Mr Orci, are you going to play a Vulcan in the next movie? I think you already have the hair!
Btw, the movie is awesome. As if I made it myself…
Oh, and one more thing I just remembered, #413 ::
On the prequel series Enterprise, they had food replicators. And that was 100 years before the timeline shift, before Nero came back and screwed everything up, etc. etc. etc… So, that would all be intact. :3
#416
don’t they plan to do a similar thing in the new Terminator film?
QUESTION:
I like to believe that Scotty Prime devised this transporter theory in the 24th CENTURY, when he was able to apply his keen intellect with Next Generation era technology.
It wasn’t until he had 24th Century resources that he finally saw his lifelong theory come true.
QUESTION:
Please, please, please tell me why the Narada is flooded? I can’t figure out why Nero is sloshing around in the water when Pike is strapped to the table.
COMMENT:
PLEASE DO NOT MESS WITH KHAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let him FOREVER be the late, great, Ricardo Montalban. I am BEGGING you!
#416
Yeah, that would’ve been cool. We could have Mr Shatner back on the bridge. Fairly easy to do, just one big sphere…
QUESTION: Why was Spock (Prime)’s explanation of what happened in 2387 wasdifferent than was was given in the Countdown comics? Even though there were different dates for finishing the film and the comics, shouldn’t the discrepancies have been caught and fixed?
QUESTION: Stardate 2233.04: Is it true the .04 is a hundredth of a year? Or is it some other measuremen?
QUESTION: Why no reimagination of Finnegan? Surely “cupcake” could have been Finnegan. No?
QUESTION:
What is the intended size of this timeline’s Enterprise? In the movie its mentioned that the Kelvin had 800 people on board and that was a ship that looked to be the same size as the Enterprise, yet the TOS Enterprise has about 430 people. Also some of the engineering and shuttle bay sets didnt look like they would have fit in a ship that was anywhere near the size of the old Enterprise.
#418. My problem is not with updating the look. My problem is changing the very fabric of the key characteristics of the original series universe (eg. the destruction of Vulcan, the death of Spocks mother, the Enterprise built in Iowa, the crew getting together at the same time, Kirk’s back story etc. etc. etc.)
QUESTION: HOW DO YOU FEEL? ……………How do you feel? ………… How do you feel?
That kind of thinking #416 is what got us Jar Jar Binks!! Now be honest, Gray, are you Lucas trying to infiltrate Trek? Don’t you know it’s already been infiltrated?
#414: The trouble is that so much of “canon” has been laid down by not-so-good writers that it crowds in the good writers. I mean why don’t they just make the next one about the rise of the Outrageous Okona?
QUESTION:
Do Orci and Kurtzman have a healthy bromance going?
By the way fellas, thanks for not writing Star Trek like Transformers. It would be safe to say the Trek script was the best yet from you guys and, in my opinion, you’ve now earned your “luck” in getting all the good projects.
So don’t get lazy and satisfied…there is much for you to do. I can think of ideas for at least 5 more Trek movies, I dare you to do better.
.
Yunno, its funny. So many classic science fiction films have been “reimagined”. But guess what? Its the originals that will always stand the test of time. That is where true greatness lies.
QUESTION:
Do they still have Doritos in the 23rd century? Because they’d go really guid with that sammich.
REAL QUESTION:
As this was “Star Trek Zero”, is the next film “Star Trek One Half”, “Star Trek One”, or “Star Trek One Point Five”? In other words, do you Forward the Federation a bit now, say 7 years to Doomsday (could tie into the Energy Barrier), 12 years to V’Ger (which could still tie into the Borg), etc.? Spock Prime in the unaired scripted line says he’ll share knowledge of the future… so, will he give the Enterprise these housecleaning missions in order to save lives?
COMMENT:
Titan’s atmosphere mistake I understand. Saturn’s inclined over 26 degrees, but Titan rotates in that plane, so with respect to Titan, it’s 0.35 degrees only. Just state that using Vulcan Technology, Titan’s inclination was adjusted a few degrees in order to minimize solar eclipses by Saturn.
#433, careful. Last I said roughly the same thing to Orci, he had only insincere, sarcastic things to say back… Go ahead and say it because it’s worth saying, but don’t say nobody warned you…
QUESTION:
Will there be a determined effort to make the next Trek film less of a jumping on point and give it more of the swagger of assumed familiarity?
There was a certain level of ignorance forgiveness built into this film and, while understandable in this movie, it will likely not play as well in the next, and the next…
This also may have been some of the fuel for the hardline nitpickers that were annoyed by this movie.
.
#429 … you have a good point in some regard. Let’s just say that as a half-human (beyond the Vulcan) Spock has an eternal soul that will in eternity be judged by God. In the old timeline Spock’s soul goes to heaven by the life he lived, but this younger Spock that exists in this timeline goes to hell by the life he lived. Which soul is the ‘real’ one, and has Sci-Fi invented the possibility here that there are two souls created from one conception? I actually remember the conversation from a VERY FAMOUS 1972 magazine which pondered if the Transporter killed someone and their soul, and created the other one on the other end using carots and coal. So Star Trek has always ignored spirituality in its traditional (Covenant with God) forms. Beyond that question, I’m all for destroying a franchise which has fully run its course out to the last drop of milk from that cash cow, because everyone I talk to appreciates the new movie … and I mean everyone I’ve talked to loves it, and the old “order” is not necessarily destroyed, because it does live in the memory of Spock, and we share his memories as we contemplate this new version of fate. I know that in the end the greatest benefactor of the movie’s success is Viacom and Parmount, but this time I truly believe they deserve that success, because this really is a great movie. And trust me, I’m still pinching myself that this came on the heels of “Nemesis.”
QUESTION:
Can you answer the contradictions posed here?
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/inconsistencies-trekxi.htm
QUESTION:
Why does Spock get down on one knee to transport down to Vulcan? Was he originally scripted to beam into a low ceilinged area, but the effect was done differently in the end?
Bob,
I still love the ST: TMP enterprise the best. Ok be honest. Which Enterprise is your favorite???
68… try PINELINE lol
QUESTION:
Why the need to redo special effects that were perfectly adequate in TOS and movies. Do you really think the new transporter effect was an improvement over the one used in TOS? Did you guys change things just for the sake of change? I always remember how they made Superman take off in Superman The Movie. He looked like Peter Pn lifting off, A much better effect was how it was done in the original TV series where he had to jump to escape the pull of earths gravity. Why do movie makers feel they must change things just for the sake of change?
25. Joshua – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
What are the ‘fates’ of other canon Vulcans such as Tuvok, T’Pol, Saavik, and Spock’s half-brother Sybok?
—————
Undetermined by current canon. We’ll see!
Question for Bob Orci:
Loved the movie all four times I’ve seen it. I’m a ships guy & loved the Kelvin, the new E and the rest of the fleet. Would love some technical data on them as well as images of them (before they were blown to bits). Maybe you can get someone in marketing @ Paramount to give us an art of Star Trek XI or something to tie into the movie.
Thanks.
QUESTION:
When can we anticpate the first crossover between TOS and the new alternate timeline? Also is there an alternate timeline Mirror Universe as well?
27. NC Trekker – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
In the Foster novelization, Spock Prime told young Spock that he planned to freely share his knowledge of the future. This line was not in the movie. What is your thinking on this and how do you see the future role of Spock Prime in the new universe? It seems that with his technical knowledge, he would be a valuable resource for Starfleet or someone else perhaps?
———————————
We won’t be discussing much about the future at this point, but the idea of sharing info was a lovely embellishment by Alan Dean Foster.
35. opcode – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Perhaps it’s more of a question about production, but anyway I am curious…
I read somewhere in this website that Marc Okrand is listed in the movie credits as a Vulcan and Romulan consultant. However I didn’t hear a single line in alien language during the movie(unless I miss something). IMHO that’s too bad because I always thought that the use of alien languages in ST movies increased realism, and even Star Wars used alien language a lot (though I understand that some dramatic moments are better left in English). Anyway, what happened? Were the alien lines recorded but never used (I understand that most ST movies inserted them during post-production). And in case they were recorded, any chance of adding them to the movies when it is finally released on Bluray?
__________
You will see some deleted scenes on bluray. Not sure which yet.
Bob…
Can you please address the MYSTERY OF THE LIGHTENING STORM
I’m sure many of us have things we liked and things we felt could have been done better. However, I was wondering if I missed something – the “Lightening Storm”.
When Nero’s ship emerged from the black hole I saw lightening. When Spock’s ship came through there were the flashes of light. HOWEVER, when Kirk hears the report of a lightning storm over Vulcan I began to wonder: Does Nero’s ship always produce this effect?
NO. When the Narada enters and exits warp, no spectacular effect is seen. So, how was it that the Vulcans reported a lightning storm? Was not the lightening storm effect reserved for the black hole passage? True, Vulcan did end up in a black hole, but when the attack began what storm were they referring to?
Was this an error in the script or did I miss something?
QUESTION:
What was Nero’s beef with Spock again? When compared with Khan’s, it doesn’t make much sense.
Khan: Kirk must die because he marooned me and my followers on a desert planet for decades.
Nero: Spock must die because he tried to help out an enemy race but didn’t get there in time. Damn you, Spock.
DELTA VEGA:
There are a lot of questions asking why Delta Vega was “so close to”, or “a moon of”, Vulcan, due to the shot of Spock looking up into DV’s sky to see Vulcan sucking the big one. At least a couple of guys have mentioned the perfect explanation for this, but the same question keeps being repeated. Short story:
IT WAS IN A MIND MELD.
The viewer’s point of view is sent zipping around between planets and stars in dazzling CG transition effects. Did this actually happen too, by way of some super-advanced warp drive? Nope. It was part of how Spock’s mind is conveying his story to Kirk’s mind. By the same token, Spock probably had some sensor equipment from his ship or the Narada, given to him so that, according to Nero’s wishes, he could witness Vulcan’s destruction. Seeing his home planet die on a computer monitor would likely not have much less impact on him than having it happen before his very eyes, hence the more dramatic (perhaps…emotionally influenced?) representation in the communication of Spock’s memory to Kirk. It’s like telling a big fish story and exaggerating the size of your catch, except totally not like that. :P
37. Spocks Left Ear – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
(Love the movie) – I miss the Star Trek 2 style ship phasers. Do you think we will ever see that style again? Or do you think the new future direction of space combat is too fast for this kind of effect. Thank you!
————————–
We’ll see! I know what you mean about missing those phasers.
QUESTION:
Nero, if given his full exposure, would be a deep and intriguing character I think. But would it not be accurate to say that he was never meant to be a focal point in this movie, but rather a catalyst in tying events together and getting the crew in position for all that lay ahead of them? This is certainly not a formulaic treatment of a villain. It seems to me there is more (and less) going on there than some have suggested when they mention the role was underdeveloped. They may be taking their preconceived ideas of what function a villain should serve in a story and I think it is slightly different with Nero.
.
Question:
Bob- On the technical side of production for the sequal:
Is there any chance Paramount will shoot the next film partly or completely in IMAX format like what was done for Dark Knight? Seeing Star Trek in 70mm on a screen that big would be the ultimate experience I believe.
Question
Since Kirk and Mccoy went to Starfleet Academy together and Mccoy Was Shown as an acting Lt. Commander. What would have been Kirk’s Acting Rank since he was on the Command Track?
38. Capt Krunch – May 18, 2009
Question:
1. Vulcan…red sky or not?
2. I beleive, based on the Star Trek Chronology and episodes, that this is the right time frame…
In the Deadly Years 1967…or 2267 Kirk states he is 34 years old…if he was born in 2233 when the Kelvin is destroyed…this would be correct timeframe…Can we assume that the Enterprise is being built 2245..the established launch date? since we see her in action for the first time in 2258?
3. And lastly….why in Iowa and on the ground?
———————–
1.) Red sky is seasonal.
2.) A good assumption.
3.) The behind the camera reason related to our goal to connect a general audience to the idea that Star Trek is real and grounded (literally). The idea was based on a fan made picture we found on the internet depicting the USS ENTERPRISE in a shipyard. Alex and I showed this image to JJ, and he locked in on its value immediately.
From an in world story perspective, the idea is that Goerge Kirk’s death caused Starfleet to commemorate his sacrifice with the Riverside Shipyards.
We’ve heard the complaint that it is inefficient to build a space ship on the ground, but we figured that any ship that can literally cross the galaxy by warping space and moving faster than light is surely able to what the space shuttle can do — and that is, get into space easily.
#40: “Besides, they needed to do that so that the Prime Universe wouldn’t be “destroyed” by this new movie.”
No they didn’t. They could have just done a normal, non-convoluted reboot and the story would have been easier for general audiences to follow. I liked the movie and everyone I know who’s seen the movie likes the movie, but the #1 question I’ve heard from non-fans is some version of “Why’s the bad guy mad at grandad Spock again? I didn’t understand why he was doing that stuff.” And I’m sure as hell not going to say “here; read this prequel comic book; Star Trek is all about understanding prior backstory, after all … they even managed to preserve that in a reboot! They released new baggage before the movie even came out!”
As it is, the movie is simultaneously dumbed-down and overcomplicated, which is a good trick but not a _good_ trick.
Still: a good movie, for what it is.
41. ucdom – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Where was Majel Barret’s voice in the movie? I heard a lot of computer voices and none of them sounded like her very distinctive tone.
————-
Yes she was — in several spots!
ps question
who would you hook Spock Prime up with
t’pol ,t’pau or another vulcan?
43. Gallifrey1983 – May 18, 2009
I don’t want to stir up the Shatner issue again (though I would have loved to see him in this movie or the sequel), but I was interested in the MTV account of the scripted but unfilmed Shatner scene. You once mentioned that you might post the scripted dialogue after the film was released, is that still possible? If not, anything else you can say about that scene?
Also, it might be my imagination but some places in the film seemed to echo Generations (like Pike saying to Kirk your dad leaped before he looked and saved 800 people – see if you can do better, Kirk hanging onto edges about 4 times and not falling, Spock saying “Captains can’t cheat death”). Was any of that an intentional reference to Kirk in Generations?
—————————————-
We’ll release the scene one of these days.
As for the Generations reference, you can’t talk about Kirk cheating death without in some way having his death at the forefront of our minds!
#458
Mmmm, okay… well I’m gonna see it in IMAX next week so I’ll put me vulcan ears on and listen more closely.
Cheers
46. Reign1701A – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
While I definitely understand why you guys had to essentially reboot the franchise, aren’t you still bound my canon in many ways? The events of the movie should have no bearing on the Fesarius, the Doomsday Machine, the vampire cloud, V’Ger, and so on…all arguably major events. Won’t you be forced to acknowledge these threats as they appear in the timeline in future stories (and therefore retreading)?
—————————————-
We are bound in many ways, yes. Although those exact stories may fall under the jurisdiction of a future court since our the latest mission of exploration takes place many years before the events you just listed.
50. Reign1701A – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Why was the Enterprise built in Iowa instead of San Francisco? There was no event in the movie that could explain this change.
————-
See 456
52. Smike van Dyke – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
How can Spock observe the destruction of his homeworld from the surface of Delta Vega. Even if Delta Vega wasn’t near the edge of the galaxy, you couldn’t watch the implosion from a neighbouring planet. You couldn’t see Earth from Mars either. Is Delta Vega a Vulcan moon or what?
————————————-
I prefer to think of Delta Vega as being in close orbit (although it could be a moon), but nonetheless, we like to think of that sequence as impressionistic for a general audience. In other words, Nero could’ve beamed Spock prime down to Delta Vega with a telescope or some other type of measuring device to allow Spock to experience the pain of perceiving the destruction of his home world, but that simply isn’t very cinematic.
53. Shaun Bryer – Morrisville, Vermont – May 18, 2009
Question:
Where did the idea of giving Scotty a little alien companion come from? Keenser looks similar to the aliens in Star Trek Nemesis who chase Picard and Co. while they’re in the Argo on Kolarus. Was there meant to be a similar look. Does it really make sense to have this alien on the Enterprise in the end?
——————————————-
I believe that was JJ’s idea which he came up with very last minute. I don’t think JJ saw Nemesis, so I doubt any similarities is intentional. I like the idea of Scotty having a helper in engineering!
QUESTION:
Has anyone from the studio or the production crew discussed the possibility of more than one forthcoming Trek film and given you the clearance for linking the next two or three films with overarching storyline elements?
This would obviously be fantastic…and probably would constitute major spoilers if you were to answer in any detail, so nevermind. Just a yes / no on the possibility and many of us will be satisfied.
.
54. Captain Jack Bauer – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
What’s the deal with Chekov’s age change? I’m totally willing to buy that Nero’s interference could have moved his birth four years earlier I’m just wondering what your reasoning for that change (in terms of an in-universe explanation).
According to Memory Alpha, Chekov was born in 2245 (vs 2233 for Kirk). He was always thought of as the youngest, and we read somewhere that he was inspired by the youngest of the Monkees, Davy Jones. So the idea that he was young naturally lead to the idea that he was perhaps also a prodigy, to justify his youth.
RE: Titan. Some interesting pictures of Titan and the rings in Carolyn Porco’s talk that relate to one of the movie scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxXa9pxwzoY
58. Roberto Suarez – May 18, 2009
QUESTION: What did Nero and the other Romulans do during the 25 years that passed between Kirk’s birth and Spock Orime’s arrival? Did they just wait for Spock to arrive? I’d be pretty pissed at Nero if I was one of his colleagues and he just forced me to wait around for 25 years doing nothing.
——————————–
Canon does not say. This should be a rich area for fan fiction!
#461: I think the place where it’s easiest to spot Majel’s voice is in Chekov’s voice-recognition gag sequence.
60. Shaun Bryer – Morrisville, Vermont – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
In the Kelvin scenes, Captain Robau first is seen wearing a Starfleet insignia on his uniform. Then when he sits down in his command chair, does not have one on his shirt. When he leaves the bridge to head to the shuttle bay, it’s there again.
Why wasn’t this caught? Did you, as writer, have the opportunity to participate in the post-production process as “another set of eyes” to make sure that something like this didn’t occur?
Great movie by the way, I’ve seen in 5 times now and taken at least 20 different people (non-trekkies) to see it with me. Kudos all around.
—————-
Hmm. Never noticed. It maybe because we might have reversed (or flopped) one of the shots, but I can’t be sure.
QUESTION
I was hugely impressed by the portrayal of Amanda by Winona Ryder, and George Kirk by Chris Hemsworth in the roles of parents.
The establishment of these parental figures and a family unit seemed crucial to the film, did (or do), you have any other ideas for the families of the crew, parents or siblings?
I just ask because i think it adds a realm of realism that is overlooked in most sci-fi (in my opinion) and without the detailed inclusion of George & Winona Kirk, Amanda & Sarek, I feel there would be a lack of empathy in the film for Kirk & Spock.
(P.S. – I loved the film, thanks).
62. ML31 – May 18, 2009
Question:
How do you explain the fantastic range of the transporter on Delta Vega? The Enterprise was way way way way way out of range of any planet side transporter by the time Kirk and Scotty were beamed back.
————-
Spock Prime (Nimoy) arrives with advanced knowledge from the future which allows something which was impossible previously. As to the “TREK SCIENCE” behind it, I would have to think about it for a while, but I’m sure many of us here could come uo with a good explanation.
Will the Hobus Star destroy Romulus again in this new universe, or will the Federation have been changed enough to offer help more quickly?
63. Sarek – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
1. Is the “Admiral Archer” mentioned in the film intended to be Johnathan Archer from Enterprise? If so, he would be over a hundred years old Does the Enterprise timeline exist in this new reality?
2. Are there any plans for Spock and Uhura to get married?
3. If Khan were to be included in the next film, would you use the Eugenics Wars novels as an influence for the story? Would we see Gary Seven?
——————————
1. yes, it is Admiral Archer is a reference to the Archer we all know and love, and yes he would be over 100, which is a likely life expectancy in a futuristic space faring race of humans (as depicted by McCoy’s (Deforest Kelley) in THE NEXT GENERATION.
2. I haven’t asked them!
3. IF we went that way, anything that’s been written about K would be an influence.
#473: “As to the “TREK SCIENCE” behind it, I would have to think about it for a while, but I’m sure many of us here could come uo with a good explanation.”
Signal boosted with extract of boiled lobster-monster juice. Ironically, the frozen portions of Delta Vega are the only place where the giant lobster monsters are sufficiently juicy.
64. New Horizon – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Was there ever any thought put into developing something more along the lines of a Pike era movie series. There were years of unexplored territory…Spock and Pike served together for something like…ten years maybe? Bruce Greenwood was such an amazing force in this film…and in the end, I found myself wishing for more adventures with him in charge of the Enterprise. Wouldn’t have required the reboot…and feels a bit like a missed opportunity.
————————-
I loved PIKE in the movie. We knew he would have to be a big part of the story, but we never considered doing anything that didn’t involve the original crew s well.
77. sean – May 18, 2009
Wow, please, Bob, do yourself a favor and resist the urge to try to explain things. I was on board for this movie years ago and generally liked the new flick, but the more justification you try to give for some of the poorer choices in this film, the more awkward it becomes. The seams are showing and they’re about to rip.
———————
If you don’t want to know how sausage is made, then don’t look, but it has ben our practice to be as open to anyone who asks about our thought process and how we arrive at decisions.
79. Cap’n Kirk – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Was there a line or scene that was cut that explained why the Enterprise was being built on Earth rather than in space, or was it just for the dramatic effect of having Kirk gaze at her while contemplating his future?
————————————–
No line was cut, but above mentioned thought process went into decision.
80. SpocksinnerConflict – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Was there a reason you had Spock and Uhura show their affection in a traditional human way, as opposed to the Sarek and Amanda Vulcan finger touching usually associated with Vulcan love?
Why not a mix of the two?
It wasn’t something that upset me, it just made me wonder.
————
We actually debated that very thing, wondering if the finger ceremony would be better in the elevator, but JJ correctly pointed out that a new audience would have no idea what was going on.
81. Valenti – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Could the Borg Crisis from “First Contact”/”Star Trek Enterprise: Regeneration” be responsible for the upgrade in starship design and technology seen in the new movie as opposed to TOS?
It’s been floating in my mind for a while now.
———-
Interesting. Why not?
QUESTION
In general terms (well, be as specific as it pleases you, obviously) now that everything’s made and cut and released and seen and dissected: How different do you think this film would be had the Writer’s Strike not occurred when it did? Just tweaks to dialogue? Whole scenes? Major plot points?
87. Desiree – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
While star trek was progressive for it’s time, there’s still only a single woman in the original cast, and she worked the phones. I loved the way BSG was pretty much beyond sexism and conversely am resentful of the token female presence in Star Wars. I know it’s difficult to squeeze enough time in for the entire ensemble, but are there any plans to introduce new characters, specifically females?
————————
It is certainly on our minds.
COMMENT
Hehehe…Clearly the best way to appease some fans regarding the alternate timeline/parallel universe issue is to have more adventures in the Prime Universe. Perhaps one day if there’s a series or movie that returns to the Prime timeline, there could be an episode where the crew winds up in the new movie timeline and returns safely, ala “Mirror, Mirror”. But until then people ought to be satisfied with the novels, comics, ST: Online, etc, until Paramount decides to make a new series.
QUESTION
(1) My question is regarding naming. So the original universe is called the “Prime” timeline or universe. Have you guys come up with a name for the new reality, other than “Alternate Universe” as it’s being called on Memory Alpha? Perhaps something shorter and less likely to get confused with other universes?
(2) Also, how much consideration was given to Star Trek: Enterprise? The new timeline does not affect the events of that series, so everything that happened there still “counts”. I caught the Admiral Archer/Beagle reference, and saw a little influence in the other Starfleet ship designs. Is there any plan to reference it more in the sequel and any following films? I know not everyone liked the series, and admittedly it didn’t get very good until Seasons 3 & 4, but there’s definitely still a fan following, just as there is for every Trek iteration (even the Animated Series). I know a lot of people would love to see even minute line references to things like Denobulans, Andorians and perhaps if there are ongoing Xindi negotiations. And you know, with so few Vulcans left, it seems like a good opportunity in the sequel to have a small cameo by an aged T’Pol. ;)
(3) Finally, and this may be beyond your influence or jurisdiction, but has there been any thought in beginning a new, cohesive Star Trek Expanded Universe like Lucasfilm has done with Star Wars? Now that we have a new reality, I think it’s time to have an official “Keeper of the Holocron” for Trek, (Leeland Chee in SW). Then it could be decided what books, comics, games, etc, from the past fit and which ones don’t (with a little retconning here and there), and oversee new productions. As a fan of both series, I have to admit its hard to enjoy the Trek EU when I know none of it counts to any degree. Though I must say it’s nice to see that Countdown, Star Trek: Online and you writers of the film have had some collaboration to keep some consistency. I just think that if your intention was to bring non-Trek-Fans to the world of Star Trek with the new film (which has worked by the way), the EU materials should be accessible and understandable to those people as well as the hardcore fans.
89. MoPo – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
I understand it was a movie, but wasn’t giving a 3rd year cadet a promotion to Captain (one rank below Rear Admiral) after one mission a little rushed and forced just to get Kirk in the captain’s chair?
———————————–
Yes it would be if there were no other extenuating circumstances (like saving the world, or the recommendations of Spock Prime and Captain Pike.
People said the same about about a one term senator who jumped to the Presidency, (JFK, an inspiration for Kirk, as well as Obama).
90. Thasc – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
With ninety comments before you’ve had time to get started, are you now very much regretting doing this? :p
———
Never! This is part of the fun.
QUESTION:
How the Regulan bloodworm can Spock watch Vulcan being destroyed from the surface of Delta Vega?
Even if Delta Vega was in the same system as Vulcan (which is not impossible, but the movie would seem to indicate otherwise), the only way for Vulcan to be that close would for it to be a moon of Vulcan (and, as we all know, Vulcan has no moon), or some kind of sister planet (a sister planet which we’ve never ever seen before, in any of the multiple episodes and movies where we’ve seen the planet).
In any event, even if we explain it away as another planet in the Vulcan system which happened to be passing extremely close to Vulcan (and I mean extremely close :)), the destruction of Vulcan so close by should have had drastic effects on Delta Vega’s orbit, weather, etc…
And, lastly, why did Nero place Prime Spock on Delta Vega in the first place?
Multiple times in the movie, he indicates that his purpose for capturing Spock is to make him watch as his planet is destroyed…but doesn’t he want to watch him watch?
Randomly shooting him off to a planet in the off-chance that, if Delta Vega is not a moon or sister planet, its orbit would take it close enough at the exact right moment for Spock to watch, or, in any scenario, Spock happened to be looking up at the sky at that exact moment, and not brushing his teeth, communing with the local wildlife, etc.
Plot logic would seem to indicate that Nero have him with him on the Narada (and, indeed, that was what I was expecting watching the movie), and having him randomly appear on the planet is kind of out of left field. Of course, the real reason Spock’s on Delta Vega is so he can meet Kirk, explain everything, and set the rest of the plot in motion…but in-universe…
Care to offer an explanation for any of the above?
P.S: I did greatly enjoy the movie. This is just nitpicking. :)
92. ucdom – May 18, 2009
BIG QUESTION
In the novelization, Spock Prime says to Kirk, in the ice cave on Delta Wherever, that the Kirk he knew was born *on a farm in Iowa*
Kirk/Pine counters that *he* was born on a spaceship.
You’re doing or ADF’s??
If it’s you, then does this mean that the timeline was different PRIOR to the arrival of the Nerada??
————-
This came form one of our early drafts. No, it doesn’t mean things were different, it means that things changed at the moment of his birth. If not for the attack from the Narada, the Kelvin would’ve reached earth and Kirk would’ve been born in Iowa. The attack made Winona Kirk go into labor early.
93. Kirk1701 – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Is Kirk’s origin completely governed by FATE? Doesn’t that dehumanize him — make him more of a ‘tool of the gods’, rather than the blue-eyed humanist hero?
—————-
Question of fate has been touched on in article. In my mind, no, we are not relying on fate. Spock Prime pushing to place Kirk in the Captain’s chair is not based on the notion of fate, but on the proven empirical evidence ( from Nimoy’s past) that Kirk has an ability that others don’t.
QUESTION
Completely hypothetical by this point, and mostly just talking about TOS ideas in this new timeline – but, in my eyes, one of the reasons why WRATH OF KAHN is so great is because they’re this distance of years separating Space Seed and TWOK. It gives Khan’s hatred some historical and epic depth. If you did a Khan story in this new universe (which everyone seems to be thinking about) would it be contained to a single movie? Would Khan have to be support in one and the main antagonist in another? What TOS stories, aside from Khan, do you think would be interesting to revisit? (I always thought that “The Ultimate Computer” was an underrated episode that could get some feature-length millage out of it. Kirk and Spock vs. a killer supercomputer that takes over the Enterprise! There’s some stuff in there.) Thanks again!
98. Dennis Bailey – May 18, 2009
Leaving aside the story…as one of the producers, was there any decision made on the movie in terms of visual design, approach etc that gave you pause or worried you at the time it was made – as in “I really don’t know how people who have expectations about ‘Star Trek’ are going to react to this?”
—————
Once we committed to the sacrilege of what we were attempting, there was not having pause, however, we knew many things would be scrutinized and difficult for some fans, like the ship on earth, Spock Uhura, Kirk becoming Captain quickly, and a million other things. But we went into it with our eyes open, and we made sure that no decision was made out of ignorance of what came before. All deviations were deliberate.
Is going to be a new star trek series of any kind?
102. Andru – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Are you considering tweaking scenes/dialogues for the DVD/BlueRay release of the movie to clarify some plot issues, or are you satisfied with the theatrical cut as it is?
——–
There will be some missing scenes on DVD. But from our POV, we could always improve.
102. Andru – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Are you considering tweaking scenes/dialogues for the DVD/BlueRay release of the movie to clarify some plot issues, or are you satisfied with the theatrical cut as it is?
——–
There will be some missing scenes on DVD. But from our POV, we could always improve.
103. cugel the clever – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
In “Countdown”, the Narada effortlessly destroyed an armada of 24th century Klingon warships and disabled the Enterprise-E with one volley. However, in the film, the Kelvin (and early 23rd century ship) actually managed to exchange fire and survive for at least several minutes. It even managed to damage the Narada by ramming it. Logically, this makes no sense…. it should have been destroyed immediately (and Kirk&mother killed) given the firepower possessed by the Narada.
This is like the Merrimac surviving a firefight with the Bismark.
Care to explain this inconsistency?
—————-
Easy. The comic is not canon?
QUESTION
How does anybody know that Romulans and Vulcans are distant cousins/genetically related if Earth people haven’t seen Romulans face-to-face up until this point, as shown in “Balance of Terror”?
We have a few examples, first “I can’t distinguish Romulan from Vulcan” communications, then Pike doesn’t have any major reaction to seeing a Romulan, and finally Spock actually says something about their being distant cousins… he didn’t seem to know this in the Original Series episode, so how in this universe does he? Was it a result of the Narada coming through the black hole? Give me something, here!
104. Enterprise – May 18, 2009
Question
Was the assistant alien that was a friend to Scotty a member of Starfleet too, or was he just at Delta Vega when Scotty got there?
———
Starfleet.
QUESTION:
Mr. Orci, can you talk about how thingss wwill change with Mr. Lindelof being added to your team for the sequel? Will you and Mr. Kurtzman have to adjust your normal relationship.
Also, one more if you’ll permit me, do you think the fact that the next movie will not be shot during a strike allow you a freedom that you weren’t afforded this time?
105. George Matthias – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Are you guys going to release the script? As an aspiring screenwriter I’d love to get my hands on it!
———-
I think Paramount does intend to release it. Will find out.
QUESTION:
Isnt there a way you could fix the timeline though? Im thinking New Vulcan replacing the old would be sufficient to explain how the timeline has changed but not all the events that come after this. As long as the remaining Vulcans choose a planet similiar to the old home, it could be presented as Vulcan and not change many of the events that have occured in Trek. I know some fans will say that this was never mentioned in TOS but doesnt that in itself give you an opening to fix the timeline without doing another time travel movie?
107. Red-Shirted Monkey – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
If Spock Prime was so aware he was in an alternate timeline, why would he imply the saying “live long and prosper” would be self-serving?
——————–
Good bit of nitpicking there! He is still talking to himself.
109. Red-Shirted Monkey – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Did you realize that the worst Jackie Chan movie user better rationale and choreography for disarming characters to allow hand-to-hand combat than what occurred on the mining platform?
——————
No, I didn’t know that!
QUESTION
So now that you’re writing a sequel, would the followups probably return to the subtitle naming that happened in the TNG movies? What I mean is, you can’t really call the next one Star Trek 2, since that’s already taken, and it would just confuse people years later in a video store, not to mention it would bring down the full weight of comparing your sequel to the original Star Trek II (with some fans I’ve seen, I wouldn’t recommend it).
So would you return to subtitled titles like “Star Trek: First Contact” (ex: “Star Trek: Infinity” or something), or maybe go the route of The Dark Knight and call it something like or “These Are The Voyages” or “The Final Frontier or “Enterprise” or something? (Of course most of those are already used too come to think of it…)
QUESTION
#494: “Easy. The comic is not canon?”
That’s a relief. Could you say it again without the question mark, just to make absolute sure? :)
111. Wes – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Actually a couple:
First off, Nero goes back in time destroys the Kelvin, which was some tiny ship on the edge of the frontier, 800 lives are saved which, is most of the crew, Kirk’s dad is killed. But, how much affect does this truly have on the timeline? regarding the technology, look of the Enterprise, etc.? All that should have changed was Kirk’s life. How can you explain all of the discontinuity between stuff we saw in TOS and this film, it should not be that much different considering many things would have already been on the drawing board around the time of the Kelvin.
Second:
‘The Cage’ to the time of ‘The Menagerie’ was 18 years, obviously Pike only commanded the Enterprise in the film for what, 2 days? So, now with Kirk in command, is the timeline pushed back? are things 18 years before they should take place in the ‘prime’ timeline? Kirk at this point should only be 16 and Chekov should be around 2, during the timeline in your film.
Third:
Is Kirk’s elder brother alive and well? Since the prime timeline existed until Nero came through, Kirk’s elder brother should be out there? Or was that the kid he drove by in the Corvette?
Fourth:
Are you saying that the ships rotate in space to maintain the gravity?
Fifth:
It seems like the timeline is now relatively unaffected, Kirk is in command, everyone is where they should be, etc. So, how much different will this timeline be?
———–
1. You’ll have to get more specific. The short answer is to google the “butterfly effect.”
2. Can’t speak to that.
3. Canon is ambiguous on the matter. The kid on the road was originally meant to be his brother, and still could be, I suppose.
4. No. Just forgot which way is up.
5. We’ll see! Some things the same, some different.
QUESTION:
When you were writing the movie, did you picture a young Shatner when you wrote scenes for Kirk, a young Nimoy for Spock, etc? Or did you have casting ideas in mind that might have influenced your writing?
499 – SDF
This universe is SUPPOSED to be different. Abrams/Orci/Kurtsman and Lindelof can do new stuff that never happened in TOS
QUESTION:
Can you explain why the planet Spock is first shown on is identified as the planet “Vulkan”? And does that mean the planet that was eaten by red matter is not the actual homeworld of the Vulcans, but is instead some other colony of theirs? Like maybe their resort planet… with blue skies and the moon Delta Vega instead of it being the actual planet “VULCAN”? Y’know that planet “Vulcan”, the one with the red sky and no moons (at all) that all actual Star Trek fans are familiar with?
115. Bart – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
You cited the novel “Prime Directive” as something that you read and were influenced by. I read and loved that book. Is there anything particular, plot or character development in the movie that is a “tip of the hat” to that story?
—————–
The inner monologue of the characters in that book inspired our characterizations and descriptions in the script, but nothing specifically story-wise was referenced.
117. Kyle – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
1. Do you see the new direction of the franchise allowing for more moral and ethical discussions in future movies? Such as the Genesis device in Wrath of Khan? Surely the new Battlestar Galactica has shown that realistic character drama can be combined with a sci-fi social commentary and be enjoyed by a wide audience, including people who say they don’t like science fiction.
2. I was amazed at how you balanced the new timeline scenario while also making it feel like these characters will grow to be the people we know. Part of what I feel makes the film enjoyable is that we do know who these characters become later, that Kirk mentions his solution to the Kobayashi Maru during Star Trek II, etc, that they become the family we know. Do you agree? Where do you think the balance is between the happy nostalgia of knowing who these characters are and what’s ahead for them, and keeping them in honest peril?
3. Last geeky question that you’ve probably been asked already….one can assume that the star that destroyed Romulus is still headed for that fate some years later, no events in the new universe seemingly changed that….did Nero destroy Vulcan in vain? It also held the technology to save Romulus.
—————-
1. There is indeed much room to tackle meaty ethical or moral dilemmas!
2. The balance you speak of is the hardest part. It just has to feel organic to the story, and not just including details from a list that don’t fit.
3. They have a lot of time to deal with it, and now they know. Presumably, the technology will be available again in time.
QUESTION:
Isn’t it possible that some of the more current Trek shows actually take place in the new timeline?
In fact, isn’t it possible that maybe, just maybe, everything after All Good Things is a part of the post-Nero timeline?
Case in point….
1. It is clear that when Scotty arrived in the 24th century, he thought Kirk was alive. Despite claims by some to the contrary, he was perfectly lucid when he made that comment, and no one corrected him. See Relics.
Yet in Generations, Scotty was present when Kirk disappeared on the Enterprise B.
2. In All Good Things, we are shown that 25 years later, the Enterprise D still exists.
Yet in Generations, the Enterprise D is destroyed.
3. In Star Trek VI, there is a member on Sulu’s crew named Valtane. At the end of the movie, Valtane is seen in the background as Sulu and crew say goodbye to Kirk and crew.
Yet in the Voyager episode Flashback, Valtane is killed.
4. Also in Trek VI, it is evident that the events of the movie take place 3 months after the explosion of Praxis.
Yet in Flashback, the events take place within days.
Couldn’t you actually pick and choose now?
QUESTION
1) How was the novel Best Destiny an influence? The smart-ass directionless Kirk & his parent’s names?
2) Where’s Robert April in this timeline? Was the Enterprise’s launch in the JJ-verse delayed? Is that why he’s not behind the wheel?
Loved the new flick; really happy that ST has received a new lease on life.
Also, while I love the debates and friendly nitpicking, I think it is important to remember that ST is really about it’s characters and the ethical/philosophical dilemmas they find themselves in. The science serves to move the plot forward so that the characters can explore facets of the human experience from new and unique perspectives. I love that the science of ST often reflects current theory and then informs future discoveries. But it is ultimately shaped by the writers to support the story. This is nothing new for ST (or other sci-fi), so I find it interesting that the new movie is held to higher standards. Although I guess it’s just part of the process that ST fans are going through in order to mold the new “canon” into their carefully constructed fantasy worlds. This is no criticism. I am here doing the same thing– can’t wait for the sequel!
QUESTION
KLINGONS. Bumpy heads? Non-bumpy? If Klingons appear in the sequel, would you use exclusively one or the other or have both? After all, Star Trek: Enterprise and Deep Space Nine both acknowledged that there were the two types, and I think that now that that has been established, it would be neat to see the two “castes” and how they interact with each other. I had always imagined that in the era of the new movie that the Augment Klingons came to power over the normal Klingons. And I wouldn’t worry too much about aliens looking too human (take a look at the nurse at Kirk’s birth, she’s pretty darn close). Maybe the Augments could have less pronounced bumps or something.
131. Tyler J. Anderson – May 18, 2009
Question:
The probe from The Voyage Home would be unaffected by the time line change. So therefore will the Earth be destroyed by it in 2286?
————-
We’ll see!
456
1.) Red sky is seasonal.
Like Odessa Texas in April and May?
133. RobertPidgeon – May 18, 2009
Did you find it fustrating not having the ability to amend the script as they where filming because of the writers strike? And is their opportunity to clear up any holes or confusion with the release of the DVD?
————
Not really. Writer’s dream of a situation where their script can’t be changed!
Correction.
‘Writers dream…”
134. Adam – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Vulcans, their culture and their planet have obviously had a huge influence on the Federation since it’s inception. From science, to art, to mysticism, Vulcan has always been as much apart of Federation culture as Earth. With Vulcan destroyed in this parallel timeline, will the Federation unfold in a way that it should, or will it become something completely different, completely… Human? And don’t say “you’ll have to wait and see.” I want to know your opinion on the matter.
———
i would say that there influence will absolutely still be felt, perhaps more so as the Federation rallys around the remaining Vulcan colony to assure they are safe going forward.
Correction: “their influence…”
Question:
Why, if Nero changes the timeline starting with the Kelvin, and that means Enterprise existed and happened the way we saw; why does Trip’s engineering look so much more advanced than Scotty’s? In fact, why is it that way with the Kelvin as well?
#517: If you stop to correct all of your spelling errors, punctuation errors and typographical errors, you’ll be doing nothing but that all night. :) I’m sure we all understand that you’re typing up a STORM right now, so such little slips are understandable (a crew of poorly-paid copy editors are waiting in the wings with mops and brooms). Frankly I’m worried that your keyboard might actually catch fire at the rate you’re going …
136. sean – May 18, 2009
#103
I’ll answer that, if you don’t mind – re-watch the film and the final scene he appears in he’s clearly wearing Engineering Red.
QUESTION:
1)Since they appear to be very similar, was there any point where you considered simply using Ceti Eels instead of Centauran Slugs?
2)Was the Spock/Uhura romance something you came up with off the top of your heads, or was this based on the few subtle allusions to Uhura’s crush on Spock from TOS?
3)When Spock Prime sees Vulcan destroyed, was this figurative, meaning he sensed it, or was he literally witnessing it from the planet’s surface?
Thanks so much!
——–
1. Yes, we considered it, but we wanted ‘homage’ instead of a direct lift.
2. It was off the top of our heads, although after the fact, we looked back at some episodes and noticed a moment or two of flirtation that we’d never noticed between Spock and Uhura.
3. I like to think of it as figurative (or impressionistic).
142. screaming satellite – May 18, 2009
A QUESTION:
1. you may not be able to answer this but were there any A list cameos that very nearly happened – e.g. Harrison Ford, Cruise, Hanks etc…maybe even Patrick Stewart in a Picard cameo (mind meld flashback)
2. In Countdown its revealed that the Narada has Borg technology….was there any consideration to have the borg mentioned directly or indirectly in the movie?
——-
1. No comment!
2. No, we didn’t think about that because we felt there was already plenty of ground to cover without it.
QUESTION:
Although you have clearly explained that we are dealing with an alternate time line, would you admit that the notion of restoring the Universe in later stories is still an interesting concept to toy with?
157. Red-Shirted Monkey – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Was it logical for Spock Prime to risk the existence of Earth in order to nurture the friendship of young Spock and Kirk, and if your answer includes the phrase “needs of the one” don’t you think that’s a stretch?
——————————–
I assume Spock also believed his plan had the best chance of success. And did you just advise me not to quote Trek philosophy as an answer?!;)
QUESTION
Kudos for the inclusion of small dialogue references to previous shows (Melvaran mud fleas appeared in Enterprise, Klabnian eels, here fire tea, appeared in TNG). Are we right in assuming that Memory Alpha was used to research those snippets (not implying that you don’t know all 700+ episodes by heart) ;-)
Here’s the page for the movie, by the way:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_(film)
162. lawmanjcl – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
As compared with Spock Prime, Amanda’s premature death triggering an earlier resolution of Young Spock’s estrangement with Sarek (an estrangement which Spock Prime arguably never quite fully resolved given the “Sarek” and “Unification” TNG episodes), and the earlier resolution of Young Spock’s struggle with logic and emotion perhaps triggered by the same event (a struggle which Spock Prime only began to resolve after his encounter with V’ger) — were these intentional decisions made when first setting out to craft the movie’s story outline?
—————–
we didn’t start with those conclusions as endpoints, but they were the logical and natural progression given where the story took us. Half intentional up front, half finding it as we go.
165. That One Guy – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
What does tribble taste like? Clearly it can’t be that good, since Mr. Scott had one sitting in a cage, completely healthy and purring.
——-
Turns out they’re potentially poisonous, like BLOW FISH!;)
167. Catie – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
What inspired you to put Spock and Uhura together? By the way, I loved the movie!!!!
——–
The death of Spock’s mother inspired us to accelerate Spock’s emotional development, including his acceptance of a human relationship (the way his father accepted one).
Question:
Can the Enterprise float with all 6 forward compartments flooded? Do you consider this to be safer than previous designs of starships?
Does it carry enough lifeboats?
172. Just another German trekker – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Some passages in the movie seem to indicate that there’s still some kind of monetary economy in the Star Trek Universe. How else could, for example, McCoy have “nowhere else to go” after his divorce?
Have you been aware of the fact that mainly this plot point (along with other, less crucial, ones) couldn’t withstand close examination given the fact that there is no money in the Star Trek Universe? (I mean: He’s a physicist – how could he NOT be of service on earth?)
————-
And Kirk offers to pay for Uhura’s drink at the bar, There’s money, or some kind of credit system in this universe.
QUESTION:
If Countdown isn’t canonical, then are you implying that the events leading up tot he movie unfolded (or may have unfolded) in a completely different manner? Could Spock have outright refused to help Nero? If so, why release the comics at all?
177. Doug L. – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
For me, the main characters, Kirk, Spcck & Nero (as antagonist) are largely fleshed out with cut scenes and cliche’s…. ie Kirk is a badboy because he gets into car fights, wrecks cars and has no father… I feel there is a lack of both clear motivation and emotional impact as a result.
Do you think this is a result of script, editing, directing, or do you disagree?
——-
Obviously I disagree, however as the writers, we always take full responsibility for any dissatisfaction.
180. TerokNor – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Why didn’t Kirk, Sulu and Olsen take any phasers on the mission to the drill? (Other than to show us a cool fist/sword fight, of course)? Please ignore this question if this was somehow mentioned in the movie and I missed it.
——–
They did. Kirk’s gets knocked out of his hand.
180. TerokNor – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Why didn’t Kirk, Sulu and Olsen take any phasers on the mission to the drill? (Other than to show us a cool fist/sword fight, of course)? Please ignore this question if this was somehow mentioned in the movie and I missed it.
QUESTION:
Why was there a lightning storm in space both near Vulcan (mentioned by Chekov, I think) and near the Klingon prison planet (the transmission Uhura decoded)? The original lightning storm (mentioned by Kirk) was apparently caused by the temporal rift the Narada passed through. When the Jellyfish came through 25 years later, a similar storm was seen. So how could such a storm be at those other two locations when there was no Red Matter-induced time travel anywhere nearby?
—————-
The second lightning storm is the one caused by Spock’s (Nimoy) arrival. Spock went through the black hole later, which is why he appeared later from falling into the same, original, red matter created black hole.
#532: “If Countdown isn’t canonical [...] why release the comics at all?”
The movie novelizations (for example) have never been canonical, either, for a point of comparison. I’m not proposing to answer your question (you didn’t ask ME, after all), just providing food for thought on it.
QUESTION
The time travel issues have been well-explained — but one scene in particular has irked and confused me
Spock watching Vulcan implode from the surface of Delta Vega
This could only be the case if the Detla Vega in the movie is a moon or planetoid in the vulcan system
Can we just assume this is the case, and that it isnt the dilithium cracking station Delta Vega, located at the edge of the galaxy…?
I gotta say I love the parallel universe idea. And I love the Porthos reference, because it keeps all the characters from past Trek’s alive and well. Just some place else.
I know, not a question, but the amount of flack this concept is getting is way out of hand. But in keeping with what’s going on here:
QUESTION:
It seems that there is a healthy does of Star Wars (notably “A New Hope” (note the references to Kirk as a farmboy)) in this particular Trek universe. Is that something intended or is it a byproduct of creating something more fast and fun over the more heavy handed Trek of old?
QUESTION:
Was it intentional to have Kirk get his ass beat that much?
COMMENT:
494. Boborci – May 18, 2009
103. cugel the clever – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
In “Countdown”, the Narada effortlessly destroyed an armada of 24th century Klingon warships and disabled the Enterprise-E with one volley. However, in the film, the Kelvin (and early 23rd century ship) actually managed to exchange fire and survive for at least several minutes. It even managed to damage the Narada by ramming it. Logically, this makes no sense…. it should have been destroyed immediately (and Kirk&mother killed) given the firepower possessed by the Narada.
This is like the Merrimac surviving a firefight with the Bismark.
Care to explain this inconsistency?
—————-
Easy. The comic is not canon?
An answer…….
………………I assumed the Narada was compromised and somewhat weaker having gone through the event horizon of the singularity, easy really.
Re: #377
QUESTION ANSWERED
Wow, Mr. Orci! Awesome to see you answer all these questions. I later found that mine was answered as a similar one was posed back in #92 regarding the location of Kirk’s birth.
QUESTION: (followup)
Also, is it possible in future installments of star trek that we can actually see Kirk beat more ass?
P.S. I’m perfectly OK with a what-if scenario of Kirk facing off against Picard. It doesn’t even have to be in canon. Hell, put it at the end of the movie after the credits. I just want to see it.
Question
Did the fact that Sisko on DS9, while speaking as one of the god-like creatures the Bajorans worshipped, mention that time is actually NOT liner as humans believe – influence your take on time travel and does that not make this notion canonical (before your movie) and therefore refute your critics on the matter?
REALLY DUMB FAN QUESTION:
How did you guys see the relationship between Uhura and Spock fitting into our favorite Vulcan’s Ponn Farr clock?
I guess it’s always been ambiguous whether the seven-year period means no interest in sex (Wikipedia tells me this is the preferred view among slash fiction writers), or whether it just means Spock’s not on the marriage market for a while.
But if he’s only this passionate because of a visit from P.F., does that mean the next movie will start with Spock not being that into her?
Question:
How could the Kelvin possibly be from the original time line before Nero came along? First off, that ship seems kind of advanced for a TOS ship. Second off, should they not have had on the uniforms as seen in “The Cage” at that point? And third off, Kirk was born in Iowa! Yet in this film he is born in space. Are you saying that had Nero not come along, Kirk’s mother wouldn’t have gone into labor till they made it back to Earth?
Clearly, your film was a re-start from the very start and before it started!
QUESTION: (writing)
What, for you, is the underlying theme of the movie? Or as Michael Piller once said, “What is it *about*?” (Obviously I know what the story is — I mean the thematic basis you were hoping to convey? I’m interested to know what the primary concept was for you guys).
——
I’ll leave analyzing the them to others.
correction:
I’ll leave analyzing the THEME to others.
#542: I want to see Chris Pine fight with evil Chris Pine.
210. Matthew Weflen – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
In what universe would Spock have sex with a cadet who was subordinate to him? Did Nero’s incursion have some sort of effect on Spock’s characterization prior to the destruction of
Vulcan?
——————-
Didn’t see any sex.
——————–
QUESTION
How does destroying the warp core HELP someone escape the pull of a black hole?
——————-
The matter/antimatter reaction at the even horizon is so energetic that, coupled with the field of virtual particles being created at the even horizon, has the effect of expanding space locally (much like the expansion discussed after the big bang) to put the Enterprise outside of the point of no return.
Or something!
———————
In 25 years, no one on the Narada said: “Hey, Mr. Nero, why don’t we go home and have sex with Romulan women…. or WARN them of the impending supernova…. or STOP the impending supernova with some of the RED MATTER we have?
——————
Perhaps someone did suggest going back to Romulus. We don’t know since we didn’t see that time elapse. As for the red matter, Nero does not have any until he captures Spock Prime (Nimoy).
—————–
QUESTION
If Spock Prime KNOWS he is on a planet with a Starfleet base, why does he not simply go to this base and warn the Federation of the Nero threat? Does Spock Prime also KNOW that PineKirk will be marooned there by QuintoSpock?
—————————
Everything happens too fast. Nero drops him in the middle of nowhere and goes right to Vulcan, however, Spock is indeed on his way to the base when Kirk finds him.
—————————-
QUESTION
Are you using stardates or Julian calendar dates? It sounded like a bastardized combination in the film.
————————-
It is a new bastardized version indeed!
215. trekntech – May 18, 2009
Is it important to you that the Star Trek franchise continue to break new ground and continue to serve as an allegory for contemporary issues rather than rehashing stories that have come before?
————-
Absolutely.
QUESTION: How did Scotty get to be Brewmaster, I mean Chief Engineer? I mean, I know Olsen got redshirted out of existence on the drill, but I’m sure there had to be someone more familiar with the ship, and next in line for the post, than Random Exiled Transporter Tech Who’s Not Even Assigned To The Ship And Hasn’t Even Set Foot In Her Til This Afternoon. I know Scotty’s gotta end up the engineer, but c’mon ;D
And I liked the little climby guy. Lighten up, folks.
Question:
During the Kobayashi Maru test when Kirk is eating the apple, were you paying respect to TWOK when Kirk is in the Genesis cave eating an apple while explaining how he beat the no win sonario to Lt. Saavik? Thanks!
218. Unbel1ever – May 18, 2009
1. QUESTION:
Should we consider Nero’s Klingon imprisonment as never happened ? If it happened, the Klingons had 25 years to study the Narada…..
2. QUESTION:
If the travel time to Vulcan can be seen as longer than 5 minutes, why does Sulu report “maximum warp” in the same scene as Chekov begins his announcement. Is the trip that short, does the E accelerate really slow or does Sulu just report something obvious again ?
3. QUESTION:
Kirk says to Nero, that the Narada is too close to the singularity to survive without help, which he is “willing to provide”. Why does he fire on the Narada after Nero refuses his help and risks his ship and crew by remaining there ?
———
1. I believe the rule is that if it is not on screen, it’s not canon, right?
2. See other answers. The time it takes to get there is purposely ambiguous and impressionistic as evidenced by Bones wardrobe change before Kirk wakes up to Chekov’s announcement.
3. He can’t risk Nero traveling through time again.
219. PA – May 18, 2009
QUESTIONS:
I understand why destroying Vulcan on the alternate timeline was ‘necessary’ for the movie. Did you also consider the effect of destroying Romulus in the Prime timeline or was it entirely secondary to what you wanted to achieve in the movie?
Was it ever an issue to consider to effects of the movie on the Prime timeline?
Do you think there should ever be a return to the Prime timeline and the post TOS characters?
————-
The Countdown comic shows that the TNG timeline continues on after Spock’s death/disappearance. I would love to see another TNG movie.
Wasting space, I know, but thank you Mr. Orci for taking the time! Brilliant story, by the way. Exceeded even my optimistic expectations.
220. Docor Pulaski – May 18, 2009
I wondered. Since everything before Nero changed the timeline is as it was. Does that mean that Star Trek: Enterprise still happened in this new Star Trek universe? So Archer, T’Pol, Trip etc. and all their adventures happened?
———
Sounds logical.
223. TrekLost – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
One of the cool things I liked were the little continuity nods, like how some of the Admirals in the SFA scene were from TOS, the tribble on Scotty’s desk and how Jim was eating an apple during the Kobayashi Maru (just as he was when recounting the incident in TWOK). Were those written in by you guys, or were they just put in by Abrams or the set director?
Thanks, it was a great movie.
————————-
A little of both.
Bob,
Thanks for doing this. It’s a most impressive act of fan service, even if the answers themselves aren’t always as impressive ;-)
For instance – any explosion that could escape the event horizon of a black hole would have to be expanding at a rate of speed greater than light (how much greater depends on the escape velocity of the black hole). This isn’t possible in the Einsteinian model of relativistic spacetime. Then, this extremely energetic explosion would have to somehow 1. not destroy the enterprise; yet 2. transfer enough momentum to it to somehow accelerate it past the escape velocity threshold.
It just seems like better science, not to mention writing, to say that:
1. the escape velocity of this black hole is lightspeed+X
2. the Enterprise can go lightspeed+X+1, if Scotty performs a dramatic engineering miracle, of course.
Let me say, I enjoyed the film while my butt was planted in the theater seat. I thought the actors did a great job, the mix of humor, fisticuffs, and space drama was very good, and the effects were great.
It just didn’t stand up to a lot of scrutiny on the way home – scrutinizing being something we Trekkies are known for. I would have liked a bit more science fiction and a bit less space opera, myself.
I got over the alternate timeline stuff very quickly. What I couldn’t get over were world-breaking conceits, such as transwarp beaming (which obviates the entire concept of the shows) and especially the insta-promotion at the end (which diminishes the internal logic of “Starfleet”).
232. TrekLost – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
As the dust has (slowly) begun to settle from the release of the movie, do the two of you guys feel like you have the best job in the world, or the worst?
UNRELATED QUESTION:
Were you worried that the ending to Season 1 of “Fringe” would be considered insensitive (I didn’t consider it so, but I’m sure some may have)?
1. The best!
2. Yes, we were concerned, but in reading about the victim’s families, I learned how unsatisfied they have been with the government’s response in terms of accountability, and so on, and we realized they did not want the discussion of the events of that day to be dropped. Many have invoked the victim’s families as a reason the subject should be taboo, but they themselves have spoken out against this impression.
Hey BobOrci
Thanks for taking time to answer questions here.
QUESTION
The opening Kelvin scenes were perfect…the pull away from the ship with the TOS-like sounds effects. Was this always intended to begin the movie ?
Thanks
Question.
Do you think Paramount will do a movie or special in the normal universe? If not, why?
250. Cousin Itt – May 18, 2009
Question: Many of the problems I have with the film involve actions that seem to be very out of character. How do you justify young Spock leaving the Enterprise to try and save his parents, despite the fact that Captain Pike is gone, and he is in command during a battle situation. Spock’s devotion to duty has been demonstrated over and over again, and this is something that this character simply would not do.
————————
Unless he is the only one who knows what to do to SAVE HIS DYING CULTURE. Certainly there must be some provisions in the regulations for that. In fact, I believe in TNG, such a thing is spelled out, but I can’t remember the episode. Also, Spock is not as fully formed in this moment as when you first met him.
251. DaggerScribe – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Is the mind-meld as complete as canon always told us, i.e. a complete transfer of experiences? If so, young Kirk would know all about the Prime timeline as old Spock lived it. Any plans to show him using that knowledge?
Or is this a new, more selective type of mind-meld that contained only the transfer seen in the movie?
———
In our minds, Spock is only passing on the narrative he describes and the feelings associated with it. Nothing more.
COMMENT:
“The sky is blue because it is a N/O atmosphere, much like our own. Oxygen reflects blue light via a phenomena known as Rayleigh Scattering. This is why water also appears to be blue.”
I have another theory regarding the color of the Vulvan sky.
While serving in Kuwait, there were times when the sky seemed red because of the dust and sand content whipped into the sky during windstorms.
It has been established that Vulcan is a dry desert planet (at least in most regions). Perhaps the sky looks at its most red during periods during and after windstorms.
If the dust/sand content in Vulcan’s atmosphere is high, light would be refracted and diffused causing the light to take on some of the properties of the color of the dust itself (Vulcan’s soil is red).
QUESTION:
How many warp cores does the new Enterprise have? Does it correlate with the number of reactors on the current Enterprise (CVN-65, Eight reactors)?
COMMENT:
Firstly I want to start off by thanking Mr. Orci taking the time to answer everyone’s questions. I found it rather surprising, although I admit I never really follow movies aside from just watching them but I found it really cool that someone is that devoted to their work.
Secondly, I reordered tickets to the IMAX premier on the opening Thursday, and had gotten really sick and decided to still go anyway, I am really glad that I made the decision to go, as I will say that this movie was amazing and I found it a refreshing change of pace to Trek, I personally feel that Gene Roddenberry would be very proud of this. I don’t see why everyone needs to nitpick this film, I felt everything was done extremely well and far exceeded my expectations and I am now looking forward to see where Trek goes from here! Thank you for an outstanding film!!
254. Mike Ten – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
Why does Starfleet in this universe use windows instead of viewscreens on the bridge? In the prequel series Enterprise the NX-01 had viewscreens and the TOS Enterprise had a viewscreen not a window.
———-
In our movie, it is BOTH. I believe it was based on the odd fact that, although the bridge didn’t usually have a window, it was nonetheless situated, much like a naval ship, at a high look out vantage point (which, by the way, seems unnecessarily vulnerable to attack). Rather than move the bridge, we added a window to justify it’s location.
255. Clinton – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Even though we are now living in a parallel/alternate reality, it has been pointed out that several pre “zero event” items that are still in play: V’ger is on it’s way back to Earth, the Botany Bay is still adrift in space, the probe is listening for whale song, etc. Do you feel obliged to address these issues? Personally, I think this would be covering ground that has already been examined, but I am wondering how you see it playing out in the new timeline.
——–
Anything can happen. Including revisiting some of these elements.
264. Mike Ten – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
What was the Starfleet doing gathered in another solar system while Nero was headed to Earth?
————
Undetermined.
267. andrew – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
How much did Damon Lindelof contribute to the story?
——–
A lot!
#180 & 187—”Why didn’t Kirk, Sulu and Olsen take any phasers on the mission to the drill? (Other than to show us a cool fist/sword fight, of course)?” and “They did, but were conveniently disarmed in order to depict said fight. And Olsen never even made it onto the platform.”
Note to future star fleet cadets: Do not ever wear a red shirt (grin)
QUESTION: Of what nationality was Chief Engineer Olsen?
His accent reminded me of an Australian, which if so, I think would have been a first for Star Trek.
275. Mike Knight – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
I got the impression from the movie, which I loved, that the lightning storms occured only when a ‘temporal disturbance’ occured?
———–
Correct.
277. Drew – May 18, 2009
I think its ashame that we as the audience didnt get to see a little more development on the characters particularly Jim Kirk. I’m fully aware that there is so much you can do within a 2 hour movie.
He (Jim Kirk) becomes cadet then First Officer then Captain. Yes this is an alternate timeline but lets also be a little realistic to the character. Show Kirk as a leader at the academy, teach, win awards and show that he is not just any typical cadet in Starfleet Academy but someone who is special and will become the beloved starship captain that he is destined to be.
——-
We skipped over his time at the academy. But I like to think what you describe is what happened there.
Comment:
Your answer to moauvian moaul (right at the top of the page) about the transporters just spoiled a nice moment, for me as you say that “Spock Prime made the calculations.” I had assumed from the way the line was phrased, and Nimoy’s emphasis (”They are YOUR equations…”) that the calculations had actually been done by Scott Prime. Given Spock Prime’s normal reluctance to interfere in timelines, I would have thought that giving Scotty his own equations would have been more in character – and been a really nice tip of the hat to the original engineer.
Question:
See 551, who got there ahead of me, re how Scotty got to be Chief Engineer so fast.
(And I add my voice to those who loathed the sidekick. Please stuff it out of an airlock and give Scotty some credibility as a respected senior officer for next time. Ta)
284. Ran – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
As a fan, what were you thinking by destroying Vulcan, Romulus and killing Spock’s mother? Was it really necessary?
——–
We knew it would be controversial for sure, but we wanted to make it clear that the rules had changed, and that we were DEFINITELY in a new time line. As for Spock’s mother… we haven’t mentioned this too much, but one of the inspirations for the Kirk/Spock relationship was the friendship between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. In a way, they were opposites, but they bonded early in life because they both suffered through the loss of A PARENT in childhood.
289. RTC – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
The TOS episode ‘Amok Time’ establishes that Vulcan’s atmosphere is thin. But in the film, Kirk and Sulu do some serious Romulan smackdown on the drill platform above Vulcan with very little heavy breathing — despite being miles in the sky. How did you resolve this one as you developed the story?
——–
High altitude, time release oxygen capsules?
294. Jefferies Tuber – May 18, 2009
QUESTION: Even taking the QM-based approach to time travel into account, why wouldn’t Nero just detonate the Red Matter next to the star that will go Supernova and destroy Romulus? Even if it creates another alternate timeline, he would still have a chance of finding his pregnant wife when he gets home.
——
he doesn’t have the Red Matter until Spock arrives with it from the future. If he had succeeded in taking his revenge, I imagine he would’ve proceeded to do as you say.
QUESTION
Bob/Alex:
Do you feel that you and the Supreme Court are running Star Trek now? When TNG came out it was a running concern with various storied names associated with it for almost 20 years. Have you all been passed the baton?
QUESTION:
How does the Stardate work in the new Star Trek-Movie? It’s shown quite diffierent in the ways seen in the past films and series.
305. oby – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Don’t the Nokia and Budweiser product placements contradict the post-capitalist Trek Federation envisioned by Gene Roddenberry?
———-
Not if those companies have been nationalized!
#579
Seems to me it’s just the date but decimalised. Year, plus day of year divided by 365.
#288: “Why didn’t the Romulans have the head ridges as seen in latter-day Trek? Especially if they were from the 24th century…’
Those studid head ridges was a Berman-era interpretation of the Romulans… and had no place in TREKdom…. as were those ridiculous shoulder pad uniforms (they almost looked like Carol Burnett’s drapery and curtain rod dress).
QUESTION:
Really a comment, I agree that Spock Prime “witnessing” the destruction of Vulcan can be interpreted as “impressionistic” since his POV is seen during a mind meld, and the angle of destruction appears to be the same one the audience sees earlier.
I also believe Spock “experienced” the deaths of the Vulcan crew of the USS Intrepid, so an entire planer of billions of Vulcans dying must have been almost unbearable for him. I’m surprised Spock on the Enterprise was able to function at all.
QUESTION:
It is accepted throughout TREK history that when a transporter beams a person up/down that the position they were dematerialized is the position in which they rematerialize. *
* yes, there have been a few instances of this inconsistency in the past.(which still does not explain it) … for example, USAF pilot Captain Christopher in “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.”
So, why was Spock, who was seated in the jellyfish, beamed to the Enterprise standing up?
QUESTION:
I understand you guys referenced the TNG episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” when writing this new film (which is totally and completely OUTSTANDING, btw) and in re-watching that episode recently, the rift that the Enterprise D encounters — which Data has difficulty describing and which the sensors cannot pinpoint and give coordinates on — looks VERY similar to the black hole that propels Nero and Spock Prime into the past. Since the “Yesterday’s Enterprise” rift enables the Enterprise C to jump into the future, I’d like to think that the black hole in the new movie and the rift in “Yesterday’s Enterprise” are the same thing. Are they?
Note: Guinan recognized that rift from 10-forward, and, fearful, she said, “Nooo.” Data, in the alternate universe that ensued, said that Guinan’s species has a perception that goes beyond linear time.
Did you guys intentionally carry over that bit of TNG lore into the new movie?
QUESTION:
First of all, I am an old-school Trekker who loved the new film; I am merely offering grist for the intellectual mill.
I believe I understand your interpretation of quantum temporal mechanics well enough (and I generally agree with you,) but I believe this theory spawns its own plot hole regarding “Spock Prime’s” journey through time. You say that Nero emerged from the black hole still in his original “Prime” timeline, only to create a parallel timeline through his own actions. If I understand your explanations correctly, the Prime timeline continues to exist parallel with this new timeline created by Nero’s destruction of the Kelvin, etc. If so, then shouldn’t Spock Prime also have emerged from the time portal into his own original, unaltered timeline? Why would he emerge into the specific parallel timeline created by Nero?
I know . . . pretty geeky, huh?
QUESTIONS:
1. Was there ever consideration to adding a line in the movie to undo Trip Tucker’s death from the very unpopular series finale of Enterprise?
2. Might you consider having Jolele Blalock do a cameo as Ambassador T’Pol, or perhaps a Academy instructor in the next movie? That would be way cool.
Thanks!
QUESTION:
There are some inconsistencies such as “Spock witnessing the destruction of vulcan”, “Kelvin design” and so on. An alternative reality created at the time when Nero arrived is not convincing because this does not explain the canon inconsistencies seen on the Kelvin (this was before the arrival of Nero) or the new position of a planet.
However, it would have been so easy for the authors, to explain that in a canon way. Why don’t you argue, that the black hole was no normal black hole. It was a passage to another universe that is similar but not completely identical. This would also explain all inconsistencies prior to Neros arrival! It would also be reasonable because this black hole was artificially created by red matter. I suppose, my solution would make all “canon trekkies” (including me) happy because:
1. All inconsistencies of the movie are legal and canon conform! You additionally get an even greater reach of play and do not need arguing with canon adherents. Even Budweiser and Nokia advertising is no problem in this universe!
2. You do not need to discard the established theory of linear time because it was no regular time travel involved – the black hole lead to another universe in another time (like shown in “ENT: A mirror darkly”)
3. The prime time line is completely uneffected by all means (and we are all happy).
In my opinion, this theory is also compatible to the statements mentioned in the film! It was the first explanation I was thinking of until I read your explanation that “destroyed everything”. Would it be possible for you to switch to the explanation above because of its apparent adantages? It is also possible that we misunderstood you and you advocated this theory from the beginning (”Trek external canon” ;)).
464. Boborci – May 18, 2009
REPLY TO QUESTION
That makes sense, but I was also thinking that Delta Vega’s atmosphere had some kind of element or a mixture of elements which allowed for a natural magnification of nearby spacefaring objects, i.e. Vulcan. Not sure if that’s scientifically feasible or not, though.
QUESTION:
While I’m not all against giving the Enterprise a new look, how come the bridge and other areas like the corridors asf. look really nice and sleek while the enginieering section looks like an industrial power plant facility? Compared to ALL previous Trek incarnations some parts of the ship could be found on current day naval vessels. Same goes for the corridors outside the shuttle bay on the Kelvin and the Enterprise.
BTW… the uniform Admiral Pike was wearing in the end, it kinda looked veeeeery much like the Star Trek The Motion Picture uniform… was that intentional?
QUESTION:
What was the one thing that you most regretted not being able to include, or had to cut out of, the script?
Please disregard that question… just as I was posting it, I realized that that’s been covered in interviews… must remember not to post at midnight… :)
It was established in ‘Balance of Terror’ that no-one knew what a Romulan looked like in the century since the Romulan War, so how could they know what on looked like in 2230s?
Unless dead Romulans were recovered from space after the Battle of Cheron, say, and it was then determined that they were Vulcanian in descent (alluded to by James Blish in his adaption of that episode), how could the survivors of the ‘Kelvin’ and Christopher Pike determine the identity of the attacker especially as it resembles no known warbird at that point? I would speculate that to avoid suspicion of Vulcans in the general population of the UFP after the war this knowledge was kept secret.
Also why so very few tie-in books? Why no ‘Art of Star Trek XI’ so that we can see the design evolution of this film?
My head hurts, and I’ve not had breakfast yet…
Go to work for a few days and I miss all of this? Got some reading to do.
I saw the Movie again this past weekend, and I am upgrading
my review rating of the movie to 8 out of 10.
Gerat sign when a movie gets so much better on the second viewing.
I guess I am shedding my TOS skin.
QUESTION:
What significance does the villain’s name being Nero have in relation to the Emperor Nero, of Rome? What is the specific or general reference to be derived here?
95. Crabtree – May 18, 2009
QUESTION:
1) Even though they make little sense militarily, I love the viewscreen windows on the Enterprise and the Kelvin. However, it shows that the bridge has been moved down a bit from the large dome on the top of the saucer. any idea whats up there now?
2) All the little in-jokes to the original series and movies were part of what made the movie so much fun for this Trekkie to watch. Did you have a favorite reference/in-joke in the film? Something that gave you shivers when you wrote it? Something that made you giggle?
3) Was there something you really wanted to get in the movie, some scene, reference, joke, or other that you couldn’t?
1.) A wonder question for further fiction.
2.) All of them!
3.) Wanted to mention Prime Directive, Pohn Far, Carol Marcus, Mudd, Gary M, time on the Farragut… list is endless.
QUESTION: I’ve seen the movie three times, and i really enjoyed it each time. i’m planning on seeing it tomorrow with some folks. should i see it a fifth time, thus breaking my personal record for theatre viewings of any movie, or should i save that honour for star trek “2″?
QUESTION
In the Original time line we know that captain Pike has a female first officer but for some reason we don’t see any first officer on the bridge until Pike tells Kirk he is.
PS: Why don’t we see nurse chappell but only hear of her?
Thanks
Moshe
Question
beyond the sequoel which im sure is coming due to the box office trek is doing, im just wondering has paramount given any inkling as to what Treks TV future maybe or are they just happy with movies at the moment
Question- for Boborci-
How long have you been a masochist? Have you READ these questions? I’m truly embarassed.
1) The brewery was fine. It’s a big cheap pre-built set, and it looks like an engine room to me! Personally, I was more distracted that you didn’t bother to make any changes to CSUN’s Oviatt Library for all the Academy scenes. Aside from a digital skyline surrounding the building, it looks just like when I went there.
2) There is no TNG in your new universe. It hasn’t happened yet. It may NOT happen. If there are going to be any other universe-crossing travellers, let’s see the Mirror Universe Pine and Quinto! I think this would also be a good opportunity to further explain the multiverse concept and reassure the anal fans that there’s still a parallel dimenson out there where the Movies, TNG, DS9 etc, all still happenned. But we are no longer playing in that universe.
Question.
The Mindmeld between Spock Prime and Kirk (and yes i know things in this reality will play out differently) – has / could anything leaked through that shouldn’t have? I’ve always been intrigued by Kirk Primes line in ST 5 “I’ve always known that I would die alone….” Great job by the way!
559. Matthew Weflen – May 18, 2009
Bob,
Thanks for doing this. It’s a most impressive act of fan service, even if the answers themselves aren’t always as impressive ;-)
For instance – any explosion that could escape the event horizon of a black hole would have to be expanding at a rate of speed greater than light (how much greater depends on the escape velocity of the black hole). This isn’t possible in the Einsteinian model of relativistic spacetime. Then, this extremely energetic explosion would have to somehow 1. not destroy the enterprise; yet 2. transfer enough momentum to it to somehow accelerate it past the escape velocity threshold.
It just seems like better science, not to mention writing, to say that:
1. the escape velocity of this black hole is lightspeed+X
2. the Enterprise can go lightspeed+X+1, if Scotty performs a dramatic engineering miracle, of course.
It just didn’t stand up to a lot of scrutiny on the way home – scrutinizing being something we Trekkies are known for. I would have liked a bit more science fiction and a bit less space opera, myself.
—————————-
Never thought about it really…
… except maybe for Hawking’s essays on the evaporation of black holes and discussions of virtual particles appearing out of empty space at the event horizon as a result of the Hysenberg Uncertainty principle (not Einstein’s theory of relativity).. A virtual particle and its opposite appear out of the quantum foam, usually existing for only a billionth of a second before crashing into each other and annihilating again. But at the surface of a black hole, sometimes one of the virtual pairs falls into the black hole and the other one becomes REAL and permanent. So building on that idea, our creative engineering solution is not to say that a blast makes the ship go faster, but that the injection of the core causes a reaction that stretches (or creates units of space, like virtual particles) thereby putting the Enterprise past the point of no return. The visualization you see is a simplification since, obviously, the story boards of quantum foam bubbling at the microscopic level at the event horizon of a singularity left something to be desire cinematically and viscerally.
#110
- ..since the only previous “canon” entry suggests that Kirk is *from* Iowa—-not that he was actually born there… -
You don’t really think so, do you? :)
#183
Or they could make Kirk the villain for the sequel. I mean, he’s already halfway there…:D
#488
- …If not for the attack from the Narada, the Kelvin would’ve reached earth and Kirk would’ve been born in Iowa. The attack made Winona Kirk go into labor early. -
So your Kirk is older than Prime Kirk?
_________
Will our Q&A threads be provided as hand-out in cinemas in order to give the new audience a chance to be in the know? :))
464. Boborci – May 18, 2009
————————————-
” I prefer to think of Delta Vega as being in close orbit (although it could be a moon), but nonetheless, we like to think of that sequence as impressionistic for a general audience. In other words, Nero could’ve beamed Spock prime down to Delta Vega with a telescope or some other type of measuring device to allow Spock to experience the pain of perceiving the destruction of his home world, but that simply isn’t very cinematic.”
Sigh, now, here I was thinking this scene actually made some sense but I posted this elsewhere before reading this thread:
Question: Why does everyone assume that Spock Prime SAW the destruction of Vulcan from Delta Vega and not saw it before his inner eye as an echo of what those saw that managed to escape from the planet in time? I saw complaints here at TrekMovie that the writers messed up canon when they didn’t acknowledge Spock’s reaction to the destruction of the all Vulcan ship in Immunity Syndrome. Maybe, albeit, in another form, that is exactly what they were aiming at – Spock getting and feeling it all first hand through the connection every Vulcan seems to share. What sense would it make for Nero to maroon Spock on Delta Vega without that knowledge? He left Spock as far as he could away from Vulcan to maximize his helplessness. I think that knowledge was a very important ingredient to the cruelty he wanted to inflict on Spock Prime.
QUESTION:
(wow, Bob, I can’t believe you’re still up — Thanks & a “smooch”)
Will the sequel show Spock playing the Vulcan lyre? He’s a bad ass musician, you know. ;)
#602 Boborci
Just like no joke is funny if you have to explain it, explaining all the physics on a fanboard doesn’t mean that ejecting your engine in order to go faster makes any sense cinematically.
604. Iowagirl – May 19, 2009
Will our Q&A threads be provided as hand-out in cinemas in order to give the new audience a chance to be in the know? :))
———–
Only with purchase of large popcorn.
QUESTION
Also timeline paradox…
You said, the new timeline begins with the “Kelvin Incident”.
In reverse you’ve to say, both timelines have the same past.
In “Enterprise” earth scientists and Archer’s crew find the Borg remains of “First Contact”. This happened in the original timeline. How could you explain it, as well as Ben Sisko is Gebrial Bell, Ferengi caused the Area51Incident, Data’s head lies in the 19th century, Cronowerx in Voyager etc. etc. All these things, whish influenced the common(!) past, happened in “timeline prime”. Maybe the new timelime also leans towards the same direction?
2nd:
For the 12th movie: PLEASE, I want to see a real Starfleet main “Engineering Room / Engine Room” with one big warp core and not the “boiler room” of Paramount Studios. It doesn’t look real, doesn’t apply to Starfleet… For me it was the worst thing in the movie!
Greetz,
Stefan (Germany)
QUESTION:
Was the mention of Romulans on Fringe an injoke, a tie in with the ARG or could it even be seen as canon? (it was on screen! :)
Also: many thanks for doing this and expressing that the next movie should have more ethical/moral dilemmas like previous ST shows and movies did. I wholehartedly agree.
607. Odkin – May 19, 2009
#602 Boborci
Just like no joke is funny if you have to explain it, explaining all the physics on a fanboard doesn’t mean that ejecting your engine in order to go faster makes any sense cinematically.
——————–
The point I’m making is that the curvature of four dimensional space time that is theorized to occur near a black hole is IMPOSSIBLE TO RENDER VISUALLY, no matter the effects budget. Therefore, we are, from the beginning, dealing with simplifications of complicated physics concepts. Stretching or WARPING space is not as fun as the sensation of speed, but many fans nonetheless know from THE PHYSICS OF STAR TREK that warp speed is not really speed at all, but THE WARPING OF SPACE.
QUESTION
Can you tell us the names of all the admirals at Kirk’s hearing? I see at least two (James Komack and Chandra) are references to characters seen on TOS. Can you tell us the others and who they were named after?
I have one simple question: Why was Countdown made if it were not going to be apart of the movie. It was marketed as the official prequal comic to the movie, yet in Spocks mindmeld there was no mention of the events that transpired in countdown ie: Geordi lending his new ship to spock, Spock meeting nero and agreeing to help, Picard and Data, etc.
If this was do to JJ’s direction then I understand, but if you and the writers had control, then Why?
QUESTION
I havent had time to read through all the new posts, just the previous Q & A. Anyway, getting right to the point.
After the success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Paramount greenlit the process that would ultimately lead to Star Trek: The Next Generation. As the new film has already done quite well, do you think something similar will happen in the near future. Especially given that Sci-fi shows seem to be on the rise in popularity (LOST, Fringe, Battlestar Galactica, etc.)
And should such a scenerio occur, would you two be interested in becoming the show runners for a new Star Trek TV series?
COMMENT:
I want to thank Bob and Alex for making one hell of a Star Trek movie! I don’t think anyone could have done a better job honoring what we all know while making something that anyone would want to see. Friends who have laughed at Star Trek in the past have told me that they LOVED this film. I think this was a huge success.
You all have to admit, we are a pretty hard audience to win over, no?
I also want to throw my two cents in for one of the questions I saw above. I think the reason the Enterprise manages to get to Earth in time to save it is because the Narada’s drill is broken. Kirk and Sulu disabled the drill so it’s logical that they would have had to stop somewhere to fix it before continuing to Earth.
I’m excited to see more of Bob’s answers. I am very impressed at the level of detail he is going into with topics that weren’t even covered in the film. I can tell you did your homework, Bob.
QUESTION:
TNG Fan Patrick raises an interesting point – “Star Trek: Countdown” was indeed marketed as the “official prequel tie-in” to the film. However, earlier in this thread, you remarked that the comic is not to be considered canon. So, if we’re not considering the comic to be canon – this means, among other things, that Data is still dead.
So, to my question: why is “Countdown” not being considered canon?
I 2nd 615’s question. I very much liked “Countdown” and I always considered it canon.
So, why not? Is this because of the simple “it’s not canon if it’s not on screen” rule? If so, there definitely should be exception. It’s an official prequel, it should be canon.
613 & 616
I thougt canon was only whatever is on screen. You tell me!
As for why it is not all in the movie, the truth is that Countdown was created AFTER the movie had already been shot.
Hey Bob :)
…perhaps my earlier question was not phrased well.
QUESTION:
In the arena of further character development, will we be seeing greater portions of personal traits? Such as Mr. Spock’s appreciation of music, Uhura’s singing and perhaps Chekov’s dance skills.
:) (better?)
QUESTION
In the movie Uhura picks up on a distress call from the Klingons where 47 Klingon ships are attacked and destroyed by the Narada.
Firstly, why wasn’t this shown in the movie? (This would have made a bold statement about the destructive power of the Narada)
Secondly, Klingons wouldn’t send a distress call, what are your thoughts behind this please and were the attacks connected to Neros escape from Rura Penthe, the Klingon penal colony?
#542: I’d like to see that too, but first they’d have to have Kirk mature into a likeable leader type, instead of a yuppie douchebag. Seeing him get the crap beat out of him repeatedly was an important part of making him palatable to the audience, IMO.
QUESTION
There has already been a question about the destruction of Narada. “Can you explain why a Red Matter induced wormhole or black hole (whatever) allows time travel for the Narada once, but crushes it at the end of the movie?”
In 357 you say :
“It is the technology of the interstellar ship (the Narada) that allows one to survive crossing through a black hole. At the end, the Narada is damaged and compromised by Kirk’s attack. Like a ship, it sinks when it’s damaged.”
At the beginning of the film Narada is shown on only one side of the black hole. When it comes to the destruction of the ship it is clearly visible that after the collision with the Jellyfish a black hole is created in the middle of Narada. There’s a half of the ship on every side. Wouldn’t that be a better explanation?
The other question is about the alternate timeline (again) ;)
Of course I understad that Nero and Spock had no choice but is there a way to decide if we want to travel along a single timeline or to an alternate one?
Thanks for asking all those questions!
#619: Uhura mentioned specifically when describing the transmission to her smexy green roomie that the call involved a Klingon prison planet/colony/thingy.
#617 Boborci, Thanks, although I’d really make an exception here, as “Countdown” is a VERY IMPORTANT BRIDGE between “old” and “new” Trek.
QUESTION:
How do we tell Uhura’s rank given her uniform is sleeveless? I understand that was a production error (”hey, let’s make this more sexy”) but it’s something to consider for the sequel.
QUESTION:
Were you disappointed that the Rura Penthe scene was cut from the movie or did you feel it wasn’t necessary? Also, would you rather see this as a deleted scene or as an extended cut when the DVD comes out?
Thanks again,
Steve
QUESTION:
The black hole that sucked in the Narada at the end of the film. How far away was this from Earth? I don’t know how long they were traveling for, but it didn’t seem too long. Wouldn’t having a black hole so close be problematic? Will you address this in another film?
Oh! Non-Trek question. While writing the first transformers movie, did you watch BEAST WARS? Please say yes!
QUESTION:
I’m a big lover of DVD/Bluray commentaries. I’m sure JJ will be doing one, but I’d love for you guys to to an audio (or PIP) commentary. You guys have a lot of interesting stuff to say. also, JJ non-fan commentary, your guys, fan commentary. would be cool.
Great Movie.
QUESTION:
Iss there any possibility of a Director’s Cut (or Orci Cut, or Prime Cut) to the movie adding in the edits required to get it to 2 hours? Extras on the disk ain’t the same!
QUESTION:
What did you say to make Leonard Nimoy change his mind on the Spock/Uhura relationship question going from here:
(Interview at Cinemasource: http://www.thecinemasource.com/blog/2009/05/07/leonard-nimoy-interview-for-star-\
trek/):
“However, he said he had a particularly simple, but colorful reaction to a
particular alteration in the film, involving close feelings between Spock and chief communications officer Nyota Uhura, played by Zoe Saldaña.
“Travesty!” Leonard exclaims.”
to there (TrekMovie.com on April 27, 2009)
“Zoe: What’s better than a xenolinguist with a talented tongue, right?
Question: And what is your reaction Leonard?
Leonard: [shouts] Jealousy!”
After Vulcan was destroyed I’ll bet the Xindi were sitting back all jealous going “Well, Nero *was* from the future… hmph.”
I just want to thank Bob Orci very, very much for taking so much time to answer all these questions even though many of them would not deserve any, in my opinion! I am a long time Trek Fan and I really appreciate the respect you are showing the fans! And I admire that you guys actually put so much thought in this movie!! Don´t worry, your movie is not less plausible than the other Star Trek movies; I would say, it is one of the most plausible ones.
But please do not listen to those saying, everything should be changed back again or Spock should try to change the “timeline” again. I think I´ve had enough of time travel – the groundwork has been laid out by you guys, now you can really concentrate on what exciting stories you can come up with in this new, alternative universe, where nearly everything is possible (storywise, I mean ;-)
And I wanted to add, that indeed, Star Trek IV is playing with the same alternate Universe that STXI is – otherwise Scotty could have never told the guy the formula for transparent aluminium and get away with it! ;-)
Many greetings from Germany, I was, and still am, extremely excited about this movie and the movies to come! Good job, everyone!
Thanks guys for a wonderful movie.
You are really going above and beyond the call by sifting through the fanwank posted here.
Given the fate function, I believe that is reasonable to say that the further in time we get from the changes in the time line, the more similar to the prime time line we get. Little things might be different, but big events would still play out pretty similar? Eg Humans still run afoul of the Borg at Wolf 359, find the wormhole to the gamma quadrant and go to war with the dominion? Just the little details may have changed (Tuvok might not exist on voyager etc)
Do you guys agree?
God I nearly fainted when I saw ‘BobOrci’ had responded to my question. I’m such a Nerd.
Thank you Bob for taking the time and answering all these questions. This is really insightful and fun. I hope you really enjoy this as much.
I have two more questions and then I’ll shut up :)
QUESTION:
You can answer this one with a simple yes or no.
Bob, you said, that Kirk fires on the Narada to prevent Nero from time traveling. Does this mean, that the Narada was damaged by the Jellyfish impact, but still able to travel through the singularity and Kirk simply exaggerates its condition, when telling Nero he can’t survive in order to persuade him to give up his ship ?
QUESTION:
Also a simple yes/no question.
The Federation was only mentioned in this movie as being an “armada”, which in my opinion is Starfleet. The fact, that it is a peaceful political alliance is never mentioned. Can you give me some hope, that there will be a more complete and acurate introduction to the Federation and its principles in a possible sequel or has the Federation been reduced to a military alliance like the NATO ?
Thanks again.
Tuvok is hardly a little detail ;)
QUESTION.
Whatever anyone questions about the film, it still feels like Trek and for giving Trek back to us, you deserve the greatest of thanks.
But I was wondering….
What effect did the writers strike have on production?
Did it prevent on set rewrites?
Were there any sections that would have been re-written?
If you had the opportunity to re-write any section of the film what would it be?
QUESTION:
Why didn’t the Enterprise just fire at the “umbilical cord” the drilling rig is hanging on while over Vulcan, like Spock does later while in the Jellyfish? I realize that probably Nero would have destroyed the Enterprise after that, since there was no point in keeping them alive to have Spock witness the destruction of his home planet, since that wouldn’t have happened anymore, but still they would have saved Vulcan in the attempt! ;)
And great work guys, keep it coming for the sequel! The only thing I really didn’t like about the movie was that it went by so quickly and kept you wanting more! :)
Who’s Tuvok? No way he exists in both timelines.
QUESTION:
You said earlier on that there would be explanations in the film for any inconsistencies with canon. Though I’m not a canon nitpicker or fanatic, I was wondering if there is any explanation for the more advanced look and feel of everything, especially of the Kelvin bridge, etc.?
I think you could argue that because of the destruction of the Kelvin and the big threat that unknown romulan ship poses, engineers hurried up to get better technology faster, so that the different look of the Enterprise could be explained, but what about the Kelvin, etc.? Just wondering? ;)
BTW, what’s it about the size of the Enterprise? It was stated that it’s double the size of the original or something? Is that true? If so, why?
Thanks for your time guys!
QUESTION:
Regarding the (Hobus) star the goes supernova, destroys Romulus and according to Spock Prime threatens the entire galaxy. First, I understand the need for an unstoppable force that requires action from Spock Prime that would lead to him and Nero being thrown into the past. However a supernova that threatens the entire galaxy? Really? Even a single quadrant seems unlikely.
What research did you do to come up with this galaxy destroying supernova? What current scientific theories are out there that state a single star going supernova would/could threaten all of galactic existence? It seems entirely impossible. Or maybe I missed something in the movie.
RE time travel and Orci’s answers. I get it, I got it from the beginning. I understand how your time travel theory works in “Star Trek’ and it is brilliant. I really liked the world is flat v. the world is round analogy. I for one am glad you approached time travel the way you did and it made for an enjoyable experience.
But I just can’t get over why or how one supernova could threaten an entire galaxy.
Great information. Thanks for the post. That was a spectacular article, need more great work like this out there.
Observation on Alternate Realities:
The idea that your decisions create alternate realities is not new at all. Larry Niven wrote a story about it (the name escapes me) where a detective is investigating a series of suicides that is starting to become pandemic. In it he comes up with an idea that it all his decisions cause the universe to “fork” at that moment and go on infinitely forking until in one of them, forever. One action has millions of consequences.
It ends like this:
He decides it’s a crock.
He runs out of his office yelling for his boss that he solved it.
He takes out his gun.
He puts it on the desk.
He puts it away.
He picks it up.
He points it at his head.
He changes his mind and puts it away.
He pulls the trigger.
It clicks on an empty cylinder.
It misfires.
It goes off.
QUESTION – How old is Spock when Kirk comes aboard? He’s already a full commander when they meet, so being the same age is improbable. It’s always seemed that since he was on the Enterprise with Pike before Kirk, he was older than him, in Earth terms at least. Vulcan’s don’t age like humans do, so I’ve always thought 10 to 20 years older.
QUESTION: In Countdown, LaForge seems to have built/designed the Jellyfish. In the movie, it seems the Vulcan Science Council built/designed the Jellyfish around the red matter. Which is it?
QUESTION: You mentioned “Admiral Archer” (and his beagle) during the movie. Does this mean that you consider the events of “Star Trek: Enterprise” as (here comes the dreaded word) canon to your parallel universe, including the “temporal cold war”, Xindi conflict, and the Borg defrosting (and thus also the events of Star Trek:First Contact)?
By the way Bob, I’m with you on previous Trek having it both ways (quantum and linear) with time travel – just remind people of the TNG episode conveniently called “Parallels”, where Worf is skipping from reality (or universe) to reality (or universe) and about 285,000 Enterprise-D’s show up at the end. They can use this as a primer on quantum realities!
Orci
Everyone seems to be avoiding real answers to the Engineering questions. Wanting an ‘analog feel” is just a zippy way to say it was cheaper to leave these issues in the shoot. As a writer it’s really not your fault or your place to defend production decisions but as a fan it should matter to you.
The point is some of this stuff can be “fixed” and modified with cgi and still maintain the vast engineering feel and analog elements. I’m not sure that JJ “not being a fan” really cares as much about some of these things.
By the way I love the windows on the bridge as long as they have external blast shields.
question, why warp into a close proximity to the fleet when you KNOW you are arriving at a battle, why not arrive outside the parameters of the existing fleet to assess the situation first.
Oh silly me, I know why …. not as much drama for JJ
Mr. Orci. Thanks for all the time you’re putting into answering all of our questions. I really appreciate it.
Question: Do the turbo lifts work at near warp speed? When we first see spock on the enterprise it appears he’s somwhere near the shuttle bay. He gets on the turbo lift and is at the bridge in like 2 seconds. Just curious.
Thanks!
#645 – isn’t that obvious? The universe was split in 2233, so the events of Enterprise should be considered common for both universes
Not necessarily. Given that before TNG existed, the 22nd century as discussed in TOS didn’t jibe with Enterprise, it’s very possible that First Contact was another timeline change, and those events created the events that made Enterprise possible.
If the events of this movie put a stop to the events of First Contact, then Enterprise also is no longer canon.
Besides, Enterprise was so vastly out of place in Star Trek, it should be ignored anyway.
#642 – I believe the book you are referring to is called “All the myriad ways”
#649
> If the events of this movie put a stop to the events of First Contact
The events of First Contact are still valid in the original timeline ;)
QUESTION:
Firstly, I’d like to say congratulations on a great film – I was skeptical at first, but thoroughly enjoyed what you’ve done with it.
The question I have is around time travel, and more specifically the ‘accidental’ nature of it. Nero and Spock travel back in time as a result of a failed attempt to escape the black hole. Why did you decide to do it this way, as opposed to Spock ‘deliberately’ using this means to travel back?
With Romulus destroyed, Nero would (as you portrayed) seek revenge in whatever timeline he was in, so Spock could / would undoubtedly have chosen to follow him in and prevent any damage being done. I think this may have given more purpose to his presence in the film, as well as more credence to the (albeit very good) scene where Kirk accuses him of ‘cheating’.
QUESTION:
If there are only 10,000 Vulcans still alive, and maybe half of them are female, and of those maybe half are of childbearing age, is the propagation of the Vulcan species going to come onto play in a future installment? Because it’s clear to me that every possible Vulcan needs to get busy making babies.
Also, is Spock, like another interspecies offspring, the mule, infertile?
Thanks! Loved the film. Am telling everyone I meet to go see it.
–Vera the Gun
QUESTION:
During the hot pursuit in Iowa: Why is the jetbike trooper flying a u-turn and then turning into the dusty road following joung Kirk on/above the streets? It’s a hovering jetbike, that can take the short cut above the fields!
Please don’t say that’s because there are linear magnetic accelerators just under street level levitating the bike! ;)
thx, Andreas (student in aerospacial engineering)
QUESTION
Dr. McCoy mentions “Nurse Chapel” when treating Cadet Kirk on the Enterprise. Are there any deleted scenes in the upcoming DVD that we will see who Nurse Chapel is, or are you going to introduce her in the sequel? Thank you.
QUESTION
Can you guys determine what the actual size of the new USS Enterprise is? I’ve been hearing out a lot of speculations, but it would be really cool if you guys would say what the official size is. :P
Mark Paul from Manila, Philippines
QUESTION:
With regard to the whole linear time vs. multiverse theory, do you regard this as a specific ‘break’ with previous canon, or (as I prefer) do you envisage a mechanism for a character to return to their original universe, such as the ‘reconfigured transporter’ method for going back and forth from the mirror universe?
QUESTION:
The final scene involved the Enteprise fighting to escape the singularity into which the Narada was disappeaering as it was disintegrating. As it unfolded, it appeared to me that this was clearly a presage to the Enterprise, itself, going back *slightly* in time, possibly just prior to the point of Vulcan’s destruction. Obviousy, it didn’t turn out that way.
Was this intentional? Was there a consideration to restore Vulcan in this way?
The movie, BTW, was absolutely fantastic.
Question:
Is there any way that linear time travel might exist and that alternate reality time travel might exist AS WELL within in the Star Trek Universe? (i.e the Guardian or slingshot effect would be a linear method while Red Matter would not be linear, but quantum). It seems to me that this would resolve many of the issues presented and adhere better to Canon. Add a bit of Techno-babble and I think this might work.
- Either way thanks alot, your dedication to the fans is exemplary
[...] [...]
I have a couple of questions, and forgive me if they’ve been addressed already:
QUESTION #1:
When Vulcan is destroyed, why did Spock Prime (and, for that matter, QuintoSpock) not react in the same manner as Spock did in “The Immunity Syndrome” when the U. S. S. Intrepid was destroyed? With nearly six billion people on the planet, it seems like such a thing would have been emotionally (and psychically) overwhelming, leaving both of them in a basket-case state (at least for a short time).
QUESTION #2:
Since Nero’s incursion changed the timeline, would it not have made some sort of sense to show the change from the “original” to the “new” timeline, a la “Yesterday’s Enterprise?” In other words, show the TOS configuration of the Kelvin briefly, then morph to the “new” configuration when they encounter the “lightning storm”? I realize this would have given away the fact that an alternate/parallel timeline had just been created, and rendered moot the discussion later on the bridge, but it seems like it would have been more powerful for people to realize, hey, something just happened and things are going to be a lot different.
#661 – re: question 2, think about it, it doesn’t make much sense. In “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Ent-C travelled into the FUTURE, so it’s obvious that the Ent-D was altered, since 20 years of history pre-dating that moment have changed.
It does not make any sense when travelling into past. Why would the Kelvin be altered if the history just began to change at the very moment that Narada emerged?
Mr. Orci, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions, and, most importantly, for this film. My question concerns the character interaction between Kirk, Spock, and Bones. In your film, there seems to be an intention to depict Spock as the representative of logic and reasoning (who of course struggles with his human, emotional side), Kirk as the emotional hot-head who thinks and acts with his gut, and Bones as a somewhat secondary character who represents humanity and at times mediates between the extremes of Kirk and Spock.
I understand that this film was an origin story concentrating mostly on Kirk and Spock, and that when we meet Kirk he is a troubled individual who has not yet reached maturity, but I hope that in future films you develop the characters and their interaction along the lines done in the past: Spock representing logic but Bones representing raw human emotion, not Kirk. Rather, Spock and Bones are the extremes, and Kirk represents the mean between the two; the appropriate balance between instinct and intellect that all of us strive to achieve and in which leadership demands.
I think a great example of this interaction is in the emotional, key scene in the “City on the Edge of Forever.” Bones, representing emotion, wishes to save Edith Kieler and is shocked that Kirk deliberately chooses otherwise. Spock, representing logic, fully understands Kirks decision. Kirk intellecutally understands as well why she must die, but nevertheless is emotionally drained by what he had to do. He balanced the competing impulses and came to the emotionally tough, yet necessary, conclusion.
In the “Wrath of Khan,” Bones and Spock go at it while discussing the Genesis project, while Kirk must intervene in the argument to keep his friends at bay. Spock at one point even warns McCoy that he must “learn to govern [his] passions, for they will be [his] undoing.” In the “Search for Spock,” Kirk must save both of his friends, the logical one and emotional one, regardless of the consequences, because the cost would be his “soul.” I could go on, but there are multiple examples of this interaction.
I don’t have problems with the depictions in this film, as, again, it was an origin story. I also see in the movie the seeds of what I think the proper relationship between the three invovles. However, I also am somewhat concerned based upon other seeds planted in the film and comments I’ve read from you and Mr. Kurtzman. Please address the Kirk-Spock-Bones relationship and how you see it evolving in future films.
Wow- 660 comments and questions, because I didn’t look at the site for a day. That’ll teach me to do anything else! ;)
Comments for some of the questions I have seen:
- It would seem the reason we get multiple universe theory rather than single timeline theory would have to do with the nature of red matter. Yes- we’ve seen time travel before, however we have never seen time travel induced by the effects of dropping red matter into a subspace nova (which can’t be just a regular nova- it’s going to destroy the quandrant!).
- We HAVE seen multiple universe time travel before, such as the three parallel-but-different timelines created in “All Good Things.” Those each sprung out of the anomaly Picard creates which is flowing backward in time, but their effects obviously don’t move forward into each other. Otherwise, future Geordie and Data could look at senile Picard and say “Oh, yeah, I remember when we were taking care of this back in season 7 and season 1!”
- Further, AGT and subsequent DS9 and VOY episodes show that the Prime timeline still tended toward the events of the future AGT timeline which no longer existed for the Prime universe. Uniforms matched, politics with the Klingons matched, etc. Very much reflects the idea universes closer in their “quantum signature” will replicate. Heck, look at how close the mirror universe was overall to the Prime universe.
-Since events will tend to happen toward a goal, there’s plenty of ground to revisit old ideas in a fresh context. Spock may want to stay in Starfleet, but I bet Sarek has an issue with his relationship with Uhura. Sarek knows this nice Vulcan survivor named T’Pring Spock should talk to (and she should be played by Jolene Blalock). It’s 2258- the Romulans haven’t finished cloaking device yet, but there’s a certain Romulan commander who will be dispatched to Federation space to steal telemetry regarding Nero and the Narada (Ben Cross should play him). The U.S.S. Expendable II finds a centuries old sleeper ship, whose crew captures the Federation vessel. Enterprise is dispatched to see what happened… I love this universe, it’s exciting.
662- Why do changes in the timeline have to only move “upstream” from an incursion? If the Narada and Jellyfish were thrown backward, it would make sense ripples in the timestream from their arrival would travel both directions in time. Again, as shown in AGT when the effects of the anti-time anomaly precede the cause in linear time.
464: “I prefer to think of Delta Vega as being in close orbit (although it could be a moon)”
Not really, no. Vulcan has a thin, dry atmosphere, therefore not much greenhouse effect, so it must be pretty close to its sun. So you couldn’t have a glaciated world in the same orbit. A world with a thicker atmosphere (more greenhouse effect) would be hotter, and one with a thinner atmosphere would be even drier, losing its water (and therefore ice) to space and becoming a barren rock.
“In other words, Nero could’ve beamed Spock prime down to Delta Vega with a telescope or some other type of measuring device to allow Spock to experience the pain of perceiving the destruction of his home world, but that simply isn’t very cinematic.”
Remember “The Immunity Syndrome?” Spock would’ve felt the destruction of Vulcan telepathically. The mind-meld image of him watching Vulcan’s destruction was probably a symbolic representation of that psionic perception.
361. boborci – May 18, 2009
22. Robert Saint John – May 18, 2009
We’ll hear the case very soon!
___
Best. Answer. Ever.
Also, for anyone who thinks that people are stupid for missing/loving/enjoying/nitpicking silly details about movies, it looks like those kind of people MADE this movie.
Thanks Bob, for being boss.
-P
ANOTHER QUESTION:
In the scene where Kirk, Spock, Pike transport to the Big E, we see a Blond haired woman enter the transporter room whose hair style is dead on to Janice Rand
was this a wink to the fans, since we never saw her face?
QUESTION:
You couldn’t've sent them back far enough to undo ENTERPRISE? Maybe even just the ridiculous death of Trip? :)
COMMENT:
Pon Farr selection just got a whole lot more difficult. ::wince::
And so ends comedy hour…
QUESTION:
First, can I say that your Alternative Reality time line story doesn’t work. If that was the case, when the Borg went back in time in Star Trek First Contact, Picard and crew could have left them to assimilate Earth without concern for what it would do to the original time line they were from. You really messed up here and it doesn’t work. I would like to see this addressed in the next movie.
Now, questions…
1. Why does the Enterprise fire phaser bolts instead of beams? Star Trek has always depicted phaser beams which look epic in battles. The only Federation ship to fire bolts was the USS Defiant. At the end of the movie when the Enterprise attacked Nero’s ship, all those phaser bolts made it look like a scene from Star Wars. Bad show!!
2. Has the Romulan Star Empire been wiped out in the original time line when their sun went supernova?
3. Will we ever see the original time line again or has it been permantly shelved? I hope it has not been shelved, it’s a beautifully rich universe with stong characters, ships, races and stories and I hope it won’t be ignored from now on.
4. Why is there truster exhaust from the back of the necelles just prior to the ship jumping to warp? This feels like old technology, stuff we do today, and looked terrible.
5. Is the new warp exteriour view going to be the norm? I hate it! The ship is encased in a light vortex which doesn’t give you a good view of the ship. Star Trek has always shown the ships moving gracefully at warp, even attacking at warp speed. In that light vortex, attacking at warp speed would look terrible.
6. Where did the relationship between Spock and Uhura appear from??? It was so sudden and out of character! I went to see the movie with family and friends and they all didn’t understand that story arc.
I would like the next movie to somehow contect with the long established orignal time line so we know what’s what?
Paul Boland,
Waterford, Ireland.
QUESTION:
My husband and I run a movie review website and would be honored if we had the opportunity to interview you two in greater detail. The last Q+A we did with a writing team was with Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (the Oscar winning screenwriters of Brokeback Mountain), so you’d be in esteemed company. Send us an email at: editor[at]cinemalogue.com if you’re at all interested.
:D
QUESTION
In response to the last point Bob made in this discussion, I’m not sure that the universe Nero pops into at the outset of the film is precisely the same one as the Prime Universe of TOS, etc. Although not strictly established in canon, it has long been assumed by a lot of fans that Kirk being “from” Iowa means that Kirk was born in Iowa. In the film, regardless of Nero’s appearance or not, Kirk was going to be born in deep space.
On a different note – to touch briefly on a point alluded to in a previous question – why the wide-open, industrial-factory look for the interiors of both the Kelvin and the Enterprise? I found that to be more than a bit odd – it made the ships look unfinished, for one thing, and if the intent was to go “retro”, I think it worked too well. I came away thinking that the original 1960s engineering set from TOS looked more advanced than the set-up used for engineering in the movie. I was wondering whether a $160-million budget wouldn’t have bought a better engine-room set.
@672: Same thinking (see my post at 588). I agree that the artificially created black hole may lead to another universe. If Bob would use this explanation all “pre Nero arrival inconsistencies” would be ok – even considering the canon.
#669: “You couldn’t’ve sent them back far enough to undo ENTERPRISE? Maybe even just the ridiculous death of Trip?”
Amen to that, Admiral. I do think that that contrivance was merely that. I have this expectation that both Berman and Braga wew hoping against hope that “Enterprise” would have received a reprieve and they’d be faced with a way of getting around that… alas, not to be…
although in the books, they have gotten around that… though, of course, unless it is filmed it remain *not* canon (sigh). *
* for some reason an obscure mental image just popped in my head with a frying pan and a voice screaming “not the mama! not the mama!”
oops… wew=were
#646 “question, why warp into a close proximity to the fleet when you KNOW you are arriving at a battle, why not arrive outside the parameters of the existing fleet to assess the situation first.
Oh silly me, I know why …. not as much drama for JJ”
Exactly. And I have no problem with it. If I’m hungry for realism I’ll watch CNN. Artistic choices are often best choices for an entertaining movie. How utterly boring entertainment would be if it were strictly by-the-book realism.
QUESTION:
“GaryS: Was the timeline that Nero visited the original past up to the point that George Kirk is killed? Or was it always an alternate timeline because Nero was destined to travel there?
BobOrci: We think of it is as identical to the original until Nero arrives.”
To save you some flak with the die hards, (or techies), I think it would be more logical to say it takes place in the timeline that Enterprise Did, which is the First Contact timeline which was created when Picard and Co went back to stop the borg. The Enterprise episodes “Regeneration” states that starfleet found Borg debris, so If starfleet used some of this and back engineered it into their starships, this could easily explain away the size “inconsistencies” with the Kelvin and later on The Enterprise. Namely the fact that they are like 5x the size of ships from the original timeline. Even though I know this is a stylistic change, it still grates many, and simply stating it begins in a SLIGHTLY different timeline (which we had already seen in Enterprise) would help with that.
NOT A QUESTION.
I was thinking this morning, changes in the nacelles could be explained by the fact that the engineer/designer that helped put the enterprise together was one of however many people to design the ship but died on the Kelvin. Same for engineering??? Personally I thought the movie was GREAT and loved the fact that all my non-Trek friends are loving it.
QUESTION
I understand that the principal cast is defined by history but if the Federation is an equal opportunity employer, why do you portray so few women in senior positions among the supporting characters (only one woman on the Vulcan Science Council, no female Captains or Admirals in Starfleet, no sign of Pike’s female first officer, and only one woman among the main bridge crew of the Kelvin etc)? Of the women in speaking roles, most seem to be defined as mothers, wives, ‘love interests’, and ‘caring’ roles i.e. doctors and nurses. Overall, there is a clear imbalance throughout the film.
It seems to me that if a 50/50 split is to be achievable you need to disassociate the supporting characters from their sex i.e. work out how many characters you have and then make 55% women to offset the imbalance caused by the main cast. Will you take steps to rectify this imbalance in the sequels? It seems carelessly sexist and very easy to rectify.
Will Yeoman Rand return as Kirk’s secretary (and maybe his personal bodyguard to give her a modern twist) in the sequel to help big up the women? Rand had great comic potential!
Will Nurse Chapel get an on-screen role in the sequel?
Will atypical women, like Ann Mulhall (an engineer and exobiologist) be given supporting roles (e.g. a cameo helping Scotty)?
#266—-Great post!!!!!!
I’m still laughing.
First, I loved the movie. It seems clear we will get to follow the alternate adventures of favorite characters for many years. For that, I thank you.
The movie isn’t however the movie I wanted to see, which was the coming together story of Prime Kirk, Spock et al. It seems now that we we will never get to see that story.
Can you discuss if that story was ever discussed, why was it not choosen etc. I guess it would have limited your ability to kill off some characters but I am sure you could have created dramatic tension in other ways. I believe that it would not have impacted the outreach to non ST fans, if that story was done as well as what you just did.
Again my thanks and congratulations, I just wish I had seen the movie I really wanted.
#297—”If it was only Nero, why wouldn’t his crew get him out of there. After all, they still have a superior albeit damaged ship.”
If it was only Nero, we don’t know what condition the ship was in, or how long it took the rest of them to locate where he was being held.
But I have no idea whether it was or wasn’t only Nero, so that’s blind speculation.
I’m looking forward to someday seeing the deleted scene though.
QUESTION
Is this alternate USS Enterprise (NCC 1701) an alternate Constitution class vessel? or is has the changes in the timeline caused Star Fleet to go with a different class when commissioning the Enterprise?
QUESTION
Are you going to use the horific fudge known as the “fate function” again? Please say no.
QUESTION
Do the events of this movie result in the nonexistence and/or death of Sybok? Please tell me he was crushed between several huge boulders on Vulcan if he existed in this timeline.
This process of back and forth has given me a lot of respect for the two of you. Both as fans and as screenwriters. Thank you for helping explain your view on some things that other fans wonder about.
QUESTION: Were there absolutely *no* armed shuttles on either Earth or Vulcan which could have shot down the mining rig before it did its dirty work? Or did the Narada use the codes they extracted from Pike to shut down Earth defenses and from an unseen Vulcan for Vulcan defenses? If the latter, would one single person hold all the right codes?
QUESTION: No one is surprised at how Romulans look by the time of Kirk’s command. Does that mean the Kelvin incident caused a face-to-face contact earlier than “Balance of Terror”?
QUESTION: The Kelvin was a smaller ship than the Enterprise. Were there other ships nearby such that George Kirk “saved 800 people” in total, or was it the intent that 800 people were (a) squeezed on the Kelvin and (b) were all able to escape?
COMMENT: Supporting the blue sky on Vulcan, in “Strange New World” from “Enterprise” is the following dialogue: ARCHER: Take a minute to enjoy yourself. The sky ever get this blue on Vulcan? T’POL: Occasionally.
Thank you!!
#678 – you’re “overthinking” this. Some of the changes happened in fact due to Narada’s incursion, and some of them (more high-tech bridge, ship design) were done just to make the movie more plausible in the 21st century. TOS Enterprise (the ship, the bridge) looks awfully dated now. We’re just supposed to pretend like there’s no difference.
For instance, sometimes in a TV series the actor playing a character is replaced with someone else playing the same character. Hardly ever there is any explanation as to why the character’s appearance has changed (in rare cases, a lame attempt is made, like “he had a plastic surgery after an accident) – we’re just supposed to pretend it’s still the same person. I believe that’s the same case with nacelles and bridge.
QUESTION:
Did Leonard Nimoy add to or change what you wrote for Spock Prime? Or did he perform the iconic character exactly as he was written? I personally think this whole alternate reality was caused by Spock Prime and he felt guilty/responsible for allowing Nero to change history. Was that also something that Nimoy liked, this aspect of a guilty conscious so to speak?
It’s all Spock’s fault after all!
Question: If the two realities are identical before the Kelvin incident, why does the Kelvin look much more advanced than the original timeline’s 1701, and have over 800 persons aboard?
338. boborci – May 18, 2009
5. Jerry – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Engineering? Whats the deal?
————-
The deal is that we were pursuing the aesthetic of trying to shoot as many things practically as possible to contribute to the feeling of reality. The analog feel was also part of the ethic of having the future we are presenting seem right around the corner. Also, the location we used gave us a production value that would’ve cost millions if we merely tried to build it.
—————————-
COMMENT:
boborci….With all due respect this look was just wrong. I am an Engineer writing this post from an Oil Rig in the middle of the North Sea and the Enterprise engine room looks very low tech in comparison to what I work with every day.
Please look at the attached post (link) with some example photographs
http://www.startrekmovie.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7350&page=5&highlight=engineering
Please, please fix this in the next movie.
Thanks for taking the time to read and answer these posts.
Bob Orci.
Will the next film follow the events of Star Trek and TOS or have we a different story?
Post Note Re Engineering:
The expression “Fur coat and nae knickers” comes to mind.
QUESTION:
Since the quantum mechanical view of time travel is in play here, how do you see the “temporal police” of the 29th century playing out? Do they sorta stand outside of time/see multiple timeline possibilities, or do they exist only in a subset of possible timelines (as ENT “Shockwave” suggests)?
I would think the ’subset’ option wins, because it explains why they don’t fix Nero’s temoral incursion (or any of the other incursions they never fixed), but troublingly that means they understand less about time travel than Spock Prime.
QUESTION
First of all: I think it is the best Star Trek movie I’ve seen in a long time.
Terrific work!! (And your idea of time travel works perfectly for me)
Only two complaints: Why did you film the action sequences in such a breakneck speed. Sometimes it is hard to follow all the action. (Maybe I’m too old.)
Nr.2: Did you think of Star Wars while creating the scene where Kirk gets marooned? (Kirk/Luke alone on an Ice-planet, the “There’s always a bigger fish” monsters, a mentor who saves the hero (Spock/Kenobi).
In this part of the movie there were too many coincidences in my opinion to make Kirk meet Spock and a little too much Star Wars. I also found it a little hard to have Spock throw Kirk off the ship (why not the brig)
As said before: Terrific movie, it gets the characters, the humour, the essence; keep up the good work. !!!!
#266
- I mean, the longest I’ve ever stayed really obsesses and angry with someone/thing (and I am a total gudge bitch) is about ten years. There just comes a point where you get on with life and other worries take over, like running out of washing powder or cat food, or paying a bill. -
LOL – I suspect Nero has been modelled on George Takei…:D
QUESTION:
I think that rather than using the alternate time line/universe idea because it comports to “current scientific thinking” that you instead used it because it provided you with a way to reboot the entire series in a way in which absolutely anything (witness the destruction of Vulcan) could happen. At the same time, if the fans thought that the original or Prime universe was still there, they’d be satisfied.
Personally, I like the idea of a linear time line even if that means the original universe has been wiped clean as it were. It’s much more dramatic. It means that even if Spock Prime were to go back to his time that Vulcan would no longer be there.
But, how about this: what if we were to say that the red matter/blackhole method of time travel actually opened a door into the past but the past of an alternate universe? In essence, you would be acknowledging the past linear time line travel stories while not giving up your alternate universe idea. Kirk and Spock visited an alternate universe in Mirror/Mirror. Here Spock visits another alternate universe (where Kirk has blue eyes…lol) albeit an alternate universe’s past.
Second question: Since Spock Prime seems to be stranded in this time line….can we please see him in a future movie??
695.
Snap.
So good.
-P
580. Boborci – May 18, 2009
305. oby – May 18, 2009
QUESTION
Don’t the Nokia and Budweiser product placements contradict the post-capitalist Trek Federation envisioned by Gene Roddenberry?
———-
Not if those companies have been nationalized!
____
OK, 2nd best. answer. ever.
Bailout for Nokia?
-P
QUESTIONS
1. For Kirk’s Kobayashi Maru test, did you consider using the exact same audio for the distress call we heard in Saavik’s test from Star Trek II? I was thinking you may do that to show not only continuity in the fact they used the same one all those years, but that it could be the actual audio from the actual incident, as non-canonly (is that a word?) explained in the Enterprise novel “Kobayashi Maru.”
2. Might we find out the fate of Archer’s prized beagle in Star Trek XII? It was mentioned in the novel, but it would be great to hear it (or even see him?) in the next movie.
COMMENT
Sorry If this is repeated.
To ask about Shatner and Nemoy’s role in the film- Couldn’t Shat have been fit into the film as Kirk’s Grandfather at his graduation something like “Jimmy, I’m proud of you….here’s a cigar and scotch, back to my law firm.” With Nemoy playing Sarek or something. I think fans would have responded to that just as well as Nemoy playing Spock. It’s been successful in other series where characters cameo for a scene (Battlestar Galactica, Smallville, Stargate). Just a thought. If you’re trying to please fans, there are ways you can do it.
Comment:
I loved the Spock/Uhura romance. That was a great liberty you two took and it worked great. Although it was a bit awkward to watch, it was certainly interesting.
QUESTION
Secondly, the timeline was what I was having the most trouble grasping. I understand your concept of the alternate reality and reasoning for it. However, Star Trek and Star Fleet have ALWAYS been about protecting the timeline. TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY all dealt with time travel and all dealt with it the same way. Don’t screw it up. The time police would even come in to make sure they didn’t screw it up. Even Spock in City on the Edge, wouldn’t let Kirk do anything to save Edith Keeler because it would kill the timeline. Why would Spock suddenly abandon all his prior time travel dealings and beliefs and allow Even in First Contact, “We have to go back and fix whatever damage they’ve done!”- Picard. It doesn’t add up Mr. Orci.
I loved the movie, it was visually stunning and had a great vibe. The time travel was a stretch and was an overstretch trying to please a few fans that had to see Leonard Nemoy as Spock. Nero should have just been a pissed off Romulan and let Kirk know his dad/Robert April and Spock have his mother and Vulcan. Thanks for answering!
I am amazed that Bob is answering all these questions (even the obnoxious ones – jeez folks, some of you could at least TRY to be civil). Whether you liked the movie or not, you have to admire his willingness to engage with a half-crazed fanbase! :)
#699 – “non-canonically”
678. MercuryEH – May 19, 2009
NOT A QUESTION.
I was thinking this morning, changes in the nacelles could be explained by the fact that the engineer/designer that helped put the enterprise together was one of however many people to design the ship but died on the Kelvin. Same for engineering???
Yeah that person was George Kirk who was instrumental in the development/design of the Enterprise
#700
Personally, I’m glad they did away with some of the complexities of monitoring time travel that were introduced in later Trek shows. It killed all suspense in TT stories, because you knew it would all be repaired by some all-seeing future Temporal Police.
As for Spock’s behavior in COTEOF, you have to remember that 25 years of history had already been changed by the time he arrived in this timeline. The damage was done. All he could do was try to minimize Nero’s influence. In COTEOF, McCoy was the one who caused the changes, and they managed to arrive before he effected the changes, and thus were able to stop him.
#704
Additionally, you have to remember that the time travel in this film is all accidental. So Spock had no control over the events that transpired.
QUESTION:
How stoked are you guys having made such a kick-ass movie? Really, this fi