Into Darkness Open Week Thread + Polls


Vote and chat about Star Trek Into Darkness all week in sticky open thread.

 

Sticky 4: Into Darkness Opening USA/Canada Week

Opening weekend is behind us and Star Trek Into Darkness is now entering its first week (domestically). Fans continue to buzz about the movie so once again we have a special sticky open thread for opening week.

TrekMovie.com has already posted a review and now it is your chance. TrekMovie has created a new fan reviews page for Into Darkness.

 

Previous Into Darkness Spoiler Discussion Threads

May 17 – Open Weekend

May 15 – Domestic Fan Sneak Open Day

May 8 – Early Countries Open Day

 

POLLS

Here are our current polls for those who have seen Into Darkness, including a new one on what the movie needed more of (if anything).

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DISCUSS STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (WITH ANY SPOILERS)

Below chat about the movie, including discussing any spoilers.

 

 

WARNING: This open thread is for people who have seen the movie. If you haven’t seen the movie you really shouldn’t be reading this as you are sure to get spoiled.

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This thread is better….at everything

On Polls voted:

1. Needs more Cumberbatch
2. Great Villain
3. Two (at least)
4. Great Star Trek Film

I tried to find it in the credits, and didn’t see it. Are they using any science consultants for the new Star Trek movies?

A.P
this site has been the best!
into darkness is the nuts.

Needs better (more appropriate) sound effects and a soundtrack with more variety ;)

No, according to Chris Pine, it is the Pine nuts who are nutty…:)

Of course, most nutty nuts are high nutritious and tasty. I trust that he is cognizant of this fact.

Is there any chance one or two of the new cast could share a word or two here, especially one Chris Pine?

Agreed, this site is brilliant. Thanks anthony.

I loved this movie. One of my lingering questions – I thought Jim said khan would face justice but it looks like he’s back in the fridge. What kind of justice facing is that?

It needed more logic, apparently.

Even a lot of the good reviews say the plot cannot withstand an iota of scrutiny.

Mr. Abrams/Orci-What a disappointment this was. You told us you were taking extra time to make the writing especially good and all you did since the last film is cut and paste TWOK.

You did such a good job in the last film setting up this alternate universe that would allow you to tell new stories that fell in the spaces of the stories from the other universe. Yet in only the 2nd movie you did a stale, unimaginative, lazy retread of a film that you could never come close too.

Scotty resigns so he can be at the right place at the right time by chance – Lazy

Carol Marcus just hops on a secret mission shuttle with a fake name and then adds nothing but some T&A- Lazy

The Enterprise comes up dramtically from the clouds just like the first movie-Lazy

Kirk does another suit dive just like in the first film-Lazy

The SH-T is used over and over-Lazy

I won’t see this multiple times like I thought I would. I won’t take my 8 year old son. I won’t buy the DVD and I won’t trust that the final product is more important to you than making a buck.

You are a worthy successor to George Lucas for all the wrong reasons.

Joe, tell us how you *really* feel.

@ #7

I would say that spending eternity in a refrigerator is a pretty harsh punishment.

Great movie. I wouldn’t change anything. Abrams and colleagues are doing a fantastic job with star trek. I just hope it isn’t 4 years until the next film.

Anthony or Bob, I think I saw you post this in the other thread but not sure so will ask now. Will someone put together all the questions and answers by Bob that clarify various plot questions? As it is, its tough to follow because Bob will reply to a question with only his answer so in order to find the original question you have to scroll up a few hundred posts. So not to act privileged here, but it would be most beneficial to everyone / and to avoid repeat questions, if there can be a thread of all Bob’s Q&A. I know he answered quite a few questions I was thinking of but I do have a few more questions and not sure if Bob already answered them.

I’ll ask my most pressing question- why did Khan agree to get put back into cryo freeze again? I mean I don’t even see how he was defeated…he got stunned a few times and Spock eased up and stopped punching him…I would think Khan would then a) push Spock off or b) grab Spock and make Uhura drop the phaser. Either way, leads to his escape. Instead I’m left wondering what happened? So Uhura says that not killing Khan is the only way Spock lives, so Spock handcuffs or whatever Khan right away….then they take his blood and force him into a cryo chamber? Don’t even give him a trial? The very trial that Spock was telling Kirk that Khan is entitled to during the chase to Kronos? If I recall Kirk was going to fire the torpedos and kill Khan but Spock made him reconsider and do a capture in order to do a due process / fair trial. But the end of the movie for some reason threw that out the window. My only hope is that Khan took a pill when no one was looking and will wake up and then get his crew back and the next movie can jump into his devastation. Otherwise the next movie is going to have to waste valuable time having some arrogant businessman or something try to wake Khan (again) and we have to relive that whole process and escape essentially all over again.

I don’t wanna be the guy who says action is better than plot but the scene with vengeance literally ploughing through San Francisco was amazing.

12. crucifixion – May 20, 2013

Hi – I emailed Anthony on Friday and he said they are working on compiling all of Bob Orci’s replies into a single post.

Waiting patiently for that :)

#11. cugel the clever – May 20, 2013

Not eternity, until the rest of humanity evolved to the point where there would be nothing special about him which would be the greatest indignity.

Trek fans deserve the bad rep. Never seen a more fickle cut throat fanbase. Smh.

I’ll start by saying that I did love the film. It was a great Star Trek film, and worked perfectly with the new universe that’s being established.

I’ve only seen it once so far (and I do need to see it a second time before I really have a final opinion), but I felt the whole Kirk/Spock scene at the end was walking a VERY fine line between homage and parody … still not 100% sure that it didn’t put it’s toe over that line a few times (i.e. Spock’s shouting of “KHAAANN” which is one of the more parodied lines of Star Trek already!).

amazing the nitpicking that goes on about this movie. when I look at the logical, plotting, and effects disasters of most of the TOS and NG movies, the criticism of the writing/plot of this movie is incomprehensible.

The original and NextGen movies only had 4 decent entries…. II, IV, VI, and First Contact. ST I, III, V, Generations, Insurrection, Nemesis…. all very weak entries. That’s a 40% performance…. very poor.

So far, Abrams and company are 2 for 2.

#16. KennyB – May 20, 2013

“Bob, you interact with fans occasionally about your films. Do you glean information from those conversations?

Orci: Yeah, absolutely. We interact with them because we like to take in information, good or bad. Because we were fans, we understand what it is to feel strongly about a certain property or not, and also, we would have loved at the time that we were watching to be able to interact with the filmmakers. For us it’s both doing what we would have hoped we could have done as kids and also hearing insights, even the most negative comment may sometimes contain an insight. “Star Trek” has existed for 50 years and it doesn’t simply belong to us. It belongs to all the fans. They’re the ones who kept it alive for 50 years so it seems wrong not to at least hear them out. Now, do we always agree? No. Are some of them super-mean? Yes. [laughs] But that’s okay. We’re very lucky to be part of this and no opinion should be ignored no matter how it’s phrased.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/05/16/inside-star-trek-into-darkness/

Did something happen? A second ago, there were over 1,000 comments

Great article on io9, you can’t really argue with it, its like “yup, its all right there.” The 2009 movie was a touch confusing for the non trek fan…and if you want to draw in movie fans, it cant be confusing. It was the same with STID, I did not have an issue, but I could easily see how confusing it could be for the average joe, add to that its fast pace….

“After making a mere $84 million at the U.S. box office, Star Trek Into Darkness is considered by some to be a disappointment. Perhaps the problem is that it was a touch confusing. To help our readers better understand it, we’ve complied and answered these Frequently Asked Questions about the movie.”

http://io9.com/star-trek-into-darkness-the-spoiler-faq-508927844

Seen this film 3 times. It gets better the more you watch it.
After 3 times this is how i feel:

1) I Still dont like transwarp beaming. Its a lazy plot device and not realistic.
2) Like the warp core and new enterprise sets
3) Spock gets angry because he just realised his friendship with kirk. TOS episodes refer to to Kirk as his only friend. He also knows what pain kirk is in in his dying moments from his mind meld with Pike, spock told him about the consequences of Khan’s actions in the prime universe. Add these together and I can understand why he loses it and shouts KHAAANNN!
4) Cumberbatch was absolutely excellent and believable, however there was no real effort to make him feel like the Khan we know. He never “grew fatigued” or said the word “excellent”. The hairstyle was different. Although you almost feel for the character in a way you never did in TWOK.

I still want my questions answered from the previous thread.

I hope Bob, Alex etc take time to explain.

Thanks

@ 20. PEB. Wow, read the very first comment. This is a new thread genius.

How about a “Needs LESS of” ?

I lurve Into Darkness, it’s a Trek fan’s dream-come-true. But it’s as if the filmmakers (most likely the studio and JJ) are so afraid the audience will reject a fan’s dream that they bury it under countless layers of blockbuster artifice: action, effects, score, sound design, lens flares, etc. They lay it all on so thick at times that it almost veers into parody. A non-fan friend compared it the Starsky & Hutch movie with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. It’s a bit of an overstatement, but I know what she means. And then the amplification is so great — of audio and visual with the 3D, IMAX, etc. — that it’s almost tiring by the end. At times getting through the climax became a bit of a slog. And I loved it, but there was also a bit too much of the Kirk/Spock ST2 replay.

So how about it Anthony? How about a “Needs less” poll?

# 20. PEB – May 20, 2013

Yes. During events like this threads can become quite unwieldy as the message count soars into the thousands. Anthony regularly resets it to keep things fluid sometime after 1000 is crossed.

Anthony why not use a threaded discussion and registration system? I think the community here is large enough. WordPress + Disqus!

The cast really deserves intelligent writing and purposeful direction because they could actually be part of something new, exciting, and memorable. Instead, we have a summer blockbuster franchise with little creativity, little heart, and little resemblance to Gene’s vision.

The problem with the poll “What did INTO DARKNESS need more of?” is that you have to choose only one thing. I, for one, would have liked to select several of the options… I guess that might be why there is such a spread, so far.

@3. You’re joking, right? Science went out the window a while back…

Reposting this to new thread, since like an idiot I posted it to the last thread as it lay dying …

@1102 Peachick rose (on prev. thread)

Problem is, I think, that the production team of the film is a testosterone chamber. And while this hasn’t completely undermined the film – Uhura is great – they just can’t seem to help themselves re: the sexism. The underwear moment was entirely gratuitous, pandering to the male gaze. In the first film, Uhura was getting changed in her own quarters. Kirk was hiding. Him seeing her in underwear was contextually valid. This time it wasn’t. There was no excuse. And the fact that Kirk looked after she asked him to turn round was a complete violation of her privacy. It turned him into a nasty little perv, and that’s a shame. Because he can horn dog it as much as the producing team wants. But there is a line and that moment crossed it and it has nothing to do with ‘oh but she’s hot and any guy’s going to want to see a hot babe in her scanties!’ That’s just excusing the bad behaviour. That’s saying it’s okay to ignore her request. She said, please turn around. He ignored that request. It was a skeevy move and it sent the message, yet again, that a woman is not to be taken seriously, that she can be safely ignored, that what the guy wants is more important than what the woman wants. And that she’s supposed to think it’s cute and funny and endearing.

Well, guess what? It’s not.

The scene really disappoints me. Abrams and co. should be better than that.

I think we need more Bones with Kirk and Spock. He was an important part of the relationship and keeps getting left out. Also give us a less cocky Kirk and one more in line with the series now that the five year mission has begun.

#24. Phil – May 20, 2013

Back in 2009, I first stated the claims that it attracted hordes of new fans to the franchise was a convenient fiction. Their novels got cancelled and they never organized and gathered in protest. Their toy line’s got cancelled due to lack of sales, and no new fan response.

My point was, that 2009’s success was largely the result of reinvigorating the enthusiasm of the existing fan base to the point where it duplicated what it did for TMP.

Disqus is huge resource hog for high traffic sites. Would increase server costs.

anyone willing to donate $ for it?

BobOrci Q&A format article is coming. But takes time to edit as many comments arent really Q&Aish and there are 3000 open thread posts to go through

This sucks. Just wrote a big review and its gone as the last article closed. Anthony, Why even close it? I just don’t get it. How did Trek get its science s-o-o-o wrong. Yes Keachick, The scene with Scotty in the huge bay was poorly conceived. I would think it’s pretty common sense to think that if you are standing in the center of a large cavernous space ship and someone opened an airlock at the far end, that the force of the suction would NOT be felt at the center of the room. The force of the suction would be felt at the bottleneck of the event – which would be the airlock. The only thing Scotty and the security guard should feel would be a strong breeze, loss of oxygen, and then unconciousness. It was just stupid the way it played out. But yes I agree, I have never been in space. But I did see Aliens!!! This Trek was not all bad, but the decision to not market this move is its biggest problem. J. J. KHHHHHHHAAAAANNNNNN!!!!! I bet the writers were asked, “Who is Trek’s badest villian?” And the writers all said, “Khan.” So, JJ said, “It’s gotta be Khan, then.” But then how do we be clever enough so that those pesky fans will not find out? GAWD! I can’t believe I am writing about how a great charasmatic character like Khan was reduced him down to some emo-english guy with a black trenchcoat!!! I mean did’nt you guys watch the original!!! Did’nt you even watch Wrath??!! I know you must have, but exactly how long did it take you to say that was OK, but how about we do this?! How could you not see how Khan was the leader because he had superior AMBITION! Not, as Spock Prime said, that he considered everyone below him not even worthy of life (loosley paraphrasing what Nimoy said onscreen)! And why the hell did you port out Nimoy again. HE said he retired, yet someone thought it a smart idea to drag him out (on what looked like a bad webcam) for one more visit! LAME!!!!!!! Certainly it was NO help to the plot. And why the hell would’nt Nimoy help at that point? A self-serving Vulcan indeed. Please. But back to the science of Darkness for a bit. It looked to me like the Enterprise was close to the Moon and acellerating when it went back to Earth. They said it was 200,000 miles from Earth, Then there was a battle and the Enterprise was blown apart, In that time the Spock fools BC-Khan with the Federations BEST torpedoes. But when they go off POINT BLANK inside the Dreadnought they barly even disable that ship!? WEAK!!! Then the E and Dreadnought are still speading toward the Earth at speeds hundreds of times faster than a returning NASA moon capsule. But when the Enterprise hits the atmosephere ther is no problem with the ship being torn apart from the velocity and force of re-entry. So which is it Keachick? Either the force of air through an opening airlock can rip someone out of a ship (who is hundreds of feet away from the event), but when a ship enters an atmosphere at 100,000 mph, the atmosphere and wind sheer has no effect on the structure of the ship? The E would have been vaporized as soon as it hit Earth’s thicker levels of atmosphere – of which it certaily did. More? Kirk picks up a phaser-rifle and can’t get a shot on the small ship BC-Khan is pilotng? Then (for some reason) he goes to a blank wall panel, rips it off the wall, and surprisingly finds a firefighters hose to throw into the attacking shuttle?! Kirk had as much knowledge about that horribly designed Starfleet HQ building than BC-Khan had concerning the Vengeance! Seriouly, that building was ugly. There was nothing better available in San Francisco for SF HQ? Perhaps we will see it in a bigger budget Trek movie next time. More? How about Star Fleets best surgeon being reduced to a blood letter to save Kirk! And Kirk received a complete transfusion! HA!!! Now I am no nuclear engineer either, but when someone get irradiated enough to kill them, a simple blood transfusion (abeit BC-Khan type blood) will never be enough to take away the highly energized radioactive particles that are though every freaking cell tissue in Kirk’s body!!! Radiation sickness is not a disease!!! And contaminated tissue and materials do not go away for thousands of years!!! GAWD!!! They should have just said Harrison was a SF techie who got his hands on Red Matter. That would have made more sense. More? A Dreadnought spaceship being built without anyone of importance knowing?… Read more »

bear in mind there are links above to the previous open threads and the last one is still on the front page. Anything written will remain there for all of posterity (until this site dies at least). But things get unwieldy after 1000 posts

@32. You are not the only one who feels this way. The more they showed of the sneak-a-peek scene it became apparent that it was there for the T&A value only. For people who like that sort of thing, Hangover III opens next Friday.

OMG I just got home from seeing it in Imax 3D and absolutely loved the movie. I couldn’t believe it but there were 4 of us in the theater. What the hell?

I can’t honestly say what this movie needs more of –

Yes, I can – but it is not part of the poll –
A very good view of a shirtless Kirk…didn’t really get much of anything. Disappointing there. There was an appropriate scene where we could have seen more of that man’s natural body and even found out what the ‘cat’ ladies’ names were, if they were friends/sisters… and whether they were Caitian and how long they had known this guy Jim Kirk…then again, it would have cut into how often we saw this same Jim Kirk get punched and kicked by Harrison/Khan…duh…:(

I actually composed, what was to me at least, a funny scene involving Kirk, the ladies with tails and Admiral Pike…starting with the bedroom and the call from Pike.

Then again, we didn’t find out why Carol Marcus spoke with an English in spite of her father clearly being an American, because that scene was cut as well, because we needed to know about torpedoes.

Once again, explanation/dialogue, no matter how small, about female characters was cut in favour of bloody violence and torpedoes – built by crazy men.

Is there some rule that says that a movie must be only so many minutes long and no more? Is there also some almost inviolate rule that anything remotely relating to female characters can just be shunted/sidelined, for whatever reason, or none at all?

I am glad that you are not ignoring me, Bob, because I really think you and JJ and co. need to read this. What’s more, I don’t think I am only one who feels this way. Others even feel more strongly about these important issues.

@21. Have not seen the movie yet, but from the spoilers I’ve read, and the line of BS from the writing team about this movie not being a rehash of WOK, well, it’s a rehash of WOK. Still going to see it, and I’m hoping that it’s well crafted, as advertised.

37. Phil

Don’t wak the sleeping Trekkies for Hanglover T&A (Although I see why you are saying that). Trek needs the Zombie-Trek nation to see this fiasco a few more times – and then also buy it again on DVD, BluRay and Payperview!

38. jamesingeneva

“I couldn’t believe it but there were 4 of us in the theater.”

Others could’nt believe they anti-produced and anti-marketed this movie.

Y’know. Freaking “Wing Commander” was a much better picture than this one. Way better. Way, way, better.

Thanks again, JJ.

Anthony, certainly you don’t need a new PC? Do you?

I’ll take a free PC but TrekMovie.com doesn’t run on a PC under my desk. It is dedicated server in a rack mount server farm with a dedicated CMS, just like a real website.

@11

Fair enough! I’d change 1 or 2 tiny details but I’m not complaining really. Can’t wait for 2016!

@39. Well, it looks like his next interview is for Out Magazine. Nothing shirtless, though…

If the Supreme Court thought fan reaction was too negative about Khan they can still fix it in the 2016 installment. Cumby was a Khan Lieutenant, & Javier Bardem plays the Real Khan.

Before I posted this comment I saw the movie twice.

The first time I was rather upset at the lame way Kahn was introduced and portrayed. After all, we were lied to when they said ‘no, he is not playing Kahn’. I thought that was great. I thought they were going to do something new. After all, that subject needs its own film…. Oh’yea… they already did that.

The second time through… I simmered down a bit. The movie was entertaining in many parts. The Khan idea would have worked if they had more screen time on his back-story… they could have explored parts of his past that never have seen before – like flashbacks to his ‘earthly rule’ and so forth. The character called ‘Khan’ was formidable, but not Khaaaaan.

Broken record here, but Is there still any sliver of a chance at all that Harrison is not Khan? Please! Still holding out hope they had the wrong popsicle.

And after a second viewing – also disappointed that other than a few glances and a gratuitous display of t&a – that the Kirk/Carol relationship wasn’t forged more strongly as part of the story. A missed opportunity indeed.

But not a hater. Another screening ahead – this time IMAX.