Justin Lin Teases Two New Aliens From Star Trek Beyond On First Contact Day

Star Trek Beyond director Justin Lin took to the internet today to wish the world a “Happy #FirstContactDay”. In a tweet and on his blog, Lin shared a photo from the set of Beyond featuring himself standing with two formidable looking aliens and offered signed STB swag for anyone who can guess the men behind the masks.

Today is First Contact Day, the day in which humans will make first contact with Vulcans in a small town in Montana some 47 (!) years from now.

Justin Lin, director of the upcoming Star Trek Beyond film, helped Trekkies celebrate the holiday with the gift of a behind the scenes photo from on set of Beyond during its first day of shooting, saying “Here I am hanging with two of my favorite people to ever work with.”

We of course have absolutely no context for these aliens or the men behind their masks, and so with one small hint, Lin has challenged readers of his blog on You Offend Me You Offend My Family to uncover their identities.

And just for fun, I’ll send the first person who correctly guesses the identities of these two actors an official STB crew t-shirt and signed STB poster. Just leave your guesses in the comments section below. And a small note—because the shirt contains spoilers for the film and the poster hasn’t been finalized yet, I won’t be able to send it out until closer to the STB release date this July, but rest assured you’ll get it as soon as possible.

I know this will probably be a tough one since the casting of these two actors hasn’t been announced yet and you won’t find them listed on IMDb. So here’s a hint–I’ve worked with them both before STB. Good luck.

So, who do you think it is? Someone from the Fast and Furious franchise? Or maybe Scorpion?

Whoever they are, they look like new aliens the likes of which we’ve never seen before, although I think that dude on the left may have some Jem’Hadar in him. Maybe this dynamic duo will get to interact with some of the other mysterious new alien species (here, here) we’ve been seeing!

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Hmmmm, if Justin Lin has worked with them before, I’d guess…..man who can kick-box but can’t act, and man who can punch but can’t act.

Just because someone is good at martial arts doesn’t mean they should be cast in a movie!

*shrug* I’m still expecting fail (but maybe that’s because I’m older and supposedly more wiser as the Parent in Me asserts more reign over the Gamer in Me)…

Names, damnit!! We need names!!

Phil,

UPDATE (4/5/16, 11:35PM PST):

“Thank you everyone for your guesses. Several people guessed correctly and we’ll be sending all of them the t-shirt and posters. Once we’ve reached out to them, we’ll announce the names and also the identity of the two actors.” — Justin Lin

Bruce Lee was not exactly Ian McKellen, but he did alright.

Decided not to have fun with this, huh?

Damn Harry, I’ve never seen a -19 before! Well done!

I don’t know how or why, but I expect the negative posts to begin ASAP here.

I hear you Prodigal. Imagine what it must be like for these folks who are absolutely driving themselves into the ground trying to make something great for us all for the 50th anniversary. I hope the people making Beyond who read these posts know that some of us are truly appreciative of their efforts.

Im appreciative of efforts to make something good, not something half-assed. Ofcourse, we wont know how good it is until we see it. Im very much in the camp that I hope for the best.

But its fair game to be critical of the process that we can see. There are reasons to be nervous. Hopefully they, creatively, blow us out of the water come July.

Why are you always so nervous about people making posts that you wont agree with? It’s one thing when you go off on your usual condescending rants, but you also have a habit of preemptively criticizing people for things they havent even said yet.

Just chill dude. Enjoy the discussion in a friendly way.

I guess I’m just scratching my head trying to figure out why there is so much negativitiy about an upcoming movie no one knows anything about (outside of a brief trailer aimed at the star wars crowd). Any ideas?

Merchant of Vulcan,

You seem unclear on the concept of what ANYTHING encompasses, as used in “an upcoming movie no one knows anything about “, because you then go on to demonstrate some ways, but not all as there’s more, in which it is proven false as too broad?

At best, I guess there’s some facet of upcoming movies, that you can’t quite figure out how to name properly, that you feel should be known before any critiques are offered on what IS known about them?

Prodigal Son,

It never ceases to amaze me when people obsessed about the extreme lack of optimism in other people, themselves, choose an extremely pessimistic stance with which to supposedly attack the “negativity” of it.

You should never tease aliens.

There’s no predicting how they’ll react.

Especially the Jem’Hadar. They’re not exactly “easy going.”

See, people thought I was crazy to imagine the “Left” guy being a Jem Hadar. Clearly others think so too.

I see the tomatoes are again being handed out to the audience.

What are you hoping to accomplish by it?

Disappointing to see the voting back. Middle school antics here we come.

It helps to keep bullies in their place (not naming any names).

The moderators can (and do) use their words for those sort of issues. Encouraging ambiguous, shadowy negativity is not a smart solution to any problem, real or perceived.

Prodigal Son,

Must you be so negative all the time? Isn’t there the slightest possibility it was only activated as a side effect of getting the “What are you more excited for?” poll going?

Why are so obsessed with the voting? You’re either complaining about it when you have minuses or raving about it when you don’t. If you dislike it so much I assume you don’t partake in voting, right?

Besides you’ve shown that middle school antics don’t require voting .

Relax, Cygnus. People should have democratic rights.

There are so many fascists on this board, it’s ridiculous.

quantum47 Today 12:20 am

People should have democratic rights.

Where did I imply otherwise?

It’s not an issue of democracy. I encourage free expression here, even when I strongly disagree with peoples’ opinions or become frustrated with the lack of progress. Because that’s the whole point of these message boards, as far as I’m concerned.

Setting up a button for people to click to anonymously heap negativity onto others does not encourage free expression, but rather the opposite. And then there’s the issue of it being used for disingenuous and unethical purposes by parties with agendas who remain anonymous. And the additional issue of how ambiguous it is to imply a generic negative sentiment to a comment filled with various ideas, propositions, and what not. Which of the ideas in the comment is being poo-pooed? Or, is it just the poster who is being poo-pooed? Perhaps it’s getting even for something. We’ve been through all of this before, which is why I’m nonplussed at the system being restored with all of the same problems remaining intact.

“It’s not an issue of democracy.”

But it is. It’s voting – represented through up/down. A person clicks on it, depending on whether the person likes or dislikes what is said. It’s simple as that. I don’t see how that could bother anyone.

And why are you so fixated on the negative? It’s not like you can only “heap negativity onto others”. You can also heap “positivity” on others. It’s each individual’s choice, depending on their attitude, opinion, etc. I don’t feel like I have to intervene in other peoples’ judgement or decision, i.e. on how they will “vote”. It’s not like people express negative sentiments only, they also express positive ones. I don’t feel like I have to control how they will express themselves – whether positive or negative. May they express themselves as they choose. I trust in their personal judgement and respect their choice. I think you, and some others here as well, are just too concerned with those rather minor things. It’s not *that* important. I find it’s a cool addition, like spice to a meal, which makes it possible for people to express their opinions in non-verbal ways as well. What’s so bad about that?

quantum47 Today 12:43 am

It seems like you’re just ignoring everything that I said and then saying that you don’t see my point.

You were able to express yourself just as well without the dumbing down of the system. Hence there has been no change in terms of “democracy,” which isn’t even really the appropriate term since there’s not actually a vote on anything.

Whether 10 anonymous people with no credentials or even personalities indicate generic dislike for a comment in toto does not necessarily bear upon any outcome. So, “democracy” has no more to do with it than it did before. One thing and one thing alone has changed: instead of a person expressing a view that gives some indication of motive—i.e. why they like or don’t like something in particular—now it’s an anonymous person (presumably a person) indicating a generic, nonspecific binary value about a square with text in it. Whether it’s a particular idea represented in the square, or several ideas, or just the person who typed the words in the square, that is being indicated is not evident.

In other words, it’s not as though there’s a specific proposition on the table to either allow or delete comments and we’re all indicating our preference via the up/down button. There’s no “democracy” at issue.

Here’s a perfect example.

Who are these two people and what don’t they “like” about the comment? Do they not like the definition of “democracy?” Do they not like the notion of anonymous people using the system for disingenuous purposes? Does something in the comment confuse them and they don’t like the feeling? Do they not like the notion of not having thumbs up/down, regardless of the reasoning and merits of the system? What specifically don’t they like? And why don’t they want to explain what they don’t like? Are they afraid? Not exactly sure of what they dislike? Unable to articulate it?

@Cygnus-X1

Gee…
What is everyone thinking when they’re not thinking? Why do we have five fingers? Would four fingers be better? Why has the bird turned left instead of right? Why is there something rather than nothing?

Caprese salad, anyone?

A new trailer would have been more like it. 3 months to go and we are still stuck with just the one trailer that looks like something for a bad SyFy movie. Supposedly the trailer thats out there is said to be a bad representation of the movie, but nothing new has come to challenge it.

Quit your pissing and moaning

Cry me a river.

If the shirt contains spoilers, then that means a SHIRT has more information about this film than any of the fans know, THREE MONTHS before release. I mean, we barely have enough information to make theories or speculation!

Must be a Jem Hadar before genetic engineering by the Founders.

Who’s the alien in the middle?

“Who’s the alien in the middle?” — quantum47

Moe.

An illegal alien?

Whomever they are, they don’t look so formidable IMO. These guys could have fit right in with the other creatures in the bar scene in Star Wars Ep IV. Except that was over 30 years ago, and the aliens in Star Wars looked more realistic.
I’m starting to get very nervous about this movie. It’s starting to look like the first TMNT movie. I’m not giving up hope, however.

Maybe, but look at sets, actors and makeup without the ‘perfect’ studio lighting, camera angles and post production and you’ll see that in most cases things don’t look as formidable.

So it’s very hard to say that ‘aliens looked more realistic in Star Wars’ based on single photo. I’ll reserve judgement until I see the aliens in the movie.

But you’re nervous about the movie based on a single trailer (which admittedly isn’t very good) and a few amateur pictures? Not that you’re not entitled to be nervous, but at this point I feel we have almost nothing to be nervous about. Or perhaps the fact that we know so little is reason to be worried ;)

Please check out the many alien races seen in the first 6 Trek movies. Many look just like this. Take off the nostalgia goggles.

Keep in mind that JJ Abrams (still producing) uses subtle CGI in combination with in camera costumes/masks/makeup/sets to create the most realistic look possible in the final product. All of the creatures in the latest Star Wars movie had CGI affects added… even Luke Skywalker did – enhancing his beard and facial appearance. You can’t compare an unprocessed photo on set to what the final product of other movies looks like and make any judgement.

Both these guys are in the trailer at the 55 second mark. Getting beat up by the white chick with black stripes.
https://youtu.be/XRVD32rnzOw

Actually… I know the face is different but in the trailer the Jem’Hadar looking guy seems to have a very Reman outfit. Big pointy shoulder pads n’ all.

Monsters from the Power Rangers? Cool.

Character on the left is definitely a Jem’Hadar. Can’t identify the actor.

Actor on the right seems to be Dwayne Johnson.

Not Dwayne Johnson. Kim Kold

Not a Jem’Hadar. the spikes are similar but overall the look is quite different.

Apparently, you’ve never seen a Jem’Hadar, since that clearly is NOT one.

A (literally) distant Alpha Quadrant cousin of the Jem’Hadar?

There will be a new Trek movie? Why didn’t I heard of that before?

Apparently the contest is over.

So, does the zipline apparatus attached to the tree mean that BEYOND will feature a lot of zipping through the forest?

Ugh… It looks Jem’Hadar

New aliens that look like old aliens. “New” adventures. Hmmmm

I dont mind when they use established aliens. But I hate when they make a new alien that very closely resembles an old one and they speak the Queen’s English too. If you’re going to go down that road, just use an established race and take advantage of the “depth” that brings.

I think I liked it better when Star Trek didnt seem to have millions of different races. A more “lonely” universe with diverse intelligent life that was fewer and far between lends itself better to the concept of being a lone on the final frontier.

Star Wars is teeming with aliens. Star Trek shouldnt be. But thats just my opinion.

The fictional universe of Star Trek is sort of an allegorical representation of our own world. And our world is also teeming with life, it has a wide variety of species, cultures, etc. I think in such a universe of “infinite diversity” there is always a place for some new species.

And what the heck could be on a shirt that is a spoiler?

And if the merchandising department is mass producing items that contain spoilers, why arent they releasing any information to the public?

Its one thing to have a tight production schedule. But it *does* make you wonder if they are going to operate on a cheap marketing budget…

I think we need more information on this movie,like a new trailer.

What doea a minus mean? That some disagrees? That’s good news. I must have just missed the massive marketing for the film. Someone link me to it please.

I’ll give you a thumbs up, so it just zeroed out.
Cheers…

“And what the heck could be on a shirt that is a spoiler?” — TUP

“Luke, you ARE the father.”?

“And what the heck could be on a shirt that is a spoiler?”

An image of William Shatner’s Kirk? Or George Takei, or Walter Koenig, or Nichelle Nichols…

New Enterprise?

Somehow someone will soon manage to leak the pictures/info on the shirt.

Let’s hope so. If Paramount wont release any info, hopefully some “spy” does. Although the lack of info and spies and leaks seems to tell a story too. No one cares enough.

And what the heck could be on a shirt that is a spoiler? – The Enterprise getting destroyed by an alien swarm!

Background characters – no one cares who the prisoners were in Rura Penthe. Okay, lets guess – big guys, worked with him before, so Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson

Paul Walker is dead, so it’s not him….

I’m guessing Sung Kang with Roger Fan

William Shatner and Emma Stone!

That trailer was a disaster on a par with the ‘Ghostbusters’ trailer.

TPTB may realize that but the fact that they’ve done nothing to fix the situation (ie, give us a trailer that doesn’t suck) speaks volumes about this movie.

After STID I think I’m done with NuTrek.

Thats a great point. I didn’t hate it (I understood what they were trying to do) but the fact there was much consternation among many fans including one of the writers and stars and yet they didn’t bother addressing it all shows a disrespect.

I remember some of the aBoblogist types on here saying those that didn’t like it should get over it because it was a trailer designed for a ver specific audience. Which audience is that? Because its the only trailer they’ve released…so its the ENTIRE audience.

The left one is Alexis and the right one is Krystal.

what the actual cluster borgnexus is wrong with fanboys these days? reading all the negative posts about ANY news, any article these days makes me ashamed to be a trek fan, makes me never want to come back to this site again, just because it puts me into this group of people who are just so negative and thereby embody the OPPOSITE of what star trek is about, which is betterment of oneself, peaceful and tolerant co-existence, believing in the best and the potential of someone or something … And now I am one of those people venting in the comments section as well. It has come full circle. I am Benjamin Sisko in the pale moonlight, I have corrupted my ideals for my goal, which is telling other people what to think or do, in an angry fashion, which is exactly what I am against AHHHHH I am in one of those time-paradoxes, where I am trying to prevent something and thereby create more of it … Ok. Get what I hinting at? Just all be nice please, its logical.

It makes you ashamed to be a Trek fan that a lot of Trek fans want a really great film and marketing effort? Hmmm weird.

But I agree. I wish all Trek fans would shut up and be happy they get anything at all.

Left: A reboot Jem Hadar
Right: Vin Diesel

Yes/No?

Honestly, the very fact that Justin Lin even acknowledges First Contact Day gives me hope — pretty sure JJ wouldn’t have batted an eyelash in all honesty

Shouldn’t there have been a second trailer by now? Its getting pretty close to the release date.

Aliens schmaliens!

I don’t care about new aliens or where they fit in the Star Trek taxonomy.

Me want TRAILER. Me want trailer NOW!!!

Hey dmduncan long time, agreed its a little over due for a new full length trailer. Bring on the new trailer!

Hey Hugh, long time no see!

So we have a rouge one trailer but still no stb trailer

We had a trailer, a stinker of one back in December.

That Star Wars Rouge One trailer is very exciting. Much more interesting than the Trek trailer we’ve seen to date.

I agree. I know its bad form to actually like Star Wars around here. But its interesting from a personal perspective. I’ve always been a way bigger Trek fan than Wars fan. And yet, Disney has been hitting home runs since the purchase and making Paramount look silly in comparison.

Its funny I didnt hear any rock music in the Star Wars trailer. I did here the classic theme. I did see an original character. I did see beautiful visuals and hints of high drama and great action. I did hear a hint of Vader breathing.

God forbid the people responsible for STB see that and take some cues.

Credit where it’s due, the best thing that has happened in the entire Trek revival was the teaser trailer for 09. That was incredible in its simpilcity.

After another Star Wars trailer (8 month before premiere) Paramount won’t dare to publish another STB trailer. It would be too embarassing. They screwed the pooch.

Ive never seen so many men debate the bodies of women in one place and yet no one takes them to task. What nonsense. Embarrassing.

“Ive never seen so many men debate the bodies of women in one place and yet no one takes them to task. What nonsense. Embarrassing.”

Yes. This thread is a classic example of the “online disinhibition effect” and the dangers of “blogging while angry or drunk”. Nice people who normally know better post all kinds of things they’ll probably regret later.

Saw it first thing this morning and not excited by it at all. If Hollywood is going to keep it up with the exhausted 90-lb-girl-who-can-ass-kick-an-army-of-large-men meme, then it should not only pay its women actors equal salary to men — but if it really believes that meme — it should pay them MORE. But it does not believe it — it’s just more brainwashing BS.

I looked for demographic info on Star Wars but didn’t find much except a Tumblr poll on sexual orientation and age range of fans (mostly heterosexual in the 20-24 range). So I don’t know what Star Wars’ demos are, but my hunch is mostly male.

And I can tell you that as a male, I do not look at female characters in lead hero roles and fantasize about being those characters. I do that for male hero roles; I do not do that for female hero roles.

But maybe that’s what Disney wants. Maybe they want males to fantasize about being strong female lead characters, and for males to see themselves as sweating cowards running away from danger compared to the females — like Finn in TFA, who is one of the weakest alleged “heroes” I’ve ever seen in Star Wars. It doesn’t surprise me, therefore, that Disney killed off one of the franchise’s great male heroes with the ceremony of flushing the dead goldfish down the toilet!

That was worse than Kirk’s death in Generations!

Im loving their choice of lead female. And from perusing some Star Wars boards the male demo seems to love it too.

They are wise to try and dispel the “Star Wars is for boys” myth and create a new generation of young girls who can fantasize about growing up to save the galaxy. Its nothing new. Leia was a woman and a hero.

Besides, if some rumor speculation is true, its important to the saga story that this “woman” is in a key role.

Certainly they should be paid on par with what a lead male of her level would get in the same role.

Yeah well I’m a little more skeptical than you and want to see demographic data, not comments on message boards from emasculated males who’ve been taught there’s something wrong being born with a d*ck.

dmduncan Today 10:50 am

We’re of the same mind about Disney’s Star Wars.

The Rogue One trailer did nothing for me, either. I guess making girls the main protagonists in all the movies might teach us boys a lesson in empathy—here’s what it’s been like for girl sci-fi fans over the years.

Or, I don’t know…maybe it’s being done to attract more female patrons to the franchise. Skinny girls beating up men two and three times their size in movies has become the norm, hasn’t it.

It is the norm, and I get concerned when I see it that girls may start to think it’s really that easy for someone with noodle thin muscles and no mass to kick a larger opponent’s butt.

I have to ask how being unrealistic is attractive and if that image serves girls in any useful way at all?

Put a gun in her hands and she is the equal of any man, but these movies and shows seem to be saying that one kick from a girl’s slim sexy leg is enough to take down Bautista!

dmduncan Today 10:46 am

Yeah, Finn was a stormtrooper for 5 minutes. The rest of the time he was running, sweating, getting his ass kicked or being saved.

It’s the opposite of the damsel-in-distress—the damseau in distress, I suppose. They write a weak, somewhat inept male character and then have the female protagonist save his lame ass. Apparently the motive is to make a feminist or womynist statement, because I keep seeing that sort of praise about movies like Fury Road, which did this to some degree. Of course, first they showed Charlize Theron—who has biceps the diameter of Tom Hardy’s wrists and is missing her own forearm—to be almost very bit Tom Hardy’s physical equal in a fist-fight.

Remember all of those skinny girls your own age who beat you up in elementary school and middle school? And you say it doesn’t ring true for you now as adult?

Yikes. A bit of misogyny here. Who do you think would win a fight, you or Ronda Rousey?

If we are to accept that women are too weak to fight then we relegate them to the damsel in distress role. Which is lame.

Who did Rey beat up in TFA? Two losers on Jakku and she had a weapon she was obviously adept at using? Kylo who was beating her handedly and she came back after using the Force (the dark side if you read the books) and had a weapon….

Sorry…the complaints sound like macho men who cant handle strong women. Get over it boys.

TUP,

And wasn’t Rousey’s only defeat delivered to her NOT by her opponent’s superior upper body strength but lowerbody kickboxing moves?

Isn’t it abundantly clear that in mentioning body types like Milla Jovovich’s, there is no dividing upper from lower because she is all of one thin piece top AND bottom? As are all those women we see in movies and TV shows that are like her?

Size matters folks. The more mass you have, the more you can throw around to your advantage.

http://www.guideall.com/img/Milla_Jovovich5b.jpg

Dmduncan,

I’m not sure I should so easily get sucked into this but here goes:

To my mind Ridley’s calves in TFA are far more bulkier than Jovovich’s. More in line with Olivia Wilde’s, i.e. a noted horsewoman and suggestive of such athleticism to my mind for her Rey character whether or not the actress herself actually is.

I grew up in a suburb surrounded by farms and ranches. What little I think I know of what, for lack of a better word, I’ll label, “cowgirls”, is that I’d sooner take a kick to the head from an ass than one of them.

Disinvited, you don’t miss a point so much as you drag it into the woods and mangle it beyond recognition.

But that sure is a nice picture of Milla Jovovich, is it not?

Except that Rey is NOT a Rhonda Rousey type, she’s a Milla Jovovich type, and her adeptness at using the weapon in question is inexplicable, as is everything else about her character, who apparently has an inborn skill for everything like The Fifth Element, who, some may recall, is a female “godlike” being played by the massless, however attractive, actress Milla Jovovich — thus the meme in question.

Lol. Luke Skywalker’s training and lack thereof was one of the central themes in the first three movies. Rey — against the well trained new main nemesis with proven great force powers — doesn’t need ANY! WEAK! Never mind credibility or story integrity, just plug in the Milla Jovovich Fifth Element meme right here and go directly to KICK BUTT!

And I don’t care what the complaints sound like to you. TFA was so uninspiredly check-off-the-boxes a movie that it sucked. It was visually interesting, it had a good ending, but more than that I cannot find in it to praise anymore.

And yes, Han Solo — one of the franchise’s most beloved characters — was killed with all the ceremony of flushing the dead pet goldfish down the toilet.

dmduncan,

I think what ran untrue for me was even if I went with the notion Han taught him to shoot first, why would a father cognizant of what he imparted allow himself to get maneuvered into a position where he, or anyone else for that matter, could get the drop on him in that situation?

dmduncan,

Hmmm….Han’s son didn’t come across to me as one particularly trained well overall. More like a one trick pony. And to return to your body morphology concerns, he came across to me on screen as a toothpick. As I recall, even his master had doubts his training had reached the level that would allow him to take on his father?

Oh please. His characterization absolutely disintegrated mid movie where he went from powerful to wimpy as soon as he takes his mask off to Rey. TERRIBLE! And please don’t expect me to think that he picked up a lightsaber the day before Rey got hers, and that they were therefore equally as developed in their skills.

Kylo Ren’s characterization utterly collapsed when he meets Rey. Abrams and Kasdan wrote a stinker.

And taking on his father has nothing to do with his competence in Jedi/Sith skills such as handling a lightsaber or controlling objects and restraining people with force powers. It had to do with the strength of his will to murder his dad vs. demonstrating competence in one of the named skills that Rey somehow manages to whoop him in the demonstration of with no training whatsoever.

It was crap.

Well there is the massive returns TFA did with a female lead.

Where’s the demographic data? THAT’S how you know who your market is, and part of your market feedback always comes with the NEXT movie, after people see where you are going with the first in a series, and you need that LATER data at a bare minimum to observe a trend and how you are doing with your new franchise. Solid info on REPEAT viewings is crucial here. Who is paying to see it over and over and who is not? Who did you gain and who did you lose? Did you lose or gain more from the traditional demographic than you lost/gained from a new demographic? Which is larger? Where is the net gain/loss?

A single data column doesn’t tell you much except how many people went to see your first movie, and basing conclusions on that is shooting in the dark.

Finn was a Stormtrooper so making him someone less than excellent at his job as hero isnt a terrible thing. Im not sure Luke was portrayed as a top gun hero in A New Hope…until the very end anyway. Its a trilogy.

Harrison Ford always wanted his character to die. His death was way better than Kirk’s which didnt serve the story or the franchise at all. Han Solo’s did…and will continue to do so.

Yeah, Finn was a stormtrooper for 5 minutes. The rest of the time he was running, sweating, getting his ass kicked or being saved.

Han Solo’s death sucked. One of the most iconic characters of the franchise and it felt uninspired. Lazy. At least Kirk in Generations died being heroic.

In the most telegraphed death scene in movie history, what man in his right mind would stand in front of his son giving him a shot at committing the most insurmountable evil deed possible?

“Thanks, dad! But did you have to make it so easy for me?”

DMDuncan:

“what man in his right mind would stand in front of his son giving him a shot at committing the most insurmountable evil deed possible?”

People aren’t necessarily rational when it comes to family. Familial instincts and emotions can often override caution and objective logic. Same reason some people end up killed by their partners or close relatives — domestic abuse and honour killings, or fratricide & patricide involving powerful historical figures. The victim underestimates the killer’s lack of empathy towards them, and because they’re family they simply can’t believe the other person would be ruthless enough to actually take them down. Han was a victim of the same kind of tragic situation. Unfortunately it’s much more realistic than you think.

I think a father who’s looking out for a son in deep trouble knows what could happen and doesn’t make it easier for him to make those wrong steps. Solo wasn’t exactly coming apart at the seams there; he had presence of mind during that whole scene. He could have acted differently and that’s what made that scene so ineffective: It was clear a writer decided his number was up.

Contrast this with the season finale of The Walking Dead where an unknown major character lost his life on an eenie-meenie-miney-moe game played by Negan.

SOMEbody was going to die and it was entirely a matter of chance and there was no way for any of the characters to escape from that situation.

It was SO tense and horrifying. In other words, believably well done. Just the opposite from Han’s death in TFA where it seemed like a box being checked off.

TFA had writing that rivaled some of the worst that Lucas ever put on paper. I cringed during all of the dialogue between Han and Leiah after they meet, when I was watching it yesterday.

“Yeah, Finn was a stormtrooper for 5 minutes. The rest of the time he was running, sweating, getting his ass kicked or being saved.” — dmduncan

I didn’t have a problem with the concept that large military organizations do such inefficient things and have such woefully ill-prepared individuals thrust into filling such impossible roles. My problem is it is well known SW draws its action and battles from both WW I and II. So the last thing that I needed to see also carried over to the SW screen 40 years later was the notorious segregated military tropes too.

Finn was clearly trained in combat to a degree. That he wasnt great at it is in keeping with the history of average-at-best Stormtroopers. Perhaps the Empire just isnt that good at training. They believe in quantity over quaity. Why waste so much effort training when you can, 99% of the time, overload the enemy with a massive army and if a bunch of them get killed, who cares? They are all nameless, faceless soldiers anyway.

He was also on the sanitation crew. It was also his first (if I recall) combat mission.

It worked just fine.

As did Han’s death. The only surprise would have been if he didnt die. Ofcourse we all knew it was going to happen. So you wanted them to construct a scene where you knew exactly what was going to happen but then surprise you? How, by not delivering? Han’s death worked just fine.

TUP,

One thing in favor of the “Empire didn’t invest all that much in training” conclusion: Finn excelled at aerial armament operation and targeting despite the fact that he said they hadn’t trained him for it. His successes there racking up the hits and kills demonstrated it wasn’t because he lacked aptitude.

DMDuncan:

People don’t necessarily have to personally identify with the lead character in order to like them and enjoy the film/show. Action-oriented, female-led shows like Alias, Agent Carter, Continuum and Quantico have plenty of male fans — the majority, maybe. The fight scenes…well, Alias and Buffy started that and it’s obviously proven very popular since then; so it’s about giving the main audience what they enjoy watching, as much as it’s about giving some of them positive role models.

Anyway, Rogue One has an ensemble cast and it’s shaping up to be a grittier SW movie than usual, so I’m sure you’ll be able to identify with one of the male roles if that’s what you need ;)

I sense a disturbance in the force.

David and Goliath is one thing: David had equalizing technology that made him the defeater of a much larger foe. But when I see the World-beating Waif trend, I start to wonder who is driving it and why.

No training, and yet she can fly the Millennium Falcon. No training and yet she can swing a light saber better than Kylo Ren. No training and yet she can kick the butt of a guy whose force powers can stop a blaster light bolt in mid air.

This is not the David and Goliath idea. This is something else. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne pretty much takes on opponents of his size who he is a match for. But bone skinny Milla Jovovich with barely any mass to throw around??? Mmm — no.

There’s something weird about the trend and I seriously doubt that its purpose to to improve the self image of women.

dmduncan,

I am curious about this brainwashing angle that you are pursuing?

If we were discussing Sherry Lansing’s Paramount of the past, I could see someone trying to use her to claim this angle. But Bob Iger’s Disney?

Who do you suspect of pushing this “brainwashing” at Disney and how are they getting Iger to sign off on it?

Re: ROGUE ONE

Well, Han’s in RO and though he’s being portrayed by a different actor one assumes Disney knows better than to radically change the character’s roots?

Re: THE FORCE AWAKENS

You’ve got my ear on the logic of Han’s death in TFA. I was struck by the same thought when I first saw it. I gave them a pass because I lived to see my own father (and mother too since her acts are also relevant) instincts to protect my baby brother, newly drunk and disorderly in public, kick-in when my bro got the Rodney King special AFTER the initial responding officer had the situation totally under control and yet, a squad of blue goons showed up to deliver the lumps despite the responding officer’s informing them that everything was under control.

My parents were woefully outnumbered and logically could not and did not prevail. And yet, both rushed into the fray with a speed and strength that surpassed their normal abilities as much as the lack of logic present in their courses of action.

I don’t know enough to pin it down to exact people either now or over the years, but Disney has put both occultic and subliminal sexual messaging in its children’s products for decades, and at least for the sexual stuff the apologists claim it’s just wayward animators, but given the occultic messaging, which nobody blames on wayward animators, I’m not so sure the subliminal sexual messaging is all that innocent either, particularly since sexuality figures so prominently in many occultic traditions, and are therefore related.

But the who and why is speculation at this point, pending a thorough review of what came out during whose tenure, and what kind of people they were, and I don’t know that any of us here can adequately know who the people like Bob Iger really are given the wide disparities between public and private personas that such powerful and influential people as he is re known to have from time to time.

I do understand Iger was a backer of Marco Rubio, who has some dirt in his background of the sort that would make Marco easier to control – which might make Iger one of the puppetmasters responsible for Rubio’s flip flopping on certain issues.

I’m just getting tired of all the misogynistic styled criticisms matched by the lulu [doh!] Freudian slips.

Rouge One, indeed. ;-)

Crabbe and Goyle grow up?

I love this. We’re actually getting aliens in a Star Trek movie!

I like the fact that Justin Lin is sharing info, pictures with the fans, hopefully the movie will be worth it.

quantum47 April 6, 2016 11:00 am

why are you so fixated on the negative? It’s not like you can only “heap negativity onto others”. You can also heap “positivity” on others.

Heaping positivity onto others isn’t quite as much of a problem, because the vast majority of the time people agree with their own comments—that’s why they posted them. So, it’s not hard to find a good reason why someone would like something in your comment, or maybe someone just felt like being nice to you, or a random passerby felt like being supportive in general of the group or of fellow Trek fans or of Trek generally. Though, people can also use the system to support attacks and ill will.

Ultimately, it’s not as much of a problem to not know why someone likes your comment. Anonymous people being negative for unspecified reasons is different. It promotes group-think, confusion and a generally negative vibe. It’s also rude. It’s sniping—attacking someone from the shadows without revealing yourself. If someone has a problem with something you’ve said, they should have the guts to say what they disagree with. It could literally be anything. Maybe they’re confused and that’s what they don’t like. Maybe an elaboration on the initial comment would clear things up for them and for others, too. Maybe something else interesting would arise out of the conversation. Or maybe the initial comment was unfavorable to a product (like STID) and a person affiliated with that product or with its PR agency wanted to heap some negativity onto the comment for business reasons.

Good character, transparency and forthrightness should be promoted, not sniping and group-think.

I suggest you write a thesis on the thumbs up/down. When you’re done, upload it in PDF and I’ll read it.

Not posted on here for a long, long time, but I’ve noted how some reckon the character on the left seems a little Jem’Hadar (he doesn’t so much to me – wrong skin colour and texture, but I can see where people are coming from), The thing is I find it curious that the theme of STB seems to be ‘the frontier pushes back’ – wasn’t that part of the theme of DS9? The Federation pushes into the Gamma Quadrant, begins to settle Dominion territory, and they don’t like it very much?

Whilst I hope the new film isn’t ploughing the Dominion furrow a century and more too early, it is a fascinating prospect for the casual viewer. I hope beyond all the action of the teaser, there is a story little-glimpsed thus far of how Federation expansion is viewed by others, I think thus far we have not seen much more than the Klingon ambassador’s views of Genesis, Azetbur’s opinion of ‘human rights’, and the Dominion’s reaction to Federation incursions into their territories.

How did the rest of the world view the Pax Britannica? How does it view its rebirth as the Pax Americana? In the modern world, this could not be more relevant.

It’s obviously William Shatner and George Takei.