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J.J. Abrams To Direct New 'Star Trek' Film 482

Tycoon Guy writes "TrekToday reports that Paramount has asked 'Lost' creator J.J. Abrams to direct a new 'Star Trek' film. The movie will be set at Starfleet Academy and will feature younger versions of James T. Kirk and Spock, chronicling their first meeting at the Academy and their first outer space mission. The movie is set for a 2008 release and will apparently be one of Paramount's biggest projects for the year."
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J.J. Abrams To Direct New 'Star Trek' Film

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  • by beheaderaswp ( 549877 ) * on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:43AM (#15172095)
    Milk it.... Miiiiilk it.... Miiiiiiiiiiiilk it....

    Yeesh, talk about taking a good idea and turning it into a dogmatic commercial eggroll. Egads.

    What's next? "Is that a phaser, or are you just happy to see me"? I'll pass.
    • by goombah99 ( 560566 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:34AM (#15172493)
      Trek and Trekker: When Kirk met Spock.

  • Sooooo.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:43AM (#15172101)
    So it's Harry Potter in space then?
  • Desperation (Score:5, Funny)

    by Gryle ( 933382 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:48AM (#15172128)
    I was going to post a joke about Star Trek: The Beginning of the End, but then I realized that happened a long time ago. Paramount has gone beyond running Star Trek into the ground, at this point they're trying to get blood from a stone. Then again, with Spock's intellect, perhaps we can finally figure out all of the secrets on that darned island.
    • Re:Desperation (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Disavian ( 611780 )
      IMHO, the peak of the series was somewhere in TNG. From there... they beat it into the ground.

      Just gimme back my TNG, and I'll be happy. The actors are willing, I'm sure; even LeVar would be willing to step to the other side of the camera (not that directing precludes you from acting in an episode).
      • Re:Desperation (Score:5, Insightful)

        by kemichail ( 965347 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:19AM (#15172389)
        I preferred DS9. The sterile atmosphere of the Enterprise with it's limited cast and crew and the expendable ensigns doesn't work as well for me. Also, the richer possibilities introduced with say the Defiant were fun, and the station used as a defensive outpost... That said, I think both Captain Picard and Commander Sisko wereoutstanding actors.
        • Re:Desperation (Score:5, Informative)

          by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:35AM (#15172504)
          DS9 was defintely the most well-written, sophisticated series of the bunch. It's not surprising, considering it was the baby of Ronald Moore (who would go on to create what I consider the best damn scifi series ever, the new Battlestar Galactica).

          -Eric

          • Re:Desperation (Score:4, Informative)

            by farrellj ( 563 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:42AM (#15173266) Homepage Journal
            It was just a Babylon 5 rip off...read the history!

            ttyl
                      Farrell
            • Re:Desperation (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Jherico ( 39763 )
              even if DS9 was a ripoff of B5, that doesn't detract from the fact that DS9 was better executed.
  • I like this idea (Score:5, Insightful)

    by WCMI92 ( 592436 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:48AM (#15172131) Homepage
    I like the idea of reviving the original characters in some way. That was what was really lacking from the later iterations of Star Trek, was the strength of characters. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were the perfect balance of differing personalities, one of the best sets of characters ever in TV or film.
    • you mean reviving the characters in the same way that the Star Wars prequels did? *shudder*
      • ...as if 1 million voices screamed out "Don't do it, George!" and were suddenly silenced by the quest for money.

        -Eric

    • Re:I like this idea (Score:3, Interesting)

      by hal2814 ( 725639 )
      Not only were they "the perfect balance of differing personalities," they were also the right number of characters to focus on in a show that is situationally driven instead of character driven. When the focus of the show is some new weekly visit to an alien world, trying to spread focus to 10-15 characters like they did in TNG really didn't work for me. I don't really care what happens to Diana Troy or the Crusher family or even to Worf or Kunta Kinte (or Toby or LaForge or whatever you call him). Sure
    • I like the idea of reviving the original characters in some way. That was what was really lacking from the later iterations of Star Trek, was the strength of characters. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were the perfect balance of differing personalities, one of the best sets of characters ever in TV or film.

      I also like this idea.

      However, given Paramount's history with Trek movies (I only say the last few in the theater out of loyalty to the franchise), I hope the get some of the people that worked on Star Trek [wikipedia.org]

    • by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:47AM (#15173326) Homepage
      but this is going to go bad fast.

      next year we will have "startrek kids" and then Startrek babies"

      Spock,Kirk and Kaahn ride their hover-tricycles around the neighborhood going where "no 4 year old has gone before"

      It will be "rugrats" set in the Star Trek universe.

      I can hear sci-fi fans puking all across the country at that thought.
  • by WebHostingGuy ( 825421 ) * on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:48AM (#15172133) Homepage Journal
    Not enough time has passed since the last movie. They need a bigger break because they will still have the same people who have been dragging down the movies for a while. Unless the screenplay is truly orginal and very creatively written this is not going to be that good. The problem with the last couple of movies is that rather than create a fantastic movie around a fantastic story being told they are creating a movie to create a movie and using the template of Star Trek to do it. If you think of the very successful movies in the franchise they are the ones in which the writing of the story was original and out of the box.
    • Not enough time has passed since the last movie. They need a bigger break because they will still have the same people who have been dragging down the movies for a while.

      Didn't they try this with the Crocodile Dundee franchise?

  • Starfleet Academy? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dr_LHA ( 30754 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:49AM (#15172148) Homepage
    In my mind this could go one of two ways.

    1. The Star Trek equivalent of Animal House. Crazy co-eds, the antics of Star Fleet Academy's most crazy frat house

    2. Cadets save the world.

    I know which one is more likely, and it pains me to say it, I don't want to watch movie #2, but #1 would be awesome. ;)

    Seriously, who actually thinks a movie based in Starfleet academy is a good idea? Obviously the unimaginative producers think its an "angle" of Starfleet that hasn't been covered, and an excuse to "sex up" the franchise by having a bunch of 20-somethings in the roles.

    I especially cringe at the thought of "young Kirk" and "young Spock". Face it, Muppet Babies was terrible, Star Trek babies will be too.

    • The story of a tallented student (Potter/Kirk) who breaks all the school rules to save his friend and is rewarded for his creative thinking.
    • I know which one is more likely, and it pains me to say it, I don't want to watch movie #2, but #1 would be awesome. ;)

      Ten or so years ago when I first heard the rumors about a "Starfleet Academy" movie, the frat house comedy was exactly what I didn't want to see. But that was back when there was still some Star Trek that didn't suck. Now that Paramount has sucked all the life out of the franchise, cadets saving the world would be such a cliche. I probably wouldn't watch either movie (I didn't watch Nem

      • Was when Bluto walks down the stairs during that toga party and comes across this dude playing guitar and singing some folk song to a couple of chicks. Then he grabs the guitar and slams it against the wall, smashing it to bits.

        Could you imagine that set at Starfleet Academy? There's Spock plucking some Vulcan lute in the dorm while Kirk comes along and slams it against the wall, then walks away with the two green chicks listening nearby. But Spock doesn't pout. Nope. Spock doesn't pout.
        • Then Spock goes all Pon-Fahr, snaps Kirk's spine at the third cervical vertabrae, and takes both green-skinned aliens at once. Fortunately, Bones is on hand to repair the central nervous system using a device that looks suspiciously like a portable tape deck circa 1972.
      • I didn't watch Nemesis, but I hear it was just Khan with the serial numbers filed off anyhow

        Imagine Khan if it was intentionally stripped of everything that made it great, directed by Michael Bay, and written by the "special" student in your 6th-grade class. That's Nemesis.

        -Eric

    • The Star Trek equivalent of Animal House. Crazy co-eds, the antics of Star Fleet Academy's most crazy frat house

      That sounds like a plotline for an award winning TV Series!
    • The Star Trek equivalent of Animal House. Crazy co-eds, the antics of Star Fleet Academy's most crazy frat house

      Space Bluto:Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Klingons attacked Khittomer? Hell no!

      Space Otter: Klingons?

      Space Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
    • by Vinnie_333 ( 575483 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:37AM (#15172523)
      1. The Star Trek equivalent of Animal House. Crazy co-eds, the antics of Star Fleet Academy's most crazy frat house

      Sounds more like a series of videos. Star Fleet Academy Girls Gone Wild.

  • I'd rather have... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:50AM (#15172154)
    Personally, I'd rather see post-TOS but pre-TNG Star Trek, maroon uniforms and all. Kirk and Spock could be older (which works out for the actors who are older themselves now) and the movie could be set closer to the most popular (in terms of movie revenue) stint in Star Trek history. I've still got a bad taste in my mouth from Trek prequels thanks to First Contact and Enterprise.
    • I would have to say that 1st Contact was one of my favourites; well plotted and scripted and with a real sense of danger.

      So there is nothing wrong with prequel stories per se, they just have to be strongly plotted.
      • No man, how can you say that?
        for about 4 or 5 seasons of TNG, the Borg seemed like the ultimate, unstoppable and unhuman enemy.

        This movie exposed them to be just an enemy like any other. Toss in the time-fuckery, and you have the makings of a turd.
        • for about 4 or 5 seasons of TNG, the Borg seemed like the ultimate, unstoppable and unhuman enemy. This movie exposed them to be just an enemy like any other.

          An ultimate, unstoppable enemy doesn't make for a very exciting (or long-lived) series.

          But anyway, what you're looking for was already done in the Parallels episode, where the alternate universe enterprises start appearing. One of the Captain Rikers screams "No, we don't go back! The Borg is everywhere!"
    • by aurum42 ( 712010 )
      Oh please, "First Contact" was one of the better films in the Trek franchise, I'd rate it 3rd overall. If there was a movie that deserves to be panned, it was the last one. "Insurrection"? The title was something along those lines. Truly awful, almost as wretched as the one in which Kirk sets off to find "Eden" and "God".
      • by hal2814 ( 725639 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:12AM (#15172330)
        I wouldn't rank it 3rd. It was a decent movie but I thought the early earth characters and setting was by far the weakest part of the movie. As much as I dislike the Borg, I thought the Enterprise vs. Borg situation really saved the movie. Just for kicks, here's my rankings:

        1. Wrath of Kahn
        2. Voyage Home
        3. Undiscovered Country
        4. Generations
        5. Search for Spock
        6. First Contact
        7. Motion Picture
        8. Nemesis
        9. Final Frontier
        10. Insurrection
        • You put Star Trek: The Motionless Picture ahead of, erm, anything? I could maybe see it ahead of Final Frontier, since that was utter crap, but Nemesis and Insurrection were only mostly crap.
        • by sehryan ( 412731 )
          I wouldn't put Search for Spock or Generations above First Contact.

          First of all, you just can't have Doc Brown as a Klingon. I know Search came before Back to the Future, but it just doesn't work after seeing both.

          Second, Generations was just...rough. I admit it has been a while, but I remember being fairly dissatisfied with it. Shatner was forced obviously forced into the plot, and it didn't work. I also remember being unimpressed with the "crash landing" scene.

          And I would also move Final Frontier down
    • Kirk and Spock could be older (which works out for the actors who are older themselves now) and the movie could be set closer to the most popular (in terms of movie revenue) stint in Star Trek history. I've still got a bad taste in my mouth from Trek prequels thanks to First Contact and Enterprise.

      Ah, but from a Hollywood studio's perspective, that would be a vastly inferior choice (regardless of whether Trekkers would prefer it). This way they can cast young, "attractive" actors in popular, established rol
      • I'm not saying they should focus a movie on Kirk and Spock. Just make them secondary roles. Get you Johnny Knoxvilles and your Jessica Simpsons to do the big roles. Hollywood could have the best of both worlds.

        Enterpise Babies would have to be set in the TNG era because of the extensive use of the holodeck.
    • Story could've been better, but Patrick Stewart's performance was incredible. And whoever played Lily wasn't half-bad either.
  • by Pedrito ( 94783 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:50AM (#15172155)
    Really, I don't think they could do any better than J.J. Abrams for a movie like this. The guy writes really smart, compelling stuff (Regarding Henry is one of my all-time favorites) and he's an impressive director, at least from the TV stuff I've seen him do. I'm actually kind of hoping this will spawn a new series. Anyone else get the feeling that maybe they're testing the waters? I wouldn't mind seeing a series created by J.J. Abrams. He's done well in the past, particularly with Lost and Alias.
  • by TK2216UKG ( 733566 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:51AM (#15172156) Homepage
    Past experience would suggest that we should be wary of franchise prequels where principal characters have sidekicks with funny ears.
  • The big scene: (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Vengeance ( 46019 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:53AM (#15172170)
    Kirk, while waterskiing, jumps over a shark pen.
  • While I'm not a trekkie, I still think "miiiiilk it!" initially and although they're also jumping on the prequel bandwagon, I feel this is the best way of creating YASSS (yet another Star Trek Show). I've had it with new crews, new ships and "new" aliens. OK, so Enterprise was a prequel show, but this one lets us know the young originals!

    I'm thinking college-like situations - Kirk in panty raids! Kirk and Scotty drinking contests! Keg parties, the occasional world-threatening alien encounter etc.

    Might be fu
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21, 2006 @08:56AM (#15172196)
    Bones: The horse... Its DEAD Jim!

    Spock: I concur with the doctor. There is a 97% probability that this movie will suck.

    Scotty: If ah tol' ya one I tol' ya a shoushand times, I'm not a miracle worker. Jus' let 'er rest in peace!

  • ugh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Blob Pet ( 86206 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:02AM (#15172249) Homepage
    I don't have a problem with a new trek movie... I have a problem with Berman not being fired, and is it so hard to bring back Nicholas Meyer?
    • by gadlaw ( 562280 ) <`gilbert' `at' `gadlaw.com'> on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:14AM (#15172950) Homepage Journal
      If it takes a village to raise a child then it only takes one village idiot (Berman) to screw that child up. Those rat bastards who took Roddenberry's ideas and totally screwed them up can all die in a fire. They can take their own ideas about how to do characters and stories to make them 'edgier' 'darker' or whatever and write their own characters and their own stories and quit raping the memory of Star Trek. That's assuming they have any talent of their own which I doubt other than to be able to fasten themselves like leeches onto somebody else's ideas and somebody else's science fiction/fantasy universe. Pompous idiots without an ounce of creativity sucking at the teat of dead authors and dead creators and who try to bask in the reflected light of their betters. So unless Gene Roddenberry rises from the dead and decides to do something with Star Trek (which does not include changing what's already in the can - do you hear me George (die in a fire) Lucas?) then leave it alone. This means you Rick Berman/Paramount. The market will of course decide as it has with most remakes and recycled ideas and put them in the garbage disposal as they should. Personally you idea recycling bastards can take your Starsky and Hutch remake, your Dukes of Hazzard remake, your Star Trek 'remake',your upcoming Dallas remake and any movie starring or featuring Owen Wilson/Johnny Jackass whatever his last name is and shove them up the bodily orifice they came from. I won't buy one movie ticket, one dvd, I won't even watch a preview on Apple or even bittorrent a copy of your festering efforts. And so metaphorically speaking of course, may you all die in fires. (saw that term used on Fark (Duke sucks)and thought it was funny) Okay, rant over, I feel better now. - Please nobody actually die in a fire.
    • I have a problem with Berman not being fired

      Hear, hear!

      I was going to say something similar, that is, that the only real way out is to pull a Dallas [ultimatedallas.com].

      Star Trek's big contribution to the world is not about space stuff, it's about humanity:

      It's not just the little morality plays of the first series. When they went to the big screen, they made the huge mistake of assuming we just all wanted to see a rehash of the same old faces, without the substance. The result was a seriously bad movie, unquestiona

  • The movie will be set at Starfleet Academy and will feature younger versions of James T. Kirk and Spock, chronicling their first meeting at the Academy and their first outer space mission.

    Star Trek Babies! [tv.com]
    • Sing along!

      Star Trek Babies, in their junior year,
      Star Trek Babies, it's the final frontier!
      KIRK: When the ship looks kinda weird, and you want to get some kicks,
      Just close your eyes and make believe, you're with green alien chicks!

      KIRK: I like adventure!
      SULU: I am so slim!
      CHEKOV: De nuclear wessels!
      MCCOY: He's dead, Baby Jim!
      UHURA: I listen to the radio!
      SCOTTY: I'm givin it all she's got!
      SPOCK: Is everything efficient here?
      EVERYONE: Yes, Nanny Spock!

      Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek,
      Bay-ay-bieeeee

  • by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:04AM (#15172266)
    For God's sake, let it rest for a while. Generate some fresh ideas. In this age of real war, and more gritty realistic fare like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, Star Trek has become hokey and stale. Let it rest until its time comes around again.

    -Eric

    • by chrysrobyn ( 106763 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:07AM (#15172877)

      For God's sake, let it rest for a while. Generate some fresh ideas. In this age of real war, and more gritty realistic fare like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, Star Trek has become hokey and stale. Let it rest until its time comes around again.

      Battlestar Galactica. An excellent point of comparison. Graphics aren't fantastic, but they're good. What SFX shots are shown seem to appear to have some realism. Writing is interesting, although certain episodes stick out as forced. Certain SciFi appeal -- which limits the audience. While it's setting records fro the SciFi channel, it's not being bought out by bigger networks.

      Firefly. My personal favorite of recent fare. The SFX are a notch below Battlestar Galactica, but the writing makes up for it. There are some inconsistencies which as of yet stand to be reasoned away (like why Zoe really respects Mal). Certain SciFi appeal, although the movie performed like "a below average genre picture" [boxofficemojo.com] if I recall correctly. The show couldn't sustain the audience to pay the production costs.

      You've chosen to compare a hypothetical Star Trek prequel to modern underperforming SciFi. Nemesis, arguably the worst Star Trek movie, required back story and had trouble standing on its own. The appeal to the mass market was zilch, and the appeal to those who watched ST:TNG when it was first run was mediocre, because it seemed to imply that we'd never stopped watching reruns on TNT/Spike. I believe that movies can be an escape from realism. I think that's partially why Star Wars did so well in the face of terrible acting, groundbreaking but horrible SFX and wooden writing -- it was during the cold war. There was an epic story.

      How about a Star Trek that stands on its own? A few references here and there for the fans, but largely something that doesn't require a huge back story? Don't make me need to know why it's significant Riker and Troi are marrying (and don't make me remove myself from the story for a reality check, "What happend to Troi and Warf?"). There's no problem with a Kahn tossed in -- a minor character from a single episode to act as a nod to the fanatics -- as long as the movie briefly summarizes in all the right places the gist of the conflict.

    • by geobeck ( 924637 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:09AM (#15172896) Homepage
      ...more...realistic fare like Battlestar Galactica...

      You used "realistic" and "Battlestar Galactica" in the same sentence... and weren't being ironic?

      Okay, Firefly I can almost see; interplanetary rather than interstellar, and in the recent movie version (Serenity) they actually had a silent space encounter, but BG is only as realistic as the next space opera.

      As for the movie, go Animal House version! Owen Wilson as Kirk, Vince Vaughn as Spock, Ben Stiller as Bones, Amanda Bynes as Nurse Chapell, and throw in Craig T. Nelson as Dean Wormer and Jim Carrey as Kahn (because a consistent timeline hasn't seemed to matter since Enterprise), and you've got a movie that might make back its production cost after a few years of DVD downloading--I mean, sales.

    • by rtb61 ( 674572 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:53AM (#15173409) Homepage
      Well that is easy to resolve, make use of the star trek universe without the fedration and star fleet i.e. the rise of the borg, from the first out of control nano probes to the final enslavement of their parental race plus a bunch of other aliens along the way, very dark indeed.
      • There are a number of things that you could do in the Trek universe to make it darker, more honest, more realistic, etc. The problem is that Trek comes with so much baggage that this would be all-but-impossible. Paramount would balk and fans would howl.

        It was all they could do just to get DS9 made, much less something even FURTHER away from the "Goody-two-shoes, happy-go-lucky-perfect-communist-state, Federation-always-right, let's-make-a-self-righteous-speech-now" mentality of traditional Trek.

        There was a

  • Well, with the "Young Versions" setting, you could say that the whole movie will be a flashback...

    I can't think of anybody better to direct one big flashback than the director of LOST.

    ...

    At least there's that.

  • All the people that make fun of trekkies?
    All the people that are too young to know the subtelties of Kirk, Spock, Jones, Scotty, Sulu and Uhura (did I miss anyone?)
    Or all the fans that are screaming for a well thought out strongly scripted story?

    Because on the last few tries, they've been failing all of the aforementioned groups. (Well, except for the first one, naturally.)
  • Sounds fine to me (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Udo Schmitz ( 738216 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:10AM (#15172309) Journal
    Hm, I'm one of those who grew up with the TOS reruns on german TV and watched every singele episode of Next Generation Deep Space Nine, and one of those to whom Star Trek is dead since ... I don't know 4th or 5th episode of Voyager? But this still sounds like a really nice idea to me. Just make sure that noone who particpated in the last movie and/or Enterprise is involved.
  • there is no hope [wikipedia.org]
  • by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:16AM (#15172354)
    So what I want to know is, are the controls and panels going to look like they are made from Lego sets?
    Or will it be super sophisticated and electronically dazzling, or will it look like it does in the TV series era, cheap sets with cardboard controls and hand-painted view screens?

    Fascinating.
  • by Squeezer ( 132342 ) <awilliam AT mdah DOT state DOT ms DOT us> on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:16AM (#15172355) Homepage
    I loved Deep Spance 9 because unlike TOS and TNG where it was a space ship flying around causing trouble, with DS9 the trouble came to the station. It was neat to have something different, and I really liked that.
  • Has this ever been covered in any of the Trek books? I just wonder if they might get Peter Jackson so that he can take something that has already been writen (and loved by fans for generations) and botch it to fit his personal vision of what this should be like.

    My guess is that this film will probably do poorly either way. I'll still probably see it, but I don't think it's going to get any real praise out of me unless they really break from the Hollywood/ST film formula.
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:18AM (#15172376)
    Leaked preliminary script:

    Cadet Kirk: Cadet Scott, how long until you tap into the visual sensors in the women's shower?
    Cadet Scott: It'll be at least an hour. I can nay change the laws of physics.
    Cadet Kirk: That hot freshman, Janice Rand is due in the showers in 5 minutes.
    Cadet Scott: Janice Rand!!! I'll have it done with 2 seconds to spare or I'm not a half-sloshed stereotype.
    Cadet Kirk: Good man! Do it and you can have any job you want when I'm captain of the fleet flagship.
    Cadet Spock: Normally I would point out that the risks do not justify these actions... but that Janice Rand would bring on Ponn Farr in an Andorian. Perhaps you should try cross circuiting to B, Cadet Scott.
    Cadet McCoy: Can you tie in my medical tricorder so I have a record for future... umm, anatomy study?
    Cadet Scott: Do it yourself, pervert.
    Cadet McCoy: I'm a medical student not a pornographer!!!
    Cadet Scott: All right, all right.
  • You know .... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gstoddart ( 321705 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:19AM (#15172381) Homepage
    The Star Trek Universe has become so damned muddled over the last years, I'm not even sure it would be canonical for Kirk and Spock to have been at the academy together. (Then again, I've never been clear if some of the stuff in Enterprise was strictly canonical either.)

    Spock had served with Christopher Pike before Kirk, and I don't recall much in the way of explaination of how they met each other. Given the relative life-spans of Vulcans and Humans, I had assumed Spock had served in Star Fleet for quite a while.

    Add this in with it being a prequel of a bunch of well known characters, I have fears this will turn into a Star-Trek Troopers meets Wesley Crusher Episode. They'll either have some fantastic adventure thrown in the middle, or it won't have any action and it'll be about Kirk reprogramming the Kobiashi Maru (or, well get an alternate explaination for it as opposed to it being a planned exam).

    But the actors will either have to completely re-interpret the characters, and piss people off -- or they'll act as charicatures, and really piss people off.

    Nothing good can come of this; and I'm not sure I'd watch this. It scares me. :-P
    • Re:You know .... (Score:4, Informative)

      by UnanimousCoward ( 9841 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:47AM (#15172634) Homepage Journal
      Wow, I was too embarrassed to bring up the Pike thing first, but now that you've spilt the beans:

      My first reaction was to ask Abrams whether he knew who Christopher Pike was. My second reaction was that the Trek franchise thinks that the hardcore fans have either died off already or won't make a big stink (because they've become so disillusioned about the whole franchise) about the fact that Tiberius and Spock could in no way have overlapped at the Academy.

      What a crock this movie will be--built on a premise inconsistent with the origins. But since when did that stop anyone...

  • Alternate Story (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    When I was young I played the RPG. They had an interesting supplement that involved the secret agent side of star trek. I think this would be a better angle maybe not for a movie but for a series (say 20 years from now). It would have a darker angle from the ususal idealic society that Star Trek has created. They did a few episodes on espionage in a few of the different series but it would be a refreshing change from the starship/spacedock scenery.
  • but I could watch probably about 100 more TNG movies. It doesn't get any better than Riker shoving a photon torpedo right through those klingon bitch's windshield, or Data exclaiming 'oh shit!' when he realized the ship would be in for a rough landing.

    Maybe I'm just too much of a TNG fan, but I've never seen an episode I haven't liked, nor changed the channel because I've already seen this one. IMO TNG was the pinnacle of Roddenberry's works, to go back and make a kind of spinoff/prequel of the original j
  • Frankly, I'm saddened that they're going to pursue this but NOT a Deep Space Nine movie.
  • seriously a movie based around the Kobayashi Maru would be awesome. It could be one an oceans 11 type of "hiest" movie except in this case, Kirk is trying to rig the test so he can win.
  • by Runehawk ( 735341 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:45AM (#15172624) Homepage
    Forgive me for trying to quote from memory, but... in the DS9 Tribbles episode... Sisko: No, in the day, command wore gold (uniforms), engineers wore red... Dax: And women wore less. I'd pay the price of admission if Paramount *doesn't* screw with the uniforms!
  • by UberOogie ( 464002 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:49AM (#15172660)
    "You, there. Get off the corpse. We've warned you about this already."

  • by Wylfing ( 144940 ) <brian.wylfing@net> on Friday April 21, 2006 @09:53AM (#15172689) Homepage Journal
    I think people are still turned off because of Nemesis. It did have some quality stuff regarding Data and humanity in there, but they did some things that made it suck hard:
    • The "enemy" was totally new and hastily introduced.
    • The "enemy" was a frikkin clone of Picard.
    • The "enemy" has a superweapon aimed at Earth.
    • They killed Data.

    The first three add up to a ridiculously bad story, and the last is more or less a betrayal. I mean, think about it: they cap off a rotten story not worthy of a mediocre television episode by killing Data. This is a problem in a lot of ways. For one, there is a lot of "future history" that says Data lives a long, long time -- longer than any of the other characters by far. Completely ignoring previous canon, to Star Trek fans, feels like...well, a betrayal. That's why they hated Enterprise and its freewheeling attitude toward canon. If you're going to do Star Trek, you really have to stick to the existing facts.

    The other problem with killing Data is that, because he was supposed to be the longest-lived of all the main TNG characters, his death feels like all their stories are done. Put another way, as long as they aren't shown meeting their ends, they continue to be alive in the fans' minds. Having them die makes fans' interest in the entire thing drop off. It makes it hard to work up interest in any Star Trek.

  • by Ranger ( 1783 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:01AM (#15172773) Homepage
    It's my understanding it's going to be based on Star Trek The Lost Gay Episode [frogstar.com].
  • by Hoi Polloi ( 522990 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:11AM (#15172925) Journal
    When I first glanced at the article I thought it said "Abrahams", as in Jim Abrahams and David Zucker of "Airplane!" fame. I think they should be the ones doing this movie and rename it "Starship!".
    • Spock: I'm very serious, Captain. And don't call my Shirley.

      Bones: It's just like that time over Camp Khittomer!
      Kirk: I'll... never be over Camp Khittomer.

      Announcer: The white zone is for immediate shuttle embarking and disembarking only. There is no starship berthing in the white zone...

  • by jpellino ( 202698 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:18AM (#15173004)
    Please. Pretty please? Characters that have somewhere to go - rather than simply fulfilling our expectations of personalities long since drained of any originality. We know exactly how TOS characters will act, and we know that 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 minutes into this film there'll be an excruciatingly obvious bone mercilessly tossed to us in the form of a promordial "Dammit Jim", "Highly illogical", "Must... not... give... in... to...", or "She kenna' take much more, Cap'n!" that'll just tickle those clever writers. Every character in Serenity did something previously unseen but that moved their character forward and thus the story too.
  • by UnixRevolution ( 597440 ) on Friday April 21, 2006 @10:19AM (#15173014) Homepage Journal
    Just the other day. kinda like the "Young Indiana Jones" tv series, except maybe it'll be good. I know it sounds like they're beating a dead horse...

    but as long as Berman isn't involved i'm intrigued.

    At least Paramount hasn't given up Star Trek for dead yet.

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