Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- Does the new Star Trek film manage to soar above low expectations? Or does it crash-land on a remote planet and strand the crew at the mercy of a grumpy space jerk?
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Totally sucks that the fourth never materialized.
Beyond was the *only* one of the reboot series that I liked--even though they blow up the Enterprise early in the film, it felt like Star Trek; the others didn't. But in hindsight, it's really weird that ALL THREE of the reboot films have a "villain motivated by revenge" plot.
It's not as if the revenge villain is such a common thing in the history of Star Trek; its villains, when they even exist, have all sorts of motivations, often some sort of quest for immortality, enlightenment or power, or they're just loyal to an enemy government. But The Wrath of Khan had a revenge villain, and it was a big hit and generally beloved, so I guess they decided to lift that. It's like they were groping toward re-doing The Wrath of Khan not just in Into Darkness, but really three times.
Totally agree.
Sadly we lost Anton Yelchin who portrayed Pavel Chekov. Steve, you didn't give a nod to Simon Pegg who wrote the screenplay/story for this.
Kinda wish they did more with Idris.
Maybe they can do the next one with more investigation into something. The last three had the villain directly attacking the federation.
I loved the huge nods to Star Trek: Enterprise in this movie :')
I had no expectations, I was horribly let down.
I like the previous two movies, this one left me completely unengaged the entire time I was in the theater I never even considered picking up when when it came out on disc.
My favourite bits was seeing the Enterprise being destroyed and the other bit was when they disrupted the bees from Yorktown and Sabotage played as the USS Franklin kicked some ass. I did like Star Trek Beyond, but Star Trek Into Darkness was possibly the best Star Trek movie.
Small problem with your theory on the "Unity" (vs Individual struggle)of Krall's fleet: It IS explicitly stated (at least twice) that 98% of the Fleet are, in fact, Drones. (By definition, Unmanned) and if you look closely, the manned ones are different from the others. Krall did not have thousands of followers... he had only about 100 or do.
I really like Beyond. It’s the best of the reboots for the originality, the teamwork, dynamic interplay with the characters, they fixed Kirk, fixed Scotty and gave Spock and Bones something to do. It’s respectful to canon, introduces a fun new character and has a good solid theme, stakes and resolution. It’s a solid Trek movie.
10:20 Regarding Yorktown, it's really damned impressive. The MUSIC at that part is part of what makes it so great, and one of the best examples of the "wonders of the future" in this movie.
I thought it was the best of the 3
This was i think the best of the JJ Star Trek. It was way better than i thought when i saw it
I loved this movie. I think it's better than all the TNG movies except maybe First Contact. It's pretty equivalent IMO to First Contact in terms of quality. Solidly my favorite Kelvin series movie, and I loved [2009]. Didn't care as much for Into Darkness.
If there's a flaw I still find in the new Trek movies it's Nurse Chapel. Where is she? Regardless, I loved this. Connecting the MACO era to the TOS era was genius and seeing Yorktown was and still is amazing.
Nurse Chapel was in the first film briefly and it was stated by Carol Marcus in the 2nd film that she (Chapel) left the Enterprise after a failed relationship with Kirk. The original Chapel (film wise) was only in the Motion Picture (on the Enterprise) and Undiscovered Country (At SF headquarters).
@@dxcouch , I don't remember seeing her in Star Trek VI.
It's most likely the announced 4th movie may be released in 2019, which makes sense cos it could be released in 2019 to mark the 10th anniversary of the brilliant 2009 reboot.
I tought it was great. It was a bit somberdue to the unfortunate passing of Anton Yelchin (Chekov)
Beyond was fantastic. Not because of the plot as that was pretty standard and forgettable, but because it was the first one of the new films to get the characters right, and to get the interactions between the big 3 (Kirk, Spock, McCoy) correct. Not to mention that it managed to make Kirk's journey over the three movies into an arc that finally gives us Classic Kirk at the end of the movie. TOS always had pretty simplistic or contrived storylines but soared because of the characters and what they could inspire us to and tell us about ourselves. Beyond nailed that.
It helped to get Spock right when they didn't have Leonard Nimoy standing over their shoulders. (It's hard to be a good Spock when the best possible Spock is in the movie too.)
Beyond was amazing in that it better adapted themes from Wrath of Khan better than their quasi remake with Khan. Wrath of Khan had many indications that Kirk was struggling with getting older and Beyond had that as well - despite their Kirk being half the age.
Hi Steve, the scene with the photograph was awsome, unexpected and very well done. I was surprised and moved by it.
Whether bad or good, this was one of those movies I couldn't remember what happened after I had watched it.
Dammit Lin, he's a doctor, not a pilot!
I have just watched this video, it's a shame there won't be a fourth film. I'm with you as thought it was the best of the three
So much positive about "Star Trek: Beyond". Yorktown Station had me puzzled on first seeing it but I love how by the end of the film it addresses the gravity field which seems impossible. I, too, was wondering why one of the Enterprise crew didn't question Krall's obvious blind spot to his own strength of unity, but given how deeply Krall was blinded to anything but his own purposes it might have been fruitless, anyway. The story arc for so many of the crew members was VERY satisfying. The familiar interactions of our favorite characters was there to my extreme joy. The tensions between Spock and Bones or Kirk's way of throwing himself into danger not randomly but actually in a calculated way are there. These are more than just boxes to fill in they are essential to the characters. They define them as much as Superman's "Boy Scout" code does and it's an enduring strength of the Star Trek universe. I was so pleased with this film.
we seen it last night! That one scene though?! you know the one! with the 'beats and the yelling. best scene ever
mccoy saves thje crew from the planet, saves Spock's life, and saves Kirk.
My primary disappointment with this is that once again the villain is defeated through a 1-on-1 fight. And that it was just another embittered human in disguise. Nero was more compelling as a villain, although once again, got punched in the face.
I want to see the crew come up against a Gary Mitchell or Q type, something with immense power that threatens to tear the crew apart. Something that can't be defeated with a punch to the face.
I saw it more that Edison and his remaining crew, surviving all these untold years have lost their humanity through being grounded by war and survival. It goes to the point that the only thing that gave them purpose was revenge and attempting to turn back the clock to a time that's long past them by. The connections to Enterprise still continue to amaze and honestly made me want to revisit the show. It felt like an away mission episode and made the Kelvin timeline crew feel whole. Losing Nimoy and Yelchin will be a tragedy going forward but this was the best I've seen from the modern crew so far.
To be fair, Q can be defeated with a punch, if your name happens to be "The Sisko".
the villian didn't say how he takes energy from his victims. i don't agree Steve, I reckon this film was OK in parts but poorly structured. it should have opened with an opening of how Krall came to eb. Why did he change his name to Krall? What language was he speaking if he was human? And where did he know about the artefact? oddly constructed plot.
Why did we need to be told how he takes Energy from his victims? It's pretty clearly demonstrated on screen for us. I don't think show don't tell is the be all and end all, but the idea was conveyed well enough.
-Shrug- I'd actually give this movie a solid C+, it's an action flick with some character arcs, not really deeply meditative, but serviceable enough. And better, IMHO, then the previous two films.
But that just goes to show that not all films click for people the same way.
Thanks for the movie review. I have pondered what subject matter I'd tackle in a Star Trek movie if asked. At its best, IMO, the series explored "what if"... principally in its first season. If asked, what would you tackle in a Star Trek film?
I really liked it. This movie made me look forward to the upcoming new Star Trek TV series a lot more. It seems like there's lots of potential to new Star Tre stories.
The thing I hadn't liked about the new Star Trek has mainly been how Kirk and the junior officers (Sulu, Uhora, Chekov) could be in the academy in even the same decade let alone at the same time .... and the new Kirk hasn't exactly been likeable. I have also been a bit leery of the over dependence on the special effects. Still given this review I might actually watch this film now where before there was no way I was going to see it.
This was probably my favorite of the kelvin movies
I just knew many folks were going to hate this when I saw the trailer cut to Sabotage. I thought it was awesome and Justin Lin brought something new and fun to the franchise. I think the moment you insist that Trek should be one thing it becomes a dead shark.
Always suspected you were "out there," bro. Nice to hear you admit it! [grin!] Thanks for the review!
Great review, Steve. I can't wait to see it.
What are your thoughts on Paramount announcing the return of Chris Hemsworth (Jim's dad) for Star Trek 4? Also, will you be reviewing Suicide Squad?
I am intrigued about Hemsworth coming back. Hopefully they won't do another time-travel story to bring Kirk and his dad together. If not, I'm very curious how they'll do that. Shape-shifting alien imposter pretending to be George Kirk to screw with Jim? Maybe a parallel flash-back story structure ala Godfather II? There are so many exciting possibilities.
And no, no plans to see or review Suicide Squad.
+Steve Shives mirror universe is a popular theory.
In truth I was one of those who felt that the first two jj films didn't feel like startrek, I thought they were good movies, but not trek, reasons for that isn't important, but yeah I felt that the third did bring back that feeling.
What I've wished, and considering what I just said it probably doesn't make sense, for years is that they do some films or a series set during earth's nugenics war, watching this dark distopia playing out and the changing shift of humanity as they begin to question themselves and movinv towards the desire/aspirations of what humanity can be, that you see in enterprise onwards, with that darker nature moving towards the shadows, also wanting that utopia, but willing to commit horrors to achieve it
So I agree with what you said, but that whole time I was sitting here trying to figure out if your hat was crooked or if the crease was off. OCD for the win XP
4/10. Average MEH film. Good sfx, rushed plot, a shit enemy. So he was some soldier in the United Earth and then just got tired of being a Starfleet captain. and how come he looked like an alien? It should have been some human supremacist who led some movement to end the Federation and make humans powerful alone. How come Elba's character looked like an alien when he was human? it was average at very best. the worst of the reboot films by far.
Nice review...Your voice actually sounds a bit like Chris Pine!
I like your review. However, I want to make a point critiquing your read.
Krall's forces have unity, yes, but the unity is mediated through the ships. They can follow the path laid out by the hardware and never see their fellow soldiers as *people*. In contrast, the Enterprise crew has unity, in that when they see their crewmates in danger, they rush to aid.
When Kirk is commanding a losing side near the beginning, his reaction is to throw himself into harm's way to save the lives of his command. When Krall is commanding a losing side near the end, his reaction is to bail.
Their fellow soldiers actually aren't people. They're drones. All of them. The ships and their pilots. Krall only had 2 sentient beings in his retinue.
16:30 Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor not space craft pilot.
It had a purpose. While McCoy is a doctor, his ultimate purpose was to take care of a wounded Spock.
Steve are you planning on seeing and reviewing Batman: The Killing Joke?
I saw the premier at Comic Con on Friday, and wow is all I have to say.
I thought the villain's motivation was under-justified. He seemed to feel betrayed for no reason I could see. And the rationale for disrupting the beehive ships was super-silly, though fun. IRL, after all, flocks of birds and schools of fish aren't linked in any sort of network.Still, good action, with more depth than I expected. I'd see it again.
interesting, i agreed with you on the previous 2 Trek films, but Beyond felt completely bland, to me atleast
I'm sorry to anyone who feels differently for putting this so bluntly, but I *hate* JJ Trek. That being said, I thought Beyond was at least watchable, so long as I pretended it wasn't pretending to be Star Trek. I saw this one and the first one all the way through. The second one, though, I just could *not* get past Spock *violating* Pike's mind as he was dying. I only ever made it as far as the subsequent shuttle ride with (IIRC) Kirk, Spock, and Uhura before viciously stabbing the Back button on my remote. Twice.
The movie was a lot of fun (despite the real and fictional deaths that happened during this time), but what really won me over was when they blatantly connected it to "Enterprise". I felt like that series got a better send off in this universe then it did in the Prime one. That made me really happy to see them reach back to that era and use it within the movie.
I didn't even get that unity swarm thing. Maybe that wasn't in the book and came from concept design.... but then what the hell is in the book at the end? ... maybe it is in.
It was okay. Was fun, if a tiny bit coherent. Tiny bit. I honestly wished there were more drama with action, rather than action with a tiny bit of drama inserted. I enjoyed it, though.
I liked the Kelvin timeline. Hey it wasn't that bad. Beyond was an 'OK' kinda movie. Wasn't blown away, but I had fun.
I love how McCoy and Spock played off each other.
Easily the best part of a decent movie.
***** Totally agree.
Best at utilizing Ensemble since 6? So in First Contact when half the movie's run time was Riker, Geordi and Troi trying to fix the first warp ship and it's captain basically oblivious to the entire Borg plot.....
Having just watched it (I know, I'm 9 days behind the times), I think this film fell short of its potential for one big reason: Lack of melodrama. There's plenty of potential for emotional punch throughout the film, but the film doesn't deliver. I'd have to see it again to be sure, but I think the directing is to blame. It's not an acting problem (we've seen these actors deliver better) and it's not a story problem or even a scripting problem. The same lines but with a bit of delay here, a zoom-in on a tense or choked-up face, and maybe a musical chord would have fixed 90% of the problem, and a basic, quick, at-the-director's-request rewrite to add a few lines here and there to have accentuated Krall's and Jalya's emotional landscapes as setups to the events of the climax would have fixed the rest. But there are few emotional beats (and none that I recall surrounding the three big set pieces) and the film is poorer for it.
I'm still going back and forth on whether I liked this film, but I think it would have been much better if it had found a few seconds to focus on the emotional reactions of the cast to the events around them.
I thought it was funny to see Dr. McCoy fly a ship because that is definitely something he would usually do and his character looked so uncomfortable do it lol
I liked the first JJ Abrams Star Trek alright (although I really didn't like the "super high-tech"-look of a lot of crap), but the second one was sooo dull. I haven't seen this third movie yet, but this doesn't sound too bad. I'm sure I'll see it eventually.
gagaplex LPs I think it's very good. You should see it when you get the chance
FWIW, while the individual bees in the swarm are working together on a common goal, they all struggle and die solo; they succeed together or fail on their own.
This is the best movie in the Kelvin Timeline due to the fact that half of the cast does not act like being on a slapstic show ...
I didn't care for this movie it was difficult to see at times and it was an hour or so into the movie and I leaned over to my wife and asked "What the heck is this movie about?"
Pressing play on a Bestie Boys tape was the worst end ever! They defiantly tried to copy that Guardians of the Galaxy vibe and tried to turn it into a plot point. It was such a weak ending!
"I'm not gonna give anything away..."
*gives things away*
I can't "thumb it up" so I will make this exception and leave a comment: I agree with most points. Far from perfect (obviously), but fairly enjoyable as a whole (which is not what I expected from a "new" Star Trek movie). Thanks!
It was an awsome movie! Thought it was really good. 4 out of 5 stars.
I thought all of Krull's ships were drones. Ai controlled. I do remember some of the ships having pilots. id thought it was like 1 in every 100 ships were piloted...there was so many ships after all...
Lastly, i dunno what i though of Discovery. I think i enjoyed it more than the first movie, but not as much as into darkness...
They were all piloted by done robots workers from the mines.
Very late to this but yes. Including Krull they only had three actual biological crew. All the rest are these mining drones and their technology. They absorb life energy or something from anyone else they catch to extend their lives. Aka Jayla family.
Agreed 🤔
I feel that Beyond, despite its poor marketing and lack of publicity, was honestly the best of the 3 Kelvin movies. its Marketing was so horrible that I had not even known it was in theaters until I went to see Suicide Squad and saw it on the listings. As for your comment about Krull and his Ironic statement about unity being their weakness, it actually kinda did backfire on him. As you had stated, his whole strength was in the hive ships and it was those hive ships that, once kirk and crew discovered their weakness, were able to exploit and disable significantly weakening Krull's forces to almost non-existent.
Steve, I've just seen it. To be honest, I didn't think it was very good... As Star Trek. It was a bit of fun, but it wasn't exactly high brow though provoking sci fi, just loads of cool action sequences. Would have been better if they'd have spent more time on Krall and his motivations, developing his character and giving him more back story... But then I liked The Motion Picture and tend to like Captain Picard when he thinks his way out of problems instead of punching people. I did enjoy it with some popcorn and a beer though (we have beer in theatres in the UK)
A good review review and i agree, much better then Darkness. loved Jalla.
Justin Lin was responsible for Fast & Furious 4, 5 & 6 -- the best of the series, imho. So I had high expectations for Beyond, and was a bit disappointed.
Looking forward to Quentin Tarantino's ST4 !
upx63 . St5or6
Lin did F&F 3, 4, 5, 6 and retroactively added Better Luck Tomorrow (his first movie) into F&F lore through Han. Whom was my favorite character whose arc began as a teenage con in high school, who after witnessing a murder went on the run turning to Dom by joining his crew with dreams of ultimately going to Tokyo, only to fall in love with a former, disavowed Mossad agent and falling in love wanting her to be with him as he went to Tokyo his "Mexico" only to lose her as she saved his eventually going to Tokyo alone, rich, still conning, aloof yet alone. They did him wrong in F8, teaming up with his killer.
I really enjoyed the movie, saw it twice. The only scene that made me go „you‘ve got to be kidding me!“ was Scotty hanging off the cliff (and it’s never shown how he gets away from there). Most tired film cliché ever!
Oh how the comment aged when he mentions that there will definitely be a fourth movie in the franchise..... That aged like fine wine............mixed with vinegar.......and drank from a shoe.
Is the 4th Movie officially dead? I can't keep up, lol.
I agree, great movie by the way, but when we in the UK had our 50th anniversary of Doctor Who we freekinn went for it. Who is the best and longest running sci fi series in history and its part of our DNA in the UK. Why didnt the USA make a massive deal about your best sci fi export to the world?
I've seen all 13 ST movies on opening day, all the way back to TMP in 79. I certainly enjoyed this one. There was one part that was breathtakingly stupid. How the good guys broke Kroll's unity was embarrassingly stupid. But, oh well.
Might as well give my ST movie rankings. I personally rate TMP higher than most people and ST6 lower than most people. So, here is my rankings:
1. Wrath of Khan.
2. Star Trek 2009
3. First Contact
4. Beyond
5. Into Darkness
6. The Voyage Home
7. The Motion Picture.
8. Generations
9. Undiscovered Country
10. Search for Spock
11. Insurrection
12. Nemesis
13. The Final Frontier
Into darkness was worse than Nemesis!
SpaceKookie You are free to do your own list. This is my list.
I enjoyed the movie, but the bit that was just a bit too silly for me was when a Beastie Boys record was used to save the universe. That was just a bit too ridiculous, a bit like when a keyboard player is able to open a dimensional portal in the Masters Of The Universe movie.
I agree that the title was really bland, though I suppose it was accurate in that they were going beyond the limits of known space... which is what Star Trek was always supposed to be about, not titting about in known space which is what 99.9% of previous Star Trek has been about despite its tagline of boldly going where no one has gone before.
I like how it continued the theme of the subtle parallel between the new movies and the original movies, in this instance with the destruction of the Enterprise. It makes me wonder if the next movie will somehow involve reviving sperm whales in the 23rd century given as presumably in this timeline they must still be extinct.... and will Spock turn out to have a half brother? ... and will peace with the Klingons be attempted?
I also liked the nod to Star Trek: Enterprise, with Krall having fought in the war against the Xindi.
Yorktown was awesome and I think is the sort of thing TOS would have done had they had the budget and technology. It also addressed a gripe I've had with Star Trek for a long time: that in a supposedly multi-cultural Federation, everything seems unfairly set up for human needs. Spock's line about the Federation needing to make sure they showed no preference to any one species or culture was spot on. Interplanetary social justice FTW!
I agree that the action sequences were good in that they were very epic, but not in such a way that they detracted from the plot.
Overall, a basically pretty good movie, if a little silly in places.
It wouldn't be the first time an alien race was influenced via some form of musical intervention...Plus, in case you haven't noticed, music is a big part of what makes Trek, Trek.
I loved it!
He's not hypocritical. His fleet are drones, including all but two of his henchmen. There's no unity in being the controller of a big machine.
I'm curious to know your opinion about the _Ghostbusters_ reboot, but on the other hand, I think it's a smart move on your part to not review it at all.
I enjoyed it, but I wasn't that impressed by Elba's villain. I don't actually remember the guy's name.
I like all three of these movies, but they all kind of run the same way, don't they? You have the Federation and Starfleet and they're these awesome, best-case scenario institutions that govern lots of really important things. They are really one organization kind of pretending to be two just by never giving a name to the higher organization of which Starfleet and the Federation are organs. Someone within that organization says, "Hey, wait, we're doing something wrong!" and feels the need to stage a coup in order to set things right. The Enterprise arrives and there's a big, cool fight and in the end the status quo is reflected upon, but preserved and re-affirmed and not changed in any meaningful way that I can see.
That's a perfectly valid basis for a Star Trek movie -- but three in a row like that? I always watch Star Trek a little bit for the politics and that's just being repetitive.
But . . . That's not what happened in 1 and it's not what happened in 3. In 1, the Federation was attacked by a Rogue time traveling Romulan. Future Spock failed to get to Romulus in time, but in a way that was literally no fault of his own.
NuTrek 2 definintely had a federation Villain in the Admiral that worked with Khan.
And NuTrek 3 kind of had a Federation villain. Though Elba's character was a former Maco who got shunted into Starfleet and then started to turn resentful and go crazy after being marooned for centuries. That's more a man turned hateful and losing his way than an indictment of the Federation. IMHO.
Can somebody do something new with it now? Or is it time for the TNG reboot already?
What do you mean new? They're doing Star Trek: Discovery on CBS soon. I guess you could call that "new".
I can't wait to see this movie! :D
Oh, I so disliked this movie. The biggest problems I have with it are: The motorcycle. I can barely believe that it exists. Now we add a holographic projector to it so Kirk appears to be everywhere at once. Who's controlling how each view of the motorcycle reacts to the terrain? ;The bad guy. Oh lets disguise him as something different, so we can have a big transformation reveal at the end that it was a Startfleet human all along. What is this drivel? Just give him some body armor and a helmet, not my anti-Starfleet actions and attitude caused my face to change.
I thought The little ships where autonomous
Wow, I'm surprised you liked it. I hated this movie. Star Trek: The Fast And The Furious. Kirk is told by his entire bridge crew, "We should retreat." and he's like "Nah."...then a few minutes later when the Enterprise is surrounded Kirk is like "Maybe we should retreat." Too late, idiot. Also a motor bike? A song that saves the day? And why is the villain WAITING to attack Yorktown or whatever it's called? No send off for Chekov???
Anton Yelchin died just over a month before the release of the movie. They did pay homage to him, but the film was already done. There is only so much they can pull of in editing in the last few weeks. I think the absent friends line was a great way to acknowledge his passing.
I definitely don’t “like” this film. But I found it the most tolerable of the Fast N Furious N Space films. The first (2009) film was just really bad in my opinion. And then “Into Darkness” was maybe my least favourite film I’ve ever seen. So in comparison to those two I don’t hate it. But it’s definitely not great.
I really expected you to tear this movie a new one. To date it is the only Star Trek movie that I have only watched ONCE. I started to watch it a second time and didn't finish it. I watch all the others regularly.
I loved the cast here, again. Thematically it's wonderful, if a bit maudlin. The tributes to the original crew are great, the special fx/world consistent with what Abrams did before. All that said, I was somehow bored. I didn't care about the plot, largely because I'd figured out the "twist" before even 1/3 of the movie had finished. Elba was totally wasted behind tons of makeup, and for me, his arc never made sense (Nero's arc in the first movie was throwaway, but it wasn't presented in a way that made that problematic). I didn't hate it, but I haven't seen it again--a bad sign for this Star Trek fan. If they do another one, I hope the spirit of fun returns again! As somebody who's just a bit over 40 and still feels young, I find it a bit early for these young bucks to be moping around talking about their lives being "episodic," no matter how good that joke is. ;-)
who else here thinks they will shoehorn the borg into 4????
Oh, and did you notice that they appeared to make the Sulu character a gay man with a family? That was quite cool if they did.
I think Beyond is pretty easily the best of the reboot movies.
this movie is better than the JJ movies! finally going back to what Star Trek was! I even liked the costume design was better, the federation uniforms were better!
The relationships were developed okay I guess, can't say I didn't enjoy myself
Star Trek 2009 was brilliant. One of the best movies I've ever watched in my life. A truly great movie. Both Into Darkness and Beyond were not great films and I don't think they lived up to the 2009 film. But, Into Darkness and Beyond were still good films and I do like them.
You didn`t address the elephant in the room . Two word MOTOR BIKE !
I enjoyed all 3 of the rebooted Star Trek movies and I think Beyond is the best of them.
I can understand why a few fans don't like these new films but I loved them.
I'm looking forward to the 4th Star Trek movie.
I don't begrudge people enjoying this movie. I most likely will not be seeing it. I have the same personal embargo with this that Steve does with the new DC movies. It just doesn't come across like Trek to me...
I hear this a lot, and it confuses me.
What is "not Trek" about this?
I'll try to keep the comparisons to the Original 6 movies.
The JJTrek movies work really hard to sidestep any kind of reflective thought or philosophical underpinnings of the events taking place in the story. In "Wrath of Khan" (which all of the newer incarnations post-Insurrection have been trying to ape), there are moments of quiet contemplation. There's a scene where Kirk and Spock talk about their "first, best destiny" (that's where "the needs of the many" line comes from). There's the scene where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy discuss the implications of the Genesis Device. There are these moments of quietude throughout those movies that you won't see in JJ's rock-em, sock-em universe.
There's also the disturbing scene where Kirk and Spock outright executes a helpless Nero and his crew at the end of Star Trek 2009. That would have been verboten in the world of Trek (at least TOS and TNG). When the Reliant is crippled, Kirk signals them to surrender and prepare to be boarded. When Kirk fights Commander Kruge and Kruge goes over the ledge, Kirk offers his hand to pick him up (and Kruge refuses and tries to drag him down).
This might point might be a tad superficial: the Star Trek movies (at least the first nine) tried to be different from each other. They didn't always succeed (Star Trek V is a prime example), but each one was distinct. They were all trying something new; they were experimenting creatively. Star Trek 2009, Into Darkness, and Beyond--do they really seem that different from each other? Where some see excitement, I see stagnation.
And the saddest thing of all is there will never be a thoughtful, gentle Trek film like The Motion Picture or The Voyage Home, because they don't put butts in seats. Every Trek film from now on has to be wall-to-wall action. There has to be a scenery-chewing villain. All protagonists must be in their early 30s (or younger) and gorgeous--so no more DeForest Kelleys or James Doohans (what value do older people have anyway?). And now Trek must use Star Wars tropes and be stylistically like a Michael Bay film because Trek can't be it's own unique property. And if that's what people want, that's what people want. That's, personally, not the Trek I want to see or support.
Star Trek TO ME was a lot more than "fire phasers!", romancing alien women, and scrapping with Klingons. It was about learning from each other, having our paradigms challenged, and making meaningful relationships with those that are different. Again, that's me. Other people's mileage may vary...
(I heartily recommend the Star Trek Beyond review on RogerEbert.com. It more eloquently puts what more and more Trek fans find off-putting about this new incarnation.)
***** I think I must have been watching different movies to you, then.
In the ones I watched there are indeed contemplative moments - and Beyond especially so.
In the movies I watched, Kirk offered Nero mercy on the grounds that it was the right thing to do, and only shot him up when the offer was refused.
The movies I watched did seem different from one another, yes.
Meanwhile, you might want to re-watch TOS sometime and count just how many times Kirk solved his problems with fistfights and phasers. It may be more than you think.
+Patrick Dodds: Just FYI, if interested, there are more scenes involving contemplation in this one than the last two. Steve discussed them some, such as the picture that Spock Prime had. Also, one of the reasons I truly hated The Final Frontier (written and directed by Shatner) was a scene where our heroes were attacked. And so they defended themselves. Then they walked off, presumably letting the person who attacked them die, without another word said. "Oh., low, dee dow, too bad for you..." And, are you sure Kirk and Spock executed Nero and his crew, I don't recall their fate, but, I don't recall it being that callous to me. But, I could misremember...
I'm afraid I don't recall that scene in Star Trek V. As for "Beyond" having more contemplative scenes--well, I'm glad. Unfortunately, the last 2 movies have soured me for the remainder of this incarnation of Trek.
Granted it's alot better than the two Abrams flicks but its real dumb action movie stuff and the main villain is super underdeveloped. Idris Elba was wasted. Pegg's script felt more like Trek than 2 before but its still pretty lame.
Lady Gaga will plagiarize Jaylah. The final frontier.
I never went to see this movie, because "Out of Darkness" just irritated me with the pointless Khan tease. After watching this and another review makes me at least want to see it once. Looks like we'll probably get the 4th film in 2023 or 2024.
I kinda liked the film. It wasn't anything super special. But I kinda liked it.
It makes me a bit annoyed that I have to say this but I think the only thing that really annoyed me, close to pissed me off, is that the female uniforms are still fucking mini dresses -.- dress uniform, sure. But generic uniforms? Urks... /rant
I'm so happy with this movie both because I enjoyed it as a long time Star Trek fan and because it's something I can absolutely share with my friends who aren't into Trek and they'll be able to enjoy it too.
It turns out that Justin Lin is a Star Trek fan. I saw the movie last night and I thought it was great! :)
I disagree. I couldn't sit through the film. Its the only, ONLY, Trek film I couldn't sit through. I saw Star Trek V in the theater. Understand?
I liked the Kelvin universe. I loved the casting. I felt that the 4 issue comic book tie-ins should have been shot and would have been wonderful. To rely on tie-ins to make the story... I don't know... understandable? Isn't good. It's a failing. A movie should stand on its own.
Beyond was Fast and Furious in space. That bores me. I'm done. It broke my heart.
Thank goodness for DISCOVERY. Otherwise Beyond would have been the last Trek I'd have ever watched.
Maybe Tarantino will do better.
With STB, I thought this was the one that finally got it right.
The villain SUCKED!!!! He is a crap villain. Not only that he is the WORST part of the movie.
Maybe they could reboot all of the Trek series and no one will come because all to 50year old fans are retiring before too long. And no one cares about reintroducing every single character fro the previous series.
Perhaps the most imaginative and 'Star Trek' thing in this entire movie was the York Town. And that point is arguable. As for the rest, this was a Fast and Furious movie. And by no means the best of that bunch. Gone from this production is any essential character development. The entire interaction between Spock and Uhura was by no fault of the actors, just a mailed in sequence. I have two words for the writer(s)... 'sperm bank!' Now give us the love story you've hinted at since the first movie you cheeky bastards.
And when did trashing the Enterprise become a thing? The played down and house of funny mirrors views of the soon to be doomed Enterprise did not go unnoticed. Gone is the notion of a heroic starship or the ship as an able character and lifeline or the ship as a powerful extension of a tech savvy and smart Captain's will to win. In this universe incarnation, Kirk is no smart Captain. In fact, he seems to be drowning. I'd say throw him a line but this writer doesn't seem up to the task.
Gone are the grit and deep human interaction that was Star Trek's potential. Ships and crew in the new Star Trek universe are now just disposable hardware. And it's already gotten old. What we've been left with is the mindless whiz-bang of fast and furious action that has become the penchant of so many other movie franchises.
The Beastie Boys...? Did they really blast the alien horde with music? Was I the only one bothered by the- 'Mars Attacks', 'Earth vs the Flying Saucers', 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes', B-movie roll climax in Star Trek Beyond?
I kind of wonder what this rebooted Star Trek franchise would look like if Marvel owned the movie rights. But I no longer wonder why the fan production Star Trek Axanar gained such popularity and left CBS Paramount quaking in their boots.
On the Uhura of past and present, it is interesting but not always helpful to compare the two characters. The earlier performance was during a period in our history when a black character in a such a responsible and repetitive roll was kind of like an interracial kiss. It was a big deal! Gene Roddenberry was in many ways a trail blazer.
And I feel for you Steve. You looked almost uncomfortable giving this review.