"STAR TREK Into Darkness" - 2013

[Bryancd]

Geordi was cybernetically enhanced, as was Pike and a few others.

Yeah, this is clearly not the same thing at all.

[Praxis]

For a fresh perspective on Into Darkness you might want to listen to the Starbase 66 movie review.
Mostly positive... some good insights... very enjoyable.
http://www.simplysyndicated.com/shows/starbase66/

Thanks for the suggestion, never heard of this podcast. It was really good! Yes some good insights. :thumbsup

[X]

Geordi was cybernetically enhanced, as was Pike and a few others.

Yes, but he did not seem to become a machine himself - and assigned a numeric name to replace Geordi.  I didn't read the link you posted, this is just a gut reaction to seeing him.  He appears to be test-tube bread or a construct of some sort.  If he is just a regular guy who has had parts added to him, I wonder why he is 'Science Officer 0718'  and not Science Officer 'Art Vandelay'.  :)

I read it and my assumption is that they never gave him a name. He was a nameless extra that they added a name to after the fact. I only say that because they were calling the character a derivative of the actor's name while shooting.

[billybob476]

He reminded me of Lobot :)

[Dangelus]

The big elephant in the room of course is that JJ doesn't really have a clue about true Star Trek.  I guess this is why he had to create his own universe!  ;)

[Bryancd]

The big elephant in the room of course is that JJ doesn't really have a clue about true Star Trek.  I guess this is why he had to create his own universe!  ;)

Well, I might argue that due to the vast amount of TV and film content STAR TREK has, there really is no "true" Trek. They have done it all, twice over, and three times on Sunday. So having a new interpretation isn't really anything new.

[ChrisMC]

Let's not forget, the movies were taken away from Gene Roddenberry after ST:TMP, and Nicholas Meyer wrote Star Trek the way he wanted to see it. Gene didn't care for it, he thought it became too militaristic. But let's face it, TMP vs. TWOK....which one do you show a Trek virgin? So Trek always has new directions, and there has never been "one true Trek vision". Ever.

[Dangelus]

Although I agree with the statements I also feel that it has always been consistent and complimentary to previous incarnations in a way nuTrek isn't IMHO.

[Bryancd]

Although I agree with the statements I also feel that it has always been consistent and complimentary to previous incarnations in a way nuTrek isn't IMHO.

I can appreciate that but for me Trek is about the relationships between the characters and that is really coming together for me in a very familiar way.

[ChrisMC]

Yeah, I feel the same way. I never took Trek as "hard sci-fi", my takeaway when I was younger was it's a show (or movies) about a bunch of friends in space, and they have a cool ship. It's still that, and that's when Trek is at it's best.

[Dangelus]

Personally for me it was about the human condition,  morality and the sci-fi.

[Bryancd]

Personally for me it was about the human condition,  morality and the sci-fi.

Was it really? Or is that looking back in retrospect at over 45 years of Trek history where Gene had the opportunity to really spin that sucker? I'm not saying he didn't have a "vision", I just think at it's heart TOS was a TV show Gene made to make money and make it entertaining. I think we as Trek fans sometimes put him and what he created on a pedestal that may not be deserved. He was a business man.

[Rico]

Not sure I really agree with that Bryan.  I would say most of TOS had some type of morality play going on in the episode.  Same for much of the later Trek series too.  Much more so than most other TV series of the era - by far.  He certainly wasn't trying to make great money or do good business in the TOS days.  The show was always in danger of failing.  He could have pumped things up but I feel he tried to stay true to his vision for the series at the expense of ratings and making more money.

[ChrisMC]

Am I the only one who feels Gene is overly deified? Just a thought. TNG picked up greatly and improved after he was out of day to day. His vision many times interfered with storytelling, especially on TNG. It kept the characters somewhat stale.

[X]

If you go through any of the series, more times than not, it's not a morality play. For every City on the Edge of Forever, we have a Spock's brain.