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Post #634472

Author
zombie84
Parent topic
All Things Star Trek
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/634472/action/topic#634472
Date created
17-Apr-2013, 2:09 AM

I love TOS, though when I was a kid I found it boring. The TOS movies were what made me a fan, and seeing STVI in the theater as a little boy is one of the best memories I have in a movie theater and made me fall in love with the films. Personally I like all the TOS movies--the only ST VHS I ever bought commercially was STV, so what does that tell you. I used to record them off TV--I still have those tapes--and watch them over and over, especially Wrath of Kahn, although today I feel STVI is the best of them by a little bit. TMP is pretty much a mess, but there is a good film buried in the VFX demo reels and really does feel like a classic Trek episode writ large, aside from the failed attempts to do 2001. The Directors Cut is a big improvement, but I have to admit I have never watched it without hitting the fast forward button. I rented it from Blockbuster around 1993 or so, despite both my parents warning that it lousy but it was the only one I hadn't seen, and I never got more than 45 minutes into it.

TNG was on TV at the time and so I followed it and loved it. I felt and still feel the early episodes sucked and that it got better as it went on. It was the last time a ST show was mainstream, as a kid many of my friends liked it, but I still don't know anyone who followed any of the subsequent series when they were airing. I still have my VHS recording of "All Good Things" that I taped off TV when it premiered, with a 1-hour behind the scenes special that aired immediately before. Was a sad day. Somehow never caught Generations until years later, loved First Contact and was thoroughly disappointed with Insurrection, so much that I'm one of the few people who thought Nemesis was a return to form (I haven't seen it since the theater mind you).

I gave DS9 many chances, but it bored me to tears with a few exceptions. I thought it was always "the bad series", and enjoyed the few episodes of Voyager that I saw much more, but when I got on the internet I was surprised to learn DS9 had a huge cult following as an underrated gem. I still haven't gotten into it, mostly because I haven't re-watched it since it was on. I have a feeling it bored me because I was still fairly young when it aired, even though TNG could be a bit cerebral; somehow it always held my attention, with maybe the first two seasons being the exception. After DS9 disappointed me and Voyager seemed "alright" I didn't give Enterprise much attention, though I watched an episode or two. But I was more interested in the upcoming Star Wars films to give much attention to Trek by then.

I absolutely loved ST09 when I first saw it, though I haven't really re-watched it much and to be fair I never followed any of the hype, I mainly saw it because my mom is a huge TOS fan (she got me into ST in the first place), and she loved it as much as I did. It's not as good as most of the TOS movies, but what is? I never, ever understood how people thought it betrayed the spirit of Trek. It's as much classic Trek as any of the TOS movies, in my opinion. People forget that TOS was a mainstream, general audience show that featured comedic episodes and action episodes and had a lot of sex and kung fu in it, it's not nearly as serious or cerebral as TNG and the way people "remember" TOS. Wasn't perfect, but I thought it was very well done. I saw the opening scene of Into Darkness with The Hobbit and all 15 people I was with wanted it to keep going, it was utterly fantastic.

That's the abbreviated history of my minor Star Trek obsession. I'm glad the whole SW vs ST thing is largely gone, and I'm also greatful that ST09 made the series mainstream and cool again. If you liked Star Wars at one point it was seen as pretty geeky, but admitting to liking anything Star Trek after age 13 was like a death warrant at one point.