Idk if you streamed it or got the disc, but the trek special features are definitely worth watching. So much more of the effects are practical than I realized on first viewing.
Anything that happened before the USS Kelvin incident shouldn’t be affected, so it should technically be the same Ricardo Montalbon Khan in the cryotube. I don’t have much of a problem with taking things less literally and reimagining certain characters, myself, but the argument does make sense. I think it’s a little unfortunate that they cast a white guy in a role so closely associated with an actor of color given the issues with diversity in Hollywood that have come to the forefront in recent years, but since the original version had a Mexican guy playing an Indian guy, it was in some ways a shaky role to begin with. Regardless of whether he makes sense in universe or whether it was a poor casting choice in terms of diversity, I think Cumberbatch’s actual performance was great.
Remember the rumors before the movie was released that Cumberbatch would be playing Gary Mitchell? That’s a what-if movie I’d like to see.
I think “The Savage Curtain” just has Abe Lincoln floating around in a chair.
Yeah, throwaway line, I didn’t think it was necessary to tag it. Apologies, though.
The line in Beyond about the Franklin being captured by a giant green hand made my week.
I’ve watched both Abrams Trek films this week in anticipation of seeing Beyond tonight. I still like the first one an awful lot. I’m very ambivalent about Into Darkness. It got a whole lot wrong (mostly in the writing), but there’s enough about it that I like that I’m unwilling to write it off (mostly in the performances and direction). Undoubtably a deeply flawed film, but not a completely worthless one. If nothing else, there are some extremely striking visuals. The Enterprise falling out of warp while being chased by the Vengeance is one of the coolest space shots I’ve seen in anything.
I suspect STID’s reputation may improve if the fourth film is as well-received as Beyond. I think it will probably draw a lot less hate as simply the weak link in an otherwise solid series. I think it’s premature to assess that until we know whether or not the franchise’s course has actually been corrected beyond Beyond, though (I couldn’t resist).
Haven’t read any straight up science fiction in a while, so I picked up a few paperbacks earlier in the week. Right now I’m halfway through Jupiter by Ben Bova, which I selected after becoming intrigued by the cover of Leviathans of Jupiter and subsequently learning that it was a sequel. It’s all right. Some of the characterization is a little iffy, but it’s very readable and there’s a lot of interesting classically sci-fi stuff. I’m not all jazzed up to read the rest of the series, but I can see Bova’s twenty-something other Grand Tour books becoming the things I reach for when I want to burn through something really quickly for a palate cleanse.
Next up is The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It turns up on just about every sci-fi recommendation list I’ve seen, and I’ve heard it described as being like a particularly heady episode of Star Trek, so I’m looking forward to it. I was really surprised to see that the chronology before the prologue has the Cold War ending in 1990 since the book was published in 1974. I’m pretty sure I’ve read things from the late 80s that weren’t that accurate.
After that, I’m thinking I’ll finally get around to Ender’s Game. I almost never actually end up sticking to a book itinerary for that long, though.
Started TNG last night after years of procrastination. It’s going to be an uphill battle getting used to this crew; right now Trek without Spock feels deeply wrong on an emotional level. I’m interested enough to keep at it, though, and hopefully after a few more episodes I’ll be invested enough that I won’t be so preoccupied with how much I miss my buddies from TOS. I love Picard, Riker, Dr. Crusher, and Geordie, I think Deanna Troi and Wesley totally suck, I’m ambivalent about Data, and I haven’t seen enough of Worf to have much of an opinion yet. I also don’t feel strongly about Tasha Yar, but I’m spoiled enough to know that that’s not going to matter for long.
Had a bit of an Elvis binge today.
the 6th one is like the 1st one - I think it’s great, but many people don’t like it for some reason.
Do people dislike The Undiscovered Country? It’s my favorite after Khan.
I think it’s worth noting how much a lot of the more pessimistic comments in threads like these tend to overestimate the PT’s footprint among mainstream audiences. Everyone I know who doesn’t identify as a major Star Wars fan gives them no thought whatsoever. A lot of people who weren’t the right age when they were coming out haven’t even seen them, and a large percentage of the folks who did see them as they were released haven’t seen them since. They haven’t become a cultural rite of passage the way the OT has, where you can assume almost everyone has some form of a relationship with them. The only groups that would actually be willing to buy the PT again in 2016 are the ones who adore absolutely everything Star Wars indiscriminately (i.e. Jason Ward and his MSW crew), contrarian hipsters (the population of whom I’ve always thought to be greatly overestimated), and children who grew up on The Clone Wars (many of whom are likely now more interested in the ST anyway). Even if those groups add up to more people than the folks who want the OUT, I think the numbers are probably closer than some people realize.
I also think the powers that be can’t fail to recognize that the OUT is a much surer thing than a prequel repackaging. Sure, there may be more people out there who might consider buying a new PT release, but they know with absolute certainty that almost every single one of us is going to line up for the OUT the day it becomes available, because we’ve asked them for it specifically and repeatedly. There’s no demographic guess-work involved; they release the OUT and they know they have a hit among a certain segment of the fan base.
Guys, I think I like The Final Frontier. I don’t think I’d ever made it past the half-hour mark before today without bailing, but I was really into it this time around, especially once Sybok really got going. I wouldn’t call it a good movie, but there’s a lot going on in there that I find really interesting.
Has the Library of Congress got its archival copy since GL sold LF ?
Don’t they have a print and a 2k scan of the first film? I thought I remembered hearing last year that you could make an appointment to view the digital copy.
Had a nightcap and listened to this after I got home last night. One of my all-time favorite discs.
Just finished The Search for Spock. Thought it was a lot better than I remembered. For some reason The Voyage Home is the only film of the original series not currently available on Hulu, Amazon or Netflix, so I’ve got to decide whether I want to pony up for a rental, skip to The Final Frontier or suspend my watch through until IV comes back. I’ll probably just pay to watch it because I don’t like to leave that sub-trilogy hanging.
- Han and Greedo shoot at or nearly exactly the same time now. (Easily the best change, though it also makes you wonder why Greedo still shoots at all because George’s initial “reasoning” that Han was only shooting in response to Greedo’s shot is out the window, cause if they shoot at the same time that means Han would have shot regardless of whether Greedo shot.)
My best guess is that he’s come around to realizing that it’s dumb but that his pride won’t allow him to actually just change it back to how it was.
The “Bring my shuttle” change is a real shame, because if it wasn’t for that I would say the ESB SE is universally superior to the theatrical cut and an example of how to do an SE right. The changes range from largely subtle enhancements that blend in seamlessly like the Cloud City visuals to big (but actually improved) updates like the old woman/chimpanzee Emperor hologram being replaced by Ian McDiarmid. If that one line (and the extra shuttle footage that was the reason it was changed) was not changed, and the other two films were altered with as much restraint, then I would prefer the SEs across the board. Still not an excuse to bury the originals, but it would make for solid director’s cuts worthy of being the standard.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t care at all about “Bring my shuttle,” and also vehemently prefers the old woman/chimpanzee Emperor.
Just watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the new Wrath of Khan blu-ray, which was excellent. For TMP, I started watching it on Amazon Prime, only to find that their version had been cropped to 16:9. Luckily Hulu has it with the proper aspect ratio.
I can’t even…
The poster itself in the middle would have made a fine cover. I’ve never understood the impulse to add borders like that.
Team Blu is doing an HD upscale that I believe is sourced from several different laserdisc transfers. ANH is available on Myspleen now, the other two are supposedly coming soon. More info here: http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-OT-and-1997-Special-Edition-Info/id/10550
Pretty sure it’s from a TV broadcast.
Really? The description on the spleen says the main sources are TB and GKAR. I’m not familiar with TB, but I was under the impression GKAR was a LD rip.
Before we get too far away from all the poster talk, I wanted to note that a Celebration recap video on the official Star Wars site is referring to it as a teaser poster. Everyone already thought as much anyway, but now we have it from official channels as well.
Team Blu is doing an HD upscale that I believe is sourced from several different laserdisc transfers. ANH is available on Myspleen now, the other two are supposedly coming soon. More info here: http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Star-Wars-OT-and-1997-Special-Edition-Info/id/10550
You say “altruistic” as if they would be giving it away for free.
Poor word choice, but I should think my meaning was clear. I like it because it’s an explanation that doesn’t require you to believe that Disney would be motivated primarily by the desire to do right by the fans. There’s simply a thing we’re passing around among ourselves for free that they have an opportunity to monetize. It’s much easier to believe that that will be what makes it happen than any sort of feel-good anecdote about J.J. Abrams/Simon Pegg/Rian Johnson/Gary Whitta preferring the OUT.
The most compelling point I’ve heard recently is this whole business of the GOUT having been a response to the proliferation of fan-made laserdisc transfers a decade ago, and that the attention that Despecialized and the SSE have been getting lately has now created a similar scenario. It’s far from concrete, but the logic seems sound and it doesn’t hinge on the assumption that Disney is any more altruistic than Lucas was.
