Monday, May 20, 2013
VLOG: 5-19-13 - Star Trek: Into Darkness
Split into two parts due to the hour and 22-minute long discussion, Linkara and his brother discuss the twelfth (or second?) Star Trek film.
EDITED TO ADD: I can't believe I even have to address this because this has nothing to do with the Star Trek vlog, but apparently my fans have been flaming a youtube user called The Archfiend due to remarks I made in the comments section of this post. I want to clarify that I was confused and thought he and another individual were the same person when they are not.
Do not flame him or anyone else, for that matter. I don't support flame wars and I try to admit my mistakes when I make them, as I did here. And that is the end of the discussion there concerning him, the douchebag who DID do the things I mentioned in the comments, or the "Please Let the Ads Play" video... at least in the comments on THIS post. If you want to discuss the adblock situation, do so in the "Please Let the Ads Play" post. This is a post about Star Trek and Star Trek alone. Thank you.
Linkara..i really think you should make a respond video about this guy's tweets. Click this link ( The Archfiend has quite a lot of fans. The moment he releases that rant..the Archfiend fans are going to spam horrible comments on your website) so please talk to him about this:
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/TheArchfiend
am i the only one not getting any sound from this?
ReplyDelete"am i the only one not getting any sound from this?"
ReplyDeleteChecked them a moment ago and sound seemed to be working on both videos for me, at least.
"Linkara..i really think you should make a respond video about this guy's tweets. Click this link ( The Archfiend has quite a lot of fans. The moment he releases that rant..the Archfiend fans are going to spam horrible comments on your website) so please talk to him about this"
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with no.
By your reasoning, I should respond to someone whose fans will respond with spam and troll comments... which will just encourage spam and troll comments? Considering statements this indvidual has released before against me, TGWTG, and people I care about, I see no reason to bring acknowledgment and attention to his existence.
Okay..that is perfectly understandble...i can understand your reasons
ReplyDeleteThanks for the in-depth thoughts about the movie, and the very calm way they were expressed.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind me asking, what did Orson Scott Card do that is so abhorrent that you won't support anything with his name attached?
"If you don't mind me asking, what did Orson Scott Card do that is so abhorrent that you won't support anything with his name attached?"
ReplyDeleteHe has contribued money to anti-LGBT organizations and has been very outspoken in his disapproval of LGBT rights. Now other people are allowed to view things their own way and do as they wish, but me personally I'm actively avoiding his work as best as I can.
I saw into darkness a week ago (I'm in Australia) and I agree with most of your points but I still dislike this movie. The death of Pike is another example of father-figures-in-refrigeraters (the lesser cousins of girlfriends in refrigerators) and how they have to remind us how much ass Kirk gets. I mean seriously, it's sexist, fan service and totally undermines my respect for our hero, not to mention that they had to have a shot of carol in her undies for no reason at all. It was such a huge disappointment for me because of it's use of Khan. I mean, it's just not Khan, not the one we know and loved, and he's not even the real villian, he's just a pawn. Don't even talk to me about the last scene in the reactor. I mean, its a spaceship, not a tv, if you can fix it by kicking it you're doing it wrong. His "death" was way to quickly reversed to have any meaning. I would be okay with that if they didn't try to tell us that this wasn't a remake, because there's not really any completely original content in it. It just wasn't what it was marketed to be.
ReplyDeleteof course the 12 movie was better, the previous film was an odd numbered star trek film. and we all know the star trek movie curse.
ReplyDeleteIn a way I actually preferred Spock's "Khaaaaaaannn!" in this film to the original. I thought it felt more real, more convincing. And remember, in TWOK Kirk was faking it. He wasn't screaming in reaction to any personal loss the way Spock is in this one. He wasn't even really reacting to Khan trapping him because he already had a plan in action to get out. His scream was entirely a performance to convince Khan that he had won, and then five minutes later he's gloating about how he had a plan all along.
ReplyDeleteI thought the film was okay I actually laughed at the "Khan!" shout and did think that they were leaning on the call backs to that film too much. I have only seen Star Trek 1 and Trek of the original series films. Before these too came out and I believe the series has potential beyond Abrams.
ReplyDeleteElysium was the Matt Damon film you saw a trailer for.
"Considering statements this indvidual has released before against me, TGWTG, and people I care about" What are you talking about? The only TGWTG person he has ever talked about is the Nostalgia Critic and that was in a positive light.
ReplyDelete""Considering statements this indvidual has released before against me, TGWTG, and people I care about" What are you talking about? The only TGWTG person he has ever talked about is the Nostalgia Critic and that was in a positive light."
ReplyDeleteIt was a long while ago and he may have deleted 'em since then, but I recall a time a few years ago when he posted videos insulting me and Liz, saying rather derogatory remarks about her in particular.
Approach the fat troll diplomatically, it is possible. People who he hated buried the hatchet with him. He has even ended a feud with someone he had a falling out with.
ReplyDeletetl;dr
apologize for agreeing with Batdan, He'd apologize for his attacks on Liz and maybe, just maybe his most recent videos.
Ignoring the fat trolls existence is only bring more problems Linkara. I can guarantee that.
"It was a long while ago and he may have deleted 'em since then, but I recall a time a few years ago when he posted videos insulting me and Liz, saying rather derogatory remarks about her in particular"
ReplyDeleteAre you sure? I just talked to him on Twitter and he is 100 percent sure he did make any such video.Are you sure your not confusing him for someone else?
Oh. the archfiend... Yeah you have chance of making peace with him but you do actually have a chance with the other fat one even if you refuse to believe it.
ReplyDelete"Are you sure? I just talked to him on Twitter and he is 100 percent sure he did make any such video.Are you sure your not confusing him for someone else?"
ReplyDeleteI suppose it's possible. That having been said, I decided to look at the original e-mail that informed me of this going on from back in September 2011. Here's the original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytFKy3iNH1s however you will note that it's not listed anymore.
Now this was part of a communication with another individual by the name of Carey Martell who was encouraging me to file a DMCA claim against him since he was using Lightbringer pages in his videos. The video in this case still seems to be up and is located here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB5d7I4_33g
I said it wasn't a big deal since he was clearly using them for parody purposes and honestly it wasn't worth the time or effort, especially since, well, I freely admit early Lightbringer's writing and artwork sucked (and you can probably say it's later writing sucked, as well, but that's a discussion for another day), so I didn't really mind if he was making fun of them. Carey Martell contacted me later about the video involving Liz, which as I said has since been removed, evidently.
Of course, the youtube name is listed as Asalieri2, so that might not actually be him at all. Still, my point stands to both yourself and the Anonymous user: I am not interested at this time in "responding" to his own response. If he has an opinion about my video, he is free to have it. I have stated my case and I have defended myself when I have felt it was appropriate. I am not looking for a fight, nor will I begin one.
And if I may ask, why is this being posted in response to the vlog about Star Trek: Into Darkness? I approve all comments so I can read all comments that come onto the blog. As such, replies can be made within the actual video's post.
One more video concerning the subject:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix7N5iMHP78
That's too bad about Orson Scott Card, but I will go on record saying that Ender's Game remains one of my favorite sci-fi novels of all time.
ReplyDeleteBenedict Cumberbatch is versatile. So far he's played a detective, a dragon, and a parallel universe version of Ricardo Montalban.
@Malcolm, Lewis, Zachary:
ReplyDeleteIt puzzles me how certain people on Youtube can cause so much e-drama despite their relatively manageable amount of followers.
Youtube in general would be a much more pleasant place if such people wouldn't get so much attention.
As for Star Trek: Yeah, Abrams' space battles are weird. The Narada is just confusing, and I don't get why the villains always need hilariously oversized spaceships. This will only undermine the impact of actual cosmic threats (like the Planet Killer).
And the Enterprise is supposed to be the Federation's flagship, so don't make it the tiniest ship in the movie.
The Reliant was actually smaller than the Enterprise, and it made the battle much more intense and tactical.
And long-range transwarp torpedoes? Did the writers realize that such an invention would forever change intergalactic warfare and even transportation?
Hey, what's it called when you use beloved icons to ransack a cultural franchise you have no affection or regard for? Oh right, hyspockrisy.
ReplyDelete"It was a long while ago and he may have deleted 'em since then, but I recall a time a few years ago when he posted videos insulting me and Liz, saying rather derogatory remarks about her in particular."
ReplyDeleteI think you're thinking of Asalieri, not the Archfiend. The Archfiend wouldn't do something like that.
"I think you're thinking of Asalieri, not the Archfiend. The Archfiend wouldn't do something like that."
ReplyDelete...I could have sworn they were the same person. ^^;
In which case, if they're not the same person, then I have no personal beef whatsoever with the Archfiend.
That having been said, still not going to make any video replies. XD
all well I tried... I fear this is only going to escalate more. But I'll say it again even if you don't take me seriously. You can try with to end this with Asalieri. You really can.
ReplyDeletetypical. TGWTG user doesn't want to end shit. I think you will be Asa new target over James.
ReplyDeleteOkay, seriously - I'm not going to approve any more comments on the subject of any perceived "fueds" or whatever in this comment thread. You want to keep this up? Move it over to the "Please Let the Ads Play" comments section, since that's apparently where all this is stemming from.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteFine. Fine. I actually got distracted and I want actually ask about something on topic. What would you think of the potentially now cancelled Captain Worf series?
ReplyDelete"Fine. Fine. I actually got distracted and I want actually ask about something on topic. What would you think of the potentially now cancelled Captain Worf series?"
ReplyDeleteI would have been in favor of it. Worf's a great character and while there was development for him in taking a command role in DS9, it never really reached its full potential (primarily because, well, there really can only BE one Captain and that's Sisko). I'd love to see what kind of person he became once he actually was in the big chair full-time.
Thank you Linkara. But what would you think of Netflix reviving enterprise? I personally didn't like it.
ReplyDelete"Thank you Linkara. But what would you think of Netflix reviving enterprise? I personally didn't like it."
ReplyDeleteI'd be more in favor of it if Manny Coto was at the helm.
Would you be in favor of a new star trek cartoon done by the DCAU(like justice league, BTAS) team? if had to done by anyone?
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with your and your brother's analysis--there were little things that bugged me in the film, but overall it was a very enjoyable experience, and did indeed feel more like Trek than the first, especially with the obvious political allegories like TOS would do. A few things:
ReplyDelete-They seemed unsure on what interpretation of the PD they were going for in the opening. Spock, a stickler for the regulations, just seems more concerned about the inhabitants seeing them, which is fair enough, and with this version of the directive you can save the planet without interfering. But then Pike starts going on about altering destiny and all that...eh, it just feels like another one of the screenwriters took over.
-I liked the NX-01 in the models in Marcus's office. Oh, and if you're lucky, maybe you'll be able to get that Vengeance model among that to make up for the no toy thing. :)
-I actually liked the Klingon look and the look of Qo'Nos (Kronos, whatever, guess it's like Beijing/Peking). It called back to their fascist/commienazi nature in the old series, with their leather uniforms and industrialized nightmare. Wasn't sure on their unmasked look, but reportedly that Klingon was meant to have hair, but the wig kept falling off when he removed the helmet.
-I liked Benedict Cumberbatch's performance, though he seemed a bit skinny for a superhuman. I understand why they made him a white guy, as it would be pretty uncomfortable otherwise when he was pulling his kamikaze run with the Vengeance, though a mention of surgery or something would've been a fine handwave to explain why a very white English guy has a Sikh name.
-Marcus' plan seemed clear enough to me: fire those 72 torpedoes, wipe the evidence of him meddling with Augments, and get his war with the Klingons. Two birds with one stone.
-I'm iffy on the TWOK homage/ripoff in the engine room, and was slightly overdone IMO.
-I actually thought the rest of the crew got bigger roles than in the last film, which I liked--each one had something to do, than just serving as fan callbacks like last time.
-I like that the militarization of Starfleet was seen as a bad thing, keeping true to the spirit of Trek.
-I think they'll have something to do with a rising Klingon War in the sequel. Perhaps Kor will be the villain. He did show up in the prelude comics to this. And maybe then the Enterprise can finally kick some ass.
I get that both you and your brother are fans of pre-Abrams Trek, but I think you guys are being just a tad to hard on Abrams' revival of the franchise. Like it or not, the old formula of Trek was no longer working. Nemesis and Enterprise's first two seasons all but killed it off in the public's mind.
ReplyDeleteYou both claim that Star Trek (2009) felt like a Star Wars movie, and I know neither of you seem to like Star Wars, but maybe that's EXACTLY what Trek needed. G-d knows what Trek "was" before no longer worked (again, I point to Enterprise's abysmal ratings and Nemesis' terrible box office performance).
I've always considered Star Wars to be closer to Lord of the Rings then Star Trek anyway. Star Wars is clearly science fantasy, while Star Trek has traditionally been science fiction. Abrams is applying a science fantasy approach to Star Trek. As a fan of fantasy myself (and a huge fan of the original Star Wars trilogy) I can't say I'm upset. I understand how longtime fans of Trek such as yourselves may not be entirely happy with it, but I think you at least need to acknowledge that something different had to be done if Trek was going to continue being a viable franchise, because what used to work for it pre-Abrams was no longer getting it done.
And sorry, your brother's just wrong. Star Wars has no story? Yeah, the prequels were meandering garbage, but to say that the original trilogy had no story or plot is just a flat-out stupid thing to say.
It seems like it just boiled down to him not liking Star Wars, therefore it sucks. Which is a level of "discussion" that I think is below both your brother and yourself.
Keep up the good work Linkara, and don't let the haters get to ya ;)
So this movie has a scene where an Eldar punches out a Space Marine?
ReplyDeleteGotta see that for sure
Just to make it clear that TheArchfiend =/= Asalieri. Sure both have similar names, but they're diffidently two different people.
ReplyDeleteAsalieri is the one that made alot of those hateful comments/videos about Linkara and Liz. He's the one who's very fixated on going after TGWTG since the dawn of man.
TheArchfiend is just a random semi-popular youtube partner that just doesn't agree with Linkara's "Let the Ads Play" video and made video response to it.
This Star Trek movie was almost as good as Michael Vick's 2010 season. Go Eagles!
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
ReplyDeleteLong time wiever of you're show first time commentor:
Could you list the Star Trek films from what you think are bad-great?
I'm just curious?
The Matt Damon movie is called "Elysium", as in the Greek mythological paradise Elysium, which is the name being used for the space station that Damon is trying to get to in the movie.
ReplyDeleteExpect a lot of comments, because I feel the need to interject as I watch.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Kirk didn't recognize the device. He asked what it was. Immediately after, he made the point of asking "Why attack an archive?" The device had NOTHING to do with anything. He was just curiuos as to what Harrison was toting and later asked Scotty if he could identify it in the wreckage and find out what it was. No plot hole there.
Second, Transwarp beaming WAS about going EXTREMELY long distances. Go back and watch Trek '09, and Scotty describes it as, and I quote, "I told him that I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet in the same system - which is easy, by the way - I could do it with a life form."
Yes, that qualification had it in the same system, but once you hit interplanetary beaming, it's not hard to see that his early theory was limited while the equation Spock handed him was the refined, finished version.
Also, going along with this (and if you get to this point later, I apologize for jumping the gun), it's clear that this Federation unlocked transwarp technology early on. According to Scotty, he was off the ship for a DAY. So that means the Enterprise made it to Kronos, got stranded, and made its way back again in less than 24 hours. That's FAR FAR faster than the trip should be, and makes the astoundingly quick implied travel time to Vulcan in Trek '09 to be fact, and not some weird editing glitch.
"Just to make it clear that TheArchfiend =/= Asalieri. Sure both have similar names, but they're diffidently two different people."
ReplyDeleteLetting this comment through just for that clarification, but a reminder - I'm not letting through any more comments on this subject on THIS video.
I admit I’m a Prime Timeline partisan. A good part of my problem with the 2009 one was their saying, “We’re not telling any more of that.” As it is, I thought this one was alright. Not great, but alright. I think there are a lot of dumb things in this one, but this film has more sins of omission rather than 2009’s sins of commission. No supernova threatens the galaxy, just unanswered questions about why people did things, with the chance for the imagined answers to make sense.
ReplyDeleteI did feel that both Kahn and Section 31 weren’t devious enough. I can accept that Section 31 Agent Noel Clarke could be put in a position where healing his daughter might make him do a favor for Harrison. But why wouldn’t he accept the cure, then rat him out to his superiors? Even if he though more treatment was needed, he could find out what it was and synthesize (or suck out) all the blood he needed. Betraying Harrison would have been the Section 31 way. Maybe he’s different. Maybe Kahn told him the ring would do something else -- what? -- or manipulated him so he thought it was right, guided his despair, subverted him like Rorschach did to his analyst. A handful of lines could explain it. But what we had just wasn’t enough for me.
Likewise, I can’t believe Section 31 would think that holding the other Augments hostage would be enough to tame Kahn. Oh, hostages could make him work for them, but he would be planning to overcome these inferiors and take both his crew and his rightful place back. And Section 31 would know that. They should have other control mechanisms. Apparently, there’s cyborg (or android, but I prefer it be cyborg) technology in this timeline (taken from the Borgified Narada? Borrowed from the Bynar?). What if they stuck a control chip in Khan’s head, one he found out some way to overcome or eliminate. Finding a piece of cyborg tech in Kahn's head could deepen the mystery and make Section 31 seem that more amoral and devious.
I also wish they had done a throw away line about Harrison having had plastic surgery. Yeah, none of the actors look exactly the same as the old ones, but with Pine, Quinto, and Urban they made a good faith effort to make them look similar. And with Pegg, Yelchin, and Urban they all adopt the right accents. Suspension of Disbelief can take it from there. There was so little physically linking this Kahn to the other, that a surgery line would cover the differences while, again, actually enhancing the mystery.
Also why didn’t Section 31 go after Spock Prime, the science officer with knowledge of 24th century advancements? They got Nimoy. Couldn’t they have had him mention that he’d been approached by shadowy figures asking him to use his knowledge or that there were attempts to stage deadly accidents under the guise of kidnapping him? That’s what Section 31 would do. That would have justified Nimoy’s presence more than only asking “So that famous bad guy from Earth history who turns out to be alive? Did you ever fight him?” They could ask that question, too.
[continued]
ReplyDeleteOne thing I noticed is how oddly small and contained this film is. There should be more people around. The last one started big, then justified why the Enterprise would be the last ship to go after Nero. Here, they call Spock Prime, which suggests they can call anyone to see if they can get allies (a risk, as they could side with Marcus, but Kirk would take that risk). Klingon space is also too empty for Star Trek (not for reality, but for Trek). We are told of other ships. But there should be other Klingon ships in space, military and civilian, and also scanners. They could have found nearby nebulae to hide in to justify not being seen.
Like I said, I’m a Prime Timeline partisan. I hope people who grew up with TNG and DS9 eventually take charge at CBS and decide, “We can tell more stories in that timeline and do it well,” even with this alternate one continuing in films, too. As it is, I think this movie’s script earned a C, with the performances bumping it up to a B. And in the meantime, Star Trek Online’s Legacy of Romulus expansion is about to go live. I played it in Beta. The Prime (until proved otherwise by a contradicting TV show) Timeline continues with some great stories. And with characterization that, even with the limits of a MMO’s presentation, come fairly close to this film’s level. So I will enjoy playing that game, and hope that whoever handles the next movie does well with it.
looking back the could have had an epic space battle. when they explode the missiles on the big shit(forgot the name sorry) they made things even. khan even said that the big ship could be used by one person. so khan has a damaged ship and the enterprise is damaged. there you go its even. but no we have to have Spock beating the crap out of khan while he gets shot........dumb.
ReplyDeleteLinkara just lost any respect I had for him, which was not a lot. I already knew he was a whiny bitch who mooched off of Doug's popularity. But now this proves he is a bigger bitch than I thought.
ReplyDeleteI'm s geek. The Ship Spock is sent to is the Bradbury, as in Ray Badbury.
ReplyDelete"Linkara just lost any respect I had for him, which was not a lot. I already knew he was a whiny bitch who mooched off of Doug's popularity. But now this proves he is a bigger bitch than I thought."
ReplyDeleteU mad, bro?
"I can accept that Section 31 Agent Noel Clarke could be put in a position where healing his daughter might make him do a favor for Harrison. But why wouldn’t he accept the cure, then rat him out to his superiors? Even if he though more treatment was needed, he could find out what it was and synthesize (or suck out) all the blood he needed. Betraying Harrison would have been the Section 31 way. Maybe he’s different. Maybe Kahn told him the ring would do something else -- what? -- or manipulated him so he thought it was right, guided his despair, subverted him like Rorschach did to his analyst. A handful of lines could explain it. But what we had just wasn’t enough for me. "
ReplyDeleteI got the feeling that Harrison wanted for Noel Clarke to rat him out. To push for the conference thing.
I've read some conflicting accounts about Doom as well. I believe it was Mark Waid who said this about the good doctor:
ReplyDelete"The truism that Victor von Doom is, despite his villainy, a noble man is absolute CRAP. A man who's entire motivating force is jealousy is ridiculously petty, not grandly noble. Yes, Doom is regal, and yes, whenever possible, Doom likes to ACT as if he possesses great moral character, because to him that's what great men have...(Doom) would tear the head off a newborn baby and eat it like an apple while his mother watched if it would somehow prove he were smarter than Reed."
Nice thorough review. :) I wasn't entirely on board with you and your brother's quip that JJ is Star Wars here, but the reboot movies are definitely Science Fantasy; how in spite of all the cataclysmic changes in the timeline, Destiny plays big as a theme as everything seems to slowly but surely fall back into place, ending with the crew going on their five-year mission.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Enterprise never firing a shot, perhaps it was done to underscore Kirk's speech at the end to not lash out in hatred. (That and the ship was basically outclassed.)
I liked the movie's commentary on extrajudicial assassination, et al, but when Khan rammed his ship into San Francisco's skyline, that kind of made him an irredeemable monster don't you think? Too many innocents died and Khan gets to go right back into cryo-sleep like nothing happened. :\
(also surprised you never talked about the record levels of bromance in this movie.. ;D)
I didn't like how Uhura had to be rescued. The scene could have been easily fixed -- Uhura could have stared the klingons down, or stolen the commander's knife, or drawn her own gun on him.
ReplyDeleteI get that they wanted to show off how much of a badass Harrison was, but that could have been put off a little bit later. The klingons could have agreed to let the humans search for Harrison, then he shows up and chaos ensues. Maybe another squad of Klingons shows up during that fight (perhaps a rival family) some miscommunications happen and the scene then plays out as before.
And the last bit, where she "rescues" Spock but just distracts Harrison long enough for Spock to recover and rescue her. It felt like she was doing an old-fashioned thing, where the woman ineffectually slaps at the villain's chest while the hero-guy comes up from behind to club him.
One more thing: Is it necessary to watch the first two seasons of Enterprise to fully understand the seasons after them? I tried watching it when it first started and stopped after maybe the fourth or fifth. I didn't watch any of the others after that, but if you're saying it gets better on season three I'm just wondering how easy it would be to skip the first two.
ReplyDeleteOne neat thing about the 2D glasses is that 3D LG TVs have a feature that allow you expand split screen video games to full screen and block out one side for each player by wearing reversed pairs of 2D glasses... Because of this my next TV will be a 3D LG one.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that bothers me about Trek movies are how many of them are revenge flicks.
Wrath of Khan
First Contact (yes, I would count this, Picard's obsession with destroying the Borg leading him to make unwise choices)
Nemesis
Star Trek (2009)
and now this one...
That's over 1/4 of the films to date, having the same central theme, ad really it feels like all of them are channeling Khan.
First Contact was Khan from a heroic perspective, where the hero is able to recognize his failing in time and stop himself for plunging off the deep end. The revenge portion was only one of many plots going on though, and it's one of the few Star Trek films that manage to deal with the excitement of exploration that Trek is supposed to be about.
Star Trek (2009)... on the other hand was just as much an aping of Khan as Nemesis was. The eye for an eye "I will take everything from you Spock, as you did to me!" bit just felt like more of the same. Again 2009 had enough going for it that it wasn't JUST Khan but it did hit a lot of the same notes.
So I'm not all that eager to see the new Trek... I think I'll wait for the bluray.
Man of Steel looks like it could be great, and I'm also psyched to see Richard Schiff in it. I think the darkness of the film is being used right... it's creating a hopeless situation where Superman will be a shining beacon, he says something in the trailer about the S-emblem meaning Hope on Krypton...
Hey Lewis, I have a question that bugged me with Star Trek and is one of the reasons I never got into it.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't the Federation have Marines?
You know a dedicated combat group? I get that Starfleet is about exploration and diplomacy and whatnot, but to it seems they are always facing combat so wouldn't a dedicated combat group make sense?
I believe there is the away team, but they really don't seem to be equipped to handle this sort of thing.
Also do they have personal shielding tech in Star Trek? If so why does a whimpy phaser break it? If not why don't the security staff wear armor?
I know a lot of questions ^^"
"Hey Lewis, I have a question that bugged me with Star Trek and is one of the reasons I never got into it.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't the Federation have Marines?"
The answer to pretty much all of the questions you have is "Gene Roddenberry."
By the time the Next Generation rolled around, Gene very much bought into his own hype, to the point where his idealized Federation was really kind of stupid in many ways, especially when it came to tactical and military matters. As far as he was concerned, Starfleet was not a military organization whatsoever, despite having a command structure like a navy and his ships, you know, carrying guns.
As far as he was concerned, the idea of having ANY kind of military purpose (warships, combat troops/military personnel/equipment beyond standard-issue stuff) was pretty much a no-no because the Federation was sooooo peaceful and perfect that we had no such need for those things and it was abhorrent to even consider the matter. Bear in mind, this is the guy who also made an edict that the human characters on the show WERE NOT ALLOWED TO FIGHT WITH EACH OTHER OR HAVE ANY KIND OF CONFLICT.
As for personal shielding tech, yes and no. Worf demonstrated a makeshift one in "A Fistful of Datas," but I would imagine the big problem with it would be power limitations. A permanent forcefield around a person, especially if it bent and moved around when their arms or whatever moved, would be a serious drain on energy.
That having been said, the Star Trek: Elite Force games suggested that the technology DID exist, though they were a bit more cumbersome than standard uniforms.
Hm I see, that pretty much confirms what I was thinking and REALLY throws me off to be honest.
ReplyDeleteYeah I imagine that a personal shield device would be quite cumbersome, though I liked how its handled in eg Mass Effect. Which to me is kinda Star Trek with a proper military structure and forces, if that makes any sense ^^"
Just out curiosity: does that bother you too?
Fellow Geekdom Source Power Rangers is in trouble...
ReplyDeleteNickelodeon has the Money and Resources to Make Super Megaforce the most epic tribute to Power Rangers History Ever on par with Sentai's Gokaiger, And they would most likely give it all to Spongebob.
More Horrors await here on this Video Below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEcJ_oqFu_Y
I walked out of the movie at "Khannnn!!!" I knew what was going to happen anyway and I didn't want to see it.
ReplyDeleteI always thought of the 2009 film as a thematic take on TOS vs. TNG. Who are the enemies? The supership from Nemesis, guys who wore Reman face-tatoos, time-singularities, super-special material which can collapse suns and planets... basically ALL the worst things of the TNG-era movies were wrapped up and made the bad guys.
ReplyDeleteAnd how does the TOS cast deal with these problems, which the TNG-cast would have talked about? It punched them, and shot them. And blew them up.
I always wanted to believe it was a thematic choice by the movie, a symbolic disavowing of all of that. By that logic the fact it didn't make sense wasn't really a valid criticism.
...and then this movie came out and blew that theory all to hell.
They really just have no idea what they're doing. And having gotten away with it once they no longer feel constrained to try and look like they do. They just keep reoffendincg, constantly.
The 2009 film had maybe 5 moments of jaw-droppingly stupid science to weird inconsistencies. Into Darkness kept throwing new ones at you every 3-4 minutes. And they werent' the type you HAD to swallow because the moved the plot forward... it feels like another draft could have caught and tidied them up. ANY term but 'cold fusion' for example.
Oh, and life support is located behind the Enterprise's "aft nacelle." Which nacelle is that again?
I haven't seen Into Darkness yet. But going on what you've described, if I were in charge of writing I would have made Spock's "Khan" line a bit more understated (I think the trope is called Tranquil Fury?) to kind of contrast with Kirk's hammyness in Wrath of Khan.
ReplyDeleteInteresting Linkara you're the first person I came across who said this movie felt more like Star Trek than the 2009 film since most I came across criticized the film being more like Star Wars than Star Trek when compared to the reboot.
ReplyDeleteI've seen it twice now, once in 2D, once in 3D. The 3D wasn't bad, and didn't hurt.
ReplyDelete"This movie was more like a Trek movie than the 2009 one."
That's what I said!
I agree with most of what you said about this movie. Yep, better than the last.
Around Qo'noS:
Did you notice that Praxis was blown apart already?
The Klingons weren't all bald; you can see their hair coming out from under their helmets.
That said, it felt like change for change's sake, not for any good reason.
You're worried about ruining a line in Nemesis? That's one of the worst!
I could be wrong, but I thought the Enterprise did fire on the Vengeance? It was ineffective, but I thought it fired.
I found the lack of quotation diminished their Khan. And he'd still know those books.
Did you notice the meeting Khan blew apart took place at Daystrom, which makes no sense, since it's a science (computing) facility, named for a guy who probably hasn't made his name yet at this time?
I hope they remake this movie in colour! I hope when Abrams makes Star Wars, it's in colour. (apart from splashes of red or yellow, this was as grey as Man of Steel... but still won me over).
I loved the score - also much better than the last.
Crest Of Artorias: Enterprise Season 3 has Marines.
"Oh, and life support is located behind the Enterprise's "aft nacelle." Which nacelle is that again?"
LOL! Yeah, I think I noticed that, too, on my second watching.
~ Mik
By the way, Kevin Costner is Pa Kent.
ReplyDelete(it bothered me that no one pointed it out) ^^;
after the 1st movie in 2009 i dont think they got scifi (partially), star trek or the characters- i think some of the actors got their characters and they rise above the more cringeworthy parts while some parts cant be salvaged (the kobayashi maru scene for example). i think the filmcrew get spectacle and action... and that makes the movies very enjoyable besides them being sometimes horrible scifi and star trek. they throw in fanservice checklists to appease the genresavvy and the fans of the source material as if to say: "see, we got this, you nerds". but they are flailing around with their fanservice and anger some people with it because they dont know WHY scene X is beloved, WHY character Z was what (s)he was, WHY fact Y is important. its like after doing an action movie script someone loads up a shotgun with random snippets of plotlines, characters, quotes and facts about ascifi in general and the star trek universe and he scatters them all over the script while ripping even more holes into it in the process.
ReplyDeletedid i hint enough at the fact i didnt like the first movie? i enjoyed watching it... but didnt like it. is that considered a paradox? might need some red matter to get rid of it then :P
didnt watch into darkness yet but i will this weekend- why? because it deserves a fair chance. even after the imho botched first movie. and no, i dont care if i have heard the entire plot on different sites and from different sources already. still gonna watch it and judge it on its own merits
---
but here is a hint how you can remake the wrath of khan and spaceseed without just remaking it like a stupid targ (im sure after hearing plotpoints of this movie many people thought of this, too. its actually pretty easy):
1. let khan battle on the side of the heroes the whole time. he is NOT the enemy of the movie!
2. let the heroes realize how good khan is. let spock see his logic and genius. let kirk learn from and admire his natural leadership skills. let khan do what he wanted in spaceseed- take the captainschair from kirk and let kirk be okay with it because of his failings earlier in the movie. let them defeat the villain together as friends at the end of the movie but only the viewer, khan and the villain know of the crew of the botany bay.
3. let the villain do a last blow to the enterprise- it has to be saved... and the man behind the glass is khan! spock is on the other side and kirk is on the bridge finishing the enemy like a hero- gaining his chair and crew back in the end and forever due to khans sacrifice. and khan looks up at spock behind the glass- bleeding and dying from radiation poisoning.. and his last words are "my... crew..." and spock exclaims that the ship is saved and the crew of the enterprise is okay without actually knowing what khan was talking about...
4. they pack him into a torpedo and fire him into space like they did with spock originally. the starfleet hides khans crew and throughout the movie there are hints that khan wont stay dead and is now in a torpedo, in exile like he was on ceti alpha 5 (no, even worse) and without his beloved crew- waiting to be rescued by a ship (ferengi, cardassian, bajoran? so many ways to make this epic..) picking up his lifesigns for a new movie in the future.
Just wanted to point out the Mudd they are references in the movie is this one http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Mudd_(Bajoran)She is from the set up comic. The general implication from the comics is that her father was Harry Mudd.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend the ongoing series comics along with the set up comic for Into Darkness. They do a really good job at updating the classic stories and giving them a new spin.
I hope the Khan blood Tribble is the progenitor to the Klingon/Tribble war.
ReplyDeleteI was sad that they missed some obvious explanations for the changes in the movie.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Khan look different? He's a wanted man. They gave him cosmetic surgery so that they could use him without anyone figuring out who he was.
The archive that blew up? Was just an archive. Info about his real nature was there, and was dangerous to him, as anyone who read his files would know the program to create his kind was abandoned because they were paranoid sadistic maniacs.
The transwarp teleport? Was a one-off use of a stolen alien tech that they couldn't replicate, from the remains of it found on earth. The regen/super powers/resurrection? Again, alien tech. Way beyond them, limited use and supply, unable to replicate, potentially dangerous. From a story background, having it as a result of earth science is a bad idea; why won't it always be used?
What aliens? Well, what aliens were on earth in another movie, having used time travel?
The reason you should avoid time travel to try and conquer your enemies is it can bite you in the ass. It would make perfect sense for the Federation to take advantage of the Borg tech as much as they could. Yes, the Borg have assisted the development of the federation!
Possibly this wouldn't worry them as they need to harvest high tech cultures and the feds in TNG were originally beneath their notice. They might have also known that it wasn't something they could replicate.. if you drop soldiers modern assault rifles in a fight against primitives , they might use them against you for a while but be unable to maintain the arms and make new ammo.
"Green blood red blood doesn't work"
ReplyDeleteTribbles are far more alien than a half-human like spock, so the magic blood should work on him too.
Of course, if it was borg tech, not human genetic engineering, it would make a heck of a lot more sense.
There was no reason for Khan to be put in cryosleep. The guy was guilty of warcrimes, for which warrants presumably still apply, and then guilty of terrorist acts. Plus, his magic blood is useful; so remove his brain and harvest unlimited blood!
ReplyDeleteIn "Space Seed", you could see they were willing to give him a chance. In this movie, he already blew it. Why take him alive longer than necessary? You know he'll probably escape.
This isn't the comic universe where there's a code against killing. Deadly force is warranted. Heck, Section 31 would probably have had him killed to cover their tracks.
And oh, i wish they'd fix the Prime Directive. Something like "don't interfere in pre-warp civs unless the negative consequences of non-interference outweigh the worst consequences of interference e.g. they will become extinct if you don't act and even then try to be subtle.
I just realised something. Early on, a single stun shot is enough. Later on, many have almost no effect. What other villains developed an ability to adapt to phasers? I wonder...
ReplyDeleteFinally, saw this movie last week. I got spoiled for most of it so my enjoyment of it was a tad muted. But otherwise, it was really good though the climax was kinda rushed. But in many ways, this was better than the first because the cast felt more like a unit and it also brought up the issue of a militarized Starfleet.
ReplyDeleteMy gf nearly lost it during the radiation room scene and so did I even though the obvious parallel was a bit distracting at first. Also, I liked shout even though it was not as powerful as Shatner's.
There were just a couple of things that bugged me. If Khan's blood is regenerative, why didn't he heal after he was horribly burned in Wrath of Khan? Are there limits to how far he can heal? Also, Spock accused Khan of having genocidal ambitions even though the wiki states that his rule was devoid of it. I am guessing that Spock made that assumption because of the "psychotic, genetic warlord" credential. I am probably reading too much into it.
Overall, really liked it and I am praying for a third one.
"If Khan's blood is regenerative, why didn't he heal after he was horribly burned in Wrath of Khan? "
ReplyDeleteWell, there was an admission that the Borg temporal incursion altered the timeline permanently. Maybe Khan has a few nanites in his system, not just human genetic engineering. He did seem a lot more physically powerful in this movie.
Saw it yesterday. This one definitely felt like a Trek movie, rather than a sci-fi movie with all the trappings of being a Trek movie. Over all I liked it, but I think I would have changed 2 things about it. Adding in a line explaining why he doesn't look the way he should and ditching Spock's 'Khan!'
ReplyDeleteThe former smoothing over why he doesn't look like Montalban anymore. I mean if they left him alone, anybody familiar enough with 20th-21st century history would have recognized him in a second.
The latter just felt a bit out of place, I would have been happier if it had been somewhat less articulate.
Fiery Little One.
This movie was better than Wrath of Khan, if only by a nose.
ReplyDeleteIt was honestly that good.
Hey, linkara, I saw a toy of the Vengeance at a comic book store.
ReplyDeleteIt's small, and is made by hot wheels, but just thought you should know, if you didn't already.
Okay I tried reading through all the comments to see if it has already been mentioned, unfortunately the research proved fruitless. But the name of the actor from Field of Dreams you're thinking of is Kevin Costner.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really enjoyed the V-log and I hope you go see The Purge with Liz. I'm very fascinated to learn what her opinion on the movie is considering she was(is?) taking that college course on white collar crimes to become a police officer.
Honestly Linkara on you and your brother's complaint about how Kirk always figured things out. Wasn't that how the TV series always felt
ReplyDeleteLinkara PWNED Archfiend without even lifting a finger
ReplyDeleteSeriously i don't even get why i was a fan of that idiot he spreads hate and misery everywhere
I'm SUPER late on this video but I just say Into Darkness and I agree with a few of things you guys said but frankly I would have preferred an original villain altogether.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what's your beef with Oroson Scott Card ? Sure "Ender's Game" looks pretty basic but still o.o
"Also, what's your beef with Oroson Scott Card ? Sure "Ender's Game" looks pretty basic but still o.o"
ReplyDeleteCard is an outspoken advocate against LGBT rights.
One quick comment about 3D. The technology has improved, and one day I'm sure it will mesh with a film that truly utilizes it, but I will have to say that aside from animated films some of the best 3D I've seen is in Avatar, in my opinion it is the only reason to watch that movie, unless you just have a lot of time to kill.
ReplyDeleteSTID makes me really appreciate what directors like Josh Whedon are really good at and that is fully utilizing an ensemble cast. This admittedly is hard to do in a film, but you can pull it off. Star Trek (TOS) never managed to pull this off in it's entire three seasons, and the movies followed suit. If Abram's had really wanted to make a Star Trek that was different, making the films truly an ensemble would have been a great place to start.
ReplyDeleteWaaaaaait, if Khan has magical blood, why didn't he safe his love interest in the prime universe when the planet exploded?
ReplyDelete