Monday, September 23, 2013

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

 photo ST6-Thumbnail_zps6f3d5ee3.jpg

The battle for peace has begun... and actually ended several years ago.



71 comments:

Staredcraft said...

Hey Lewis I'm surprised you didn't make a comment about how Linkara knows what Sulu felt in coming in to help out only to be attacked, referencing To Boldly Flee

Anonymous said...

Not sure if it was an intentional reference to ‘Undiscovered Country’, but when they arrive at Qo'noS in “Into Darkness”, you notice a moon of it look completely screwed up. This might imply that Praxis is indeed one of Qo'noS Moons.

Although, isn’t it acknowledged that everything that isn’t Film or Live Action Television with ‘Star Trek’ non-canon?

I love your Riffing on some moments. The way you act them and the timing is often spot on. You ever considered doing more Riff Videos?

Also, considered doing a New “We’ll be back in a moment” with the new Bodies of Pollo?

I also thought of that Irony too. To prevent Federation & Klingon from being allies, Federation & Klingon officers allied themselves with one another.
I’m surprised you didn’t make a Spoony Terl joke when he quoted; “To Be Or Not To Be…”, it would have worked so well!

Still, good review, Linkara. ;3
Looking forward to seeing more from you. X3

Anonymous said...

God, another Star Trek review? They're not funny! Not to mention you've scheduled way too many of them way too close together.

I get you are a huge Trek fan, and I don't even dislike Trek for the most part, but too many of these reviews too close together can be maddeningly dull. Please give us some space before the next one.

LucasChad said...

I know they'll be plenty of other nerds mentioning this, but I'll say it anyway. You forgot to mention that Gorkon was played by David 'Effin'' Warner, who fortunately wasn't wasted unlike the last film. He does play a great Klingon, would you agree?

Anonymous said...

I thought that the"to be or not to be" part would lead to Mechakara's death scene from TBF. However, great review, as usual.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or is blip not working? :/

Unknown said...

I noticed the destroyed moon and assumed it was yet another continuity error that can't be explained away by the timeline shift. There's 3 or 4 in the fist movie and a lot more in Into Darkness.

Although if I recall Linkara's review of the comic for the first movie correctly, Nero blew up Praxus when he escaped from a prison colony there. Memory could be faulty though, the movie said it happened at the edge of Klingon space and PraXus is a moon of qO'NOs.

Lewis Lovhaug said...

"God, another Star Trek review? They're not funny! Not to mention you've scheduled way too many of them way too close together."

The last one was three months ago. The one before that was two months prior and before that NINE months.

Lazoor said...

FINALLY! When I saw this on your schedule I couldn't wait! My favorite of the original cast films finally being reviewed. Wow. Well, the comic could've been worse. Liefeld's disease could have spread to the Trek universe. Or they could have gotten Frank Miller to do the dialogue. Eeew. That's a horrible thought. It would've been nothing the sexual adventures of Kirk and Valeris . . .

Anonymous said...

01001001 01101110 01100110 01101111 01110010 01101101 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00111010 00100000 01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110100 11100010 10000000 10100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110101 01101110 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01110100 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01101101 01100101 01101110 01110100 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100011 01101100 01100001 01110010 01101001 01110100 01111001 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01100111 01100101 01110100 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110010 01100001 01110010 01100101 01110010 00101110 00100000 01010111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01100001 01101101 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100011 01101111 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100111 00111111 I’m going to watch you die and do nothing as you beg for help 01001000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00100000 01101101 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001001 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100100 01100101 01110010 01110011 01110100 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01110111 01101000 01100001 01110100 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01100101 01101110 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110

Anonymous said...

Wait, so the Vulcan woman who betrayed everyone WASN'T Saavik? Huh. I don't know how I could have missed that; I completely thought it was her until now. I sort of missed them saying her name in the movie, and, for some reason, I thought she had completely changed her hair's style and color. And now I've caught myself worrying that I'm somehow racist for not telling the difference between two Vulcans, despite the fact that they're utterly fictional. I think your Star Trek reviews are having a weird influence on me.

Nate said...

On the cover, Captain kirk looks like the splitting image of Jeremy Clarkson. Tonight on Top Gear… the final frontier!



Also, at 22:00, Don't you hate it when an artist uses the same panel over and over?

SynjoDeonecros said...

Well, if we go by the TOS episode "The Changeling", TOS shields ARE far better than TNG shields, since TOS shields can take up to 450 photon torpedoes before failing, with only minor damage to the ship, while TNG shields crap out with only a few torpedoes, and cause massive explosions.

Then again, TNG also made speeds over warp 9.9 impossible, and couldn't decide whether or not one can beam through shields at any given moment. And that TOS episode also had Kirk surprised that a dinky little probe could withstand a single torpedo. So, take that as you will.

SchweitzerMan said...

I never understood why the Enterprise crew thought that it was a Bird of Prey that could fire while cloaked?

Why not a Romulan ship? Think about it, that would make more sense. You get your two big enemies fighting it out, most likely to the death and whoever is left standing would be no match for the Romulan Empire.

Megan said...

I've said before on here that I never really got into Star Trek, so some of the references and jokes do go over my head. Maybe if I'd seen the movie I'd get more.

However, that being said, this was still a very good review. True, it didn't make me laugh out loud, but there were some moments where I giggled.

And really, when the next comic scheduled is James Bond IN SPACE!, this one seems downright wonderful by comparison.

ShadesofNier said...

Somebody must tell Nimue and the Entity that the comments section is not for them !

Unknown said...

This is my favorite Star Trek movie. In some ways I think it is much better than Star Trek II, but that is just me and my opinion. I think that this comic is not a very good adaptation of the movie. Like you said, it removes a lot of good parts from the film, especially most of the subtlety. For example, that whole schpiel that Kirk give Valeris of "What I say goes," was not needed at all. The movie does such a good job of showing the veteran crew-members just shaking their heads at Valeris' reading of the rules to Kirk and all Kirk has to do is calmly repeat his order. Also I love the scenes where Chang is quoting Shakespeare... too bad the comic just ruins them. Especially his death where is just stares at the torpedo.

Anonymous said...

How could anyone NOT know about Oliver North?
He's America's greatest hero!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRSVQr50L3c

narya100 said...

Linkara, you should lets play Klingon Academy, or any more of the extended universe games like Bridge Commander or Armada, if you could figure out how.

Doresh said...

Ahh, my second favorite of the TOS Star Trek movies after Wrath of Khan - or maybe the third. I'm never quite sure if I like it more than The Voyage Home XD

@SynjoDeonecros:

"Well, if we go by the TOS episode "The Changeling", TOS shields ARE far better than TNG shields, since TOS shields can take up to 450 photon torpedoes before failing, with only minor damage to the ship, while TNG shields crap out with only a few torpedoes, and cause massive explosions."

1. We don't know how much torpedo payloads have changed over the years.

2. No other official source show shields to be that durable (with the exception of Borg Cubes I suppose).

3. The episode was most likely highly exaggerating the impact strength of Nomad (technological consistency was a bit spotty in TOS). Seeing how TOS ships only ever shot one torpedo at a time, it would take hours if not DAYS before any side would be in slight danger. It'd be like tanks shooting pebbles at each other.

The Id said...

It's funny because there is a note above the captcha saying "Please prove you're not a robot." I guess captcha's are in desperate need of some improvements.

Also the comic left out a scene at the dinner party where Kirk was being a snarky bastard attributing certain quote Chang was saying to historical figures, one of whom was hitler.

Viredae said...

Just an aside, it's the captain's responsibility for his men even if, as you put it, one of them goes nuts and kills everyone.

It's the captain's job to make sure his en are sane, that's why they have psychiatrists attached to military groups.

47ness said...

The one change I smiled at was the re-inclusion of Sulu's line about choosing his friends over his country, which was cut from the film.

Because George Takei is awesome squared. :)

Khan said...

haha.. they were the question

Unknown said...

nice review as always

...but yeah, I agree the lack of To Boldly Flee clips was a missed opportunity.

I mean, you were there - how could you forgot that :P

Looking forward to see how sci spy fights the cybermite cubes... or whatever it was about

PopCultureOtaku said...

This is one of my favorite trek movies right up their with khan and first contact.
You know as many as I see that's not klingon blood clip I figured that guy played klingon saying it is played by the guy who played worf in next gen and ds9. Looking it up and finding out the guy was suppose to grandfather brings new light to things. Just goes to show you learn something new everyday.

Anonymous said...

I never really understood how McCoy couldn't have any knowledge on Klingon anatomy... The federation and Vulcans had been dealing with them for years. They never had medical situation?

Jenbrait said...

Awesome review! Though it doesn't really surprise me that much when Spock angrily slapped the gun out of the volcan woman's hand (sorry the name escapes me). It makes more sense then, oh lets say, have Spock yell "Kahn!" after Kirk's 'death'.

Josh said...

Someone probably mentioned this, but isn't Worf's grandfather a General, and not a Colonel?

Laevatein said...

The Ghost of Christmas Future would have been scarier if it were Janeway.

Nick Michalak said...

Star Trek VI was the first Trek movie I ever saw back on cable in the early 90's. For a time, I liked it more than Wrath of Khan, but yeah, over time I've picked up on some shortcomings. Basically, there's no lurking threat to add enough tension to the narrative, and there's very little consequence to the defiant actions of the Enterprise crew to force dramatic momentum. And really? The Enterprise can just fly into Klingon space without encountering a single patrol ship? I'm glad if the comic left out that silly scene of every scouring through books trying to translate Klingon.

Chuck (SF Debris) did a good review of this, but I do feel there were some further points of contention to draw against the movie. However, it is still a really good, respectable send-off for the original crew, and has a very necessary political thriller story to bridge the gap between TOS & TNG.

Nice review of this comic. Yeah, it seems a little dodgy here and there. Yet, it's nice seeing some bits and pieces not put into any of three cuts of the movie that exist. That dialogue from Sulu about choosing between his friends and his country I've heard mentioned, but this is the first time I've seen anything of it.

Lastly, thanks for the re-tweet of my Star Trek Classic Movie Retrospective (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwn53spDTZs). It's about a twenty minute video of me running down my thoughs of the first six movies, and Trek VI is the one I probably go on the longest about since much of what I had to say are not common criticisms.

MarvelFan said...

On the Valeris/Saavik deal:

Personally, I would have preferred if it were Saavik. It was a character we have got to know over the two other films (WoK more than "Search", admittedly), so when her betrayal was revealed it would have hit harder (and also go to showing that not all Vulcans were the 'stereotypical' ones like Spock has always so desperately tried to be).

JFinley91 said...

Binary Converter has just saved me hours of translation. Hang in there Nimue.

Unknown said...

Okay, checked over the comments and so don't think this has been mentioned yet, at least while I'm typing now.

Kirk's door, his bag is in the way.

When he notices Valarus(sp?) she steps in and grabs the bag as she does, dropping it again once she's in and you can hear the door close.

I'm guessing Kirk put the bag in front of the door so he didn't have to have it opening and closing while he brought i his things and got settled, probably an old habit even if the doors can be programmed to stay open.

Sorry I was a little excited to get my nerd on for Trek since usually you know the answer before me.

I'll admit it's been years since I got to watch the movie but I wondered hat too so paid attention on a later viewing.

There were a few scenes that were released on the VHS that weren't in the theatrical version, like them noticing the assassin wasn't Klingon at the end.

I missed Spock puting the patch on Kirk the first time through, but if you pay attention, it's there the whole time after, thought they did a really good job with that.

Oh I was so excited for this review and am not disappointed.

"Perhaps you know Russian epic, of Cinderella, if shoe fits, wear it."

The did a wonderful job with the music for this one, it added to the scenes very well.

I know you mentioned wanting to do the next Elite Force as a proper Let's Play, when you decide to stream again, would Klingon Academy work?

Peteman said...

Wouldn't evacuating a planet take pretty much every ship in the Klingon fleet and require decades to resettle everyone? Ferrying billions of people isn't exactly easy.

FugueforFrog said...

It does seem to show from what you said that the comic adaptation this time really wasn't trying hard enough even with it's positives. A lot of it does feel rather random without any real context and was trying to have the gravitas of the movie. But hey, another movie review down.

Next week: more Sci-Spy...guess it's time to bang boredom big. (and jeez why the heck do I remember that terrible scene?)

BTW: nice usage of Princess Bride bit.

Anonymous said...

Okay first things first, I'm watching this at 5:40 pm CST on September 23, 2013, you know what the Syfy Channel just finished airing? Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Weird. I wonder if somebody will add this to the funny moments for the episode on the TV Tropes page?

I hope you understand why you had to demote yourself Linkara and someday, yourself willing, you promote yourself back to Admiral, or isn't your mother an Admiral? Maybe if you're good, she'll re-promote you.

The Klingons can't leave their planet...where else are they going to find a world where their ancestors killed their gods? Or what about all of the ancient battlegrounds where Klingon fought Klingon building up the legacy of Kahless which was actually just him and his band of soldiers just avoiding getting killed by Molor until he lost his wrestling match with Morath turning him into a freedom fighter? Oh and the clone Kahless is really a clone of Morath...this has nothing to do with things but I thought I should add it.

I love your Bones/Spock $10 running gag, I hope you can find a way to work into other Star Trek reviews.

I just saw the attempted assassination...the Klingon missed, before Kirk showed up!
The real question is who was the better Question?

Not your best Star Trek review, but then again its definitely not the best Star Trek movie.

Outside the review I've been thinking about 2 things with Atop the Fourth Wall:
1.) Isn't it around the time of year when you change the opening sequence? If so, will you make a new video for the second verse? Because I really like the second verse and I don't think you've made a new video for it since...ever.

2.) I think you may have had another accidental theme month: Future Month. I say this because either all 5 comics take place in the future or have somebody from the future in them...I may be wrong about Brute Force, I'm sure somebody will correct me.

Djiinnrae said...

^w^
I just have to smile whenever you talk about Star Trek. It feeds my nerdiness. Even if you ended up, God forbid, reviewing a good Star Trek comic, I think it'd still be entertaining because you know the stuff well enough to make fun of it anyway.

This is up there with some of my favorite Star Trek movies, particularly because of the political implications of it. I'm a sucker for that stuff, but the film also shows the maturity of the characters as they've grown through their time in Federation service and it is pulled off neatly. Also (as a minor bit) those are probably my favorite Federation uniforms overall; I love how they appear to take inspiration from the traditional naval dress uniforms over the past few hundred years-- it makes sense and it looks sharp. (At the risk of sounding creepy, you also look great in that uniform. You just, like, own it posture and all.)

I still wonder about McCoy and the Klingon anatomy thing. One would think that they would at least briefly touch on the most important bits of their anatomy in the Academy precisely because the Federation is openly known as an enemy of the Klingon Empire. Avoiding an active war should be top priority and learning to recover from situations that might lead there due to either incompetence or lack of hospitality needs to be addressed. The last thing the Federation would want is an attack (or political backlash) because, say, a refugee Klingon was taken in by a Federation ship and died due to poor treatment or negligence. In all actuality, McCoy probably should have been reprimanded for speaking so rudely and calling the probably-blood "whatever this stuff is." That being said, we still love Mr. McCoy. (That and the whole thing just sounds silly from a doctor when in retrospect you know Klingons and humans can make babies together.)

I have no complaints about the whole "Captain being responsible for the actions of his crew" bit since it's a real thing. A member of the military is supposed to be submissive to their commanding officers and any gross infraction falls on the head of the one issuing orders for either commanding their crew to do "a bad thing" or for not having tight enough control and a crew member doing "a bad thing" autonomously. To be fair, the one who acts outside of orders is also punished by the law of their own government, and depending on the action, it could be anything from stripping of rank to charges of treason. Honestly, Kirk's reaction in the face of all this shows his ability to live up to and resign himself to the responsibility that comes with being in command... again.

Now I just want to go and marathon the series again; I haven't in ages. Sorry, I talk way too much. ._.

Shanethefilmmaker said...

If I were to find a Shakespeare quote that describes VI in a nutshell. It would be "A plague on both your houses." Because the ongoing war coming to a close nearly tore both sides apart before true peace was achieved.

Someone, somewhere said...

@ 3:21
*snickers*
Lewis I know you aren't an art student or anything..... but shading lines?
It's called hatching.
I don't mean to be rude or nitpicky, but it's annoying when I see something so simple and elementary butchered when it comes to art.

Jeff Jacobson said...

They probably left the Colonel West stuff out of the comic because it wasn't in the theatrical version of the movie.

The reason that McCoy doesn't know what that stuff coming out of the Klingons is is because this movie is the only time they bleed Pepto-Bismol.

(They had to change the color of the blood in the movie so you could tell Klingon blood apart from Colonel West's blood during the Scooby Doo reveal that was then cut out.)

I noticed that Scotty wasn't fat enough in the panel where he shoots the assassin.

rdfox said...

@Jeff Jacobson: Actually, the reason for the color change was an MPAA Ratings Board mandate--with the sheer amount of blood shown and how it was floating all over, then splashed down when the gravity went back on-line, the ratings board said they had to make it a different color or they'd get an R rating. Thus the use of the pink blood, to maintain the PG rating. The official line is that since, in all other cases where we've seen Klingon blood, it looks just like human blood, it's not pink, it's red.

Anonymous said...

Excellent review! I for one am glad to get another and look forward to th rest of the series!

libtard said...

"'Check your privilege!' Without some of the stupidity the phrase has been associated with." Oh man, conservative-mode Linkara finally said something I agree with. Tumblr liberals are a common political enemy, like racist/homophobic conservatives.

Ming said...

Great review on the swan song for the TOS crew. Star Trek 6 was truly an allegory for the end of an era.

I'm surprised you didn't use clips from To Boldly Flee, especially Terl's butchering of classic Shakespeare and his over-the-top last words rendition of "To be or not TOOOOOOOO BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Next week, we have the crappy future world of Sci-Spy.

Anonymous said...

You're gonna review Sci-Spy again? Why of all the bad series you've reviewed is THIS one you've decided to review every issue of? Unlike Marville or ASBAR it's not offensively bad and fun to rip a new one, it's boring, even you seem bored when you review it.
I'm sure more people in your audience would rather you finished Malibu Street Fighter since they actually requested it. (I personally don't care, just 1st example I could think of).

Gareth said...

All this talk of Shakespeare has reminded me of something that I think you should see Linkara

http://www.amazon.com/William-Shakespeares-Star-Wars-Doescher/dp/1594746370/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380017341&sr=8-1&keywords=shakespeare+star+wars

Anonymous said...

"You're gonna review Sci-Spy again? Why of all the bad series you've reviewed is THIS one you've decided to review every issue of? Unlike Marville or ASBAR it's not offensively bad and fun to rip a new one, it's boring, even you seem bored when you review it."

I'm afraid I agree on this point. The main points of contention you seem to have with Sci Spy are:

-It's boring.

-It's generic.

-It's stupid, but not in the fun way.

You've made your point. Sci Spy. Terrible comic. Point taken and agreed upon. But unlike ASBAR or Marville, there aren't enough new, spectacularly stupid things in each issue to warrant further reading. Plus, as the other anonymous said, you seem genuinely bored by it, and it's no fun to watch someone be snarky if they're bored.

Unless you know that there's something really spectacularly awful later in the series that's worth building up to, can we please move on to some other series? Like Kamandi, for example. Isn't he finally going to meet Superman in the next issue?

Adam said...

Fantastic review of this comic adaptation of Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. Makes me wish you and Nostalgia Critic teamed up earlier to do Star Trek Month. Going through the least favorite Star Trek films definitely requires your encyclopedic knowledge. =)

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 9:16: Did you not remember the ending of issue 3? Where they revealed everything weird we've seen (including that bug guy at the end of issue one) are genetically modified humans (retroactively making the previous three issues kind of insane) and that whole plot of an alien species who wants to wipe out all humanity? Sci-Spy is clearly about to get COMPLETELY INSANE.

Volvagia said...

That last comment was me. Sorry for not leaving the usual name.

Daniel said...

Hey linkara the mind meld scene you mentioned being uncomfortable with was mentioned on a podcast i listen to where they had an interview with Nicholas Meyer and he said that he know finds it distressing as he say's its torture and know winces at it and is embarrassed with it

The podcast episode is about wrath of khan but the interview talks with Meyer about wrath of khan and undiscovered country

It starts around the 32 minute mark and the part about the mind meld is around the 55:30 minute mark

here is the link
http://projection-booth.blogspot.ie/2012/09/episode-78-star-trek-ii-wrath-of-khan.html

Anonymous said...

Please don't take this the wrong way, Linkara, but I'm getting really sick of Sci-Spy. Out of all the comics that you would come back to, this was on the bottom of my list. Especially since it's been years since you said you would do stuff like Salvation Run. Love your work, I just don't think you can mine that much more comedy out of this book.

Anonymous said...

Hey Linkara, what are your thoughts on Star Trek Renegades and the possibility that it takes place in classic Trek continuity instead of the reboot continuity?

Volvagia said...

Anonymous 12:25:

Um...the only thing he mentioned in the Countdown review that he WAS going to get to was Battle for Bludhaven. Salvation Run, and the other Countdown tie-in miniseries, were dismissed as pointless, both in terms of what happened in them and as review fodder. What am I waiting on? Here are twenty things: 1. ASBAR. 2. Sci-Spy. 3. Kamandi: At Earth's End. 4. Marville. 5. The Brian Azzarello Wonder Woman. (New Gods = WTF!? I'd take her "working at a burger chain" era over a creative decision that only further makes her just a Superman supporting character! Seriously, between Geoff Johns making her Superman's girlfriend and Azzarello tossing New Gods (Superman villains and supporting characters, lest we forget) at her, that's my only conclusion as to DC's creative direction. Wonder Woman is, right now, just a supporting character in the Superman mythos. That bites.) 6. The Avengers #200. 7. 2001: A Space Odyssey. 8. Secret Wars 2. 9. Ultimate Power. 10. Trouble. (Tied in with the end of Marville) 11. Batman: The Widening Gyre. 12. Ultimate Adventures (the other side of U-Decide). 13. Spider-Man: Reign. 14. Holy Terror. 15. Batman: Jazz. 16. Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil that Men Do. 17. Brian Azzarello's Hellblazer run. 18. Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. 19. The Thing: Climate of Fear. 20. Ultimate Power.

Anonymous said...

Actually I like the review ,but since Ice never seen Star Trek and the Lingbox of the Damned trailer was posted not too long ago, when Chekov spoke I was like "Moarte, where did you come from?!!!". I think ever since LOTD , I can't hear you speak with a Eastern or Central European accent again without thinking of Moarte

Volvagia said...

I accidentally repeated Ultimate Power (9 and 20, whoops), so I offer Batman/Catwoman: The Trail of the Gun as an alternate 20th thing I'm interested in seeing.

Arianne said...

It looks like the "Worm King" or Nimue the Nutcase has merciless intentions for Linkara in the future.
As for the comic adaptation it could've used the more plot important elements . I'm glad Scispy is going to be over.

Anonymous said...

I know this has nothing to do with the thread, but you may find this interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s08K8ymzGsk

and yes, Cassandra Cain is also in it
http://25.media.tumblr.com/cb517a74126b546e2d8a09ad225f53e2/tumblr_mqdhuk3bZ01qcj3zoo3_400.png

Anonymous said...

"Did you not remember the ending of issue 3? Where they revealed everything weird we've seen (including that bug guy at the end of issue one) are genetically modified humans (retroactively making the previous three issues kind of insane) and that whole plot of an alien species who wants to wipe out all humanity? Sci-Spy is clearly about to get COMPLETELY INSANE."

Admittedly, I did forget the end of Sci Spy #3, for the same reason I forget most of the plot points in half of the stereotypical "90s" comics reviewed here (such as Youngblood): it's incredibly forgettable. The aliens out to exterminate humanity? Nothing special; that's Tuesday in a science fiction story. Every creature we've turning out to be an modified human? Admittedly, that's crazy enough that I feel like I should have remembered it, but to be honest, the way it's presented, it's just not crazy enough where I feel like I want to see just how much crazier it can get. Unlike a Frank Miller work, where has me on the edge of my seat wondering just how Miller's going to inadvertently top his own insanity, Sci Spy is the kind of dumb where, once you've seen how stupid it is, you no longer want to keep going, because it's just not that engaging.

Anonymous said...

Im not a fan of the Star Trek reviews either, but to whoever said that we need more time in between them, it's been awhile since the last time a ST review has been done, in all fairness.

Ozaline said...

I loved the part with the rather inane Shakespeare quotes to counter General Chang's.

As for Sulu and the Excelsior, I thought that was deliberate foreshadowing, as I understand Takei was pushing for quite a while to have his character get command of his own ship because he wanted to use Star Trek to provide something Asian American's weren't seeing much of. If it was not foreshadowing then it was definitely a call back.

I don't really think the fake Klingon killer was all that silly... I mean it was from a real world perspective, (though you could argue he wanted people to see him as he escaped, so that the Federation would blame the Klingons for the conference failing), but it was somewhat necessary to reveal the depth of the plot.

I think I like this movie a bit more than Khan to be honest, but I can understand why most people prefer Star Trek II.

Awesome vid!

Scott Tibbs said...

Excellent as always.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure that the first 'appearance' of a cloaked ship in TOS does state that the energy drain is the reason they can't fire while cloaked. (Balance of Terror - checked my Star Trek Encyclopaedia.)

The crotch is not the genitals; it's the fork in the legs where humans keep theirs.

I've always thought Praxis was a moon of Q'onos. (It is; checked again.) Which makes the blown-up moon in Into Darkness a bit of a hole, because it blew up 40 years (?) early, with no political repurcussions.

I noticed you didn't play much music this time around; just the opening and closing of the STVI soundtrack. I hope that doesn't get to be a habit, I love your music use.

~ Mik

jay said...

nice review as alaways

Anonymous said...

I suspect that the only reason Linkara is reviewing all of Sci-Spy despite its sheer boringness and lack of audience demand is that he already has every issue in TPB.

Unknown said...

While I know you tend to be mostly uninterested in TV shows and movies based on comics, I was wondering if you had seen Agents of Shield and what you thought of it

Micro4 said...

for one the above comments binary is used.... oh and is anyone else unable to play these videos full screen since the flash update a few days ago?

SynjoDeonecros said...

@ Doresh:

The reports on Nomad are being relayed by Spock, who not only doesn't use hyperbole (and wouldn't do so, if he wanted to, in a battle situation), but often criticizes others for using it. If he said they took 450 photon torpedoes before the shields gave out, then they took that many.

Then again, you also missed where I said that TNG also radically changed whether or not Warp 10+ speeds were possible, and the snark of Kirk commenting with surprise on Nomad taking one Photon Torpedo without damage, essentially calling out an ant that's surviving a beam of concentrated sunlight after he himself had that same ant throw him into the sun and survive, so.... *starts singing the MST3K theme*

Anonymous said...

Micro4 - it happened to me, too. I had to zoom in to the screen.

The meaning of Warp, and what speeds the numbers apply to changed between TOS and TNG. A starship in Kirk's time going warp 10 would be slower than one doing warp 6 in Picard's. (for example, I don't know the actual figures.)

~ Mik

Anonymous said...

Addendum:
Maximising the screen worked on the next video, so whatever the problem was, it's passed.

~ Mik