Celebrating 47 Years of Star Trek!

[loretta]

I grew up with TOS - in my eyes the best, James T. was a tough guy who showed emotions and the series had some humor - i still have life-size cardboard figures of James T. , Spock and Bones in my living room

 

[fkboy1]

I love Trek, everything about it!!!

I love all the series,...well technically I have just seen the first 2 episodes of 'The Animated Series', so can't say anything about that; and IMO, 'Enterprise' should have been given better treatment..........especially the last episode.....that didnt go down well with me.

Apart from that I have seen all the movies, loved em.....but Star Trek V: The Final Frontier....not so much. As for the new movies/reboot........they are OK. Was most excited with the scenes that had Spock Prime in it!!

Have read a few books and my favorite so far is the book called 'The Q Continuum' by Greg Cox. Amazingly entertaining, enthralling, extremely engrossing, and IMHO this book would have made a fantastic miniseries! A recommended read for sure!!

Have seen some fan-made series as well.............quite interesting, not professional, but well done....worth a watch.

 

[Jamoo]

one of my alltime fav episode from TNG:



info at IMDB

just watched INTO DARKNESS last weekend, was great.

 

[huggy]

I was more of a Blake's 7 man myself.

 

[warp9]

Ahh that's better. (No offenser or anything.)

Archer is missing (from Star Trek - Enterprise) Didn't like him that much but the series was great !

 

[josh_the_hot_boy]

one of my alltime fav episode from TNG:



info at IMDB

just watched INTO DARKNESS last weekend, was great.

This is one of the greatest episodes in Star Trek.

And yes if anyone wants to know even years later I'm still pissed all to hell that they blew up Data at the end of Nemesis!

 

[warp9]

"And yes if anyone wants to know even years later I'm still pissed all to hell that they blew up Data at the end of Nemesis!"

Brent (Data) wanted this.

 

[josh_the_hot_boy]

I know that but it's still not fair.

 

[ihno]

"And yes if anyone wants to know even years later I'm still pissed all to hell that they blew up Data at the end of Nemesis!"

Brent (Data) wanted this.

Well, even if Mr. Spiner wanted it, it was a very cheap and bad move. I mean it was a bad movie too, a very very bad movie. For which Spinder took responsibilty too. A bad copy of Star Trek II - Wrath of Khan. Remember the Argomobile? I was soo ashamed, when I had to watch that in the movietheatre.

The later (and the actual) Star Trek are best to be ignored.

 

[DarthMorrow]

Archer is missing (from Star Trek - Enterprise) Didn't like him that much but the series was great !

He was edited out for a very good reason

The infamous Captain Kathrine "no one tortures my crew, except me" Janeway deserves to be edited out, too.
The only step forward they made with her was: female captain in a leading role.
Poor Kate Mulgrew. She did what was possible to make that crazy caricature of a captain likeable.
No one wanted or needed another Cowboy, Gentleman or Badass. But a self centered devotee to federation guidelines and protocols that struts around her ship like a dictator? Please...

 

[DarthMorrow]

Well, even if Mr. Spiner wanted it, it was a very cheap and bad move. I mean it was a bad movie too, a very very bad movie. For which Spinder took responsibilty too. A bad copy of Star Trek II - Wrath of Khan. Remember the Argomobile? I was soo ashamed, when I had to watch that in the movietheatre.

The later (and the actual) Star Trek are best to be ignored.

The biggest problem with Nemesis was the director. He never even remotely cared for what Star Trek is or was. Plus the crappy script and the editing.
Looking at the deleted scenes i see a decent star trek movie below all the garbage. Or at least a movie that fits the promise of "a generations final journey". It seems all the charactermoments went to the cuttingroomfloor.
The strange thing: "Nemesis" a poor copy of "Khan", a brainless actionflick flops in 2002
"Into Darkness" a poor rehash of "Khan", a rather mindless actionflick is a hit in 2013
At least Nemesis had a decent space battle at the end.

The times they are indeed changing.

And for the Argo: Stupid idea from the beginning. But Mr. Stewart had his fun driving it around making the movie. So at least one person enjoyed it.

 

[ihno]

The strange thing: "Nemesis" a poor copy of "Khan", a brainless actionflick flops in 2002
"Into Darkness" a poor rehash of "Khan", a rather mindless actionflick is a hit in 2013
At least Nemesis had a decent space battle at the end.

The times they are indeed changing.

Haven't watched Star Trek XII. Have seen Star Trek XI one time and found it totally uninteresting. Gives me nothing: nothing good, nothing bad. From that on I just ignore it.

And for the Argo: Stupid idea from the beginning. But Mr. Stewart had his fun driving it around making the movie. So at least one person enjoyed it.

Mr: Stewart played Picard for how long? Around 15-17 years with breaks? And then agrees to something that is SOOO much out of character, just because he likes to drive vehicles? I don't think he cared much for Star Trek as well.

But except for Star Trek VIII all of the TNG-movies were crappy.

 

[ihno]

Now I have seen the 12th movie too. Well, a mindless actionflick is fitting: the script was put around the special effects, not the other way around.

It was better than XI but there is nothing much left that would make it "Star Trek". Positive is only Mr. Quinto, the rest was not really worth mentioning. Kirk's death didn't get me in the slightest and the ship is still ugly.

 

[givekoAA]

Next Generation was definitely the best

 

[IceMatrixCool]

Next Generation was definitely the best

I agree

 

[ritsuka]

I hate star trek; from the first series, it's been nothing but a cheap glorification of the prejudices and dimwitted limitations of the time in which the program was made. That some people claim there is "idealism" in the authoritarian militarists occupying space and fighting a thinly disguised cold war, or the dumb idea that in 24th century people would still be droning on about Shakespeare, George Washington and fifties scifi movies is ludicrous to me. I watched Voyager and Deep Space Nine when I was a pre-teen, but today I see it's all crap, and Picard shares the politics of John Mccain. There is nothing ideal, nothing advanced about the way these people organize their lives and think themselves entitled to rule over space with their endless war-making clearly modeled on American exceptionalism (which becomes Earth exceptionalism.)

 

[haiducii]

Star Trek did it first

 

[roger]

I really enjoyed watching TNG and VOY air each week when I was a kid. From that first episode of "Encounter at Farpoint" that that last episode where Voyager makes it home (spoilers!), I really enjoyed the ride. Every week a new adventure, and since a week passed in between you could always forgive a lame episode by the time the next one came out. I never followed DS9 closely; Babylon 5 had a better appeal to me.

Now that I'm an adult, I rewatch a few episodes on Netflix every now and again, but my sensibilities have changed and something gets lost in translation. Everything is too clean, every battle is too simple, and it never gets addressed. As a consumer, I'm ready for a future where a spaceship is sometimes dirty, and not everyone gets an idyllic life (Shut up, Wesley!). It also really bothers me looking back that there never was an openly gay character. Which would be fine if they hadn't given every fucking character a romantic life. If they hadn't, I could've accepted that maybe some of the characters were gay and just didn't need to address it because nobody cares in the future (Capt. Jack Harkness, anyone?).

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country will always be my favorite movie. Nothing is very simple, even morality is blurred. The ship's a mess and in the end the Enterprise is done in not by a Klingon uberweapon, but by bureaucracy. And best of all, Captain Sulu saves the day. Back in the 90's, I heard George Takei speak at a Trek Convention and he gave a rousing description of the scene. It was my favorite moment of the whole day. If time travel ever becomes available to the masses, I'm gonna bed him before he becomes famous.

But at the end of the day, I'm still waiting for Babylon 5: Thirdspace to get a Netflix release, dammit.

 

[ihno]

You are complaining, Roger?

I watched THIS as a kid:

Everything is too clean, every battle is too simple, and it never gets addressed. As a consumer, I'm ready for a future where a spaceship is sometimes dirty, and not everyone gets an idyllic life

I don't like the new "dirty" and "bad mood" approach an TV shows, esp. scifi-shows. Stargate Universe and Battestar Galactiaca, no, thank you. I watched TNG as a teenager and so I never had those children's eyes on it. The show has its flaws and VOY even more. Still watch it once every two or three years too.

 

[Dendood]

Episodic serials are a bear. As a creative person who makes things, I see it from both sides. I know bad when I watch it. And I've made my share of 'bad.' If you think it is easy, then sit down and write better. Grab a camcorder and act it out. It is easy to bitch. Far harder to make. So most people consume and bitch.

There are severe limitations to episodic story telling. I tip my hat to the creators of the Trek Universe because it is HARD to set up a situation and resolve it in the course of 45 minutes. Again, try it. You have to play with the toys, break something -but have everything back in its place by the end of your story... So the next guy gets to play with a clean slate. And the rerun market does not have to rely on casual, chance viewers being made to know a wealth of background material in order to enjoy the episode.

Voyager did its share of "dirty" space battles. Exhibit A: "The Year of Hell" two part episode. It was better than average for the series, but did not make the cut for my favorite 'top ten' Voyager episodes...... Which I present now.... in no particular order.
(And without the correct story titles, character spellings... I'm a geek, but not that much of a geek.)

Macro-Virus.
The ship is infected with a virus that using growth hormones can leave the microscopic world and enter the macroscopic world. Big germs with unpleasant spears take over the ship. Janeway goes commando. Packing on gear and with the help of the doctor saves the day. The side story, a very pleasant introduction to a new alien race: The Tak Tak.
People who use gestures and rituals as part of their spoken language. "They are the most unforgiving people. -I may never put my hands on my hips again."

Workforce
The crew is abducted from their ship, their memories selectively wiped and put to work on an alien planet going through a severe labor shortage. Janeway falls in love. Paris gets a job as a waiter. The Doctor and Mr. Kim bicker over who's in charge of the ship.
The story explores other possibilities of a happy ending beyond the general idea of getting back to earth. Nicely done.

The Swarm
The ship enters the region of space patrolled by swarms of tiny ships that destroy vessels by leaching their energy. Voyager attempts to sneak through without success.
After decades of bigger and badder space ships, this story relies on the tiny to create a sense of menace. Nice touch on its own, but the sub plot raises the story to A level. The Doctor is falling apart at the seams from all the humanizing sub routines added to his matrix. Kess is left to solve the problem on her own. The rest of the crew is too busy fighting the swarm. "You are lagging behind like a tired donkey."

Romulans on board
The Doctor is projected back to the Alpha Quadrant to contact a Federation Ship. He lands on a prototype vessel that has been seized by Romulans. His only hope of fighting them off is to enlist the aid of that ship's mousey EMH. Great humor and timing.

Fractured Ship
The ship runs into a strange spacial anomaly that fractures the ship into different time periods. Chakotah is injured and thanks to the Doc he becomes the only person who can move through the different parts/ time periods of the ship. He moves through the fractures enlisting the help of the crew to put Humpty back together again.

Seska Strikes back
Tuvak is the surprise author of an inflammatory story, written as a training exercise where the former Mak-ee (sp.) mutiny and take over the ship. On those terms alone it is a fun ride. -but the fun is taken up a notch with the twist that Seska has risen from the dead by rewriting the program so that no matter what Tuvak and Paris do, their death is the only conclusion to the story.

Farpoint
Lt. Barkley comes up with a wild scheme to for Star Fleet to send a message to Voyager.
Only his superiors suspect he's fallen victim to an addiction to Holography. He leads his boss and guards on a wild chase through a holographic Voyage. Only to be saved at the last moment, when his program makes contact with the actual ship.

Spirit Folk
The quaint Irish town of Fairhaven, a popular holo program written my Lt. Paris goes haywire when its over use leads to the program degrading. Suddenly the people of Fairhaven suspect the Voyager crew of being 'Spirit Folk', evil entities bent on using unholy magic to threaten the town. With the safety protocols offline, Paris, Kim and the Doctor are at serious risk of being put to death by the frightened townsfolk.

The candy of the story is Janeway's love interest making his way from 18th century Ireland onto the actual bridge of the Star ship Voyager. -This story stands solidly amid the holograms gaining sentience stories that ran through the Trek genre.

Queen of the Spider People
Paris and Kim find their way onto the holodeck, and into another 'fun' Voyager episode. Here they run through a spoof on Commando Cody. Black and white serials from the 1950's. Captain Proton and his assistant Kim get more than they bargain for. The EEEEEvillllle Dr. Caotica is at war with a photon based alien race. They see the holodeck characters as real and humans as fake. The only way to save the day is Janeway has to step into character as Queen of the Spider People. The love interest of the evil Dr.
-Rocket packs. Lightning Shields. The Death Ray. This episode had to have been a hoot to shoot.

Voyager 1990.
The ship has been thrown back in time and back to earth after fending off destruction at the hands of a 29th century temporal ship that blames Voyager as the cause of Earth's destruction in the 29th Century. Voyager settles down in orbit over 'present day' Earth and the crew goes into battle with Henry Starling. The man who will likely cause the catastrophe in 29th Century unless the Voyager crew stops him. The side story here is the Doctor get's a piece of 29th Century technology to carry with him through the rest of the series: a mobile holographic emitter that pushes in motion most of the story arc that moves him farther from being a computer subroutine into a sentient life form.

And there's a nice part played by Sarah Silverman. Very tasty stuff.

I've watched those episodes a zillion times. At yet, each time I have a smile on my face as they go in motion. It is good writing to set up something of interest -make it have twists and turns -and then resolve the whole thing in less than an hour. It is not the greatest thing since Shakespeare, but it is modest, competent entertainment. And for what passes as Sci-Fi in the world, not half bad.

Looking at the poorly written summaries that I made for the episodes, it is still clear that the central premise of each story is interesting. 'Catchy' might be the word. Just a few sentences that set up a premise that could be of interest.

I challenge the 'critics' to put pen to paper and write a brief, 4 sentence plot summary of their own. Just to experience what it must be like to take on the Trek genre. Maybe you have a calling. There are big bucks in Hollywood waiting for your imaginative offerings.

The human capacity for work and the imaginative spirit is limitless.