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Star Trek: Beyond - Review Thread

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Matt

Member
I thought Star Trek 09 was a good movie. I thought Into Darkness was a bad movie. AM I BLOWING YOUR MIND?!
Thinking it's bad is one thing. Calling it the worst ST film, or anything close, is a different beast entirely.
 

rekameohs

Banned
Sometimes I feel like I'm the only diehard Star Trek fan that absolutely loved both Trek '09 and Into Darkness...


I'm really looking forward to Beyond, when before I wasn't so sure. I don't follow reviews, but I figured, "Well, I enjoyed the first two, might as well finish the trilogy." Once I learned that Pegg was penning the script, though, I got more interested.

It's going to be bittersweet seeing Anton Yelchin's Chekov in the movie though. Me and my wife are bummed by his loss. She's also a huge Trek fan (probably more than me, actually) and she was also initially skeptical about this one. We probably won't see it opening weekend, as usual, but perhaps the following week.
Hey, I'm with you, man. '09 and ID are easily in my top five Trek movies, '09 might be number 1. I love the reboot films, and super excited for Beyond.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Thinking it's bad is one thing. Calling it the worst ST film, or anything close, is a different beast entirely.

I mean, that's the problem. I'm fine with someone not liking the film. It's obvious upon first viewing the shortcomings the film had.

Creating some sort of alternate universe where the film is considered to be the worst by the masses is a bit misleading.
 
No way ID treats its characters worse than V, Insurrection, Generations, and Nemesis did. Or hell, even First Contact.

Again I'm not saying ID is great, or doesn't have massive flaws, but Star Trek has produced a lot worse.

STID whitewashes an established character.
 

Zabka

Member
I mean, that's the problem. I'm fine with someone not liking the film. It's obvious upon first viewing the shortcomings the film had.

Creating some sort of alternate universe where the film is considered to be the worst by the masses is a bit misleading.

Please quote the post that says that.

Also you seem obsessed with "the masses" and not viewing a film on its own merits.
 
I mean, that's the problem. I'm fine with someone not liking the film. It's obvious upon first viewing the shortcomings the film had.

Creating some sort of alternate universe where the film is considered to be the worst by the masses is a bit misleading.
Who said anything about the masses?
STID whitewashes an established character.
One of many things wrong with the movie.

But Cumberbatch brings the cash.
 

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
Please quote the post that says that.

Also you seem obsessed with "the masses" and not viewing a film on its own merits.

It's not this thread, but there have been multiple instances where here on GAF, people will claim that the film was universally panned for some reason.
 

Grimsen

Member
Can't wait to see Beyond. I'm a huge trekkie, and liked 09' Trek.

Into Darkness would have been half decent if Cumberbatch had played a different character. The Khan retcon was shit.
 

Sanjuro

Member
Can't wait to see Beyond. I'm a huge trekkie, and liked 09' Trek.

Into Darkness would have been half decent if Cumberbatch had played a different character. The Khan retcon was shit.

I didn't care for thst much either. Speaking of Bond, it was very similar to the revelation in Spectre in terms of impact for the audience.
 

Matt

Member
STID whitewashes an established character.
Yeah, that wasn't good. But lets not kid ourselves, Khan was already an Indian character played by a Hispanic man. Not exactly a shining beacon for racial inclusion or awareness.
 
You mean a guy named Khan played by a guy named Ricardo?

As great as he was in the role, let's not act like it wasn't problematic that he was cast as a guy named Khan too.
startrek01.jpg
Montalbán's casting wasn't perfect, but we're talking about a time when Roddenberry faced many barriers to representation in his work. Getting someone of color to play a character of color was a success itself, even if we wouldn't want things done that way now.

Into Darkness was made in 2013. There really wasn't a good reason to not cast someone who looked the role of a North Indian Sikh.

That said, if you look back at the episode Space Seed, the only person who said he was a Sikh was a historian speculating, and the only other proof was the painting Khan looked at which seemed to show him in a dastar. The point wasn't that he was a Sikh. The point was that in 1967, aired a few months before Loving v. Virginia, Roddenberry sent Star Trek out onto national television to basically posit that if a geneticist took all of the best DNA from earth to make the perfect human, he wouldn't be a white guy. That was a grand statement and the exact racial or ethnic background wasn't the point.

And what is Khan in Into Darkness?

Just another perfect white dude.
 

Matt

Member
1967 vs. 2013.
I don't get how that is relevant to your argument. You said ID treated its characters badly by whitewashing Khan...who was already whitewashed in the first place.

Nemesis had Picard driving around a pre-warp world killing the local inhabitants. Insurrection had Data making boob jokes and Worf going through Klingon puberty. V had the ENTIRE crew of the Enterprise chose to betray Kirk, except for Spock and Bones who were supposed to but Nemoy and Kelly refused. And these are just a few examples from a long list of Star Trek movie character assassinations.

I don't see how ID betrayed its characters any worse (or nearly as bad) than Stat Trek has done before.
 
Montalbán's casting wasn't perfect, but we're talking about a time when Roddenberry faced many barriers to representation in his work. Getting someone of color to play a character of color was a success itself, even if we wouldn't want things done that way now.

Into Darkness was made in 2013. There really wasn't a good reason to not cast someone who looked the role of a North Indian Sikh.

That said, if you look back at the episode Space Seed, the only person who said he was a Sikh was a historian speculating, and the only other proof was the painting Khan looked at which seemed to show him in a dastar. The point wasn't that he was a Sikh. The point was that in 1967, aired a few months before Loving v. Virginia, Roddenberry sent Star Trek out onto national television to basically posit that if a geneticist took all of the best DNA from earth to make the perfect human, he wouldn't be a white guy. That was a grand statement and the exact racial or ethnic background wasn't the point.

And what is Khan in Into Darkness?

Just another perfect white dude.

I agree with you, but I wouldn't call Cumberbatch a 'perfect' white dude lol
 

Zabka

Member
Obviously excluding your opinion.

I said Star Trek fans, you said masses. And I have proof.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/14/star-trek-into-darkness-voted-worst

At this weekend's annual Star Trek convention in Las Vegas, the JJ Abrams sequel was voted the worst Star Trek film in the entire canon by fans. To add insult to injury, it was beaten not only by 1989's much-maligned, William Shatner-directed Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (which almost killed the entire movie franchise) but by sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest, which is not in fact a Star Trek movie at all. First place went to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
 
I agree with you, but I wouldn't call Cumberbatch a 'perfect' white dude lol
I dunno, some people seem to think he's pretty perfect. He has a pretty big following that's hot for him!

I obviously didn't mean Cumberbatch himself, I meant he was portraying a genetically "perfect" dude!
 

Figboy79

Aftershock LA
Yeah, but that's not dramatic enough for people. So safe and boring! You're all in or you're all out, baby.

Hey, I'm with you, man. '09 and ID are easily in my top five Trek movies, '09 might be number 1. I love the reboot films, and super excited for Beyond.

It's sacrilege, but I don't think The Wrath of Khan is an amazing movie. I do think it's good. It's big, flashy, and blockbustery for the time, but it's no better or worse than Star Trek '09 or Into Darkness. There are certainly bad Trek movies, but the Abrams films don't qualify. I don't subscribe to rankings or scores, but I think there are more entertaining Trek movies than bad ones. Even Nemesis, as stupid as that fucking movie is, wasn't terrible. It was mediocre, but I've seen legit dogshit movies.

The only one I remember being genuinely disappointed in was Insurrection, because I just found it really boring. It wasn't as interesting as the plot wanted it to be, which I did think was an interesting plot.

Ultimately, this shit is all subjective anyway. People love and hate different things. I guess I'm just one of those dudes that doesn't subscribe to "I don't like thing, therefore thing must be dogshit," philosophy. I just think it's a lazy way to express a negative opinion about something (not saying everyone that dislikes things do that, of course).
 

Sanjuro

Member
News to you. Pretty big story among Star Trek fans when it came out because of Simon Pegg's "Fuck you" response.

I'm not a Star Trek fan? I mean, I wouldn't consider myself a Trekkie or find myself at a convention. Don't believe a healthy portion would either.
 

Huh.

Then Star Trek fans are wrong.

This is the list:

13. Star Trek Into Darkness
12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
11. Star Trek Insurrection
10. Star Trek Nemesis
9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
8. Star Trek Generations
7. Galaxy Quest
6. Star Trek (2009)
5. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
2. Star Trek: First Contact
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Final Frontier, Insurrection, Nemesis? Final Frontier is dire, Insurrection is a bad episode of the show stretched to movie length, and Nemesis is everything you could possibly say about Into Darkness's faults, done worse. Hell, I have issues with Search for Spock coming in before 2009. It screams fans prizing nostalgia over actual quality.
 

Matt

Member
Huh.

Then Star Trek fans are wrong.

This is the list:

13. Star Trek Into Darkness
12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
11. Star Trek Insurrection
10. Star Trek Nemesis
9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
8. Star Trek Generations
7. Galaxy Quest
6. Star Trek (2009)
5. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
2. Star Trek: First Contact
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Final Frontier, Insurrection, Nemesis? Final Frontier is dire, Insurrection is a bad episode of the show stretched to movie length, and Nemesis is everything you could possibly say about Into Darkness's faults, done worse. Hell, I have issues with Search for Spock coming in before 2009. It screams fans prizing nostalgia over actual quality.
First Contact at #2 is also strange.

That whole list is fucked.
 
Huh.

Then Star Trek fans are wrong.

This is the list:

13. Star Trek Into Darkness
12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
11. Star Trek Insurrection
10. Star Trek Nemesis
9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
8. Star Trek Generations
7. Galaxy Quest
6. Star Trek (2009)
5. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
2. Star Trek: First Contact
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Final Frontier, Insurrection, Nemesis? Final Frontier is dire, Insurrection is a bad episode of the show stretched to movie length, and Nemesis is everything you could possibly say about Into Darkness's faults, done worse. Hell, I have issues with Search for Spock coming in before 2009. It screams fans prizing nostalgia over actual quality.
13. Star Trek Into Darkness

The most controversial spots were the bottom two. A vocal contingent wanted Star Trek Into Darkness listed last, but a large group insisted this honor belonged to the dismal Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. I agree with how the list turned out; while The Final Frontier is almost literally unwatchable (I turned it off halfway through the last two times I tried on Blu), it's at the very least original. Star Trek Into Darkness is a bad movie made badly that is also bad Star Trek and, worst of all, a cheap rehash of better things.
Faraci nailed why it belongs there.
 
Faraci nailed why it belongs there.

Nah. I'd still put it ahead of FF, Nemesis, and Insurrection. They are horrible films. Seriously. Into Darkness is watchable.

My list is probably:

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
3. Star Trek (2009)
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5. Star Trek: First Contact
6. Galaxy Quest
7. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
8. Star Trek Generations
9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
10. Star Trek Into Darkness
11. Star Trek Insurrection
12. Star Trek Nemesis
13. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Getting away from trying to penalize it for treading the same ground, STID is a legitimately better film than the bottom three. Insurrection is a toss-up, but it's goddamn boring.
 

MMarston

Was getting caught part of your plan?
I mean, Galaxy Quest is on that list.


As good as that film is, a certain extent of objectivity went out the window on that note. It's a fan convention list through and through

I don't think it's worth using as a piece of evidence for either argument
 

Sanjuro

Member
Faraci nailed why it belongs there.

This feels like a variant of the similar issue that is plaguing Ghostbusters right now.

I don't see giving Final Frontier brownie points, when you have a franchise struggling to stay afloat. They are employing common franchise tactics. Provide fan service and reach out to bring in broader audiences.

I'm not sure I'd put it at #2 but it would definitely be in the Top 5.

Yeah. I liked it quite a bit.
 
I just finished watching the Inside the Box review for Star Trek Fontiers and got excited for a moment until I realized this was about Beyond.
 
Nah. I'd still put it ahead of FF, Nemesis, and Insurrection. They are horrible films. Seriously. Into Darkness is watchable.

My list is probably:

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
3. Star Trek (2009)
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5. Star Trek: First Contact
6. Galaxy Quest
7. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
8. Star Trek Generations
9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
10. Star Trek Into Darkness
11. Star Trek Insurrection
12. Star Trek Nemesis
13. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Getting away from trying to penalize it for treading the same ground, STID is a legitimately better film than the bottom three. Insurrection is a toss-up, but it's goddamn boring.
Meh, I'd accept that listing.

Like I said, I think it's a bottom of the barrel in terms of the franchise. That ranking and your ranking both put it in the bottom third.
Made badly? The film is fucking gorgeous, and at least moves alone at a good clip. V also isn't original in the least, its story had been done before in Star Trek.
Looking gorgeous isn't the mark of a good movie or Tron: Legacy would be a good movie.

What about the clip is good? It's just a standard summer blockbuster barrage to the sense.
 
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