Star Trek Beyond...

[Tenzhi]

I swear one of the bad guys looked like a Jemhadar...

[Angel Phoenix77]

I swear one of the bad guys looked like a Jemhadar...

They did draw some influence from them. Hate to say it but this is the only reboot movie I refuse to watch, I like the first two, but this one uhhh..... skip.

[doc7924]

They did draw some influence from them. Hate to say it but this is the only reboot movie I refuse to watch, I like the first two, but this one uhhh..... skip.

I just watched the first one again and it was really good.

Darkness is ok but should have been more original.

That's why I will give this one a shot - don't think its a disguised remake of another Trek film.

[Magus Prime]

Just got back from seeing it.  For those who like the high octane Abramsverse this is right up your alley.  For hard core Roddenberry purists this is a step in that direction.  Albeit a small one.  I miss classic Trek and these movies are like cortical stimulators till I wake up from my coma.

[Blondeshell]

I miss classic Trek

Just got back from seeing it.

Spoiler for Hidden:

I'd guess the nod they gave with the memory box made you feel nostalgic, too?

[Magus Prime]

Admittedly yes 

[Blondeshell]

Liked this:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/star-trek-beyond-becomes-tragic-tribute-for-two/ar-BBuyCrm

[Arcana]

I saw it over the weekend.  I actually liked it.  I thought it started a bit jumpy tonally, almost like they were trying to cinemify an episodic television show's opening act (much like Into Darkness).  But I think it had a decent mix of modern Abrams-like action with more character-focused stuff that frankly you didn't even see much of in many of the TOS and TNG movies.  In terms of having strong character arc and presence, I actually think Star Trek Beyond exceeds STIII, STV, Generations, Insurrection, and Nemesis.  I'm just going to straight-up give Simon Pegg credit for that: it feels like his touch.

I think the first JJ Trek was erroneously maligned, or at least disproportionately so.  It saved a franchise that frankly the last two TNG movies put half in the grave.  It was imperfect, but only in the sense that Star Trek the Motion Picture was imperfect.  If TMP went a bit too far in the direction of conceptual and cerebral (and not actually in a necessarily "Trek-like" way) JJ Trek went too far in the opposite direction of being too splashy action - but I think both movies erred to the same degree, just in opposite ways.  Both are still very good at what they did: revive interest in the franchise and set the stage for better things.  I think Into Darkness is deeply flawed: it is watchable, but only because I cared enough about the characters from seeing the first one.  As a stand-alone movie, I think it doesn't have enough heart to carry the story it wanted to tell.

I think Beyond has enough heart to carry the story it wants to tell.  It is still not a perfect Trek movie, but there hasn't been any such thing released.  It references TOS without stealing from it, it builds on the two movies that came before while charting a different direction and tone.

In terms of just plain "do I like watching this movie" if I were to compare it to the TOS movies, I'd say its about on par with Undiscovered Country (bested by Wrath of Khan and Voyage Home).  I actually think in TNG terms it is better than all of them except First Contact.

Solid 7.5 out of 10.

[Blondeshell]

It seems, then, that the odd new movies are better in the same way the even old movies were.

[Taceus Jiwede]

I enjoyed watching it too, but I am also a huge Idris Elba fan and see basically anything he is in.  I've enjoyed all of the reboots so far, the first one the most.

Spoiler for Hidden:

The only thing I thought was kind of stupid was when they used the music to basically annihilate the enemy fleet.  I get the idea behind it but "Loud and distracting! I know just the thing!" felt forced to me plus I thought they threw Chuck D's "Fight the power" in for fun I didn't expect it to be some silly foreshadowing

[Atlantea]

I've seen this film 3 times now. The night I got back from seeing it the first time, in response to "so how was the new Trek film?" by a friend of mine, I posted this response in return:

My hair is blown back in a straight line, my face is still settling back in to it's normal shape after the G-Forces have almost peeled it off, and my eyes are still streaming tears of unmitigated Star Trek Fan Geek Warp Speed JOYGASM!!!


Yeah - I enjoyed the hell out of that film.

And about the "Music attack" scene - I think I'll steal borrow the words of a poster on Youtube who said:

"There are few scenes in film history that are simultaneously stupid as f***ing hell and OH MY GOD THAT WAS THE MOST AWESOME THING EVER. 

This is one of the few."


Listen - I was born in 1966. I am very nearly EXACTLY as old as the Star Trek franchise. You could argue I've been there since the beginning. (Though obviously I didn't watch the original series first run. A LITTLE too young for that at the time. But I started watching the re-runs when I was about 6 or so. So I got there as fast as I could. Heh. )

So - take it from an old Trekker, who loves the original timeline as much as anyone. These films needed to happen. Let's be perfectly objective here: Star Trek was effectively DEAD as a franchise after Nemesis. The reboot films revived it.

I have some problems here and there with these films. But I doubt anyone can deny that they have brought NEW FANS IN. And in turn, the new fans have sought out the original series. Many of them love BOTH the original and "Kelvin" timelines.

It's only right that as an original "Trekker" I meet them halfway. And it's no hardship to do so.

Yeah - I'll poke a little fun at the films from time to time (J.J. - you need to tone the lensflare DOWN - poking me in the eye is NOT helping. ) But I see no point in some of the hate these films get.

I LOVE these new films and the respect they show to the original timeline. I love seeing new - but respectful spins and variations in a reboot.  Keeps things fresh and keeps me guessing! And with the third film - Star Trek Beyond - I think they've REALLY hit their stride!?

[Arcana]

So - take it from an old Trekker, who loves the original timeline as much as anyone. These films needed to happen. Let's be perfectly objective here: Star Trek was effectively DEAD as a franchise after Nemesis. The reboot films revived it.

I'm in about the same place you are, chronologically speaking.  Too young to watch the original run, but did become a fan of the show in syndication and a fan of the franchise since.  I've lived through the movie revival, the Next Generation, and up to the JJTrek movies.  I think many people selectively forget or may not even realize how controversial Star Trek history has been with the fandom since long before JJ Abrams came along.  At the time many fans thought Wrath of Khan was too militant and betrayed the values of the original series.  Many thought TNG was bordering on farcical when it first launched - the actual phrase "Next Generation" was used as a slight.  RedletterMedia deconstructs the failings of the TNG movies better than I ever could.  JJTrek stands in good company with previous steps and missteps in the Trek franchise history.  It is flawed and different and not always reverent of the past, but that's true for every "next generation" of Star Trek.

[Magus Prime]

I'm in about the same place you are, chronologically speaking.  Too young to watch the original run, but did become a fan of the show in syndication and a fan of the franchise since.  I've lived through the movie revival, the Next Generation, and up to the JJTrek movies.  I think many people selectively forget or may not even realize how controversial Star Trek history has been with the fandom since long before JJ Abrams came along.  At the time many fans thought Wrath of Khan was too militant and betrayed the values of the original series.  Many thought TNG was bordering on farcical when it first launched - the actual phrase "Next Generation" was used as a slight.  RedletterMedia deconstructs the failings of the TNG movies better than I ever could.  JJTrek stands in good company with previous steps and missteps in the Trek franchise history.  It is flawed and different and not always reverent of the past, but that's true for every "next generation" of Star Trek.

I have to stand apart on this train of thought.  I'll go so far as to say the JJverse is a necessary evil in order to generate interest over Star Trek but at best this iteration of my favorite space narrative is the readers' digest version.  That is to say, it's all the conventions and tropes and character traits reduced to high-dosage, easy-to-swallow pill form.  To top it all off, JJ's answer to everything is make the adversary obscenely big!  The Narada?  Check.  The Vengeance?  Check.  Death Star?  Supersize that mother******.  One of the underlying appeals of Trek for me was nuance.  Not everything was so on-the-nose and we were never forced to drink. 

I grew up on TNG and have recently been binge watching it on Netflix.  I so do miss the moral quandaries and conflicts.  (I feel like we were really blessed to have Patrick Stewart take on the role of Capt. Picard.  A Shakespearean level actor taking a sci-fi role seriously and then nailing it?  For seven seasons even?  That doesn't come around very often enough.  It'd be years after TNG till we got David Tennant as the Doctor.)  Sorry.  Went off on a tangent.  Where was I?  Oh yes.

To sum up, Star Trek was always a cerebral undertaking that I never grew out of and to this day, I'm still growing into.  Contrast that with Star Wars which I feel I've all but left behind, the new Trek timeline is somewhere in between the two and closer to being the latter.  Sorry to take up so much time and space on this but yeah, I love m'Trek!

[Tenzhi]

For my part, I'll say that I didn't hate the first two movies of the reboot (I'm waiting for the third to be available to rent digitally).  Indeed, despite some issues I had with them, I find them more watchable than any of the TNG movies.  Mind you, I really liked TNG the series - aside from the awful space zombies that it spawned.

[Arcana]

I have to stand apart on this train of thought.  I'll go so far as to say the JJverse is a necessary evil in order to generate interest over Star Trek but at best this iteration of my favorite space narrative is the readers' digest version.  That is to say, it's all the conventions and tropes and character traits reduced to high-dosage, easy-to-swallow pill form.  To top it all off, JJ's answer to everything is make the adversary obscenely big!  The Narada?  Check.  The Vengeance?  Check.  Death Star?  Supersize that mother******.  One of the underlying appeals of Trek for me was nuance.  Not everything was so on-the-nose and we were never forced to drink. 

I grew up on TNG and have recently been binge watching it on Netflix.  I so do miss the moral quandaries and conflicts.  (I feel like we were really blessed to have Patrick Stewart take on the role of Capt. Picard.  A Shakespearean level actor taking a sci-fi role seriously and then nailing it?  For seven seasons even?  That doesn't come around very often enough.  It'd be years after TNG till we got David Tennant as the Doctor.)  Sorry.  Went off on a tangent.  Where was I?  Oh yes.

To sum up, Star Trek was always a cerebral undertaking that I never grew out of and to this day, I'm still growing into.  Contrast that with Star Wars which I feel I've all but left behind, the new Trek timeline is somewhere in between the two and closer to being the latter.  Sorry to take up so much time and space on this but yeah, I love m'Trek!

I think that is less a disparity between JJTrek and the rest of Trek, and more a disparity between cinematic Trek and television Trek.  I think too many people give a pass to the TNG movies because of their affection for the TNG television series.  The TNG series evolved to be aspirational and thoughtful and all the things many fans credit with the best of Trek.  But the TNG movies are none of that.  The TOS movies are extremely hit and miss with that.  You could argue that in many ways the TOS episode The Doomsday Machine is a better Star Trek story than Wrath of Khan, which is a good movie but doesn't contain very much of the Star Trek spirit that fans bemoan the current movies lacking.  And Star Trek Nemesis is everything fans hate about the JJTrek movies, times ten.

Redlettermedia was crude and obscene at times, but it also made extremely cogent points about the TNG movie failings that I think are extremely strong indictments most people were less willing to make at the time.  The one I think that resonates the most with me is the fact that they repeatedly make the point that TV Picard is thoughtful, analytical, moral, and above all willing and able to let his crew do their jobs.  Movie Picard is an emotional psychopath that opts for violent solutions to problems and must always do everything himself even when that is totally illogical.  Movie Picard is totally different from TV Picard because TV Picard is part of an ensemble cast of episodic characters.  Movie Picard is the center of attention of a big budget movie. 

You could argue that the very nature of movies is antithetical to Star Trek, and the best we can hope for are things like Wrath of Khan which take the TV characters and put them in a cinematic crisis, or Voyage Home where the characters are put into a comically novel situation, or maybe even First Contact where they are vaguely translated into action heroes.  Compared to the Trek television series' JJTrek probably compares unfavorably.  But compared to the rest of cinematic Trek?  Taken outside of the context of their respective TV series and judged on their own merits alone, I think JJTrek doesn't stand out exceptionally as lacking many of the aspects of TV Trek that the rest of the movies don't similarly lack.

[Night-Hawk07]

Just saw it now that it's out digitally. I fully expected to hate it after almost walking out on Into Darkness, but I quite enjoyed it. I like that everyone got screen time instead of mostly just Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and <main bad guy>.