Star Trek should bring back the exploration theme...

[Klosterheim]

A few bad commissioners too! hahahahaha!

[ctc]

>A Star Trek medical examiner show might actually be good.

That's something I'd LOVE to see with a lot of the more nerdly properties: a show that emulates the mundane of the setting. 'Cos for people living in space, THEIR mundane would be OUR exciting. Problem is; that's tough to write with any credibility, and it seems like sci-fi characters since the 90's get the short shrift personality-wise. ("Here's your ONE flaw, your tragic past.... and remember to scowl a lot.") You'd also have a helluva time getting an audience. The nerdly members would be turned off by the personable bits, and the mundanes would be turned off by the nerdly bits.

But still; something like that would be good for the setting. Apparently in the Trek universe the only jobs are Star Fleet, and seemingly prosaic but incredibly wise older gentlemean in a mundane job. Oh; and crazy scientist. Trek has a LOT of crazy scientists. (Almost as many as their crazy admiral count.)

Don C.

[Klosterheim]

I don't know if this occurred to anyone yet but Star Trek is more "proceedural drama" like Bones, Law & Order or X-Files, just in a sic-fi setting. This is more in keeping with exploration plots tho maybe not as exciting.

Hmm. Maybe we could have a Starfleet: NCIS?

Commander Data's Mysteries?

A Star Trek medical examiner show might actually be good.
"Jim, this man's a Klingon" sort of thing combined with finding cause of death and murderers.

Shore Leave would be great, did not think of that.

About The Rock, he does do that eyebrow thing...

It's hard to beat the original exploration theme,
it's like having fun with the "pick a planet" game.

Anyone know of the 'Hawk Swoops' Klingon ship? -something like that.
It was all about the landing parties, yo!

[ctc]

>There's no room any more for modestly successful in movies or minlist in publishing because all the top peopole want to see are "rock stars" that can carry everything rather than a competent stable of product.

Especially withy the big name franchaises. It's the tradeoff: you get the big names, big budgets, and big effects.... but they're gonna give you small ideas, 'cos they have to minimalize their risks. It goes with what I was sayin' in another post: the bigger the copnay, the fewer the risks. So you get a film that looks good, kills some time, and is completely forgettable.

>like it or not, the new Trek is here to stay

Until the reboot; when it becomes a comedy with Jack Black as Kirk and Seth Rogen as Spock. Or they 'tween it all up.... or decide to go for a YOUNGER market with a new tv series. Or maybe an all-out action show. (Vin Diesel as Kirk, and only he can see the ghost of Captain Pike, played by Bruce Willis. And "The Rock" as "Mr Spock.")

Odds are we WILL see at least one more major reboot in our lifetimes.... probably more.

Don C.

[Klosterheim]

Why doesn't Prime (rib) Spock just use the old "slingshot effect" to go back in time before Nero arrives, use Spock's future knowledge to build starships that can destroy Nero's Jellyfish ship, and ambush him as soon as Nero materializes near the Kelvin?

He'd save Vulcan, at the very least, and Earth and Vulcan could explore once more, have a big exploration party.

[Chris]

All I ask from the new ST movie is to avoid time travel.

[johnmiic]

I don't know if this occurred to anyone yet but Star Trek is more "proceedural drama" like Bones, Law & Order or X-Files, just in a sic-fi setting. This is more in keeping with exploration plots tho maybe not as exciting.

[sprytel]

"Earth is about to be destroyed by some intergalactic menace. Only Kirk and his crew can save the world."

Remind me again what movie that is... the "Star Trek" reboot? "ST:TMP"? "ST IV: The Voyage Home"?

[Random Axe]

Exploration is far easier to portray on television. It's kind of hard to make a movie out of exploring a new quadrant and charting new star gasses. Now, if some planet-long tentacles come out of that star and try to grab the Enterprise, then you have a scene! Now, I would like to see a Star Trek film with space action and the wonderment of discovery melded into a film, but it would probably fail if made the way I'd do it.

That said, I absolutely freakin love the first JJ film. I watch it at least once a month, sometimes I use it as background while working. I'ts probably approaching my top five all-time movies. It's definitely top ten. Abrams was able to perfectly merge a contemporary filming style with classic characters. They are different, but enough remains of the original concepts to make it fresh.

[Hector]

I'm playing Devil's Advocate here, you silly wabbits...

[huedell]

But, the first movie appealed to older Trekkers too

If they smack them all in face Trek is shot

Fickle video game kids and teen girls will not keep Trek alive for long

My personal theory is that with the successful new cast, now Trek is enough of an institution where your "type" is in the minority.... the fickle ones will keep the
franchise moving more than it EVER has, AND the "Older Trekkers" you're referring to: well, there's enough of a splinter group from them (Older Trekkers) that will
just support ANYthing with a Federation insignia slapped on it, that all Paramount has to do is keep the fickle fans decently invested. If more discerning "core" fans
of Trek decide to boycott, it won't compromise their business model.

[enyawd72]

I strongly disagree with you Hector. If history teaches us anything, it's that the journey of discovery itself is the greatest adventure of all.

[Brazoo]

You guys have to realize the "old" Trek flicks were not blockbuster hits, the only one that went over $100 million at the bix office was Trek IV Voyage Home, also, Trek has not been big overseas either, it appealed to a hardcore fanbase who just didn't have enough numbers to make the movies huge hits.

The new Trek reboot appeals to a much broader audience, as proven with its domestic $250 million box office showing.

I'm sorry, but like it or not, the new Trek is here to stay.

The only way I can picture the "old" Trek back to its roots, will be with another TV series, where true Trekkies can enjoy the scientific/exploration over pure action adventure storylines.

I don't think it's too naive to suggest there might be a way to combine the wonder of science and discovery IN with the plot of a standard good guy vs. bad buy action movie, but I think it is probably tougher to pull off.

As proof of what you're saying I think the weaker Star Trek movies tried but failed just that. I think that part 1, 3 and 5 were more sci-fi based, and didn't work as well.

Though I do disagree that the original Trek movies weren't big hits. There may have been bad business behind how much money they made in terms of net, but each of the early movies were hits, and if they weren't they wouldn't have kept making them.

Here's a sampling of the first 4 movies in relation to how well they did in their respective years:

Star Trek 1 was #2 in 1979
Star Trek 2 was #6 in 1982
Star Trek 3 was #9 in 1984
Star Trek 4 was #5 in 1986

I think the argument you make about the influence of the world market NOW compared with THEN is accurate. The world market didn't matter much when these movies were originally released. Domestic revenue was the basis for what movies got made before. The growing influence of the world market on American movies means less character, less dialog and simpler plots for big budget movies. There's absolutely NO question about that.

Though, I still think it would be great if they could add a bit more science and discovery in to these movies. How many great scientists are there in the world who said that Star Trek was a big influence on their interest in science? How sad would it be if we loose that in popular entertainment? What does that say about the world?

[knight errant00]

Yeah, Hec, but that's more because the marketing mode's changed -- in everything from movies to publishing, things today have to be #1 and $100M hits in order for the industry to pay any attention at all. There's no room any more for modestly successful in movies or midlist in publishing because all that the top people want to see are "rock stars" that can carry everything rather than a competent stable of product.

I also think, if you account for inflation and ticket prices and most improtantly, the millions the studios spend in marketing to make movies today into blockbusters, the old Trek and James Bond and a lot of other movies suddenly start to look a lot more successful. I also don't think the new audiences are going to the new Treks out of any love for the characters or the setting. It's all response to the hype ("you have to see this -- it's the movie event of the year!") that the studios spend tens of millions to create, and I'll bet we won't get more than another one, maybe two movies out of this version of Trek unless this one is knock-everyone's-socks-off great.

I'm not hating on the new ST . . . it's just kinda disappointing that the "creators" today redress something unique with a lot of elements from a lot of other things to make it more like everything else, just using its name superfically to have a starting point.

If these new Abrams Treks were just new Abrams SF adventures (change all the names of the characters and the designs of the ships), would anyone make a big deal out of them, do you think?

You guys have to realize the "old" Trek flicks were not blockbuster hits, the only one that went over $100 million at the box office was Trek IV Voyage Home, also, Trek has not been big overseas either, it appealed to a hardcore fanbase who just didn't have enough numbers to make the movies huge hits.

The new Trek reboot appeals to a much broader audience, as proven with its domestic $250 million box office showing.

I'm sorry, but like it or not, the new Trek is here to stay.

The only way I can picture the "old" Trek back to its roots, will be with another TV series, where true Trekkies can enjoy the scientific/exploration over pure action adventure storylines.

[Mikey]

But, the first movie appealed to older Trekkers too

If they smack them all in face Trek is shot

Fickle video game kids and teen girls will not keep Trek alive for long