I was responding to someone else's comment about the cheap looking effects ( I will admit I didn't respond very well creating confusion. More fool me)and pointing out that I disagreed. I think the effects were outstanding.
Having re-watched the first two episodes, I've concluded there's enough quality in the script, characters, production and performances to have me anticipating what's to come. A change of director would be nice, though. Too much lens flaring and 'show-off' for my tastes - but at least there was none of that awful documentary-style camerawork that ruined the Galactica reboot. Roll on next Monday.
This is an awesome post, raises a few points I've not considered and articulates the 'problem' with the Vulcans over the course of Star Trek. I too have felt they were generally pretty full of themselves and not at all likeable. They are certainly not as lofty and logical a species as they make themselves out to be, full of contradictions and some hypocrisies they claim to be 'above' and justifying them with logical constructs that are sometimes a bit of a reach. While Spock was a fantastic character to highlight and dramatize the contrast of human emotions vs pure, emotionless reason, almost every other Vulcan is just...objectionable to me. I've always found "Amok Time" to be a bizarre episode, for the reasons you mention and a few others. It made me think, man, Vulcans are really weird and not that smart after all heh. Ahhh that's a great point and insight...while I can't think of any exceptions at the moment, that is entirely true for the most part...interesting observation. As far as the new series it'll have to grow on me, it's a different kind of Trek outing then what I'm used to but I didn't dislike it, so I'll go from here. One thing I really like was the vivid, rich color used throughout, especially the 'space shots'...I love 'big color'. I did find the dark bridge scenes gave a much different tone and feel to Trek then what I've experienced before which I also liked. Overall, I think the series shows promise. When it hits it's stride it should be a great watch...
I watched the second half of the pilot last night. It was better than the first. It's still not great Trek but as others have pointed out, for its first two seasons, neither was TNG. There's are good reviews of both parts on the New York Times website although spoiler alert. They reveal everything. Part 1 Part 2 I was surprised to see future episodes are being released once a week on Sunday. No binge watching here, unless you want to wait a month or two for a bunch to come out, subscribe to CBS for a month, and then watch that batch. I may do this.
They are kinda good reviews. But they mention a lot of issues, most I agree with. Not sure if it is just me, but it seems like reviewers are "afraid" to say a lot of bad, but neither are they really praising it as a great show. They seem to mention certain "aspects" of the show they were impressed by, but hardly ever say they enjoyed the story or the drama of the show and it IS a good show. Seems they break everything into Good and Bad. I left with very mixed feelings. I want no connection to the old Trek, and they somewhat succeeded. But the Klingons were horrible looking, they acted like monotone robots, all the same...... The visuals and cinematography seemed more important than actually seeing the people talking. But I sense there is something hopefully that will come out of this, that will be Nothing like the old, but good in its own way. I hope I did not wait all these months for a Special effects and visual treat, but with no real meat.
One thing I wonder about is, are they going to have the Klingon speak Klingon all the time. If they are the arch nemesis of the series, like the Cardassians were for DS9, having them recite lines in a language unfamiliar to the actors and most (?) of the audience is going to hurt the immersion, not aid it. I can't believe I am saying this but, Speak English or get out! I probably wouldn't say it to their face though.
I don't get why the don't do it like Generations, a couple lines in Klingon then change the camera angle and switch to English, it seemed like a smooth yet noticable transition.
You'll be waiting longer. For some reason, the first season is split in two, ie, there will be an extended min-season break. I'm sure that will work wonders for sustaining interest...
They certainly did that alright. In fact, this was likely CBS' intention all along - do a hard reboot of Trek starting from the beginning (TOS era). It's basically a rewrite of established Trek history and technology while they gaslight fans about how they're "respecting continuity", but secretly hoping no one will notice if they repeat it often enough.
why are you watching Star Trek then (?) - you could watch any number of other sci-fi shows.....you want to watch Star Trek -but don't really want it to be Star Trek(?)
Perhaps he meant that he didn't want another prequel (old Trek) series (no one did!), but would rather have it set in the post DS9/Voyager era (which pretty much everyone wanted).
And they are all virtually the same version of humorless, serious-talking cardboard. I love Star Trek, but there are some preposterous things about it.
You've misunderstood. They are a stony-faced, arrogant species who are taking over all the space stations. In other words, nothing like the Cardassians.
I watched the first two episodes the other night on Netflix. I enjoyed it and will continue. I just had to remind myself that is fits in with the style trends of the current movies, than all the previous stuff. The one thing that did puzzle me/make me smile was the contradiction this style of Klingon has. On one hand they are total no nonsense badass warriors yet they seem to live/dress like a cross between Trump Tower and Versace. Hmmmmm.
I liked episode 3 a lot. As the producers claimed, it was more like a pilot than the two-hour prologue that aired last week. It's full of mystery and a sense of something big happening. It's almost got a feel like the rebooted BATTLESTAR GALACTICA where familiar things are there but turned sideways to keep you off-balance. I liked the ship visuals - the tilted angles have been shown the door for now - and I'm looking forward to next week.
