Star Trek: The Penultimate Frontier

One of the problems of Star Trek is that nothing can be definite in the universe; every surprising twist or grave choice is backed up by the vague, but likely, option of making the point moot. Examples of this concept range from seeing Spock's coffin on the Genesis Planet to the end of nearly every episode of Star Trek Voyager. The stories require this plot concession because, in fear of making other possible ideas untenable, there are always plans for more Star Trek. A franchise can't be shoved into a corner because of the natural plot of a single episode. This very fact extends Star Trek's legacy while also stifling its creative urge to continue.

What is even worse about prequels is that the ruse of story advancement in the universe is lessens the chance of exciting entertainment from the creators. All that occurs in the story must both be sequel friendly and also not have any surprise advancement that wasn't set up in the shows before.

Now the big wigs and new producers are thinking seriously about Star Trek's next sequel, even though the new film has a month left to premiere. Planning of the next plot is currently going on, while this films director is pondering in public about whether he will direct in Star Trek again. Even the actors are lined up for the next one, a provision for sequels in their original contract.

Sadly for me, I have read a few spoilers for this new film, and it seems the producers of the new Star Trek have set it up for an easy second act. They did this by seriously subverting the Star Trek universe their film was set in. With an ingenious use of time travel (the ingenious part being that audiences won't expect time travel in Star Trek to have consequences), the film creates a logical stage for further advancement while opening up the universe to completely new story-lines.

I guess you could call it a new hope. I won't though, due to my dislike of Star Wars. Lets just say it's a re-imagining.

The wait is over...

1) Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

I am not a person who easily emotes in giddy glee; it takes a special subject for me to get hyper-enthused, and Deep Space Nine is one of those few subjects.

It would take hours to describe the multitude of ways that I enjoy the series, so I will list all the things (in no specific order) that make this show special to me in a set of nouns and verbs: Sisko, cast, crew, stories, Promenade, war, politics, religion, Prophets, growth, death, Cardassians, intrigue, darkness, Defiant, credits, and Terok Nor.

Greatest Moment - The End of The Visitor - While the entire episode wrenches my heart like few other shows could, the final scenes in which Jake gives his parting advice to the young author, meets his father for the final time, and the last shot of a grieving Sisko still brings tears to my eyes today.

Star Trek: Many Uneventful Voyages

Star Trek has always been successful in the television medium (save for the lackluster series Enterprise); the movies though were a different story. Few installments in the film franchise were hits, most simply hoping to make a profit. While the movie's DVD sales to trekkies will continue on indefinitely, even the biggest star Trek fans agree that eighty percent of the films are crap (getting them to decide on which movies fall where is a tougher task). Like many historians say, "We must learn from our past in order to make a better future." Therefore, I believe an analysis of the past films will shine a new light on the strengths and weaknesses of Star Trek.

The Motion Picture
Strengths: The film's release proved Star Trek was a lucrative enough enterprise that further investments were wise. Good special effects were just starting to be made viable, making science fiction cost effective.
Weaknesses: Made shortly after 2001: A Space Odyssey, this feature contained probably some of most tedious scenes in all of Star Trek. Characters (except Kirk, Spock, and a few cameos) were not given anything remotely interesting to do.

The Wrath of Khan
Strengths: A solid plot compelled the audience to pay attention, filled to the brim with tension and excitement. An antagonist that virtually seethed animosity with every line, Khan was the villain that all other Star Trek bad guys aspired to be like. Continuity with what had come before took a back seat to good storytelling. Nearly every character had a solid story arc instead of simply being window dressing. The death of Spock.
Weaknesses: I doubt that I could think of something bad about this film.

The Search for Spock
Strengths: With solid direction and writing, the film was consistent in its quality. As a direct sequel to the last film, the plot plausibly continued the story it was in.
Weaknesses: The film was almost a rehash of themes from the last (larger than life villain, death of a major character, reliance on Kirk and Spock).

The Voyage Home
Strengths: Some of the best natural humor of Star Trek (funny episodes nearly all being flops on the different shows). The themes of the film were new and took the characters to new emotional territory.
Weaknesses: The film's message was rather obvious, not even concealed in a metaphor.

The Final Frontier
Strengths: I doubt that I could think of something good about this film. Well, there was one good scene involving the three main characters' past.
Weaknesses: Plot holes the width of a wormhole abound. All the terrible things about the Original Series were included (never mentioned before relative of main character shows up, needless special effects that were consistently bad, Klingon animosity forced into the plot, blatant disregard for continuity, an alien pretending to be a God, etc.).

The Undiscovered Country
Strengths: A good commentary on society. Good dialogue and effects. Action-adventure orientation missing from the rest of the films. Believable continuation of past story threads.
Weaknesses: The message might have been a little too topical. Small but noticeable continuity errors that could have been easily avoided (more egregious than those of The Wrath of Khan).

Generations
Strengths: The production values were high. A strong cast in both cameos and primary characters. Amazing crash sequence.
Weaknesses: Obvious writing errors made story points feel forced. Over reliance on a few characters while ignoring others. The rhythm of the film was off, making for an unpleasant viewing experience. Small but noticeable continuity errors that could have been easily avoided (more egregious than those of The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country). The death of Kirk.

First Contact
Strengths: New twist on past formula (tale of uncontrolled vengeance is provided for the protagonist instead of antagonist). Strongest antagonist since The Wrath of Khan's. A-plot and B-plot are smooth and create a natural rhythm.
Weaknesses: Some jokes are a tad flat.

Insurrection
Strengths: The effects are top notch. Its direction is solid.
Weaknesses: The story seems to have copied much of the designs of past films. More over reliance on certain characters while even greater ignorance of the rest of the cast. Needless and bloodless violence.

Nemesis
Strengths: A multitude of great action sequences.
Weaknesses: Though it is the end of The Next Generation's film series, the movie does not give justice to what made both the films and show great. It steals both the good (rival bent on extermination of Earth, dealing with the end of an era) and the bad (more rewriting of characters' back story with addition of previously unseen relatives, violence for the sake of fulfilling an action quota). The death of Data.

Hopefully, the people who made the new Star Trek feature were aware of these pros and cons.

And now for something slightly different...

Looking back on all those years in front of a television, I realize now that it has been well spent. I've sat through mounds of crap TV, from four-fifths of Star Trek: The Original Series to any episode of CSI: Miami I ever set my eyes on. When assessing all those hours of televised drama, I realize now that the good actually outweighs the bad.

What caused this catharsis was that I just saw the very last episode of The Wire. I was moved shocked, happy, and sad, all at the same time. In the spirit of recognizing good television, I decided my Top Nine would take a serious note by looking at the Top Nine Television Shows I Have Ever Seen.

9) Star Trek: The Next Generation

Though this show had it's rough spots (first and last seasons mainly), it led the way for an entire Franchise to grow. After ST:TNG launched, gone were the times that trekkies were merely nostalgic for the days of old but were instead able to look forward to all that would await Star Trek.

Best Episode - The Best of Both Worlds - The balanced action premise also took Jean Luc to new depths as the Borg returned to their dramatic peak. The events of this episode started a dozen trends included in every other series: cliffhangers, large events changing the scope of the galaxy, character issues left to be resolved (or complicated further) in later episodes, and the recursion of successful enemies.

Posters Note: I plan to continue this list by posting once a day. I realized I should probably be posting steady if I want to get a good audience. I also wish to apologize for posting so sporadically in the past.

Star Trek: The Search for Plots

Five Series (a Sixth Animated Series); Ten Movies (soon to be Eleven); Numerous Novels, Comic Books, Video Games, and a bunch of Fan Fiction to boot.

Yes, this is a post about Star Trek.

When looking at the Star Trek Franchise from a writer's perspective, it seems rather daunting to attempt to pen new Star Trek stories. The people who wrote for it say, for the most part, that it's over because it is simply too vast a world to add to. It might even be logical to say that Star Trek should be allowed to end where it was instead of dragged on infinitely to the point of absurdity, but I am not Spock.

Star Trek stopped where it was at because the writers forgot a key idea of writing: One must both look to the future and to the past. In Star Trek, plenty of mistakes are there to be learned from, and there are numerous places to continue from. What some shows forget to do is address both what was behind while moving forward, some remaining in over used Star Trek plots and others going out to the edge of the galaxy and entering into mere science fiction.

Is creating a prequel a good idea? Going back to the roots of characters and explaining motivations seems entertaining enough, but it also appears to be an idea that has a limited life span. Much of the movie will probably be satiating a desire for in-references that only Trekkies like me will recognize. The movie (and any possible spin offs) also won't be able to move far enough away from the original series, which could loom over the film like a bad ion cloud. Something like Star Trek needs room to grow and breathe to truly show its value. What would the world be like if Star Trek was never made because they didn't like the first pilot?: probably a bit more cheerless.

I'm sure there are ideas for Star trek movies that don't rehash the original characters. I could think of a few right now...

Other Star Trek Series Movie - There were three other shows that could each be thrown into film in some way, continuing a set of stories within the universe that aren't entirely limited by what has come before. Let Deep Space Nine be the set of some deep-space political-intrigue, or show one last voyage for Voyager. Heck, Enterprise might even be able to have an actual ending instead of the crap they showed as a series finale.

Klingon Centric Movie - Everybody loves Klingons, and they have been fleshed out enough that the people, once consisting entirely of stock warrior characters, could be given some real dramatic trappings.

All New Cast, Ship, Aliens Etc. Movie - There are always newcomers willing to act in anything, advances in special effects to be used for grander explosions, and moral issues to be addressed under a thin vale of fiction. Combine these three aspects and you have some pretty bad science fiction, but great Star Trek (which is in no way an affront to Star Trek; things that work for Star Trek are lame in science fiction and things cool in science fiction are often bad ideas for Star Trek).

In the spirit of Star Trek, there is Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations, meaning Star Trek will always have places to go that make sense within the confines of the Franchise. An important question to be asked is whether writers are brave enough to try their hands continuing a legacy.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Fhans

Early this morning, I felt the need to check up on Star Trek news. I had gone to trekmovie.com to see if there was anything interesting and found a new article about the future game Star Trek Online. It was detailing the facets of a Klingon ship players would be able to fly. I scrolled down to the comments section, reading through what other people wrote to see if any had generated the same opinion I had of the design. What I found was a grudge match in which Trekkies battled for the position of who could complain the most about the design, the game history, other posted comments, past television series, the current economy, and even a few insults thrown towards the Klingons. I was majorly depressed.

What happened to Trekkies being the 'nicest fanbase of the universe' (okay, I don't know if this title is real)? The Star Trek Franchise is based in kindness, tolerance, and understanding, not loathing and detestation. In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, "Where is the love y'all?"

If I wanted to hear hateful speech directed towards fans of Star Trek I would talk to all my friends; I don't want this kind of despicable bigotry coming from people who actually like the shows (Star Trek: Voyager sucked big though).

We all need to work together if we hope to see this franchise continue. Maybe quoting a rap artist was a bad move when trying to talk to Trekkies (they prefer orchastrel music with the only lyrics to be a stern captain waxing poetic) so I will leave you to ponder the words of the great Klingon warrior Kahless, "Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory... and ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat."

Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Now for the obligatory Star Trek post:

I've watched a bit of this show called Battlestar Galactica, and I must say that it is some of the most enjoyable television viewing I've had in a good long time. With dynamic characters, realism (to a degree of course, it is Sci-Fi), and a compelling plot, this show has wormed its way into my cold-television-viewing-heart. After analyzing much of the characteristics of the show, I have come to the realization that there might be one major reason I like this show: It is the reincarnation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, my favorite show of all time.

To explain this comment, I must elaborate the back-story of these two series. The Star Trek franchise was growing due to great reception of The Next Generation. TNG had done many things to create such high interest in the show, including but not limited to: more serialization of story (not ending each episode with a complete ending to the plots but instead allowing the plot line to be furthered later in the series), deeper characterizations, and combining the two to create amazing episodes (The Best of Both Worlds, Tapestry, and Reunion to name a few). Over the course of the show, the Star Trek universe became a richer, more complete place. To capitalize on TNG, the producers and studio decided to start another spin off.

This new show was to be set on a station orbiting a world established in earlier episodes of TNG as being devastated by an evil occupation, giving the Federation officers a big job of rebuilding a demolished society. They would not be able to make decisions and then leave to go off to another planet, but would instead face the consequences of their actions. Though this was hailed as not being true to the original concept of exploring the unknown, the show did explore many previously unknown places of the Star Trek universe such as justified hate, moral ambiguity, and of the horrors of war.

What enamored me to the show was not the engaging space battles or the fanciful Sci-Fi stories (though they had a few good ones of both), but instead the amazing growth of characters. These were not the cardboard cut-outs of the Original Series or the underdeveloped people of TNG (yes, Picard, Riker, Data, and Worf went somewhere, but what about the others?). The heroes of Deep Space Nine ended up fundamentally changed by the end of the series. The best part about their changes were that they were not altered on whim or just grew new interests in order to expedite story; they grew from the conditions around them naturally. That is what I believe makes a good show (space battles help with that too).

Battlestar Galactica is along the same lines of a spin off, but actually is a reboot of the previous show. It took the more interesting elements of the old show (isolationism, genocide, and space battles) and added a healthy dose of realism. The characters are grim, the situation is doubtful, and everybody has a good chance of not making it.

The story of BSG starts with the annihilation of the majority of the human race and chronicles the tales of the survivors who attempt to escape the danger. Everyone must adapt to the situation or die, and adapt they do. Some take drugs, some have random promiscuous relationships, others die (and that happens a lot). This show grabs the tragedy by the bumper and doesn't let go. We are never allowed to forget the holocaust of the first episode simply because these characters couldn't forget either. Unrelenting, BSG takes drama to another level.

I would continue this comparison, but I am getting tired, so look forward to Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Part II.

Star Trek: The CGI Picture

Well, J.J. Abrams just began an Eastern Asian Tour to promote the new Trek film. The film has been promoted on a number of continents (though I am unsure of which ones) and is looking to pull in the biggest Trek audience yet.

From what I've seen of Eastern Asian films (granted I have seen so little that I probably should not be coming to any conclusions; however, I'm a white American and judging people is in my blood) there seems to be higher ratio of action and stylization to narrative. So that leads me to conclude that if they are gearing this movie to accept an Eastern Asian audience as well than this movie will be nearer to the Star Wars spectrum of the Sci-Fi world than Star Trek. I understand that in this day and age it is easier to make big booms and bright lights than the past, but when has Star Trek ever had any of that? [Excluding episodes of TOS that actually had a budget and pretty much all of the later series and every movie] J.J. is killing Star Trek!

I liked Star Wars enough, but I will be a tad disappointed if this movie has a Star Wars slant. I need moral quandaries! Plus prosthetic foreheads! And dialog ripped directly from the pages of Shakespeare! There better not be one science-fantasy plot hole, they would take up screen time from the misguided scientific-based plotholes!

Right now, the only way this film could disappoint me would be if Jar jar Binks showed up to tag along with Pike/Kenobi and Kirk/Anakin. Other than that unhappy circumstance, I would be fine if they stole from Star Wars, War of the Worlds, and the Wide World of Sports or if it even had a super-secret Shatner cameo. Just as long as the franchise doesn't end with Nemesis.