# Should the Star Trek movie franchise call it quits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574 "2003-08-07T13:12:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/21 "2003-08-07T17:59:25Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\* > On a side note, I was talking to a friend who worked on some Trek stuff and she mentioned a rumor around the job that the beginning idea for TVH was the scene where the Enterprise crew is standing on the streets of San Fransisco and no one passing by thought it was odd. Kind of a joke, supposedly made while in a bar. Then, it ballooned out into the light hearted romp that is_ Kirk and the Mighty Whales\*. May be apochryphal, but it’s fun to think about. \*\* I can tell you no one here would notice them at all. they could be here right now and i wouldn’t even think they were odd compared to some of the freakazoids in this town. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/22 "2003-08-07T18:24:32Z")
I’d like to see a _proper_ conclusion of Voyager on the big screen. Have that anticlimatic series finale turn out to all be a dream of Janeway’s or something. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/23 "2003-08-07T18:47:01Z")
Actually given that the TNG movie run is now finished, DS9 was so long ago, and Voyager and Enterprise were ratings dogs I think it is time to stick a fork in the movie franchise and concentrate on saving Enterprise which is in real danger of being canned after this season if the ratings don’t turn around. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/24 "2003-08-07T19:26:48Z")
Deciding to make a movie, then coming up with a story and script = BAD IDEA. They need to give it a rest until someone comes up with a great movie idea. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/25 "2003-08-07T19:41:01Z")
> [@](#): > > _From NoClueBoy_ > But, some new characters would be cool. Why stick with characters from the TV shows? Create some new ones! Captain’s Log. Stardate 123456.78 1/2. Captain Wally T. Panda reporting. We are closing in on our destination, and the crew is getting restless. As per orders, I have not yet revealed to them our secret mission, but rest assured, the fine crew of the U.S.S. Bambooprise will be ready to face anything. In other news, I’ve finally given in to my first officer’s constant badgering that I take on a middle initial. I prefer not to have one, but he insists that it will lend me a greater air of authority and power if and when we make contact with potentially hostile beings. I haven’t told him that the “T” simply stands for “The”. Ah… I must now end this log entry, as we have just entered orbit around Siliconia VI, the Planet of Large-Breasted Amazon Bikini Vixens. Wish us luck. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/26 "2003-08-07T19:56:47Z")
_Decon 90210_ ---
**Author:** ![Intaglio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Intaglio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intaglio)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/27 "2003-08-07T20:04:24Z")
I thought it would have been cool, if when Voyager was coming to an end, that Voyager wouldn’t get back to Starfleet/Earth - still in the Delta Quadrant, and Starfleet Command gives Picard and the Enterprise Crew the Mission of going, finding and bringing Voyager back to Earth and Starfleet. The power struggle of Picard and Janeway. After the Enterprise finds Voyager, having 7 of 9 on interacting with Capt. Picard - her calling him Locutus of Borg. The old wounds coming back to Picard, he might have even known her as a Borg and them being similar of being assimilated and being brought back to the Human World, of course 7 of 9 was more assimilated than Picard. How about Paris’ father the Admiral comes along on the mission, not only to find this missing ship, but also to find his son. His interaction with Tom and Be’Lanna Torres, wonder what the elder Paris is going to think of his son married and has a child with a Klingon and who was once apart of the Marquee. How about bring back Ro-Laren to find her Marquee Crew-Mates as well. Her afiliation with Star-Fleet and the Marquee would have some recussions and some confrontation, I would think. And the interaction of 7 of 9 with Data, he wants to be Human and she denying her Humanity for so long. And the two Crews have to come together to fight an evil foe. This might be too much for one movie, but I think it would have been cool. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/28 "2003-08-07T20:06:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > **good Deep Space Nine movie** Oxymoron? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/29 "2003-08-07T20:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diceman \* > **It would be pretty hard to make a DS9 movie. The characters are pretty well dispersed. Sisko is dead (kinda), Odo and Garrak have gone back to their homeworlds, and Worf is back on the Enterpriese. Basically you’ve got Quark, Dr. Bashir, O’Brian, that last Dax girl (that noone seems to care much about), and the Bitch Queen–er, Kira.** Assuming that Sisko’s really dead (he isn’t) and that Worf, Odo, and O’Brein don’t make cameo appearances like Worf currently does in the TNG movies, you still have Kira, Bashir, Ezri, Quark, Jake, Kassidy, and Nog plus all the recurring characters, which DS9 has in spades, _and_ any characters they might introduce to replace the First Officer (Kira’s now in charge), the Tactical Officer (Worf), the Security Officer (Odo), and the Chief Engineer (O’Brien). Then you have Bajor, the Wormhole, the Cardassian Union, the Dominion, and even the Ferengi Alliance if you want to go ST:IV’s route as ready made reasons for the movie. If they must, they can do what TNG’s done and introduced a new species but they really don’t need to with all the backstories they have. DS9 would be relatively easy to make a movie for. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/30 "2003-08-07T20:52:59Z")
So far, the poll is saying - Yes, call it quits: 47% No, keep at it: 36% No opinion: 17% ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/31 "2003-08-07T20:54:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diceman \* > **It would be pretty hard to make a DS9 movie. The characters are pretty well dispersed. Sisko is dead (kinda), Odo and Garrak have gone back to their homeworlds, and Worf is back on the Enterpriese. Basically you’ve got Quark, Dr. Bashir, O’Brian, that last Dax girl (that noone seems to care much about), and the Bitch Queen–er, Kira.** Assuming that Sisko’s really dead (he isn’t) and that Worf, Odo, and O’Brein don’t make cameo appearances like Worf currently does in the TNG movies, you still have Kira, Bashir, Ezri, Quark, Jake, Kassidy, and Nog plus all the recurring characters, which DS9 has in spades, _and_ any characters they might introduce to replace the First Officer (Kira’s now in charge), the Tactical Officer (Worf), the Security Officer (Odo), and the Chief Engineer (O’Brien). Then you have Bajor, the Wormhole, the Cardassian Union, the Dominion, and even the Ferengi Alliance if you want to go ST:IV’s route as ready made reasons for the movie. If they must, they can do what TNG’s done and introduced a new species but they really don’t need to with all the backstories they have. DS9 would be relatively easy to make a movie for. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/32 "2003-08-07T21:59:30Z")
Alright, I didn’t keep close enough track to remember the ‘honor’ thing. (I was thinking only of Data with the ‘humanity’ stuff, but I won’t debate it…) In Trek films, SOME technobabble is unavoidable. Comes with the territory. Ditto ‘honor,’ though it’s getting silly. I do want to say, btw, that the original movies could get pretty stupid, I think people are just looking upon them more fondly. It’s not as if things were great and went south two movies ago. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/33 "2003-08-07T22:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > But, **Captain Jonathon Achernar** is correct in stating that a screenplay is a fairly hard thing to do. First, one must have a complete(ish) story, then one has to adapt it to stage or screen. This involves actions, sets, effects… You’re right. I think _I_ was being a bit simplistic earlier. A movie isn’t just the story. It’s also the casting and direction and budget and effects and acting and set design. However, I don’t think the recent _Star Trek_ movies have any major problems with these (although I’ve always considered casting agent for a _Star Trek_ movie to be the easiest job in show business ;)). I think that most people’s problems are with the story or writing. Inconsistencies, reused plot devices, non sequiturs, bad character development. Am I right in thinking that these are the things that people don’t like about the _Star Trek_ film franchise? ---
**Author:** ![jkusters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jkusters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkusters)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/34 "2003-08-07T23:22:17Z")
To me, the good Trek movies are the ones with a message. Once there is a cental theme to the movie, it’s easier to make the whole thing hang together. That’s why my favorites are “The Motion Picture,” “The Voyage Home”, “The Undiscovered Country”, and, yes, “Insurrection.” (I’ll admit to enjoying “First Contact,” though I haven’t exactly figured out why. Probably due to the amusing clashes between the crew’d idealistic view of Cochrane running smack dab up against the less than sterling reality.) I’ve been a Trek fan since as far back as I can remember (early '70s), and Trek has always been about trying to understand modern problems though the lens of a semi-utopian future. When the producers forget that and go for big explosions and mystic mumbo-jumbo, we get “Search for Spock,” “Final Frontier,” and “Generations.” ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/35 "2003-08-08T00:34:10Z")
I’d like one Capt. Sulu movie. Just one. You decided not to give him a series but come on. Just one movie. ---
**Author:** ![Grousser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Grousser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grousser)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/36 "2003-08-08T02:33:04Z")
Isn’t stupid to include the option “no opinion” in a poll? If you haven’t any opinion, why should you vote at all? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/37 "2003-08-08T03:35:26Z")
How come the IMDb has a link for [another Star Trek movie](http://us.imdb.com/Details?0356069)? Is this an amusement park ride or something? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/38 "2003-08-08T03:51:24Z")
[Look here, tracer.](http://www.startrekexp.com/indexborg2.php) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/39 "2003-08-08T04:14:14Z")
**Achernar:** I agree that my story is pretty skeletal, but with proper development I think it might work. Good writing would be essential. The main plot points won’t seem contrived if they’re properly set up. Instead of B4 assembling Lore, how about this: the scientists have re-assembled Lore and are attempting to “rehabilitate” him, (ie, reprogram him into a non-evil android). When we first see Lore, he is deactivated and lying on a table in a lab. B4, seeing an android that looks exactly like himself, wants to go talk to him. The scientists tell him that Lore is dangerous, but B4 doesn’t really understand the warnings. Later, when the station is in “night mode” and everyone is asleep, B4 comes back and re-activates Lore. An important factor is that B4 thinks of Lore as a long-lost brother, and he tends to trust everything Lore says to him. Lore tells B4 that organic beings use androids and holograms as slaves, and generally presents the situation as a struggle for liberation. Near the end of the movie, after the Enterprise guys board Voyager, they try to storm the bridge. The holographic crewmen attempt to repel them, and a big firefight breaks out. A bunch of nameless redshirts get killed, and several of the holograms are destroyed (you aim for the mobile emittors). Eventually, Lore manages to use forcefields to trap the Enterprise guys in a room where they can’t cause any trouble. However, the Doctor and one or two scientists are in another part of the ship, attempting to regain control of the holograms. B4 finds them and kills the scientists, but he doesn’t hurt the Doctor because he thinks of holograms as kindred spirits. The Doctor tries to explain to B4 that Lore is just using him, but then Lore shows up and shoots the Doctor’s mobile emittor, killing him. (This would be a tragic scene, BTW). Remember, Lore is supposedly trying to liberate artificial lifeforms, not kill them, and B4 realizes that what Lore has just done is inconsistent with his stated objectives. B4 points this out to Lore, but Lore dismisses his complaints and goes back to the bridge to finish destroying the Enterprise. No longer trusting Lore, B4 seeks out the captive boarding party and has a talk with Picard. Picard convinces B4 of the error of his ways, and B4 releases the boarding party. The aforementioned torture and killing of the space station crew is an important part of this conversation. They decide that the bridge is too heavily defended to capture, so instead they go to engineering and cause a warp core breach. Unfortunately, the Enterprise is now too heavily damaged to beam them back. Picard has the emergency transporter gizmo with him, but it will only take one person, so instead they decide to use Voyager’s transporter to escape. This is the point where I’ll have to resort to convenient techno-babble. It turns out that Voyager’s transporter was slightly damaged in the battle. It still works, but the phase shift compensator is non-functional, so someone will have to stay behind to adjust the beam manually. B4 volunteers to be the guy. Picard gives him the emergency transporter device so he can escape by himself. B4 beams everyone else over to the Enterprise, but instead of using the emergency device to escape, he goes to the bridge. The ending with B4 hugging Lore would rely on Brent Spinner’s acting ability. The idea is that B4 understands that Lore is evil and had to be stopped, but he loves his brother and doesn’t want to abandon him. * * * I realize that this movie would probably never win an Oscar, but hey, the purpose of this thread is to dream, so… ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574/40 "2003-08-08T13:54:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* > \*\*[Look here, tracer.](http://www.startrekexp.com/indexborg2.php) \*\* Ooh, it’s gonna be in **4-D!** Does that mean that when you come out of the place, you will have travelled back in time to the 15th Century? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-star-trek-movie-franchise-call-it-quits/193574.md?page=3)