# Star Trek -- the "I saw it" thread \*\*SPOILERS\*\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2009, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640 "2009-05-07T08:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/821 "2009-05-24T07:04:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Actually, I’m not quite sure now why I thought it would be a continuity break. I think it had something to do with how long it took them to find the Botany Bay, and having them find it so soon after the new movie would be a mistake. But, from what I’ve just read, the ship was only 20 lightyears from Earth, so it could still be found pretty easily. (That’s only 60 days away at Warp 5.) Which leads me to wonder what Spock Alpha should be briefing the Federation about, stuff that would still be a problem in the new timeline. Khan isn’t a problem - so long as no ships try to wake them up. But what are the Borg doing at this time? If they are still contained, it might be a good idea to finish them off early. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/822 "2009-05-24T13:15:51Z")
BTW, [here’s](http://trekmovie.com/2009/05/22/orci-and-kurtzman-reveal-star-trek-details-in-trekmovie-fan-qa/) a transcript of an online Q&A with the writers that at least attempts to clear up some of the issues with the new timeline and stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/823 "2009-05-24T18:37:18Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Which leads me to wonder what Spock Alpha should be briefing the Federation about, stuff that would still be a problem in the new timeline. Khan isn’t a problem - so long as no ships try to wake them up. But what are the Borg doing at this time? If they are still contained, it might be a good idea to finish them off early. Apart from the pointlessness of using the Borg (really, it’s a new continuity, let’s come up with some new villains), why are you saying they were ever 'contained"? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/824 "2009-05-24T20:08:52Z")
Although the history has been fucked with repeatedly, I understand the Borg first became interested in humanity when Q sent the _Enterprise_-D careening across the galaxy (“Q Who?”). All Spock Prime has to do is say “something really really bad lives in that direction. I’ll help you design weapons and such so you’re prepared.” Of course, that just repeats a point I made earlier - Spock Prime is infinitely valuable as a source of technical and scientific information, which the Federation will desperately need now that Vulcan is toast. He should be meeting daily with scientists and engineers and dumping volumes of info on them. Heck, can he mind-meld with his younger self and impart all this information to him? A premise like this fairly demands originality, because if newKirk encounters anything remotely similar to something oldKirk faced, Spock Prime should be able to casually tell him the best solution. “Going to Organia, huh? Just be polite and don’t waste energy getting frustrated.” ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/825 "2009-05-24T23:26:16Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Apart from the pointlessness of using the Borg (really, it’s a new continuity, let’s come up with some new villains), why are you saying they were ever 'contained"? By contained, I meant they hadn’t spread very far (or were on their original planet) back then. Maybe not, since ISTR that Guinan was fleeing from them at the beginning of Generations, about 40 years after this. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/826 "2009-05-24T23:48:58Z")
Late to the party, as usual. Not many movies I rush out to see opening weekend anymore. I’m a moderate ST fan. Grew up with TOS in syndication, saw all the movies, saw parts of the other series. I enjoyed the movie, give it a 6 or 7 on the Summer Popcorn Flick scale, with _Iron Man_ at the upper end and 90% of the rest of the summer blockbusters from the last ten years at the low end. It was certainly not without problems, but I could ignore most of them while I was actually watching the movie and just go along for the ride. Quite liked the cast and the visuals. It was fun watching some of the early scenes in Iowa with an audience full of Iowans. Always great to see Simon Pegg. If I could make one change it would be to get Kirk to the captain’s chair over a 3-movie arc rather than plop him down in it fresh out of school. It would have certainly made more sense from a story perspective and given the writers more options before it goes straight into well-worn ST territory. I’d rather liked to have seen Ensign Kirk and First Officer Kirk maturing and gaining experience over 5-7 years. Still, worth the matinee price and the _Land of the Lost_ trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/827 "2009-05-25T00:32:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > By contained, I meant they hadn’t spread very far (or were on their original planet) back then. Maybe not, since ISTR that Guinan was fleeing from them at the beginning of Generations, about 40 years after this. The Borg are “thousands of centuries old”. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/828 "2009-05-25T00:56:10Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I have fanwanked you into oblivion. Is there no one else?\* Is there no one else?\* Wait, are you quoting Brad Pitt as Achilles in _Troy_? I love you, man! I’m afraid that’s as far as I got into this thread. I meant to see this _last_ Sunday (May 17), on my birthday, but due to working 12-hour shifts the two days before, I elected to instead spend my birthday sitting on my ass getting some rest. And in the meantime this thread has grown to 17 pages while I avoided it because I wanted to see the movie before reading and I just don’t feel like wading through 17 pages. Anyhow, saw it today with my sister (both of us are huge Trek fans) and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I think some of y’all just take your movies too damned seriously. My only comment is a question, and I hope it hasn’t already been brought up. Wasn’t that a 1966 Stingray that young Kirk was joyriding in? I was thinking that if it was, it was a nice nod to TOS debuting in 1966. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/829 "2009-05-25T02:06:34Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > It was definitely a quarry – the rock was worked. Oh, and _in the future, quarries will be deeper!_ Ah, so _that’s_ why build the Enterprise in Iowa. Nothing but the _best_ granite to carve the Enterprise out of! ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/830 "2009-05-25T02:19:24Z")
> [@emarkp](#): > > It was definitely a quarry – the rock was worked. Oh, and _in the future, quarries will be deeper!_ How silly of me to overlook that thanks to global warming, new rock is being formed in Iowa at a rate of approximately one foot per year. I’m sorry for the snark. Like I said, it was the one scene that completely took me out of the movie. Now I’ll just go off and mutter about somebody restoring a 275 year old Corvette to like-new condition and then slapping a 23rd Century cell phone in it. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/831 "2009-05-26T18:07:58Z")
I saw this this weekend, and sorry I’m not going to read 17 pages of posts, but here are my impressions/complaints. Why did young Kirk try to outrun a “hoverbike” in a car? Wasn’t there a plane/ship on Earth that could have destoryed the drill? Why did old Spock have to do it? Does anybody else get the impression they just made a movie around Spock? Is it obligatory he has to be zipping in and out of every movie like some sort of diety? I thought this movie would be about Kirk more. Kirk scored good on some aptitude tests but didn’t really do all that much remarkable stuff other than get beat up and weasel his way into things. Overall I thought it was a good movie, but not much better or worse than other Trek movies. It felt sort of rushed. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/832 "2009-05-26T18:38:10Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Why did young Kirk try to outrun a “hoverbike” in a car? He thought he could outrun it. This sort of naivete will serve him well in _Balance of Terror._ > [@control-z](#): > > Is it obligatory he has to be zipping in and out of every movie like some sort of diety? It was an effort to give authority and legitimacy to the new film. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/833 "2009-05-26T18:56:32Z")
Since I was a kid, ST has pretty much always been about Spock. Data, Tuvok & T’Pol never did quite cut it for me. Not that I need Spock in everything, but I wish they’d come up with a good not-Spock Vulcan. Well, Spock’s dad is cool, too. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/834 "2009-05-26T19:01:19Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > Since I was a kid, ST has pretty much always been about Spock. Data, Tuvok & T’Pol never did quite cut it for me. Not that I need Spock in everything, but I wish they’d come up with a good not-Spock Vulcan. > > Well, Spock’s dad is cool, too. My little sister feels that no Nimoy-less production can be Star Trek. [QUOTE=carnivorousplant] [QUOTE=control-z] Why did young Kirk try to outrun a “hoverbike” in a car? [/quote] He thought he could outrun it. This sort of naivete will serve him well in Balance of Terror. [/QUOTE] That didn’t bother me. He was about 12 in that scene, and, like most 12-years old, an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/835 "2009-05-26T19:08:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > My little sister feels that no Nimoy-less production can be Star Trek. Sir, you are employing a double negative. or not. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/836 "2009-05-26T19:49:44Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > My only comment is a question, and I hope it hasn’t already been brought up. Wasn’t that a 1966 Stingray that young Kirk was joyriding in? I was thinking that if it was, it was a nice nod to TOS debuting in 1966. Maybe it was a replica “kit” car? > [@control-z](#): > > Why did young Kirk try to outrun a “hoverbike” in a car? Heh. With all the police chase videos out there, I am convinced that the folks who run aren’t really thinking too objectively. “I KNOW I’ll be that one in a million that gets away from the 10 police cruisers, 3 motorcycle officers, and the air unit for backup!” ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/837 "2009-05-26T19:51:07Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Heh. With all the police chase videos out there, I am convinced that the folks who run aren’t really thinking too objectively. > > “I KNOW I’ll be that one in a million that gets away from the 10 police cruisers, 3 motorcycle officers, and the air unit for backup!” Of course you know they don’t show the videos where the person gets away. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/838 "2009-05-26T19:55:01Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Of course you know they don’t show the videos where the person gets away. I have no idea how to research that. What is the “loss” rate in law enforcement pursuits? ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/839 "2009-05-27T00:39:04Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Why did young Kirk try to outrun a “hoverbike” in a car? And what was with the police officer’s getup? What with the faceplate and overuse of “citizen,” I thought we were going in a slightly darker edge to the Federation. No dice. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2009, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640/840 "2009-05-27T04:35:17Z")
> [@athelas](#): > > And what was with the police officer’s getup? What with the faceplate and overuse of “citizen,” I thought we were going in a slightly darker edge to the Federation. No dice. At first I thought it was a robot (but they shouldn’t have those until Corby/Lore/Data). Then I thought it might be Spock Prime in a disguise. But no. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-i-saw-it-thread-spoilers/495640.md?page=43)