I agree. They would have had a far better startoff to the movies if they’d just skipped ST:TMP, and went straight to The Wrath of Khan. Hell, the could have skipped The Voyage Home (aka ‘the whale one’) and The Final Frontier too, although The Undiscovered Country was pretty decent. Still sends chills up my spine when I think of Christopher Plummer quoting Shakespeare.
For me, though, the first three Star Wars movies were bad due to Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christiansen. I think the plots were reasonable, but if they’d only re-cast Anakin Skywalker to someone who could have better demonstrated some on-screen chemistry with Natalie Portman, I think those would have been far better movies.
Shifting gears, I really appreciate Tom Clancy’s movies, Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, but I think The Sum of All Fears could also have been re-cast with someone better than Ben Affleck. He was just too . . . “excitable” to carry the thoughtful gravity of Jack Ryan that Baldwin and Ford brought to the role. Shadow Recruit was two hours of my life I’ll never get back, but I am looking forward to Without Remorse.
I would happily and willingly crowdsource my entire personal fortune and left giggleberry if they ever got serious about filming Red Storm Rising.
Tripler
Mike Edwards: “But I’m just a weatherman, Sir.”