# Worst parts of the "good" Star Trek films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152 "2015-03-16T22:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/21 "2015-03-17T21:57:38Z")
It helps explain the scene where she goes bopping into the turbolift with her hair down and starts cooing to Kirk and Bones. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/22 "2015-03-17T22:00:46Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > He didn’t take it from the military, he borrowed it from PlexiCorp. That was part of the deal McCoy and Scotty made with Marcus Nichols for the transparent aluminum molecule. Huh - I will have to re-watch it now - I don’t remember anything to indicate that scene took place at PlexiCorp, nor that there was any dialogue to explain that the Huey was part of the deal. ---
**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:** [March 17, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/23 "2015-03-17T22:08:20Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Huh - I will have to re-watch it now - I don’t remember anything to indicate that scene took place at PlexiCorp, nor that there was any dialogue to explain that the Huey was part of the deal. The three were together (Bones, Scotty, Sulu) when they saw the Yellow Pages sign while looking for a solution. Nothing _on screen_ indicates that they went to different places. While Bones and Scotty were inside, the quick cut to Sulu macking the helicopter guy seems to indicate they are in the same place. The way it is shown _on screen_ seems to indicate _to me_ that the three did not separate. However, nothing on screen indicates specifically that the three remained together either, so YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/24 "2015-03-17T22:17:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I hate that epi. I mean say you wanna have your assistant hand you the #2 wrench, so you have to say “Hansel & Gretel in the Forest” or some other fable?:dubious: Impossible, and a language couldn’t have evolved in the first place. Well, if your plan is to shove this week’s baddie into an oven - it’s quite apropos. I know what you mean, yet that episode is really great - perhaps just for the great acting of Patrick Stewart and Paul Winfield. Too bad they never followed up on how powerful those folks were - I mean Tamarians could zap the Captain from the bridge of his starship and stop anyone from doing anything about it? Similar to what the Kataans do, in Inner Light. Sorry OP, for thread-jacking. It’s hard to think of worst parts in the “good” Treks. One thing that has always bothered me is Chekov saying “Wessel”, but he does that in both good & bad 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/25 "2015-03-17T22:51:12Z")
In the Sulu helicopter scene, the people all around are wearing Plexicorp hardhats. (Just watched the scene on Netflix.) ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/26 "2015-03-17T22:55:45Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > In addition to deleting the part where they tell us Preston was Scotty’s nephew, IIRC it was also supposed to be part of Saavik’s backstory that she was _not_ a full-blooded Vulcan; she was supposed to be half-Romulan. (There was some elaborate story of how Spock had rescued her as a starving orphan from some refugee planet someplace, and of course as a half-Vulcan/half-\_\_\_\_\_ himself, he naturally sympathized with her plight and acted as her mentor in Federation society.) > > None of this made it into the movie, and the “half-Romulan” thing basically was dropped in Robin Curtis’ portrayal of the character in _Star Trek IV_. But it does serve as a possible explanation why Kirstie Alley at times seemed to be portraying the character as being rather emotional, albeit with emotions usually under tight control. Thanks ! I had no idea there was all this backstory…that never made it into the movie (would have been helpful). Saavik seemed pretty stone cold, unemotional during her Kobayashi Maru faux carnage (maybe she “knew” it was all for show anyway ?), and so she seemed to be “Vulcan” from the get-go. So the BBQ’ed Preston scene always bothered me. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/27 "2015-03-17T23:29:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Or maybe it’s just that she was _always_ a craptasic actress. I haven’t watched enough of Kirstie Alley’s work to judge her acting abilities, but I’ve never understood why she was placed in that role. (Can you imagine her in Robin Curtis’ scenes in TSfS?) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/28 "2015-03-17T23:55:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Actually they were quite willing to _share_. Not get kicked out. True. I’m sure the Ba’qu wouldn’t have minded people settling on the far side of the planet, just as long as they were left alone. > [@Morbo](#): > > Huh - I will have to re-watch it now - I don’t remember anything to indicate that scene took place at PlexiCorp, nor that there was any dialogue to explain that the Huey was part of the deal. I’ll admit to taking some of this from the novelization, but it makes sense: if you’re going to bargain away secrets from the future to get some big-ass sheets of plexiglass, wouldn’t you add, “And I need to haul it there - mind if we borrow your Huey? I know this guy…_great_ pilot.” ---
**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/29 "2015-03-18T00:09:36Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > In the Sulu helicopter scene, the people all around are wearing Plexicorp hardhats. (Just watched the scene on Netflix.) Interesting. I never caught that. Per [imdb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092007/trivia), he was originally intended to steal it. > [@](#): > > Sulu (George Takei) was supposed to leap into the Huey helicopter when the pilot was outside, looking the other way, and make off with it. Takei had just run the San Francisco marathon when they were supposed to shoot this scene, and was too sore to leap into the helicopter. They tried having a grip throw him in, but couldn’t get it to look realistic, so the scene was cut. In the final edit, Sulu is shown talking to the pilot, then shows up flying the helicopter a few minutes later. For me it works better to have the helicopter be part of the transparent aluminum deal. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/30 "2015-03-18T00:14:38Z")
_The Undiscovered Country_ would have been a lot better without the pink blood and the wacky hijinks regarding sneaking into Klingon space. ---
**Author:** ![TaoPilot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TaoPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaoPilot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/31 "2015-03-18T00:43:25Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > In addition to deleting the part where they tell us Preston was Scotty’s nephew, IIRC it was also supposed to be part of Saavik’s backstory that she was _not_ a full-blooded Vulcan; she was supposed to be half-Romulan. (There was some elaborate story of how Spock had rescued her as a starving orphan from some refugee planet someplace, and of course as a half-Vulcan/half-\_\_\_\_\_ himself, he naturally sympathized with her plight and acted as her mentor in Federation society.) > > None of this made it into the movie, and the “half-Romulan” thing basically was dropped in Robin Curtis’ portrayal of the character in _Star Trek IV_. But it does serve as a possible explanation why Kirstie Alley at times seemed to be portraying the character as being rather emotional, albeit with emotions usually under tight control. This is something that has always bothered me about Trek. Vulcans aren’t _genetically_ emotionless, it comes from their training. So why would being half Romulan make any difference? Even more so when they say Spock had a difficult time with being emotionless because he was half human. But then they always say that a non-trained Vulcan would have _stronger_ emotions that humans. Wouldn’t being half human give Spock an advantage? ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/32 "2015-03-18T01:29:01Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I hate that epi. I mean say you wanna have your assistant hand you the #2 wrench, so you have to say “Hansel & Gretel in the Forest” or some other fable?:dubious: Impossible, and a language couldn’t have evolved in the first place. The joke will be on you when we’re talking in Emojis in 30 years 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/33 "2015-03-18T01:31:43Z")
> [@TaoPilot](#): > > This is something that has always bothered me about Trek. Vulcans aren’t _genetically_ emotionless, it comes from their training. So why would being half Romulan make any difference? > > Even more so when they say Spock had a difficult time with being emotionless because he was half human. But then they always say that a non-trained Vulcan would have _stronger_ emotions that humans. Wouldn’t being half human give Spock an advantage? IIRC, it wasn’t so much her half-Romulan heritage, as that she grew up on a savage, uncivilized planet - like Tasha in Next Generation. I’m happy to be corrected, or to get some more details. The one that gets me the most is mentioned above - Uhura and the others doing a comedy routine sneaking into Klingon space in _Undiscovered Country_. Damnit, Uhura is an experienced Comm Officer; she would have known how to speak Klingon. ---
**Author:** ![TaoPilot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TaoPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaoPilot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/34 "2015-03-18T01:50:23Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > IIRC, it wasn’t so much her half-Romulan heritage, as that she grew up on a savage, uncivilized planet - like Tasha in Next Generation. I’m happy to be corrected, or to get some more details. So they could just make her a full Vulcan raised on a savage, uncivilized planet. It’s not like any Vulcans need half-whatever ancestry to show any emotions. Sybok was a full Vulcan who had emotions-- although now that I type that, I know STV is a ridiculous example… Surely there must have been some other examples in Trek. > [@](#): > > The one that gets me the most is mentioned above - Uhura and the others doing a comedy routine sneaking into Klingon space in _Undiscovered Country_. Damnit, Uhura is an experienced Comm Officer; she would have known how to speak Klingon. They could have at least used the computer to get the translation, and then speak that translation back to the Klingons, rather than spending the time tearing through the books. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/35 "2015-03-18T02:37:03Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The joke will be on you when we’re talking in Emojis in 30 years 🙂 😕:eek: :mad: ☹ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/36 "2015-03-18T14:51:31Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 😕:eek: > :mad: > ☹ > > 😛 We reach, brother! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/37 "2015-03-18T15:01:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I hate that epi. I mean say you wanna have your assistant hand you the #2 wrench, so you have to say “Hansel & Gretel in the Forest” or some other fable?:dubious: Impossible, and a language couldn’t have evolved in the first place. My fanwank is that “proper society” speak only in metaphor. Full sentences are for engineers and children. Outside of the bridge, and when not dealing with outsiders, they speak in full sentences. But it’s so ingrained that they can’t break the rule to save their lives. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/38 "2015-03-18T15:11:21Z")
Sorry for three in a row - I’m catching up on the overnight posts. > [@cormac262](#): > > Thanks ! I had no idea there was all this backstory…that never made it into the movie (would have been helpful). > > Saavik seemed pretty stone cold, unemotional during her Kobayashi Maru faux carnage (maybe she “knew” it was all for show anyway ?), and so she seemed to be “Vulcan” from the get-go. So the BBQ’ed Preston scene always bothered me. The way she said “damn” when she heard it was the Kobayashi Maru led me to think she knew what the test was (you’d think they’d change the name once in a while so the captains-in-training wouldn’t be alerted ahead of time, if it is a true “test of character. How we face death is at least as important as how we face life”. But if you KNOW going in what the test is, it’s not a true test of character.) > [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I haven’t watched enough of Kirstie Alley’s work to judge her acting abilities, but I’ve never understood why she was placed in that role. (Can you imagine her in Robin Curtis’ scenes in TSfS?) I thought Kirstie was awesome in the role. I thought Robin Curtis was a pale imitation, and I would have loved it if they’d kept her all the way through, all the way to her (rather than Valeris’) betrayal in The Undiscovered Country. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/39 "2015-03-18T15:17:57Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > _The Undiscovered Country_ would have been a lot better without the pink blood and the wacky hijinks regarding sneaking into Klingon space. I recall an interview where the producers said they had to make the blood purple to avoid a PG-13 rating. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152/40 "2015-03-18T18:30:56Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I mentioned this in the companion thread, but in WoK there’s no reason given why the Ceti eel chooses to slither out of Chekov’s ear and get vaporized by Kirk, rather than staying in Chekov’s head and killing him as it presumably would have anyone else. > > But what really bothered me about that movie? Spock’s coded message to Kirk after the first battle with Reliant is **so fucking obvious**. “If we went … _by the book_ … hours could seem like days.” And Khan the super-genius, listening to all of this with a satisfied smirk, has no idea he’s being conned? Khan is intelligent, but also arrogant, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-parts-of-the-good-star-trek-films/715152.md?page=3)