Old And New

[poliphilo]

Gene Roddenberry had a hell of a life before he got into TV. His dad was a cop. He flew bombers in the South Pacific,  was awarded the Distiinguished Flying Cross, worked for Pan-Am as a commercial pilot, then served with the LAPD for seven years.  Coming as he did from outside the loop, he had to throw a lot of scripts at the wall before one of them stuck.

J.J. Abrams is the son of TV producers. He got his first job in the movies at 16 and has been turning out product ever since.

And that- in brief-  is why Roddenberry's original Star Trek interests me a whole lot more than the Abrams' reboot. 

Comments

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Abrams' reboot is pretty awesome, though.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I'll probably watch it when it eventually turns up on TV.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I LOVED IT.

(Sorry to intrude. I just returned home from the movie and am still very happy with it. The special effects were wonderful, I thought, but the directing, writing, and acting were, too.)

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I had a look at the trailer and the guys just seemed so young. Whereas Kirk and Spock were at a more interesting age.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Good point. I just checked; Shatner and Nimoy (both born in 1931) were in their mid thirties when Star Trek first aired.

[sommeilbienivre.livejournal.com]

After seeing the movie, I completely agree with you. As a movie, the new Star Trek was very interesting, but as true Star Trek, it fell short. Abrams makes riveting "entertainment" but I mourn for the vision of Roddenberry.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Star Trek was always more than just entertainment. As you say, Roddenberry had vision.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I gave up on the films after they gave Data his emotion chip. You NEVER give any character the HOLY GRAIL they've been searching for all their flipping lives, FFS!

(OK the irony of Data's intense emotions being fixated on a chip that will help him experience something which he seems to have a lot of already will have to be bypassed as this is not my journal and we haven't all day :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I soldiered on. I watched DS9 until it lost it in its final season- and Voyager for a season or two. I even forced myself to sit through a few episodes of Enterprise in the forlorn belief that it had to get better.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Obama has requested a viewing at the White House.

He is my kind of President.

If only he would tell us about the UFOs now. Suppose he knows?

oooOOOOooo.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Didn't Jimmy Carter pledge to throw open the Government's UFO files and then renege?

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

I only liked the Next Generation series and films. None of the other series or films interest me, including the original. But I can remember suffering through, I mean tolerating watching the original series with my mother.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was a kid when the original series went out; I watched it with my parents- and can't help but think of it fondly. My son turned me on to TNG- and Jean-Luc remains my favourite captain. I discovered DS9 for myself; I think it had a really strong cast and I liked the story arc. Voyager I persevered with, even though it was mostly sub-par. Enterprise convinced me that the dream was finally over.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Capt. Picard. Actually, I love Patrick Stewart as an actor. He was excellent as Dr. Xavier in the X-Men movies, too. And off-topic, Ian McKellen is another actor I love, love, love.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

I came home from Star Trek today craving Picard, and I have the first season DVDs ready for tonight and the weekend!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I saw Stewart play Claudius in Hamlet last year. He was superb.

[elegysostenuto.livejournal.com]

I saw the movie last night. I thought the 'reboot' was forced at best.

There were only three things that were worthwhile. Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and the special effects.

It could have been named anything and be about anything and I would have enjoyed those.

I don't think it was worthy of the initial ideaology.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's it. The original Star Trek was all about ideas. That's what I want from my science fiction. If I crave explosions I'll watch The A Team.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Kate and I saw Star Trek today and LOVED it.

I was surprised.

The story was tightly plotted, well acted and directed, and the entire film done with humor and lightly--and with killer special effects.

I was amazed. I thought I'd find it amusing. Instead, I can't wait to go back and see it again.

When the old Spock showed up onscreen I got teary.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah well....

My friend Judy was at college with J.J. Abrams. She describes him as "an amusing, bratty, sarcastic little pischer".

Like most people of our generation I adore Leonard Nimoy.

[sunfell.livejournal.com]

I loved it- this is a different universe, but it works. And I've adored Spock since childhood, so I was relieved that the character was treated with respect and humor- as were the whole gang. I even liked Kirk, which I can say I've never done before- this iteration of Kirk has a lot of potential.

I can't wait for the next one. The writers clearly understood the story, and popped in more Easter Eggs than I could find.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've always admired what Shatner did with Kirk. He took this tired and tiresome stereotype- the all American fighter jock- and simply by being such a weird person himself twisted it into something weird and interesting.