What Did You Think Of Star Trek? (Spoiler Discussion)
May 8, 2009 by Vic HoltremanNeed a place to talk about the Star Trek movie, including spoilers? Come on in…
Regular Screen Rant reader “790″ suggested I set up a discussion post for the Star Trek movie, where people can feel free to talk about all aspects of the film without having to worry about spoiling it for others. I had meant to set one of these up for Wolverine but just never got around to it.
Considering how popular I think Star Trek will be (moreso than Wolvie), I thought it might be a good idea to get this set up ASAP. 
So discuss the film below to your heart’s content!
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@Katherine
As an English graduate, I’d caution against the use of superlatives in writing whenever possible. Not “all” creatures of the sea seek to kill you.
However, if I had commanded even half of your skill with English at your age, I’d own Merriam-Webster by now. If you value your sanity, you won’t follow in my footsteps, because suddenly you notice whenever anyone ends a sentence in a preposition or has a dangling particple. *sigh*
I’m a doctor and a grammarian!
-Doc
@Whoever’s in charge of modding
$ociali$t is not an evil word!
@John
Hopefully my posts regarding the idea of Ennay will come up eventually, but I’m feeling a little too tired to write it out for a third time.
About Phantom of the Opera:
I’m pretty sure that uy was hired specifically because he’d neer had any vocal training. Considerring that, he didn’t do too badly. I’ve heard worse on the radio.
@Family
G’night (again). I’ll catch up with you all tomorrow or monday, depending on how much time I spend with my real family tomorrow.
@ Ken J, RE your last three posts:
Welllllll, YOU’RE a little freaking ray of sunshine!
Aren’t you?
Hahahaha, no offense pal, but I have a feeling you wouldn’t like Earth of the 23rd Century, in ‘Ennay’ or anywhere else, from what I’ve heard of the Star Trek universe!
But you never know. There’s a lot to what you’re saying, I just hope our Spock gets us out of it…Keep the faith, that’s what’s helped me over the years – Star Trek.
Really. We WILL get out of this. We WILL survive. And prevail.
We have to. The universe is waiting.
JOHN
@Ken J
A world where everyone is taken care of, provided for, and receives healthcare. I’ll gladly give up my obscene salary (or it will be once I pay off all of those medical school loans) for the knowledge that everyone is guaranteed an education and healthcare. I don’t advocate for or agree with the tenents of Communism, but I also don’t believe we have a perfect society, either. We strive to form “a more perfect Union” and we will invariably have steps forward (like ST I-IV, VI) and backward (ST V).
I’m also a doctor and not a politician. (And no, Giovannio, I can’t resist!)
-Doc
@ Steve
I didn’t say that all creatures of the sea are designed to people you, Dylan Moran did, lol.
And don’t worry about my sanity, I lost that a long time ago. It pains me ever so much to be a teenager.. So many of my friends talk in text speech and they don’t use grammar AT ALL. It drives me crazy some days *shakes head*
@John
LOL, I probably wouldn’t, you’re right!
Like how there’s no “money” anymore? I’ve always wondered that, without a monetary system, how do people decide what people get? And if everyone gets equal things, then why would ANYONE be stupid enough to get a job? Where’s the incentive? I’d rather sit on my butt all day, and in real life, so would everyone else, if there’s no incentive to work, it’s a stupid naive concept.
@Vee
I agree, $ociali$m isn’t an evil word, it’s just a stupid and naive economic model that doesn’t work here in the real world.
@ Steve:
AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Point taken. I stand humbly corrected!
F’Chrissakes, HOW DID I E-V-E-R MISS THAT ONE????
You are the Doc, Doc.
@ Katherine:
Steve is right on the money, YOU guys should take him back!!!
Please!
Giovanni-O
@Ken J
I don’t want to start a rant (no pun intended) or even imply I’m attacking your view, but as a counterpoint, I’ve worked weeks where my hours were over 80 during my residency, and if you count K-12 education, I had 28 years of education, twelve of which were free. I was very lucky in that I qualified for LOANS to pay for it. Asking for a handout is not a shameful act if you truly need it, abusing the system is where the shame may be found.
The answer, of course, may be found in Star Trek. As soon as someone creates the replicator, all of the gluttons will do nothing but create bon bons, brats, beer, and chocolate, and they’ll cease to be a problem when they can no longer be rolled out their doors.
One condition for which I have very little pity is morbid obesity. We really do mean it when we say that a healthy diet and exercise are the best preventitive medicine!
@Vee
Logically, why would you hire someone without vocal training to star in a musical? I’m just askin’
G’night.
-Doc
@ John
Lol, he’s yours now. Good luck.
ps; I just realised I made a typo in a previous comment D;
I didn’t say that all creatures of the sea are designed to eat* you, Dylan Moran did, lol.
@Ken J
The absence of money can demonstrate who the real workers are from those who find monetary reward as the primary means to satisfaction. And the Federation uses “Credits” which is an ambiguous term, but if you follow Pavlov’s heirarchy, in the world of Star Trek, all of our basic needs are met (except perhaps love, but the physican shelter and food components are there) which allow us to seek the higher tiers. I don’t know if that’s how things would turn out, and McCoy certainly has a classic line in this movie (wow, I’m already calling lines “classic” in a movie that’s less than 10-days old!) when he says his ex-wife took “the whole damn planet…all I got left is my bones.” Clearly there’s some form of currency going on, and clearly McCoy “lost” a lot. But I suspect he still has housing and food.
@ Ken J:
“Like how there’s no “money” anymore? I’ve always wondered that, without a monetary system, how do people decide what people get? And if everyone gets equal things, then why would ANYONE be stupid enough to get a job? Where’s the incentive? I’d rather sit on my butt all day, and in real life, so would everyone else, if there’s no incentive to work, it’s a stupid naive concept.”
Well, there’s always gold-pressed latinum & the Ferengi Consortium, my friend!
Have you familiarized yourself with the 288 Rules of Acquisition???
Hahaha, check ‘em out, the yin & yang of commerce, even in the 24th Century!
To wit:
http://projectsanctuary.com/main/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=40
If nuthin’ else, they’re good for a laugh!!! Enjoy.
God bless, my friend,
JOHN
@ Johnny-O
One of the functions of a physician is to present patients with facts and allow them to draw their own conclusions. While I am by no means a specialist in psychiatry, I know enough that attacking superlatives is a lot of fun
Con Amore, Fratello.
-Doc
@ Katherine
Points to you for catching a typo I missed! I blame it on the fact that I’m a year older now, and suffering from addled brains.
-Doc
Rule of Acquisition #80: If it works, sell it. If it works well, sell it for more. If it doesn’t work, quadruple the price and sell it as an antique.
Words of wisdom, right there.
@Johhny-O
Forget not ye Kevas and Trillium! And doesn’t Kirk have to pay “top credit” for dilithium in Mudd’s Women? I’m just askin’, because my mind it too tired to recall.
I’m a very tired doctor, and nothing else.
(60 posts in two and a half hours to read… geez, people! Seriously, it’s so nice to find people with differing opinions who (generally) agree on a love of this movie. The unifying power of Star Trek. Maybe I’ll write an article for JAMA on the subject.
@ Steve
Ah, but points off me for making the typo in the first place…
I guess I can claim that I’m having a teenage moment (my mum says that teenagers get spaced out and forgetful and hey I’ll take any excuse!)
@Steve, yah, and a world without crime, hunger, sadness, rainy days, belly aches, heart breaks…
The fact is, it is already illegal to turn someone away at a hospital for a lack of ability to pay. So technically speaking healthcare is already available for everyone. The only difference between our current system and a “universal” system is how the money is collected. Now, the people who work hard for their money, like you and I, have to pick up the bill for all of the lazy bums that don’t work when we require medical attention. In a “universal” system, EVERYONE who works hard for their money is required to pick up the bill for EVERYONE regardless of if we make use of the medical system ourselves. I haven’t checked myself into a hospital in the last 10 years or more. And I don’t plan to unless my life hung on the balance. It would be completely unfair for me to be paying for everyone for the last 10 years if I never go.
Heck, I ALREADY think the current system is unfair that people who work have to pay while bums can come to the hospital every day and baker act themselves by claiming to be suicidal so they can have a free shower, free meals, and a free bed to sleep in. I work at a hospital, I see these “regulars” all the time and it makes me sick.
In an ideal world, everyone will have top notch health care, but where would this money magically come from? If you run a restaurant, you can make your food expensive or cheap, if it’s cheaper you get more people than if it’s expensive, but it’s still not going to be crazy. Now make that food free, now even people who don’t technically NEED food, will go. Heck, hungry or not, if I see someone giving away food, you KNOW I’ll be there… Same will happen in healthcare. Our hospitals will become like the DMV. Now traffic will increase, so where is the money to pay for the extra staff and medical supplies going to come from? That’s right, us. And no matter how much they tax us, it’ll NEVER be enough to go around in the same quality/price ratio as we have today. so basically, they’ll have to decrease salaries for everyone, including doctors, to be able to afford to hire in the quantities they need. Now, to become a doctor, you need what, 12 years of additional schooling over others?? Now who in their right mind will want to put themselves through all of that trouble if they know they will be making less money than an overpaid factory worker that’s part of a union.
Isn’t that some crap, these same people want to increase the salaries of people with no education while wanting to decrease salaries of doctors with PhD’s. Now you tell me if this makes ANY sense to you. It’s like those idiots that think interest rates should be lowered for people with bad credit scores to “help” them. Then where’s my incentive to make my payments in time to keep my credit score up???
OK, I realize I’m ranting again, Steve, I believe this, you believe that, I guess it’s ok to accept that we have differing opinions. I understand where you’re coming from, I just don’t agree with it.
Sorry all, lol.
@Katherine
It’s all good. On a previous point, I’m all excited to see Phantom again in tweo weeks. I also caught the “Broadway Tour” of Rent last month. Not sure if you’re a fan of that or not. Being a season-ticket holder grants me the luxury of catching most shows. Being a doctor means I have to find someone to cover almost every shift because our chief of staff never seems to find my requests for time off even though I put them in months ahead of the shows.
Be an actor… maybe you’ll get the part of Chapel for the next movie
If you miss that one, I’m sure you could try for Joanna McCoy – they’ve got to canonize her at some point. (If you don’t know who she is, I’m certain a Google search will reveal all. Then we’d really have a Star Trek bond.)
@Johnny, I can’t go there on this computer, I’m at work and it’s blocked, lol. But reading the one Katherine quoted, that’s some funny stuff right there, I need to read that when I get home.
@Steve
Sorry to have to say this, but I can’t not say anything, I absolutely, with every molecule of my body, HATE Rent. It embodies all of the things I am against. A bunch of drug using bums living in an apartment FOR FREE FOR A YEAR complaining that they are not allowed to live there for free indefinitely…
Then when a guy actually decides to work at a job, they consider that “selling his soul.” And when they do get money, they spend it on booze, and then their “solution” at the end is to steal money from ATM’s…
How about APPRECIATING the fact that you were allowed to live there for a year for free in the first place! Most people have to PAY for their rent, or be evicted after 3 months of missing their rent! And if you want to pay for it, how about WORKING for it??
And I love how the ONLY main character in the movie that does not have AIDS and isn’t gay is the ONLY character that never finds love in the entire play/movie. Is that like their own twisted moral of the story???
And lastly, the music wasn’t even that good…
LOL, ok, that’s my opinion on the play, I know a lot of people liked it, but oh man, it got on my nerves, haha. Sorry Steve, that’s just my opinion, I’m sure there are plenty of things I like that you hate, but it’s ok, we all have our own opinions.
Have you seen Team America? They had the funniest spoof of Rent in the beginning… Maybe you wouldn’t appreciate it as much as I did though, haha.
@Ken J
“Isn’t that some crap, these same people want to increase the salaries of people with no education while wanting to decrease salaries of doctors with PhD’s.”
Perhaps, but just for the record, not all doctors have PhDs. At least not all Medical Doctors. The M.D. is a terminal degree, as is the PhD. Some have both, but one lets you practice medicine while the other lets you practice talking.
“Now you tell me if this makes ANY sense to you. ”
-It does.
“It’s like those idiots that think interest rates should be lowered for people with bad credit scores to ['help'] them.”
It does help them; it just doesn’t also help me. I think banks make plenty of money. I make plenty of money, too. But I fight the bank if they try and slip little charges on my account under the guide of maintenance fees. One thing I have that poor people do not is that banks want my business as I’m a low risk. I don’t like class warfare.
“Then where’s my incentive to make my payments in time to keep my credit score up?”
For me it’s a personal desire to have good credit. I don’t care what other people do with their credit. Lowering interest rates does not increase access to credit. It’s like the banks trying to justify $30+ (US) for an overdraft fee. We live in the twenty-first century. Can anyone tell me how it costs a bank $30 to deny an electronic transaction for insufficient funds? They do it because they can then sock the poor people with even more fines. They make billions (US, not UK) of dollars on these charges each year. To think I thought it was usury when the charges were $10, and that actually involved paper checks!
“OK, I realize I’m ranting again, Steve, I believe this, you believe that, I guess it’s ok to accept that we have differing opinions. I understand where you’re coming from, I just don’t agree with it.”
Amen. Although I suspect we actually agree on more than we disagree. I don’t dispute most of the fundamentals in your position, just the consequences. As a white male, I enjoy many things that many minorities do not. I went shopping with a friend of Indian decent, and he warned me we would be scrutinized by theft-prevention personnel because he was with me. I scoffed at him, but he was absolutely right.
And lastly, to be clear to the non-medical people, hospitals are not required to accept all patients. They cannot turn away a patient who is in imminent peril to life or limb, but they are not required to admit or treat patients simply because they present. I don’t expect (nor wish) for you to agree with me on everything; IDIC, as Spock would say. But taking the Hippocratic Oath really does change you, in ways I never could have anticipated. Primum No Nocere is really the essence of every (good) physician. McCoy was the gold standard of this, in my humble opinion.
I’ve watched Star Trek since I was little, it’s ENTERTAINING, that’s what TV and movies are supposed to be!! Movies are supposed to transport you into another world and let you ESCAPE reality for a little while. You are supposed to get caught up in the story and identify with the characters. I feel sorry for the people who disliked the movie because of the number of people on the 1st ship, the design of Nero’s ship, the lens flares, Spock’s romance, etc. Lighten up!!! I gave us a glance at the characters before they were Starfleet Elite, and I for one, was ENTERTAINED!!!
@ Ken J
No worries on RENT. I didn’t like it at first, either. Knowing people with HIV/AIDS (and treating them, too) changes your perspective on a lot of things. I’ll make the following statement in a sworn affidavit: I’ll watch RENT 10,000 times over 10 recordings of Gerard Butler in Phantom.
And finally, my question was for Katherine, our resident music ingenue. Your opinion is noted, but hers is the one that intrigues me. However, did you ever see Miss Saigon, Ken? I wasn’t even born, much less a part of the Vietnam War… but that was a moving show.
@ Katherine, feel free to comment on almost any Broadway play of the last 25 years and I’ve probably seen it. I also have tickets to the local Chamber Orchestra, but usually give those tickets away. I love music, and believe it helps patients heal faster, but while I support the arts, my ability to do so is contingent upon my ability to work, and they always want me to go see this show or that show. Thankfully I have many friends in music who are more than happy to utilize my membership.
G’night all.
-Doc
@ Gino
I couldn’t have said it better myself, and certainly not in as few words. Bravo!
@ Steve:
You just said something that made me wonder, is there a connection between the Rennaissance and the Trek Universe?
Think about it, a better lifestyle for all meant more time for people to embrace and pursue the Arts & Sciences, correct?
Was Zefram Cochrane’s flight of his Phoneix Warpship the beginning of a new Rennaissance?
This is what Deanna Troi said to him in ST-VI (okay, I know you didn’t like it but I thought it was a great movie), and it makes sense.
Sometimes, all it takes to make people believe in hope for the future is the prospect of discovery and new frontiers, isn’t that what this is really all about?
Like the promise of a New World? Just like last time???
…Oh, and By The Way, STEEEEVE….
Please go back & re-read my post about Nancy Cramer, I am certain that was ‘The Unreal McCoy’, not ‘The Man Trap’ – that was the one about Janet Leslie, who complained about Starfleet’s antiquated policy on female senior officer promotions to captain, and traded places with Kirk’s body with some kind of alien soul-switching device (I…THINK, may be wrong about that) – and I would bet your paycheck on it (he who gets mine gets trash, for all you Shakespearians out there!), hahaha!
And I NEVER said Hikaru Sulu was gay, I said the FIRST Sulu was (George Takei), and if you ask me, even though I like girls (and always will), I agree whole heartedly that Star Trek should have a gay, or at least bi-, character.
They came pretty close, a couple of times, with Dr Crusher’s Trill lover (who wound up inside a woman’s body); another time on DS9, Jadzia Dax had a similar gender-switch, and that time, the two (now both female) actually kissed.
I would just like to see it because, let’s face it, it’s OUR final frontier of civil rights. Proposition 8? Puh-lease!!!
And yes, I am a faithful fan of Rachel Maddow, and I LOVE Ellen (esp her partner, Portia de Rossi, Mrooooowww!).
But I digress, lol!
JOHN
@ Gino:
“I’ve watched Star Trek since I was little, it’s ENTERTAINING, that’s what TV and movies are supposed to be!! Movies are supposed to transport you into another world and let you ESCAPE reality for a little while. You are supposed to get caught up in the story and identify with the characters. I feel sorry for the people who disliked the movie because of the number of people on the 1st ship, the design of Nero’s ship, the lens flares, Spock’s romance, etc. Lighten up!!! I gave us a glance at the characters before they were Starfleet Elite, and I for one, was ENTERTAINED!!!”
Amen. You are a wise, wise man, my friend.
@ All: What he HE said!
JOHN
@ Steve, Ken, & Katherine 9our ‘engenue’ – Ilike that!):
Not to start a fight, but did anybody else here like Le Mis?
I liked the movie, starring Liam Neeson – okay, it wasn’t a musical, but still -
JOHN
@Steve
“Perhaps, but just for the record, not all doctors have PhDs. At least not all Medical Doctors. The M.D. is a terminal degree, as is the PhD. Some have both, but one lets you practice medicine while the other lets you practice talking.”
LOL, call me an idiot, I didn’t know the difference, I thought that level of education was called PhD for everyone, regardless of the area of interest. Doh!
“One thing I have that poor people do not is that banks want my business as I’m a low risk. I don’t like class warfare.”
Yet isn’t it class warfare to want to tax people with higher salaries to supplement people with lower salaries or no salaries?
And what you say about low risk is exactly the point. They know you’ll actually pay them back, that’s why they’re more willing to lend money to people with good credit. Seriously, if someone asked YOU to borrow $100, and you were intent on getting it back, would you be more willing to lend it to someone who has borrowed money before and always paid back the money, or someone who has a history of taking people’s money, then claiming to not have money when it came time to give it back? It’s just logic and business, nobody wants to get into the banking business to give money away, they do it to earn a profit, it’s not evil, it’s called making a living.
“For me it’s a personal desire to have good credit. I don’t care what other people do with their credit. Lowering interest rates does not increase access to credit. It’s like the banks trying to justify $30+ (US) for an overdraft fee. We live in the twenty-first century. Can anyone tell me how it costs a bank $30 to deny an electronic transaction for insufficient funds?”
Well unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world and people don’t work for a good credit score just so they can write home to their mothers about what high number they have. If we all know that you get lower interest rates (as “help”) for a lower score, damn right I’m going to miss my payments and get a lower score. I have to work pretty hard to make all of my payments, and I appreciate when they lower my interest because of my punctuality in paying. If they rewarded lateness, I won’t have to work so hard to make them on time.
And the overdraft fee, it’s not that they don’t have the technology to do it, but it’s a punishment for people who are giving out checks to pay for stuff when they know they have low or no funds. I never spend more than I know I have, I should be rewarded for that, it’s irresponsible for someone to keep spending when they’re low on money, too bad for them, I completely believe in punishing them, maybe they will learn not to keep doing that. I am a landlord of a property, and I’ve received a bounced check from my tennant before. But you know my mortgage company doesn’t have any sympathy, I had to pay my mortgage on time anyway, despite me not having any money from rent that month. You’re damn right I charged him a fee for that bounced check…
“As a white male, I enjoy many things that many minorities do not. I went shopping with a friend of Indian decent, and he warned me we would be scrutinized by theft-prevention personnel because he was with me. I scoffed at him, but he was absolutely right.”
Well, if they actually want to be efficient at their jobs, it’s better not to be reactive to situations. Being politically correct only results in one thing, nuns being searched at airports, lol. Profiling might be politically incorrect, but sorry to say, it works. If a dog is constantly digging up plants in your garden, it’ll be pretty stupid of you to be looking for cats. Like targetting younger people as suspected shoplifters. Hey, it’s true, most shoplifters are young, what can they say, they’re not inventing these generalizations, the statistics don’t lie.
“And lastly, to be clear to the non-medical people, hospitals are not required to accept all patients. They cannot turn away a patient who is in imminent peril to life or limb, but they are not required to admit or treat patients simply because they present”
I know that, but if their life is not in peril, then they don’t NEED to be seen in a hospital, especially if they say upfront they’re not going to pay for it. I’ve gone to work with a stomach virus, I’ve gone to work with a 101-102 degree fever, I don’t ever check myself into a hospital because I “feel sick.” The only way I’m checking myself in is if my freakin arm or leg is broken, or if I’m about to die, lol.
But what these bums do all the time, is they come into the hospital claiming to have some crazy symptoms that sound potentially deadly, then they claim they want to commit suicide so even after they discover there’s nothing wrong with them, they have to baker act them so they end up staying until they are cleared of being a suicide risk. They do this on like a weekly basis, I see the same faces all the time…