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The General Star Trek Thread of Earl Grey Tea, Baseball, and KHHHAAAANNNN

Season 2 of Enterprise has totally burned me out. It was "a long road getting from there to here" has never been so apt.

Season 3 worth it, or should I just skip to a choice selection of episodes and miss the finale?
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Season 2 of Enterprise has totally burned me out. It was "a long road getting from there to here" has never been so apt.

Season 3 worth it, or should I just skip to a choice selection of episodes and miss the finale?

it's worth it

Just skip Extinction, it's dumb and has nothing to do with anything.

Congratulations on making it through the worst part of the show, though. Kudos.
 

dan2026

Member
They have done episodes where the crew try to understand new species. TNG's fifth season ep "Darmok" most famously.

Darmok-And-Jalad-at-Tanagra-(Color).jpg
 

Fuchsdh

Member
That shirt reminds me of Paul Winfield, which reminds me of Wrath of Khan, and to me one of the few flaws (or not a flaw, but odd choice...) why the hell do Chekov and Terrell act so squirrely when Kirk and co. find them on Regula I? I can't remember what I thought the first time I watched it but if it was supposed to be a surprise they were still on Khan's side their lobotomized performances dissuade you from that notion.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
For anyone else playing the Star Trek Rivals iOS card game, feel free to add me on Gamecenter, same nick as here on GAF.

Alternatively, you can enter my friend code from the app I guess: KLMJJS

Looking for more opponents!
 

zoukka

Member
Watched "journey to babel" and it was definitely one of the best episodes so far. Nice pacing, interesting new characters and new info of old characters. Tension in all possible levels and the score was perfectly timed.

So awesome when you don't know which episodes are the good ones and they just blow you away.
 
Okay, I've watched several more episodes of TOS since my last report. Here are two of them.

The Ultimate Computer - before he was The King of Cartoons, Dr. Daystrom invented a really cool computer that was so awesome, it would make starship captains obsolete. Good think Kirk was around to prove him wrong! Pretty cliche idea, but the execution and dialogue wasn't too bad. I could've done without ANOTHER episode where Kirk beats a computer by asking it illogical questions and making it explode.

Assignment Earth was meant to be a pilot for a new show because at the end of season 2, he figured Star Trek was cancelled anyway. So for the last episode, he made the modern-day adventures of Gary Seven, his teenage sidekick Terri Garr, his sexy black cat who occasionally turns into an exotic adult woman and his wisecracking computer. To keep it very loosely tied to Star Trek, Kirk and the gang go back in time to follow him around in trench coats. Gary Seven DIDN'T get his own show, as it turned out, because he and his premise are a load of shit! He was clearly meant to be a suave spy, kind of a sci-fi shaded Our Man Flint. But he wasn't cool or charming at all, and his premise was really hard to follow. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty lousy episode to end the second season with.

Speaking of lousy episodes, next up was Spock's Brain...
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Okay, I've watched several more episodes of TOS since my last report. Here are two of them.

The Ultimate Computer - before he was The King of Cartoons, Dr. Daystrom invented a really cool computer that was so awesome, it would make starship captains obsolete. Good think Kirk was around to prove him wrong! Pretty cliche idea, but the execution and dialogue wasn't too bad. I could've done without ANOTHER episode where Kirk beats a computer by asking it illogical questions and making it explode.

I dunno how far you've gone through TOS, but spoilers: that happens a lot more.
 

maharg

idspispopd
I dunno how far you've gone through TOS, but spoilers: that happens a lot more.

I think it's my favourite TOS trope. Talking things to death is Kirk's specialty. Usually after hitting them on the neck with his fists clenched together didn't do the trick.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I think it's my favourite TOS trope. Talking things to death is Kirk's specialty. Usually after hitting them on the neck with his fists clenched together didn't do the trick.

Yeah, it's kind of lovable to me, especially in "I, Mudd", where the poor android goes batshit because he can't figure out why the crew of the Enterprise are acting so bizarre. It's definitely kooky in that 60's way, yet it still has a purpose to serve in the plot and it's really not acting out of character.

I think it's also just emblematic of that era's ambivalence about computers. Ultimately the theme they kept coming back to is "garbage in, garbage out", but it still holds true, and I think that's why they've aged fairly well.
 

TheExodu5

Banned
Season 2 of Enterprise has totally burned me out. It was "a long road getting from there to here" has never been so apt.

Season 3 worth it, or should I just skip to a choice selection of episodes and miss the finale?

Season 3 and 4 of Enterprise are some of the best Star Trek there is. Make sure to watch the last episode of Season 2 before you start season 3.
 

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
Season 3 and 4 of Enterprise are some of the best Star Trek there is. Make sure to watch the last episode of Season 2 before you start season 3.
What Exodu5 said.

I loved the Xindi story arc in season 3. One of my favorites out of all Star Trek.
 
My problems with the Xindi arc weren't even with the arc itself, necessarily, but the stupid Temporal Cold War nonsense they kept shoving in it.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of this, mainly as it never goes anywhere. It's like ever 15th episode they mention it off hand then leave it for another 15 episodes.
 
Just got this in the post. :D

IMG_20130528_145515.jpg


Pretty good value considering I didn't have any of the original movies on DVD or blu-ray (due to various circumstances). Now I have all of them for 13 bucks a pop.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Just got this in the post. :D

IMG_20130528_145515.jpg


Pretty good value considering I didn't have any of the original movies on DVD or blu-ray (due to various circumstances). Now I have all of them for 13 bucks a pop.

Better packaging than the original Blu Rays too.


I just found out that Star Trek: Of Gods and Men exists.

How on earth did this come together? I'm about to watch it, have any of you seen it?

I couldn't get through it. I'm hyper-allergic to most fan films. Sure, this was directed by Tim Russ, has better production than most, but it's still a fan film. Know that going in.
 

Darkmakaimura

Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
My problems with the Xindi arc weren't even with the arc itself, necessarily, but the stupid Temporal Cold War nonsense they kept shoving in it.
I never knew the TCW was never resolved until recently catching up on Enterprise. We never get to find out who Future Guy is
although from what I read, it was intended to be Archer in the future for some reason or another.
Overall, I didn't mind the TWC except for the fact it never was concluded but it wouldn't have been necessary for the Xindi arc anyways and they could have pulled it off without the TWC.
 

firehawk12

Subete no aware
This talk of the TCW reminds me that they tried to get Shatner on Enterprise, but to play someone who had to impersonate Kirk and not Kirk himself.

At this point, that sounds so much better than Into Darkness. lol
 

GungHo

Single-handedly caused Exxon-Mobil to sue FOX, start World War 3
I never knew the TCW was never resolved until recently catching up on Enterprise. We never get to find out who Future Guy is
although from what I read, it was intended to be Archer in the future for some reason or another.
I honestly think that Braga was just making shit up and trying to spoil the well since the franchise was taken away from him and it's clearly doing fine without him. I'm far more inclined to believe Berman's account that Doctor Claw was never given a "true identity".
 
Not sure, mine's the region B version.

It only has the theatrical versions though, so could be better.

Seen TMP and TWoK so far and planning to watch one every night. It'll be the first time I've ever attempted to watch them all back to back.

First reaction so far: I've always known how much Khan recycles from TMP, but damn it really sticks out when you see them so close to each other. I expect to have the same reaction to a few of the movies.
 
Man it got quiet in here. :(

Just finished The Final Frontier. Does it deserve all the negativity? I dunno, it's not a great film by any stretch, but it's still mildly watchable. The music is great though, one of the better soundtracks of the series. And William Shatner's daughter is cute...

The special effects have to be the worst... they look comically bad compared to even TMP. The Enterprise looks like a cartoon cutout most of the time. And why the fuck are its torpedoes green all of a sudden? At least the Bird of Prey looks good.

Five down, five to go...
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Man it got quiet in here. :(

Just finished The Final Frontier. Does it deserve all the negativity? I dunno, it's not a great film by any stretch, but it's still mildly watchable. The music is great though, one of the better soundtracks of the series. And William Shatner's daughter is cute...

The special effects have to be the worst... they look comically bad compared to even TMP. The Enterprise looks like a cartoon cutout most of the time. And why the fuck are its torpedoes green all of a sudden? At least the Bird of Prey looks good.

Five down, five to go...

Well, had Shatner got his way the film would at least have had more bombast. I think it's kind of hard to separate his capabilities as a director from the obstacles that would have screwed with any director--from the Writers Guild Strike to teamsters blowing up their vehicles (no, really.) From all accounts the original idea was also a bit more serious, which would have saved us the horrifying Scotty/Uhura stuff.

There's some decent fan clips where they replace the CG, and it does make a good bit of difference. That said, I actually really like the effects for the Great Barrier.
 
Man it got quiet in here. :(

Just finished The Final Frontier. Does it deserve all the negativity? I dunno, it's not a great film by any stretch, but it's still mildly watchable. The music is great though, one of the better soundtracks of the series. And William Shatner's daughter is cute...

The special effects have to be the worst... they look comically bad compared to even TMP. The Enterprise looks like a cartoon cutout most of the time. And why the fuck are its torpedoes green all of a sudden? At least the Bird of Prey looks good.

Five down, five to go...

The stop motion effects with the Bird of Prey were terrible. The ship itself looked good. The camping scene in the beginning was the best part of the movie...
 
Well, had Shatner got his way the film would at least have had more bombast. I think it's kind of hard to separate his capabilities as a director from the obstacles that would have screwed with any director--from the Writers Guild Strike to teamsters blowing up their vehicles (no, really.) From all accounts the original idea was also a bit more serious, which would have saved us the horrifying Scotty/Uhura stuff.

There's some decent fan clips where they replace the CG, and it does make a good bit of difference. That said, I actually really like the effects for the Great Barrier.

Yeah the Great Barrier wasn't too bad. The music's amazing though, really helps that scene. It's a shame they didn't try to recreate some of the real galactic centre though, chock full of stars and black holes.

The stop motion effects with the Bird of Prey were terrible. The ship itself looked good. The camping scene in the beginning was the best part of the movie...

The stop motion was pretty funny. At least it made sense if the BoP needed to shoot something right in front of it. And yeah the camp scene was one of the better moments. There's so many memorable lines throughout.

"If you ask me - and you haven't - I think this is a terrible idea. We're bound to bump into the Klingons and they don't exactly like you."
"The feeling's mutual."

And look what I ran into in Star Trek Online the other day.

GameClient+2013-05-31+22-49-32-52.jpg
 

Fuchsdh

Member
The stop motion effects with the Bird of Prey were terrible. The ship itself looked good. The camping scene in the beginning was the best part of the movie...

MARSHMELLONS?

The difference between Final Frontier and stuff like Insurrection and Nemesis is that I can still enjoy watching The Final Frontier. It might have serious flaws but it's fun to watch even if it's bad.
 

maharg

idspispopd
Man it got quiet in here. :(

Just finished The Final Frontier. Does it deserve all the negativity? I dunno, it's not a great film by any stretch, but it's still mildly watchable. The music is great though, one of the better soundtracks of the series. And William Shatner's daughter is cute...

The special effects have to be the worst... they look comically bad compared to even TMP. The Enterprise looks like a cartoon cutout most of the time. And why the fuck are its torpedoes green all of a sudden? At least the Bird of Prey looks good.

Five down, five to go...

I don't think TMP has any really bad SFX, tbh. It's actually quite a good looking movie for its time, costuming aside. It's just that it's trying to be 2001 and all it's really got behind that is a revamp of The Changeling (the TOS ep with Nomad)*.

I think other than 5, which was a shoestring budget, 3 had the worst effects overall. The crumbling of the Genesis planet in particular was very very bad. But it was more about overreaching with the tech they had at the time than anything.

* You know, now that I think about it, both the first two ST films were essentially revamps of TOS episodes.
 
I don't think TMP has any really bad SFX, tbh. It's actually quite a good looking movie for its time, costuming aside. It's just that it's trying to be 2001 and all it's really got behind that is a revamp of The Changeling (the TOS ep with Nomad)*.

I think other than 5, which was a shoestring budget, 3 had the worst effects overall. The crumbling of the Genesis planet in particular was very very bad. But it was more about overreaching with the tech they had at the time than anything.

* You know, now that I think about it, both the first two ST films were essentially revamps of TOS episodes.

Oh I think TMP looks great, I was just comparing FF to TMP's time (late 70s) rather than its quality. I was just reading about the guy they got to do the effects, and they all knew pretty much straight away it was going to be bad. Curse ILM for being busy!

The Genesis planet is definitely the low point of an otherwise fantastic movie. The effects up until that point were top notch; the Grissom, Excelsior, Spacedock, Bird of Prey, Enterprise blowing up. They all looked great.

And Christopher Lloyd speaking Klingon sounds amazing. It was pretty much the first time we saw "modern" Klingons (the ones in TMP didn't really do a lot). Lloyd didn't quite nail it, but he was damn close. Kruge is one of my favourite Klingons I think.
 
Best Klingon for me will probably always be Martok. Followed by Chang.

Mine would have to be Martok, Kruge, and Worf of course.

I really like the Romulan Republic default uniforms. I've added division colours to the undershirts, but otherwise the default is great.

Those are kinda my division colours, grey for science and yellow for command (my ops is a Reman, so she gets a special suit).
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
I just started watching Enterprise again for shits and giggles, and jesus Broken Bow is so goddamn boring. The characters are probably at their most dreadful here too.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I just started watching Enterprise again for shits and giggles, and jesus Broken Bow is so goddamn boring. The characters are probably at their most dreadful here too.
Can anyone point me to a Pilot episode of any series that doesn't feel somewhat cringe-worthy after you've seen the best a show can offer?
 

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Can anyone point me to a Pilot episode of any series that doesn't feel somewhat cringe-worthy after you've seen the best a show can offer?

Breaking Bad, Arrested Development, BSG, and Voyager's pilot was pretty good, too bad it was downhill from there.
 
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