From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: not@chance.dude   
   Subject: Re: Star Trek 2009, I saw it this week (spoilers if you haven't   
   seenit yet)   
      
   Wouter Valentijn wrote:   
   > Mind you, I already saw several trailers and read dozens of spoilers. It   
   > wasn't that new to me. :-)   
      
   Glad to see ya posting again, cutie!   
      
   > Some assumptions I made were wrong. I thought there would be only one age    
   > for Nero whilst another poster with whom I had a discussion about this said    
   > there were decades between. He was obviously right.  Advance Scout?  Those    
   > twelve hundred quatloos are transferred!   
      
   I have no idea WTF you're talking about - but that's okay, since the   
   movie will be in my mailbox next week, from Amazon.   
   >    
   > I consider this movie to be a totally alternate timeline, only a few levels   
   > more serious than 'In the Pirkering'.   
   > When did this timeline start to splice of? I think even before Nero showed   
   > up.   
      
   I think before Kirk and co. got halfway through the Academy.   
   >    
   > If you look at the scenes involving the Kelvin you see a vessel you would   
   > not think possible for that time period. Outwardly it is reminiscent of the   
   > classic (non-canon) destroyer / scout configuration of the Starfleet Tech   
   > manual of the '70's. But it seems a great deal bigger and more modern too.   
   > It had 800 people or more on board and scores of shuttlecraft! And what was   
   > a pregnant woman doing on board? Passenger? Was there an early experiment   
   > involving family on board starships before the days of Picard?   
      
   It was dumb enough with Voyager, so I was rather dismayed to see that again.   
   >    
   > If you think about altering the timeline of Kirk & Co.  it automatically   
   > involves changing everything they touched, not only in their regular time   
   > frame, but also in the times they will visit outside, in the past (or maybe    
   > not now in this case). The   
   > changes, how small or great they are, could start from the ice age of   
   > Sarpeidon to the mid '80's of the twentieth century.   
   > So, that might be a secondary effect of a timeline change from the moment   
   > the Narada entered the past, thus also effecting everything up to and    
   > including the construction of the Kelvin.   
   > It could be a cascade of changes. A ripple effect directly into the relative    
   > future, the natural way time flows, and indirectly the past because of the    
   > loops made by effected time travelers.   
      
   I like the way you think, kid.   
   >    
   > The Narada... Those miners seemed to be part of a different culture than the    
   > Romulans we know about thus far. Which can be explained by the fact that    
   > most of those had been either in the military or in politics.   
      
   Don't group the military with politicians! It's sacrilege! ;-)   
   >    
   > Nero himself was total nut case. He could have used a couple of lessons from    
   > Spock when he was younger.   
      
   I have to wonder how a fruit loop like him managed to get so many    
   followers.  Wait - that happens with politicians; nevermind.   
      
   > The moment he realized he was in the past he might have chosen to head for    
   > Romulus and/or slingshot back into the future in order to use the red matter    
   > sooner! Romulus would have been saved and he would not need to seek revenge.    
   > But then again, I doubt logic was his strong suit.   
      
   I doubt knowing what day it is would be his strong suit.   
   >    
   > The red matter was a curious find for this movie. We know Romulan Warbirds    
   > are powered by a singularity but I understand this Red Matter has a    
   > different origin. I did half and half expect Sidney Bristow to show up,    
   > stopping Nero. :-)   
      
   Heh, I didn't even catch that part - but I'll watch really carefully    
   when my DVD arrives.   
   >    
   > The heroes. Well, vehicular wise this was a very different Kirk. Not    
   > surprising since the focal point of the changes was his life. The same goes    
   > for most of the characters. Most close to the originals were Quinto as Spock    
   > (mostly because of his looks) and Urban as McCoy (almost too good a match).   
   > Really totally different were Chekov and Scott. The latter being borderline    
   > ADHD I think. And what was that short angry alien doing there? He reminded    
   > me of Zathras a bit.   
      
   Not his fault, but I know Urban too well from Xena, so I kept expecting    
   him to be called "Caesar" LOL.  As for his take on Bones, I thought he    
   overdid it a little, but was *way* better than Trinnear's Bones-esque    
   take on Enterprise.  I wish they'd done much more with the little alien    
   guy.  I thought Chekov (a real Russian, no less) was hilarious.   
   >    
   > Taking a few steps back, taking into account this is a totally alternate    
   > universe, I have some mixed feelings about the way the film was made. The    
   > first half seemed too loose and fast. Way too MTV. Maybe because it is aimed    
   > at a younger age group than mine. The second part of the movie, from Kirk's    
   > stay on that other Delta Vega was the better half.   
      
   Younger age group than yours?!  We talking Dora The Explorer?  Spongebob    
   Squarepants?   
   >    
   > As a whole it can be seen as a 'Collage Homage' to the classic series,    
   > mixing images and sound bites from Treks past into a story that is a bit    
   > shaky.   
      
   Which I thought was cool.   
      
   > I would have made two or three movies from that first half or so (up until    
   > the Vulcan distress call) and use those to flesh out Kirk's life in a more    
   > in depth manner.   
      
   Now, I *did not* like what they did with Vulcan.  Just didn't mesh.   
      
   > But I guess such a thing will never happen because that wouldn't be fast or    
   > MTV enough.   
      
   *shrug*   
      
   > Speaking of MTV, I think it was funny to hear 'The Beasty Boys'. As being an    
   > Abrams product I would expect to hear 'Drive Shaft'. :-) This however was a    
   > better choice.   
      
   I don't know Beastie Boys' stuff, so I didn't catch that.   
   >    
   > Bottom line: Do I regret getting this DVD (2 disc edition)? Nope! :-)   
   > Will it replace the originals? Never!   
      
   Of course not - and only those who are determined to hate it will think    
   it even *tries* to replace TOS.   
      
   > It starts as this sloppy homage to Trek's past and at the end it finishes    
   > relatively well.   
      
   Sounds like you enjoyed it a lot less than I did, but I think you're    
   fair in your assessments.   
      
   > Relatively because they were not able to save Amanda and Vulcan. But again    
   > since I consider those not to be 'our' Amanda and Vulcan, the loss isn't    
   > felt that strong.   
   >    
   >    
      
   Yeah, losing Amanda was a big mistake, IMO - just wasn't any real point    
   to it.  We know damned well Spock isn't going to implode (at least not    
   publicly) so the dramatic effect was wanting.  Sarek reacted with more    
   emotion than Spock, which *was* interesting, but not worth losing the    
   character of Amanda.   
      
   Natalie   
   --    
   "Wicked little doll, you have no soul"   
   (David Byrne, 1997)   
   http://www.supernaturalusa.net   
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