STAR TREK: Deep Space Whine - The Official Thread

[Heineken Skywalker]

Are you a Trekkie or a Trekker? Can you explain the difference? Do you own your own Starfleet uniform? Ever worn Spock ears?
Which series epitomizes "Star Trek" for you and why? Do you thrill to the adventures of the womanizing Kirk and his crew? Do you prefer the adventures of the better acting, but more cerebral crew of "TNG"? Set weapons on "fun" and feel free to discuss anything "STAR TREK" related here. Got a tidbit or rumour? We wanna hear it. Got a "STAR TREK" related opinion or complaint? Let us know. We don't work for Paramount, so we can't help, but it's nice to vent, huh?

[Bartwald]

Ooooh, I can feel Spacer's gonna be glad such a thread was created (a pity he's unavailable at the moment...) - I could never understand his love for those little films, but I think it ain't faded yet.

As for myself...

[Heineken Skywalker]

Well, make sure you vote in the poll anyway. We want the good, the bad & the ugly. Right?

[Bartwald]

Yes, yes, I gladly would participate in the poll - it's just that I don't even recognise all of those series! I can't even say I hate them 'cause I never really tasted any of them well enough

[spacer]

Yes you are right Bartwald, I am gonna like this thread very much!

I am sorry you haven’t experienced the thrill of Star Treks!

I believe you should.

Well, I guess I am not a Trekker but for sure I am a science fiction fan and Star Trek turns me on.
I voted for Star Trek the Next Generation.
In my opinion it is the best part of all Star Treks and the best sci-fi series.
Why I love it so much?

It has all that I love in science fiction:

• Interstellar travel full of adventures which are not silly,

• All kinds of Xenomorphic alien races.

Especially I like Klingons and the Borg.

(By the way do you happen to know that some devoted Trekkers devised wholly new language with complete grammar and vocabulary starting with short pieces of conversations invented by Gene Roddenberry the creator of Star Trek.

There is even The Klingonian Institute where you can learn this extraordinary alien language.)

• Scientific approach

All gadgets and staff like phasers work within certain limits. Of course their performance is not based on contemporary physics but they function according to rules which are deeply coherent and logical and to which contemporary science is a starting point.

(That’s why some physicists wrote serious books on it and there was some kind of interaction between them and Roddenberry when scientists challenged Star Trek’s own physics by asking why the hell the crew members weren’t smeared on the Enterprise walls by the mere usage of some device. ;DIn the next part we usually learnt why.)

That’s much more brilliant than the mere Force about which we know little only that is unlimited and indeed in my opinion comes from nowhere and the existence of which is not justified in any way.

• Much attention paid to detail. Almost like in Stanley Kubrick’s movies. Well maybe I am exaggerating a bit.

But some alien races were portrayed so well together with their cultural background that some UFO maniacs strongly maintain that the whole Star Trek was created by other sentient beings to familiarize us humans with the existence of such smart extrasolar civilizations.

• And wonderful crew consisting of different, interesting personalities that always kick my butts!

[spacer]

I found this interesting Quote concerning Star Trek made by SETI researcher on http://www.space.com:

The Bricks of Life: Exploring the Idea of Alien Chemistry

By Seth Shostak
Senior Astronomer, Project Phoenix
posted: 07:00 am ET
15 April 2004
“It’s a question as common as brown dogs: will alien life be carbon-based?

I’m asked this frequently, although I’m not sure why the public is so hung up on the elemental basis of extraterrestrial life. In my experience, folks seldom inquire whether the Krebs cycle could be prevalent on other worlds, or if adenosine triphosphate might underpin the energy production of active aliens. Probably the fascination with vital soot is just a consequence of carbon’s high profile on Star Trek. The plot of this popular TV series gets viscous whenever the Enterprise detects "carbon-based life forms" on some God-forsaken planet deep in the Galaxy’s nether regions. If they’re carbon-based, well, they must be like us (and possibly edible, too).” …<br>

…”If that’s not enough to dissuade you from silicon, consider this: there’s just a lot more carbon around.”<br>
…”But when the Enterprise boldly goes in search of life among the stars, there’s good reason its scanners perk up at any sign of carbon-based chemistry. It’s more than likely that overweight aliens will be watching their carbs… and not their sils(silicon-based creatures).

[Bartwald]

Oh yeah - these are the posts I expected from you on this subject, spacer! Impressive alright!

I'd like to vote 'I only like the movies' at least, but before I do it... well... I think I should watch some, actually. ;D Is starting with the latest Nemesis a good idea? I heard both good and very bad things about it, but then I would like to start with the episode with some mind-ripping special effects and this being the newest thing... you know. What are your thoughts?

Oh, and one more thing: look how many people voted in the poll, and there are only two members justifying their choices. Who are you, ghost voters? I'm not pissed off or anything - that's always cool to have more votes - but a sentence or two of explanation would be welcome.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Well, one of those votes for Next Generation was from me. Yeah, it seems we have a few "lurkers" on the boards. Let's not be shy people.
Anyway, Bart if you're going to start watching the movies I would recommend starting with Part 2, THE WRATH OF KHAN. It's far less talky (dull) than the first one, ST: THE MOTION PICTURE, and you don't have to have seen the first one in order to follow this one. I'm assuming you're at least somewhat familiar with the main characters, ie: Kirk, Spock, Bones McCoy, etc., right? Anyway, the second movie is actually a sequel to one of the original episodes from the 60's, "Space Seed", but again, they do a good job of getting you up to speed and answering any questions you might have if you haven't seen the tv episode. The effects are very good, but remember it's the early 80's, so they may not be up to what you expect nowadays. Ricardo Montalban is a great villain as Khan, also played him back in the 60's.
And as a side note: Parts 2, 3 (THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK) and 4 (THE VOYAGE HOME) all work as an "unofficial" trilogy within the series. As each one begins pretty much exactly where the last one left off.

[Bartwald]

Alright - thanks a lot, Heineken! I had this Nemesis idea 'cause I know I could rent this one easily; I'm not sure about the parts you mentioned, gotta check it.

And as far as my Star Trek knowledge goes: yeah, I can identify most of the characters you put in your post, but - as you already know - I haven't seen a single ST movie; they weren't lucky enough to get to our theatres in the eighties - only part 3 (or was it 4? ...the one with whales or something) made it... so, you know... eh, I'm justifying my ignorance, of course, yeah - and that's rather pointless, as our spacer had the same theatrical and TV-wise situation and he ended up a loyal fan, right? By the way, what Star Trek movies have you seen, spacer? All of them?

[spacer]

Well, Bartwald you ask fundamental questions as crucial as e.g. how to split an atom.

O.K. I'll try to answer them.

I can't tell you exactly what you should see as a first cause Star Trek's a little bit more complicated than Star Wars so I can't give you fully scientific answer.

In my opinion the best start would be with TV series not with theatrical movies
(sorry Skywalker but here I disagree with you )
as they are in a way pararell (create parallel stories to the mainstream Star Trek) and their plots are are too much concentrated on one issue.

You should start then with a few oldest original Star Trek episodes with Spock, Scotty and Kirk to get the idea what is going on,
than go to Star Trek Next Generation and see Captain Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Lt. Com Data the Android and others.
I prescribe you a few episodes too. ;D

Than you may see the pilot of Star Trek Deep Space Nine in which two plots of Star Trek and Deep Space are overlapped.

My favourite NG episode is when the Capitan Picard is captured and altered by the Borg and used by them to the detriment of Humans. Some good f/x here too.

I'm sorry but I don't remember the titles of TV episodes. Too many of them for my poor memory. My memory operates in a slightly different way

Then you can see a movie with old crew and one with a new one(NG).

I know it can be too much for your nervous system to digest if you happen to be a member of the resistance against Star Trek flicks ;D, but if you gonna enjoy them you will boldly go to discover new thrills in outer space.
Well, I saw a good deal of them but I think and hope I haven't enjoyed all of them

Well for sure there is still plenty to watch

[Heineken Skywalker]

Spacer, I agree that Bartwald should watch some episodes of the different TV series before diving into the theatrical features, in order to get the complete "Star Trek Experience", but since he was asking about only the movies, I gave him my recommendation on the order to best enjoy them.

If you go that route, I would recommend watching a few episodes of the original show, including the one I mentioned earlier, "Space Seed", plus "City on the Edge of Forever", "The Trouble with Tribbles" and a few others.
Then watch a few of "The Next Generation" episodes. I'd recommend the pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint" which introduces the main cast plus one of their recurring adversaries Q. Also, "Sins of the Father", "The Best of Both Worlds" (The episodes with Picard & the Borg that spacer mentioned), "Redemption", "Unification", "Ethics", "I, Borg" and many others. Keep in mind that many of these "Next Generation" episodes are two-parters so they actually feel like watching a movie instead of a tv show.

I think you'd appreciate the movies even more if you're somewhat familiar with the characters and their situations, but it's not mandatory.

[Bartwald]

Thanks for all the pieces of advice, guys! I'll try to use some of them at least!

The only problem is that the TV-series episodes of Star Trek are difficult to get: I'm not sure any of the series you mentioned are right now being aired on Polish TV and the cable TV I've got is one of the poorest in the world so it won't help any. Also - no videos or DVD's with those to rent. Unless spacer has some episodes taped and is willing to rent, that is...

[spacer]

Bartwald said:

Thanks for all the pieces of advice, guys! I'll try to use some of them at least!
[glow=red,2,300]YOU ARE WELCOME[/glow]
The only problem is that the TV-series episodes of Star Trek are difficult to get: I'm not sure any of the series you mentioned are right now being aired on Polish TV and the cable TV I've got is one of the poorest in the world so it won't help any.
[glow=red,2,300]YOU'RE RIGHT I CANNOT TRACE IT ANYWHERE IN POLAND NOW[/glow]
Also - no videos or DVD's with those to rent.
[glow=red,2,300]WELL THEY'RE RARE BUT IT IS NOT MISSION IMPOSSIBLE I'LL HELP [/glow]
Unless spacer has some episodes taped and is willing to rent, that is...
[glow=red,2,300]I HAD A LOT OF THAT STAFF IN ORIGINAL BUT THE MEMBER OF MY FAMILY DELETED THE CONTENT WITHOUT MY AUTHORISATION REPLACING IT WITH MUCH LESS INTERESTING STUTEXTFF[/glow]
[glow=red,2,300]BUT I'D FIND IT SOMEHOW EVEN IF I HAD TO WATCH CZECH TV
[/glow]

[Bartwald]

Star Trek in Czech language?! Man, that would be a trip! ;D I love Czech language!

[Heineken Skywalker]

From IMDB:

New 'Star Trek' Movie in the Works

Star Trek producer Rick Berman has confirmed that work has begun on developing a new theatrical Star Trek feature, which he has described, without elaboration, as a "prequel." "I am involved in the very early stages of what could be the next Star Trek movie," Berman told the British magazine Dreamwatch. "It's something I will be producing with two other producers."

Hmm, could this be the long-rumoured movie that would feature the adventures of a young James Kirk before he was the captain of the Enterprise? Then again, it could be a big screen adventure for the current cast of the series "ENTERPRISE", which is a prequel to all of the other series and movies.