Star Trek: Discovery
- Thread starter TarHeelEer
- Start date
Ugh! Hated, hated, hated it. And I only watched one episode. The rest are behind a CBS paywall.
If there weren't things about it that made it obvious that it was a new Star Trek (like the name, logo, Vulcans, Klingons, etc) I wouldn't have recognized it as Star Trek. I would have thought it was some other science fiction. And I would have turned it off after five minutes because it looked so silly. The only reason I watched all of the episode is because it was Star Trek.
Maybe I'm just getting old and out of touch with what it hip nowadays but it looks visually ridiculous. The camera moved constantly. There were these things that I have since learned are called "lens flares" that happened constantly that I would have thought were simply errors. I mean, I was surprised people purposely make video look like this.
I didn't see any of the Star Trek movies in the last 10 years but from what I've read they were all like this. Things changed somehow. I guess this is what people like now.
I googled reviews of it and there is a real split on this. Although some like it a lot there is a significant number of people like me that hate it and find it to be an abandonment of what Star Trek was. People like me felt Star Trek was supposed to be about characters and stories and philosophy/morality plays and an optimistic view of the future of humanity. There was action and visuals but they served the larger point rather than being the point.
Also, I'm surprised to here you two say you like it because I've read (I haven't seen beyond the first episode) that it is SJW-y. That was another thing I liked about the old Star Trek, namely they could make a point or take a stance on social issues without being obnoxious, which was an uncommon thing in the past and nowadays has become almost unheard of.
The original Star Trek was way too much Kirk and not enough of the characters beyond Kirk, Spock & McCoy. But Uhura was a black person on the crew and it was uncommented on. It was implicitly progressive rather than hit you over the head progressive. (She wore a very short skirt so it wasn't progressive on sexism yet.)
But anyway, I read that after Season 1 Uhura was going to quit because she wasn't being given good stuff to do and she ran into MLK somewhere and told him she was going to quit and he got upset and insisted no, she should stay on. Uhura said, but I don't do anything, what's the point? MLK said that fact that she's a black member of the crew and nobody comments, as if it's completely normal, was valuable.
If there weren't things about it that made it obvious that it was a new Star Trek (like the name, logo, Vulcans, Klingons, etc) I wouldn't have recognized it as Star Trek. I would have thought it was some other science fiction. And I would have turned it off after five minutes because it looked so silly. The only reason I watched all of the episode is because it was Star Trek.
Maybe I'm just getting old and out of touch with what it hip nowadays but it looks visually ridiculous. The camera moved constantly. There were these things that I have since learned are called "lens flares" that happened constantly that I would have thought were simply errors. I mean, I was surprised people purposely make video look like this.
I didn't see any of the Star Trek movies in the last 10 years but from what I've read they were all like this. Things changed somehow. I guess this is what people like now.
I googled reviews of it and there is a real split on this. Although some like it a lot there is a significant number of people like me that hate it and find it to be an abandonment of what Star Trek was. People like me felt Star Trek was supposed to be about characters and stories and philosophy/morality plays and an optimistic view of the future of humanity. There was action and visuals but they served the larger point rather than being the point.
Also, I'm surprised to here you two say you like it because I've read (I haven't seen beyond the first episode) that it is SJW-y. That was another thing I liked about the old Star Trek, namely they could make a point or take a stance on social issues without being obnoxious, which was an uncommon thing in the past and nowadays has become almost unheard of.
The original Star Trek was way too much Kirk and not enough of the characters beyond Kirk, Spock & McCoy. But Uhura was a black person on the crew and it was uncommented on. It was implicitly progressive rather than hit you over the head progressive. (She wore a very short skirt so it wasn't progressive on sexism yet.)
But anyway, I read that after Season 1 Uhura was going to quit because she wasn't being given good stuff to do and she ran into MLK somewhere and told him she was going to quit and he got upset and insisted no, she should stay on. Uhura said, but I don't do anything, what's the point? MLK said that fact that she's a black member of the crew and nobody comments, as if it's completely normal, was valuable.
I ignore political spin when I watch tv shows and movies for the most part unless the show is all about politics. I loved newsroom. I love the west wing. Both shows were liberal wet dreams of reality but I found both shows interesting because they had good plots and they showed the inner workings of things that interest me. I didnt like Discovery at first but then they added some new into the trek realm and I got interested. The even have an episode that is similar to one of my favorite next generation episodes. The setting of the show is prior to peace between starfleet and the Klingons so it is another new twist.
Here is a five minute clip of STD from YouTube. I can't speak what the clip is about since I didn't see beyond the first episode, so I'm not critiquing that, but visually I find this to be annoying and silly. It comes off like they're trying very, very hard to impress me with their cinematic tricks and special effects to the extent that it's distracting, to put it mildly.
It's 2018 and I can get visual flash anytime I want. I'm tuning into Star Trek (or any other drama) for characters and stories that make me think. Even today when I see Star Trek: The Next Generation I am often very impressed. I have a hard time believing that 25-30 years from now anybody is going to be watching this clip and feeling impressed.
It's 2018 and I can get visual flash anytime I want. I'm tuning into Star Trek (or any other drama) for characters and stories that make me think. Even today when I see Star Trek: The Next Generation I am often very impressed. I have a hard time believing that 25-30 years from now anybody is going to be watching this clip and feeling impressed.
Speaking of Klingons, was there any need for Klingons to undergo a complete visual makeover? I get that ST:TNG did a big change on Klingons from TOS but that's understandable considering that due to 60s limited technology Klingons were very similar to humans.
Klingons were fine in ST:TNG. In STD they look ridiculous IMO. I call them Klingorns because they look as ridiculolus as the Gorns did in TOS. But at least TOS had an excuse, namely a lack of technology at their disposal.
- It's in the future. I don't mind the futuristic effects for 1-200 years in the future of TNG
- ST has always had an SJW effect. I hadn't noticed that many undertones, to be honest. I'm 8 episodes in.
- This one is more about the flaws and morality of the characters than I have seen recently.
- Noone had seen Kilngons in a very long time. I don't mind the makeover
They just came back to their universe. I kinda knew something was up with Lorca when the Admiral said it wasn't like before.
I think it's only available behind the CBS All Access paywall. You're paying for CBS All Access?
I have Netflix (for now...I'll probably get rid of it in the fall). And I sometimes watch ST:TNG episodes on it that I've seen a half dozen times before. They hold up well. ST:TNG is far and away my favorite ST.
