ESCAPE VELOCITY

1 - Ah yes, but are there Ewoks?!

2 - IV and V. Not 6, kthx.

3 - Loved it! Yes, the story and the characters. Seeing it again tomorrow.

4 - I went to see the movie on Thursday night and then again at Friday tea time (probably going again this morning!). I enjoyed it both times but more so the second. It certainly shook up the sediment.

I was engrossed 95% of the time, loved every scene with Captain Pike, and was thrilled to see Kirk and Spock in 'action' together. On the down side, engineering was a bit of a disappointment for me (though Scotty was fine), and the 'issue' at the academy didn't seem to me to strike the right tone (much as I liked the implied references) but to be fair these things didn't detract or undermine the movie for me.

Although I just wanted it to go on and on (which clearly means it was great to watch) I left the cinema both times concerned about the next film rather than raving about this one. You see, I thought the story was flawed and felt that my engagement maybe stemmed more from a lifelong obsession with Star Trek, this particular set of characters, and the happenstance (or is that serendipity?) of their coming together - a bit like the way the Bourne movies hooked me because I wanted to know what he wanted to know (his past).

I think the next story will have to be better to keep me hooked although by the time I've seen this one a dozen times I might be more relaxed about it.

I'd give it 4/5.

5 - I loved it too, good story, good acting, great actors. Great match of actors to characters.

The story gets 4 stars, the rest gets 5 stars.

6 - @4 - If the same team stays at the helm for the next one, I'm confident that it'll be even better. This time, we won't have to go through the origin backstory. No Academy scenes needed. Just straight in to the story.

As long as we get Rachel Nichols back as Gaila. YUM! (Kirk's green-skinned babe, if you don't know the character.)

7 - I liked it, but as a story not as a Star Trek movie. I don't think that it held up in a lot of places. Scotty and Bones were a disappointment. It seemed like they were added as comedic entertainment and not as major players. Uhura and Spock in a relationship were just wrong. I know it was used to keep Kirk away from her, but it just wasn't something that Spock would have done or been capable of doing. Pike was to weak as a captain, not the way he was originally portrayed in the series. Chekov's accent was too strong and was again used as comedy. And what was up with all the water tubes in the engine room? All in all, I enjoyed it as a movie and it certainly will generate a second and maybe a third installment but it will not be the thing to reinvigorate the franchise.

8 - @7 - You can't effectively develop an ensemble cast that large in an action film in only two hours. Kirk and Spock had to be the leads, with Sulu and Uhura in supporting roles, while the rest of the cast was truly window dressing. Think of how long it took to develop all those characters in the original series. Some of them went entire seasons without becoming interesting.

Not really sure where you're coming from with Pike. His character was bound to a wheelchair and had no speaking lines in the original series. How much portrayal of strength would you expect?

9 - #8 Do you remember the episode with Pike? The entire thing was a flashback to his time in captivity. His strength was seen throughout that episode. He never gave in to the mind control and did everything he could to get free. In the end, he won his release only to return many years later after he was crippled and confined to the chair.

10 - @6 - I hope so. For sure they won't have to assemble everyone and presumably won't therefore have to rely on the coincidence/happenstance/serendipity (which I didn't actually mind here) but they will need to pull their socks up in some areas.

For example, we see Spock leaving the bridge for the transporter room on what has to be the race of his life yet Chekov leaves the bridge after him for the same destination and gets there well before him. The pace of the film carries us along there but it's not right and is something that could be more exposed when there's not an inherently interesting backstory being revealed.

I also think they need to make some of the fiction of the science fiction less fictional (eg. the planet in the sky above Delta Vega was surely way to large and I found that just too much and zoned out for a few moments at what is an important point of the movie) instead of using it to compensate for lack of writing. To be fair, I've been wracking my brains trying to think of another way of conveying that part of the film without it being detrimental elsewhere and I can't - but then I'm a Notes guy and not a Hollywood script writer

note: I have to emphasise that I really did enjoy the film (and it gets better on repeat viewings ) despite these things and reckon at least 95% of people who go to see it will similarly enjoy it. I know it probably sounds like nitpicking but I'm registering these things in case Orci and Kurtzman read this blog because I want it to carry on and get even better.

@7 - At first I wasn't too sure about the comedy but I now think that overall it provided a balance that shifted attention away from matters that are ultimately pretty dark and heavy which, had they been dwelt on, would probably have wrecked the movie. It would be nice, though, to have seen Scotty deliver some straight dialogue (BTW - Simon Pegg does an okay Scottish accent, and I'm Scottish so I know, and it matters )

@9 - I'm hesitant to repond to you on the matter of Pike in case I give away part of the story but it seems to me that the film doesn't even imply - and I've now seen it three times - that Pike gave in or gave away information even although it's clear Nero expects him to. I thought Pike was in the finest traditions of Star Fleet

11 - My wife and I just it as well and IT ROCKS! We agree -- 5 stars.

12 - Great movie, very true to the Star Trek roots: Great characters, a few campy lines, tons of fist-fights, the guy in the red suit dies (diving down to the drill) and Kirk is hitting on every girl in the galaxy. And whoever did the visual effects in the space battles seems to have been watching lots of Battlestar Galactica... glorious gunfire everywhere.

The amount of stuff brought in from other episodes and movies earlier/farther in the timeline was great, too.

@7 - The original ST engine room had lots of tubes; they were all red. For the movie they just made them clear and water-filled. No big deal there.

And for everybody else wondering about the Uhura/Spock relationship: I recall an original episode or movie where it was mentioned. Uhura mentioned it to somebody, and they said "You and Mr. Spock?!?!?! What was that like?" and she said something like "I don't kiss and tell" or something dismissive. It's in the timeline, though.

13 - Was I the only one who caught the name of the JTK gets into when heading off planet?

14 - @7 - dude, surely you know how hot the warp engines run? the water is for COOLING!

15 - @14 - Is it so surprising that the water might be for drinking? This is pre-replicator. (Incidentally, how incredibly cheap must energy be aboard the Enterprise-D for it to make sense to use a replicator for a cup of tea?)

16 - @13 - Nope