Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Star Trek Insurrection

In Star Trek Insurrection: The United Federation of Planets is ravaged after the Dominion war. A fountain of youth nestled in the green hills of an alien planet seems too good to be true. What must it be like to never grow old? So the USS Enterprise NCC 1701-E leaps to the rescue. Captain Picard steps in and refuses to let a peaceful, ancient civilization get hi-jacked by the Son'a led by the really freaky guy, Ru'fau. The Son'a wrinkly faces took a lot of trouble creating a flying holodeck ship, just to spare the Ba'Ku's feelings. All the Ba'Ku had to do was get with the program but no. Picard sticks his beak in and discovers Anij's special abilities slow time. Could the environmental anomalies be stimulating Data's instincts to act rebelliously?

Filming began on March 31, 1998 and concluded on July 2. According to Johnathan Frakes, (who playsCommander Riker) half of the time shooting was spent on location. The scenes where the crew of the Enterprise and the Ba'Ku take refuge in the mountains were shot on location in the Sierra Nevada in locations which could only be reached by helicopters. Wheres Scotty when you need him? Why didn't the Enterprise just lock on everyone's co-ordinates and beam them there? Duh!!!

 'Jean-Luc, we're only moving 600 people'

 Who were you rooting for? Picard's crew? Dougherty? Ru'afu? or did your heartbeat slow in time for the Ba'Ku?) Why is Worf feeling aggressive tendencies?

Live Long and Prosper, Trekkers and Trekkies.


Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Half-breed Origins

H is for Half-breed! Although absent from common conversation today, dictionary.com defines "half breed" as the "offspring of parents of different racial origin, especially American Indian and Caucasians. The term "half breed" which Mr Spock finds insulting, was I believe, in fairly common usage during the 1960's.


Early movie fans heard the term "halfbreed" expressed quite often in big screen westerns and occasionally with classic Star Trek. Although the term is almost never heard of today, its effect once spoken is powerful.

The reason Captain Kirk used "Half breed" in Star Trek's classic episode of "this side of paradise" was to deliberately infuriate his pointy eared First Officer, Spock who had mutinied aboard the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 over a beautiful woman. Spores from Omicron Ceti III infected the vulcan's pure logical reasoning which actually made the unlikely happen. Spock and botanist Leila Kalomi fell totally in LOVE.

Its weird seeing Nimoy smiling in this episode but Kirk has to snap him out of it, somehow, and how poor Spock hated him for it.

In the universe of Star Trek, Spock is biologically, emotionally and even intellectually a son torn between two worlds! Much more diplomatic don't you think!



Mind your own business, Mister Spock. I'm sick of your half breed interference, do you hear?


Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies, and Trekkers.

Monday, April 08, 2013

Star Trek Generations

G is for Generations. Star Trek Generations was released in 1994, directed by David Carson. 78 years after the Enterprise-B's mysterious encounter with a energy portal the past and future collide.  This movie engages TNG in a galactic rescue mission of epic proportions by enlisting the help of Captain Kirk whos stuck in a magical place. The films baddie, Dr Tolian Soran will do anything to re-capture the family he lost by opening a "doorway" in an energy ribbon zipping through space. Kirk and Picard team up in a final battle as the "Captains on the Bridge" determined to defeat the El-Aurian madman Soran. The plot thickens when Klingon sisters Lursa and B'Etor kidnap the USS Enterprise-D's Chief Engineer, Geordi and doctor his VISOR! Its a whole different ballgame now with Picard on Veridian III giving Commander Riker his big chance in the captain's chair without a safety net!

The movie earned mixed reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews. So okay, lets get serious for a second, whoever dreamed up captain 'under the bridge' deserves to be beamed onto an asteroid penal colony infested with hungry Salt Vampires and left there for all eternity. Captain Kirk's death is an ill conceived ending for Star Trek's greatest defender of the galaxy. Kirk's demise was sorrowful and deserved so much more for such a heroic, intrepid, interstellar explorer of the Final Frontier. Jeremy Conrad of IGN gave the film a score of 7 out of 10, calling it "one of the better of the odd numbered Trek films," referring to a belief that even numbered Star Trek films are traditionally of higher quality.



The idea of Captain Kirk's death was originally mooted by writers Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore so Paramount Pictures insisted they consult William Shatner. Everyone was surprised Shatner was cool about his demise except us trekkies, of course. Shatner eventually realised it was too late to back out and admitted he was genuinely saddened by his characters death. Loyal fans vowed to "Bring Back Kirk" with a an exciting internet campaign except resurrecting Kirk was never meant to be, sniff.


Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

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