Star Trek

[JoeWras]

Against the advice of Q's Laptop (in this post: Last movie you saw and what you thought...), I decided to watch Section 31.

What a piece of garbage. Q's Laptop is spot on. QL also has the guts to criticize Michelle Yeoh, with which I agree. She wasn't any good either. Seems like nobody wants to criticize her these days. Well, she isn't perfect, and it shows here. Aside: she's almost exactly my age so I feel connected, and it is great to see women actors our age getting gigs. But this didn't fit, and it probably wasn't her fault. She did her best with the given script and direction. Instead, watch her work in other contemporary movies or ST: Discovery.

Osunsanmi needs to stop directing Star Trek. Take it somewhere else.

His direction resulted in a bunch of shaky cam and wooden dialog, on what was probably a crap script to start. The story actually starts out pretty good for the first minute or two, and then just goes to crap, starting with the awkward voice over. It is as if he was trying capture every trick in The Matrix or any of the JJ Abrams movies.

The story needed to breathe. There was no time to digest anything in this dark rotten universe. The funny thing is there is a bunch of explanatory dialog that tries to fix this, yet it instead sticks out and is just awkward and wooden. ("Oh, maybe you'll be a captain some day." - said to a character from an episode of TNG that was a captain.) Maybe I've watched too much of the Original Series lately. It runs at a pace that is literally 100 times slower. I know the word is that "the kids" want fast, but this was ridiculous. Read the reviews, it doesn't matter the generation.

Nobody is happy about this dreck, and Paramount has managed to effectively kill the idea of a Section 31 franchise, despite an obvious ending that opened to sequels. I doubt they'll happen. This is nothing like I'd image Section 31 to be. I would have expected kind of a dark James Bond. Instead, we got something beyond dark, like a black hole. Nothing should ever come out and be seen again.

 

[harllee]

Against the advice of Q's Laptop (in this post: Last movie you saw and what you thought...), I decided to watch Section 31.

What a piece of garbage. Q's Laptop is spot on. QL also has the guts to criticize Michelle Yeoh, with which I agree. She wasn't any good either. Seems like nobody wants to criticize her these days. Well, she isn't perfect, and it shows here. Aside: she's almost exactly my age so I feel connected, and it is great to see women actors our age getting gigs. But this didn't fit, and it probably wasn't her fault. Watch her work in other contemporary movies.

Osunsanmi needs to stop directing Star Trek. Take it somewhere else.

His direction resulted in a bunch of shaky cam and wooden dialog, on what was probably a crap script to start. The story actually starts out pretty good for the first minute or two, and then just goes to crap, starting with the awkward voice over. It is as if he was trying capture every trick in The Matrix or any of the JJ Abrams movies.

The story needed to breathe. There was no time to digest anything in this dark rotten universe. Maybe I've watched too much of the Original Series lately. It runs at a pace that is literally 100 times slower. I know the word is that "the kids" want fast, but this was ridiculous. Read the reviews, it doesn't matter the generation.

I agree--I watched a few minutes of Section 31 and could not get through it. Currently I am rewatching the Voyager series, I love Captain Janeway

 

[disneysteve]

I’m just seeing this thread. We are a Trek family. DW and I have seen TOS, TNG, DSN, Voyager, Enterprise, and Picard. We’re now watching Strange New Worlds which she already saw with our daughter. They’ve also seen some of the others. DW and DD have been to two Star Trek conventions, one last year in Nashville and one last month in San Francisco. They’ve gotten to meet and interact with many of the actors. DD and I are going to the NJ con in September. Shatner and Frakes will be there along with many others. They haven’t announced the full list yet.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Nobody is happy about this dreck, and Paramount has managed to effectively kill the idea of a Section 31 franchise, despite an obvious ending that opened to sequels. I doubt they'll happen. This is nothing like I'd image Section 31 to be. I would have expected kind of a dark James Bond. Instead, we got something beyond dark, like a black hole. Nothing should ever come out and be seen again.

I believe Section 31 was introduced in Deep Space Nine's later seasons. Was it in ST: Discovery? I only watched 3 episodes of ST: Discovery before giving up on it because of the ludicrous "travel through wormholes using moss" (or spores or whatever.) I have since learned that Michelle Yeoh was in Discovery.

Anyway, the way Section 31 was introduced in DS9 was essentially a kind of dark James Bond, as you mused. Basically, it was secret agents sent out on unofficial missions to do the Federation's dirty work. It had much potential. And they wasted it. <Sigh>

 

[CaptTom]

Someone pointed out how similar Star Trek is to the original Batman series. Now I can't help but see it every time I watch.

Pow! Wham! There are always fistfights, even in a future filled with phasers, transporters and all kinds of other advanced technologies. Section 31 was a classic example of that, albeit a bit over the top.

 

[GrayHare]

btw, there's astoundingly excellent insight, commentary and writing among the (public!) reviews of every ST series and episode at Jammer's Reviews site Jammer's Reviews | Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and More

 

[MichaelB]

Someone pointed out how similar Star Trek is to the original Batman series. Now I can't help but see it every time I watch.

Pow! Wham! There are always fistfights, even in a future filled with phasers, transporters and all kinds of other advanced technologies. Section 31 was a classic example of that, albeit a bit over the top.

When you said similarities my first thought was the ham acting by the lead actors in both.

 

[GrayHare]

NBC demanded more fist fights in the original series. That was an action carryover from the westerns that were popular. I recall as a kid thinking that was the norm everywhere. "With fist fights so routine, no wonder my dad is worn out after another day at w*rk."

 

[stepford]

When you said similarities my first thought was the ham acting by the lead actors in both.

I think Shatner gets a bad rap. Yes, there are some wooden performances (and T.J. Hooker was pretty awful), but he did some pretty subtle and nuanced work as well. Putting him in the same boat as Adam West is just mean.

 

[MichaelB]

I think Shatner gets a bad rap. Yes, there are some wooden performances (and T.J. Hooker was pretty awful), but he did some pretty subtle and nuanced work as well. Putting him in the same boat as Adam West is just mean.

I like Shatner and enjoy his work. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and can be very funny. He isn’t as bad as Adam West … but he is a ham.

 

[Jeffman52]

I agree--I watched a few minutes of Section 31 and could not get through it. Currently I am rewatching the Voyager series, I love Captain Janeway

Same for both. I just started season 7. Interesting because there have been a number of episodes I missed when it was in its first run. It was nice to see "new to me" Trek.

Edit to add. I do like SNW's although I know that not everyone does. It has a few episodes that make me cringe but so did TOS i.e. The Way to Eden.

 

[disneysteve]

I like Shatner and enjoy his work. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and can be very funny. He isn’t as bad as Adam West … but he is a ham.

I'm looking forward to seeing him at the convention in September. I hope he remains well and can be there as planned. I am not one to shell out money for crap like photo ops and autographs but I might just do it for him. I think having a picture with him would be cool. He'll be 94 next month so who knows how much longer he's got.

 

[JoeWras]

I believe Section 31 was introduced in Deep Space Nine's later seasons. Was it in ST: Discovery? I only watched 3 episodes of ST: Discovery before giving up on it because of the ludicrous "travel through wormholes using moss" (or spores or whatever.) I have since learned that Michelle Yeoh was in Discovery.

Anyway, the way Section 31 was introduced in DS9 was essentially a kind of dark James Bond, as you mused. Basically, it was secret agents sent out on unofficial missions to do the Federation's dirty work. It had much potential. And they wasted it. <Sigh>

Yes, it was in Discovery and mentioned frequently for a string of episodes. I don't remember the details, just the vibe.

 

[Al18]

Michelle's character Georgiou was in 24 episodes in Star Trek Discovery. It was an interesting character on Discovery and in virtually all the episodes, she was from a parallel universe that was very brutal. I enjoyed those episodes - because she had a strong interaction with Michael Burnham who was continually trying to 'reform' Georgiou, and she made some progress. However in Section 31, she has not softened at all and I did not like the story or the movie.

 

[HFWR]

When you said similarities my first thought was the ham acting by the lead actors in both.

The William Shatner School of Overacting, next door to the Michael Landon School of Crying…

 

[HFWR]

Posted on FB some time ago by George Takei…

 

[Qs Laptop]

The William Shatner School of Overacting, next door to the Michael Landon School of Crying…

Ncuti Gatwa (the current Dr. Who) is a graduate of Michael Landon's School of Crying.

 

[camfused]

To us, the best Trek in the last few years was The Orville, which wasn’t Trek at all, but a better Trek than these current ones.

 

[groesbeck]

To us, the best Trek in the last few years was The Orville, which wasn’t Trek at all, but a better Trek than these current ones.

I agree with this 100%. I hear there is another Orville season being produced. Best Trek and not even Trek.

 

[camfused]

I agree with this 100%. I hear there is another Orville season being produced. Best Trek and not even Trek.

Thanks! This makes my day!

 

[GrayHare]

It sounds more and more like Shatner, who turns 94 this month, will be reprising his role as Kirk in an upcoming film. Such news helps me feel at least less old.

 

[Koolau]

It sounds more and more like Shatner, who turns 94 this month, will be reprising his role as Kirk in an upcoming film. Such news helps me feel at least less old.

Hard to believe I was still a teen when the franchise began. THAT makes ME feel old.