Hype User Reviews: Star Trek XI

[Dev]

The acting in this was top notch as well as the story and Visual Effects. Gotta give it to JJ Abrams he really is quite the brilliant film maker. This move deserves

 

[Paradoxium]

I think it would not have ruined the movie if Kirk was not Captain yet, Greenwood played the role of Captain really well. It's not like it was called "Star Trek: Captain James T. Kirk". If you are trying to set this up as a franchise of films, you have the luxury of extending the development phases of the character. There is a wealth of creative opportunities to show "why Kirk is THE Captain" in latter films.

And Roach, I went in expecting it to be pretty good. I didn't keep up much prior to movie production. If I was primed in anyway, it was positive ironically. In the end, it was not horribly - it was entertaining a Bay'ish way, I just think it is getting overrated a bit. Kind of like TDK on some level (blasphemous talk ). But it was not Uwe Boll bad.

 

[Dev]

Ok Psyduck.

 

[M.O.Steel]

Kirk was promoted because his father was seen as a hero and he just basically did the same thing but with help. He saved that ship from being destroyed by warning Pike and he destroyed Nero so why not give it to him?

bold 1. absolutely does not justify it.

bold 2. because it takes 4 years of training to be captain, 8 for your own ship. there are people who have been training for 7 years and 11 months. not fair for them.

he did save the world, maybe the universe. but one experience under his belt, not matter how grand, doesn't justify his ranking.

 

[The Squirrel]

This movie was awesome.

 

[Lunar_Wolf]

Just saw it for the second time-AMAZING!

 

[Wally West]

Well, I've never been much of a star trek fan. I've always sort of liked it in theory, but everytime I've watched it and tried to get into it...I just found it... un-engaging.

Having said that, I just saw the film today and had absolutely no trouble getting into it. It was an Amazing film. I wish they had filmed a trilogy all at once so we wouldn't have to wait years for a sequel.

Best Science Fiction/space opera film since Empire Strikes Back IMO.

 

[LostSon88]

bold 1. absolutely does not justify it.

bold 2. because it takes 4 years of training to be captain, 8 for your own ship. there are people who have been training for 7 years and 11 months. not fair for them.

he did save the world, maybe the universe. but one experience under his belt, not matter how grand, doesn't justify his ranking.

I'm willing to bet that 99% of those who have had 7+ years of training haven't come close to ANYTHING that Kirk and the enterprise went through in a matter of days. It wasn't like it was some random mundane experience that earned him the title of Captain...it was a series of events in this film that built up to him finally taking charge.

Again as many have mentioned, by taking command of the Enterprise and leading his crew to victory against Nero, one could suggest that the Star Fleet Academy obviously felt that Kirk exemplified the characteristics and traits necessary to fulfill the role of Captain.

He got a impromptu crash course lesson in what it takes to be a captain and clearly in the eyes of his superiors, he passed the test.

And seriously, what argument would those other 'captains in training' have against Kirk. The guy freakin' commanded the starship that prevented Earth's destruction.

I just really don't like this idea of oh, "Kirk didn't really do anything."

 

[byte19]

saw this yesterday.... very good movie indeed. love the french horns in the opening. (as a former french horn player )

and I agree.... Kirk had no business being promoted Captain and given Enterprise so quick..... if it was THIS timeline, but it's an alternate one, where logs can give in detail what happened on the ship. the one where Spock jettisoned Kirk... a direct violation of starfleet protocol? in either timeline? and do we know the entire fleet was eradicated or half that? maybe it was all of our fleet and Spock was rendezvousing with other Federation ships? no one seems to remember Pike saying Enterprise was the flag ship of the Federation.... in the original timeline... it wasn't.

we were told this was in a different universe.... let's suspend belief all the way....


just sayin'....

 

[rogue trooper]

I just came back from watching it. It was just awesome!! The best "space opera" movie of the 2000's, no doubt. It is a very character driven story with alot of emotion and spectacular action. Also, unlike in another "certain popular space opera"(its prequels specifically), where you can easily notice the forced delivery of the actors' lines, here in Star Trek the actors perform their lines with the outmost credibility.

 

[roach]

agreed. Field commissions happen all the time. What Kirk did was figure out it was a trap and take un proven crew and an unproven ship and did what a starship captain is required to do. He was already promoted to first officer by Pike so its not like he jumped from cadet to Captain.

 

[chaseter]

bold 1. absolutely does not justify it.

bold 2. because it takes 4 years of training to be captain, 8 for your own ship. there are people who have been training for 7 years and 11 months. not fair for them.

he did save the world, maybe the universe. but one experience under his belt, not matter how grand, doesn't justify his ranking.

Who cares if it takes 8 years, this isn't class room learning. He proved himself worthy by quite a feat. Do you honestly care about the fictional people that were fictionally training for 7 years and 11 months?

He was made first officer by Pike and when Spock could not continue his duties then Kirk became Captain. Why would you strip someone of their ranking after saving their planet and the ship and crew?

 

[M.O.Steel]

I'm willing to bet that 99% of those who have had 7+ years of training haven't come close to ANYTHING that Kirk and the enterprise went through in a matter of days. It wasn't like it was some random mundane experience that earned him the title of Captain...it was a series of events in this film that built up to him finally taking charge.

Again as many have mentioned, by taking command of the Enterprise and leading his crew to victory against Nero, one could suggest that the Star Fleet Academy obviously felt that Kirk exemplified the characteristics and traits necessary to fulfill the role of Captain.

He got a impromptu crash course lesson in what it takes to be a captain and clearly in the eyes of his superiors, he passed the test.

And seriously, what argument would those other 'captains in training' have against Kirk. The guy freakin' commanded the starship that prevented Earth's destruction.

I just really don't like this idea of oh, "Kirk didn't really do anything."

i didn't think he didn't do anything. he was very much the main character in the story no question. i don't believe that. but if you were to logically follow the story, this movie alone, then spock should have been the one who is the captain.

that said, i definitely would have accepted it if spock was given the position, but he says something along the lines of "i appreciate the offer, but i believe that there is someone else who deserves this more, or is more suitable for the job" and hands the reign over to kirk. because logically, kirk would make the better captain of the two. it's cheesy and cliche, but i think it would have made more sense.

i agree that he's probably seen a lot in one day, much more than many will in their 8 years. but here's an analogy. say that a medical student on the first day of school found a patient, and diagnosed a rare disease that no one could figure out, not even the big doctors, but he figured it out and saved the president's life, heck he even prevented the world from a pandemic. would you promote him to be a regular doctor on the team and bypass all the years of training? would you trust you mom in his care?everyone has to go through training. kirk is way a ahead of his game i agree, so it might take him much less time than others. he might pass all the exams in flying colors way before anyone else.

luke saved the day using the force, should he be promoted to a jedi master?

Again, this is nipicking, i didn't even notice it while i watched the movie. but afterwards, it just got me thinking. it just doesn't feel right.

 

[chaseter]

I would take a doctor that has performed flawless surgery than a doctor that has only read about it or performed simulations

Some people are just born to do what they do and they excell naturally at it. That is Kirk.

 

[M.O.Steel]

Who cares if it takes 8 years, this isn't class room learning. He proved himself worthy by quite a feat. Do you honestly care about the fictional people that were fictionally training for 7 years and 11 months?

He was made first officer by Pike and when Spock could not continue his duties then Kirk became Captain. Why would you strip someone of their ranking after saving their planet and the ship and crew?

i know it's fictional. you need to relax. it's so weird when people use this arguement. if you didn't care, then why even see this movie. it's all made up anyways. just because it's fictional doesn't mean you can't discuss it. and the fiction is based on a military structure

he was acting captain. once the mission was over, it should have been pike. he is no longer active, so now it's spock. i can't see why it was kirk over spock.

it's true he did something amazing in a small amount of time. but there are lines through which you have to go. if the president was sick, and the vice president takes over duties and saves the US, he is awarded greatly, and is given medals and such. but once the president is back, he takes over the duties. isn't that so?

 

[dude stannis]

Star Trek

Not being a Trekkie I can't find as much wrong with this as a knowledgable Trekkie could. So I was utterly impressed to no end. It must be noted I'd been drinking before I saw the movie though.

Karl Urban has come along way from being the wooden Doomguy, he was the best performance in the film. Probably the closest. I liked most of the performances in this film. Pegg was a different Scotty, but a good one. Yelchin showed tons of energy as Chekov. If he can do a good job with characters as varied as Kyle Reese and Chekov, he's got a future. John Cho was good, but I've never known enough about Sulu to make the distinction. Zoe Saldana looks great in a mini skirt but once again I've never known enough about Uhura to make any distinctions. Leonard Nemoy FTW!

This wasn't your bog standard *****ey reboot. It doesn't piss away 40 years of history. Of course I don't doubt there will be anachronisms, but it probably wont be as bad as Wolverine. I'll even go as far as to say TNG is still untouched. Hell even Leonard Nimoy's role is far bigger than anyone could've expected to the point where this movie can never be fully distanced from TOS.

It wasn't perfect however.

The two let down performances where Spock and Kirk. Chris Pine was really funny and witty, but felt more like Han Solo than Kirk. Quinto came off like an uptight homosexual (Not that there's anything wrong with that) rather than a super intelligent logic driven alien.

Nero was good was what little screen time he had, but was rediculously underdeveloped. He certainly was no Khan, but Bana had the chops to do it if the script had given him enough consideration. His motivation could've led to a great cinematic villain.

The damn lens flares where in every single shot (Not literally). They where distracting. It felt like someone was shining a flashlight in my eyes during the film.

The action was a let down. Not the actual space battles which where awesome, but the hand to hand stuff was too close and cut too quickly.

All in all the scale of this movie is off the charts. It's ****ing huge. I miss this kind of space epic. It didn't matter to me whether this was Star Trek, Star Wars, Starship Troopers, but I want more of this and less capes and spandex please.

I vote a 4/5.

 

[chaseter]

i know it's fictional. you need to relax. it's so weird when people use this arguement. if you didn't care, then why even see this movie. it's all made up anyways. just because it's fictional doesn't mean you can't discuss it. and the fiction is based on a military structure

he was acting captain. once the mission was over, it should have been pike. he is no longer active, so now it's spock. i can't see why it was kirk over spock.

it's true he did something amazing in a small amount of time. but there are lines through which you have to go. if the president was sick, and the vice president takes over duties and saves the US, he is awarded greatly, and is given medals and such. but once the president is back, he takes over the duties. isn't that so?

Spock was not a good choice for captain because of what Spock sr. told him when they were talking.

Pike wasn't coming back on so your analogy isn't comparable.

 

[M.O.Steel]

I would take a doctor that has performed flawless surgery than a doctor that has only read about it or performed simulations

Some people are just born to do what they do and they excell naturally at it. That is Kirk.

but that's not what i'm comparing here. i'm saying would you have your mom go to a medical student whose performed ONE amazing complicated surgery without supervision, over someone whose been doing not as grand surgeries for 7 years. come on.

now if their training is just simulations, then you're right, it makes sense for him to gain the ranking, and yeah, i would take kirk also. but we don't really know if the training is just simulations. you don't know if it is hands-on not. i can't believe it was spock's first time on a real mission.

 

[M.O.Steel]

Spock was not a good choice for captain because of what Spock sr. told him when they were talking.

Pike wasn't coming back on so your analogy isn't comparable.

you gotta reread my sentence, man. can't stop midway and then say it doesn't work.

it wasn't an analogy. it was a statement. in reality, when the whole mission was over, the captain should have been pike. SINCE HE IS NOT ACTIVE, as i wrote, it should be spock.

about the spock not being a good captain, i completely agree. that's why i honestly thought he would have been given the job, and then spock would say something along the lines of "i really appreciate the offer, but i believe that someone else deserves this more, or someone else is more suitable for the job" and hand it over to kirk.

it's just personal opinion. i still loved the movie.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

I thought it was a fun and very enjoyable film.

I was a bit hesitant on Pine when I saw the previews, but I really liked him in the movie. There were some flaws, but overall a great movie. I'd give in a 8.5/10 or a B+

Saying that, I think the film was missing something. It was great, but I felt like it never was able to jump into the next gear.

 

[byte19]

but didn't Spock give up command because he was emotionally unable to continue command of the ship? sure he redeemed himself with assisting saving the world.... but back as first officer, not captain.

 

[stargazer]

LOVED IT!!!!! Not flawless but really good and exciting.

More later

 

[DACrowe]

I will give this film a 5, excellent.

I have never been a huge Trekkie, but I have always appreciated the series (though the fanbase has scared me at times). I have on occasion watched the original series as well as TNG, albeit I never got into the other shows like Voyager, DS9 and the like.

As for the series as a film franchise. I have been lukewarm to it. I think Wrath of Khan, the Save the Whales one and First Contact were all excellent sci-fi films especially the first and last I named, that got into these characters and their relationships while telling an interesting story. But for every First Contact there were three Nemesis-s.

So when I heard after over 5 years they were rebooting the franchise and essientially starting over from scratch I was skeptical. And after watching the first trailer I still figured this would be a poor attempt to "reboot" the franchise in a hip-edgy way as Batman, Bond, Hulk and many others are now doing.

Then I saw the good reviews and I watched the film today. It was GREAT. This is one of the best sci-fi films in years. Probably the best since Serenity was released in 2005. I always liked the characters (especially McCoy and Spock), but this movie got right under them in ways that the franchise has been unable to do in the 2-hour cinematic format ever since Wrath of Khan. Simply put this knocked my socks off.

For the first time in the entire franchise's history, the action is actually exciting and suspensful. When someone gets hit, it actually looks like they're taking a punch or using force. There is a kinetic energy to this film that is unmatched. And the pace, editing and style is just oozing with fun and excitement. This is why we go to summer movies. To be entertained with visuals and it has been a while since I've seen something as breathtaking and exhilerating as the free-fall drop onto the drill midway through the movie.

But unlike other summer movies (coughTransformersforexamplecough), this actually remembers not to just check concepts such as plot, narration and character at the door. The thing that keeps the viewer interested is how all these quirky characters interact. I liked TNG, but that generation in their show and films were always so reserved, stately and damn formal. It is nice to see a little bit of wacky, zany edge brought back into the series. Scotty says it best, "I like this ship--so exciting."

The casting was also top notch. I was surprised by how much I liked Chris Pine in this role as he was doing nothing for me in the trailers. He brings Kirk's spunk but adds a youthful attitude to it that is surprisingly not painfully annoying (are you taking notes George Lucas?). Quinto as Spock was also surprisingly satisfying and pulled off what seemed very unlikely, stepping out of the shadow of Nimoy (who was in the freaking movie). On top of that you had superb supporting work by Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldale(sp?) and the always-underrated Eric Bana.

The plot did a good way of starting over without completely disregarding the past parts of the franchise, but being able to immediately ignore them and do their own thing. It worked time-travel in nicely along with 2 of the other 3 good Trek films and made an interesting storyline that while somewhat similar to Star Wars in some ways, made the stakes much bigger than 8 out of the 10 other Star Trek films when they simply destroyed one of the character's home planets and killed off a character that was perceived as safe as she had been on the old TV show.

And Abrams sneaks his great little humor in there as well as referencing the old show with green women, McCoy's sardonic rants and the ever hasty and short-lived red shirts.

I loved this movie. 9.5/10. (A few points off as it dragged near the end, dispatching its vi llain a little too easily and for the cliche car chase opening scene).

 

[M.O.Steel]

but didn't Spock give up command because he was emotionally unable to continue command of the ship? sure he redeemed himself with assisting saving the world.... but back as first officer, not captain.

i figured that was temporary, but a good point. i guess he gave up the position right then. he redeemed himself, and decided to go save the vulcuns. when old spock told him to go back, he asked kirk if he could join kirk's ship. and since it was a new ship that KIRK was actively captaining, then it would make sense for the federation to become captain of the ship as a token of their appreciation.

nicely done. i like it.

 

[chaseter]

I thought you understood that! It was in the movie that Spock stepped down, that is how Kirk became captain.