Tag: Roberto Orci

Is Star Trek “Beyond” Hope? Action versus Vision

Sadly that means the final product may have very little regard for what made Roddenberry’s Star Trek series great.

Star Trek BeyondThe problem with the trailer for Star Trek Beyond is that it does not feel like classic Trek anymore. When the title implies it’s moving away from the ideologies created by Gene Roddenberry, who created this series, not everyone will take to the changes. Some themes from the television sagas must be kept.

Ever since the first movie rebooted the saga, the story has been more about re-imagining the series. J.J. Abrams, however visionary he is, has some good ideas. I appreciate him telling fans in the film that this series is set in a mirror universe. I’m okay with the first film, but the second one was atrocious. I was not okay with a new Kahn. Ricardo Montalbán owned the character. Nobody, not even Benedict Cumberbatch, could ever replace him. From “Space Seed” to Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn, he made that character.

In this third film, Idris Elba has some tough shoes to fill. Who will be playing? A Gorn perhaps? Most likely not but I get the feeling this movie will be a tribute to all the episodes where Kirk was forced into an a blood sport and fight it out to save his crew. In the trailer released today, Justin Lin shows just how fast and furious he’s going to get with a franchise that’s lost its direction.

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What’s Next for Sleepy Hollow?

By Ed Sum (The Supernatural Tempest)

Sleepy-Hollow-TV-image1

CW’s Supernatural and NBC’s Grimm faces stiff competition when facing off against the forces of chaos. Fox TV’s Sleepy Hollow is successful in creating a melodramatic product and it one-ups the competing products by creating a wonderful undercurrent of terror. When this series features witches, immortals, ghosts, hobgoblins and demons, the Kurgan from Highlander the movie will have something to say about it in a series of flashbacks that may persist throughout this series run.

Clancy Brown has a role as Sheriff August Corbin, who is the first to encounter the Headless Horseman in the modern day. But little does he know that the thespian ideologies from secret societies may well be at the core of taking over the world. Corbin was in the middle of investigating this global conspiracy when he finally loses his head.

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Star Trek: (Getting Deeper) Into Darkness, A Movie Review

If only Star Trek: Into Darkness was edited differently, it could have been a tale about Spock’s heroic journey.

Star Trek: Into Darkness PosterSpoiler alert

Star Trek: Into Darkness is a film that will no doubt have many fans wanting to make comparisons once the spoilers are known. By now, nearly everyone knows who the true villain is. This movie’s title card is enough to suggest the tone and direction. It’s to explore what drives men to do what they do. Sometimes that territory needs to be ventured into. And just where should the line be crossed?

The Prime Directive may be more than just a mandate to not interfere with fledgling civilizations, but in how culture gets developed. The intro is very Indiana Jones when Kirk and Bones are running away from some primitive tribe for reasons unexplained. Part of it may well do with causing a distraction so Spock can enter a volcano to save this tribe. But the plan has a few problems, and Kirk has to violate the Prime Directive to save his science officer.

In a plot that develops in one direction, the swing it makes is not necessarily politically driven. Some viewers may well read plenty of left-wing messages into this piece, but the way this film ends speaks for itself. Gone are the colorful suits the Federation that the classic and later TV series defined. When on duty, the standard red, blue and yellow are seen, but as for when they are presenting en masse, for the public to see, some viewers may well wonder what’s with the drab dark grey? Could J.J. Abrams version be a look in the mirror darkly? The first movie established the Spock from the original series universe does in fact exist. He chose to stay out of interfering in this canon’s timeline. As for what that means in this reboot as a whole, even this universe’s Spock is perplexed.

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