Lil Formers #146: Holy Trek!
Star Trek has a hit movie and Star Wars has a crappy TV show… has the world gone topsy turvy?!
My thoughts on the new Trek Movie - it was awesome. Exceeded all my expectations, a great movie. But there is also sadness, since this movie also burns 40+ years of Trek history that I love. YES, the movie gives fans the bone that it’s an alternative timeline and not actually changing history, but that doesn’t matter. The Classic Trek universe (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY) is dead. Paramount won’t be going back to it. Imagine for all you comic fans, if they had cancelled the classic Marvel Universe when they came up with Ultimate Spider-man. Ultimate Spidey is great but…I grew up with classic Marvel U and I love it, even though lately it has gotten pretty sucky.
So while this is a great movie, I will still miss the real Star Trek. The movie’s not without flaws of course… Nimoy felt to me to give the weakest performance of the cast, or of his career….Uhura was a totally useless character who added nothing to the movie…and overall it was all action with no real substance or meaning. But it was so good and so much fun I can look past the problems.
Go see it if you haven’t!
May 11th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Am I the only one who wants to give sad Lil Vader a hug?
Also: FIRST!
May 11th, 2009 at 2:30 am
man, I’m definitely gonna see that Star Trek movie!
May 11th, 2009 at 2:42 am
I liked the reboot. I don’t think they will completely abandon the Old Testament completely, especially the hardcore fans. Besides, as much as I loved the old series (and the ones after that), I don’t want to see the characters age being plugged to the real actors. It robs us of our imaginations completely and one of the obvious reasons why the franchise feels old and tired.
Which is why I liked the reboot, hell anyone would be Kirk, or Spock and McCoy =D.
May 11th, 2009 at 2:56 am
you think that guy, Finnagin I think, that Kirk mentioned in an episode will be in it? The episode had some world brings thoughts to life and it was some punch drunk loon that Kirk said he knew in the academy.
Also, this new Star Trek looks interesting, but at the same time with the sleeker than it should look given what supposed to occur later in time, and CGI monsters, this movie reeks of being just like the Star Wars prequals.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:06 am
The guy who played McCoy was fantastic!!! Only wish that new Sulu could have said “Oh My!” at some point. Now the real challenge is getting my girlfriend to watch it.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:53 am
I felt like they have JJ a Star Trek box and he saw a big red button and pressed it only to realize that it was labeled RESET.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:54 am
The guy who played McCoy was in LOTR also. He was Eomere.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:10 am
^Don’t forget Doom, I’m sure he wants to.
Gotta make time to see this.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:26 am
The old series/Star Trek Universe was killed off years ago after Nemesis and Enterprise failed (as far as Paramount were concerned). Paramount were never going to go back, only forward. At least with this movie they managed to tick most of the boxes for fans, while still making a great entertaining movie. Unlike the Star Wars prequels that got so pretentious they dissipated up their own arse.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Well, if you’re talking in the context of the Star Wars movies (three prequels and the Clone Wars), I’m inclined to objectively agree with you. I disagree if you meant the TV series, though. It’s more of a matter of opinion, because that one is turning out to be very good or at least has a lot of untapped potential.
Overall, not a bad comic, though you might need the comments to explain the context of it. It certainly is an ironic reversal that the prequels weren’t very good, barring maybe 3 to me, whereas Star Trek is doing so well with its reboot.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:39 am
Poor Darth. I’m planning on seeing the movie though. Darth is going to be in Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian.
May 11th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Aw, poor Vader.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:17 am
“The Classic Trek universe (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY) is dead. Paramount won’t be going back to it.”
“I will still miss the real Star Trek.”
“…overall it was all action with no real substance or meaning.”
This is what I was afraid was going to happen and this is, in fact, what happened. I’m glad you see it, too, Matt. Like you, though, once I accepted the fact that this wasn’t our old friend come back to life (right around the time Pike told Kirk the Federation was a “peacekeeping armada” rather than an exploration force) and realized that it was merely a replica… then I could enjoy it as a fun summer sci-fi popcorn flick.
It’s a clone though. Maybe, when the light hits him just right, he kinda looks like our old friend, or maybe he even sounds like him once in a while, but rest assured: he is NOT our old friend and, further, when you look closely, it’s not even that good of a replica. It’s not Star Trek.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I’ve never been into Star Trek, I’ve never made time for it. My dad is a big fan though, so he insisted I go with him to see it.
I must say, the movie was sufficiently awesome. And I knew enough about Star Trek to catch all of the little bones they threw to the audience, my favorite being the doctor’s “I’m a doctor not a physicist!” line (I apologize for not committing his name to memory). Though I agree, Ahora or Uhura or however you spell it (it really sounds like Ahora to me) wasn’t much of a character.
May 11th, 2009 at 10:35 am
will see the new star trek film today, but Disagree with you on Clone Wars. It’s turned out to be a shockingly mature and gritty TV show that adds some small redemption to the overbashed but ultimately underwhelming prequel trilogy while offering up mild bits of fan service for fans of the novels and comics.
But yah, as a prequel, I have no doubt it hands the Star Wars it’s butt on a plate.
May 11th, 2009 at 11:08 am
I had very low expectations on the movie and I have to admit I liked it. And a lot. It had, as Matt mentioned, the failures Hollywood is getting us used to (poor supportgin character development, poor research/scientific background), but it was VERY entertaining. I did not know Nimoy was participating, so it was a nice surprise. Whether you are a fan or not, you’ll like it. Unfortunately, this was not the case for the SW prequel trilogy.
This makes me try to keep my expectations for ROTF not too high… even though it looks like it is going to be EPIC!!! Special effects, chases and fights will be huge, but I’m sure the number of characters present is a guarantee most of them will be pretty lame…
May 11th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I’m sure the original universe will continue to find new stories in novels and comics….
May 11th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
i agree about uhura. she was built up as a great character only to fall flat on her face.
May 11th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
“I’m sure the original universe will continue to find new stories in novels and comics….”
That’s the problem though. It was Roddenberry’s decree that only what is on screen is canon in the Star Trek Universe. If its in a book or got cut out of the script at the last minute, it didn’t happen. Write all the stories you want, no one will care because they don’t happen in the Star Trek Universe.
May 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Who cares if the novels and comics aren’t Roddenberry Canon (to coin a phrase). They’re still awesome, and will be continuing the story of the Prime timeline (as Memory Alpha has dubbed it). For those of you who don’t beleive me, go out and buy either Twist of Faith (continuing the story of Deep Space Nine) or Taking Wing (first of the Post-Nemesis novels about the USS Titan -Riker’s ship).
May 11th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
@IronMagnus, you say that but that hasn’t stopped people writing books in the 18 years since Ronddenberry’s death. Obviously people do care because the books still sell, and are still made.
May 11th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
LOL! Spock strikes back.
May 11th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
The movie was great.
Much better of Trashformers 2.
But, I waiting for G.I. Joe.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I had a whole big thing typed up, but to be honest, it hurt my brain. Frankly, given the state of Star Trek, rebooting this was the best way. And they can still revisit the other timeline EASILY. But seeing how much money this new one is making, that tells me they probably won’t need to. I just knew that people would bellyache about it being restarted.
May 11th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Heh, give it some time and it will switch again.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Oh yeah I loved all the plot holes and platitudinous story. The shiny colors and pretty explosions are just what Star Trek needed.
From the writers of Bayformers no wonder it sucked so badly. When I saw Simon Pegg wet in the trailer I figured he got peed on . Glad I didn’t pay for it.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I loved the new movie. In one word, it was Awesome. Even my mom (not a sci-fi fan at all) thought it was good. And I also love the look on Lil Vader’s face/helmet. Priceless.
May 11th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Roddenberry also said Star Trek V wasn’t canon. And Paramount has in more recent years had a far more fluid attitude about the whole thing, incorporating elements of certain novels into televised episodes of the more recent series, and now into the movie.
I wouldn’t worry too much about what a dead guy (however important) once said about canon….
May 11th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I saw the movie with 5 of my workmates and none of them were Star Trek fans. They all knew that I was a Trekie so when X-Men Origins: Wolverine wasn’t available they all voted to watch Star Trek. All of them loved it. Even now they’re still quoting lines from the movie and doing the Vulcan “salute” every chance they get. I on the other hand am a different story. I liked the movie fine but it didn’t feel like Trek to me.
This movie tried exactly what Enterprise tried to do for the Star Trek, which is, appeal to new audience while retaining old fans. Enterprise failed; it didn’t attract new fans and alienated loyal followers. The new Star Trek however; successfully reeled in new audiences and managed to keep most of the old fans happy or at least entertained.
This movie was developed with the general public in mind and not to keep Old Trek’s fan base happy.
May 12th, 2009 at 12:39 am
Hey Matt,
Although, I want to hug Lil’ Vader!
Lil’ Spock rox!
I agree that the ST movie was awesome! And Karl Urban totally pwned as Bones! And Chekov was SO adorable, and Spock was wicked, etc. etc. etc. And yes, Uhura was pretty useless. She existed only to suck face with the character you thought probably WOULDN’T be playing kissy with anyone!
However, I firmly believe that you can’t compare Trek and Wars. Two totally different genres (sci-fi vs. fantasy), and can’t judge an entire fandom on ONE movie, or else Star Wars is in HUGE GINORMOUS trouble!
Although, you can say they’re evenly matched, as Trek’s eleven flicks vs. Star Wars’ six (not incl. Clone Wars) are both comprised of 50% win and 50% fail! 
May 12th, 2009 at 12:51 am
Interestingly, this can’t even be (directly) a new timeline from old Trek. The history is vastly different even outside of Kirk being a rebel (minor change) and Vulcan being blown up (major change). Examples being an older Pike (instead of Robert April) being the captain of a maiden voyage set at least ten years later; Romulans being known by face; ships being constructed in Iowa instead of Utopia Planitia, with vastly different interior design; the Enterprise logo as the Starfleet logo, etc.
Most of the changes are set dressing, but just as Tolkien designed the Elvish tongues as languages inseparable from the history of their wars, so too we cannot discount the earlier differences in timelines resulting in cellphone-inspired communicators, flying motorcycles, and iPod-themed bridges. If this is in the same multiverse, it is not nearly as close a quantum fork as the marketing would have us believe.
I’m guessing it’s Q’s fault. He just wants a Kirk at least as exciting as Picard, Sisko, or Janeway.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:18 am
oh that would be the perfect fan wright-off. blame Q.
Q went back in time, and created an alternate timeline through his actions which resulted in this Star Trek, which is a more run-around gritty version of his home trek world.
May 12th, 2009 at 1:44 am
You forgot the animated series!!!!
May 12th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Robert April was never cannon was he?
May 12th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Hang on a second- Star Wars has a crappy TV show?
Are you kidding me? The Star Wars TV show is brilliant! It’s the best Star Wars to be committed to the screen since Return of the Jedi. It actually contains what made the original trilogy so great, unlike those crappy prequels.
May 12th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I couldn’t agree more with Lil Spock
May 12th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
personaly disliked it, the special effects were the only good points imo about this movie, it just had too many plot holes and the story was generic. Also Kirk was utter trailer trash, no one would let him be in charge of a space ship. Also wtf was with him riding a car off a cliff, it didnt show him as a risk taker, just showed that he was freaking stupid.
Also I hate the starwars cartoon
May 12th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I can say something good about the Starwars cartoon, its the best Star Wars cartoon show ever made…*take that as what it is*
also Kirk as trailor trash…I don’t know, this is supposed to be (or some itteration there of) of a guy whose alien diplocamacy policy is either, blow em up, hand combat to the death, or sleep with the hot female aliens.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
that wasn’t fencing. more like… ninjitsu
May 13th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Actually i love the new Clone Wars Cartoon and find it one of the few good SW things in recent years. With the novels being complete junk, Microseries that turned out horrible, Force Unleashed having been plain sinful storywise and the comics starting to falter i find myself enjoying the cartoon quite a lot.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
i feel sorry for tha vader =(
May 14th, 2009 at 6:28 am
In every Star Trek movie with the TNG crew, there was only enough time to feature two lead characters; with ST: Generations it was Picard and Kirk and with the rest of the TNG movies it was Picard and Data. In the Star Trek TV shows, each main character eventually gets his/her own episode, in each season, and play the lead but this can’t be done in a movie. In this new Trek movie the leads are Kirk and Spock and the rest of the crew, however iconic they were back in the original series, are just minor characters, not given enough screen time, not showcased properly, and just a few notches above the extras.
I too, hate Clone Wars. I gave it a chance and watched 4 episodes but I got bored real fast and what’s up with that Ahsoka? Who did the character development for her? She’s shallow, bratty and annoying, not as annoying as Jar Jar but still bad. It is as if an anime otaku infiltrated Lucas Arts and pitched that they add a magical school girl character and have her tag-along with Anakin-nii-chan everywhere Anakin-nii-chan goes and George Lucas bought it.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
well Gooseman if it makes you feel better I think I recognize her as one of the Jedi who are killed in the third prequal. I love to remind people about this on the clone wars, all the Jedi die, and Anakin goes on after to murder a bunch of children and become Darth Vader.
May 15th, 2009 at 3:59 am
Isn’t that character supposed to be Shaak Ti? But yeah Ahsoka is very likely to be killed off sooner or later.
May 15th, 2009 at 6:13 am
WHY YOU LITTLE . . . MASTER CHIEF!!!! GO KILL THAT ALIEN!!! HE’S TORMENTING A SPEC OPS MARINE!!!!!
May 15th, 2009 at 11:39 am
[...] Matt Moylan summarises the problems with this new Star Trek and what it means for old Star Trek. [...]
May 15th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
The Clone Wars crappy?
Shirley your not talking about Rookies and Hidden Enemy?
The episodes where the clones are the focus are the best.
That’s right, I called you Shirley!
May 16th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
the newwer clone wars cartoon is alright, and often actualy watchale (as imposible as that may seem to some) except i HATE that frikkin “super freinds” announcer! >_< they should have had like a clone or something givving a mission description instead of this stupidity! but I digress…. the show is alright, and pretty cool for a kids show. I would have rather they resurected the older ones from before episode III but what are you gunna do… the real news is their planning a LIVE ACTION star wars show some time in the not too distant future that’s supposedly taking place between III and IV along with all the bad-assery attatched! lets hope we get to see LOTS of vaders aprentace and stuff…
May 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I bet Vader in this comic was thinking,
(SPOILER ALERT! for those who didn’t see Revenge of the Sith)
“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!”
May 18th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
oh, sapphire wolf, that’s actually the pahantom menace that is the poster on the right, didnt you see darth maul’s yellow eyes and forehead?
May 18th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I know that the poster is TPM. Jeez, I’m not that dumb. I was quoting what Darth Vader was thinking in my speculation of this comic. I saw all 6 of the StarWars Movies (4-6 and prequels (1-3).
May 18th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
And I know who Darth Maul is already (and what he looks like)!
May 25th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
!parc yloh
May 27th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Err, that’s why I don’t buy “G1″ Transformers comics anymore. After , what, the THIRD reboot by IDW, I just gave up. The entire Tf universe is just “get to the point when Unicron comes around, the Headmasters start wandering the galaxy and the Japanese TFs get their own show and…RESET”
Terrible.
May 28th, 2009 at 7:58 am
@BlueNight - The original Enterprise was constructed on earth anyway not Utopia Planitia (mars), it was however not constructed in Iowa it was San Francisco, still a difference but much less than a different planet, and it is always possible it was later moved to SF as that appears to be where it was launched from and where its dedication plaque would likely be unveiled.
June 7th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
starwar the clone isn’t c***** it got a million hits and you know it so give the lil vader a hug and pee on the star trek movie
June 24th, 2009 at 10:22 am
July 18th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
LOL!
July 20th, 2009 at 12:00 am
YEAH THATS HOW SPOCKS VULCAN POWER IS DONE! BURn DARTH LOSER!
September 30th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Star Wars will rise again…one day. Mark my words.
October 14th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
ummmm both of the series are pretty good but i like the old startreck series and starwars
November 20th, 2009 at 7:57 am
honestly i thought new startrek movie was meh at best.
i liked how they tried to revive it and can see how they push it away from original startrek but it still wasn’t the same. and it missed alot of the subtle digs and 1 liners
December 28th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Actually, as Spock said in the movie, this is an alternate universe. Sort of like Paramount’s equivalent to Marvel’s “Ultimate” line of comic books. TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT all happened in ONE timeline, one chronology, totally unrelated to this movie, the one where Nero and Spock Prime came from. The ENTIRE rebooted ST universe was born the instant the Narada appeared back in time.
However, some things that happened in the prime universe did happen in the reboot universe, like Kirk cheating on his exams, Captain Pike being the first Captain of the original Enterprise, etc. However, in this universe we see Vulcan get destroyed by Nero and we ALMOST saw a Trek universe where Spock and Kirk hated each other.
However, this doesn’t mean that everything in the main timeline changed just because they did in this alternate timeline. I imagine that Vulcan still existed in the main timeline, things like the encounters of Q and the Borg, as well as the Dominion War and Voyager’s journey home STILL occured, as well as the destruction of Romulus that was more or less the prime cause of the reboot universe even developing (Since Spock Prime and Nero originated more or less from the event.).
Personally, I loved the 2009 movie. I though it was a great recovery for Star Trek after the Enterprise flopped and the last two TNG movies were so, *so…* crappy (Nemesis had cool parts, but Paramount was clearly aiming for summer flick in that one.).
Knowing the ending of Nemesis and Nero and the Narada crew being post-Nemesis Romulans if Nero had been affected by this change personally. Remember that the Romulan Star Empire as we knew it ended in the PROLOGUE of Nemesis.
I wonder now that Star Trek is more or less back on track if we’ll see another movie in the rebooted universe? Possibly even a TV series?
One thing I noticed though, was when Star Trek movies/TV was being crap, the books suddenly found a real boost in quality. Read I, Q, that was a fun book, being almost a parody of Star Trek in its whole.
December 30th, 2009 at 10:02 am
i loved tht one it was cute keep up the good work folks and have a joyes new year bye for now …