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ST TOS Movies
This is the first time I've ever watched all six movies in order. I have determined that the "even numbered films are good, odd numbered ones aren't" axiom is loosely true but simplistic.
Interesting to look at but otherwise boring. The score is the best thing about it. I really don't have much to say about it except how weird it is that both of the parents from Seventh Heaven are in ST movies.
It's incredible how much better Wrath of Khan is than The Motion Picture. Just an entertaining film all around because it remembers to be fun.
+ I wish it didn't have Khan's name in the title. Can you imagine the moment where he takes off his helmet if you didn't know he was going to be in the movie???? Nothing would top that!
+ I adore Ricardo Montalbán--he's always having so much fun! His cleavage-bearing sweater is hysterical, and all his one-liners are so iconic. Top tier villain.
+ Scotty had a "wee bout of shore leave" <3<3<3
+ I have nothing against Kirstie Alley, but she just does not have a ~Vulcan vibe~
+ I've never understood the whole "Kirk has a secret lovechild!" thing. It just seems...unnecessary? Imo you only introduce a twist like that if you're going to fully explore it which obviously doesn't happen here even though it's part of the plot of the next few films.
+ My only big complaint about the screenplay is the fact that Spock doesn't have much to do in the first 2/3 of the film so the sudden focus on his sacrifice in the last twenty minutes feels a little out of nowhere. I feel like they could have added a few scenes adding up to five more minutes of runtime and fleshed out his emotional journey a bit more. Though I guess you could argue that we know this guy so well after 3 seasons (and a movie) that he can just suddenly become super relevant to the emotional plot of the film at the last minute and it works. And it mostly does, given those three seasons and Nimoy's lovely gravitas.
+ It makes zero sense to play "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes at a Vulcan funeral, but it does make sense that Scotty would want to honor his friend in the way he knows how, so I'll allow it.
+ And the ending with the Dickens and the "I feel young" and then the shots of new life...it's really truly beautiful. Yes, this is definitely one of the best of the Trek films.
I know The Search for Spock doesn't have the best reputation, but I think it's a pretty decent showing, especially compared to duds like Nemesis.
+ I like the opening with the growing view of the flashback
+ This Saavik actress has a much better Vulcan vibe
+ MARK LENARD. I love him muchly. He's my favorite as the Romulan commander but I like him as Sarek plenty.
+ Spock melding with Bones is just *chef's kiss* YOU DESERVE IT AFTER EVERYTHING YOU SAID TO HIM, LEONARD MCCOY. (I will never fully forgive Bones for his xenophobia. Sorry not sorry.)
+ The scene in the bar with Bones trying to hire a ship is soooooo Star Wars.
+ Sulu in his civilian clothes O_O That cape! Pretty fly for a space guy.
+ This kid has the NERVE to talk to Uhura like she's over the hill. How dare you???
+ I salute this movie's commitment to the Kirk/Spock agenda. It's so romantic!
+ I know I say this all the time but: Leonard Nimoy is just the best and loveliest and I love him forever.
The Voyage Home is a perfect film. I love every single thing about it, and my only complaint is that it's not a hundred years long so I don't get to spend my whole life watching it.
Otoh, why is The Final Frontier so lackluster? 'Spock's half-brother is a hippie cult leader' is GOLDEN as a premise. But it's just boring? Also, they could have lit the damn thing. Half of it is so dark I can't tell what's going on. I'm going to hold Shatner personally responsible for that.
Things that are good about it:
+ It has some really good lines. "Please, sir. Not in front of the Klingons." A truly all time great ST line. There are others like that scattered throughout.
+ McSpirk camping and bickering like a cranky old throuple
+ Nichelle Nichols gets to sing??? Even if the way it happens is dumb???
This is a pretty good film, but it doesn't live up to its premise. I'm absolutely in love with the premise of 'the end of Space Cold War.' And it handles it...decently, as I said. But I think it could have done better. Why don't they let me write these things? (Probably because I was a small child when this was released, but let's ignore that.)
At first I was like, "It's stupid to send Kirk as the outreach to the Klingons when they view him as a war criminal and hate him on a personal level," but if I squint, I can fanwank it this way: the Klingons are a warrior race and respect warriors. They certainly view Kirk as one of those. So it's more respectful to their culture than to send a regular ambassador. But it still seems risky!
It's interesting that Spock is the only one of the crew willing to give the Klingons a chance. It's kind of a risky move, to have everybody else be really bigoted about it, but it also makes sense. After all, they're soldiers, in one sense, who have spent their lives fighting the Klingons. History proves that it's hard to shift that mentality. That said, I don't think it's handled as well as it could be and also having the Black character be the one who doesn't want peace is...gross. (Poor Brock Peters. He deserved better.)
+ THE CAST ON THIS THING! Christopher Plummer? Kim Cattrall? Iman? Brock Peters? Christian Slater? Kurtwood Smith? Ludicrous! And I mean, if you're going to have a Shakespeare-quoting villain, he should definitely be played by Christopher Plummer.
+ I do wish the whole escaping-from-the-prison-asteroid had been scrapped and more of that time given over to politics or character work, but it's a scifi movie so what do you expect.
+ Spock saying that "Only Nixon could go to China" is a Vulcan saying is HYSTERICAL.
+ I do lovelovelove that we get to see Sulu in command (with his bff Janice Rand on the bridge with him! I have always been convinced that they are snarky bffs together)
+ The signatures during the credits are a lovely touch, and not one I remembered.
+ As a complete aside, I super hate when something emotional happens in a movie in public and the bystanders applaud. I hate it when it's a proposal, I hate it here. Just...don't make people break into spontaneous applause in your movie. That's not a thing that happens in real life.
All in all, a good ending to the TOS films. I like the Peter Pan quote at the end and especially the deliberate changing of "where no man" to "where no one."
Interesting to look at but otherwise boring. The score is the best thing about it. I really don't have much to say about it except how weird it is that both of the parents from Seventh Heaven are in ST movies.
It's incredible how much better Wrath of Khan is than The Motion Picture. Just an entertaining film all around because it remembers to be fun.
+ I wish it didn't have Khan's name in the title. Can you imagine the moment where he takes off his helmet if you didn't know he was going to be in the movie???? Nothing would top that!
+ I adore Ricardo Montalbán--he's always having so much fun! His cleavage-bearing sweater is hysterical, and all his one-liners are so iconic. Top tier villain.
+ Scotty had a "wee bout of shore leave" <3<3<3
+ I have nothing against Kirstie Alley, but she just does not have a ~Vulcan vibe~
+ I've never understood the whole "Kirk has a secret lovechild!" thing. It just seems...unnecessary? Imo you only introduce a twist like that if you're going to fully explore it which obviously doesn't happen here even though it's part of the plot of the next few films.
+ My only big complaint about the screenplay is the fact that Spock doesn't have much to do in the first 2/3 of the film so the sudden focus on his sacrifice in the last twenty minutes feels a little out of nowhere. I feel like they could have added a few scenes adding up to five more minutes of runtime and fleshed out his emotional journey a bit more. Though I guess you could argue that we know this guy so well after 3 seasons (and a movie) that he can just suddenly become super relevant to the emotional plot of the film at the last minute and it works. And it mostly does, given those three seasons and Nimoy's lovely gravitas.
+ It makes zero sense to play "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes at a Vulcan funeral, but it does make sense that Scotty would want to honor his friend in the way he knows how, so I'll allow it.
+ And the ending with the Dickens and the "I feel young" and then the shots of new life...it's really truly beautiful. Yes, this is definitely one of the best of the Trek films.
I know The Search for Spock doesn't have the best reputation, but I think it's a pretty decent showing, especially compared to duds like Nemesis.
+ I like the opening with the growing view of the flashback
+ This Saavik actress has a much better Vulcan vibe
+ MARK LENARD. I love him muchly. He's my favorite as the Romulan commander but I like him as Sarek plenty.
+ Spock melding with Bones is just *chef's kiss* YOU DESERVE IT AFTER EVERYTHING YOU SAID TO HIM, LEONARD MCCOY. (I will never fully forgive Bones for his xenophobia. Sorry not sorry.)
+ The scene in the bar with Bones trying to hire a ship is soooooo Star Wars.
+ Sulu in his civilian clothes O_O That cape! Pretty fly for a space guy.
+ This kid has the NERVE to talk to Uhura like she's over the hill. How dare you???
+ I salute this movie's commitment to the Kirk/Spock agenda. It's so romantic!
+ I know I say this all the time but: Leonard Nimoy is just the best and loveliest and I love him forever.
The Voyage Home is a perfect film. I love every single thing about it, and my only complaint is that it's not a hundred years long so I don't get to spend my whole life watching it.
Otoh, why is The Final Frontier so lackluster? 'Spock's half-brother is a hippie cult leader' is GOLDEN as a premise. But it's just boring? Also, they could have lit the damn thing. Half of it is so dark I can't tell what's going on. I'm going to hold Shatner personally responsible for that.
Things that are good about it:
+ It has some really good lines. "Please, sir. Not in front of the Klingons." A truly all time great ST line. There are others like that scattered throughout.
+ McSpirk camping and bickering like a cranky old throuple
+ Nichelle Nichols gets to sing??? Even if the way it happens is dumb???
This is a pretty good film, but it doesn't live up to its premise. I'm absolutely in love with the premise of 'the end of Space Cold War.' And it handles it...decently, as I said. But I think it could have done better. Why don't they let me write these things? (Probably because I was a small child when this was released, but let's ignore that.)
At first I was like, "It's stupid to send Kirk as the outreach to the Klingons when they view him as a war criminal and hate him on a personal level," but if I squint, I can fanwank it this way: the Klingons are a warrior race and respect warriors. They certainly view Kirk as one of those. So it's more respectful to their culture than to send a regular ambassador. But it still seems risky!
It's interesting that Spock is the only one of the crew willing to give the Klingons a chance. It's kind of a risky move, to have everybody else be really bigoted about it, but it also makes sense. After all, they're soldiers, in one sense, who have spent their lives fighting the Klingons. History proves that it's hard to shift that mentality. That said, I don't think it's handled as well as it could be and also having the Black character be the one who doesn't want peace is...gross. (Poor Brock Peters. He deserved better.)
+ THE CAST ON THIS THING! Christopher Plummer? Kim Cattrall? Iman? Brock Peters? Christian Slater? Kurtwood Smith? Ludicrous! And I mean, if you're going to have a Shakespeare-quoting villain, he should definitely be played by Christopher Plummer.
+ I do wish the whole escaping-from-the-prison-asteroid had been scrapped and more of that time given over to politics or character work, but it's a scifi movie so what do you expect.
+ Spock saying that "Only Nixon could go to China" is a Vulcan saying is HYSTERICAL.
+ I do lovelovelove that we get to see Sulu in command (with his bff Janice Rand on the bridge with him! I have always been convinced that they are snarky bffs together)
+ The signatures during the credits are a lovely touch, and not one I remembered.
+ As a complete aside, I super hate when something emotional happens in a movie in public and the bystanders applaud. I hate it when it's a proposal, I hate it here. Just...don't make people break into spontaneous applause in your movie. That's not a thing that happens in real life.
All in all, a good ending to the TOS films. I like the Peter Pan quote at the end and especially the deliberate changing of "where no man" to "where no one."
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I totally agree, it's such a lovely feel good+comfort movie! <3
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We also saw humpback whales breeching off the coast a couple of days prior, so that was a neat piece of serendipity.
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The only one i had never seen before was #5 and i was NOT adequately prepared for the movie to open with free soloing Kirk being tracked down by hoverboard Spock?? I think i had been exposed to the Row Row Row Your Boat scene (i think that is the correct campfire song?) but the climbing and hovering, WOW
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