The movie was pretty good!
The big surprise of the night, though? I let myself be cajoled into making our theatre outing a double-header with X-Men Origins, and it turned out not to be as terrible as I expected. Granted, I figured it would suck through a straw, but instead it was a slightly above-average Big Dumb Superhero Flick. Better than X-Men III and Spider-man 3, that’s for damn sure. I definitely didn’t expect my X-Men comics habit circa the Jim Lee reboot era would come in so handy, but having pored over the Larry Hama Wolverine comics back in the day I recognized an awful lot of the side characters and plot developments. So that was a pleasant 90-minute diversion.
Trek, though, was the movie I had hoped The Phantom Menace would be — a fun, energetic, lighthearted revitalization of something that meant the world to me as a kid. I guess ten years late is better than never. Sometimes I wonder if I work with old video games in a desperate bid to recapture the sense of enthusiasm and enjoyment I felt about silly, meaningless things when I was young; for two hours last night, I had that feeling again.
Of course, the illusion of my teenage years won’t be complete until I track down an Enterprise model and sloppily assemble and paint it in my haste to have a display of the greatest sci-fi craft ever. For more authenticity, I should be more awkward around girls, too, but I don’t think Cat would necessarily appreciate that. So I’ll stick with the model project for now. I wonder if there are any Hobby Lobbies in San Francisco?
LOL @ Hobby Lobby. I was there not too long ago when I was thinking about doing a custom paint job on a H.I.S.S. tank. You should do a Toastyfrog themed H.I.S.S.
I dare ya.
I’d surprised I hadn’t heard of this before, but there’s a whole subculture of model-building aficianados online that I discovered about a year ago: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/jr_enta.htm
Some of the things that these guys can do with an off-the-shelf model are NUTS (though kind of disheartening if you’re easily intimidated and/or about to embark on your own model building excercise). You can find some neat tips, though, especially regarding the construction/painting of refit-era Enterprise models (print-out stencils for the hull’s ‘aztec’ paintjob, etc.).
Aw crap, just talking about this makes me wanna slap a model together now, too. (I’ve heard that the “Polar Lights” run of “it lights up from the inside out but wont make you wish you were dead while building it”-style Enterprise model kits are pretty keen.)
I’d also like to see this movie, and a couple of my friends were going last night… but I was too damn busy to go. That was probably the only time we’ll all be able to get together at once, and they’re my only friends who will put up with anything sci-fi. Looks like I might have to do the highly nerdy act of seeing a Star Trek flick at the theater alone. I suppose this is also reaching authentic levels nerdy, but i hear the movie has a good amount of mainstream appeal, so probably not.
A few years ago I picked up an Enterprise model kit at a garage sale. When I opened it up I realized “oh this doesn’t just snap together like a Zoids model”. It’s been sitting in my closet ever since. So if you can’t find any in your area I’d be glad to send it your way.
It’s this one from 1991:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1991-AMT-Ertl-Star-Trek-USS-ENTERPRISE-Special-Ed-%236957_W0QQitemZ280341501987QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090504?IMSfp=TL090504125007r30776
I’m having my doubts. This is coming from the same person who said “Indy 4” was “good”.
Indy 4 was good. Silly and campy just like the first 3.
Looking forward to seeing Trek! Not sure when I’ll get around to it.
I don’t want to start a whole Indiana Jones debate, BUT: every time somebody wants to defend the likes of Indy 4 they say basically, “Why don’t you like it? It was dumb, just like the other movies!” But Raiders was a very smartly made, and just, like, very TIGHT movie — in fact it was so well made that it’s been over two decades and NO action movie, in my mind, has eclipsed it — and something as sloppy as Indy 4 turned out certainly doesn’t even come close.
Man, people get real passionate about their Indy 4 hatred. I agree with the other side’s opinion that it was pulp fun. Of course, I’m the kind of person who is looking forward to Transformers 2 coming out on DVD so I can fast forward through the plot and get the explosions. So obviously my bar is set pretty low.
Also, just saw Star Trek and it rocked my face.
This post isn’t about Indy 4, you nattering nitwits. Please stay focused on the topic at hand: naked adulation for Star Trek. Thank you.
Well in that case, all of my favorite scenes included Spock kicking butt and taking names. Also, the way the plot rebooted the series was genius.
Thought that teenaged Spock listening to The Decemberists was a bit much, but ce la vie.
Just got back from Trek myself. Enjoyed it for the casting and the humor — I think “revitalization” is the perfect word for it.
The model shop on the lower level of Japantown (down the ratty brass staircase from Kinokuniya) has a lot of old models tucked in the back. They might have something to suit your fancy.
I quite enjoyed it. And I have to give props to Zachary Quinto – the whole “Sylar” thing (yes, I’m still watching Heroes for no justifiable reason whatsoever) only bothered me for a couple minutes, and from then on he was just a really awesome Spock. He done good.
Funny, since I saw Trek at the Kabuki I dropped by the model shop while waiting for Cat to get to Japantown. I would never, ever buy anything from that place — everything is about 25% more expensive than it should be.
That model shop is terrifying to me.
Oh, and Star Trek happily betrayed all my (low) expectations for the film. Awesome stuff and the best film I’ve seen all year. It was still a bittersweet experience to basically have all previous Trek stuff I love to be nullified and swept under the rug. But at the very least… LOL@ Capitan Archer’s shitty dog.
I saw it Sunday night, and loved it! I wanted to nitpick things, but it was just so much fun. The casting was brilliant, in my opinion.