Look, look, we have a budget!

[jethrien]

So I'd never actually seen the first Star Trek movie. Chuckro got a brick of all the ST:TOS movies, so we finally watched it last night, while putting together a puzzle. I'm really grateful for that puzzle. Good lord, nothing happens in that movie! Uhura and Scotty and Chekov and Sulu barely get to do anything at all. And they seem to be determined to make Spock and Kirk and Bones as unlikeable as possible. I thought maybe they did so so that they could each learn a lesson, but only Spock seems to learn anything. Kirk gets a confirmation that his decision to be a dick and steal someone else's command was right, and Bones gets confirmation that machines and logic are evil. Thanks, guys. Most of the time is spent on two new characters whose deaths you can see coming a lightyear away. Actually, no, most of the time is spent on sidequests that fail to seriously advance the plot. The wormhole thing seems designed just to let them have an endless, endless scene with everyone talking veeeeerrrryyyy sssslloooowwwwlllyyyyyy.

I think if you tried to make a drinking game of this, things would go very badly. Because you'd be tempted to make a rule along the lines of "every time there's a long visual in which there is no dialogue or action" or "every time the background music vamps the same phrase in a different key to play for time for more said visuals" you should drink for the entire sequence. And then people would die of alcohol poisoning fifteen minutes in.

Comments

[caranille.livejournal.com]

I've heard the director's cut is a vast improvement for once. The theatrical version cut most of the character-building scenes for the leads. It doesn't help the plot, but at least the characters come out better.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Presumably they make room for it by cutting ten minutes of endless flyby.

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

I fast forwarded through a lot of that movie, I admit it.

[jethrien.livejournal.com]

Why shouldn't you? Nothing happens!