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  1. #1
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    Star Trek: Into Darkness

    My review is short and simple-- Best Star Trek movie ever.

    Many sci-fi fans will disagre with me, saying that Wrath of Khan is the best Star Trek gets. I loved Wrath of Khan and thought the twists and turns in that one were better than in this one - the Wrath of Khan script is better than the script in Into Darkness - but the enhanced effects, better actors, and amusing doses of humor barely edge Darkness ahead in my mind. Truly, it is not all that important. The bottom line is that this is an excellent sci-fi film.

    Ok, do you want a few more words than "Best ever" about this film? If so, read on.

    In many ways, though JJ Abrams has given us brand new storylines with his reboot of the Star Trek universe, he remains shackled to so much of what we recall from the old Star Trek timeline that it lessens his ability to surprise us. Most of the twists that happens in this film, though well plotted and clever, are twists a Star Trek fan can see coming because we know the Star Trek cannon. But I think JJ and his writing team (led by Damon Lindelhoff) understand this so they don't spend too much effort hiding the obvious turns. In the end, it becomes a fun game for Trek fans to listen out for quick shout outs to the old series (Harvey Mudd, Nurse Chappell, and several other iconic characters from the series make passing appearances in the plot) but it does not affect the enjoyment of the film for folks who are brand new to all this. My two sons, 16 and 13, have never seen the older Star Trek movies and have only watched a few episodes of the classic series. Still, they adored this film almost as much as I did, even if they had no idea that the furry thing on Dr. McCoy's desk was a Tribble.

    Here are the most important things you need to know:

    1) If at all possible, DO NOT GET SPOILED!!! There are some huge spoilers about this film that will greatly affect your enjoyment of it. Go see it quickly, so you can appreciate it in all its unspoiled glory. Do not go to the Wiki page as it contains huge spoilers. Just see it unfiltered... I beg you!

    2) I sorta can't believe I am saying this but... it is worth paying to see this one in 3D. There are a number of scenes where the 3D adds to the enjoyment. In particular, the opening 20 minutes are breathtaking in 3D. It is still easy to enjoy in 2D, but if you are someone who thinks about paying a bit extra for the 3D experience, this is a film where it is worthwhile to do so.

    3) I would suggest watching Wrath of Khan before seeing this film, if only so you will be able to make comparisons among the two finest films in the Star Trek catalog. Though the second film in JJ's Star Trek does not even begin to follow the same plot as second film in the original Star Trek world, there are some references and moments that will ring more clearly if you have seen Wrath of Khan. If you have not, it is no big deal but I think it is fun to compare them.

    A couple more quick hits:

    Lindelhoff is often criticized for setting up great stories and then being unable to end them. Not this time. The ending isn't great but it works and makes sense. There are no cringe-inducing "they are all just in purgatory" or "why are they running in a straight line as the spaceship falls on them?" moments. The story hides what it needs to hide until you need to know it and moves along at a brisk pace. There is plenty of action, but never at the expense of good storytelling. The first 2/3rds of the movie are brilliantly plotted and set up something that is both complicated and yet makes sense.

    The acting is good and I can't say enough about how great Cumberbatch was as John Harrison. He is menacing and intense the whole time. A lot of what he does is totally over the top, but it works for his character. Chris Pine is fine as Kirk, but I thought Zach Quinto's Spock was especially good, particularly toward the end of the film when the pressure of the situation causes him to show some traces of emotion. Some of the other side actors are good too, though Simon Pegg's Scotty is the one who connects to the audience the most. These movies are still trying to figure out how to make McCoy into a more significant character, a process which may be further hindered because I would imagine that Alice Eve's science officer Carol is going to be a meaningful character moving forward.

    If you want to play a fun game, check out how much lens flare JJ Abrams uses on board the Enterprise. It is sorta his signature and I almost laughed out loud a couple times when the entire background was flaring into the camera. The Enterprise bridge is nothing but a series of really bright lights each waiting their turn to flare into the camera eye.

    That's about it for now. I could say mountains more but want all of you to enjoy it first. We'll talk about the spoiler-specific details in a few days.

    -Jason "Bennedict Cumberbatch is fabulous in this film, his menacing glare makes the movie work!" Evans
    Last edited by JasonEvans; 05-16-2013 at 11:32 AM.
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  2. #2
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    Cary, NC
    I will be taking my son to see this next friday night at IMAX 3D. The previews for it when we went there to see Iron Man 3 looked really good.
    Duke '96
    Cary, NC

  3. #3

    my take

    Okay, just got back from Ino Darkness and while I'm not sure I liked it as much as Jason, I thought it was very good -- in the upper third of ST movies. I'm not going into detail -- too early for spoilers.

    I wanted to talk about the franchise and the relative value of the movies. I know that Jason mentioned "Wrath of Khan" as the best of the ST films (before this one), but when I went to Rotten Tomatoes, I got this ranking (from the critics):

    1. Star Trek (2009) ... 95 percent
    2. First Contract ... 92
    3. Wrath of Khan ... 91
    4. Voyage Home ... 84
    5. Undiscovered Country ... 83
    6. Search for Spock ... 77
    7. Insurrection ... 56
    8. Generations ... 48
    9. The Motion Picture ... 45
    10. Nemesis ... 38
    11. Final Frontier ... 21

    The fan vote is similar but slightly different:
    1. Sar Trek (2009 ) ... 91
    2. Wrath of Kahn ... 86
    3. First Contact ... 83
    4. (Tie) The Voyage Home ... 77
    The Undiscovered Country ... 77
    6. The Search for Spock ... 61
    7. Generations ... 60
    8. Nemisis ... 54
    9. Insurrection ... 51
    10. The Motion Picture ... 47
    11. The Final Frontier ... 35

    Using the RT formula -- 60 percent is fresh -- you get six fresh films according to the critics ... seven according to the fan vote. Everyone agrees thast the Final Frontier stinks ...

    What surprised me was the unanimous choice of the first Abrams Star Trek as the best Trek film. I think that's because it was more of a space opera than the traditional Trek (which is often real science fiction). It appears to people who don't like "ordinary" Trek. I suspect if you polled traditional Trek fans, Wrath of Khan would be rated highest. BTW: Early returns for Into Darkness put it at 88 percent. In that holds up, it will be the No. 4 Trek movie according to the criticvs (haven't seen the fan vote yet).

    But beyond that point is the argument that some of the best Star Treks were episodes of the TV series. You could argue that the two-parters were "Movies" -- The Best of Both Words is consistently rated the strongest element in the Trek Universe. I'd rate Yesterday's Enterprise, Inner Light, Relics, City of the Edge of Forever and about a half a dozen DS9 episodes as better as any Trek movie (Beyond the Stars was amazing). A lot of the TV shows are drek, but the best TV episodes are the best things in the universe.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Olympic Fan View Post
    Okay, just got back from Ino Darkness and while I'm not sure I liked it as much as Jason, I thought it was very good -- in the upper third of ST movies. I'm not going into detail -- too early for spoilers..
    Okay, having read your thoughts, and agreeing with much of what you said about the episodes and their relative quality compared to the movies, I'd be interested to see where you DO rank it among ST movies. In my view, there are a clear top 3 in the movies to date: Star Trek (2009), Wrath of Khan, and First Contact (not necessarily in that order). ST 3, 4, and 6 are a clear step down from those, but still pretty good movies.

    Happy to see the good reviews of this movie, and very much looking forward to taking my 14 year old son to see it.

  5. #5
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    Mar 2008
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    raleigh
    saw it this morning....best star trek ever......
    "One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese

  6. #6
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    Feb 2007
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    Boston, MA
    Saw it as well today....it was...in a word...fantastic.

    I would agree with JE that it's the best movie made (while also agreeing that Wrath of Khan is a close, close, close 2nd) and for the same reasons - the special effects, the humor, the shout-out to past Star Trek movies.

    OK - time to discuss it more.

    So - here come Spoilers...


    Warning you...


    Still warning you...

    OK, time to talk.

    I thought this movie was everything that Iron Man 3 and Dark Knight Rises were not...i.e. a movie that lived up to it's hype.

    Now some of you know, I try to stay 100% spoiler free. I don't watch previews (unless I accidentally do so). I don't read articles until after I've seen the movie. And yet, the other day like an idiot I was reading something about he movie and it mentioned that Khan was in it. Now, I know that right after the first JJ Abrams the discussion came up that Khan might be in the next one, and I thought that he would be...but still, I was mad at myself for having it 100% confirmed before I saw it. But that was the only spoiler that I had. Please don't read stuff about the movie - there are some great parts that simply won't have the impact if you know they are coming.

    I really liked almost everything about this movie. Khan was great. The acting was great. The humor was great. Bones, Scott, Sulu, O'Heara...all great. Khan was exactly what a genetically engineered superman would be like - very believable.

    My (very minor) nitpicks:

    1) I was really hoping that somehow Khan would get put on Siti Alpha 5 again.

    2) I didn't think that Khan would turn on them so quickly after taking over the other ship. Maybe it was because Kirk had ordered him to be stunned - hard to tell. But he seemed a bit "too" evil, wheras I always liked that Khan was ambiguous - yeah he's bad, but he has good intentions at least some of the time at least on the surface.

    3) There are some plot holes. Why wouldn't Khan just take all his 72 friends by force earlier? Why wouldn't the Admiral just kill all of them?

    4) There were some serious destruction in the movie...and it was fun, but it seemed to me that at the end they kind of glossed over that. I mean half the city was destroyed. That's pretty impactful. It would have killed tens of thousands of people.

    So that said, I really loved:

    The opening scene.

    The fight scene between Spock and Khan (just incredible)

    The flying through space scene with Khan and Kirk.

    Everything on the Enterprise. Everything, but espeically the last 30 minutes with the attacks and the ship falling to Earth.

    Bringing back Old Spock and Nimoy, and his "I promised I wouldn't tell you anything...but Khan is a total badass and you can't trust him, and he'll kill you all if he gets the chance."

    Loved them flipping the "who sacrifices their life to save the ship" thing with Kirk and Spock from The Wrath of Khan.

    OK...I say that...but then again I didn't love it. I enjoyed it immensely. But it does kind of diminish Kirk's character. He was always the Cowboy. Sort of like Tony Stark. He's the guy who doesn't risk his own life, because he never thinks he has to. There's always another way out. In Wrath of Khan he learned that wasn't the case, thanks to Spock. Now he learned it himself...but it's awfully early in his career for that. Again, I get the point...but I just like to think of Kirk as wild and crazy until his later years, when he kind of learns it a little too late. As you can see, I'm mixed on that....but just a little.

    I will definitely go see this movie again with my kids. Definitely. It should make more money than Iron Man 3. It's a much, much better film. I'm not sure if it will...but it should. That aside, if you didn't put this in your top 5, you've lost.

  7. #7
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    Feb 2007
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    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    I didn't read the above post with spoilers. We're going to see it Sunday afternoon - it's supposed to rain here!
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Walnut Creek, California

    I don't mean

    to rain on anyone's parade here, particularly Jason Evans's viewpoint. Many of you are far more invested Trekkies than I ever will be and I honor that.

    I saw the movie yesterday afternoon in 3-D, per JE's recommendation. I do agree with him that 3-D adds a dimension to the movie that is worth the extra money.

    And, to be clear, this is pretty good movie, plot holes and all. Certainly worth seeing as a pure entertainment vehicle. And I don't want to condemn it as being way too fantastic for credibility, give that it is sci-fi, for fun and for quasi-super-hero success. Ultimately, though, the plot is thin. A manhunt--and even Spock, Bones and Scotty rebel at the fact that the quest goes against Star Fleet's First Mandate.

    Still, the betrayals provide a decent entertainment and the Spock-Kirk man crush continues to develop.

    Finally, the acting was led by Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan. When he's on...he controls the scenes. Pine is pretty good as Kirk and Quinto provides a very good Spock. But Cumberbatch really is the movie's star. [He's been excellent in other things recently, too. TV's new Sherlock Holmes; Tinker Tailor and Warhorse.]

    Worth seeing, for sure. Worth accolades as the best? No. But do see it in 3-D for the fight scenes, the over the top transfer and the destruction of San Francisco.

  9. #9

    the fight

    Quote Originally Posted by Udaman View Post
    Saw it as well today....it was...in a word...fantastic.

    I would agree with JE that it's the best movie made (while also agreeing that Wrath of Khan is a close, close, close 2nd) and for the same reasons - the special effects, the humor, the shout-out to past Star Trek movies.

    OK - time to discuss it more.

    So - here come Spoilers...


    Warning you...


    Still warning you...

    OK, time to talk.

    I thought this movie was everything that Iron Man 3 and Dark Knight Rises were not...i.e. a movie that lived up to it's hype.

    Now some of you know, I try to stay 100% spoiler free. I don't watch previews (unless I accidentally do so). I don't read articles until after I've seen the movie. And yet, the other day like an idiot I was reading something about he movie and it mentioned that Khan was in it. Now, I know that right after the first JJ Abrams the discussion came up that Khan might be in the next one, and I thought that he would be...but still, I was mad at myself for having it 100% confirmed before I saw it. But that was the only spoiler that I had. Please don't read stuff about the movie - there are some great parts that simply won't have the impact if you know they are coming.

    I really liked almost everything about this movie. Khan was great. The acting was great. The humor was great. Bones, Scott, Sulu, O'Heara...all great. Khan was exactly what a genetically engineered superman would be like - very believable.

    My (very minor) nitpicks:

    1) I was really hoping that somehow Khan would get put on Siti Alpha 5 again.

    2) I didn't think that Khan would turn on them so quickly after taking over the other ship. Maybe it was because Kirk had ordered him to be stunned - hard to tell. But he seemed a bit "too" evil, wheras I always liked that Khan was ambiguous - yeah he's bad, but he has good intentions at least some of the time at least on the surface.

    3) There are some plot holes. Why wouldn't Khan just take all his 72 friends by force earlier? Why wouldn't the Admiral just kill all of them?

    4) There were some serious destruction in the movie...and it was fun, but it seemed to me that at the end they kind of glossed over that. I mean half the city was destroyed. That's pretty impactful. It would have killed tens of thousands of people.

    So that said, I really loved:

    The opening scene.

    The fight scene between Spock and Khan (just incredible)

    The flying through space scene with Khan and Kirk.

    Everything on the Enterprise. Everything, but espeically the last 30 minutes with the attacks and the ship falling to Earth.

    Bringing back Old Spock and Nimoy, and his "I promised I wouldn't tell you anything...but Khan is a total badass and you can't trust him, and he'll kill you all if he gets the chance."

    Loved them flipping the "who sacrifices their life to save the ship" thing with Kirk and Spock from The Wrath of Khan.

    OK...I say that...but then again I didn't love it. I enjoyed it immensely. But it does kind of diminish Kirk's character. He was always the Cowboy. Sort of like Tony Stark. He's the guy who doesn't risk his own life, because he never thinks he has to. There's always another way out. In Wrath of Khan he learned that wasn't the case, thanks to Spock. Now he learned it himself...but it's awfully early in his career for that. Again, I get the point...but I just like to think of Kirk as wild and crazy until his later years, when he kind of learns it a little too late. As you can see, I'm mixed on that....but just a little.

    I will definitely go see this movie again with my kids. Definitely. It should make more money than Iron Man 3. It's a much, much better film. I'm not sure if it will...but it should. That aside, if you didn't put this in your top 5, you've lost.
    Continuing spoilers ...

    It's funny, I thought the Spock-Kahn fight scene was one of the absolutely worst moments in the movie.

    There was nothing new or extraordinary about it -- just two near-superhuman guys beating the hell out of each other. It was never defined exactly what were either character's physiological limits -- we knew Khan was super-strong, but he could be knocked out by a phaser blast. We know that Spock has greater than human strength -- but how much greater? In the first movie, he loses control and tries to kill Kirk, but doesn't even seriously damage him. In the end, Spock and Khan were just two tough guys beating on each other as they jumped around the flying buses (? dump trucks?). I've seen that fight a million times -- usually on the top of moving trains, but it looked like something out of a Die Hard or James Bond movie (in fact, Skyfall starts with a much better fight on a moving train).

    And BTW is anybody else disappointed that the production company flat out lied in its pre-film propaganda? Some months ago, it was widely reported on the net that the villain in this film would be Khan and the Paramont people issued a press release saying that Cumberbach was NOT playing Khan. LIE!

    Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the film. I appreciated the debate over how far obligations of friendship should go. I really appreciated the insight of how far certain powerful people will go to secure security -- even allying with people/governments (and becoming ourselves) as bad as those we fear. Those are the kind of issues that real science fiction explores.

    Finally, in regard to the opening sequence -- after watching every Star Trek movie and TV show, am I wrong in saying that "Prime" must have a different meaning in the future than it does now? Has there ever been any directive violated more often and with less cause (in this case, to save the life of one crewman)than the Prime Directive in the Star Trek Universe?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Nope. Not gonna read that post yet either!
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  11. #11
    I liked the movie a lot, but (spoiler alert) I do despise the bringing-people-back-to-life as a plot device in all movies. Even if it's obvious that it has to happen.

  12. #12
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    Apr 2010
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    Seattle
    My favorite movie of the summer so far. It lived up to my expectations.

  13. #13
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    Feb 2007
    Location
    Clearwater, FL
    I loved it. We saw it (3D) on Saturday. I thought it was the best Star Trek ever.

    I look forward to seeing it again. I am sure there is a great deal I missed.
    Windsor (aka Loni)

    a wasted youth is better by far than a wise and productive old age

  14. #14
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    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Saw it yesterday in 3D! Loved it! Now to read the spoilers
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wander View Post
    I liked the movie a lot, but (spoiler alert) I do despise the bringing-people-back-to-life as a plot device in all movies. Even if it's obvious that it has to happen.
    Yes, and it was also very obvious HOW they were going to do it. Loved, and laughed, at the juxtaposition of rolls. And I started to correctly recite dialog that had yet to be spoken by the characters! It was fun, like watching a baseball game on TV, seeing something that did (or could) happen, saying that to your viewing companion, and then the announcers say the exact same thing.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  16. #16
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    Ozzie - YES!!!! I was really bummed when Spock didn't say, "But he'll die." only to have Scotty say "He's dead already!" They definitely should have put that line in.

  17. #17
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    Feb 2007
    Huh. So none of you were bothered by the fact that large chunks of the movie make no sense?

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duvall View Post
    Huh. So none of you were bothered by the fact that large chunks of the movie make no sense?
    I have to admit that the more I reflect on this film, the lesser it gets in my eyes. The back half of the picture, once the main villain is revealed, really falls into extremely lazy scripting with the story following such a familiar and obvious path. A critic friend of mine said someone needs to sue Lindelhoff for plagiarism.

    But, the bottom line for me is that I had so much fun watching the film that I didn't really care at the time and I am not sure how much I care now. This is not a great sci-fi film (I watched Serenity again with my kids over the weekend -- now that is an amazing sci-fi flick!), but it is good enough.

    -Jason "hey, Duvall, what parts made the least sense to you?" Evans
    Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duvall View Post
    Huh. So none of you were bothered by the fact that large chunks of the movie make no sense?
    I watch movies to be entertained. I was very entertained by Star Trek!

    I second Jason's question - what parts made no sense? Warp drive travel greater than the speed of light? Teletransportation? Tribbles?
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  20. #20

    logic

    Quote Originally Posted by OZZIE4DUKE View Post
    I watch movies to be entertained. I was very entertained by Star Trek!

    I second Jason's question - what parts made no sense? Warp drive travel greater than the speed of light? Teletransportation? Tribbles? :rolleyes:
    Great response ... reminds me of what director Phil Robinson said when a baseball nerd objected that Joe Jackson (a real-life lefthander) batted right in Field of Dreams.

    Anderson told him that there's an even bigger mistake with Shoeless Joe un the film: "The guy's dead!"

    Obviously, a film like Star Trek requires a suspension of logic. And while I do have problems with the film (too much emphasis on stale action/special effects ... the back-from-the-dead thing), I didn't see anything senseless about the story line. What bothered you?

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