TV New Season!

[Scouse]

Missus has it on her radar. I really want it to be good and true to Rodenberry's vision - but I suspect it'll just be like the new films - spacey action stuff in star-trek skin.

Fingers crossed tho.

 

[Scouse]

Is it worth watching the old Twin Peaks before watching the new one?

I don't really remember the old one. I hear the new one is great - but is it effectively a remake?

 

[caLLous]

I'm working my way through the first two seasons (and then Fire Walk with Me). I don't think it's strictly necessary in order to enjoy the new series but I haven't seen it for 20 odd years and wanted to refresh my memory.

 

[dysfunction]

Philips K Dick's Electric Dreams - Each episode is a short story

 

[DaGaffer]

Philips K Dick's Electric Dreams - Each episode is a short story

I was disappointed with the first one. Atmospheric but ultimately not that interesting.

 

[Scouse]

Philips K Dick's Electric Dreams - Each episode is a short story

My current audiobook is The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. It's fucking excellent.

Will definitely be looking these up - shit or not, there must be something in there if Dick actually had a hand in writing the source material.

 

[caLLous]

 

[Zarjazz]

I was disappointed with the first one. Atmospheric but ultimately not that interesting.

I quite liked the first episode. The second I simply didn't understand the ending at all. Maybe I missed something but it made zero sense.

 

[Zarjazz]

So it turns out the first two episodes of the new Trek series are more a prologue to the actual show so who knows what direction the series is going in. However they've definitely spent some serious money on it as the visuals were impressive. Sure some of the script and acting was a bit ropey at times but then every Trek pilot I can think of had similar issues, but a good start I thought.

 

[Scouse]

Is it Trek tho @Zarjazz, or just a trek-skinned thing?

 

[Zarjazz]

Is it Trek tho @Zarjazz, or just a trek-skinned thing?

It's definitely Trek though the visual style and camera work is obviously heavily influenced by the recent reboot movies (but with less lensflare).

 

[Raven]

So it turns out the first two episodes of the new Trek series are more a prologue to the actual show so who knows what direction the series is going in. However they've definitely spent some serious money on it as the visuals were impressive. Sure some of the script and acting was a bit ropey at times but then every Trek pilot I can think of had similar issues, but a good start I thought.

Says new episode on Monday on the site, imdb says 1st October for the next episode.

Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series 2017– ) - Episodes - IMDb

Bit of a marketing fuck up really, it changes depending on which website you check, probably a break at Xmas too, due to Americans only being able to think about 1 thing at once.

 

[Raven]

Shit theme tune.

Shit looking Klingons

I like that its a bit darker, effects were great.

Mehish, was OK.

 

[dysfunction]

Says new episode on Monday on the site, imdb says 1st October for the next episode.

Star Trek: Discovery (TV Series 2017– ) - Episodes - IMDb

Bit of a marketing fuck up really, it changes depending on which website you check, probably a break at Xmas too, due to Americans only being able to think about 1 thing at once.

But Michelle Yeoh looks good despite her age.

 

[Scouse]

So what did I think of the first two episodes?

Spoiler

Very pretty. Thought the set dressing and costumes were cool. Liked the main character being called a blokes name. Liked the Klingons (not particularly their voices - so much makeup I found them flat - but visually arresting). Bits of it reminded me of playing Elite, so that's something.

However, war? Battles? Where's the high-minded-ness? It's called Star Trek Discovery, not Total War: Star Trek. I was disappointed in Ep1. when she said "what does the soldier in you think?" - which would be kind of abhorrent to the original Rodenberry ideas and etho (though in the second episode they did say "we're not soldiers" so meh).

The action was flat tbh. So they even got that wrong. Didn't feel the peril. Wasn't particularly engaging or tense, more of a "this shit happened next". If this was two episodes of shock and awe to make us think what follows is unmissable it's more like the damp pack of "standard" fireworks that fails to go off.

The Klingons were reduced culturally to a load of people like Job. Basically petty minded racists. I guess the writers were trying to draw parallels with current American cultural issues but it kinda felt shallow. Their ship was a like a multi-coloured UKIP convention.

If what you guys said above that this is just a prologue to something more interesting then maybe it'll work. But just left feeling very ambivalent. It's like nobody went "hey, didn't Stargate Universe try this shit and fail?"...

Star Trek worked because it essentially had a vision of hope and peaceful exploration (that always went wrong, but at least they tried). This is just the militarisation of Trek for me.

Anyway. $0.02...

 

[SilverHood]

Just finished Salvation, an Amazon / CBS production about an asteroid hitting earth, and humans trying to save themselves. Casting is great, plot not so much, but still, good show.

 

[ECA]

So it turns out the first two episodes of the new Trek series are more a prologue to the actual show so who knows what direction the series is going in. However they've definitely spent some serious money on it as the visuals were impressive. Sure some of the script and acting was a bit ropey at times but then every Trek pilot I can think of had similar issues, but a good start I thought.

Just watch The Orville instead. The pilot ( ep 1 ) is a bit janky, but ep 2/3 are classic trek.

 

[Hawkwind]

@Scouse Get what your saying, it was like the big budget movie reboot. However, it is just a story setting for the main series to jump off on. The real series kicks off when they get on the Discovery and that looks far more like old Trek.

 

[Raven]

People whining about the violence need to learn their Trek.

Federation-Klingon War (2267)

Perfectly acceptable start to a story about (cold) war. Discovery is set 11 years before that battle/war that occurred in Star Trek (the original) You know, that period Roddenberry said the Federation/Klingon were essentially at war and had been, technically, for a century. It is also perfectly acceptable for the war-like Klingons to use violence to reunite the tribes. I mean, should they have re-written the entire race from the entire canon? The Federation have always defended themselves and had every right to. It was set in federation space, as mentioned throughout the two prologue episodes.

If this period of the Star Trek story doesn't interest you then perhaps it isn't for you. Personally I am looking forward to it.

 

[Zarjazz]

Just watch The Orville instead. The pilot ( ep 1 ) is a bit janky, but ep 2/3 are classic trek.

I have tried to, I thought it was fucking terrible.

 

[DaGaffer]

I have tried to, I thought it was fucking terrible.

Second and third eps are better. The plots are hackneyed ("alien zoo" for example) but the third actually had some old-school Trek moral dilemmas going on, and didn't soft soap the outcome either. Unfortunately the comedy side of it is still shit.

As for Trek. I really don't like the Klingon look and doing all their scenes in Klingon may be "authentic" (lol) but listening to it is like pulling teeth. I'll cut the rest of it some slack though. And I have no problems with the war aspects of it.

 

[Scouse]

People whining about the violence need to learn their Trek.

I guess you're right and I was 'whining' because I know fuck all. As per <everything I post> eh?

Or I was bemoaning the show's apparent lack of intellect in handling the subject matter (nowt wrong with covering the Federation Klingon war but it just seemed just a standard traditional approach, nothing special) and the actual violence was flat, not exciting. It missed on both counts for me.

 

[Scouse]

I have tried to, I thought it was fucking terrible.

Yeah. My missus liked it, which makes me love her less.

Hopefully it gets a lot better.

 

[Raven]

I have tried to, I thought it was fucking terrible.

I watched the first episode, thought it was "OK" then forgot all about it.

Might download and watch one wet Sunday after its finished, probably won't though.

 

[ECA]

I have tried to, I thought it was fucking terrible.

The first episode comes across as kind of a campy comedy sci fi show, eps 2/3 are classic trek, with some humour added.

 

[Raven]

I thought it was supposed to be a comedy?

It's classified as such on IMDB.

 

[ECA]

 

[Zarjazz]

I always take those audience scores with a huge amount of mistrust these days as there is so much trolling / vote manipulation going on it hard to believe any of them.

I do agree with the critics in this case

 

[ECA]

Watch eps 2/3 and see if you think the same, ep 1 was a 4/10 for me, ep 2 maybe a 6/7 and ep 3 is a solid 8

 

[Zarjazz]

Watch eps 2/3 and see if you think the same, ep 1 was a 4/10 for me, ep 2 maybe a 6/7 and ep 3 is a solid 8

Oh I have. I try to give a show at least 3 or 4 episodes before I make up my mind but I couldn't even finished ep 3 I was bored by it so much. I actually thought each episode was worse than the one before.