You'll have to agree with me that when TNG was good, it was GREAT. But when it was poor, it was REALLY bad. I may sound like a purist, but I have always divided TNG into two eras: before Gene's death, and after Gene's death. I humbly think quality control in TNG, and the Trek franchise in general, declined greatly after Rodenberry passed away.
But I've heard people say that Roddenberry would have never allowed DS9 to go in the directions it did. This would have been tragic. DS9, especially in the later years, is my favorite modern incarnation of Trek. Some of the things that Roddenberry allegedly would not have liked, especially the darker tone, are the things I liked best. What is your opinion of DS9?
And re: Star Trek V:
However, Kirk's "what does God need with a Starship?" and his sequences with Spock and Mccoy on shore leave, including his "I'll die alone" diatribe, are considered by many to be worth the price of admission.
I haven't seen it since opening weekend, so my memory may be a bit hazy on this.... I thought the shore leave sequences were pretty cool, and the "I'll die alone" speech was ok although maybe a little over-the-top, but I found myself asking "What does God need with a starship" far earlier than Kirk. I hate when movies get that predictable. I believe in dropping hints about what you are going to do, but when you telegraph something that is supposed to be a big surprise or a major character moment, it just deflates that moment.
I have a friend who is a film critic, and she and I sometimes refer to the "idiot plot." That's when a plot relies on someone either not getting something that should be obvious to anyone in their situation, or doing something that is monumentally stupid, like walking into a room that has no electricity without any weapons when you know that there is a serial killer loose. Worst-case scenario idiot plots are the ones where there would be no plot if the characters weren't complete idiots. I don't think Star Trek V is a worst-case scenario; however, characters missed clues in ways that seem out of character to me. Again, this is through the haze of memory, but I had that impression strongly enough that I've gone out of my way to avoid watching Star Trek V again.
Maybe I should give it a second chance. I was only a couple of years out of high school when I saw it, and I've grown and changed a *lot* in the intervening 13 or 14 years. But my impressions of ST II, III, and IV haven't changed much since I first saw them....
Reggie Bautista
_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
_______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
