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May 18, 2013

When Star Trek Jumped the Shark...Erik_Schubach Posted: 2006-01-16 11:36:01 Updated: 2006-01-16 11:36:32

I was talking with a friend about the Star Trek movies the other day. I mentioned that I felt Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home was the worst movie starring the original cast. He almost broke out in tears saying it was the best one.

Let's see... traveling back in time to get a couple of humpback whales to save Earth from destruction by the storms caused by an alien probe. Hmmm... Ok.

There were a couple funny scenes, but overall it was a painful movie to watch for a Star Trek fan such as myself.

On a side note, I want to know how whales were able to build spaceships and probes when they do not have the tactile dexterity to even manipulate the tools needed to accomplish such a task.

So on a scale of 1-10 I give it a 4.

Comments by: jace Posted: 2006-01-16 13:21:02 Updated: 2006-01-16 13:22:01

This post doesn't warrant any kind of attention at all, but I feel I must respond to such blatant bad taste.

Star Trek IV is the greatest of all the Star Trek movies hands down. The plot is original (time travel is old but stick with me here), the characters all get a piece of the pie, the time period was our own (which made the humor funnier) and there was no villain.

Characters in Star Trek are always the most important part of the show. Here they are all allowed to shine, from Kirk to Chekov to Scotty. They all have their parts and individual adventures, instead of just having the screen filled with Kirk and Spock. Spock is far from himself in this one, which is one of the funniest parts of the entire movie ('I love Italian').

One would think that no villain for a Star Trek movie would be a fatal blunder, but surprisingly it is not. Instead of an enemy, we have a simple matter of miscommunication, and not only that, but a mystery is compounded by the question of why would an advanced alien civilization want to contact Humpback whales? The story never says whales built their own ships or the probe that is causing havoc was even built by them, it simply asked the question, what if Man wasn't the smartest being on the earth after all. The whole premise was brilliant and a welcome change, especially after the super villain Kahn (who was terrific, but who can top him so why even try).

This is without a doubt, the greatest Star Trek movie ever. Someday I hope you come to your senses (Unlikely, but one can hope).

Comments by: wolfie Posted: 2006-01-16 14:06:15

It WAS a painful movie.

Whales in space, anyone?

Whales=big. Spaceship=big enough? And would there actually be enough space/requirements to keep the whales viable?

Me thinks not.

Yes, the humour was funny but so is watching TopDog fall out of bed.

I wouldn't give it a 4. I can't rate it as it's so painful.

Comments by: jace Posted: 2006-01-16 16:21:40

You've both lost it, thats the only possible explanation.

Comments by: Ellen Posted: 2006-01-16 17:25:33

Well . . . I barely remember this one, except to say that it was a bit painful to see the aged characters struggle in such an alien setting (such as SF present day). So, I did what any good movie critic would do--asked dh (he's sort of a trekkie). He thought it wasn't any dumber than any of the others--kind of liked it even. Said, "Don't you remember that scene when Capt. Kirk walked out in to traffic and someone called him "dumb ass." He responded with "double dumb ass" all of which confused Spock to no end. In other words, aliens or future more intelligent races would view us as pretty darn stupid, I guess.

So, guys, sorry. I'm afraid I can't cast a vote one way or the other. Maybe I should watch it again. :)

Comments by: Erik_Schubach Posted: 2006-01-16 18:19:16 Updated: 2006-01-17 08:07:43

I tell you what Jace, I will purchase the anthology of Star Trek movies starring the original cast this weekend and give them another look. It is entirely possible that Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was not as bad as Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

The only one of the TOS (the original series) movies that stood out in my mind is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn which was a phenomenal movie done in the classic Trek format and appealed to my inner Trekkie.

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