Star Trek
It has been known for several years that the cult director Quentin Tarantino would have liked to direct a film in the Star Trek universe. There has even been a collaboration with writer Mark L. Smith to write a suitable script. The latter is finished, but Tarantino has now turned to other projects. It therefore remains open for the time being whether the script will be picked up by another director at a later point in time. For Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, this development seems to be just the right time. Because, as he explained in an interview with Forbes magazine, he was or is not particularly enthusiastic about the Tarantino version."I have my problems with it. I am very short-sighted in the way how I see Star Trek. (...) Fans come up to me and explain to me how Star Trek inspired them and gave them hope for the future. It is this optimism and this message that makes Star Trek what it is it was. I really think so. If you do a Star Trek that's all about action, I don't think it's Star Trek. That's what makes it different from Star Wars, and I love Star Wars. But they can coexist. "
Roddenberry emphasized in the interview that he was a big fan of Tarantino and his work. However, his vision cannot be reconciled with Star Trek - at least not in his personal opinion.
"I don't think you can say 'we're making a Reservoir Dogs Star Trek'. I want to be honest, to myself that doesn't work. But he's a fan, and as a fan he'll probably understand to some point that Star Trek has to bring some of that message with it. "
How do you feel about this topic? Do you agree with Rod Roddenberry or should he be more open to a new direction for Star Trek? Let us know in the comments!
Source: Forbes
Star Trek: Ranking the Stories Set in the Present Day
This 20th century feels far more inhabited than other portrayals, with screen time being given over to casual conversations between bin men, and workplace arguments independent of the former Enterprise crew.
Of course, by now the crew of 1701-no-bloody-A-B-C-or-D should be old hands at Earth in the 20th century. This is their fourth trip here, not counting planets-that-mysteriously-resemble-Earth-in-the-20th-century.
But these fish are never more out of water than they are in this film, and the results are charming. Kirk explaining swearing to Spock, Kirk observing people “still use money”, Chekov standing in the middle of the street asking for directions to the “Nuclear Wessels”, Scotty’s “Hello Computer!” and Kirk Thatcher getting nerve-pinched for listening to his own music on a ghetto blaster. Plus countless more zingers, sight gags and throwaway lines that I’m still finding new ones of after many, many re-watches.
And the cast are clearly having the time of their lives. Shatner’s comic talent was always on display, but in this movie he is really allowed to cut it fully loose giving reaction shots that make you feel bad about every time you mocked his acting.
But no matter how silly it gets, this film knows, more than any other, the point of sending Star Trek characters into the modern day. It is to show us the difference between our ideal selves and where we are – and it does it no less starkly than ‘Past Tense’. With a light comic touch, Kirk and co. encounter capitalism, the spectre of nuclear war, and most of all, the devastating environmental impact we’re having. Even if we reach the ideal Star Trek future, this film says, we could still lose things we can’t replace along the way.
Star Trek: Picard is going to have to work hard if it wants to walk in its footsteps.