J.J. Abrams' Star Trek gets its Enterprise
This is the new Enterprise in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek reboot. It looks fine, although it is certain to prompt no shortage of indignant sputtering from the Internet's brigades of autistic, Klingon-fluent gelatinous orbs.
On my part, though I arch my eyebrow a bit at the new nacelle design (are those air scoops? in space?), it's hard to get too upset about it: I lost hope when the pictures of the bridge came out and it became clear that Abrams was too creatively bereft to do anything except totally modernize the technology while keeping the babes in mini-skirts, as opposed to a more imaginative retro-futurization of the design.
Star Trel: An exclusive first look at the Enterprise [Popwatch]
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I kind of like it. It feels like a natural progression from the 60's design, through the movies' "refit" design, to this. With a touch of the retro with the spheres on the front of the nacelles.
That comment about air scoops shows a remarkable lack of science-fictional thought on your part, though. There may be no air in space, but there certainly are tenuous gases and particles of all sorts. It makes a lot of sense to have ways to "scoop" up some of those gas particles, for various uses.
In TNG and subsequent series, the nacelles have been used multiple times to gather up various gases, plasma and other particles, for all sorts of technobabble-y purposes. It's possible those "scoops" will actually serve some kind of story purpose.
Then again, they may have been added only for decoration. Regardless, I don't mind them; since this is going to be a reboot of a sort, ship design is the least of my worries when it comes to all the retconning we'll have to sustain with that movie.
I still believe I'm going to enjoy myself when I go see it.
No air in space? Of COURSE there's air in space - how would we hear the explosions otherwise?
They're probably in the wrong place for the purpose, but they're likely Bussard Ramscoops -- Federation starships are fitted with them, and they've been mentioned several times through the various series and movies.
That said, one of the Star Trek novelists made a comment about owning a hair dryer that look exactly like the new nacelle design...back in the eighties.
I think the ship design is going to get less grumbling than some of the other elements Abrams has either incorporated or left out -- apparently there'll be stuff picked up from the novels (Kirk's Dad having a command for a brief period in an emergency, for example) and the stuff left out includes Robert April, first Captain of NCC-1701 and later a Commodore. I expect much squealing and threatening of boycotts and all the usual goodness. Then there's the business of the Romulans in this film....
Abrams and his screenwriters should just handwave with "Hey, the guys who did Enterprise changed all this here continuity with THEIR time-travel shit, so THIS IS CANON NOW!!!!" And then laugh evil laughs.
I'm not expecting much myself, and not because of the bridge set or the changes to Trek canon. It's J.J. Abrams and the guys who did the final script for Transformers. I've seen enough of Abram's work to expect shiny shiny and shallow beneath. At least there's hope that it'll be better than Star Trek V.
It doesn't appear that they've even attempted to design this film to fit into the substantial visual vocab the audience will walk into the theater with.
Release by release, this is turning into Speed Racer all over again - another picture I was initially excited about but totally lost interest in by the release date...
If they're going to resume with making more Treks, I'd appreciate one told from the perspective of a crew that sees the sprawling Starfleet military federation as not so benevolent.
More like Blake's 7 or Firefly.
What's wrong with mini-skirts? More skirts mean I'm less likely to be annoyed by what Abrams has done to Trek.
*Nerd Alert*
They are indeed Bussard Ramscoops; collecting hydrogen and funneling it (via storage systems) to the impulse drive for slower-than-lightspeed travel.
/Nerd Alert
Oh, and the miniskirts are way overdue! Whoohoo!
Aside from the miniskirts, I'm not really excited about the movie. Meh.
The comments on Bussard Ramscoops are indeed correct. They were specifically identified in the ST:TOS Starfleet Technical Manual (which I still own, 'cause geeks never die, they just watch the newer series).
I was going to come on here and discuss the greater virtues of ramscoops but then realized that there are probably at least 5-10 nerds with faster fingers than I. I was right.
That bridge looks awful.
More retro 90's then anything. I feel like I would need to wear sunglasses with all the lights on everything. And flexi-lights?
Also, Kirk looks about 17 in that giant chair.
Judging by how Bones looks the same age as everyone else I am guessing this movie will have as much continuity as an episode of Muppet Babies. Dr Honeydew and Kermit were babies at the same time? Honeydew turned gray before a frog completed a life cycle?
As for the scoops, maybe they use them to collect gasses from nebula to use in what must be a huge on board replacement light bulb factory.
...Well, now we know why Abrams waited so long before revealing how his version of the "E" looks. He knew damn well that it would go over like his monster sea monkey did in Cloverfield: like a turd in a punchbowl.
...But it does explain his way-early comment about his "E" being more "organic". The ship's engineer is Scotty, Scotty is played by Simon Pegg, Pegg was on a show called "Hippies", hippies wank off to all things organic, and this "E" has a more organic style to it. Which means Abrams has the choice of rolling it up and smoking it, or cramming it up his...:-P
Ahem!
"Bones" McCoy wasn't Kirk's first chief medical officer.
I am shocked, shocked, that the beloved Dr. Mark Piper has been written out of the continuity.
They've modernized the technology? In a prequel?
Is it really necessary to use the word "autistic" as a casual insult for people you don't like? I think it's rather petty and immature to do so.
""Bones" McCoy wasn't Kirk's first chief medical officer."
Let see if captain Pike gets horribly burned at the beginning of the movie before we determine the worst continuity problem in this film.
Why wouln't the firsy enterprixe be abool two enter a planetary body's atmosphere?
Excuz mai perfict englishh.
I think the teaser-trailer showed it being built on the ground, so I wouldn't be surprised it it was atmosphere-capable
RE: Use of Autistic as derogatory term. So not cool.
I have respect for the rest of the post. But that dig at a medical condition should be held as "Conduct Unbecoming"
Perhaps we might contemplate what sort of repercussions would befall Mr Brownlee had he used other demographic labels? Had he used any of several others instead of what he mistakenly felt "safe" to deprecate? Ah- might not those even warrant fates worse than disemvowelment?
Or is Autism considered "fair game?" It was a cheap shot and unarguably should have *NOT* disgraced BB. And as I am posting this, my mental comparisons of Brownlee- to Imus seem quite on track. Oh by the way- consider this as accountability in action. With a weirdly apt synchronicity to temper this needful but unpleasant commentary- XM "deep tracks" is playing "Venus and Mars"
The main mounting body of the ship that houses the deflector and the shuttles is a little lean for my taste. Otherwise, yeah OK.