Blockbuster movie effects, bland charactors i cared nothing for and as storyline so bland and cliched it will reminded of how it was done better in previous Trek series. Pro........ Effects were out of this world. just amazing to look at. It may get better with as the arc plays out. Cons...... Hand phaser with burst fire fro the JJ movie universe instead of the normal one long beam that is from the normal TV show. Sound effects from The Next generation TV show i kid you not, in a show set before TOS. Oh and both episodes were up on YT this morning, so i suspect CBS will be going ape crap at that fact. lol
I believe it is because the Klingon Empire is meant to be heavily split at this point in time. To what degree and what level of separation I do not yet know. Perhaps their is a Warrior Cast and a Home Maker Cast and a Builder Cast... I dunno. I am gonna say I am shocked, I was expecting to hate this and I don't so that's a thing. So far I've only seen the first episode so we'll see where it goes.
Funny you should say that, I had a pretty firm Mass Effect vibe when I was watching it We only get the first 2 episodes for now, I think the way it was released in the US was that the first episode was a free teaser but to watch the 2nd episode and any subsequent episodes you have to subscribe to the CBS All Access streaming service. Outside of US and Canada, Netflix subscribers get all the episodes but after the first 2 we have to wait for new ones to be released each Monday so episode 3 will be next Monday which is the 2nd of October. Kinda funny you mention the effects as "Pro's". I liked the effects too and the show definately looked the part but when I read a brief "professional" review this morning, they were saying the effects looked crap and cheap. Mateyboy must have been watching it on some worn out CRT telly in some damp basement because I thought the CGI was easily up there with big budget films, I just hope they can maintain that standard where needed. Overall I really liked what I saw and it left me wanting for more. The main character being a female and going by the name of Michael raised an eyebrow but maybe theres a gag to be had there, perhaps the Vulcans who raised her looked at some database for the most common human name and named her based on that without realizing that its actually a male name or something. I too didn't really care much for the characters but perhaps we're not supposed to yet at this stage, the way the episode ended ( without spoiling too much ) left me to believe that the next episode or 3 are all about growing the main character and prepping her for what's to come so we can care about her and any companions she meets. Think of it as RPG style character development if you will. My only gripe was the Klingon's being such a central part of the story whereas I would have preferred the view to be almost entirely from Starfleets and more about investigation in to why are the Klingong's behaving as they do and all that. I didn't much care for the Klingon side of the story which felt like it was crammed in there in these first 2 episodes and I felt it would have been better left explored throughout the series as a slow burning subplot rather than them going "here's some Klingon's, accept it that they play an important part, also heres some flavour lore to go with them, accept that too". I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would have preferred the main character and starfleets actions be a more central part of the plot but thats just me and again we'll see how the story plays out in the coming episodes.
^^^Yeah the effects were right there with the last Trek movie, so yeah, how could somebody say they were poor unless they had watched some 360p rubbish upload from some stremaing site. lol And again yeap with the klingons seeming as a easy choice, although i wonder if they are setting the Klingons up to show us the Federation/Klingon war that has been mentioned in both TOS and TNG....so it could be some major arc.
i saw bits a pieces of episode i was weary about the pieces i saw then I saw what the did the klingons and was wtf changing how species looks is a no no in my eyes. I wont be getting cbs access to watch this, but I will watch they all on netflix when season is over threw a proxy, just to see what other liberties they took, from what saw so far i rather go watch star trek Enterprise again, and that was my lest favorite of the star trek series, but they atlest didnt take liberties with way species looked
I would've been fine with revised Klingons tbh, it's been a long time since TNG and DS9 and they have a significantly bigger budget. I don't like what they've gone with though. I don't want to see the rejected designs! The masks or whatever it is that the actors wear is just too much. Try imagining Martok or Gowron in such costumes and speaking in gobbledygook! They wouldn't be able to act or emote at all. You could see it in the Klingon Council holograms too, they were so stiff. I don't think even the Jem'Hadar minor characters had that problem lol. And what's with the holograms anyway? That's star wars I can handle better looking props and sets over TOS because there's 50 real years between the shows but at least keep the tech comparable. I don't hate the show, it's okay. I don't care for any of the characters (at least more will be introduced soon) and I don't think I'll ever find "Michael" likeable. I hope she goes rogue and becomes an anti-hero or something, it would fit the character (and the actress!) from what I've seen. I just don't think she fits in any way and that's after having seen Masquis/Klingon/Bajoran crews! I hope it improves, the preview at the end of e2 wasn't exciting but who knows.
THe holograms were there because it was fitting from a technological perspective. The hologram like that was actually introduced in Deep Space 9 as a 'new technology' towards the end, but it's much more fitting to already have that technology 200 years before. This is especially true considering the hologram projection in DS9 was basic like in Discovery, yet they have marvelous holo emitters. Even if the whole information isn't transmitted, it wouldn't be inconceivable to have the communication hologram stabilised. I think the Klingons are fine. They're alien. People are forgetting that there was a bigger change in the Klingons between the original series and TNG than there was between TNG and Discovery. A very important aspect of the series is that they're not making a series just to keep Star Trek purists happy. For any new Star Trek series to be successful they need to introduce it to a whole new audience. Audiences are much more open to sci-fi now than they were even 10 years ago. I mean anything sci-fi related, not just futuristic space based stuff. This can include shows that were around like Person of Interest. The best way to watch the show is to consider it as a stand alone experience. How would you perceive the show if Star Trek until now didn't exist? I can basically guarantee that the perception would be different.
The fake lens flares ruined it. The kept using the same fake after effects plugin with the same preset every 4 seconds. The blue one that runs alongside the left and right side of the frame when the captain and the first officer are talking was the worst. It completely took me out of it. It's bad enough that no one had anything to say, or that they couldn't act; using 'paint by numbers acting' reminiscent of South Park bigger longer and uncut "Actors" saying "We're Guards, grr" "Yeah, that's right; We're Guards...grrr" and trying their hardest to sound tough. I was thinking about the Premiere of all the Star Trek series and though to myself "Wait, where is the establishment/first flight of the Main Ship", because as far as I know: every Star Trek has this- TOS: "The Cage" S1Ep1 They beam down to the Planet after 11 minutes 5 Seconds. So, we get a nice 10 mins touring the ship, lots of establishing shots and plenty of meaningful character talk which equates to the Captain talking about how being the Captain makes him feel. This original theme in the very first pilot echo's through Star Trek all the way up to and including the most recent Star Trek movie, where Kirk is feeling the strain of leadership. He talks about his father and his death, questions the end of the Universe and the possible realisation of the futility of existence where space by definition is infinite. TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint" S1Ep1 Probably the longest bedding in period, unsubjugated by "Q" but with the first 'off-ship' moment after 19 minutes 20 seconds. Again, lots of establishing shots of the Enterprise, which is the very first we see, after the classic intro sequence - the only time they do this before any introduction. Patrick Stewart looking out of his window walks into frame. Instead of fearing the burden of Command and the infiniteness of space beyond, he comes off as an adventurer keenly awaiting the exploration. He bookends the episode with "Let's see what's out there...engage". Piccard could be argued to be the anthesis of the theme, yet is held together with the exact same moral compass as Kirk. DS9: "Emissary" S1Ep1 After the Borg attack montage at Wolf 359, splicing footage from TNG and the father-son moment, we're five minutes in and we see glory shots of DS9, and then have an intro sequence, which is essentially glory shots of DS9. Then, we spend the next 20 minutes on the main setting for the show: DS9. After that, we beam down to Bajor, and after that, back the space station. For the entire series. DS9 the series basically supplanted new planets and exploration by having 'the thing they have to deal we this week' come to them. VOY: "Caretaker" S1Ep1 After the intro sequence, we meet the crew, see the ship (docked at DS9) with glory shots aplenty (including the opening intro) and then after 20 mins, we're "not in Kansas any more" (as an aside, Janeway was from the Midwest) and we're into the main story. ENT: "Broken Bow" S1Ep1 Plenty of glory shots on the ship, meeting the crew, recruiting sequences and a big "Leaving Space Dock" sequence. DIS: "The Vulcan Hello" S1Ep1 Opens with subtitles...with dialogue like "We have forgotten the unforgettable"...Then has our two main characters for the show walking...with stilted dialogue...poorly acted...with clunky dialogue such as "The Crepusculans are facing extinction as a species" & dreadful non-quips "It's your turn to trust me, number one" bookended with forced exposition "As a xenoanthropologist..." and "As a Captain...". Enough to make you not care in the slightest. Anyway, after absolutely no time to get to know these characters, and no reference or context as to the bucket-load of forced exposition from the subtitled opening we had to endure, we then have to watch the most ridiculous sequence of the ship seeing something in a fake lens flared asteroid field and spending 20 mins trying to figure out just what they are going to do about it. I didn't know anything about the ship, its workings or how it operates other than 'the captain sits here' and 'the first officer stands here', with a prissy subordinate. Instead of firing a probe at the thing in the asteroid field, they jetpack the first officer in. If this is the length and breadth of the moral, ethical and logical counter-play we have seen in every series, I might as well not bother watching something written by such dry and unfeeling, soulless writers. No one on the writing staff has any clue about what the soul of Star Trek is about. It came off as "This is what I think the Fans will want; 'splosions! complicated Klingon gobbled-gook! fake lens flares! flashbacks! meaningless characters!". And the problem is that while I'm sure that an at-a-glance view of Star Trek is probably that, but Star Trek is an exploration not of space, but of the Human condition. You cannot explore the human condition with characters that do not act and behave like real human beings would. You cannot side with characters who do not care about the sum of weighing the logical, rational, moral and ethical! But damn...those fake lens flares ruined it.
Why bother over-analyzing when it's obviously a real stinker... After the STD disappointment I started watching The Orville last night and even though I initially thought I suffered from MacFarlane-fatigue when I first read about The Orville, it's just fun to watch and highly recommendable. None of the pretentiousness and lots of jokes of all kinds. Funny, varied, flawed characters which are well introduced with cameo's by known actors. All of the sudden, by just crossing the i's and t's of the traditional space show genre and adding some anachronistic gags, The Orville seems like a fricking MASTERPIECE in comparison to STD.
^^TNG first season was a massive dud with only a handful of good episodes, so it is still possible that this show will hit it's stide, hell even Enterprise got 4 years even with a entire year being some of the dumbest BS you will have seen in the entire Trek franchise, (the expanse), lol, so can we really say it's dead after only two episodes. lol
There's always a pilot and then the 'improved' series after feedback from the network...but that still doesn't mean we have to stare ourselves blind at that pilot for another week.
Badly conceived, badly implemented, taking the best elements of Star Trek and plain ignoring them, supplanting them with a child's understanding of what Star Trek is meant to entail. It's not that I want Kirk and Spock and anything else be damned - I just wish they had any respect for what an exploration of the human condition actually is. I'm beyond tantrums at this point in my life, but I believe they just wanted another show to put on their books, and just gave the job to a bunch of 5 year olds.
I applaud you for your analysis, I honestly do! Makes me want to revisit all the opening episodes of all Trek series just for the sake of comparison. However there is one slight issue with the whole "establishing the ship and crew"- format. It takes precious time in a whole new world of television where attention spans are measured in milliseconds. The encounter at farpoint approach for example would struggle now, its a pretty mediocre opener as it is, just as the first few seasons of TNG were due to all of the well documented issues in the production. I vaguely recall watching the DS9 opening episodes back in the day but the only real memory that stands out for me from that is that I was facepalming myself through most of it, as was my friend who was/is a Star Trek fan. While I agree with you in that STD kinda ditches the "best elements of Star Trek" or what made Star Trek the shows they were, it must be said that those best elements didn't always make the best TV. It was that approach and those elements that the Trekkies love that also always kept the shows as a bit of a niche thing which was good for Trekkies but bad for bringing in new viewers. Look at this way, a new Star Trek TV show has to go against some serious behemoths like your Game of Thrones' and Walking Deads ( just to name 2 but there are so many now! ) and whatever other shows there are that people go nuts over. The new Star Trek films managed to make Star Trek interesting again on a larger scale so its only natural that the creators of STD try to cash in on that success a bit ( even if it means putting up with all the lense flares ) but essentially they're trying to bring the big screen to the small screen and if it helps introduce new people to the Star Trek universe then surely that can't be all bad right ? Ok so initially we gotta put up with a bit of dumbing down but as episodes go by, the writers can begin to inject more of the fine nuances into the story that makes Star Trek so cool. If STD turns out better than Enterprise I'll consider it a win, I'm currently on Episode 12 or 13 of season 3 of Enterprise and frankly I'd like to know who sucked whom to keep this POS show on air past season 1... I bet some serious strings were pulled and a whole heap of favors were called to keep this thing going. As a final note, I watched the first 2 episodes with my missus who isn't that big on sci-fi and she certainly has this preconcieved idea of Star Trek that is basically "set phasers on utter boredom". We've watched the new films together and she's enjoyed those but every once in a while I make her sit through one of the older films like First Contact or more recently The Motion Picture ( my personal favourite! ) and The Voyage Home or the odd episode of TNG or Voyager and I can see her flicking through her phone or rolling her eyes a bit and this is a person who has a really good attention span but... When we were finished with the first 2 episodes of Discovery she said "I'll definately watch more of that". It's that there that the producers want, they want the people who normally roll their eyes at Star Trek to all of a sudden go "hey I wanna see more of that!". Where this leaves the actual fans remains to be seen I guess. PS. I'm fairly confident/hopeful you'll get your Ship and Crew establishment scene, just have a bit of patience. As for the lense flares... Damn, I dunno, put some sun glasses on ?
depend on how die hard of fan you are, I like my star trek but not enough to want to pay for cbs access to see it, seeing I as watch threw netflix i will when season is over. just cause i like star trek
