tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post7701015388635317139..comments2024-03-29T04:57:26.162-04:00Comments on John Kenneth Muir's Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV: Cult Movie Review: Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)John Kenneth Muirhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15629979615332893780noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-54961540460798460132013-07-27T20:49:54.214-04:002013-07-27T20:49:54.214-04:00Waited until I viewed the film before reading your...Waited until I viewed the film before reading your spoiler laden review. As usual, spot on. <br />I would like to say one thing about drones however. Those family members and friends of our men and women in uniform are thankful of drones. I've been in the USN and my job was support comm for special forces, I guarantee that if not for drones, it would be boots on the ground. Resulting in dead US servicemen. No opinion is right or wrong, I want to make that clear, however every opinion is a matter of perspective and your own personal value system. <br /><br />Thanks, <br />Trent Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04403136804402745524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-61196917676771665072013-06-22T01:35:54.624-04:002013-06-22T01:35:54.624-04:00An insightful review of the film. My only problem ...An insightful review of the film. My only problem with the film (well, aside from the fact I still get cognitive dissonance from the changes to the universe with the reboot - I had no idea how much original Star Trek lore was in my head and I keep expecting the new films to follow that old canon - and the way that the external aerial city shots always make me sing the "Futurama" theme song...) is that Khan is made a MUCH less interesting character than he was in the old universe. They certainly got an actor who was capable of taking on a role played by Ricardo - I was pretty impressed by his performance - but there could have been more complexity and depth to the character he was given.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-41404971321491591472013-05-24T23:46:47.160-04:002013-05-24T23:46:47.160-04:00John, your commentary is brilliant! I caught most ... John, your commentary is brilliant! I caught most of the allegory you mentioned, but totally missed the Kirt-to-Khan torture relevance. After Khan rope-a-doped Kirk into punching himself out, the scene went flat and died. After your analysis, I now see the scene falling flat as incredibly powerful and significant as a conclusion to the futility of the type of veneance that compromises ones ehtics. <br /><br />The "Family" significance that you pointed is wonderful! I would like to add that Khan's primary motivation was his 72 member family as well. Giving both sides had this primary value is indeed what makes the Kirk/Spock friendship the deciding factor, because, as you pointed out, Khan had no friends, at least none out of stasis.<br /><br />To further confirm the strength of family, when the crew was ordered to abandon ship and NOBODY moved, made my emotions well up. "One for all, and all for one!"<br /><br />The most significant stories are those that allegory events and attitudes of their time, like Cassablanca and American neutrality in WWII, The Shawshank Redemption and the potential for errors in the justice system, the Borg and the zombie-like cogs of meat that people feel they are in this world of "One Percenters". Star Trek has always done this. There is no reason that it cannot strive for the far-reaching themes that some call for and still find relevent metaphor to the times we live in. This is what makes Star Trek actually important.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-61995272760139853592013-05-24T15:06:57.819-04:002013-05-24T15:06:57.819-04:00J.J. Abrams must have seen the Space:1999 "Th...J.J. Abrams must have seen the Space:1999 "The Exiles" episode. I see the element that is borrowed. Great film.<br /><br />SGBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-2820745452867061652013-05-22T13:13:21.348-04:002013-05-22T13:13:21.348-04:00Agree 100% with your assessment. Seen it twice alr...Agree 100% with your assessment. Seen it twice already -- once in 3D and once in 2D (3D was a waste at twice the price and added nothing whatsoever, BTW) -- and enjoyed it immensely both times. They probably should have left the whole Khan thing alone and just made Cumberbatch's villain a new character, though. Wouldn't have changed the movie a bit. Making him Khan felt like nothing more than an afterthought or, worse, simply a means of setting up Spock's "Khaaaaaaaaannnnn!" scream toward the end.<br /><br />I do find it extremely disappointing that you are really the only critic to even bring up the blatantly obvious "War on Terror" parallels. I mean, it's not even freaking subtext -- it's TEXT. Perhaps it's just my liberal heart bleeding out all over the floor but when a massive pop culture item like Star Trek brings this kind of thing up I get really hopeful that perhaps we can now start to have a truly substantive discussion about where we've gone very very wrong as a nation over the last decade plus. Yes, I'm probably laying waaaaayyyy too much on what most people will see as nothing more than a fun summer time waster but ya gotta dream.<br /><br /> Count Zerohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15711973144626199945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-36043603784162116042013-05-22T09:14:27.983-04:002013-05-22T09:14:27.983-04:00In response to Adam's comment above, I too enj...In response to Adam's comment above, I too enjoyed Into Darkness whilst at the same time wishing for a Star Trek movie that strays more into the unknown than the known. Sci-fi is indeed a powerful and entertaining backdrop for allegory and metaphor, especially with a universe as rich as Star Trek's, but as a genre it is also uniquely placed for the inventive writer to imagine and explore totally new dilemmas and ideas. There are many movies that manage both, such as Blade Runner and Gattaca, and I feel that by grounding his Star Trek efforts so firmly in allegorical territory Abrams perhaps makes the Trek universe a less vibrant and interesting place than it needs to be.<br /><br />This is something I feel Star Trek achieved with the greatest frequency during TNG, specifically with the exploration of the line between man and machine (think the Picard vs Riker courtroom scene, in my opinion a real high water mark) and with the rise of the Borg as the faceless cybernetic hivemind. With his third film, I would love to see Abrams really make use of sci-fi as a genre rather than (or perhaps as well as) making use of Star Trek as a universe. One of the reasons we create elaborate fantasy universes is to explore ideas not possible in our own, as well as to arrange them into entertaining metaphors.Jeznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-6025203823829878002013-05-22T08:41:56.507-04:002013-05-22T08:41:56.507-04:00Great review, John, and I really enjoyed it—not le...Great review, John, and I really enjoyed it—not least for the fact that I disagree on a few points!<br /><br />Whilst I recognise the parallels you draw and the creative possibilities in tweaking an established timeline rather than completely ignoring it, it feels to me somewhat underwhelming to have Khan show up in <i><b>Into Darkness</b></i>—as wonderfully as he was portrayed. As I understand it, Abrams wanted to free the franchise from the shackles of the past with the reboot, yet for me the final act of the movie became somewhat predictable given the beats <i><b>The Wrath of Khan</b></i> it revisited to a fashion, and that pulled me out of the movie.<br /><br />Also, the War on Terror allegory just seems a little tired to me at this point; I agree that the relationships and attitudes of the central characters make for something of a novel statement on the topic, but I feel like <i><b>Star Trek</b></i> has the possibility to be much more forward-looking rather than the introspection we get here.<br /><br />I get the point that the denouement of <i><b>Into Darkness</b></i> "rights the ship" in much the same way as it implies the USA may still need to do, and I also very much look forward to where the third movie takes us, but I hope it finds the Enterprise able to explore strange new worlds once again. There are a myriad of stories yet to be told in this universe, and for me—whilst it was a spectacular ride and the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic is pitch perfect—I would like to see this reboot set its own, entirely new course from hereon out.<br /><br />All that aside, though, it was great to read your perspective, and it may yet have me re-appraise the movie to some degree in the inevitable future viewings!Adam Chamberlainhttp://fourthhorsemanpress.com/Chamberlainnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-56124413922657606862013-05-21T17:21:29.821-04:002013-05-21T17:21:29.821-04:00John extremely in depth and honest review of this ...John extremely in depth and honest review of this impressive film.<br /><br />SGBAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-49681670255367667222013-05-21T17:14:38.570-04:002013-05-21T17:14:38.570-04:00John…
I’ve been eagerly waiting for your review,...John…<br /> <br />I’ve been eagerly waiting for your review, and as usual, you did not disappoint.<br /> <br />I could not agree with you more about Star Trek Into Darkness serving as a War on Terror allegory, and an exceptionally smart one at that.<br /> <br />You picked up a couple of items I missed, in the “private” security used to man the USS Vengeance and also how ridiculous Kirk looked beating up on Khan as a comment about the ridiculousness of torture. There was another subtle comment about the Vengeance belonging to the “Dreadnought Class,” which is an reference to the 1st all big gun British battleship built in the early arms race that helped start World War 1.<br /> <br />Also, in an era when so many blockbuster films try throw political or social elements into a film, without having an actual take on them – Star Trek once again blazes a path with a biting, intelligent critique and also takes a firm moral position (in opposition, in this case).<br /> <br />Secondly, the film has a wonderful thematic context based on the “What would you do for your family?” comment made by Khan. This question serves as the thematic background of the film, as every character’s (major and minor) are contextualized by how they answer that question.<br /> <br />Personally, some of the pastiche elements did not work as well for me as they did for you. On an initial viewing, the inversion of the death scene from TWOK was distracting. It works better for me with subsequent viewings, but I still feel it undercuts Pine and Quinto (who are both terrific in the scene and film) to some degree.<br /> <br />Lastly, I loved the opening teaser. It played like the climax of an unfilmed TOS episode and culminated in a spectacular match dissolve to the Enterprise in space that is maybe my favorite moment for the ship since the flyby in TMP.<br /> <br />I posted on the film a few days ago, and I’d love your thoughts on my post, if you have the time.<br /><br />http://sliderockmpc.typepad.com/slide_rock_motion_picture/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness.html?cid=6a00d835023e3f69e20192aa197aa7970d<br /><br /> Thanks for continuing to do exceptional work...<br /> <br />Jeffrey SiniardAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-65844317473797015982013-05-21T16:34:50.471-04:002013-05-21T16:34:50.471-04:00Spoiler in my comment: I have seen the movie and a...Spoiler in my comment: I have seen the movie and agree with you on all points, right down to undistinctive characterization of Khan in terms of the writing. I thought Nero was a pretty generic villain in the 2009 Trek as well, and Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn't very memorable in Mission Impossible III either, so I guess that's a pattern with Abrams. I do think Cumberbatch is an entertaining actor and he brought a style to the character that the writing didn't.<br /><br />Overall though, I really like the movie and it's my favorite of Abrams' movies so far.SteveWnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12380553.post-90511509754814991842013-05-21T13:56:47.374-04:002013-05-21T13:56:47.374-04:00Haven't seen the movie so I can't read the...Haven't seen the movie so I can't read the review, but in cases like this I usually skip down to the last 2 or 3 paragraphs, and I'm very happy to see you seemed to have enjoyed the film. I know you had your reservations, so it looks like Abrams overcame them. Very excited about seeing this very soon. BTnoreply@blogger.com