Tonights movie: Star Trek Insurrection - Post movie analysis!

Ok - so this is a bit later than planned. I ended up watching a programme about asteroids afterwards! :-)

Well, memory is a funny thing. Sometimes you remember something as being better than it actually is, other times you remember something as being worse.

I was surprised by how much I'd forgotten about Insurrection. I actually quite enjoyed watching it and remembering various things as it went along. I was surprised at how much action there was in it - I remembered it as not having much at all!

So how much do I agree with what I wrote earlier?

Well, I stand by my remark about it feeling like an extended episode. The storyline feels very much like something that could have been done on the TV show. Don't get me wrong - I love the Trek TV shows so an extended episode feeling is no bad thing but at the same time you expect a Trek movie to perhaps do what wasn't achievable in the TV series. Going back to what I said in my last post, the extended episode accusation was made at Generations when it was released but I couldn't really have seen them pulling off the Enterprise saucer crash sequence in the TV series - certainly not as convincingly as they did in the movie. Also, I guess Captain Kirk could theoretically have appeared in the TV show and been killed off in that... but a meeting of two captains (and subsequent death of the great Captain Kirk himself) like that really needed a more epic canvas and a movie certainly provided that.

Anyway, enough about Generations - we're talking about Insurrection here!

There's little in this movie that couldn't have been achieved in the TV show. Yes, the movie budget allows for a lush location - and the scenery for the on-planet stuff is truly gorgeous, particularly in HD! The effects sequences are also above what would have been achievable on a weekly TV show budget (in the 90s at least), particularly in terms of scale.

The real area that the movie scores in is the character side of things. Everyone gets a decent amount of screentime. Often in Trek movies select characters get the bulk of the time and the others are reduced to minor roles. Insurrection seems to get the balance right here - perhaps a lot better than any of the other movies.

I'd forgotten about the humour in this movie too - just about everyone gets a laugh at some point! Worf's Gilbert and Sullivan remark still makes me laugh!

Which seems to sum up the tone of the movie nicely. I was right that the movie is definitely a lot lighter in tone than First Contact. I guess that one was always going to be difficult to top and I suspect that those in charge of the decision making on these things realised this and decided to go the opposite direction.

I certainly enjoyed watching this movie a lot more than I remembered enjoying it before. It's a fun Trek outing with a moral message about forcibly relocating a group of people - even if there is the best of intentions behind it.

I have to admit that I like just about everything Star Trek so I was never going to be come back and say anything overwhelmingly negative about this anyway, but re-watching this was a pleasant hour and forty odd minutes. It may not have the depth or darkness of some of the best Trek movies (First Contact and, of course, Wrath Of Khan) but it's still a fun Trek outing!

So... the next Trek movie is the final Next Gen one... it's also one which seems to bring out mixed reactions from a lot of Star Trek fans. I'll save my opinion on it until I plan to watch it, which I'm hoping to do next Friday. Yes, the next one I shall be watching will be Nemesis.

Tonight's movie: Star Trek Insurrection

Way back at Christmas (which actually doesn't feel as long ago as perhaps it should - this year just seems to be flying by!) I got the Star Trek movies on blu ray. I watched most of them up to Insurrection. I've been meaning to finish watching the last two Next Gen Trek movies but I have to admit that, of all the Trek movies, Insurrection is probably my least favourite followed by Nemesis.

I saw Insurrection back when it was released at the cinema and have watched it once again on VHS and then once again when I got it on DVD. It's not a terrible movie but I've always felt it wasn't as good as the other Trek movies.

So I'm posting my thoughts and opinions on it BEFORE I watch it. Let's see whether I feel any different afterwards!

I think part of the problem for me was that Insurrection came after one of my favourite (if not my favourite, full stop) Star Trek movies - First Contact.

First Contact is brilliant - it has everything, action, adventure, a great storyline in which the whole of Star Trek itself is under threat as The Borg travel back in time to stop first contact with extra terrestrials (I won't spoil it for you but if you know Star Trek then chances are you know who it is anyway).

The problem with Insurrection is that it tries to be different. That's not a bad thing but I remember it feeling a bit light after its more intense predecessor. The criticism 'extended episode of Next Gen' was levelled at Generations (which I like and felt was perhaps a little bit unfair) but I remember feeling that Insurrection felt a LOT like it could have been a two part Next Gen episode.

Don't get me wrong - I didn't hate it. I guess I was hoping for more of what First Contact gave us rather than the more gentle storyline that Insurrection had.

Anyway, let's see whether I agree with my past self after I watch the movie. Then I'll come back here and post my thoughts. Ack! Time travel and interacting with my past self - now my blog is getting a bit Brannon Braga! ;-)

See you in a couple of hours!

Another week over with!

Whew! Well that's another busy week over and done with! I spent most of today cable tidying - it's all done now and looks very good indeed, if I do say so myself! It was surprisingly hard work but it really did need to be done!

I also managed to leave WH Smith earlier without having bought a single magazine or anything at all! That has to be a first for me! lol

So, my plan for this weekend is a bit of boring stuff like tidying my garden (I want to be able to sit out there without getting annoyed at all the stuff that needs doing!) and also starting watching my Lord Of The Rings blu ray box set which arrived last weekend. Haven't watched those in a while so it'll be good to watch them again... and in HD no less!

In between that I plan to put the shopping away and also play some more Dragon Age II!

Looking forward to it already! :-)

Geeky post!!

Well, I was back at work today. It wasn't too bad - things weren't too busy but, as usual, just about everything had been left for me to do so failed backups and other fun things were waiting for me to sort out.

Well, being the complete geek that I am - I will be at this year's Auto Assembly (just as I was last year and a few times before that too). If you don't know what that is - well, it's a Transformers convention.

Yep - I love giant robots and I suspect Transformers are in some way responsible for that (actually I know they are). Plus they remind me of my childhood. I'm sure I'll make a Back To The 80s post on them at some point.

Anyway, they've got some pretty cool guests lined up including David Kaye (the voice of Beast Wars Megatron and TF Animated Prime), Greg Berger (G1 Grimlock!) and David Wise (writer of a number of G1 episodes).

Last year's AA was excellent - unfortunately I had to leave early on Sunday but, to quote Shockwave (hey - it's a Transformers post so why not?): this time we shall be ready! In other words, this time I'm spending the whole damn weekend there! By the way, bonus points if you know what episode that quote came from!

Yep - I shall be geeking out completely, I already have two Transformers t-thirts I've bought especially for wearing there (and plan to get a third soon). Plus I've ordered myself a lovely HD camcorder to video what goes on there!

Last year was great - Garry Chalk and Scott McNeil were the main guests and they were great. Mr. Chalk performed a concert on Saturday night and he was very good! So much so that I plan to get a CD of his music, should one ever appear (I'm not the only one to be asking about this, btw). He is one of my favourite voice artists, by the way, and he's also appeared in a lot of movies and TV shows. He was that Russian General that popped up a few times in Stargate SG-1, for example. Yep - very cool!

If you haven't already guessed, I'm a big fan of anime, sci-fi and fantasy in general. If you hadn't already guessed that - do pay attention 007! ;-)

Earlier this year I got all the original series episodes of Star Trek on Blu Ray. Very cool and I've been watching those on and off for a while (I'm several episodes into season 2 now). It got me thinking about Star Trek conventions. The last one of those I went to was way back in 1994/5 for the Generations con at the Royal Albert Hall. I was still at school then and my mum and dad came along... I think they got a bit bored! lol

One time, I seem to remember, there were loads of these things but these days there doesn't seem to be that many, at least not here in the UK. I'm guessing it's because there's no new TV shows or anything. Pity though as I think a Trek con would be a lot of fun!

Anyway, that's today's geeky post. I'm sure there'll be many more to come!