In response to yesterday's casting news about Chris Pine possibly taking the captain's chair for the new Star Trek movie, apparently Simon Pegg will be playing the role of Scotty. Simon Pegg is known for his role as Shaun in Shaun of the Dead and more recently for his leading role in Hot Fuzz. "Pegg joins Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and Zachary Quinto as Spock in the film which reportedly, and logically, 'chronicles the early days of the Enterprise crew.' Leonard Nimoy will also put in an appearance, while Eric Bana signed up this week as the movie's villain, Nero."
Well....He will have less Gravitas -at least less than Doohan had in later years -and less gravity too......
I'm just hoping that he will actually speak with a Welsh accent (cf. Futurama)
After Shaun I wouldn't have been so sure about this, but Simon did a great job of character acting in Hot Fuzz and hopefully he can bring a little of the twinkle-in-the-eye humour that Doohan evinced in the TV series.
Get a REAL Scot to do it. Ewan McGregor for the win. Sure, it would mean paying him silly money for it, but it would mean Ewan would get to leave his mark on not just one, but the EXACTA of geek icon movie series.
Besides, Scotty always seemed older than everyone except Bones McCoy on TOS.
Although one thing...could Ewan still do the thick-as-porridge Scots brogue he did in "Trainspotting" that required anyone not from north of Hadrian's Wall to put the closed-captioning on when watching the movie? One wonders.
Besides, Scotty always seemed older than everyone except Bones McCoy on TOS.
Give MsGeek a cigar! For completeness: In 1966, Doohan and Kelley turned 46, Shatner and Nimoy 35, Barrett and Nichols 34, Koenig 30, and Takei 29. I had forgotten how much older than the others Doohan was until I checked IMDB last week (The Blonde & I were rooting for Paul McGillion). If we're shooting for "eight years before" ST:TOS, Pegg is just the right age (and so is Pine, who's 27). Spock, of course, doesn't age the way humans do, so should be played by someone just about Nimoy's age; Quinto just turned 30, so that's not too far off. Yelchin is 18, which isn't too far off, but Cho is 35! Well, as long as he looks the part....
...is who I was hoping to see at Scotty. AKA Dr. Beckett on Atlantis. The characters (Scotty and Beckett) are supposed to be from the same place in Scotland, while the actors (Doohan and Mcgillion) are both from the Vancouver. Paul's already got the accent down, and I think he even looks like a young Doohan. This sentiment was echoed by Doohan's son Chris (who was going to try for the role himself until he saw Paul audition).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McGillion [wikipedia.org]
As a Scotsman, I'm somewhat miffed that an Englishman is playing the role... This is almost as bad as Mel Gibson (an Ozzie) playing William Wallace for goodness sake!
"Brothers and sisters are natural enemies! Like Englishmen and Scots! Or Welshmen and Scots! Or Japanese and Scots! Or Scots and other Scots! Damned Scots! They ruined Scotland!"
Which might actually mean that Scotty might not have such an obviously fake Scottish accent that's being spoken by someone who's actually Canadian!!!:O
Yeah, and they cast a human as Spock! Given how underrepresented Vulcans are in the entertainment industry (I challenge you to name one, just one Oscar winner), it's only logical that they should cast a full Vulcan in that role!
Say what you will about William Shatner, but I just can't ever imagine anyone else playing Kirk. His cheesy, over-the-top style will be impossible to duplicate.
Those who mock the Shatner, those who dub him 'cheesy' or 'over the top' should ask themselves this: at what point during his performance of Kirk do you ever, even for one second, doubt that you are watching the captain of the starship Enterprise?
Shatner - like Doohan - is a method actor. When the camera is on him, he actually believes that he is in command of a starship, and his belief is what drags us kicking and screaming along with him. Love him or hate him, you could never catch him playing it at one iota less than warp 9 [memory-alpha.org]. This new guy? Pwwwpt. He's just an actor. He's not the captain of the Enterprise.
Shatner. Is. Kirk.
Star Trek: The Documentary Series era. Is. Shatner.
I hate to say it but this isn't 1977. Your typical Trek fan has been gorged to satiety on Star Trek TV and movies. And considering the last efforts, the execrable "Nemesis" and TV's "Enterprise", nausea might be a better word for it than satiety. The cast is irrelevant at this point. Trek must be allowed to die instead of continuing in this horrible parody of life.
Apparently they've started from scratch on everyone working on this so that there's the slightest chance of this being a decent movie.
What I don't understand is why we need a story on every single person that's cast for a role. Do you think that, maybe in a week, we can just post one story on the entire cast instead?
The problem with making a Star Trek Babies movie is that there is absolutely NO THREAT to any of the characters.
So what if baby Kirk is shot in the head causing him to fall into an erupting volcano at the moment the planet's sun goes nova?
It was all a dream sequence. Or it was a clone. Or a robot. Or the evil baby Kirk from the mirror dimension.
And the more characters you take from TOS, the less the threat is.
It's going to be like there's a HUGE TARGET painted on the one person on the bridge that isn't in TOS. And here is chief security office Ima Goingtodie.
It's going to be like there's a HUGE TARGET painted on the one person on the bridge that isn't in TOS. And here is chief security office Ima Goingtodie.
Well, as long as he's wearing the requisite red shirt...
The problem with making a Star Trek Babies movie is that there is absolutely NO THREAT to any of the characters.
Is this really an issue? I mean, seriously, was there such a threat in the series (any of them) to anyone but anonymous redshirts? None of the major cast were killed off during the series except Tasha Yar. Really, the Trek format isn't about serious threats (from the audience point of view) to major characters, even though there are occasionally such threats from the characters POV.
This is the show that gave us the term, "red shirt," after all.
I thought that was from College Football.
Note for Star Trek Fans: Football is a form of athletic contest between two groups of players, each group fielding twelve* players at one time. The game is divided into a series of downs, where each team lines up on opposite sides of a brown ball called a 'football', and one group tries to take the ball and advance it past the other group, by carying or throwing the ball, without getting tackled. If they advance it far enough, they get more attempts, and eventually score. But if they don't advance the ball at least 10 yards in 4 tries, the opposing team gets the ball.
Secondary Note for Star Trek Fans: An 'Athletic Contest' is an event in which multiple participants compete under a set of rules designed to compare the relative motor skills and/or strength/endurance possessed by the participants, although many athletic contests also include a strategy component.
And for non-American nerds, Football is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players. It is the most popular sport in the world. Football is a ball game played on a rectangular grass or artificial turf field, with a goal at each of the short ends. The object of the game is to score by manoeuvring the ball into the opposing goal. In general play, the goalkeeper is the only player allowed to use their hands or arms to propel the ball; the rest of the team usually use their feet to kick the ball into position, occasionally using their torso or head to intercept a ball in mid air. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins.
Bond started sucking when they ran out of Ian Fleming novels. Casino Royale, being originally written by Fleming, restored the guiding force to the series. Expect it to suck again now that they're out of books again.
I've never seen an episode of Star Trek, or any of the movies. I loved Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz though. Maybe I'll check this one out when it's on Netflix.
When I heard of the movie project, I could do nothing but groan. "No more, Nemesis and Enterprise ruined it" was my thought. The franchise had been going down ever since the Dominion war in DS9. But, as time went on, and more details came out, I paused, and thought on it a bit. Rather than rehashing an existing concept, or trying to "expand" with jelly-sex-rubdown scenes, the producer is actually trying to reinvigorate things, but not by some highbrow concept that blew up in our faces with Enterprise and Voyager, but with a return to what makes the show stick with us after all of these years. It wasn't the TNG intellectualism, or the DS9 anti-heroism, or Voyagers attempt at survivalism, or Enterprises horrible attempt at merging all 3. It was the original series, sticking to the basic storytelling engine based on classic westerns, using Freudian psychology paired with Jung archetypes, all with the "Bandwagon to the Stars." By ripping away the layers of overdone polish and returning to the core essence of the show, then maybe, just maybe there stands a chance. Every casting choice made shows a deep understanding of this core concept. The actor choices being ideal canidates for the archetype or the psychological core element of the role being played. This gives me hope for the series I have not held for a very long time.
Is the science fiction genre so fscking bankrupt for ideas that it needs to rehash ToS? ToS was a good enough series in its time, but who is this abomination of a movie designed to appeal to? What demographic wants to see this? Who wants to see Kirk played by anyone but Shatner? The man has all but ruined the role for anyone else. Why not take these actors and cast them in roles they can make their own instead of hamstringing them with the legacies of Nimoy and Shatner?
It's just like the abysmally stupid "Bionic Woman" nonsense; some bonehead executive decided to trot an old standard (for which some people have nostalgia) of carbonite and to "reimagine" it for a new generation... whatever the hell that means... Or the moronic Underdog movie. Or one of any other cinematic turds splattered across the big screen in the past few years. Damn.
There have been worlds of awesome science fiction written in the past few years that could easily be adopted to the big screen. For example, "The Golden Compass" is being released this winter and looks promising. However, what do we usually get? More of the same unimaginative crap that's driven people away from the major networks and theatres.
Most of his major roles have been in British movies and series, such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced that hasn't really been major successes outside Britain - that's probably why you haven't heard of him.
The name is Shaun, not Sean! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:The name is Shaun, not Sean! (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:The name is Shaun, not Sean! (Score:5, Funny)
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Oh noes (Score:4, Insightful)
different take on Scotty (Score:2)
I'm just hoping that he will actually speak with a Welsh accent (cf. Futurama)
After Shaun I wouldn't have been so sure about this, but Simon did a great job of character acting in Hot Fuzz and hopefully he can bring a little of the twinkle-in-the-eye humour that Doohan evinced in the TV series.
-I'm just sayin'
Wrong guy to do Montgomery Scott. (Score:5, Insightful)
Besides, Scotty always seemed older than everyone except Bones McCoy on TOS.
Although one thing...could Ewan still do the thick-as-porridge Scots brogue he did in "Trainspotting" that required anyone not from north of Hadrian's Wall to put the closed-captioning on when watching the movie? One wonders.
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Re:Wrong guy to do Montgomery Scott. (Score:5, Funny)
Cast Obi-Wan Kenobi as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott?
You do realise you just exploded the brains of at least two distinct sets of geeks, right?
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Re:Wrong guy to do Montgomery Scott. (Score:5, Informative)
Give MsGeek a cigar! For completeness: In 1966, Doohan and Kelley turned 46, Shatner and Nimoy 35, Barrett and Nichols 34, Koenig 30, and Takei 29. I had forgotten how much older than the others Doohan was until I checked IMDB last week (The Blonde & I were rooting for Paul McGillion). If we're shooting for "eight years before" ST:TOS, Pegg is just the right age (and so is Pine, who's 27). Spock, of course, doesn't age the way humans do, so should be played by someone just about Nimoy's age; Quinto just turned 30, so that's not too far off. Yelchin is 18, which isn't too far off, but Cho is 35! Well, as long as he looks the part....
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Paul Mcgillion... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Wrong guy to do Montgomery Scott. (Score:5, Funny)
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
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Re:Wrong guy to do Montgomery Scott. (Score:5, Funny)
what, on slashdot? naaaaaah...
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Re:different take on Scotty (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:different take on Scotty (Score:5, Funny)
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English Scotty??? (Score:2, Interesting)
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Re:English Scotty??? (Score:5, Funny)
-"You Scots sure are a contentious people."
"You just made an enemy for life!"
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And Korean Sulu (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And Korean Sulu (Score:5, Funny)
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Mel Gibson, the "aussie", who was born in new york.
Re:English Scotty??? (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:English Scotty??? (Score:5, Funny)
Lets see:
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Re:English Scotty??? (Score:4, Insightful)
Just haven't been as funny these last 7 years... dunno what it is...
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Shatner is the greatest (Score:2)
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Re:Shatner is the greatest (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Shatner is the greatest (Score:5, Interesting)
Those who mock the Shatner, those who dub him 'cheesy' or 'over the top' should ask themselves this: at what point during his performance of Kirk do you ever, even for one second, doubt that you are watching the captain of the starship Enterprise?
Shatner - like Doohan - is a method actor. When the camera is on him, he actually believes that he is in command of a starship, and his belief is what drags us kicking and screaming along with him. Love him or hate him, you could never catch him playing it at one iota less than warp 9 [memory-alpha.org]. This new guy? Pwwwpt. He's just an actor. He's not the captain of the Enterprise.
Shatner. Is. Kirk.
Star Trek: The Documentary Series era. Is. Shatner.
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let it die (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:let it die (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:let it die (Score:5, Insightful)
What I don't understand is why we need a story on every single person that's cast for a role. Do you think that, maybe in a week, we can just post one story on the entire cast instead?
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Impossible. (Score:5, Insightful)
So what if baby Kirk is shot in the head causing him to fall into an erupting volcano at the moment the planet's sun goes nova?
It was all a dream sequence. Or it was a clone. Or a robot. Or the evil baby Kirk from the mirror dimension.
And the more characters you take from TOS, the less the threat is.
It's going to be like there's a HUGE TARGET painted on the one person on the bridge that isn't in TOS. And here is chief security office Ima Goingtodie.
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Re:Impossible. (Score:5, Funny)
Well, as long as he's wearing the requisite red shirt...
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Well, I'd say there are many, many problems with making such a movie, but I don't know if a complete lack of threat is one of them.
I mean, did you, at any moment, think that any of the characters in the original movies were actually going to die?
And even when one did, did you expect him to stay dead?
Besides, it's grand Star Trek tradition anyway:
"Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Ensign Gomez beam do
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Is this really an issue? I mean, seriously, was there such a threat in the series (any of them) to anyone but anonymous redshirts? None of the major cast were killed off during the series except Tasha Yar. Really, the Trek format isn't about serious threats (from the audience point of view) to major characters, even though there are occasionally such threats from the characters POV.
Yeah, so we kno
Re:Impossible. (Score:5, Funny)
I thought that was from College Football.
Note for Star Trek Fans: Football is a form of athletic contest between two groups of players, each group fielding twelve* players at one time. The game is divided into a series of downs, where each team lines up on opposite sides of a brown ball called a 'football', and one group tries to take the ball and advance it past the other group, by carying or throwing the ball, without getting tackled. If they advance it far enough, they get more attempts, and eventually score. But if they don't advance the ball at least 10 yards in 4 tries, the opposing team gets the ball.
Secondary Note for Star Trek Fans: An 'Athletic Contest' is an event in which multiple participants compete under a set of rules designed to compare the relative motor skills and/or strength/endurance possessed by the participants, although many athletic contests also include a strategy component.
* If you are not a Star Trek fan, shhhhh.
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Re:Impossible. (Score:5, Informative)
Thank you, Wikipedia.
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At least they'll be ready... (Score:2)
Maybe now (Score:2)
I might just give this a chance... (Score:4, Insightful)
Stop it already - Let Kirk rest in peace! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's just like the abysmally stupid "Bionic Woman" nonsense; some bonehead executive decided to trot an old standard (for which some people have nostalgia) of carbonite and to "reimagine" it for a new generation... whatever the hell that means... Or the moronic Underdog movie. Or one of any other cinematic turds splattered across the big screen in the past few years. Damn.
There have been worlds of awesome science fiction written in the past few years that could easily be adopted to the big screen. For example, "The Golden Compass" is being released this winter and looks promising. However, what do we usually get? More of the same unimaginative crap that's driven people away from the major networks and theatres.
Re:Stop it already - Let Kirk rest in peace! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Eric Bana? (Score:4, Funny)
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