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[Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home]

Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home What a stupid story.  It was like Star Trek for tots.  Still, the story was relatively coherent and it wasn't as bad as when Voyager [spoiler]went back in time to 1990's Earth[/spoiler].  Remember that?  That was awful - I can't stand Sarah Silverman.  I was wondering why I was getting annoyed by Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph everytime she opened her mouth and when I saw the credits it all became clear.  Anyway, back to Star Trek IV.  I did like that it continued on from the previous film again and I thought the change in tone was a pretty good idea as well, going for something more light-hearted.  It was just that [spoiler]time-travelling whale nonsense[/spoiler].  I am becoming more curious about the original series.  I have never watched all the episodes before (probably just seeing one or two now and then).

I'm not sure how fond I am of the idea that this thread might be locked.  I guess it's my own fault for bringing up *spit* Prometheus in the first place.

I was hoping to highlight an idea that Alien is best served when viewed as a stand alone film.  I imagine the same could be said for Aliens as well, but I think Aliens does benefit from foreknowledge of the previous film.

I have seen Prometheus and it was OK but its not something I would want to see again and again.

The film really is a mess and does not do well under scrutiny.  The biggest criticism I would have though is that it doesn't really seem to know if it is an Alien prequel or not.  Not surprising really, seeing as Ridley himself seemed to be confused about this also.  It's definitely the same universe but the planet is different from Alien and apparantly they are not the same aliens.  The problem is that the space jockeys are in it and the alien at the end is too much like the others.  Also, almost everyone I speak to about it assumes it is the same planet and so that just confuses things further.

I don't think we need an Alien prequel but I would say either do a prequel that ties in or if you want to do something different then make it totally different.  Why would Ridley be so keen on using the Space Jockeys if he didn't want to tie the films together. 

I think Ridley was part of the problem as to why this was such a disappointment.  His involvement in the concept stages is baffling as he doesn't strike me as a concept person and he wasn't the one to conceive of Alien in the first place.  There are, of course, other reasons why it was poor (*cough*damonlindelof*cough*).

Monsters University seemed so utterly pointless to me and totally unnecessary.  It is a pale shadow of the first film.

I actually think it was better to wonder about the Space Jockey.  That part in the Space Jockey's ship is probably my favourite of the whole franchise.  It was broody, atmospheric and totally alien. 

I can understand why a discussion on Prometheus may get heated.  After all it looks like an amazing piece of science fiction cinema.  The looks are the only positive thing I can say about it, though. 

[Star Trek III : The Search for Spock]

Star Trek III : The Search for Spock  To my great disappointment this was nothing like Where's Wally.  It was a good film.  Same in quality as Wrath of Khan, I'd say.  It had a story that was well plotted and I liked how they continued from and used elements from the previous film as plot points.  The stuff with Spock was nicely done (considering) and the setup for it was there at the end of Wrath of Khan so it didn't jar heavily.

I also noticed that someone threw a Cornish pasty at Doc Brown!

I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.

It's ruddy Bladerunner when compared with Transformers 3.

I learnt my lesson.  I have not and hopefully never will watch Transformers 3.

Michael Bay would surely struggle to garner credibility.

I still think one the stupidest things I've ever done is watch Transformers 2.

[Wristcutters - A Love Story]

I was wondering, though - suggestions for genuinely good romcoms? They're few and far between, but there must be some gems?

Wristcutters - A Love Story.  It has romance of a sort and it's funny in that way you might not necessarily laugh out loud.

Even though romcoms (a horrible compound word if ever there were one) are ostensibly regarded as 'chick flicks' (a horrible phrase to keep 'romcom' company in the horrible language waiting room of life) and therefore supposedly aimed at me, I don't really like them a great deal.  For one major reason.  They all follow the same formula.  It's the same reason why I don't like James Bond films, actually.

Anyway, I still watch the odd romantic comedy now and again because I have a habit of watching shite - a category of which the majority of cinema falls into.  Saying that, there are probably some romantic comedies that stand out from the crowd. 

[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan]

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  Not all that bad.  Coherent storyline, vast improvement on the effects compared to the previous film, acting is improved but still hammy in places (especially by original cast members).  A lot more flash-bang-wallop in this one but still relatively tame.  It never takes over.

Next up I shall be searching for Spock.  I'm hoping it's like Where's Wally.

Alien 4, Predators, and AvP 2 are all rubbish in my opinion and they all make the same mistake of trying to create an even bigger and badder monster than the Aliens or Predators themselves.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. The Predators and Aliens are fine, iconic creations and sequels don't need to up the ante by making new hybrid monsters, they just need better scripts!

I thought AvP2 was better than AvP.  Still, that is relative.

On a side note:

I was going to rewatch the series in its entirety given that I started this thread up in the first place, but found after watching Alien I really couldn't be bothered to go on.  They could have easily just left it with one film.

I started to think a lot about Prometheus as well.  If we were to include it into the Alien franchise I'd put it bottom of the pile.  It is such a visually stunning film that is really let down by the script by monumental proportions.  I've been reading a lot of praise of the acting, but I found Noomi Rapace unbearable in the film and her character, Elizabeth Shaw, the worst of the bunch.  Even as a film on its own I don't think it's good and would probably think less of it if it weren't for it's connection to the franchise.

Reflecting this and everything else that has been discussed and rewatching Alien again I am now of the opinion that Alien is best seen as a stand alone film.  The mysteries of the film give it an enigmatic quality that I really enjoy.  I'm not a fan of exposition heavy films generally and I think Alien maintains the balance between what we need to know for the story and what we don't need to know.

Anyway, I have decided to watch the original cast Star Trek films instead as there aren't many I've watched in entirety.

I imagine anything will be better in my mind than that Abrams shite.

Wrath of Kahn is up next and I am more than well aware of its popularity, but I won't let that hold sway over me.

I've probably seen Generations too many times.  It's not my favourite.  I enjoyed both First Contact and Insurrection.  Nemesis didn't bother me, but it's certainly not the best of the bunch.

I would have loved to see a DS9 film made as it is my favourite of the TV franchise and I always felt its ending was rushed.

[Star Trek The Motion Picture]

Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979) - I haven't seen this film in donkeys and I'm not entirely sure I have ever seen it in its entirety.  I have never really given the original cast films much of a chance in the past and failing to think of anything better to watch I'm going to watch them now.

This film was meh.  Ambitious, certainly.  The lack of running around, punching, kicking and shooting things (amidst a storm of lens flare) is definitely refreshing and it has a pretty good story even though I am all too aware of the twist at the end.  I can't say the acting is stellar, though. 

......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.

I haven't seen the film, and but I rather enjoyed the book!

Little secret - neither have I.  It doesn't sound good and I'm not being fooled again after sitting through that rubbish Cowboys vs. Aliens drivel.  A hard lesson learnt 'if it smells like shit, it probably is shit'.

......its shite.

The clue is in it's title.

I'm trying my best to ignore any hype surrounding this special on the off chance it isn't very good and I just end up disappointed.  Nevertheless, even with the hype I am not expecting it to be anything more than a standard 'good'.