Star Trek - Space: The Final Frontier

[Snorlaxative]

I used to fucking hate Star Trek. I was forced to watch it as a child, and absolutely disregarded it. Now that I am older, wiser, and nerdier, I can say that I am beginning to have more interest in the franchise. I have begun watching Enterprise on netflix... Where do I go from there? Is there some sort of primer for Trek or should I just watch whatever I feel like watching?

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

Yeah, pretty much watch whatever you want. From what I understand, a lot of Star Trek fans consider "Enterprise" to be one of the worst series, so if you like it, you'll probably like anything else.

I got started in Star Trek by watching the movies. My favorite is "Generations" but a lot of people also like "The Wrath of Khan."

The closest thing I can find to a primer is the Star Trek wiki.

Anyway, have fun. That's what it's all about.

 

[Holdek]

I used to fucking hate Star Trek. I was forced to watch it as a child, and absolutely disregarded it. Now that I am older, wiser, and nerdier, I can say that I am beginning to have more interest in the franchise. I have begun watching Enterprise on netflix... Where do I go from there? Is there some sort of primer for Trek or should I just watch whatever I feel like watching?

There's a lot of Star Trek out there: The Original Series, The Animated Series The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise are the TV episodes. Then you have six TOS movies and four TNG movies (including the first TNG movie which is kind of a transitional movie). On those, the basic rule of thumb was the even-numbered movies were the good ones, and that holds up surprising well, actually (GrandNumberofPounds' preference of Generations notwithstanding ). Then you have the reboot movie of TOS. And that's just the cannon stuff (there's and a fairly decent fan series called Star Trek: Phase II based on TOS, lots of non-cannon books, video games, etc).

Anyways, it's interesting that you are starting with Enterprise, as that's the first series in the timeline. If you continue with that, the next step would be the TOS show.

But, generally speaking, you can watch whatever in whatever order, and use the Wiki to orient yourself if it gets confusing, although it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

On those, the basic rule of thumb was the even-numbered movies were the good ones, and that holds up surprising well, actually (GrandNumberofPounds' preference of Generations notwithstanding).

I haven't heard that rule of thumb before, but yeah, the movies are kinda hit or miss.

I like Generations because it's fun to watch Kirk and Picard interact with each other. Plus I like the scene on the holodeck when Worf gets his promotion.

OP might like to watch the 2009 movie. I think it's pretty good, definitely a lot better than the first movie they made back in the '70s.

 

[Holdek]

On those, the basic rule of thumb was the even-numbered movies were the good ones, and that holds up surprising well, actually (GrandNumberofPounds' preference of Generations notwithstanding).

I haven't heard that rule of thumb before, but yeah, the movies are kinda hit or miss.

I like Generations because it's fun to watch Kirk and Picard interact with each other. Plus I like the scene on the holodeck when Worf gets his promotion.

OP might like to watch the 2009 movie. I think it's pretty good, definitely a lot better than the first movie they made back in the '70s.

And think of it as like, Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, and First Contact vs. Final Frontier.

I want to watch Generations again. I haven't seen it since it first played in theaters.

And yeah, I agree with you that the 2009 movie is better than the very first one. The 70s one is pretty boring, IIRC.

 

[MysticMisty]

Don't forget about The Undiscovered Country, the final movie based on TOS. Peoples opinions of The Search for Spock vary, but Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and Voyage Home make up it's own trilogy so keep that in mind as far as the movies go. And Undiscovered Country is basically a sequel to that trilogy.

As far as TV shows go I've the most experience with The Next Generation so it's my favorite by default basically.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

I don't know which one it is, but the only ones I don't like are the first one and the one (I think it's Final Frontier ) where Spock's brother goes looking for the Garden of Eden and they meet "God." It was cool when Spock blew "God" away with Klingon disrupters, but besides that, I didn't like it. And Bones's quote is good: "Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his ID."

I like the Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home (my favorite of the TOS movies with the original cast, where Chekhov asks to got to Alameda where they keep the nuclear wessels), and First Contact.

I've only seen Nemesis and the 2009 movie in theaters, and Nemesis came out about the time I was getting into Star Trek.

 

[Holdek]

Don't forget about The Undiscovered Country, the final movie based on TOS. Peoples opinions of The Search for Spock vary, but Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and Voyage Home make up it's own trilogy so keep that in mind as far as the movies go. And Undiscovered Country is basically a sequel to that trilogy.

As far as TV shows go I've the most experience with The Next Generation so it's my favorite by default basically.

Just to add, TOS is more "conventional" sci-fi, or whatever you would call it. Big "What If?" questions plus laser gun fights. TNG is more like a traditional drama, with an imagining of what a space-exploring future would be like. TOS episodes are much more stand-alone. Those are the two series that I've actually watched any substantial amount of.

Deep Space Nine has been described as a "soap opera in space" but I don't think that's accurate. It seems to be more intrigue-based, although it does center around a space station and not a space ship. It had a much smaller, but dedicated following.

Voyager is similar to TNG, but I don't know of anyone who has an opinion on it one way or another, ha ha.

I don't know anything about TAS, but it looks kind of goofy.

I don't know which one it is, but the only ones I don't like are the first one and the one (I think it's Final Frontier ) where Spock's brother goes looking for the Garden of Eden and they meet "God." It was cool when Spock blew "God" away with Klingon disrupters, but besides that, I didn't like it. And Bones's quote is good: "Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his ID."

Yep, that's Final Frontier. It's notorious for being far and away the worst Trek movie. People say it's best to pretend it doesn't exist in the canon, and consequently, it's the only one I haven't seen in full.

It's also the only one directed by William Shatner, so maybe that has something to do with it.

 

[MysticMisty]

TAS is basically standard Saturday morning kids fare of the early 70's by Filmation. But with Star Trek characters. Filmation is the same company that made the Ghostbusters cartoon that Chris loves so beware.

Before he died Gene Roddenberry said that Final Frontier is the only movie to be non-canon. People generally abide by that since he created the series and all.

IMO the best TNG movie is First Contact. Thought I'd mention it since no one else had.

 

[LM 697]

Oh man, don't get me or Brooklyn started on the TNG movies.

 

[champthom]

TOS was originally pitched as "Wagon Train in space," i.e. a western set in space. My appreciation of TOS increased when I perceived the show like that but that's because I sorta like westerns to begin with. I've watched a good chunk of TOS, I'll usually watch an episode when I'm browsing Wikipedia and they mention a Star Trek episode. I'll probably get into TNG someday, but I dig TOS. It usually manages to delve with a lot of philosophical issues, like there's a few episodes dealing with religion (take note that Gene Rodenberry was a hardcore secular humanist) and you've got the campy bad effects and stuff. Movie-wise, Wrath of Khan is great, though watch that episode of TOS with Khan, I forget which one but the movie will make more sense.

Fun fact - when I was in Vegas, I went to the Star Trek Experience which was a real hoot. They had a bar and they had Star Trek characters walk around, like there was a Ferengi guy at the bar and he was telling everyone about his cousin who used to follow the Borg - since Borg assimilate everything that is tech or organic, that means they leave all the gold and valuables behind wherein this Ferengi's cousin cleans up. Anyways, I'm at the bar and I'm a bit tipsy from Romulan Ale (they actually have Romulan Ale which is awesome) and a Vulcan walks by and I say to her "HEY VULCAN! LIVE LONG AND PROSPER" and flash her the Vulcan salute. She turns around, flashes the salute and responds with "Peace, and a long life to you" and asks me why I'm in Vegas and how it was "illogical" I was taking a trip with no set ending, as I was sorta backpacking around the West coast. I hear they're moving it to another casino so when they do, totally check it out, it's a real hoot.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

Movie-wise, Wrath of Khan is great, though watch that episode of TOS with Khan, I forget which one but the movie will make more sense.

"Space Seed" is the episode with Khan. It's in season one.

 

[Holdek]

TOS was originally pitched as "Wagon Train in space," i.e. a western set in space. My appreciation of TOS increased when I perceived the show like that but that's because I sorta like westerns to begin with. I've watched a good chunk of TOS, I'll usually watch an episode when I'm browsing Wikipedia and they mention a Star Trek episode. I'll probably get into TNG someday, but I dig TOS. It usually manages to delve with a lot of philosophical issues, like there's a few episodes dealing with religion (take note that Gene Rodenberry was a hardcore secular humanist) and you've got the campy bad effects and stuff. Movie-wise, Wrath of Khan is great, though watch that episode of TOS with Khan, I forget which one but the movie will make more sense.

Fun fact - when I was in Vegas, I went to the Star Trek Experience which was a real hoot. They had a bar and they had Star Trek characters walk around, like there was a Ferengi guy at the bar and he was telling everyone about his cousin who used to follow the Borg - since Borg assimilate everything that is tech or organic, that means they leave all the gold and valuables behind wherein this Ferengi's cousin cleans up. Anyways, I'm at the bar and I'm a bit tipsy from Romulan Ale (they actually have Romulan Ale which is awesome) and a Vulcan walks by and I say to her "HEY VULCAN! LIVE LONG AND PROSPER" and flash her the Vulcan salute. She turns around, flashes the salute and responds with "Peace, and a long life to you" and asks me why I'm in Vegas and how it was "illogical" I was taking a trip with no set ending, as I was sorta backpacking around the West coast. I hear they're moving it to another casino so when they do, totally check it out, it's a real hoot.

That's an awesome story, LOL.

What casino was this, and when was it?

Movie-wise, Wrath of Khan is great, though watch that episode of TOS with Khan, I forget which one but the movie will make more sense.

"Space Seed" is the episode with Khan. It's in season one.

Cool! I like Wrath of Khan, will need to check out this episode now.

 

[Saney]

Voyager is similar to TNG, but I don't know of anyone who has an opinion on it one way or another, ha ha.

Voyager's ok and has a pretty good intro/intro music, but Janeway's a bitch and the episode involving the crew evolving into lizards is...bizarre, to say the least.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

Voyager is OK. I didn't particularly care for Janeway either (like the smart alecks on ED say, the only show with a woman captain and they get lost), but my brother, who's a bigger Trekkie than me, likes Voyager.

My favorite episode is the one where they find a planet in a temporal distortion field that for every minute of the ship's time the planet experiences a year, so they watch the planet go from a prehistoric era to when they experiment with antimatter.

 

[Holdek]

Voyager is OK. I didn't particularly care for Janeway either (like the smart alecks on ED say, the only show with a woman captain and they get lost), but my brother, who's a bigger Trekkie than me, likes Voyager.

My favorite episode is the one where they find a planet in a temporal distortion field that for every minute of the ship's time the planet experiences a year, so they watch the planet go from a prehistoric era to when they experiment with antimatter.

That sounds pretty cool. Any idea what the name of the episode is?

(Kind of reminds me of the TNG episode where Picard lives decades on another planet, becoming an old man, and is then returned to the Enterprise and only a few minutes have passed.)

 

[champthom]

That's an awesome story, LOL.

What casino was this, and when was it?

I think it was the Hilton, they had a regular casino and they had the Star Trek Experience, but now they're moving it to another casino but they've gotten into a few problems like I think there's some licensing problem with Paramount and stuff. THEY'RE WORKIN' ON IT. In any case, I got a cool Romulan Ale bottle opener from them and if I had a shitload of money, I could buy a replica of Captain's Kirk chair from the Enterprise deck for a few thousand bucks. I went there in the summer of '08, I think they closed it in '09.

I like the Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home (my favorite of the TOS movies with the original cast, where Chekhov asks to got to Alameda where they keep the nuclear wessels), and First Contact.

If I ever meet Walter Koeing, I will probably piss him off to no end for doing it but I want to hear him ask "Which way to the nuclear wessels?"

OP might like to watch the 2009 movie. I think it's pretty good, definitely a lot better than the first movie they made back in the '70s.

The 2009 film was great, but I wouldn't start there, because

Spoiler

the whole deal that it actually takes place in a parallel universe because of the shit involving that Romulan guy.

Some jackass spoiled the movie for me, I was just shopping at the Salvation Army, trying to find some sweet vintage clothing and some employee loudly talks to another guy about the twist and I'm like "Dammit, you ruined it for me before I even saw it."

Anyways, I don't know why people are bad mouthing the first movie - I thought it was cool, but then again the last time I saw it was when I was 12. I think all the TOS movies are great, though I still haven't seen the fifth one but I hear that one sorta sucks anyways. I've heard a lot of people complain about The Voyage Home but I liked it, I dig time travel stories, and it's got a few good bits in it, like talking about how Spock did "LDS" in the 60s.

I've seen Generations, which I vaguely remember, I might have seen First Contact and I did see one of the TNG movies when it was in theaters but it was so forgettable it probably attests to its quality. Like, it was just so generic and bland, I don't remember anything from it except they go to this planet and do stuff.

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

I've seen Generations, which I vaguely remember, I might have seen First Contact and I did see one of the TNG movies when it was in theaters but it was so forgettable it probably attests to its quality. Like, it was just so generic and bland, I don't remember anything from it except they go to this planet and do stuff.

That might be Insurrection. It's the only TNG movie that the description might fit.

That sounds pretty cool. Any idea what the name of the episode is?

"Blink of an eye" season 6.

 

[Holdek]

I like the Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home (my favorite of the TOS movies with the original cast, where Chekhov asks to got to Alameda where they keep the nuclear wessels), and First Contact.

If I ever meet Walter Koeing, I will probably piss him off to no end for doing it but I want to hear him ask "Which way to the nuclear wessels?"

He'll probably oblige you if it's at a Trek event. Making fans happy is the bread and butter of those events.

That sounds pretty cool. Any idea what the name of the episode is?

"Blink of an eye" season 6.

Thanks!

 

[LM 697]