[Solace]

Hey everyone this discussion thread is aimed to delve deep into the reasons why Trekkies dislike "J.J" Trek.

Do you like or even dislike "J.J" Trek, why?

Personally I don't like J.J trek for the missing Trek aspect. I feel that J.J trod on the prime universe and threw everything we knew about Star Trek out the window. That is my personal opinion and its also the reason why I choose not to support J.J Trek as I feel it destroys established canon for the sake of movie convenience.

However that is not to say that the J.J Trek movies are bad movies in their own right. The production quality and the visual effects (Lens Flare!!) were very well produced... well except for all that lens flare. Although the Trek element of the new movies was essentially missing and was replaced by a science fiction action movie it cannot be said that it is a bad movie. The work and effort put in by Abrams and his production team were undoubtedly top notch.

The story behind the first movie was a little lack luster as it threw all canon out the window, such as Kirk's father being killed aboard the U.S.S Kelvin in the J.J verse, but according to Memory Alpha

In the beginning of this year Captain Kirk assumes command of the USS Enterprise for a historic five-year mission of exploration. He is seen off on his first mission as commander of the starship by his father George Kirk, his brother Sam and his family.

However J.J portrayed George Kirk as being K.I.A aboard the U.S.S. Kelvin saving the crew from Nero. Whilst J.J's idea of creating this alternate universe is an intriguing concept, the execution behind the idea was at best poor.

The 'Trek' element that we all know and love was sadly absent from these movies, J.J seemed to follow the path of the Federation was in mortal danger and only Kirk can save the day, whilst this was true of TOS, it wasn't on such a grandiose scale. The 'Trek' element to which I am referring is best put with a quote from Memory Alpha:

As with the original Star Trek, TNG was still very much about exploration, "boldly going where no one has gone before". Similarly, the plots captured the adventures of the crew of a starship, namely the USS Enterprise-D

This quote sums up Deep Space Nine quite succinctly as well:

DS9, on the other hand, balanced political intrigue, character development, and series-long plot threads with a rerun-friendly format.

The point that I am making here is that we can go back watch the Star Trek TV series and still love watching our favorite moments from watching the crew of the Enterprise save Jean-Luc from the borg! Sadly this quality was absent from J.J Trek.

What is your opinion on J.J Trek?

Additional Reading

[Sysil]

Like Solace, I have noticed that the movies lack that 'Star Trek element' so I consider them regular scifi movies. Not particularly good scifi movies at that.

I dislike movies where the plot is sacrificed for visual effects and / or action, and the JJ-Trek movies are very good examples of this trend. In my opinion they should cut back on the visual effects and pay their writers more with the money saved.

I guess I'm just an old guy that likes movies with more substance.

[Phoenix]

Wait, What? They where Star Trek films?

[Jackie Weaver]

I liked them. Do I like them as Star Trek films? No. Do I like them as Sci-Fi films? Yes. They appeal to the 'new generation' if you will of people. I dare say that if you put, let's say, Undiscovered Country into the cinemas now, it wouldn't generate as much interest as it did back when it was originally released

Side note: I think JJ is more suited towards Star Wars than Trek and I sincerely hope the new Wars films are going to be awesome

[Thalos]

I like them for what they are but I don't think I agree they make good Star Trek movies. As others have said here, they just lack that star trek feeling it's hard to explain. I just hope if they decide to make a new TV series it won't be set in this JJ verse or I might grow to really dislike it.

[Farron]

Well I watched them, they were a bit of fun and I've left them. They don't feel like Trek to me and I maintain that you could slap any other IP on them and it'd make no difference to the movies. The other 10 films always had some kind of point to make or message to tell, besides the narrative but in JJ Trek we just have Kirk and Spock fighting off the baddies. Typical action movie cliche's are scattered about the two films and they play the "Spock not acting like a Vulcan" card in both of them. Yes that's happened in Prime Trek but not in 100% of it.

I'm not too fussed about the alternate timeline, to me the Prime Universe still exists and JJ Trek is a parallel. It's interesting that many refer to the series and first 10 films as the Prime Universe, suggesting that if given a choice, they'd pick what has come before the new films.

The worst thing about JJ Trek though, is what a waste of an opportunity it is. If they'd have made films with a real Trek feel they could've gotten away with things like killing off George Kirk. There's more than enough room in Star Trek for action, there's been plenty of it preceding JJ Trek, and it's been shown before that you don't have to make sacrifices to put it in there. Updated effects and production with that Star Trek feel could appeal to new and old fans alike but like I said, the opportunity has been wasted and they've made the typical movie goer alone their target audience.

I also don't like this idea that the "new generation" of fans wouldn't be interested in what we know as Star Trek, I think they would be if the most was made of these new films.

[St3a1th]

I liked the new star trek films myself I don't understand what people are moaning about, only thing I would say is that rather than revisiting the past, they should have continued on and maybe done a spin on voyager rather than enterprise

[Redking353]

I agree that they should have gone further into the future. The films are not the best but I do enjoy having new trek. Sometimes you just need that fix


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[Ciaphas]

If those movies didn't had "Star Trek" slapped on it, I probably would've enjoyed them as fancy sci-fi action movies, but they do, which prevents me from getting much enjoyment out of them. I remember when I saw that everybody had pulse cannons now I thought to myself, jokingly, "What next? Lightsabers?" and then Sulu pulled out his foldable katana, which did give me a good laugh, but not for the right reasons. They just don't feel Trek to me, though I am aware that is a very subjective thing, since everybody has their own definition of what Star Trek is.

But to be honest, Trek works the best on the small screen, which is why I don't really care that much about JJ Trek not being something I like. And I'm happy for the people who do enjoy it, they get more Star Trek after all, and that's always a good thing, even if I'm not part of that crowd.

[Bond]

I do.

To be frank it's good to see the old crew back. For me, Kirk and company is where Star Trek began. I believe what JJ did was give us a somewhat realistic version, set in OUR world, that's right...WE'RE the alternate universe! Sure they started off differently but so what? It doesn't mean they can't improve over time and the "purists" can go to hell. lol

Or back to their boring, repetitive, DS9/Voyager episodes where Sisko and Janeway are all powerful and all knowing and all awesome, and the Dominion War was so cool that it should be rehashed over and over and over ad nausea. and nothing ever progresses from that point on....it's always the late 2300's and personal bias just rules overall.

I'd rather have a different take than what as given to us from 1993-2002.

And it's a damn shame the fanbase, those hypocrites who believe in Roddenberry's vision, can't accept change and have to hate on a new version just trying to find it's legs. Their prejudice sickens me. They hate on it because it's different. Paramount wanted it different, it's not the dominion war or the continued DS9/Voyager worship that they want, but that's fine by me.

I'll take NU Trek, and hopefully Star Trek Uncharted anyday over DS9/Voyager. Because those were lame. I always said that if the fans were in charge, the franchise would definitely die. Sadly I'm kinda proven right. Look at Renegades and a few other fan films for proof. Having said that, alot of them are stellar. Anaxar and Star Trek Continues are great, because they get it.

I may not have a favorable view, and I apologize profusely if I offended anyone. These are merely observations and a humble opinion.

And on that note:

Request permission to start a NU Trek division for UFP! :icon_twisted:

[Muzual]

I feel like I'm just going to echo the above posts but whatever, I like them as science fiction films sure, but not Star Trek. They have almost zero depth to them whatsoever.

We get big names like the Romulans, Vulcan, Starfleet, but none of them mean anything in the JJ films. Romulans are just badguys in space, Vulcans are all saints and Starfleet is just a collection of people in uniforms who happen to like space. It strikes me as odd that a film would be made as a callback to an incredibly popular franchise without actually including anything the franchise was well known for. How many episodes of TNG did you watch where there was more lens flare than plot?

I will stop it here before I just start complaining.. but on the plus side I really like Uhura in them

[Droxy]

I enjoyed it as a science fantasy action film, a science fiction not so much. It pretty much showed that JJ wanted to do Star Wars more than Star Trek.

[Bridger]

They are good "scifi" films but not Star Trek Films, and the only two things I want to mention from JJ Trek is Kahn's Super Blood, and Transwarp Transporters.

[Emiiko Akorem]

i love the mas they hve a freedom to explore things we havent seen. spock more in touch with his human side the biggest one for me. they dont compare to the other trek films but i still enjoy the hell out of em

[Kains]

I always love this discussion, makes me laugh.



Flashback to late 1980's: The Berlin Wall still stands, big hair is somehow still a thing, and everyone loves Mel Gibson. An incredibly young, and dashingly handsome, Kains is woken up late on a school night by his father to watch the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Two hours later the verdict is in: Young Kains loves it and it would foster a life time of Star Trek fandom. Kains' Dad determines its 'not Star Trek' and watches it purely to amuse his son.

Nearly thirty years later I still remember the grumbling and I find it amusing to hear it from so many of the next next generation.

The new Star Trek films are definitely not my Star Trek, but it is still Star Trek to a lot of people. I do feel a little disappointed in the fact that our generation was supposed to be better at accepting change, but c'et la vie.