xenexian

Sorry to disagree, but 2001 has it all over TMP. Why? 2001 was a bold and daring attempt to re-create space pictures and to show them as realistically as possible. An incredible feat for the time and it succeeded wonderously. The movie was released in 1968 but the production on it was started a good two years prior to that. At that time, NASA was still in the gemini stage of the space program and was still learning how to control orbiting spacecraft. 2001 gave us all the most realistic view of space travel ever shown outside of documentaries. Even the wave of films that came ten years later have never been able to touch on the realism that Kubrick portrayed. Nowadays, entertainment factors like SFX and ships behaving like they have wings and flying aerodynamically are more the norm. In fact, 2001 is still the standard by which visual space effects are still judged by. TMP, I'm afraid, was just entertainment value for the Star Trek fans. Out of all the ST movies, I would still have to say that TMP is tied with "The Final Frontier", as my least favorite. Robert Wise did the best he could but he was so unfamiliar with the ST universe that it just never translated well. Yes, the storyline to 2001 may be convuluted and difficult to follow but once you do take the time to understand what's going on, you realize that it's a science fiction masterpiece. If you're having trouble paying attention to the film, I'd say that's more of a commentary on the short attention spans of todays viewers rather than the movie making skills of the director.

Worf said in Trials and Tribblations that they were like an infestation and that a Klingon Armada obliterated the Tribble homeworld as they were once considered :o  mortal enemies of the empire.

 

I believe Odo also made reference to the great songs of honor that were written for the Great Tribble Hunt. I always wondered what that must have sounded like. Maybe something on the order of Little Bunny Foo Foo.

One of the funniest episodes to me still is the one with the hippies. What was it called? On the way to Eden or something like that? It's funny to me because I lived those times and seeing the network acceptable version of "Hippies in Space", even after all these years, is still laughable. I was quite young at the time it first aired but I still remember my elders all worrying whether or not we would grow to become one. Any here it was showing that hippies would still exist in the 23rd century. Oh, the horrors of it all.

This is just really a general question. Does anyone have any information concerning the animated series from the early 70's? Rankin and Bass were the producers I believe. Are there any plans to release the serieis on DVD in the near future? Just trying to increase my collection here.

I have BBC America on my satellite system. And I have to say that I have enjoyed watching, especially Absolutely Fabulous. I don't have a favorite show but I compare the production values of what I see. And strange as it may sound, the one show I'm catching alot of are re-runs of the old Avengers series from the 1960's. The ones that are in black and white. That show was really ahead of its time. I do think that British tv is still a bit stiff but at the same time, takes a lot of chances when it comes portraying attitudes and subjects, in other words, a little more guts and less pc. I like that.

What? No magic pixie dust?

I remember this show very well. It came on the air in 1978. It was an atttempt to ride the science fiction wave that was sweeping the country because of Star Wars and Close Encounters. It was, for the first season, not too bad. The story premise was good, the efx, superior for television. I Liked the idea of an aircraft carrier in space and the evil robatic civilization. The producers tried a limited run in 1979 and finally finished up with a poor attempt of Galactica finally discoving earth in the year 1980 with an entirely new cast that included Kent McCord of Adam-12 fame from the early to mid 1970's. It was unfortunatly, a victim of network cost costing, broadcast time switches, deteriorating writing and overused storylines. It might interest you to know that this December, the Sci-Fi channel is planning a mini-series, ressurrecting the Battlestar Galactica. I think that the original Apollo from the series, Richard Hatch, might be producing it. I had heard that he had been pursuing financing for a re-make. Perhaps this is it. The Sci-Fi website might have information.

It was actually section 31, and I think they were developed just enough. The whole idea was to suddenly realize that there was this shadowy organization that existed on your side and that they were just as bad as the bad guys you were fighting. Not knowing more about them was just fine. As for being on Enterprise, at this point in time the Federation doesn't yet exist so I don't believe that section 31 has been born.

Instead of always naming new objects with mythological names why can't the science community show a bit of a sense of humor and name them something like einey, meeny, miney, moe, larry and curly, or something like that. It just might draw a few people into looking up everynow and them. And it would be kind of fun to hear some astronomer talk about the conjunction of curly with einey. I only say this because I'm getting a little worn out with always trying to find out where these names come from in the first place.

Does anyone else like the character of Lt. Barclay? Even though he was sparsely used I thought that he was quite intragal to the stories. My favorite with him was "The Nth Degree", when his intelligence was enhanced. To see his confidence increase and making a pass at Deana and almost bringing Dr. Crusher to her knees in a play rehersal was priceless. It was also kind of nice to see that not every Starfleet engineer had the all encompassing confidence others seemed to possess. His human failings was probably what appealed to me. Thoughts anyone?

Put that under the "Opps", catagory for the scriptwriters. Another explanation could be that since the data base has the Ferengi race in it, they may have just extrapolated the idea that every race that makes contact with the Federation sends someone to the academy. Sort of covering their bets.

I thought the Dominion War worked well for DS9.  Although Roddenberry's vision was for a world of acceptance and peace, I think it illustrated that, even in the future, not everything can be perfect.

 

I absolutely agree. I loved the Dominion war because it showed that even though the Federation was trying to maintain peaceful relations, not everyone in the known galaxy had the same idea. I also still believe that Gene's vision may have been a little too much hearts and flowers. Human nature is one of the most difficult things to change and even though we rarely saw in on any series, I'm sure there were still criminal elements there. In a DS9 episode in the last year, we even had a Vulcan murderer. The Dominion war was a great plot twist to the usually staid Star Trek formula.

Thank you all. A barrel of bloodwine for all in ten forward.

How about the poor Vulcan science officer from the first Star Trek movie? Even though we really didn't get to see what he materialized into from the transporter malfunction, we did get to see the beginning of him being turned kind of inside out. Leaving the picture to the imagination sometimes is best. I always imagined him appearing on the transporter pad as a kind of lump of smoldering flesh that had but a few moment of consciousness before dying. What an ugly way to go.

A liar. An assassin. Greedy. Manipulative. Kai Winn was a true politician. She navigated her way to the top, starting I feel, with good intentions but gradually letting power just go to her head. She was there during the occupation. A poor vedek amongst her people. But then over time rose to power. Her manipulation of Vedek Bareil was typical of her drive. I loved it when she found out that she had been doing it with the head of the Cardassian occupation ha ha ha!!! Kai Opaca reminded me of my nasty French teacher so i didnt like her. But Kai Winn did go on to dominate too much in the end. I prferred the whole Dominion element of the finish rather than the Spiritual thing. Has anyone seen a terrible tele film called "Flowers in the Attic" where she plays a wicked mother?

 

I absolutely agree with everything here. She was all that and more. A villian that you couldn't help but despise. I loved it. Plus the fact that she was played by Louise Fletcher (a.k.a. Nurse Ratched), was even more delicious. Some of the best roles for actors are the heavys and this one qualified. The fact that I see so many post here from people who didn't like her makes her portrayal an unqualified success. In fact, she sort of reminded me of the corrupt popes of the 12 through 14 centuries. Absolute religious power is perhaps the most dangerous of all. Her demise was all the more fitting being consumed by the Pai Wraiths. It showed that all she really did care about was power. I liked her only because I could hate her for what she was.

I just finished watching "What you Leave Behind", again (okay, I was in a nostalgic mood), and was struck once again with the growth of Nog from just a nephew of Quark living on the station to his final promotion of lieutenant. It seemed that he was destined to eventually be written off in the first few years of the series and personally, I wouldn't have missed him if they had. But the twist of making his character want more out of his life then being just a typical Ferengi seemed a great idea. I remember Quark disapproving of the whole idea of his nephew living among the "hew-mons" but seemed to accept it as Nog grew up before our eyes. And it actually felt good watching the Federation accept him as he himself grew into the more advanced role. Does anyone else feel that this was a good script idea? He actually showed a great range of emotions in the episode when Nog explained his reasons for wanting to go off to the academy. Plus I always thought he would be a great negotiater for the Federation should they need to obtain anything of value for the fleet, like dilithium. Thoughts anyone?

When I was younger, my favorite author was Ray Bradbury. I read everyone of his books. As I got older the reading list became a little more serious. Right now my two favorite authors are none other than Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton. If you never read the Rama series by Clarke, please do so. They are long but fascinating none the less. Science fiction that really deals in science fact. And lets not forget the classic "Childhoods End". As for Crichton, the list for him goes all the way back to "The Andromeda Strain", a very scary book even by todays standards right on up through "Prey". I recommend all these titles to the unintiated when it comes to real believable science fiction.

Well said, Emanon. I have to agree with you. If you put aside all the political propaganda and try to look at this entire situation logically and without any flag waving, your points make sense. At this point, only history and the court of world opinion will have final judgement on the U.S's action.

Thank you for posting this but, and this is where it gets dicey, if members of our military are fighting for our "rights", then part of those rights are being able to disagree and protest without fear of getting our butts kicked. You can't choke the voice of desent in this country without being guilty of the very crimes you say you are fighting against. I come from a military family and recently had a brother retire after serving over 30 years in the Air Force. Many times he told me it was my right and duty to protest against what I perceive as a wrong even if it's our own government or any of its branches. This all goes in cycles and even though we are in a hugh conservative swing at the moment, the day will come when the pendulum will surely swing the other way. Be careful who you call traitor or non-patriot today for one day it might be you on the other end of the tirade.

My vote registered as Archer but I really wanted to click on Janeway. To me she was really the best but then again I have a thing about strong independant woman. I'd follow her orders anyday. Second choice would have to be Sisko. He really showed a flare for being able to control and interpret the prime directive as he saw fit being where he was.

I would have to say that for the moment, Pluto is a planet. It's orbit, as odd as it is, seems to indicate that it is. I think the question could also be where did it come from? Isn't it odd that every other planet outside the orbit of Mars is a gas giant except for tiny Pluto? I believe there have even been a few theories that it may be an escaped moon of Neptune but how it achieved its present orbit remains a mystery. Perhaps millions of years ago a rouge star or passing black hole deflected its orbit into what we see today. In any case, my vote goes for it being designated a planet until some better explanation comes along.

From my own days in physics classes I seem to remember this topic being discussed in depth. One of the things that I remember about it is that if we could actually see an atom, the electrons don't necessarily follow a set orbit or pattern like a planetary system, which seems to be the most common perception. The electrons move so fast and in such an irregular orbit or pattern that if we could actually see an object that small, it would appear more like a cloud around the nucleus. This, I believe, is what the uncertainty principle trys to address. How anyone could calculate where the electrons of the atom would be at any given time in a 360 degree range is as close to impossible as can be. I would have to agree with the venerable Arthur C. Clarke on this one and say that because of this uncertainty, a transporter like device may possibly never be invented. Notice I used the word, "may". I still have faith in humanity to able tackle and solve just about any problem but this one could be beyond us.

I liked all of these battles but I thought the really best battle scenes were any from the DS9 series during the dominion war. But my vote for the best was actually the Klingon attack on DS9 when Sisko had O'Brian refit the station for war. Seeing the station launch photon torpedos from just about everywhere made for one of the most intense action sequences yet produced.

I'll have to add this to my list of book to read this summer. I thinks it's number 35 on a growing list.

I think a movie with DS9 as the centerpiece again would be the next logical step. There are still a few unresolved issues to deal with plus they already have the antagonists in place. Gul Dukat ,as part of the pa wraiths and Sisko existing with the wormholes aliens. Smells like a showdown at high noon to me. Is this likely? Only the phophets can answer that.