'Nemesis' Sacrificed Characters For Action?

[master_q 0]

Burton: 'Nemesis' Sacrificed Characters For Action

 

LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge) said recently he felt the latest Star Trek feature film failed to deliver on a character level.

 

Speaking to Star Trek Monthly (via Sci Fi Pulse), Burton, a "big fan of character development", said the action-adventure elements were given priority in Star Trek: Nemesis.

 

"I think that one of the strong suits of the Star Trek franchise has always been the interplay between the characters, and I feel that a lot of that was sacrificed in favour of action," he stated.

 

"I definitely don't think that the franchise has run its course at all. I just think that there's been an over-saturation of it," he added.

 

Burton said he enjoyed directing, especially the process of visualizing the script as film shots. He has directed a Christmas movie called Blizzard starring Christopher Plummer (General Chang) and Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan), among others.

 

"I'm pretty proud of it," Burton said of the film, which will be released in November 2003.

--TrekToday http://www.trektoday.com/news/200603_01.shtml

 

 

Do you agree with him?

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[master_q 0]

I think he hit in on the nose.

ST 'Nemesis' IMHO should have expanded on things like character development and the actual concept of the movie. All we see is non-stop action and that really hurt the movie in terms ratings and quality.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[prometheus 0]

I think he's just bitter that he didn't get his face on the screen more!

[master_q 0]

I think he's just bitter that he didn't get his face on the screen more!

If that statement is true or not (I highly doubt that it is), then I still believe that the statement about Nemesis is true. The movie went overboard in many aspects for the action (mainly near the end) if they expanded on the characters and the concept, then the movie would have been better. I don’t really see it (in this sense) any other way. When we look at the TOS movies . . . where we got great character development we can really see why the TOS movies were so successful. (Yes, I know not all were . . . .but I’m referring to the ones that were)

 

ST is not about “pick up your gun and shoot.” It is about the human equation - character development. If you just want to see plain and ordinary action, then you can see all of the other movies that have that. Of course I know in a movie you need action and all of that, but it still should be an equal part as the concept and character development

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I had no problem with a Trek movie that was "all action" as the fans have been asking for one for a long time. My only complaint was that it had to be the last movie featuring the TNG cast. If they had switched 9 & 10 arround, that might'a worked better, eh? :lol:

[master_q 0]

I had no problem with a Trek movie that was "all action" as the fans have been asking for one for a long time.  My only complaint was that it had to be the last movie featuring the TNG cast.  If they had switched 9 & 10 arround, that might'a worked better, eh? :lol:

Well fans might have wanted a more action packed movie, but there is always an “in-between”. I don’t think fans as a whole wanted a movie to be complete action. We might have wanted more action, but you should never “sacrifice” it for the story.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Very true... You find Stewart Baird, I'll get the townsfolk, pitch forks, and torches! :lol:

 

Serriously, why don't they just do a "special edition" with all the "character" footage restorred to the film?

 

I think the director was what hurt the movie more than anything. B)

[jdigs 0]

Mmmm Burtons right there. But that is the problem that ST faces, in order to captivate more audience members they must make it more action and leave the characters alone and just keep moving the movie along, it is the sad truth. At leasr we csn be sure that Burton will retun to Trek in one way or another.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

Mmmm Burtons right there. But that is the problem that ST faces, in order to captivate more audience members they must make it more action and leave the characters alone and just keep moving the movie along, it is the sad truth. At leasr we csn be sure that Burton will retun to Trek in one way or another.

I disagree. I've seen lots of sequals, remakes, movies based on tv shows, and so forth, and they rarely sacrifice character development for action. There was lots of stuff in Nemesis that simply could'a been left out. All they had to do was leave in an extra 30 mins of character stuff, and this movie would'a rocked. I still liked it though. :lol:

[Takara_Soong 4]

I think he's just bitter that he didn't get his face on the screen more!

I agree with Prometheus. I don't think LaVar Burton really cared about Nemesis. I recall reading an interview he gave in which he said that he spent all his free time while making Nemesis doing prep work on that movie he was directing. Doesn't sound like someone totally committed to making a great Trek movie does it. As for making a movie that focused more on characters than action - wasn't that what Insurrection did and look at how it's treated by fans. Most people I know list it as their least favourite TNG movie.

[Yillara Skye 1]

I think he's just bitter that he didn't get his face on the screen more!

I agree with Prometheus. I don't think LaVar Burton really cared about Nemesis. I recall reading an interview he gave in which he said that he spent all his free time while making Nemesis doing prep work on that movie he was directing. Doesn't sound like someone totally committed to making a great Trek movie does it. As for making a movie that focused more on characters than action - wasn't that what Insurrection did and look at how it's treated by fans. Most people I know list it as their least favourite TNG movie.

I agree Takara.

 

sacrifice action for character development- irk a bunch of people, sacrifice charater development for action-irk another group of people....darn, it is a lose-lose situation here, no one is truly happy...well maybe some of us out there are but hey..

Most things you read out there is how the other actors were so grumpy about their amount, or lack thereof, of screen time.. B) I acted for four years in High School, and there was not a single play we either read or did that everyone got equal stage time...and there were plenty of people irked that their roles weren't meaty enough! Oh, brother! I never complained once, I was thrilled just to get a bit part, heck my acting teacher spent half her time creating roles for me(she tended to forget me since I was the only Acting III/Senior student in a class of 31 Drama I/Freshman Students), and I had a ton of fun writing my lines(since my characters never existed in the play). There were only two rolls I ever had that were really already in the play(During my Junior year, and my senior year...well there was one in my Sophmore year and another in my Senior year that had pre-existing lines, but my teacher had me add more lines,,). If the actors would remember their college, and pre-Hollywood days....they were probably experiencing the same things I(and many many others around the world) did...

[removed 0]

I think he's just bitter that he didn't get his face on the screen more!

I agree with Prometheus. I don't think LaVar Burton really cared about Nemesis. I recall reading an interview he gave in which he said that he spent all his free time while making Nemesis doing prep work on that movie he was directing. Doesn't sound like someone totally committed to making a great Trek movie does it. As for making a movie that focused more on characters than action - wasn't that what Insurrection did and look at how it's treated by fans. Most people I know list it as their least favourite TNG movie.

agreed. insurrection is one of my favs BECAUSE of character development. it was perfect.

maybe burton should direct the next TNG(!!!) movie. he seems to direct well when he does it for enterprise. why not try it for tng.

 

i think nemesis could have done without the argo-driving scene and had more development. namely the b4 - data relationship. data should have mentioned something about lore.

[master_q 0]

Insurrection was character focused, but like I said you have to find a middle ground between action and character development.

 

Insurrection was more character driven, but it lacked that action quality. Nemesis was too focused in action and lacked the character elements. In a ST movie you have to find a middle ground. (However, in both ST9 & 10 they lacked a few different variables along with these two themes)

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[joeybear 0]

ST: The Wrath of Khan was a perfect example of harmonious action/human development; i agree that Insurrection was lacking action, but Nemesis wasn't all THAT bad - Riker and Troi got married, Guinan and Wesley were back, i mean, it wasn't all action - i agree that sacrifices are made to appeal to a broader audience, but don't forget the audience you've already got.... B)

[Goose 0]

ST: The Wrath of Khan was a perfect example of harmonious action/human development; i agree that Insurrection was lacking action, but Nemesis wasn't all THAT bad - Riker and Troi got married, Guinan and Wesley were back, i mean, it wasn't all action - i agree that sacrifices are made to appeal to a broader audience, but don't forget the audience you've already got.... B)

Stardate:213479.6

 

 

Another example of harmonious action/character development would be First Contact we saw a lot of development with Picard in regards to the borg and his relationship with data and action with the battles with the borg.Also in Nemsis we saw some deveopment in character.Riker and Troi getting married,Data and B-4 interacting and Picard and Data "bestfriend" type of relationship.Although myself i wanted to see more Geordi-Data relationship before his tragic death.(maybe this is why Burton is bitter :lol: )

[master_q 0]

Even though the movie might have looked into things like a marriage and so forth . . . it really did not expand on the character development that was parallel to the story. That to my mind is the important thing.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

To be perfectly honest... I was expected 3 themes in this movie.

 

1. Action, being formost.

2. Family theme, as this was to be their final adventure together.

3. A love story theme in the background with Riker & Troi.

 

A shame they only delivered #1, but I still enjoyed the movie for what it was intended to be. I guess with Insurrection having very little action, which I didn't mind, the next was bound to be all out action. :)

[Ezri Dax 0]

ST: The Wrath of Khan was a perfect example of harmonious action/human development; i agree that Insurrection was lacking action, but Nemesis wasn't all THAT bad - Riker and Troi got married, Guinan and Wesley were back, i mean, it wasn't all action - i agree that sacrifices are made to appeal to a broader audience, but don't forget the audience you've already got.... B)

Stardate:213479.6

 

 

Another example of harmonious action/character development would be First Contact we saw a lot of development with Picard in regards to the borg and his relationship with data and action with the battles with the borg.Also in Nemsis we saw some deveopment in character.Riker and Troi getting married,Data and B-4 interacting and Picard and Data "bestfriend" type of relationship.Although myself i wanted to see more Geordi-Data relationship before his tragic death.(maybe this is why Burton is bitter :) )

I agree that I think that movie missed some human aspect...

 

And that First contact was a perfect (well, the best in TNG movie) balance btw action and human aspects.

 

And yeah, we should have a good Data-Geordi scence...

 

First contact was my favorite TNG movie, and the more I read, the more I understand why...

[RikerChick 5]

I agree completely with Burton. That's a huge reason I don't like Nemesis. I don't think it has anything to do with him being bitter.

[Admiral Kirk 1]

I rather enjoyed Nemesis. I saw that it was to be a purely action oriented film and accepted it. I agree that their was not enough character development plus their were a few nagging plot holes also but I found it entertaining. Perfect no entertaining yes.

[nik 0]

Nemesis did indeed lack in character development for the sake of action. However, I think that is exactly the goal in the making of

Nemesis - an attempt to turn it into a fall blockbuster by making it a shoot-everything-that-moves-set-for-ramming-speed-brace-for-

impact type of sci-fi action thriller in order to please the populace while assuming that the die-hard fans already know the

characters.

 

I enjoyed it, but I'm still perplexed about the "Mad Max" scene in which Picard, Data, and Worf are riding a jeep around this desert planet. I thought cars were extinct, and the vehicle they were driving had not evolved at all since the 20th century.

[removed 0]

Nemesis did indeed lack in character development for the sake of action.  However, I think that is exactly the goal in the making of

Nemesis - an attempt to turn it into a fall blockbuster by making it a shoot-everything-that-moves-set-for-ramming-speed-brace-for-

impact type of sci-fi action thriller in order to please the populace while assuming that the die-hard fans already know the

characters. 

 

I enjoyed it, but I'm still perplexed about the "Mad Max" scene in which Picard, Data, and Worf are riding a jeep around this desert planet.  I thought cars were extinct, and the vehicle they were driving had not evolved at all since the 20th century.

ya the movie defenitely could have done without the argo scene.