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Star Trek Discovery

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by hkmb, Sep 25, 2017.

  1. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Another season 2 trailer was released recently (in the past week):


    is another copy. I'm guessing there might be geo-locking/blocking on the CBS All Access vs. Netflix copies of the trailers.
     
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  2. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    Thanks for posting both - the first was indeed geoblocked here.

    This looks good. I enjoyed Season 1 so much, and I do have high hopes for Season 2.
     
  3. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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  4. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    after they stopped firing folks season 1 settled down into a good , well, mostly good story. Hopefully season 2 willl not have those kind of distractions, and yes Les is gone, get on with the show!!
     
  5. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    Yes, I had this with "Coming To America". As a McDonald's alumnus, I was horrified by the inaccuracies when he worked in the burger chain.
     
  6. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Hey...
    No spoilers! ;)
    Some of us cord cutters have to wait a bit before we get to see it! :D
     
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  7. Prius Maximus

    Prius Maximus Senior Member

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    Yes, the DVD isn't out yet. And when it is, I'll need time to watch the entire season.
     
  8. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Sadly....my wait will be a bit longer.
    Just finished Season 1 of Enterprise.
    My throughput is very slow because my life only leaves me with time to tick off a few episodes a week.
    Liking it so far.
    Can't imagine why the reviews were so poor....especially given the format but there's a dif between 2002 episodic TV and 2018......
     
  9. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    Do you think there could be a connection between these two posts?

    Enterprise NX-01 felt - to me, as a non-submariner, admittedly - a lot like a submarine. The uniforms, the decor, the relatively-cramped spaces (compared to the nice hotel that was Enterprise NCC-1701-D), and the crew structure all felt quite submariney. Could this subconsciously add to the appeal of Enterprise for you?

    So, a couple of things on this.....

    Season 1 was, in my view, by far the weakest season of Enterprise. So you have a lot to look forward to.

    As for why reviews were so poor.... I initially found myself pretty hostile to it. It wasn't the storyline, because that was good. And the acting and everything is fine, once you get into it. And Hoshi Sato has my dream job, which is always going to add to the appeal of the programme.

    But I found that I had to get over a couple of big hurdles. The theme tune and the presence of Scott Bakula made me feel like I was going to be watching some sort of heartwarming late-80s / early-90s nonsense that belonged on Hallmark. And there was something about the lighting and production that made it feel a bit Days Of Our Lives or something: maybe the camera format or something - I don't know. It just didn't feel right. Once you get over that, it's great: there are good characters and good stories, and it's an enjoyable series. But I think some critics never overcame the initial hostility that they may have felt for the same reasons I did.

    As it is, there's only one major issue for me, which comes in Season 3 or 4. Captain Archer tries to improve his relationship with Malcolm by inviting him for dinner, and they engage in awkward small talk. To break the silence, Archer congratulates Malcolm on England making it to the final of the 2152 (soccer) World Cup (I assume that the interruption of World War III accounts for the World Cup being in 2152 when it should be in 2150 and 2154 on the current schedule, so I'm happy to let that slide).

    NO THEY DIDN'T. England did not qualify for the final of the 2152 World Cup. England showed a lot of promise, and the English interplanetary media networks were convinced that this could be the year. Shuttle craft in and out of the London spaceport all had St George's Crosses flying from poles stuck to their hulls. Terrible English-themed pubs on Mars and Titan showed all the games lives, and were packed with drunk fat people with St George's Crosses and Union Flags painted on their faces singing songs that could be construed as maybe a bit racist. Everyone thought this would be it: after 186 years of hurt, England would reclaim the World Cup that was rightfully theirs.

    But in either the semi-finals, or, more likely, the quarter-finals, England went out on penalties to a not-very-promising, and, let's be honest, a bit cheaty, Argentina/Croatia/Italy/Germany/Uruguay/Moon.

    I can accept that by 2152, we might have made contact with alien species. We might have achieved faster-than-light travel. There might be interspecies romance. Teleporting might be under serious development. There might be moves toward the development of an alliance of planets. This is all possible. But England are not going to make it to the final of the World Cup. That isn't going to happen, either in this universe or in any parallel universe.

    As you said,

    Indeed.
     
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  10. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    here here!
     
  11. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Interesting points in that last post!
    Thanks for the observations.

    You're not the first person to make the comparison between 'that' Enterprise (both NX-01 and NCC1701) and the silent service and there are elements of each that are very similar.
    I have a half-remembered memory of someone pointing out that the bridge of Rodenberry's starship(s) are arranged much the same way as a submarine's control/attack centers and there have been critics of this design who say that a starship should be configured more like a surface ship with a Bridge/Combat Information Center (CIC) layout.
    YMMV.

    In submarines as in starships the real 'enemy' lies just outside the pressure hull, and those that wish you ill mostly just have to disable your propulsion and breach the hull and then there's no follow-on season.
    Of course....Star Trek also has to contend with ratings....the enemy both of the original series, and of Enterprise.

    Either way, I was expecting not-very-much from NX-01.
    I have to say that so far I have been enjoying the franchise but it has the advantage of being fiction based on fiction, and it only has to hold true to whatever the audience believes is plausible based on the Star Trek universe.
    Somebody told me once that the key to happiness in life is low expectations....something I lean away from personally - but it might be why I've enjoyed the NX-01 series in much the same way as I did the NCC-1701 series all those years ago.

    It's also why the Jack Ryan series, to me, was so very irritating.
    Imagine, if you can, a series that not only had England WINNING the 2152 Superbowl after abandoning soccer back in the 2030's, but also a country that abandons tea for coffee, drives on the right side of the shuttle-pod routes, and adopts new temperance laws outlawing corner pubs.

    THAT's what the Ryan series was to me.
    I loved the edgy writing, and who COULDN'T be blown away with the new Greer character but the technical errors grated on my nerves to the point that I almost abandoned the series, mid-stride.
    Ironic, since technical accuracy was something of a Clancy 'thing'.
     
    #152 ETC(SS), Oct 16, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2018
  12. Prius Maximus

    Prius Maximus Senior Member

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    I've only seen the first 8 episodes or so of Enterprise. I agree, that theme song is horrible, and Scott Bakula is not a very good actor IMO. I have only one comment that counteracts the bad on this show: T'Pol.
     
  13. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Season 2 Episode 3.
    Romulan minefield.
    Just watched it.

    I'm intrigued by the stereotypical character of the stern Brit ex-pat with the stiff upper lip.
    I never thought of HM subjects as being quite that pessimistic before, but I see some intriguing parallels between Malcolm's "glass is half empty and it has a bleeding crack in it!" outlook in the series and your own prognostications in the <adult section of this forum.

    I find elements of this steriotype in my far distant memories of GB during the roaring 80s (pub on every corner!) but I also remember Brits in general to be a very ebullient sort with world class manners and hospitality........expecting of course the morose ex-pats that find their way on our late night comedy TV and cooking shows.

    The exception that proves the rule?
    National forced repatriation?
    Voluntary deportation?


    Your thoughts, please.....
    Oh....and I've only watched this series while I'm doing other things, but I thought I remember Malcolm's family being in Malaysia when they rang him up to see what food he likes.
    Fortunately, Malcolm's parents were still married (presumably heterosexually) so there was no danger of causing an embarrassing situation over subspace radio with accusations of one of them being a 'pedo' - but is this a further indication that Jolly old England might have come out a little bit better in the theoretical WWIII..................or worse?
    Perhaps if Britannia once again were to rule the waves.....there might actually BE a World Cup final....and some might say, cheap at the price.

    However (comma!) remember that HM's navy only has 2 flight decks, while the IJN.....oops! I mean the JMDF has 4.

    Bit of history there.......or future?
    ;)
     
    #154 ETC(SS), Oct 16, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2018
  14. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    You're very welcome.

    I'm glad I'm not alone in seeing the similarities there. I can see it in 1701 to a degree, but I think it's much more pronounced in NX-01, and it's really noticeable how much more like a (heavily-armed) hotel or a cruise ship the Enterprise D and Voyager were. When you finally get round to Discovery, you might see some submarineyness in that too, but not to the extent of NX-01.

    I can see the logic in going the submarine route rather than the surface ship route. Submarines can travel in three dimensions, like spaceships. If a ship travels in a third dimension, something has gone badly wrong. And yes, your point about the enemy being just outside the pressure hull is very salient (and, in one case, saline).

    It is nice to get a pleasant surprise from something.

    I'm watching a British series, called "Strangers" in Britain, but "White Dragon" in Australia, at the moment, about a British university professor whose wife is murdered in Hong Kong. He goes to Hong Kong to investigate.

    I have the same sort of problems you have with "Jack Ryan": it makes me shout at the TV.

    The British Consular officials are comically unrealistic. The environment the Australian journalist at the leading English-language newspaper in Hong Kong (my wife's old job) works in is hilariously wrong. The police stations are jaw-droppingly weird. One of the main protagonists has a name romanised in a way that does not work in any Chinese dialect.

    And the geographic continuity is appalling. At one point a Consular official turns to a man and says "Why are you following me?" Why is not the question. How is the question. How did he follow her, walking, around a corner in Yau Ma Tei, and end up immediately on the Escalator in Central? They're not out of breath, or wet, but they've travelled 5km - 1km of which was through water - in an instant.

    It's a shame, because it's a good story, with some good acting. But suspension of disbelief is a challenge.
     
  15. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    I like the Romulans. I have ever since they first appeared in TOS. I wish there were more stories involving them.

    Malcolm reminds me of quite a lot of British expats in Asia. Maybe that's the Malaysian thing too.

    As a nation, we do tend to be fairly cynical - especially when it comes to politics, which is where my posts in the adult section come in.

    But we're mostly not such a bunch of uptight buttoned-up w----rs. But that doesn't mean such a type doesn't exist. As I said, Malcolm reminds me of several people. In particular, he reminds me of a British stockbroker in Hong Kong called Miserable Mark who was on the fringes of my social circle. He had the same accent, and the same hang-dog look, and the same unremittingly miserable outlook on life, and the same lack of any real friends. I really couldn't stand him.

    Maybe Malcolm's parents were in Malaysia working for our Asian masters.

    Even if Britain comes out of WWIII as a winner, and becomes a powerful force in the world again, England will not get into the World Cup Final. 1966 was an anomaly, and it will never happen again.

    (I say this partly as a person with decent knowledge of English football, and partly as a Scotland fan who knows how insufferable England fans still are about 1966, and who fervently hopes it will never happen again.)
     
  16. Prius Maximus

    Prius Maximus Senior Member

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    The Blues Brothers. I actually saw part of it being filmed - all the roads were blocked on my way home from work. Anyway, they're driving down Greenwood Ave in Park Ridge, make a turn into the shopping mall in Harvey, 40 miles away on the other side of Chicago. I just laugh, it's a movie.
     
  17. hkmb

    hkmb Senior Member

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    I listen to BBC Radio 5 Live's excellent film review programme every week.

    A few weeks ago, someone wrote in about Avengers: Infinity War, which I haven't seen. He said that there's a big fight scene in Edinburgh, and he said that it was the first such film he'd ever seen with a coherent geographical narrative: if one superhero punched another superbaddie here and he flew backwards, he would indeed end up there, and so on. The whole fight scene went exactly where it should have gone.

    As for me, I remember a Doctor Who episode from the 1980s. The Doctor was fighting some baddies on Mars.

    Now, I should stress that I haven't been to Mars, so geographic incoherence shouldn't have been an issue.

    However, it was filmed at Timanfaya National Park, a massive field of volcanoes and lava in Lanzarote, which looks quite a lot like Mars (except for the bus).

    [​IMG]

    And while I haven't been to Mars, I have been to Timanfaya, a lot.

    I was watching that episode with my Mum. Doctor Who ran away from the baddies (cybermen, maybe?), and Mum and I shouted "Don't run up there! It's a dead end and you'll be trapped against a cliff after you go round the corner!". And that was indeed what happened.
     
  18. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    For those who are watching ST: D outside the US via Netflix, you may have Short Treks (they're "mini-sodes" that are under 20 minutes long) under the Trailers and More section. They "aired" previously on CBS All Access.

    Ep titles are at List of Star Trek: Discovery episodes - Wikipedia. I don't want to spoil them. When I watched them, I felt they got better as they progressed (2 was better than 1, 3 was better than 2). The 3rd one, "The Brightest Star" was good as it went to the backstory about how Saru ended up in Starfleet.

    Not sure about the last one "The Escape Artist". Was good but maybe not the best. It featured Harry Mudd and has some tips of the hat to the two TOS eps w/Harry Mudd. If I said which one, it'd spoil it.

    Google for star trek discovery short treks trailer for trailers. I'm not going to point to specific URLs as some might be geo-blocked.

    For those in the US who may not want to restart their CBS AA subscription yet, I found out via Facebook that S2:E1 is officially on YouTube, for now:
    .

    I suspect only those in the US will be able to see the above. It might be geo-blocked.
     
    #159 cwerdna, Feb 3, 2019
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2019
  19. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    What about S-01?

    I finally polished off NX-01 and I might give Disco a tumble but only if it's watchable for free......just like TOS.
    If I were assured that Disco were

    Yeah.
    I know....
    It took months for me to get through 4 seasons of STE because for me 'binge watching' means that I complete an entire episode in one sitting.
     
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