[kevin]

The news has now been confirmed by all parties (Disney, Lucas and Abrams) so I'm betting there will be more than a few follow up questions coming to him over the implications for Trek and also probably clarification of earlier statements. I doubt he's 'out' of Trek given Bad Robot's involvement in them. But how involved he may be going forward now..............

[Enterprise Captain]

Originally Posted by samwiseb

So that's where that rumored R2 was.

The other shots, I don't get what I'm supposed to see.

2. Phaser fire that looks more like Star Wars laser fire.
3. A Star Wars like ice creature in a scene very reminiscent of the underwater Naboo submarine scene in Episode I.
4. A stupid Jar Jar Binks type character that served no purpose but to be the butt of few cheesy jokes.

[martok2112]

Phaser fire has looked like Star Wars fire (at least for ships) since Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. By First Contact, phaser rifles fired small bolts. By Nemesis, they became almost blaster bolts similar to Star Wars.


So..nothing new there..

I saw no similarity between any creature in Star Trek 2009, and any creature in Star Wars.
The first creature that Kirk runs into on Delta Vega looked more like a four legged Mugato, or more like the Klingon dogs from Star Trek VI. The second creature looked nothing like any creature seen on Naboo, or any Star Wars film for that matter.
Kinzer was his own creature, and did not look or speak like a Gungan. I didn't really see him as the butt of any jokes. He was part of the jokes, but certainly not the butt of them.


Carry on.

[Quark]

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends directing a Battlestar Galactica or Stargate reboot.

[Enterprise Captain]

Originally Posted by martok2112

Carry on.

I don't care if you disagree with me, you're entitled to your opinion. What I saw in Star Trek 09 tells me Abrams is better suited to direct a Star Wars film than a Star Trek film. I wish him all the best on his new project. I don't think it will be possible to be worse than Episodes I,II, and III.

[martok2112]

Indeed. All strictly opinion.

And yeah, even though I didn't really have a problem with the prequels, I think JJ's take will be improvements on the SW franchise.

[kevin]

I think Abrams can direct a Wars pic just fine. But he also directed a Trek pic just fine as well.

[horatio]

Originally Posted by Enterprise Captain

2. Phaser fire that looks more like Star Wars laser fire.
3. A Star Wars like ice creature in a scene very reminiscent of the underwater Naboo submarine scene in Episode I.
4. A stupid Jar Jar Binks type character that served no purpose but to be the butt of few cheesy jokes.

Jarjar and Keenser are cute characters that are meant to satisfy the children in the audience. But Jarjar (as well as Phantom Menace in general) also serves a dramatic function, to show the innocence and diversity of life in the Old Republic while Keenser is Scotty's sidekick and makes his character slightly more funny than in TOS.
I think that there are some visual influences of Wars upon STXI but as Martok has already pointed out, burst-phasers have been with us since TWOK (and even earlier) and the red monster on Delta Vega is probably an echo of Cloverfield and not Wars. The biggest influence is the Campbellian one, there is a young guy who hasn't found his place in the world yet, there is an older guy who is his mentor, there are obstacles on his journey and so on. It is a variation of THE monomythical story.

And here is where I have my problems with the movie. Not that it resembles Wars in this respect but that at the end of the journey there is no Luke Skywalker who becomes part of a symbolic order like the Rebellion but that Kirk and Spock end up in some kind of adolescent "fu*k the rules, we can do whatever the hell we want" state.
This is essentially a conservative (as opposed to some anti-hierarchy form of progressivism) critique. People do have to find their relatively fixed place in the world. This is what I cherish most about Trek, that it describes a positive, progressive future while emphasizing the importance of discipline and order. You could say that, featuring progressive content (economic and social equality) and a conservative form (a relatively strict social order), it is politically the best of both worlds.

[martok2112]

Originally Posted by kevin

I think Abrams can direct a Wars pic just fine. But he also directed a Trek pic just fine as well.

D'accord, mein amigo.

[samwiseb]

Originally Posted by Enterprise Captain

2. Phaser fire that looks more like Star Wars laser fire.
3. A Star Wars like ice creature in a scene very reminiscent of the underwater Naboo submarine scene in Episode I.
4. A stupid Jar Jar Binks type character that served no purpose but to be the butt of few cheesy jokes.

I know what fans on the naysayer side want me to see (I've certainly read enough posts on the subject), I just don't see it.