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| Someone else's collection, not mine... |
As for extras, Shatner and Nimoy's commentary on 4 is worth the listen (by Shatner's own admission, theirs was a relationship that frequently waxed and waned, but at this point they were apparently friendly with each other and happy to spend the time together). But Nicholas Meyer's director commentary on The Wrath of Khan is stellar. He is critical of his own errors in judgment, as well as indulgences he allowed some of the principal actors. He beautifully articulates the high-wire act every director has to walk when dealing with the studio, the franchise, and even a star like Shatner.
That any of these films made it to the screen is nearly miraculous -- that a few of them managed to be entertaining, beyond miraculous.
Next . . .
I don't have any "favorite" 8mm films....but I am guilty of still having favorite VHS ones. Even have an old clunking VHS player lying about for the (rare) occasion that it is required. VHS tapes look like very old tv shows..except in a washed out color. Quaint. And ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI've started watching some of the original Star Treks on Netflix. It was more out of curiosity than anything else, but they're definitely worth watching..
ReplyDeleteDV - VHS, yes indeed. There is a box in the basement somewhere, plus one closer to hand -- the latter filled with all the family movies we took of the girls as sprats. We still have a VCR on which to play them, also, but you will not see that put into use in the near future. As the girls both slip off to college, any such backwards gazing would surely reduce their father to a puddle.
ReplyDeletePeter - I assume you're talking about the TV series, which of course I'm quite fond of -- moreso than I am of the movies, actually. I haven't seen any of the latest bunch to be given the hi-def polish, but I'm not sure I want to. I can recall feeling a nostalgic twinge when watching them on b&w TV sets was no longer an option.
Star Trek 4, which I saw at the age of 8, turned me into a huge Star Trek fan.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw all of the movies (1-4...all of the movies that were currently out when I was 8) before I saw a single episode of the television series.
Which I think is pretty par for the course for any kid growing up in the 80s.
Looking back on those movies now, it's incredibly how poorly they've aged...or I don't know, maybe I'm just more critical now that I'm not 8 years old anymore. But the plot and the action sequences just all seem very underwhelming compared with the Star Wars movies.
What was special about those Star Trek movies, however, was how likable the characters were. I think that's what hooked me in when I was 8.
That's interesting -- it never occurred to me that a kid could see all the movies before watching a single episode of television, but why not? Star Trek camaraderie is probably the central appeal to the franchise. I know when the first few seasons of DS9 and Voyager aired, I thought, "It's just not happening with this group." Things eventually gelled for DS9, but I think Voyager was a tough sell for most of the actors participating. One of the cross-over actors (I'm thinking Michael Dorn, but it could be Colm Meany) commented about DS9 that it was a very different vibe with that cast from the STTNG group. "We used to go out for drinks after shooting -- this bunch just goes home!"
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