Comments on: Animation tricks create modern 'Star Trek' Enterprise

Director J.J. Abrams turned to ILM to get the latest tricks and tools to make a film that would both update the classic sci-fi franchise and please its more hard-core fans.

[Altotus]

Assignment Earth is that the Harlen Ellison written episode with the "Cheerio of Time'' where Spock and Kirk search for Bones in the depression era USA earth? A lot of people like it but it was atypical at the time. If you carefully consider the scenario of alternative time lines the ramification is a intervention correcting the deviation causing the bifurcation of time lines collapsing the alternative line and returning to the original obviously saved for the last episode sequel etc.

[Scott Gardener]

No, that was "City on the Edge of Forever." "Assignment: Earth" was the one with Gary Seven; his pet black cat; his secretary Ms. Lincoln, who was a bit unsettled when introduced to speech recognition technology; and a snobbish supercomputer tucked away behind a bookshelf. Gary Seven's mission was to sabotage a nuclear warhead to prevent World War III, but the Enterprise accidentally beams him up during a time travel expedition. He has to convince Kirk and company to let him finish his mission. It was also a good episode, and it was intended as a pilot for a spin-off series. Sadly, the networks did not pick it up. But, they more than made up for it to the Trek franchise later...

[ralfthedog]

GEEKS, I am surrounded by GEEKS!!!!!!!!

[gerrrg]

I think if you've watched Firefly, then you'd see the beginnings of the shaky camera special effect, albeit not against live-action w/ green screen. Again, this is used to an extensive level in Battlestar.

[Assais]

how do i become a staff writer and animator?

[AlienLife]

Yes...I would have to agree with some of the comments about the Star Trek movie story. The story was a little bit too complicated then it needed to be. If I had to explain the story to my mum...I couldn't do it!...

It's true to say that alternative reality worlds have regularly been a story line for star trek...but then it's also true that crew always came but to own reality...not this time! I'm really disappointed that the planet Vulcan is no more...

The actors chosen to play the original cast are superb! I especially love the new actress that plays Ahura! She's especially hot!

[jchapman01]

I loved this movie!! In fact, I plan on seeing it again this week. I didn't mind the shaky camera as much as the lens flairs every few minutes. I found them to be quite annoying. at first I thought my contacts were dry or something.

I'm actually excited about the alternate time line. It allows for new sequels and a continuation of the storyline!!

[Scott Gardener]

I do have to wonder about what problems are now out there to be dealt with all over again--a certain planet-eating ice cream cone that spits pure antiprotons comes to mind.

[ralfthedog]

I think the probability of the Giant Space Ice Cream Cone of Death (TM) approaches unity. The only thing I truly dread is yet another Borg.

[Scott Gardener]

Motion jitter "handycam" is a trend, and I fear it will date the film to the 2000s the way the bright colors and beehive hairdos date the original Trek series to the sixties. Same with the new Battlestar Galactica. This observation is not intended to express dislike; both BSG and the new Trek are some of the best Sci-Fi to come out of this decade. But, the effect is too obviously trendy and likely to become dated. Early this decade, everything had yellow filters--look at CSI, the Ocean's Eleven remake, and so forth. The decade started with heavy use of Matrix-style floating in the air bullet-time, and a decade earlier, everyone was imitating the T1000's liquid metal morphing from Terminator 2. Funny how this time, the motion jitter is coming not from a big budget feature like The Matrix or T2, but from the almost accidental success of the Blair Witch Project.

[ralfthedog]

The movie did get much of the science/technology tragically wrong. (Warning small spoilers. I will try to minimize them.) A starship would have much more computer power than the Earth does today. Everything would be very fly by wire. I can't see any circumstances where a person sitting on the bridge would need to sit at the helm and fly the ship VS program a course and walk away because "The auto pilot is down."

There was another astronomical event that would have caused a gamma ray flash powerful enough to destroy a star as well as anyone within about 5 light years. Tidal effects from this event would have shredded any near by ships if they had not been vaporized by the flash. Near by ships did not even get their hulls smudged.

I also thought Spock's ship was a bit gay.

Good movie, writers should pay more attention to their science advisers.