Jump to content


1701D's Content

There have been 544 items by 1701D (Search limited from 29-March 23)



Sort by                Order  

#93742 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 07 April 2018 - 01:34 PM in Everything else.

Ugh, does it really matter Whirlygig? Because if it matters to you then fine but you know what... who cares.

Toys R Us for whatever reason is gone, the crisis here is that there are thousands of people out there whove lost their jobs and their livelihoods and here we are, the same ridiculous rabble of men who are perhaps too old to be buying toys for themselves at TRU and who are certainly too old to be getting so worked up about the opinions of others, arguing over some irrelevant nonsense about whether or not one toy company produces cheaper tat than the other...

You know what guys, Ive been thinking about this for a while now, probably a little too long to be honest but I think Im actually done right now.

I have come here often and been outspoken, right, wrong, ridiculous and perhaps some here think of me as rude, and ok thats fine but you know, that isnt who I am in reality, this place just winds me the hell up as does internet fans in general and for that reason Im out, this forum brings out the worse in me so, thats it.

Wait for me to close the door on this party before you break out the champagne 😉



#93738 Diamond Select at Toy Fair 2018

Posted by 1701D on 07 April 2018 - 02:09 AM in AA / DST

Im not entirely sure what Diamond Selects plan is here. Are they holding off showing anything because of licensing issues or finalising a deal or are they genuinely not sure they are going to do anymore Star Trek product? Are they looking at Kickstarter as a way to get this stuff to the people who want it? (Personally I think Kickstarter is a crazy stupid idea) or are they waiting for The Toys That Made Us to air on Netflix? Were bound to get a hefty segment about DSTs Star Trek line which could reveal the future of it too...

I dont think theyre done with Star Trek though, I think things are happening, its just that theyre either unable to respond or unwilling to show anything due to not being ready to show anything.



#93732 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 06 April 2018 - 07:20 PM in Everything else.

 
My thread of discussion here with you so far has been to call out your nonsense claim that Hasbro toys do not compare well to Mattel toys, not to tie any of that in with anything about TRU's situation.



Where exactly do I claim to say that Hasbro toys do not compare to Mattel toys?

Nonsense? Its just an opinion so chill out. If I recall, I said that Mattels Jurassic World Toys are far superior to that of Hasbro's; meaning Hasbros Jurassic World Toys. My general opinion of Hasbro has been rather critical of late however as their TOYS FOR KIDS have been lacking and have felt cheap when compared to their 2008 offering - anyone remember the Big Millennium Falcon - thats not to say that ALL of their lines are rubbish because certainly their lines geared towards collectors are anything but and as you pointed out, the 5 inch Avengers line, albeit something smaller than anything they do for Star Wars currently, is rather good. Hasbros Star Wars toys for kids are really terrible though.

I feel Mattel (the second biggest toy company to Lego) are doing better things with their toys for kids than Hasbro right now. The Imaginex lines are brilliant, their Jurassic World line looks really a lot of fun and driven by variety and quality, HotWheels, Barbie and Mega Construx, Mega Bloks... the only area I think Mattel are behind in is their DC lines, but if WB got their act together and finally sorted out their film franchises, perhaps Mattel would feel a bit better at making a proper go of their Multiverse line.
 

If you want to get on with TRU finger-pointing, well, consider that here in the US, even though Star Wars has WAY TOO MANY different active lines (which even an idiot can see...I don't know why nobody at TRU could see it...for crying out loud there was a Hot Wheels and a Titanium line simultaneously for a couple years -- yet another department where Hasbro trumped Mattel, AHEM)....... they still only accounted for about one aisle of your typical TRU store, out of countless (I dunno maybe 50-60?) other aisles...  So unless they were stockpiling Star Wars in the back to a ridiculous degree, which who knows, they might have been, it seems a bit silly to pin it all on Star Wars.

Ive not once pinned it all on Star Wars but I have suggested that one of the main reasons for Toys R Uss decline is their over reliance on Star Wars toys selling at the rate they sold at 10 years ago. I think Im not far off when I say toy stores in general put a lot of their eggs into the Star Wars basket when The Force Awakens released. That backfired as a year later, shops like TRU still had a massive stock of TFA toys still clogging up one or more aisles with even more toys for Rogue One coming in hot... it was and has been overkill with Star Wars and a huge reason as to why we havent got as much for Last Jedi and Solo.

So no Im not pinning all the blame on Hasbro and Star Wars, in fact none of the blame really. While Hasbro toys for kids are lacking the quality they had 10 years ago, the rest of the blame is on TRUs poor management; they were so out of touch with what kids wanted that they ordered a ton of Star Wars stock and stocked toys that kids just arent as Into now as they once were.

They failed to change with a changing market, they didnt act quick enough and its those who are working in their stores that are now paying the price for such a massive error in judgement, not just relying on Star Wars to save them, but Lego (another company whove seen sales decline) and other massive toy lines that were once big money makers but are now not as big.

TRUs downfall both in the US and the UK was due to incompetence in the board rooms, huge losses in recent years due to over ordering and a lack of interest from consumers, huge greed on the part of their executives who will pick apart whats left of TRU and run with the money, leaving those whove worked at store level making the sales and greeting the customers, without work, without a pension or any finciancial aid, and an unwillingness or just out of sheer ignorance and greed to accept that parents were no longer interested in visiting these large soulless warehouses and that kids were no longer playing with traditional toys but were moving to new technology and toys that offered some kind of interactivity.

As for HotWheels vs Titanium... what line still exists today... hmmm... oh yes! HotWheels...

As for Hasbro... as a complete sidebar to this topic but perhaps still as a result of TRU going under, I cant really see Hasbro staying around for much longer. Give it a few more years and theres likely to be another massive casualty of a collapsing toy industry. Like Kenner, I can see it being bought out by either another toy company like Mattel or by Disney (of which was a rumour a couple of years ago) as it becomes survival of the fittest toy manufacturer.

All of Hasbros lines that are more geared towards kids have lost so much of what made them popular for both kids and collectors. Their comparatively speaking smaller Marvel toy line perhaps being the one exception to that rule but not immune to it. The biggest toy lines they produce toys for right now; Star Wars, Transformers... both have suffered in recent months and years in a decline in sales and that IMO is down to there being such a divide in both price but also quality between their basic budget kids range and their collectors range. The day that toys just used to be toys for either kid or collector is kind of gone.

The 5 POA figures and vehicles lack detail and quality most collectors look for and the collector lines are often too expensive for parents to justify spending on kids who are more into playing video games.

Put aside what the reason might or might not have been for TRUs closure, one thing that is certain; the toy industry has and will continue to have to change in order for it to survive in a world where kids just arent interested in playing with ships or action figures anymore.



#93720 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 06 April 2018 - 06:18 AM in Everything else.

Ok then, maybe you should go check out the basic line of Infinity War figures, which are so good they almost have this adult collector contemplating shifting gears to pay half as much and collect ACTUAL TOYS FOR KIDS instead...


Good for you, Id agree with you! The Infinity war basic figures do look good, reminiscent of Kenners old Jurassic Park figures, if there was ever a toy line to contemplate your very existence, it would certainly be the Marvel Avengers Infinity War basic figures. In these financially uncertain times I dont blame you for wanting to shift gears and return to collecting that which you most certainly had as a child. I myself are contemplating the excellent Mattel Jurassic World line! Those toys look great!

However, I would be keen to see how well those basic 5 inch figures are selling to kids and not just the dozen fanboys visiting this site but regardless I was talking about Star Wars, not Marvel - it wasnt the lack of sales of Marvel toys that helped (not caused) the closure of TRU.

Star Wars is also a far bigger toy line than Marvel and pretty much anything. Toy companies like TRU bank a lot on Star Wars toys actually selling so to use Marvel toys as some kind of an excuse seems redundant.



#93719 Diamond Select at Toy Fair 2018

Posted by 1701D on 06 April 2018 - 06:11 AM in AA / DST

Whats KS?



#93710 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 04 April 2018 - 05:22 PM in Everything else.

Legends though in the UK are rarely stocked at toy stores. Theyre not seen as toys for kids in this country. Im talking about ACTUAL TOYS FOR KIDS - legends and black series have always been geared towards older fans and collectors. The Star Wars TOYS have clogged up toy stores like TRU and not shifted at all and thus when the Force Awakens came, toy stores over ordered and suffered for it. TRU, on top of their already disastrous financial situation, bet on Star Wars toys to sell and they didnt.

Lines like Black series, the upcoming vintage collection and the Marvel Legends lines will improve and go from strength to strength because... everybody now.... its adults who are buying them, not kids.



#93689 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 04 April 2018 - 04:56 AM in SciFi news.

Perhaps, but its also entirely possible that whatever comes next from the Kelvin Timeline will be a visual reboot of some kind.

Also these characters are meant to look the same as they did in TOS - Spock prime recognised both Kirk and Scotty in the 2009 movie and so its not so far fetched to use the current movie cast as the prime versions of themselves - lets be honest here, none of the TOS cast are young enough to play their roles so whats the more confusing; using the established Kelvin cast in the Discovery/Prime timeline or recasting yet again another version of Spock and co...

To most, it wont matter, Quinto is Spock and Pine is Kirk to them, to us fans, it would add some continuity and legitimacy to the Kelvin films by using the same cast in both timelines...



#93687 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 04 April 2018 - 04:04 AM in Everything else.

To be honest, it was somewhat down to the weak sales of Star Wars toys that contributed to the closure of Toys R Us.

The sad fact is; kids arent playing with toys in the same numbers as most of us were playing with toys back in the 90s. The rise in popularity of the video game and VR and interactivity etc... has really crushed the toy industry.

The other sad truth here is that Hasbros toys in particular (see their Jurassic World line compared to Mattels) are made seemingly on the cheap. Their offering for Star Wars I feel has taken a huge leap back in terms of quality and design. In 2008 we were getting a huge amount of articulation and detail on figures and ships, since the financial crash and recession though, plastic prices have gone through the roof and toy companies had to cut back.

If we take the Millennium Falcon both from The Force Awakens and from Solo, both of those toys are utter crap. Made from an overly flexible cheap feeling plastic, omitting paint application, a landing gear and putting features and details on the ship that werent in the movie... Im trying to understand why the most recent version of this toy has lights going up the mandibles rather than in the engine and room for only one person in the cockpit, and no play area in the rear?

Hasbro; if youre ever gonna do a new Milennium Falcon, recreate your vintage ship. Give it modern electronic and interactive features but base it upon that classic toy; fold away landing gear, add the electronic engine in the rear, smugglers give away storage and make it work for both kids and the bigges buyer of toys; fans.



#93682 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 03 April 2018 - 10:47 AM in SciFi news.

The actors for the Kelvin crew are probably not cheap. Same goes for Chris Hemsworth.


I doubt wed get them all, and would really only expect Pike and Spock to show up with how far before TOS the show is.

Id only really expect Pike and Spock to feature in Discovery- you could cast Boyce and Number 1 etc... if the merger goes ahead though Id love to see a cross over movie where we see the current movie cast portray the prime versions of themselves on the Enterprise we saw at the end of Discovery, 9 years after the events of Discovery and leading into TMP.

There has to be conversations happening at some high up level in the CBS Trek camp as well as the Bad Robot Trek camp discussing the potential possibility of Star Trek under the one roof.

Would Bad Robot step in to produce Discovery as well? Not sure of Abrams relationship with Les Moonves, who would be heading up the new CBS/Viacom studio, but a single franchise under the one studio could be easier to work with than two studios competing with each other...



#93680 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 02 April 2018 - 07:52 PM in SciFi news.

Michael Bay, Bret Ratner, Joel Schumacher... all terrible filmmakers.

Going back to Star Trek 4. Seems as though Zachary Quinto has said something about multiple scripts being developed and that the Tarantino idea is just one of a few, including a script being written by Simon Pegg and Doug Jung... interesting.

The other interesting factor that could play an important part in a 4th movie is that CBS could very well buy Viacom... if true and this deal goes through, it could see Star Trek under one roof for the first time since 2005...

That to me is the bigger of the two stories because if CBS does indeed buy Viacom then surely thats good news for Star Trek. Creatively though that potentially means that if this deal goes ahead, what could that mean for the Kelvin Timeline? Would it still exist? The very reason it had to exist was due to the split between Paramount and CBS...

My thoughts are that if Star Trek is to be one again, they cast (if they havent already) Bruce Greenwood and Zachary Quinto as Pike and Spock respectively in Discovery and then in the manner of a soft reboot of sorts, they use the current Kelvin Timeline cast as the prime timeline versions of the classic crew, retelling the story of how Kirk met Spock and McCoy and weaving cameos in from the Discovery cast potentially... I think whatever we see from the next movie, it will be some kind of soft reboot anyway so it would be quite cool to either tell the prime timeline origin story of how Kirk met Spock and McCoy, you could cast Chris Hemsworth as Prime George Kirk or just place your next movie and retell the 5 year mission from TOS with todays movie cast. For the mainstream audience, theyd just see the established Star Trek movie cast back and for fans theyd finally see a prime timeline movie based upon THE TOS 5 year mission stories (albeit redesigned in the style of Discovery).



#93675 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 02 April 2018 - 01:00 PM in SciFi news.

The problem with the Prequels was Lucas being surrounded by yes men that wouldnt tell him no. Lucas was heavily involved with The Clone Wars tv show, but had Dave Filoni with him to help, and it was an amazing series.


Absolutely.

It is interesting that since The Last Jedi, a lot of Star Wars fans long for the days of the prequels... It may be interesting to see if popularity in the prequel trilogy develops as the kids brought up watching them as their first experience of Star Wars, grow up into adulthood. They may not have flown with the older generation of Star Wars fan but the kids who must be in their teens or twenties by now... who knows, I dont think anyone working successfully in Hollywood is a hack.

I believe that the likes of Abrams and Lucas are better at doing some things than they are at doing other things and lets not forget here that both of JJ Abrams Star Trek movies have been both critically and financially successful and remain with audiences who arent outraged fanboys as some of the better Star Trek movies - even Into Darkness, although generally not held in the same regard as its predecessor, is still regarded as better than most of the Star Trek films some fans seem to hold so dear.



#93673 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 02 April 2018 - 11:50 AM in SciFi news.

Abrams is an accomplished film producer, director and writer. Is he the best producer, director, writer? In my opinion no. He isnt a hack though. I wouldnt even call Michael Bay a hack and hes terrible at filmmaking. Good lord!

The reason I think people throw that word around is because of perhaps we misunderstand what that word implies. Abrams cant be a hack this early in his film making career; his first big feature film break was Mission Impossible 3 followed by Star Trek, a mere 9 years ago, Steven Spielbergs first big break was Jaws after a string of disastrous movies before it and while I know a lot of this is down to you and others feelings on his take on Star Trek, in the end history will make its own conclusions on whether Abrams is remembered as a great director in the same Parthenon of great directors such as Spielberg, Hitchcock and Kubrick - even then, while I doubt history will remember Abrams in the same light as those masters, he continues today to make profitable and critically popular movies and continues to have major influence over billion dollar franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars. You and others may not find some or all of his work very well produced, directed or written, but that doesnt make him a hack. I dont even know if you can be a hack in the creative industry? Art imitates life and ultimately art imitates art.

The trouble I think and in my opinion here and why some may call Abrams and Lucas hacks is the confusion over who to blame for a broader problem with Hollywood films and as a sidebar; confusion tends to creep in I believe due to the access we have over overbloated opinions (like my own on this forum) spread across the internet and forums and social media. These personal opinions I feel tend to magnify exponentially the feelings only a few disgruntled fans share over the decisions and creative choices of just one film producers take on a storied franchise, that individual has invested thousands of dollars and hours of passion into. If only Abrams had told his Star Trek story back in the 80s...

The days of imagination and risk taking by Hollywood studios is over at least for now. Theres far too much money and far more to loose if a film does not sell so they do the safe bet, they want the next Star Wars or the next Jurassic Park. Its become the norm for success to be measured by how close to a billion dollars a film makes. Im very much generalising here because I simply do not care to understand the economics of Hollywood, but as a fanboy looking in from the outside, I can see hundreds of films being produced and only one or two stories being told and thank god there are still filmmakers out there like Spielberg and like Abrams and those who are even better at directing than either of those, still making these handful of stories exciting and compelling.

Abrams isnt a hack, hes a talented producer and storyteller with both critical and financial success to his name, but ultimately he is tied by the industry that pays him; hes doing what every other director like him does in Hollywood and that is by telling a handful of stories over and over again in a slightly different way and as technologies and techniques improve. Thats not his fault, thats just the business he is in because thats what we as audiences love going to see.

Whether its Ryan Johnsons Last Jedi or Abrams Into Darkness, or Trevorrows Jurassic World or any of the Marvel movies, or Spielbergs Jurassic Park, Lucass Star Wars and his awful prequels or Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, or Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy... they all move to the same story beats and formula. Each of those directors has a very identifiable style, and they all borrow from history to make their own movies. Are they all hacks? No.

There is though a clear stagnant feeling in Hollywood films right now and I think personally even the most mediocre of movies that show just an ounce of originality to them are overly praised and held aloft like some brilliant piece of art. I guess the reason for this stagnation in Hollywood at the moment though is because weve seen it all before, but moreso we love seeing it still! We love remembering how things once were great, The Force Awakens was a lovein for A New Hope, were making movies that are even driven by nostalgia (see Ready Player One) and perhaps were just waiting for the next big thing to transform cinema, the next director to come in, have a studio take a risk on him or her and for the game to change again in the way that Star Wars transformed it, in the way that Jurassic Park transformed it and in the way Lord of the Rings transformed it.

Then again when youre still making billions off of the formula studios use to this day, why change it.

If you still dont agree with me thats fine, Im not really here to change peoples minds but when you have Steven Spielberg, who is such a talented man praise Abrams to the point where theyve collaborated and will continue to collaborate, I think it is woefully cynical and misguided to call him a hack for making a Star Trek or Star Wars movie you dont care for.



#93664 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 31 March 2018 - 10:12 AM in SciFi news.

If your offended that I call the JJ's, Lucas's and Shyamalan's hacks...which they are... there is an "Ignore" feature on this site... or instead of just saying more of the same thing over and over as you like to do... and focusing on what you don't like about my opinion... we can go back to talking about the prospects for the next movie. 

Woah woah woah... Ill gloss over the insulting remarks made against me but hold on there sport, Im not offended. I just dont agree with you. I think youre being over the top calling them both hacks. Who are you to call them that? Seems a bit ridiculous to me when normally your opinions are well reasoned and balanced.

I think we as a collective need to take a step back. As movies, the two Abrams Star Trek movies and the one Justin Lin/JJ Abrams movie are great. Furthermore, they all succeed critically and with audiences. Even Star Trek Beyond, the lowest performing Kelvin movie, is held in high regard by not just critics, audiences but many outspoken internet Star Trek fans too.

They may fail for the individual in many regard as good Star Trek stories for reasons only an individual Star Trek fan can really debate with others, but that doesnt mean they fail as movies, theres no denying that all three of the Bad Robot/JJ Abrams movies have outperformed most if not all of the older Star Trek movies, they have all done incredibly well.

Calling Abrams a Hack is like a petulant child throwing his or her toys out of the crib because what he or she wants is something only he or she understands. I am assuming that the definition of hack in the manner you mean is this:

A writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work.
"Sunday newspaper hacks earn their livings on such gullibilities"

Abrams is no Sunday newspaper journalist. His body of work may be heavily influenced and inspired by others but he alone is not responsible for the outcome, you cannot therefore blindly call him or any other creative working as part of a massive team of creative people as well as studio executives and other partners expecting a return on their investment a hack. You have no rationale behind your accusations, nor do you hold the requisite information to make such a remark, unless Goth, you worked with JJ on both of his Star Trek movies or was there every step of the way as George Lucas created Star Wars; a little known Sci-Fi franchise, ILM; just some backwater hack ridden cgi house, Skywalker Sound, THX, Producer on Indiana Jones, creator of Lucasfilm...

Facts are there that go against what you believe to be true but I guess truth and fact these days are both a little harder to believe.

As for Star Trek 4... what is there actually to talk about? First of all, if you really truly believe that Abrams is a hack then why are you still interested in this project, the last I heard he was still very much involved in Star Treks big screen outings and although fact and truth arent easy to swallow right now; Its a dead end right now. There are no prospects to this fictional movie until the project moves on from speculative wondering about what might be to actual news about what could or will eventually be.



#93660 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 30 March 2018 - 05:43 AM in SciFi news.

I know its your right to call Abrams and Lucas and anyone else you dont appreciate a hack and you didnt need to elaborate. I just think that its not very respectful.

I have my issues with JJ Abrams and George Lucas for that matter but the issues are to do with their creative direction, not their ability to produce and direct great movies and TV series and on top of that, build incredible production companies that have shaped the way films are made. I think branding them as hacks is over the top when their success in the industry is well proven.

I dont think directing is either Abrams of Lucass strength and certainly neither are as good as Quentin Tarantino or Christopher Nolan, or The Russo Beothers or Steven Spielberg or Christopher Macquarie, or John Lassiter, but they are great storytellers and fantastic producers. They know what people to approach to follow through with their stories and ideas. That being said, Abrams direction is still pretty decent and without being on set with him, working with him, I dont think you or I have enough information about him to brand him a hack. Same goes for Lucas. It may be that you dont like their works, you dont like the films or the stories theyve directed or produced or created and that you think Abrams has only one film in him, A New Hope, that he applies to every film he directs. But that is all subjective. We can go into watch the same Abrams movie be it Star Trek or The Force Awakens and come out with two completely different opinions on those movies.

And while I agree the prequel Star Wars trilogy was utter garbage in every sense of the word, the same cant be said for Abrams Star Trek trilogy, nor can it be recorded as fact since there are a lot of younger Star Wars fans who grew up becoming fans of Star Wars because of those three prequels, again, it has to be chalked up to all films being subjective. Theyre not good movies, not at all but like I said, film is subjective and no one who hasnt worked with these men is really in a position to brand them hacks.

We also have to put all of this into perspective. Abrams isnt the only one responsible for his three Star Trek movies. Dozens of people make decisions on franchise films and while i am sure a lot of the decisions were made by Abrams, If you want to go off on anyone, go off on the studios. Time after time studios get it completely wrong. Executives whove never made a film in their lives, never even visited a film set are just looking at the facts and figures, making the same mistakes over and over again and believeing films like Star Trek, Star Wars and super hero movies are beneath their Ivy League education.

I believe there is only one man in Hollywood who is a genius at both producing and pleasing executive decisions; he heads up Marvel Studios, his name; is Kevin.



#93658 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 29 March 2018 - 03:44 PM in SciFi news.

I dont think any of us here, unless theres someone here who has created their own billion dollar production company, and had multiple successes, making various studios billions of dollars and entertaining millions of people around the world, whatever the creative issues we all have with these various incarnations of Star Trek, have any right to call someone a hack whos made a success from their passions. I think that represents two dimensional thinking. You like what you like, doesnt mean what you dont like is terrible.

I think all we can take from the information we have on the next Star Trek movie is that there will be another one. As to what the movie is, is entirely speculative right now. I think the recent news surrounding Tarantinos relationship with Uma Thurman has perhaps dampened interest in him doing Star Trek but who knows. It seems like two scripts are out there for it.

Another possibility is that with the news that CBS might be buying Viacom (including Paramount) it may put the breaks on whatever Bad Robot and Paramount are currently working on. Who knows.



#93652 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 28 March 2018 - 07:23 PM in SciFi news.

Influenced by Spielberg or Lucas?  Spielberg, while having some misses I respect... Lucas is a confirmed Hack IMO... a two trick pony at best for directing (American Graffiti and Star Wars). JJ is no Spielberg... but he is a hack like Lucas IMO! Quite frankly I'm surprised he hasn't gotten more Razzie Noms!



The reason Abrams hasnt been nominated for a Razzie is because he produces and directs solid movies and TV shows. Clearly Abrams has been channeling Spielberg his entire life. Super 8 is his love letter to Steven Spielberg and superbly goes to show how much he has been inspired by him. Abrams has a very distinct tone to his movies and TV shows. Be it Star Trek, Mission Impossible 3, Star Wars, Cloverfield, Super 8, Lost, Fringe... Like Spielberg, you know youre watching a JJ Abrams movie. Now thats either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your own tastes but as far as Im concerned, I think its a very naive thing to say someone like Abrams or Lucas is a hack, two people whove made hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars and created not only huge juggernaut franchises or contributed to the revival of two huge franchises, but their own production houses. In terms of Lucas, he revolutionised cinema with his help in creating ILM. These guys arent hacks just because theyve made bad decisions on occasions.

Im not suggesting that either Abrams or Lucas havent made questionable movies, but theyre not hacks. If we are to judge them as such then we would be wrong to do so because it would make Roddenberry just as much of a hack... Star Trek is The Twiight Zone, its Forbidden Planet and Wagon Train, alright so the former beat cop and WWII pilot had the idea sure, his philosophy was ballsy ok but Gene L. Coon put it into practice, writers like Harlan Ellison and Ray Bradbury and DC Fontana all added to and elevated his initial idea for Star Trek. I mean who holds Andromeda in the same regard as Star Trek? Nobody. Roddenberrys early TNG episodes where garbage! Recycled from old TOS plots, TMP was a snore... TNG didnt get good until Roddenberrys involvement lessened. Wrath of Khan; arguably considered the best Star Trek movie; Roddenberrys involvement was minimal. The Undiscovered Country; he hated.

Roddenberry much like Lucas, much like Abrams borrowed from what had worked in the past, from those who had inspired him. Where Roddenberry was inspired by the likes of science fiction writers of the 40s and 50s and shows like Forbidden Planet, Abrams is clearly inspired and influenced by The Twighlight Zone, Steven Spielberg and Star Wars. That doesnt make him any more of a hack than Roddenberry.

I think its very easy for us to pound away at our keyboards yelling about what we dont like about JJ Abrams or George Lucas, but these are two very successful film producers whove made a ton of money and whove also seen talented men and women to take their properties or ideas forward, they have directed or produced critically acclaimed movies and developed, expanded and saved mega blockbuster franchises. These men arent hacks.

Lets not forget that before 2009, Star Trek was dead and buried. There was no suggestion that anyone else was going to take it on. Abrams did and sure I, like many fans have legitimate problems with his take on Star Trek but actually, that 2009 movie is superb and arguably the greatest Star Trek movie since Khan both creatively and most certainly financially. These achievements cannot be dismissed and Abrams hard work at dragging Star Trek from a backwater TV network to a multi-million dollar movie franchise that had people take notice should not be belittled.

The fundamental problems with Star Trek didnt begin with Abrams and while I dont agree with all the decisions he has made with his Star Trek movies, that doesnt mean someone else would of done a better job. He elevated the Star Trek franchise as a whole, and while his creative decisions had mixed results, his first Trek movie was superb based upon what audiences expect from a movie today (or in 2009). I think where Star Trek is now is in a position where theyre likely going to do a soft reboot with Abrams remaining as producer and with his production company Bad Robot, support the next team coming in to make the next movie; be it Quentin Tarantino or someone else.

Whoever it may be, there will be those of us who love what the next movie is, and those of us who dont - it will never be what we all want though because we as a collective group of fans are so divided on what we think is true Star Trek, that there is no right or wrong way for anyone to approach a Star Trek movie or TV series anymore.



#93649 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 28 March 2018 - 09:37 AM in SciFi news.

The more I re-watch Discovery... and I do find it re-watchable... I tend think its fine as a fine incarnation of Trek... basically its what I'll call dystopic humanism trek. Sure I have issues with it... which I won't regurgitate, and those haven't changed, but I can at least re-watch episodes and enjoy them.


Discovery is a great TV show, it fails a little at being great Star Trek but I think that is a general problem that has faced Star Trek since Deep Space Nine.

It is rewatchable once you start watching it. Its getting into the mindset of watching it again.
 

I'm sure that if they had done a kelvin timeline, I would have equally enjoyed and had issues with it... because Trek just works better as a TV show for me... I still think JJ is a hack... so no JJ was never the right person to take the Trek Tiller, as such I don't think any opportunity was lost. 


Whilst I think he is heavily inspired by Steven Spielberg, I think his hack status is kind of unwarranted. I dont think theres an original idea coming out of Hollywood in general and I dont think Abrams can be held responsible.

Both of his Star Trek movies and his Star Wars movie are quality made productions. His care and attention to detail is something that is highly regarded. What Abrams needs to do moving forward is to produce and hire amazing up and coming talents to direct and make his productions because Abrams is a master at producing and while he is a solid director too, I agree, he is far too inspired by Spielberg. His production company Bad Robot is something every aspiring movie student should be aiming to achieve themselves.

The Kelvin movies lack the gravitas that comes with the legacy of doing a movie set within a rich mythology such as Star Treks and those are the issues I have with his Star Trek movies; they arent woven into this fantastic, rich and expansive mythology and the Easter eggs put into each of the films feel forced and for the sake of keeping the fans happy rather than beautifully folded into the stories.

Picard, Data and the Enterprise E could of been woven into Star Trek, Khan or Spock Prime never needed to be in Into Darkness, and Beyond, well Beyond just fell short of being a great movie.



#93647 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 28 March 2018 - 08:05 AM in SciFi news.

 
I'm still a fan... but I know its importance, culturally has certainly faded, I will add that the JJ movies did seem to revitalize somewhat the big Las Vegas trek Convention, as I went to it for a number of years before and then at least one year after the 2009 movie... and attendance was up... but it used to be that Paramount had theme parks and Trek was all over them... and the Hilton Las Vegas Trek Experiences was awesome... spent some good times at Quarks... except for the time I drank too (two) many Warp Core Breeches ;-) 


Paramount left it too late to act on the success of Star Trek. I have long held the belief that JJ Abrams plan for Star Trek was one that should of been embraced by both Paramount and by CBS.

Had that plan to create a multi-faceted franchise that was produced for multiple media platforms such as film, TV, animation and merchandise, I feel we would be looking at a true Star Trek renascence right now.

Paramount though left it way too long between 2009 and Into Darkness. Even if they had wanted to wait for Abrams, they should of commissioned Bad Robot to put together a creative team to develop an animated Kelvin Timeline series.

The Kelvin Timeline is a far more open and optimistic place than the Timeline Discovery is occupying and I think it could be a fantastic place for an animated Star Trek series.

There would be things Id change about the Kelvin movies we got, but the overriding change id make is that I wish they had hit it hard once they knew Star Trek was the brilliant success it was.

In short, Abrams was right and yet again a studio showed its true, out of touch outlook by denying Abrams the shot of turning Star Trek Into a multi-platformed mass media and merchandising juggernaut.

The themes and storytelling were always something that could of been woven closer to what fans love Star Trek for - it was never a reason to get the jitters and start listening to us (the fans). In actual fact, CBSs Discovery should of been a Kelvin Timeline series quite honestly, rather than a visual reboot of the prime timeline.



#93644 Star Trek 4 (14)

Posted by 1701D on 27 March 2018 - 02:27 PM in SciFi news.

I think Star Trek Beyond failed to get the numbers that both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness got was primarily as a result of a terrible marketing campaign. Sabotage and Rihanna? Thats not how you push a Star Trek film in its 50th year - even one made for a larger audience than just Trek fans. What Paramount have failed to grasp is that Star Trek is an important cultural phenomenon. Its influence and impact is not lost on those not entirely familiar with Star Trek and its rather insulting that Paramount dumbed down in Beyonds marketing.

Though I would also say that the story was just as forgettable as the marketing for the movie. The problem was that they didnt stick to their guns! They (the studio, Abrams) freaked out over the Internet nerd backlash from Into Darkness and whilst critics werent as bowled over by it as the 2009 movie, they werent exactly screaming about the same things the fans were screaming about. Into Darkness was not a great Star Trek movie but it was not the worse movie ever made. Rather than forgetting about it in Beyond, they should of done a straight up sequel movie with the plots and characters Khan/John Harrison introduced to us in ID and built a better story from the threads that were planted in Into Darkness rather than copping out and doing something totally new, kinda cool but very forgettable.

Yes Beyond is probably the closest thematically to a TOS episode but that goes against what these new Star Trek movies were all about. The Kelvin Timeline was setup to be an alternate universe to the Star Trek we knew and what better way to celebrate its 50 years by doing something that like the 2009 movie did, respect the original but do something new and fresh and exciting.

It all kind of fell short of being an unforgettable experience like the 2009 movie was. Its the Jurassic Park 3 of the Kelvin Timeline movies.



#93640 McFarlane Toys Gets Entire Star Trek Licence!

Posted by 1701D on 26 March 2018 - 07:13 PM in Everything else.

Also guns... while a phaser isnt a gun that would cause harm to someone, there is quite clearly a gun problem in the US that needs resolving before these kinds of laws are relaxed but lets be mindful of the fact that this topic is quite politically charged so perhaps we should just accept that a toy phaser will have something on it that identifies it as a toy and not a real weapon.



#93634 McFarlane Toys Gets Entire Star Trek Licence!

Posted by 1701D on 26 March 2018 - 10:33 AM in Everything else.

It looks like that orange cap is removable?



#93613 Diamond Select at Toy Fair 2018

Posted by 1701D on 23 March 2018 - 12:53 PM in AA / DST

Will DST be at wondercon?



#93610 Star Trek - The Official Starships Collection

Posted by 1701D on 23 March 2018 - 09:21 AM in Everything else.

The Defiant jumbo will likely have its mounting point for the base at the rear so that is probably the pulse phaser port.



#93609 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 23 March 2018 - 09:19 AM in Everything else.

Yeah from various toy hunt videos I watch on YouTube, Id say that Toys R Us in the states was vastly superior to that of Toys R Us in the UK.

Smyths Toys in the UK seem to have really expanded here in the UK and really showed TRU for what it was; an expensive soulless shed, full of overpriced toys.



#93603 Toys R Us stores closing down

Posted by 1701D on 22 March 2018 - 08:00 PM in Everything else.

Im coming from this from a UK citizen and honestly, Toys R Us was far too slow at changing with the times. They had certainly become lazy and not fast enough to react when competition did begin to arrive.

What should of happened about a decade ago is that Toys R Us should of begun closing their big, out of town retail park warehouse stores to focus on (in the UK at least), smaller, boutique style high street and town centre shopping mall stores. Focused on providing an unbeatable and creative experience with staff that were passionate about the toys they were selling, with events happening within the stores. An Apple or Lego store type of setup. A destination where kids could try out EVERYTHING in store and parents could connect to the website and click and collect, pay and collect, pay and deliver and all the standard things one expects from any retail outlet.

In the UK the Toys R Us experience was a soulless one, driving miles outside of town to visit a large shed with toys rammed down long and tall aisles. That might have worked in the 80s and 90s when I remember visiting TRU as a kid, but that wasnt going to fly in the 2000s.

If anyone was to purchase the TRU brand in the UK, significant changes would need to be made to ensure that it was offering something unique and exciting to both kids and parents and quite honestly, I dont think that theres anyone out there with the kind of money needed to rescue TRU and with the imagination and ingenuity it would need to bring it back.

Also one would have to think whether or not it was worth saving? Toys R Us is a dead brand and with toy sales not what they once were and with other, cheaper alternatives available, what makes TRU in the UK at least, better than Smyths Toys, Lego Stores, The Entertainer, Tesco, John Lewis, Sainsburys, Argos, ASDA(WalMart), Amazon and independent high street stores... Toys R Us has the nostalgia sure, it has a proud history but its also known for being run by greed, unenthusiastic staff, unreasonably expensive and a dreaded place for parents to visit.

Toys R Us had become increasingly disreputable. The customer these days wants the personal shopping experience, they want to be enthused by passionate and dedicated staff. Its not always about the money, its about the experience because whats stopping anyone from ordering everything online. People do love to wander a high street in the UK, browsing the shops and kids are no different but in every shop, those stores with passionate staff who know their product and take care and responsibility over their customers are the stores that do really well, especially when youre dealing with niche or non essential products like toys have become.