Category: Star Trek

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Film Buffs Break Down Which Movie Sequels Are Actually Better Than The Original

Movie sequels are often an incredibly contentious topic among movie lovers. Some love them, some hate them, and some sequels are just objectively terrible and everyone dislikes them.

Some, though, aren’t that bad. Even rarer are the sequels that are actually better than the films they follow, but those are few and far between.

Redditor Tall-Elderberry asked:

“What movie sequel is actually better than the original?”

Khaaaaaaan!

“Star Trek II, but I do love the first film, and I’m excited for the 4k release.” -HulkBlarg

“This also applies to the reboot series, where the first one may as well be called ‘James Kirk fails upwards’” -crowwreak

“You mean Navies don’t promote ensigns to Captain for disobeying orders in a plucky way?”-brocht

“I swear they must not have been planning for a Trilogy until that one sold well, and just decided “hey he has to be captain by the final act otherwise fans will be mad.” so… Gives Spock a mental breakdown and gets rewarded for it? (I think, anyway. It’s been like 7 years since I’ve seen that film)”

“Like, I like the film, but I felt like they could have held off on finishing his rise to the top until the second film. He gets kicked back down the ladder at the start for something stupid anyway.”

“It’s kinda the antithesis of Michael in the Discovery premiere playing a stupid game and winning a stupid prize for it.” -crowwreck

Rescue Aid Society

“Rescuers Down Under” -zachfive87

“So much more superior, though I wonder if that’s more due to just the swamp vibe of one.” -Jetsam_Marquis

“The first one always gave me bad vibes as a kid. Down Under rules though” -cats_suck

“Omg, I saw that so much on VHS.” -Makarov762

I Am Vengeance! I Am The Night!

“The Dark Knight” -Chief_Odin

“In every single way. The action is far better, story was much more interesting, better performances, script and direction.” -insane__knight

“Batman Begins gives an origin and really establishes Nolan’s version of Batman, and the Dark Knight already has that established universe to play around in. Dark Knight Rises (still something I enjoy) has its issues, but it really is kind of the result of events of the first two movies.” -TheGentlemanLoser

“Ledger’s Joker might not only be the best Joker performance, but also one of the greatest villains of cinema.” -Vicous

Mad Max

“[Mad Max 2:] The Road Warrior” -CoopedUp1313

“As much as I love the original it’s hard to disagree. Road Warrior ups the ante in every way while keeping the charm and feel of the original.” -Megamoss

“And then Fury Road is my pick for greatest action movie of all time and the best film of the 2010’s.” -lastcallface

“I have to agree, Fury Road is an unbridled masterpiece. You could slap that story and action on any backdrop and have it still be utterly perfect.” -HaydenScramble

“Are They Made From Real Girl Scouts?”

“Addams Family Values” -Born2dodishes

“Wednesday is such an amazing protagonist in that movie.” -MokitTheOmniscient

“‘You sent us to camp. They made us sing.’” -ParanoidAgnostic

“I came here to say this. The first one wasn’t bad, actually, but the sequel has all that social commentary Paul Rudnick added to the script, like the Thanksgiving dinner scene…” -SniffleBot

“Find someone who looks at you the way Wednesday looks at the girl she’s about to burn at the stake.” -obscurereferences

“I’m Not Freaking Out, I’m Freaking In”

“Kung Fu Panda 2” -Zeliv

“I love everything about Shen” -RadiantHC

“The one thing that disappointed me a little about the movie was Shen. Don’t get me wrong: from a visual and auditory design perspective, Shen is incredible. He’s stunningly intimidating, and his VA knocked the performance out of the park. When he was on screen, he radiated the menacing aura befitting someone that commissioned the genocide of an entire race.”

“That said, compared to the first movie, I feel like Shen fell short as a villain from a character perspective. Shen was evil as hell, but his motivations as a character felt shallow. He was obsessed with weaponizing gunpowder, but why? Where did that obsession come from? Why is it that his first reaction after hearing the prophecy was to slaughter all pandas? It really felt like he was evil for the sake of being evil.”

“Compare that to Tai Lung’s backstory, which had a lot more nuance. Tai Lung grew up under Shifu and was indoctrinated into believing that he would become the Dragon Warrior (hell, Tai Lung literally means Great Dragon!). But then Oogway basically shattered all of his life’s ambitions by rejecting him with no hesitation, seeing darkness in Tai Lung’s heart.”

“Which, when you think about it, is kinda f*cked up. Shifu was Oogway’s student, which means that Oogway probably had the opportunity to observe Tai Lung many times throughout his life — yet he seemingly never tried to guide Tai Lung away from the darkness.”

“The movie was fantastic, but I kinda wish they made Shen as complex as Tai Lung. It would have been interesting if he had been given stronger motives.” -RiceAlicorn

“I totally understand where you’re coming from, but in my opinion, sometimes a villain doesn’t need complexity to serve their role in the narrative.”

“That being said, Shen was obsessed with his ‘right’ to rule China which was threatened by the fortune teller when she predicted him to be defeated by a warrior of black and white (Po) this leads to him fighting against this destiny with the genocide of the pandas and the violent takeover of China. Only for that very genocide to be what sets Po on his own journey to stop him. A callback to Oogway saying, ‘One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it’”

“What really puts this movie over the top for me is not the villain though, it’s the themes of inner peace, dealing with your grief, and not letting your past haunt your present and sabotage your future. Shen, while not as complex a character as Tai Lung served as the perfect antagonist to showcase those themes. Po reaching inner peace and dealing with his repressed trauma really won me over, plus the art direction in that movie is amazing.” -Zeliv

“He’s A Friend From Work!”

“Thor Ragnarok” -DF_Symbiote

“Thanks to Taika Waititi” -Wishart2016

“It’s sort of become popular to hate on Ragnarok because it’s so ‘quippy’, but I totally disagree – the movie was so damn FUN when it came out. I had a big smile on my face the whole way through.” -ExperimentalSorbet

“What Are You Doing In My Swamp?”

“Shrek 2. Obviously because of the Holding Out For a Hero scene.” -pandyabee

“It’s basically a perfect sequel. Takes everything great about the first film, steps it up, and improves the pacing, the heart and the depth. All the while it feels like the natural progression to the first film, expanding on themes from the first film. Really couldn’t ask for much more from a sequel tbh.” -SolVracken

“NOT THE GUMDROP BUTTONS” -schofield101

Bucky Is Best Boy

“The Winter Soldier” -Zealousideal-Rich-67

“That’s probably the only superhero movie I liked watching where I didn’t really care for the main superhero as in I don’t really care for captain America but the movie was still good anyway” -Jack1715

“Agreed. The first movie seemed a bit lackluster and I wasn’t fussed about watching the sequel, but I was on a 27 hour flight and I’d seen everything else I was interested in. Winter Soldier came as a pleasant surprise.” -I_throw_socks_at_cat

Toothless!

“How to train your dragon. The first one is really really good, which is why I didn’t expect the second and third one to be better but it was.” -theassassintherapist

“The second one was the best one IMO. It had great world building, character building, heart, and a f*cking awesome soundtrack.” MotorwaveMedia

“I cannot watch HTTYD 2 without crying, they did that movie so well!” -JulzCrafter

Opinions can get pretty heated when it comes to movies, especially sequels, but at least these ones are pretty enjoyable.

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15 Interesting Facts About ‘Star Trek’

The U.S.S. Enterprise first took to the skies on September 8, 1966. The galaxy-spanning saga transformed science fiction stereotypes and brought it into the homes of the masses in a brand new way. Though people weren’t quick to love it at the time, it has since developed a loyal cult following that has only recently found its way into the mainstream.

Whether you’re a fan of the original series, the many movies, or are excited to check out the new offerings coming this fall, these 15 facts should be right up your alley!

15. Kirk has a dark past.

William Shatner appeared in a variety of dark projects, for both television and film, before taking on the role of Captain Kirk. They included The Intruder, Incubus, The Twilight Zone, and Thriller.

14. A lot of the original technology has become reality.

The communicators look like modern cell phones, their earpieces resemble Bluetooth devices, the Universal Translators might remind you of voice recognition software, and video screens and calls are obviously everywhere – the similarities go on and on!

13. Kirk and Spock are also bonded in real life.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (who played Kirk and Spock, respectively) were great friends off-screen as well as on. Shatner said in a 2016 interview that he had never had a close friendship with another man until meeting Nimoy on the set.

“I had that with Leonard, and that was the only time I had it. I envied it for the longest time, achieved it, then the book continues on. It’s a very interesting aspect of life, developing a friendship. Not the ‘Let’s go get a beer’ friendship, but deep, deep down. ‘Here’s my problem, I need your help.’”

12. The show strove for ethnic and gender diversity, but it wasn’t perfect.

Creator Gene Roddenberry pushed the envelope whenever he could, but women still had to be sexy onscreen.

11. The episodes are not in chronological order.

The story was never intended to be told in order – the stardates for each episodes are all over the place. Roddenberry explained:

“I came up with the statement that ‘this time system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur due to the vessel’s speed and space warp capability. It has little relationship to Earth’s time as we know it. One hour aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise at different times may equal as little as three Earth hours. The stardates specified in the log entry must be computed against the speed of the vessel, the space warp, ad its position within our galaxy, in order to give a meaningful reading.”

10. Captain Pike was the original head of the ship.

The pilot episode (the un-aired “The Cage”), featured an almost entirely different cast and crew (Spock being the lone crossover). The episode was eventually aired on video in 1986.

9. Spock was originally meant to have reddish skin.

The fact that most people viewed the show on black-and-white televisions in the 60s made a shift to a slight green tint more palatable.

8. It has spawned more than 125 video games.

Since 1971, more than 125 video games inspired by the show have hit the market – the first a text game in 1971, then arcade games, Atari, and finally PS3 and Xbox 360.

7. It paved the way for shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Like shows like Buffy and Angel, Star Trek didn’t top the ratings every week – but it did reach a key demographic with each airing, which still made it appealing to advertisers.

Star Trek was cancelled after only three seasons, but in today’s market, it would likely have lasted longer.

6. Actor Mark Leonard played three different alien races.

His dramatic flair lends itself to space opera, and on Star Trek, he played a Romulan, a Klingon, and a Vulcan.

5. The original number one was a woman.

In the pilot, Roddenberry’s future wife, Majel Barrett, played Kirk’s first officer. Test audiences didn’t care for her pushiness or her trying to act like a woman – complaints that most likely wouldn’t surface with today’s audiences.

4. Both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy got tinnitus on set.

An explosion on set caused both actors to develop a ringing or buzzing in their ears that can be permanent or debilitating. For a time, Shatner had to wear a hearing device that produced white noise to help him cope. He went on to be the official spokesperson for tinnitus and helped others struggling to live with the issue.

“I’ve talked people down from suicide. A famous musician got a hold of me cold. I didn’t know him. He knew I got it because I was the official spokesman for tinnitus at one period, and I talked him down and encouraged him to do habituation, you know, the white sound, because when I was asked when I first got it how it affected my life from 1 to 10, it was 9 1/2. Now I don’t hear it except when you and I are talking about it.”

3. The Vulcan salute is actually a Hebrew blessing.

The popular “Live Long and Prosper” salute was borrowed from something Leonard Nimoy witnessed as a child in synagogue.

“Five or six guys get up on the bimah, the stage, facing the congregation. They get their tallits over their heads, and they start this chanting – I think it’s called duchening – and my father said to me, ‘Don’t look.’ So everyone’s got their eyes covered with their hands or they’ve got their tallit down over their faces … And I hear this strange sound coming from them. They’re not singers, they were shouters. And dissonant. It was all discordant … it was chilling. I thought, ‘Whoa, something major is happening here.’ So I peeked and I saw them with their hands stuck out from beneath the tallit like this [he does the salute with both hands] toward the congregation. Wow. Something really got hold of me. I had no idea what was going on, but the sound of it and the look of it was magical.”

The gesture represents the Hebrew letter Shin – Shaddai, a name for God.

2. One of the show’s signature lines was lifted.

Bones had a million variations of “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!” when asked to do something outside his training and medical expertise – so many, in fact, that the saying has become engrained in pop culture.

The writers of the show, however, did not invent it – it came from a 1933 film called The Kennel Murder Case.

1. Malcolm McDowell received death threats after killing Captain Kirk.

McDowell’s character, Dr. Tolian Soran, killed Kirk in Star Trek: Generations, a film that bridged two television stories. In 2010, he recalled being shocked at the vitriol being aimed his direction, but embarrassed by the studio’s reaction.

“I didn’t take it seriously. The studio took it seriously. I suppose they had to because they didn’t want a lawsuit. They assigned two detectives to come with me to New York to do the press. It was a complete waste of time and quite funny. I kept telling the guys to go home, and they were going to stay outside my room the whole night at the Carlyle Hotel. I went for a walk, and they came with me. I literally came out of the Carlyle at 10 o’clock at night. I looked this way and that way, and there wasn’t one person on the street. Not one. I went, ‘Wow, this is some death threat.’ I said, ‘I feel embarrassed that nobody’s tried to kill me, for Christ’s sake! I feel like I’m letting the detectives down.’”

 

I’m looking forward to exploring new frontiers with old friends!

Are you going to watch Picard or any of the other new shows coming up? Are you a new fan or old? Tell us in the comments!

The post 15 Interesting Facts About ‘Star Trek’ appeared first on UberFacts.

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While developing Star Trek Spock…

While developing Star Trek, Spock was originally going to be from Mars, however, due to a concern that a Martian landing might take place before the end of the series his home planet was changed. 00

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Some of the male background characters in…

Some of the male background characters in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ can be seen wearing skirts. This was explained as “a logical development, given the total equality of the sexes presumed to exist in the 24th century.”