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Star Trek

Star Trek – In the Name of Honour

by hutchm March 31, 2016

written by hutchm

This story takes takes place between the movies Star Trek 5 & 6, detailing the proceedings of peace talks between the Federation and the Klingon empire that came to a front in the beginning of Star Trek 6. The story begins with a deep space encounter, eight years earlier, between a Starship and an imperial cruiser.

In 2287, the Enterprise crew are attending a peace conference on Starbase 49 with the Klingons. Kirk is greeted by Koloth, the former captain of the IKS Gr’oth, whom they had a shaky truce with in the episode ‘The Trouble With Tribbles’. Koloth explains to Kirk that he has knowledge of Starfleet prisoners being held in a Klingon facility, on a remote planet, deep within Klingon space, and that their continued imprisonment is against the Klingon code of honour.
The story also follows events in the Klingon prison, where the prisoners endure brutal conditions and sadistic guards while being forced to mine for dilithium crystals underground.

The peace conference continues, but suffers complications after a bombing occurs, narrowly missing some of the conference’s VIPs. During a scene aboard the Klingon’s flagship, another explosion causes damage to one of the ship’s warp nacelles, almost resulting in the Klingon’s firing upon the Enterprise in the confusion. This leads to a scene with Scotty and a Klingon engineer performing a space walk on the ship to remove another explosive.

Towards the end, Kirk, Koloth and Sulu stage an attack on the prison and rescue the Starfleet prisoners. They are then tracked through the planet’s dense jungle by Klingon forces, led by a rival of Koloth, named Korax, resulting in a phaser/disruptor shootout atop a high plateau. They manage to hold out against superior numbers and are rescued from the planet by a Klingon ship captain, named Jardak. Jardak, disgusted by the prison’s breaking of the code of honour, arrests Korax and orders an orbital strike on the prison, killing the remaining staff and prisoners.

Repulsed by the brazen killings, Kirk challenges the Klingon’s code of honour, angrily referencing how his son had been killed in the recent past by a decorated Klingon captain (Star Trek 3). This scene with Kirk voicing his deeply buried anger over his son’s murder was well written, explosive and dramatic, reflecting the many times in the series in which Kirk advocates moral decency. The book wraps up soon after this scene with Kirk & McCoy reflecting on the morals, or lack thereof, of the Klingon code of honour.

This was another great novel with a lot of intrigue and some good action scenes. There’s some variety among the story’s settings and characters, helping to keep scenes fresh. I felt that the writing style was a bit overly complex and that it could stand to be slimmed down, somewhat, also some characters don’t have much presence, such as McCoy and Chekhov. Overall, however, quite an enjoyable read that fits in well with the events during the Star Trek movies. Recommended for intermediate or advanced readers.

March 31, 2016 0 comments

Books SciFi Star Trek

Star Trek Enterprise: Daedalus, vol. 1 & 2

by hutchm March 10, 2016

written by hutchm

Star Trek – Enterprise, Daedalus & Daedalus’s Children

I tried to enjoy this story, but it was an unpleasant experience for me. It starts with the Enterprise NX01 crew investigating an anomaly in a distant system. They visit the system to study the anomaly and they suffer a swift invasion by the system’s inhabitants and the crew are arrested. Trip and Hoshi manage to avoid arrest by launching away in a small, highly advanced Suliban cell ship and are picked up by an opposing faction of inhabitants who reveal that the system is in the middle of a long standing war. The capture of the powerful Enterprise threatening to tip the scales of the conflict to a rapid conclusion.

Much of the story has a lot of padding and are drawn out, there’s some good scenes where Trip shares his engineering expertise, but lots of time spent discussing how the alien food makes them sick. Here lies my first major problem; our main characters are haunted by illness throughout the story. This ever occurring deterioration of their health creates a lot of unneeded negativity for the reader. I disliked this, it often put me off my breakfast.

Later in the story, Trip and ‘The Guild’ faction launch a mission to rescue rebel fighters. To Trip’s surprise, he finds his old Engineering professor, Victor Brodesser. Dr. Brodesser was thought to have been lost along with all hands on the experimental starship, Daedalus. There’s some intrigue when it’s eventually revealed that the Enterprise crew is trapped in a parallel dimension. This accounts for the survival of the Daedalus crew, out of which, Archer’s wife was among.

Around the beginning of the second volume, we follow Captain Archer and his crew, being held in the opposing faction’s prison, from which they make a daring, inevitable escape. Scenes like these were honestly pretty impressive, the opening scenes were good and Trip has a couple of gripping scenes, but I feel like these gems are rare islands in a seeming ocean of bland, uncomfortable material. We learn that Archer’s alternate dimension wife had been married into the ruling family of the dominating faction, and passed off Archer’s son into the bloodline.

Right here I can’t help but feel like this whole thing has been a forced, belaboured attempt to emulate Star Wars. When you stop and take it in, that’s what you’ve got, just a cheap, drive-by Star Wars-ing for no real reason that they can conveniently never come back to. It’s different to some degrees, but I really fail to see why these similarities are necessary.

So guess what happens, just guess. They rescue the Enterprise, they fix the diplomatic problem, they go back to their home dimension and leave the alternate dimension version of Archer’s son in the alternate dimension, where he belongs. Wooptie-doo!

Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t care for these books, even though I read through both volumes. I tend to agree that Star Wars is one of the greatest stories ever told, any attempt to change or adapt or borrow from it is obvious and shameful. Not recommended.

March 10, 2016 0 comments

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10(ish) Actors Who Best Portrayed Comic Heroes Part 2

by Admin December 24, 2015

written by Admin

Hope the first batch of actors peaked your interest. Of course, not all of us will agree on these things but I think most , will at least reach some common ground. Let’s finish things off with the final installment. With plenty more superhero movies on the way, I look forward to adding to the list.

5. Michael Keaton & Christian Bale – ( The Dark Knight Trilogy & Batman, Batman Returns)

It’s really impossible for me to choose. I have to go with a tie. Both actors really cancel each other out in my opinion. I like them both for different reasons. Michael is a great looking Batman. He’s hot the perfect jawline, to me. Not to mention his expressive eyes, which convey menace and intensity. Every time there’s a close up of Keaton’s face I think, ” That’s Batman.” Simple as that. His Batman is a man of few words. He’s more of a mythic figure, who keeps to the shadows and lets the action do the talking.

Bale’s Batman is more of a physical threat. He can fight and he can turn his head. That’s more the suit that he got to use, but nevertheless. He really nailed the more skilled aspects to Batman’s fighting ability. His Batman was more vocal but not too much so. Let’s just say, vocal enough for people to remember Bale’s not so popular, Batman growl.

As Bruce Wayne you have two different approaches as well. Keaton’s Bruce Wayne is of a normal guy who happens to be rich. He plays Bruce very aloof, much like Christopher Reeve played Clark Kent. Keaton also looks fairly threatening. He’s not particularly tall or built. Doesn’t like like a guy who would kick ass in a bat suit. In the quieter moments, he’s very much in his own head. There’s something to him but we can never quite get the full picture. It made the contrast between Batman and Bruce Wayne much more stark.

Bale’s Bruce Wayne is more akin to the comic book version. He’s a playboy. Not interested in anything meaningful or deep. He’s always surrounded by beautiful women, and very much in the limelight. ( Except for Dark Knight Rises, in a way.) Bale’s Bruce Wayne is also more of a physical specimen. He’s got the looks and the build. His Bruce Wayne is also one that is more emotional. We can to know much more of his troubled psyche.

As you can see, it’s really what you prefer. I say, why bother choosing!

4. Brandon Lee – Eric Draven( The Crow)

A shame about what happened to Brandon Lee. Killed on set filming, this very movie. It turned out to be his last great roll. Much like Heath Ledger in Dark Knight. The Crow was really Lee’s first critically acclaimed dramatic performance. He cared about this project and he loved the comic on which it was based on. He really zoned in on the character and brought out the passion, anger and sadness of the character. I’d go as far as to say that Lee’s version, is a bit less angsty then the comic book version. As bleak as the movie can be, I find the comic to be even more so. Brandon Lee’s always gave you a sense of hope despite there not being much to find in the story. Being a skilled martial artist, he obviously brought the goods for the action scenes. I also found him genuinely frightening at times. He played it with a twisted bit of dark humor. Very reminiscent of The Joker at times. There have been reports circulating around that a remake is on the way. I ask, WHY? Leave it alone.A great performance from a man taken too soon. R.I.P.

3. Charlie Cox – Daredevil( Netflix’s Daredevil)

Truth be told, I actually never heard of Charlie Cox until I watched Daredevil. I remember seeing him in a brief role, in the film, The Theory OF Everything. I found it so hard to believe that this soft natured English man could play, a tough as nails American character like Daredevil. Not to mention, it was going to take a lot to erase the memories of Ben Affleck’s terrible portrayal of D.D. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised. Scratch that. I was blown away as to how good he was. He has a fierceness and intensity that is absolutely essential for playing Daredevil. Cox also had a great amount of likability that’s also important when playing Matt Murdock. The physicality he displayed was also just as impressive. He nailed it in all aspects. Daredevil needed this kind of performance to bring back the respectability he so richly deserves.

2. Karl Urban- Judge Dredd ( Dredd)

I’m a big Judge Dredd fan. He’s a wholly unique character that doesn’t pull any punches. Love him or hate him. Before the “Dredd” film, most people remember only ,Sly Stallone’s portrayal of Dredd. For many, this is their ONLY exposure to Judge Dredd. I actually liked many aspects of Stallone’s portrayal. He had a great jaw. And as far as I’m concerned, the best scowl. Including Mr. Urban! Nevertheless, there were a lot of problems with 1996’s Judge Dredd, that led to it being panned by fans and critics alike. Karl Urban’s Dredd is almost an identical blueprint to the comic version. He’s uncompromising and he NEVER takes off his helmet. That says a lot about the commitment of an actor, when taking the role. He developed his own voice and his own scowl as well. He was physically imposing without ” trying” to be. Karl urban wasn’t interested in creating a Hollywood type character he could ride to fame with. I was deeply disappointed the box office returns for Dredd were not high enough to warrant a sequel. Still, we finally got a great Judge Dredd movie along with a great performance that remained true to the character.

1 . Hugh Jackman ( X-men films & all Wolverine spinoff’s)

No question about number 1 for me. Aside from his height, he is the perfect Wolverine. It’s really hard to imagine another actor taking on the role, and just pulling off the hairdo. I was a bit annoyed at first, when I watched X-men in 1999, because Wolverine didn’t wear his mask, but I quickly forgot about that when I realized how good Hugh Jackman was. Physically, he looks the part. I don’t think the ladies would disagree. However, the most important thing was to achieve having that balance between, berserker rage and heart. Wolverine is a character of extreme emotions. He’s not like, Judge Dredd, for instance. AN actor has to be able to channel all those emotions while being this heroic, man’s man. It seems that with every movie that comes out, Hugh Jackman gets better. He gets to know the character a little bit more and put his stamp on it. I was especially impressed with his performance in The Wolverine. It was really a treat to watch him preforming. I have to give a lot of credit to the directors for helping him find the ” right” way to play Wolverine. I actually had a chance to watch Hugh Jackman’s screen test for the role. It’s not that he couldn’t act, it was more that it seemed…off. Kudos to Bryan Singer, who saw the potential in him to play Wolverine. Because, honestly I never would’ve picked him based on that test. Also because he came in as such a pretty boy. That just goes to show you the work he put into becoming Wolverine. It also doesn;t hurt that Hugh Jackman has an undeniable fondness for the character. So much so, that he keeps getting roped in to play Wolverine again. The next Wolverine movie is said to be Hugh Jackman’s last. We’ll see…

Honorable mention: Michael Fassbender – Magneto ( X-men: First Class & X-men: Days of Future Past)

I know he doesn’t play a ” hero” so to speak, but he’s in that gray area. Just enough that I think he needs a nod. He really gave me the Magneto I always wanted. I like Ian Mckellen and I think he’s a fantastic actor but he never suited the role of Magneto. Not enough subdued anger. And perhaps, a touch too old. Michael Fassbender really nailed that anger and passion for his cause. I felt it big time. When you can emphasize with his character that says a lot, considering he wants to extinguish human life. I never really emphasized with Magneto when Ian McKellen was playing with him. I think Michael Fassbender played him so well, most people forgot, Wolverine wasn’t in X-men: First Class. Well, not really anyway.

December 24, 2015 0 comments

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10(ish) Actors Who Best Portrayed Comic Heroes: Part 1

by Admin December 4, 2015

written by Admin

After watching the third trailer for Batman v Superman. Foremost on my mind was analyzing Ben Affleck as Batman. I’m starting to feel a bit better about it. Mainly because he looks so damn cool in the costume. As Bruce Wayne, However? Not so much.

Let s take a look at some of my favorite picks for actors who nailed their roles as comic book heroes. I had to really dig deep and think. Who really sticks out? Who comes to mind right away? Perhaps after Cap 3 and Batman V Superman, this list will change. I can only hope.

For the mean time. Let’s begin!

10. Jackie Earle Haley – Rorschach ( Watchmen)

2009’s Watchmen film was based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons critically acclaimed comic series Watchmen. The movie was a mixed bag. Fans, generally appreciated it. The general public found it a bit to convoluted and overlong. Perhaps a bit to “weird” for mainstream audiences. One thing that was not disputed was Jackie Earle Haley’s portrayal of the disturbed anti hero, Rorschach. Picture Batman meets The Question, with a dash of Punisher. A pretty messed up individual that was also equally fascinating to watch. Jackie Earle Hayley brought his complexities to life and added a layer of empathy that wasn’t as apparent in the comic. He even looked like Rorschach, when unmasked. I still prefer Alan Moore’s voice when he narrated Rorschach’s journal entries.

9. Hugo Weaving – V ( V For Vendetta)

Another Alan Moore adaptation. This film fared a bit better with audiences. The dystopic movie proved to be extremely memorable thanks to it’s star vigilante. ” V” was excellently played by Hugo Weaving, who was cast late on the project. He nailed it. Yes, it had a great script, but it wasn’t an easy character to play. Most people wouldn’t even realize that the man who played Agent Smith was even in it. You don’t see Hugo Weaving’s face at all throughout the whole movie. He had to act with his body and with his voice. He even lost the use of his eyes. Often, an actors most powerful tool. Even without these tools, he manged to win over the audience and make the character come alive. He gave him an air of mystery without making him feel creepy. You could tell that this was a man who had suffered and was genuine in his cause. Not bitter but righteous.

8. Patrick Stewart – Professor X ( X-men films)

I remember reading a Wizard magazine ( Comic fan mag) back when I was a kid in 1995 , that did a fan cast of the X-men. The first guy on that list was Patrick Stewart to play Professor X. At the time, famous for playing Captain Picard on ” Star Trek: The Next Generation”. A character that needed to showcase leadership, respect, nobility, smarts and compassion. Sounds like Professor X to me. It didn’t hurt that Patrick Stewart was also a classically trained actor. When he was actually cast in 1999 I was thrilled but it was such an obvious choice. Ir really couldn’t see anyone else playing the role. I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree with his casting. Not every X-men movie was great but he sure was. In fact, I wish there was more of him in the films. Particularity X-men 3. Ahem…

7. Anne Hathoway – Catwoman ( The Dark Knight Rises)

Not really known for her acting chops at the time of her casting led me to be very worried when I heard the news. I wasn’t very familiar with her work and after ” Dark Knight”, expectations were high. Upon watching the first trailer, my concerns were more eased. Upon watching the film, they were gone. She pulled off Catwoman with suprising versatility. She knew she would have to play many characters within a character. Catwoman is a good person but a flawed one. Not to be fully trusted. A con artist when needed. Anne Hathoway also worked her ass off to get in shape and deliver some great action sequences. If not for Tom Hardy’s Bane, her’s may have been the stand out performance.

6. Christopher Reeve – Superman ( Superman 1,2,3 & 4)

Reeve is definitely an actor that is tied to his character. You think of Christoper Reeve and you think of Superman. For better or worse, It’s just that simple. Even artist, Gary Frank draws Superman in his likeness, to this day! Christopher Reeve always brought believably to the role. I remember hearing that when he auditioned for the role, amongst many, he was the only one that didn’t look silly in the costume. He just stood there and it worked. When watching his films I remember thinking about how kind he seemed and how he truly wanted to help others. It left an impression on me for sure. As much as I like Henry Cavil, it’s hard to get over Christoper Reeve. No matter how dated or cheesy his Superman was, I think most people think back to him and smile.

Stay tuned for part 2!

December 4, 2015 0 comments

Books SciFi SciFi Star Trek Television

Star Trek Enterprise – Kobayashi Maru

by hutchm November 26, 2015

written by hutchm

As someone who enjoyed the Enterprise series, this novel served nicely to bridge the story onward from when it was taken off TV, although there are a few other novels preceeding this one. This was another story I got a lot of enjoyment from, it has espionage missions, space battles, phaser and disruptor shoot-outs, and a ruthless bat’leth duel.

Starfleet intelligence is operating in Romulan society, on a mission to secure plans for a starship engine capable of reaching warp 7. The Romulans are also testing a new weapon, known as the arrenhe’hwiua telecapture system. Handled by technicians, the Romulans use this weapon to a hijack starship systems, putting the hardware under their control. They use hijacked vessels to carry out attacks under the guise of another planet’s starship. Captain Archer sees the violent conclusion of one such remote-controlled attack and rescues a Klingon after their hijacked battle cruiser was destroyed. Archer learns that the Klingon vessel had its controls hijacked and visits the Klingon home-world to find answers, all the while, some of the delegates of the Coalition of Planets are preparing for war with the Klingons.

Despite Archer recovering further evidence from the Klingons about starships being hijacked, the Coalition has doubts about the quality of Archer’s intelligence and many in the Coalition have sworn oaths to defend their galactic quadrant. Coalition vessels soon fall victim to the telecapture system, which places Captain Erica Hernandez and a severely outgunned USS Columbia in a space battle against hijacked Coalition vessels. This battle was very intense, Captain Hernandez and her bridge crew had some great moments throughout.

Later, the Romulans try to capture the USS Enterprise by using the Kobayashi Maru hauling freighter as bait, forcing Captain Archer to make one of his most difficult decisions, in my opinion. This scene chronicles the origin of the Kobayashi Maru Starfleet test, seen in the movies Wrath of Khan & Star Trek (2009).

The book ends with the Romulan telecapture operation being exposed and the Coalition of Planets declaring war with Romulus, leading to the Romulan war series which picks up right after this book, in the story ‘Beneath the Raptor’s wing’.

This story was fairly easy to read through, there’s lots of interesting scenes and action. Both Capain Archer and Captain Hernandez’s character took on new forms in this story, Archer evolved a lot during season 4, so it’s nice to see the Captain of the Columbus being tested as well when she plunges her ship into battle. I also enjoyed the touchy diplomacy among the Coalition as they discussed a potential war with the Klingons. The infiltration of Romulan society by Starfleet intelligence was well thought out and had a few different scenes of disruptor shoot-outs. I have very few complaints about this book, just that it might stand to be a little shorter and that Romulan words are difficult to read and pronounce. Other than that, this was a five star novel in my mind. Definitely worthy of being its own movie.

November 26, 2015 0 comments

Star Trek

Wait What!!??: Story logic

by Admin June 16, 2015

written by Admin

I caught an old episode of Star Trek Voyager today Season 2 episode 21 “Deadlock” to be precise. I had a very powerful wait what moment. Harry Kim behind his console in the heat of battle announces we have 300 Vidiian intruders onboard. My head went askew as I recalled Voyager as a ship was meant to be quite small less than half the size of Galaxy class.

Being generous lets say Voyager has 100 crew members give or take. Those organ stealing hoodlums the Vidiian beam in roughly three times the crew compliment of the ship. Then I start thinking 100ish people onboard and it’s already at capacity. Fair to say there is strength in numbers but I cannot help but image jefferies tube and corridors filled to brim with enemy intruders ready for a fight like a rat king fathered by the three stooges.

But while all of this happening I’m not paying attention to the story or the show at all I’m on my computer looking up Voyager technical specs on Memory Alpha shout out @memoryalpha. That just comes down too a bit of lazy writing to be perfectly honest. That a throw away line meant to convey the peril of the situation was so shattering of the story logic. I stopped watching the show entirely, I didn’t care how much the crew was in danger or that Neelix thinks he’s an amazing cook and never shut up about it. I started imagining a full 2 litre bottle of soda suddenly having 6 additional litres forced into the bottle. Even with the air bubble bit it’s just not going to end very well.

I think a bunch could have beamed into the one cargo bay Janeway kept empty just incase they found another “coffee nebula” but that’s easily 70 Vidiians shoulder to shoulder waiting for a Starfleet crewmen to wander in so they can swarm. I’m not a tactical expert but having your invaders stacked up like cord wood doesn’t seem that aggressive or even productive.

Just goes to show whether it be the 24th century or the 1990’s sticking to story logic is very important even if it’s their own so your audience isn’t left with a wait what!??

June 16, 2015 0 comments

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