A 76 year-old man who weights 360 pounds, bloated, overexposed and was killed off 13 years ago? Yes, PLEASE prop him up in front of the camera JUST to make some 40+ year old, digenerate fans happy. In fact? Maybe he can put on some of that lipstick he wore in Star Trek V, to make him look that much younger!
Damn you Direct TV and your commercials for giving these desperate fans hope.. DAMN YOOOOUUUU!!! Here's to the Shat confusing his lines in Star Trek XI with the lines from Boston Legal.
Great Success!!!
This is actually aimed at GEEKINTHECITY's comments, but others as well...anyone who actually believes having Shatner in this new movie is a bad idea couldn't be more wrong if they tried....
GEEK, your long passage was filled with such a large volume of crap it amazed me that someone with your writing talent isn't a little more 'intuned' with the real world...
Let's just state fact here...
1. The bottom line....is always money. And to get money you want your movie to have exposure. Shatner is currently, if you haven't noticed, winning Emmy awards and is actually pretty hip with old, AND younger people. There is a good chance he will win yet another Emmy. And incase you have been sleeping for the last oh, 40 years...he is the BY FAR the most recognized person associated with Star Trek....no one else, not Nimoy, not Stewart, heck not even it's creator, Roddenberry, even come close...HE IS Star Trek...or hadn't you noticed...
ALL of that means....exposure. He is everywhere...and since all ages like this guy, not to have him any movie that is actually 'passing the baton' by rebooting would be a mistake of EPIC callibre. HE is the magnet to bring in people to your movie...and as I stated above...it all comes down to MONEY. Is it stunt casting? Maybe. But so what? STUNT casting is part of movie making....You people talk down stunt casting but some of the best movies HAVE stunt casting in them...SO WHAT?
For this reboot, and any further movies it may spawn, to have a chance to survive it must do everything it can to pull in the largest box office on that first movie. ..it's that simple...and Shatner, more than anyone else associated with Trek, can do that....if you deny that simple fact then you are a moron and should be eliminated from the gene pool.
And for those who think he is too old to be Kirk? Are you nuts? Do you actually believe that dribble? Humans get older. It's what we do.
BUT...this is what I want to see. I hope you moronic-trek fans follow through with your threats and stop being fans. THAT is exactly what Trek needs. One giant ENEMA. Time to clear out all that bile...YOU.
And as Shatner would say....DENNY CRANE!!
Chaotic
I've been up since 4am when I couldn't get back to sleep. I'm so jaded about ST11, that half-way through reading I stopped and thought "Kirk and Spock's first kiss at the Academy". Ewwww. Now I need a drink.
If they can find a way to put The Shat in the movie that isn’t a blatant gimmick to get people to see the movie, great. But “Star Trek: The New Movie” doesn’t need him. Like others have said, it will be stronger without him.
This interview addresses some important questions I had about the movie. In particular how the writers feel about GR's vision. Their reflections on this issue has upper priority. I'm glad to see they dare to stand up for a better future. That's good for the soul. That's Star Trek at its finest, when it manages to portray a positive future, populated by intelligent people - people with personal qualities that yields a harmonic and highly functional society. This dream deserves everyones attention. I'm glad they believe its possible to capture a large audience with such themes, like friendship and people coming together. That's good inspiration.
GeekInTheCity!
you call yourself a fan!?
Well then! you must be in a quadrazine trip from mccoys hypo!
lol
Shatners back...like it or not!
yaay!
"Im soooooooooooooooooooHappy!"
I have found Paradise!
:-)
http://www.thewikipediahallofshame.blogspot.com
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Ellen: [female gunslinger walks up behind a preoccupied bartender] How about a room?
Horace: Whores next door.
Ellen: [carefully sets her cigar down] Say that again.
Horace: I said whores next door.
Ellen: [kicks the stool out from under him, catches his liquor bottle as he falls, & pours herself a drink] Now, do you have a room available?
Horace: Uh, room and bath, yes, ma'am, coming up!
Please Bill, quit bitching about your absence from Star Trek XI…
Okay, before all your hardcore Trekkies jump down my Jefferies Tube, let me explain…
See, there is this concept. We Geeks call it “stuntcasting”…
Stuntcasting (stun't . ka. sting) - Verb - The casting of an obvious fan favorite to appease both fan and pop culture pundit. The Official Geekspeak Dictionary, 2007.
Okay, so that book doesn't exist, yet, but that definition basically sums up the concept of stuntcasting. You hire an actor that is both obvious and slightly pandering to ensure your core audience watches your movie or show. I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing. On one hand, it is a wink and nod to the Geek crowd. A fun little way for writers and directors to give a little shout-out to their fans. But on the other hand,it rips the viewer from the moment. Every time that character comes on screen, you forget that you're watching a movie as you revel in the pure Geek joy of watching said actor ham it up. Case in point with the above mentioned Bruce Campbell. I love all his moments in the Spider-Man films, indeed his scene in Spider-Man 3 might have been the film's highlight. That being said, when he pops on screen I stop watching Spider-Man and just watch Bruce Campbell be Bruce Campbell… Or, at least the wisecracking Bruce we all know and love. (As when given the chance, he can turn in a killer dramatic role that makes one all but forget Ash and those Old Spice commercials).
Same thing happens whenever Shatner pops on screen.
Look, The Shat will always be Captain Kirk, there is no denying that… However, he has spent so long creating this semi serious and self-aware jokester, that any attempt to return to a non-humorous role won't work. At least not without spending more years reinventing himself yet again, and as he stated with Henry Rollins “I haven't got that much time”. For good or bad, 'ol Bill is locked into this wacky role. I'm glad. I quiet un-ironically love it when Shatner hams it up. The guy has more than paid his dues to darn near everyone. If he wants to dress up like Nick Fury, lay some mad kung-fu kicks, and play the bongo all while pitching low pried airfare… God bless him! Hell, I watch his short Live Videos whenever he and his strangely alluring daughter post them online, without fail. (And no, we are not going to delve into the subconscious issues of finding Shatner's daughter hot… I know them all and do must best to move on… You. Should. Too.). I own both The Transformed Man and Has Been, before it was wacky and cool to do so. Dammit Jim, I even own Spaced Out! I've gotten into drunken arguments when someone dared question my belief that Shatner isn't as cool as Han Solo. (Come on?! Really… Han cooler than Kirk, hell no… Plus, Shatner would never tap Flockhart's bony ass, snap)!
Even with all those qualifiers, I don't want him in Star Trek XI.
First, I still think J.J. Abrams idea of Star Trek: The Academy Years is friggen stupid. For a myriad of reasons. None of which I will go into here… I'm sure I rambled about it somewhere on this
site… However, it would seem no one can stop Paramount as they continue their quest in trashing one of the biggest pop culture icons of all times (to say nothing of the money making machine Star Trek was, is, and could still be). Fine, we're going to get an Academy version of Kirk and Spock… I don't want to see William Shatner in this film. For a couple of reasons.
One, it would look cheap and pathetic. Most people would assume he needed the money. People who follow his career know this is not all at true. Hell, you can't turn on your television without seeing Shatner in one form or another… Just in the last couple of years he has had two specials, one roast, an Emmy winning role on a prime-time network show, and those hilarious Priceline commercials. The guy is rolling in coin, American coin, not that weak ass Canadian money he was raised on. Two, it would harm a film that I feel is going to need all the help it can get. Just imagine, you're just starting to get into this new version of Star Trek. Sure, it ain't classic Trek and it ain't anything from Picard’s or Sisko’s day (Jane who?), but it still has that Trek feel. Then, bam! In walks William Shatner as some wise-talking Starfleet Academy something or other… It won't matter what part he plays. All we are going to see is William Shatner hanging out on Paramount's Star Trek set.
I guess it would feel cheap and pathetic.
Look, if you didn't notice by now. I have genuine fanboy love for William Shatner. In the 1960s and 70s as Kirk he personified character traits that we all should strive to reach. In the 1980s and 90s he showed us what happens when you start to take yourself too seriously. In the new millennium, he reminded us that we don't have a whole lot of time on this world and we better make the best of what fate hands us…and have some fun while doing it. Keep having fun Bill. We don't need you stepping back into Roddenberrys universe to remind us that you are cool
We already know it.
We’ve known for a long time…
After all, “In this galaxy, there's a mathematical probability of 3 million Earth-type planets. And in all of the universe, 3 million million galaxies like this. And in all of that, and perhaps more, only one of each of us. Don't destroy the one named
Kirk”…
Listen to the good doctor…
Oh, and can you tell Leonard that he shouldn't take a cameo either… Just as lame.
What a difference between the two "KO team" writers.
Whenever Roberto Orci is interviewed, he comes across as a college kid who hit the Hollywood jackpot. ST:XI loses credibility, IMO.
Though Alex Kurtzman is said to be the less fanatical Trekker, he comes across as being much more Trek-savvy and perceptive -- particularly in his expression of Gene Roddenberry's vision and process. ST:XI gains credibility.
Methinks J.J. Abrams and Kurtzman need to gag Orci, at least in public. ;-)
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:: Ubuntu Linux ::
YAY at last confirmation on them wanting Shatner IN the film.
As for the guy who spoke to Shatner's daughter. I just got off the phone, Harry Knowles style, to George Takei and he said he's going to be playing both Captain Sulu and the voice of young Sulu. The story will be flashing back and forth between the Excelsior and the academy. Grace Lee Whitney will play Captain Kirks mother Sandy Kirk snr.
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"Men don't use sex to get what they want. Sex IS what they want" - Frasier
I wish I could believe what you're saying is true, but anyone could say that.
I know Patrick Stewart, and he will be playing Captain Pike in a small role.
See? It's pretty easy.
The situation you're describing is something I would love to see. It would actually get me excited about Trek for the first time since before Generations.
But at this point, you're a guy on a message board without the credibility to back up that statement.
spilling all the beans all of a sudden?
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jonathan-davies.net - pure boredom
This is the best news since Star Trek Six!!!
Shatner knowing him will be going on a stringent diet and excercise programme, and be in GREAT shape for HIS part..
Oh...My...God!
I am sooooooooooooooooo happy!!!
Now I have a reason to hope for the universe and to live again!, and they will be undoing the damage of that craptacular Generations movie by the brainless Bergman!
THE HUMAN ADVENTURE IS UNDERWAY ...AGAIN, thanks guys at Paramount for coming back to your senses!
yaaaaaaay!
:-)
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Ellen: [female gunslinger walks up behind a preoccupied bartender] How about a room?
Horace: Whores next door.
Ellen: [carefully sets her cigar down] Say that again.
Horace: I said whores next door.
Ellen: [kicks the stool out from under him, catches his liquor bottle as he falls, & pours herself a drink] Now, do you have a room available?
Horace: Uh, room and bath, yes, ma'am, coming up!
All these comments are pleasing to me, but I AM a little worried that the writers don't seem to have any clearer concept of how to have a young actor portray a character so identified with Shatner.
I think they should have have CLEAR answers to this before contemplating the movie.
While I disagree with Ro's support of a wholesale reimagining, at least he's not a clear philosophy behind the interchangeability of the actors (along the lines of a 007 sort of thing).
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