get a life ! we are in 2009 nothing makes sense !!! personally I think matt would play a good part but who cares ?
Do the math. William Shatner first appeared on Star Trek, at the rank of Captain no less, at the age of thirty-five. Matt Damon is already thirty-five.
How is this considered to be a YOUNGER VERSION of Kirk???
Maybe this sounds stupid, but if they intend to cast actors to play STUDENTS at Star Fleet Academy, should they not be at least still in their twenties???
Duh.
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Will MATT DAMON get beamed up? Could happen. I'm told J.J. ABRAMS is very interested in casting the Oscar-winning Damon as a young Captain Kirk in the upcoming 'Star Trek' movie that he's directing and producing. He's so interested that he's apparently already sought support from the original Kirk, WILLIAM SHATNER.
Well, I can see a physical resemblence between the two actors (Matt Damon and William Shatner) and Damon is a much stronger choice (acting wise) than his evil twin, Ben (Just Call Me 'Todd') Affleck. Now, here's hoping they sign Michael Richards to play a young, socially awkward, Mr. Spock.
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Respectfully,
Von Bruno
vonbruno@aol.com
I don't care who plays him, what I'm bothered about with a continuation/prequel, is that it's always going to be in the back of my mind what a shitty ending and death the character has, despite any past adventure, Kirk dies like a red shirt because of Berman and Braga and Moore.
Only if there was a simultaneous story of Kirk's rescue by Spock would it truly be my cup of ractageno
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"Men don't use sex to get what they want. Sex IS what they want" - Frasier
Shater defines the Kirk role. Every Captain after him has been a very pale imitation. No one has really pulled off the role (although Sisko came close).
Vulnerability. Charm. Pigheadedness. Hamming it up. Defending his friends till the ends of the universe. Physically beating up every powerful bad guy ( no matter how strong they were). Outwitting computers. Loving women.
He's the only one who could do it all. Picard was far too serious. The only contemporary analogy we have for captains are sea faring captains ( and so much of the Star Trek model is based on the sea faring tradition , including Roddenberry's original vision of Hornblower analogies.). And anyone with even modest experience there can tell you the Captains resemble Kirk far more than they do Picard or the buttoned up personality-free, vanilla successors. Flaws, warts and all- no human is free of them (except for the hokey Captains written into subsequent series).
Anyway, you cant put another actor in for Kirk, no matter how talented. You are better off putting in a new Captain and make him the vanilla-Captain-of-the-week who has all the Starfleet regulations memorized and never does anything wrong (like screw a woman on his ship). That way atleast you wont hurt the franchise- even though you wont do anything to further it.
On the other hand, you could introduce a new Captain who is such a rogue that he makes Kirk look like a saint. I think that would infuse some new personality and energy into the franchise and dispense with the 'holier than thou' Federation gospel. It's hard to see how in a universe full of aliens willing to slaughter you on sight you would remain boy scouts.
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psp1
Parker and Stone do. It will probably be the only Trek film I won't see as I would rather read a bad Trek paperback than try to suspend the amount of disbelief I would have while watching Damon try to be a young Kirk.
It sounds like they're re-casting the original characters while maintaining established continuity. In other words, new adventure with Kirk and his crew but with new faces in old parts, much like the New Voyages fan series.
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I'd say it's more like early speculation. I say that there is a lot of time left for changes. And people already panicking about this should just breath easy.
I watched part of Nemesis recently and I can't remember why it was considered so bad. I guess I did get influenced by you guys being incredibly, painfully and saddeningly geekily panicky. Just sit back and when it comes out, enjoy it.
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I'd say it's more like early speculation. I say that there is a lot of time left for changes. And people already panicking about this should just breath easy. I watched part of Nemesis recently and I can't remember why it was considered so bad. I guess I did get influenced by you guys being incredibly, painfully and saddeningly geekily panicky. Just sit back and when it comes out, enjoy it.
It's human nature to expect the worst, first and foremost. Very, very few people want the best and expect the most in life. And if a person is fanatical then the lack of trust increases. And look at the responses thus far witout solid information about the story, the casting - anything! All we know is JJ Abrams and his team are producing it and the movie will be released in 2008. That's it.
I recall when the first pictures of SUPERMAN RETURNS first showed up on TREKWEB and some of the postings cited immediate doom for the movie - that Bryan Singer made poor casting choices, nitpicked about the costume, the codpiece, the rumours of direction, and that Singer lost his touch as a movie director and should've stated with X3, etc.
A vocal minority lose sight at times and forget that there are millions in the world who are not like them - they are just people who wish to be entertained.
You're right, dphizler - people need to just sit back and enjoy it.
It's...just ...a movie, a consumer entertainment product.
Oh dear, I guess this pretty much confirms the rumor that Trek XI will in fact be the Starfleet Academy concept Harve Bennett and Rick Berman were pushing. I was hoping Abrams' rather ambiguous comments on this opened the door for this to be something else.
I still say doing a prequel like this is gonna be a huge miscalculation....
Damon as Kirk? Meh. Then again, I'm of the opinion no one will satisfy the masses in the role. And if you think this is bad, wait till they start casting Spock ...
Al
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Oh dear, I guess this pretty much confirms the rumor that Trek XI will in fact be the Starfleet Academy concept Harve Bennett and Rick Berman were pushing.
Where's the confirmation? Matt Damon is 36. He's far too old to be an academy cadet.
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I'm of the opinion no one will satisfy the masses in the role.
How many people are in the 'masses'?
There were those who believed no one could replace Sean Connery as James Bond. And 40+ years later that franchise is alive and well.
People want to be entertained, no matter who occupies the roles of iconic characters. I am of the belief that people understand that this is just a movie and these are just actors and an actor will play a role once occupied by another actor. It's all about being entertained and willing to accept that when a theater swipes your credit card for admission.
If anyone were to get my personal stamp of approval it would be Matt Damon. I hope he at least tries to play the established character as originated by Shatner. I would go see this if I weren't a trek fan just to see Damon in the role. However, staying with continuity is a must.
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Respect the cannon
This doesn't make sense. Captain Kirk was in his early thirties by the time he got command of the Enterprise. Matt Damon is already in his late thirties. How can he pass as a college aged cadet?
Also, if this is purported to be about Kirk and Spock during their academy years, that too, doesn't make sense. If you look at the time line, Spock is considerably older than Kirk. He was serving under Captain Pike around the time Kirk was academy age.
Just an observation.
like this... ?
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living in darkness / sleeping in light
Honestly, Matt Damon?
They should rather try and get Jake Gyllenhaal. Now there's a good actor. Look no further than Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain and Jarhead for proof.
He's hot in the media, has lots of fans, and won't cost as much as Damon.
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I'd rather have Damon than this Jake guy. The fact that I'd never heard of him is proof that he's not as recognizable.
Now, I'm just going to do like you.
Matt Damon, now there's a good actor, better than this Jake in my opinion. That's subjective by the way.
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Well, if you haven't heard about Gyllenhaal, you've been living under a rock for the past 6 months. He starred in Brokeback Mountain along with Heath Ledger and was nominated for an Oscar (and numoerous other awards, of which he did win some) for the role of Jack Twist.
Damon hasn't done anything really outstanding since Good Will Hunting, almost ten years ago.
What man wouldn't "love" the idea of Matt Damon playing a younger version of himself?
That's right up there with, "Oh, we're fresh out of five dollar bills. Guess I'll have to give you a twenties in change. Do you mind?"
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Love this idea... but I think it might be too good to be true. Like Tom Hanks in First Contact or Sean Connery in Final Frontier. An actor with Damon's skill may be too much to hope for.
Here's hopin...
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Flavius: What do you call those?
Spock: I call them ears.
Flavius: Are you trying to be funny?
Spock: Never.
Kirk has a fire in his soul, a twinkle of confidence in his eye, and the balls to change the universe. Shatner could pull it off because he had/has an ego almost as big as the universe itself.
Matt Damon dose not have the "presence" that Shatner created in Kirk. Even super tough guy Jason Bourne spends most of his movies reacting to events and often coming across as a lost puppy with claws. Matt Damon is no James Tiberius Kirk.
And if you still don't get it... just close your eyes and picture near the end of ST5 with Matt Damon standing up to "GOD" and trying to get out the words... "Excuse me, but what need does God have for a starship? ...
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Somewhere in Texas there's a village missing an idiot
I like Matt Damon, he could bring some serious abilities and dimensions to the role. He doesn't have Shatner's disarming universality in appearance, but no one else seems to. I still want Shatner to be Kirk at least for five minutes though.
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Or we could just let him retire.
I only want Shatner to be in the movie if he serves a purpose, however small. If it's just for the heck of him being there, then I prefer if he isn't there.
Besides, we should treat this as a rumour because the guys in charge said they would stay tight lipped.
But I think Damon's a good casting choice for Kirk.
above
This guy ain't no Kirk.
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Dig deep piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said 'We'll use rocks on the other side'
No survivors!
Oh dear. As I said before, I have no interest in a young Kirk and Spock movie. Damon is a fine actor, but I cant see him as James Tiberius Kirk. Just my two cents
Gustavo
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TrekWeb.com Supervising Editor
gl2000@uol.com.br
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Oh dear. As I said before, I have no interest in a young Kirk and Spock movie.
Would the prospecting of Matt Damon torpedo the Young Kirk and Spock movie? Damon is 36 years old. Filming starts next year for a 2008 release. Abrams and Co. would put the story somewhere else, post-TOS and pre-KHAN, I believe; or, it could be the time period when Kirk first commanded ENT, taking over from Chris Pike but that would be stretching Damon's age/appearance.
I have no problem with Damon playing Kirk. My only issue is that this might ruin the possibility of this movie spinning off into a successful television series, which is what I was hoping it would do. I don't want to see a successful movie franchise as much as I would want to see a great new series. I want another series, and Damon is too big a movie star for network television. My gut is to hire a no-name just so there's more room to maneuver in the future. My two cents.
Damon's a decent enough actor.
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The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on
my skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their
breath and disappeared, my heart went cold, and
only hollow rhythms resounded from within.
At least this means it won't be set at the Academy. Damon's too old for that.
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The supervisor is Verizon!
Matt Damon is Hot! I think that'd keep a lot of people interested and most ceratainly has the star power to bring in a large crowd and media attention. As long as the movie is good it could be a good combo!
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"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-- Winston Churchill
(Picture Main Street Salt Lake City UT, Circa 1900)
This is one of the more palatable choices offered up so far. Tempermentally, I think he fits the bill. Captain Kirk has some mighty big shoes to fill. I would prefer an unknown to take such a role, but there is no assurance that an unknown could really pull it off. Damon won't be creating a new character, he'll be doing what the kid in Dumb and Dumberer did with the role established by Jim Carrey.
That said, I don't hate this idea, it's a good anchorpoint for the rest of the production. There's starpower in the role of the legendary Captain Kirk, sounds like a good enough place as any to start. But I'm really more concerned with the story that's going to be told. My suggestion is to hearken back to the kind of storytelling on TOS where intelligent thinking meets real action.
All in all, I'm really excited about seeing some new production values applied to the Star Trek franchise. I can only imagine what the story might entail or what the set design will look like. TOS was groundbreaking, edgy, compassionate, and forward thinking. I look to Abrams work on this to update the Star Trek package as it was originally crafted for the 21st century.
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To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big 'thing.' This is truth, to me.
I was a little afraid of this one, but better Damon than Afflek. If JJ decides that Affleck plays Spock, that will be a problem.
Of course there is the issue that Damon would be playing a young Kirk, but Damon will himself be older than Shatner was when Shatner played Kirk in 1966.
According to my wife- Damon doesn't look nearly as good as Shatner did then.
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Nobody...no one...was as good looking as William Shatner back in the day....no one can ever fill his shoes and at the least one can only hope that Shatner and Nimoy are in it together for one last time in Trek as Tag bookends to the story, so that at least it will be a REAL Star Trek again...
For the first time since 1991's The Undiscovered Country...imo.
I would still do Kirk today even as Denny Crane..hes still a GOD.
He is irriplaceable!
Shatner is now and forever Kirk, and whoever else they get to play they "young" Kirk will be mocked laughed at and parodied by late night comics and true (meaning yes.... original OLD and NEW fans..jeered at by newbies alike, unless it is done with reverense...and the TOS way of Trek, alike.
;-)
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.."You will keep your promise when we get to London, won't you Master? You will see that I get lives!?", .."not human lives but small ones, with blood in them!?"..."I'll be loyal to you Master,..I'll be loyal!" I didn't lead them here, Master. I didn't know. I swear. No! No!...I'm loyal to you Master. I'm your slave. I didn't betray you. Oh no don't! Don't kill me. Let me live please! Punish me, torture me, but let me live! I can't die with all those lives on my conscience! All that blood on my hands!
Renfield's entreaties are to no avail. In an incredible scene, Dracula kills his inept slave by strangling him, lifting him by the throat, and tossing his body down the massive staircase......
or in other words! ""Ich möchte allein sein" ("I want to be alone") ...
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Damon is a bit too old to play an Academy-era Kirk. He's already 36.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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However, what if this is not the Academy after all, but a TOS relaunch? Then I really do like Damon a lot for the role, as he very much fits the bill for a Captain James T. Kirk more than a Lt. Jim Kirk.
Wasn't Kirk also one of the youngest graduates of the Academy as well. Am I making that up, was that another character? I thought it was Kirk though.
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but i thought Abrams said a few wks ago that it was not a reboot and would live within the existing universe.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
A Damon is going to play Kirk? Shatner (stumbles backward and falls): "Ferengi bastard! You're younger than my son! Ferengi....bastard!"
Seriously, I like Matt Damon. If there's going to be a "big name" playing Young Kirk, I'm okay with him. He's got that wide face and farmboy sort of features. And he's a decent actor. I'm sort of against this idea generally, but whaever. I'm more comfortable with Abrams and Damon than I am with a lot of other Young Kirk combinations.
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