sum1

So they shouldn't have cast Montalban, at least not twice! Spanish does not equal Indian.

PhoenixRising

Well, they kinda had to cast him the second time for continuity, since The Wrath of Khan was a sequel to The Space Seed. But I guess they didn't have an Indian/Pakistani actor available in 1966?

sum1

They didn't have to make the second Star Trek movie a sequel to a rotten Star Trek episode with a miscast villain. And JJ Abrams and co didn't have to revive the bloody storyline and cast Benedict Cumberbollocks as an Indian/Pakistani guy.

PhoenixRising

Well, The Wrath of Khan was Nicholas Meyer's idea, and it did save the Star Trek movie franchise after Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Who knows if we'd have gotten any more Star Trek films or TV shows if Star Trek II hadn't been successful? It might've ended with The Motion Picture.

sum1

They could have come up with a better idea than dragging back Khan.

PhoenixRising

Roddenberry had ideas, but Paramount cut him out of creative decisions because of the performance of the first film. Star Trek II was almost gonna be a TV movie and not a cinematic release.

sum1

The first film was bloody awful. I call it Star Trek: The Motion Sickness.

PhoenixRising

I thought the photography and the special effects were beautiful, as was Jerry Goldsmith's musical score, but the story and screenplay were tedious. Naturally, Roddenberry was the one who had the most creative control over that first movie, which is why he was removed from creative control over the sequels and why the Star Trek movie series nearly went to TV. Originally, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was going to be a TV movie pilot for a new NBC Star Trek series, Star Trek: Phase II, a continuation of the original series, which ended up not getting made. After Star Wars came out, Paramount decided to make it a movie instead.

sum1

It was an awful film.

PhoenixRising

It certainly wasn't good. It wasn't the worst film ever, but it wasn't good. The only part I liked was the Klingon battle sequence at the beginning.

sum1

I find the film pretty much unwatchable.

PhoenixRising

Okay. I thought it was a disappointment, but I still have fond childhood memories of it. I first saw it the winter of 1981-1982, when my dad first got cable TV. I was binge watching movies like crazy and Star Trek: The Motion Picture was one of the movies I watched, along with 9 To 5, On Golden Pond, For Your Eyes Only, Stripes, Escape From New York, Clash of The Titans, etc. And of course, Star Trek II came out that summer of 1982. Cable TV was new to me so I just watched everything, regardless. I was only 11 or 12 years old.

sum1

The original Clash of the Titans got the feel of Greek mythology very well. Whoever write that knew their myths. Of course the modern Clash of the Titans was illiterate.

PhoenixRising

I agree. The original Clash of the Titans was written by Beverly Cross, who also wrote the screenplay for the original Jason and the Argonauts, another Ray Harryhausen classic. He also wrote Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. OMG, that brings back childhood memories.

LightYears