"Clutchman83" (joshstodola)
03/01/2016 at 17:58 • Filed to: None
2
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"Clutchman83" (joshstodola)
03/01/2016 at 17:58 • Filed to: None | 2
| 10 |
Netflix just uploaded Star Trek The Motion Picture and Star Trek The Wrath of Khan for view today and I found myself drawn to watch the first proper Star Trek movie for the sake of nostalgia. Confession; I watched this movie a few times on VHS as a kid but it was never one of my favorites. Maybe that was why I decided to give it another shot now that it was so easily and instantly available this morning. Upon finishing it my now adult brain couldn’t help but wonder how this mostly ignored Star Trek film could have completely thrown the Star Trek universe into a different path if the creative staff had chosen to do so.
*SPOILERS* (I feel obligated to say so despite the film being 37 years old, you were warned)
So the original Star Trek television show was a lightning rod for social and societal progress, we can all agree on that hopefully but I want to dig in on the canon implications of the decisions made in this film and how it could have EASILY derailed the resurrection of the series in the ‘90s. Lets take a look at where we stand when the movie begins.
The original Enterprise NCC-1701 has returned from it’s 5 year mission of exploration and undergoes an extensive retrofit to become the NCC-1701A seen at far right below, clearly superior to the Nu Trek version in my opinion (nerd smug opinion).
Captain Kirk is an Admiral, Bones retired, and Spock is on sabbatical basically to purge all his remaining emotions. Captain Decker is supposed to be the commander of the new Enterprise, the rest of the crew is pretty much intact. Now, enter stage left, a mysterious energy cloud obliterates some silly Klingons (because of course, Klingons are dumb) and is on a direct course with Earth. In the film Kirk bullies his way back to command and drags Bones and Spock back after some pretty horrific transporter accidents and generally seems like a pretty ham-fisted way to get the crew back together. That’s not what I want to talk about though, I’d like to explore what would happen if Decker remained the Captain and how he would have addressed the crisis.
So this guy is supposed to be the Commander of the Enterprise. Kirk taps him to be his XO and he basically goes to war with Jim over command at the beginning of their interactions. I don’t blame him, Kirk was being a major league dick in this film. He didn’t know any of the systems and damn near gets the crew killed almost immediately and Decker saves the ship and the crew because he know’s the Enterprise NOW better than Kirk does. He proceeds to argue and bicker with Jimbo for much of the movie. So what would have happened if Decker was in charge the whole time?
The short answer is that Vger would have destroyed Earth by wiping out all organic life on the planet. Decker fights Kirk’s decisions almost all the way through this film. I suspect he would have prioritized protecting the ship and it’s crew over ever establishing contact with Vger and ultimately everyone on Earth would have been killed and Vger may have continued to go on a temper tantrum rampage through the galaxy trying to find the answers it sought from it’s creator. I know there are fan theories about Vger having been programmed by the Borg but I prefer to believe that it came from a different system in the end because Vger seems to not even understand what the hell an organic life form is for the most part. So where would that conclusion leave us?
Well, Kirk and Bones would have been killed because they would still be on Earth in this scenario. Decker is still in command of the Enterprise but I would imagine that Starfleet would basically be completely fractured and mostly scattered. Spock could theoretically have linked up with the Enterprise at some point because Decker shows that he respects him but I doubt he would have given him the same latitude that Kirk does in the movie. If you think about it we wouldn’t have had any ground to stand on for a TNG or DS9 television series and if a new Star Trek television show was to come along it would probably resemble Voyager more than any other version of the series in my opinion.
My thoughts after watching this movie is that the entire next 20 years really teetered on a brink and it could have been significantly different. I have to say that I wouldn’t want to trade TNG for anything but this movie could have changed everything if it really wanted to.
TheHondaBro
> Clutchman83
03/01/2016 at 18:22 |
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About time Netflix got Star Trek II back. I’ve been wanting to watch it for a while now.
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Clutchman83
> TheHondaBro
03/01/2016 at 18:33 |
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Yeah, I was stoked to get these movies streaming, I can’t remember if Netflix had them before. I may have called in sick today... okay, yeah I did.
Jonee
> Clutchman83
03/01/2016 at 18:41 |
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Positing further, I’d say that then Earth would not be as influential over Starfleet post-Vger, and without Kirk we probably don’t get the Khitomer Accords which means no treaty with the Klingons. That then means the Cardassians and Romulans eventually gain control of our half of the galaxy, paving the way for the eventual Dominon takeover.
NCC 1701-A was the ship they built after the retrofitted Enterprise was destroyed in Search For Spock. The original stayed NCC 1701 even after remodeling.
yitznewton
> Clutchman83
03/01/2016 at 18:43 |
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I made my entry with TNG at age 10, then on to TOS. I remember finding TMP, I think the first of the films which I saw, and being like, WTF happened to them. Then I saw 2 or 4 and all was well ^_^
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Clutchman83
> Jonee
03/01/2016 at 18:51 |
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Good stuff. I always associated the A with the retrofit. I haven’t watched the old movies since the ‘90s, I’m trying to re watch them all and posting thoughts for fun this week. I’m more of a Star Wars guy normally but I really loved The Next Generation growing up and thought this would be a fun little writing project!
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Clutchman83
> yitznewton
03/01/2016 at 18:55 |
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The even numbered ones were always my favorites.
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Jonee
> Clutchman83
03/01/2016 at 19:23 |
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I like it and look forward to the next one. I’m an old school Trek fan mostly from watching reruns of the original show when I was a kid. I find the original cast movies to be a hoot to watch. I like that it’s basically one long arc. At least after this first one which I remember seeing in the theater as a little kid. It was so boring. But, I’ve grown to appreciate it. It’s just that it came on the heels of the original Star Wars so no one was really interested in seeing heady sci-fi. If they hadn’t given them a second chance at fixing that with Wrath of Khan, we’d have had no Next Generation.
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Clutchman83
> Jonee
03/01/2016 at 21:06 |
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I love Wrath of Khan, I’m not sure how I can make fun of it to be honest. My next story will probably be boring but I’ve already got a whole boatload of ideas for The Search for Spock! The main thing I’m taking from this is I miss the old Star Trek movies, they are a lot of fun. I’ll make sure to correct the A model thing and mention the things you referenced.
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Jonee
> Clutchman83
03/01/2016 at 21:12 |
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Wrath of Khan is just a great movie, period. There isn’t anything to make fun of. Search For Spock isn’t great, but I still enjoy it. Christopher Lloyd makes a good Klingon. And, as goofy as the whole whales thing is, IV is really really good. It’s loads of fun pretty much beginning to end. V is, of course, a complete disaster, so plenty of material there.
Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious
> Clutchman83
03/02/2016 at 01:58 |
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Additional facet to consider when thinking about the things you are thinking about:
In the novel adaptation of TMP (which was written by Roddenberry himself), it’s pointed out that Will Decker is the son of Commodore Matt Decker. If that name isn’t familiar to you, this might refresh your memory.
Remember how Will took matters into his own hands when face to face with V’Ger? Like father, like son.