Yeah this saddens me a bit too. I remember as a little kid seeing the original star trek series on re-runs all the time, and I kind of thought they were cheesy. I was a huge Star Wars fan a the time. I saw the Motion Picture in the theaters and thought it was okay. Then I moved overseas for 6 years and spent all my time on Star Wars, GI Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, and Japanese anime.
When I moved back to the states, The New Generation was on TV and I really wasnt crazy about it, but it got me looking into the original series and the movies, and before I knew it, I was renting everything I could and became a fanatic of the original series in my late teens. I have disliked every Star Trek series other than the original, and really lose interest in the movies after The Voyage Home.
I am huge fan of the original characters. That show was so ahead of its time, yet totally a product of it as well. Kirk beamed down to the planet and punched it out with aliens because cowboy shows were all the rage back in those days, and a lot of the wild west elements can be found in the original series. Its goofy at times, yet amazingly brilliant, especially when you consider it was written in the 60s. And if it werent for the cold war, we wouldnt have had the Kingons and Romulans as they were portrayed, as they repesented the Soviets and Chinese. So all these things influenced the show and in my opinion, help create something that was more meaningful and original than anything that has come from Star Trek since.
And now I consider The Motion Picture to be the best Star Trek movie. I know the Wrath of Khan get all the attention, but the Motion Picture takes all of the elements of the original series, creates a novel antagonist, with an amazing twist at the end. Its a complete story, whereas Khan is part 1 of a 3 part story. Not that is bad, its just I think the Motion Picture from beginning to end is a better story than movies 2-4 combined.
And even though I thought the second reboot sucked, I am at least glad they have tried to reboot the original characters. Not a huge fan of how they are all portrayed, because I am so attached to the original actors, but I would rather see any incarnation of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and everyone else, than some other actor playing some newly created concept.
I am really thankful I got to enjoy that time period.
Live long and prosper!
|