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Star Trek Movies
Feb. 6th, 2006 10:27 amHow They Should Have Done It
Note that this document contains Star Trek movie spoilers.
The first Star Trek movie should have been _Wrath of Khan_. It should have opened as the real version of that movie actually did, except with the _Enterprise_ still in series configuration. During conversations after the _Kobayashi Maru_ scenario and later at Admiral Kirk's apartment, we learn that the ship was relegated to training duties several years earlier. This next mission will be her last before mothballing. Because of this there are many former crew members aboard as guests. Comments are made about how superior the smaller, newer _Miranda_ class ships are to the remaining _Constitution_ class ships - most of which are already retired - and that _Enterprise_ can't even adequately prepare cadets for service in the modern Star Fleet any more. Kirk seems surprisingly unaffected by this implied criticism of "his" ship. Later, on board, Admiral Kirk tells Scotty, Spock, McCoy and maybe a few others that he's supporting a proposal to update the surviving _Constitution_ class starships using the technology developed for the _Miranda_ class. The idea is to combine the best of the two designs. McCoy is surprised to hear Spock speak in favor of the plan. "I thought Vulcans were immune to sentiment." "Sentiment has nothing to do with it. Wasting valuable resources simply because of the human desire for the new and shiny is illogical." From there the story proceeds exactly as in the real movie, with the exceptions already noted.
The second movie would still be _The Search for Spock_, but with some alterations. It would open exactly as the real one does, except that the damaged _Enterprise_ is still in series configuration. The scene where Kirk is told _Enterprise_ won't be repaired is replaced with one where, after being told this by a board which has met to decide the fate of the ship, Kirk and Scotty make an impassioned argument for using the _Enterprise_ to test the feasibility of the _Constitution_ class upgrade program. "The majority of the damage is in sections which would be replaced or modified anyway!" Scotty cries. "Khan did half the work for us!" The board is moved, and while they don't promise they'll approve the proposal they do say they'll give it serious consideration. There's a bittersweet scene as Kirk and Scotty leave Star Fleet headquarters, feeling upbeat that they won a reprieve for _Enterprise_, but sad about the loss of Spock and McCoy's breakdown. Later, the upgrade program is threatened by supporters of the nearly-completed transwarp project, who claim that the _Excelsior_ will provide such a major improvement over even the _Miranda_ class that the upgraded _Constitution_ ships would be obsolete before the alterations are finished. The reconstruction is therefore delayed while this is argued out, a subplot going on behind the main plot. The subsequent destruction of the ship at the Genesis Planet is all the more poignant because the plan to upgrade _Enterprise_ is approved just before they steal her. The movie would then proceed as the real one does, with the exceptions noted.
The third movie should have been _The Journey Home_, with the alien object and plot both containing elements from _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_. For example, the object doesn't attack without provocation, but it will actively defend itself, and its energy field disrupts any operational systems near it. However, Scotty realizes that by pulling ahead of the object and doing a controlled shutdown of the Klingon ship's systems before getting close they can let it fly past as they coast on their residual warp field, then restart with no damage. During the pass they learn what to do by Spock telepathically scanning the probe. Turns out it was sent to check on several indicator species which were previously (nearly four hundred years earlier) determined to be endangered. If any of them remain, it will leave. Otherwise, the environment will be determined to be too degraded for recovery, and Earth will be cleansed and reseeded. The probe's builders apparently have no idea intelligent life has evolved on Earth since they, themselves, surveyed the planet, and the probe is simply blindly following guidelines which don't take into account the presence of a native technological society. (There is speculation that the builders have become extinct, else they would have noted anomalies in the data the probe gathered at Earth on the last trip.) The crew decides to bring some humpback whales (one of the indicator species) to their time because those are big and noisy and easy to detect. From there the plot proceeds as in the real movie until just after the crew is taken to see their new ship. Added conversation as they explore the _Enterprise-A_ reveals that even with Scotty's sabotage repaired, the _Excelsior_ is not as fast as standard warp drive vessels. An independent review found a glaring flaw in the theory behind the transwarp drive. "Always test your design before putting time and effort into building the full scale thing," says Scotty, nodding sagely. "No simulation, no matter how sophisticated, is immune to human error. The universe will point out your mistakes every time, no matter how egotistical or politically influential you are." The _Excelsior_ will need to have traditional-operation warp drive components designed. Meanwhile, that leaves a gap which the _Constitution_ upgrade can fill quickly.
From then on the series should run as it did in the real world, except for someone overseeing Shatner's directing.
Note that this document contains Star Trek movie spoilers.
The first Star Trek movie should have been _Wrath of Khan_. It should have opened as the real version of that movie actually did, except with the _Enterprise_ still in series configuration. During conversations after the _Kobayashi Maru_ scenario and later at Admiral Kirk's apartment, we learn that the ship was relegated to training duties several years earlier. This next mission will be her last before mothballing. Because of this there are many former crew members aboard as guests. Comments are made about how superior the smaller, newer _Miranda_ class ships are to the remaining _Constitution_ class ships - most of which are already retired - and that _Enterprise_ can't even adequately prepare cadets for service in the modern Star Fleet any more. Kirk seems surprisingly unaffected by this implied criticism of "his" ship. Later, on board, Admiral Kirk tells Scotty, Spock, McCoy and maybe a few others that he's supporting a proposal to update the surviving _Constitution_ class starships using the technology developed for the _Miranda_ class. The idea is to combine the best of the two designs. McCoy is surprised to hear Spock speak in favor of the plan. "I thought Vulcans were immune to sentiment." "Sentiment has nothing to do with it. Wasting valuable resources simply because of the human desire for the new and shiny is illogical." From there the story proceeds exactly as in the real movie, with the exceptions already noted.
The second movie would still be _The Search for Spock_, but with some alterations. It would open exactly as the real one does, except that the damaged _Enterprise_ is still in series configuration. The scene where Kirk is told _Enterprise_ won't be repaired is replaced with one where, after being told this by a board which has met to decide the fate of the ship, Kirk and Scotty make an impassioned argument for using the _Enterprise_ to test the feasibility of the _Constitution_ class upgrade program. "The majority of the damage is in sections which would be replaced or modified anyway!" Scotty cries. "Khan did half the work for us!" The board is moved, and while they don't promise they'll approve the proposal they do say they'll give it serious consideration. There's a bittersweet scene as Kirk and Scotty leave Star Fleet headquarters, feeling upbeat that they won a reprieve for _Enterprise_, but sad about the loss of Spock and McCoy's breakdown. Later, the upgrade program is threatened by supporters of the nearly-completed transwarp project, who claim that the _Excelsior_ will provide such a major improvement over even the _Miranda_ class that the upgraded _Constitution_ ships would be obsolete before the alterations are finished. The reconstruction is therefore delayed while this is argued out, a subplot going on behind the main plot. The subsequent destruction of the ship at the Genesis Planet is all the more poignant because the plan to upgrade _Enterprise_ is approved just before they steal her. The movie would then proceed as the real one does, with the exceptions noted.
The third movie should have been _The Journey Home_, with the alien object and plot both containing elements from _Star Trek: The Motion Picture_. For example, the object doesn't attack without provocation, but it will actively defend itself, and its energy field disrupts any operational systems near it. However, Scotty realizes that by pulling ahead of the object and doing a controlled shutdown of the Klingon ship's systems before getting close they can let it fly past as they coast on their residual warp field, then restart with no damage. During the pass they learn what to do by Spock telepathically scanning the probe. Turns out it was sent to check on several indicator species which were previously (nearly four hundred years earlier) determined to be endangered. If any of them remain, it will leave. Otherwise, the environment will be determined to be too degraded for recovery, and Earth will be cleansed and reseeded. The probe's builders apparently have no idea intelligent life has evolved on Earth since they, themselves, surveyed the planet, and the probe is simply blindly following guidelines which don't take into account the presence of a native technological society. (There is speculation that the builders have become extinct, else they would have noted anomalies in the data the probe gathered at Earth on the last trip.) The crew decides to bring some humpback whales (one of the indicator species) to their time because those are big and noisy and easy to detect. From there the plot proceeds as in the real movie until just after the crew is taken to see their new ship. Added conversation as they explore the _Enterprise-A_ reveals that even with Scotty's sabotage repaired, the _Excelsior_ is not as fast as standard warp drive vessels. An independent review found a glaring flaw in the theory behind the transwarp drive. "Always test your design before putting time and effort into building the full scale thing," says Scotty, nodding sagely. "No simulation, no matter how sophisticated, is immune to human error. The universe will point out your mistakes every time, no matter how egotistical or politically influential you are." The _Excelsior_ will need to have traditional-operation warp drive components designed. Meanwhile, that leaves a gap which the _Constitution_ upgrade can fill quickly.
From then on the series should run as it did in the real world, except for someone overseeing Shatner's directing.
