Star Trek: Section 31 - Review - Humiliating For Everyone Involved

My review for 'Star Trek: Section 31' now streaming on Paramount +.
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#StarTrek #Section31 #MichelleYeoh

[@EleaticStranger]

Let's PLEASE stop apologizing for Michelle Yeoh. She doesn't get a free pass for taking a massive paycheck to kill Star Trek. Her character is stupid anyway.

[@Emissary355]

Agree. She's terrible in Star Trek and she can't even speak English properly. I don't care about how great Michelle Yeoh was in Hong Kong movies in the 80s.

[@alansacks9815]

She gets paid to read her lines. She has no idea what Star Trek is. She probably thinks this is Star Trek.

[@ELEKTROSKANSEN]

​@@Emissary355 This. This SO MUCH! I'm a trekkie, not a kickboxing bro. If anything, it is proof that she's really bad, because these movies might be known for many things, but great acting isn't one of them! People keep saying that oh hurr durr she won an Oscar - I say these days Oscars are worth NOTHING. She was probably a diversity win anyway. Character of Georgiou is against everything Star Trek stood for, Gene Roddenberry would NEVER allow a morally corrupted former villain to be the protagonist. And finally, trying to portray a 63 year old granny as a sexy cocktease is just DISGUSTING. She should be baking cookies for her granddaughter in some slasher flick to be killed off in the opening act for pity instead of leading some kind of Suicide Squad ripoff in space!

[@Emissary355]

@ Michelle Yeoh is definitely a diversity hire just like the actress who played "Michael" (Man's name) Burnham. She's was so horrible I can't even be bothered to remember her name. Both of them were there to check diversity boxes and because they were female. Anything to not cast a straight white male as the lead because of Hollywood's pathetic woke ideology that everyone is rejecting.

[@Emissary355]

@@alansacks9815 None of these people know or care what Star Trek is. They just want their paychecks and to push the woke agenda and it shows. Why do you think Hollywood is failing so badly?

[@treklad]

"Does anyone remember when we used to be explorers?"

[@MrP1.01]

What like Marco Polo or Magellan? No, I'm not an explorer I get lost in CostCo

[@wavion2]

@@MrP1.01 Pretty sure that was a quote from one of the TNG movies. "Insurrection" maybe.

[@futureboy314]

Incredibly based reference

[@MrP1.01]

@ you know, you’re right. My bad

[@MrP1.01]

@ Picard was misguided initially but found its footing and offered long over due fan service - it is the better of all ST offerings since first contact

[@takeiteasyeh]

literally asking a random passerby 'can you tell me where to find the nuclear wessels' will always be iconic

[@Rakmusen]

That's classic stuff right there, because we all still reference it! 😅❤💯👍

[@r3lativ]

It's crazy that the best quasi-recent Star Trek was The Orville.

[@tompille7456]

No, was still bad enough, that i didn´t realy watched it

[@inquerion8867]

@@tompille7456 I respectfully disagree, Orville is good, especially Season 2 and 3, it's basically TNG 2.0.

[@tompille7456]

@inquerion8867 I'm quiet happy for you, than one more Person ist not bored to death about everything.

[@stuarto5162]

Surprisingly I loved that

[@infiniteSlinky]

Amazing how Kurtzman and crew have not been fired for their poor efforts with Star Trek.

[@Emissary355]

Not only do they not get fired they continue to get rich for ruining Star Trek.

[@tompille7456]

donno, i don't think about them to much. they seem not that useful

[@slighter]

They also managed to get some good Star Trek done.

[@Emissary355]

@@slighter That's a hilarious statement.

[@linkinjunior]

"Let Star Trek be Star Trek" So say we all! miss Star Trek

[@mcal27]

This thing has 15 Producers and exec producers!!! Insane

[@tompille7456]

i come from a time. where you just see a director and maybe follow a few actors and never thought a bout producer, there was just stuff you eat and drink and things that was loved by the world and every one had the possibility to hold on tide and felt close.

[@Smithbriart]

The way Sisko say's, "you betrayed your uniform!" to Eddington, is how fans are saying to kurtzman; "you betrayed your fans!"..."Betrayal; it's the one unforgivable sin, especially when committed by someone you trusted, implicitly."

[@EleaticStranger]

well said

[@hoodoowilliams5187]

Admittedly I never trusted Kurtzmen.

[@tompille7456]

i prefered to look a jacia dex and her wonderful freckles, what a woman.

[@sunsetinbold]

The problem with star trek is much deeper then just repurposing a TV series. The values represented in Star Trek aren't with us anymore. Today's society is the antithesis of what star trek was.

[@EmperorCaligula_EC]

The premise alone is so hilarious, almost as if someone were to make a video game about Gollum... oh.. wait... XD

[@aidanlastname0187]

I’m a new Trekkie. I watched through TOS last year and I’m currently going through TNG right now. Love it. I guess I’ll probably be avoiding this one

[@Kiwibirdman1701]

Star Trek died when Enterprise was cancelled, except with Picard Season 3

[@Osoronnophris]

Enterprise was already pretty funky... Everything after that is horrible

[@Dystopianutopiabuilds]

Why not make your own decisions on what you watch?

[@sadras5818]

DS9 is the pinnacle of world building ST

[@aidanlastname0187]

@ I’ve heard great things about DS9. I’ll be watching it once I’m done with TNG

[@Emissary355]

JJ Abrams and Alex Kurtzman have succeeded in making the biggest Star Trek fans in the world NOT want to watch any of modern Star Trek. We absolutely despise it.

[@hoodoowilliams5187]

I mean it's not completely bad. Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds have been pretty fun to be honest. Picard season 3 has a stupid plot for the most part but I still love seeing most of the TNG cast back together.

[@Emissary355]

@@hoodoowilliams5187 Seeing the TNG cast back together old and decrepit is not satisfying at all. I would have been happier with Nemesis being the last time we saw them.

[@Osoronnophris]

indeed ....what is hate without love? and so on'? you lose your point of reference when its all the same but yeh - terminal haters belong together dont they? then they can all enjoy themselves together forever, as much as they want its a win/win

[@mewimi]

@@hoodoowilliams5187 SNW is bad too ;p Don't get me started on the Gorn or the super hero drug addict doctors.

[@mewimi]

@@Emissary355 Same... at the very least, it felt more like Trek lol.

[@michaeleaton222]

16:00 This is great. In other words, Meyer cared enough about this subject matter to learn its history and to learn what it was. He did what most serious artists would do, which is to study the genre and this particular manifestation of it (e.g. sci fi as a whole and Star Trek in particular). We do not want the Rian Johnson “this is all about me” approach, which would be fine or desirable with a solo project where you can set the rules. Star Trek is really about an ethos. I agree also with you that the 90s Trek writers knew a lot of stuff: philosophy, psychology, mythology, some world religions, some politics, some naval history, etc. The level of dialogue with the characters (TNG, DS9) and the integration of post scarcity humanism with sci fi “science-y” concepts was on a higher level.

[@stromaufwaerts-b7w]

90s writers understand a lot of mythology while today writers only copypaste 90s pop culture without ever udnerstanding its roots. Kurtzman never created anything new and iconic, all his series and movies are about stolen storylines from popular IPs.

[@DenkyManner]

She just won the Oscar! She must have be contractually obliged to make this. Probably signed up 5 years ago.

[@bruh_hahaha]

She got paid $12M based on that Oscar “win”. Everybody knows Cate Blanchett was robbed.

[@craigmacdonald7764]

And the 12 million she got payed for it

[@Gopher31]

@@craigmacdonald7764 one actor, one movie. OR the entirety of Godzilla -1….. It’s amazing how bloated this business has become.

[@craigmacdonald7764]

@@Gopher31 I just hope this is the end of kuntzman he knows nothing about star trek he's just a ip hack

[@ChrisMusson-kv8ph]

You mean a bunch of super rich guilt ridden white liberals voted to give her a little trophy for speaking broken English in a movie? F the Oscars. Those awards haven’t been relevant in 10 years at least. Hell they let Will Smith assault Chris Rock and then gave him one.

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

You are totally right, it's fundamentally a total misunderstanding of what Star Trek is, how it works and want its fans want out of it. There appears to have been nobody with any vision for any of that involved. Next is dreadful writing that again has nothing to do with Star Trek and doesn't even attempt to deliver a plotline similar to the classic shows or other movies. Finally the direction is dreadful, amateurish and completely inappropriate. It would have been absolutely possible to do a cool S31 movie or show starring Michelle Yeoh - however it would have had to have a fundamentally different approach and tone. It should have been a quiet, deadly space thriller. Instead we got a garish mess that wants to be some sort of pop action blockbuster...

[@Emissary355]

We don't want Michelle Yeoh.

[@macklee6837]

"And once identified?" "We deal with them" I love that line 😂

[@pauldorman]

It is incomprehensibly awful. A single minute of this abomination will have you feeling overwhelmed with disgust and regret.

[@BigCowProductions]

I felt like Will Smith yelling at Chris Rock when they had the GALL to run Rachel Garrett's name through the mud and used the theme song at the end with that garbage about visiting Tasha Yar's homeworld.

[@ArvelleWhitaker]

Only time modern trek was watchable is when kurtzman doesnt have his paws in it

[@Androsynth75]

The only new Trek I’ve liked has been s3 of Picard (only), SNW and Lower Decks. Last bit of Picard was the TNG swan song we always wanted, SNW feels like the original show mixed with modern effects and a real creative streak that allows things to get weird again, and Lower Decks is like a bunch of trekkies got together and made a show riffing off everything we love. It’s not an accident that those three were all letting ‘trek be trek’ while still doing something new. Everything else has been garbage because it wasn’t trek at its core.

[@GH-ub7qz]

SNW...lol ..Cpt cuck...i mean pike

[@a.e.w.384]

Strange new worlds the musical episode was peak modern ST. It's represents all that is wrong with ST going back to 2005. So glad I left the franchise 10 years ago.

[@inquerion8867]

I didn't like that musical episode at all, but most of SNW is ok so far.

[@amcaesar]

It feels like Paramount's TV division is trolling us.

[@tompille7456]

Or they never cared and just using everything like a diving board, to swim but never win a fucking race anymore, like clumsy teenager, because their parents just left them and they never noticed

[@videostoryanalyses8910]

"Life is Short, Shows are Long", a very nice catch phrase when it comes to watching only great things.

[@MrJoshuaGray]

The thumbnail made me chuckle. Will watch after work. Keep up the amazing work.

[@_Yep_Yep_]

Watching this made me feel like i had dementia

[@brazil-y2y]

If you want to see any prime Michelle Yeoh try these 4 Yes, Madam! (1985) Royal Warriors (1986 Magnificent Warriors (1987) Police Story III Super Cop (1992)

[@alansacks9815]

I don't want to watch prime Michelle Yeoh. Rock bottom Michelle Yeoh has ruined her for me.

[@davedsilva]

@@alansacks9815That’s her fear. She said it.

[@charlesm835]

That thumbnail made me burst out in laughter. Nice one there 😂

[@SIRIishly]

The 4th Season of Enterprise is good, but the third is my favorite. It's one long arc sort of like a season long Year of Hell. It continues from the finale of the previous season, coincidentally called "The Expanse". So I would begin with that and then binge the 3rd season as one long story. Then the 4th season goes back to a more episodic structure, but with many 3 part mini-arcs.

[@benc5963]

Yeah the third season was pretty good too, but I like a number of episodes from its first two seasons as well. I think the series is unfairly maligned by some sections of the fandom.

[@SIRIishly]

@@benc5963 I think it's become more apparent over time, especially in contrast to where we are now. It was no next generation, but no discovery either.

[@nebula0024]

Spot on. This is one I wouldn't even sail the high-seas for. 👎

[@DavidNicholson101]

Enterprise had some great Section 31 stuff with Malcolm Reed.

[@benc5963]

I watched ENT on Blu Ray recently and really liked it, not just the fourth season though the fourth season is its best one by far. And we're apparently getting a fourth season of The Orville so not all hope is lost for good Trek.

[@johanander7785]

A fourth season of The Orville?! Are you kidding? Where did you read about that?

[@benc5963]

@@johanander7785 The official podcast

[@serenityriver2701]

“Worse than rebel moon” damnnnnn

[@firestarter000001]

Thats a hard bar to pass indeed.

[@mattlinkous4356]

Man, why couldn't we have just had Michelle Yeoh as a cool starfleet captain?

[@tompille7456]

why don't we have a movie about a giant, dancing toe, that cuddels with fingers.

[@WileCoyoteMoncure-Smith]

Do you think Ellison will ever fire his friend, Kurtzman?

[@jarredyoung2318]

You've gotta check out Lower Decks and Prodigy. I know they're animated, but the people behind them treated the source material right AND it was entertaining. IMO, Lower Decks has been the best Trek they produced.

[@tompille7456]

its feels kind of weird that stuff, people that look like they could be in star trek but never talk like in startrek!!!

[@awnb95]

Heck it was a writer on I think Lower Decks that said he got into writing because when he went to college & read all the scripts that Jeri Taylor had written that she donated. Plus they got Jolen back by sending her a letter stating their love for her character.

[@Kefka.]

Love Lower Decks, like Strange New Worlds a lot, like Prodigy season 1 (just started s2), Picard S3 is pretty good, and proves that anything can be turn around in a series. Wish Rings of Power would do a similar soft reboot.

[@tompille7456]

@@Kefka. nice to see that once in while , someone likes this stuff. i know so many, that can´t watch that rubbish or would puke again. well if you walk a week through a desert without enough water, even animal feces, could feel like a treat for some :D

[@EtaoinShrdlu33]

The “godsend” “gods end” joke was the real bomb

[@AdrianMendoza23]

Cool. I didn't know you reviewed Picard season 3. Last year I binge watched TNG and afterwards I went right to Picard season 3 before binge watching DS9 & Voyager. I will check out your reviews. Have you seen Babylon 5?

[@wavion2]

I also treat Picard season 3 as TNG season 8. Picard seasons 1 & 2 don't exist, as far as I'm concerned.

[@AdrianMendoza23]

@wavion2 yeah, Picard Season 3 is pretty much Season 8. I loved that they were able to tie up some of the loose ends from TNG.

[@RealBLAlley]

The cracks began with Enterprise, which is when CBS gained full control of Star Trek. The show was still decent, but could have been so much more than repeating the formula of jumping on a ship and running into bad guys for the conflict of the week. Even Voyager found a way to make that formula feel fresh (except for Threshold). Getting to see the formation of Star Fleet and the UFP would have been fascinating, as would the further development of warp drive. Instead of ret-conning the first starship named Enterprise and making it a flattened Constitution Class, it would have been really interesting to follow two competing ideas between Zefram Cochrane's nacelle design vs the ring design of the XCV-330. They could have had Henry Archer break away from Cochrane and develop the ring ship named "Enterprise", only to fail to make it work for more than short jumps within the solar system. Even so, it inspires Cochrane to solve some of his own problems by seeing what not to do. That alone would have provided a season of drama and new Star Trek lore that doesn't contradict what came before. Then after Chocran's design proves viable on a larger scale they build a new prototype like the NX-01, name it the "Osiris" (in keeping with the "Phoenix"), and as a gesture of good faith they name Henry's son Jonathan as Captain of the new ship. Then spend Season Two exploring, but with more of a sense of awe. It also would have been nice to not make the Vulcans assoles. Star Trek 2009 is a typical JJ Abrams hack job, featuring the dumbest villain in cinema while throwing in cheap fan service neither him nor his band of creatively bankrupt "writers" actually understood. It's obvious none of of them understood the Kobayashi Maru test, and worse, they based their version on the line "He cheated" from TWOK. One problem with that, it was David who accused Kirk of cheating, to which Kirk replied "I changed the conditions of the test". He even tells David he received a commendation for his ingenuity, yet JJ decided to stick with "He cheated" and turn Kirk into an asshole who uses people for his own gain. That's not in anyway indicative of the character of James T Kirk. Even James R Kirk wouldn't have done that. The real reason JJ gave Star Trek a Cleveland steamer is the same reason he did so with Star Wars. All he cares about is ass-kissing his way into popular franchises so he can get a paycheck and a piece of the merchandising. That's why his work on both is completely derivative, rehashing previous ideas so he can use the same characters or archetypes as well as the same aesthetic, but tweaking them just enough to require new models, figures, comics, and t-shirts. Every bit of Star Trek from 2009 forward is a lazy rehash of what was already done, except with no understanding of what Star Trek is and what it represents. Prior to 2009 Star Trek always showed us what we could be. After 2009 it only shows us who we are. It's not even good science fiction because there isn't a shred of science in it, nor is it even good storytelling. Then there is the lazy tokenism rather than the true representation that had always existed in Star Trek. They were so busy patting themselves on the back for featuring the first Black female lead in a Star Trek show that they forgot to make that character engaging to watch. Instead they made her an asshole space Jesus and reinforced that by making every other crew member an incompetent moron, including the Captain. Then they had to throw in gore and "colorful metaphors" to make it "edgy" and "cool", except it's just dumb. -END RANT-

[@davedsilva]

Excellent comment

[@minhja4924]

Yeh cythia rothrock kicks ass . Those are amazing movies the Jackie chan era. Yoeh is not a martial artist. her background i dancing or maybe gymnastic. Her era is gone. She wasn’t among the best. 😂😂😂

[@brazil-y2y]

Haha yep Cynthia is a beast. You need to hear about how she damaged her knee ligament and was still carrying on. Have you seen her on her youtube channel? she's in her 60s but looks like she's in her 40s

[@minhja4924]

@ yeh I have seen here but not her KZbin channel. Thanks will check that out . omg she still look amazing.

[@YnotNomis]

I told people this would be the slippery slope that Star Trek would be on as soon as I saw J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek 90210" movie. And I personal loved all the seasons of 'Enterprise", but yeah, the 4th season is special.

[@awnb95]

4th season of ENT ruled except for that crap finale.

[@ziggy8253]

I am at a Star Trek convention this weekend!

[@MaxxJagX]

I agree, when something tries to be something or a mashup of something else it usually fails at doing anything good. Either for new fans or old ones. Nothing wrong with bringing new ideas, but new ideas still need to come from knowing the original subject matter. How often can you count when someone says "I've never read the books, or seen the movies or played the game" does this new thing become good. Pretty sure that can be counted on one hand, though likely less than that.

[@user-br6cu5jm1q]

Section 31 is a side story to explore Emperor Georgou. It is an indulgence into a particular character. When seen like that it's fairly fun.

[@jimcirile]

Well done, James! Hear, hear. Gonna watch Yes, Madam. Thanks for the tip.

[@metall-hahn6202]

I would disagree only in one point, that is the infinite praise of Picard S3. As great as most of the season feels (esp. compared to modern Star Trek in general), the conclusion of the whole big conspiracy arc is storywise not very satisfying to me, unfortunately. Still i agree Terry Matalas should get the opportunity to creatively oversee a coming Star Trek project. At least he knows what this franchise is all about... and literally everything is better than current Kurtzman Trek.

[@wavion2]

DS9 was my favorite Trek, and Section 31 was a great recurring subplot. This is an abomination.

[@wavion2]

Also, as you mentioned in the video, the last season of "Enterprise" IS really good! But, I would strongly suggest not watching the last episode. I still get mad just thinking about it. Just treat the two-parter "Demons" + "Terra Prime" as the series finale.

[@johnortiz1964]

What is that poster ??? It looks like a S&M adult movie 🤔🤔 ...yes Mistress 🤣

[@kuribayashi84]

To make a general comment about _Enterprise:_ The first two season are largely something I like to describe as "Star Trek Comfort Food". Rather safe and nothing extraordinary, but still solid entertainment and alright Trek, occasionally intercut by genuinely good episodes (like 'Shockwave') and a few stinkers ('Night at Sickbay', for example). The Series picked up the pace with its Season-long Story-Arc in Season 3, which is not without its detractors but which I personally really, really like. And then it finally found its stride with the, in my opinion, almost consistently great Season 4 (almost, because I'm not a fan of the two-parter at the Start). Manny Coto became the Showrunner at that point and he was supported by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens to keep track of lore & continunity and it finally felt like the Series it was supposed to be at the start. There is a Vulcan-centered three-parter I *love.* The last Episode of the Season sucks, though, and I prefer treating it as non-canon (heck, the Novels basically retconned it later). Its honestly sad how _Enterprise_ was cancelled just as it had found its path

[@BritishRedCoat2025]

"It's been a while since we talked about Star Trek, and we won't be talking about it today. We're talking about Section 31." Nothing wrong with most modern Star Trek - but when it takes a poop, damn does that poop stink.

[@fiktivhistoriker345]

What i don't get is that they made so much effort to show us Georgiou as evil, then showed her serving the federation. It's like The Acolyte, show vs. tell. Why not making her the villain in the end? It was her plan to invade the federation, and section 31 lured her in a trap by pretending they need her. The circle would have been closed.

[@ImNotHereEither]

The singular move Paramount can take to commercially and creatively recover is to ensure Kurtzman never goes near this franchise again. He has been a cancer eating away at everything the name Star Trek stands for. With Matalas showing us exactly what CAN be achieved with new and existing characters the path is obvious. Green light Legacy now. It’s the only route to redemption and any sense of profitability, both financially and spiritually as a franchise.

[@jokerz7936]

Also in the original DS9 episodes and ENT Section 31 is treated like a cabal a secret society with members who have high positions of Power in Starfleet and who use the Section 31 clause in the Starfleet Charter to justify their actions. Kurtzman treats it like it's the CIA an organization with Headquarters and official officers.

[@JayQuest69]

I just got Criterions Once Upon a Time in China with Jet Li today lol Some of the best fight scenes you'll ever see and a feast for the eyes. Highly recommend and I'm definitely going to check out Yes Madam. That one got passed me somehow.

[@nevskislake]

"Life is short, and shows are long." This is why I don't waste time with shows either. New shows get three episodes to make me a fan, just because I know that the first one or two episodes might be set-up episodes. I hate when folks say, "Well, you have got to give this show 5 episodes. That's when the good stuff starts happening." Nope. Anyway, thank you for suffering through this one for us, James. I like Strange New Worlds, though the Kirk thing admittedly is a real turnoff. I am on board for Ethan Peck's Spock, but Kirk is an abomination. I know others will think that is silly, but that's just my thoughts. I also really enjoy Lower Decks. I hate Discovery with a fiery passion. Star Trek is an ensemble show, but Discovery is all about the boring Mary Sue-character, Michael Burnham. All of the characters are pure-as-snow goody two shoes. I wish they would have stuck with Jason Isaacs' character. I love a good morally grey character with his own agenda, and it would have been fun to see him challenge Burnham with moral quandaries the way that Q liked to spar with Picard.

[@HippeusOmega]

I can't recommend Season 3 and 4 of Enterprise enough. Season 3 dealt with the Xindi threat and made the crew do questionable things. In some ways i think what Voyager should've been. Then season 04 was where it really found its footing despite the budget cuts and studio interference.

[@jdsantibanez]

I recently watched "The Return" starring Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as Penélope. It was ok, but not great. I have seen so many versions. I hope Nolan's is really great

[@PaulChristianJenkinsJD]

It's funny how a lot of us were critical of Rick Berman, i.e. too old, no new ideas, etc. However, he produced over 700 episodes of Star Trek, and it was pretty good looking back.

[@davedsilva]

11:33 He should have never done this. He could have ordered the guy and girl to kiss in the name of Star Trek and start a new world order. Now that would have been epic. He had an opportunity to put together a team to create Star Trek tech but never had the confidence. I don’t know why.

[@inkognito1534]

I watched it yesterday... a mix of Disco Star Wars Trek (with fewer tears), the inappropriate humor of the recent MCU, heist movie set pieces and Hunger Games flashbacks... if it wasn't for the occasional Starfleet or Federation namedropping, it could be set in any other sci-fi universe. It never felt like Star Trek. What annoys me most is that Lower Deck was canceled so that we could get something like this now...

[@topgundoc01]

I'm old enough to have known Gene Roddenberry's original vision of the future. I totally agree that Star Trek should not be Star Wars, or Star Dystopia, or Star Darkness, or Star Conspiracy, of Star Mayhem. Episodes such as The Inner Light are worth more to me than all the special effects of all the series put together. Touching scenes between characters and tough provoking scenes are what Star Trek is all about. Paradoxically, I believe that an essentially anarchic and violent Section 31 is the greatest threat to the Federation's ideals.

[@ChrisS-no3ft]

Comment about Picard S3: When it came out, I thought it was fantastic….at the time. Now its sat and marinated. Its not as good as it should have been. It still didn’t feel TNG-like, even though everyone was in it. The dark esthetic was still there, the dark lighting etc. And I want them to bring back that brighter esthetic and lighting. I know what Terry Matalas was trying to do. Find a happy medium. I think Kurtzman was butthurt because fans thought it so much better than what he did. But since the bar was so low at the time, we were STARVING for something try Trek-ish. And thought it was outstanding. It still felt a little mirror universe to me. Again, the 2 biggest problems I have right now are the genuine character-driven writing with a hopeful tone, and a brighter lighting esthetic to complement. They need to use TNG as a template and go back to what works, with a virtually unknown crew exploring in a new ship after Nemesis.

[@Kefka.]

Have you watched Lower Decks or the The Orville?

[@microcomic]

the whole reason for the Doomsday Machine episode was..they were out of money..and that will always be my favorite

[@galaxya51-us4ir]

Mate, when you talk about the good movies and scenes of the past, is the best part of these reviews. Cheers.

[@WilliamNeish]

Dude your reviews rock!

[@cloudtx]

Thanks for that martial arts movie recommendation James! I've been looking for another classic martial arts banger and I think I might have found it!

[@brazil-y2y]

May I suggest Ong Bak. It's not gonna win you on story, acting production values BUT OMG if love the action it's a treat. As a martial arts fan I was literally saying wow as I watched every few minutes

[@cloudtx]

@@brazil-y2y I have seen Ong Bak actually! It was a fun ride but my favorite Tony Jaa movie has to be SPL 2: A time for Consequences (AKA: Kill Zone 2). That final fight in the penthouse was mind blowing!

[@Xayjohns]

I'm not a die-hard Star Trek fan, and I did like the 2009 movie. But when JJ Abrams made that, I remember him saying during an interview that growing up, he always thought that Star Wars was like "rock and roll" and Star Trek was like "classical music". Basically showing how his mind works. So I'm sorry for the diehard Trek fans.

[@apocalypsetedium]

Good video! Just mentioned Yes, Madam in my review! Love the stuff Michelle Yeoh did in her early career. And well said -- just let Star Trek be Star Trek. It's the concepts and writing that stood out. This splashy Ocean's 11 junk is devoid of any trace of Star Trek.

[@pauld6967]

@geekinwithJamesHancock Your comment at 4:10 and on remind me, a Cold Warrior, of how the film _'The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'_ is fantastic but a quote-unquote modern audience would find the pacing slow and they likely just wouldn't grasp the meaning or enjoy how reality-based it is.

[@AndréVilaFranca]

Dear God, James you are a martyr. It's impossible for someone to watch this s*** and survive unscathed. xD On a better note, we have Cobra Kai series finale in a couple of days and Daredevil in March, let us hope those are good. And if I may, here goes another manga recommendation: BLAME! by Tsutomu Nihei. An amazing hardcore sci-fi with tremendous atmosphere and creativity. If you give it a chance I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. Keep up the great work.

[@Bern1808]

Everything Kurtzman has been involved wth should be decanonized. S31 was awful . Awful Star Trek, awful anything.

[@krissyfiction8301]

I actually enjoy Strange New Worlds, and was excited when this movie was first announced. I'm a Star Trek fan and will likely still watch this... but my expectations are set realistically low. Le sigh.

[@drdave300]

Set that bar REAL low.

[@Kefka.]

I also enjoy Strange New Worlds, I would prefer more generic/technical/professional dialog instead of so much modern slang and colloquialism. I like Prodigy (currently on s2) .

[@ronsandahl274]

Both Star Trek and Star Wars have had a serious "Corporate" problem. The owners of both of these franchises have decided to have corporate executives rather than actual Star Trek fans run the show. With Star Trek Discovery this took the face of Les Moonvez trying to get all of the Star Trek out of Star Trek, and in fact fired several fans who were working on it when they pointed out the problems.These corporate tools have decided that, rather than using what has happened before in Star Trek to get fans excited, they want to get all the non-Trek fans as audience and as always it fails spectacularly. Just like with Star Wars, if you aren't making this for the fans who are responsible for this being a billion dollar franchise, who is going to watch it.

[@pc99991]

It’s insane that kurtzman won’t be fired . They just need to kill it all at this point and only revive it when they have people on board who respect the franchise. look what Seth Mcfarlane did with the orville. That show is closer to star trek

[@oliskeith7962]

The author of the video Nails It. DS9 had limited budgets and was able to do great story telling. And if you think of it as a two part episode it wasn’t as bad. It felt episodic not like a movie

[@willowfalls7528]

I'll help you out a bit with this one: if you look at the classic Star Trek shows, (The Original Series through Enterprise), you'll see the Mona Lisa; if you look at the new Star Trek shows, (Discovery and the rest, (save for Picard Season Three perhaps)... it's that piece of poster board with a banana taped to it.

[@jamesrochester2459]

I really want to watch whatever version of Picard season 3 you did.

[@drawnhere]

Attached themselves like ticks... Exactly 💯

[@pchow6829]

I think it started out well with the Michelle Yeoh character's flashback to her earlier time with her family. Then the movie went downhill quickly.

[@DrDetfink]

The Kurtzman legacy will be mistaking deconstruction for destruction of a franchise.

[@MovieLateNight]

ENTERPIRSE Shocked me in 2001. I was 16 and I WAS PUMPED new trek was on again. I watched the OPENING THEME I turned it off.... BUT.... 1 year later I saw an episode in season 2. I said wait...this is pretty good. I bought the DVD set for season 1. BINGED and its MY 2nd Favorite trek ever . Crrazy. Weird theme that I KNOW LOVE by the way. the theme killed that show for so many lol. I love ENTERPRISE Its like TNG and Tos LITE. I missed DS9 only saw it sometimes thought it was too dark and boring THEN we finally watched it last year. AMAZING TNG is my favorite of all trek and TOS movies but yeah. WATCH Enterprise most think half of it is BLAH but there are at least 10 to 15 Really good episodes

[@Jay828__]

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was the finale of Yeoh's martial arts films. She's been weirdly unlikeable in the past decade.

[@brazil-y2y]

Being a martial arts fan I just checked her movie list. While CTHD is good I'd say peak Yeoh ended with her in Supercop 3 along side Jackie Chan. I'm not a fan of "wire fu" which she did after that on the most part.

[@Jay828__]

@brazil-y2y of course PS3 was peak Yeoh, I find CTHD a good Yeoh finale. A wuxia great film. No need to waste time on Silver Hawk

[@LEONBARBER1]

Heartbreaking what they’ve done to Star Trek. Put Terry Matalas in charge of the franchise. At least we’ve got the Berman era to fall back on.

[@theraven6836]

Copying other work is easy; throwing money at a problem is easy and quantifiable; good writing? That takes actual work and talent from people who are actually invested in the franchise’s lore and canon. Sadly and as we have seen w TLOTR, The Wheel of Time, Star Wars, it’s easier to throw money at a mediocre product designed and written by committee than it is to find someone with a good vision and with excellent writing skills.

[@cjlaity1]

From what I can understand, Yes Madam is streaming on Prime under the name In The Line of Duty II The Super Cops

[@brazil-y2y]

In The Line of Duty 2 was the UK DVD name

[@cjlaity1]

@@brazil-y2y -- Prime has a copy called Yes Madam that you have to pay to rent but also a free copy under that other title, it seems.

[@DeanHarris-q6g]

Hard to believe Star Trek characters could joke and actually laugh at the end of the movie about the deaths of millions she caused as emperor. She shuts the door to the place where she killed on a genocidal scale and everything is ok now, right? She feels a "little bit" bad about killing her family and inflicting a lifetime of abuse on her first love, so she's ok now and can be a hero if she joins the crew.

[@deaddropholiday]

They don't want thinking cinema and television because they don't want thinking people. It's that simple.

[@titusvarughese5071]

My Favorite TNG episode is Drumhead. My favorite DS9 episode Pale moonlight. Voyager favorite episode Nemesis. What are your favorite episodes James?

[@wavion2]

@@titusvarughese5071 Obviously not James, but wanted to add my two cents. I agree., "The pale moonlight" is the best DS9 episode. For TNG, I would say "the inner light," followed by "the best of both worlds" and "all good things." TOS must be " The city on the edge of forever." For VOY I like "message in a bottle," and "demons" + "terra prime" for ENT.

[@brianstraight9308]

How is the MU a concept they're dealing with when this is pre-Kirk?

[@Calinks]

There has been some good Star Trek in recent years, Lower Decks (even though its a goofy comedy), Picard Season 3, and Strange New Worlds are pretty good. This was abysmal. I really hope they bring in more writers who know what Star Trek is about and bring them in. Mike McMahon truly understands Star Trek the best IMO but Terry Matalas did a great job as well.

[@RohanPascall]

In "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" an Section 31 ep from DS9, is more impactful than the Section 31 movie

[@jasone8014]

If you are going to watch enterprise, I wouldn't recommend jumping to season 4. Definitely should start from the beginning

[@Alazoom76]

I don't understand this willingness from the producers to distant themselves from the source material. The handbook is right there with the TOS. I genuinely don't get it.

[@mikedignum1868]

Yeoh laughing all the way to the bank. Set your phasers to shun.

[@alansacks9815]

I like turkey. Turkey gets a bad name because it is easy to over cook and dry out. If you know what you are doing, one can make a good turkey. The key is to never use the pop up. Its really a liability issue. The pop up pops up when the turkey has reached above the safe temperature. However, its set it a way that when it pops up, the turkey is overcooked. No one is ever going to get sued for a dryed out turkey, so they air on the side of it being overcooked. The pop up does it job, which is to make sure no one gets sick and sues them.

[@justinhenry4102]

My lord I co-sign this whole review. Well done

[@kdkseven]

They've ruined it all... Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Pixar... all ruined.

[@teresaluz975]

Star Trek 2009, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond are my jam. I love the Kelvin timeline. I can always rewatch them and rewatch the original series.

[@metall-hahn6202]

Kelvin movies have already been no true Star Trek sorry!

[@wavion2]

I've been a Trek fan since the 80's, and honestly I quite enjoyed Star Trek 2009. I didn't think Into Darkness and Beyond were as good, but I don't think they were as bad as people act like they are. They're better than "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" and "Star Trek: Nemesis."

[@yammt3148]

There is only one villain in this story... And it is Alex Kurtzman. Always was. I'm not gonna blame the talented set workers, camera people and hell, even the actors who warned us... What a joke.

[@grumpyoldwizard]

Pickard season three showed us "they" can make good Star Trek. I don't know if that's a positive or not.

[@shimtest]

I think Ellison will flip the table because there's a need to make a profit

[@moxow]

I disagree about Nolan's upcoming Odyssey - it's gonna be complete utter hipster GARBAGE. It will be jumping back n forth in time, completely incomprehensible narrative flow, dialogue buried under thunderous music etc. Nolan and Kurtzman are both equal hacks. 😂

[@audaciousjones]

Kurtzman could never create anything as great as batman begins, dark knight, inception, interstellar and oppenheimer

[@moxow]

@@audaciousjones Each to their own. I can't STAND Nolan - he's an overrated POS! Complete utter garbage! Fuckin' hipster... I've heard it said before, that Nolan fanboys aren't "into movies", they are only into HIS movies. Lol. I love sci-fi and "Interstellar" was (for me) utter nonsense. But hey, if you dig his movies, I'm not gonna judge... each to their own.