After a five month release delay the new Star Trek movie makes its much anticipated debut. I for one am very much looking forward to it. In fact I will be seeing it tomorrow night. No not at midnight either. Most theaters seem to be playing it starting at around 7pm. I'll be at one of those showings. Midnight showings have never been my thing. I'd rather just wait for the next day to see it. Now 7 or 8pm showings, that is different. And no I can guarantee I will not be dressed in costume. I have never done that and I never will. I don't feel the need to play out some fantasy and dress up as a Starfleet Officer.
Star Trek was originally supposed to debut back in December of 2008. Apparently the suits saw dailies of the filming. They immediately realized this movie had the potential to be a big summer hit. One that could appeal to Trek and non Trek fans alike. I could not agree more. I have friends who never watched Star Trek growing up. Yet they want to see the movie. I even have friends who prefer Star Wars. They too want to see the franchise reboot. With this in mind, the suits decided to push the release date of Star Trek back to the summer months. They figured the movie would make a lot more money with a summer release.
In this situation I have to disagree with the suits. If a movie is good, the release date does not matter. It will still make tons of money. The first four Harry Potter movies were released in November. They have made a fortune for Warner Bros. The same can be said about The Lord of the Rings trilogy. They were released during the winter. We all know how much money they made. In fact I believe releasing Star Trek in the summer will eat into the profits.
The summer months bring out all the big blockbusters. That leaves too much competition among films. In today's climate no one wants to spend money to see three big blockbusters in one month, let alone all summer. People have to pick and choose the films they go to see. Some of the audience that would normally see Star Trek won't spend the money to see it. They may have spent the money to see X-Men: Wolverine. Or they may wait a week to see Angels & Demons. That is money taken from the profits of one movie and deposited into another.
The suits should have kept the original release date in December. Star Trek would have had no big blockbuster competition. If the movie does have that wide appeal the suits think it has, people would have flocked to see it. Filmgoers would have been less likely to spend money on the typical holiday schlock. They would have spent it to see a potentially great movie called Star Trek.
This new movie will be successful. This new movie will make a profit. This new movie sacrificed it's profit margin with a later release date. Let us hope the next Star Trek movie will have a better release date. Come on, don't act surprised. After all, the main actors have been signed on for two more films.
I'll end with this. Reboots seem to be the in thing these days. In about thirty years George Lucas may not be with us anymore. Will we see a Star Wars reboot at that time?
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Star Trek. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Rare Earth
I have to admit. I'm a dork. I'm a nerd. There is just no way around that. No way whatsoever. It's something that over time I have come to embrace. Something that I've finally come to love. Being a nerd I've always been interested in science fiction. Either reading the novels or watching the movies and tv shows. Yes I did grow up a Star Trek Fan. Yes I am looking forward to the new movie.
Seeing all that alien life has led me to the greatest question of all time, are we alone? I will unequivocably say NO. I do not think we are alone. I've come across that so called Rare Earth hypothesis when reading about life on other planets. That has to be the lamest idea I've ever heard. Ok not lame but the most ignorant idea I've ever heard. The Rare Earth people basically say this, our planet is a rarity in this galaxy. There is no way other planets have the necessary conditions to allow life to develop. We are the fortunate planet in this galaxy.
Really? Do they know more about the galaxy than the rest of us? If so, please share this insider information with us. I'm sure NASA would love to see what the Rare Earth people know. Honestly, how much does humanity know about the galaxy? Maybe about 5-10% in our little corner of the Milky Way. We have not sent any human explorers outside of our solar system, let alone outside of our corner. Who are the Rare Earth people to say we are alone? I know just as much about the galaxy as they do.
How much do we know about other planets in our galaxy? So far only 344 exo planets have been discovered. 344. That is it. Let us look at what we know about our galaxy. Let us use the law of averages to do this. There are millions of stars in the Milky Way. Around those millions of stars circle hundreds of thousands of planets. Of those hundreds of thousands of planets perhaps tens of thousands could support some form of life.
I understand I said thousands of planets could support some form of life. But we really do not know anything about this galaxy and the formation of life. We have only our one planet as a template. That is hardly enough to make an educated guess on.
We know something about 344 out of hundreds of thousands of planets. How can someone say we are unique? How can they say we are alone? The conditions on this planet that led to life could be unique to our planet. Other life could arise under different conditions not found on Earth.
As for the God argument. We don't fully understand or comprehend how God works. How are we to make the assumption that He made Earth unique? Perhaps He made life on other planets too. Perhaps He wanted us to grow and learn at our own pace. We know what outside influence can do to a civilization. The Native Americans and Aborigines are but two examples. This could be but one reason why we have not discovered other intelligent civilizations. Our Creator wanted us to develop on our own. He did not want us to meet other civilizations until we are at the right stage in our development. That, I think is an argument for another day. What is the right stage in development? Or maybe another question is, when is the right stage in development? Perhaps we are already there. Perhaps we almost there.
I end with this: until we have explored our galaxy in full, and by explore I mean sending out humans, no one can say that the Rare Earth hypothesis is true. The Rare Earth hypothesis only serves to further our need as humans to feel superior. Heaven help the first non-technologically advanced civilization we encounter.
Seeing all that alien life has led me to the greatest question of all time, are we alone? I will unequivocably say NO. I do not think we are alone. I've come across that so called Rare Earth hypothesis when reading about life on other planets. That has to be the lamest idea I've ever heard. Ok not lame but the most ignorant idea I've ever heard. The Rare Earth people basically say this, our planet is a rarity in this galaxy. There is no way other planets have the necessary conditions to allow life to develop. We are the fortunate planet in this galaxy.
Really? Do they know more about the galaxy than the rest of us? If so, please share this insider information with us. I'm sure NASA would love to see what the Rare Earth people know. Honestly, how much does humanity know about the galaxy? Maybe about 5-10% in our little corner of the Milky Way. We have not sent any human explorers outside of our solar system, let alone outside of our corner. Who are the Rare Earth people to say we are alone? I know just as much about the galaxy as they do.
How much do we know about other planets in our galaxy? So far only 344 exo planets have been discovered. 344. That is it. Let us look at what we know about our galaxy. Let us use the law of averages to do this. There are millions of stars in the Milky Way. Around those millions of stars circle hundreds of thousands of planets. Of those hundreds of thousands of planets perhaps tens of thousands could support some form of life.
I understand I said thousands of planets could support some form of life. But we really do not know anything about this galaxy and the formation of life. We have only our one planet as a template. That is hardly enough to make an educated guess on.
We know something about 344 out of hundreds of thousands of planets. How can someone say we are unique? How can they say we are alone? The conditions on this planet that led to life could be unique to our planet. Other life could arise under different conditions not found on Earth.
As for the God argument. We don't fully understand or comprehend how God works. How are we to make the assumption that He made Earth unique? Perhaps He made life on other planets too. Perhaps He wanted us to grow and learn at our own pace. We know what outside influence can do to a civilization. The Native Americans and Aborigines are but two examples. This could be but one reason why we have not discovered other intelligent civilizations. Our Creator wanted us to develop on our own. He did not want us to meet other civilizations until we are at the right stage in our development. That, I think is an argument for another day. What is the right stage in development? Or maybe another question is, when is the right stage in development? Perhaps we are already there. Perhaps we almost there.
I end with this: until we have explored our galaxy in full, and by explore I mean sending out humans, no one can say that the Rare Earth hypothesis is true. The Rare Earth hypothesis only serves to further our need as humans to feel superior. Heaven help the first non-technologically advanced civilization we encounter.
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