Who could have guessed that J.J. Abrams’ eagerly anticipated Star Trek follow up, Star Trek Into Darkness would eventually cause such hostility? We’ll get to all of the simmering anxiety over Abrams’ Mystery Box-plagued production in a bit, but yet another person intimately involved with the sequel has lashed out as the movie reaches DVD and Blu-ray.
STID co-screenwriter Bob Orci is the latest to lash out at a critic who dared to question the integrity of Abrams’ sequel. In the comments section of an article posted to TrekMovie, Orci lashed out in defense of his effort. To his credit, the column is titled, Star Trek Is Broken: Here Are Ideas On How to Fix It. Pretentious. And Orci called the author on the carpet.
I think the article above is akin to a child acting out against his parents. Makes it tough for some to listen, but since I am a loving parent, I read these comments without anger or resentment, no matter how misguided. Having said that, two biggest Star Treks in a row hard for me to listen to what might otherwise be decent notions to pursue in the future. As I love to say, there is a reason why I get to write the movies, and you don’t. Respect all opinions, always, nonetheless.
That could have been the end of it. It wasn’t.
Orci continued. After a commenter mentioned that STID was inferior to Indiana Jones (which kind of goes without saying), the screenwriter huffed:
Shitty Dodge. STID has infinitely more social commentary than Raiders in every Universe, and I say that with Harrison Ford being a friend. You lose credibility big time when you don’t honestly engage with the FUCKING WRITER OF THE MOVIE ASKING YOU AN HONEST QUESTION. You prove the cliche of shitty fans. And rude in the process. So, as Simon Pegg would say: FUCK OFF!
Orci is referencing Pegg telling HuffPo that disgruntled Trek fans to basically shut the hell up. But the “voices” who have problems with STID are getting louder. I mean, even the Juggalos hate it.
And fans at a recent Star Trek convention voted it the worst feature film in the entire series. That’s harsh … and not accurate. But STID has become an easy punching bag.
Of course, according to NerdApproved, Orci later apologized to a few fans on Twitter … though his account is suspiciously down this morning. I don’t expect this war of words to end anytime soon with the movie on DVD now. Also, Orci and Alex Kurtzman have been tapped to write Star Trek 3, so there’s that. Join the debate. Was Orci right? Should he engage with fans? Is Into Darkness the worst Trek is history? Weigh in below.
