Unpopular opinions/going against the grain of the conventional wisdom, let's talk about it

[Beelzquill]

I liked Scrappy Doo as a kid and thus nostalgically still like him. I kinda liked that he wasn't a coward and charged the monsters and stuff. I definitely liked him more than that weird inbred cousin of scooby they brought in later(or is it earlier? I saw this stuff on boomerang so it was all reruns).

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I'm a bit confused? That SWII is a good movie? I mean, I have no idea where you're coming from, but it is surely nice put together, visually, as with all the other prequels. What, specifically, do you like about SWII? I mean, I don't really mind the operatic type romance. I think it's cute in SWIII. It's kinda telling to our sad state of society a traditional like couple you see in a fairy tale wind up sneered at.

Yeah it was cute by the third one, but in that case we're talking about a problem with the overall trilogy making Anakin essentially a doe-eyed sap. I think the only difference in 3 was that he was able to comprehend situations a tad more cautiously and collected, and it did make for the interesting almost mexican standoff. Otherwise, how else are you going to get that sap in bed with her other than a cheesy over the top princess-in-a-castle fantasy?

What I liked about II was that it delivered in terms of what I wanted to see in a Star Wars movie. Episode 1 gave just another lightsaber fight but episode 2 gave the Jedi battle. More putting the imagination to the screen than what we got with the first movie.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I liked Scrappy Doo as a kid and thus nostalgically still like him. I kinda liked that he wasn't a coward and charged the monsters and stuff. I definitely liked him more than that weird inbred cousin of scooby they brought in later(or is it earlier? I saw this stuff on boomerang so it was all reruns).

Well considering these monsters were essentially harmless as a bred construct of the show, it was really refreshing to see a character actually trying to do something that makes sense instead of either being terrified and the person everyone wants to see, or investigating it despite being less-signature characters that have ceilings of emotion.

[Hero_Of_Shadows]

+1 to the DnD 4e, Dance of the Dragons and Scrappy Doo opinions

My own controversial opinion is that CGI is not the devil as film "critics" love to circlejerk about.

Movies relying too much on effects to the detriment of the writting is bad, but that is the same whether the effects are CGI or practical.

And CGI isn't easy to do.

[Link8909]

I like Trek movie 5: Spok kills God = Logic disproves God.

I've always liked it too. I have always thought that the row your boat scene is poignant.

I do get where you’re coming from, but I’d like to re-word it, Star Trek has always tried to teach tolerance, not just to other races, but also to their ideas and beliefs, which includes religion and Gods, the best examples I can give are the Deep Space Nine episodes where they were about the Bajoran’s, specifically the episode “In The Hands of the Prophets”, so I personally don’t see Star Trek V as a science vs. religion argument.

However I do see it as the dangers of blind and extreme faith and the necessity of logic and reason, this is very applicable to any aspect of life, blindly following someone, a crowd, or an opinion without looking up the facts, asking questions or just thinking for yourself can be dangerous.

But the movie itself doesn’t discourage faith itself, as Kirk himself has so much faith in his own friends as shown in my favorite scene of the movie:

McCoy: What did you do? You piss me off. Human life is far too precious to risk on crazy stunts. Maybe it didn't cross that macho mind of yours that you should have been killed when you fell off that mountain.
Kirk: It crossed my mind.
McCoy: And?
Kirk: And, as I fell, I knew I wouldn't die.
McCoy: I thought he was the only one who's immortal.
Kirk: It isn't that, Bones. I knew I wouldn't die because the two of you were with me.
Spock: I do not understand.
Kirk: I've always known ...I'll die alone.

I to also like the row your boat scene, its great to see the characters taking a break from galaxy ending threats and just chilling out and being themselves.

[Link8909]

I actually like Picard and Discovery.

Don't get me wrong in both shows, there are certain things I think is either a bad misstep or bad. The ending of Picard is just dumb and technically a no no in story writing.

Picard felt like a season long movie and probably could have if they got away from the Borg cube part of it.

Discovery has its ups and downs.

Same here, however I do personally love the ending of Star Trek Picard myself, Picard inspiring the androids that people will indeed fight for their right to exist by him standing against the Romulan armada even when he's about to die was indeed inspiring, Captain Riker coming in with his own fleet to help Picard is great, Picard’s death and rebirth was heart warming, bringing the “should artificial life be treated the same as organic life?” question throughout the season to a conclusion with “yes it should.” and will no doubt continue to raise questions in Season 2, and of course Picard finally being able to say goodbye to Data and allowing him to die had me misty eyed all the way through.

[Link8909]

Here's a few unpopular opinions I'd like to add, to return to this thread I kickstarted.

SW: TCW was an unnecessary and pointless rehash that was the proto Disney SW.

ST: I think STII is overrated, and while still a grand movie, is a bit inconsistent to TOS, even if recaptured the feel of TOS.

I'm sure a few here will raise their eyebrows, but had to do it.

I can certainly understand why you think Trek 2 is overrated. It has been held up for 30 years as THE Star Trek that all other Star Trek is measured against to the point that Nemesis and Into Darkness outright copied it. Those are some lofty heights.

I would like to add my next potentially unpopular opinion: I like The Final Frontier. I am not saying its a great movie, but compared to many other films both in and out of Trek, I can sit down and enjoy it any night of the week.

While Star Trek V is not my favorite, I can see how others like it, and there are some really good moments and elements to the film that I personally like, I do think Star Trek II is a great movie as well, but I personally think it and other media like it unfortunately have not just been put on a pedestal, but said pedestal is so high it is unattainable by anything that comes after it, and have lead to some unpleasant behaviors in fanbases.

I’ve been binge watching Atop The Fourth Wall, and what Linkara says about how nostalgia can be toxic in his Infinite Crisis review, and the dangers of fan entitlement in his Cassandra Cain retrospect is some of his best stuff, and its sad I still see a lot of this behavior that he points out is wrong in current fandoms, specifically in Star Trek and Star Wars.

While I see a lot of different opinions that still make talking about Star Trek insightful and enjoyable, the click-bait YouTube channels do not help matters by deliberate spreading mis-information about current affairs, but for me, online Star Wars discussions have devolved into tedious, self-entitled ramblings about how everything is terrible now and that every new Star Wars thing is not just the worst thing to happen the Star Wars (for real this time) but is the worst thing to happen ever, all the rage and sadness is completely justified, and that whenever Star Wars is brought up you need to talk about all the things you hate about it, all because the current Star Wars didn’t do what they wanted it to do and wasn’t as good as the original trilogy, which of course it wouldn’t be because they’ve put the original trilogy on a pedestal so high that in their minds anything else that comes after it is bad by comparison.

Sorry that I vented here, I’m ok with people having different opinions, you don’t have to like the stuff I like for us to get along, and it is important to discuss the good and bad elements of any film or show, as long as it is done in a calm and constructive manner, but I have been listening to people go on about the state of Star Wars for the last 6 years (20 if I count the prequels and the special editions), and I personally thing that they are overeating about it, and need to calm down.

[Captain Crimson]

Here's one thing I want to say is possibly a hugely unpopular opinion, but I'm not such a big fan of the Minbari. Nope. I think they have very questionable morals, and while there's a few nice ones, they had basically got away with attempted genocide. Even Delenn never issued a formal apology for her role in this because JMS doesn't wanna ruin his pet ship. And while I'm not so great a fan of the Home Guard I think there's a legitimate beef there that gets too swept away by the main heroes of the show, even those you'd think would admit to the grievances if not where they take it.

Think about it. While the Minbari will forever associate their first contact with the death of a beloved leader whose time would have come anyway we will associate it forever with the near murder of a whole population of people that did not deserve it. And the show makes it a point life is transitory. It is fleeting, temporary. So, had they gone through with it, this would have been testament to their race, something they'd never escape. I know JMS, despite protests to being atheist, wanted to throw in lots of positive religious themes, but honestly, stacking that alongside what the Minbari had done is dubious, at best. Especially since we see how it all played out. The Minbari knew that humans would be required for the Shadow War if they were to honor Valen, and yet they still plan to wipe them out regardless. Out of pride, religious vanity, and rage.

This is honestly one of my last favorite aspects of the show. They'd protest the Centauri bombing the Narn homeworld a few years later, but not one other race steps in on Earth's behalf even after they helped with the Dilgar chaos. I know the point is they're all hypocrites, but it seems badly executed. At least to me.

[clearspira]

Here's one thing I want to say is possibly a hugely unpopular opinion, but I'm not such a big fan of the Minbari. Nope. I think they have very questionable morals, and while there's a few nice ones, they had basically got away with attempted genocide. Even Delenn never issued a formal apology for her role in this because JMS doesn't wanna ruin his pet ship. And while I'm not so great a fan of the Home Guard I think there's a legitimate beef there that gets too swept away by the main heroes of the show, even those you'd think would admit to the grievances if not where they take it.
...

B5 is nothing more than a political commentary under the guise of being a sci-fi show. Did the US ever formally apologise for Vietnam and its many crimes within such as dumping Agent Orange upon innocent people? I bet most don't even realise that there are still deformed babies being born there even today.
And just so I am being fair, did Britain ever formally apologise for the Empire and its many crimes within such as wiping out whole indigenous tribes?
Hell, has ANY country ever formally apologised for a war? Maybe one or two, when forced to do so, but certainly not often.

The fact is we live in a world surrounded by hypocrisy and I would say that is ESPECIALLY true nowadays. At least the Mongols or the Spartans had no pretences - they wanted your shit and they were coming to get it. But in the modern world we like to preach tolerance, democracy, understanding, compassion, equal rights - all while sending our troops into foreign countries for its oil and not apologising whenever a stray bomb hits a school.

The Minbari are us in many ways. And when that story got old, JMS switched to subjects such as populism and fascism which is still a timeless subject sadly.

[Captain Crimson]

Here's one thing I want to say is possibly a hugely unpopular opinion, but I'm not such a big fan of the Minbari. Nope. I think they have very questionable morals, and while there's a few nice ones, they had basically got away with attempted genocide. Even Delenn never issued a formal apology for her role in this because JMS doesn't wanna ruin his pet ship. And while I'm not so great a fan of the Home Guard I think there's a legitimate beef there that gets too swept away by the main heroes of the show, even those you'd think would admit to the grievances if not where they take it.
...

B5 is nothing more than a political commentary under the guise of being a sci-fi show. Did the US ever formally apologise for Vietnam and its many crimes within such as dumping Agent Orange upon innocent people? I bet most don't even realise that there are still deformed babies being born there even today.
And just so I am being fair, did Britain ever formally apologise for the Empire and its many crimes within such as wiping out whole indigenous tribes?
Hell, has ANY country ever formally apologised for a war? Maybe one or two, when forced to do so, but certainly not often.

The fact is we live in a world surrounded by hypocrisy and I would say that is ESPECIALLY true nowadays. At least the Mongols or the Spartans had no pretences - they wanted your shit and they were coming to get it. But in the modern world we like to preach tolerance, democracy, understanding, compassion, equal rights - all while sending our troops into foreign countries for its oil and not apologising whenever a stray bomb hits a school.

The Minbari are us in many ways. And when that story got old, JMS switched to subjects such as populism and fascism which is still a timeless subject sadly.

It's not just the issues about that. There's a lot of potential here to talk thematic resonance about the blind side of religious dogmatism, but JMS just can't ever seem to give up with treating his pet species favorably. For somebody who is an atheist, he sure makes religion seem positive in his stories. And I'm not even anti-religion, but beginning a genocidal holy war over a proven mistake needs to have some kind of talk about the downfalls of religion, of which this crusader's mindset qualifies. Not like the monks we later see, who are overall nice guys. And this story came after those.