Star Trek: Specter of the Past/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Maybe Dr. Garr isn't a dasterdly and ruthless criminal mastermind after all...
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: Fans have repeatedly praised this movie for the depth of the characters and full, well-developed plot.
  • Ass Pull: The so-called "magneton warhead" they use at the end can come across that way, but this is an allusion to Reyf's order earlier in the movie for Erickson and Ronston to come up with some way to stop Garr by force should it become necessary.
  • Non Sequitur Scene: Some people regard Scene 38 as a prime example.
  • Creator's Pet: Carefully averted with replacement tactical officer Ensign Hargrove. Her moment to shine only comes when the chief tactical officer is off the ship.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: The launch sequence.
    • "Departure stations!"
    • Then when the Fitzgerald reaches Sector 585: "Courage, Number One. Whatever happens now, let us face it with eyes open and heads high. Mr. Parks: take us in. Full impulse power!"
  • Crowning Moment of Funny:
    • "Gaius, if you want to have a literary debate, let's do it over coffee next time. You'll obviously need the extra energy if you want to win!"
    • When the EMH is treating Garrett after the shuttle collision, the "medical scanner" is a deactivated lightsaber.
    • Between Reyf and Thornton:

Reyf: "I should've never had that damned holocommunicator installed."
Admiral Thornton: “What makes you say that?”
Reyf: “Because you’re only half as intimidating on the viewscreen.”

    • Between Ronston and Erickson:

Ronston: "Wow...it's an android! A female!"
Erickson: "Obviously."

    • Erickson and Reyf:

Erickson: "You've just spent eight days chasing down a man so mired in self-pity that he almost destroyed the timeline. You've done the right thing, so don't you dare start pitying yourself."
Reyf: "Permission to speak freely is granted."

    • Scene 50B: Erickson comes to see Ronston in Ten Forward after everything is through, and winks at him. The look on his face, possibly because he realizes he's about to get some, is PRICELESS.
    • And just before that, Reyf's log entry says: "I come away with the realization that while life may not always come with instructions, you can find helpful hints." (as he holds up a padd with the "Frankenstein" book cover on it) "If you know where to look." The smug look on his face is priceless, because he's showing it to Dr. Falwell, with whom he lost a debate over this very story near the beginning of the movie. Turns out, he was right all along.
    • The first scene of Reyf in his quarters has a musical CMOF. Reyf is listening to what sounds like classy piano music—but if you listen closely, you’ll quickly recognize it as a piano version of the theme from King of the Hill.
  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: What ultimately convinces Garr to abandon his sinister plot is his residual feelings of friendship towards Reyf.
    • Reyf's speech just before the ship leaves Deep Space Nine.
    • And just a few frames before that, Reyf looking at the old photo of himself and Garr, set to some truly moving music. It's the first second hint that the two of them have history.
    • In Garr's lab, just after the female android wakes up, she reaches out and touches Reyf's hand, and right about then some soft music starts to play. The look on her face when she looks at Reyf is priceless.
    • "I've been trying to teach that lesson to others, when all this time I was the one who needed to learn it."
    • Then there's this gem from Scene 46B, between Lt. Erickson and Reyf: "All of a sudden you started acting like a captain again. I don't know about anyone else, but personally I'm proud of you for facing him the way you did. And I don't want to see you lose your confidence, not now. Not after everything we've been through."
    • The ultimate CMOH: "Forgive her. And forgive yourself."
    • "Because the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."
    • In the wrap-up "Captain's Log" sequence, when Erickson comes to see Ronston, and winks at him. And you realize she's been toying with him the whole time.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome" Reyf's speech and the departure sequence.
    • "Cosmic Castawaaaaaaaaay"
    • How about the awesome piano rendition of the Voyager theme during the scene in Garr’s office?
    • The blaring tones of the Next Generation theme when the Enterprise-E arrives.
  • Evil Is Cool: Let's face it, where else are you going to find a scary-looking nightmare starship with a blue hull?
    • Or a man who builds replicas of Genomex and the Trans-Dimensional Portal in his secret lair?
  • Fan Dumb: A commentator on Trek Movie.com famously remarked, in response to a fan's statement that they were impressed: "Star Trek Specter...seriously? With the really bad 1990 CGI animation, terrible voice acting and music stolen from Voyager? You were blown away by this? I’d be embarrassed to admit that."
  • Fanon Discontinuity: Many fans regard the film's 38th scene, when Reyf has his "aha" moment, as pure Genre Blindness.
  • Fetish Fuel: The female android is very fit, isn’t she?
    • Fetish Retardant: the aforementioned android’s metallic arm.
    • The photo on Garr's desk of the girl he based the android on definitely qualifies.
  • Genius Bonus: Anyone who knows a lot of Star Trek trivia will love this movie for all its subtle references to the first four Star Trek series (the exception being Star Trek Enterprise, which the creator chose to ignore for some mysterious reason).
    • During Scene 38, anyone who watches The Price is Right regularly will get instantly recognize every single camera shot during both instances of Scenery Porn.
  • Memetic Mutation: Played with; the villain's name is "Braiyon," a mispronunciation of the word "brain."
  • Padding" Scene 42. Just...Scene 42.[context?]
  • Tear Jerker: The scene where the female android regains her memory definitely qualifies, because as soon as she tells Reyf what's going on, you realize maybe Garr isn't such a villainous mastermind after all.
    • The next scene is even more so, because of the song Garr chooses to listen to. Chris Brown's "Forever" definitely tugs on the heartstrings.
    • What about in Garr's guest quarters on the Fitzgerald? The music from Titanic backing the moment when Garr and the female android embrace definitely qualifies.
    • "When we received word that the fleet had been destroyed...I was devestated."
  • Uncanny Valley: The majority of the cast are played by Poser 4 characters...all except one, the mysterious Kristie android, played to perfection by DAZ's Victoria 3. Seeing the comparatively primitive Poser 4 characters alongside the far-more-lifelike Victoria 3 character was somewhat jarring for some viewers.
    • Particularly given that her ponytail prop wouldn't render completely at the settings used to create the other character animations, resulting in what looked like a wire-mesh ponytail...which we can't see through.
    • Poser 4 was released in 1999. The Victoria 3 figure was released in 2002. As of 2018, the most recent versions were Poser 11 and Victoria 8, so modern viewers will think that the Uncanny Valley applies to all the characters - it just applies less so to Kristie.
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: Arguably, the Wolf 359 flashback, which recreates shots from both First Contact and the Deep Space Nine pilot.
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