Moore: No Deep Space Nine Regrets
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Star Trek Writer/Producer Ronald D. Moore participated in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session and spoke about his time working on Star Trek and on Trek’s future.
Topics included how he got into writing for Trek, Deep Space Nine, Dukat, Q, favorite memories from his time on The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Generations‘ Soran.
A Reddit poster wondered if Moore regretted the direction in which they took Dukat. “After Sacrifice of Angels his character seems to become a cartoonish super-villain rather than a complicated villain,” said the poster, ServerofJustice. “I don’t think I’m alone in feeling unsatisfied with how his story played out. I’m not a writer but it seems as though Damar’s redemption was a plot that could have been perfectly laid out for Dukat instead.”
Moore disagreed, saying that “we were all pleased with where we took Dukat; it felt like it was organic based on where the character began, who he was in the past and in the present, so I don’t think we have any regrets.”
Who was the most challenging Trek character for Moore to write? “It’s tricky to write for Q in Star Trek because he was an omnipotent being with complete control of the universe, and figuring out how to make him ‘Human’ was a bit of a challenge,” said Moore. “On BSG, I always particular enjoyed writing for Baltar, I thought he was the most human character in the entire series.”
Moore didn’t have one favorite memory from The Next Generation, but several. “[It’s
hard to pin it down to one particular moment,” he said. “Off the top of my head; meeting Stephen Hawking, seeing my first episode being shot, watching the last episode get shot, and getting to walk the corridors of the Enterprise anytime I felt like it.”
For the role of Soran, a famous actor was originally considered for the role instead of Malcolm McDowell. “There was an interesting moment in time where Paramount actually pitched us the idea of having Marlon Brando play Soran in Generations,” said Moore. “None of us knew what to make of that idea, but we were more than willing to give it a shot, but it never went anywhere.”
To read the entire AMA session, head to the link located here.
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If he was tempered with a more lighthearted producer, Moore could be the perfect guy to run Star Trek. My only fear is he turns it into BSG, but maybe he wouldn’t?
Marlon Brando as Soran would’ve been surreal, but he’s infamous for forgetting lines. He would probably drive the other actors nuts, especially in a TNG film where technobabble is far more common than in TOS or JJTrek movies.
> Paramount actually pitched us the idea of having Marlon Brando play Soran
Kinda makes it obvious the studio was more concerned about wanting the big name actor, no matter how miscast, to attract the masses, rather than telling a good Star Trek story.
Besides, it’s not like Malcolm McDowell wasn’t already a well-established actor at that time. In the end, he still couldn’t save the movie (nobody could, really, with that script).
> My only fear is he turns it into BSG, but maybe he wouldn’t?
I don’t see how that would be a bad thing. DS9 was already the closest thing in the ST universe, in terms of tone, to BSG.
I do. DS9 pushed the limits, but it still held on to some kind of Star Trek-ness. A Star Trek that was exactly like BSG wouldn’t be Star Trek anymore however, it would be BSG. If you want BSG, then watch BSG and leave Star Trek alone! Not interested!
I wish somebody would’ve said that to JJ Abrams in 2009.
It doesn’t have to be one or the other. A good writer would know how to balance the best of both series and create something fresh, while staying true to the spirit of Star Trek. Ron D. Moore is that kind of writer.
A new Star Trek series still needs to be true Star Trek, but it also has to evolve away from the episodic bumpy-headed alien-of-the-week format.
Yeah, I don’t see why some people said DS9 was too dark. Maybe dark for the nineties? It was darker and deeper, but was fundamentally Star Trek, without a doubt, down to its incredible optimism about the human future and its relatively rosy portrait of the Federation.
Yeah, I don’t see why some people said DS9 was too dark. Maybe dark for the nineties? It was darker and deeper, but was fundamentally Star Trek, without a doubt, down to its incredible optimism about the human future and its relatively rosy portrait of the Federation…
He has enough love for the original source material to run with it rather than just use it as a vehicle for his own quite different tastes, a la JJ Abrams and the cesspool of the Abramsverse.
Perfect soundtrack for this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs_Pg-Vc_yQ&list=UUF6R1ZDskjCeBMomUGCtxXw