One thing that has always annoyed me about StarTrek movies and TV shows is how bad the writers try to force SciFi into their scripts. And Romulan Ale is one of the most over used occurences of this.
Last week I decided it was time to get the new blu-ray copies of the StarTrek movies 1 through 10. It came in two box sets which were devided by the crews. I must say that I am very impressed with the quality of the picture, sound, and extras included.
The only thing I hate about the entire set is that some idiot decided it would be a good idea to put the StarTrek XI trailer on the start of every bloody disc. That’s going to be outdated by December this year. Why would I want to watch a stupid trailer for something after it’s finally been released? Now, if they just put it on the first disc, or on the extra disc they included on each box set, I wouldn’t have cared. But on every disc is just annoying.
Why buy the movies again since I have them on DVD? Well, my DVD collection is quite old. For example, my DVD version of StarTrek II is letterboxed on a 4:3 screen. It looks absolutely horrible on a wide screen TV since you now have black bars on all four sides of the picture. And my TV won’t zoom in if displaying a HD picture. And did I say the picture quality is awesome with the blu-ray version?
I also lost my xvid copies of the movies with the hard drive crash of June this year. So instead of tracking down new downloads, it’s just nicer to have the discs.
StarTrek II
Well, back to the Ale.
It’s first mentioned in StarTrek II when Bones brings Kirk a birthday present. They make absolutely sure to mention that it’s illegal to have. Why is it illegal? Is it just political because they hate the Romulans? Is it a super narcotic? Made from the fermented flesh of captured Ferengi? What?
StarTrek VI
Then, again in StarTrek VI. Valeris mentions it might help smooth over the meal between the Enterprise crew and the Klingon Chancelor and friends. Again, I have to say huh??? The drink is still illegial in the Federation as they specifically mention again. The feds hates the Romulans enough to make their only apparent export illegal. The Klingons have always hated the Romulans since they consider them a dishonerable bunch of scum. Yet, somehow, this drink from Romulus is supposed to be a good idea to serve?
I would think this would be the absolute worst offence you could give a Klingon. Can you imagine inviting someone you’re supposed to build a friendship with over to your place for a meal, then purposely pick a food that you know will piss them off?
StarTrek X
It’s the middle of the fight with the huge Reman predator ship when a couple Romulan ships come to help out the beaten Enterprise. The captian offers to buy the Romulan commander a drink when this is all over. She demands that it be Romulan Ale. Do they only have one single brand of alcohol on this entire planet? And you’d think if they did, they would be extremly tired of drinking it.
You’d think she would want something a little different. A scotch, whiskey, even a tequilla. But no, gotta stick to the same old crap cause the writers have no imaginations. I’m sure Picard can hop down to the corner liquor store on Romulus and grab a bottle.
Ale is not the only thing
It’s not just Romulan Ale that the StarTrek writers seem to force into their scripts. They do it all the time with other references. Two humans are talking and then one of them compares an animal to some razor beast on some god knows planet. This just sounds stupid. If two humans are talking, I’m sure they’d just pick a familiar animal from their own experience at home. Like a bear, cougar, tiger, etc. But no, that just doesn’t sound science fictiony enough.
I have nothing against another race using a reference to their own home planet’s creatures; that would be normal for the character they’re playing. I’m just expecting the same of a human.
Oh well, good thing StarGate and BattleStar had better writers.