kirk | the m0vie blog

Star Trek – The Man Trap (Review)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness this month, we’ll be running through the first season of the classic Star Trek all this month. Check back daily to get ready to boldly go. It’s only logical.

It really is amazing how busy the Star Trek universe is. Or, well, how busy it was at one point. Although there are plenty of alien civilisations scattered across the vast gulf space, numerous empires vying for power and glory, the first season of Star Trek seems fixated on the notion that the universe is packed with the relics and ruins of long-dead civilisations. The Man Trap is just one example, as Kirk and his crew investigate an archaeological dig on the planet M-113, decorated with “the ruins of an ancient and long-dead civilisation.” Of course, the civilisation isn’t quite dead, but there’s a definite funereal atmosphere about The Man Trap.

That somewhat grim atmosphere makes the show’s fixation on long-dead worlds somewhat fascinating, given how the series is primarily about mankind’s optimistic future. However, it creates a sense – palpable throughout the first year of Star Trek – that the human race is a relatively new arrival on the scene, but emerging following the collapse and decay of countless ancient civilisations. It’s an old universe, but it’s a new dawn.

Suckers!

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Arsenal of Freedom, Benedict Cumberbatch, chris pine, Conscience of the King, doctor, Enemy Within, enterprise, james t. kirk, kirk, Leonard McCoy, Man Trap, McCoy, Redshirt (character), spock, star trek, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, star trek: enterprise, star trek: the original series, Trek, Uhura, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Zachary Quinto | 2 Comments »

Star Trek – The Enemy Within (Review)

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Darren

One thing that I don’t think the original Star Trek gets nearly enough credit for is the quality of the writers that Gene Roddenberry recruited to contribute scripts. Television obviously operated under a different model at the time, but there’s an impressive selection of science-fiction literary giants who contributed scripts to the show. More than that, it’s impressive how many of those stories became truly iconic Star Trek stories.

The Enemy Within is the work of author Richard Matheson, best known for stories like I Am Legend or What Dreams May Come. It’s very much a high-concept science-fiction story, but it’s also notable because it establishes two of what would become the show’s favourite tropes: transporter accidents and evil duplicates. Indeed, the two devices would be reunited in the following season’s Mirror, Mirror. These narrative elements even featured in the last season of Star Trek: Enterprise to air, in episodes like Daedalus and In a Mirror, Darkly.

Perhaps it’s a demonstration of how important these outside writers were to the development of Star Trek as a franchise that Matheson would effectively codify two stock narrative devices that would still be in use four decades later.

Mirror, mirror…

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Alice Eve, Benedict Cumberbatch, chris pine, City of the Edge of Forever, games, gene roddenberry, Grace Lee Whitney, Harlan Ellison, J. J. Abrams, james t. kirk, John Harrison, kirk, Leonard Nimoy, Ray Bradbury, richard matheson, science fiction, Shatner, spock, star trek, Star Trek Games, Star Trek: The Animated Series, star trek: the original series, StarTrek, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Television and Movies, Trekkie, video games, William Shatner, Zachary Quinto | 2 Comments »

Star Trek – Mudd’s Women (Review)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Darren

I think it’s fair to say that Star Trek had some gender issues. I say that as a fan of the show, and as a person with an immense fondness for the ensemble. It’s tempting to write off those sexist moments and decisions as attitudes that were socially acceptable at the time. After all, the sixties are almost half a lifetime away at this point. However, that doesn’t account for the fact that many of the same gender issues plagued Star Trek: The Next Generation in the late eighties, which lost two of its three female leads in its first season, and opened its second year by subjecting the remaining female lead to The Child.

Even disregarding that, though, there comes a point where even the time when a work was produced can’t excuse certain attitudes or approaches. Star Trek doesn’t feature too many strong female characters, relegating recurring female characters like Uhura and Janice Rand to the background. This is dodgy enough, but the show’s problems with gender become a lot more obvious when a show throws sexuality into focus. Mudd’s Women is such a show. It famously introduced one of the few recurring non-crewmember characters, and it plays into the “Star Trek as space western” theme, but it is also very sexist. Very, very sexist.

Mudd-ying the waters…

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Alice Eve, Benedict Cumberbatch, games, gene roddenberry, Harry Mudd, Janice Rand, kirk, Klingon, Leonard McCoy, List of Star Trek characters, List of Star Trek characters (G–M), Mudd, Roddenberry, science fiction, Space Combat, star trek, Star Trek Games, Star Trek Next Generation, Television and Movies, video games, Where No Man Has Gone Before | Leave a comment »

Star Trek – The Corbomite Manoeuvre (Review)

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Darren

Again, The Corbomite Manoeuvre is one of those early episodes of Star Trek that was shuffled around in the broadcast order. Not that there’s too much internal continuity to mess up or anything like that, but it is particularly noticeable when episodes at the start of a television show get shuffled around. The writers are establishing characters and concepts, so it feels strange to watch the first episode written with McCoy after we’ve already seen him established as the ship’s doctor.

(The first episode aired, The Man Trap, centres around McCoy, which makes it strange when the ship suddenly has a different Chief Medical Officer in the Where No Man Has Gone Before.)

Fortunately though, The Corbomite Manoeuvre is the last time that this really becomes a concern, as Star Trek seems to iron out all the difficulties and the nuances on a new television show. Effectively the first regular episode of the show produced after two pilots, a large part of the charm of The Corbomite Manoeuvre is really watching it all come together.

What a dummy…

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Bailey, Corbomite Maneuver, games, james t. kirk, kirk, Leonard McCoy, Lieutenant, Man Trap, Namco Bandai Games, spock, star trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the next generation, star trek: the original series, Starfleet, StarTrek, uhuru, Where No Man Has Gone Before | 7 Comments »

Star Trek – Where No Man Has Gone Before (Review)

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Darren

In a way, there’s a very clear divide between The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before. It’s clearer than the strange new actor sitting in the middle of the Bridge or the fact that Spock is suddenly a lot less casual. In a way, each is perfectly positioned in popular consciousness. The Cage was produced in late 1964, but wouldn’t be shown on television until 1988, after spending years touring the fan circuit. It remains a strange bit of Star Trek history, sitting simultaneously outside any of the five television shows, and simultaneously a completely inexorable part of the franchise’s evolution. It’s where it all began, but not where the first Star Trek began.

In contrast, Where No Man Has Gone Before feels more like the pilot episode of Star Trek. Sure, the fashion changes a bit in the episodes to come, the entire cast has yet to be assembled, but this is recognisably the same ship and the same show as The Corbomite Manoeuvre or The Man Trap. It’s more than the actors filling roles, the consistent characterisation of Spock or the fact that it actually aired on television in September 1966. This is what the next three years of Star Trek will be like. It’s an aesthetic or an approach to storytelling that is markedly different to the way that The Cage tackled many of the same themes and ideas.

While The Cage laid down many of the philosophical underpinnings of the broader Star Trek universe – including the classic show – it is also a lot less physical and visceral than the classic Star Trek. Indeed, The Cage featured the Captain of the Enterprise reasoning with an advanced bunch of god-like aliens, appealing to human virtues. The action sequences felt a bit extraneous. In contrast, Where No Man Has Gone Before sees the Captain of the Enterprise punching a god-like being repeatedly in the face while hitting on the same themes.

I think that’s perhaps the most dynamic difference between not only The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before, but between Star Trek and its spin-offs.

All the old familiar faces…

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Cage, Chess, Christopher Pike, games, James R. Kirk, james t. kirk, kirk, Kobayashi Maru, Leonard McCoy, Mitchell, Paul Fix, Pike, Recreation, Samuel Peeples, spock, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the next generation, star trek: the original series, Sulu, USS Enterprise, Video game, Where No Man Has Gone Before, William Shatner | Leave a comment »

Star Trek – Vulcan’s Glory by D.C. Fontana (Review)

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Darren

We’ll be supplementing our coverage of the episodes with some additional materials – mainly novels and comics and films. This is one such entry.

I’ve never really felt too strongly one way or another about continuity. I never got too upset about Klingon forehead ridges, or the fact that Khan somehow remembered Chekov from an episode that took place before he joined the Enterprise. I’ve always found the use of the term “canon” to describe the shared continuity as more than a little indulgent or absurd. I consider some of the better tie-in novels I have read to be a worthy part of the Star Trek universe, regardless of the fact that they may not fit, or they may contradict what was depicted on-screen. I’ve never been too tightly tied to the notion that something is “important” or “in continuity” among this 700-episode franchise.

Still, I can’t help but feel like there’s something almost legitimate about Vulcan’s Glory. It is a novel from writer D.C. Fontana, who served as script editor and writer on the classic Star Trek show, and is regarded as one of the guiding lights of the franchise. She went on to write for both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Given her importance to the show over its extended history, anything Fontana writes about it is worthy of note. Indeed, Vulcan’s Glory was originally published in 1989 and was reissued in 2006 for the franchise’s fortieth anniversary.

Even to somebody reluctant to consign “importance” or “worthy” to a tie-in based on outside factors, the story of Spock’s first mission on board the Enterprise, written by one of the strongest writers of the original Star Trek and a guiding influence on the franchise, still jumps out as a pretty important book.

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: Christopher Pike, gene roddenberry, gorn, International Astronomical Union, james t. kirk, kirk, Sarek, Scotty, spock, star trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, star trek: the next generation, star trek: the original series, Starfleet, StarTrek, USS Enterprise, vulcan, William Shatner | 2 Comments »

Watch! New Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer!

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Darren

This is a bit of a surprise. Given how secretive JJ Abrams can be about his projects, I really hadn’t expected to see too much more of Star Trek: Into Darkness before the release date, so the new trailer is a bit of a pleasant shock.

That said, it isn’t as if the new trailer gives anything new away. John Harrison is a very bad man with a very sexy evil voice. Kirk is pursuing him. There are explosions, chase sequences and soul-searching. I honestly love that we know relatively little about Into Darkness before it has been released. It seems like we know absolutely everything about other blockbusters, while we can’t even confirm the identity of John Harrison. Which is great. I love speculating. It’s so much more fun than actually knowing.

Anyway, the latest trailer is below. Also, we’ll be doing a bit of a Star Trek geek-athon starting 1st May. I suspect it might be the most intense month of Star Trek fun anywhere on the interwebs. Which is quite a boast, but I wouldn’t make it if I didn’t think I could back it up. Anyway, enjoy!

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Benedict Cumberbatch, chris pine, J. J. Abrams, jj abrams, John Harrison, kirk, star trek, Star Trek Into Darkness | Leave a comment »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 1 (Review)

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and also next year’s release of Star Trek: Into Darkness, I’m taking a look at the recent blu ray release of the first season, episode-by-episode. Check back daily for the latest review.

Well, the video and sound quality on the blu ray are excellent. I feel the need to state that here, first, before I delve into the season as a whole. I jumped on board the recent high-definition re-release of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the work done here by the production team is astounding. As I trawled through every episode from Encounter at Farpoint to The Neutral Zone, I was amazed and impressed at how much care had gone into restoring and renewing the show for high-definition. I can’t imagine how painstaking the work was – re-editing the original film stock, remastering old effects, remixing the sound. The team have made a believer out of me, and I am on board for pretty much any restored Star Trek boxset that CBS sees fit to release. (I can’t wait to see Deep Space Nine updated.)

I think it’s important to acknowledge the work that went into producing a set that looks and sounds fantastic. It made returning to the show a joy, even when I was (frequently) reminded of just how rocky that first season was.

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: Devil in the Dark, Encounter at Farpoint, kirk, Naked Now, Neutral Zone, Next Generation, patrick stewart, picard, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, Star Trek: The Animated Series, star trek: the original series | 10 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – We’ll Always Have Paris (Review)

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Darren

It’s hard to believe that we got this far into the show without a Picard-centred episode. Sure, the original Star Trek was reluctant to probe too deeply into Kirk’s background, but Star Trek: The Next Generation had already demonstrated that it was more willing to probe the histories of characters like Data (Datalore), Worf (Heart of Glory), Yar (Code of Honour and The Naked Now) and Troi (Haven). Star Trek shows, by they nature, tend to gravitate around their leading actor, and Patrick Stewart has been shown to hold the show together through sheer force of will at certain points. However, We’ll Always Have Paris marks the first time we’ve really delved that deeply into the character of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

While we don’t peer nearly deeply enough, it’s fun to base an episode around Patrick Stewart, and time-travel was always a fun story-telling device on The Next Generation.

Picard's love life is solid as a rock...

Love on the rock…

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Filed under: The Next Generation | Tagged: arts, Heart of Glory, Holodeck, jean-luc picard, kirk, Naked Now, Next Generation, patrick stewart, picard, star trek, Star Trek Next Generation, star trek: the original series, Starfleet, William Riker | 3 Comments »

Star Trek: The Next Generation – When the Bough Breaks (Review)

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Darren

When the Bough Breaks and Home Soil are an interesting two episodes of the first season of The Next Generation, if only because they seem to contrast each other so well. I’ve complained before about how the first season of The Next Generation had a great deal of trouble finding its own identity, and When The Bough Breaks feels like a conscious attempt to do a story in the style of the original Star Trek, even if most of the elements are fairly original.

In contrast, Home Soil starts with a premise that owes a considerable debt to a very specific episode of Star Trek, Devil in the Dark, but finds a way to approach it that emphasises the differences between the two shows. You can probably guess which one of the two episodes I preferred, and while When the Bough Breaks is never as bad as it could be (a story focusing on Wesley and other child actors?) it’s not necessarily good, either.