ANCC: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

They’re back!  After a brief hiatus, the Gorehound and Nick are ready to talk about movies again!  This week, they delve deep into the Star Trek franchise and wind up talking about the infamous Star Trek V: The Final Frontier!  Will they discover what God needs with a starship?  Listen to the episode to find out!

To listen to the episode, click here or on the image!

Trek Tuesday: The Cage

For the past few weeks, I’ve been looking at the various Star Trek pilot episodes.  Eagle-eyed readers of this feature might have noticed that I jaw-droppingly left out the very first Star Trek pilot, titled “The Cage”.  No, faithful readers.  I didn’t forget.  I intentionally left to be the final pilot featured.

“The Cage” has an interesting history to it.  The episode, filmed in 1964, featured a largely different cast (with the exception of Leonard Nimoy), style, and tone that what the original Star Trek series would become.  It was slower paced, had little actor, and was deemed “too cerebral” by NBC executives at the time.  It also had many of the hallmarks of Star Trek such as a multi-ethnic crew, slightly high-brow storytelling, and strong, leading roles for women.

The Talosians look on.

“The Cage” was not well-received by the executives, but, in a shocking move, they ordered a second pilot (with some marching orders on adjustments and changes).  Apparently, NBC liked the concept enough to do this unprecedented move.  This, of course, eventually led to the creation of “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, and “The Cage” was lost to obscurity until the late 1980s and the rise of the home video market.

But what about the actual episode?  Should it reside in the annals of Star Trek or was NBC right in ordering changes?  Honestly, I have to side with NBC on this one.

“The Cage” is interesting, but it is incredibly slow at times and can be hard to get through.  Not that I mind slow-moving storytelling, but there was not enough interesting things going on to keep my attention from wandering.  Truth be told, it is a 64 minute story which probably could have been told in 40 minutes.

Captain Pike…caged!

“The Cage” introduces us to the crew of the USS Enterprise captained by Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter).  Pike is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis and is considering resigning his commission.  However, before he can proceed with it, the Enterprise gets a distress signal from an Earth ship that crashed the planet Talos IV nearly twenty years earlier.  On the planet, the crew meets the survivors and the young, beautiful Vina (Susan Oliver) who attracts the eye of Pike.

But, it turns out it is all a trap!  The survivors (except Vina) are an illusion and Pike is kidnapped by the telepathic Talosians who live underground.  Turns out that the Talosians destroyed the surface of their world years ago, and they are hoping to repopulate it using Pike and Vina.  Pike, though symptomatic, resists Vina’s seductive attempts.  As such, the Talosians kidnap two female Enterprise officers hoping they will appeal to Pike.

Pike, learning how to break though the Talosians’ illusions, breaks himself and his officers free of imprisonment, and the Talosians learn that humans are too violent a species for their needs.  Pike invites Vina to come with them, but she declines and it is revealed that her beauty is also an illusion – she survived the crash, but was left horribly disfigured.  Pike and the Enterprise leave Talos IV as the Talosians give Vina an illusion of Pike to keep her company.

Pike confronts his kidnappers.

As I mentioned, it is not a bad story by any means.  The central premise is actually pretty neat.  It is just that it drags on a bit too long.  Do we really need so many scenes of Vina trying to seduce Pike or the crew failing to rescue him?  I suppose I understand the intent, but it brings the pace down.

That said, one of the seduction scenes did introduce the green-skinned slave girl into nerd pop-culture, so there is that.

I have some issues the way women are portrayed in the episode.  Between Pike’s “Women are not allowed on the bridge” line to how the episode ultimately hinges on the idea that all woman just need a man, it is kind of insulting.  Granted, this was the early 1960s, and times were different.  I get that.  I suppose it just is surprising since Star Trek has the reputation of showing women in empowering roles before it became common practice in the television industry.  Clearly, that aspect of the franchise was something that developed overtime.  In fairness, though, Number One (Majel Barrett), and Colt (Lauren Goodwin) are all shown to be competent and intelligent in their own right.

Vina’s true appearance.

The biggest sin, in regards to possible sexism, in this episode is that Vina refuses to go with Pike at the end and return to her people because she is disfigured and unattractive, and the Talosians can give her the illusion of being pretty.  Given her past and likely how she had lived for the past twenty year, I see the motivation.  What is horrible is that Pike completely agrees with her on this and is content to just leave her there.  That is hilariously awful, even by 1960s standards!

“The Cage” is a mixed bag.  I am glad NBC did not go through with it, because we likely wouldn’t have gotten the awesomeness that Star Trek ultimately delivered.  I am not sure if it deserves the reverential treatment that some fans give it.  I’ll admit, it is a historical curiosity to see where Star Trek began, but I think that’s all it really is.

Now that I have looked at all the Star Trek pilots, perhaps it is appropriate for me to look at all of the final episodes!

~N

Trek Tuesday: Beyond the Farthest Star

Something that I think is generally forgotten about by mainstream audiences is that Star Trek had an animated series in the early 1970s.  It was the first real revival of Trek and featured the voices of most of the original cast (sorry Walter Koenig…you were not in the budget).  “Beyond the Farthest Star” was the first written episode of The Animated Series as the pilot and was the first aired.  However, due to the nature of animation, it was fourth in the production cycle.  For my purposes of looking at all the Star Trek pilots, “Beyond the Furthest Star” is good enough for me.

In the episode, the Enterprise is heading out on a star charting mission when they pick up a strange radio emission and are pulled into the orbit of a dying star.  While looking for a way out, the crew discovers an extremely old space ship.  What they do not realize is that a magnetic organism has been trapped on that ship for millions of years and now looks to control the Enterprise in order to escape its imprisonment.

The crew explores the strange spacecraft.

Even though this episode is approximately twenty-two minutes, it is a rough twenty-two minutes to get through.  I found this episode to be extremely boring.  So much of it is wasted the crew wandering around the empty alien ship, and the first five to ten minutes is nothing but the crew sitting around on the bridge following ship procedures.  I realize the latter was to be “exciting” because it seemed as if the ship was going to crash, but it isn’t.  It is because it is animated.  In the live-action series, you would have reaction shots of the characters stressing over their situation thereby making the scene more intense.  Here, you cannot do that due to the limitations of 1970s animation.  It just makes the scene dull.

Now, the rest of the series does improve on this.  I think the writers realized that, while they wanted to keep things as they were when making the original series, there were some concessions that had to be made due to the show being animated and placed in a time slot targeted for children.  “Beyond the Farthest Star” was a stumbling block as the writers figured out what they wanted to do with the new series.

As for the story itself, it is incredibly simple.  Maybe it had to be, but, as mentioned above, it is also dull.  I didn’t care while watching this.  By the time the episode started to get interesting (when the organism took control of the Enterprise), the episode was more than half over.  And, at the end, all the organism wanted to do was to leave.  Instead the crew just gives it the finger and leaves it to remain alone forever.  No wonder the organism is a bit of a jerk when on the Enterprise.

The organism attacks the crew into doing its bidding.

In some ways, it seems unlike Star Trek to leave the alien in such a way.  I am surprised that Kirk didn’t give it a pious speech about being willing to help as long as the organism asked nicely.  Beyond the organism’s sudden command of the Enterprise and pushing the crew around, there was no suggestion that it was malevolent if released to the galaxy at large.  It just desperate to get out.

I honestly cannot recommend “Beyond the Farthest Star”, and it would be okay if you end up skipping it.  It simply is not that good.  That said, it isn’t a total representation of the animated series at large.  It was just a case of the writers finding their footing as they adjusted to this new format.

~N

Fun Fact: This episode was written by Samuel A. Peeples who also wrote “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, Star Trek’s second pilot.

Trek Tuesday: Where No Man Has Gone Before

Originally, the Trek Tuesday feature was going to be all about the Star Trek movies.  However, I feel there is more life in it, so I am going to be extending it for the foreseeable future.  After the brief detour last week with a look at “The Best of Both Worlds”, I will be focusing on the various pilots of the different Star Trek series.  First up: from the original series, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

In reality, this is the second episode of the original Star Trek.  The first did not have enough action/adventure and mainstream appeal that NBC was going for.  Having enough faith in the project, the execs ordered a second pilot in which creator Gene Roddenberry was able to appease the network while still delivering what he wanted to and say.

In “Where No Man…”, the USS Enterprise is investigating the “Galactic Barrier”, an energy field surrounding the galaxy.  Tempting fate, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) wants his ship to breach the barrier, but fails spectacularly.  Not only is the Enterprise greatly damaged in the attempt, but Kirk’s best friend and shipmate, Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood), develops psionic abilities.  As Mitchell’s abilities grow, so does his arrogance and hostility to the point of developing a God complex.  Realizing he is a danger, Kirk wrestles with whether or not to exile his friend on a deserted planet, assuming, of course, Mitchell will even allow him to do so.

Overall, this episode is a fine episode.  It is gripping, is engaging, and has moral dilemmas which keep it from delving into mindless schlock.  I really like when stories present extreme ethical/moral dilemmas, especially when it is done somewhat subtly.  There is no neon flashing sign shouting “DILEMMA!” here.  For some reason, not drawing extreme attention to it makes it more believable and much more watchable.  Star Trek has done a lot of that throughout its history.  That is probably what contributed to its popularity.

While you can really understand what Kirk is going through when struggling to decide what to do with his friend, it is Mitchell that keeps the episode together.  Mitchell, within an hour of TV, goes through a large character arc, and Lockwood really sells the audience on the character.  He gives Mitchell this lovable rascal personality right at the start that you cannot help, but like him.  Because of that, the audience is able to really feel the tragedy of what befalls him.  It is not Mitchell’s fault that this happens to him.   You see him fall and drift away from that incredibly likeable guy to a deranged megalomaniac.  To pull off that arc so successfully within the episode’s time-span is a trick within itself!

Star Trek’s first season is, overall, really strong, but “Where No Man…” is among the top of that season.  It is pretty rare that a first episode knocks it out of the park the way this one does.  Maybe not Star Trek‘s finest hour, but it sets the tone and hallmarks for nearly everything that comes after.  Specifically that of Kirk being the risk-taker while still putting his crew first, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) saying the logical (if cold) things Kirk doesn’t want to hear, but knows is true, “Kirk-Fu” with a ripped shirt, and the almost swashbuckling feel of adventure and danger the Enterprise encounters among others.

It can be difficult to watch today (TV production was so different back in the mid-1960s), but “Where No Man Has Gone Before” still holds up nearly 50 years later.  Samuel A. Peeples’s script is that strong.  If you have seen it before, it is totally worth a revisit.  If you haven’t, then do yourself a favor and check it out.

~N

Trek Tuesday: The Future Begins

By the mid-2000s, the Star Trek franchise fell from popularity.  Many were predicting the franchise would be resting for a long, long time.  Then, in 2006, it was quite the surprise when Paramount announced that JJ Abrams (of Lost fame) was tasked with essentially rebooting the series with a new big-budget tent-pole movie.

Simply titled Star Trek, Abrams delivered on his promise to make Star Trek cool again.  With great critical acclaim, this film was also the most profitable Trek film ever (even after adjusting for inflation).  It was a proven success by pleasing Trekkers and casual movie-goers alike.  But, big box-office winners also include things like Transformers and Twilight.  Did Star Trek deserve its success?

The answer is “yes”.  It gives you everything one could possibly want from a Star Trek movie: action, adventure, humor, romance, etc.  Granted, it does not delve much into any allegory or philosophical issues Star Trek is known for.  But, you know what?  Most of the Trek episodes out there do not either.  Most, like this movie, were straight-up adventures.

Truth of the matter is that it had to be.  A mainstream film cannot speak to a niche audience if it wants to be successful.  It just can’t.  Star Trek Nemesis somewhat proved that point.  Abrams did what was needed to make Trek viable as a success again for today’s audiences.  It worked.  And since it did, he can maybe bring back that allegorical stuff in a follow-up.

Now, not everything works.  There is a lot of convenience in the storytelling and some very questionable story choices.  For example, Kirk (Chris Pine) going from a cadet to captain in less than a week took me out of the movie for a bit.  The biggest issue I had with the movie is that it forces itself (and it is forced) to make a connection with everything that came before.  It is a completely unneeded bone to the angry fanboy crowd.  The movie would have been stronger without it (and less convoluted).  Honestly, though, all of these are just little things and not deal breakers in the least.

Star Trek was a success no matter how you cut it.  It did the job it set out to do by making Star Trek cool again and introducing it to a whole new generation.  Why would any Star Trek fan be against that?

~N

Edited to add: Be sure to check out our commentary track for Star Trek!

The Star Trek Commentary

In their 50th Episode, Zack and Nick do something special by holding a lively commentary track for the 2009 reboot of Star Trek directed by JJ Abrams!  So, fire up your DVDs to listen along!

Click HERE or on the image to listen to the podcast.

As always, click HERE to follow us on iTunes!

Note: Instructions on how to sync up your DVD with this audio track are discussed in the episode’s preamble.  And this track can also be listened independently from watching the movie as Zack and Nick discuss scenes and elements of the movie as a whole as it relates to what is onscreen.

Note 2: For first time listeners, this episode (a commentary track clocking in at 2 hours) is not common for The Culture Cast.  This is a one-off as a way to celebrate our two year anniversary and our 50th episode.

Trek Tuesday: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek V underperformed and was savaged by critics.  Rightfully so.  When Star Trek VI came around in 1991, it had a lot of work to do.  The producers also knew the writing was on the wall and many of actors could not keep doing these movies.  The result was one giant finale for the original crew.  It was daring and after the flop of the previous entry, could have been a disaster.  Fortunately for all, it mostly works!

The film gives audiences good, positive vibes about themselves and the Star Trek characters.  We see them triumph over adversity while overcoming their own demons.  At the same time, the movie parallels real events bringing the story home and relatable.  It also gives an emotional farewell to these characters who have become entrenched in pop-culture.  The Undiscovered Country succeeds on all those levels.

That said, there are a lot of things that make this movie really stupid on a fundamental level.  For starters, when did the Enterprise crew become bigots?  I know it is important to this story, but with the possible exception of Kirk, it seems completely out of character for the rest to act like this.  It takes one out of the movie.

What also bothered me was the whole conspiracy element.  It was interesting, do not get me wrong, but after everything is revealed towards the end, it makes no sense whatsoever.  In essence, enemies team-up so they can prevent peace and continue to be enemies.   Wait…what?  That makes no sense in terms of logistics and execution.  Maybe it was supposed to be ironic, but it is never acknowledged as such.  The way it was handled in the movie just reeked of lazy writing.

Fans and the internet in general tend to hold Star Trek VI in high regard.  I honestly do not think it is warranted.  This is not a bad film by any means.  What the film does well, it does really well.  I just do not think it is a great film.  It is simply a good film with some fundamental narrative flaws.

~N

Trek Tuesday: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V is, well, Star Trek V.  What can be said about this movie other than that it is really bad and an incredible let down after the runaway success of Star Trek IV.  The film had a surprisingly troubled production (writer’s strike, no ILM, a reduced budget); it is amazing The Final Frontier was not more of a mess than it already is.  As it is, we get a story about a religious madman with an ill-defined power to control others and his attempt to hijack the Enterprise to find God.

The film is also saddled with awkward, campy humor which seems at odds with the otherwise heavy subject matter.  If I was to speculate, I bet Paramount saw how well the comedy was in the previous entry and demanded more of that.

William Shatner directed this turkey and he gets a lot of the blame.  It is earned, of course, but I do feel it is unfortunate.  Shatner was extremely ambitious when trying to make this movie.  He had grand ideas of what he wanted for the film which simply could not be done.  The storyline of a man trying to find God is huge, and Star Trek is a perfect vehicle to tell such a story.  It is just incredibly watered down with an awful production and questionable creative choices.

That said, there are some truly great elements to this film.  Shatner really excels at creating a certain mood and atmosphere for his scenes (especially when using nature as a backdrop).  Jerry Goldsmith’s musical score is fantastic (“A Busy Man” being a particular stand-out).  And, from the Star Trek fan perspective, the relationships between the characters have never been more spot-on in the films.  It is a shame that everything else was such a mess.

Star Trek V is by no means a good film.  The writing is weak, the character motivations are muddled, the effects are awful, and no one really seems to be having a good time.  Some of the performances are solid, but it is not enough to save the film.  It is really sad that this film is only remembered for how bad it actually is.

~N

Trek Tuesday: The Voyage Home

After the heavier themes of Star Trek II and III, the producers decided to make the next movie a bit lighter in tone.  The result was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: a film so popular, it not only broke Star Trek (unadjusted) box office records, but indirectly got Star Trek  back on TV in the form of The Next Generation.  Nimoy returns as director and it is obvious that he and the rest of the cast are having a blast with this fish-out-of-water comedy adventure.

The best part of why this works is that our future heroes play it incredibly straight.  This could have gone into pure parody.  While I doubt there was serious chance of that happening, the potential was still there.  However, some of the comedy is kind of dumb.  For example, there are parts of the movie where the crew seemed to have taken stupid pills so they can act even more out of place in the 1980s (and do not get me started on that blatant ad for the yellow pages).

Sulu: Oh my! If only we had something this great in the 23rd Century!

But these are few and far between and do not hurt the overall product.

The film is bookended by scenes designed to tie-up all the loose plot threads remaining from Star Trek II.  In fact, everything is essentially reset to its pre-Khan status.  Spock is back, the Enterprise is back, Kirk no longer has a son, and Saavik disappears.  The only difference is that Kirk is now a captain again.  Probably did not need three movies to get to that point, but there you go.  In the end, this  does not bother me, but I wish they series somewhat stuck to its guns and the progression did not ultimately feel wasted.

Star Trek IV is a fun movie.  There is a reason it is still fondly remembered by Trek fans and non-fans today.  Granted, the message of the film is a little heavy-handed (don’t kill whales), and the need to wrap things up is a bit forced.  However, the pros massively outweigh the cons, and what we get is a nice Star Trek trilogy that really will not leave you any disappointment.

~N

Trek Tuesday: The Search for Spock

After the critical and financial success of Star Trek II, a third installment was going to be tricky to pull off.  How do you beat Spock’s death?  Easy!  Bring him back!

Star Trek III is a movie that plays it incredibly safe.  Almost everything that happens seems like such a no-brainer that anyone with access to a typewriter could have written this.  In fact, writer/producer Harve Bennett claims that he was able to crank out the script in six weeks (which, in Hollywood, is incredibly fast).

Even though the story is paint-by-numbers obvious, it does not really bother me.  I suppose a lot of that has to do with the direction by Leonard Nimoy (one of the enticements for him to return to Spock).  There is such a flair for fun The Search for Spock has that it makes the film immediately enjoyable to watch.

I particularly love the “stealing the Enterprise” sequence; it is probably my favorite one of the Trek movies.  It has that rare combination of intensity, fun, and lively ness that makes the theft of the starship good cinema.  Despite the not-as-good-as-Khan status, Star Trek III was somewhat game changing in regards to Trek lore by redefining the Klingons into the warrior-race they will become known for in later installments.

I also have to point out William Shatner’s performance.  Granted, he is not a great actor (something Shatner would be the first to acknowledge), but he really turns in a tremendous performance when he, as Kirk, learns of his son’s murder.

Star Trek III may not have been as good as what came before or after, but it is a solid film on its own where (surprisingly) a lot of important things happen.  It is done in such a low key manner that one does not fully realize how essential Star Trek III is in the grant scheme of things Trek.

~N