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Going On A Trek Quest

Started by ori-STUDFARM, April 23, 2010, 12:26:08 PM

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ori-STUDFARM

Up until a couple of years ago, I always considered myself as mostly a Red Dwarf and Star Wars fan. These are the two sci-fi concepts that remained closest to my heart. As I got more into podcasts and forums, I found myself associating with more and more hardcore fans of Trek and Doctor Who....but it was always Star wars that I held in the highest regard. I liked everything else in the same way as I liked any sci-fi. Loved it loads....but it wasn't Star wars

Anyway, after trying my hardest to get into the Star wars EU universe...and finding so many stupid things to "nark" me in some of the novels, I have decided to do a Star Trek quest and a Doctor Who quest. The idea is to go way back and do them  all from the beginning to the end.

Have just watched The Cage....I expected to find it interesting.....I didn't expect to enjoy the actual story as much as I did. Starting to think this was a good idea now......and wondering if Trek could be overtaking Wars in my affection. Something I never thought could happen a few years ago!!

ChadH

I'm considering doing the same with Doctor Who as well. Keep posting your thoughts on the Trek episodes. Very interested in your opinions.

moyer777

I believe this is a great thing.  :)

I have been and always will be, your friend.
Listen to our podcast each week http://www.takehimwithyou.com

Rico

Sounds very cool.  One thing that I try to encourage people to do is to try new things they have never watched before.  That's why I try and slip in a podcast every few weeks on a TV series or movie outside of Trek - like my recent "X Files" show.  Anyway, I know you'll enjoy watching Trek.  Man, to be able to watch it from the start again for the first time.  Way cool!

ori-STUDFARM

Don't get me wrong. I have and still do watch Trek...just never in any order and only when it happens to be on.
I did just about all of Voyager and Enterprise when it was aired. TOS was watched often as a child, but most episodes are distant memories. TNG has always been a "as and when"...never actually followed and I think I did about 2 or 3 seasons of DS9.

I just want to do them in order...catch those I missed etc. Things like seeing the first Klingon in TOS. I'm sure I will have seen the episode sometime....but never realised that  it this was the first ever Klingon.

The Doctor Who will be very interesting. I've never seen, but have heard much talk of, the first 2 Doctors. I've seen a few Pertwee's but not really enjoyed them. After that, we start to enter nostalgic childhood Who.

Will let you know my highlights from both as I discover them

ori-STUDFARM

I have now watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before", the second pilot. I know this aired later in the running order on it's initial broadcast (3rd?) but it is down as episode 2 on my copy after The Cage.

The Cage surprised me with how good it's story was. I also noticed definate emotions from Spock which surprised me...and the fact that they use Hyperdrive and Rocket power instead of Warp or Impulse. I don't think I've seen this episode before....but so much of it seemed familiar, I'm not sure. I am aware that they reused a lot of the shots for the Captain Pike story later, so perhaps that is it. I seem to remember the big headed aliens and the green skinned lady on the end sequence still frames when I was a kid. I always remember thinking "I've never seen that one!".....well, now I have

This is the first time I have seen the second pilot....and I gotta say I prefer the first. Both are really good, but the first one just pips it for me.

Things that really caught my attention were stuff I already knew. I already knew about the shirts being different colours and half the usual cast not being there yet...but I gotta say. It seemed weird actually seeing it! Especially with no Bones. Also, Spock. Whilst claiming to be emotionless...he did still brandish a few smiles. And he also made reference to haveing a human relative. I always figured that this came much later. Glad to hear it so early on!

I didn't think the final "joke on the helm" scene was going to work. It was quite dark and sad ending to this episode...power corrupting an obvious close friend of Kirk's. I thought the joke might diminish the seriousness of it. But it worked superbly well. Overall, I'm really glad I watched this and am looking forward to the rest.

BTW, did Kirk's gravestone have his middle name wrong!!??!!!

ori-STUDFARM

I've just finished watching Balance Of Terror (8th episode I think). This has to my favourite so far. I always remember TOS ending with a bridge joke. Usually Kirk and Bones laughing at Spock....or Kirk and Spock laughing at Bones. This one was quite a grim ending. Much more serious than I was expecting!!

I watched a lot of TOS in childhood...but most of this first series seems new to me. I've either forgotten the episodes or I never saw much of series 1. I remember watching the end credits and mentally ticking off the aliens I've seen and wishing to see the ones I hadn't. Well some of these have now been ticked already. The green lady and the alien model/puppet thing that the lad from Gentle Ben uses to scare off potential attackers. Even now....30 years later, it feels good to mentally check them off!! :)

ChadH

Quote from: ori-STUDFARM on April 24, 2010, 02:04:21 PM


BTW, did Kirk's gravestone have his middle name wrong!!??!!!
Personally, I've always preferred "Where No Man Has Gone Before" over "The Cage".-I just liked the plot a bit more. Yeah, they did change Kirk's middle name later in the series. Rico talked about this in his podcast on the WNMHGB episode. You should check that one out. Glad you're enjoying your "Trek Quest".

ori-STUDFARM

Okay, so I have just started part 1 of The Menagerie. Kirk and team beam down to Starbase 11 at the request of Captain Pike.....

....the previous episode was Court Martial....set on Starbase 11. Seems weird to put these 2 episodes next to each other with Kirk arriving out of the blue having just stood trial on the same starbase in the previous episode.

I doubt they were originally aired in this order which beggars the question, why did they reshuffle....and why so poorly?

Must say though, The Menagerie is one I have really been looking forward to and that I have fairly strong memories of.....especially the second part. Though Court Martial was a little slow. Probably my least favourite so far....still enjoyed it though!!

Bryancd

Really? I'm surprised you didn't care for "Court Martial". We get some very interesting Kirk back story as well as some great characters with the two attorneys. I have always found "The Menagerie" a kind of skip it episode as it was just a cheap and easy way to reuse "The Cage" footage which never aired.

ori-STUDFARM

I think my problem with Court Martial lies with the actual court martial bits. Never been a fan of courtroom dramas. Loved the conclusion though with the tracking of the heart beats and the twist.

I loved Menagerie even though I only recently watched The Cage. I think the quality of the original unaired pilot was so fantastic that it needed to be shown in some form. Personally, I'm glad it happened....although, with the DVD starting with the Cage, it is now less needed than it was.

Do you know, I'm almost sounding like a Trekkie/Trekker. I'd have never believed that a couple of years ago. I've always been strictly a Star Wars fan and, although watched DS9, Voyager etc.... never considered myself much of a fan.

ori-STUDFARM

****update****

I've now gotten as far as This Side Of Paradise....and loving every minute. My favourite moment so far has to be half way through Arena when the Metrons explain that they will pit the Enterprise captain against the Gorn captain and realising that this was the Kirk V Gorn battle I remember so fondly.

Other highlights so far include the first meeting of Khan....I have no prior memory to this episode. Also Shore Leave and This Side Of Paradise, both of which I do remember from childhood.

And with The Devil In The Dark coming up, I know I have more nostalgic happiness to follow. Not to mention the fans favourite, City On The Edge Of Forever....one I'm sure I've seen and have next to no memory of.

I haven't yet come across and don't know the title of another favourite from childhood (don't tell me. The surprise is half the fun). This one has a plnet surface party that get attacked by some sort of flying giant bacteria that look kinda like coldsore that have just been flung.....and still no Klingons. Really surprised by that. I have seen a few times in the last couple of years episodes which include the Klingons. Still looking forward to thier first appearance which I suspect will be the Trouble With Tribbles...

Anyway, I watched Logans Run the other week. This was released in 76....and it makes me realise how far ahead of it's time Star Trek was. It out does Logans Run on video and SFX (although I am watching remastered) even though it is a made for TV show from a decade before. The stories are equally as good....the lighting....etc. There are some dodgy stone wall effects, but compare it to other stuff from the era, it is amazing quality. Especially when I look at old Doctor Who from the late 60's........and even my number 1 fandom, Red Dwarf. Filming and lighting obviously wasn't high on RD's priority list 20 years after TOS.

ori-STUDFARM

FYI I completed the TOS Trek Quest yesterday. Loved every episode....even the ones people said I wouldn't. I was dreading and also looking forward to the most "Spock's Brain". And do you know, it was one of my favourites. I love the big happy joke endings where either Spock or McCoy become the butt of the rest of the bridges joke. This one was probably the best.

I expected my favourite episodes to be linked with nostalgic memories. My earliest Trek memory of Star trek was watching an episode with a rock monster that was killing miners which it ended up was actually only defending it's young. I'd already learned that this was the Horta and the episode was called "The Beast Below" and expected this to be my favourite. It was great to actually watch this again....but I enjoyed some of the other episodes more.

My immediate favourite 3 TOS after just finishing all 3 seasons are (although this is likely to change regularly)

3. Arena. This is an iconic episode that I knew I was going to love. I'd seen the end fight so many times in other movies...or parodied in comedies, that I wasn't sure if I'd ever actually seen the episode or not. The thing I liked most about this episode was that  I was half way through before I realised it was the Gorn fight one. You don't see them at the start and I was unaware of the Metron's intervention until it happened. When the Gorn appeared I thought "Oh yes!! Fantastic!!!"

2. The Corbomite Maneuver. One of the things I did as a child was watch every ending title sequence for episodes I'd seen and episodes I wanted to see. I always remember the spooky staring alien head that we get to see in this episode. And this was always the one I wanted to see the most. And I never had seen it until this Trek began. To then discover that the head was actually a model used by a child looking alien....and the child looking alien was the kid from Gentle Ben!! That was just awesome

1. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. This one surprised me immensely. I knew the concept that one race of beings was black on the left side and white on the right and they hated the other race on their planet who were black on the right side and white on the left. I assumed it was all going to be a little too silly with a happy ending with everyone realising their similarities and hugging and making up. I also thought it was going to be a too obvious statement against racism. What I got was a story of absolute hatred between the two different races. One which doesn't get resolved and an episode that finishes on an absolute negative note. This one was pure brilliance. It wasn't hammed up and it didn't have the expected jovial "alls well that ends well" statement. Fantastic!! (Even the dodgy running up and down corridoors scenes weren't enough to bring me out of the serious and sad story of this episode)

I debated doing the movies or going to TNG next.....then I debated doing the movies but missing The Motion Picture. I loved it as a kid, haven't seen it since and don't want the memory soiling. In the end, I've opted to start TNG. I've done Encounter at Farpoint parts 1 and 2. I think I'll slot the movies in at random as I go along. Still undecided about TMP though. Would you leave it or watch it?

Bromptonboy

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield:  Excellent episode!  I may have to dig in and start watching - or try to catch up with you.
Pete

Bryancd

Watch the Directors cut of TMP. It's such a beautiful film in terms of the visuals, an great story, and a few solid character moments. I really like TMP, have since I first saw it as well. I think the 7:00 fly over of the new Enterprise was just wonderful.