Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 40, Episodes 79, 99 & 1: Turnabout Intruder/ The Cage...

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 40, Episodes 79, 99 & 1: Turnabout Intruder/ The Cage (B&W/Color ... | William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy | And So it Ends, As It Begins!

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Star Trek - The Or...

	Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 40, Episodes 79, 99 & 1: Turnabout Intruder/ The Cage (B&W/Color ... William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy CBS Paramount International Television, 2001 average customer review:based on 30 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

"Turnabout," Ep.79 - A female scientist, jealous of Kirk's career, uses an ancient alien device to trade places with him and take command of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series' final episode! "The Cage," Ep.99 (B&W and color) - The two versions of Star Trek's rarely seen pilot star Jeffrey Hunter as captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. On an earlier voyage of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, Kirk's predecessor Captain Christopher Pike tries to rescue an Earth crew that disappeared eighteen years earlier. But it's a trap! Pike is imprisoned in a zoo-like cage and studied by a mysterious higher life-form. "The Cage" Ep.99 was reconstructed with black-and-white footage from Gene Roddenberry's work print and color footage from "The Menagerie" Ep.16. "The Cage" Ep.1 (Color) - This episode includes the long-lost color footage (believed to have been destroyed) from Gene Roddenberry's pilot episode. 185 minutes.

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5 stars--even "Turnabout Intruder" cannot take the shine off of "The Cage"!

"Turnabout Intruder" is not worth reviewing, except to see how inconsistently the attitudes toward women were handled--compare Lester to Number One and Yeoman Colt in the pilot.

*

"The Cage" is two things. First, it is not the Star Trek that could have been, but rather, it is the Star Trek that was to be. All of the key elements are in place: Dr. Boyce is the same archetype as Dr. McCoy, Ensign Jose Tyler is the eager young space cadet that would become Chekhov and every redshirt, Yeoman Colt is just a strawberry version of Yeoman Rand, and Spock is Spock. If you squint, you feel like you are watching any other episode of Trek:TOS or TAS.

Secondly, this is what "Star Trek: Enterprise" should have been. When I heard that Berman and Braga were doing a prequel series, I immediately picture this episode's yellow and blue turtlenecks, the Buck Rodgers lasers, and the retro-future trans-warp décor on the ship. Like most people, I was let down with the slick and professional sets and costuming of the actual series. No! No! No! Keep the continuity of the Great Bird of the Galaxy! We love the quirky sets, post-Mod swinger costumes, and the cheesy special effects. "But pardon, gentles all, the flat unraised spirits that hath dar'd on this unworthy scaffold to bring forth So great an object. . . . Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts." (Henry V)

*

"The Cage" is a reservoir--it both collects from the past, and dispenses for the future. In order to fully appreciate this series, you need to read Horatio Hornblower, Doc Smith's Lensman series, and the watch "Forbidden Planet." The last film was a key influence on the plot and setting. In both, we have a dying or dead alien race that was corrupted by its telepathic abilities and moved underground. Both have a saucer-shaped earth ship with hyper drive coming to the rescue, wit a beautiful woman (Altair /Vina) as a siren. Even the sets have similar pentagonal doors and arches. And don't get me started on the animation and special effects.

This episode shows that the concept of Star Trek was already firm in Roddenberry's mind. In addition to the above mentioned similarities, you have the quote-unquote progressive crew. The transporter assistant is Asian, foreshadowing Admiral Sulu. The navigator is Jose Tyler, blond, but with Hispanic ancestry. And of course, there is Number One, a female XO that paved the way for Robotech's Lisa Hayes. Nowadays some people criticize Roddenberry for not being politically correct enough, but considering the times, this is quite daring.

Additionally there is the personality of Pike. What we saw in "The Menagerie" was edited; we saw an introspective captain, with his doubts and fears. But when these snippets are put in context, we see that Pike was a tough tinhorn on par with Kirk--just replay the last line Pike speaks in the episode. Furthermore, since Pike is both velvet and steel, he is a better rounded person that Kirk ever was. I think it was this balanced quality that allowed Hunter to play Christ so well in "King of Kings."

*

There is one odd aspect to the episode, and that is the sexual subtext: the Talosians want Pike to breed with Vina. Nowadays we would just send the Greys to the local sperm bank for some free samples, or have Riker do a strafing run. But Pike does not do this--he has a sense of the sacredness of marriage, that a heterogamous couple is essential for both the man, woman, and the child. As the children of broken homes can attest, we seem to have advanced beyond Pike in this matter.

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And So it Ends, As It Begins!

And so we come full circle with this the final volume of Classic Trek. This volume is clearly the best one not only of Season 3 but also stands among the best ever among all 3 seasons. Hence, if you are picking which volumes to keep, this one comes under the "must have at all costs" category.

In the first episode, "The Turnabout Intruder", we get a Gene Roddenberry credited story about women's lib and the injustice of gender discrimination which leads to desperation among women as they struggle for what's right. This story is important as it comes at a time when women's lib was a far cry from what it is today showing Gene as a prophet of sorts in championing its cause way back when. I thought the acting was very good and even William Shatner's impression of a slightly effeminate Kirk attempting to suppress his feminine tendencies so as not to arouse suspicion among the crew as worthy of mention. While it may not be among the very best of all TOS episodes, it certainly ranks among the top of a very poor 3rd season though.

And now for the creme de la creme of the volume, "The Cage" in two versions no less with Gene Roddenberry himself giving the introduction and the final thoughts on the first version while I thought the second version was restored very, very well both in picture and sound quality too. I have no doubt that had Jeffrey Hunter stayed on and not died an untimely death in real life, he would have been the best Captain the Enterprise ever had; he is by far the best actor of the lot and I include Patrick Stewart as well. Overall, the acting of all the cast including guest star Susan Oliver, John Hoyt, Peter Duryea and the rest is exceptional. Even the aliens sent shivers up my spine from their eerie looks to their malevalent stares unlike any of the other aliens from future episodes. I personally think that this is ironically the best ever Star Trek TOS episode even if Spock is the only character that remains in future episodes.

As Gene Roddenberry has long gone to the next life, this volume is even more a collector's item as it has his thoughts on the episode and on the impact TOS has had overall up to the mid-80s when this was shot. Overall, this is a must have volume for all Trek fans and indeed all fans of sci-fi television everywhere.

Very highly recommended.

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First ever Strak Trek!

This contains 2 version of 'the Cage' origianl pilot. I love it! I was rather disapointed when I bought Season 1 of the seris and they didn't have this episode in it. but now I have it;)

Image what she could have been, if she were a woman.

The Enterprise answers a distress call to the planet Camus II. A group of federation scientist are exploring the ancient ruins of a dead society. The Enterprise landing party finds only two archaeology team survivors: Dr Janice Lester and Dr. Arther Colement. Dr. McCoy diagnose suggested the survivors are suffering from Selenidium radiation poisoning. Janice deliriously mutters broken sentence fragments like, "I loved you", "I could have roamed the stars with you", "when I was with you at the academy, it was the first time I felt alive". Kirk does reciprocate telling Janice, "they would have fought and hated each other". Dr. Coleman explains that the Selenidium shield was weak and killed the team. Dr. Coleman distracts Mr. Spock and McCoy leaving Kirk with Janice; Janice activates a machine that magnetizes Kirk into a frozen state; Janice then switch life entity with Kirk. Janice feminism attitude attacks Kirks maleness, telling him, "Now, you will know what it is like to be a woman". Janice attempts to kill Kirk but has her opportunity cut short, as the landing team return. Janice wants Coleman too kill Kirk but he tells her, "I won't be a murderer".

McCoy believes his medical authority is final. Coleman recommends sedating Janice-Kirk telling the team she is recovering. Kirk-Janice disagrees and excuses McCoy as the chief medical officer and replace him with Coleman. McCoy argues that Coleman has been rules as incompetent to server as the Starfleet surgeon general. Coleman loves Kirk-Janice.

Kirk-Janice commands the officer to change course and leave Janice-Kirk at Benecia Colony and ignore rendezvous with the USS Potemkin. Janice-Kirk believes "by the next mission she will be invulnerable to suspicion. " Janice-Kirk tells the confusion bridge officers, "time is of the essence"; Spock challenges the change in course decision: 1. indicating Star Base II has better medical facilities 2. The deviation would be equal to Benecia schedule 3. Star regulations demanded that a change in course be communication to HQ. 4. Benecia Colony has a primitive medical facility.

McCoy and Spock have observed the "emotional instability" and the ship crew is nervous about the change I the captains behavior. Spock syas, "the aberrant behavior rumors are spreading through the ship." McCoy forces Janice-Kirk to report for a medical examination. McCoy finds to physical evidence that anything is different.

Kirk-Janice awakens and attempts to tell about the life entity switch, but Janice-Kirk orders Coleman to sedate her, "the paranoia has been building for the last 6 months. Your are insane. Sedative is required"

Spock needs answers and wants to talk with Kirk-Janices. The security guards are loyal to the Captain and he has order no one will talk with the prisoner. Spock asks the guard if the rule has ever applied to senior officers. The security guard reasons that it means talking alone and accompanies Spock. Kirk-Janices pleads for Spock to Spock mind-melds with Kirk-Janice and believes she is Kirk. Spock tells Kirk-Janice, "evidence must be factual"

Kirk-Janice charges Spock with Mutiny and convenes a court martial. Evidence it presented and Janice-Kirk demands a vote. Rebellion starts with Spocks defiance of Janice-Kirk and he announces intent to resist the captain with any measure and means available. Scotty and McCoy plan to move against the Captain. Janice-Kirk calls for the death penalty against the two. A break convenes and Spock attempts to reverse the transference. Janices freaks and tells Coleman about the near transference. Coleman tells Janice-Kirk the only way to make permanent the change is to kill Kirk-Janice. Coleman again tells her, he can not murder. In on last attempt, Janice-Kirk attempt to poison Kirk-Janice and a physical fight starts, but the transference completes and Janice tells Kirk, "I wanted you dead. I'll never be captain now. You are as I loved you."

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The beginning of Star Trek.

A very special collector item. For the first time on dvd, the real beginning of Star Trek. Great collector item.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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