Thursday, April 2, 2015

Cinema Cycle - Star Trek - Original Series, Episodes #18 and #19



CINEMA CYCLE
(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)


21374.jpg
Screenshot_2015-04-01-13-25-08.jpg


DATE VIEWED: 04/01/2015




FORMAT: LaserDisc


TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 hour 43 minutes


DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 24.4 miles


TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 1400.2 miles


SYNOPSIS: (from IMDB)

The Squire of Gothos: Episode #18

When Kirk and Sulu vanish into thin air from the bridge of the Enterprise, Spock sends a landing party to the planet below to locate them. What they find is an 18th century castle and a rather foppish man, Trelane, who seems to know a great deal about the Earth - even if it is the wrong time period. If truth be told, Trelane acts like a spoiled little boy and it's obvious Kirk and the others have become his playthings. They soon realize that if they are to overcome Trelane and free themselves, they must locate and destroy his power source.

Arena: Episode #19

When an alien race known as the Gorn destroys an Earth colony, the Enterprise pursues the fleeing Gorn vessel until another race of powerful aliens called the Metrons intervenes and forces Captain Kirk and the Gorn captain to face off in one-on-one combat in which the winner will be released and the loser destroyed along with his ship and crew.


CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: In the overall context, there are much bigger and more powerful beings in the universe than us.  Much more powerful, so don’t get to uppity and full of yourself just because you have phasers.  Every time I watch the original series now, it is like seeing Shakespeare in Space Suits. . . . it is all about the ACTING!!!


PROS AND CONS: The nostalgia factor while watching this series is off the charts.  I craved this show as a kid in the 1960s and it has mellowed with age like a fine wine.  


With the advent of the mega-space productions of Star Wars and other Hollywood blockbusters many have forgotten about this original classic.  So much of the show is based on the story line, the writing and the acting.  The stages and sets are reminiscent of theater and lighting is bright with a lot of primary colors.  


Both of these episodes deal with super-powerful beings that slap the lowly earthlings around like playing pieces on a game board.  In the end, teaching us to be humble and to not underestimate what we don’t understand.  Messages that are still as powerful today, almost 40 years later.


To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.


This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment