Kevin's Watch

Bored=Borg. You know I have to agree to a certain degree. Star Trek isn't an environment where you will find characters that you find so disturbing as the Borg were at the beginning. But I never doubted that they would be soundly thrashed numerous times and I am not disheartened or surprised by this. Its Star Trek! Hello?

I think the peak of the Borg concept was The Best of Both Worlds, with Picard being assimilated as Locutus. Here was this great human captain, this paragon of virtue and always successful, just another mindless automaton in an invincible machine. It was shocking and disturbing on so many levels.

After that two-part episode, everything else the Borg did was small potatoes in comparison, and they were too easily and too often defeated.

Despite this, however, I enjoyed the movie First Contact, because of the ramifications involving Picard's continued emotional problems with having been assimilated in the past . . . and also how an android intelligence (Data) was dealt with by the Borg.

I think I know where they got the idea of the Borg from. In Dr Who there is a race of aliens known as the Cybermen. The thing is, they want to convert people into cybermen too - and their conversion machines are ALOT like the Borg creches. There are a few storie where the Cybermen actually say 'Resistance is futile'.

Old Darth wrote:BTW - has anyone picked up the recent Director's cut of the ST:TMP? It really improves upon the original version - which was rushed to theaters.

Amazing what a few edits can do - ie the whole Enterprise travelling over V'Ger is no longer an endurance test.

Yes, sir, I have the Director's Cut. I thought the altered/added scenes were nicely done and fit in well with the rest of the movie's look. However, I've loved ST:TMP from the start, so I didn't need much encouragement to buy the DVD as soon as it came out. It's now an essential part of my DVD viewing.

The V'ger journey an endurance test? Not for me, I luxuriated, wallowed in it. So call me weird.

As for ST: First Contact, here are bits from an article that's pretty funny:

WORST CONTACT: How Continuity Hurt Star Trek VIII

"Hey, I forgot how much I really hate those filthy, stinkin' Borg bastards!" Sure, Jean-Luc was assimilated by the Borg. It was a terrible, traumatic experience. BUT IT WAS IN EPISODE #74! Picard made his way through 100 more hours of Next Gen evolving as a character--with no hint of this all-consuming, self-destructive hatred. In fact, Picard had the opportunity in I, Borg to introduce a deadly computer virus into their collective, wiping them out utterly, BUT REFUSED!

"Don't bother me with details." Bad enough she was shown in flashback on the ill-fated Borg cube with a strangely forgetful Picard in The Best Of Both Worlds, but how, exactly, did the Borg Queen escape that cube's destruction? And don't give us that "three-dimensional thinking" crap.

Whatever happened to the Collective's work ethic? The Borg used to be so thorough they could beam over to a starship and within seconds make off with its captain. So why do they do such a half-assed job destroying the warp ship? They take a few potshots from orbit and then call it quits.

"Okay, Spock. You distract Edith while I hurl her under the wheels of that oncoming truck." In the original series, the Enterprise crew was creative and subtle when preserving history. But in First Contact, they're reduced to shooting Cochrane in the back, then strapping his paralyzed ass in a missile nose cone.

It's just a flesh wound. Data suffered severe damage when impaled by hostile villagers in Thine Own Self. Now, unlike the Borg themselves, he shrugs off bullets like he's the Man of Steel. Well, wait a minute...

-by Robert Meyer Burnett and David J. Hargrove

Thanks for those amusing comments, MM. I hadn't read that before. Of course its all true in its way.

ST:TMP I bought the director's cut practicly the same day it was released. I didn't feel the flow of the film really changed all that much. I enjoyed it sitting in the theater in 1979 and I enjoyed it again. (Of course I've seen every vhs and broadcast version of ST:TMP available. I even had a VIDEO DISC version of it back in the mid eighties. Collectors Item now. ) More than anything else I wanted the special features and I was really happy with all that was included. ST 1 will alway have a special place in my collection if for no other reason than that Kirk still has his old hair style before he went with the perm.

I saw Star Trek The Motion Picture four times in theatres - I was just so happy to see some new Trek, I could overlook its flaws.

I also had some of those video discs you mention, Tom. I had to sell my discs and player a few years ago during a bad financial period.

I need to check out this director's cut you guys are discussing. Just so long as it doesn't edit out Persis in her white mini-robe - "Disclose the information."

As the hippie character said to Ellie May in an episode of Beverly Hillbillies,
"What a pair of drumsticks."

TOM C wrote:I even had a VIDEO DISC version of it back in the mid eighties. Collectors Item now. )

Collectors items?? So far as I'm concerned, they're still a functioning part of my collection.

Just following up on the Ellision original draft of 'The City on the Edge of Forever' teleplay.

It can be found in the book, 'Six Science Fiction Plays' - edited by Roger Elwood.

Published by Pocket Books - Book No 671-48766-3. It was published in 1976 and so probably won't be easy to find. Check out your local library you may be lucky. It's well worth the effort.

Zipping through all the comments on this thread 2 things finally came 2gether-Ur-Vile mentions he doesn't like ST or Sci-Fi series. In the !!!CARTOONS!!! thread he also mentioned he didn't like Looney Tunes either--that makes perfect sense now, can't have one without the other, Kirk: Foghorn Leghorn, Spock: Buggs, McCoy: Daffy, Scotty: Yosemite Sam, Q: Wile E. Coyote, #1: Elmer Fudd... Requires a certian mindset to appreciate both, apparently (If he didn't like Orig ST, prob didn't like Batman TV series either, Adam West being the prototype for the chubby/dorky/buttkicking hero)

I asked this question somewhere on the Watch long ago, and someone answered...but I can't find it anywhere. What's the name of the extremely cool OST episode where the Enterprise "shadows" the cloaked Romulan spacecraft with the Vulcan aboard?

In Balance Of Terror, Enterprise shadows a cloaked Romulan ship with Mark Lenard as its captain. He's playing a Romulan in this episode, instead of a Vulcan.

Is that the one you wanted? It is a very cool one.

In my book it's prob the coolest but isn't there a Vulcan on board as well? (thanks mucho Joy, btw! )

I pulled out my video disk of Balance Of Terror and watched it for the first time in a while. The closest I could see to a Vulcan on the Romulan ship is Enterprise Commander Stiles saying: “I’m pointing out that we could have Romulan spies aboard this ship,” while looking at Spock. Just because Romulans and Vulcans look alike.

The only case I can remember of a Vulcan aboard a Romulan ship (aside from the Enterprise crew hijacking one to get home from the Genesis planet) is The Enterprise Incident, the one where the female captain tried to make Spock turn traitor.

(I'm happy to announce that the color problem my system was having turned out to be the need for a new RF Modulator. I keep expecting the receiver to die, but it clings stubbornly to life.)

Now watching The Search For Spock. So tell me, why did the Klingon Commander kill his lady for seeing the Genesis information, then let his entire crew discuss the contents openly?

Balance of Terror is one of my favorite episodes. There is no Vulcan aboard that ship. The only tie is the one Joy has pointed out that this is the very first time the Federation and Romulans actually see what each other look like. The similarity between Vulcans and Romulans is remarkable. It is however possible to confuse one aspect. Mark Lenard who played the Romulan Commander in Balance of Terror also went on to portray Spock's father Sarek. Joy, I'm really impressed you still have your video discs. I'm now ashamed I let mine go.

I have 75 of them, plus the player. That's too much money to abjectly surrender to the whims of fashion.

Hoping there will still be someone alive who knows how to repair the machine when needed...

Maybe that's the prob--Sarek looked SO familiar, it's been about 12 years since I've last seen Balance of Terror--back it the day ('78*) I had thought I'd seen all the episodes 5 times over--then I was visiting and partying hardy with a college chum in Arlington Va. we arrived back at his house at 3am and turned on the TV. Here was not only an episode I'd never seen, but it was the 1st ST I'd ever seen in color! God it took the series to a whole new level!--kinda like when McNee's crystal ships appeared in BG...

Joy wrote: Hoping there will still be someone alive who knows how to repair the machine when needed...

Exactly!! I'm afraid to use mine! Which is annoying, since all my Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly movies are in that format.

danlo, nice comparisons with the cartoons!! "Scotty, I need more, I say, I need more power!"

Well, danlo. It is an easy thing to mistake and has happened many times to many people.

Joy, I was forced to repair my own vid disk player a few times. The belt managed to slip off the spindle the last time. It was a pain but it was doable. I didn't have near as many discs as you do. I got my collection when my Mom got into VHS and once she bought all of the films she had on disc she gave me the lot and the player. The collection consisted of monumental sci fi classics as "My Fair Lady" and " The French Connection" but I did get ST1, Close Encounters, 2001 and my all time favorite vid disk "The Big Red One." I played them all many times but could never bring myself to buy more. I'm sure Ebay has lots of them. Perhaps I'll go have a look.

This one doesn't have a spindle, so I must be talking about a later type of machine. I got a Pioneer CLD-1030 because I was told they are durable, and I'm here to tell you, it really has lived up to its reputation.

I've had the DVD of ST Nemesis for several months without watching it. Finally watched it today, now I'm watching it again with the director's commentary.

We're now at the confrontation between Picard and the Nemesis guy. I'm impressed at the casting that gives their confrontation that extra dimension. (Avoiding spoilers)

The director commented that in action scenes, directors try to stretch the scenes out for as long as they can make it work. For me that's usually too long. How much running, fast driving, and shooting can one watch before it gets boring? I found in this movie that my attention wandered before the director's did.

There were scenes involving Data, and also ones of the Nemesis, that put tears in my eyes.