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I can't argue with any of the moments mentioned. I especially liked the comment about Star Trek V and the notion that it takes a guy with a set the size of watermelons to destroy his own ship just to kill a few Klingons.

It just cements my desire to get WoK and SfS on DVD. Those are two great movies.

Great list. I really can't argue with most of the "best of" moments. I actually find the gangster episode really amusing, so I don't know if I'd include that on the worst of. I was also surprised that nothing from "Turnabout Intruder" (the one with Shatner trying to act like he was possessed by a woman) showed up - though I guess that was a bad Shatner moment, not a bad Kirk moment....

THERE ARE NO BAD SHATNER MOMENTS!!!!!!!

I can't think of any bad moments, off the top of my head, in the original Star Trek series....


Can anyone come up with any stinkers?

"Spock's Brain".

Cail wrote

THERE ARE NO BAD SHATNER MOMENTS!!!!!!!

I stand corrected. I'm not sure what came over me. Please disregard that section of my previous post.


And "Spock's Brain" has nothing on "The Way To Eden" as far as bad moments - the "jam" session in cafeteria was god-awful....

Mortice Root wrote:And "Spock's Brain" has nothing on "The Way To Eden" as far as bad moments - the "jam" session in cafeteria was god-awful....

True.

I'm not enough of a hardcore fan to be able to recall every bad/good Kirk moment from the series, but I think the list is spot-on with the movies, especially regarding ST III. I had always liked the film, but hadn't thought about the number of great Kirk moments it contained. Kirk kicking Kruge off the cliff on Genesis might rank as my most favorite of all.

While I don't think highly of the rest of ST V, I do agree that Kirk questioning "God" in the final act was a great moment.

But what about ST: The Motion Picture? Maybe people dislike this film so much (never mind Final Frontier!) that they can't bring themselves to admit it actually has great moments, let alone great Kirk moments. Well, consider this scene: Vejur is about to devastate Earth because the "creator" did not answer its signal. Spock then suggests that Vejur is a child and should be treated as such. So Kirk turns around and tells the Ilia Probe that the "carbon units know why the creator has not responded." The probe demands that Kirk explain why, but he refuses, countering that the information Vejur seeks will not be granted unless Vejur calls off the attack on Earth. Vejur rocks the Enterprise in a fit, but Kirk stands his ground - basically daring Vejur to destroy his ship. Kirk's high stakes bluff works, and the Enterprise crew lives to fight another day. To my mind, Kirk's bluff here is every bit the equal of, if not greater, than his bluff in The Corbomite Maneuver.

I really need to give TMP another chance.

TMP has one of the best moments in all of ST - well, at least the best twist: the true identity of V'ger.

matrixman wrote: But what about ST: The Motion Picture? Maybe people dislike this film so much (never mind Final Frontier!) that they can't bring themselves to admit it actually has great moments, let alone great Kirk moments. Well, consider this scene: Vejur is about to devastate Earth because the "creator" did not answer its signal. Spock then suggests that Vejur is a child and should be treated as such. So Kirk turns around and tells the Ilia Probe that the "carbon units know why the creator has not responded." The probe demands that Kirk explain why, but he refuses, countering that the information Vejur seeks will not be granted unless Vejur calls off the attack on Earth. Vejur rocks the Enterprise in a fit, but Kirk stands his ground - basically daring Vejur to destroy his ship. Kirk's high stakes bluff works, and the Enterprise crew lives to fight another day. To my mind, Kirk's bluff here is every bit the equal of, if not greater, than his bluff in The Corbomite Maneuver.

Great scene ram...er I mean Matrix..heh. Anyway one thing it quite different from the scene you mention and the Corbomite Maneuver. In CM Kirk is complete full of crap. He's got nothing to lose but he also has absolutely nothing to bargain with except a lie. In TMP Kirk DOES know why the creator has not responded. His bargaining position is weak given the circumstances but at least he's got SOMETHING.

I in fact do like many scenes from TMP concerning Kirk. Actually it's filled with 'em. I love the moment where Kirk discovers that Spock has stolen a thruster suit. At first he mutters "get him back here" then reconsiders and says "wait...get a fix on his position". Even after all the time apart and the changes in Spock, Kirk still trusts him even though he probably knows what Spock has in mind is incredibly dangerous.

aTOMiC wrote: Great scene ram...er I mean Matrix..heh. Anyway one thing it quite different from the scene you mention and the Corbomite Maneuver. In CM Kirk is complete full of crap. He's got nothing to lose but he also has absolutely nothing to bargain with except a lie. In TMP Kirk DOES know why the creator has not responded. His bargaining position is weak given the circumstances but at least he's got SOMETHING.

Kirk doesn't know why the "creator" has not responded until later on, when he and his group come upon "Vejur" itself and discover its real identity. So at the point that Kirk makes his bluff to the Ilia probe, he's very much full of crap, too.

I in fact do like many scenes from TMP concerning Kirk. Actually it's filled with 'em. I love the moment where Kirk discovers that Spock has stolen a thruster suit. At first he mutters "get him back here" then reconsiders and says "wait...get a fix on his position". Even after all the time apart and the changes in Spock, Kirk still trusts him even though he probably knows what Spock has in mind is incredibly dangerous.

And of course, as is typical of Kirk, he goes out after Spock himself. But, hey, that's what all the Starfleet captains do, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't have much emotional investment in the Trek stories.

Well, MM you of course are correct. As you say it isn't until V'ger is revealed as Voyager 6 that specifics are available. I guess my feeling was that clues were already floating around the story that gave Kirk a fraction more to work with than making up a completely fictional defensive device out of the clear blue sky. For some reason "Fizbin" comes to mind.

However one thing of note is missing from STMP. Kirk never slugs anyone. I'm sure there were moments when he wanted to punch Decker in the chops but he never does. Kirk is already quite used to the way McCoy tried to push his buttons so there's no physical violence there. V'Ger isn't an entity that has a grill you can smash in.

Actually STMP is nearly violence free aside from all the things V'Ger destroyed ie Klingons, space stations Ilia, etc. Chekov getting a nasty burn on his hand is just about the only other thing I can think of besides the discomfort of Spock's mind meld. Oh yes, and of course the transporter accident. Quite icky.

I believe Kirk taking a swing at someone would have pushed STMP into a much higher rank with many Trek fans.

Well, the only substantive clue I can think of that might have tipped off Vejur's origins to Kirk was the curiously antiquated radio signal that Vejur transmitted to Earth. But in the movie, Kirk's reaction to the signal is one of puzzlement, nothing more.

However one thing of note is missing from STMP. Kirk never slugs anyone. I'm sure there were moments when he wanted to punch Decker in the chops but he never does.

And I'm certain there were also times when Decker wanted to do the same to Kirk. But TMP did just fine without the fisticuffs, imo. I thought the test of wills between Kirk and Decker was one of the best things about the movie - it was a good subplot that fit nicely with the bigger story. Will Decker was such a refreshing character. He's the only starship commander to have stood up to Kirk the way he did, other than maybe his own father Matt Decker. The funny thing about it is that it's Decker who is the one almost eager to put up a fight with Vejur, whereas Kirk is the reluctant warrior, taking pains not to show Vejur hostility. Kirk took to heart the lesson of the Epsilon station (that got zapped by Vejur earlier), but Decker did not. On the other hand, Decker is the one who warns Kirk that entering the Vejur cloud would be an "unwarranted gamble." And so Kirk's own seeming recklessness would cost the life of Illia. At least it all worked out in the end. But I do think Will Decker could have been a great starship captain.

Actually STMP is nearly violence free aside from all the things V'Ger destroyed...

That's one of the unique aspects of TMP and a reason (among many) why I hold this movie in high esteem. It didn't have to resort to a slugfest to tell a good story.

Sorry if I'm going on and on about this, but you have to realize you're talking to a TMP geek.

Well, the first time I saw TMP, I was high as a kite and thought the whole concept was really cool. I think that's why I still like that movie.

I also think it has one of the best scenes in all the Trek movies. The one where spoke is back from mind-melding with V'ger and he finally accepts his human side and his devotion to Kirk.

I'm glad you appreciate ST:TMP, caam!

Yes, that was a fine moment for Spock. The parallel between V'ger's journey and Spock's own was one of the things I loved about the movie.

Awesome!