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Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 23, Episodes 45 & 46: A Private Little War/ The Gamesters of TriskelionRating:
Release Date: 05 June, 2001 Retail Price: $19.99 OUR Price: $17.99 You SAVE: $2.00! Cast: Complete Cast (6 total) |
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 23, Episodes 45 & 46: A Private Little War/ The Gamesters of Triskelion Reviews
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The original "Star Trek" series is cheesy at times but often fun and sometimes dramatic. However, 2 episodes per disc is a sure sign that Paramount was milking this series for all that it's worth, because they knew that the loyal "Star Trek" fans would buy every disc - all 40 of them. Paramount has now released the entire series in season boxed sets which, although still pricey, include bonus features and are a better value than these single-disc releases. Skip these discs and buy the boxed sets instead.
Kirk battles Klingons for a planet's Hearts and Minds
This is another great Trek pairing.
"A Private Little War" is Trek's take on what was then our expanding participation in Viet Nam. Here, Kirk and crew journey to an idyllic Eden of a world populated by noble nomads and settled villagers and, unfortunately for everybody, fair game for the Klingon empire. Though barely on the edge of the industrial revolution, villagers are now armed with flintlocks, and have engaged in a genocidal war against the nomads -a noble band led by the heroic Tyree. A close friend of Kirk's on his last sojourn their, Tyree allows Kirk to hide within his tribe while he and McCoy investigate Klingon backing of the villagers. Spock is unluckily struck by one of the primitive flintlocks and spends much of the episode in the Enterprise's ICU. Down below, between ducking Klingon's, Kirk and McCoy bitterly debate the morality of bringing the tribes into technological parity with the villagers, with Kirk in favor of giving Tyree's people a fighting chance, and McCoy arguing how that would only prolong a bloody and suicidal war (almost a completely win-win situation for the Klingons).
This was a great episode, deftly referring both to Viet Nam and treatment of indigenous tribes in 19th century America. McCoy especially shines in his moments arguing with the Captain, while the script gives Kirk the coldly logical position normally reserved for Spock (it would probably have been too cold; perhaps that's why they had him shot down in the opening scene). Also look for 1960's TV fixture Nancy Kovack as Nona, Tyree's bewitching wife. Kovack had a recurring role as Darrin Steven's former flame on "Bewitched", exposing her to all sorts of nose-twitching witchcraft. As Nona, a "Kunutu" woman, she now gets to cast the spells.
"Gamesters of Triskelion" is perfectly campy Trek, with Kirk, Uhura and Chekov kidnapped during transport by a highly advanced race of beings (is there any other kind?) called "Providers" who force Kirk and crew to battle in mortal combat with other kidnapped aliens (one of them, a beautiful humanoid who's wicked in the ring). You'd think the Providers would have long tired of the repetitious gaming (they bet using "quatloos", but you never see one) and would have long settled on developing the slaves to try living normal lives as a more amusing form of entertainment. "Gamesters" is campy trek, using interior sets (even for outdoor scenes) and featuring Shatner in full "lounge mode" as he courts his fellow prisoner. One caveat though, this episode features a moment in which Uhura is assaulted just out of camera shot. It's very suggestive, but by the end of the episode, there's just about no closure. It was perhaps a bit too campy for its own good.
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