STAR TREK: The Menagerie

If I was a Star Trek fanatic (and not just a fan) I would probably go against the advice of this review. Since rabid TOS fans have already seen The Menagerie, I see no reason why, knowing the plot, they would suddenly find the story boring once they see it in a theater. The chance to see Star Trek on the big screen is the true draw here. And this review really didn't address that.

Also, I have no idea what the reviewer expected. Some sort of new movie based on Pike? That is not what this project is about. How can he say this story is a rehash of what was done on 'Enterprise'? This story existed 25 years *before* that show was on the air. If anything, it shows how derivative that later series was.

Again, I am not a big enough fan to attend. But I see no reason why a Soooper Trekkie/Trekker wouldn't want to.

I'm more of a TNG fan than TOS, and 'The Menagerie' was certainly not one of the top five episodes of that series, I think C+ is a bit harsh. My main gripe is that in the theater I saw it in, the image was dim, making a lot of the improvements hard to appreciate. The audio was a bit low as well. It was great to see a 40 year old television episode look so good projected on such a big screen.

Lister,

What was meant by the "Pike years" comment is that Parmount missed a chance to tell some great stories. I knew what the Menagerie was and is... I just thought wouldn't it have been interesting to see the Enterprise under Pike's command for its own series. My comment on 'Enterpirse' was that the show was simply over done Trek plots, Paramount should have done a show about Pike and Spock, not Archer and Topol.

The Movie Lord
(Robert Trate) a Soooper Trekkie

That makes sense. Thanks. But I am still not sure why you gave the showing such an average rating. You knew the story going in. You knew you thought it was a boring story (I don't, but that's beside the point). The only things that changed involved effects and the theatrical presentation. Were they really so dismal?

Maybe the crowd being dead didn't really help? BSG:Razor the night before had a great crowd. I know I shouldn't compare the two, but it was still a theater experince.

Those scenes of the Doomsday Machine were awesome... I think it cheapened what I saw. They should have shown that instead. I still think the Menagerie is great, I was just rating the overall HD theater experince and what I was paying 12.50 for, even though I already have the episode on DVD at home. I went for a big crowd and big screen hoping for big thrills. It wasn't.

I agree with you that I would have rather have seen Paramount make a prequel series based on Pike & the original crew rather than Archer. It might have brought in more fans of the original series if they opted for this (as a side note, it also may have made fans a bit less resistant to recasting younger actors in Trek roles, giving Abrams less of an uphill battle with the movie). But even if Paramount had opted for that concept, as long as Berman and Braga were in charge of the franchise, they would have forced the characters into the same uninspired formulas which they would have used in Enterprise anyway. A better solution would have been to hand the prequel series (regardless of incarnation) over to Manny Coto from the beginning. Alas, we can't change history, and I hear Harlan Ellison charges too much to use the Guardian of Forever.

As for The Menagerie, I haven't seen it on the big screen and don't intend to. I always thought it was a solid dramatic episode with a classic Roddenberry-style resolution. However, as a full-screen spectacle, I can see where it would be lacking when paying good money for it on the big screen. Other than the fact that it's TOS's only two-parter, I don't know why they selected it. They would have been better off going with two unrelated episodes which delivered more in the special effects and/or action sequences - like Amok Time, Balance of Terror, or even the fan favorite Trouble with Tribbles.

the points that he talks about here are going to be shown in the upcoming Star Trek Film, you can listen to my comments on the recent casting news for Capt Chirs Pike on my podcast.

http://thisweekingeek.mypodcast.com

I am excited for the new Trek flick, but would I PAY to see this? no way, in fact the COST of the HD-DVD/DVD release of the first season fo star Trek is INSANE! I will not be buying it, and I am a HUGE Trek Fan

Robert - got what you were saying. My thing is: Why not look at that for the new movies? Why rehash Kirk/Spock stuff? Right away some should be saying: If Spock and Kirk (and the rest) are meeting at an early age, how does this fit the rest? How can Kirk and Spock be seen younger on the Enterprise and you completely forget "The Menagerie?" It seems like that is what the new movie is going to do.... YES YES I KNOW -WAIT FOR IT AND THEN DECIDE JUST DONT BASH AHEAD OF TIME.
I'm not a trekkie but I watched the originals as a kid again and again and watched TNG - but I do love the series and its going to be tough seeing someone else play those parts. To me it's the same as trying to recast the original Star Wars trilogy - CAN'T BE DONE. (Although you know Lucas' kids will do it when they own the rights and George is pushing up daisies) To me it's really "sorry - we got nowhere to go with this franchise so we're doing a remake just like every other studio is handing out horror remakes/reimaginings".

I love the moviegoing experience and I don't really like next-to-empty theaters, but I NEVER go when I think there's going to be a big crowd because, for me, it's just a distraction having to listen to all the chewing and slurping, coughing and seat creaking, and then watching people get up to go back and forth out of the theater for two hours to the concession stand or the bathroom -- that, plus the inevitable bursts of laughter at inappropriate times during the movie. I know I sound really harsh, but I go to he cinema to watch and listen to the movie, not the crowd.