A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Star Trek: The Menagerie

Date Viewed: 11/13/07

Details:

William Shatner

Leonard Nimoy

Jeffrey Hunter

Susan Oliver

DeForest Kelley

James Doohan (incredibly young!)

Nichelle Nicols

Director: Marc Daniels

Producer: Gene Roddenberry

Score: 1/2

The Review: The Star Trek franchise is re-mastering all the original TV series episodes into HD -- and the digital HD images projected onto a theatre screen are amazing, not just while zooming down memory lane, but also in their own right: crisp, clean, and, well, outright garish -- I'll bet you didn't remember that latter aspect?! The only reason this is possible is because in those long-lost days of yesteryear, they actually filmed television shows: real, fine-grain, celluloid, color film. By the time you read this review, the first few episodes will probably be released in retail. How much of this series will be previewed in the limited-release, specialty theatre setting is not clear, but I hope some of the classic episodes and the rare two-parters get that treatment.

The first entry in this series is the two-episode sequence "The Menagerie" -- accompanied by an introduction by Roddenberry's son, some supporting material and lots of "during the filming of" home movies. Part of this was the original pilot, "The Cage", which was rejected by the studio; surprisingly, the production crew was given another budget and told to shoot a second pilot, which was accepted -- and started a thematic run that continues to this day, over 40 years later. "The Menagerie" was taken out of the can somewhat later, recast into its current form as a retrospective "Caine Mutiny" introduction to the former commander of the USS Enterprise, Commander Pike (Hunter).

The ex-hippie, Trek-fans in the audience were easy to spot, and it was almost like a high school or 40-year college reunion -- in spirit.

(17-Nov-07)

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