Balance of Terror - by Brad on 20:13 18 Jun 2003
I just watched the Star Trek TOS episode "Balance of Terror" DVD Vol 4, Ep.9 - 1966. Inspired by the brilliant 1957 WW II movie The Enemy Below (not an affiliate link) this is, IMO, ST at it's best. Intense, "Balance of Terror" reflects aspects of both WW II and the Cold War confrontation with the Soviets. But good stories do not become dated. The directing in this episode is particularly good.
In the real ST timeline this is the Federations first visual look at a Romulan. Boy are they surprised when they find that they look like Vulcans! Actor Mark Lenard plays the Romulan commander and is the only actor to play a Romulan, a Vulcan and a Klingon.
This is a good DVD disk to rent. And if you like war dramas pick up the movie "The Enemy Below" too.
I just watched the Star Trek TOS episode "Balance of Terror" DVD Vol 4, Ep.9 - 1966. Inspired by the brilliant 1957 WW II movie The Enemy Below (not an affiliate link) this is, IMO, ST at it's best. Intense, "Balance of Terror" reflects aspects of both WW II and the Cold War confrontation with the Soviets. But good stories do not become dated. The directing in this episode is particularly good.
In the real ST timeline this is the Federations first visual look at a Romulan. Boy are they surprised when they find that they look like Vulcans! Actor Mark Lenard plays the Romulan commander and is the only actor to play a Romulan, a Vulcan and a Klingon.
This is a good DVD disk to rent. And if you like war dramas pick up the movie "The Enemy Below" too.
Balance of Terror - by MoonHunter on 01:01 19 Jun 2003
It is one of the best SToS episodes ever made.
Heck SToS is a science fiction show that was created as a Drama/ action show, rather than as a "Science fiction" show. They used the format to address social and political issues of the time, much the same way The Outer Limits and Twilight Zone did. Except for Babylon 5, I can't think of a sci-fi show (except maybe the original Hulk Series) that was a show first and sci-fi second.
It is one of the best SToS episodes ever made.
Heck SToS is a science fiction show that was created as a Drama/ action show, rather than as a "Science fiction" show. They used the format to address social and political issues of the time, much the same way The Outer Limits and Twilight Zone did. Except for Babylon 5, I can't think of a sci-fi show (except maybe the original Hulk Series) that was a show first and sci-fi second.
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 08:09 19 Jun 2003
I really think the writers of ST had a grip on how to write a taunt short story. That helps for a one hour show.
Another factor is societal: most of these folks had served in the military during either WWII or Korea. They knew what military life was like and a bit about combat. This was reflected in their writing about how a vessel like Enterprise would be commanded. How a space battle would be. (Note in TOS, ship to ship combat is much more akin to WW II warships with guns fighting each other. This is a bow to the romantic image of the battleship. (And the limit of special effects.) Modern ST has space battles being more like dogfights with aircraft.)
Anyway, the folks doing TOS had a better understanding of this than the people writing for ST today do.
MH, the thing I notice about how they deal with social issues is they rarely got preachy about it. DS9 had some unique social commentary in it and didn't get too preachy either. ENT gets preachy. Instead of showing us they tell us.
I really think the writers of ST had a grip on how to write a taunt short story. That helps for a one hour show.
Another factor is societal: most of these folks had served in the military during either WWII or Korea. They knew what military life was like and a bit about combat. This was reflected in their writing about how a vessel like Enterprise would be commanded. How a space battle would be. (Note in TOS, ship to ship combat is much more akin to WW II warships with guns fighting each other. This is a bow to the romantic image of the battleship. (And the limit of special effects.) Modern ST has space battles being more like dogfights with aircraft.)
Anyway, the folks doing TOS had a better understanding of this than the people writing for ST today do.
MH, the thing I notice about how they deal with social issues is they rarely got preachy about it. DS9 had some unique social commentary in it and didn't get too preachy either. ENT gets preachy. Instead of showing us they tell us.
Balance of Terror - by NoonChild on 14:13 19 Jun 2003
What I liked about the original series is that every thing wasn't solved by re-routing power from the deflector shield to the taceon emitter. There's no tension in many TNG episodes cos you know they will solve it right at the end by re-routing the deblah blah blah ....
I like the old *william shatner voice*"Fist-fight, in some...sand" and Kirk showing Alien women the Earth thing called kissing! Yeah green women are a must.
What I liked about the original series is that every thing wasn't solved by re-routing power from the deflector shield to the taceon emitter. There's no tension in many TNG episodes cos you know they will solve it right at the end by re-routing the deblah blah blah ....
I like the old *william shatner voice*"Fist-fight, in some...sand" and Kirk showing Alien women the Earth thing called kissing! Yeah green women are a must.
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 14:42 19 Jun 2003
Hehe, I'm with you NC, green women are a must.
I think I just go back to the core of a good story can is good in any setting, war drama, scifi, fantasy, contemporary. A bad story is made no better by adding in scifi or special effects.
In fact special effects and high budgets often get in the way. I think tight budgetsa make people be more creative, they dig deeper to do more with less.
Hehe, I'm with you NC, green women are a must.
I think I just go back to the core of a good story can is good in any setting, war drama, scifi, fantasy, contemporary. A bad story is made no better by adding in scifi or special effects.
In fact special effects and high budgets often get in the way. I think tight budgetsa make people be more creative, they dig deeper to do more with less.
Balance of Terror - by MoonHunter on 01:09 20 Jun 2003
I have only two comments to illustrate that point painfully.
Batman
Doctor Who
| Quote (Brad @ June 19 2003,08:42) |
| In fact special effects and high budgets often get in the way. I think tight budgetsa make people be more creative, they dig deeper to do more with less. |
I have only two comments to illustrate that point painfully.
Batman
Doctor Who
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 07:05 20 Jun 2003
Dr. Who was exactly what I was thinking of.
I have a theory that the quality of Dr. Who is inversely purportional to the budget. (So the cheesier the sets and the budget, the better it was.)
I think it effects ST all too often. That and lack of driving focus.
Dr. Who was exactly what I was thinking of.
I have a theory that the quality of Dr. Who is inversely purportional to the budget. (So the cheesier the sets and the budget, the better it was.)I think it effects ST all too often. That and lack of driving focus.
Balance of Terror - by MoonHunter on 07:55 20 Jun 2003
Can you expand upon that driving focus comment, so I can make sure we are all on the same page.
Can you expand upon that driving focus comment, so I can make sure we are all on the same page.
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 09:15 20 Jun 2003
Two things for driving focus:
1. Roddenberry - he had a certain view and drive and it helped focus the show. For better or worse there was one person with a dream at the helm. Not a committee.
2. Captain as Horatio Hornblower and a Captain centric view. There is room in TOS for others to shine but at the end of the day it is Kirk and the Enterprise that are the primary focus and everybody else is supporting that to some degree. It is not an ensemble.
The loneliness of command is a great undercurrent throughout TOS. It's all on his shoulders - everything and everybody is relying on Kirk. And he dares not drop his guard or show weakness in front of the crew. He only lets McCoy and Spock in to see glimpses of what he is really going through. Kirk is aware that when you are in command all eyes are upon you every second.
The later Star Treks have a problem with this. DS9 could get away with ensemble cast more partly because they were in garrison so to speak.
Two things for driving focus:
1. Roddenberry - he had a certain view and drive and it helped focus the show. For better or worse there was one person with a dream at the helm. Not a committee.
2. Captain as Horatio Hornblower and a Captain centric view. There is room in TOS for others to shine but at the end of the day it is Kirk and the Enterprise that are the primary focus and everybody else is supporting that to some degree. It is not an ensemble.
The loneliness of command is a great undercurrent throughout TOS. It's all on his shoulders - everything and everybody is relying on Kirk. And he dares not drop his guard or show weakness in front of the crew. He only lets McCoy and Spock in to see glimpses of what he is really going through. Kirk is aware that when you are in command all eyes are upon you every second.
The later Star Treks have a problem with this. DS9 could get away with ensemble cast more partly because they were in garrison so to speak.
Balance of Terror - by NoonChild on 13:44 20 Jun 2003
Dont know how these rules could be applied to other sci-fi shows like Farscape - the loneliness of being an alien in an aliens world? But i suppose FS wasn't on long enough to test it's driving force.
Dont know how these rules could be applied to other sci-fi shows like Farscape - the loneliness of being an alien in an aliens world? But i suppose FS wasn't on long enough to test it's driving force.
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 14:45 20 Jun 2003
I guess I'm really only applying my last to points to Star Trek properties.
There can be other themes, although that command one makes the most sense aboard a ship. (An exception would be if the main characters are just members of the crew.)
It is the lack of clear focus and themes that harmed some of the later ST shows. It is the contrast that I want to point out.
| Quote (NoonChild @ June 20 2003,10:44) |
| Dont know how these rules could be applied to other sci-fi shows like Farscape - the loneliness of being an alien in an aliens world? But i suppose FS wasn't on long enough to test it's driving force. |
I guess I'm really only applying my last to points to Star Trek properties.
There can be other themes, although that command one makes the most sense aboard a ship. (An exception would be if the main characters are just members of the crew.)
It is the lack of clear focus and themes that harmed some of the later ST shows. It is the contrast that I want to point out.
Balance of Terror - by MoonHunter on 01:27 23 Jun 2003
Isn't that the point... FS does not have a driving force. Everyone on the show was an alien, even the Human. So everyone was an alien in an alien world. FS had awsome characters and effects going for it, that and some spiffy writing kept it in an epsodic mode (or one season story arc), that we have learned to love.
Babylon 5 had a driving force, J. Michael Straczynski, and his grand story arc, and the smaller ones that made it up. You can see and feel the difference between shows that have story arcs and a driving force, than those that don't.
The problem with later ST shows was the committee approach. The team did not know work well enough together, and it really hurt STNG year one. (Heck it hurt every ST series year one). Once they got their act together, the individual episodes began to work. Once they embrace story arcs (usually 3 episodes for a given one) and a non static universe (the background world changes notably over each season or run, that the shows began to resonate with the more sophisticated sci-fi fans of today.
And Voyager (and to a limited extend DS9) had a "loneliness of command" theme. I think any military or psuedo military show will have that theme. (Does that make it a trope of the military genre?)
Isn't that the point... FS does not have a driving force. Everyone on the show was an alien, even the Human. So everyone was an alien in an alien world. FS had awsome characters and effects going for it, that and some spiffy writing kept it in an epsodic mode (or one season story arc), that we have learned to love.
Babylon 5 had a driving force, J. Michael Straczynski, and his grand story arc, and the smaller ones that made it up. You can see and feel the difference between shows that have story arcs and a driving force, than those that don't.
The problem with later ST shows was the committee approach. The team did not know work well enough together, and it really hurt STNG year one. (Heck it hurt every ST series year one). Once they got their act together, the individual episodes began to work. Once they embrace story arcs (usually 3 episodes for a given one) and a non static universe (the background world changes notably over each season or run, that the shows began to resonate with the more sophisticated sci-fi fans of today.
And Voyager (and to a limited extend DS9) had a "loneliness of command" theme. I think any military or psuedo military show will have that theme. (Does that make it a trope of the military genre?)
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 09:27 23 Jun 2003
This killed TNG for me. By the end of the first year, I was so annoyed that I quit watching. I probably, caught only about 6 shows over the next few years. I think it must have gotten better, but that first year poisoned the well for me.
I liked Voyager even less.
I hope they can rescue Enterprise.
| Quote |
| The problem with later ST shows was the committee approach. The team did not know work well enough together, and it really hurt STNG year one. |
This killed TNG for me. By the end of the first year, I was so annoyed that I quit watching. I probably, caught only about 6 shows over the next few years. I think it must have gotten better, but that first year poisoned the well for me.
I liked Voyager even less.
I hope they can rescue Enterprise.
Balance of Terror - by NoonChild on 15:56 23 Jun 2003
Even series with unofficial command structures seem to use this theme.... perfect example Buffy! So I'd be comfortable calling it a trope, but then again I always was rather vague with my metaphisical labeling during my degree.
| Quote |
| And Voyager (and to a limited extend DS9) had a "loneliness of command" theme. I think any military or psuedo military show will have that theme. (Does that make it a trope of the military genre?) |
Even series with unofficial command structures seem to use this theme.... perfect example Buffy! So I'd be comfortable calling it a trope, but then again I always was rather vague with my metaphisical labeling during my degree.
Balance of Terror - by MoonHunter on 00:57 26 Jun 2003
They can't "save" Enterprise. They have given up on the Science of Science fiction. They have tossed much of the continuity as we have known it out the window. Well they took it and embellished it ...ALOT. It is not really a Star Trek show... it is a show that Rodenberry's ST production company is putting together.
If you don't expect Star Trek; if you don't expect science fiction; if you don't expect better from The ST production company; then it is a good show.
They can't "save" Enterprise. They have given up on the Science of Science fiction. They have tossed much of the continuity as we have known it out the window. Well they took it and embellished it ...ALOT. It is not really a Star Trek show... it is a show that Rodenberry's ST production company is putting together.
If you don't expect Star Trek; if you don't expect science fiction; if you don't expect better from The ST production company; then it is a good show.
Balance of Terror - by Brad on 07:45 26 Jun 2003
I'm about half tempted to agree with you. I'm reserving judgment till i see this new story next season.
Enterprise had a lot of promise but they sem to have lost it. We will see.
I'm about half tempted to agree with you. I'm reserving judgment till i see this new story next season.
Enterprise had a lot of promise but they sem to have lost it. We will see.