Into the Top Twenty - hold on to your toupees and conceal your girdles; torpedoes away!
20.
"Damn it, Bones... I need you."
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Shatner sure is somber in TMP, isn't he? We're a long way from "Whom Gods Destroy" here. I think it works for the film, but it's interesting how even when approaching the role/ story from such a perspective something like this comes through. I mean, this is such an over the top moment! You can even see how Bones is startled by it.
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Well... Christ, Jim, if you feel that strongly about it. Give me a minute to shave, I guess. (I hope the redesigned Sick Bay still has my magical spray bottles....)
19.
"Voyager 6!?"
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
In addition to just being such a cool moment (even if it was, like anyone needs me to say it, somewhat precedented, i.e. "to boldly go where Nomad had gone before") it's Shatner's delivery of the line that sticks with me through all these years. Just the right blend of surprise, alarm, wonder, and Shatner-ness.
Incidentally, I forgot until just right now - I'd meant to include "Uhura, get the medics down here.... GET THEM NOW!" from The Search For Spock in this countdown. Huh! Too late to find room for it now, but where should it go? I throw the question out there. It might not even be a Top 50 moment, just a delivery I'd earmarked as a prototypical-Shatner-delivery/moment.
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| His whole attitude in that scene, actually. The whole movie, really. TSFS is precisely who Kirk is; Nimoy understood the character very well. |
18.
"Kirk... to Enterprise"
"Dagger of the Mind"
Where No Blog Has Gone Before just performed an excellent analysis of this episode - I encourage you to go over yonder and read in more depth. As for our purposes here, is Kirk's time in the Recall chair the most Shatnerian of the entire series? Very possibly. It's absurd. And heavenly. But this stumbling out from under the menace of the mind ray and fumbling with his communicator "Kirk... to Enterprise..." is just goddamn glorious, as is the complete breakdown into sobs that immediately follows. (That had to be one hell of a transmission to get, up on the ship! I hope it was included on the Captain's Log tapes sent to the Starfleet Archives.)
17.
"Took full poison..."
"A Private Little War"
A few months back I had the flu and was alternating between fever and chills. This sequence was in mind the whole time. I wonder how many people die from pneumonia (or something comparable) and instead of a white light just hallucinate/ observe some hazy version of this very scene. As last-moments-of-life go, that sounds okay to me. (Kirk's lingering "Cuu-uuure" might confuse or make cruel such a scenario, but hey.)
16.
"The Enemy Within"
If you're gasping at your computer screen right now that this is not higher in the countdown, I understand. (One particular moment is higher, and we'll see it next time.) Otherwise, after I shook everything out, here's where Shatner's undeniably iconic performance as both his good and bad selves split in two by that goddam-always-something-with-this-thing transporter, landed. Doesn't mean it's not Hammer of the Gods level awesome, of course.
I thought it'd have been higher myself, but I don't argue with my spreadsheets, even when they argue with me.
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| "I'M CAPTAIN KIRK!!" is on any reasonable list of Greatest Moments on TV/ of the 20th Century. |
15.
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| "I...! Have Had...!" |
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| "Enough of you!" |
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Great Klingon villain is dispatched in great fashion on great set piece in great film - news at eleven!
Tied with "Fine, I'll kill you later" (Also from TSFS.)
14.
"The Cloud Minders"
Oh man! If Klum were alive to see this, I'd be getting an earful. "This should be Number One what's wrong with you!?" I think he and I communicated via nothing but Kirk dialogue at least 40% of the time, and of that 40% a good half was solely from "Cloud Minders."
This is another "whole episode" sort of deals rather than a single line. Altho were I to single three, they would be (1) from the image above: "We had a bargain - why'd you break it?" Shatner delivers it as more of a statement than a question, but the best is the vocal effect from behind this rather-flimsy mask over his mouth. (2) "Your orders... are to stand by." Difficult to really explain. See, the whole time Kirk is in the cave his rationality is being reduced by the Xenite gas, exposure to which erodes reason, temper, and intelligence. As per usual, Shatner seizes the moment to seamlessly bring Kirk -and all of us - to the brink of insanity and beyond. And (3)
"I said - dig!!"
(Honorable mention: "BOTH WILL KILL." I can only goddamn hope that someday, when in a similar situation (i.e. if some High Advisor asks me if I'm as brave with a what-ever as I am with a phaser) I think to be so matter-of-fact and immediate in response.)
13.
"It's like a jigsaw puzzle..."
"This Side of Paradise"
No explanation necessary. (God I hope that link stays active forever. Ditto for the one up there from "A Private Little War."
12.
"I... can't... LEAVE" (With Face)
"This Side of Paradise"
Kirk discovers that angrrrrr can rid the host body of the spore's malevolent disease-curing, good-vibes-bringing influence.
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| And the miracle of discovery is written all over his face. |
11.
POETIC EPISODE ENDERS
Here I don't mean any of the ending monologues, such as mentioned elsewhere, but the little devastating cappers Kirk adds to events, usually accompanied by an awkward glimpse from the long-suffering Dr. McCoy, who - outside of our imagined transcriber at Starfleet Records - absorbs more of these than anyone else.
"Serpents... Serpents for the Garden of Eden. We're very tired, Mister Spock. Beam us up home."
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"Would it have hurt us, I wonder, just to have gathered a few laurel leaves?"
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| "I was thinking about the buffalo..." |
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"Beauty... survives."
You get the idea. These moments are from "A Private Little War," "Who Mourns for Adonais," "The Man Trap", and "That Which Survives," respectively.
~
Into the Top Ten! And Beyond Infinity Itself.
Another TSFS moment I missed: "The word? Is 'No.' I am therefore going anyway."
ReplyDeleteAs Nimoy says in I AM SPOCK "THAT is our hero."
Indeed.
(I was just reading my original TSFS post and saw that moment and realized I'd overlooked it. If "Uhura get the medics down here - GET THEM NOW!" is perhaps not quite Top 50 Shatner Moments, this other one definitely is, and probably at least Top 25 at that.)
I am really in the mood to watch The Search for Spock now!!
Me too! You already single-handedly rehabbed my opinion of "Insurrection," and you might have done it for "The Search For Spock" as well.
DeleteThat's an awesome observation from Nimoy.
In many ways, as I discovered putting together that 007 mix-tape, my life was influenced without my knowing it by having all this 007 music playing in my head during key moments of my life, growing up. The influence such a thing has (if any substantial influence at all) isn't really appreciated until much further down the road, then you look back with puzzlement and realize "good lord... did I act that way because of fucking MOONRAKER? Is that possible?? AWESOME."
DeleteI have a similar set of observations with Kirk's attitude in this film and some of my reflexive attitudes towards authority, I think. I can't lay it ALL at TSFS' door - in my most honest moments, it's probably as equally TOP GUN as it is something like TSFS - but there's a nobility of insurrection streak in Trek that, when it's done a particular way (nobility of spirit over the regs, loyalty to friends, etc.) resonates with me.
"Jim... you do this, you'll never sit in a Captain's seat again."
(Pause. The briefest of pained looks crosses Kirk's face. Then, to Sulu.) "Warp speed."
Indeed, sir, indeed!
(18) I like to imagine the child actor from "Miri" watching this episode as an adult and wondering if he didn't take some kind of satisfaction from scenes like this.
ReplyDelete(16) Probably doesn't get any better than this, for me at least, when it comes to all time classic TV freakouts.
Perhaps only Patrick McGoohan from "The Prisoner comes closest.
(15) Hasn't this become one of those timeless pop-culture catch phrases, it just seems like a natural candidate. Right up there with "Make my day".
(14) While the moment is memorable, sadly, it can't rescue what I consider a sub-par episode of the series.
(13) It's moments like this that it's too bad Shatner never did anymore poetry readings. I'd like to see him tackle something complex like "The Wasteland". More for the experience, rather than the poem.
(12) That look when you realize that you have, indeed, left the gas on.
Granted, both Nimoy and Kelly steel this episode for me with their own moments.
ChrisC.
(14) I hear you, but like "Whom Gods Destroy," any episode that has such memorable Shat-hysteria in it rises above par, like a satellite never dropping below orbital speed!
Delete(20) A lamentably underrated performance from a lamentably underrated movie. I'd have to do some real hard thinking on the subject to say for sure, but this MIGHT be in my top five. It's stuck with me for decades.
ReplyDelete(19) "Just the right blend of surprise, alarm, wonder, and Shatner-ness." -- Insert image of me nodding sagely and flying double thumbs-up.
As for that leftover TSFS moment...? I'd say it might have edged somewhere in around 41-50, but I'm not sure what I'd have taken out to make that happen. Compiling lists like this is like picking which of your kittens not to drown.
(18) It IS absurd, I guess; but I think it can be taken seriously, too. I can't say I'm a huge fan of that episode, but Shatner is excellent in it. Duh.
By the way, reading through these posts has made me so anxious to cover all these episodes on my own blog that I can practically taste it. Why can't that process somehow only take me three hours?!? (I say that, but I enjoy spending the time I spend. Deep-dives into these things always results in a layer of appreciation -- sometimes negative, but typically positive -- that I did not have before.)
(17) I didn't remember that scene. Holy Hannah...! That's one for the hall of fame, right there. And yet, I think my favorite thing is DeForest Kelley going into fighting-with-rocks mode. That's another moment for another hall of fame!
(16) You know, I actually DID gape a bit. Not a full-on gasp, but a definite moment of slack-jawedness. I suspect I know what moment from this episode is on the way next time; I look forward to finding out for sure.
(15) Can I be honest? I know I can, but my privilege for that might be revoked after this: I kinda hate this moment. The delivery is just SO weird, that it has actually always weirded me out. I think it might be part of the reason I don't hold the movie as high in esteem as some other TOS fans do. Maybe it'll click for me next viewing!
The "I'll kill you later" bit, though, is friend gold.
(14) Klum may curse me from beyond the vale for saying THIS, but it's true: I can never remember much about this episode other (obviously) than the one girl's outfit. But I do recall liking the episode the last time I saw it. I'll have to focus on Shatner next time; based on this, I think that'll be easy to do.
(13) That's a great one.
(12) If I were fucked up on Zima and saw that, I'd have a convulsion of some sort. In the good way. It'd have to be 1995 for this to be realistic, but frankly, I'd be onboard for that.
(11) Those are excellent uses of ellipses. And until you pointed these out, I'm not sure I'd ever reflected on how often episodes end with one of these (or something like it, such as "Not if you've sat in that chair" or whatever). I'm now trying to remember if that is a uniquely Kirkian thing or if other series try it on occasion, too. Nothing much comes to mind, but I ber there are bound to be a few.
(18) I hear you! On all counts, but particularly the time factor.
Delete(17) Oh man - that bit where Bones picks up the rock, the "HAAA!" that follows, the phaser blast, and his aggressive asking "ARE YOU HILL PEOPLE?" to Tyree's men after Kirk's theatrics - all of this is the best. There are so many other moments from this episode I considered, but like you say, which kittens to drown...
(15) I can understand this, truly. If that line doesn't land with you, it erodes so much of everything. For me this sequence on the planet is like the greatest thing ever, with that line just being this ridiculous moment of TOS-Kirk coming out. And yeah that "fine I'll kill you later" but is just perfect. I bet a re-watch of this one is going to bring to the fore 10-20 other things I should've included here. (Though, the magic of original cast Trek: probably the case with just about every one.)
(14) The episode is indeed kinda kinda blah, as Chris says, but the stuff with Kirk in the mines and how absolutely descent-into-madness Shatner plays it is a highlight of the series for me. And the ridiculous fight scene he has with the High Advisor after the "both will kill!" line. I'm forever amused at the fisticuffs shoehorned into season 3 episodes, but this one is among the most ridiculous. And that it ends on the transporter pad with one of the most over-acted karate chops (and reactions hots from the High Advisor) - oh man. It's a ridiculous episode and a conceptual failure, but it's also, honestly, one of the most fun TOS episodes to watch. Particularly while drinking beer (or Zimas, if 1995 Bryant stops by) with Ghost Klum.
(I've described elsewhere that paper bag we'd keep between our chairs for the empty cans of Stroh's and how every now and again one of us would slowly head-turn back to the futon-couch that was in the back of that living room where we watched all those TOS laser discs, a la Sulu.)
(11) Next re-watch I do, I'm doing a definitive list of each of these representative sections (double shoulder grabs, poetic enders, bizarre Captain's Logs, etc.)
(17) And the man-in-suit mimery is next-level crazy, too. All of it, really; this whole scene is museum material.
Delete(14) Oh, yeah, that Sulu-looking-back thing is awesome.