Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 16: The Menagerie Part I & II
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VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Leonard Nimoy, William ShatnerProducer: Douglas S. Cramer
Writer: Gene Roddenberry
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 92 minutes
Release Date: 1994-04-15
Publisher: CBS Paramount International Television
Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
VHS Movie Reviews of Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 16: The Menagerie Part I & II
Movie Review: Inadvertant Star Trek Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Menagerie" is a unique chapter in Trek history. Unable to deliver new episodes quickly enough (due to Trek's exceptionally long postproduction times in those days), the producers wrote a 2-part episode based largely around the original pilot for the show, which NBC had rejected. The newer scenes are mostly simple set-ups aboard ship or a starbase.
The story-telling device is ingenious. Spock was the only crew member to carry over from the original cast. In Part I of "The Menagerie," Spock hijacks the Enterprise to take his old captain, Christopher Pike, back to planet Talos IV. In the resulting mutiny trial, images are beamed from the planet. This footage is actually reused from the original Star Trek pilot, "The Cage."
The resulting two-part story is an award-winning masterpiece. Roddenberry was fond of his original pilot and liked to show it by itself. But a great deal is gained by the framing device, or "envelope." (Note that there is little "Cage" footage that did not get reused in "The Menagerie" -- just a couple of brief scenes.) By seeing old and new Enterprise footage side by side, we get a sense of Federation history and continuity. There are some cosmetic changes, which would be natural, but it's basically the same ship. We see how deep the quality of loyalty is in Spock. Normally Spock's loyalty is to Kirk, but Spock's loyalty to his old captain -- also an Earthman -- in my opinion makes Spock all the more admirable.
We also get to see Kirk and Pike side by side. These are similar men, both bold decisive leaders on the young side of 40. But Jefferey Hunter (whose other major role was Jesus) brought less of a sense of humor to Captain Pike than Shatner often did with Kirk.
"The Cage" itself, which makes up the bulk of Part II, is quite good. The big-brained Talosians captured Pike and sought to make him mate and settle down with an Earth woman, Vina (the delightful Susan Oliver). When they see that human hatred of captivity -- as demonstrated by Pike -- is too great, they realize that humans aren't useful to them and they let him go. Using the power of illusion, they offered many enticements. The scene in which they make Vina appear as a green Orion slave girl is the sexiest in all of Star Trek, and it's worth the money for that scene alone.
The final scene (back on the current Enterprise) is one of the most moving in the history of the franchise. As the credits roll, we see Kirk gaze in awe as he sees the Talosians use their mental powers to restore the severely-disabled Pike to a full and joyful life. "He has illusion and you have reality." It is a very humane ending that helps to make up for the Talosians' earlier bad behavior.
Summary of Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 16: The Menagerie Part I & II
As if guided by the frugal wisdom of schlockmeister producer-director Roger Corman, Trek creator Gene Roddenberry found a clever way of using, instead of losing, extensive and costly footage from the then-unseen, discarded Star Trek pilot, "The Cage." Roddenberry's solution was to integrate pieces of "The Cage" into a whole new story context, and the fascinating and surprisingly moving result was the two-part drama "The Menagerie." First, a bit of background: "The Cage" starred film actor Jeffrey Hunter (King of Kings, The Searchers) as Christopher Pike, the original captain of the Enterprise. Among Hunter's costars was Leonard Nimoy as Science Officer Spock, who eventually carried over, of course, into the reconfigured series starring William Shatner. Rather than write off "The Cage," Roddenberry conceived of a story line in which Captain Pike would reappear on the show in a badly disfigured, paralyzed, and mute form--the result of a terrible accident in which the character saved a number of lives but took a pounding in the process. In "The Menagerie," Spock hijacks the Enterprise to transport Pike to a secret destination. During court-martial proceedings for this crime, Spock's defense is presented via archival footage of an old, pre-Kirk mission aboard the Enterprise. That footage, of course, is a reedited "Cage." A must-see for Star Trek fans, "The Menagerie" is a stellar example of Roddenberry thinking on his feet. --Tom KeoghHorror VHS Video
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