So Bunny how much further do you think you'll go with ST videos? There's a TON of material out there, like five TV series and I think there's over ten movies now! I'll watch whatever you publish, you are beautiful and entertaining 🙂
Fun fact: Ted Cassidy voiced the Gorn captain. He also voiced Balok's puppet on The Corbomite Maneuver and played Ruk in What Are Little Girls Made Of? Of course, outside of Star Trek, he's best known as Lurch from The Addams Family.
AF: The character wasn't intended to have lines, but in one ep. answering the door he ad-libbed "You rang?" and with that DEEP voice they knew it was gold.
Ted Cassidy also played Harvey Logan, who got kicked in the nads by Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Off-camera, Ted Cassidy and Gene Roddenberry were drinking and poker-playing buddies.
I believe I read that William Shatner was afflicted with tinnitus, a persistent ringing in his ear, as a result of being too close to one of the explosions during this episode. The condition continues to plague him to this day.
Have you seen the size is Shatner lately? He went from being on the Enterprise to being the size of the Enterprise! When he recently went into orbit on “Blue Origin.” I bet they needed an extra rocket booster to propel his fat @r se into orbit!
I don't know that I'd trust Shatner's memory on that. I swear you can see the moment in Arena when he sustains his injury. After one of the explosions, he looks a little stunned (not acting stunned) like he wasn't expecting it to be that close or powerful and he starts to bring his hand up to the side of his head. I believe Nimoy also experienced some temporary hearing loss after shooting this episode.
This episode of Star Trek was an adaptation of a short story by the same name written by Fredric Brown. In the short story, it is a human verses an alien creature called an Outsider that looks like a fleshy ball with many tentacle arms and the two are separated by a forcefield that at first seems like only dead or inanimate objects can pass through so each side tries to develop a weapon that can be shot through the forcefield with sufficient force to kill the enemy. It is only after some time that the human realizes a small animal he thought the Outsider had killed and threw at him turns out to be alive and he realizes it's not things that are not alive that can pass through. It's consciousness that blocks the field, so the human knocks himself out while leaning on the forcefield and when he comes too he finds himself on the same side of the forcefield as the Outsider and - using a stone knife he created - kills the alien. Upon returning to his ship he learns that the Earth fleet managed to wipe out the entire Outsider fleet with a single shot. Another adaptation of this short story (published under a different name) featured a twist that the god-like aliens actually planned to destroy the civilization of the battle's winner - deeming whichever side won the greater threat and more war-like species - and were surprised when the human participant - like Kirk - refused to kill his disabled opponent. Trek changed the plot of the original short story by making the alien creature more humanoid (necessary for the TV budgets of the 1960's), not keeping them separated, and giving Kirk the choice not to kill the Gorn, proving humans are evolving into a less violent and more reasoned species. This is actually one of the more popular first season episodes, because it shows Kirk's ingenuity, physical skills, the location filming - particularly at the famous Vasquez Rocks - this WON'T be the last time you see this location! - and the philosophical background of the episode - Is Starfleet and the Federation in the wrong here? Could the Gorn have a good reason (for them, at least) to have attacked and draw the Enterprise (likely the only Federation starship in the sector) into a trap?
My understanding is that Gene Coon had read the Brown story-a minor classic-but had honestly forgotten having done so. When it was pointed out that his screenplay was clearly derived from the short story, he contacted Brown, and obtained permission to use the story as long as Brown was named in the credits. Back from the days when such matters could be settled by people of good will instead of by lawyers.
@@majkus There was a very similar situation with the movie High Noon. While filming the movie, a producer realized that the overall idea reminded him of a short story titled, "The Tin Star", by John Cunningham. Though the movie script, by Carl Foreman, was substantially different, the producers didn't want any chance of being accused of plagiarism. So they bought the rights to the short story, and they gave Cunningham credit for it in the opening credits. Problem solved, fairly.
Believe it or not, this episode wasn't really an adaptation. Gene Coon thought up the story and wrote the teleplay himself. However, someone on staff (specifically script reviewer Joan Pearce) noticed how similar the story was to Frederic Brown's story (also named "Arena"). At that point, to avoid a lawsuit, Star Trek bought the rights to the prior story and gave credit to Brown - though that was after Coon had already finished the script.
By the sound made, the grenades launched from the mortar are the same tech as photon torpedoes. I have always liked how Nimoy delivers "He knows, Doctor. He has reasoned it out."
The sound effect is created by striking a "guy wire" used to keep a power pole upright, with a small hammer. I discovered this by accident as a young child... we had that type of pole behind our house, and one day, while playing, I discovered that hitting that, with my ear next to the metal cable, created that same effect. I later discovered that this sort of "found sound" was common for effects work, and this was exactly where the photorp sound effect had come from. A wound steel cable under tension being struck like a guitar string.
@@OpenMawProductionsHold this up against 2001: A Space Odyssey from the same year. Which one still looks real? "Old" doesn't always equal low budget, but it doesn't always equal bad effects, either. Even Spock's ears were not actually covered in the budget offered the show. They had to secretly pay a Hollywood make-up guy a hefty sum to make prosthetic ears that looked real.
@@Progger11 2001 had a budget of $10 million and four years to produce. Star Trek episodes had less than $200k and less than a month for shooting and post production. It still looks pretty damn good for the resources they had, and looks far less dated that a lot of SciFi that came much later. By the way, a lot of the visual effects in 2001 are static images moved across the screen.
@@Progger11 I am aware of all of that. It doesn't change the fact that Star Trek TOS was not a low budget television show. It was one of the most expensive shows on the air at the time. Spock's ears were also the result, moreso, of the fact that the make up department could not handle the job (lack of skill, not resources.) The main make up artist on the series paid out of pocket some 3000 dollars to get the job done correctly. Also, back then? Movies and television were light years apart. Comparing 2001 to ANYTHING on TV would be a joke, considering who made it and how much money was put behind it.
Low budget? If you were young I could forgive this you seem to be my age it was definitely lower cost 60 years ago considering what they had to work with I think they did very well and don't take me seriously I'm just having some fun with you only half of me is offended 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Like many, this is a favorite. It’s a great reminder that while we’re all the hero of our own story, every hero makes mistakes and isn’t perfect. As long as we keep that in mind, we can recognize and try to atone for ours.
You have 565 comments in just one day, that should tell you something. There are tons of star trek fans of the original series and they want to watch with you. This was the top science fiction show ever on the history if tv. Never underestimate the fan base of the original Star Trek TV show.
15:43 - The Gorn is not speaking a common tongue. The Metrons explained at the onset that each participant would be provided with a recording/translation device. So it is some form of Metron technology that the Gorn do no possess. Love these reactions! :)
Since Federation communicators are in theory also universal translators (what, you never wondered how all those aliens spoke colloquial English?), that's not too much of a stress.
"Disco balls for eyes." Yes, best they could do at the time. Interesting that the re-mastering added eye blinks. Subtle, but a nice touch. Anyway you look at it, the Gorn deserve the iconic place in our TV culture. Referenced numerous times in TV and movies in the past 60 years. You won't be able to miss it when you see it
The actor who played the Gorn in the rubber reptile suit is still alive and atends many Star Trek Conventions. He had been a cowboy stuntman for many years before Desilu picked him up as a stuntman. Many of the westerns actors were used in Sci Fi, since the genres were closely related.
@@hawkmaster381Ah....crewman #6, my old friend. Do you know the Thermian proverb that tells us that Lava Monsters are best left undisturbed? Dying before the first commercial is very...... disturbing.
*I was going through high school when this came out, this episode peeked my interest in Chemistry.* Yep, I made gun powder. There's a few extra steps involved that they did not show, to get it working properly, but the basic idea is correct. My chemistry teacher got me to show how it was done in front of the class. Exothermic reactions when done safely can be fun! _Thanks Star trek, and Bunnytails for bringing back those fond memories._
I don't approve of heaping overly sacerine praise on a reactor, (Or "Reactress" per se), but I agree. Bunny has made some sharp observations and caught on to quite a few plot twists that were yet to show up on screen. Not just in this one, but in lots of her Star trek reviews. ✔&✔
Even though "Shore Leave" was shot there too, in this episode more than any other, Vasquez Rocks really is a central character in the story, just as much as Kirk or the Gorn captain himself. Indeed, check it out on a map, just south of Agua Dulce, California (about 15 minutes from my house), many refer to the largest protuberance in the formation as "Kirk's Rock" or Gorn Rock." I was there just a week ago!
Thanks for describing the place. No budget to shoot with Sand People in far away deserts like the Eriguet dunes north of Nefta in southwestern Tunisia as in Star Wars. 😂
@@JarvistheKnight Interesting you should bring that up. The reason why so much TV and movies have been filmed at Vasquez Rocks over the years has to do with the "Thirty-Mile Zone" ("TMZ"). The TMZ is a thirty-mile radius centered on the intersection of Beverly and La Cienega boulevards in West LA. According to some studio union rule made probably close to 100 years ago, as long as the studio is filming within the TMZ, they don't have to pay film crews per diem or travel expenses to shoot. Outside of the TMZ, they do. *Vasquez Rocks is right inside the TMZ.*
@Tessmage_Tessera The first time I ever went there, I was in the 5th grade, and my sister was a senior in high school. She took me to school one day, which was odd, but we never made it. Instead, she took me along with some of her friends to Vasquez Rocks, found a cave about a mile or so up the trail, and hung out smoking cigarettes and weed all day. (They smoked, I didn't.) Of course, one of those "tell mom and dad where I tool you today and I'll kill you" situations. But anyway, getting to ditch class with a group of 17-year-olds when I was 10 was probably the coolest day of my childhood. And yes, the cave is still there. I passed it when I visited last week.
This has always been one of my favorite episodes. As a four year old watching reruns, I was both fascinated and scared by the Gorn. I loved dinosaurs, and here was a lizard man! Except he wasn't friendly, seemed unstoppable, and likely to kill Captain Kirk.
Thank you for calling him lizard man I'm a 60 year old man and I started seeing the reruns back in the early seventies and that's exactly what I would always call him was the lizard man and my mother father and sister w o u l d stare at me with a blank look on their faces sad to say I was the only Star Trek fan in that family but I did get a little bit of redemption when in 1979 Star Trek the motion picture hit the theaters I made the three of them go see it with me on Christmas Day 1979 I was 16 at the time 😅😅😅😅
Great reactions and questions from Bunny, regarding this excellent episode of Classic Trek. The Kirk / Gorn fight is often parodied, but I liked the peaceful resolution that Kirk came to.
Fun fact. The officer who was sitting next to Sulu, was the same actor who played the seriously injured Pike in a wheelchair in the 2 Menagerie episodes, since Original Pike Jeffrey Hunter wouldn't return to play the role.
You are flying through these! Excited to see another review. While there are some definitely campy and amusing (in hindsight especially) elements, I've always thought that it was a solid episode. Loved your comment about the Gorn costume and making dinner. This is essentially all we know about the Gorn until Strange New Worlds.
This episode was a "conversion" of a sci-fi novel. The novel was written by the same fellow who converted it into the Trek episode. In the novel, the aliens was pretty much a "Lovecraftian" creature called a Shogoth, though the author didn't call it that. A protoplasmic blob capable of reshaping itself into a variety of configurations at will. And in the novel, the alien was actually just evil. This is one of my favorite episodes. It starts off setting the audience up to see the Gorn as conventional "monsters" (complete with the "bug eyed" element, per stereotype). But it then reveals that the Gorn were not being aggressors. They believed... incorrectly, but still... that they were defending themselves from an invasion by US. Yes, they responded to that perceived invasion by "shooting first and asking questions later," and there can be no doubt that they over-reacted and were excessively hostile. But in their eyes, they were DEFENDING, not attacking. Nevertheless, they were in the wrong... just not nearly so much as it initially appears. There's a REASON that the script has Kirk discussing "invasion" as an explanation for why they need to hunt down and destroy the Gorn ship. It establishes that we're doing essentially what the Gorn were doing. "Aggressive response to the perceived threat of invasion." And in the end, we learn more about what the Metrons were really doing. This is spelled out in clearer detail in the original novel, of course, and just implied in the teleplay for this episode, but given that it's the same author, converting his own story, I feel confident that the nature of the Metrons remains the same. The Metrons are isolationists, who only interceded when the battle was moving into their home system. And the entire "arena" was a way of evaluating the two species which had... again... invaded their home system. The promise to "release the victor and destroy the loser" was a ploy. If both species proved hostile and aggressive... a potential threat, as a race, to the Metrons... both would have been destroyed. And they would both never be heard from again, with the Metrons remaining safely hidden. It was Kirk's choice to spare the Gorn which resulted, not merely in the Gorn's salvation, but in the Enterprise crew's salvation as well. Had he killed the Gorn captain, the ALL would have been killed (but the Metrons would have learned a lot about two aggressively hostile species starting to encroach on Metron space.) As for the "more advanced species" thing... the universe is old. Far older than the Earth is, and incredibly older than life on Earth. It would be foolish to assume either that (a) humankind is the most advanced life out there, or (b) most life is roughly rqually advanced as humanity is. Unless you buy into the theory that life, once it reaches a certain level of advancement, usually destroys itself... it only makes sense that the cosmos would be full of life much older than we are. And life much younger than we are. And only a small amount approximately as advanced as we are. (FYI - This theme is played with, extensively, in the series "Babylon 5," which is one of my all time favorite shows.)
Nice write-up. A bit of correction, though: When Gene Coon wrote this episode, he realized he subconsciously copied the idea from Frederic Brown. So they contacted Mr. Brown and offered him writing credit. He gladly accepted. He did not actually convert the story into a Trek episode.
Just to correct a couple of minor point. Arena was based on a short story by Fredric Brown not a novel, and the writer of the screenplay was Gene L. Coon (his first for Star trek in fact), who was unaware he was even plagiarizing Brown's (or anyone's) story until the show's legal department found out thru the similarities. They arranged a talk with Fredric Brown, who had nothing to do with the teleplay itself but being a nice guy (and a StarTrek according to some) was more than happy to let the episode be filmed. In gratitude they gave him the writing credit instead of Coon. And I have no idea who the ALL is/are; that's certainly nothing from Arena itself (original or Trek)
Very first episode of TOS I ever saw on b/w TV in about 1966 or 67. There was no colour TV in England untill 1969. The Gorn gurgling was the thing that really stands out. It was the first episode shown in the UK.
Good analysis. This episode is a classic, where the image of Kirk dodging around and fighting the Gorn somehow became iconic for Star Trek. You'll see it referenced in a variety of places, like in the movie "Tropic Thunder." Now ... you'll understand that reference!
At Age 3 I was told to watch this television show and Arena was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw. I live in New Mexico, home to many lizards. So this episode struck a nerve with me. The version you're watching the Gorn originally didn't blink, so when I saw the CGI remastered version, when I saw the Gorn blink I kind of jumped! LOL
Ben Stiller on The Graham Norton Show said that he own the Gorn's head from this episode. It looks like Bunny Tails is becoming well verse in Starfleet tactical ways. Another enjoyable reaction.
It was intended that the Gorn move slowly, but many, wrongly, dismiss this as a monster-of-the-week episode. The poor guy in the costume filled the rubber suit with sweat!
Like The Keeper in "The Cage", the Metron at the end is portrayed by a woman, Carolyne Barry (as Carole Shelyne). She was an actress, dancer, and director. She appeared later in "Star Trek: The Next Generation".
Two interesting things to point out: 1) the "Metron" standing on the rock is actually a woman. Her name was Carolyne Barry and she was a dancer on the 1960s TV show "Shindig". 2) At one point when Kirk is in the scene, you can see two cars whizzing by each other on the highway in the distance--but you only have about 1 second to see them.
@@BarryHart-xo1oy Yes. The male voice is from Vic Perrin...his voice is heard many times in other Star Trek episodes. "Memory Alpha" is the site for all things Star Trek. You can google the phrase "Carolyne Barry--Memory Alpha" to read about her in this episode. She was in an episode of Star Trek TNG also. Good luck!!!
This is pretty straightforward. Back in Trek's time, it was a given cliche to declare "Kill the aggressive alien monsters!" but Trek was revolutionary for subverting those old expectations. The very next episode is ... problematic, but once you get beyond that, you should be good for several strong stories. Thanks, Bun.
You: "Back in Trek's time, it was a given cliche to declare "Kill the aggressive alien monsters!" " Me: Ironically it is also true of the short story this episode was adapted from, a short story by Fredric Brown of the same name. It is a very excellent sci-fi story regardless however.
But, I must point out again that this Gorn may not necessarily have been a "he". One can rarely tell if a higher order of reptile is a male or female just by looking at them.🐊🦖 This one might have been intersexed, going from one to the other, or an hermaphrodite.🐸⚧ Since this was a non-terrestrial, it might even have been neither. ⭕👽
This was one of my favorites when I was a kid. Myth Busters did the Kirk primitive cannon from this episode. Did not end well for Kirk or the Gorn as it just exploded...
I like to imagine that Kirk stuffed it full, packed it down, lit the fuse, but then the Gorn caught up to Kirk and he had to run off. So, the Gorn picked up the cannon, looked at it, realized what it was, and pointed it at Kirk... and the thing blew up in the Gorn's face, since it _was_ made of a giant hollow reed. 💥🤯😵
"Going in for a hug": love that! You're right, Bun, the Gorn may have had legitimate objections to the Federation outpost, but they didn't have to kill everyone.
Definitely, the Gorn response to the Federation incursion was inappropriate. But we have cultures on Earth who behave that way, and we still try to make peace with them. One of them tried to drive a new country into the sea back in 1948.
@@Ruth-g3c9z Amen! The "fast" Gorn we've gotten since aren't near as cool. They're cold-blooded so they're supposed to be a little slow! I still love those unreadable faceted eyes, and making them blink in the remaster just makes it creepier! But what still sells it almost 60 years later is that growl-hiss sound design. Just crawls right under your skin!
The Control Voice of the Metrons was old reliable voice actor Vic Perrin who was the spooky control voice on the Outer Liimits. He appeared on about a dozen star trek episodes over its 3 year run providing alien voices.
This episode was terrifying, especially for young viewers. Imagine if there was a monster-like, hissing creature, overwhelmingly strong, slowly tracking you down. The Gorn was the stuff of nightmares if you watched this episode as a child, and will always be special for that.
For the record, the speed the Enterprise travels is the cube of the warp factor. Warp one is the speed of light. Warp two is eight times the speed of light. Warp three is 27 times the speed of light. Etc., etc. The Enterprise’s normal cruising speed is warp six, with emergency speed being warp 8. In later episodes, the ship would be pushed as high as warp 14 by outside forces. By the time of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, the production team recalibrated the warp scale so that warp 10 is the theoretical maximum speed, at which one would occupy all places in the universe simultaneously.
@@michaelbruno1666 Welll... "Ish." In TOS, there are numerous elements which make no sense if impulse is truly only sublight. Like the entire Romulan War being fought by ships with only impulse, or the Galileo (or Starbase 11 shuttlecraft) traveling as we're shown. And in TMP, we get "warp speeds" under one... aka actually sublight. To me, I think of it as "subspace-assisted impulse" limited to roughly 75c (equivalent to about WF 4.2) before relativistic effects make it untenable. Warp drive can propell you at sublight, but not efficiently. However, it is capable of much faster speeds than "subspace assisted impulse" with no relativistic effects whatsoever. And whatever they use during the TNG era is, while still called "warp drive," yet another, different, propulsion system. Using a totally different speed scale.
I absolutely adore Arena. It's one of the best examples in TOS where the writing exceeds what the poor effects team could actually accomplish. The resulting chaos is glorious and definitely a key inspiration for Galaxy Quest.
After years of watching TOS, it took me until this viewing to notice the change in boots, when it's so very obvious in most of the scenes. Can't believe I never noticed before.
Great episode! The effects and science were a little cheesy, but I love the Gorn! I think he just needs a good expectorant. But I think they were unjustified in their surprise attack.
@@bunnytailsREACTSI agree it was uncalled for. Do remember, however, they can't speak English. The Gorn captain could only communicate with the translator they were provided. I don't necessarily know if they understood the messages at the time or if they thought it was a trap. Also when you realise their neighbours are the Klingons who have attacked them before, I understand why they would jump to the conclusion they were "under attack". Reacting emotionally rather than rationally. Just a case of now we can open dialog the Federation can ensure this never happens again with them. 21:56
@@bunnytailsREACTS Well they could have just told them to leave. Explained they were in someone else's territory and to get out. But nooooo, shoot first and ask questions later.
@@bunnytailsREACTS It would have been nice to see the Gorn in future episodes. Kind of like the aggressive war-like Klingons. But maybe the lizard suit cost too much to duplicate.
Some plot holes might be explained by the fact that this episode is based on a science fiction short story "Arena" by Frederick Brown and simply adapred to work as a Star Trek story. In Brown's short story, the alien captain (and his race) was a large, round, ball-like creature with powerful octopus-like tentacles! Clearly, that version could not realistically be shown given the show's budget and the state of practical effects/make-up at the time. I read the short story by Brown back in high school!
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q The Brown short story is better with a more satisfactory end. No "I refuse to kill the alien, let's be buddies." Instead the earthman out thinks the enemy and knifes it to death.
@@Rickkennett143And then the super-aliens instantly obliterate the entire enemy fleet for the humans. I don't know, I found that a little too deus ex machina-y. Certainly "I refuse to kill the alien, let's be buddies" is much more in line with the whole Star Trek philosophy. It also means the good guys are poised to solve their own problems with the Gorns, instead of sitting idly on their hands and watching someone else wave a magic wand to do all the work for them.
Contestants dropped into an untamed environment, collecting raw materials, and constructing weapons to use on one another in deadly combat... Kirk vs the Gorn was essentially the birth of the online mutliplayer survival video game genre.
Great Reaction 👍👍👍. The reason the Horn could communicate with Kirk eas the Metrons had given both Kirk and the Gorn a translator/ recording device. But at first Kirk thought it was only a recorder. 👍👍👍😍
Yes, he didn't listen when the Metron said it would also translate, so the Gorn heard everything Kirk said. .... It was one of the biggest, dumbest mistakes Kirk made in the entire series. 🤦♂🙈😞
When I was kid, this was, like, one of my top five episodes. There are cool elements here, even though they might not add up to more than passable. i like the artillery barrage at the beginning, the characterization of the Gorn captain, and the resolution of the "arena" battle. Also, I enjoy musing about the evolutionary process that led to a reptiloid creature with a compound eye!
In ancient Greece, an arena is where despots of society fight to the death for the pleasure of the crowd. Yes, you had to pay to see it. Much like modern professional sports -but death is no longer required.
@@PenneySoundsYes, Bunny should follow up with those 13 STC episodes. Of all the fan Trek, this is the only one that stands out "light years" ahead of the others.
See the Navigator next to Sulu? That's Sean Kenny, the same actor that played the crippled Captain Pike! He also played the navigator on Taste of Armageddon
Vic Perrin, the Metron voice, did subsequent voiceover work on Star Trek. He was also the Control Voice on the original Outer Limits. We are now returning control of your television set to YOU.
This episode was based on a short story of the same name, written by Frederic Brown and released as part of an anthology of Science Fiction stories in 1944. An astronaut named Carson is in a One-man spaceship engaged with an Enemy ship when he blacks out and finds himself on the surface of a planet much like the one in this Star Trek Episode. There was a force field keeping both him and his enemy within a limited space, and there was also a force field in the middle of the arena that living beings could not pass through, so ingenuity (such as shooting projectiles and throwing stones) was required to hurt and kill your enemy.
Ted Cassidy is the voice of the Gorn, who also played Ruk on What Are Little Girls Made Of, and the voice of the alien Baalock on The Corbomite Maneuver
Fun trivia, hard to recognize him without the makeup, but the navigator, DePaul, played Captain Pike in the chair in the episode the Menagerie just a few episodes earlier. The actor Sean Kenny.
The story was based on a short story also titled "Arena" written in 1944 by Frederick Brown. That story involves two space faring species fighting in a distant system when two representatives of each species were sent to a planet. The colony stuff is all Star Trek. This episode is also famous for having the absolute worst fist fight in video media history! (At least of the ones that were supposed to be serious fights.)
It was recently discovered that this story was taken from a Sci Fi Story written in a paperback novel back in the 1940s. Many Star Trek plots were lifted from pulp fiction sci fi stories that were published in the 1950s. Even the pictures on the book covers and the scenes in the TV episodes are similar.
was never a secret.. it says Frederic Brown in the credits. Story had the alien as a ball shape, they were seperated by a force field that didn't allow conscious creatures through, and the stakes were higher.. the losers entire race would be eliminated
Fun Fact: Cestus 3 gets mentioned in a later trek series where I believe it is still a federation colony so I assume the federation works something else with the gorn.
The advanced alien at the end was not a teenage boy. That was a girl who was one of the lead dancers in a TV Dance Show of the era called Hullabaloo. The voice was edited in though.
You know, I’ve literally started rewatching TOS because of you doing this… Being a longtime fan of the series gives me a certain amount of anticipation with respect to your work, simply because I know this or that episode is still to come for you and I’m already curious what you’ll do to bring your particular voice to said episode; “Arena” was one of those; “Errand of Mercy” and “A Taste of Armageddon” are others yet to come. Keep doing your thing! 👍
Ah, Ted Cassidy and Sean Kenny reappear. Ted was the voice of the Gorn; he also played Ruk in "What are Little Girls Made Of?" and the voice of Puppet Balock in "The Corbomite Maneuver." Sean played the navigator of the week, Lt. DePaul, in a recurring role; he also played Wheelchair Pike in "The Menagerie". The backdrop of the battle was Vasquez Rocks, a public park near Los Angeles, which is often used in TV and movies. One especially notable appearance was in the second part of the "Bill and Ted" trilogy, entitled "Bogus Journey", featuring Keanu Reeves and George Carlin. It's worth a watch if you need something light. And the location has an impressive list of productions associated with it.
This was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw. It was on at night. My family came home from having a pizza (you went out to get pizza in the 60s) and I turned on the TV to seeing a man fighting a humanoid lizard. I think my 10 year old self was hooked at that moment. Now, well over 50 years later, I still enjoy this episode. The Metrons have always reminded me of the Olympians, the Greek gods who used mortal men as chess pieces in a game or entertainment. At the time, Gorns and humans could not talk; the humans had no idea the Gorns were there. Yet the gorns somehow recovered Federation equipment and deduced not only human language, but the classified information about Starfleet communications and the Enterprise’s location, which would have been highly protected information. To then create a “spoofer” to lure the Enterprise in with the commodore’s own voice seems a bridge too far, but points to the capabilities of the gorns. As repitlians, gorns would be carnivores, which means humans might have been perceived a hairless monkeys, a potential food source. We don’t know. The gorns move slow but they are highly intelligent. This fight was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, a location Star Trek used in other episodes, and which was also seen in many westerns like The Virginian, Laramie and The Big Valley. There has long been speculation that the parents of Trelayne in The Squire of Gothos were members of the Q, a race that appears in the first episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, Encounter at Farpoint, but has never been confirmed. As to advanced races, there are more to come, particularly the Organians, who, like the Q have god-like powers. Fortunately, none of the advanced races seem intent on human destruction.
Another great episode reaction, the Gorn was actually speaking Gorn The universal translator allows Kirk to hear the message in English, I use to wonder what Kirk sounded like from the Gorns perspective. LoL!
Heh, "Green Muthafukka." This episode is usually in the "Best Ever" lists for the series. Action, intrigue, a new species, the most iconic shots of Vasquez Rocks, an enemy that is more than a match for Kirk, a moment of mercy after being bent on revenge earlier. Lots going on and definitely worth another watch to catch everything. Fun fact (or not, depending on your point of view): We have an "Arena" poster hanging on the wall of our TV room. 🙂 Keep up the great work on these reactions!
BunnkTails - keep in mind , in this ERA Warp speed was generally lower . Constitution class is a Warp 6 Starship. considered in this Era top of the line. later the Warp speed curve is changed to Reflect advancements.
The Gorn don't know Federation Basic; S'Slee (the Gorn Captain, his name given in the Role-Playing game by FASA) was using the Metron's communicator/translator to converse with Kirk
Just want to mention that it took me over 30 years to realize that the actor who played a supervisor in a first season episode of a mining planet is the same actor and even in the same shuit as a popular 2bd season as the supetvisor of a soace station. Not mentioning which episodes, but got both as Christmas presents one year and didn't notice till now. I feel dumb.
Another great and wise reaction to this episode. You seem to anticipate plot points, I think you're right, it must be the gaming. At the time in 1966 this episode was iconic and not slow paced. Jeez, I must be as old as dirt. The pace of everything is much faster now. Love your sense of humor. Thanks, and have a great holiday season!
I don't know what is says about me that as a seven year old I recognized the ingredients for gunpowder before the reveal. I always liked this episode. Great reaction Bunny!
"It felt a little slow moving"😄I would agree Bunny, primarily with the Gorn fight scenes. However before that I felt that the action was pretty fast paced...dealing with explosions on the ground while the Enterprise was firing away above them. The tension between Kirk and Spock on how best to deal with the Gorn. It always helps me to remember that they didn't mean for the Gorn to be THAT slow, but the poor guy in the suit had very restricted movement. Also the guy was on the verge of heat exhaustion and dehydration as they were filming in a very hot area. A dessert area in southern California I think.
Watching this as kid, it scared the living hell out of me. This would probably be about the 30th time seeing it. Perfect window for growing up, STAR TREK was never NOT on in reruns for pretty much the first 35 years of my life :) Even when I got older and was out partying, clubbing and raising hell, I could wake up hung-over on a Saturday ... and there it was. Like a grounding force in my life. Kind of went away (from broadcast TV) for a bit, but now it's back again, has been for the last 5 years or so on one of the local networks.
The place where they filmed the fight scenes is somewhat famous and is seen in many Western movies and shows. I heard the guy in the Gorn suit was lucky that it was Dec/Jan when they filmed this fight scene since it can get over 100 there in the summer or spring. It was still over 80 and the man still earned his pay this time. The Gorn were never seen again until the last of the old shows, Enterprise, and featured a lot in the new show Strange New Worlds. Mentioned a few times in passing in other shows and in the books too. This is one of those people remembered.
Ben Stiller is a huge Star Trek fan (the original series in particular). Occasionally he'll put a Trek reference in his films. For instance, Wil Ferrell's character in Zoolander is named after a creature that appears in a later episode. Stiller owns the original Gorn head from this episode.
hey bunny, that device he was talking into was a universal translator which allowed them to understand each other....initially kirk did not know that the gorn could hear his recordings...
Like watching those old mummy movies from the early-mid 20th century: "That thing can't hurt me 'cause it can't catch me." Except that the Gorn's smart enough to work around that.
You'll notice that in the first part of the story, explosions go off fairly close to Kirk and Spock. Reports are that both Shatner and Nimoy suffered (permanent?) hearing damage as a result of filming this episode (tinnitus - persistent ringing in the ears). That's a pretty hard example of 'taking one for the team'! •••• I'd forgotten that the Gorn (who do not speak like normal humans) used technology to impersonate Commodore Travers, in luring the Enterprise over, and then in luring Kirk down there. It's one of at least four examples (in the first season alone!) of characters using technology for deceit - to pretend to be someone else. Most often, this is voice duplication, but there are instances where it's more elaborate than that (Korby not only has Ruk duplicate Kirk's voice on the communicator, but also creates the Kirk android to visit the Enterprise in place of the real Kirk.) •••• A truly wonderful episode of 'Mythbusters' devoted itself to a plot point in this episode. Adam and Jamie tried a number of different times to make a real-life 'Gorn cannon' along with charcoal, potassium nitrate, and other elements of gunpowder, as Kirk did. Their question, "Could you really do this in real life?" Their good-faith answer after multiple experiments: no. (It's well worth checking out!!) •••• One of the things this episode does drive home: Kirk is a lot more than 'merely' a Starship Captain; he's "a stack of books with legs," as Gary Mitchell described him in 'Where No Man has gone before.' Several times in the series he whips up this or that invention seemingly from nothing, to help him escape this or that scrape. •••• A number of times in the series, Kirk has to grapple on-the-spot with a question of, "do you pull back and investigate?" or "do you shoot first and ask questions later?" More often than not, Kirk's instincts turn out to be right, but not invariably so. :)
Definitely one of the most famous Star Trek TOS episodes of all time! It is even referenced by Sisko in one episode of Deep Space Nine which was pretty cool also! Nice apron... are you going to cook me something. Ha, ha that was pretty funny!!
In ST:TOS, Warp 6 is the maximum safe cruising speed for a Heavy Cruiser (which is the Enterprise's ship type). Warp 8 is the maximum rated emergency speed. The Enterprise exceeded that speed only on a couple of rare occasions, and under exceptional circumstances.
Please beware of scammers. I am not on Telegram nor do I do giveaways in my comment section.
Thanks for the warning, bunny.
If RUclips cared about its viewers they would stop this - they have the technology…
Thanks for the heads-up, Bunny!!!🐇 You're the greatest!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🌹
So Bunny how much further do you think you'll go with ST videos? There's a TON of material out there, like five TV series and I think there's over ten movies now! I'll watch whatever you publish, you are beautiful and entertaining 🙂
Gee, I thought I was special, thanks for letting us know.
I've reported that yo RUclips repeatedly. It keeps happening anyway.
I love how when they teleported Kirk back to the ship, they gave him a fresh uniform, a shower, and some hairspray
Well, they were an advanced race.
Standard procedure 😂
And they switched out the lace-up flat shoes for the standard-issue boots!
The Metrons are nice 😅
If you consider every atom in his body was broken down and reconfigured in another location, it doesn’t seem so improbable.
Fun fact: Ted Cassidy voiced the Gorn captain. He also voiced Balok's puppet on The Corbomite Maneuver and played Ruk in What Are Little Girls Made Of? Of course, outside of Star Trek, he's best known as Lurch from The Addams Family.
That wasn't Ted Cassidy's voice in The Ten Commandments. It was Jesse Delos Jewkes. (Charlton Heston provided the voice in the Burning Bush scene.)
Don't forget about being the vpiceover in the intro to the Incredible Hulk as well as Hulk's growl
AF: The character wasn't intended to have lines, but in one ep. answering the door he ad-libbed "You rang?" and with that DEEP voice they knew it was gold.
Ted Cassidy also played Harvey Logan, who got kicked in the nads by Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Off-camera, Ted Cassidy and Gene Roddenberry were drinking and poker-playing buddies.
@@t-and-d-productions Yes, and when he died, another Star Trek alumnus provided the growls, Charles Napier. Cassidy's narration was kept in, however.
I believe I read that William Shatner was afflicted with tinnitus, a persistent ringing in his ear, as a result of being too close to one of the explosions during this episode. The condition continues to plague him to this day.
Ouch :(
In the interview for the scifi channel he said it was an explosion in The Apple.
Have you seen the size is Shatner lately? He went from being on the Enterprise to being the size of the Enterprise!
When he recently went into orbit on “Blue Origin.” I bet they needed an extra rocket booster to propel his fat @r se into orbit!
@@solvingpolitics3172May you look as good at 90 something as Shatner does.
I don't know that I'd trust Shatner's memory on that. I swear you can see the moment in Arena when he sustains his injury. After one of the explosions, he looks a little stunned (not acting stunned) like he wasn't expecting it to be that close or powerful and he starts to bring his hand up to the side of his head. I believe Nimoy also experienced some temporary hearing loss after shooting this episode.
This episode of Star Trek was an adaptation of a short story by the same name written by Fredric Brown. In the short story, it is a human verses an alien creature called an Outsider that looks like a fleshy ball with many tentacle arms and the two are separated by a forcefield that at first seems like only dead or inanimate objects can pass through so each side tries to develop a weapon that can be shot through the forcefield with sufficient force to kill the enemy.
It is only after some time that the human realizes a small animal he thought the Outsider had killed and threw at him turns out to be alive and he realizes it's not things that are not alive that can pass through. It's consciousness that blocks the field, so the human knocks himself out while leaning on the forcefield and when he comes too he finds himself on the same side of the forcefield as the Outsider and - using a stone knife he created - kills the alien.
Upon returning to his ship he learns that the Earth fleet managed to wipe out the entire Outsider fleet with a single shot.
Another adaptation of this short story (published under a different name) featured a twist that the god-like aliens actually planned to destroy the civilization of the battle's winner - deeming whichever side won the greater threat and more war-like species - and were surprised when the human participant - like Kirk - refused to kill his disabled opponent.
Trek changed the plot of the original short story by making the alien creature more humanoid (necessary for the TV budgets of the 1960's), not keeping them separated, and giving Kirk the choice not to kill the Gorn, proving humans are evolving into a less violent and more reasoned species.
This is actually one of the more popular first season episodes, because it shows Kirk's ingenuity, physical skills, the location filming - particularly at the famous Vasquez Rocks - this WON'T be the last time you see this location! - and the philosophical background of the episode - Is Starfleet and the Federation in the wrong here? Could the Gorn have a good reason (for them, at least) to have attacked and draw the Enterprise (likely the only Federation starship in the sector) into a trap?
My understanding is that Gene Coon had read the Brown story-a minor classic-but had honestly forgotten having done so. When it was pointed out that his screenplay was clearly derived from the short story, he contacted Brown, and obtained permission to use the story as long as Brown was named in the credits. Back from the days when such matters could be settled by people of good will instead of by lawyers.
@@majkus There was a very similar situation with the movie High Noon. While filming the movie, a producer realized that the overall idea reminded him of a short story titled, "The Tin Star", by John Cunningham. Though the movie script, by Carl Foreman, was substantially different, the producers didn't want any chance of being accused of plagiarism. So they bought the rights to the short story, and they gave Cunningham credit for it in the opening credits. Problem solved, fairly.
Really love seeing the history of that episode, thanks
Believe it or not, this episode wasn't really an adaptation. Gene Coon thought up the story and wrote the teleplay himself. However, someone on staff (specifically script reviewer Joan Pearce) noticed how similar the story was to Frederic Brown's story (also named "Arena"). At that point, to avoid a lawsuit, Star Trek bought the rights to the prior story and gave credit to Brown - though that was after Coon had already finished the script.
By the sound made, the grenades launched from the mortar are the same tech as photon torpedoes.
I have always liked how Nimoy delivers "He knows, Doctor. He has reasoned it out."
Sounds like He-Man magic blasts.
The sound effect is created by striking a "guy wire" used to keep a power pole upright, with a small hammer. I discovered this by accident as a young child... we had that type of pole behind our house, and one day, while playing, I discovered that hitting that, with my ear next to the metal cable, created that same effect. I later discovered that this sort of "found sound" was common for effects work, and this was exactly where the photorp sound effect had come from. A wound steel cable under tension being struck like a guitar string.
My favorite Spock line in this was: *"Coal"*
Even with the low budget special effects and character design, this remains one of my favorite episodes.
People always say "low budget."
Star Trek was one of the most expensive shows on the air. It's old, not low budget.
@@OpenMawProductionsHold this up against 2001: A Space Odyssey from the same year. Which one still looks real?
"Old" doesn't always equal low budget, but it doesn't always equal bad effects, either. Even Spock's ears were not actually covered in the budget offered the show. They had to secretly pay a Hollywood make-up guy a hefty sum to make prosthetic ears that looked real.
@@Progger11 2001 had a budget of $10 million and four years to produce. Star Trek episodes had less than $200k and less than a month for shooting and post production. It still looks pretty damn good for the resources they had, and looks far less dated that a lot of SciFi that came much later.
By the way, a lot of the visual effects in 2001 are static images moved across the screen.
@@Progger11 I am aware of all of that.
It doesn't change the fact that Star Trek TOS was not a low budget television show. It was one of the most expensive shows on the air at the time. Spock's ears were also the result, moreso, of the fact that the make up department could not handle the job (lack of skill, not resources.) The main make up artist on the series paid out of pocket some 3000 dollars to get the job done correctly.
Also, back then? Movies and television were light years apart. Comparing 2001 to ANYTHING on TV would be a joke, considering who made it and how much money was put behind it.
Low budget? If you were young I could forgive this you seem to be my age it was definitely lower cost 60 years ago considering what they had to work with I think they did very well and don't take me seriously I'm just having some fun with you only half of me is offended 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Like many, this is a favorite. It’s a great reminder that while we’re all the hero of our own story, every hero makes mistakes and isn’t perfect. As long as we keep that in mind, we can recognize and try to atone for ours.
You picked a good episode today
Shatner later made an ad for a Star Trek video game playing against the Gorn in his living room. Absolutely hilarious. Worth checking out.
You have 565 comments in just one day, that should tell you something. There are tons of star trek fans of the original series and they want to watch with you. This was the top science fiction show ever on the history if tv. Never underestimate the fan base of the original Star Trek TV show.
also, girl pretty
15:43 - The Gorn is not speaking a common tongue. The Metrons explained at the onset that each participant would be provided with a recording/translation device. So it is some form of Metron technology that the Gorn do no possess. Love these reactions! :)
Since Federation communicators are in theory also universal translators (what, you never wondered how all those aliens spoke colloquial English?), that's not too much of a stress.
@@Caseytify Though the Gorn seem unable or unwilling to use them.
"Disco balls for eyes." Yes, best they could do at the time. Interesting that the re-mastering added eye blinks. Subtle, but a nice touch. Anyway you look at it, the Gorn deserve the iconic place in our TV culture. Referenced numerous times in TV and movies in the past 60 years. You won't be able to miss it when you see it
A reptile with insect eyes is far more clever than the jurassic park wannabe versions done in pseudo prequels
@@lucasbachmannindeed.
I love reptilian species in science fiction television shows and movies.
The actor who played the Gorn in the rubber reptile suit is still alive and atends many Star Trek Conventions. He had been a cowboy stuntman for many years before Desilu picked him up as a stuntman. Many of the westerns actors were used in Sci Fi, since the genres were closely related.
My argument for why the Gorn is slow is the gravity is higher on this planet compared to his home world.
You're right. And that what account for his prodigious strength as well.
“Nice apron, you gonna cook me somethin’,” and this is why we love Bunnytales reactions.
Ahh, the episode where Kirk makes a rudimentary lathe from stuff he finds in the terrain 😮😅
Q) Does the rolling help?
A) It helps.
Guy Forever!
@@hawkmaster381Ah....crewman #6, my old friend. Do you know the Thermian proverb that tells us that Lava Monsters are best left undisturbed? Dying before the first commercial is very...... disturbing.
Guy was right!
@winterbas8927 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Love it!
*I was going through high school when this came out, this episode peeked my interest in Chemistry.* Yep, I made gun powder. There's a few extra steps involved that they did not show, to get it working properly, but the basic idea is correct. My chemistry teacher got me to show how it was done in front of the class. Exothermic reactions when done safely can be fun! _Thanks Star trek, and Bunnytails for bringing back those fond memories._
i believe Bunnytails deserves to be in Starfleet Command with her powers of perception and analysis of Gorn intentions.
I don't approve of heaping overly sacerine praise on a reactor, (Or "Reactress" per se), but I agree. Bunny has made some sharp observations and caught on to quite a few plot twists that were yet to show up on screen. Not just in this one, but in lots of her Star trek reviews.
✔&✔
I think there was a TV commercial about 10 or so years ago with William Shatner and a Gorn sitting around playing a video game together.
Even though "Shore Leave" was shot there too, in this episode more than any other, Vasquez Rocks really is a central character in the story, just as much as Kirk or the Gorn captain himself. Indeed, check it out on a map, just south of Agua Dulce, California (about 15 minutes from my house), many refer to the largest protuberance in the formation as "Kirk's Rock" or Gorn Rock." I was there just a week ago!
Thanks for describing the place. No budget to shoot with Sand People in far away deserts like the Eriguet dunes north of Nefta in southwestern Tunisia as in Star Wars. 😂
@@JarvistheKnight Interesting you should bring that up. The reason why so much TV and movies have been filmed at Vasquez Rocks over the years has to do with the "Thirty-Mile Zone" ("TMZ"). The TMZ is a thirty-mile radius centered on the intersection of Beverly and La Cienega boulevards in West LA. According to some studio union rule made probably close to 100 years ago, as long as the studio is filming within the TMZ, they don't have to pay film crews per diem or travel expenses to shoot. Outside of the TMZ, they do. *Vasquez Rocks is right inside the TMZ.*
@Tessmage_Tessera The first time I ever went there, I was in the 5th grade, and my sister was a senior in high school. She took me to school one day, which was odd, but we never made it. Instead, she took me along with some of her friends to Vasquez Rocks, found a cave about a mile or so up the trail, and hung out smoking cigarettes and weed all day. (They smoked, I didn't.) Of course, one of those "tell mom and dad where I tool you today and I'll kill you" situations. But anyway, getting to ditch class with a group of 17-year-olds when I was 10 was probably the coolest day of my childhood. And yes, the cave is still there. I passed it when I visited last week.
@@benjauron5873I have always wondered about the Cestus III set🤔 Any idea where that was?
I love these TOS episodes and your perspective on them. Thanks for this series!
My pleasure 😊
This has always been one of my favorite episodes. As a four year old watching reruns, I was both fascinated and scared by the Gorn. I loved dinosaurs, and here was a lizard man! Except he wasn't friendly, seemed unstoppable, and likely to kill Captain Kirk.
Thank you for calling him lizard man I'm a 60 year old man and I started seeing the reruns back in the early seventies and that's exactly what I would always call him was the lizard man and my mother father and sister w o u l d stare at me with a blank look on their faces sad to say I was the only Star Trek fan in that family but I did get a little bit of redemption when in 1979 Star Trek the motion picture hit the theaters I made the three of them go see it with me on Christmas Day 1979 I was 16 at the time 😅😅😅😅
Great reactions and questions from Bunny, regarding this excellent episode of Classic Trek.
The Kirk / Gorn fight is often parodied, but I liked the peaceful resolution that Kirk came to.
Fun fact. The officer who was sitting next to Sulu, was the same actor who played the seriously injured Pike in a wheelchair in the 2 Menagerie episodes, since Original Pike Jeffrey Hunter wouldn't return to play the role.
Wow a new bit of trek trivia for me! That’s a rarity
Awe so sad to know, Jeffrey Hunter I forgive you😮😮
You are flying through these! Excited to see another review. While there are some definitely campy and amusing (in hindsight especially) elements, I've always thought that it was a solid episode. Loved your comment about the Gorn costume and making dinner. This is essentially all we know about the Gorn until Strange New Worlds.
This episode was a "conversion" of a sci-fi novel. The novel was written by the same fellow who converted it into the Trek episode. In the novel, the aliens was pretty much a "Lovecraftian" creature called a Shogoth, though the author didn't call it that. A protoplasmic blob capable of reshaping itself into a variety of configurations at will. And in the novel, the alien was actually just evil.
This is one of my favorite episodes. It starts off setting the audience up to see the Gorn as conventional "monsters" (complete with the "bug eyed" element, per stereotype).
But it then reveals that the Gorn were not being aggressors. They believed... incorrectly, but still... that they were defending themselves from an invasion by US.
Yes, they responded to that perceived invasion by "shooting first and asking questions later," and there can be no doubt that they over-reacted and were excessively hostile. But in their eyes, they were DEFENDING, not attacking.
Nevertheless, they were in the wrong... just not nearly so much as it initially appears.
There's a REASON that the script has Kirk discussing "invasion" as an explanation for why they need to hunt down and destroy the Gorn ship. It establishes that we're doing essentially what the Gorn were doing. "Aggressive response to the perceived threat of invasion."
And in the end, we learn more about what the Metrons were really doing. This is spelled out in clearer detail in the original novel, of course, and just implied in the teleplay for this episode, but given that it's the same author, converting his own story, I feel confident that the nature of the Metrons remains the same.
The Metrons are isolationists, who only interceded when the battle was moving into their home system. And the entire "arena" was a way of evaluating the two species which had... again... invaded their home system.
The promise to "release the victor and destroy the loser" was a ploy. If both species proved hostile and aggressive... a potential threat, as a race, to the Metrons... both would have been destroyed. And they would both never be heard from again, with the Metrons remaining safely hidden.
It was Kirk's choice to spare the Gorn which resulted, not merely in the Gorn's salvation, but in the Enterprise crew's salvation as well. Had he killed the Gorn captain, the ALL would have been killed (but the Metrons would have learned a lot about two aggressively hostile species starting to encroach on Metron space.)
As for the "more advanced species" thing... the universe is old. Far older than the Earth is, and incredibly older than life on Earth. It would be foolish to assume either that (a) humankind is the most advanced life out there, or (b) most life is roughly rqually advanced as humanity is.
Unless you buy into the theory that life, once it reaches a certain level of advancement, usually destroys itself... it only makes sense that the cosmos would be full of life much older than we are. And life much younger than we are. And only a small amount approximately as advanced as we are.
(FYI - This theme is played with, extensively, in the series "Babylon 5," which is one of my all time favorite shows.)
Nice write-up. A bit of correction, though: When Gene Coon wrote this episode, he realized he subconsciously copied the idea from Frederic Brown. So they contacted Mr. Brown and offered him writing credit. He gladly accepted. He did not actually convert the story into a Trek episode.
Just to correct a couple of minor point. Arena was based on a short story by Fredric Brown not a novel, and the writer of the screenplay was Gene L. Coon (his first for Star trek in fact), who was unaware he was even plagiarizing Brown's (or anyone's) story until the show's legal department found out thru the similarities. They arranged a talk with Fredric Brown, who had nothing to do with the teleplay itself but being a nice guy (and a StarTrek according to some) was more than happy to let the episode be filmed. In gratitude they gave him the writing credit instead of Coon.
And I have no idea who the ALL is/are; that's certainly nothing from Arena itself (original or Trek)
The Gorn sounds like me clearing my throat in the morning.
😂
I wish I had a recording of the Gorn to play to telemarketers when they call.
Very first episode of TOS I ever saw on b/w TV in about 1966 or 67. There was no colour TV in England untill 1969. The Gorn gurgling was the thing that really stands out. It was the first episode shown in the UK.
Good analysis. This episode is a classic, where the image of Kirk dodging around and fighting the Gorn somehow became iconic for Star Trek. You'll see it referenced in a variety of places, like in the movie "Tropic Thunder." Now ... you'll understand that reference!
Actor Ryan O'Neal just passed away. He and his daughter Tatum starred in a really iconic movie called Paper Moon (1973). Enjoy.
The second the rock bounces off the Gorn, all I can hear in my head is Kirk saying, "Aw, shit. I am so screwed."
At Age 3 I was told to watch this television show and Arena was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw. I live in New Mexico, home to many lizards. So this episode struck a nerve with me. The version you're watching the Gorn originally didn't blink, so when I saw the CGI remastered version, when I saw the Gorn blink I kind of jumped! LOL
Ben Stiller on The Graham Norton Show said that he own the Gorn's head from this episode. It looks like Bunny Tails is becoming well verse in Starfleet tactical ways. Another enjoyable reaction.
It was intended that the Gorn move slowly, but many, wrongly, dismiss this as a monster-of-the-week episode. The poor guy in the costume filled the rubber suit with sweat!
Like The Keeper in "The Cage", the Metron at the end is portrayed by a woman, Carolyne Barry (as Carole Shelyne). She was an actress, dancer, and director. She appeared later in "Star Trek: The Next Generation".
The extra beside Sulu at the helm is the same actor who portrayed Captain Pike in the Menagerie.
Two interesting things to point out: 1) the "Metron" standing on the rock is actually a woman. Her name was Carolyne Barry and she was a dancer on the 1960s TV show "Shindig". 2) At one point when Kirk is in the scene, you can see two cars whizzing by each other on the highway in the distance--but you only have about 1 second to see them.
Wow, really crazy-the Metron is actually a woman,even though she’s presented in a way that suggests she’s a man.
@@BarryHart-xo1oy Yes. The male voice is from Vic Perrin...his voice is heard many times in other Star Trek episodes. "Memory Alpha" is the site for all things Star Trek. You can google the phrase "Carolyne Barry--Memory Alpha" to read about her in this episode. She was in an episode of Star Trek TNG also. Good luck!!!
This is pretty straightforward. Back in Trek's time, it was a given cliche to declare "Kill the aggressive alien monsters!" but Trek was revolutionary for subverting those old expectations. The very next episode is ... problematic, but once you get beyond that, you should be good for several strong stories. Thanks, Bun.
"Problematic" implies something serious. Unless I have the order wrong it's just a "meh" episode.
@@dupersuper1938 I only meant it in the sense of having a problem. I think it had potential, but the execution was bad.
Yeah, Lazarus never really worked for me... but the episode still has its "pros" as well as its "cons."
You: "Back in Trek's time, it was a given cliche to declare "Kill the aggressive alien monsters!" "
Me: Ironically it is also true of the short story this episode was adapted from, a short story by Fredric Brown of the same name. It is a very excellent sci-fi story regardless however.
"Not that I'm rooting for the green mother&^%$ but he had him!" Dying lol 🤣 13:41
With ya on that reaction from bunnytails....had me laughing out loud!
But, I must point out again that this Gorn may not necessarily have been a "he".
One can rarely tell if a higher order of reptile is a male or female just by looking at them.🐊🦖 This one might have been intersexed, going from one to the other, or an hermaphrodite.🐸⚧
Since this was a non-terrestrial, it might even have been neither. ⭕👽
This was one of my favorites when I was a kid. Myth Busters did the Kirk primitive cannon from this episode. Did not end well for Kirk or the Gorn as it just exploded...
Given the shown mixture, I'd be surprised if it went bang at all, and not pffft.
I like to imagine that Kirk stuffed it full, packed it down, lit the fuse, but then the Gorn caught up to Kirk and he had to run off.
So, the Gorn picked up the cannon, looked at it, realized what it was, and pointed it at Kirk...
and the thing blew up in the Gorn's face, since it _was_ made of a giant hollow reed.
💥🤯😵
"Going in for a hug": love that! You're right, Bun, the Gorn may have had legitimate objections to the Federation outpost, but they didn't have to kill everyone.
Think of the Gorn as Palestinian and then see If they needed to kill everyone?
Definitely, the Gorn response to the Federation incursion was inappropriate. But we have cultures on Earth who behave that way, and we still try to make peace with them. One of them tried to drive a new country into the sea back in 1948.
It's actually one of the more memorable episodes. Maybe because the Gorn costume is so 60's but they did a damn good job.
For sure 😁
I'll take the look of the 60's Gorn costume over CGI any day.
@@Ruth-g3c9z Amen! The "fast" Gorn we've gotten since aren't near as cool. They're cold-blooded so they're supposed to be a little slow! I still love those unreadable faceted eyes, and making them blink in the remaster just makes it creepier! But what still sells it almost 60 years later is that growl-hiss sound design. Just crawls right under your skin!
The Control Voice of the Metrons was old reliable voice actor Vic Perrin who was the spooky control voice on the Outer Liimits. He appeared on about a dozen star trek episodes over its 3 year run providing alien voices.
This episode was terrifying, especially for young viewers. Imagine if there was a monster-like, hissing creature, overwhelmingly strong, slowly tracking you down. The Gorn was the stuff of nightmares if you watched this episode as a child, and will always be special for that.
For the record, the speed the Enterprise travels is the cube of the warp factor. Warp one is the speed of light. Warp two is eight times the speed of light. Warp three is 27 times the speed of light. Etc., etc.
The Enterprise’s normal cruising speed is warp six, with emergency speed being warp 8. In later episodes, the ship would be pushed as high as warp 14 by outside forces.
By the time of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, the production team recalibrated the warp scale so that warp 10 is the theoretical maximum speed, at which one would occupy all places in the universe simultaneously.
And impulse is sub-light speed.
@@michaelbruno1666
Welll... "Ish."
In TOS, there are numerous elements which make no sense if impulse is truly only sublight. Like the entire Romulan War being fought by ships with only impulse, or the Galileo (or Starbase 11 shuttlecraft) traveling as we're shown.
And in TMP, we get "warp speeds" under one... aka actually sublight.
To me, I think of it as "subspace-assisted impulse" limited to roughly 75c (equivalent to about WF 4.2) before relativistic effects make it untenable.
Warp drive can propell you at sublight, but not efficiently. However, it is capable of much faster speeds than "subspace assisted impulse" with no relativistic effects whatsoever.
And whatever they use during the TNG era is, while still called "warp drive," yet another, different, propulsion system. Using a totally different speed scale.
I absolutely adore Arena. It's one of the best examples in TOS where the writing exceeds what the poor effects team could actually accomplish. The resulting chaos is glorious and definitely a key inspiration for Galaxy Quest.
Notice that Shatner is wearing wrestling boots. While filming SHORE LEAVE, he slipped on those same rocks because he was wearing hard-soled boots.
After years of watching TOS, it took me until this viewing to notice the change in boots, when it's so very obvious in most of the scenes. Can't believe I never noticed before.
At 12:09 you see the big diagonal rock formation that Kirk climbs. You saw the same rock when he was fighting Finnegan in Shore Leave.
Great episode! The effects and science were a little cheesy, but I love the Gorn! I think he just needs a good expectorant. But I think they were unjustified in their surprise attack.
Yeah! That wasn't very nice of you, Gorn people!
@@bunnytailsREACTSI agree it was uncalled for. Do remember, however, they can't speak English. The Gorn captain could only communicate with the translator they were provided. I don't necessarily know if they understood the messages at the time or if they thought it was a trap. Also when you realise their neighbours are the Klingons who have attacked them before, I understand why they would jump to the conclusion they were "under attack". Reacting emotionally rather than rationally. Just a case of now we can open dialog the Federation can ensure this never happens again with them. 21:56
@@bunnytailsREACTS Well they could have just told them to leave. Explained they were in someone else's territory and to get out. But nooooo, shoot first and ask questions later.
@@bunnytailsREACTS It would have been nice to see the Gorn in future episodes. Kind of like the aggressive war-like Klingons. But maybe the lizard suit cost too much to duplicate.
Some plot holes might be explained by the fact that this episode is based on a science fiction short story "Arena" by Frederick Brown and simply adapred to work as a Star Trek story. In Brown's short story, the alien captain (and his race) was a large, round, ball-like creature with powerful octopus-like tentacles! Clearly, that version could not realistically be shown given the show's budget and the state of practical effects/make-up at the time. I read the short story by Brown back in high school!
Same here.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q The Brown short story is better with a more satisfactory end. No "I refuse to kill the alien, let's be buddies." Instead the earthman out thinks the enemy and knifes it to death.
@@Rickkennett143And then the super-aliens instantly obliterate the entire enemy fleet for the humans. I don't know, I found that a little too deus ex machina-y. Certainly "I refuse to kill the alien, let's be buddies" is much more in line with the whole Star Trek philosophy. It also means the good guys are poised to solve their own problems with the Gorns, instead of sitting idly on their hands and watching someone else wave a magic wand to do all the work for them.
Contestants dropped into an untamed environment, collecting raw materials, and constructing weapons to use on one another in deadly combat...
Kirk vs the Gorn was essentially the birth of the online mutliplayer survival video game genre.
Yeah! haha
Or the Hunger Games.
Great Reaction 👍👍👍. The reason the Horn could communicate with Kirk eas the Metrons had given both Kirk and the Gorn a translator/ recording device. But at first Kirk thought it was only a recorder. 👍👍👍😍
I see I see :)
Yes, he didn't listen when the Metron said it would also translate, so the Gorn heard everything Kirk said.
....
It was one of the biggest, dumbest mistakes Kirk made in the entire series. 🤦♂🙈😞
Amazing that the guy in the Gorn suit is the skinny guy (Blackburn) who sits in the navigator's seat in many episodes.
When I was kid, this was, like, one of my top five episodes. There are cool elements here, even though they might not add up to more than passable. i like the artillery barrage at the beginning, the characterization of the Gorn captain, and the resolution of the "arena" battle. Also, I enjoy musing about the evolutionary process that led to a reptiloid creature with a compound eye!
In ancient Greece, an arena is where despots of society fight to the death for the pleasure of the crowd. Yes, you had to pay to see it. Much like modern professional sports -but death is no longer required.
There was an episode of Mythbusters where they tested whether Kirk's cannon would work. It's available on RUclips if you're interested.
Oh thanks! I'll look it up
@@bunnytailsREACTS Mythbuster Grant Imahara was a massive Trek fan. He even played Sulu in the fan series "Star Trek Continues".
@@PenneySoundsYes, Bunny should follow up with those 13 STC episodes. Of all the fan Trek, this is the only one that stands out "light years" ahead of the others.
@@nofutureproductions9242 Personally I'm not into that series. Too retro.
The episode is based on "Arena", a science fiction short story published in 1944
See the Navigator next to Sulu? That's Sean Kenny, the same actor that played the crippled Captain Pike! He also played the navigator on Taste of Armageddon
Vic Perrin, the Metron voice, did subsequent voiceover work on Star Trek. He was also the Control Voice on the original Outer Limits. We are now returning control of your television set to YOU.
This episode was based on a short story of the same name, written by Frederic Brown and released as part of an anthology of Science Fiction stories in 1944. An astronaut named Carson is in a One-man spaceship engaged with an Enemy ship when he blacks out and finds himself on the surface of a planet much like the one in this Star Trek Episode. There was a force field keeping both him and his enemy within a limited space, and there was also a force field in the middle of the arena that living beings could not pass through, so ingenuity (such as shooting projectiles and throwing stones) was required to hurt and kill your enemy.
Ted Cassidy is the voice of the Gorn, who also played Ruk on What Are Little Girls Made Of, and the voice of the alien Baalock on The Corbomite Maneuver
When the Metrons arrived i thought you would say "i love that dress".
Fun trivia, hard to recognize him without the makeup, but the navigator, DePaul, played Captain Pike in the chair in the episode the Menagerie just a few episodes earlier. The actor Sean Kenny.
Vic Perrin did the voice of the Metron. He was also the Control Voice in the original Outer Limits. We are taking control of your television set...
The story was based on a short story also titled "Arena" written in 1944 by Frederick Brown. That story involves two space faring species fighting in a distant system when two representatives of each species were sent to a planet. The colony stuff is all Star Trek. This episode is also famous for having the absolute worst fist fight in video media history! (At least of the ones that were supposed to be serious fights.)
It was recently discovered that this story was taken from a Sci Fi Story written in a paperback novel back in the 1940s. Many Star Trek plots were lifted from pulp fiction sci fi stories that were published in the 1950s. Even the pictures on the book covers and the scenes in the TV episodes are similar.
was never a secret.. it says Frederic Brown in the credits. Story had the alien as a ball shape, they were seperated by a force field that didn't allow conscious creatures through, and the stakes were higher.. the losers entire race would be eliminated
Yes! Gorn Day!
Arena is a short story adapted for this episode, it was in our High School English book way back in the 70s.
Fun Fact: Cestus 3 gets mentioned in a later trek series where I believe it is still a federation colony so I assume the federation works something else with the gorn.
The advanced alien at the end was not a teenage boy. That was a girl who was one of the lead dancers in a TV Dance Show of the era called Hullabaloo. The voice was edited in though.
You know, I’ve literally started rewatching TOS because of you doing this…
Being a longtime fan of the series gives me a certain amount of anticipation with respect to your work, simply because I know this or that episode is still to come for you and I’m already curious what you’ll do to bring your particular voice to said episode; “Arena” was one of those; “Errand of Mercy” and “A Taste of Armageddon” are others yet to come.
Keep doing your thing! 👍
One of my favorites! I went to visit the film site about 5 years ago (Vasquez Rocks). I threw a little rock down the mountain.
Those slanted rocks are in Southern Cali.......
You can got visit them.
💙💙
You are among the best reactors on RUclips. I missed the one brief scene when the Metron said that perhaps a dialogue can be had in "10,000 years."
Ah, Ted Cassidy and Sean Kenny reappear. Ted was the voice of the Gorn; he also played Ruk in "What are Little Girls Made Of?" and the voice of Puppet Balock in "The Corbomite Maneuver." Sean played the navigator of the week, Lt. DePaul, in a recurring role; he also played Wheelchair Pike in "The Menagerie".
The backdrop of the battle was Vasquez Rocks, a public park near Los Angeles, which is often used in TV and movies. One especially notable appearance was in the second part of the "Bill and Ted" trilogy, entitled "Bogus Journey", featuring Keanu Reeves and George Carlin. It's worth a watch if you need something light. And the location has an impressive list of productions associated with it.
This was the first episode of Star Trek I ever saw. It was on at night. My family came home from having a pizza (you went out to get pizza in the 60s) and I turned on the TV to seeing a man fighting a humanoid lizard. I think my 10 year old self was hooked at that moment. Now, well over 50 years later, I still enjoy this episode. The Metrons have always reminded me of the Olympians, the Greek gods who used mortal men as chess pieces in a game or entertainment. At the time, Gorns and humans could not talk; the humans had no idea the Gorns were there. Yet the gorns somehow recovered Federation equipment and deduced not only human language, but the classified information about Starfleet communications and the Enterprise’s location, which would have been highly protected information. To then create a “spoofer” to lure the Enterprise in with the commodore’s own voice seems a bridge too far, but points to the capabilities of the gorns. As repitlians, gorns would be carnivores, which means humans might have been perceived a hairless monkeys, a potential food source. We don’t know. The gorns move slow but they are highly intelligent. This fight was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, a location Star Trek used in other episodes, and which was also seen in many westerns like The Virginian, Laramie and The Big Valley. There has long been speculation that the parents of Trelayne in The Squire of Gothos were members of the Q, a race that appears in the first episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, Encounter at Farpoint, but has never been confirmed. As to advanced races, there are more to come, particularly the Organians, who, like the Q have god-like powers. Fortunately, none of the advanced races seem intent on human destruction.
Another great episode reaction, the Gorn was actually speaking Gorn
The universal translator allows Kirk to hear the message in English, I use to wonder what Kirk sounded like from the Gorns perspective. LoL!
Heh, "Green Muthafukka."
This episode is usually in the "Best Ever" lists for the series. Action, intrigue, a new species, the most iconic shots of Vasquez Rocks, an enemy that is more than a match for Kirk, a moment of mercy after being bent on revenge earlier. Lots going on and definitely worth another watch to catch everything.
Fun fact (or not, depending on your point of view): We have an "Arena" poster hanging on the wall of our TV room.
🙂
Keep up the great work on these reactions!
BunnkTails - keep in mind , in this ERA Warp speed was generally lower .
Constitution class is a Warp 6 Starship. considered in this Era top of the line.
later the Warp speed curve is changed to Reflect advancements.
The Gorn don't know Federation Basic; S'Slee (the Gorn Captain, his name given in the Role-Playing game by FASA) was using the Metron's communicator/translator to converse with Kirk
Classic for the Gorn and the fight scene.
I love how surprised they are when Kirk disappeared/ reappeared. - they have transporters!
Just want to mention that it took me over 30 years to realize that the actor who played a supervisor in a first season episode of a mining planet is the same actor and even in the same shuit as a popular 2bd season as the supetvisor of a soace station. Not mentioning which episodes, but got both as Christmas presents one year and didn't notice till now. I feel dumb.
Another great and wise reaction to this episode. You seem to anticipate plot points, I think you're right, it must be the gaming. At the time in 1966 this episode was iconic and not slow paced. Jeez, I must be as old as dirt. The pace of everything is much faster now. Love your sense of humor. Thanks, and have a great holiday season!
The original short story this episode was inspired by is: Arena, by Fredrick Brown published in 1944. This is worth a read. :)
The choreography and grunting are legendary.
I don't know what is says about me that as a seven year old I recognized the ingredients for gunpowder before the reveal. I always liked this episode. Great reaction Bunny!
16:25 The Gorn is not speaking English. The device he's speaking into is a Universal translator.
"It felt a little slow moving"😄I would agree Bunny, primarily with the Gorn fight scenes. However before that I felt that the action was pretty fast paced...dealing with explosions on the ground while the Enterprise was firing away above them. The tension between Kirk and Spock on how best to deal with the Gorn. It always helps me to remember that they didn't mean for the Gorn to be THAT slow, but the poor guy in the suit had very restricted movement. Also the guy was on the verge of heat exhaustion and dehydration as they were filming in a very hot area. A dessert area in southern California I think.
"Maybe the Gorn did just want to hug."
I think you nailed it.
Best. Mike.
Ah yes, the Gorn, back before their five different 21st century redesigns. Gotta love the "let the past die" mentality :)
"Disco Balls for eyes," and "Not that I'm rooting for this......" LOL! You are something else! Always great observations.
Watching this as kid, it scared the living hell out of me. This would probably be about the 30th time seeing it. Perfect window for growing up, STAR TREK was never NOT on in reruns for pretty much the first 35 years of my life :)
Even when I got older and was out partying, clubbing and raising hell, I could wake up hung-over on a Saturday ... and there it was. Like a grounding force in my life.
Kind of went away (from broadcast TV) for a bit, but now it's back again, has been for the last 5 years or so on one of the local networks.
Yes Bunnytails! Truly a HARE-raising experience for Captain Kirk and the crew!! 😄🥰
No, that would actually be "Shore leave."
The place where they filmed the fight scenes is somewhat famous and is seen in many Western movies and shows. I heard the guy in the Gorn suit was lucky that it was Dec/Jan when they filmed this fight scene since it can get over 100 there in the summer or spring. It was still over 80 and the man still earned his pay this time. The Gorn were never seen again until the last of the old shows, Enterprise, and featured a lot in the new show Strange New Worlds. Mentioned a few times in passing in other shows and in the books too. This is one of those people remembered.
Ben Stiller is a huge Star Trek fan (the original series in particular). Occasionally he'll put a Trek reference in his films. For instance, Wil Ferrell's character in Zoolander is named after a creature that appears in a later episode. Stiller owns the original Gorn head from this episode.
Stiller was also watching this episode on his iPod in Tropic Thunder.
hey bunny, that device he was talking into was a universal translator which allowed them to understand each other....initially kirk did not know that the gorn could hear his recordings...
The faked recordings should have told him that their communications were under attack, long before he realised it.
Like watching those old mummy movies from the early-mid 20th century: "That thing can't hurt me 'cause it can't catch me." Except that the Gorn's smart enough to work around that.
You'll notice that in the first part of the story, explosions go off fairly close to Kirk and Spock. Reports are that both Shatner and Nimoy suffered (permanent?) hearing damage as a result of filming this episode (tinnitus - persistent ringing in the ears). That's a pretty hard example of 'taking one for the team'!
••••
I'd forgotten that the Gorn (who do not speak like normal humans) used technology to impersonate Commodore Travers, in luring the Enterprise over, and then in luring Kirk down there. It's one of at least four examples (in the first season alone!) of characters using technology for deceit - to pretend to be someone else. Most often, this is voice duplication, but there are instances where it's more elaborate than that (Korby not only has Ruk duplicate Kirk's voice on the communicator, but also creates the Kirk android to visit the Enterprise in place of the real Kirk.)
••••
A truly wonderful episode of 'Mythbusters' devoted itself to a plot point in this episode. Adam and Jamie tried a number of different times to make a real-life 'Gorn cannon' along with charcoal, potassium nitrate, and other elements of gunpowder, as Kirk did. Their question, "Could you really do this in real life?" Their good-faith answer after multiple experiments: no. (It's well worth checking out!!)
••••
One of the things this episode does drive home: Kirk is a lot more than 'merely' a Starship Captain; he's "a stack of books with legs," as Gary Mitchell described him in 'Where No Man has gone before.' Several times in the series he whips up this or that invention seemingly from nothing, to help him escape this or that scrape.
••••
A number of times in the series, Kirk has to grapple on-the-spot with a question of, "do you pull back and investigate?" or "do you shoot first and ask questions later?" More often than not, Kirk's instincts turn out to be right, but not invariably so. :)
Definitely one of the most famous Star Trek TOS episodes of all time! It is even referenced by Sisko in one episode of Deep Space Nine which was pretty cool also! Nice apron... are you going to cook me something. Ha, ha that was pretty funny!!
In ST:TOS, Warp 6 is the maximum safe cruising speed for a Heavy Cruiser (which is the Enterprise's ship type). Warp 8 is the maximum rated emergency speed. The Enterprise exceeded that speed only on a couple of rare occasions, and under exceptional circumstances.