What was your favorite TOS film?
- Thread starter fonzob1
- Start date
Great attitude. Makes me want to jump in and have intelligent and open discussion in this topic.
I wouldn't go there. It's not my favorite, but it's fine to me. However, a lot of folks posting here rank it at the top. I appreciate and see their reasons, and I'd be more likely to defend their point of view than try to explain why they're "wrong" by having an opinion different than mine.
My favorite TOS movie has always been TVH. It's nothing to take too seriously, nothing complicated, a very linear story, but it's also just a wonderful romp with the characters. Fun, fun, fun.
It's still TWoK that I remember the most fondly, and there are two main reasons:
They started the movie right - both visually and musically. People in the theatre on premiere day (for me it was far from home, on Long Island of all places) knew instantly, as soon as the low throb gave way to the familiar Courage fanfare, that some fundamental thing had been gotten right. All by itself, this earned audience goodwill toward what was to follow.
Not only was it a good idea to build the second movie around a clear villain with a known (to fans) history; Khan was a great choice for that villain. And, of course, Montalban was available and made the best of what he was given to do and say as Khan. All future Trek movies with villains have suffered by comparison, as will any new Trek movie with one or more villains. Khan was a rare villain who was able to transcend being, on some fundamental level, silly. So was (in my opinion) Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2.
They started the movie right - both visually and musically. People in the theatre on premiere day (for me it was far from home, on Long Island of all places) knew instantly, as soon as the low throb gave way to the familiar Courage fanfare, that some fundamental thing had been gotten right. All by itself, this earned audience goodwill toward what was to follow.
Not only was it a good idea to build the second movie around a clear villain with a known (to fans) history; Khan was a great choice for that villain. And, of course, Montalban was available and made the best of what he was given to do and say as Khan. All future Trek movies with villains have suffered by comparison, as will any new Trek movie with one or more villains. Khan was a rare villain who was able to transcend being, on some fundamental level, silly. So was (in my opinion) Alfred Molina as Doc Ock in Spider-Man 2.
I don't agree. I actually thought Final Frontier was better. I could never get past those awful uniforms from the Motion Picture. In fact, I don't even remember what that movie was about...
The Motion picture should have been called The Slow Motion Picture.
Don't go around calling it, "The Motionless Picture," or you may hear from Harlan Ellison's lawyers. Just sayin'.
The Motion picture should have been called The Slow Motion Picture.
Don't go around calling it, "The Motionless Picture," or you may hear from Harlan Ellison's lawyers. Just sayin'.
As far as I know the only things Harlan Ellison should be proud of is being the primal source of the City On The Edge Of Forever and Also The Terminator which is a work of genius. I don't know of anything else.
Why is it that when a thread gets posted titled "What was your favorite TOS film?", so many people talk about the one they don't like? 
Maybe if a thread was called "What was your least favorite TOS film?", people would discuss the one they like?
Maybe if a thread was called "What was your least favorite TOS film?", people would discuss the one they like?
Why is it that when a thread gets posted titled "What was your favorite TOS film?", so many people talk about the one they don't like?
Maybe if a thread was called "What was your least favorite TOS film?", people would discuss the one they like?
Talking about what you don't like is just another way of talking about what you do like. How do you define the prime numbers? Essentially by defining the numbers that are NOT prime.
The Motion picture should have been called The Slow Motion Picture.
Don't go around calling it, "The Motionless Picture," or you may hear from Harlan Ellison's lawyers. Just sayin'.
As far as I know the only things Harlan Ellison should be proud of is being the primal source of the City On The Edge Of Forever and Also The Terminator which is a work of genius. I don't know of anything else.
He's also written lots of classic short stories: "The Beast Who Shouted Love at the Heart of the World," "Paladin of the Lost Hours," "The Chocolate Alphabet," etc., not to mention a couple of classic episodes of the original OUTER LIMITS, most notably "Demon with a Glass Hand."
Outside of Trek, he has plenty to be proud of, including several Hugo and Nebula Awards for his fiction, and a Life Achievement Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. He's a major figure in literary SF.
His books are definitely worth checking out.
