Which of these dramatic TOS Movie Scenes is your favorite?

[Damian]

I think TFF was a mixed bag. He was GREAT in some scenes like everything in the observation room (Spock's "Sybok data dump," secret pain scene, and post climax wrap-up)...and hammy in others (aboard the shuttlecraft, in the brig, El Capitain), so this film is probably the best representation of his TOS performances (ups and downs) quite honestly.

TUC was my least-favorite, because everything in that whole movie just felt like a big wink-and-smile at the audience. Nothing felt legitimately dramatic.

GEN was odd, because it was Kirk as written by the TNG writers...so it felt off a lot (Scotty spouting TNG levels of technobabble always takes me right out of it). Shatner's performance with Picard on horseback in the Nexus was great though, and I (unlike many) LOVED how he played the death scene.

I guess I was never able to get past the whole El Capitan scene. The Observation Room scenes were not bad. I also loved that set. I always wished Meyer was able to use that set in TUC.

I actually sort of liked Scotty spouting a little technobabble. TNG always made everyone seem like they were more intelligent then the original series (I don't think that was intent), this was Scotty's chance to prove they could be Mr Smarty Pants in the 23rd century too. So take that 24th century

 

[Henoch]

GEN was odd, because it was Kirk as written by the TNG writers...so it felt off a lot (Scotty spouting TNG levels of technobabble always takes me right out of it).

As previously documented in other TrekBBS threads, Nimoy and Kelley opted out leaving Doohan and Koenig to take their places (eh, it's a paycheck) and inherited some of their lines, hence the technobabble for Scott and medical stuff for Chekov.

The characters may have been slightly different since they are all time-divergent alternate versions which Picard creates when he corrupts the time stream by his future self in the next movie, First Contact. (follow that circle illogic)

Shatner's performance with Picard on horseback in the Nexus was great

The horses were great, too, and deserved equal billing for that scene. As an animal lover, I liked that the movie had horses, cats and dogs. I remember Shatner used his own horses for the scene, and the horse walk-around and side-walking during their dialog was Shatner showing off how good an equestrian he was in real life. Kirk one-ups Picard.

 

[Maurice]

^^^But Spock didn't spout technobabble the way Moore and Braga wrote it. It would have been out of character even for him.

 

[Henoch]

^^^But Spock didn't spout technobabble the way Moore and Braga wrote it. It would have been out of character even for him.

Agreed. I was mainly pointing out the script writers intentions for Spock and McCoy, but got Scott and Chekov.

 

[The Boss]

To be different, I guess, I'll say Spock in TMP. Outside of all the philosophical weight of it, and even though he's kind of been around in this movie, Spock's been holding back, up til now.

The Spock from the TV show finally returns and while it hints at things to come story-wise in TMP, its kind of been like TSFS, in that Spock's near and yet so far. It ups the interest level, when they're wandering the V'GER amphitheater, later. Imagine Kholinar Spock in those moments. Instead, TOS is back as the main three team up to save earth, and just under the wire, as usual.

 

[Sareesataka]

"Klingon bastard! You killed my son!"
Just an amazing delivery by Shatner. He made me feel his pain, and grief.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Proud to be your son. WOK
I would have liked to have seen David survive through to TUC interacting with his father Kirk.

It would seem Saavik should've been the logical choice to be killed since Alley wasn't returning; I didn't like Curtis' portrayal of the character at all, but I was never a fan of III and all of the forced motivations of the movie.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Dining on Ashes in TUC is definitely my favorite scene out of that bunch. It's Kirk and Spock, and Shatner and Nimoy, together and having a heart to heart one last time. Nimoy said that the multiple levels to the scene got to him, too.

And yeah, the beginning of GEN is pretty weak, mainly because the writers couldn't shake their TNG technobabble habits to write for a different kind of Star Trek, and because they didn't bother filing off the serial numbers on dialogue they obviously wrote for Spock and Bones. "I have a theory" / "I thought you might" is a total Spock/Kirk exchange, "You and you, you're both nurses" is total Bones McCoy dialogue, and Scotty was never one to talk about creating a 3.4 second tachyon pulse by channeling the whatever through the main deflector dish, or whatever crap they had him say. Scotty said stuff like, "I've got her lit up like a Christmas tree, so don't give me too many bumps!" Scotty wasn't a guy to talk about how he did stuff. He just did it.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I have to go off-list:

"Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most....human."

 

[Antonovus]

I find Spock's entry into the V'Ger vessel quite trippy and therefore enjoyable.

 

[mos6507]

TSFS has the best dramatic performance but the Spock scene from TMP has the most philosophical meaning, and it stretches back through all of Spock's prior history so it has huge resonance.

 

[grandmoffjon]

Hi all, my first post here (please excuse my name )! And a tough one to start... TMP's scene does have more meaning overall, not only in the great questions the movie dares to ask but in regards to Spock's journey to find himself... however, the pure gut punch in TSFS takes the cake... pity, that movie is unfortunately a mixed bag.

It would seem Saavik should've been the logical choice to be killed since Alley wasn't returning; I didn't like Curtis' portrayal of the character at all, but I was never a fan of III and all of the forced motivations of the movie.

Logical yes! But emotional, not really... the cost of Spock's resurrection should rightfully be too heavy. But I sometimes imagine an alternative film where, instead of Saavik, it was Carol Marcus with David in that film... Saavik was off with the trainees at the start, no pon farr, the Genesis protomater mistake would have been Carol's, David was to pay with his life not only for his father's mission but his mother's mistake... and the film would look less cheap by bringing back one more of the actors introduced in TWOK and not recasting another.

 

[Henoch]

Hi all, my first post here (please excuse my name )! And a tough one to start...

Glad to have you aboard.

Good first post. I, too, did not like the Curtis casting as Saavik. Her role and acting were awful.

 

[grandmoffjon]

She just wasn't Saavik... recastings take me off films... TSFS had enough hurdles to jump over in regards to story vs budget and the whole Saavik situation brings the film even further down... but then again, you need a certain charisma and presence to pull off a Vulcan, with their more limited emotional range, and Curtis sadly had little of that, she was more like a Vulcan extra upgraded to guest star. And then they had to deal with her in IV and a sorry job they did at that overall...

 

[Mojochi]

These are some tough candidates to choose from. I went with "Proud to Be Your Son", coming in just above "Klingon Bastard". While the 2nd one certainly has dramatic fortitude, I felt like there was something to give you extra depth in my choice, because, in the midst of great loss, that you're still reeling from, you get a new light.

It isn't just a scene about his estranged son admitting finally that he's proud. It's a sign that even though we've lost something, life gains something good in its wake. Kirk lost a brother, but gained a son. It's the whole reason he is able to feel "Young" at the end. Life springs forth in him again. There's things still to value in his life, new things he'd never even thought to consider. It really is a powerful character growth moment, & ends the movie on an up note, even though it's ultimately a tragic end. That one scene is what makes that possible, that we can close out feeling ok with Kirk's life. It's a linchpin scene that makes the movie work. "Klingon Bastard" is a great scene, but it doesn't serve the whole picture in that way imho

 

[Defiler-Of-Redshirts]

I hate to say anything good about Star Trek V, but Kirk's "I need my pain!" speech to Sybok was its one great, profound moment. I still remember it verbatim: "Damn it, Bones, you're a doctor! You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with the wave of a magic wand. Those are things we carry within us that make us who we are! If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don't want my pain taken away, I NEED my pain!" Truer words of the human condition have never been spoken.

My second pick would be in Star Trek III when Kirk collapsed to the floor when he heard his son was dead. "You Klingon bastard, you killed my son. You...Klingon...bastard." I thought it was Shatner's most jolting dramatic performance.

 

[Armus]

The "proud to be your son" scene was beautiful. David hated his false image of Kirk, who he thought was a trigger-happy, overgrown boyscout. That was established in the beginning on the movie. After the confrontation in the Regula One caves, David gets to know Kirk for the first time. He spends the rest of the movie with his father and the audience can see his attitude mellow. Then Spock dies, and while Kirk is grieving, David comes in to tell him that he has been wrong about him the whole time, and that he is in fact proud to be his son. It's the perfect moment at the perfect time in the film, and it hits all the right notes.

 

[sbk1234]

IMHO the “brainwashing “ scene from TFF was one of the best moments in all of Trek, but my favorite part was with McCoy.

 

[BillJ]

Chose the TMP scene for the purpose of the poll.

Two come to mind that aren't listed:

The "Let them die!" scene between Kirk and Spock in The Undiscovered Country. Shatner knocks it out of the park, and Nimoy plays the befuddled Spock to perfection.

And "Your name is Jim." from The Search for Spock, a perfect culmination to the movie.

 

[HaventGotALife]

I think the final twenty minutes of Khan are my favorite scenes of the TOS movies. From Kirk seeing Spock in Engineering to the credit roll on II. And James Horner's score, of which I listen to often, is awesome over the credits.

I think III is contrived. Kirk is at-peace, give him back his command, and have him miss Spock while exploring the unknown. Then, Sarek comes to him and tells him to bring Spock to Vulcan. Star Trek IV: The Search for Spock, of which I would tell in flashbacks and skip the bad parts of the script. The characters are poorly drawn, the stealing of the Enterprise unrealistic and unnecessary, the death of David is emotionless, and like the death of Tasha, much better as a reaction (his son died by Klingon hands), than as a movie moment. Which means it can be done off-screen.

A close second is Spock speaking for V'Ger. He has some awesome, truthful lines in the movie.