I find myself laughing at some of them. You have the good fights that are believable and the ones where you can clearly see the mistake of not making the connecting part look real.
The Fist Fights in TOS -- Good or Bad?
- Thread starter Aike
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It's cheesy, but there is no known defense against Kirk's flying kick. Not even Daniel-Son's crane move.
Yes, there is. It's called stepping out of the way. A flying kick is a terrible fight move, purely for show. It's easily evaded and it leaves you vulnerable, because you're going to come down on your back and maybe hurt yourself in landing, or at least be at a considerable disadvantage until you can get back on your feet. In fact, William Shatner has a story he tells about an instance where he clashed with some people who were harassing his daughters or something, and he was about to launch into a Captain Kirk flying kick when he realized it would just leave him lying on his butt and helpless. Bruce Lee also once said he'd never use a flying kick in a real fight.
I just watched "Alternative Factor" last night and it has a very realistic fight near the end as Kirk and bad-Lazarus grapple. No punches, judo, just two guys wrestling while standing. I was surprised. It was directed by a name I didn't recognize -- maybe that had something to do with it.
Gerd Oswald directed "The Alternative Factor." He also did "The Conscience of the King" and quite a few Outer Limits episodes, among other things.
For the most part they were silly as hell, and not really realistic but damn some of them were cool to watch.
Most notably the bar room fight with the Klingons in Trouble with Tribbles, I personally loved the out and out with Finnegan and Kirk in Shore Leave. Mostly because Bruce Mars was over the top crazy as Finnegan :P
Vons
Most notably the bar room fight with the Klingons in Trouble with Tribbles, I personally loved the out and out with Finnegan and Kirk in Shore Leave. Mostly because Bruce Mars was over the top crazy as Finnegan :P
Vons
That fight between Kirk & Lazarus is a hoot!
Check out the security guard in the background for the whole fight.
He's an extra I've been calling 'Samoan Jack' for years.
Anyway he can't keep a straight face as Shatner & Brown grapple. He just looks like he's gonna double over with laughter any second.
Most of the fights were pretty bad, but they had a tough schedule and not a lot of time. I am usually surprised when one of the fights looks any good. It doesn't hurt the enjoyment for me though.
Generally, the fights aren't that realistic. I kind of like Kirk's fight with the Gorn because some of it is just hilarious. I esp. love it when he grabs the Gorn by the head and just pushes back on it and the Gorn reels back in pain. Gets me every time!
And you gotta love it when Kirk hurls that rock at the Gorn, it just bounces off his chest, the Gorn says, "Oh yeah, mofo? Catch THIS", then picks up that huge boulder and hurls it at Kirk, which nearly smashes him to bits!
My favorite fight is in The Trouble With Tribbles, the K-7 bar fight, esp. when Scotty just gets up and punches Korax right in the puss after insulting the Enterprise. Ha!
I also get a kick out of Kirk vs. Spock in Amok Time. Those funky weapons, for example, and the shock when Spock thinks he's killed Kirk.
Later ST shows had more realistic fight scenes, but still not that realistic. They are, after all, TV shows!
Red Ranger
And you gotta love it when Kirk hurls that rock at the Gorn, it just bounces off his chest, the Gorn says, "Oh yeah, mofo? Catch THIS", then picks up that huge boulder and hurls it at Kirk, which nearly smashes him to bits!
My favorite fight is in The Trouble With Tribbles, the K-7 bar fight, esp. when Scotty just gets up and punches Korax right in the puss after insulting the Enterprise. Ha!
I also get a kick out of Kirk vs. Spock in Amok Time. Those funky weapons, for example, and the shock when Spock thinks he's killed Kirk.
Later ST shows had more realistic fight scenes, but still not that realistic. They are, after all, TV shows!
Red Ranger
No, that's Kirk clapping his palms over the Gorn's ears, which presumably induces the same painful effect in Gorns as it's supposed to in humans.
No, and not in the series' VHS release either.
The only place to find it is in the very early VHS release of 'The Beginning', which was essentially the first four episodes hacked together and about 40% of the material removed. Thankfully, for historians, the Avon ear slap scene is still present.
The fights were so incredibly slow... One could set a cup of coffee & come back and the punch still wouldn't have landed.
Being a trained martial artist, I can groove to the OS illusion of the fight scenes.
I agree..I like the fights and normally don't have a problem with them. For all your reasons that you state about and yeah there are a few stunt doubles that are just obviously awful... Whom Gods Destroy comes to mind....but on the whole I really liked the fights and I think Shatner did a great job with it.
Yeah those Kung-Fu movies from the 70's and early 80's...(or at least that's when I was watching them) were famous for that. I just chalked it up as a civilized way to kick each others asses in....LOL.
Another martial arts practitioner chiming in:
I've always found most fight choreography in TOS to be incredibly bad and incredibly unrealistic.
Christopher is dead right with his comments about how a chop, almost anywhere, rendering one unconscious is silly. Having been on the receiving end of more than a few, I've been annoyed but never knocked out by one.
And I've never understood Shatner's love of Kirk's dropkick. Looks neat in the wrestling ring I suppose but its not a practical move in a fight. Mind you, they got it right in Journey to Babel. Kirk was out of position and slow to recover from his own move and got knifed in the back as a result.
I've always found most fight choreography in TOS to be incredibly bad and incredibly unrealistic.
Christopher is dead right with his comments about how a chop, almost anywhere, rendering one unconscious is silly. Having been on the receiving end of more than a few, I've been annoyed but never knocked out by one.
And I've never understood Shatner's love of Kirk's dropkick. Looks neat in the wrestling ring I suppose but its not a practical move in a fight. Mind you, they got it right in Journey to Babel. Kirk was out of position and slow to recover from his own move and got knifed in the back as a result.
Wow, it's amzing that someone would have to have it explained to them that Kirk was 'boxing' the ears of the Gorn !! I got it when i was 10 years old.
Someone really thought Kirk was simply 'pushing' the Gorns head?
Exactly so. They were staged in a silly fashion, and they sure look silly now, but they were pretty standard stuff for TV at the time.
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