Lets Fix "The Corbomite Maneuver"

[Shatmandu]

Hiya, folks.

One down, many to go.

Whoever did the makeup for "The Corbomite Maneuver" deserves an Emmy ... upside the head. Most everyone spends the episode damp, and not just during the tense moments. Uhura looks like she's got a honey glaze. Like the man in "Hard Day's Night" says: "Powder them off, for the shine."

Story-wise, it's a good one. Minor quibble: seeing Kirk come up against a civilization who could easily kick the crap out of them would have more impact, for me, if done further along in the series, after we were used to the power level of the Federation and the Enterprise.

The third act drags, and the music gets repetitive about midway through the second. McCoy seems to just lurk around and bitch. And the Professor's cousin overacts just a touch here and there.

Special effects-wise, this one is perfect. Don't change a thing.

Opie Cunningham's brother is sufficiently creepy, especially with the replaced voice and the "someone is kicking me in the nuts, and I LOVE IT!"-type laugh. Nice job there.

What would you like to change?

Joe, underworn

 

[Outpost4]

Outside of Spock's shouting, not a lot, but that was more a function of Roddenberry, Nimoy, and the rest figuring out the character. It would have been different if it had been episode #8 instead of #1

 

[Christopher]

Special effects-wise, this one is perfect. Don't change a thing.

Err, you mean aside from the gross contradictions between the stated size of the buoy and the Fesarius in dialogue and their apparent size onscreen? The buoy is said to be 107 meters on a side, but the effects shot depicts it as more like 9 or 10 meters on a side. And the Fesarius is said to be a mile across, but each one of its large domes is at least the size of the Enterprise, requiring it to be over 3 miles across at least.

 

[Cicero]

^ In the new version or the old? (I've not seen the remastered and altered episode.)

 

[Christopher]

In both. The CGI shots in the Remastered "Corbomite" faithfully recreate the composition of the originals. In fact, it rather annoyed me that they didn't correct the scaling error in the buoy shots at least.

 

[22 Stars]

Wow, you get annoyed easily. Has anyone asked Mike Okuda about this one?

 

[Noname Given]

Honestly, this is my favorite episode of Star Trek (any series); and it's pretty solid front to back. About the ONLY thing I might do is make the whole 1701 breakaway sequence faster and tighter. For something that was supposed to be suprising and be done fast before Balok could react, that sequence ran a bit long (imo).

 

[Green Shirt]

Whoever did the makeup for "The Corbomite Maneuver" deserves an Emmy ... upside the head. Most everyone spends the episode damp, and not just during the tense moments. Uhura looks like she's got a honey glaze. Like the man in "Hard Day's Night" says: "Powder them off, for the shine."

As for everyone's dampness, the AC must have been off that week. As for Uhura's honey glaze, I suppose she just finished dotting the "I's" and crossing the "T's" while signing her contract on the casting couch.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

I unreservedly love TCM but Spock's comment about the Fesarius' mass going off his scale is nonsense. The Enterprise's sensors are designed to study everything from a dust speck to a star. Just a guess, but I think Balok's ride falls somewhere in that range.

 

[Shatmandu]

Special effects-wise, this one is perfect. Don't change a thing.

Err, you mean aside from the gross contradictions between the stated size of the buoy and the Fesarius in dialogue and their apparent size onscreen? The buoy is said to be 107 meters on a side, but the effects shot depicts it as more like 9 or 10 meters on a side. And the Fesarius is said to be a mile across, but each one of its large domes is at least the size of the Enterprise, requiring it to be over 3 miles across at least.

Exactly how close was the Enterprise to the Fesarius in those shots? Could the perspective cause this issue you have?

Joe, has a 14 inch penis if seen from a certain angle

 

[Outpost4]

In both. The CGI shots in the Remastered "Corbomite" faithfully recreate the composition of the originals. In fact, it rather annoyed me that they didn't correct the scaling error in the buoy shots at least.

Can you imagine the volume of complaints if they had done this?

FWIW, I think the remastering of this episode is just about perfect.

 

[pookha]

bones did a lot more then just bitch.
he said a lot of rather insightufl stuff and this was a perfect introduction for the character.
for one thing it very much seems bones and jim have known each other for awhile.

yeah about the only thing to be addressed is the difference in scale but i really like the story itself.

 

[ToddPence]

I also laugh every time I hear the line "The reading goes off my scale . . . it must be a mile in diameter!" Spock, you'd better recalibrate your instruments if they're going to be any use to you in measuring objects in space.

 

[Christopher]

I also laugh every time I hear the line "The reading goes off my scale . . . it must be a mile in diameter!" Spock, you'd better recalibrate your instruments if they're going to be any use to you in measuring objects in space.

Just to be precise, it was the mass reading that went off Spock's scale. And Lt. Arex already addressed that above.

Anyway, it isn't totally nonsensical. Different things need to be measured by different types of instruments. Spock was presumably using a sensor calibrated to scan spacecraft, and it's quite possible that the mass of the Fesarius would be off the scale of that particular instrument. In which case he'd simply need to switch to a different instrument or recalibrate the scale it was set to.

 

[Amaris]

I also laugh every time I hear the line "The reading goes off my scale . . . it must be a mile in diameter!" Spock, you'd better recalibrate your instruments if they're going to be any use to you in measuring objects in space.

Just to be precise, it was the mass reading that went off Spock's scale. And Lt. Arex already addressed that above.

Anyway, it isn't totally nonsensical. Different things need to be measured by different types of instruments. Spock was presumably using a sensor calibrated to scan spacecraft, and it's quite possible that the mass of the Fesarius would be off the scale of that particular instrument. In which case he'd simply need to switch to a different instrument or recalibrate the scale it was set to.

This is how I always pictured it as well.


J.

 

[cooleddie74]

Just Spock's "special" collar and his smiling and emoting, that's about all. It's one of my ten favorite episodes of the entire series and I enjoy almost everything about it...even some of the cheese.

 

[Wingsley]

FWIW, McCoy is my favorite character in TOS, and even in all of TREK. I thought he was great in this story. In fact, I thought DeForest Kelly pulled off a good, if not memorable performance, here.

The only acting I didn't like in the ep was Anthony Call's thin portrayal of Bailey. Much of this was thin writing of his part, so everyone involved can share the blame. In order to sell it, he needed a little better effort.

It would have been better if they had given Uhura something worthwhile to say on the bridge instead of just "hailing frequencies open, sir". Roddenberry and company seemed to like the idea of putting her on the bridge (in that mini, no less) but didn't seem to know how to exhibit her as a competent team professional. I love the "new" uniforms, but I think if someone were to remake this ep, Uhura and other female cast should wear a "skant", like Pulaski did in TNG's 2nd year. (Well, maybe minis could be worn, but not by all the women, all the time.) That is, of course, a series-wide comment. I think that Uhura should've picked up Balok's first message/tirade. I also think Uhura would've been the logical one to pick up Balok's video instead of Spock. That would've at least Nichelle Nichols something to work with.

I am very happy with the Kirk-Spock-McCoy interplay in this ep. They come across as professional, as friends, and the characters have warmth. Scotty and Sulu are good here, as well. Rand is okay, but if she's a yeoman they should've given her a crewmans' jumpsuit, and it should've been the same color as Kirk's tunic if she's his assistant. I actually like the idea of Kirk being followed around by a yeoman, and I wish they had given her more story to work with throughout TOS. Of course, I wish that some of the TOS characters, like maybe Scott, Uhura and Sulu, had also been either NCOs or warrant officers, to give their characters/duties a little more texture. And the bridge needed a COB, in my opinion. After watching THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER again recently, I'm convinced that could've added some atmosphere to TOS.

(Overall, I love TOS's standard duty uniforms, at least the male version. I always thought it was so cool that TREK depicted professional "day job" astronauts wearing neat-looking longsleeve T-shirts and trousers, instead of cheesey glitter-suits like LOST IN SPACE.)

The music was okay for the most part, but there are a few rough parts where it really could've used more refinement.

The story is a nice first-contact story, but I think the most glaring thing that was lacking from "Corbomite" was a sequel. If you stop and think about it, Balok would've made a better Q than Q did for TNG. He could've dazzled Kirk with his super-ship and super-high-tech, and lured Kirk into all kinds of trouble out on the frontier. "What, you couldn't handle that?" I could just hear Balok chuckle.

TOS-R could've done a better job with the space FX, in my opinion. But that's just me.

All in all, for being rough around the edges for early TOS, this ep was surprisingly good. That's a pretty big accomplishment for any groundbreaking drama (sci fi or otherwise), especially from this era.

 

[PlainPatrick]

The one thing I would change is the venue for this story. It might be better served on Outer Limits or Twilight Zone. It is the story of two "men", Bailey and Balok (note the similarity in sound. One is a little boy pretending to be a man, and the other is a, well, little boy, TRYING to be a man. Balok is an alien though. Bailey hits close to home for me. Both of these little boys feel alone, estranged, crave company. Balok is more gregarious, serves drinks, invites three aliens aboard his craft. Bailey wants to be anywhere other than where there are 3 or more other people. Kirk, the wise "father" gives him this opportunity, and Bailey's smile shows his eagerness. How many other navigators or temporary helmsmen were focal points for Trek scripts? Stiles? I personally liked the Indian woman Radha, in "That Which Survives." Finallya woman you would not bend over sideways that you can look at the emotion on her face without getting emotional and nervous.