Ska Ka Ree...A quick question...

[Tribble puncher]

Watching STV, I won't really go over the film itself, I will just say it's grown on me a little over the years.....

So my question is...Are we seeing Sha Ka Ree through Kirks eyes? since he never fell under Syboks influence, are we seeing the planet as Kirk does (as it really is, a barren wasteland) or are we actually seeing (Sha Ka Ree, the Vulcan version of heaven, or whatever, as Vulcan is a desert world.) thoughts anyone? Have there ever been any followup visits to this planet in any novels or anything?

 

[Lance]

Watching STV, I won't really go over the film itself, I will just say it's grown on me a little over the years.....

So my question is...Are we seeing Sha Ka Ree through Kirks eyes? since he never fell under Syboks influence, are we seeing the planet as Kirk does (as it really is, a barren wasteland) or are we actually seeing (Sha Ka Ree, the Vulcan version of heaven, or whatever, as Vulcan is a desert world.) thoughts anyone? Have there ever been any followup visits to this planet in any novels or anything?

Seems like a reasonable hypothesis to me. Although its worth noting that Spock and Bones (who are there alongside him) are hardly the mindless automatons that the rest of the crew have turned into, so maybe they're seeing the planet for what it really is as well. In any case I *doubt* we're seeing a representation of the real Sha Ka Ree, because the God creature is a false God anyway.

Maybe Sybok is seeing something different though?

 

[FormerLurker]

It's reasonable to assume. After all, the flashing faces end up with the one that would have the most meaning to Kirk. Why not show the environment from that perspective as well?

 

[Timo]

We're ultimately left wondering whether there is a planet there at all, or whether it's all part of the illusion...

The magnificent solitude of the setting we see might appeal to Spock as a Vulcan: paradise for a desert dweller might not be a place of abundance and lushness but a place of absolute purity, the ultimate desert.

On the other hand, such a scene would probably also yell "Biblical!" to Kirk and McCoy who are no strangers to Christianity, and might thus be their illusion as well. They would be expecting a harsh God, one who has already kicked Adam and Eve out once, and would accept a landscape to match.

In any case I *doubt* we're seeing a representation of the real Sha Ka Ree, because the God creature is a false God anyway.

If there is a real Sha Ka Ree, it might just as well be this place. That is, if Vulcans have authentic knowledge of Sha Ka Ree, it probably comes from telepathic contact with this creature, just as with Sybok.

Anyway, we get no direct indication that this God would be false from Sybok's point of view. Cruel, perhaps, but the madman doesn't actually point out discrepancies between the God he sees and the Vulcan definition of God (or whatever name or description the Vulcan keeper of paradise goes by).

For Kirk, this God might be false, as tradition credits the Christian God with omnipotence, and this creature is lacking in that particular department. But tradition might be mistaken, and in the Trek context this creature might be directly responsible for creating Earth and mankind and guiding the fates of the people of Israel. (Perhaps that's why it was jailed for all eternity?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kevman7987]

When asked "What does God need with a starship?", the real God would answer "Because starships are badass."

I tend to view planet Sha Ka Ree as actually looking like that to everyone. It is a barren desert that may have been a living planet at one time, but the false god entity killed everything if that were so.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I wonder if they play the Specials in Ska Ka Ree?

 

[Aldo]

I recall reading that they wanted to film it in a setting that was more populated with vegetation (and grass, and trees) but that would have been too expensive. Since they already used the desert setting for Paradise City I'm sure it was much cheaper to just drive down a ways to film the Sha Ka Ree scenes there.

Although if that's all they did, one wonders why they didn't use the location they used for Yosemite to film the "Eden" scenes.

 

[Nebusj]

I recall reading that they wanted to film it in a setting that was more populated with vegetation (and grass, and trees) but that would have been too expensive. Since they already used the desert setting for Paradise City I'm sure it was much cheaper to just drive down a ways to film the Sha Ka Ree scenes there.

Although if that's all they did, one wonders why they didn't use the location they used for Yosemite to film the "Eden" scenes.

Well, there is a narrative bookending in making pretty much the same setting be the failed Paradise City in the beginning and the false Paradise world in the end.

 

[PCz911]

So I went to sha ka ree in person (well, ok, trona in California where it was filmed).
I didn't find God or shatner, but it was hotter than hell!

 

[publiusr]

Shades of the Satan Pit, it wouldn't be far from the galactic center black hole, which also seems to have some blue-ish hints (false color no doubt)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A*#mediaviewer/File:Gcle.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittarius_A*

Then too--I seem to remember the galaxy's barycenter not quite where the BH is found--some density changes.
http://arxiv.org/abs/1208.4844
http://www.galacticcenter.astro.ucla.edu/journey/smbh.html

 

[2takesfrakes]

Well, there is a narrative bookending in making pretty much the same setting be the failed Paradise City in the beginning and the false Paradise world in the end.

Very clumsily handled in Shatner's inept directorial hands, unfortunately. The idea of making a televangelist the bad guy in a STAR TREK movie was an interesting one. But the way it was gone about - even how Shatner wanted to go about it, originally - was just lame. I mean ... seriously. A lot of very dark and interesting roads for this movie were happily dismissed so that Shatner could pit Kirk against The Almighty, or at the very least The Devil, and have him win.

 

[Doctorwhovian]

The comic adaptation by Peter David makes it a paradise jungle planet if I remember correctly. He was working perhaps from the original script's description ( I think the rock men appear too), although he probably added the bits about Kirk's brother Sam.