Star Trek-RM: A Taste of Armageddon… Grading/Discussion

[AstroSmurf]

This is the grading & discussion thread for Star Trek Remastered episode for the weekend of 12/15/07.

A Taste of Armageddon

The U.S.S. Enterprise is ordered to pick up Ambassador Robert Fox, who is on a diplomatic mission to Eminiar VII. When Kirk and crew beam down to deliver the Ambassador they find that they have unwittingly stumbled into a 500 year-old computer generated war being waged by the Eminiar and a neighboring planet, Vendikar. Rather than devastate each planet, computers are used to play out a more civilized conflict. But soon after arriving, Kirk’s learns that his ship’s presence has been logged by the computers, his crew marked as casualties and ordered executed. Caught between his duty to the Federation and his crew, the captain must find a way to save his ship and crew without breaking the Prime Directive.

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[22 Stars]

Just watched, and it is a very good ep., and as timely today as it was back in the late 60's. GW should have to watch this episode until he brings our men and women home from Iraq. Then we can send in Popin'Jay Fox to work out a diplomatic solution.

I was hoping for some rays from the disruptors, but alas no such luck. It would have been too much work to replace the old radar screens, and they are not so bad, considering the actual prop computers that look very dated anyway. This is TOS-Remastered, not Reimagined after all.

 

[Outpost4]

I had forgotten that this was the episode that "the haggis is in the fire."

Nice new matte shots. Not my favorite Star Trek episode but definitely one of the better ones.

 

[cooleddie74]

JUST saw it an hour or so ago.


(*Spoilers ahead*)









Not many changes all in all. There's a wonderful new reimagining of the Eminiar cityscape with more defined buildings with lights on, pedestrians walking about and a couple of monorail trains running between the buildings...the orbital shots of the Enterprise and planet are their typically sharp and marvelous selves, with the collective lights of the main cities and metropolises on Eminiar visible from orbit as yellowish glowing patches on the surface. But the war room computers remained completely untouched, and there are no shots of the Eminian weapons being fired upwards at the Enterprise in orbit. Also, there were no beams or rays added to the Eminian disruptor pistols when Kirk and company use them on the disintegration chambers. They remain totally unaltered.

 

[AstroSmurf]

The matte shots in this episode are some of my favorites of the series so seeing them outfitted with trams and people was drool worthy. Amazing! I also loved the new dorsal flyover with the Enterprise in orbit. Very nice! (I also don't really care if they added disrupter blasts and I can live with the dated computers.) I have to give the remastering an excellent!

As for the episode, this is one of my favorites so I have to give it a solid A. This was Kirk, Spock and Scotty at their finest.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

As an aside (as a UK viewer I can't comment yet on the RM episodes) I caught this just today with my daughter. We'd watched "Plato's Stepchildren" too the day before (child abuse?!) and so I only just found out that the lovely Barbara Babcock is a repeat Trek guest star.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Something that bugged me about this episode. When Kirk and his party (complete with two security guards disguised as Eminians) get ahold of some Eminian disruptors and start shooting at some of the native guards, Ambassador Fox's assistant all of a sudden collapses to the ground. Kirk's people weren't shooting at him of course, and the Eminians didn't either, so what happened?

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Really should've had the planet riddled with nuclear explosions as the Enterprise left orbit.

Things didn't go the way they were supposed to.

 

[Hambone]

Babaganoosh said:
Something that bugged me about this episode. When Kirk and his party (complete with two security guards disguised as Eminians) get ahold of some Eminian disruptors and start shooting at some of the native guards, Ambassador Fox's assistant all of a sudden collapses to the ground. Kirk's people weren't shooting at him of course, and the Eminians didn't either, so what happened?

He obviously was hit by the sonic disruptor ray, which is conveniently invisible. I always feel kind of sorry for that guy. He doesn't do a thing in this episode except look uncomfortable and get killed.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

^^^Hell, at least he got to die in the episode. In the actual script, he (well, there were two silent aides in the script) beams down and the writer forgets he is there and never mentions him again. No death, no nothing. He just disappears from the party of Spock, Fox and the guards.

Sir Rhosis

 

[cooleddie74]

Hambone said:

Babaganoosh said:
Something that bugged me about this episode. When Kirk and his party (complete with two security guards disguised as Eminians) get ahold of some Eminian disruptors and start shooting at some of the native guards, Ambassador Fox's assistant all of a sudden collapses to the ground. Kirk's people weren't shooting at him of course, and the Eminians didn't either, so what happened?

He obviously was hit by the sonic disruptor ray, which is conveniently invisible. I always feel kind of sorry for that guy. He doesn't do a thing in this episode except look uncomfortable and get killed.

An example of why the Eminian weapons were poorly thought out and executed. No point in having a sonic weapon with invisible rays unless you can make it absolutely clear it's just been used against someone.

 

[Plum]

No point? I don't get that. If you're shooting at someone, it's in your best interest there is no beam or trail. Once you shoot the other guy can follow the beam back and mark where you are.

I feel no need for FX all the time for everything. It's a sonic weapon, so why not? I like it. When the young ambassador was shot it really sold the deadliness in that scene just as well as any FX, I feel.

 

[cooleddie74]

That wasn't what I meant. Sure, don't show any beam or wave if you like. It IS sound after all, not visible energy. But they could at least have shown something hitting the Ambassador's aide and knocking him unconscious or dead. A distortion or "flash" on his shirt in kind of the same manner the Scalosian hand weapons did in "Wink of an Eye." THOSE devices didn't have visible beams, either. But you could see their impacts on objects.