Star Trek-RM: The Cage… Grading/Discussion

[AstroSmurf]

And finally...


This is the grading & discussion thread for the final episode of Star Trek Remastered, airing the weekend of 05/01/09.

The Cage

In the pilot for the series, set 10 years prior to Captain Kirk’s command, Captain Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) orders the Enterprise to answer an old distress call. Once the landing party beams to the planet, they encounter an elaborate hoax and the captain is captured by the Talosians, a hidden but manipulative race capable of great mental powers. Faced with enslavement for himself and his offspring, Pike must figure out a way to either fight or negotiate his freedom from this group of evolved but desperate aliens.

Official Website for Star Trek

 

[MANT!]

Solid A for the episode..thought provoking and timely even today..

Above average remaster...esp. the sequences of the darkened Enterprise cruising through interstellar space...


the syndication cuts in my area were brutal...entire sequences cut..but the story was followable..

 

[gastrof]

Interesting. They say TEN YEARS BEFORE KIRK'S COMMAND.

Since "The Menagerie" set "The Cage" as THIRTEEN years back, it sounds like Kirk was in command of the Enterprise for THREE YEARS before either "Corbomite" or "Man Trap".

I'm giving the aired version of CAGE an "A" because I'm impressed with the production and editing. (I'd only say "A+" once I see it full length.)

They did a nice job of making a coherent version despite the cuts needed to fit it into the time slot. I'm also impressed if they did what I suspect they did with the Keeper's voice, namely simulated the redubbed version in portions that didn't appear in "The Menagerie".

If anyone would like to comment on the dubbing of the Keeper's voice, by the way, please see my thread on the subject. (PLEASE! )

...the syndication cuts in my area were brutal...entire sequences cut..but the story was followable..

There were no 'syndication cuts in your area'. Everyone's seeing the same thing. The cuts are not being made by the local stations. An already cut version was sent out by CBS.

 

[TIN_MAN]

It bugs me that, while they improved the Bridge zoom in, this was marred by the lack of detail on the bridge dome that was there in the original, these extra details always made the ship seem so much more real IMHO.

 

[SantaEddie74]

I can't wait for this one! With any luck it'll be on late tonight in the first of our two weekend TOS-R slots.

 

[MANT!]

Interesting. They say TEN YEARS BEFORE KIRK'S COMMAND.

Since "The Menagerie" set "The Cage" as THIRTEEN years back, it sounds like Kirk was in command of the Enterprise for THREE YEARS before either "Corbomite" or "Man Trap".

I'm giving the aired version of CAGE an "A" because I'm impressed with the production and editing. (I'd only say "A+" once I see it full length.)

They did a nice job of making a coherent version despite the cuts needed to fit it into the time slot. I'm also impressed if they did what I suspect they did with the Keeper's voice, namely simulated the redubbed version in portions that didn't appear in "The Menagerie".

If anyone would like to comment on the dubbing of the Keeper's voice, by the way, please see my thread on the subject. (PLEASE! )

...the syndication cuts in my area were brutal...entire sequences cut..but the story was followable..

There were no 'syndication cuts in your area'. Everyone's seeing the same thing. The cuts are not being made by the local stations. An already cut version was sent out by CBS.

and that explains the "Local news" commercial that ended during one of Pike's lines? The cuts sent out are not always the cuts seen..sometimes they cut MORE to fit in commercials and I really don't think that even CBS would cut in mid-line...

But hey..it's only a TV show..

 

[Ptrope]

Was it just me, or did they add a digital crewman leaving via the turbolift during the first bridge 'zoom in?' He moved a bit 'off,' and I don't have a handy copy of the original version to check. Off to TrekCore ...

 

[simmsbc]

I don't know if it was an added crewman, but if you look carefully you can see for a moment after the camera comes through the dome that everyone is digital and then it goes to the original footage. This is quite obvious on a 52" TV with a digital signal. I suspect they had to do this to maintain continuity with the zoom in shot.

 

[Praetor]

Like I said in the other thread, I saw it this evening. I actually didn't mind most of the cuts that much. It made for a more fast-paced story. If I hadn't been fond of the original I wouldn't have known what I'd missed. Most of what was lacking seemed to be character moments related to the Pike-era crew. I remember reading that some of the elements in the 'flyin' were CGI, but I don't know if anyone was actually added...

And the episode itself is of course bloody brilliant and one of my all-time favorites.

 

[gastrof]

...the syndication cuts in my area were brutal...entire sequences cut..but the story was followable..

There were no 'syndication cuts in your area'. Everyone's seeing the same thing. The cuts are not being made by the local stations. An already cut version was sent out by CBS.

and that explains the "Local news" commercial that ended during one of Pike's lines? The cuts sent out are not always the cuts seen..sometimes they cut MORE to fit in commercials and I really don't think that even CBS would cut in mid-line...

But hey..it's only a TV show..

What does the poor timing of commercial inserts at your local station have to do with who did the "edited for time" cuts on the episode?

Your station got a cut version of the show from CBS, ready to air in the timeslot, allowing for the number of commercials normally aired these days.

One of the breaks included your station doing a promo for its own news, and someone timed something wrong, leading to the break running past the time the episode had started back up again.

This doesn't mean the episode was "cut" in the middle of a line. It means someone goofed royally.

 

[gastrof]

Was it just me, or did they add a digital crewman leaving via the turbolift during the first bridge 'zoom in?' He moved a bit 'off,' and I don't have a handy copy of the original version to check. Off to TrekCore ...

I've been meaning to go look for my copy of The Cage from SciFi Channel's uncut run.

I also noted the transition was a little "obvious" with regards to the bridge and crew not being "real" for a second when we look thru the bridge dome.

I'm a little surprised at them, that they'd let it air that way. It's not exactly the quality level they've been putting out for most of the remastered series. Worse, when you figure it's both the original pilot (show some respect!), and also the very last "new" episode of the remastered run.

 

[Cyrus]

I agree with others that they did a good job of keeping the story coherent despite all the cuts they had to make to fit the syndicated time slot. Too bad "THE WOMEN!!" scene didn't make the cut.

The guy going to turbolift at the start does walk in a CGI manner, but at the same time the doorman dude moves to his right as he does throughout the episode when turbolift doors open.

 

[Trekfan21]

You are correct. The crewman that enters the turbolift is not "real." He is CGI.

 

[SantaEddie74]

They edited out Spock's "THE WOMEN!!!"





The bastards!

THE SHOUTING!!!

 

[doctorwho 03]

Even worse! They completely cut out the Rigel 7 fight sequences!

Other than that, the episode is great. Now I have to buy the DVDs or Blue-Rays to watch the full episode.

 

[Cap'n Claus]

Interesting. They say TEN YEARS BEFORE KIRK'S COMMAND.

Since "The Menagerie" set "The Cage" as THIRTEEN years back, it sounds like Kirk was in command of the Enterprise for THREE YEARS before either "Corbomite" or "Man Trap".

Or two, if Spock had recently joined the Enterprise during the Pike clips. Spock served with Pike for 11 years, 4 months and 5 days and the Talos 4 incident happened "13 years ago."

Of course, Mendez also tells Kirk that Pike is "about your age." So, Pike is 33 or 35ish and was in command of the Enterprise when he was 20 or 23? Interesting...

Damned fine episode and the remaster looks great. The new Epterprise "dive" is nice except for the transition between the CGI and live action. The Enterprise clips at the end, though, are great.

 

[Cyrus]

Our local station (Channel 5) which showed the remastered "The Cage" late last night is running a mini-marathon of TOS episodes today. I don't know if this is happening nationwide or not, but must be part of the cross-promotion with the new movie.

 

[simmsbc]

I jusy looked at my copy of the original Cage episode from the season 3 dvd and you can see some one entering the turbolift but from a different angle. If I could figure out how to upload the screen capture I would.

 

[simmsbc]

It must be just a local thing because I have 2 stations on my satellite system and only KTLA is showing any episodes today not WPIX

 

[Cyrus]

I jusy looked at my copy of the original Cage episode from the season 3 dvd and you can see some one entering the turbolift but from a different angle. If I could figure out how to upload the screen capture I would.

You can upload it at a site like photobucket.com and then put up a link here.

It would make sense that someone was entering the turbolift in the original version since the doorman dude made his usual move to the right. I wonder why they decided to replace it with a cgi character. How was this scene handled in the remastered "The Menagerie"?