The Best Kirk Fight Scene???

[jk82]

Not quite on topic, but his run in Arena is truly notable in this regard. He throws himself about with abandon, with explosions going off all over the place. I understand this is the ep that led to his tinnitus.
Even Nimoy got into the act!

It's still not clear to me how they got the hearing loss. According to Mr. Shatner it's from Arena. But in Mr. Kelley's biography it's mentioned that the three suffered hearing problems from a mine explosion while filming The Apple. So...

As for the fights, I like all Kirk's fights as long as they don't involve stunt doubles. Mr. Shatner in this series runs fast (wasn't he a football running back when he was younger?), moves remarkably well and is a better fighter than his stunt double at times. I understand due to time constraints and camera arrangements etc. a stunt double has to be utilized, but it's really distracting whenever a stunt double or a stand-in is spotted. For example in The Devil in the Dark, a stand-in can be clearly seen in the Spock mind-melding scene. Mr. Shatner had to miss this part of filming, but why couldn't that stand-in fellow stand a bit straighter and more captain-like?

 

[Ssosmcin]

I do hate obvious stunt doubles, and I'm not talking about "obvious now that I've seen the show a zillion times in HD." I mean the "thinner than the actor or with totally different hair" like the "curly haired Spock" doubt in Mirror Mirror. Not to mention the "clear look at the guy's face" stunt double, such as in Space Seed (or all of the above as in Where No Man). Or when the stunt guy moves in a totally different fashion than the actor. Off topic slightly, but the stunt guys in The Fugitive were laughably bad. David Janssen had a specific gait and a limp, so when he ran, it looked painful. When they switched to a stunt guy, it was like a neon arrow pointing to it. No limp, the man ran like a track star, and he had a different build and hairline.

 

[jayrath]

Best ever? Has to be when he fights himself in TUC. It was just filmed so well -- it surprises me every time I watch it. But on TOS, it's definitely "Shore Leave," where Finney and he whale the tar out of each other. The fight overlapped two acts, and the musical scoring was perfect. And, in the end, the fight was a major plot point, not just action for action's sake. (And if you do want action, Kirk was never beat up more badly, yet still prevailed! We have the split lip, a desert fight, torn shirt and all the trademarks made fun of in "Galaxy Quest." If only there had been a flying kick! )

 

[Captrek]

Amok Time.

Doesn't get any better than Kirk vs. Spock.

This Side of Paradise has a great Kirk-vs-Spock fight as well. (I like to put episodes in stardate order. Putting TSoP immediately after AT gives more emotional power to Spock’s relationship with Leila, but it means K/S fights in consecutive episodes.)

For comic fighting, you can’t beat Kirk’s escape from captivity in A Piece of the Action, with the tripwire and the blanket.

 

[AtoZ]

There's a short but sweet fight scene in "A Taste of Armageddon" where Kirk throws Anan 7 into a couple of guards looking to ambush him. I love how Kirk is carried off and his legs give out as he is dragged away after being concussed.

The most laughable and embarrassing one has to be in "The Alternative Factor". Somebody else did as very humorous and effective put down of this scene elsewhere when Kirk attempts to wrestle Lazarus into his time machine. You can almost see the extras in the background holding back laughter.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Shatner tells a funny story in one of his books about how he got into a barfight, and was about to launch into a patented Kirk flying kick when he realized that only works on tv!