Sep 6, 2017
Star Trek and Action Movies.
Lights! Camera! Action? Compared to the other science fiction
franchise with which it shares half its name, Star Trek has always
been distinctly contemplative, as much morality play as spectacular
entertainment. But right from the start, there were moves to punch
up the action. In 1965, the show’s original pilot was rejected by
NBC executives for being too “cerebral.” A quarter-century later,
Patrick Stewart expressed a similar view, begging Gene Roddenberry
to offer the enlightened Captain Picard more opportunities for “sex
and shooting.” By the time Picard was reinvented for the silver
screen, the wise, unflappable diplomat had become a man of action,
with bulging muscles rippling under his sweat-stained vest.
In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett look at what Star Trek has borrowed from the action movie genre, focusing on the episodes “Starship Mine” and “Macrocosm,” and their debt to Die Hard and Aliens. What does it mean when Starfleet’s most idealistic captains are forced to forgo diplomacy and get out their guns? And to what extent can Star Trek absorb action-movie tropes without sacrificing its own unique qualities? Join us as we saddle up, lock and load, and get ready to boldly kick some alien butt.
Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Ellen Ripley (00:10:05)
Sex and Shooting (00:16:00)
The Changing Face of Action (00:21:06)
Gender-blind Casting (00:31:05)
Evaluating the Episodes (00:34:28)
Adult Content (00:40:50)
Babes vs. Badasses (00:46:14)
Final Thoughts (00:54:13)
Hosts
Tony Black and Duncan Barrett
Production
Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew
Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman
C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard
Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon
Manager)