The scene with Decker fidgeting with the memory cards was intentionally reminiscent of Bogart's Captain Queeg fidgeting with the ball bearings in "The Caine Mutiny". I believe that Windom himself came up with that.
Please also note the colors of the data tapes, green, for Kirk, and yellow, for Decker. Cool, right?? I think that William Windom did say that he was making an homage to Captain Queeg's ( Humphrey Bogart) fiddling with the ball bearings in "The Caine Mutiny", as Captain Queeg (pronounced "Qweeg") was feeling betrayed, and very stressed out. If you haven't seen it, check out "The Caine Mutiny ". Master class in acting. Love anything Humphrey Bogart is in, but this was stellar. Be prepared to be angered by a certain character, though. Aside from Bogart, it has Fred McMurray, Van Johnson, and Jose Ferrer.
@@sarahfullerton6894 ya Bogart was fab from this to many others - personal fav is Treasure fo Sierra Madra - as for Fred Mc Murrey (little (big-tall) nice guys from "My Three Son's"...............who even played a nice guy that killed a guy "Double Endemnity" - plays a REAL SOB in Caine Mutiny - not by looks but by action (so let me reword)- He plays a real Camelion who's dad or mom as a snake). lol.
@@gaffo7836, l love Bogie films. He was excellent in "Treasure", but my favorites are the classics "Casablanca", "To Have and Have Not", "Key Largo", "The Maltese Falcon", and "The African Queen". An early, great Bogie film, "The Petrified Forest" is great, too. And to think that Fred McMurray, the amiable dad from "My Three Sons" portrayed a self-righteous, lying backstabber in "The Caine Mutiny", and a conniving , duped murderer in "Double Indemnity", blew my young mind!!
William Windom said that Marc Daniels let him (for the most part) improv the breakdown scene. An epic portrayal of a tortured man. This episode is my, and many other people's (including Jimmy Doohan), favorite episode for a reason.
When i was 12 years old, i went to the 1975 Washington, DC Star Trek convention. James Doohan was there and spoke about the episode. He was magnetic and entertaining, a gift to the industry of storytelling 😊
I would go so far as to say he was the unsung Billy West of his day. If you listen to his reading of the book _Enterprise: The First Adventure,_ he turns it from an audiobook to a radio show by giving every character their own unique voice. It's absolute magic to hear.
I'm an old martial artist and the fight with Decker and Montgomery was totally realistic to me. Decker may have been older, but as Capt. Christopher pointed out, physical conditioning is required in Starfleet and, as my old Keoshi used to say, old age and cunning will triumph over youth and quickness. Old fighters know how to cheat and this was evident in the fight when Decker pretended to be hurt.
This is an awesome take. Someone online pointed out that this fight showed a "concept" of future martial arts and I liked that vs the average TOS fight
I just learned this phrase, similar to yours, watching the channel The Fat Electrician. Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance every time. It's especially true in his, The Fat Electrician's video where he reviews the Army's 77th division.
I'm sitting down on my day off, eating a great breakfast with the headphones on, and watching one of my favorite new reactors doing one of my favorite episodes of TOS. A great start to the day...
I was trying to stay under the radar watching this w/an air pod in one ear slyly, because I was doing so while at work. When it got to the part where you were doing an impression of Finney & Decker, during your improvisational head-canon, having a conversation between the two characters...OMG I Actually Laughed Out Loud. 😂😅
Lots of notes: 1) They never say definitively what Starfleet did with the DM. But, as you/ve eeen in Lower Decks, the Federation DOES have a branch that deals with anomalies and dangerous things that Starfleet encounters. It will show up again in Season 3 of Picard (if and when you get to it). 2)Matt's badge was different b/c originally, each ship had it's own unique emblem, similar to how each ship in the RL navy has. 3) The name Decker will come up again in The Motion Picture. It's never explicitly said, but the Decker in the film is the Commodore's son. 4)Matt would be in his late 40's-early 50s. That's not old for someone in the Federatio. (roughly equivalent to early 30s for us). Starfleet officers can stay in active service well into their 80s. 5) I love how they emphasize the Constellation as its own character. She even has a unique fanfare to help identify her. She gave her all and more, and is as much a hero as ever there was. (Don't mind me, I'm an inveterate romantic about ships...lol!)
On my top 2 list. Story, acting, , musical score, directing, production all nailed it. Normally the CGI doesn't do it for me, but all the added footage was great. This was actually the first TOS to show another starship, before the days of CGI. If you look at actual production order, Daniels and Pevney were evenly distributed, which means more great Pevney to come.
This was my favorite TOS Episode. Marc Daniels is excellent director and his expertise and familiarity with the show, sets and actors really shows here. The bridge angles, especially the ending scene where Kirk and Spock walks in front of the Viewscreen really shows off the sets with detail. An interesting detail is that Daniels had a bet that he could finish filming the episode in 5 rather than the usual 6 day shooting schedule. He succeeded and got a $500 bonus He went on to write one of the episodes of The Animated Series, which shares some similarities to this one except in his episode "One of Our Planets is Missing" its a huge, living, Cosmic Cloud which is consuming planets for food rather than a robot as in this one. Scotty is always been my favorite character and he does yeoman work here. Doohan lists this one as his favorite episode as you mentioned. Its my favorite Scotty episode. When I met Doohan at a convention he was a warm and sociable person. He loved his interaction with the fans and his convention appearances were great. William Windom only came to respect this episode after he realized how much fans enjoyed his performance. He states that his fiddling with the memory tapes when he sat in the captains chair were an homage to Humphry Bogart's fiddling with the ball-bearings he did in The Cane Mutiny What I loved especially was Sol Kaplan's music. Kaplan first composed the soundtrack for The Enemy Within which supplied themes for the rest of the series as well as this one. Look for Sol Kaplan's themes from this show to appear throughout the remainder of the Original series. The "Doomsday Machine" theme always appears when the Enterprise faces something ominous or threatening for the remainder of Season 2 and part of season 3. Kaplan was a documentary soundtrack composer before he started working at Desilu. He composed soundtracks for several other movies as well in the 1950's, but like many other Hollywood greats he suffered under the McCarthy Hollywood Blacklist until it fell out of favor. Star Trek employed many blacklisted writers and others behind the scenes but the shadow of McCarthyism was still lingering to an extent even in this time. Author Norman Spinrad got a 1968 Hugo Award nomination for "Best Dramatic Presentation" along with Marc Daniels as Director. However, since Star Trek basically dominated the category it was up against City on the Edge of Forever and lost out to that. But for that year, Star Trek was the only series that was nominated for the category having 5 episodes represented, filling the nominations. Since the Hugo is award by the science fiction fans, it shows the measure of respect the show had among the community. Something you might want to understand is that the word "Casualty" is also naval parlance for ship Damage (as an example a naval officer will report that an engine has suffered a "severe Casualty) and the Damage control party was reporting sealing off inner hull ruptures. I always interpreted that report as detailing the damage inside the ship and not deaths or crew injuries. However after some reflection it might refer to both, but I tend to lean on the ship damage side of the equation here. In the original episode, (you are looking at the remastered version here) the Constellation was played by an AMT model of the Enterprise which had just been released by AMT corporation. (Its still selling by the way). The ship model was distressed and damaged for the episode, and the registration number was just the Enterprise NCC-1701 inverted as NCC-1017. The level of detailing was extremely lacking of the larger scale models of the Enterprise used for filming. Its fate is unknown. I know they recently located a three Foot model that was used in The Cage and graced the desk of Gene Roddenberry for years till it was lost after Roddenberry lent it to the effects company that was first employed on Star Trek The Motion Picture. He fired Abel and used Douglas Trumbull's company but the model was never returned to Roddenberry. In the original episode the full scale shuttle model was used and was obviously out of scale entering the maw of the Doomsday Machine. The remastered version corrected that oversight which was necessary due to a very low effects budget for the episode. All in all, I have been waiting for you to do this one and I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction as I do all of your reactions. Thanks again and please keep up the good work.
"Old man strength" may not exist, but "crazy man strength" does. There is also the fact that Decker would have less qualms about going toe-to-toe with an inferior officer than the security officer would going up against a freaking commodore.
Old man strength doesn't exist... for those who weren't particularly strong when they were young. I'm sure the Commodore has had plenty of fighting experience in his past.
Old man strength does exist. Just recently in the news, a young carjacker got a severe beating from an old veteran. I can recall a long time ago when someone tried to assault Jack LaLanne (the fitness guru). Jack was very old at the time but he easily won that fight.
Fact is the security officer got the better of Decker till he played on feigning the injury. He used a pro trick when your opponent doesn't want to hurt you and he took advantage of him.
Hi, WR! Another great ep & great reaction. :) A couple of observations on the episode - Marc Daniels' direction is most noteworthy. He uses the standing sets very well. For example, it's one of the few times we see the whole bridge circumference in shots & they walk past the viewscreen section twice, as well as the normal cutaway shots. Doesn't happen very often in the show. Also, Nimoy alters his performance subtly here. When he speaks to Kirk, he's the usual Spock we know & love - when he speaks he Decker, however, he's very cold & matter-of-fact only. Very Vulcan . To me, it's almost as if he really dislikes Decker. I've always thought that ever since I first saw the ep in the early 70's. Sol Kaplan's music is also worth noting, too. A very intricate soundtrack, where every major character, situation & ship has a theme of their own & the music cues nudge the audience in the right direction. Great stuff all round.
Couldn't agree more on all counts, my friend! When I was researching Q and A, I ran across the info on Kaplan's score and the brief 36 seconds of Alexander Courage's 'Kirk's Theme' during the last flight of the Constellation. Great, great stuff made even better by the inclusion of some damn fine music :)
This is one of my favourite episodes, and also one of the few TOS episodes that actually benefits greatly from the remade CGI shots. Decker's performance was definitely quite memorable, and he basically set the mould for "guest captains who shouldn't really be in charge" characters for years to come (for better or worse). And Scotty got that wreck moving? Holy cow, he could probably get the Titanic to New York if you give him a few hours and a roll of duct tape.
Also, I love Sulu's facial expressions in this one. Decker: Attack! Sulu: Aye, sir (this guy's a nutter!) Spock: Withdraw and plot a course back to the Constellation. Sulu: Aye, sir (Thank god someone's sane is back in charge)
Bravo! You are the first reactor that has mentioned the resemblance to a geode. Years ago I took a picture of a geode at the Smithsonian that very closely matched the Doomsday Machine. This was back in the good old days of using a film camera to document vacations and sight-seeing trips instead of your cellphone.
You mentioned Decker as Ahab but he also has a good does of Captain Queeg from the Caine Mutiny. Notice Decker fiddling with the data cards in the same way Queeg fiddled with a set of ball bearings. Also, he does indeed get removed from the big chair unlike Ahab who remained in command to the bitter end.
This might be a little-known bit of trivia: That little tri-pointed device that Scotty used on the impulse engines was designed and built by Spock. I remember reading that back in the 70’s from a sci-fi magazine.
Many of us laughed out loud when you asked "Do they have any shuttles?" Awesome episode. I saw William Windom live, back in the early 80s, in a one man show of James Thurber. What an awesome actor.
There is an unofficial documentary on this episode which mentioned that the "is it a machine, or is it alive?" was a reference to the fact that the original concept of the author was that it was a space squid, and the "maw" was an actual mouth that devoured planets. Obviously, this was more than a passing reference to Moby Dick. The tractor beam would have been a tentacle grabbing the ship instead. The body was created, and the model was a lot longer cone to look like a squid, but they quickly realized there was nowhere near enough budget to model, much less animate, the creature. (The original design of the machine may have had many more components, but for the thousands or millions of years it was operating, it probably cast off damaged or worn parts, leaving only the drive and refueling systems, and the beat-up core hull.) The reuse of the existing Enterprise sets for a sister ship already meant they were saving a lot of the set budget for the episode, and this would happen several more times. They made up for that a bit in later episodes' FX. A lot of people like the alien world sets/locations, but I'm always happy for a shipboard episode where the ship is a costar. :)
I'm a channel member. Watched Trek since it debuted. By the books, the Doomsday Machine was constructed to destroy the Borg. The Borg picked on a civilization it shouldn't have... Book / Vendetta...
Keep this name Decker in mind my friend, you'll need it. Your reactions are priceless bro! Without giving anything away you're getting closer to an "interesting" episode, I can't wait for your reaction! I can almost see it now!
You did the Vulcan greeting backwards. It's palm out, not back-handed. As for old man strength, you have to remember that the crew has to maintain certain physical standards, even the Commodore. Add to that, the fact that he would fight dirty.
It's actually a hybrid of the Vulcan Salute and the Rock N' Roll 'horns' :) My son and I started doing it during our Star Trek Adventures TTRPG campaign which we dubbed Vulc N' Roll :) Thank you for watching, my friend!
This was my very first trek episode, I was totally hooked at just seven yrs old, an now I'm 57 an I still love this classic show over the some what over blown series v that followed...but strange new worlds is my favourite right next to the classic trek show..
Jimmy Doohan was shot with eight rounds by friendly fire on the beaches of Normandy. He was a pilot before that. That's why you could trust him having a command position.
An absolute fan favorite. A Top 5, even a Top 3 for 98% of Trekkies!! The moment we see another starship, it really opened the universe for us. The Feds felt like a big organization all of a sudden.
About James Doohan "World War II, Lieutenant 18th Field Artillery Regiment) Star Trek’s loveable engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, AKA James Doohan, attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS) in Ontario, Canada where he excelled in mathematics and science. His proficiency in these areas prompted him to join the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938. When Canada entered World War II, Doonan was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the Royal Canadian Army. Doohan headed to England for additional training where he didn’t get to put it to real use until 1944. His first combat mission was a biggie, the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach (the Canadian one) on D-Day. "The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than of the Germans." Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds of friendly fire courtesy of a Bren gun and an overzealous Canadian gunman. He took four shots in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he kept hidden during his career as an actor. Miraculously, the bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case, a gift from his brother he kept in his breast pocket. He would later give up smoking, but unlike almost every other ex-smoker, he could say that smoking actually saved his life once. It took a while, but Doohan recovered from his injuries and received his new orders. He trained as a pilot graduating from Air Observation Pilot Course 40, and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF, in support of 1st Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery. All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF Squadrons were manned by Artillery Officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers. Although never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labelled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force." As the story goes Doohan was boasting of his piloting prowess and in the late spring of 1945, he dared to slalom a plane between mountainside telegraph poles to prove it could be done. The stunt, performed in a Mark IV Auster on the Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, earned him a serious reprimand. Perhaps his experience as a pilot allowed him to better connect to fans in his out-of-this-world role on Star Trek. Regardless, he inspired a new generation of engineers and was given an honorary degree in Engineering by the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1966. Apparently half of the students polled cited him as the inspiration for entering the field."
Remember, "casualties" doesn't automatically mean deaths only, it means a mix of injuries and deaths. So, some people may have died, and others may have had injuries.
Somewhere on TH-cam, Norman Spinrad has a video he released when the remastered version was first broadcast in syndication. He thought it would be an excellent time to go into its genesis. Roddenberry was a fan of the big name SF writers, and he corresponded with many of them, often inviting them to write an episode of his show. Spinrad admits that GR was very persistant with him until he gave in and agreed to do one. He says he had always wanted to do a sci-fi version of _Moby Dick,_ and he had just the right actor in mind for Decker (I don't recall the actor's name, but it was a fellow who was famous for playing pirates and old sea salts) Obviously, he wasn't available. But Spinrad casts no aspersions on Windom's interpretation of the role, because it works. Windom was a prolific actor, and he got his own sitcom on NBC ("My World and Welcome To It") which was a fictionalized version of cartoonist James Thurber's life. Thurber's drawings would "come to life" in every episode. I found a portrait online of one of Windom's ancestors (and namesake). He lived at the time of the founding fathers. Damn, he's the spitting image of the guy. Spinrad left the look of the DM to the TV production people. But GR kept insisting that he wanted the author's conception of what it looked like. So he sat down, made some sketches, and sent them over. When he watched the episode the day it aired, he saw that none of them were used. So he called GR, who apologetically explained that they ran out of budget money and had to go with the windsock dipped in concrete. The DM figures prominently in one of the _Star Trek New Voyages_ episodes ("In Harm's Way") I also recall a short story in one of the volumes of the _Strange New Worlds_ (not to be confused with the TV series of the same name) fan fiction collections that tells where it ended up. Neutronium is a hypothetical element, supposedly created in high-gravity conditions (like the heart of a star) where atoms are crushed together to the point where their orbiting electrons are rolling on the surfaces of their nuclei. If it could exist, it would be dense and heavy indeed. But what happens to neutronium when the pressure that made it goes away? Does it stay that way? Spring back to normal? Explosively? Who knows?
Yes, Damage Inc. was a short-lived Marvel series, hinted at in the beginning of "Spiderman; No Way Home". My favorite bit was that low level villains were sentenced to spend time working with Damage Inc. as Community Service 🤣🤣🤣
Commodore Decker is a Flag Officer with a Field Command, the USS Constellation. That's why he wears the Fleet Command Insignia. His Crew would wear the Starship Duty Delta that everyone else wears, and his First Officer would hold the rank of Captain.
Presumably, all that's left of the Planet Killer is its neutronium hull. Anything inside it would have been blown to hell beyond any level of salvage. I'm not sure if you could salvage the hull, as even maximum phasers couldn't scratch it. So I don't see them able to do much with it. 46:40 - there should be an asterisk on this one, because what we see in the episode is the CGI model created for the remastered version. The original, while similar in appearance, is considerably less, visually. In fact, there is really only one shot of it actually in motion (when its doing the turn), and the rest are just still images that pan and/or zoom, with only the directly forward shot showing the animated star-like center. This one episode is by far the one that benefits the most from the remastering.
This has been my favorite TOS episode since I first saw it as a kid in the early 70's. And I recall reading once that it was James Doohan's favorite as well - he loved all the tech stuff going on and how much Scotty had to do. Edit: Ah, I had to go look - I have a 1987 Star Trek calendar hanging in my den that was autographed by Walter Koenig. Each month features an actor and their favorite episode. For James Doohan the quote from him says "It was couched in scientific language and was 'technically' suspensful." I was misremembering that above.
Norman Spinrad may have had his Star Trek debut with "The Doomsday Machine" but he was already a published Sci Fi author by the time of the episode's filming. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Spinrad#Major_works
Amazing editing having the beat down of Montgomery with no music. 😂 Starfleet Captains in this era all have extensive training in advanced hand to hand combat. They are very formidable opponents.
Good morning @WarpReactor and friends! ☕ Today we get another great episode. Back in the early 70's, my brother and I called it "The Killer Joint." The Doomsday machine did look like a lit hand-rolled cigarette, after all. Poor Commodore Matt Decker....his poor crew 😔 For me, there is not much that needs to be said about this episode as it's quality speaks for itself...except that in beta-cannon, the Doomsday Machine was built by an unknown race and let loose to destroy the Borg. Well, apparently that plan went awry ans it wound up in the Alpha Quadrant instead. Until next time, LLAP &Vulc'n'Roll everyone! 🖖🤘
HaHa 'The Killer Joint' :D I will forever think of that when the Doomsday Machine come up :) As always thank you so much for your wonderful posts! Peace and Long Life! Vulc 'N' Roll!
Great episode, good review! Thanks for the callout to my favorite Marvel Comics mini-series, Damage Control. In this instance, the division most likely to be tasked with disposal and study of the Machine, would be the Starfleet Corps of Engineers
The Lower Decks series was sort of like "damage control." The crew of the Enterprise initiate First Contact. The Cerritos' role was to follow up with Second Contact or re-visit the places. The rank of commodore was in some ways a fleet captain. Since there were two ships involved in the story, Decker could pull rank and take charge.
My English teacher always said "A 'thing' is an object not yet named." He was death on overusing the term in stories; he insisted that the 'thing' needed a name. While they technically came up with a name, they never quite used it.😁
In canon, it's still floating lifelessly in space. There are , however, two instances in books (considered apocrypha) where the original machine makes its return. A short story in Kevin Lauderdale's Constellations reveals that the original was dragged to a top secret Starfleet research facility for further study. Peter David's book, Before Dishonor, has the machine stored in a museum
Yes! One of my favorite episodes right up there with "The City on the Edge of Forever". I like your suggestion of a spin off from the "Doomsday Machine". Unfortunately Paramount's writers and producers have lost that kind of creative vision. I would personally like to see a follow up episode where the "doomsday machine" is reactivated in the 32nd century and destroys the USS Discovery NCC-1031!
There was a followup non-canon novel that came out in the mid-90s whose plot revolved around a second doomsday machine and the premise that it was designed as an anti-Borg weapon.
I have been waiting for you to get here. This is number one in my book. Not only do you get the best portrayal by a guest star in a fantastic story, but you get great interaction between several principal characters. And finally, as Scotty says in an upcoming episode, you get to see what a starship can really do! I still get a lump in my throat when Commodore Decker says it, the third planet. There is no third planet. Don't you think I know that, there was, but not anymore! I just recently learned this phrase watching The Fat Electrician's video about the WW2 77th Army division. The 77th was an experiment. The Army was getting so many volunteers that they decided to create a division of older men, because there just weren't enough seasoned veterans to go around. These old bastards kicked ass in everything they did. The phrase is Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance every time.😎
You might also get a kick of watching the SFX scenes with the original video. The original DD Machine was a windsock the effects department coated in plaster of Paris. That sequence can be found solo on YT.
The shot of the Constellation entering the DM was especially bad. They used an AMT model kit for the Constellation and you can clearly see the nacelles wobbling.
@@MrDeathpilot Agreed that it looks bad but I believe they cut time from the Kirk beam out section for all the additional updated FX. I like that part of the original sequence better than the new.
The scene where the bridge crew pauses and listens and then Spock says we are being held in a tractor beam - There was supposed to be a sound effect there but it was never added. They should have corrected this for the updated special effects but, oh well.
By the way, if anyone's interested, William Windom reprised his role as Commodore Matt Decker in Season 4, Episode 1 of a fan-created series called "Star Trek : New Voyages", in an episode titled "In Harm's Way", which provided us a glimpse into a strange & possibly alternate twist of fate for Matt Decker, after he flew that shuttlecraft into the maw of the Doomsday Machine. Also, actress Barbara Luna, who you may remember as Lieutenant Marlena Moreau from the "Mirror, Mirror" episode, plays alongside William Windom, although she is a different character from her "Mirror, Mirror" performance. Incidentally, Barbara Luna looks as beautiful as ever in this episode, despite the passage of 3 & 1/2 decades since the original series.
A rare occurrence, a panning shot of Captain Kirk walking fully (almost) around the Bridge in the opposite view we normally get, from the control console toward the turbo lift doors for the Bridge.
"The Doomsday Machine" is the only episode of TOS where we have something like a space battle occupying major portions of the episode. The original effects really aren't great, and the CGI updates added A LOT. Some of the outstanding CGI contributions were: 1) very detailed shots of the Constellation's wrecked hull, showing the superstructure and also added bits like the occasional asteroid bouncing off the hull; 2) The shock wave exploding outward, when the Constellation explodes; 3) The last few moments of the Constellation's existence, where the ship does pitch, yaw and roll along three axes (Trek is notorious for its "two dimensional thinking" in external shots of ships and other space objects interacting; these CGI shots helped to fix that.)
In head canon, I am saying that it did not come from another galaxy but from another quadrant of our galaxy. If it smashes planets for fuel, its going to get really hungry in intergalactic space. Also in the mid 23rd century the federation had only explored 1/10 of the galaxy.
I've wondered about that! If the machine had been built very close to the edge of the galaxy and was working it's way inward its course would be the same - out in the "big empty" between galaxies it would run out of power very fast
"Can somebody get Marc Daniels a pillow?" I'll do you one better: there are only ship sets here, so Mr. Daniels shot this in five days instead of the customary eight. According to the story, he was so busy and he trusted William Windom so much, he left the camera on him to perform Windom's opening scene while he went off to set up another shot. This was the first time in the series the Enterprise encountered a sister ship. They couldn't wreck the hero ship model, so they resorted to an AMT off-the-shelf model. For me Sol Kaplin's score made this, and allegedly influenced John Williams' Jaws score. I can't find any reason why Ms. Nichols was absent. She was juggling live singing appearances at the time. Sadly, Decker, Ambassador Fox, Finney, Finnegan, Baris, Commissioner Ferris, and Daystrom are all part of a cliched trope I like to call "a__hat of the week." It starts to look like the Enterprise crew are the only sane people in the galaxy. Decker's situation is a skosh more sympathetic when you know his family lives on Rigel; Willard Decker made Captain and featured in the first film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
26:41 (Kirk flips the switch) It's interesting to note that although Scotty said the impulse engines would take 30 seconds to detonate, it still took them 66 seconds... even in this edit. 27:47 (The Constellation explodes. )
@@mikejankowski6321 Both sides of the conversation do not happen simultaneously. Your logic is faulty. ...and no "meanwhile" when Scotty is on the screen? I think not.
@@mikejankowski6321 😂Exactly. I'm still trying to figure out how a conversation takes twice as long if you're hearing both sides. 🤔 Maybe the actors were waiting for the cameramen who kept beaming back and forth between ships for each scene.
The workings of the doomsday machine had its mile of guts blown out by a 93 megaton bomb. The most powerful bomb we ever explored was a 50 megaton bomb. The neutronium shell was tough armor. It contained even that explosion. But was probably all that was left. Might have become a tourist attraction.
In Star Trek Online players run into at least 2 of those DOOMSDAY MACHINES. thankfully technology in 2409 & 2410 has come a long way scene the mid 2260s, no starship martyrs required.
Great reaction/review video. FYI - in the Star Trek fan video “Star Trek: New Voyages - In Harm’s Way” both the Guardian of Forever and the Doomsday Machines return. Also, both William Windom and Barbara Luna (Marlena Moreau) make guest appearances. Perhaps not what you review but well worth your time on YT.
FYI - "casualies" (I'm dylexic - who was the asshole that made my affliction unspellable for me? - and if English was actually phonetic (FONETIC!!!!!!!!!) my I'd be fking able to spell via phonetic/verbal memory!) anyway Casuallies somehow today means "dead" - its does not! and never has. I means "dead and injured" - so most causaulties are just injured! ................. I've noted a same thing with "electrocuted" since about 20 yrs ago. BTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know "language changes" - "words change".............ETC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT NO FK NO - When you are ELECTROCUTED - YOU ARE DEAD DEAD DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! if you are not dead from an Electric SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you WERE SHOCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not ELECTROCUTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ------------------ There is a reason they called the ELECTRIC CHAIR the ELECTRIC CHAIR and NOT the SHOCK CHAIR!!!!!!! Christ ;-/. I give up. just give words what you wish, I'm too tired to remain a purist. Camacho 2024!!!!!! (just like in 2016 and 2020).
Matt Decker was right. He found out the hard way there was likely very little even all of Starfleet was going to be able to do about the thing. He knew he had to try everything he could think of to stop it right there. His experience was total surprise at the attack. He knew nothing about the attacker, and neither would Kirk, or the rest of the crew, without him.. Now he had a fresh ship, and the attacker had no element of surprise. Spock was wrong about escape to inform Starfleet. All he had was incomplete information about the attacker, its methods, the attempts already taken, Decker had given it a hell of a fight. The entire antimatter, and dilithium crystal resources of an entire starship expended on it. The imperative was figuring out something right now before it devastated The Federation. How many ships would Starfleet have lost before somebody had as much experience as Decker, even with him advising them as much as Spock had been advised, thought of ramming a starship down its throat? Only Decker knew it was that desperate. His warp was dead after the first attack so he threw everything he had at it from a distance until its meal was done. Then it came for him. What if it was Kirk? The whole battle the one thing he'd be praying for would be the ability to maneuver. "This ship has got to maneuver.". But all is lost. Then out of the blue comes an entire starship. What would Kirk do? He didn't know a reasonable strategy of getting closer, and shoot, and scoot wouldn't work, nor did he know it had tractor beam or a defensive sphere around it. But Spock cornering Decker into the only desperate thing he had left to do gave them the clue to destroy the thing. Pure luck realty. Neither Kirk, Spock, Decker nor anyone in Starfleet had enough experience to know the situation was that desperate. How many in The Federation have died while Starfleet did what Spock wanted to do, flee, and evaluate, or what Decker wanted to do, shoot, and scoot, or both, before anyone got desperate enough to ram a starship down its throat? All the while it does to the galaxy what Deckard saw it do, with total impunity.
Oh, make no mistake, my friend- old man strength most certainly exists, particularly among former military. I’m retired Army, been out for 15 years, in my mid-60’s and I’m in better shape than most people 20 years younger. But then, I work out all the time. Decker wasn’t a bad guy; he was just in serious shock. And I agree that Kirk, in the exact same position would have done precisely the same thing Decker did.
Neutronium is basically everything compressed to a solid mass of neutrons. It's INCREDIBLY dense, like a million tons for a thimble. It also can only exist in a massive gravity well, so the idea of neutronium existing in some ship is... wildly impossible. But hey. Accurate enough for Star Trek. ;)
Nichelle was not given the status of full time at first. She expressed her consideration of leaving the show. That didn't help. MLK found out, and personally visited the set to convince her not to. Who else he may have talked to we don't know but she was made full time.
"...if it's a weapon of war they're not going to leave the turn-off switch outside." Yeah! That would be like putting the shield generator OUTSIDE the shield... Looking at you Star Wars!
I will give this to CBS Digital... they went all out for the CGI effects for this episode for the remastered version of the episode. The CGI Constellation was very well done. However, I must admit, I much prefer the ORIGINAL doomsday machine with the animated fusion core over the CGI one. I've heard yay and nay on that statement, so to each his own. Also, the original Constellation was a store-bought, off-the-shelf AMT USS Enterprise model kit that the effects department tweaked to make look like a heavily damaged starship. It needed a bit more paint and tweaking to make it look more like a real filming model and not a store-bought model kit, but still.... it was done well. Here's a somewhat edited "Original vs. CGI FX" video for the episode. Enjoy. th-cam.com/video/cij2kF5SU1Q/w-d-xo.html
The scene with Decker fidgeting with the memory cards was intentionally reminiscent of Bogart's Captain Queeg fidgeting with the ball bearings in "The Caine Mutiny". I believe that Windom himself came up with that.
Get Decker more strawberries!
Please also note the colors of the data tapes, green, for Kirk, and yellow, for Decker. Cool, right??
I think that William Windom did say that he was making an homage to Captain Queeg's ( Humphrey Bogart) fiddling with the ball bearings in "The Caine Mutiny", as Captain Queeg (pronounced "Qweeg") was feeling betrayed, and very stressed out.
If you haven't seen it, check out "The Caine Mutiny ". Master class in acting. Love anything Humphrey Bogart is in, but this was stellar. Be prepared to be angered by a certain character, though. Aside from Bogart, it has Fred McMurray, Van Johnson, and Jose Ferrer.
@@sarahfullerton6894actually Decker’s shirt is green too but appears gold
@@sarahfullerton6894 ya Bogart was fab from this to many others - personal fav is Treasure fo Sierra Madra - as for Fred Mc Murrey (little (big-tall) nice guys from "My Three Son's"...............who even played a nice guy that killed a guy "Double Endemnity" - plays a REAL SOB in Caine Mutiny - not by looks but by action (so let me reword)- He plays a real Camelion who's dad or mom as a snake).
lol.
@@gaffo7836, l love Bogie films. He was excellent in "Treasure", but my favorites are the classics "Casablanca", "To Have and Have Not", "Key Largo", "The Maltese Falcon", and "The African Queen". An early, great Bogie film, "The Petrified Forest" is great, too. And to think that Fred McMurray, the amiable dad from "My Three Sons" portrayed a self-righteous, lying backstabber in "The Caine Mutiny", and a conniving , duped murderer in "Double Indemnity", blew my young mind!!
William Windom said that Marc Daniels let him (for the most part) improv the breakdown scene. An epic portrayal of a tortured man.
This episode is my, and many other people's (including Jimmy Doohan), favorite episode for a reason.
@@Kodos13 And also a tortured portrayal of an epic man.
_"Spock, I order you to assume command on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise"_
*Love that!*
When i was 12 years old, i went to the 1975 Washington, DC Star Trek convention. James Doohan was there and spoke about the episode. He was magnetic and entertaining, a gift to the industry of storytelling 😊
I would go so far as to say he was the unsung Billy West of his day. If you listen to his reading of the book _Enterprise: The First Adventure,_ he turns it from an audiobook to a radio show by giving every character their own unique voice. It's absolute magic to hear.
I'm an old martial artist and the fight with Decker and Montgomery was totally realistic to me. Decker may have been older, but as Capt. Christopher pointed out, physical conditioning is required in Starfleet and, as my old Keoshi used to say, old age and cunning will triumph over youth and quickness. Old fighters know how to cheat and this was evident in the fight when Decker pretended to be hurt.
This is an awesome take. Someone online pointed out that this fight showed a "concept" of future martial arts and I liked that vs the average TOS fight
I just learned this phrase, similar to yours, watching the channel The Fat Electrician. Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance every time. It's especially true in his, The Fat Electrician's video where he reviews the Army's 77th division.
@@royroblox Most important, Decker got in the first punch - by cheating.
This is a proper classic.
One of the many highlights is Leonard Nimoy’s acting when confronting Commodore Decker.
I'm sitting down on my day off, eating a great breakfast with the headphones on, and watching one of my favorite new reactors doing one of my favorite episodes of TOS. A great start to the day...
I was trying to stay under the radar watching this w/an air pod in one ear slyly, because I was doing so while at work. When it got to the part where you were doing an impression of Finney & Decker, during your improvisational head-canon, having a conversation between the two characters...OMG I Actually Laughed Out Loud. 😂😅
Oh no :)
Sorry, my friend!
Thank you for watching and enjoying my childish antics :D
Made me laugh as well 🤣
I laughed as well. 😂
And what an iconic soundtrack!
I love it when Scotty says, "Come along, lads." You know he means business.
I've always described the Doomsday Machine as the giant planet-eating Nabisco Bugle.
That's-FUNNY !!! LOL. Couldn't stop laughing.
Cornucopia of death.
Lots of notes:
1) They never say definitively what Starfleet did with the DM. But, as you/ve eeen in Lower Decks, the Federation DOES have a branch that deals with anomalies and dangerous things that Starfleet encounters. It will show up again in Season 3 of Picard (if and when you get to it). 2)Matt's badge was different b/c originally, each ship had it's own unique emblem, similar to how each ship in the RL navy has. 3) The name Decker will come up again in The Motion Picture. It's never explicitly said, but the Decker in the film is the Commodore's son. 4)Matt would be in his late 40's-early 50s. That's not old for someone in the Federatio. (roughly equivalent to early 30s for us). Starfleet officers can stay in active service well into their 80s. 5) I love how they emphasize the Constellation as its own character. She even has a unique fanfare to help identify her. She gave her all and more, and is as much a hero as ever there was. (Don't mind me, I'm an inveterate romantic about ships...lol!)
Probably the greatest guest star turn in the series.
On my top 2 list. Story, acting, , musical score, directing, production all nailed it. Normally the CGI doesn't do it for me, but all the added footage was great. This was actually the first TOS to show another starship, before the days of CGI.
If you look at actual production order, Daniels and Pevney were evenly distributed, which means more great Pevney to come.
This was my favorite TOS Episode. Marc Daniels is excellent director and his expertise and familiarity with the show, sets and actors really shows here. The bridge angles, especially the ending scene where Kirk and Spock walks in front of the Viewscreen really shows off the sets with detail. An interesting detail is that Daniels had a bet that he could finish filming the episode in 5 rather than the usual 6 day shooting schedule. He succeeded and got a $500 bonus He went on to write one of the episodes of The Animated Series, which shares some similarities to this one except in his episode "One of Our Planets is Missing" its a huge, living, Cosmic Cloud which is consuming planets for food rather than a robot as in this one.
Scotty is always been my favorite character and he does yeoman work here. Doohan lists this one as his favorite episode as you mentioned. Its my favorite Scotty episode. When I met Doohan at a convention he was a warm and sociable person. He loved his interaction with the fans and his convention appearances were great.
William Windom only came to respect this episode after he realized how much fans enjoyed his performance. He states that his fiddling with the memory tapes when he sat in the captains chair were an homage to Humphry Bogart's fiddling with the ball-bearings he did in The Cane Mutiny
What I loved especially was Sol Kaplan's music. Kaplan first composed the soundtrack for The Enemy Within which supplied themes for the rest of the series as well as this one. Look for Sol Kaplan's themes from this show to appear throughout the remainder of the Original series. The "Doomsday Machine" theme always appears when the Enterprise faces something ominous or threatening for the remainder of Season 2 and part of season 3. Kaplan was a documentary soundtrack composer before he started working at Desilu. He composed soundtracks for several other movies as well in the 1950's, but like many other Hollywood greats he suffered under the McCarthy Hollywood Blacklist until it fell out of favor. Star Trek employed many blacklisted writers and others behind the scenes but the shadow of McCarthyism was still lingering to an extent even in this time.
Author Norman Spinrad got a 1968 Hugo Award nomination for "Best Dramatic Presentation" along with Marc Daniels as Director. However, since Star Trek basically dominated the category it was up against City on the Edge of Forever and lost out to that. But for that year, Star Trek was the only series that was nominated for the category having 5 episodes represented, filling the nominations. Since the Hugo is award by the science fiction fans, it shows the measure of respect the show had among the community.
Something you might want to understand is that the word "Casualty" is also naval parlance for ship Damage (as an example a naval officer will report that an engine has suffered a "severe Casualty) and the Damage control party was reporting sealing off inner hull ruptures. I always interpreted that report as detailing the damage inside the ship and not deaths or crew injuries. However after some reflection it might refer to both, but I tend to lean on the ship damage side of the equation here.
In the original episode, (you are looking at the remastered version here) the Constellation was played by an AMT model of the Enterprise which had just been released by AMT corporation. (Its still selling by the way). The ship model was distressed and damaged for the episode, and the registration number was just the Enterprise NCC-1701 inverted as NCC-1017. The level of detailing was extremely lacking of the larger scale models of the Enterprise used for filming. Its fate is unknown. I know they recently located a three Foot model that was used in The Cage and graced the desk of Gene Roddenberry for years till it was lost after Roddenberry lent it to the effects company that was first employed on Star Trek The Motion Picture. He fired Abel and used Douglas Trumbull's company but the model was never returned to Roddenberry. In the original episode the full scale shuttle model was used and was obviously out of scale entering the maw of the Doomsday Machine. The remastered version corrected that oversight which was necessary due to a very low effects budget for the episode.
All in all, I have been waiting for you to do this one and I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction as I do all of your reactions. Thanks again and please keep up the good work.
"Old man strength" may not exist, but "crazy man strength" does. There is also the fact that Decker would have less qualms about going toe-to-toe with an inferior officer than the security officer would going up against a freaking commodore.
By Federation standards, he's not even that old.
Old soldiers get to be 'old' for a reason.
Old man strength doesn't exist... for those who weren't particularly strong when they were young. I'm sure the Commodore has had plenty of fighting experience in his past.
Old man strength does exist. Just recently in the news, a young carjacker got a severe beating from an old veteran. I can recall a long time ago when someone tried to assault Jack LaLanne (the fitness guru). Jack was very old at the time but he easily won that fight.
Fact is the security officer got the better of Decker till he played on feigning the injury. He used a pro trick when your opponent doesn't want to hurt you and he took advantage of him.
Hi, WR! Another great ep & great reaction. :)
A couple of observations on the episode - Marc Daniels' direction is most noteworthy. He uses the standing sets very well. For example, it's one of the few times we see the whole bridge circumference in shots & they walk past the viewscreen section twice, as well as the normal cutaway shots. Doesn't happen very often in the show.
Also, Nimoy alters his performance subtly here. When he speaks to Kirk, he's the usual Spock we know & love - when he speaks he Decker, however, he's very cold & matter-of-fact only. Very Vulcan . To me, it's almost as if he really dislikes Decker. I've always thought that ever since I first saw the ep in the early 70's.
Sol Kaplan's music is also worth noting, too. A very intricate soundtrack, where every major character, situation & ship has a theme of their own & the music cues nudge the audience in the right direction. Great stuff all round.
Couldn't agree more on all counts, my friend!
When I was researching Q and A, I ran across the info on Kaplan's score and the brief 36 seconds of Alexander Courage's 'Kirk's Theme' during the last flight of the Constellation.
Great, great stuff made even better by the inclusion of some damn fine music :)
@@WarpReactor I've seen a comparision made on TH-cam between the DM theme and the theme from _Jaws._ It's very similar.
This is one of my favourite episodes, and also one of the few TOS episodes that actually benefits greatly from the remade CGI shots.
Decker's performance was definitely quite memorable, and he basically set the mould for "guest captains who shouldn't really be in charge" characters for years to come (for better or worse).
And Scotty got that wreck moving? Holy cow, he could probably get the Titanic to New York if you give him a few hours and a roll of duct tape.
Also, I love Sulu's facial expressions in this one.
Decker: Attack! Sulu: Aye, sir (this guy's a nutter!)
Spock: Withdraw and plot a course back to the Constellation. Sulu: Aye, sir (Thank god someone's sane is back in charge)
The episode started a lifetime obsession with neutron stars--thank you, Spock!
Fun fact: Scotty's line "Thirty seconds later, poof!" is the only time that James Doohan dropped his accent. Listen carefully.
Notice that every ship has it's own badge.
Not according to Robert Justman. Theiss did it that way but Roddenberry wanted all starship personnel to wear the arrowhead.
The actor that was originally considered for the commodore part was Robert Ryan, but he wasn't available.
Bravo!
You are the first reactor that has mentioned the resemblance to a geode.
Years ago I took a picture of a geode at the Smithsonian that very closely matched the Doomsday Machine.
This was back in the good old days of using a film camera to document vacations and sight-seeing trips instead of your cellphone.
You mentioned Decker as Ahab but he also has a good does of Captain Queeg from the Caine Mutiny. Notice Decker fiddling with the data cards in the same way Queeg fiddled with a set of ball bearings. Also, he does indeed get removed from the big chair unlike Ahab who remained in command to the bitter end.
"We're gonna need a shuttlecraft for Kirk's balls" lmao I love your commentary dude
You're gonna need a whole fleet.
😂😅
This might be a little-known bit of trivia: That little tri-pointed device that Scotty used on the impulse engines was designed and built by Spock. I remember reading that back in the 70’s from a sci-fi magazine.
the music!!!!
the relentless pounding of the horns really emphasizes the "DOOM IS COMING FOR YOU!!!!!!" of the story
Many of us laughed out loud when you asked "Do they have any shuttles?" Awesome episode. I saw William Windom live, back in the early 80s, in a one man show of James Thurber. What an awesome actor.
51:48 I always liked the way Decker said, "There WAS, but not 'nymore!"
There is an unofficial documentary on this episode which mentioned that the "is it a machine, or is it alive?" was a reference to the fact that the original concept of the author was that it was a space squid, and the "maw" was an actual mouth that devoured planets. Obviously, this was more than a passing reference to Moby Dick. The tractor beam would have been a tentacle grabbing the ship instead. The body was created, and the model was a lot longer cone to look like a squid, but they quickly realized there was nowhere near enough budget to model, much less animate, the creature. (The original design of the machine may have had many more components, but for the thousands or millions of years it was operating, it probably cast off damaged or worn parts, leaving only the drive and refueling systems, and the beat-up core hull.) The reuse of the existing Enterprise sets for a sister ship already meant they were saving a lot of the set budget for the episode, and this would happen several more times. They made up for that a bit in later episodes' FX. A lot of people like the alien world sets/locations, but I'm always happy for a shipboard episode where the ship is a costar. :)
I'm a channel member. Watched Trek since it debuted. By the books, the Doomsday Machine was constructed to destroy the Borg. The Borg picked on a civilization it shouldn't have... Book / Vendetta...
Oooooo that is awesome!
Appreciate the information, my friend, thank you a ton for sharing!
Adding Vendetta to my TNG reading list :)
@@robertroonok1701 Perhaps the subspace interference affects Borg assimilation.
Yeah,I read that novel eons ago,a very GOOD read too.
I always thought so but was not officially denied or confirmed....but makes sense
A good episode 👍
I find it hilarious that you keep using the 'plum' nickname for McCoy. I don't believe it's ever used again.😂
Keep this name Decker in mind my friend, you'll need it. Your reactions are priceless bro! Without giving anything away you're getting closer to an "interesting" episode, I can't wait for your reaction! I can almost see it now!
Love Commodore Decker’s arc. At first you feel terrible for him,
then your pissed at him, then you have elements of both when he commits suicide.
Note: "Casualty report" means wounded.
43:22 Norman did spin something really rad, didn't he?
Gotta love when they incorporate classic novel elements into Trek.
You did the Vulcan greeting backwards. It's palm out, not back-handed. As for old man strength, you have to remember that the crew has to maintain certain physical standards, even the Commodore. Add to that, the fact that he would fight dirty.
It's actually a hybrid of the Vulcan Salute and the Rock N' Roll 'horns' :)
My son and I started doing it during our Star Trek Adventures TTRPG campaign which we dubbed Vulc N' Roll :)
Thank you for watching, my friend!
@@WarpReactor I can roll with that.
@@WarpReactor,glad your son is enjoying Star Trek TOS, as well. Is he becoming a,"Trekkie", too?
One of my favorite Star Trek episodes. I've always loved William Windom.
Like many consider this one of the top episodes. Kirk will never hesitate to save his ship and crew. Blast regulations
This was my very first trek episode, I was totally hooked at just seven yrs old, an now I'm 57 an I still love this classic show over the some what over blown series v that followed...but strange new worlds is my favourite right next to the classic trek show..
Jimmy Doohan was shot with eight rounds by friendly fire on the beaches of Normandy. He was a pilot before that.
That's why you could trust him having a command position.
An absolute fan favorite. A Top 5, even a Top 3 for 98% of Trekkies!! The moment we see another starship, it really opened the universe for us. The Feds felt like a big organization all of a sudden.
About James Doohan
"World War II, Lieutenant 18th Field Artillery Regiment)
Star Trek’s loveable engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, AKA James Doohan, attended high school at the Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School (SCITS) in Ontario, Canada where he excelled in mathematics and science. His proficiency in these areas prompted him to join the 102nd Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps in 1938.
When Canada entered World War II, Doonan was commissioned as a lieutenant in the 13th Field Artillery Regiment of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the Royal Canadian Army. Doohan headed to England for additional training where he didn’t get to put it to real use until 1944. His first combat mission was a biggie, the invasion of Normandy at Juno Beach (the Canadian one) on D-Day.
"The sea was rough," he recalled. "We were more afraid of drowning than of the Germans."
Shooting two snipers, Doohan led his men to higher ground through a field of anti-tank mines, where they took defensive positions for the night. Crossing between command posts at 11:30 that night, Doohan was hit by six rounds of friendly fire courtesy of a Bren gun and an overzealous Canadian gunman. He took four shots in his leg, one in the chest, and one through his right middle finger. His right middle finger had to be amputated, something he kept hidden during his career as an actor. Miraculously, the bullet to his chest was stopped by a silver cigarette case, a gift from his brother he kept in his breast pocket. He would later give up smoking, but unlike almost every other ex-smoker, he could say that smoking actually saved his life once.
It took a while, but Doohan recovered from his injuries and received his new orders. He trained as a pilot graduating from Air Observation Pilot Course 40, and flew Taylorcraft Auster Mark V aircraft for 666 (AOP) Squadron, RCAF, in support of 1st Army Group Royal Canadian Artillery. All three Canadian (AOP) RCAF Squadrons were manned by Artillery Officer-pilots and accompanied by non-commissioned RCA and RCAF personnel serving as observers.
Although never actually a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Doohan was once labelled the "craziest pilot in the Canadian Air Force." As the story goes Doohan was boasting of his piloting prowess and in the late spring of 1945, he dared to slalom a plane between mountainside telegraph poles to prove it could be done. The stunt, performed in a Mark IV Auster on the Salisbury Plain north of RAF Andover, earned him a serious reprimand.
Perhaps his experience as a pilot allowed him to better connect to fans in his out-of-this-world role on Star Trek. Regardless, he inspired a new generation of engineers and was given an honorary degree in Engineering by the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1966. Apparently half of the students polled cited him as the inspiration for entering the field."
Remember, "casualties" doesn't automatically mean deaths only, it means a mix of injuries and deaths. So, some people may have died, and others may have had injuries.
I’ll never forget how scared I was as a child of perhaps 7 when I first saw the planet killer turn to intercept the Enterprise.
"Don't go all Ahab." What do you think this episode is all about????
Somewhere on TH-cam, Norman Spinrad has a video he released when the remastered version was first broadcast in syndication. He thought it would be an excellent time to go into its genesis.
Roddenberry was a fan of the big name SF writers, and he corresponded with many of them, often inviting them to write an episode of his show. Spinrad admits that GR was very persistant with him until he gave in and agreed to do one. He says he had always wanted to do a sci-fi version of _Moby Dick,_ and he had just the right actor in mind for Decker (I don't recall the actor's name, but it was a fellow who was famous for playing pirates and old sea salts) Obviously, he wasn't available. But Spinrad casts no aspersions on Windom's interpretation of the role, because it works.
Windom was a prolific actor, and he got his own sitcom on NBC ("My World and Welcome To It") which was a fictionalized version of cartoonist James Thurber's life. Thurber's drawings would "come to life" in every episode.
I found a portrait online of one of Windom's ancestors (and namesake). He lived at the time of the founding fathers. Damn, he's the spitting image of the guy.
Spinrad left the look of the DM to the TV production people. But GR kept insisting that he wanted the author's conception of what it looked like. So he sat down, made some sketches, and sent them over. When he watched the episode the day it aired, he saw that none of them were used. So he called GR, who apologetically explained that they ran out of budget money and had to go with the windsock dipped in concrete.
The DM figures prominently in one of the _Star Trek New Voyages_ episodes ("In Harm's Way") I also recall a short story in one of the volumes of the _Strange New Worlds_ (not to be confused with the TV series of the same name) fan fiction collections that tells where it ended up.
Neutronium is a hypothetical element, supposedly created in high-gravity conditions (like the heart of a star) where atoms are crushed together to the point where their orbiting electrons are rolling on the surfaces of their nuclei. If it could exist, it would be dense and heavy indeed. But what happens to neutronium when the pressure that made it goes away? Does it stay that way? Spring back to normal? Explosively? Who knows?
Yes, Damage Inc. was a short-lived Marvel series, hinted at in the beginning of "Spiderman; No Way Home". My favorite bit was that low level villains were sentenced to spend time working with Damage Inc. as Community Service 🤣🤣🤣
"That's a SPICY MEAT-A-BALL!" I cry out when it all explodes.
Commodore Decker is a Flag Officer with a Field Command, the USS Constellation. That's why he wears the Fleet Command Insignia. His Crew would wear the Starship Duty Delta that everyone else wears, and his First Officer would hold the rank of Captain.
Presumably, all that's left of the Planet Killer is its neutronium hull. Anything inside it would have been blown to hell beyond any level of salvage.
I'm not sure if you could salvage the hull, as even maximum phasers couldn't scratch it. So I don't see them able to do much with it.
46:40 - there should be an asterisk on this one, because what we see in the episode is the CGI model created for the remastered version. The original, while similar in appearance, is considerably less, visually. In fact, there is really only one shot of it actually in motion (when its doing the turn), and the rest are just still images that pan and/or zoom, with only the directly forward shot showing the animated star-like center.
This one episode is by far the one that benefits the most from the remastering.
I called the monster "Mecha-Galactus" when I summarized this one.
Essentially Damage Control shows up in Spiderman: Homecoming.
This has been my favorite TOS episode since I first saw it as a kid in the early 70's. And I recall reading once that it was James Doohan's favorite as well - he loved all the tech stuff going on and how much Scotty had to do.
Edit: Ah, I had to go look - I have a 1987 Star Trek calendar hanging in my den that was autographed by Walter Koenig. Each month features an actor and their favorite episode. For James Doohan the quote from him says "It was couched in scientific language and was 'technically' suspensful." I was misremembering that above.
Norman Spinrad may have had his Star Trek debut with "The Doomsday Machine" but he was already a published Sci Fi author by the time of the episode's filming.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Spinrad#Major_works
Amazing editing having the beat down of Montgomery with no music. 😂
Starfleet Captains in this era all have extensive training in advanced hand to hand combat. They are very formidable opponents.
Right?!?
Paramount has been flagging any (and I mean ANY) bit of music. Oh well :D
As always thank you for watching, my friend!
@@WarpReactor it was hilarious. ACK…. AGHHH…… UGHHHH!
@@WarpReactor I've seen this ep countless times so I can't imagine the work to clip only the dialogue, not the music!
Good morning @WarpReactor and friends! ☕
Today we get another great episode. Back in the early 70's, my brother and I called it "The Killer Joint." The Doomsday machine did look like a lit hand-rolled cigarette, after all.
Poor Commodore Matt Decker....his poor crew 😔
For me, there is not much that needs to be said about this episode as it's quality speaks for itself...except that in beta-cannon, the Doomsday Machine was built by an unknown race and let loose to destroy the Borg. Well, apparently that plan went awry ans it wound up in the Alpha Quadrant instead.
Until next time,
LLAP &Vulc'n'Roll everyone!
🖖🤘
HaHa 'The Killer Joint' :D
I will forever think of that when the Doomsday Machine come up :)
As always thank you so much for your wonderful posts!
Peace and Long Life!
Vulc 'N' Roll!
Jimmy Doohan was in the Canadian army in WW2. He went ashore on D-Day, lost two fingers to a German bullet.
Great episode, good review! Thanks for the callout to my favorite Marvel Comics mini-series, Damage Control. In this instance, the division most likely to be tasked with disposal and study of the Machine, would be the Starfleet Corps of Engineers
The build up to the reveal of the planet killer is incredible.
The Lower Decks series was sort of like "damage control." The crew of the Enterprise initiate First Contact. The Cerritos' role was to follow up with Second Contact or re-visit the places.
The rank of commodore was in some ways a fleet captain. Since there were two ships involved in the story, Decker could pull rank and take charge.
36:55 why is any object we don't understand always called a "thing"?
"Fred" just seems too personal.
My English teacher always said "A 'thing' is an object not yet named." He was death on overusing the term in stories; he insisted that the 'thing' needed a name. While they technically came up with a name, they never quite used it.😁
In canon, it's still floating lifelessly in space.
There are , however, two instances in books (considered apocrypha) where the original machine makes its return. A short story in Kevin Lauderdale's Constellations reveals that the original was dragged to a top secret Starfleet research facility for further study.
Peter David's book, Before Dishonor, has the machine stored in a museum
4:41 "Mr. Spock, you're in command."
"Acknowledged. I order you not to go!"
Yes! One of my favorite episodes right up there with "The City on the Edge of Forever". I like your suggestion of a spin off from the "Doomsday Machine". Unfortunately Paramount's writers and producers have lost that kind of creative vision. I would personally like to see a follow up episode where the "doomsday machine" is reactivated in the 32nd century and destroys the USS Discovery NCC-1031!
There was a followup non-canon novel that came out in the mid-90s whose plot revolved around a second doomsday machine and the premise that it was designed as an anti-Borg weapon.
My favorite episode hands down of TOS!
I have been waiting for you to get here. This is number one in my book. Not only do you get the best portrayal by a guest star in a fantastic story, but you get great interaction between several principal characters. And finally, as Scotty says in an upcoming episode, you get to see what a starship can really do! I still get a lump in my throat when Commodore Decker says it, the third planet. There is no third planet. Don't you think I know that, there was, but not anymore!
I just recently learned this phrase watching The Fat Electrician's video about the WW2 77th Army division. The 77th was an experiment. The Army was getting so many volunteers that they decided to create a division of older men, because there just weren't enough seasoned veterans to go around. These old bastards kicked ass in everything they did. The phrase is Old age and treachery beats youth and exuberance every time.😎
In Star Trek Online, there's an entire Task Force Operation when you encounter the Doomsday Machine.
You might also get a kick of watching the SFX scenes with the original video. The original DD Machine was a windsock the effects department coated in plaster of Paris. That sequence can be found solo on YT.
The shot of the Constellation entering the DM was especially bad.
They used an AMT model kit for the Constellation and you can clearly see the nacelles wobbling.
@@MrDeathpilot Agreed that it looks bad but I believe they cut time from the Kirk beam out section for all the additional updated FX. I like that part of the original sequence better than the new.
The scene where the bridge crew pauses and listens and then Spock says we are being held in a tractor beam - There was supposed to be a sound effect there but it was never added. They should have corrected this for the updated special effects but, oh well.
11:26 It always struck me how Scotty told the other man to come with HIM, but then Kirk told him to stay behind. Oh, I'm sure Scotty appreciated that!
By the way, if anyone's interested, William Windom reprised his role as Commodore Matt Decker in Season 4, Episode 1 of a fan-created series called "Star Trek : New Voyages", in an episode titled "In Harm's Way", which provided us a glimpse into a strange & possibly alternate twist of fate for Matt Decker, after he flew that shuttlecraft into the maw of the Doomsday Machine.
Also, actress Barbara Luna, who you may remember as Lieutenant Marlena Moreau from the "Mirror, Mirror" episode, plays alongside William Windom, although she is a different character from her "Mirror, Mirror" performance.
Incidentally, Barbara Luna looks as beautiful as ever in this episode, despite the passage of 3 & 1/2 decades since the original series.
A rare occurrence, a panning shot of Captain Kirk walking fully (almost) around the Bridge in the opposite view we normally get, from the control console toward the turbo lift doors for the Bridge.
"The Doomsday Machine" is the only episode of TOS where we have something like a space battle occupying major portions of the episode. The original effects really aren't great, and the CGI updates added A LOT. Some of the outstanding CGI contributions were: 1) very detailed shots of the Constellation's wrecked hull, showing the superstructure and also added bits like the occasional asteroid bouncing off the hull; 2) The shock wave exploding outward, when the Constellation explodes; 3) The last few moments of the Constellation's existence, where the ship does pitch, yaw and roll along three axes (Trek is notorious for its "two dimensional thinking" in external shots of ships and other space objects interacting; these CGI shots helped to fix that.)
Scotty did everything this episode except beat up Montgomery!
In head canon, I am saying that it did not come from another galaxy but from another quadrant of our galaxy. If it smashes planets for fuel, its going to get really hungry in intergalactic space. Also in the mid 23rd century the federation had only explored 1/10 of the galaxy.
I've wondered about that! If the machine had been built very close to the edge of the galaxy and was working it's way inward its course would be the same - out in the "big empty" between galaxies it would run out of power very fast
The most iconic Scotty pose 17:57
I'm so glad you saw this episode with the updated effects. They make the battle scenes sooo much more dynamic.
The original effects were... just bad.
"Can somebody get Marc Daniels a pillow?"
I'll do you one better: there are only ship sets here, so Mr. Daniels shot this in five days instead of the customary eight. According to the story, he was so busy and he trusted William Windom so much, he left the camera on him to perform Windom's opening scene while he went off to set up another shot.
This was the first time in the series the Enterprise encountered a sister ship. They couldn't wreck the hero ship model, so they resorted to an AMT off-the-shelf model. For me Sol Kaplin's score made this, and allegedly influenced John Williams' Jaws score.
I can't find any reason why Ms. Nichols was absent. She was juggling live singing appearances at the time.
Sadly, Decker, Ambassador Fox, Finney, Finnegan, Baris, Commissioner Ferris, and Daystrom are all part of a cliched trope I like to call "a__hat of the week." It starts to look like the Enterprise crew are the only sane people in the galaxy. Decker's situation is a skosh more sympathetic when you know his family lives on Rigel; Willard Decker made Captain and featured in the first film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
I believe holding up the Vulcan "salute" with the BACK of your hand outward is the "Vulcan finger" (or "two fingers" as the Brits would have it).
It's definitely not the traditional, proper, salute.
26:41 (Kirk flips the switch)
It's interesting to note that although Scotty said the impulse engines would take 30 seconds to detonate, it still took them 66 seconds... even in this edit.
27:47 (The Constellation explodes. )
It takes twice as long because you see both sides of the conversation, plus cuts to Scotty in the tube.
@@mikejankowski6321 Both sides of the conversation do not happen simultaneously.
Your logic is faulty.
...and no "meanwhile" when Scotty is on the screen?
I think not.
@@MrDeathpilot Meanwhile, in the Batcave…
@@mikejankowski6321 😂Exactly.
I'm still trying to figure out how a conversation takes twice as long if you're hearing both sides. 🤔 Maybe the actors were waiting for the cameramen who kept beaming back and forth between ships for each scene.
@@MrDeathpilot They didn’t have the budget for duplicate camera crews! 🤣
Might be my favorite TOS episode. It's like TOS's "Best of Both Worlds."
The workings of the doomsday machine had its mile of guts blown out by a 93 megaton bomb. The most powerful bomb we ever explored was a 50 megaton bomb. The neutronium shell was tough armor. It contained even that explosion. But was probably all that was left. Might have become a tourist attraction.
In Star Trek Online players run into at least 2 of those DOOMSDAY MACHINES. thankfully technology in 2409 & 2410 has come a long way scene the mid 2260s, no starship martyrs required.
Matt didn't care if he died
I think Scotty has demonstrated a singular mastery of the transporter. (Indeed, he made it to the ................ due to that mastery.)
SPOILER! 😡
@@MrDeathpilot Edited to remove specific spoilerage.
An if u pay attention to the damage reports the main energizers are mentioned to be out just like in the wrath of khan...
Great reaction/review video. FYI - in the Star Trek fan video “Star Trek: New Voyages - In Harm’s Way” both the Guardian of Forever and the Doomsday Machines return. Also, both William Windom and Barbara Luna (Marlena Moreau) make guest appearances.
Perhaps not what you review but well worth your time on YT.
FYI - "casualies" (I'm dylexic - who was the asshole that made my affliction unspellable for me? - and if English was actually phonetic (FONETIC!!!!!!!!!) my I'd be fking able to spell via phonetic/verbal memory!)
anyway Casuallies somehow today means "dead" - its does not! and never has. I means "dead and injured" - so most causaulties are just injured!
.................
I've noted a same thing with "electrocuted" since about 20 yrs ago.
BTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know "language changes" - "words change".............ETC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT NO FK NO - When you are ELECTROCUTED - YOU ARE DEAD DEAD DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you are not dead from an Electric SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you WERE SHOCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not ELECTROCUTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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There is a reason they called the ELECTRIC CHAIR the ELECTRIC CHAIR and NOT the SHOCK CHAIR!!!!!!!
Christ ;-/. I give up. just give words what you wish, I'm too tired to remain a purist.
Camacho 2024!!!!!! (just like in 2016 and 2020).
There was a movement to canonize Scotty as The Patron Saint of Engineers 🤟😎
Sol Kaplan: Sol (Solomon) rhymes more with Saul than sole.
Matt Decker was right. He found out the hard way there was likely very little even all of Starfleet was going to be able to do about the thing. He knew he had to try everything he could think of to stop it right there. His experience was total surprise at the attack. He knew nothing about the attacker, and neither would Kirk, or the rest of the crew, without him.. Now he had a fresh ship, and the attacker had no element of surprise.
Spock was wrong about escape to inform Starfleet. All he had was incomplete information about the attacker, its methods, the attempts already taken, Decker had given it a hell of a fight. The entire antimatter, and dilithium crystal resources of an entire starship expended on it. The imperative was figuring out something right now before it devastated The Federation. How many ships would Starfleet have lost before somebody had as much experience as Decker, even with him advising them as much as Spock had been advised, thought of ramming a starship down its throat? Only Decker knew it was that desperate. His warp was dead after the first attack so he threw everything he had at it from a distance until its meal was done. Then it came for him. What if it was Kirk? The whole battle the one thing he'd be praying for would be the ability to maneuver. "This ship has got to maneuver.". But all is lost. Then out of the blue comes an entire starship. What would Kirk do? He didn't know a reasonable strategy of getting closer, and shoot, and scoot wouldn't work, nor did he know it had tractor beam or a defensive sphere around it. But Spock cornering Decker into the only desperate thing he had left to do gave them the clue to destroy the thing. Pure luck realty. Neither Kirk, Spock, Decker nor anyone in Starfleet had enough experience to know the situation was that desperate. How many in The Federation have died while Starfleet did what Spock wanted to do, flee, and evaluate, or what Decker wanted to do, shoot, and scoot, or both, before anyone got desperate enough to ram a starship down its throat? All the while it does to the galaxy what Deckard saw it do, with total impunity.
Oh, make no mistake, my friend- old man strength most certainly exists, particularly among former military. I’m retired Army, been out for 15 years, in my mid-60’s and I’m in better shape than most people 20 years younger. But then, I work out all the time. Decker wasn’t a bad guy; he was just in serious shock. And I agree that Kirk, in the exact same position would have done precisely the same thing Decker did.
Decker's son, Commander Willard Decker, is in The Motion Picture.
Neutronium is basically everything compressed to a solid mass of neutrons. It's INCREDIBLY dense, like a million tons for a thimble.
It also can only exist in a massive gravity well, so the idea of neutronium existing in some ship is... wildly impossible. But hey. Accurate enough for Star Trek. ;)
Once forged in a massive gravity well, it should stay together. Fantastic manufacturing technology!
Nichelle was not given the status of full time at first. She expressed her consideration of leaving the show. That didn't help. MLK found out, and personally visited the set to convince her not to. Who else he may have talked to we don't know but she was made full time.
"...if it's a weapon of war they're not going to leave the turn-off switch outside." Yeah! That would be like putting the shield generator OUTSIDE the shield... Looking at you Star Wars!
I will give this to CBS Digital... they went all out for the CGI effects for this episode for the remastered version of the episode. The CGI Constellation was very well done. However, I must admit, I much prefer the ORIGINAL doomsday machine with the animated fusion core over the CGI one. I've heard yay and nay on that statement, so to each his own. Also, the original Constellation was a store-bought, off-the-shelf AMT USS Enterprise model kit that the effects department tweaked to make look like a heavily damaged starship. It needed a bit more paint and tweaking to make it look more like a real filming model and not a store-bought model kit, but still.... it was done well. Here's a somewhat edited "Original vs. CGI FX" video for the episode. Enjoy. th-cam.com/video/cij2kF5SU1Q/w-d-xo.html
Great! Thank you so much, my friend! Will check this out after work :)
@@WarpReactorI mostly like the original effects.