Customer Reviews

Star Trek #01: Cage

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The only way to view this video is with your mind firmly locked into the historical context. When Gene Roddenberry first proposed the Star Trek series to network executives, the American television viewers were in the midst of their love affair with the western. Therefore, he described the proposed series as "wagon train to the stars." However, that is not what he gave them, and there were some objections, so a second pilot was requested.
The idea of a woman second in command was immediately rejected and while the crew of the pilot was not as integrated as the later ones, there are people of other races shown on the ship. The acting was not well done, Spock is smiling and emotional, there are some bad gender clichés and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike is beset with self-doubts. Therefore, William Shatner, cast as a more swashbuckling Captain Kirk, replaced him.
Nevertheless, from this episode, it is possible to see how the Star Trek idea could spawn a series of major films and three subsequent very successful and long-running television series. For Star Trek has always been about the exploration of human ideas.
Fresh from a mission where the Enterprise suffered casualties, Captain Christopher Pike is facing intense self-doubts and is talking about resigning. The Enterprise encounters a distress signal from a scientific ship that has suffered severe damage and then a follow up message that there were survivors marooned on a planet that could support life.
The Enterprise goes to the planet and apparently finds survivors. However, it is all an illusion created by the inhabitants of the planet so that they could capture Captain Pike. Countless years before, a war had devastated the surface of the planet and the inhabitants of the planet want Captain Pike to be paired with the lone survivor of the crash, a female, so that they could repopulate the surface. Captain Pike rebels at being a specimen and eventually is released. Some parts of this pilot were incorporated into the two-part episode "The Menagerie" of the original series. The parts that were used in the episode are in color and the remaining segments are in black and white.
In this episode, we see matter transporters for the first time, the swooshing sounds of the doors of the Enterprise, an alien regular member of a ships crew, intelligent interactions with a different species and a spaceship that appears to function without a lot of meaningless flashing lights. The dialogue isn't quite up to Star Trek standards, but it is pretty good when you consider the historical context.
The number of network television firsts that took place on Star Trek is most impressive. From the first swear word, to blacks in positions of authority to the first inter-racial kiss, Star Trek set new and generally higher standards for what would appear on commercial American television. It all started with this series pilot, so it is also a piece of history, the first in a series of dynamic stories about humanity reaching for new worlds to explore, but not necessarily conquer.

One of the most enduring legacies on television actually had a very curious beginning with "The Cage." The first pilot for the original Star Trek series featured the U.S.S. Enterprise and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) but the iconic Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) was nowhere to be found. Instead the original captain of the famous Federation starship was none other than Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter). While Captain Pike is still remembered among the fan base, he has faded into obscurity among the general public. Yet his one moment in the spotlight was notable for setting the progressive and high-minded tone of the Kirk-led adventures that would follow.

The U.S.S. Enterprise receives a distress signal from the planet Talos IV and sends down a landing party to investigate. They find a group of survivors from a crashed scientific expedition but soon discover that they are actually just illusions except for a woman named Vina (Susan Oliver). Pike is soon captured by the Talosians in the hope that he, with the help of Vina, will help them repopulate their planet. The Talosians tempt the captain by portraying Vina in a series of alluring guises but Pike holds out and finally gains his freedom when he threatens to kill himself. The Talosians conclude that humans are too strong-willed and independent to be of use to them and allow Pike and his ship to leave orbit.

NBC originally rejected this pilot because they felt it was too cerebral. In comparing "The Cage" with the successive episodes of the original series, you can see their point. The Kirk episodes definitely had more action and energy to them. Watching Pike outwit the Talosians proves to be interesting but it can't match the entertainment value produced by a Captain Kirk fistfight. Hunter is wonderfully stoic and serviceable in his role but he lacks the passionate presence that Shatner brought to the series. Star Trek would have had a completely different identity had Hunter remained on the series. Still, "The Cage" is a fascinating footnote to a pop culture phenomenon and an important component of the Star Trek mythos. It is a solid outing from series creator Gene Roddenberry who truly was a visionary in believing that television was capable of producing a substantive and thought-provoking series.

The first pilot episode of the show, which featured a different captain (Jeffrey Hunter) as Pike would be worth watching for comparative purposes even if it was not an interesting episode. Much feels clumsy and disconcertingly different in this episode, but how could it be any other way, given that this was their first attempt, and so much was rejected by the suits? But a female second in command would have been really interesting (I'm not sure Barrett would have been up to the task though), as would a more emotional Spock and a more introverted Captain (I prefer Shatner's interpretation though).

The story is also good enough, with aliens reminiscent of the Vians from 'The Empath'. The episode explores the nature of reality and illusion, as well as the human need for companionship and love (themes also explored in 'The Empath', come to think of it). A strong if inevitably somewhat clunky episode, but one ultimately most valuable for the fact that it makes us ask ourselves, "What if.." (4 stars)

Those who are expecting the usual Kirk, Spock, and McCoy will be strangely surprised by this pilot episode for classic Star Trek.

Featuring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, this episode really began what was to become the phenomenon of Star Trek. Gene Roddenberry asked the networks if they wanted a "Wagon Train to the Stars". When he got the go-ahead from NBC, he made this episode to show execs what he had to offer. It's almost a wonder that a second pilot ever got made. Gene was not afraid of taking chances - he had a woman as second in command ("Number One") and a multi-ethnic crew far before the term "politically correct" ever was even heard of. NBC execs wanted Gene to get rid of the female second in command and "do something about those ears", and Gene responded with the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Star Trek, to my knowledge, is the only show that has ever been granted a second chance like that.

This episode is worth watching. Gene filmed both an introduction to the episode and an epilogue after the episode that really add to your understanding of what makes this episode stand out. Some people say Jeffrey Hunter was kind of wooden, but I enjoyed his sense of wonder, as was evidenced by the very short scene on the planet where he discovers the "singing plants". Spock is completely out of what was to become his character - he even shouts "The Women!" when the Talosians only allow the two females from the Enterprise to beam down to Pike's location. And Dr Piper has a few things in common with McCoy - he even deals out the occasional medical martini. Some of these characters will undergo further development later.

But it's the story that stands out. Although by SF standards, the "Adam and Eve" plot is trite and overused, the fresher spin on it provided by the Talosians with their great mental powers allow it to not be as stale. Their ability to make people believe their fantasies are real really make the show. Anyone who isn't a little turned on by the Green Orion Slave girl dance is brain dead. And there's even some back story to characters we will never see again with Pike's horse and his memories of another battle on another world.

This episode will eventually be cut up and reused in the only classic Trek two-parter, "Menagerie", but I'd recommend this VHS and DVD not only to classic Trek lovers (who will =have= to have it to complete their collections) but to general SF fans - it's fun to see where a classic show actually begins.

I am not a Trekkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I've always loved 'The Cage'. The story is one of the most interesting of all the episodes. For an early 1960's film on it's own, it borders on amazing. The whole episode is how should we say....dreamy. The entire cast seams to float along as if in a sleepy daze. It makes me wonder if the cast and director were all on some weird 60's drugs.

Sur-realism, memories, and mind control are the name of the game here, and the big headed aliens can make your life heaven or hell, depending on how you behave. I thought Captain Pike was great, much better than Pricard, but not quite as good as Kirk. Maybe he could have fit into the series somewhere, but I think he leaves a great legacy as a one-time captain.

Everyone thinks the 'big' scene is Mr. Spock smiling and grinning stupidly at some vibrating cardboard flowers, but they are wrong.

Susan Oliver as Vina, oh how beatiful she is. I have always been infatuated with green skinned slave girls anyway. I've made several bids for them, but always fall short cash wise (maybe a dylithium mine would help). Wathing Susan dance half-naked in her green body paint is much too seductive for 1960s and is possibly why the series was not picked up. I can see the producers now thinking "What the hell bloody show are you perverts trying to make? This is 1964 for crying out loud! Slave women who dance for their owners? Barbarians!"

Well I sit and watch Sweet Vina dance and dance and dance. I never get tired of her. If I was Pike I would have told Spock to fly off without me. I would have made sure the aliens kept her as the 'Green Illusion' and supplied them with a whole herd of slaves to do their manual labor. Sure when you saw her in her real state she was pretty messed up, but no worse than my ex-wife when she woke up with a hangover Sunday morning.

Well, I don't know why, but I'm writing four stars even though I don't think this is the right rating. I mean, this is good, but my parents disagree, which is okay, and yet I think I about agree with them. So I decided to stop thinking about this bla-bla in my mind, and write a review. Either way, this was pretty good.

Until 1964, "TV science fiction" meant kiddie fare--Captain Video, ray guns and bug-eyed monsters. Then along came Gene Roddenberry and his "'Wagon Train' to the stars", a quirky little series proposal called STAR TREK.

Not the "Star Trek" you know, mind you. This "pilot" episode (a test film designed to sell a series) may take place on a recognizable starship "Enterprise" and feature an embryonic version of Spock, but there the similarity ends. Captain Christopher Pike (played stiffly by Jeffrey Hunter) heeds an eighteen-year-old distress call coming from the planet Talos IV, where he finds a crude camp of aging, ragged survivors--and one beautiful young woman. He discovers too late that it is all a ruse, an illusion generated by the large-skulled Talosians. Pike finds himself a prisoner in a sort of interplanetary zoo, where the Talosians intend to breed him with the lovely young woman, Vina. While trying desperately to escape, he discovers the sad truth about the Talosian race--and Vina herself.

This first effort failed to sell the series, of course, and in retrospect it's not hard to see why. Leonard Nimoy had not yet found his character--he shouts his lines and on at least one occasion (heaven forbid) smiles. Jeffrey Hunter appears listless and bored, while John Hoyt as the original chief medical officer Phillip Boyce foreshadows many of the later character traits of Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Roddenberry, in the introduction, tries to tell us that Majel Barrett as "Number One" did not go over well because people were unused to seeing a female in a position of responsibility, but it is more likely they just did not like Barrett herself. She comes across as wooden and lacking in personality.

Still, "The Cage" shows great promise--the story itself is on a par with many of the later series episodes, and is in fact superior to some. The effects, though crude by today's standards, were astounding for 1964 (the pilot cost close to an unheard-of $500,000, and it shows). It was good enough to impress NBC executives--although they rejected the proposed story as "too cerebral", they encouraged Roddenberry to try again, with a different cast and more action. The result was the successful second pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before"--and a legend was born.

The viewer may be annoyed by the constant shifts from black and white to color (the missing color footage was found and restored years after this video went on the market--the rest was used in "The Menagerie") but it's worth the trouble to see how the most successful franchise in television history began.

Oddly enough, the idea that a network would order a second pilot for a failed series proposal is not as unusual as you may believe. The same year "The Cage" was filmed, rival CBS ordered yet another failed pilot remade with a mostly-new cast. Maybe you've heard of it--"Gilligan's Island." Oh well, you win some, you lose some...

This first episode of Star Trek (which didn't air) was the best. It was grander than an episode, it was more epic, with special effects and sets far surpassing the quality of the original series. Jeffery Hunter had a powerful screen presence and it is somewhat regrettable that he didn't continue to act in the series (but that would have meant no Shatner and we wouldn't want that). The story is excellent, very captivating. A look at what could have been if the pilot had sold.

"There's a way out of any cage, and I'll find it!" --Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike in "The Cage."

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! Jeffrey Hunter stars as Captain Christopher Pike in the original STAR TREK pilot, "The Cage." Hunter was good in THE SEARCHERS, better than you'd think as Jesus Christ in KING OF KINGS, but he's at his best as the Captain of the Enterprise! Even though the story is an obvious ripoff of FORBIDDEN PLANET, Hunter combines his All American good looks with a take charge attitude as he establishes himself as the ultimate STAR TREK man of action, as he barks orders, fires ray guns, battles space monsters, and is ultimately given a choice to mate with one of 3 different women by the intellectually advanced beings of Talos 4.

Unfortunately, after the filming of "The Cage," Hunter was talked out of the lead role in STAR TREK by his wife at the time, but even so this is the best episode of any of the STAR TREK series, and once it's over, you know that JEFFREY HUNTER IS THE REAL CAPTAIN OF THE ENTERPRISE!!!

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For "Star Trek" fans, this tape is - or at least, should be - required viewing, because this, my friends, is where it all started. Back in 1965, when he was trying to switch his focus from Westerns such as "Have Gun, Will Travel" to science fiction, Gene Roddenberry created his vision of a multiracial, sexually equal, peaceful future world, in which humanity took its rightful place out in the universe, with this rarely seen pilot, which was rejected by NBC for having been "too cerebral" - i.e., not violent enough. The starship Enterprise has an unfamiliar crew - a captain played by Jeffrey Hunter, and a mysterious and beautiful woman, known only as Number One, whose icy calm and mysterious presence predates the super-competent heroines of today (Scully, Xena, Buffy, etc.) by 30 years - but thankfully, Leonard Nimoy's immortal Vulcan science officer, Mr. Spock, is on board, although his jarringly emotional line readings seem bizarre to Trekkers who admire his later lack of visible passion. Talos IV is a war-ravaged planet, visited by the Enterprise crew, which is the home to telepathically powerful, but physically frail creatures, who wish to repopulate their shattered society by capturing Hunter's Captain Chris Pike (less stirring than William Shatner's James Kirk, but sympathetic and effective) and forcing him to mate with Vina, an orphan girl played by Susan Oliver; incredibly realistic illusions are employed as weapons against the spaceship's crew, but of course, you know who's going to win the contest, in the end. You can see how the show was evolving - energy weapons are referred to as "lasers" and the Enterprise uses "time warps" to get across vast space distances; perhaps most unusual for 1965 was not the use of aliens or persons of color, but the appointment of a woman to the second-in-command shot, something that made the network nervous back then - although "Deep Space Nine" would later put Major Kira in a similar role, it was just too far-reaching for Roddenberry to do so in the sexist Sixties. Check this show out; it's got action, humor, beautiful women, cool aliens, and of course, it's the first voyage of the starship Enterprise - what more do you need to know?