| Review : |
A classic man vs machine battle, or maybe Jaws before "Jaws" ever appeared (well, not quite). This is just as much a story about Kirk and Decker as it is about the machine. They end up commanding each other's ships, and William Shatner manages a very convincing (for him) facial expression when Kirk sees the Enterprise almost going down the throat of the Planet Killer. William Windom does fairly well as Matt Decker, reminding me of commanding officers from various war films who have seen their troops die in front of them. Clearly a terrible thing, and Decker's suicide fits the seemingly futile reaction, but ultimately turns out to be the crucial moment in defeating the enemy. Clever writing there. Some wonderful new visual effects, as ever, with everything much more dynamic, and the phasers seeming as effective as spotlights against that neutronium hull. Mind you, even the old version (the Constellation as a plastic model that had had a fight with a soldering iron) produced some dramatic scenes. (Pity the registration was 1017 rather than 1710, but that's just an annoyance.) OK, it was fairly simple, but had some hidden depths. Usually if an episode is simply a great watch, I give it four stars. The odd clever touch to the writing means that this deserves the full five. |
