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gdog243

The Doomsday Machine

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I've always loved this episode, when I was little, I got a kick out of seeing two starships together, then when I grew up, I understood the significance of the nuclear/doomsday weapon comparison.  Plus it has the killer line from Kirk and Decker... "There is no third planet!" "There was..but not anymore!"

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I must have seen that episode dozens of times, and that line from Decker always gives me chills.

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I saw a t-shirt that had that line of "There was...but not anymore!". It was from Star Trek Communicatior, I believe.

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I've always loved this episode, when I was little, I got a kick out of seeing two starships together, then when I grew up, I understood the significance of the nuclear/doomsday weapon comparison.  Plus it has the killer line from Kirk and Decker... "There is no third planet!" "There was..but not anymore!"

296266[/snapback]

 

I must have seen that episode dozens of times, and that line from Decker always gives me chills.

299647[/snapback]

 

I saw a t-shirt that had that line of "There was...but not anymore!". It was from Star Trek Communicatior, I believe.

302549[/snapback]

 

 

I agree that William Windom's lines at that time were memorable. That is what I remember most about that episode...that tortured remark!

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One of the things I always liked best about this episode was the pathos of Comm. Decker. His feelings of guilt over the perceived failure he caused in trying to stop the "Doomsday Machine" seems all too real...today we'd say that he had Shell Shock (or "PTSD"). The way they make the machine itself look is pretty cool, and they even have in under the X10 section here:

 

merzo.net

 

Interesting that it's the same length as a Borg Cube.

 

I always wish they'd have done a follow up to it in Voyager. Kirk speculated that there might be moe of these Doomday Machines flying around...I'd love to have seen the crew of Voyager find one and use it to plough through Borg space, or at least distract the Borg long enough for Voyager to get through.

 

Peter David wrote a great follow-up with his novel "Vendetta"which included the Doomday machine, the Borg....and Q. :(

Edited by Validus

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Hey all

I just went to the New Voyages site and it's up and running they did a face lift on the site so maybe that's why you didn't see it but it's on and I too love this episode and need to see it again. James Cawley who plays Kirk was here in Mississippi doing Elvis at a casino I got to meet him and got to know him a great guy to talk to, he use to work for paramont did TNG costumes. That boy can sew LOL hate that he had to leave but I hope to talk to him and his crew again OH how do you put a pic on here I have a pic of me and him at a con here in MS. Many thanks.

 

Brian

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I just met William Windom at a con here as well as the producer of the NewVoyages crew. They put out an awesome product. I've been talking about them for months now. This is a must-see for any TOS fan. Check them out at NewVoyages.com

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For those of us who can't download- is there another option......???

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YES! I saw the director of the films at a Trek con last weekend. He told me that if you email them, they will send you a dvd. I believe that you have to pay the postage though.

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This was a good episode, not one I'd count among my favorites but good none the less.

 

I'm sure most people know that Decker is the father of Commander Decker in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (Not the actor but in the Trek Universe)

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One of my favorite TOS episodes. Some Trivia from Wikipedia:

 

The character of Matt Decker parallels two other famous fictional ship captains, Captain Ahab (Moby Dick) for his "great white whale" obsession of the planet killer and Captain Queeg (The Caine Mutiny) for his fidgeting of computer tape cartridges as opposed to Queeg's steel balls. William Windom ad-libbed the fidgeting with the tape cartridges as a homage to Captain Queeg.

 

The incidental music of this episode was composed by Sol Kaplan and is considered one of the classic series' most signature themes. The distinctive martial cadence and innovative use of the muted trumpet and a powerful brass section made it one of the most stirring themes of dramatic tension. Major parts were recycled in later episodes when a sense of nail-biting suspense was called for in the direction.

 

The planet killer itself was created from a design by Greg Jein and consisted of a conical form covered with tin foil and photographed with special lighting to give it an alien texture. The inner core was a slow-motion matte overlay of a welding arc. Fans have dubbed the planet killer "The Great Space Cannoli".

 

This is the first episode of Star Trek to feature a Federation Starship other than the USS Enterprise.

The actual filming prop of the Constellation was constructed from an AMT model kit of the Enterprise. The Constellation's registry of NCC-1017 was produced by rearranging the Enterprise's registry (NCC-1701) on the model.

 

Writer Norman Spinrad conceived of the role of Decker being portrayed by Robert Ryan, who was unavailable due to other commitments.

In James Blish's adaptation of the episode (which changed Decker's first name to "Brand"), Decker did not sacrifice himself, but instead survived to admit his mistakes and voluntarily retire.

 

The episode is constantly ranked in the top five of any "top ten" polls taken amongst fans with regards to their favorite Star Trek episodes.

 

This episode was mentioned by James Doohan in a presentation at UNLV in 1986 (for the upcoming Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) as being his favorite episode of the original series.

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A very good ep. I admired Decker's determination to destroy the planet killer before it reached another system. He may have been a bit crazed, but he went out a warrior. :yahoo:

Actually, if you watch the NewVoyages episode "In Harms Way", You will see how Decker actually survived.... :dude:

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A very good ep. I admired Decker's determination to destroy the planet killer before it reached another system. He may have been a bit crazed, but he went out a warrior. :yahoo:

Actually, if you watch the NewVoyages episode "In Harms Way", You will see how Decker actually survived.... :dude:

 

 

 

It sounds like it is worth a look, but if he survived that kinda ruins "Doomsday Machine" for me. :P

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A very good ep. I admired Decker's determination to destroy the planet killer before it reached another system. He may have been a bit crazed, but he went out a warrior. :yahoo:

Actually, if you watch the NewVoyages episode "In Harms Way", You will see how Decker actually survived.... :dude:

 

 

 

It sounds like it is worth a look, but if he survived that kinda ruins "Doomsday Machine" for me. :P

Well, its not canon you know. But its a free download and the episode is extremely well done. Check it out and let me know what you think!.. :bow:

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I love this episode the acting all around is excellent and with the new sfx in the remastered lets just say if I had the money I would have bought the first season set.

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