Even non-Trekkies likely know the "Star Trek" episode "Arena". That's the episode wherein Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is chosen by a godlike alien species to go to Vasquez Rocks in California -- I mean a distant alien world called Cestus III -- to fight a lizard-like alien called a Gorn. The Gorn captain was voiced by Ted Cassidy and played by stunt performers Bobby Clark, Gary Combs, and Bill Blackburn. The fight between Kirk and the Gorn is notoriously cheesy, with the two performers making awkward and slow movements that are about as thrilling as watching two people wrestle with shopping carts at their local grocery store.
In order to best the Gorn in combat, Kirk must employ some long-forgotten geological knowledge, creating flash powder and explosions from compounds in the local rocks. He constructs a rudimentary mortar cannon out of a bamboo shoot and manages to blast his foe...
In order to best the Gorn in combat, Kirk must employ some long-forgotten geological knowledge, creating flash powder and explosions from compounds in the local rocks. He constructs a rudimentary mortar cannon out of a bamboo shoot and manages to blast his foe...
- 12/3/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Did you know that the Gorn have lips?
Evidence presented in the 1967 "Star Trek" episode "Arena" might stand counter to that assertion, as the mask worn by (alternately) Bobby Clark, Gary Combs, and Bill Blackburn didn't have an articulated jaw or mouth. Indeed, the Gorn mask has been widely giggled at by Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. The fight between the Gorn captain and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is usually considered broadly campy, what with its stiffness and slowness.
But the Gorn -- an aggressive reptilian species -- actually do speak their own language. In "Arena," the Gorn captain (voiced by Ted Cassidy) spoke to Captain Kirk using a miniature, hand-held translation device. He explained that the Federation had set up a colony on Cestus III, which was unknowingly a Gorn world. The Gorn, rather than negotiate or file a complaint, merely laid waste to the colony and killed everyone living there.
Evidence presented in the 1967 "Star Trek" episode "Arena" might stand counter to that assertion, as the mask worn by (alternately) Bobby Clark, Gary Combs, and Bill Blackburn didn't have an articulated jaw or mouth. Indeed, the Gorn mask has been widely giggled at by Trekkies and non-Trekkies alike. The fight between the Gorn captain and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) is usually considered broadly campy, what with its stiffness and slowness.
But the Gorn -- an aggressive reptilian species -- actually do speak their own language. In "Arena," the Gorn captain (voiced by Ted Cassidy) spoke to Captain Kirk using a miniature, hand-held translation device. He explained that the Federation had set up a colony on Cestus III, which was unknowingly a Gorn world. The Gorn, rather than negotiate or file a complaint, merely laid waste to the colony and killed everyone living there.
- 8/25/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
This post contains spoilers for "Hegemony," the season 2 finale of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Although it takes place in a vast, exotic galaxy full of high-tech starships, strange aliens, holodecks, and food replicators, "Star Trek" has often functioned best when it's straining against a budget. Not that plain green monochrome skies looked good, or that styrofoam rocks added texture and dimension to the drama, but the franchise's writers tended to find more interesting stories when limited to six starship sets and a handful of dedicated actors. When the show did want to visit an alien world, the studio typically bundled the cast and crew onto vans and drove to a natural preserve just outside of Los Angeles to shoot. Kirk (William Shatner) famously fought the Gorn captain at Vasquez Rocks. The planet from "The Paradise Syndrome" was merely the Franklin Canyon Reservoir. The locations are well-known to SoCal residents.
Although it takes place in a vast, exotic galaxy full of high-tech starships, strange aliens, holodecks, and food replicators, "Star Trek" has often functioned best when it's straining against a budget. Not that plain green monochrome skies looked good, or that styrofoam rocks added texture and dimension to the drama, but the franchise's writers tended to find more interesting stories when limited to six starship sets and a handful of dedicated actors. When the show did want to visit an alien world, the studio typically bundled the cast and crew onto vans and drove to a natural preserve just outside of Los Angeles to shoot. Kirk (William Shatner) famously fought the Gorn captain at Vasquez Rocks. The planet from "The Paradise Syndrome" was merely the Franklin Canyon Reservoir. The locations are well-known to SoCal residents.
- 8/10/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
It's something of a cliche and a bit of a lie when actors say they do their own stunts. If you want to know what that really looks like, watch the end credits of any film Jackie Chan made in his Hong Kong prime. You'll see him break various extremities and get carried out on a stretcher more than once. The only Hollywood star with that kind of daredevil spirit working today is Tom Cruise, who seems determined to keep making Mission: Impossible movies well into his autumn years or die trying.
John Wayne was an ornery, prideful cuss who wanted to look like an authentic badass on the big screen, but he knew when to defer to his longtime stunt double Chuck Roberson. This was a practical matter as much as anything. If The Duke took a nasty spill, production could be shut down for months, which was anathema...
John Wayne was an ornery, prideful cuss who wanted to look like an authentic badass on the big screen, but he knew when to defer to his longtime stunt double Chuck Roberson. This was a practical matter as much as anything. If The Duke took a nasty spill, production could be shut down for months, which was anathema...
- 11/28/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" features the third television appearance of the reptilian Gorn. It also marks the development of the third method used to bring the scary lizards to life.
The original Gorn, the villain of the classic "Star Trek" episode "Arena," was portrayed by stuntmen Bobby Clark and Gary Combs. The pair wore a rubber get-up designed by Wah Chang. When the Gorn reappeared almost 40 years later in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "In a Mirror Darkly," the crew used CGI and motion capture instead. In "Strange New Worlds," the crew combined practical and digital effects, using puppetry and CGI...
The post How Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Brought The Gorn to Life appeared first on /Film.
The original Gorn, the villain of the classic "Star Trek" episode "Arena," was portrayed by stuntmen Bobby Clark and Gary Combs. The pair wore a rubber get-up designed by Wah Chang. When the Gorn reappeared almost 40 years later in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" episode "In a Mirror Darkly," the crew used CGI and motion capture instead. In "Strange New Worlds," the crew combined practical and digital effects, using puppetry and CGI...
The post How Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Brought The Gorn to Life appeared first on /Film.
- 7/11/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Sosie Bacon may only be 21, but she has a lot going for her. On top of being 2014's Miss Golden Globe, through her father Kevin Bacon, she is connected to nearly everyone in Hollywood - including every other previous Miss Golden Globe, most of whom are also the daughters (or sons) of industry power players. And while some have a connection through their famous parents, others, such as Laura Dern (who happens to have famous parents), are also connected through their own work. Don't believe us? Here's how you get from young Ms. Bacon to all of her famous predecessors,...
- 1/11/2014
- by Nate Jones
- PEOPLE.com
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