Star Trek and Action Movies.     Lights! Camera! Action? Compared to the other science fiction franchise with which it shares half its name, Star Trek has always been distinctly contemplative, as much morality play as spectacular entertainment. But right from the start, there were moves to punch up the action. In 1965, the show’s original pilot was rejected by NBC executives for being too “cerebral.” A quarter-century later, Patrick Stewart expressed a similar view, begging Gene Roddenberry to offer the enlightened Captain Picard more opportunities for “sex and shooting.” By the time Picard was reinvented for the silver screen, the wise, unflappable diplomat had become a man of action, with bulging muscles rippling under his sweat-stained vest.

In this episode of Primitive Culture, hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett look at what Star Trek has borrowed from the action movie genre, focusing on the episodes “Starship Mine” and “Macrocosm,” and their debt to Die Hard and Aliens. What does it mean when Starfleet’s most idealistic captains are forced to forgo diplomacy and get out their guns? And to what extent can Star Trek absorb action-movie tropes without sacrificing its own unique qualities? Join us as we saddle up, lock and load, and get ready to boldly kick some alien butt. 

Chapters  Intro (00:00:00)   Ellen Ripley (00:10:05)  Sex and Shooting (00:16:00)  The Changing Face of Action (00:21:06)  Gender-blind Casting (00:31:05)  Evaluating the Episodes (00:34:28)  Adult Content (00:40:50)  Babes vs. Badasses (00:46:14)  Final Thoughts (00:54:13)   Hosts Tony Black and Duncan Barrett   Production Tony Black (Editor) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Amy Nelson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)