Arena

There was a Gorn captain a lizard, just imagine the size of his gizzard, but his clean and jerk, was no match for our Kirk, although catching flies he was a wizard.

Straying into uncharted territory in chase of an Alien vessel the captain of the Enterprise is cast onto a rocky vista in a battle to the death with his opposite number.

This episode really feel like 1966, while the others one didnt. But still I was entertain for a full hour It was a pretty great episode despique the old special effect.

The Enterprise finds itself drawn into conflict with another species.

This is a classic episode with strong themes, great character moments and some enjoyable camp value.

The story is about the violent nature of humans but contains a typically Star Trek slice of hope for a better future. The narrative is simple, starting with a fairly intense situation that twists it into something different and more compelling. I love how ingenuity and intelligence drives the combat scenes as opposed to physical prowess or firepower. For me the final resolution is what makes it special, delivering an important arc for Captain Kirk and making a beautiful statement about the positive side of humanity.

Although Kirk mostly takes centre stage, It is one of my favourite Spock episodes with some superb bridge moments where he respectfully and plausibly challenges Kirk. These exchanges are loaded with tension by making Spock's sharp observations fairly subtle and understated. Later on there are some great moments when Spock is in command but submits to the logic of being powerless to do anything, whilst McCoy finds himself overcome with emotion.

I enjoyed the camp moments for the unintended humour. The creature effects, (or lack of) being the most obvious with the iconic scenes of Captain Kirk battling stuntmen in an outrageous rubber suit. Also, one moment where Uhura screams in reaction to something is another great example.

Generally I think the visuals are good. I particularly enjoyed the use of the location to make a suitably alien environment. One iconic zoom out from Kirk scrambling up Vasquez Rocks is superb. The direction of the actors body language in the bridge scenes is also good considering they were just scenes of people watching something unfold on a big screen. It is done in a way that translates how the characters feel about the situation.

All performances are great, my favourite being Leonard Nimoy who is fantastic in all scenes. I'm not sure if it's intentional or not but it feels like this story is being seen from Spock's perspective and he lives and breathes the character. William Shatner is also strong as he is the main focus of everything. Deforest Kelley doesn't have as much screen time, but when McCoy contributes he is as great as ever.

Yeah, yeah... the futility of war, the awkward issue of territorial disputes, the arrogance of so-called superior beings -- all classic Star Trek themes, but let's be honest, what makes this a great episode is the fact that Kirk gets to fight the Gorn, a reptilian alien with great strength but the speed and agility of an arthritic sloth, the action taking place at the iconic Vasquez Rocks.

The Arena begins with a landing party beaming down to the Cestus III Outpost only to find the place obliterated. After fending off an attack by an unseen enemy, Kirk and his crew beam back to The Enterprise, which is also under attack from an unknown vessel. A chase ensues, during which both spaceships are halted mid-flight by a powerful species called The Metrons, who decree that the battle be decided by a fight to the death between the captains of both ships.

The trial by combat that follows is hilarious, the Gorn (a man in a dreadful rubber costume) hurling rocks with ease but throwing punches in slow motion, and Kirk constructing a handy-dandy home-made cannon from objects and minerals that he finds scattered about the area. In the end, Kirk and his cannon win the day, the Enterprise's captain impressing the Metrons by sparing the Gorn's life.

7/10. It's all very daft, especially how Kirk builds his weapon with such ease, but it's also very entertaining.

A convention used frequently is that of setting two opponents against each other, giving them no choice but to fight. The frequent accusations by the more advanced aliens that earth creatures are too violent is often counteracted by their own blood lust. In this episode, Kirk is pitted against the Gorn, a species of lizard man. Perhaps they could have done just a bit of work to animate his jaw, rather than making it look like a Halloween mask. This episode forces Kirk to draw on his knowledge of chemistry and warfare to face the Gorn. As the crew watches the fight continues. They parry and thrust their way. The strength of the episode has to do with lessons learned. McCoy gets in his usual shot at Spock for inaction. He seems to blame him whenever his logic doesn't solve the problem.