The Menagerie movie version from the 70's or 80's

[saint-antoine]

Hi,

I saw in a local repertory cinema here in Montreal a feature film version of the 2 part Menagerie episode. I saw it once 25 years ago and I do not remember the exact edits on it. Does anyone know anything about this version... was it shown on TV anywhere ? Any information will help...

Thanks

 

[STIntergalactic]

I'm quite sure they're just showing the regular two part (probably remastered) episode in the theater using a digital projector.

I saw it a couple months ago. It's not really a special "film version". Still pretty cool, though.

 

[ChristopherPike]

The original Battlestar Galactica (and best imo) had episodes cut together to form movies, which were shown at cinemas, drive-ins and the like. I've never heard of that happening with television Star Trek though. Maybe the projectionist or somebody at the cinema was a fan and got hold of some 16mm prints? That's was quite possible with some of the independently run ones, before the days of the multiplex.

 

[simmsbc]

The original Battlestar Galactica (and best imo) had episodes cut together to form movies, which were shown in cinemas. I've never heard of that happening with Star Trek though. Maybe the projectionist or somebody at the cinema was a fan and got hold of some 16mm prints? That's was quite possible with some of the independently run ones, before the days of the multiplex.

The original Battlestar was originally released theatrically in Canada in the summer of 1978 before it appeared on television and there is at least one scene that is different. It is one where starbuck and a girl are alone in some sort of tube. In the theatrical release it looks as if she is naked while the tv version shows here fully clothed.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Yep. They also followed that up with a sequel cut together from The Living Legend, a two-parter with Lloyd Bridges as Cmdr. Cain of the Battlestar Pegasus. They renamed it Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack and beefed up the action scenes by having Adama critically wounded at one point.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I saw in a local repertory cinema here in Montreal a feature film version of the 2 part Menagerie episode. I saw it once 25 years ago and I do not remember the exact edits on it. Does anyone know anything about this version... was it shown on TV anywhere ? Any information will help...

Here in Sydney (and Melbourne), Australia, from the mid 70s until about 2002, a guy owned all the episodes on 16mm and ran six (later five) episodes on the big screen every month at Star Trek marathons. But whenever he showed "The Menagerie", it was in its two parts.

We also had a special free gala Paramount screening of both halves on the big screen when ST returned to prime time TV in the early 80s. A full theatre of costumed ST fans!

Perhaps you just saw the two episodes, with just the closing credits of Part 1, the "Last time on Star Trek..." highlights and the opening credits of Part Two removed? There wasn't an official cinema version made (although Gene Roddenberry used to play his b/w workprint of "The Cage" at conventions he attended).

 

[saint-antoine]

I seem to remember that the "Menagerie" movie I saw all those years ago in a movie theater was from a 16mm print so it is possible that the movie was simply the regular episodes not edited together although I saw a preview from a TV station in New York City in the early 90's that showed "The Menagerie" as a feature film on one of it's late night movie programs...

 

[MGagen]

The pilot for BS Galactica was released as a theatrical movie in the States, too -- sometime after the original series premiered. This was an attempt to cash in on Star Wars fever. As a gimmick to draw in the fans, they released it in "Sensurround!"

What this means, for those who never experienced this short-lived theatrical "enhancement," was that the movie soundtrack had its bass boosted to deafening levels through subwoofers at "key points." For example, any time an exterior shot of the Galactica was shown, your fillings were practically rattled out of your head by the accompanying rumble.

It added nothing to the presentation, other than to distract you from noticing that the stars in the made-for-TV star fields looked like big, fuzzy cotton balls.

It also made the next few minutes of stilted dialog difficult to hear through your ringing, traumatized ears...

M.

 

[alchemist]

Was this the same gimmick they used for Earthquake?

The pilot for BS Galactica was released as a theatrical movie in the States, too -- sometime after the original series premiered. This was an attempt to cash in on Star Wars fever. As a gimmick to draw in the fans, they released it in "Sensurround!"

What this means, for those who never experienced this short-lived theatrical "enhancement," was that the movie soundtrack had its bass boosted to deafening levels through subwoofers at "key points." For example, any time an exterior shot of the Galactica was shown, your fillings were practically rattled out of your head by the accompanying rumble.

It added nothing to the presentation, other than to distract you from noticing that the stars in the made-for-TV star fields looked like big, fuzzy cotton balls.

It also made the next few minutes of stilted dialog difficult to hear through your ringing, traumatized ears...

M.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Was this the same gimmick they used for Earthquake?

Yes, which was amazing!

Sensurround (TM) was also featured in a movie thriller, "Rollercoaster".

 

[alchemist]

Was this the same gimmick they used for Earthquake?

Yes, which was amazing!

Sensurround (TM) was also featured in a movie thriller, "Rollercoaster".

I completely agree - Earthquake was a fantastic movie experience. Of course, the special effects work (e.g., the matte paintings) were cutting edge for the time.

I've never heard of Rollercoaster. I'll have to see if it's available on DVD. Of course, without the Sensurround, it may not be as good (I wonder if I could simulate it by turning up the volume of my subwoofer...)

 

[M'Sharak]

I've never heard of Rollercoaster. I'll have to see if it's available on DVD. Of course, without the Sensurround, it may not be as good (I wonder if I could simulate it by turning up the volume of my subwoofer...)

Really not a bad movie, that one -- good performances from George Segal and Timothy Bottoms both (and it's got Sparks performing on stage at Magic Mountain, besides. ) Never did see it in Sensurround™, though.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

When Earthquake came to the UK in about 1974 or so, parents were being cautioned that the experience was too extreme for children, who could be scarred for life by the "realness" of the experience.

Um... scarred by Charlton Heston's acting, maybe.

 

[alchemist]

Um... scarred by Charlton Heston's acting, maybe.

Yeah, he had "peaked" by this time.

I remember reading in the Making of Earthquake book that Sensurround was only one of several gimmicks that they considered for the film. Another one they seriously toyed with was having theater personnel drop styrofoam chunks of debris onto the audience's heads during the earthquake scenes. Really.

 

[Trekwatcher]

Just a note r.e. TOS on the big screen-

When I was on college we could get 16mm prints of TOS episodes from a rental house and show them in 500 person lecture halls on screens 20ft x 20 ft, which was really awesome. People packed the halls for these and they were great to watch.

I saw GR introduce the old print version of "The Cage" that he used to literally carry around to cons in the mid-1980's in NYC. He would talk about the making of the episode and then let it run straight through (it was on a few reels) and afterwards you could ask questions. When I saw him do this the print he had was quite worn and the colors were faded (with some B&W scenes included BTW) and clearly had been manually spliced at spots where he said the print had torn. Still, at that time it was unbeliveable to see this as there was no other outlet to do so. One of my best Trek experiences, ever!

 

[Stag]

Was this the same gimmick they used for Earthquake?

Yes, which was amazing!

Sensurround (TM) was also featured in a movie thriller, "Rollercoaster".

It was also used in another mid-70s Heston flick, Midway. I remember going to the theater to see the movie in the theater with my father, a WW2 combat vet and asking him if it was really that loud in war. I can still remember him sort of giggling and answering "Not really the same".

 

[Valin]

Just a note r.e. TOS on the big screen-
.

I saw GR introduce the old print version of "The Cage" that he used to literally carry around to cons in the mid-1980's in NYC. He would talk about the making of the episode and then let it run straight through (it was on a few reels) and afterwards you could ask questions.

I had the same experience, but a bit sooner. It was in late '77 and he was promoting ST:Phase II.

 

[Captain Robert April]

That was GR's work print of "The Cage", and it was all in B&W.

He also used to show three of the blooper reels during those lectures (one of the few times I've seen the third season reel).

 

[alchemist]

Just a note r.e. TOS on the big screen-

When I was on college we could get 16mm prints of TOS episodes from a rental house and show them in 500 person lecture halls on screens 20ft x 20 ft, which was really awesome. People packed the halls for these and they were great to watch.

I saw GR introduce the old print version of "The Cage" that he used to literally carry around to cons in the mid-1980's in NYC. He would talk about the making of the episode and then let it run straight through (it was on a few reels) and afterwards you could ask questions. When I saw him do this the print he had was quite worn and the colors were faded (with some B&W scenes included BTW) and clearly had been manually spliced at spots where he said the print had torn. Still, at that time it was unbeliveable to see this as there was no other outlet to do so. One of my best Trek experiences, ever!

I had a similar experience in college in the midwest. I remember getting confused as to why there was B/W footage mixed in with the color. I couldn't fathom as to why they would shoot parts of the pilot in B/W...

But it was still unbelievable to see Star Trek larger than life!

 

[Outpost4]

That was GR's work print of "The Cage", and it was all in B&W.

He also used to show three of the blooper reels during those lectures (one of the few times I've seen the third season reel).

I saw GR in '74 or '75 on this dog and pony tour with his B&W print and the blooper reels. He sold out the largest theater at Stanford. At first, I thought this might be what the OP was thinking about but it would have been hard to forget Roddenberry and he was always there for these shows. It was how he made a living.