It's amazing to realise that Michael Ansara went through hours of makeup for less than a minute of screen time to reprise a role from a show he did back in the 60s. A TRUE WARRIOR!!!
I love when actors are so dedicated that they know how important their characters are to come back and play those characters again. You almost never see it from big time actors as they think they are too good, don't want to be stuck with the same character too long, or they are simply not dedicated and are in it for the fame and money. I admire a few of my marvel characters like Sam Jackson, Scarlett, and Chris H. These characters are critical moving forward to keep the illusion alive. Replacing them like War Machine and the Hulk, and I know it was not always in their control, ruins the illusion for me.
Star Trek Trivia...Michael Anasara was the only actor to play the same role in the original Star Trek, Star Trek DS9, and Star Trek Voyager. Majel Barrett's image and/or voice was seen or heard in all three series (I'm not sure about Enterprise) but only Kang was on-screen in all of them.
@@r0bw00d nope, in tos she was a different character. She was nurse Chapel (and also the first officer in the original pilot I think...), but yeah, she was luaxana troi in tng and 2 episodes of ds9
"Batten down the hatches" on a fucking spaceship? If you're "hatches" are open to space, you've got bigger problems than a Klingon warship chasing you.
Voyager was actually okay despite the lost in space premise. It was Enterprise and Discovery that are abominations that should've ended early in their gestation but some reason Paramount just keeps handing Trek over to JJ Abrams & Alex Kurtzman.
I remember being excited about this episode when it was announced, but Voyager's writers stuffed so much technobabble in the characters' mouths that it just didn't fit the movie era setting. Lost opportunity, sadly.
+Tyranusfan +OpenMawProductions I agree. As a 30th anniversary episode it was okay and it was nice to see Sulu and Rand and have that brief dream of what an Excelsior-set show would have been like but it missed the mark for me. As you say, the technobabble doesn't fit the TOS era of movies. Thankfully DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations" and TNG movie "First Contact" more than made up for the 30th anniversary celebrations in my humble opinion.
Course..what's he gonna do start a war over what his counterpart claims is a malfunction? Then he'd be the aggressor...hence why when he says I insist Sulu takes the hint and diplomatically demurs saying they could use assistance. All lovely cloak and dagger. Kang knows what they are up to and knows Sulu will try to wriggle away and Sulu knows Kang knows but has to try anyway. Great exchange.
@@donarthiazi2443 I think to be fair there wasnt much else. Met him in the nebula, knocked him off course and then "fly her apart then" to reach Enterprise and kill Plummer's Klingon Chang. Quite a few Klingons got done up for not much lines, it's only really Hertzler and O'Reilly who got meaty recurring parts and lines. Even the Duras sisters didn't get that much but were more recurring. Also iirc this was actually a flashback via Voyager and we never saw this in the movie but I could be wrong.
The moment you realize that, to make this episode happen they A: Rebuilt the 'Undiscovered Country' Excelsior bridge, and B: brought back not just Takei, but also every extra they could find that worked on the bridge scenes in that movie. Say what you will about Voyager, but they never did anything by half measures!
A year ago, you left a comment about preferring to watch a series based on Sulu and the Excelsior. Have you ever read Peter David's Star Trek novella 'The Captain's Daughter'? It's pretty awesome. ^_^ Cheers
calcmandan Nice thought But the Original cast had no scripts coming thier way so no New ST movies were planned TNG was the result in 1987 Yes there were many missed opportunities for great actors like George Takei and Sulu was one of the fan favourites this should have turned into a letter writing campaign! A shame that Trek was high jacked by the likes of Abrams and Fuller We the Core Fans must keep the fires of hope alive Live Long and Prosper 💚👽
@@RCAvhstape sounds like his level of pettiness honestly. I just wonder if Takai ever realized that if he did get his captain's chair back in ST2 (the first time he claims Shatner screwed him) he would have been out of a job, and most likely never asked back. no room in ST3, 4, or 5 for a second lead ship. I'm not saying Shatner screwed him. i'm also not saying he didn't, i just think Shatner was a key reason Takai had a job in star trek for as long as he did (intentionally or unintentionally i cant say) Just a thought.
I have always felt that the original series was done as a sort of abstraction on the idea of future style. A future completely unknown, yet with references to traditional structure, just enough to be relatable. The future was more sophisticated than today with more emphasis on comfort. Everything becomes more familiar over time and so style and form become more subtle in the future. I wish the movies and newer TV shows built more on this idea. But, that is not what happened. These uniforms, as I understand it, were the idea of Nicholas Meyer and are more of a historical Navy reference. Not as futuristic or modern looking.
Red General They were my favorite. Back in my convention days I had one custom made. Sharp and military in style but hot as hell. Made of wool. Lol won’t fit anymore.
So MUCH potential blown by the producers! This would have been an excellent launching point for a Captain Sulu or "Excelsior" series, with Captain Kang, Koloth, and Kor making regular appearances. Would have also seen much more of Rand.
@@-M0LE lol No one can block producers when they believe it would make money, they knew better- Sulu is a great character but in no way a lead character, he needs someone to work off of, he doesn't produce enough emotion and drama (Only off screen!!)and in fact that is one of the things I liked most about him, in the face of danger and dying he always was ridiculously calm- i felt safe with him navigating the ship lol, I was little when the originals aired and it was rather realistic and scary to us back then-
For those not aware, this episode was meant as a backdoor pilot for an Excelsior series. It ultimately didn't pan out, though, and we ended up with Enterprise instead.
I didn’t even know this episode existed! I was looking up captain sulu from undiscovered country and this was the first hit. Thanks for that information
Adding my voice to the chorus bemoaning the studios turning their back on the gold mine that Captain Sulu was. It's an obvious series that somehow never happened. Every one of the few seconds he got in the movies and the other series is memorable. "I'm sorry, Captain, your message is breaking up..."
I love how Janeway is observing everything from the work stations, the crew and Capt Sulu himself. You can truly tell she is stoked to be an observer in the 23rd Century in Tuvok mind to see first hand how things worked or how the Capt ran their ship during those times.
He did lots of voice over work. The SuperFriends and The Herculoids instantly come to mind. He also played a half Indian ranger (I don't remember the name of the character) on a couple episodes of "The Rifleman" His character got a spin off series " Law of the Plainsman". There's about 20 episodes, if I remember right. The episode with a young Don Grady (Robbie, from "My Three Sons") was an excellent story about dealing with racism as a "half breed" lawman. EDIT Sam Buckheart, and he was full Apache. My bad, I haven't seen the series in years
FRY: "Well, usually on the show someone would come up with a complicated plan, then explain it with a simple analogy." TUVOK: "If we modulated a positron beam to a subspace frequency, it would trigger a thermo-chemical reaction in the sirillium." SULU: "Like tossing a match into a pool of gasoline!" FRY: "Of course! It's so simple!"
"Tuvok, if I were to meet these captains, such as Kirk , and the rest, and explained what the 24th century Star Fleet was like, ...id be embarrassed by their laughter." "Indeed you would Captain ." Janeway. after her " Tuvok experience".
@@johnbockelie3899 it would be no difference than if you were to take ww2 navy officers and plucked them into 2021 , they would be on the floor rolling in laughter
Ahh, I remember this episode. ONLY in a Star Trek series can *flashbacks have malfunctions.* I'd give anything to see Sulu on the Excelsior as its own show. (Tuvok would be a regular, everyone in the bridge scenes would get an expanded role - we even know some of their names!) Occasionally we'd see the Enterprise-B with Demora, and we'd get cute moments with them (and with Tim Russ's Ent-B bridge officer; he'd get a name and a backstory and people mistaking him and Tuvok for each other.) Grace Lee Whitney is no longer with us, but I love the idea of Janice Rand ascending from "occasionally hands Kirk stuff" to "big damn hero" entirely too much. Does she have a similar-looking relative, or someone else we'd accept as a successor? I'd love to see COMMANDER Rand hanging in there with the young 'uns just like Sulu undoubtedly would.
I like that, it was a good character who always stayed calm in deadly situations. But, he never came across as a leader the character was at his best as a very loyal crewmen that took instruction and you could trust he'd do what needed to get it done- i seriously think sulu would have made the greatest engineer- he would have pumped them up to w12 !
@@connorcore7008 By the later part of the run, it was less formal. The shirt was gone and a few frills were stripped. But the formality is part of the point, I wager.
What potential there was for a Star Trek: USS Excelsior series! What could have been. Saddening that Grace Lee Whitney and Michael Ansara are gone. Class acts.
Ooof, love his style. He's got massive charisma, timing, wit~ just a huge presence on the bridge. Love how even Janeway didn't say a thing in the face of a legend.
When Sulu said “Like tossing a match into a pool of gasoline” it reminded me of when Futurama mentioned that Star Trek always had a simple metaphor/comparison for wild solutions (“Like putting too much air into a balloon!”).
@@Angry.General1461 She is in Tuvok's mind. Tuvok has risked to die for a repressed memory, and the only one to heal was to mind meld with someone who help him stabilizing this memory; since Janeway was a good friend of Tuvok, he asked her to take part to the meld and they had finished during the period where he served under Sulu; she is only seeing a memory of Tuvok. Guido.
@Deep Center Field Press I haven't minded the reboots, could have been better but they did their job and kept me entertained. I agree the 3rd installment despite having some good potential, fell flat.
Man, STDiscovery should have been about Cap. Sulu getting the command of a new type of starship I surely could have watched it. I watched a couple of chapters of STD and couldn't continue, it simply isn't a Star Treck series
@@robpl718 I watched it and everyone of the "awesome" serie is a joke, had never seen so much insubordination not one of the characters belongs to the Starfleet also, how difficult and logical could have been to say to the captain: "Cap. what I will tell is top secret, the way the Vulcan dealed with the Klingon was attacking them because they respect strength and bravery" instead of plain mutiny, also, she studied with vulcans. Is clear that the writers doesn't know much about ST. It just isn't a Star Treck series, put it another name and it could have a better acceptation.
Remember when Star Trek actually cared about visual continuity, recreating the Excelsior bridge, using the movie uniforms, aligning it to fit perfectly with The Undiscovered Country. Same when Scotty saw the 1701 bridge on the holodeck in Relics. Shame those days are gone and those behind Nu Trek couldn’t care less. Everything has to be ‘updated’
There is a rumour that because of legal bs they can't make things look exactly the same. Something about 2 parties owning the same IP so they'd have to pay up every time an og design was used
@@andrewthorne3570That may explain why in the DS9 episode Trial and Tribbulations the doors inside Enterprise 1701 opened and closed slower than in the original 60's series.
@@kamb26 The rights are split between CBS and Paramount now. Plus they're under contract with Kurtzman and his crappy bad robot company. They don't get merch rights for any new Trek unless there's an X% of change. There's videos on here that better explain it.
Pretty sure they re-merged CBS and Paramount since All Access is now Paramount. They're just keeping the trashy aesthetic because Klutzman is a prideful jackwagon and too petty to make any kind of admission that his take on Trek is garbage. Especially since he inexplicably had his contract picked back up, like Kathleen Kennedy. These execs seem to think that turning away and turning off huge swaths of an existing fanbase is a winning strategy.
This scene also shows off the oft-unnoticed 3D viewscreen. When Janeway gets close to it and our audience POV shifts, Kang is no longer looking straight ahead. It's such a subtle detail that is never mentioned outright in Trek.
Yes they should have made the Star Trek series call Star Trek: Excelsior featuring Captain Sulu and his crew after Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager or Star Trek: Enterprise ended.
The longevity of Japanese people is quite phenomenal!!!!! seaweed, fresh fish, rice wine, they live longer than everybody else. Happy birthday captain sulu, no need for the care home just yet 👍
Tamila Shultz He's an established character with his own acting style in Trek. I don't know how "coming out" makes him an asshole, but I think an Excelsior series would have been awesome, much better than the JJverse movies or the more recent trek series.
@@remo687 I bet that he talks about his sexual orientation just because it is the next good thing to talk about in Hollywood these days. I bet he could have done with not talking about it while it being accepted at the same time.
@@quoniam426 "these days"? He's been out for over a decade. Park the homophobia someplace else. Maybe everyone could have done with you not talking at all.
I read online once that a scene similar to this was written for Star Trek IV, but was cut. Glad they gave it a place in this episode. They REALLY should have given that Captain Sulu series a try after the movie and this episode. It would have been very interesting to see.
Though different design, the original Excelsior chairs in Undiscovered Country were rollers as well. After the wave hit, we see one of those chairs scooting across the floor while the crewman did a dive under the console
Man, your reading sucks. Or you need glasses. Exactly where in my comment did you see the word "master"? How in the hell can you read one thing and see something totally different?
Actually l really liked Enterprise. Nothing even remotely compares to TOS for me but l thought Enterprise came the closest to capturing the spirit of classic Trek. I liked Voyager at first, despite the fact that the ship is ugly as sin, looking like the misbegotten love child of a garden slug and a two legged toad, but it grew stale pretty fast for me. The characters in NG l always found to be extremely two dimensional, shallow, contrived, and not even remotely likeable. Conspiracy and Yesterday's Enterprise are the only NG episodes l really liked. Plus the Enterprise D is almost as ugly and disproportionate as Voyager. Sisko is a good character, but the whole Ferengi thing spoiled DS9 for me. So that pretty much leaves that which unfortunately never was - Star Trek: Excelsior. Saaad.
@@frankberst9849 Enterprise started getting decent with season 3, but sadly got cancelled before we could get a season 5 to make the series actually good overall. Voyager dragged on too long and the captain basically became a genocidal dictator. People say DS9 is the least like Gene's vision, but Voyager is the one that takes the bigger dump on the ideals of the Federation. I didn't mind the Ferengi overall, but some of the worst DS9 episodes revolved around them. It was still an improvement over the caricature they'd started out as TNG got better after the first couple of seasons, but the characters often were tropes instead of people more often than not. Worf and Data were probably the best regular characters on the show, since they actually had interesting things to do. Despite Patrick Stewart's best efforts, Picard was often a bit too wooden. Movie Picard is a lot better and show Picard does manage to make his way to #3 after a while. Riker was just Kirk minus all the parts that made Kirk good. They really wasted a good opportunity by not promoting Commander Riker and bringing in other duplicate Riker.
I agree with a lot of that. Riker is by far my least favorite Trek character of all. As l have posted elsewhere, he's written and portrayed as a thoroughly unlikable, smug, cocky, arrogant, sarcastic, acerbic prick, whose overinflated opinion of himself doesn't coincide with his actual status and accomplishments. In short a colossal flaming asshole punk. Plus he's in love with Troi the Space Barbie so what does that tell you
@@InfernosReaper Ya instead of cratering in the ratings with Enterprise if they did this with Sulu coming back and all that it would have been huge. What a mistake.
George Takei was signing his autobiography in London Forbidden Planet Store in the mid 90s and there was rumours abound that he would be in a Voyager story.He signed my book and i asked him direct if the rumour was true and he said "it's the first i've heard about it" with that smile of his. He must of known,crafty George.
I met Mr. Takei at a Star Trek convention. He was a most wonderful person to meet, shake hands, and have a picture with. He is a veteran actor who has starred in many shows and movies. Bad actor? Serious? Do present your filmography in comparison before you judge another's accomplishment.
I met him at a convention very briefly shortly after the hot mess that was Star Trek 5 came out. He was 2/3rds of the way through a bottle of red wine and 3 sheets to the wind, but he was very kind and generous with his time. His politics irritate me, but he is a nice man.
@Mr. Shlock Deforest Kelley, while perhaps not particularly talented had the benefit of having acted in Film and TV for 20 years prior to Trek. This made him easily the best actor in the cast.
only practical ship for me is voyager, the defiant and the borg cubes/spheres. those are bulky,looking tough from miles aways. all other are just streched to nonsen at least in one direction and have ship parts connected with thin gizmos.
Sulu was the best Captain/acting or otherwise of any of them. He didn't take crap from anyone. He didn't hesitate to lock and load. Should have had his own show.
George Takei is a perfect example of someone's sexuality having nothing to do with his professional skills...he doesn't let it get in his way...why should we?
Science fiction represents some of the highest tier thinking humanity has to offer. While it is true that sci-fi is entertainment, it is cerebral and exciting at the same time. ... Whereas sexuality represents some of the lowest, basest, most animalistic tendencies of humankind. There is nothing forward-thinking or philosophical about it. To mix the two is inappropriate, to say the least.
It is nice to see Sulu becoming a captain of the Voyager and putting his years under Captain Kirk to use. Please post only positive comments over here. ™
An Enterprise-C series would be interesting. Enough future tech to look futuristic. Not TOS mechanical computers and alien androids built with photographic film and magnetic data tapes. Not ENT retro tech with 1990s-era chunky "flat" display panels. But also not enough magical future tech (like replicators and holodecks and isolinear candy cubes) to sleaze and cheese through uninteresting fiction.
My favorite ship (USS Excelsior), my favorite captain (Captain Hikaru Sulu), my favorite bridge and my favorite uniform. I always loved the red tunics. Ah, the irony of the red shirts...
Mine too! Ship, captain, uniforms, bridge, everything! Scotty was prejudiced I think Excelsior is beautiful. Sulu could have done well in a series about a three year mission cataloguing gaseous anomalies in the Beta quadrant. I'd like to know more about his first few years as captain. They could have had an episode that deals with Sulu reacting to Kirk's death, as he was presumed dead following the Enterprise-B's fatal encounter with the Nexus---and maybe they could have had a memorial for him at least.
I love the camerawork they did in this scene. The closeups revealed Sulu's craftyness and cunning, among with the tension, then the confidence of a plan well-conceved and executed.
Eh... I don't. I have hated the constant insistance of putting the camera right in people's faces ever since the late 90's, ESPECIALLY in action scenes,... and they've been doing it ever since.
