One of Kirk's best lines. Kirk doesn't care if you're a Commodore or the last salt sucking monster in the universe - Don't mess with his crew or his ship!
+Finn McCool That line is one of my favorite in Star Trek. It's a reminder that starship captains aren't just cogs in the machine, that the responsibility entrusted to them transcends obedience alone, and requires true judgment--an easy virtue to practice but one of the hardest of all virtues to master. There are few people fit to command a starship, and those who do are made of nerves and genius. It's probably why so many of them snap.
"You may file a former protest for Starfleet Comand, assuming we'll survive to reach a star base. But YOU ARE RELIEVED!" There will never be another Spock!!!!!
Somewhat agreed but Picard's the only one who could actually keep a command. Or Janeway. Actually, she's the one I'd most want to work for because she was the most fair. And I'm a guy.
I would not mess with a Borg either--unless it was the less Tech version of 7 of 9 ----any red blooded Kirk lover would have to honor his image by talking and then "taking" action with that lovely dish!
5 лет назад
Also the original Spock in this series is super strong. So you really shouldnt mess with him.
How did that guy make his grade without knowing that the species that is the Federations biggest ally never lie? He wouldn't dare? Like you said, Vulcan's don't bluff!
Scotty took charge earlier in "A Taste of Armageddon" when he was ordered by Ambassador Fox to lower the screens. "I can have you sent to a penal colony for this!" "That you can, sir, but I won't lower the screens!" Of course somehow he was able to transport down within the hour. Maybe they moved to a higher orbit and lowered the screens or just forgot they couldn't beam while the shields were up?
"I order you to relieve Commodore Decker on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise!" The Captain of a ship, when exercising his command, as Kirk is doing, outranks everyone on the ship.
@@LordTalax No, I'm afraid Chuck Modzinski is right on this. I quote Robert A. Heinlein (a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and commissioned naval officer, who took up science fiction writing after he was permanently retired for disability when he suffered permanent scarring to his lungs from tuberculosis). This is from a letter he wrote to Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, who had sought his input on their novel "The Mote in God's Eye." "A captain of a ship can never have less than total responsibility and authority over his ship. If a captain disagrees with an admiral’s order-even if it’s the flagship-he makes his own decision, and accepts the consequences!.!.!.!even if it means that he is cashiered later or merely milled." "Damn it, gentlemen, the skipper of a ship is senior to everyone aboard no matter what his rank-even if it’s the flagship and the flag officer is aboard. He is a monarch, and nobody outranks him, ever. One skipper (Captain Hines) once ordered his own flag officer (Admiral Nulton) to get off the bridge and stay off, and to confine himself to the flag bridge and admiral’s country, not to go anywhere else in that ship-and made it stick. An admiral does not give orders to a skipper under his command; he gives them to the ship, by signal or other formal channels-but not to the skipper as a person." On his authority as captain of the Enterprise, Kirk COULD pull rank on Decker, on the _Enterprise._ He couldn't do it anywhere else, but he could do it there. Kirk is captain of the _Enterprise,_ and concerning the _Enterprise,_ his authority would be supreme unless or until he was formally relieved by Starfleet Command, or unless he was relieved by his first officer for cause (and the ship's doctor would be asked to provide evidence regarding his fitness for duty, if that’s the issue).
There's another consideration. Strictly speaking, the only person who can relieve a commanding officer is the person who put him in command to begin with or his replacement. Decker would not have just been able to take command so suddenly! A good scene, however.
@@tukangiseng And one of the things I love about this is Classic Trek (and TNG I guess is classic now) was at least somewhat consistant with this. Picard pulled the same move on Adm. Pressman when he ordered Picard to take the ship into the asteroid in search of the Pegasus. He flat out told the Adm that if he judged the danger to be too great, they were out and he could kick rocks and bitch about it to command.
Note how Decker is always rubbing the discs together. Captain Queeg reference. William Windom was superb, ad-libbing all the way, and the show was all the better for it. My favorite episode.
@@patrickmcshane7658--What's yours? Poor thing, you just cannot enter a rational conversation without attempting to snark, can you? Major fail, bucko. For your personal edification and elucidation--since you seem to need it--actors are not more or less special than any of the other hundreds of thousands of men--and women--who served the needs of the nation in WW II. Since "The Caine Mutiny" was released in 1954 (after WW II), Windom's military service had NOTHING to do with his little bit of body language in twirling the discs instead of those little metal balls. It's more likely that he drew his military bearing from his military service than anything else and EVERYONE who has ever served in our nation's branches of service can do THAT.
He was supposed to be a version of Captain Ahab, played by Robert Ryan, but William Windom made him much more reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart’s Captain Queeg, with those data discs instead of the ball bearings.
This is one on Star Trek's best episodes. The acting by William Windom is first rate. The sub plot between him and Kirk along with Decker's obsession at redeeming himself and the guilt he felt for losing his crew makes this episode one of its best. You see how much Kirk values his ship and how even though he disagrees Spock always follows regulations. Windom was a fine actor in his own right.
+Bertram Attles yes, I was just thinking that myself, an excellent performance from the gut playing Decker. It made the episode and stuck in my mind for years. Come to think of it, I also like the performances of the three guys in "Shadow of the Gun", also.
"Mister Spock, relieve the Commodore of duty, confine him to quarters and tell him to shave. Also, have security smack him around a little in the turbolift." James T. Kirk
When Spock says, "Commodore Decker, you are relieved of command." I love how the communications officer's (woman in red) countenance changes as she radiates this confidence , as though she was thinking, "Take That Commodore!" Great episode, great scene and great performance by Windom.
+Straight8S - Many years ago I got my boss (who was a Star Trek fan like me) to go home when he had the flu by doing Spock's line relieving Commodore Decker
The Kirk of the standard Star Trek universe knew the regulations backward and forward (unlike the Chris Pine version). That's how he was able to get by with appearing to ignore them so often. He knew which ones Star Fleet would enforce to the letter and which ones that were on the books but could be bent and how far they could be bent before they broke.
There was 3 ways of doing things. The right way, the wrong way and Kirk's way. Kirk's way got things done, even if he pissed off Starfleet in the process.
Awesome performance by William Windom....he deliberately used the small cassettes being fiddled in his hands as an homage or connection to the fiddling with the ball bearings in the Caine Mutiny.
Christopher Thorkon this episode was good. but, one of if not the best trek episode was one titled Duet from Deep space 9. the actor playing the accused cardasdian, his performance was better than the actor playing decker.
I agree. But a close second would have been Robert Conrad aka James West in The Wild, Wild West. He was very similar in attitude and balls as James T. Kirk.
Scenes like this demonstrate what made the original Star Trek so great. Coming out in the 1960s, a lot of the writers had military experience having served in WWII or in Korea. They understood the chain of command. What is interesting is within the Navy, there are precedents that have occurred similar to this scene. While there is a chain of command in the Navy, the captain has a certain level of autonomy over his own ship. And they can in certain instances over-rule an order from a superior officer if they feel it is in the best interest of the ship. A great example of this from WWII was when the Battleship Bismark fought the Battlecruiser Hood. The Admiral on board the Bismark had been given strict orders not to engage enemy battleships when they were out in the open sea because the other navies were far larger than the German navy. As a result, when the engagement between Bismark and Hood started and Hood was already firing on the Bismark, the Admiral refused to give the order to return fire. Finally, the Captain of the Bismark stepped and said, and I quote: "I will not have my ship shot out from under my own ass!". And he over-ruled the Admiral and the Bismark opened fire. Eventually destroying the Hood.
Kirk: "NOT with my ship you don't!" Spock: "Commodore Decker, you are relieved of command." Decker: "I don't recognize your authority to relieve me." Spock: "Commodore, I do not wish to place you under arrest." Decker: "You wouldn't DARE!" Spock motions to guards on Bridge. Decker: "You're bluffing." Spock: Vulcans never bluff." One of the best dialog of any Star Trek episode! Priceless!
The previous one where he took command is good too. "Mr. Spock knows his duty, Doctor, do you?" ... "Doctor, you may leave the bridge." As is the one from "A Taste of Armageddon" where Scotty says no to Ambassador Fox. "No, sir, I will not." "What did you say." "I won't lower the screens until the Captain tells me to." "You are taking orders from _me._ You will lower the screens as a sign of good faith. My authority..." "I know about your authority, but the screens stay up." Bones chimes in, "Mr. Fox, they've faked a message from the Captain, they've launched an attack against our ship; now you want us to trust them openly?" "I want you and expect you to obey my lawful orders." "No sir, I won't lower the screens." "Your refusal to comply with my orders has endangered _the entire success of this mission!_ I can have you sent to a penal colony for this!" "That you can sir, but I won't lower the screens."
@@sandal_thong8631This begs the question: How was Ambassador Fox later able to beam down to the planet despite Scott's refusal to lower the shields and the natives' intention to fire on the Enterprise the instant the shields were lowered?
@@radicalross7700 That was one of the flaws in the episode. The other being how their sonic disruptors could hit the Enterprise in space? Maybe he announced he was beaming down, and they thought that was preferable to destroying the ship? They might not have known how many people were on the Enterprise. Of course they didn't use him as a hostage to try to get their people on board.
When I first saw this episode way back in 1967, I had like an epiphany when Kirk says: «...on my personal authority as Captain of the Enterprise...», From then on, I knew I wanted to be a leader in some way. This led to a 30 year career in management.
Too, it's very clever writing -- or the ad-lib suggestion of the terrific actor, Windom, to the writers -- that he's fidgeting with the "hard box" tapes just as Bogart's Commander Queeg fiddled with the marbles in "The Caine Mutiny." Terrifically ironic, IMO.
Spock was always a STRONG presence and the whole crew added so much to this sci-fi---here I am 45 yrs later still coming back to look at these---such great memories!
“BLAST REGULATIONS!! Mr Spock I order you to assume command on my personal authority as captain of the Enterprise!” One of my favourite Start Trek lines
Very true. Plus the Captain of a ship has wide discretionary powers concerning the safety of the vessel unless specifically countered by mission orders.
Yes ........would love to make this short speech to half the road rage idiots I see doing dumb jack-ass moves on the road now........such a classic exchange.
I really like the way they portrayed Kirk, Spock, and Decker in this episode. Really like it. Spock is cool and collected. He is loyal to Starfleet but his loyalty is overridden by his loyalty and devotion to Kirk. Kirk cares for the crew of his ship and will do anything to keep them safe, even if it means a court-martial if/when they get back to a starbase. He does have strong sympathy for Decker, though, as is evident in the first part of this episode when they first board the USS Constellation and run into Decker, alone and guilt-ridden. And speaking of guilt-ridden, the actor who plays Decker does a bang-up job of portraying a character who wants to redeem himself for actions which he blames himself as being wrong. He blames himself for the death of his crew and thinks that the way to atone is to try to take out the Doomsday Machine. When he finds out he cannot, he ends up sacrificing himself in a shuttlecraft, and thankfully it was not in vain that he did so, for his death provided a clue to the Enterprise on how to defeat it. I wonder if Decker is what Kirk could have been if Kirk had faced a major disaster and failure like Decker did. Decker seemed cool, calm, and decisive, as evidenced by the captain's log entry just before they encountered the Doomsday Machine. If you haven't watched this episode (and I cannot think of a single Trek TOS fan who hasn't, but I have been surprised before), do so. It might, possibly, perhaps, be the best TOS episode made. Just my opinion, of course.
@protomud : is not JJ fault that Kurtzman is idiot and these other sreen writers also. Is it same with Lost, Fringe, great premise, but terrible results.
@jf1325 Is that why the doctor appeared in blue bra and panties? It's the only thing I really remember from Trek Into Darkness. I didn't know it was the year of the currant. Currently, I thought it was the year of the pig. Wow, that went full circle...
I'll agree with you about Pine, but Quinto actually does a good job with the younger Spock. The problem is with the writing and production decisions he's been handed so far.
"Vulcans never bluff" ... I love Spock's beckoning finger snap too... :D ...wish that I still had my Spock ears ... wore them while hostessing at a restaurant/bar in Dallas, TX ... pierced my earrings through the lobes; draped my hair over the seams...grinned all night; overheard a customer say, "poor girl" ... Winning!
I was a Vulcan for Halloween one year, latex ears, shaved eyebrows, the whole deal. After a long night, I fell asleep - and woke up the next day - with the ears and eyebrows still on. I went to my job as a land surveyor that way - luckily, my boss was an easygoing guy. As I was working in the middle of a wooded lot, a student taking a shortcut on his way home from school came around from behind a bush maybe ten feet away and saw lanky, 6'4" Vulcan me operating some weird equipment mounted on a tripod. I've never seen anybody run so fast before or since.
Captain Kirk handle the situation absolutely right . Not with my ship you don’t. Mr Spock was absolutely excellent as well as first officer. He took command back of the ship . Both are absolutely wonderful actors. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
One of the best Star Trek episodes ever. When we were kids we called the Doomsday machine, the giant turd. LOL Just watched this episode on BBC a couple days ago. I love that these reruns are still going strong! I grew up with these growing up in the 70's with only 7 TV channels, I would watch these at 4pm every day after school. Great Memories. Thanks for posting!
Ditto on what u wrote---I am 53 but still come to watch these....some of the best moments in TV history for me.....I have never seen a more believable version .....though 7 of 9 comes close---she had me at Hello!
Well, I got you both beat. I watched the show when it was in primetime, back in the day when there was only one television in the house. Fortunately, my parents were science fiction fans.
+Robert Swift Most of the time whenever you see Spock slip and show emotion, it's because something just happened to Kirk, like when he thought he'd killed him in Amok Time
A great scene from my favorite TOS episode. It's not just an awesome Kirk moment, it's an awesome Spock moment, and an awesome Kirk-Spock moment too, the two acting with complete confidence in each other. And William Windom plays his role brilliantly. You buy this character, riding a wave of guilt from madness and despair through self-righteous arrogance, and on to stoic resolution, before giving us that final sequence of horror. This episode has almost never been equaled in Trek history.
+Katherine Bare Right when Spock says that his face looks to me to be more of the mirrored Spock look. Not sure how to explain it, maybe because he is being aggressive?
A full Vulcan would never bluff. It is illogical. However, being half-human, Spock could. It is likely that the character of Commodore Decker didn't know that Spock was half-human (based on his answer to Spock).
Elizabeth Rogers who played Lt. Palmer is proof there's no small roles, only small actors. She did an amazing job with just a few lines. And her reactions were fantastic. She was in two more episodes and was the voice of the "Companion". It's interesting her voice sounds slightly English, but she was from Texas.
And Nimoy plays that scene perfectly, even with that thing hanging from his ear, at a time when no one viewing this could imagine such an ear device. And it looks natural the entire time. Great acting.
My all time favorite show when I was a kid. I’ve often contemplated what inventions are yet to come, seeing as Star Trek was so prophetic. But I don’t want to be the test pilot when they invent the transporter, could get quite ugly.
If I had ever been in such a situation when I was in the Army, I would have loved to use this line. It has the complete Spock logic about it .... "but you are relieved."
@@zitacarno4443 He had no reason to be afraid here. He knew Decard wasn't in a condition to command and if the protest did make it to Starfleet, its highly doubtful they would have found fault in Kirks orders overriding Decards given the situation.
Well if they had hired some true fans of the show to write new scripts they could have given it a good run. With the exception of Khan and Search for Spock the movies were embarassing pieces of crap.
No other captain comes close....took me 3 years to even watch Next Gen....Picard was not even close to Kirk. I warmed up to him ...but he had to go Borg to win me completely over.
This scene is EPIC all around. I love Kirk's reaction to this. Shatner did a great job of making Kirk sound really pissed off. Windom was great as the broken irrational Decker. And of course, the legendary Nimoy with, "Vulcans never bluff."
Kirk always shoved the Enterprise down Starfleet's throat every chance he got and got away with it. There were only two ways of doing things...Starfleet's way and Kirk's way. Kirk's way usually got things done. When their enemies found out the USS Enterprise was on the way to settle a problem, they said one thing... "Oh shit, they're sending the Enterprise. We're in trouble now."
I like the way you see things Cary----and you are absolutely correct---Man of action not a talker like the captains that followed......Kirk will always be BEST!
The OS beats the new movies on so many levels it would take all day to name them, but here's the main reason: the OS was made at a time when adults still behaved like adults. The characters in TOS were adults, whereas in the new movies it's PAINFUL to see these new actors playing their characters like a pack of high school kids. Chris Pine's Kirk is a PUNK who starts throwing tantrums when he doesn't get his way....no argument on this: Pine stated once that he deliberately played Kirk as a 15 year old, thereby ruining a once great character. Inexplicable.
Abrams goal was to deliver leftist ideals. He grabbed scenes from old movies, re-shot them with characters switched. The characters, story were just tools to deliver "America bad" leftist drivel.
The first Star Trek film he did was okay. Not great, but seeing as a parallel dimension had been created, okay. After that first film, though, it spiraled down, as some point out, into left leaning gibberish. Perhaps in another ten or fifteen years, somebody who actually LOVES the original series, will take on a film project that returns Star Trek to it's proper glory. Time will tell...
It’s like they never watched the original series. First one was OK. After that,.......really bad. The original had strong military themes. The later copy’s of this great series..........went out of there way to be exactly the opposite. Counselor Troy being the most ridiculous and unprofessional person to ever be on a bridge. If it wasn’t for Q in the NG series,and Troys mom(Luxanna Troy) which greatly took the high mindedness out of its constant social commentary. And I really got sick of Weasley story line. Nothing against the actors,...just bad writing on many of the episodes.
For all the jokes about scenery chewing, Shatner was a terrific actor who brough the show to life. TOS at its best was more intense, more human, than later shows.
He really was the real deal. He did occasionally "ham it up" with his famous "staccato" delivery, but his character was very "centered" at all times. He was extremely experienced and totally ready for his "moment", which he took full advantage. And he's a legend because of it. But what made that show so special was the chemistry between Kirk, Mr. Spock and Bones, that's really what put the show into "orbit", no pun intended.
That is one of star treks best episodes. That blast regulations scene is up there with Kirks' leave any bigotry in your quarters' scene from Balance of Terror, Picards 'either get out of my way Mr Remick or I will have you removed from the bridge' scene or Rikers comment to Shelby 'you do an end run like that around me again, ill snap you back so fast you'll think you're a first grade cadet' and not forgetting Kirks 'ill bear that in mind Mr...? when this becomes a democracy' was that to Bailey or Styles?
You know, even if Decker survived the encounter, and managed to file a complaint to Starfleet, I have a feeling Starfleet wouldn't have been sympathetic to his complaint. Decker was not of sound enough mind to be fit for command, and Kirk absolutely did the right thing to order Spock to relieve him.
All the more reason why Decker should have picked up Kirk and the salvage crew and exit the jamming field to warn Starfleet Command. Then, they could have assembled a battle group to take that machine on.
It should have ended with McCoy's evaluation of his mental fitness, proper examination or not. When Spock said he would be called upon at a later date to produce documentation, McCoy's attitude should have been: Sure... whatever! Of course, that scene was added for dramatic effect, I realize, but it's still a STUPID exchange between Spock and McCoy, with command of The Enterprise at stake, at an extremely critical time! Stupid plot twist number two, was the Commodore beating down the younger, and more fit, security guard who, for dramatic purposes, decided to duke it out with the old man, instead of just stunning him with the phaser he was carrying.
I notice that everyone stepped up in this episode. Maybe having such a refined actor like William Windom on the set gave some inspiration to make this more than just getting another one in the can.
"GET MY SHIP OUTTA THERE!" The only possible way to improve this episode would have been if they could have changed the line from "Blast regulations!" to "F*** regulations!" Also, William Windom was incredible. He portrayed PTSD before they had a term for it. He should have won an Emmy for his performance. And the score was extremely important. "The Doomsday Machine" is my favorite episode.
Doomsday is excellent I would also add the Nomad and M-5 computer as additional winners. They found some amazing actors for this series---including the big three regulars....
The actor playing matt Decker does a great job here, managing to convey the total opposite of all of Kirk's good qualities while still having a sense of authority. He's petty, sulking, arrogant, irrational, and even childish, yet still seems dangerous. That's not easy to do.
William Windom, who was perfect for the Matt Decker of the final draft script. The Constellation log entry recorded by Comdr. Decker gives a hint of the captain he was up to the point when he made his one fatal mistake with his crew. Windom is also spot on conveying the character's crushing sense of guilt in the shuttlecraft scene. "I've been prepared for death ever since I.... ever since I killed my crew." "No one expects you to die for an error in judgment." "A commander is responsible for the lives of his crew, and for their deaths. Well, I should have died with mine."
Yet, in the first scene, as Commodore Decker, William Windom evokes sympathy in the viewer, over the deep tragedy of the loss of his beloved crew. Wonderful acting.
That's the one thing a lot of folks don't understand. Made when it was, TOS didn't have the effects or the budget for what they were trying to do. As such,they had to rely on good stories and characters. It was more like a stage show back then.
They made a show that still holds up pretty damn well 50-plus years later, with an effects budget of something like forty bucks an episode. Yeah, some of the episodes are pretty dated, some of them (particularly in the third season) are kinda dumb, and they had a tendency to be preachy sometimes, but for the most part the writing and character development makes TOS an entertaining watch even today.
+David Hecht Spock went for any legitimate opportunity he could to get Decker out of the Captain's chair. He had no legitimate authority, therefore, no reason to think anyone, like the security guards, would back him up. He could very easily have gotten himself tossed in the brig, and in no position to do anything. Decker, though he was the ranking officer, was not actually the Captain of the ship. Kirk was, and Kirk used that legitimate authority to order Spock to oust Decker. Spock was not pathetic. Spock was Spock.
Classic.They are all classic. I wish it had gone a few more seasons. I would thrill as a kid each time a Star Trek came on T.V. The crowning jewel of my childhood memories.
Captians Takes On "the Book" Picard: it must be by the book. 😑 Janeway and Sisko: rules are important, but they don't always apply out here. 😏 Archer: dude, I'm writing the book. 😋 Kirk: what book! 😝
What's not too well known is that the role of Commodore Decker,played by William Windom,was originally given to actor Robert Ryan,who couldn't get away from a previous commitment.This episode was based on the Captain Ahab saga about the vengeful search for the great White Whale which was actually based on a true story .Mr.Windom does a capable job.I' think Star Trek is a kind of Shakespeare:check out Star Trek Continues,you'll be glad you did...
+20th century man And following along the Captain Ahab story, it has been pointed out that the music bears a strong resemblance, if with faster tempo, to the John Williams' theme for Jaws written 20 years later. So a possible double link there - the music and a man's obsession with his marine enemy.
+Helen Weedon I see the connection.Star Trek's a Godsend.Jeffrey Hunter ,the original choice for Capt. Kirk+starred in original pilot.His wife turned it down.Jeff wanted the role,would've been a great fit all around.The producer+Gene Roddenberry later commented even if it was Shakespeare it wouldn't be good enough for her.Sadly,while filming a foreign film,an explosion caused a head injury that contributed to his death.
+20th century man Yes, this story was adapted from the book "Moby Dick". I never read the book but you can read the plot online which will take a little while and see how the writer of "The Doomsday Machine" (Norman Spinrad) made it work so well for ST.
I disagree, I'm sure Jeff Hunter was a fine man, but he was a chilly and cerebral actor IMO. Much as we laugh at Shatner, we've all been richly entertained by his Kirk for decades. Sometimes even moved.
This scene has stuck with me for quite a few decades (it seems that long anyway) It plays in my head at those special moments when I'd very much like to tell my manager what a lunatic s/he is.
The 12 o'clock shadow on Decker, and his weary, unkempt and even sweaty look, adds to his lunacy in taking on the "Doomsday Machine." William Windom, perhaps the best special guest actor on the original Star Trek along with Ricardo Montalban as Khan.
