Ray Bradbury said he was laughed at for years before the moon landing for simply saying it would happen. He said he took every phone number of everyone who scoffed at him a dinner parties, then called them all up on July 20, 1969 and said, "This is RAY BRADBURY you son of a bitch!" and hung up. Harlan Ellison told a similar story of a newspaper writer who made fun of him as a teen, when Harlan said we would go to the moon in a couple of decades or something. The article the guy wrote about Harlan and his friends was condescending, calling them "space cadets" or something. Harlan said he marched down to that newspaper on July 20, 1969 to cuss the guy out, but he had since died. So he told that story over and over in the decades afterward.
Well yes, and before Man landed on Mars and even the nearest star. But I agree with you. My father told me once when I was a youth, that my dreams, exceeded my capabilities. He was so wrong, and so wrong to say that. I tried to explain to him then, that man only advances, through dreams.
And he still lives this way. At age 90 he became the first actor to go into space, the first 90 year old in space. Kirk was just a summary profile on a page written by Roddenberry, but it was William Shatner that created the person we know as James Tiberius Kirk.
Though she wasn't an actor at the time, Mae Jemison when into space years before William Shatner did. Later on, she had a guest staring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. ua-cam.com/video/jz8QIKy_i6Y/v-deo.html
Hear hear.. Of all the trek spin offs nowt matches up to the original series.. And no captain has the charm and charisma of James Tiberias Kirk... Picard comes a close second but kirk puts down the standard they all aspire to and that's all down to Bill Shatner
@@emintey He definitely has a large character arc from wrath of khan to undiscovered country. Growing old and alone, facing his own mortality, loss of his son, overcoming his own prejudices to Klingons… it’s a close one for sure.
@@annstevens6223 I'd say that the movies were a deepened portrayal of Kirk, though not necessarily different. I didn't really care for the actor who portrayed Kirk's son, while he looked a lot like Kirk I just found him to be annoying. I think the portrayal of nurse Chapel in the new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series to be interesting but she seems to be quite different from the character of the original nurse Chapel in being more independent and assertive.
This aired in 1968, over a year before we landed on the moon! Star Trek truly was the eternal optimist, and that was what the world needed then and it's what we need now.
And 10 years later in 1978, William Shatner would appear on a science fiction awards show performing what appeared to be a stoned-out version of Elton John's "Rocket Man". ( which was unique & bizarrely entertaining).
@@sirreal1290 Which is what made that performance of _Rocket Man_ so great --- it _'appeared'_ to be _'stoned-out'_ but in reality he likely did it without drugs or booze --- and in that one moment, without even leaving the confines of that theatre, he somehow managed to go further into space than any astronaut (including himself in 2021) has gone since. This man was (and is), truly out there --- and you just have to love the way he delivers his lines --- there is more Ham in one of his speeches than there is in all the _Boarshead_ factories in all 50 States! And we love him for it! Truly the best of all of Trek's Captains.
@@alfa-psi I think _spooky_ was just trying to be an eternal optimist himself when he said "we" landed on the Moon --- as in "We, _the Human Race"_ and not thinking of any _nationality._ I guess what _you're_ trying to tell us is that you do not belong to that particular group --- last I heard, no matter what country you come from, you are still considered a human being. Well, maybe what you're really trying to say is that you only _live_ on the planet Earth and are not really home-grown. We'll if that's the case, then there you have it folks, proof positive --- there _are_ in fact aliens living among us!
“We” Omg. So as an advocate disgusted with my fellow Americans inability to stand up for children I find your comment like a disease of indifference and ineffectiveness. Research. Educate thyself. Or push bs
This speech wasn’t just some actor reading lines; it was believable. I believed that Captain Kirk was real and a better world is ahead of us. It was this type of acting passion that brought this si-fi show forward 50 years! Even with all the fancy special effects, set design and expensive wardrobe, “Strange New Worlds” will not be talked about and watched 50 years from now.
He inspired us kids every Thursday night back then. Many of us went into science and technology careers because of him. To me, he represented the perfect leader.
This speech is why the Original Star Trek was and remains so to this day (in my not-so humble opinion), the best of all Trek series - Star Trek was all about one thing: Hope and the human condition.
This speech is essentially the central point of the entire franchise of Star Trek. Right down to the center. It's why the first series is still the gold standard, and why the other series or movies continue to emulate it or stick close to its timeline.
Except that in reality the current Trek stuff has abandoned what made the original worthwhile. Even Roddenberry lost the plot -- ST: TNG became better when he was no longer involved in it.
Lot's of great speeches in the Original Star Trek episodes: The Omega Glory, Errand of Mercy, The Return of the Archons, The Doomsday Machine etc. all have something to say about the human condition on some level. Such moral tales are no longer present in present programming. Most of what we watch now are about the toiling away of day to day living.
Yes. Today It’s too much about personalities with so much self doubt they should all be sent back to Star Fleet Academy. Too much pseudo science and phony morality. No big ideas. Bet you no one will memorize every line from these hack writing teams like they did the original shows. And that includes Strange New Worlds. It’s a shame.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that shows lack theatrical performance, subtlety, subtext, and the allegories are too literal. Michael Shanks once remarked how people are caricatures rather than characters
@@IristheVix Yes, all while striving for more “realistic” lighting, sets and effects. None of these things have any lasting resonance in the human soul like the old “cheesy” low budget shows which had well drawn characters brought to life by fantastic actors, and thematic music that served as an integral element of the story unlike the “wallpaper” music as Alexander Courage once told me, which began as early as TNG. These shows are only as good as the talent available to make them.
One of the greatest Captain Kirk speeches is in the episode, "Mirror Mirror", as he talks about the illogic of waste created by a long, drawn out war created by The Empire. Top-notch writing and acting there. Other standouts are, Dr. McCoy, talking to a stressful Captain Kirk, who is asking, "...what if I'm wrong?", in "Balance of Terror", and Bones' silliloquy, ending in "...don't destroy the one named Kirk. " The 3rd amazingly written speech is from "This Side of Paradise", when Spock is talking to Leila, saying that we all have our own little prisons, and about choices we make to create them. And how his can be no worse than someone else's. All the while sounding and looking wistfully sad.
Actually, the phrase was "self made purgatories". The poignancy of the speech is added to at the end when Spock says wistfully "for the first time in my life, I was happy".
Terrific comment. I was about to reference the Mirror Mirror speech as well because Kirk was able to use logic to show evil Spock that he was wrong & therefore illogical.
I agree. It IS the best speech he ever gave on Star Trek. Memorable. I wonder if he knew at the time, over 50 years later, age of 90, he'd get a taste of that role! I was thrilled for him being able to live to go up into space.
When quality story telling was delivered by quality actors. The way Shatner could change his facial expressions and deliver a line with a wild glint in his eyes has yet to be replicated by any subsequent Star Trek Captain, or by anyone else for that matter. Some have called it "overacting" as stage actors are noted to do in the transition from the stage to a TV or movie screen. But it is actually better known as "good acting" when the actor actually puts feeling and emotion into the lines rather than understated mumbling that you get from most actors in Hollywood.
This has always been my favorite Kirk speech as well. If you haven't heard it yet, I recommend you find the interview William Shatner did with ISS Cmdr. Chris Hadfield on Feb. 8, 2013. There are several versions here on YT. In the excerpt below (from early in the interview), Hadfield essentially hands that Kirk speech back to Shatner. Shatner: I read that you have already volunteered to go on a Mars mission. Does that have any reality to it? And because of the nature of this brief time, let me add to that question, you volunteered to go, but isn't that a fearful operation? Isn't that fraught with such enormous difficulty and danger? Hadfield: You've taken a lot of risks in your life as well. And it was a risk that I decided to take many, many years ago. Really, to accomplish anything worthwhile in life is going to take risk. And even if you decide to stay at home and sit at your kitchen table, eventually the ceiling will fall, or there will be a hurricane, or a tornado. You can't live a worthwhile life without taking risks. And some things are really worth directing your life toward and putting your life on the line for. Let me just say, between the real life exploits of the first astronauts and the visually fantasized and enlivened ones like you portrayed on Star Trek and so many other people have in literature, they inspire people like me to do things like this. And without that inspiration, and then without the technological capability that comes along with it, none of it would be possible. And I'm in a position to say the risks are infinitely worthwhile. When you look at the view that's just out these windows behind me and the things that lie just beyond, and yes, going to Mars is just inevitable. Just as sailing across the Atlantic or flying across the Atlantic or orbiting around the world or going to the Moon. It's just a matter of when we figure out how. We put ourselves together enough. We take those visualized dreams and fantasies and turn them into reality, which is what we're doing here, right now.
WELL SAID BROTHER! PATRICK STEWART is a great actor, technically more adept than Shatner, but charisma wise? NOBODY HAS MORE CHARISMA THAN KIRK WILLIAM SHATNER"S KIRK NO ONE...
This speech makes tears come to my eyes. I was eight years old when it aired and it STILL takes my breath away. Bless Bill Shatner and his acting art that he has shared with all of us for SO many years!
"That's like saying you wish you still operated with scalpels and sewed up your patients with catgut" Fast forward to Voyage Home: "Sounds like the god damned Spanish Inquisition to me!"
The Apollo mission to reach the moon ... the first landing on the moon was still a year in the future. We landed on the moon July 20, 1969. This show aired Feb. 19, 1968. I count myself very lucky that I was 17 and watched this show when it was new, and then a year later, watched the first moon landing. The only thing that grieves me is we aren't making an effort to explore space, this sad generation seems to have no dreams.
Then Nixon destroyed the space program because he hated the Democrats. Now people believe it was faked, just like the guy or guys who brought us _Battlestar Galactica_ believe the pyramids were built by aliens like the spiel at the beginning by the voice of the Supreme Leader of the Cylons.
When he says, "...that's why we're aboard her!", they way Shatner delivers the line along with the music cue, you can't help but feel the very winds of inspiration filling your sails.
@@alfa-psi , you consciously turn your back upon "Risk! Risk is our business!"? Seriously? You consign yourself to inertia, entropy, stagnation. And you let everyone here see your mind set.
1:07 Anyone who doesn't get misty eyed and a lump in their throat upon hearing those string chords and "Risk...RIsk is our business..." Is NOT a true Trek fan and/or doesn't "Get" what Trek is all about. MIc drop.
So what did all these adventures, contact with other civilizations and more advanced civilizations do for the human race? Picard tries to justify humanity to Q after 7 years of TNG and doesn't convince him.
My Favorite Kirk speech is while Kirk is floating around in some unstable "space" somewhere, McCoy and Spock play his "Last Will and Testament" speech when he is presumed dead.
I loved this scene from Star Trek TOS plus the one where Spock and Bones had to watch Captain Kirk's last order in another episode and quit arguing and both knew what they were supposed to do and follow the chain of command. To bad there are no other inhabited planets and no such thing as extraterrestrial aliens.
The humbling reality of recognizing your own human limitations within a situation beyond your control, and the acceptance of the fact that you cannot know EVERYTHING because the universe will always surprise you. That is what it is to be a Starship Captain.
This speech by Captain Kirk in the second season Star Trek episode, " Return To Tomorrow" is proof that William Shatner is a great actor when he wants to be! Another commentator on UA-cam who believes that Kirk's shorter-length "speeches" in "Whom God's Destroy", "Return of the Archons", " The Squire of Gothos" and "A Taste of Armageddon" are better than this one, although he is of course entitled to his opinion, is wrong because not only were those speeches much shorter and less deep philosophically, but were, in some instances, somewhat "over-the-top" in delivery (e.g., Kirk's speech at the end of "A Taste of Armageddon" ).
The other day, I was watching The Orville New Horizons episode called "Shadow Realms". In it, there was a scene where they are debating whether to explore a region of unexplored space. As I watched the scene play out, this speech was in my head.
maybe not his best speech, but a fine delivery and one of those great moments where the soundtrack was completely unnecessary. Tension and release were at Shatner's command. A fine actor. So many times he's accused of hogging the lens but, in any scene he's in the camera finds him - and would be blind to point anywhere else.
Yes - though he was very "Shatner" staccato. The stereotype delivery. Nonetheless, Shatner is an awesome actor and a gem of a guy...at least these days!
Disagree on the soundtrack...it enhanced that scene beautifully. The music soundtrack queues in TOS were wonderfully written and a superlative contribution to the greatness of the series.
@@sxmnful Naw, the music in this episode was too much! It crossed the line between being colorful and inspirational into being gaudy and mellow dramatic. 😛
An actor for the ages! It is also believed this speech propelled him to his career in commercials including Promise margarine, Loblaws, Plymouth autos, Priceline, etc. They saw his potential to sell anything!
William Shatner is a remarkable man. He has never earned a dime that wasn't made in acting or other entertainment. He is truly a professional actor, in a way few have been or are. I'm a great admirer! 🎉
The original series is so underrated these days. People seem to only see the cheap sets and the 60s era writing style. I was fortunate enough to see this show as a child, and with the eyes of a child, and it changed me forever. What you can do with money and computers today is amazing. But you can make great art without it.
I fell in love with the Enterprise. Actually cried when she was destroyed. My bubble was burst when I found out how some of my earliest hero's really hated each other.
This was before we landed on the moon. But it isn't like this episode made it possible. We had been working a whole decade to make it happen, and it was on its way. This show willingly acknowledged the effort with class.
I liked this speech so much I had "Risk. Risk is our business. That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her." as the quotation under my senior picture in my high school yearbook in 1973.
I love the way he says "risk is our business" It seems no one is willing to even accept risk anymore. They do everything possible to eliminate all risk, and thereby eliminate all reason for living. Not all of Kirk's "future" came to be. We have gone from "wooden ships and iron men to iron ships and wooden men" in a very short period of time.
Sisko may be the best warrior, Picard was the diplomate, but Kirk is the true Star Fleet officier. He will fight and die for those ideals, but he will also compromise and learn from his errors, Kirk is more than just human. Kirk is what every man, woman, and child should aspire to be. That said Sisko is still the best,
Honestly, I don’t know. I think Kirk, Picard and Sisko each had their wow moment, these things each did that the other two would not have equalled. So I can’t say which is the best. But I can say which was the worst: Janeway.
It is a good thing that you entitled this video as "Captain Kirk's best speech", because I was thinking that Bones was just about to "commit" Capt. Kirk!!
I ALWAYS get annoyed when people criticize Shatner's line readings. On every episode there was a director, Roddenberry was the executive producer, and "hands on" in the first couple of seasons. If anyone had an objection, I'm confident they would have said something.
This episode aired on February 9th 1968. Apollo 11 landed on the moon, the first lunar landing, July 16th 1969. Let that sink in. They were optimistic that it would land to the point of adding that line in their show.
This far from Kirk's best speech. His speech at the end of "A Taste of Armageddon" about war and killing and to Reger and Marplon in "The Return of the Archons" about freedom and how it must be earned are the ones at the top of the list. His rebuke of Garth and calling Spock his brother in "Whom Gods Destroy" is near the top. Even his criticism of Dr. Crater's protection of the Salt Vampire is ahead of this one.
I think his best speech is probably from "A Taste of Armageddon," as you mentioned, and assuming I correctly recall that it's the episode where the planets wage war via computer simulation and the casualties just line up to be disintegrated. That one also has the benefit of being in a much better episode. But I think this speech is pretty high on the list. It's probably the best speech that really captures the exploratory heart of Star Trek, and "Risk is our business." is the most memorable single line from one of his speeches, imo. I mean, if I were asked what's Kirk's best speech, I would be tempted to say this one just because I know a line from it.
That is one of my favorite episodes. If you ignore the costumes that episode is one of the ugliest things the crew faced. A people so used to butchery, that they sacrificed themselves for a war they no longer understood the causes or reasons of just the rote mechanics to keep it going.
Someone posted his speech from "The Omega Glory" reading the Constitution and called it his best speech. I don't know about that. Kind of a cringe episode.
In the last episode of "Strange New Worlds" Samuel Kirk mentions that he's "risk averse". I assumed it was an Easter-egg reference to this speech by his risk-taking younger brother.
@@cindydott452 Member? Member?! We (the makers of the current shows) know _Star Trek_ too! We pointed at the thing and said, "ooh, look over there! We know what we're talking about!" Now, just ignore our anti-establishment, systemic dismantlement philosophy and unprofessional quirky dialogue, trauma fetishistic focus and total disregard for military and diplomatic decorum amongst our characters and our "subversive" trying-to-be-too-clever plotting that falls on its ass if you think about it at all and you'll see that we are, in fact _Star Trek,_ despite doing everything totally, completely counter to *nearly* every ideal that the franchise stood for, rendering the whole principle of it worthless because it can change on a whim so long as people can sit and drool in front of it and it's hollow, empty platitudes that make them feel better about their inwardly focused, self-absorbed individual woes while not actually saying anything substantive about them at all. ... In my opinion. 😏
Speech was shown to the American public in February 1968, between the cessation of the Apollo program due to the tragic launchpad fire of Apollo 1 in January 1967 and the resumption of flights with Apollo 7 in October 1968.
This episode aired on TV before man landed on the moon. Optimism isn't naive, it's hope for a better future that we can achieve.
Ray Bradbury said he was laughed at for years before the moon landing for simply saying it would happen. He said he took every phone number of everyone who scoffed at him a dinner parties, then called them all up on July 20, 1969 and said, "This is RAY BRADBURY you son of a bitch!" and hung up. Harlan Ellison told a similar story of a newspaper writer who made fun of him as a teen, when Harlan said we would go to the moon in a couple of decades or something. The article the guy wrote about Harlan and his friends was condescending, calling them "space cadets" or something. Harlan said he marched down to that newspaper on July 20, 1969 to cuss the guy out, but he had since died. So he told that story over and over in the decades afterward.
Yes, that optimism goes hand in hand with Kirk's statement that "risk is our business".
I think in the newer dictionaries the word optimism was simply left out.
No episode was made after the moon landing, they all were filmed before the first lunar orbit even, I think.
Well yes, and before Man landed on Mars and even the nearest star. But I agree with you. My father told me once when I was a youth, that my dreams, exceeded my capabilities. He was so wrong, and so wrong to say that. I tried to explain to him then, that man only advances, through dreams.
"A ship can be safe in a harbor, but that's not what ships are for."
Dude, I love that!
And he still lives this way. At age 90 he became the first actor to go into space, the first 90 year old in space. Kirk was just a summary profile on a page written by Roddenberry, but it was William Shatner that created the person we know as James Tiberius Kirk.
Though she wasn't an actor at the time, Mae Jemison when into space years before William Shatner did. Later on, she had a guest staring role in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
ua-cam.com/video/jz8QIKy_i6Y/v-deo.html
Him and the others never left the ground, it was all an allusion and a lie.
@@shawn78789 Exactly what are you alluding to?
in The Lieutenant Gary Lockwood was Tiberius first.
Nah Shatner is not Kirk.
Yet another reason why STAR TREK: The Original Series is still the Gold Standard; and always will be.
I second that motion!!! 🤠👍
Hear hear.. Of all the trek spin offs nowt matches up to the original series.. And no captain has the charm and charisma of James Tiberias Kirk... Picard comes a close second but kirk puts down the standard they all aspire to and that's all down to Bill Shatner
Nope. The gold standard will forever be TNG but TOS does have many of its own great moments and merits such as this.
It is the show that all others will be judged against.
@@steveshepard88 BS.
Say what you will about Shatner but he's still the best star ship captain ever!
No argument from me! You said it. It would be a travesty of stellar magnitude, if the name JAMES TIBERIUS KIRK is not on that man's grave marker.
Kirk is the best hands down.
One topic that’s fun to debate is which is the better Kirk, TOS or Movie?
@@annstevens6223 Do you think Kirk is different between the series and the movies? He's done some serious over acting in both ;)
@@emintey He definitely has a large character arc from wrath of khan to undiscovered country. Growing old and alone, facing his own mortality, loss of his son, overcoming his own prejudices to Klingons…
it’s a close one for sure.
@@annstevens6223 I'd say that the movies were a deepened portrayal of Kirk, though not necessarily different. I didn't really care for the actor who portrayed Kirk's son, while he looked a lot like Kirk I just found him to be annoying.
I think the portrayal of nurse Chapel in the new Star Trek: Strange New Worlds series to be interesting but she seems to be quite different from the character of the original nurse Chapel in being more independent and assertive.
This aired in 1968, over a year before we landed on the moon! Star Trek truly was the eternal optimist, and that was what the world needed then and it's what we need now.
And 10 years later in 1978, William Shatner would appear on a science fiction awards show performing what appeared to be a stoned-out version of Elton John's "Rocket Man". ( which was unique & bizarrely entertaining).
@@sirreal1290 Which is what made that performance of _Rocket Man_ so great --- it _'appeared'_ to be _'stoned-out'_ but in reality he likely did it without drugs or booze --- and in that one moment, without even leaving the confines of that theatre, he somehow managed to go further into space than any astronaut (including himself in 2021) has gone since. This man was (and is), truly out there --- and you just have to love the way he delivers his lines --- there is more Ham in one of his speeches than there is in all the _Boarshead_ factories in all 50 States! And we love him for it! Truly the best of all of Trek's Captains.
Heh. I wasn't born until 1969. But I followed every episode and series of star trek up to Std, when I stopped.🙄
@@alfa-psi I think _spooky_ was just trying to be an eternal optimist himself when he said "we" landed on the Moon --- as in "We, _the Human Race"_ and not thinking of any _nationality._ I guess what _you're_ trying to tell us is that you do not belong to that particular group --- last I heard, no matter what country you come from, you are still considered a human being. Well, maybe what you're really trying to say is that you only _live_ on the planet Earth and are not really home-grown. We'll if that's the case, then there you have it folks, proof positive --- there _are_ in fact aliens living among us!
“We” Omg.
So as an advocate disgusted with my fellow Americans inability to stand up for children I find your comment like a disease of indifference and ineffectiveness.
Research.
Educate thyself.
Or push bs
Let's be honest, does Kirk ever give a bad speech??
See the “Spock’s Brain” episode. 😩
Yes.
@@brianarbenz7206 Okay, but let's be fair, that is just a terrible episode period.
@@hobbs1701a Yes, universally said to be. "Brain and brain! What is brain!
@@hobbs1701a Yep. "Brain and brain. _What is brain?"_
kirk the man, the myth, the legend! , there will never be another!
Picard was better
This speech wasn’t just some actor reading lines; it was believable. I believed that Captain Kirk was real and a better world is ahead of us. It was this type of acting passion that brought this si-fi show forward 50 years! Even with all the fancy special effects, set design and expensive wardrobe, “Strange New Worlds” will not be talked about and watched 50 years from now.
Women in soace.
1
I disagree. This may be one of the great speeches in star trek. But Pikes speech in the first episode was equally as epic.
I always found this speech very inspirational. God, how I miss the feeling in the 60s of looking forward to the future. These days, we fear it.
Right? Now we fear what is out there.
I love this speech!! And Kirk delivers it in his usual inimitable manner!! My favorite Captain!! ❤️❤️❤️
Every. Word. Is. A. Sentence.
@@Sherwoody 😂😂😂
A little hammy at times, but generally good
Star Trek was so far ahead of its time on so many levels.
He inspired us kids every Thursday night back then.
Many of us went into science and technology careers because of him.
To me, he represented the perfect leader.
Dissent without prejudice. Definitely a futuristic concept.
It's scenes like this in OST that can never be duplicated in any new Star Trek series. I can't recall getting a chill from any new series.
This speech is why the Original Star Trek was and remains so to this day (in my not-so humble opinion), the best of all Trek series - Star Trek was all about one thing: Hope and the human condition.
This speech is essentially the central point of the entire franchise of Star Trek. Right down to the center. It's why the first series is still the gold standard, and why the other series or movies continue to emulate it or stick close to its timeline.
I Agree 👍
Except that in reality the current Trek stuff has abandoned what made the original worthwhile. Even Roddenberry lost the plot -- ST: TNG became better when he was no longer involved in it.
@@markbrooks8623😦
Nobody was talking about "Current Trek"!
You are spoiling our sense of denial! 😤
Lot's of great speeches in the Original Star Trek episodes: The Omega Glory, Errand of Mercy, The Return of the Archons, The Doomsday Machine etc. all have something to say about the human condition on some level. Such moral tales are no longer present in present programming. Most of what we watch now are about the toiling away of day to day living.
Shatner was a great actor. We got his training at the Stratford festival in Canada.
Yes. Today It’s too much about personalities with so much self doubt they should all be sent back to Star Fleet Academy. Too much pseudo science and phony morality. No big ideas. Bet you no one will memorize every line from these hack writing teams like they did the original shows. And that includes Strange New Worlds. It’s a shame.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that shows lack theatrical performance, subtlety, subtext, and the allegories are too literal.
Michael Shanks once remarked how people are caricatures rather than characters
@@IristheVix Yes, all while striving for more “realistic” lighting, sets and effects. None of these things have any lasting resonance in the human soul like the old “cheesy” low budget shows which had well drawn characters brought to life by fantastic actors, and thematic music that served as an integral element of the story unlike the “wallpaper” music as Alexander Courage once told me, which began as early as TNG. These shows are only as good as the talent available to make them.
@@IristheVix Probably the result from making too many superhero movies and T.V. Shows. At least that is the way it appears to me.
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for.” ― John A. Shedd
@@alfa-psi That's always a "danger", but I can only scan through so many comments. :)
We can just ignore the countless times that the 'fleet in being' doctrine has been successful, it gets in the way of the poetry of it all
One of the greatest Captain Kirk speeches is in the episode, "Mirror Mirror", as he talks about the illogic of waste created by a long, drawn out war created by The Empire. Top-notch writing and acting there. Other standouts are, Dr. McCoy, talking to a stressful Captain Kirk, who is asking, "...what if I'm wrong?", in "Balance of Terror", and Bones' silliloquy, ending in "...don't destroy the one named Kirk. "
The 3rd amazingly written speech is from "This Side of Paradise", when Spock is talking to Leila, saying that we all have our own little prisons, and about choices we make to create them. And how his can be no worse than someone else's. All the while sounding and looking wistfully sad.
Actually, the phrase was "self made purgatories". The poignancy of the speech is added to at the end when Spock says wistfully "for the first time in my life, I was happy".
Terrific comment. I was about to reference the Mirror Mirror speech as well because Kirk was able to use logic to show evil Spock that he was wrong & therefore illogical.
I agree. It IS the best speech he ever gave on Star Trek. Memorable. I wonder if he knew at the time, over 50 years later, age of 90, he'd get a taste of that role! I was thrilled for him being able to live to go up into space.
He gives a good speech to Spock with a beard in Mirror, Mirror. "In every revolution there is one man with a vision."
When quality story telling was delivered by quality actors. The way Shatner could change his facial expressions and deliver a line with a wild glint in his eyes has yet to be replicated by any subsequent Star Trek Captain, or by anyone else for that matter. Some have called it "overacting" as stage actors are noted to do in the transition from the stage to a TV or movie screen. But it is actually better known as "good acting" when the actor actually puts feeling and emotion into the lines rather than understated mumbling that you get from most actors in Hollywood.
This has always been my favorite Kirk speech as well. If you haven't heard it yet, I recommend you find the interview William Shatner did with ISS Cmdr. Chris Hadfield on Feb. 8, 2013. There are several versions here on YT. In the excerpt below (from early in the interview), Hadfield essentially hands that Kirk speech back to Shatner.
Shatner: I read that you have already volunteered to go on a Mars mission. Does that have any reality to it? And because of the nature of this brief time, let me add to that question, you volunteered to go, but isn't that a fearful operation? Isn't that fraught with such enormous difficulty and danger?
Hadfield: You've taken a lot of risks in your life as well. And it was a risk that I decided to take many, many years ago. Really, to accomplish anything worthwhile in life is going to take risk. And even if you decide to stay at home and sit at your kitchen table, eventually the ceiling will fall, or there will be a hurricane, or a tornado. You can't live a worthwhile life without taking risks. And some things are really worth directing your life toward and putting your life on the line for. Let me just say, between the real life exploits of the first astronauts and the visually fantasized and enlivened ones like you portrayed on Star Trek and so many other people have in literature, they inspire people like me to do things like this. And without that inspiration, and then without the technological capability that comes along with it, none of it would be possible. And I'm in a position to say the risks are infinitely worthwhile. When you look at the view that's just out these windows behind me and the things that lie just beyond, and yes, going to Mars is just inevitable. Just as sailing across the Atlantic or flying across the Atlantic or orbiting around the world or going to the Moon. It's just a matter of when we figure out how. We put ourselves together enough. We take those visualized dreams and fantasies and turn them into reality, which is what we're doing here, right now.
1:09-that smile could power the warp core.
WELL SAID BROTHER! PATRICK STEWART is a great actor, technically more adept than Shatner, but charisma wise? NOBODY HAS MORE CHARISMA THAN KIRK WILLIAM SHATNER"S KIRK NO ONE...
That's for sure! It's that sweet little smile that I love. He uses every muscle of his face and his body when he acts. So subtle but so powerful.
What a HOTTIE he was!!! My first crush before I went over to Spock worship, haha
This speech makes tears come to my eyes. I was eight years old when it aired and it STILL takes my breath away. Bless Bill Shatner and his acting art that he has shared with all of us for SO many years!
"That's like saying you wish you still operated with scalpels and sewed up your patients with catgut"
Fast forward to Voyage Home: "Sounds like the god damned Spanish Inquisition to me!"
Say what you want about his acting, but Shatner never just phoned it in.
The Apollo mission to reach the moon ... the first landing on the moon was still a year in the future. We landed on the moon July 20, 1969. This show aired Feb. 19, 1968. I count myself very lucky that I was 17 and watched this show when it was new, and then a year later, watched the first moon landing. The only thing that grieves me is we aren't making an effort to explore space, this sad generation seems to have no dreams.
Then Nixon destroyed the space program because he hated the Democrats. Now people believe it was faked, just like the guy or guys who brought us _Battlestar Galactica_ believe the pyramids were built by aliens like the spiel at the beginning by the voice of the Supreme Leader of the Cylons.
It seems we only have nightmares
Gota love the Shat!!!! He’s the best. Very underrated as an actor.
"Risk is our business."
-Captain Kirk, 1968
"Risk is our business, Mr. Wayne!"
-Batman, 1967
As usual, Batman gets there first.
That's because... he's Batman.
last speech in mirror mirror to Mr Spock was inspiring, it takes one man...
One of the greatest characters ever created !!!
When he says, "...that's why we're aboard her!", they way Shatner delivers the line along with the music cue, you can't help but feel the very winds of inspiration filling your sails.
He brings about almost a child's excitement for what's in store for us.. anticipation for what's next, and that wonderful possibilities await us.
One of the finest scenes in all of popular culture. Everyone would do well to memorise this passage.
@@alfa-psi , you consciously turn your back upon "Risk! Risk is our business!"? Seriously?
You consign yourself to inertia, entropy, stagnation. And you let everyone here see your mind set.
I remember this show and this speech even as a kid and I thought it was something out of the ordinary and very good back then and still do.
I love how he reminds the crew what their mission is. a man of deep emotions.
Hands-down the BEST Captain! 😄
This and his speech in The Omega Glory are the best speeches he's ever made.
This speech makes me proud to be a Star Trek fan Qa'pla 🖖
Risk is why William Shatner went into outer space for real. The man is a legend.
If I'd taken the time, I could have met him a couple days at NYCC before he did that.
1:07
Anyone who doesn't get misty eyed and a lump in their throat upon hearing those string chords and "Risk...RIsk is our business..."
Is NOT a true Trek fan and/or doesn't "Get" what Trek is all about.
MIc drop.
So what did all these adventures, contact with other civilizations and more advanced civilizations do for the human race? Picard tries to justify humanity to Q after 7 years of TNG and doesn't convince him.
My Favorite Kirk speech is while Kirk is floating around in some unstable "space" somewhere, McCoy and Spock play his "Last Will and Testament" speech when he is presumed dead.
That would be the tholian web from season 3 and yes it's a good one as well just shorter
@@bw786 That was a good one. More personal than civilization-changing.
And repeated in Generations: "Risk is part of the game, if you want to sit in that chair."
I loved this scene from Star Trek TOS plus the one where Spock and Bones had to watch Captain Kirk's last order in another episode and quit arguing and both knew what they were supposed to do and follow the chain of command. To bad there are no other inhabited planets and no such thing as extraterrestrial aliens.
The humbling reality of recognizing your own human limitations within a situation beyond your control, and the acceptance of the fact that you cannot know EVERYTHING because the universe will always surprise you.
That is what it is to be a Starship Captain.
This speech by Captain Kirk in the second season Star Trek episode, " Return To Tomorrow" is proof that William Shatner is a great actor when he wants to be! Another commentator on UA-cam who believes that Kirk's shorter-length "speeches" in "Whom God's Destroy", "Return of the Archons", " The Squire of Gothos" and "A Taste of Armageddon" are better than this one, although he is of course entitled to his opinion, is wrong because not only were those speeches much shorter and less deep philosophically, but were, in some instances, somewhat "over-the-top" in delivery (e.g., Kirk's speech at the end of "A Taste of Armageddon" ).
The other day, I was watching The Orville New Horizons episode called "Shadow Realms". In it, there was a scene where they are debating whether to explore a region of unexplored space. As I watched the scene play out, this speech was in my head.
Of course, they did go on to lose quite a few people in that episode :P
@@charlesajones77 Welcome to the Red Shirt party
Great show,so thankful it exists
maybe not his best speech, but a fine delivery and one of those great moments where the soundtrack was completely unnecessary. Tension and release were at Shatner's command. A fine actor. So many times he's accused of hogging the lens but, in any scene he's in the camera finds him - and would be blind to point anywhere else.
Yes - though he was very "Shatner" staccato. The stereotype delivery. Nonetheless, Shatner is an awesome actor and a gem of a guy...at least these days!
Disagree on the soundtrack...it enhanced that scene beautifully. The music soundtrack queues in TOS were wonderfully written and a superlative contribution to the greatness of the series.
EXCELLENT speech and the SOUNDTRACK is PERFECT! SPOT-ON.
@@sxmnful Naw, the music in this episode was too much!
It crossed the line between being colorful and inspirational into being gaudy and mellow dramatic. 😛
"You may dissent without prejudice."
It's times like these that make me so glad that my family named our adorable little kitty James T. Kirk.
Hail to the captain!
An actor for the ages! It is also believed this speech propelled him to his career in commercials including Promise margarine, Loblaws, Plymouth autos, Priceline, etc. They saw his potential to sell anything!
William Shatner is a remarkable man. He has never earned a dime that wasn't made in acting or other entertainment. He is truly a professional actor, in a way few have been or are. I'm a great admirer! 🎉
The original series is so underrated these days. People seem to only see the cheap sets and the 60s era writing style. I was fortunate enough to see this show as a child, and with the eyes of a child, and it changed me forever. What you can do with money and computers today is amazing. But you can make great art without it.
“A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art.” Ambassador Kosh.
I fell in love with the Enterprise. Actually cried when she was destroyed. My bubble was burst when I found out how some of my earliest hero's really hated each other.
@@paulmcgarr6557 Yeah, realizing that hurt. However, the actors hated each other, not the heroes. And the heroes live on in our heads and hearts.
I bought the series on DVD's. 📀 And to my surprise my girlfriend loved it as much or more than I.
This was before we landed on the moon. But it isn't like this episode made it possible. We had been working a whole decade to make it happen, and it was on its way. This show willingly acknowledged the effort with class.
I understand he is a pretty great singer too.
an actor can play a character who is a great leader in 2 ways - cool, calm & collected or with great emotion & passion - i am glad WS chose the latter
I liked this speech so much I had "Risk. Risk is our business. That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her." as the quotation under my senior picture in my high school yearbook in 1973.
I love the way he says "risk is our business" It seems no one is willing to even accept risk anymore. They do everything possible to eliminate all risk, and thereby eliminate all reason for living. Not all of Kirk's "future" came to be. We have gone from "wooden ships and iron men to iron ships and wooden men" in a very short period of time.
Captain Jerk's most over-the-top speech. Fixed it for ya! Happy 93rd to the Shat!
Kirk-unit is the man!!! Always has been, always will be!!! 💪👊👍🖖
Kirk's speech made the point. Without taking the risk to go there can never be a future for humanity.
Scotty. I need warp speed in three minutes or we're all dead
I always liked his speech to Mirror Universe Spock at the end of the Mirror Mirror episode.
I love the one where he talks to Cloud William on that planet with the Coms and the Yangs about the Constitution. So passionate.
"In every revolution there's one man with a vision."
Very well put‼️♥️♥️♥️
And the crew took the risk and narrowly avoided disaster... The flaw in this plan was Kirk was looking for a shortcut... A free ride.
Goosebumps.
Thats what Starships are all about! So TOS said it first before STC's 'What Ships Are For'. Thanks for reminding me.
This speech combines two important concepts/tenets: authority should never be used as a hammer; we learn by doing.
Risk is our business. Nothing sums up Star Trek better than that line.
Inspirational and aspirational.
Best Captain Kirk impersonation ever!
“Risk is our business.”
"Risk is our business."
I'm surprised MetLife hasn't used that in a commercial.
1:22 McCoy's just sitting there looking like his butt fell asleep five minutes ago.
Certainly one of his best.
I liked the one he gave to Evil Spock at the end of Mirror, Mirror, too
There's actually a fan episode that follows after that. Star Trek Continues., I think?
That’s why he’s Captain Kirk.
Absolutely great 👍
Sisko may be the best warrior, Picard was the diplomate, but Kirk is the true Star Fleet officier. He will fight and die for those ideals, but he will also compromise and learn from his errors, Kirk is more than just human. Kirk is what every man, woman, and child should aspire to be.
That said Sisko is still the best,
Honestly, I don’t know. I think Kirk, Picard and Sisko each had their wow moment, these things each did that the other two would not have equalled. So I can’t say which is the best. But I can say which was the worst: Janeway.
KIRK IA THE BEST CAPTAIN, PERIOD.
It is a good thing that you entitled this video as "Captain Kirk's best speech", because I was thinking that Bones was just about to "commit" Capt. Kirk!!
Kick-ass Captain
Sounds like one of his records!
Fine actor, period.
We love you Captain!
We come *IN* peace!
"Risk is part of the game. You wanna sit in that chair?"
I ALWAYS get annoyed when people criticize Shatner's line readings. On every episode there was a director, Roddenberry was the executive producer, and "hands on" in the first couple of seasons. If anyone had an objection, I'm confident they would have said something.
.... not to map stars and study nebulae.... but to charter the unknown possibilities of existance. THAT is the exploration that awaits you
Star Wars entertains. Star Trek inspires. 🖖🏼
A good one, for sure, but I enjoy his recitation of the preamble to the Constitution in "The Omega Glory" more.
This episode aired on February 9th 1968. Apollo 11 landed on the moon, the first lunar landing, July 16th 1969. Let that sink in. They were optimistic that it would land to the point of adding that line in their show.
This far from Kirk's best speech. His speech at the end of "A Taste of Armageddon" about war and killing and to Reger and Marplon in "The Return of the Archons" about freedom and how it must be earned are the ones at the top of the list. His rebuke of Garth and calling Spock his brother in "Whom Gods Destroy" is near the top. Even his criticism of Dr. Crater's protection of the Salt Vampire is ahead of this one.
I think his best speech is probably from "A Taste of Armageddon," as you mentioned, and assuming I correctly recall that it's the episode where the planets wage war via computer simulation and the casualties just line up to be disintegrated. That one also has the benefit of being in a much better episode.
But I think this speech is pretty high on the list. It's probably the best speech that really captures the exploratory heart of Star Trek, and "Risk is our business." is the most memorable single line from one of his speeches, imo. I mean, if I were asked what's Kirk's best speech, I would be tempted to say this one just because I know a line from it.
however this speech captures the overall spirit of star trek TOS very well.
That is one of my favorite episodes. If you ignore the costumes that episode is one of the ugliest things the crew faced. A people so used to butchery, that they sacrificed themselves for a war they no longer understood the causes or reasons of just the rote mechanics to keep it going.
Someone posted his speech from "The Omega Glory" reading the Constitution and called it his best speech. I don't know about that. Kind of a cringe episode.
@@sandal_thong8631 It was ok. Risk and Taste of Armageddon were the best.
In the last episode of "Strange New Worlds" Samuel Kirk mentions that he's "risk averse". I assumed it was an Easter-egg reference to this speech by his risk-taking younger brother.
Sam Kirk referenced a speech his kid brother didn't make yet?
@@cindydott452 Member? Member?! We (the makers of the current shows) know _Star Trek_ too! We pointed at the thing and said, "ooh, look over there! We know what we're talking about!" Now, just ignore our anti-establishment, systemic dismantlement philosophy and unprofessional quirky dialogue, trauma fetishistic focus and total disregard for military and diplomatic decorum amongst our characters and our "subversive" trying-to-be-too-clever plotting that falls on its ass if you think about it at all and you'll see that we are, in fact _Star Trek,_ despite doing everything totally, completely counter to *nearly* every ideal that the franchise stood for, rendering the whole principle of it worthless because it can change on a whim so long as people can sit and drool in front of it and it's hollow, empty platitudes that make them feel better about their inwardly focused, self-absorbed individual woes while not actually saying anything substantive about them at all.
...
In my opinion. 😏
@@bustedsim What did you just babble about? You sounded like a corny clown.
@@cindydott452 Well, the writers of SNW referenced it, that's why it's an Easter egg. But if you want to get technical we'll call it "foreshadowing".
@@edgeof60 I call it hamfisted hack writing.
Sometimes bombast is just the right tone. Say what you will about the man's acting abilities, but no one ever did bombast better than William Shatner.
Speech was shown to the American public in February 1968, between the cessation of the Apollo program due to the tragic launchpad fire of Apollo 1 in January 1967 and the resumption of flights with Apollo 7 in October 1968.
We're goin' in.....!
The legendary captain...
You are so right. 👍👍👍👍👍