A Vulcan, an android and a Romulan walk into a bar owned by a talking parrot. Stay with me here. . .Question: "What was the funniest moment in the Star Trek films?"
Scott's Answer: If you had asked me this question when I was 11 years old, I might've said Data's various emotion chip scenes in Star Trek Generations . His first drink, the "lifeforms" song, and even his brief use of profanity... but today, I find those moments more cloying than anything else. Having said that, I love the scene in Star Trek IV in Gillian's truck, which includes the famous "Yes"/"No" exchange between Kirk and Spock regarding their love of Italian food, along with one of my favorite bits, when Kirk says to Gillian, "You're not exactly catching us at our best" to which Spock interjects "That much is certain." I also love this exchange between Bones and Spock in The Motion Picture: "Spock, you haven't changed a bit. You're just as warm and sociable as ever." "Nor have you, Doctor, as your continued predilection for irrelevancy demonstrates."
Andrew's Answer: Good question! The films had a lot of hilarious moments. Spock not knowing how to swear in Star Trek IV, Kirk and his "double-dumbass on you." Then there's the "Earth, Hilter, 1938" moment in The Undiscovered Country. From First Contact you've got, "You didn't tell him about the statue?" But my favorite moment is actually in Star Trek III, when McCoy says of Spock putting his consciousness inside McCoy, "This is his revenge for all those arguments he lost!" LOL!
32 comments:
Time (and a maturing political philosophy) hasn't been kind to my opinion of ST4, but I must admit that there are some damn funny moments in it. The one that cracks me up every time is Spock's mind meld with the whales. Kirk's expressions are priceless, one of the few times he's not in control of himself or the situation. The comedic tension builds as Gillian is blathering on and on about how we don't know what the whales are saying to each other, when an elderly lady in the group says "Maybe he's singing to that man!" I don't care who you are, that's funny right there.
Andrew - That ST III quote from McCoy is even funnier with the first part: "That green-blooded son of a b****. In fact, McCoy has some of the funniest one-liners in the first six movies.
My favorite funny scene is from ST IV when Kirk and company rescue Chekov from the hospital. As they're wheeling him out of the room, a cop asks Kirk "How's the patient, doctor?"
Kirk: "He's gonna make it."
Cop: "He? You came in with a 'she'!"
Kirk: "One little mistake ..."
Dave -
I love that moment. It's just the right amount of awkward without going completely over the top, not to mention Spock's misuse of language in the scene that follows: "I was attempting the hell to communicate," etc. :-)
BIG MO -
Re: the hospital scene, I love the gag with the old lady, to whom Bones has given a pill... then when we see her later: "I've got a new kidney!"
(The music during the hospital chase still makes me cringe a little bit, though.)
For me it was the Save the Whales movie (I forget which one this was number wise.
Anyway, when the are on the bus and the kid in the punk rock get up is acting out (presumably strung out on drugs) and Spock Vulcan NEck pinches him to the delight of everyone else on the bus.
I suppose I'm always ringing the bell for ST: V b/c, while it might not have the best jokes, it certainly has the most. A lot of people bristle at Scotty playing relief, but he always had those moments even in the original series.
My favorite was when Scotty is drinking one of the Kelvans under the table and, unable to provide a name for the last bottle, declares, "it's green!" Bonus is the send-up given by Data in "Relics" while Scotty is drowning his sorrows in Ten Forward.
ScottD - yeah, the music for the hospital scene was a little too much Benny Hill. But, given the lighthearted nature of the movie...
Maybe this is why I have always like the "whale movie" - it's funny!! I haven't seen it in quite a while, and I remember all of these that y'all mentioned.
I think there was also something w/ Scottie when they were trying to invent the super-glass, but I can't pull it all the way out of the memory banks.
Thanks for the morning smiles...
Dave, I feel the same. I loved ST IV when I first saw it, but over the years, the politics of the film has begun to grate on me and the film's other failures have become more obvious to me.
Big MO, True, the rest of the quote makes it even stronger! LOL!
Scott, I think that all of their attempts to swear are hilarious.
Indi, When Spock did that, the theater erupted. It was hilarious! I still remember the audience reaction to that scene whenever I see it today.
tryanmax, We're doing the series in a couple weeks! :)
I liked most of the humor in STV, but I didn't care much for the Scotty parts. I particularly didn't like when he knocked himself out. That struck me as too fake... a joke too far.
rlaWTX, The Scotty moments in IV were funny. First, when he's talking into the mouse and then when they're worrying about the timeline by giving the guy the formula for transparent aluminum, and Scott says, "who's to say he didn't invent the thing?"
we know Kirk cheated on the Kobayashi Miru simulation, so you shouldn't be surprised I will as well by totally ignoring your "films" qualifier for the question at hand. To me, McCoy, the salty Georgia country doctor always had great comedic lines, but my favorites were from the t.v. shows rather than the films.
1st place - "damn it Jim, I'm a dr. not a brick layer" when asked to treat the Horta. 2nd place - McCoys' general reaction to the super tranquilizer he was given (along with the entire crew) to prevent Red Jack from fleeing Mr. Hengis' body to another host. DeForrest Kelly did a great drunk imitation.
I saw an episode a few months ago where Kirk and Spock have to impersonate 1930s gangsters, and Spock says to one of their opponents, whom he's holding at gunpoint: "I would advise yous to be quiet." From the little bit I've watched, the deadpan delivery of such lines from Spock is pretty funny.
Jed, Rule breaking is the Commentarama way, but we are still going to do funny moments from the series in a couple weeks.
I do like that Horta quote though! :)
T-Rav, Spock was never good with distinctly human phrases! LOL!
Oops. Looks like I broke the rule early. I didn't catch that key word in the question. Sorry!
tryanmax, Commentarama is big on breaking rules. Apparently, conservatives aren't interested in law and order after all. LOL!
since we're breaking rules, I'll say it for Bev: GWTW!!
rlaWTX, That does seem to be her standard answer, doesn't it? :)
My lively bride loves this little bit from Insurrection, which rarely fails to make us laugh:
Troi and Crusher are talking about how the Ba'ku atmosphere is making them all stronger and healthier.
Troi: Have you noticed how your boobs have started to firm up?
Crusher: Not that we care about such things in this day and age.
Troi: Uh-huh.
[After overhearing this, Data goes over to Worf.]
Worf: I have an odd craving for the blood of a live Kolar beast. This environment must be affecting me again.
Data: And have you noticed how your boobs have started to firm up? Not that we care about that.
No kidding, we're big on breaking rules. Bev's breaking my drinking rules over in the other thread and the debate hasn't even started yet.
(Sorry I'm late!)
Indi -
Yes, Star Trek IV is "the one with the whales." I love that scene on the bus, too. The punk is actually the film's associate producer who also wrote and recorded the song coming out of the boombox. It's called, appropriately enough, "I Hate You." :-)
BIG MO -
Leonard Rosenman's score for Trek IV has grown on me over the years and when Intrada released the complete remastered score earlier this year, I gained a new fondness for it. There's some good stuff there, including some cool alternate cues that didn't end up in the film.
To be fair, the hospital chase cue is the only one I don't really like - I LOVE the Russian-tinged piece for Chekov's run aboard the aircraft carrier. :-)
RLA -
Ah, the "transparent aluminum" scene... yeah, "Hello, computer" is a classic Trek line.
At one point, the plant manager's secretary comes in and the guy just stops her cold: "Not now, Madeline!!"
Oh, and BIG MO -
No offense but I hate the "boobs" line in Insurrection! I'm not a fan of the film anyway but that and the "flotation device" gag with Data make me cringe. That's not to say there's no humor in the film - I've always enjoyed the Gilbert & Sullivan scene myself. :-)
Jed, et al -
Yes, as Andrew said, we're doing the shows in a couple weeks. But I see the rule has been broken... just as I predicted a couple days ago (and I have the e-mail to Andrew to prove it!). :-)
Scott, expecting the breaking of the rules was not a hard call to make around here! :)
When Kirk asked the evil alien in ST5 "Excuse me, but what does God need with a spaceship?"
Not sure if it was meant to be funny, but I took it that way. Mostly in the way Kirk said it and the fact that no one else seemed to wonder why God would need the Enterprise.
Also thought it was funny when Kirk sold his glasses in ST4.
Spock: Excuse me, Admiral, but weren't those a birthday gift from Doctor McCoy?
Kirk: And they will be again. That's the beauty of it.
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