"Star Trek" Balance of Terror (1966)

Director:

Vincent McEveety

Writers:

Paul Schneider (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

15 December 1966 (Season 1, Episode 14)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Enterprise must decide on their response when a Romulan ship makes a destructively hostile armed probe of Federation territory.

Plot Keywords:

Urban Legend Vector | Canceled Wedding | Federation | Space | Starship

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Mark Lenard	...	Romulan Commander
Paul Comi	...	Stiles
Lawrence Montaigne	...	Decius
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Rand
George Takei	...	Sulu
James Doohan	...	Scott
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Stephen Mines	...	Tomlinson
Barbara Baldavin	...	Angela
Garry Walberg	...	Hansen
John Warburton	...	The Centurion

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

Budgetary and time constraints prevented the make-up and costuming departments from dressing up each Romulan in Vulcan ears as it was such a lengthy process applying them. So they hit on the idea of giving the lesser Romulans helmets which were actually redressed Roman helmets from some of the studio's Biblical epics in the 50s.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the disabled Romulan ship is spinning in space, the hanging wire is visible.

Quotes:

The Centurion: [speaking of a soldier's duty] Our portion, Commander, is obedience.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Data's Day (#4.11)" (1991)

Possibly the best Star Trek episode ever

Despite all the hoopla about THE TROUBLE WITH TRIBBLES episode, THE BALANCE OF TERROR might just be the best episode of the series. And, while I have always loved A PIECE OF THE ACTION because it is so much fun, I really do have to cast my vote as this Romulan episode as being the very best.

The movie, interestingly enough, is really like a WWII submarine movie in that it bounces back and forth between the cloaked Romulan ship and the Enterprise as it seeks to destroy the Romulans before they sneak back across the Neutral Zone after a raid on Federation outposts. In so many ways, the show is much like the film THE ENEMY BELOW--where the American Captain (Robert Mitchum) and the German Captain (Curt Jurgens) are shown in counter-point as they both try to outwit the other--and in the process develop a grudging respect for their foe.

Interestingly enough, only a short bit of the beginning of the episode takes place on a planet--and this is amazing because an episode on board ship could easily have been static and dull. But, because the writing was so fantastic and the main characters written and acted so well (Shatner and Mark Leonard as the Romulan leader). Oddly, for the die-hard Trekkers out there, they'll recognize Leonard as the same actor who later played Spock's father.

The bottom line is this is simply a great and extremely engaging episode that will keep you on the edge of your seat.