The Cage 

Capt. Pike is held prisoner and tested by aliens who have the power to project incredibly lifelike illusions.

Director:

Robert Butler

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Gene Roddenberry

Stars:

Jeffrey Hunter, Susan Oliver, Leonard Nimoy

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Captain Christopher Pike
Susan Oliver	...	Vina
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Majel Barrett	...	Number One (as M. Leigh Hudec)
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Phillip Boyce
Peter Duryea	...	Lt. José Tyler
Laurel Goodwin	...	Yeoman J.M. Colt

Storyline

This is the pilot to the series that would star William Shatner. Only in this version there is different Captain, Christopher Pike, and with the exception of Mr. Spock, an entirely different crew. Now it begins when the Enterprise receives what appears to be a distress message. But when they get to the planet where the message was sent from, they discover that the supposed survivors were nothing more than illusions created by the inhabitants of the planet, for the purpose of capturing a mate for the one genuine surviving human, and Captain Pike is the lucky winner. While Captain Pike tries to cope with the experiments and tests that the aliens are conducting on him, his crew tries to find a way to rescue him. But the aliens' illusions are too powerful and deceptive (at first).

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Plot Keywords:

illusion | torture | picnic | horse | pilot episode with missing cast | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

While scripting the episode, Gene Roddenberry developed a habit of being somewhat possessive about story ideas, to such a degree that Herbert F. Solow considered this quality to be excessive. "As Gene completed the first-draft pilot script," Solow remarked, "he unfortunately became overly protective of his new baby." Furthermore, Roddenberry began to frequently lay claim to the input of others. "A new side of Gene slowly appeared: ownership of ideas," commented Solow. "If a good story or series point came from anyone, be it NBC, [Desilu's agent] Ashley-Famous, or Desilu, Gene Roddenberry appropriated it."

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Goofs

Wooden batons, nailed to the rock outcrop on the barren planet, to allow the actors to walk up the slope, are clearly visible.

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Quotes

First Talosian: [talking about Pike, who is being held in a Talosian prison cell] It appears, Magistrate, that the intelligence of the specimen is shockingly limited.
The Keeper: This is no surprise, since his vessel was baited here so easily with a simulated message. As you can read in its thoughts, it is only now beginning to suspect that the survivors and encampment were a simple illusion we placed in their minds.
Captain Christopher Pike: You're not speaking, yet I can hear you.
The Keeper: You will note the confusion as it reads our thought transmissions.
Captain Christopher Pike: All...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: Discovery: Light and Shadows (2019)

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Soundtracks

Star Trek Theme (Original TV Series Version)
(uncredited)

User Reviews

A groundbreaking sci-fi movie in its own right

"The Cage" might have ended up as a TV-movie had NBC decided not to try again with a 2nd pilot and then go to series. If so, then "The Cage" would have been the best sci-fi movie since "Forbidden Planet" (to which it is clearly indebted)--all the more remarkable because it was made on a limited television budget and the poor facilities of Desilu Studios.

Yet Roddenberry's vision yielded a story that overcame the plastic and wooden sets and the hastily put together special effects, to give us our first look into his "Star Trek Universe"--a futuristic united Earth, which has finally been put right enabling mankind to set out for the stars.

We're so accustomed to that ST Universe by now, that we may forget how truly visionary it was for 1965: A giant warp-powered starship that looked truly futuristic and beautiful, not some cliche rocket shape. The bridge, the very model of a well-designed command center, to be eclipsed only by the sets of "2001: A Space Odyssey" three years later. The transporter. A female second-in-command and a mixed-gender crew. And most important of all, believable, multi-dimensional characters who are supported by all that futuristic technology and special effects, rather than playing second fiddle to them. Roddenberry's staunch insistence on believable characterization was what separated all the Star Trek series from any other sci-fi series--and is what has enabled the Star Trek franchise to last nearly 40 years.

While the Captain Pike character didn't survive into the second pilot or the series, it also represented a fascinating departure from the TV heroes of most past TV series--something you might see in a big-budget first-run movie rather than a TV pilot film. Pike is depressed and just plain burned out from the constant strain of command, and he is seriously contemplating resigning from Starfleet altogether because he just can't take it anymore. Like any harried, burned-out white-collar worker of today, he has unrealistic dreams of just going home at a young age to retire early, or maybe starting his own business, or anything to get him out of that captain's chair. The adventure he has in "The Cage" acts as his redemption, giving him a live demonstration of Dr. Boyce's statement that no matter how tempted a man may be to pack it in and give up on life, he must find a way to meet life on its own terms, not run from it and hide in daydreams of a life that in the end isn't really for him.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Paramount Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

Greek English

Release Date:

27 November 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Cage

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$630,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

63 min

Sound Mix:

Mono DTS (re-mastered version) Dolby Digital (re-mastered version)

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3