William Shatner Movie:

		List Price: $19.99		Label: CBS Paramount International Television Salesrank: 82559 Released: June 5, 2001
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Editorial Review:
"A Private Little War," Ep. 45 - Kirk and company beam down to a primitive planet visited by Kirk 13 years ago. But some of the once-peaceful natives now have sophisticated weapons, courtesy of the Klingons. "The Gamesters of Triskelion," Ep. 46 - Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are enslaved on the planet Triskelion. There they are trained in the art of combat so that their unseen masters, the "Providers," can make wagers on the outcome.

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 23, Episodes 45 & 46: A Private Little War/ The Gamesters of Triskelion Reviews:
Politics and Slavery are Both Addressed in these Classic Episodes!
2008-01-02 - Parallels to the Vietnam war are given in "A Private Little War" as Star Fleet Captain James Kirk must make a fateful decision to interfere with the natural evolution of a tribal planet at war, which has already been compromised thanks to a Klingon agent who has armed one side with advanced weapons to give them an unfair advantage.
While it may never be popular or even politically correct to criticise government, Star Trek has an impressive history of taking events from our day and put them in futuristic settings to make social commentaries that are far more perceptive than what one will find on the six o'clock news. This is is no exception. The question this episode begs to be answered is how far should a supposedly advanced nation become involved with a so-called lesser culture. Watch "A Private Little War" and see what happens.

In "The Gamesters of Triskelion" the timeless message of slavery is addressed as Kirk, Chekov and Uhura are captured and enslaved for the amusement of another so-called advanced race. Things really heat up when Kirk takes the ultimate gamble to save his crew!



Give this weak volume a wide berth!
2006-11-21 - There are many reasons why I find this particular volume very forgettable and missable; in fact, this volume falls into the "give this a miss" category and ranks among the worst ever among all 3 seasons. In the first episode, we have a ridiculous looking creature that makes me laugh more than shudder in fear reminding me a lot of Paul from the "Electric Company" and we also see a racist side to Kirk when he automatically assumes that as the doctor assisting Bones is black and so he is somehow not competent and he needs reassuring from Bones that the black doctor is good at his job and hence good enough to tend to the injured Spock.

The second episode is worse with a very weak storyline and portrays Kirk at his sexist best with the way he manipulates his female jailor. The storyline is very far-fetched and the only redeeming factor is the humourous exchange on the Enterprise among Bones, Scottie and Spock when the latter suggests the other 2 mount a mutiny.

If you are picking which volumes to keep, avoid this one at all costs; you have been warned!



Kirk battles Klingons for a planet's Hearts and Minds
2002-11-13 - This is another great Trek pairing.

"A Private Little War" is Trek's take on what was then our expanding participation in Viet Nam. Here, Kirk and crew journey to an idyllic Eden of a world populated by noble nomads and settled villagers and, unfortunately for everybody, fair game for the Klingon empire. Though barely on the edge of the industrial revolution, villagers are now armed with flintlocks, and have engaged in a genocidal war against the nomads -a noble band led by the heroic Tyree. A close friend of Kirk's on his last sojourn their, Tyree allows Kirk to hide within his tribe while he and McCoy investigate Klingon backing of the villagers. Spock is unluckily struck by one of the primitive flintlocks and spends much of the episode in the Enterprise's ICU. Down below, between ducking Klingon's, Kirk and McCoy bitterly debate the morality of bringing the tribes into technological parity with the villagers, with Kirk in favor of giving Tyree's people a fighting chance, and McCoy arguing how that would only prolong a bloody and suicidal war (almost a completely win-win situation for the Klingons).

This was a great episode, deftly referring both to Viet Nam and treatment of indigenous tribes in 19th century America. McCoy especially shines in his moments arguing with the Captain, while the script gives Kirk the coldly logical position normally reserved for Spock (it would probably have been too cold; perhaps that's why they had him shot down in the opening scene). Also look for 1960's TV fixture Nancy Kovack as Nona, Tyree's bewitching wife. Kovack had a recurring role as Darrin Steven's former flame on "Bewitched", exposing her to all sorts of nose-twitching witchcraft. As Nona, a "Kunutu" woman, she now gets to cast the spells.

"Gamesters of Triskelion" is perfectly campy Trek, with Kirk, Uhura and Chekov kidnapped during transport by a highly advanced race of beings (is there any other kind?) called "Providers" who force Kirk and crew to battle in mortal combat with other kidnapped aliens (one of them, a beautiful humanoid who's wicked in the ring). You'd think the Providers would have long tired of the repetitious gaming (they bet using "quatloos", but you never see one) and would have long settled on developing the slaves to try living normal lives as a more amusing form of entertainment. "Gamesters" is campy trek, using interior sets (even for outdoor scenes) and featuring Shatner in full "lounge mode" as he courts his fellow prisoner. One caveat though, this episode features a moment in which Uhura is assaulted just out of camera shot. It's very suggestive, but by the end of the episode, there's just about no closure. It was perhaps a bit too campy for its own good.

TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF GREAT STAR TREK EPISODES!
2002-10-06 - Two of Star Trek's second season episodes that are quite memorable appear on the Volume 23 of this DVD collection. One tackles a huge issue of the 60's while the other is just a classic Star Trek episode.

A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR obviously attacks the Vietnam War issue that plagued the world at the time (the late 60's). This had been attempted to a lesser extent in the earlier episode FRIDAY'S CHILD. However A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR is far more successful at getting the message across. Kirk and McCoy arrive at a peaceful primitive planet which Kirk had visited years earlier. However upon their arrival they find the planet has been divided and they're using flintlocks. As it turns out the Klingons have been supplying villagers with weapons to kill tribesmen. One of these tribesmen is Tyree a good friend of Kirk's from years earlier. As Kirk tries to help he realizes that he is violating the prime directive. And in the end the peaceful Tyree even falls into the hatred and bloodshed when his manipulative wife Nona is murdered by villagers. This episode ends on a real down note. For it is extremely tragic what happens to this peaceful planet because of the Federation and Klingons. It really relates to the Vietnam war when you think about it. This episode is one of the more serious Star Trek outings however the Mugatu ape beast is somewhat cheesy looking and so this episode does have a few funny moments. There is a great lesson to be learned from A PRIVATE LITTLE WAR but it's never been a personal favourite of mine. It is a good episode though.

The other one here is the classic GAMESTERS OF TRISKELION. I am greatly suprised at the amount of negative reviews for this episode however. I always found this to be one of Star Trek's finest and a true classic. Kirk, Chekov, and Uhura are abducted by superior beings and forced to fight "drill thralls" in a gladiator like fashion. The superior beings (known as the Providers) end up being talking brains that bid over these gladiator battles. This episode has tons of colourful characters including a beautiful green haired humanoid named Shahna whom Kirk falls in love with (kinda predictible huh?). Meanwhile Spock and the Enterprise crew search for the missing crew members until they are captured when they find them. The episode ends in Kirk making a bet with the providers if he can defeat three drill thralls the providers will let everyone go free and Kirk and his crew may return to the Enterprise and if he fails the entire Enterprise crew will be forced to become part of these gladiator games. I dunno if that was the best bet for Cpt. Kirk to make but he was successful and thats what's important. I have always loved this episode it is a classic. It is a typical 'superior beings play with inferior beings' episode but the gladiator fight scenes have to be watched! It's memorable!

Overall I highly recommend Volume 23. It has two great episodes from Star Trek's second season, one tragic and one classic but both are great. Highly recommended!

We've Been Here Before.
2001-06-07 - Volume 23 of Paramount's complete reissue of the Original Star Trek series contains episodes which tread ground familiar to any Trek fan.

A Private Little War is a slightly improved remake of Friday's Child (Volume 16). In this episode, the overall tone is darker, the parallel to the Vietnam conflict is driven home more clearly, and the ending is more ambiguous--fitting, considering how the real Vietnam War ended. Booker Bradshaw is featured in his first of two appearances as Dr. M'Benga, a specialist in Vulcan medicine.

The Gamesters of Triskellion is one of the weakest episodes of the Original Series. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are zapped several light years from their original destination, dressed in kinky S&M obedience collars, and assigned drill thralls--essentially companion slaves (poor Chekov's drill thrall looks like a drag queen from the Jerry Springer show). Kirk once again gets the girl, and lectures the "advanced" race on the errors of their ways. This plotline has been examined--more effectively--in The Cage and Bread & Circuses. The saving grace of this episode is that Chekov and Uhura are at last given more to do that recite "Course plotted" of "Hailing Frequencies Open."

The sound and picture are up to the standards of the other issues of this series, but because of the weak writing, this DVD is recommended only to die-hard Star Trek fans.