After years of living and breathing Star Trek, I've learned something new today. There was a Star Trek movie in the works before the ill-fated Phase II TV show went into development.
It was called "Planet of the Titans" and famed Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie created some designs for it. I must admit it seems McQuarrie's style that helped sell Star Wars (and that I love) didn't suit Star Trek. But it is nice to see a different take on the Star Trek universe and wonder what could have been.
Philip Kaufman, who would later help create Indiana Jones, was hired to direct. Here's his take:
"My version was really built around Leonard Nimoy as Spock and Toshiro Mifune as his Klingon nemesis... My idea was to make it less "cult-ish", and more of an adult movie, dealing with sexuality and wonders rather than oddness; a big science fiction movie, filled with all kinds of questions, particularly about the nature of Spock's [duality]-exploring his humanity and what humanness was. To have Spock and Mifune's character tripping out in outer space. I'm sure the fans would have been upset, but I felt it could really open up a new type of science fiction."While Toshiro Mifune would have been a sweet Klingon (and possibly an inspired casting choice), I'm not sure about the rest. It would have certainly been an unique film.
The plot for "Planets of the Titans" (Kirk as a wild man, Spock disgraced, a new Enterprise crew, giving fire to Earth) leads me to believe if it had been produced it might have spelled the end of Star Trek. But, again, it is fascinating to think about what could have been.
Read more and see more pictures at io9, Memory Alpha and Forgotten Trek.
Can you imagine him as a Klingon?
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