Starfleet's mission may be one of peace, but it's not afraid to get its hands dirty.
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00:00Hello everyone, Sean Farrick here for Trek Culture, and yeah, alright, if you've watched the other
00:06video, you knew we're going to try and find them as many as we possibly could in front of here,
00:09because check it out! But also, we have a reason for including this specific list.
00:15Now, I'm not going to be talking about the big space battles out there, because we have lists
00:19on those already. Klingons, Dominion, Borg, the lot. Go check them out. This is going to be about
00:25the smaller ones. We're talking hand-to-hand, physical combat. Something that looks like I
00:32wouldn't have an absolute hope. Not just for the fact that I'm effectively wearing a KonKomi top.
00:38Without any further ado, let's get going on the 10 Best Fight Scenes in Star Trek.
00:44Number 10, Seven of Nine versus the Pendari Champion, Tsunkatsui. The sixth season of
00:50Star Trek Voyager gifted us with this absolutely brilliant scene featuring Seven of Nine and a
00:56little-known guest star who rocked up with a raised eyebrow. Right in the beginning of his
01:01acting career, Dwayne Johnson appeared in this episode as the unnamed Pendari Champion, thrown
01:08into a match against Seven of Nine, and to say that he's not very impressed with the drone is a
01:15bit of an understatement. He compares her to the size of a field mouse, and she says that you will
01:20find resistance is futile. What we learn is resistance wasn't very futile. While the rest
01:27of Seven's crewmates are in the stands horrified and shouting her name and trying to get her out
01:32of there, these two are actually far away and it's being broadcast live. So they're in a room
01:39on their own, knocking seven shades of s*** out of each other. It's actually quite a brutal fight.
01:45We're getting kicks to the abdomen, kicks to the face, punches, backhands. It actually looks like
01:51neither one are pulling their punches on the other, and especially when the finishing move features
01:55clotheslines and other wrestling-type moves. You can tell I did my homework for this list. It is
02:02one of the better fight scenes and certainly one of the better scenes in that season of Star Trek,
02:07enough to have me chanting Tsunkatse! Tsunkatse! Number nine, Reed versus Hayes Harbinger. The third
02:15season of Star Trek Enterprise saw a much darker story unfold as the Enterprise goes in search of
02:23the Zindi. A crew of Mako marines, led by Major Hayes, is stationed aboard Enterprise and immediately
02:32Hayes and Reed start to clash because Reed, being head of security, doesn't like having his
02:37authority threatened. This keeps on building throughout the season and initially, I will say,
02:45I thought that when they started sparring, Hayes was going to nobble Reed, but Dominic Keating
02:52absolutely commits. The sparring session spills out of the room into the corridors of Enterprise
02:58and they wail on each other, enough to be dragged in front of Archer. The fun thing about this scene
03:04is that for all of the punches thrown, this was about actually helping these two characters blow
03:09off some steam, and by the episode's close, it looks like they actually get along a little bit
03:16better. Now, I'm not saying that if you're having a problem with someone, you should go and break their jaw,
03:21but it's an option. Number eight, Spock versus Kirk Amok time. If you're talking about fight scenes
03:29in Star Trek, this is one of the most memorable, iconic fights of them all. Think about it, you're
03:36already humming the music. Spock is in the throes of pond fire here, and this version of Spock and
03:43Tupring aren't really as happy as they would be in Strange New Worlds, so the only way for Spock to
03:49exercise these feelings is to pick up in Lerpa and go at it with Kirk. What follows is it's just fun,
03:57it's exciting, shirts are ripped, Spock kills him. No, you heard me right, you heard me right. Now, yes,
04:05there was an injection or two and everyone's fine at the end, but I mean, Spock does kill Kirk in this.
04:12All of this scene leads up to one of the best moments of the original series, which is Spock's
04:17realization that while dead, Kirk came back to life. You see, McCoy had been playing with a
04:23Tribble and some super blood. Oh no, sorry, that's the wrong story. McCoy had actually injected Kirk
04:29with a relaxant, which basically made it look like he was dead, and when Spock sees him, he's delighted,
04:34he goes, Jim! Oh dear. Number seven, Elnor versus Tenkem Andrev. Absolute candor. I'll be straight
04:44with you, this is a bit of an amalgamation because you could pick any of Elnor's fights and they would
04:49be absolutely welcome on this list. One thing you never want to do is put that man in handcuffs and
04:56give him a particularly sharp con badge, but the one I really want to spend the time about is that
05:01first scene that allowed the iconic line, please my friends, choose to live. You see, Elnor is a member
05:10of the co-op mullat, and when you engage a co-op mullat in combat, there's only ever one outcome,
05:18and Tenkem Andrev probably should have done his homework before challenging Elnor. Andrev is an
05:24ex-senator from Romulus, and he was none too fond of Picard when Picard landed on Vashti, to the point
05:30where he challenges Picard to a sword fight. Picard is pushing 173 at this point and is not really able
05:37to fight the man, so he throws down his sword, and Andrev is like, okay, sucks to be you buddy, and
05:42comes at him, only for Elnor to step in the way, utter that line, Andrev raises his sword, and the next
05:48thing you see his head just bouncing across the uh, the clearing. When you are going to go up against
05:53Elnor, do yourself a favor, choose to live, and don't. Number six, everyone versus the Klingons, the way
06:02of the warrior. Sean, you specifically said you weren't going to include the way of the warrior,
06:06and I did say that, yes I did, but actually I meant the battle outside, the battle inside
06:13absolutely deserves a spot on this list. Pretty much everyone gets something to do, let's start
06:18with Odo, he's on the promenade, and he's doing the, you know, the old, the double fist, and he's doing
06:23that, he's doing that, and a Klingon comes up behind him with a bat left, and then Bashir shoots him in the
06:26back like the brave soldier he is, that's just one part. Then you've got Dukat and Garak, who are
06:33protecting the members of the Di Tapa council, Garak with a phaser, but Dukat with a bat left, loads
06:38of fun. We have of course then what's going on in Ops, now we get Dax fighting Klingons with bat
06:44lefts, we get Sisko using everything that isn't nailed down to fight the Klingons, we've got Kira
06:49showing that, you know, a duck tug directly to the side, nah it's a flesh wound, walk it off. We even get
06:55a cheeky O'Brien must suffer moment as well, when the poor man is just doing his best, and the next
07:00thing he gets absolutely walloped in the eye by a Klingon, but thankfully his old buddy from the
07:06next generation, a certain Starfleet officer who's a Klingon, is standing there introducing the new
07:12Mek'leth sword into Star Trek lore. Yeah, that Klingon, he got gutted by Worf. Number five, Spock
07:21versus Khan, Star Trek Into Darkness. Khan is responsible for the death of James Kirk in Star
07:27Trek Into Darkness, and we've discussed that at length. It leads to the scream by Spock, which is
07:33all a bit, no, it does however lead to one of the most brutal fight scenes that we had yet seen
07:40involving this Vulcan officer. In his fit of anger, Spock beams down to hunt Khan in the streets of San
07:47Francisco, and he does catch up with him, and he goes berserk on him. It is a proper scrap, there is
07:56no punches being pulled here. Spock does try and go for the Vulcan neck pinch at one point, but Khan
08:01being genetically engineered is just like, no, and they, you know, there's head crushing going on,
08:07there's tossing all over the place, and it's just brutal. Although there is triumphant music and
08:13stuff in the background, it's not one of those big hooray scenes. This, even if Spock wins this fight,
08:18what cost? Uhura does beam down, and the combined attack by Uhura and Spock finally does manage to
08:26bring Khan down, and she is able to calm Spock down to stop him from killing Khan. It's, it was a new
08:36side of Spock that we had seen, but knowing the history of Kirk and Spock as we do, quite frankly,
08:43yes, I do believe that this is how Spock would react. Number four, Georgiou and Nan versus Leland,
08:51Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2. Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2 is the season two finale of Star Trek Discovery,
08:58and it's a bit of a greatest hits of the series. You get Enterprise, you get Discovery, you get
09:04Burnham, you get Spock, you get Georgiou, you've also got the Klingon cleave ship, you've got L'Rell,
09:09you've got Tyler, you've got Serana, and the other Kelpians who return to help the crew,
09:14but the standout really is Georgiou and Nan versus Control. I mean, there was no way that Michelle
09:22Yeoh was not going to make this list. If you want to talk about brutal fights, it really does look
09:28like no one told Michelle Yeoh that you're actually not allowed to kill your opponent in this scene,
09:35because it's got everything. I mean, it's so much, I mean, she is an incredible martial artist
09:39anyway, but I would not like to be her opponent, even in filming, even in stunt, even with a crew
09:46sitting there being like, okay, all right, yeah, cut, cut, cut. Really, it comes down to, in that
09:51spore bait, it's Georgiou and it's Leland. I don't know about you, but if I'm locked in a cage where
09:57someone's just flicked a button, and you see it's Georgiou has flicked that button, and she's
10:01smiling at you like a shark has just smelled its dinner, I know the jig is up, and we all did,
10:08I have to say, it was a bit cool. Number three, the siege of AR-558. Now, this is actually one
10:15of the sadder entries on this list, because the siege of AR-558 coming in DS9's final season,
10:22the entire point of this episode was to show the horrors of war, and I have to say,
10:27for Star Trek in the 90s, it went pretty bloody far. Think about it, you have fan favorite character
10:34Nog losing a leg, you have Quark firing a phaser against the Jem'Hadar, you have Ezri Dax, who at
10:40this point was still a relatively new character, and was designed in such a way that there was so
10:46much youth in that character being thrown into this horrible war situation. You had guest stars
10:50Raymond Cruz and Bill Mummy, who were introduced, and they were quite likable in their own way.
10:55They're both offed by the episode's end, and eventually it comes down to Sisko is knocked
11:01on the ground, and a Jem'Hadar raises its phaser to fire at him, and it ends. It's not about the
11:07victory, that yes, technically Starfleet does win the fight here, but it's all about the pointless
11:14cost of the lives lost. It's horrific, it's intense, and honestly, it's an episode I don't
11:21re-watch very often for that reason. Number two, Starfleet versus the Klingons, Trials and
11:27Tribulations. Now, things got really serious there for a second, so let's go with one of the funniest
11:32moments from certainly Star Trek Deep Space Nine. You might wonder, why didn't I just go with the
11:37brawl from the original series episode, The Trouble with Tribbles? The reason is because this one is
11:42way funnier. You have, of course, that wonderful scene of Chekov, Scotty, and Spare, who are facing
11:49up against the Klingon, who thinks that the Enterprise should be hauled away as garbage,
11:53and at that point, I mean, everyone stands up. Scotty stands up, I stand up, everyone gets ready
12:00to go. You're throwing digs, you're throwing people, but also you've now got O'Brien, Bashir,
12:07Odo, and Worf joining the fight as well, and we got that line a few minutes prior about the fact
12:13of, they are Klingons. It is a long story, and we do not talk about it, but what you also really
12:19get here is that the 60s Klingons do not stand a snowball's chance in hell against the mighty
12:2780s and 90s Klingons, and Worf just, he just decimates them. Unfortunately, it's not good
12:34news for O'Brien and Bashir, although that scene where Bashir throws a punch, the next thing is like
12:41The whole thing leads up to that lineup where O'Brien and Bashir are being confronted by Kirk.
12:46It's just brilliant, it's fun, but also, I have to say, it's a pretty well choreographed fight.
12:52Number one, Kirk versus the Gorn arena. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. You're like,
12:59you've clearly made this number one for the crack, and you know what? Of course we did,
13:05but I will say an actual serious point. If I were to say to you, think of a fight scene from Star
13:11Trek, odds are you're thinking of this or Amok Time. Look, the fight's pants. I'm not going to
13:16argue that it isn't, but it's so lovingly pants. It is iconic. I mean, we're what, 55 years or
13:23something after it originally aired, and I'm stood where it was filmed, and you're thinking of it
13:29right now, aren't you? You're thinking, here we go. I realize this is Riker, but still. And it is
13:38one of the greatest fights in sci-fi history. I will stand by this. This is my hill to die on.
13:46Is there really anything else that needs to be said about this? Actually, I will say,
13:50I'm glad Kirk was fighting this Gorn, because if he was fighting one of the ones from Strange New
13:53Worlds, this would be a very different entry. That is everything for our list today, folks. Now,
13:58if you reckon there is a scene that we absolutely should include, let me know in the comments below,
14:03and don't forget you can catch us over on Twitter, at Trek Culture. You can catch us on Instagram,
14:07at Trek Culture YT. Catch myself, at Sean Farrick, on the various socials. You can catch
14:11Chris, at ChrisEdit, either on Twitter or Instagram. Tom, at TomCFinn, on Twitter as well.
14:20Oh, just let us do this outro. Until then, you look after yourselves. I'm going to go before
14:25all of the wind comes down on top of us. Make sure that you live long and prosper. Make sure
14:29that you stay well. I will see you soon. Thanks very much.