Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
• Directors: Gene Nelson
• Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Margaret Armen
• Producers: Gene Roddenberry, John Meredyth Lucas, Robert H. Justman
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 1994
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300213501
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,814 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #21 in	Video > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Star Trek
  #41 in	Video > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Space Adventure
  #57 in	Video > Classics > Classic TV

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This is one of the more entertainingly sadomasochistic Star Trek episodes. Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are kidnapped from the Enterprise and taken to Triskelion, where they are forced to participate in gladiator-style fights for the amusement of the mysterious "Providers." In addition to the borderline kink of training harnesses and punishment collars, there's plenty of hand-to-hand combat and odes to the human spirit to enjoy. There is also, of course, plenty of romance as Kirk tries to find the soft side of his beautiful trainer Shahna (played by the slender '60s sexpot Angelique Pettyjohn). Back aboard the Enterprise, we get to see more of Spock and Bones's prickly relationship as they try to find the others. This is a terrific episode, with just the right balance of fighting, kissing, and speechifying. --Ali Davis

From the Back Cover
Kirk, Uhara and Chekov are enslaved by unseen masters from Triskelion, and cast into a deadly game.

TREK TRIVIA
The alluring Angelique Pettyjohn (Shanna) manufactured her own Shanna poster which she sold at Star Trek conventions. She later moved to Las Vegas where she was a ring mistress at the Circus Circus casino.
The painting seen behind Kirk and the Providers was previously seen in "The Devil in The Dark"; the dome over the Providers was the top of Lazarus' ship in "The Alternative Factor."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The crew beams to the wrong planet and finds trouble, March 22, 2002

By	retrowens (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are supposed to beam to Gamma II, but they accidentally get beamed to a place called Triskelion instead. Triskelion is inhabited by strange looking people who love to fight.

The leader of this unheard of place tells Kirk, "This is planet Triskelion; you are to be trained and spend the rest of your lives here."

With the fact that the Enterprise trio has an item around their neck that can provide them a good bit of pain, and with the fact that Spock and the others are still onboard Kirk's ship with no way of contacting the lost trio, is there any way that Kirk can get himself and his other two mates back onboard the Enterprise?

"The Gamesters of Triskelion" isn't in the batch with the absolute best episodes of The Original Series, but unlike most of the other reviewers, I actually like it. It contains some exciting fighting sequences, great voice acting, good lines, good enough acting, Kirk womanizing a beautiful woman, and best of all, it's entertaining without being boring.

If you're an avid collector of episodes from Star Trek - The Original Series, I recommend getting "The Gamesters of Triskelion." However, if you're looking for only the very best episodes, you'll probably want to look past this one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It'll make you feel funny, November 9, 2001

By	Dr. Lance Tong (Frederick, MD United States) - See all my reviews

I have two words to say regarding this episode: "Acting Machine"

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid at all costs, December 20, 2001

By	Neil L. Inglis "Lord Starlink" (Bethesda, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Triskelion is quite possibly the worst episode from Star Trek, TOS. Nothing wrong with that -- they couldn't all be gems, and they weren't. The later ST-TOS episodes began to get trapped in a rut in which the characters were trapped on planet surfaces and tortured by cruel captors; whereas, in the earlier episodes, the villains were not all one-dimensional.

If you enjoy sadomasochistic themes, I suggest you try the much more interesting 3rd-season episode, "The Empath." And if you're a newcomer to ST-TOS, try "The Cage," "City on the Edge of Forever," "Other Side of Paradise," "Conscience of the King." Personally I am very fond of the unjustly-maligned "Man Trap."