Captain Kirk faces the Alien Gorn… Again

Four decades after William Shatner, as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk, first encountered the lizard-like alien Gorn the actor has come face to face with the creature once more to promote a new Star Trek venture.

The legendary 1967 telly battle between Kirk and unknown Gorn has been recreated to promote the Star Trek video game, creatively entitled ‘Star Trek: The Video Game.’

The original Kirk-Gorn duel was seen in the classic episode Arena which has notched up millions of views on YouTube. In the new promotional promotion Shatner and a stunt man in a replica Gorn suit are seen casually playing the video game about Star Trek when a dispute leads to a friendly fight re-enacting actual choreographed punches from the classic TV brawl blow-for-blow. This time, however, couch pillows replace what appeared to be “space rocks” that were thrown the first time around.

“What better way to spotlight the adventure and fun everyone can have actually playing as Captain Kirk in the new game, than to team up the legendary former captain himself to play one of his old foes,” commented LeeAnne Stables, President of Consumer Products at Paramount Pictures, the studio releasing the game. “Mr. Shatner is such a great sport and that Gorn had absolutely no chance of coming out on top this time.”

After spending a day on the set with the Gorn to create the video, veteran actor Shatner, who originated the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, added,

“It never ceases to amaze me how many people still ask me about that scene. It’s 46 years later, and he hasn’t aged as well as I have.”

The Star Trek video game features a vastly updated version of the Gorn as the key foe to legendary duo Kirk and Spock. Players take on the roles of Kirk and Spock, who work together to get to the heart of a mysterious attack by an enemy with unimaginable strength – a re-imagined version of the Gorn. In an entirely original story, written by BAFTA award winner Marianne Krawczyk, the Gorn is a terrifying threat, with an army that could overwhelm Kirk, Spock and the crew of the Enterprise.

Star Trek: The Video Game will be released on April the 23rd in North America and April the 26th worldwide by Paramount Pictures and NAMCO Bandai Games. The game is under license by CBS Consumer Products. See the reunion of Gorn and Kirk below:

[Reported by Dominic Knight]