Twilight Zone: Charlie's Law, The

Updated
Twilight Zone: Charlie's Law, The
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Franchise:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1966
Original Running Time:
50
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
27
Time Cut:
13
Brief Synopsis:
In the time of the Space Age, young Charles Evans is transferred to the starship Enterprise. Sole survivor of a crash eighteen years earlier, he is welcomed aboard with open arms. The boy, however, harbours a dangerous secret.
Intention:
Renamed 'Charlie's Law' from the original script of the episode, my third attempt at adapting a Star Trek: The Original Series episode into a 1960s Twilight Zone episode brings us to 'Charlie X', probably *the* episode that best fits my idea, since it virtually is a Twilight Zone episode set on the ship of Kirk and crew.
Release Information:
  • Digital
  • Digital
Editing Details:
Initially, I thought it best to keep the episode in its current format, more or less, and treat it as one of the would-be Season Four episodes, since I wasn't sure what I could cut. However, the real purpose behind these edits, is for me to adapt a Classic Trek fifty minute episode, into the more traditional half hour approach to anthologies.
Cuts and Additions:
So, once you take out all the Captain's Logs and exterior space shots, all that's left to edit is the main material. Here's what I have shaved off, which brings the edit in under thirty minutes:

* All Captain's Logs and exterior space shots.
* The "is that a girl?" exchange.
* Charlie swatting Janice on the posterior.
* The first part of the bridge scene discussing Charlie's survival.
* The opening of the recreation room scene, prior to Uhura's ad-libbed singing.
* The synthetic turkey and Kirk explaining the inappropriateness of hitting a woman, in the corridor. This also removes a continuity error with Kirk's uniform.
* The rest of the scene after the Antares is destroyed, including the 'live turkeys' prank.
* The entire chess scene.
* The end of the scene in which Janice introduces Tina to Charlie.
* Rand bringing her concerns to the bridge.
* The scene between Kirk and Charlie in the former's quarters.
* All the gym scene after Charlie disintegrates Sam.
* A few lines from both the briefing room discussion, and Kirk's questioning of Charlie.
* The subsequent bridge scene up until Uhura is electrocuted.
* Charlie's unannounced visit to Rand's quarters has been edited to cut out the commercial break.
* Charlie entering and breaking free from the brig.
* Uhura picking up a transmission, and Charlie telling Kirk it is his game to decide whether it is real or false.
* Some of the sequence of Kirk attacking Charlie, and the Thasians breaking through.
* Charlie's pleading to stay has been cut. Instead, Kirk speaks for him immediately.

Opening TZ narration edited from 'Elegy' and 'The Fugitive'.
Closing TZ narration edited from 'The Parallel'.

User reviews

3 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.3(3)
Audio Editing
 
9.3(3)
Visual Editing
 
9.7(3)
Narrative
 
10.0(3)
Enjoyment
 
10.0(3)
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Of the three Star Trek/Twilight Zone edits I've watched so far, this one does the best job in replicating the feeling of The Twilight Zone. The cuts don't affect the story at all, and the story pacing feels just right for a half-hour Twilight Zone episode. The only issues I had were some uneven audio levels in the opening minutes, where the dialogue is a bit drowned out by the music, and a few minutes later it becomes hard to hear again. The rest of the episode plays out without problems. Looking forward to watching the next in the series!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
A
Top 500 Reviewer 7 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: October 25, 2021)
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Nice Edit, I had a wonderful time. You merge Star Trek & Twilight Zone very nice. I wonder how you made it B&W?

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Warlord's masterful mixing of Twilight Zone and Classic Star Trek produces yet another well-structured variant on a memorable episode. Nothing from this 25-minute trim felt out of step, all the core essentials of the story were retained so you knew exactly what was going on without any narrative side-steps. A worthy entry.
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