It’s from the very entertaining film, “Free Enterprise.”
Never let it be said that Shatner has no sense of humor. He portrays himself exactly as his enemies see him. He tries to rap, he reads porn, he tries to sing, he mispronounces Kenneth Branagh’s name, he can’t get hired, and he can’t get laid despite trying non-stop. One of the young guys tells Shatner that a girl he fancies “couldn’t possibly like you less than your co-stars did.” The film swings directly at every negative perception of Bill Shatner that has ever circulated. Shatner takes all the punches, but none of them proves to be the fatal sockdologer, and the bewigged one emerges unscarred from his affectionate faux pummeling.
If you like the original Star Trek this is a must-see because the references are fast and furious (most of them went way over my head). Even if you don’t like Star Trek, I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Ya gotta love Logan’s Run jokes, discussions of the philosophy of Speed Racer, Shatner’s goofy self-parody, naked chicks, and even more naked chicks in 30 minutes of deleted scenes. It’s a great DVD filled with so much dumb stuff you’ll never get to it all.
The nudity:
Stacey Rossman – breasts (deleted scenes only)
Audie England – breasts
Lori Lively – one breast in the final cut
Lori Lively – nude in the deleted scenes
How have I never heard of this?
Not that related, but Lord Buckley is always fun…
I recommend Free Enterprise. It’s a virtually unknown indie, but I think it would have had a good-sized audience if they had known how to market it. It plays out as a laid-back, even kind of sentimental, comedy.
It’s about super-nerds who have the original Star Trek series memorized by the names of the episodes, so I didn’t get all the references. I get lost after “Goin’ back to Eden. Hey, brother.”
If you happen to be one of those guys, this film is your Holy Grail. If you aren’t, it’s still great fun.
It took a long time for it to click, but it’s pretty hilarious when it does: the guy who sings “Goin’ back to Eden. Hey, brother” in that episode is the same actor who plays the head of the Good Ol’ Boys, the country band who want to kick Jake and Elwood’s asses in The Blues Brothers.
And he appeared in 3 Russ Meyer movies. Bastard!
PR
This film is underrated. It gave us one of the best dream sequences where a kid gets knocked out by a bully and he sees William Shatner. The kid then tells him that he started the fight all because of something William Shatner did not want to know. “He said that Han Solo is cooler than Captain Kirk!” “KICK THE LITTLE FUCKER’S ASS!!!!”
I could not agree more. This film should have found a wide audience, but they had no idea how to market it, or lacked the funds. Even now, it absolutely should be a cult film, but few people are aware of it.
I had forgotten about this gem. I’m only a 5/10 on the Star Trek Nerd Scale but definitely some good belly laughs.
Thanks for the suggestion.I never saw it, but I certainly will now. I think that it deserved more nude scenes, but I will watch it just the same.
I was at the (Canadian) Stratford Festival – Shatner’s old haunt – 10 days ago with my wife and saw some excellent plays. First time that I had been there in a few years. A really great time. I wonder if Shatner could have had a career where he was taken more seriously if he had not taken the James T. Kirt role in Trek. Perhaps. (I have never looked at his reviews from his long-ago Stratford days.) Or maybe he found exactly the right career path in light of the nature of his talents.