Tourist Ömer first appeared as a supporting character in a 1963’s Helal Olsun Ali Abi as a friend of that film’s hero. He was so beloved that he ended up being the lead in eight films, with Ömer the Tourist in Star Trek being the final in the series. He’s played by Ayhan Işık in all these films.
Somehow, this became the first Star Trek theatrical release, beating 1979’s monotonous Star Trek: The Motion Picture by six years. It’s a retelling — let’s be fair, outright rip-off — of “The Man Trap” episode. Everything is copied, from the look of the bridge, the characters, the music, sound effects and miniature footage of the Enterprise. Yet the things that are different — Spock wears yellow and Yeoman Rand is a lieutenant — are so off-brand that they are striking.
Oh yeah — the other big difference is that Ömer is beamed onto the ship from modern Turkey and proceeds to drive Spock beyond bonkers. If that isn’t enough, this turns into a greatest hits episode, bringing in elements of “Arena,” “What Are Little Girls Made Of,” “I, Mudd” and Kirk and Spock brawling from “Amok Time.” I was waiting for a Tribble or two just to see what a Turkish Tribble would look like!
Seeing as how the outside footage was shot in ruins of Ephesus — one of the Seven Wonders — instead of Bronson Canyon, this version of Star Trek somehow has better production values than the show that inspired it.
You can watch this on YouTube.
