My brother and I used to imagine this exact same theme as we watched Star Trek re-runs growing up in the 70's. I can't help thinking that someone was listening in on our conversations and taking notes. On of my favorite aspects of the movie was the odd realism of the bridge scenes. I did some digging and found out that the set was specially designed and built on a gimbal and that the actors were often surprised by the erratic lurching of the entire set.
Usually, as in the case of Star Trek, when there is an explosion, the camera would tilt to one side and the actors would fall to the other, creating the visual effect of the set rolling and the actors reacting (an effect often called the Irwin Allen rock-and-roll by film buffs). The Protector's bridge set was built on hydraulic rams (or 'gimbals'), so when an explosion supposedly occurred, the set would actually (and very suddenly) rock to one side, vibrate wildly, and throw the actors out of their seats. According to interviews on the DVD release of the film, the effect was so real that it actually frightened (and injured) several of the main cast.[15]
Software has come along since the original Star Trek, and home viedo packages have tools to reduce vibration in video shots. These tools have been applied to Star Trek scenes, so now we can see them in their non-camera shaking glory, which is considerably less dramatic.
