Star Trek: "Arena"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “Arena”
Year: 1967
Network: NBC
Episode: the eighteenth (of twenty-nine) from season one; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writers: Gene L. Coon, story by Fredric Brown
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
Music: Alexander Courage
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently a few days ago (have on DVD)
Synopsis: the pursuit of hostile aliens is interrupted by a third, more powerful species

My reaction
Concept:
Story: It starts out so promising and exciting, but somehow ends up revolving around Kirk making gunpowder.
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing: The first half is great. The second half is pretty dull.
Cinematography:
Special effects/design:
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, ). It's got a lot wrong with it, especially with the script. The first half of the episode, with action and battles and strategizing, is really damn good. Then some god-like powers show up, and it falls apart.
Objective Rating (Average):