Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3
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Actor: DeForest Kelley, George Takei, Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, William ShatnerBrand: Paramount Pictures
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 4117 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-12-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
DVD Reviews of Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3
DVD Review: ...to boldly go where Paramount has not gone before...
Summary: 4 Stars
So, where to start this review ? Shall I talk about the content and what impact Star Trek-The Original Series (henceforth referred to as "TOS") has made on the imagination and conscience of SF-lovers ever since? Neh, besides from mentioning that TOS has done for TV-SF, what "Forbidden Planet" and "2001, a Space Oddessey" have done for cinema-SF (granted, in hindsight), namely providing us with well written and often thought provoking SF (admittedly with the occasional exceptions) ever since, me think not, others have done this on this site, the web and in writing far more eloquently than I'll ever be able to do. Let's face it, SF , before them on the small as well as the big screen has been juvenile and "aiming for kicks" at best for most of the time. That we now enjoy the well written and thought provoking TV-shows and Movies, is in no small part due to the before mentioned events.
So, instead let's talk about releases. Albeit long, long overdue it is gratifying that Paramount finally released TOS in a format a series of the stature of TOS deserves. Not that they had a choice though. In this DVD-age other studios very early on understood that fans of TV-shows wanted to have their favourite shows released in tight season wise boxed dvd-sets (Fox-studios has to be credited for this insight, for being one of the first in regard to the X-Files series). Paramount was relatively late in understanding this. But picked up on the idea when they brought out The "Next Generation""-series and the subsequent Star Trek series, at least where DVD-releases were concerned.
A small history lesson is at it's place here. When Paramount Studios took over Desilu Studios in the late sixties (if memory serves Star Trek was well into it's second season), they were gunning for the then hit-series "Mission Impossible", no matter what they have stated since then. "Star Trek" was just part of the bargain and really not wanted. However when "Star Trek" begot a life of it's own far after cancellation, Paramount very, very slowly began to realise that they inadvertently hit upon the unintended motherload. To this date, the acquirement of "Star Trek" must stand out as the most profitable deal in TV-history. Paramount has earned billions on a show they didn't pay squat for (remember: They were after "Mission Impossible"). The result? Especially US-based fans have been paying very dearly ever since (quite literally) for releases aimed at maximizing earnings for the studio. The 1-episode/tape videotapes (repeated for the "Next Generation"-,"DS-9"-and "Voyager" series) and 2 episode/disc dvd-releases are the most evident examples that come to mind. In stark contrast, we Europeans were treated better. Even the poorest of our releases at least contained 2 episodes. Especially the latter release (2-episode/disc dvd-release) has stirred up some strong emotions amongst US-fans after the boxed sets were released, judging from some of the reviews I've read and in my modest opinion rightly so, since they were released at approximately the same time Star Trek- TNG boxed-sets were being released (A fate we Europeans were blissfully spared), Although I agree in small part with one reviewer, who stated that the "complainers" could not resist "instant gratification", fact remains that Paramount took advantage of the passion of dedicated people, much like your average street corner dope dealer does. They have not done so with overseas fans (although w've had our share of confusing releases), we got the definitive dvd-version to date at the very first go (Makes you wonder though on how Hollywood considers it's own home public). Don't get me wrong though, I do not begrudge anyone making a buck, heck it is after all "The American Way" and for that matter everybody's way, American or otherwise, but let's keep it in context here. And as far as another gripe goes, their pricing policies: Yes, they are very expensive compared to other studios, however as long as w're willing to pay for it, we can not in all fairness complain. In this matter I can't really blame them (see my above statement), but only provided we are getting from the get go the version we want!!!
So back at business at hand, how do I rate this edition. Well I give it 4 stars, solely based on how it is released. We Europeans for once had a first, We got this edition before you Americans had (well over a year), mainly because the infamous 2 episode/disc-edition run was not completed yet at that time in the US-market. As far as I can ascertain the US-edition is both in packaging as in content exactly the same as the European one. Quite a few reviewers had gripes with the way the series were packaged i.e. in a hard plastic case per season. I grant them this: it is a bit ackward and yes not the very easiest of boxes to handle. However they are in line with the earlier European releases of the other Trek-series, with which the Americans are not familiar with, since they were issued with the more common standard slipcased cardboard box-sets. I can imagine that this series (together with the Animated Series-Box)looks like an ugly duckling on the shelves in any American Trek-dvdcollection, however on my shelves it does look quite natural with the other series which were released in Europe/Japan(as a limited edition) as hardplastic cased editions from the get go. From a commercial pointview, it made sense that this edition was brought out in the US, based on the European mold. And let's be honest, gripes notwithstanding, this is to date the most compact collection of TOS ever to be released.
Many reviewers commented also about the transfer being used for this edition...Here I've to agree to a considerable degree...Although something has been done for the better to the soundtracks, this is not necessarily so for picture. I know for a fact that there are least two transfer-version floating around. One is a US-version, cleaned up perhaps, used on the US-laserdisc edition and most likely used for ALL of the the dvd versions(including this and the European one). The second transfer-edition is a very much cleaned up (at the time called: re-mastered) version, then especially commissioned for the Japanese Laserdisc boxed version of TOS. I once owned a Japanese LD season-box. And truth to tell, at the time, it was much superior to the US-laserdisc edition picture qualitywise. Anyone who has ever imported Japanese discs, be it laserdisc or dvd, know that japanese do take their special editions very seriously and that their picture/sound-quality is second to none. This transfer is later used for the very last time (as far as I can ascertain) TOS has been released as VHS i.e. the (quite rare) 30th Anniversary UK-VHS edition (3, yes 3 episode/tape-edition, even for European standards quite unique)...But I'm quite sure this transfer-edition is not used for any of the dvd-releases. The big irony of this is that until the enhanced series is being released, that the Japanese LaserDisc boxed-sets is by far the most exceptional edition you could get, This discussion is, however, becoming quite moot though , since TOS is in a stage of being (digitally) re-mastered and enhanced at the moment. So expect a version being released in the future that is quite superior to everything been released to date. That being said however, this edition is the best affordable way to enjoy TOS to date, no matter what anyone else says...
On a final note. I come to my personal grievances to this release, namely the specials. I admit on being one of those nuts who are wanting their movies/tv-shows being released on dvd as complete as possible, specials and all...Or I want the most complete version commercially available and not being afraid to pay for it...That being said I found this edition of TOS lacking, much to my chagrin I've to add...This is not only true for this Trek-dvdincarnation but for others as well, on which I'll comment as I'll be able to. First things first, to be fair to Paramount, TOS is a very old show, shot in days were no one could even imagine the need for extra material intended for releases to the home market. Much of the extras had to be shot after the fact, simply because there were no contemporary extras salvaged at the time (However, there's this guy, Curt McAloney, who's made it his life mission to gather and restore as much of these extra's as possible, including some deleted scenes, which are not to be supposed to exist as is shown on his website "startrekhistory.com". Paramount definitively should contact this guy for future releases). Most interviews with cast for example concerning TOS were shot when they were doing the features and relied on their memories at the time, A very large proportion of the extras were made recently for this edition (a whopping 40 years after the fact, much like Paramount's "Once upon the West"), and admittedly quite well done, with some notable exceptions. However my gripe is that there are some glaring omissions and I'll just state the ones which come to mind:
-)The famous or infamous "Blooper-reel"; since the early 70ties this has been floating around fan circles and has almost become an legend of its own. Granted, the quality is poor but to have it denied is denying a part of trek-lore...
-)25th Anniversary Special; One of the best done specials about Trek ever...Hosted by Shatner it gives a light hearted overview of 25 years of Trek history. Released on both VHS and LaserDisc, officially endorsed by Paramount, this probably is the most painfull omission....
-)"Inside Star Trek, The Real Story" By H.Solow and R.Justman, based on the book with the same title. True, not sanctioned by Paramount. But the japanese LD-version gives an insight into the makings of TOS provided by two people who made Star Trek as much as possible as G.Roddenberry did: The Producers...True they have some perceived wrongs to correct (the moneygrabbing moguls, in which service they were supposed to be) but they provide an insight in the making of TOS from a different point of view, which would be a very, very welcome counterbalance to the self-congratulary and selfindulging statements made on the extra's(a mishap occurring on all the extra's of every trek-incarnation). The problem with all the extra's on every Trek-Dvd incarnation is that it sometimes feel like an ongoing glorification of the makers and performers of Trek who made it into the limelight...Some much needed perspective is called for...Her at least is one. Unfortunately Paramount doesn't have the guts to include this one despite their usual disclaimer that everything said does not neccessarily correspond with their (or their mothercompany's) view; So what else is new...
-)The introductions per episode by cast and guest stars for the UK 30th Anniversary VHS-edition, mentioned above, especially from the ones who are not around anymore...They have it, why not use them
-)The Discovery Channel Special:"How Star Trek Changed my Life" hosted by W.Shatner; True, this special (covering on how Trek science became reality in this day and age) was almost certainly still in the making when this set was brought out, but I mention it as a reminder for a future (enhanced ) release
These are omissions I recall from the top of my head, but I'm sure that I'm missing a couple or so. Hopefully others will amend to these...It is also in conjunction with the transfer-issue the main reason why I can not give this edition the full rating of 5. However knowing the poor track record of Paramount in this respect, they have done a respectable job, Hopefully,very hopefully, their next release will include the remastered series along with the original ones (Japanese transfer, please) along with the omissions I mentioned above...For such a release I would be willing to open my coffers one more time, but knowing Paramount, I would not hold my breath...
Description of Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3
Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. With a determined crew the Enterprise encounters Klingons Romulans time paradoxes tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds to seek new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no man has gone before.System Requirements: Running Time 4117 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: G UPC: 097360553871 Manufacturer No: 055387Bestsellers in DVD
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