Star Trek - The Original Series - Series 1 - Complete (DVD)

...BACKGROUND

Star Trek was the invention of Gene Roddenberry who first had the idea of producing a state of the art innovative sci-fi series back in 1964. Roddenberry took this idea to NBC and a pilot episode was commissioned in September 1964 called 'The Cage' at a cost of $630,000 it was one of the most expensive pilot's ever made and was the beginning of a new generation (pun intended!) of TV sci-fi.

For it's time ...
...was present, in a way Star Trek was a Sci-Fi 'Morality Plays' generally presenting an optimistic view of man's future.

As well as the themes in the show the series was outstanding for it's state of the art special effects. No other SF show had such high production values. The characters were an instant hit with the fans and developed in to more complex creations as the series progressed. Above all else the scripts were good encompassing ... more

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Star Trek was the invention of Gene Roddenberry who first had the idea of producing a state of the art innovative sci-fi series back in 1964. Roddenberry took this idea to NBC and a pilot episode was commissioned in September 1964 called 'The Cage' at a cost of $630,000 it was one of the most expensive pilot's ever made and was the beginning of a new generation (pun intended!) of TV sci-fi.

For it's time it was groundbreaking Sci-fi on TV. It led the in making more cerebral Sci-fi acceptable. Important issues of the time were often included in the storylines. In a response to cold war tension and interracial problems the audience could see black and white officers as well aliens and later in the series even a Russian working together in the crew of the Enterprise. A strong pacifist message was present, in a way Star Trek was a Sci-Fi 'Morality Plays' generally presenting an optimistic view of man's future.

As well as the themes in the show the series was outstanding for it's state of the art special effects. No other SF show had such high production values. The characters were an instant hit with the fans and developed in to more complex creations as the series progressed. Above all else the scripts were good encompassing great imagination and inventive story telling. Most current Sci-Fi owes a great debt of gratitude to Roddenberry and Star Trek.

SEASON 1

The original series is set in the 23th century. Earth along with other alien civilizations has founded a United Federation of Planets. The story revolves around the Starship Enterprise one of the flagships of the federation. The Enterprise is on a five-year mission…'To seek out new life and civilizations-to boldly go where no man has gone before.'

Looking at the earliest episodes of season 1 you can see that there is a developing confidence in both the storylines and the performances. Certain characters are still in the process of being defined Spock is a good example, it is clear to see that in these early episodes the Vulcan emotions are not totally under control and the odd smirk and smile do sometimes come to the surface, it seems obvious that Leonard Nimoy and Roddenberry were still trying to decide how inhuman Spock should be.

THE HIGHLIGHTS

The presentation of series one in this collection accurately represents a chronological sequence of the first season episodes although I believe some of the running order was changed when they were first broadcast in the UK, indeed one of the episodes 'Miri' was banned for a number of year due to it's for the time violent content not that you would guess that now on viewing it though more modern sensibilities. The only inconsistency is that the second pilot episode 'Where No Man Has Gone Before'
is not he first episode on disc 1.

This box collection does include all 29 episodes featured in the first series but does not include the original pilot episode in it's entirety although key part of the pilot were cannibalised in the making of a double episode from series 1 'The Menagerie'

Episode list:

1. The Man Trap
2. Charlie X
3. Where No Man Has Gone Before
4. The Naked Time
5. The Enemy Within
6. Mudd's Women
7. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
8. Miri
9. Dagger Of The Mind
10. The Corbomite Maneuver
11. The Menagerie (Part 1)
12. The Menagerie (Part 2)
13. The Conscience Of The King
14. Balance Of Terror
15. Shore Leave
16. The Galileo Seven
17. The Squire of Gothos
18. Arena
19. Tomorrow Is Yesterday
20. Court Martial
21. The Return Of The Archons
22. Space Seed
23. A Taste Of Armageddon
24. This Side Of Paradise
25. The Devil In The Dark
26. Errand Of Mercy
27. The Alternative Factor
28. The City On The Edge Of Forever
29. Operation - Annihilate!

For many fans season 1 was the best of the series and there are indeed many outstanding episodes included.

Some of my favourites are:

'MUDD'S WOMEN'- one of the original pilot scripts, finally filmed. It introduced the character of Harry Mudd a galactic con man and space pirate, who later turned up again in 'I Mudd' in the second season.

'THE NAKED TIME' -when a strange germ infects the crew and leads them to act without Inhibitions and we first se the hints of romance between Spock and Nurse Chapel.

'BALANCE OF TERROR'- we first meet the Romulans

'THE MENAGERIE'- A double episode in which Spock faces court-martial. This episode utilized footage of the first pilot episode 'The Cage'. It includes the character of Capt. Pike crippled and disfigured and played by another actor, as Jeffrey Hunter was unavailable.

'ARENA' - One of the best of the whole series- Capt. Kirk is transported to a strange planet to fight against the commander of another ship, a Gorn (a reptilian creature physically much stronger than humans). This is to be a battle to the death; the prize is the survival of the victor crew. Having no weapons Kirk has to use his ingenuity to defeat the physically superior opponent (the location for this episode was also used in Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.)

'SPACE SEED' - where the enterprise discovers a space ship from the past, its crewmembers in suspended animation, their leader Khan Noonian Singh an artificially bred man who once cruelly ruled more than a quarter of the Earth. (Khan makes a further appearance in the Star Trek Film- 'The Wrath of Khan')

'THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER' - Kirk and Spock travel back in time to earth's 1930's to rescue McCoy who under the influence of a new drug stepped through a time portal found on a nearby planet. In this episode Kirk falls in love with Edith Keeler a social worker in the past played by Joan Collins.

CAST & CREW

William Shatner…Capt Kirk
Leonard Nimoy …Spock
Deforest Kelley…Dr Mcoy
James Doohan…Scott (Scotty)
Nichelle Nichols…Lt Uhura

Director James Goldstone

THE DVD'S AND SPECIAL FEATURES

Screen Fullscreen 4:3 Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1)

The 29 episodes are presented on 8 DVD's in four boxes all contained in a bright yellow presentation case featuring the famous Starfleet insignia on the front. I think if you are making such an investment in a DVD collection you want more than the episodes but a complete package that not only is well made but also looks and feels good. In this respect the presentation is up to scratch the presentation box in nice to look at and is fairly sturdy in its construction. The DVD's themselves are also attractively presented each disc I decorated with an image of one of the main characters form the series and included details of all the episodes included on it.

The search menu and special features are presented at the start of each episode and as well as the usual choice of language, subtitles etc you can also choose to view the original trailer to each episode. A host of other special feature are included including text commentary on various episodes by Trekkie experts Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda. A short documentary on the birth and phenomenon of the Star Trek series as well as featurettes and interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and other aspects of the series. A photo gallery is also included. In short there is plenty her to keep even the most hardened Star Trek fan happy.

However there are also faults with the collection surprisingly enough technical ones. One thing I found most annoying is a introduction to each disc featuring a very unconvincing CGI sequence of the enterprise flying through space and a tour around the bridge before settling on the viewing screen where the viewing options are presented. As the CGI generated bridge is scanned across the picture is erratic and out of focus making a strain on the yes to keep track. Whilst not being a major fault it is still surprising that a better quality image was not produced.

A more important fault is the quality of the DVD transfer and general state of the material. The episodes don't seem to have been re-mastered or touched up from their original state and the quality of the prints is no better than the original series seen on TV, plenty of scratches are in evidence and on a few occasion the sound sync. seems to be slightly off. I find it disappointing that Paramount decide to release this box set without having renovated the quality of the prints, it does seem lazy at best and stingy at worst not to have put in the investment to produce a really high quality print to match the quality of the overall content and physical presentation of such a popular product.

I'm a huge fan of the Star Trek franchise and had plenty of fun revisiting some of these early episodes and for as fan this would be a tempting collection to own however it does come at a price about £50+ from most online sources (for me it was a present!) and considering the slight technical flaws on the disc it does reduce the value for money consideration.

Overall I would still recommend this for any self-respecting fan the quality of the episodes, the special features and the outer presentation are all first class, I just wish that more care had been taken in the technical aspects and that a truly outstanding product had been made available. Taking this into account I've had to knock one star off the rating.

Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 (8 Discs) is available from Play.com for £51.99 delivered.

Thanks for reading and rating this review.

© Mauri 2005

 

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