Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Gene L. Coon, D.C. Fontana, Jerry Sohl, Stephen Kandel, Various Others
Directors: Marc Daniels, James Goldstone, Gerd Oswald, Vincent McEveety, Robert Butler, Various Others
Cast: Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Eddie Paskey, Bill Blackburn
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Release Date: November 20, 2007

Star Trek fans unite for conferences around the world. I have been to my fair share of them. The television show has become such a special part of so many people’s lives and with good reason. You could say I’ve been a fan of the various Star Trek series as well as the movies, though none truly compared to the original. Star Trek: The Original Series started the craze and introduced the audience to one of the best shows in television history.

This DVD set comes in an innovative HD and DVD combo format and the picture has been remastered. While the remastering has improved the picture, the effects, and cleaned up the overall presentation that was typical for a show that aired in the late 60s, the remastering really didn’t alter the content or change Star Trek in a way that would make the series lose its charm or appeal. This is still the same Star Trek all its the fans know and love. It just looks and sounds more amazing then I could ever have imagined.

Release Information:
Star Trek: The Original Series first debuted on television sets across the United States on September 8, 1966. Surprisingly, the series only lasted for three, amazing seasons, but oh did those seasons make an impression. Of course, this didn’t happen right away. The show would have to go into syndication to become popular. From there, the series brought forth multiple incarnations in the form of television series, movies, and the characters even made their way into stores as action figures. The merchandising from the series has led to everything from Star Trek costumes to school lunchboxes and set off one of the largest fan frenzies of all time.

It is easy to say that Star Trek is a cult classic in its own right. In fact, it may be possible to say that Star Trek spawned the invention of the cult classic. There seems to be no greater fan base for any television series than this one. Countless trekkies make the ‘trek’ around the country and even around the world to meet up with other fans as well as Star Trek cast members to share their favorite memories and revel in the greatness that is Star Trek.

There is no reason to wonder why Paramount Home Video chose to release Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD). This remastered version, available in a ten disc set, is selling for around $130-$135 at most retailers though the retail value is over $190. Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) was released on November 20, 2007.

The Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season Plot
In the first season of the original Star Trek, the characters that would one day live in infamy as the Star Trek crew to make the show what it is were first introduced. While Star Trek wasn’t popular initially, it grew into a huge success while in syndication and the rest is history. For the first season of the show, the crew of the Starship Enterprise is featured. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) runs the show with the help of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Adding not only diversity to the cast, at a time when African American actors were still placed into stereotypical roles, was Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). The crew was rounded out by Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Lieutenant Sulu (George Takei), Lieutenant Leslie (Eddie Paskey) and Lieutenant Hadley (Bill Blackburn).

The show was not only a science fiction show meant to entertain. It also provided the voice of social commentary that Gene Rodenberry wanted. Through the characters, he was able to discuss sensitive issues such as sexuality, culture, and racism, which was something you didn’t often see explored on television of the 1960s. In many ways, Star Trek was a reflection of the current state of the world. Though season one does not seem to be the most popular or the best of the three seasons, it does provide a solid foundation for what can be expected in seasons two and three. This season is classic because without it, there wouldn’t be many of the episodes that were done so remarkably, especially during season two.

It cannot go without saying that these episodes are full of cheesy storylines and even cheesier effects, but that is what made the show so great. It was meant to be fun and it was, despite any socio-political content that was apparent in the writing and storytelling of Star Trek. This was the season where Captain Kirk had a new love interest nearly every week, and it came to be expected that he was the ladies man of the show. Still, he also had a temper so it was to be expected that the fists would fly, Scotty would be beaming people (specifically Kirk) and the slick verbal diatribes spewed from Spock and his gang of merry men (mainly McCoy and Scotty) would come during some point of every episode.

Speaking of episodes, there are 29 included in this ten disc set. The episodes, all of which are excellent, include (in order by disc) “The Man Trap”, “Charlie X”, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, “The Naked Time”, “The Enemy Within”, “Mudd´s Women”, “What Are Little Girls Made Of”, “Miri”, “Dagger of the Mind”, “The Corbomite Maneuver”, “The Menagerie, Part I”, “The Menagerie, Part II”, “The Conscience of King”, “Balance of Terror”, “Shore Leave”, “The Galileo Seven”, “The Squire of Gothos”, “Arena”, “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, “Court-Martial”, “The Return of the Archons”, “Space Seed”, “A Taste of Armageddon”, “The Side of Paradise, “The Devil in the Dark”, “Errand of Mercy”, “The Alterative Factor”, “The City on the Edge of Forever”, and “Operation: Annihilate!”

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The ten discs in Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) have one side in standard DVD format and one side in HD format. All of the episodes on both discs are in a remastered format. This includes updates to special effects as well as picture quality and visual alterations. The show was transferred in the original 4:3 aspect ratio that is identical to the transfer ratio of the original series. The picture has been cropped into a 16×9 frame, remaining consistent with the original series and its visual picture. Where the two differ is in their actual visual qualities, which have improved greatly in the remastering of this film.

To improve the quality, the film was transferred in a 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 format. This has improved the quality so significantly it’s like watching the show, with the same actors, same action, same or similar effects though it appears it was made much later then the 1960s. I just can’t say enough about how amazing the picture quality is. Still, it is not without its own flaws. The HD quality is so enhanced that the makeup, costuming, and set decorations look somewhat dated, due to the budget employed for the series. The enhancements also make things look grainy at times. Additionally, the methods employed to soften pixilation and grain problems sometimes make the pictures look foggy or dreamlike and lead to minor compression artifacts. Still, the quality of Star Trek: The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) is so different and better (in my opinion) then the original that it is easy to look past such minor visual flaws.

When it comes to audio, there are two options. There is Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 and Dolby TrueHD 5.1. While the True HD audio is significantly lower on purpose, by increasing the volume on the television you are watching this DVD on, both come through crystal clear. The surround sound remixing of original mono audio was done in a way that the original audio quality that gave the show its unique style wasn’t lost. Additionally, the surround sound provides much more enhanced audio, giving the series a whole new feel.

Overall, it’s like watching Star Trek: The Original Series - The Complete First Season for the very first time, all over again. What I enjoyed about the audio was the care that was taken to enhance but not completely change the audio. While the theme song has been re-recorded with a new orchestra, and it sounds absolutely stunning, the dialogue and sound effects have not changed significantly. They’ve simply been enhanced. I can’t complain about the audio. It’s just so great to hear the show with such improved sound. I’d buy this box set just for this feature.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Both the standard DVD and the HD DVD sides have their own, unique bonus features. This large set includes multiple features that will appease every Star Trek fan. Some of these features were found on the 2004 DVD release of Star Trek: The Original Series – The Complete First Season, which features the series in its original visual and audio formats. Some of the bonus features are also new.

The standard DVD side contains multiple featurettes. The first featurette is called “Reflections on Spock”. This feature runs a little over ten minutes and offers Leonard Nimoy’s perspective on playing Spock, the character, and his somewhat scandalous memoir, which was entitled, I Am Not Spock. Another featurette that is close to 25 minutes long is called “The Birth of a Timeless Legacy”. As the name of this featurette implies, it takes a look at the original series and how it was developed. This piece explores the two pilots, the problems the production faced, the budget and how it affected the production, the characters of the show, interviews of cast members and vintage footage during the production of the show, including specific scenes showing Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry.

The next feature on the standard edition side of the DVD is called “Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner”. This featurette is close to ten minutes in length and was recorded in 2003. This featurette provides a personal look at William Shatner. It doesn’t deal very much with the show, though it does provide a look at Shatner as a person. The next featurette is close to 20 minutes long. It’s called “To Boldly Go…Season 1”. This featurette explores specific episodes of the first season of the show. Cast members such as Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner as well as the shows guest stars and producers discuss certain episodes in this season. Specific issues that happen during the production, as well as a look at the characters, play a major role in this featurette.

The last featurette on the standard DVD, clocking in a few minutes shy of 20, is called “Sci Fi Visionaries”. The featurette is a tribute to the show, its visionary approach to the television Sci Fi genre and everything that made Star Trek the amazing show it was. The final feature on the standard DVD is Preview Trailers of each episode. The trailers were not enhanced at all so the quality isn’t up to par with the quality of the DVDs.

On the HD DVD, nearly every feature is brand new and there are many different features to complete this box set. The first feature, which is quite impressive, is called Starfleet Access. This access is similar to U-Control features and allows for picture-in-picture interaction. This unique functionality is available on certain episodes of the show including “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, “The Menagerie Part I”, “The Menagerie Part II”, “Balance of Terror”, “The Galileo Seven”, “Space Seed”, and “Errand of Mercy”. This feature is unique because the picture will become smaller, while enjoying the episodes and at the side of the picture, trivia, interviews, and interactive bonuses will appear. Selections on these controls include Life Forms, Genesis, Environments, Technology, and Federation Files.

There is a featurette that is 20 minutes long called “Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century”. This featurette goes over the significant process that went into remastering this DVD Box Set. There is a close to 15 minutes long featurette called “Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories”. This features those who had the non-speaking roles in Star Trek’s cast and crew including ship navigator, Lt. Hadley, played by Billy Blackburn. The featurette “Kiss ‘N Tell” Romance in the 23rd Century” is 17 minutes in length. This focuses on the love life of Captain Kirk, who was quite the ladies man. This also highlights romances for other characters including Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, McCoy, and even Scotty. This feature came on a bonus disc with the 2004 DVD release of Star Trek.

Another featurette included on the 2004 bonus disc was called Trekker Connections. Close to 5 minutes in length, this is a trivia game that deals with various connections amongst Star Trek characters. There is a preview of the Star Trek Online Game, a visual tour of the Starship Enterprise called “Interactive Enterprise Inspection” and finally a featurette that is 90 minutes long called “Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier”. This featurette is actually a History Channel documentary. Since Star Trek just recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, it seems fitting that this documentary piece was included on the HD version of this DVD set.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
I never understood those who didn’t like Star Trek. What’s not to like of this series? For the millions upon millions of fans out there this is by far, the must have DVD of the season. I’m not kidding. You need to own Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD). It doesn’t get much better than this. All I have to say to Paramount is when can we expect Season Two? If it’s as good as Season One, the series will be the highlight of my DVD collection.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: Star Trek, The Original Series, Season One, First Season, Captain James T. Kirk, James Doohan, William Shatner, Leonary Nimoy, Mr. Spock, Scotty, Beam me up

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