Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 40, Episodes 79, 99 & 1: Turnabout Intruder/ The Cage
Nov/095
Description
“Turnabout,” Ep.79 – A female scientist, jealous of Kirk’s career, uses an ancient alien device to trade places with him and take command of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The series’ final episode! “The Cage,” Ep.99 (B&W and color) – The two versions of Star Trek’s rarely seen pilot star Jeffrey Hunter as captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise. On an earlier voyage of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise, Kirk’s predecessor Captain Christopher Pike tries to rescue an Earth crew that disappeared eighteen years earlier. But it’s a trap! Pike is imprisoned in a zoo-like cage and studied by a mysterious higher life-form. “The Cage” Ep.99 was reconstructed with black-and-white footage from Gene Roddenberry’s work print and color footage from “The Menagerie” Ep.16. “The Cage” Ep.1 (Color) – This episode includes the long-lost color footage (believed to have been destroyed) from Gene Roddenberry’s pilot episode. 185 minutes. Amazon.com
In 1966, Star Trek set out to boldly go where no series had gone before, beginning a three-year mission that led to a franchise that would last decades. Here at last is the first season of the original series all in one box, 29 episodes in their original broadcast order. That means starting with “The Man Trap,” and soon followed by “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” the second pilot filmed and the first one starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk. The many highlight episodes include “Balance of Terror” and “Errand of Mercy” (introducing, respectively, the Romulans and the Klingons), the two-part “The Menagerie” (which recycled footage from the original pilot, “The Cage,” which featured Christopher Pike as the captain of the Enterprise and is not included in this set), “Space Seed” (introducing Ricardo Montalban’s Khan character), and “The City of the Edge of Forever” (written by sci-fi giant Harlan Ellison and considered by many the best-ever episode of the series).
The first-season DVD set is supplemented by 80 minutes of featurettes incorporating 2003-04 interviews with Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and some 1988 footage of Gene Roddenberry. The longest (24 minutes) featurette, “The Birth of a Timeless Legacy,” examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew. Slightly shorter are “To Boldly Go… Season One,” which highlights key episodes, and “Sci-Fi Visionaries,” which discusses the series’ great science fiction writers (most famously in “The City of the Edge of Forever”). Shatner shows off his love of horses in “Life Beyond Trek,” and, more interestingly, Nimoy debunks various rumors in “Reflections of Spock.” As they’ve done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit. It’s the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue. The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series–Dolby 5.1, English subtitles–but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers. The plastic case is an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series’ European DVD releases, but it’s a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude. Still, the set is a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. –David Horiuchi
Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 40, Episodes 79, 99 & 1: Turnabout Intruder/ The Cage
Leave a comment
No trackbacks yet.
8:04 am on November 12th, 2009
I am a devout Trekker, I came of age during the time that the original series aired. I found it childish and I had no interest in watching it. However, Gene Roddenberry’s vision inspired me, I had the feeling that better things were on the way. I was right, the Next Generation series was proof that his vision was alive. Further proof was provided by Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
The fetus, the original series, was simply an absurd “William Shatner Show”, the acting was ludicrous and Shatner’s overweight and over acting destroyed the essence Roddenberry intended.
The Star Trek legend was born when Patrick Stewart and company came on TV in 1987. Before TNG, Star Trek was childs play and nothing more. No exploration of characters was possible with Shatner’s vanity, he ruined the original series. Majel Roddenberry said that and I agree with her.
Rating: 1 / 5
8:23 am on November 12th, 2009
star trek, as a kid i never like it or watched it as my parents did. now im grown up and like it. so im watching it for the first time. i got the first season off e-bay (sealed) brand new. disc two skipped. i looked at the back of the disc. 2 scratches. effected play. but i guess not deep enough. it plays on my computer. but not the one hooked up to tv. so i checked all disc. no scratches on them. who ever packed them was’nt carefull in putting them in the case. for that kind of money they should. so i would advise people to check disc.
Rating: 3 / 5
11:17 am on November 12th, 2009
They were spit’n them outta the factory like crazy in those days, not like now where it’s five or six per season and a pat on the back to the overly pampered actors and actresses. I liked the original series best, but it didn’t actually start getting good until season three or so. Just because it’s Star Trek doesn’t give it an automatic five stars. Though even in its infancy, it’s better than Voyager or Enterprise by far! The first season of the Origial series was kind of silly and I am glad they soon got rid of Yeoman Rand. That relationship with Kirk and Rand was just too corney(the same could probably be said of Enterprises’s Trip and The vulcan girl, what’s her name).. The only two I really liked for this STO first season were the “Where No Man has gone before” and “The Cage” with Jeffery Hunter and co-starred Susan Oliver and was actually not a TV release at all and is not on this set.
Rating: 3 / 5
1:04 pm on November 12th, 2009
The Man Trap- 7/10
Charlie X- 3/10
Where No Man Has Gone Before- 2/10
The Naked Time- 7/10
The Enemy Within- 9/10
Mudd’s Women- don’t remember
What Are Little Girls Made Of?- don’t remember
Miri- 9/10
Dagger of the Mind- don’t remember
The Corbomite Maneuver- 6/10
The Menagerie, part 1- 7/10
The Menagerie, part 2- 7/10
The Conscience of the King- 10/10
Balance of Terror- 8/10
Shore Leave- 3/10
The Galileo Seven- 8/10
The Squire of Gothos- 5/10
Arena- don’t remember
Tomorrow is Yesterday- 7/10
Court Martial- 7/10
The Return of the Archons- 6/10
Space Seed- 6/10
A Taste of Armageddon- 10/10
This Side of Paradise- don’t remember
The Devil in the Dark- 10/10
Errand of Mercy- 8/10
The Alternative Factor- 6/10
The City on the Edge of Forever- 10/10
Operation: Annihate!- 9/10
The best episodes are: The City of the Edge of Forever, A Taste of Armageddon, The Conscience of the King, The Devil in the Dark, The Enemy Within, Miri, Operation: Annihate!, Balance of Terror, The Galileo Seven, Errand of Mercy.
The worst episodes are: Where No Man Has Gone Before, Shore Leave, Charlie X
10- absolutely wonderful
9- really great
8- great
7- very good
6- pretty good
5- good
4- okay
3- so-so
2- bad
1- very bad
Rating: 4 / 5
1:08 pm on November 12th, 2009
I certainly hope paramount doesnt screw up THE BRADY BUNCH set when it comes out in March!!
Of course i have nothing to say about the series itself! But, the over animated menu design is a pain in the neck along with the navigation. (just a personal opinion)
Along with that, WHY DOESNT THE LOSER WHO AUTHORS THESE DVDS IN MANUFACTURING simply make a “Play All” button on the menu!!???
Its a pain if you intend to watch the whole disc and have to run for the dvd player every second to initiate a new episode.
How hard can it be?????????????????????????
Rating: 1 / 5