The Ultimate Star Trek Collection
Jan/105
Description
This is the ultimate collection for any Star Trek fan. It includes the following: Star Trek: The Motion Picture DVD Collection (all 10 2-disc Star Trek Motion Picture Special Collector’s Editions) The Boxset of the Complete Series of Enterprise (Seasons 1 – 4) The Boxset of the Original Star Trek Series (Seasons 1 – 3) The Boxset of the Complete Series of The Next Generation (Seasons 1 – 7) The Boxset of the Complete Series of Deep Space Nine (Seasons 1 – 7) The Boxset of the Complete Series of Voyager (Seasons 1 – 7)Amazon.com
Here’s the ultimate collection for the ultimate fan. This 212-disc behemoth encompasses five broadcast series and 10 feature films and is, with a few exceptions, all the Trek a Trekker could want. Start with the original series, which in 1966 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. The original Enterprise crew was led by Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and included first mate and science officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), medical officer “Bones” McCoy (DeForrest Kelley), and Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan). The show lasted a mere three seasons, but devoted fans and syndication kept the franchise alive til its first feature film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
Fan response to the leaden-paced adventure was tepid, leading to the “even number rule”: only even-numbered Star Trek movies were considered good. That certainly applied to the second and best in the series, The Wrath of Khan (1982); the fourth, The Voyage Home (1986), which was the best-received among the general public; the sixth, The Undiscovered Country (1991), which was the last to feature the original crew; and the eighth, the action-packed First Contact (1994). Reviews were decidedly mixed on whether the tenth, Nemesis (2002), broke the rule, but it’s far from the worst in the series. Odd-numbered films were the somewhat cheesy Search for Spock (1984), which many fans like for its integrity to the original series; the forgettable Final Frontier (1989); Generations (1991), which was the first Next Generation film but also served to bridge the gap between crews; and the lackluster Insurrection (1998). Most of the feature films were released early in the DVD era, but are represented here in their vastly improved two-disc special editions, which boast widescreen anamorphic pictures, director’s cuts of the first two films, numerous commentary tracks by cast and crew, humorous and informative trivia subtitle tracks by Michael and Denise Okuda, and a wide variety of new and vintage documentaries and galleries.
In the middle of the feature-film run, interest was high in reviving the franchise on television, so The Next Generation debuted in 1987. Featuring a crack cast led by Patrick Stewart, the series shook off early doldrums to become perhaps the most-respected Trek series of all. That honor might be challenged by the next series, Deep Space Nine (1993-99), which for a change took place on a space station and riveted viewers with its vast story arc that explored politics, war, religion, and other topics. Voyager (1995-2001) returned the franchise to its starship roots, featuring Jane Mulgrew as the captain of a Federation ship lost in the Delta Quadrant. Enterprise (2001-2005), the prequel series that took place before the original series, was unceremoniously canceled after its fourth season, breaking a string of the three previous series lasting seven seasons each. This set collects each broadcast series as released on DVD, with all episodes intact and varying amount of bonus features. The original series is in its tricorder-shaped 2004 sets rather than its meager two-episodes-per-disc format from the early days of DVD.
The only omissions from the set are the animated series (1973-75), which as of 2005 was not available on DVD, and the two officially sanctioned fan-focused documentaries, Trekkies and Trekkies 2. So perhaps The Ultimate Star Trek Collection isn’t quite as ultimate as it could be, but it will still give you many years’ worth of sci-fi entertainment. –David Horiuchi
Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 27, Episodes 53 & 54: The Ultimate Computer/ The Omega Glory
Nov/095
Description
“The Ultimate Computer,” Ep. 53 – Kirk stands by helplessly as his ship is used to test an advanced computer that turns out to be as flawed as its inventor. “The Omega Glory,” Ep. 54 – Kirk and crew encounter a ghost ship, a madman captain, a deadly virus and 1,000-year-old natives on planet Omega IV. Amazon.com
“The Ultimate Computer”
Kirk reluctantly agrees to play along with a Federation test of a new supercomputer, designed by the brilliant Dr. Daystrom (William Marshall, the booming baritone stage actor most famous for Blacula) to run a starship almost single-handedly. It does its job too well, locking the human crew out of ship operations and using deadly force during the Federation war games. Spock and McCoy continue their now-legendary banter about man versus machine while Kirk muses over the obsolescence of his own command. Marshall is excellent as a former-boy-wonder genius banking his reputation on this breakthrough, treating his creation like a son. That’s not too far from the truth: designed after his brain pattern, this thinking, reasoning, learning machine carries with it the insecurities and desperation of its creator. The fears of the emerging digital revolution explored in The Ultimate Computer in 1968 remain today: what is the fate of man in the face of technological efficiency? Films from 2001: A Space Odyssey and Colossus: The Forbin Project to Demon Seed and The Matrix have echoed these themes, and this Trek episode–primitive special effects, zero-budget sets, and all–stands up to them quite nicely. –Sean Axmaker
“The Omega Glory”
What is it with Starfleet captains? So many of them become wildly grandiose. Witness “The Omega Glory,” in which another starship commander, Ronald Tracey (Morgan Woodward), tramples the Prime Directive by interfering in a long-running conflict between primitive societies, in this case the Yangs and Kohms of planet Omega IV. Siding with the Kohms, Tracey creates an imbalance of power that Kirk works to adjust by arming the Yangs proportionately. The script by series creator Gene Roddenberry is one of his not-so-subtle allegories for the state of the world in the 1960s, specifically our own cold war between nuclear superpowers. So bluntly drawn is Roddenberry’s parallel between Omega IV and 20th-century Earth that this is one of the few Star Trek episodes that risks becoming completely absurd after a point. William Shatner (Captain Kirk) takes the biggest risk of all with a passionate, lengthy speech of the sort pranksters like comic actor Kevin Dunn are wont to imitate today. But the fact is that Shatner pulls off such chancy material very well, and certainly does so here. –Tom Keogh
Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 27, Episodes 53 & 54: The Ultimate Computer/ The Omega Glory