HTF REVIEW: Star Trek - The Complete First Season (1 Viewer)

[Daron]

Hi Bill! That's me! Good to hear from you. I've been enjoying your website for a long, long time now!

I'll send you that list this weekend. Thanks for the investigation!

 

[Bill Hunt]

Hey Daron! I didn't know you were an HTF-er. Nice to hear from you. It's been a while! I'll have to tell Dave I bumped into you here. ;-)

I'll watch for your e-mail. Best!

 

[Dave Jessup]

One point from Daron's list:



That music is correctly used for the first 13 episodes or so. I have a 16mm Desilu print of The Man Trap that uses that theme; it was incorrectly replaced on earlier home video releases.

I'll add my thanks to the reviewers!

 

[JoSAN]

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[JoSAN]

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[Jay Pennington]

The "damage" on the first two grabs are artifacts on the Enterprise model element only. Dirt and scratches in the effects shots have always been a part of the show. Sure, it would be great to see them cleaned up but identifying them as "print damage" is inaccurate.

That shot of Kirk is alarming, though. Yes, that's a close up, but not an extreme one. It is probably very brief, though--by and large the episodes do not look like that.

Daron, if you'd like to include info on the less-than-ideal handling of "The Cage" in your email to Bill, see my post here (and other posts in that vacinity):

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&postid=2159423#post2159423[/url]

 

[Scott Kimball]

Please don't make the mistake of judging the quality of the video based on one frame!

Yes, there is occasional dust / dirt on the prints, but for the most part, I think the quality is very good.

Issues with dust, scratches and grain in the optical effects shots have been there since the original print was struck. It was, by and large, a limitation of processes, time and budget at the time the episodes were made. It has nothing to do with the transfer if the master print has the defect - and it may be inappropriate to label it a defect if it's the best they could do at the time.

Regarding the jitters...
It's difficult to be more specific on the problem, since it's one of those things that some people are not really attuned to in the first place. Since it was apparently on the original DVD release, why not rent or borrow that disc from someone and check it out.

While I was able to notice it, and found it a minor annoyance, I wouldn't pass up on the whole set because of it. The fact is, you're not (at this point in time) going to get this episode on DVD any better.

As for the questions on edits, hopefully Bill will be able to get some information from his source and report back. I have no idea what the history of prints is on the series, or what the condition of surviving elements is. Remember, the show is almost 40 years old! I would doubt that Paramount would remove pieces of an episode for no reason. It could be lack of quality elements, problems with music rights, or any number of issues. Only the individual consumer can make the decision as to whether or not these issues warrant a pass on the series on DVD.

-Scott

 

[Daron]

Dave, thanks a lot for this information on the opening theme. But I have to admit I'm a bit confused because I remember the discussion on this forum about the first 13 episodes having altered theme music, and a reply from Paramount about the issue, promising to fix it beginning with "The Galileo Seven." I suppose it's possible we were all mistaken at the time! Your 16mm print would seem to indicate the DVD producers were right all along.

Jay, I will certainly include that information about the Cage. I'm going to do a few searches before I e-mail Bill to make sure I have all the correct info. Thanks everyone!

 

[Chris Lockwood]

Great reviews. I'm glad these are finally coming out in box sets, since I passed on the original disks.

 

[JoSAN]

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[Osato]

Thank you for the review!! I recently sold my 40 discs over the Summer to be able to purchase the season sets.
Is there any info on the Series set (Season 1-3 sold together) that is coming in December?

It is a true shame that more archive material was not included as well as some of the alternate cuts of the first two pilot episodes. I believe Trekweb.com ran a feature story about some of the lost footage from Where No Man Has Gone Before. It would have been great to include this on the set. Of course, then they would have nothing to make us buy the series again down the road?? : )

Well, I will wait to see what the series set has to offer. I really don't like the Best Buy exclusive discs. Make those discs available to everyone reguardless of where they purchase the sets. For $100 a season they should give people a lot for their money. I believe Star Trek sets are the most expensive ones out there for tv on DVD.

 

[Osato]

I couldn't find the site with the footage, but did find this info:

Significant differences exist between the original version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (the one submitted to NBC) and the version that was later televised. The original version was divided into 4 acts with a prologue and an epilogue (à la Quinn Martin productions such as The Fugitive). The show opened with a view of our galaxy, accompanied by a William Shatner voice-over introducing the tale. The opening chess game scene between Kirk and Spock had an additional line of dialog from Kirk: after his remark about Spock's "bad [human] blood," Kirk adds, "But you may learn to enjoy it someday." A bit later, when the disaster recorder materialized in the transporter room and began to flash on and off, the scene froze and the words "Star Trek" appeared in pink letters trimmed in silver-blue. As the opening theme was heard, the words "Tonight's episode: Where No Man Has Gone Before" appeared in the same style of lettering. The end credits were backed by a unique piece of music never again heard in Star Trek: a fast-paced, almost cheerful electronic melody.



Just something that could be included for the fans. Kind of like how the Gilligan's Island season 1 set included the unseen / unaired pilot.

http://homepage.mac.com/m5comp/trekb.../wnm/#original

 

[Roger_R]

I'm definitely getting this set even though I know it's not "perfect". The only episode I've seen in its entirety is City on the Edge of Forever because it was included with a computer game I bought
The only other thing I've seen is bits of Space Seed.

 

[Britton]

Would that game have been Star Trek: Judgment Rites by any chance?

 

[mark alan]

That is scary to think that there is someone who hasn't seen every episode 87 times. Are you like five years old?

 

[Dave Farley]

I've got the pilot of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that was submitted to NBC on VHS but it would be nice to see it cleaned up and on the DVD set as a bonus. These sets sound great but I agree, they could have went a lot heavier on the bonus features.

 

[Scott Kimball]

Yes, the Star Trek sets are expensive, but they are not "the most expensive" sets out there... especially when you break it down to cost per episode.

Aside from the obvious (X-Files), most A&E and BBC product is far more expensive, per episode. HBO product is also up there.

Just in my collection, the cost per episode (counting 2 half-hour episodes, where applicable, as 1 one hour epside) of MI-5, Red Dwarf, and Space: 1999 is much higher than Trek. Then there's X-Files, which I paid slightly more than Trek for.

Collectors of anime would quickly refute your statement, too.

Sorry, but I have to provide this standard response every time that someone says that Star Trek is "the most expensive." It simply isn't true.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Star Trek sets are the msot expensive I believe, but your average HBO set is only slighty less expensive and has about half as much material, if that.

A&E sets of American shows, anyway are quite a bit cheaper than this. Profiler can easily be had under $60 and Dr. Quinn varies from season-to-season for some reason, but thye're all somewhat cheaper than Star Trek.

A&E's Monty Python set does cost more than Star Trek, but it's an entire 45-episode series, not a season set.

You have point with anime, but the Star Trek series are the most expensive American shows currently being released.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

In regard to the price of these sets: Those of us that purchased the first 40 volume set don't understand what anybody is complaining about!! We paid almost as much for the first season alone than the asking price for the entire series in this format. And that first incarnation on DVD was totally devoid of extras of any kind (with the exception of the preview trailers) to boot!

It's not like this is Voyager, after all! (Now, I really do think that Paramount is asking a little too much for that series on DVD.)

The fact of the matter is, this first 29 episode-with-extras set is going to "street" at the same price as Voyager's 15 episode first season. And it contains some of the finest Star Trek episodes ever! ("City on the Edge of Forever","Balance of Terror", "Space Seed", "Shore Leave", "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "The Menagerie", and on and on.) In contrast, that first season of Voyager had ... "Caretaker". That's about it. Now, somebody explain that to me!

 

[Aryn Leroux]

I can't wait to get my hands on this puppy. I hope everyone is gonna watch them in production order. TNG and DS9 needed to be viewed in air date order but TOS really needs to be viewed in production order.