Star Trek season 2 (remastered) (1 Viewer)

[troy evans]

It's hard to remember that specific. Based on memory, alot of things have been combined over the years from my childhood. Every once in awhile something lucid comes through.

 

[troy evans]

Yes. To me, that episode is so important because it inspired what we are now getting with these new remasters. I own all the Star Trek season sets that were released in the U.S. for their first releases. DS9 never looked this good. I was stunned. It really makes me wonder how far off this will be from coming. There's been talk of them searching for source material for a Next Gen remaster. Nothing official I've heard just yet, though. I do think it's next and DS9 and Voyager. I know some out there may doubt this, but, I'm optimistic.

 

[Carabimero]

I don't see how TNG could ever be truly remastered, but hey, I hope it is. I'm just not holding my breath.

Honestly, I'm happy with all my ST sets--the picture quality is uniformly very good, all original picture and sound is there--hey, what's not to love? I treasure them even more now after what happened to THE FUGITIVE.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I was unaware that The Empath is so down on many folks lists here. I've always thought of it as one of the upper echelon episodes.

 

[jim_falconer]

I'm with you Lou. The Empath is not only one of the strongest of the season 3 episodes, it can be ranked in the top 10 of them all (IMHO). The dark background in most of the shots makes you focus more on the actors and the dialog (or lack of, in the case of Gem). And the absolutely beautiful score is heads-and-shoulders above any other during the run of the series...with the possible exception of the season 2 episode Metamorphsis.

On the other hand, the less said about The Way To Eden, the better.

 

[Jason_V]

Right after Day of the Dove, this was the first episode my father let my sister and I stay up "late" to watch back in the early 90s. I'm still a fan of the minimal set, character-centric story. Not having the money for tons of effects or a large cast forced everyone involved to become creative.

 

[David Lambert]

Just double-checked to be sure, but my info actually doesn't say one way or the other.

But yeah, that's what I expected. The point of these "shrink-bundles" is to help sell off existing stock by packing it with whatever the latest season set is. They wouldn't go back and make a different version of the old title. And I'm sure they're anxious to liquidate the HD DVD stock for as much as they can get for it!

 

[Ockeghem]

Jim,

Yes, I find the score to be interesting (and quite good). It isn't necessarily among the best to me, however. Collectively speaking, I find the stock melodic and harmonic material used in several of the episodes of TOS to be far more musically interesting than that single score, but tastes are often very different.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I also counted the Empath as one of the Handful of really good 3rd season Episodes. I guess because it boiled the Show down to it's Strength, the troika of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. It was a character piece that focused how much of a Family these three men had become. When McCoy Slips both Kirk and Spock a Mickey to sacrifice his life for friends and Mission, and when Spock tries to comfort his "friend" McCoy, who can't help be touched. Then this all ties into Gem's emerging "Empathy" to have the ability to save her own people. She earn's that Right and Kirk teaches the Vians a little something about the Humanity they lost. It's a fantastic episode with a moving Fantastic Score, it's not all pace battles and action, but then Trek was never all about that.

 

[Michael Rogers]

When I was a kid and saw this episode, I was traumatized when they showed McCoy all messed up like that. I think I said something to the family like "I don't like this episode anymore!". But I do like the episode (for the reasons you describe)and think of it as underrated. I also think that episodes "Spectre Of The Gun" and "And The Children Shall Lead" are underrated and effectively creepy.

 

[Carabimero]

SPECTRE OF THE GUN is one of my favorites, as good as any.

For years I couldn't see AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD because the Christian-affiliated network who ran the show in Ft. Worth censored it off the air completely due to its "devil worshipping" premise. I saw it a few years ago and the recently the other day. Doesn't do much for me.

I do think THE SAVAGE CURTAIN quite good. I know many people don't care for it but Kirk and Lincoln--I love it.

 

[RickER]

I love Savage Curtain, and Spectre of the Gun. I am also a fan of The Paradise Syndrome...and i think its one of the best of the series scores too!

 

[Carabimero]

I had THE PARADISE SYNDROME score on cassette for many years and recently got it on CD...you're right--it is one of the best scores (second only to DOOMSDAY MACHINE IMHO). Even my wife, who loves Star Trek but isn't the soundtrack nut I am, hears me playing it and starts saying, "Miramanee (sic), Miramanee, come here!"

 

[Carabimero]

Is there a complete list somewhere of all ST soundtracks released? I have 7 TOS CDs, 4 TNG, 1 DS9, 1 VOY, 1 ENT, and 2 Best Of Albums, along with 10 movie scores, with only 3 being complete (1, 8 and 10). I also have INSIDE STAR TREK, which has some music on it.

 

[Nelson Au]

For soundtrack info, look at this site: Star Trek Soundtracks

I like The Empath too for the reasons cited above, though the sequence when McCoy is tortured and Gem absorbs his injuries is pretty gruesome.

Spectre of the Gun is a good idea and well executed given the kind of minimal sets too.

Paradise Syndrome is fun, Kirk with groovy sideburns. And another woman Kirk loses.

Well, I'm up to The Doomsday Machine, looking forward to finding an hour to view that tonight!

 

[Carabimero]

Because I am not above taking my own criticism (being in the habit of calling an episode poor [e.g.THE EMPATH] without a recent viewing) I watched the remastered version. My problem with THE EMPATH is not that it is a bad story, my problem is that, in my opinion, it's a 25-minute episode stretched out to 50 minutes.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

I'm curious as to how you folks would rank the soundtrack albums for the TV series especially any standouts.

 

[Ockeghem]

Lou,

Are you asking which Trek series may have the best soundtracks, or which of the TOS episodes are in the opinion of some the best of the bunch? As far as the six series, I would rank TOS above all other Trek music. (I would discuss the film music separately from these.)

The 3-CD box set of original series music by Gerald Fried et al., and the two additional albums of music composed by Fred Steiner (Varese Sarabande), are IMO first-rate. These would be my 'desert island' standouts, if you will. These five CDs are my favorite of all Trek music, for reasons I have stated in the Music of Star Trek thread. But much of it is based on personal taste. For my own part, the music of TOS has the ability to make me believe that this ship and her crew are truly on another world. The ethereal nature of the music, and the other-worldly qualities that are conveyed via the instrumentation (including the voice as an instrument), orchestration, and harmonic progressions are IMO a cut above any of the music in the other Trek series. These are the scores that I have studied on occasion, and have never found them wanting even after hours of pouring over them. Some of the music described below is included in this set.

I would have to say that the stock music composed for The Paradise Syndrome (I am entralled by the "Bali High-like" progression), Charlie X, and The Cage is among my favorite. I particularly love the pizzicato-like string work (later orchestrated for pianoforte and strings) that accompanies the landing party soon after they have beamed down to Deneva (Operation: Annihilate!). This music may also be heard right after Kirk says "Gentleman, we're debating in a vacuum. Let's go get some answers" (from This Side of Paradise), as well as in Charlie X during the segment where Charlie is observing a crewman working in what looks to be a Jeffreys Tube. (This scene is often cut in the aired version of the episode.) Often times this musical segment is abbreviated (I think it is so in Shore Leave); at other times it is not. I prefer the non-abbreviated version, since there is more of it to absorb. And on the fourth and fifth CDs of music from TOS (it is not on the 3-CD box set of music for TOS), this is doubled in length, as it is played through twice.

A few other examples that I truly love are the vocal and percussive passages that are used as Nona cures Kirk from the bite of the Mugato. This segment may also be heard during the time when Spock is sprayed by the plants in This Side of Paradise, and when Szabo (Sabo?) is holding the seance in Wolf In the Fold, among other places. (This segment is also abbreviated in some episodes, such as Return Of the Archons. You still hear it, but the second strain of it is less pronounced, and a tad softer here and in a few other episodes.)

Perhaps the most eerie example -- and therefore for me, the most effective -- occurs in Space Seed. This is that wonderful passage when McGivers et al. are beamed over to the Botany Bay. Listen closely to this the next time you see it. The succession of chords (there are three principal triads) that are played (partially by strings) are gorgeous in and of themselves. (These are also heard when Charlie is taken off of the Enterprise by the Thasians at the conclusion of Charlie X.) However, the effect is enhanced in Space Seed due to the sound effect of the transporter overlapping the chords as the party beams on to the ship. I don't believe these two sounds (that of the transporter and the chordal harmonic progression) are juxtaposed anywhere else in Trek. However, the chords (this time without the transporter effect) are almost replicated (very similar, but not identical) in Time and Again (episode #4 of VOY); this occurs when the team is entering the caves in order to ascertain the legitimacy of the time-shifting claim that Paris has said he has experienced. I once lined up the tapes for Space Seed and Time and Again in order to compare the two segments. They are eerily similar in parts -- almost as if the latter were written with the former in mind.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Scott, thanks for the very detailed and thorough reply. Yes I was referring to the original series. I assume these sets are long out of print and difficult to find. Amazon is showing used copies only for sale.

Edit - I see the 3 Volumes are available at iTunes as well. Decisions, decisions.

I agree with you Scott on the power of the original series music. It will be interesting to see what Giacchino cooks up for ST XI. He has his work cut out for him.

 

[Carabimero]

You can't go wrong with THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE/AMOK TIME soundtrack, as far as a single CD goes. So much of that music was re-used and became iconic for the show. I'd pick that one up.