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Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 1 [Blu-ray]

April 29th, 2009 Posted in Blu-ray

star-trek-the-original-series-season-1-blu-rayBuy Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 1 [Blu-ray] here
Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. With a determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes, tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 [Blu-ray]
Binding: Blu-ray
Manufacturer: Paramount
List Price: USD 129.99
Lowest Used Price: USD 43.28
Lowest New Price: USD 50.99
Price is accurate as of the date/time indicated. Prices and product availability are subject to change. Any price displayed on the Amazon website at the time of purchase will govern the sale of this product.
Customer Reviews


WNMHGB tombstone error
Unbelievable quality. I have never seen Star Trek look as good as it does on blu ray. Has anyone noticed the tombstone says "James R. Kirk" in the Where No Man Has Gone Before episode? Perhaps this error was not discernible in the standard TV broadcast of the day.


Star Trek The Cage
I have been looking for this DVD for quite a while. It arrived within 2 weeks, exactly as shown. I am extremely satisfied.


Like the upgraded special effects
I like the upgraded special effects and information. I would give it five stars if the discs did not stop playing or losing the sound tracks all of the time.


Lousy Sound And That Annoying "Angle" Icon Nearly Outweigh Whatever Picture Enhancements Exist
I've been a fan of Star Trek, the Original Series since the show first aired. For my money, there's no better Starship captain than James T. Kirk. Sure, they were hokey episodes. I always laugh when someone, usually Scotty, would grab what appeared to be a wrench when he crawls under a supposedly futuristic, ultra-high tech instrument panel to fix something gone awry. And don't even get me started about the incredibly low-tech monsters and special effects that graced the show.

Still, when I think of Star Trek, I think of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, and the rest of the Original Series gang. It didn't matter to me that things looked hokey. That added to the show's charm.

With the advent of Blu-ray, I couldn't wait to see my favorite sci-fi series married to the most advanced viewing medium yet invented.

Imagine my disappointment when the first season of Star Trek arrived and I saw a better picture, yes, but also an icon in the upper right of my TV screen that told me I could watch the low-tech special effects if I clicked the "Angle" button on my Blu-ray players remote. After spending two hours searching the Internet, reading posts, perusing reviews, and discovering -- much to my dismay -- that the icon can't be turned off! There it is, in every episode, distracting the hell out of me, taunting me from its perch. What Einstein designed that?

On top of that, the enhanced special effects look *more* hokey than what the series originally offered. They look cheesy, as if they're from a 90s computer game. The Enterprise looks absolutely plastic and, worse, lifeless. Some of the sets also appear to be newly built, digitally. I'm not 100% sure about that. But they sure do look odd compared to everything else, like they exist as CGI. So they, too, look "fake" (as if I was ever fooled into thinking sets on the original series were "real").

To make matters worse, the sound is dodgy. On some episodes, I have to turn up the volume extremely high to hear what's going on. Then, when the show ends and it returns to the main menu, the sound blasts me out of my seat. To get better sound, I have to flip the switch to "Mono" so that the sound is more focused and balanced in the center-channel speaker. So I can't even use the setting the BD player automatically chooses based on the type of signal it's getting from the discs themselves. What's up with that?

Is it my equipment? I don't think so. I have a brand-new Philips 42" TV with 50,000:1 dynamic contrast. Even 70-year-old movies like Gone With the Wind are so crisp it's like watching real people out of a window. My receiver is brand-new as well. It's an Onkyo that makes everything sound terrific. The speakers? They're B&Ws, wonderful speakers. The Blu-ray player is also a brand-new item, a Philips.

So, with all of that equipment, most of it brand new, I should be able to enjoy Star Trek: Original Series, Season One with no problem. But I can't. Between the sound -- that fluctuates between horrible and so-so -- and that darn "Angle" icon that I can't make go away, I'm irritated beyond belief. (For the record, I own a few dozen Blu-ray discs, the images on which range from 1939 to 2010. I don't have these problems on any other Blu-ray.)

The picture, although much improved (and, boy, does Spock's make-up look strange with such on-screen clarity!), does not offset the rest of the problem I've encountered.

I've watched a half dozen episodes so far. I'm not sure I'm enjoying this experience enough to buy Season Two and Season Three, as much as I love those original episodes.

My advice to anyone considering this set is to think long and hard about it. The two main reasons to buy Blu-ray are (1) picture enhancement, and (2) sound enhancement. Star Trek: Original Series Blu-ray blows it with both. So what's to gain by buying the Blu-rays? I'm not sure yet.

So the choice is yours. Remember: Caveat emptor.



Husband was THRILLED with these DVDs!!
He's very happy with the picture quality and sound. Also, in every episode we've watched, there are scenes he's never seen before, which totally delights him.

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