| | |  | DVDs | | Home » » » | | | | | | | Description: | | "Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship, Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before !" The series is set in the 23rd century where Earth has survived World War III then moved on to explore the stars. Brought to you in a brilliant remastered edition….this is Star Trek like you’ve never seen it before! | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan | | Director:
| Anton Leader | | Format:
| Box set, Color, Full Screen, NTSC, Original recording remastered | | Language:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 25 | | Studio:
| Paramount | | DVD Release Date:
| November 18, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 408 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 408 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
301 of 316 found the following review helpful:
 Icing on the cakeNov 15, 2008
By Jack Cards
When I first heard about the 40th anniversary remastered episodes, I was skeptical. Having seen the original Star Trek series on prime time TV in 1966, 67, & 68, and always liking it better than any of the other Star Trek series that came afterwards, I thought that it would be a huge mistake. I was wrong. These new effects are what Roddenbery would have done had he the budget and technology. They are not out of place; they very much have the feel and flavor of the live-action scenes and mesh perfectly. The live-action scenes themselves are now much sharper, colors more saturated, better contrast. Of course I have the complete series as it was originally broadcast- that is a must and I can't part with them. But the remastered episodes are just as essential. They are the original series episodes with the fine details that they have always deserved- even if it took 40 years to finally finish them. I can't imagine any of the original writers or directors having complaints about these remastered episodes- especially since they are in addition to, and not replacing- the series as it was first produced and broadcast.
198 of 209 found the following review helpful:
 The stellar first season, shining second and the white dwarf of the third-maybe less expensive to buy individuallyDec 12, 2009
By Wayne Klein
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.-Albert Einstein"
You can read my formal review at dvdivas.net
Depending on when you purchase this the individual sets MAY be a better deal (as of 12/09 they are about $24 less)
This is for the Blu-ray three season set. Many folks are rating this based on THE PRICE (that's not what the star sysem is for folks--it's for the overall quality of the sets)my rating is based on the quality of the sets, their packaging and the original episodes themselves NOT THE PRICE.
In a nutshell: The show looks terrific and you can toggle between the original visual effects and the new ones with ease most of the time. The writing for the first two seasons was top notch with the third very much a hit-or-miss affair. The show looks stellar with new digitally prepared "prints" that have been cleaned up, color corrected and had damage repaired.
Extras are virtually identical to the last DVD set which also had the new visuals but we also get 3 new "Trek" extras (for all three seasons) Billy Blackburn's behind-the-scenes footage. This color footage was shot on location but without sound which gives us a unique look behind the production of the show. Ideally CBS/Paramount would have incorporated these into a new featurette with narration by Blackburn, Nimoy, Shatner and others discussing production for the various episodes but they are nice to have here with Blackburn's memories of working on the show.
Included is the original unaired alternate pilot for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" which keeps the original visual effects intact as well as alterned music and the edit is slightly different compared to the aired version. "The Cage" is included with both the "restored" color version as well as the black and white version that has come with all the previous sets BUT it is NOT in HD (I suspect the source material may only be SD videotape) it does, however, feature Roddenberry's original introduction.
We also get two Comicon 2009 featurettes (one hosted by David Gerrold writer of "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "The Cloud Miners" and an award winning novelist)as new featurettes on the third season set.
There are no additional discs or special features if you buy this boxed set of three vs. the individual titles.
For those who want to know the case for the third season is slightly thinner than the first two.
Bottom Line: Compare the price of the three seasons to the individual seasons before buying because there isn't anything else of value included here beyond what are on the individual sets.
CBS/Paramount has added a couple of special features here unique to each set but not every single special feature on the previous boxed sets appear here either (although most do). Buy whichever one you can get for the least price since there's nothing "special" about this bundling at this time.
192 of 205 found the following review helpful:
To buy, or not to buy...Nov 13, 2006
By Eclectic Amazonian
Star Trek was a ground-breaking series, but a few of the episodes (especially early in Season 1 before the main characters come into their own) are pretty painful to watch. 4 stars overall for the 3 seasons, but many of the episodes are 5-star. No doubt you have seen the show on TV (edited to fit in more commercials), and other reviewers on Amazon have written excellent reviews for the single season editions so I won't go into details. I just want to summarize some information that may be helpful in deciding whether to buy this set now, or wait until later...
First, the set I received had several defective disks (1,6,7 in the first season). The program freezes, then eventually skips from seconds to minutes of the show. Amazon has a good exchange policy, and I'm hoping I get a good set this time, but I won't know until I go through all the disks and that will take a while. At least one other reviewer has also recently (fall 2006) received defective disks, so it is likely that there is a bad batch at Amazon at this time.
- UPDATE: I received the replacement set and have watched all the episodes. It has defects too, but I'm keeping this one as they are relatively short, and only affect two episodes of the three seasons.
Second, as many people have noted in the single-season reviews, this has to be the most impractical packaging yet devised by man. The outer plastic cases don't stand upright on their own. They come with what looks like a sales display stand, and will stand upright in these, but I notice the individual stands have been reinforced and weighted in the bottom by what looks like leftover building material. Inside each case is a stack of plastic trays held together by cellophane tape. This fits inside a thin paper sleeve which will no doubt tear soon, and the accompanying paper booklet does not fit in the sleeve. So you have to go though several levels to get to the disks, and the booklet falls out each time.
Third, as others have hinted, Paramount has been remastering all the episodes with new CGI for the ships, and for some other effects. It's the same ship, it just looks real now instead of like a model on a string. The sound is also being remastered (and in a few cases the music is being re-recorded). The picture is also being cleaned up. These episodes are currently airing on affiliate stations as they are completed (also edited to fit in more commercials). You can go to the Paramount website and navigate through their 'home video' page links/search/etc until you find the Star Trek pages. There you can download previews and information. I've seen a couple of these remastered episodes airing locally, and TOS has never looked so good. Be aware that as of this writing, Paramount has not committed to releasing the re-mastered series on DVD, but I have no doubt that they will as they have a history of getting as much money from Trek fans as possible.
- UPDATE: The revised episodes are being released in dual format (High Def DVD and Standard DVD) beginning with Season 1 in November of 2007 - Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete First Season (Combo HD DVD and Standard DVD) [HD DVD]. As of this writing, Amazon's price for the first season is nearly as high as this set of all three seasons. If you are patient, no doubt the price will eventually come down, as this is Paramount's pattern.
The bottom line...if you want the series with all the original effects (cloth backdrops, the same planet tinted different colors, reused ship clips, etc) go for this set. I doubt if it will get any less expensive than it is at the time of this review. But download some of the remastered previews from the Paramount site first, and if you can, watch the remastered episodes on TV before making up your mind. They aren't altering anything that significantly changes the show, and it looks stunning compared to this set. If you want the remastered 'improved' version though, you will have to wait until Paramount releases it (season by season, and eventually the full set), and expect to pay a lot more than this set, unless you are willing to wait a year or more after release. Finally, if you decide to order this set, check all the disks as soon as possible, as it appears there are defective sets being sold. Hope this helps in the decision...live long and prosper :-)
158 of 172 found the following review helpful:
OH, THE IRONYDec 28, 2004
By Joe
I couldn't give Star Trek any less than 4 stars simply because it's Star Trek, a show that I've been watching since I was a baby, and has had an immense influence on my life. The Original Series is an important show, and finally being able to get it in an all-in-one package for a (fairly) reasonable price has taken too long. There was no way I as a rabid Star Trek fan wasn't going to beg for this for Xmas. I'm glad I have it in my collection.
But if I could give a separate rating to the quality of the transfer, I'd give it 2 stars. How ironic that a show that deals with humans using technology to achieve and explore has been released by humans witholding technology to maximize profit. Despite a new, cleaned up digital mix of the audio, the video portion of the DVD's still contains the little scratches and video noise that my original videotapes possessed when I bought them in the 80's. There have been too many old movies and TV shows digitally remastered and beautified for me to believe that they couldn't clean these episodes up and give us better picture quality. It's a crime that Paramount continues to milk the original Trek dynasty like this.
It's quite obvious that there will be yet another re-release of the series down the road, but I can't see waiting any longer. The Harry Mudds have won again.
42 of 43 found the following review helpful:
Paramount should be put in the brig for this oneFeb 28, 2005
By Scott Leslie
"tinman2000"
Don't get me wrong - I love the old gen. Love, love the old Gen. The transfers? Great - didn't have a problem there. The packaging? Yeah, the inside sleeve was a little cheap but otherwise - smooth sailing. And the extras? Outstanding.
BUT.
Why, why are they making us shell out all the big time cabbage for this set? Compared to other season sets, you have to mortgage your house to buy this one. They don't even give you anything special for buying the whole set other than wrapping them all together in a little cardboard sleeve. And it's bad enough Paramount is making a major cash grab...I discovered the other day that there are other extras that they've included on European sets BUT not the North American one.
They include:
Kiss & Tell - Romance In The 23rd Century (8:19): William Shatner and story editor Dorothy Fontana talk about the multitude of women that Kirk managed to get 'involved' with during the course of the show. Also includes Nichelle Nichols talking about some suggestive scenes between Uhura and Scotty and Walter Koenig talks about the revealing costumes the actresses wore on the show.
Trekker Connections (3:42): A little game for the viewer to play with cast members like six degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Star Trek's Favourite Moments (17:09): Cast and crew members from the newer shows such as Michael Dorn (TNG), Ethan Philips (Voy), John Billingsley (Ent), Jeffrey Combs (DS9), Vaughn Armstrong (Ent), Robert O'Reilley (TNG) and Tim Russ (Voy) talk about their memories of the show.
Collectible Trek (14:26): Paramount archivist Penny Juday talks about the money that some people will pay for genuine Star Trek collectibles.
Considering the serious gouging, it wouldn't have killed them to stuff these on here. There's also trailers for The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager DVD sets they didn't include but that's just as well since there's disclaimers to sell Trek DVD product all over the DVDs. I bought the set, they have my money and now they want more of it?
All in all, it is a tremendous set, considering the major cash you had to spend before buying all the episodes individually. It just would've been nice to see Paramount really roll back the price tag and roll out the red carpet for the Trek fans who've been lining their pockets all these years.
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