A Fine Introduction
Recently I reviewed the Star Trek: The Original Series season one Blu-ray release, and absolutely loved it. This “Best of” DVD is obviously meant to appeal to those folks who haven’t seen the Original Series and want a taste of it before committing to a full season purchase. Of course, those unfamiliar with the show could either borrow or rent the first season so this DVD release isn’t likely to find a huge audience — that said, it is budget priced, but it should be given the brevity of the release.
This DVD contains four episodes: The City On the Edge of Forever, The Trouble With Tribbles, Balance of Terror, and Amok Time. You can readily find full episode summaries online, but I will also provide a breakdown here:
–The City On the Edge of Forever – After an accidental overdose of a powerful drug, McCoy suffers from extreme paranoia and beams himself down to a planet that the Enterprise is orbiting. On the planet is a sentient time portal, which McCoy jumps through. McCoy changes history and the Enterprise no longer exists in the present time, so Kirk and Spock must jump through the portal and seek out McCoy and set things right again. The two end up in the 1930s, where Kirk manages to fall in love, only to lose the woman he fell in love with.
–The Trouble With Tribbles – Lt. Uhura brings a harmless looking Tribble aboard the Enterprise which is currently docked at a space station next to some Klingons. While tensions with the Klingons escalate, the Tribbles begin to reproduce exponentially and start to be come a real headache for the entire crew.
–Balance of Terror – The Enterprise encounters Romulans for the first time. As they resemble Vulcans, Spock is the victim of some bigotry within the crew of the Enterprise. Kirk must keep peace with the Romulans and not allow the Enterprise to cross a boundary or he may inadvertently spark a massive war.
–Amok Time – Kirk must battle with Spock as part of an unfortunate turn of events in Vulcan culture. Spock must find a mate or die, so the Enterprise heads to planet Vulcan. Kirk beams down and is chosen by Spock’s bride as her champion, forcing the two to battle.
These episodes represent a nice cross-section of what the full series has to offer, which is exactly the point of this DVD release.
Presentation And Conclusion
All four episodes are presented in the expected 4:3 ratio and include a 5.1 audio track. The presentation is very much like you might see on TV, but given the purpose of this release and its budget price, you can’t really complain. Similarly, there are no extras on this release at all — just these four episodes.
Ultimately, if you haven’t seen the Original Series before and don’t have a way to borrow or rent all or part of the the series, you might consider buying this DVD, but otherwise I really think it’s just for collectors only.