HD DVD Review: Star Trek: The Complete First Season

THE MOVIE: 5 stars out of 5

What more can one say about this set. Yes, I have been a Star Trek fan most of my life and am admittedly biased. I even watched the entire season on its first run on TV as a kid and was enthralled with the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, boldly going where no man has gone before. For fans of the TV series and Star Trek in general, this set, although rather expensive ($199 list price), is well worth a purchase as these episodes have never looked better. The folks at Paramount have gone back to the original stock and have cleaned them up and have replaced most of the CGI with more modern looking effects that do not detract in any way from the presentation. While I am sure that there are purists out there who would object that what Paramount did was tamper with history, I harbor no such objections as the changes only add rather than detract from the presentation of the series. A new model of the Enterprise was used which is not as polished or detailed as those seen in the movies or the other TV serials and is more in keeping with the time period of the 1960’s. The planets have also been replaced with more modern looking effects. Particularly effective is the live space shot of the earth in “Yesterday is Tomorrow”. Seeing the Enterprise above the real Earth looked amazing. All in all, this is a spectacular effort on the part of Paramount and a must have for Star Trek Fans.

THE VIDEO: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

Simply put, these episodes have never looked better. Encoded with AVC and presented in their original aspect ratio of 1:33:1 (within a 16 x 9 window), the color and detail is amazing from the gold, red and blue of the uniforms, the skin tones and pock marks one the faces of Mr. Spock and Zulu, Mr. Spock’s obviously plastic ears and the texture of the uniform fabric. In fact, the clarity and detail is so good that it the cheapness of the sets, although great for their era, are ruthlessly revealed for what they are. The prints of the episodes look pristine for the most part with the dirt, scratches and blemishes which marred the prints used in syndication over the years completely gone. The episodes are also presented in their entirety with segments cut for syndication restored. This is how this series should be viewed. It is so good that it is like seeing series for the first time. Amazing job. It should be noted that I have only viewed the HD side of this combo release and therefore cannot comment on the quality of the DVD side. It should be noted that this set is available only as a HD-DVD/DVD Combo. No separate DVD set was released.

THE AUDIO: 4 stars out of 5

Presented in Dolby True HD, the audio on this set is excellent considering the source. Remastered for 5.1 audio systems, the audio presented far surpasses the prior releases of the series. Given the age of the audio, don’t expect miracles. The dialogue, although thin sounding by contemporary standards, sounds very good and is well presented in the mix. Particularly impressive is the opening sequence with the original music being recorded in a manner identical with the original. It sounds great in True HD. Hearing the Enterprise whizzing past you to the left and right in that musical score was amazing. Very well done.

IN CONCLUSION

As noted above, this release is an amazing effort on the part of Paramount and is a must have for fans of the series. It gets my highest recommendation.

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