Star Trek: The Complete Original Series 60th Anniversary (Blu-ray)

Plot: What’s it about?

Plot: What’s it all About?

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, boldly going where no man has gone before. It’s an opening that’s been parodied, quoted, reworked and referenced so many times over the past six decades that even people who have never watched an episode of Star Trek know what’s coming. But there’s a reason Gene Roddenberry’s creation has endured. Beneath the colorful uniforms, occasionally questionable alien makeup and special effects that sometimes look as though they were assembled in somebody’s garage, Star Trek offered something genuinely different: a hopeful vision of humanity’s future, where exploration, science and diplomacy could be just as powerful as a phaser set to stun.

Led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), the Enterprise crew includes the logical half-Vulcan science officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), the irascible Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley), chief engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), communications officer Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and, eventually, navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). Together, they encounter strange civilizations, mysterious phenomena, hostile adversaries and more than a few situations that would make even the most experienced Starfleet officer wonder whether it might be time to update the ship’s insurance policy.

The original series ran for three seasons between 1966 and 1969, producing 79 episodes that would ultimately launch one of the most successful science-fiction franchises in entertainment history. While the production values and storytelling conventions are undeniably products of their era, the show’s best episodes remain remarkably effective, tackling prejudice, war, morality, political extremism and the dangers of unchecked power. And, naturally, there are episodes involving time travel, parallel universes and aliens who apparently believe that the best way to communicate is to challenge Kirk to a fight.

Season One

• The Man Trap — A routine visit to a planetary outpost turns deadly when a shape-shifting creature with an appetite for salt begins preying on the Enterprise crew.
• Charlie X — A teenage boy with extraordinary powers comes aboard, and his inability to understand ordinary human boundaries quickly becomes everybody else’s problem.
• Where No Man Has Gone Before — After the Enterprise encounters a mysterious galactic barrier, Kirk’s friend Gary Mitchell develops godlike powers that threaten the entire crew.
• The Naked Time — A strange infection strips away the crew’s inhibitions, leaving Kirk, Spock and the rest struggling to keep the Enterprise from disaster.
• The Enemy Within — A transporter malfunction splits Kirk into two personalities, one compassionate and the other dangerously aggressive.
• Mudd’s Women — The Enterprise encounters Harry Mudd and three women whose apparent beauty-enhancing secret turns out to have a catch.
• What Are Little Girls Made Of? — Kirk searches for a missing scientist and discovers an unsettling attempt to reproduce human consciousness in android form.
• Miri — A landing party discovers a seemingly abandoned Earth-like world populated by children who have survived a mysterious plague.
• Dagger of the Mind — Kirk investigates a rehabilitation facility where experimental mind-altering techniques may be doing considerably more harm than good.
• The Corbomite Maneuver — A mysterious alien ship corners the Enterprise, forcing Kirk to rely on diplomacy and a clever bluff rather than firepower.
• The Menagerie, Part I — Spock hijacks the Enterprise and takes his former captain, Christopher Pike, to a forbidden planet, setting up a court-martial and a story told partly through previously unseen footage.
• The Menagerie, Part II — The mystery of Spock’s actions is revealed as the court learns why he is willing to risk everything to give Pike a chance at happiness.
• The Conscience of the King — Kirk suspects that a respected Shakespearean actor may actually be a former dictator responsible for a horrific massacre.
• Balance of Terror — A tense cat-and-mouse confrontation with a Romulan vessel introduces one of the franchise’s most memorable adversaries and explores the personal cost of command.
• Shore Leave — A seemingly peaceful planet begins bringing the crew’s thoughts and fantasies to life, with potentially lethal consequences.
• The Galileo Seven — Spock must lead a stranded landing party through a hostile environment while the Enterprise races against time to rescue them.
• The Squire of Gothos — A powerful, childlike being with a fascination for human history begins treating the Enterprise crew as his personal playthings.
• Arena — Kirk is forced into a one-on-one battle with a formidable alien captain after a confrontation threatens to escalate into a larger conflict.
• Tomorrow Is Yesterday — An encounter with a mysterious phenomenon sends the Enterprise back to 20th-century Earth, where the crew must avoid contaminating history.
• Court Martial — Kirk faces a military hearing after being accused of negligence resulting in a crewman’s death.
• The Return of the Archons — The Enterprise discovers a society living under the control of a mysterious system that enforces absolute conformity.
• Space Seed — The crew discovers a group of genetically enhanced humans in suspended animation, including the charismatic and dangerous Khan Noonien Singh.
• A Taste of Armageddon — Kirk challenges two civilizations that have turned war into a sanitized mathematical exercise, allowing them to kill without witnessing the actual horrors of battle.
• This Side of Paradise — A colony living under the influence of unusual plant spores appears blissfully happy, but Kirk suspects the price of paradise may be too high.
• The Devil in the Dark — A mining colony’s deadly encounters with a mysterious creature lead Kirk to reconsider whether the supposed monster is actually the victim.
• Errand of Mercy — Kirk and Spock attempt to prevent a Klingon occupation, only to discover that the seemingly primitive inhabitants have their own ideas about the conflict.
• The Alternative Factor — A strange man appears to be connected to a series of dangerous disruptions in space, and the Enterprise must determine what he wants.
• The City on the Edge of Forever — McCoy accidentally alters history after traveling through a time portal, forcing Kirk to make an agonizing personal sacrifice to restore the timeline.
• Operation—Annihilate! — Kirk investigates a mysterious force that has driven entire populations to madness and discovers that the threat has reached someone close to him.

Season Two

• Amok Time — Spock’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic as he returns to Vulcan for a ritual that forces Kirk into a fight to the death.
• Who Mourns for Adonais? — A powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo holds the Enterprise crew captive and demands their worship.
• The Changeling — The Enterprise encounters an immensely powerful space probe whose mission to sterilize life becomes a threat to everyone aboard.
• Mirror, Mirror — A transporter accident sends Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura into a parallel universe where the Enterprise is run by a ruthless, militaristic crew.
• The Apple — The crew discovers a seemingly idyllic planet whose inhabitants live under the control of a computer that has some rather sinister ideas about obedience.
• The Doomsday Machine — Kirk confronts a planet-destroying weapon while attempting to help a damaged starship captain overcome his obsession with revenge.
• Catspaw — Kirk and his crew encounter seemingly supernatural forces on an alien world, complete with haunted-house imagery and a pair of mysterious, powerful beings.
• I, Mudd — Harry Mudd returns, this time in charge of an android-filled planet whose inhabitants have decided that serving humanity means taking away its freedom.
• Metamorphosis — A shuttle accident leaves Kirk’s party stranded with a brilliant scientist who has spent decades in isolation alongside a mysterious companion.
• Journey to Babel — The Enterprise transports dignitaries to an important diplomatic conference, including Spock’s famously difficult father, Sarek.
• Friday’s Child — Kirk becomes involved in a political struggle on a planet whose valuable mineral deposits have attracted the attention of the Klingons.
• The Deadly Years — An unexplained condition causes members of the landing party to age rapidly, threatening Kirk’s ability to command the Enterprise.
• Obsession — Kirk encounters a deadly creature he believes he has faced before, and his determination to destroy it begins compromising his judgment.
• Wolf in the Fold — A series of murders on a pleasure planet leads Kirk and Spock to investigate a disturbing possibility involving an ancient, sinister presence.
• The Trouble with Tribbles — A shipment of grain, a Klingon rivalry and an ever-expanding population of fluffy little creatures combine to create one of the series’ most beloved comic adventures.
• The Gamesters of Triskelion — Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are abducted and forced into gladiatorial combat for the entertainment of unseen masters.
• A Piece of the Action — The Enterprise discovers a planet whose culture has modeled itself on a 1920s gangster book left behind by an earlier Earth expedition.
• The Immunity Syndrome — A mysterious, enormous organism destroys a starship and threatens the Enterprise, forcing Spock to volunteer for a dangerous solo mission.
• A Private Little War — Kirk returns to a planet he once visited and discovers that outside interference has turned a local conflict into an increasingly dangerous arms race.
• Return to Tomorrow — Disembodied alien minds seek temporary bodies so they can resume their scientific work, but the arrangement carries serious risks.
• Patterns of Force — Kirk and Spock discover that a missing historian has attempted to organize an alien society around the Nazi regime, with horrifying consequences.
• By Any Other Name — Aliens from the Andromeda Galaxy seize control of the Enterprise and attempt to transform the crew into a form that can survive their long journey home.
• The Omega Glory — Kirk finds a planet where two civilizations are locked in a brutal conflict, and the apparent similarities to Earth’s history become increasingly strange.
• The Ultimate Computer — A revolutionary computer system designed to replace starship crews is put through its paces, with disastrous results once it begins making decisions of its own.
• Bread and Circuses — The Enterprise discovers a planet resembling ancient Rome, complete with gladiatorial combat and a surprisingly familiar form of entertainment.
• Assignment: Earth — A routine time-travel mission takes an unexpected turn when the crew encounters a mysterious human who appears to be conducting a secret mission on 20th-century Earth.

Season Three

• Spock’s Brain — The Enterprise crew searches for Spock’s missing brain after it is removed by a mysterious woman and taken to an underground society.
• The Enterprise Incident — Kirk and Spock undertake a dangerous undercover mission into Romulan space, where a powerful cloaking device and a complicated relationship complicate matters.
• The Paradise Syndrome — Kirk loses his memory on an alien world and is mistaken for a god by its inhabitants, while the Enterprise faces a planetary catastrophe.
• And the Children Shall Lead — Children who appear untouched by a tragedy on their colony begin exhibiting disturbing powers under the influence of a mysterious figure.
• Is There in Truth No Beauty? — The Enterprise transports a brilliant but potentially dangerous alien ambassador whose appearance can drive humans mad.
• Spectre of the Gun — Kirk and his landing party find themselves trapped in a surreal recreation of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, where their survival depends on questioning the rules of the scenario.
• Day of the Dove — A mysterious entity manipulates the Enterprise crew and Klingons into an escalating conflict that feeds on their hatred.
• For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky — McCoy learns that he has a terminal illness just as the Enterprise discovers an inhabited asteroid whose residents don’t realize they’re living aboard a spacecraft.
• The Tholian Web — Kirk becomes trapped in another dimension while the Enterprise faces a hostile Tholian vessel and Spock struggles to maintain order.
• Plato’s Stepchildren — The crew encounters beings who use telekinetic powers to torment their visitors, leading to one of the series’ most historically notable moments.
• Wink of an Eye — The Enterprise crew discovers that a civilization exists at an accelerated rate of time, allowing its inhabitants to move almost invisibly among them.
• The Empath — Kirk, Spock and McCoy are subjected to a series of cruel experiments by mysterious aliens who appear to be testing the limits of compassion and sacrifice.
• Elaan of Troyius — Kirk is assigned to transport a volatile alien ruler whose marriage is intended to bring peace to two warring civilizations.
• Whom Gods Destroy — Kirk visits an asylum for dangerous former leaders and discovers that its most notorious inmate has found a way to manipulate the staff.
• Let That Be Your Last Battlefield — Two survivors of an ancient racial conflict bring their hatred aboard the Enterprise, illustrating the absurdity and tragedy of prejudice.
• The Mark of Gideon — Kirk mysteriously finds himself alone aboard an apparently deserted Enterprise, while Spock investigates his disappearance.
• That Which Survives — The Enterprise is diverted from its course by a mysterious woman whose appearances are followed by sudden, unexplained deaths.
• The Lights of Zetar — A strange energy phenomenon attacks the Enterprise and appears to have a disturbing connection to one of the crew members.
• Requiem for Methuselah — Kirk and his crew seek a cure for a deadly infection on a remote planet, where they encounter an eccentric recluse and his remarkably lifelike companion.
• The Way to Eden — The Enterprise picks up a group of idealistic space travelers whose search for a mythical paradise threatens to become fatal.
• The Cloud Minders — Kirk visits a technologically advanced society whose prosperity depends on the exploitation of an oppressed mining population.
• The Savage Curtain — Powerful alien beings create a bizarre experiment in which Kirk and Spock must fight alongside historical figures against opponents representing evil.
• All Our Yesterdays — Kirk, Spock and McCoy become trapped in different periods of an alien planet’s past as its inhabitants flee an approaching catastrophe.
• Turnabout Intruder — Kirk’s former lover uses an experimental procedure to exchange bodies with him, leaving the captain fighting to reclaim his identity and command.

Video: How’s it look?

You’d figure, now that 4K has been with us for over a decade, that a series as significant as Star Trek might get the 4K treatment. You’d be mistaken. But, for a series that first hit television screens in 1966, Star Trek: The Original Series looks remarkably good on Blu-ray. The episodes have been remastered from the original film elements, and the results are impressive, with clean, stable images, nicely resolved detail and a welcome amount of film-like texture. Facial features, uniform fabrics and the familiar bridge consoles all benefit from the high-definition presentation. Colors are another highlight, particularly the red, gold and blue uniforms, which pop without looking as though somebody cranked the saturation slider to eleven.

Audio: How’s it sound?

The audio presentation is another strong point. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack gives Alexander Courage’s iconic theme and the series’ familiar musical cues plenty of room to breathe. Dialogue remains clear and centered, while the various electronic effects, engine sounds and other elements of the Enterprise’s sonic landscape receive a welcome degree of separation. Naturally, this isn’t the sort of soundtrack that will leave your subwoofer working overtime. The original recordings were made for television, and the limitations of the period are still apparent. Nevertheless, the surround presentation provides a fuller, more spacious listening experience than one might expect from a show of this vintage.

Supplements: What are the extras?

With 79 episodes spread across 20 discs, there’s already plenty of viewing material here. Fortunately, the collection also carries over a substantial assortment of previously released bonus features. Don’t come expecting a brand-new documentary commissioned specifically for the 60th anniversary, though. The emphasis is on preserving the existing supplemental material rather than introducing an entirely new collection of extras.
Among the highlights are:

• Starfleet Access — Picture-in-picture presentations accompanying selected episodes, offering commentary, interviews, historical information and behind-the-scenes observations while the episode plays.
• Spacelift: Transporting Trek Into the 21st Century — A look at the extensive restoration process, including the work involved in cleaning up the original footage and updating the presentation.
• Behind-the-scenes featurettes — A range of archival pieces covering the cast, production, writing, visual effects and legacy of the series.
• Cast and crew interviews — Conversations and retrospective material featuring familiar faces from the original production.
• Audio commentaries — Additional discussion and insight accompanying selected episodes.
• Episode preview trailers — Promotional material for individual installments.
• Tribble-related bonus material — Additional content associated with one of the franchise’s most enduring comic creations.

The Bottom Line

Sixty years is a remarkable run for any television series, and Star Trek: The Original Series has earned its place in the pantheon of science-fiction classics. It may occasionally show its age, but its best stories remain entertaining, thought-provoking and surprisingly relevant. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the Enterprise crew helped establish a universe that would continue expanding for generations, and revisiting these original adventures is a reminder of why the franchise became such a cultural phenomenon in the first place.

The catch is that this is essentially a repackaging of the previous Blu-ray release, rather than a newly remastered edition with significant new content. If you already own the complete series on Blu-ray, there’s little here to justify replacing your existing set. If you don’t, however, this is a very good way to bring the original voyages home. Rest assured, that Paramount is more than happy to sell you, effectively, the same thing – again.