Star Trek Fan Collective – Time Travel
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C- Episodes: B-
Now that every Star Trek film and series has been
released except for the animated show that is still due soon, Paramount has
come up with some compilations to keep fans happy and make more money like a
sort of “greatest hits” collection. Star
Trek Fan Collective – Time Travel offers 12 key shows from four versions of
the show, including two from the original series that start off the 4 DVD set
as follows:
1) Tomorrow
Is Yesterday*
2)
City On The Edge Of Forever
3)
Yesterday’s Enterprise (from Next
Generation)*
4)
Cause & Effect (from Next
Generation)
5)
Time’s Arrow (two parts; from Next
Generation)
6)
All Good Things… (from Next
Generation)
7)
Little Green Men (from Deep Space
Nine)*
8)
Trials & Tribble-ations (from Deep
Space Nine)
9)
Year Of Hell (two parts; from Voyager)
10)
Endgame (from Voyager)
Needless to say the early shows are the best and one of
the reasons the later series shows are among their best is because they have to
focus more and also because they often evoke the original, better series. Trek fans might not like that, but that is
the way it is. It also reminds us of
the open possibilities that Gene Roddenberry intended before the show become
franchised-out, less scientific and more rigid to the point of flirting with
fascism. It is that wrong direction
that caused Trek to implode onto itself, despite the last feature film being
one of the strongest. I guess Nemesis
went over the heads of too many fans more interested in mechanics than heart
and soul. If they had kept up, Trek
would be alive and well.
The 1.33 X 1 image varies from series to series, with the
original shows having the best color and most solid picture definition, even
when the visual effects are weak or print is a bit dated. All the shows have been remixed for Dolby
Digital 5.1 mixes, with Dolby 2.0 options of stereo. Extras include three new text commentaries (always a highlight)
by Trek scholars Michael and Denise Okuda on the episodes marked * above. All in all, an interesting set for all kinds
of reasons.
- Nicholas Sheffo
