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List Price: $84.98 | | Label: Paramount
Salesrank: 2041
Released: August 5, 2008 |
| Our Price: $57.95 |
| Used Price: $52.54 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 5-AUG-2008
Media Type: DVD
Description of Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two (Remastered Edition):
The most famous episode in franchise history, "The Trouble with Tribbles," is one of the highlights of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series. A deserved classic, the humorous story centers on an ever-expanding mass of furry creatures that memorably rain themselves down on top of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and into the middle of a Federation-Klingon showdown. It inspired one of the most memorable episodes in the spin-off series Deep Space Nine, "Trial and Tribble-ations." Also in the second season, the Vulcan culture of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is fleshed out in "Amok Time" (in which Spock is faced with the possibility of killing his captain and friend) and "Journey to Babel" (introducing Spock's father, played by Mark Sarek, in what would turn out to be a long-recurring role). A new character, navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), was introduced; his Monkees haircut was intended to appeal to the younger audience, but he was also a Russian, which at the height of the cold war reflected Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of a more enlightened future. Other social-commentary opportunities presented themselves in "The Omega Glory," "The Doomsday Machine," and "Assignment: Earth," the last also one of those periodic opportunities to scrimp on the budget by time-traveling to an earlier version of Earth. Another example was "A Piece of the Action," a comic episode set in the Roaring Twenties and memorable for, among other things, Kirk's teaching a made-up card game called Fizzbin. In other significant episodes, "I, Mudd" saw the return of the bounder from season 1, "The Changeling" was the original inspiration for the first Trek feature film a decade later, "Wolf in the Fold" (penned by the author of Psycho) provides an example of the series' great writing, and "Mirror, Mirror" introduced the concept of the parallel universe inhabited by vicious, amoral counterparts of the regular crew, another theme later borrowed (more than once, and to good emotional effect) by DS9.
On the DVD
The remastered episodes are the highlight of the 2008 second-season release; like in season one, the reworked visual effects might irk purists but are an improvement overall, and some of the space exteriors are very exciting. It's not in high definition, however; season one was released in 2007 on two-sided combination HD DVD and standard DVD discs, which are now obsolete. Season two mimics the packaging, but is only standard-definition DVD, not Blu-ray. The picture, while obviously not high-definition quality, is still much improved over the 2004 DVD release. Special features here mostly mirror that 2004 set: 80 minutes of featurettes ("To Boldly Go" season recap, " Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio," "Star Trek's Divine Diva," "Designing the Final Frontier," and "Writer's Notebook: D.C. Fontana"), though missing from this set are the text commentaries on two episodes, the Red Shirt Logs, the production art, and the photo gallery. There are two new featurettes: "Star Trek's Favorite Moments," in which cast members of later Trek franchises and fans recall certain episodes, and "Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest, part 2," in which a Trek extra tells stories and shows some of his on-set home movies. And because season 2 includes "The Trouble with Tribbles," the set includes two bonus episodes: "More Tribbles, More Troubles" from the Animated Series and "Trials and Tribble-ations" from Deep Space Nine. Conveniently, all three Tribble-centric episodes are on the same disc, and include the bonus features from the earlier DVD releases (the commentary by writer David Gerrold on "More Troubles" and the two featurettes--"Uniting Two Legends" and "An Historic Endeavor"--from "Tribble-ations"). The bonus episodes were not remastered, and you can tell the difference when comparing the original Tribble episode on this set with the grainier footage that was used in the DS9 episode. A minor annoyance is that the discs are one-sided but appear to be two-sided, as if they had been designed for combo HD DVD again before a late change. That means the info on the disc is restricted to a ring around the middle, rather than a full label that could have listed the episodes on each disc; as is, they're only listed on the glossy "collector's data cards." And once again, the plastic shell is clunky and the disc spindles are way too tight. All in all, it's a nice package, especially if one doesn't already have the other Tribble episodes, but it feels like it's floating in a standard-definition limbo, stuck in the transition between HD DVD and Blu-ray. --David Horiuchi
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two (Remastered Edition) Reviews:
Good 
2009-12-09 - There are some really awesome episodes in this season. Also some kind of bizarre ones. There are at least two where I was like, "That's the end?" Didn't resolve at all. But overall, this is a great season. I think the name Star Trek can give more credibility than any one review could, anyway.
Fantastic Job with the Remaster 
2009-12-02 - A really nice job was done on the film to get all the imperfections out of the film - dust, blank spots, lines, etc. The new shots of the ships and planets are wonderful. They didn't go overboard with it and did a remarkably tasteful job. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars, is the trailers were not remastered. This still is my favorite show of all time. I've been watching Star Trek since about 1976, and it never gets old. It's amazing how the stories have held up this long.
Better than the original release.
2009-09-25 - I did own the original 2004 release (all three seasons) and had sold them a few years ago. I was excited to see the release of the standard DVD remastered versions and they do not dissapoint for the most part. The recreations are very good and fit nicely in to the episodes. They episodes still have a "modern" feel, but do retain almost all of the original charm. I think the planet and ship digitizations are right on the mark. I do have an up converting DVD player and the quality of the remastering most definately is noticed. Some people have complained about the new theme music and/or the new digital additions, but I have no issues. I really think EVERY Star Trek fan needs to have these versions. Also, they are in 1:33 format as the original productions and while some have criticized that as well, I also see no issues. The Uniforms and all scenes are sharper and the sound is fantastic. I do have two criticisms that prevent 5 stars. There is NO english subtitles and MOST OF ALL, there is NO printing of the disks, just left alone with no data except for season and disk information. It would have been excellent had Paramount/CBS spend a few more cents per disk to print logos, episode information etc. I did end up printing my own labels, and is the only way to view the episodes on each disk. This is incredible thatthey were so cheap! But other than that, I am pleased and feel the blank printing is not enough to prevent anybody from buying this set (or the other seasons).
Awesome Show! Great Quality! Nice Effects!
2009-09-01 - Although I was born in the early 80's, I prefer TOS (The Original Series) over TNG (The Next Generation). I have watched the show time and time again, seen every incarnation, and have never seen anything like the remastering they've done here. I own this box set mainly because I took the HD-DVD plunge and bought the first season (Yellow Case) for HD-DVD/DVD combo. It retailed then for over $200. So then before the newest JJ Abrams flick began to emerge, I bought this set to further my collection. Little did I know that Paramount, after severing ties with failing HD-DVD manufacturer, TOSHIBA, was going through some changes with Star Trek and Licensing. With the success of the newest incarnation of the TREK franchise, Paramount has gone crazy releasing Blu-Ray versions of TOS Era Movies, (I-VI) TNG Era movies (VII-X), and TOS Television series. These are all a must buy for me! So, on to the review...
The shows are unaltered in their plots and basically any scene involving 60's SFX was altered or replaced with new CGI. Now... Don't get freaked out on me hard core Trekkies, because the CGI is done with TOS Era in mind. There are multicolored stars in the starfield, and the ships have not been overdone with hull-plating and bulkhead details. The ships are still smooth gray Navy looking ships with the nice black lettering. What they have done is take these models and replace the planets (Blobs of colors in spherical shape) and replaced them with 3d models that resemble something like a High Res google earth model. There are very photographic weather patterns and mountain ranges which can be seen even better in Season 1 HD-DVD. The ships move more naturally and have a more TNG feel to their maneuvering. Romulan Birds of Prey still have red wings painted on the hull and are very authentic. There is absolutely no remnant of Star Trek: Enterprise (Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock) CGI in these DVDs. It is very Original Trek complete with Uhura's short skirt and Sulu's perfectly parted hair.
The film itself has been cleaned up, brightened, and restored to a quality that most new sitcoms can't achieve even with new equipment. This is the Trek that will keep new and old fans interested in a legacy franchise.
NOTE: I own this set, but if you have a Blu-Ray / HD Television set up, put down your cash and buy Season 2 on Blu-Ray! I will double dip as well just to have both versions (DVD/BD) to enjoy on any TV in the house. The blu-ray is packed with most of the DVD set features, but also lets you view Original vs. Restored in the same Frame! I would love to see that myself so I will be buying Season 1 (yep even though it's on HD-DVD in my shelf) and season 2 on Blu-Ray!
Being an A/V phile, I have a 1080p BenQ Projector and a 10' (Yes, 10 feet) Diagonal Electric Rolldown Screen with a Pioneer 7.2 DD/DTS DD True-HD/DTS-HD receiver and JBL Speakers/Subs to match. This is the way TREK needs to be seen, so please consider the Blu-Ray version of this!
Great second season/remastering!
2009-07-19 - A great second season (I like all 3), but this may very well be the best, and the remastered shots/audio look great (as with all 3 seasons), the stains, cuts, and so forth has all been cleaned up, and I can compare, I have 38 of the episodes on VHS that Paramount released back in the 80s.
Now, the first season is in HD/DVD format, this season is not, nor is season 3, but oh well, I just love that I can watch any episode, any time I want, and that's what it's all about!
Standout episodes...all are great to me, but these are the best to me.
Mirror, Mirror
Patterns of Force
A Piece of the Action
Bread and Circuses
The Gamesters of Triskelion
Obsession
The Deadly Years.
Great season, great remastering job, if you are a Trek fan, I do not think you will be dissapointed, if you are a purist, you may be, but I am not.
Thanks Paramount/CBS!
