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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: CBS Paramount International Television
Salesrank: 61819
Released: May 23, 2000 |
| Our Price: $13.89 |
| Used Price: $6.97 |
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MPAA Rating:
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/23/2000 Run time: 100 minutes Rating: Nr
Description of Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 12, Episodes 23 & 24: A Taste of Armageddon/ Space Seed:
Volume 12 in the classic Star Trek series on DVD begins with "Space Seed," which introduced Khan Noonien Singh (a viperlike Ricardo Montalban) to Trek lore. The trouble begins when Kirk & crew discovers a derelict ship and its crew of 70 supermen aboard, all in suspended animation. Led by Khan, these strange people turn out to be the product of genetic experimentation in the 1990s and instigators of a so-called Eugenics War, i.e., the Third World War on Earth often mentioned on various Trek programs. Though displaced from his more violent time and place, Khan quickly overcomes his disorientation and shifts into conqueror mode, quickly overtaking the Enterprise with the aid of a comely Federation historian who is swooning at his feet. As any Trek fan knows, "Space Seed" inspired Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, regarded by many as the best of the Trek feature films.
"A Taste of Armageddon" is one of classic Trek's occasional, obvious metaphors for the absurdity of the then-cold war between East and West. Gene Lyons stars as a Federation ambassador named Fox, who boards the Enterprise to reach the planet Eminiar VII, where he hopes to negotiate a peace treaty with the inhabitants. Instead the crew of the Enterprise gets caught in the middle of an interplanetary war between Eminiar and neighboring planet Vendikar. The twist is that the war is being fought on computers, and compliant residents of those "destroyed" areas obediently report to disintegration chambers, where their "virtual" death is made literal. When the Enterprise is "hit" in one of these simulations, both the warlords of Eminiar VII and Ambassador Fox fully expect Capt. Kirk & crew to report to the disintegration center. The feisty Kirk has other plans, of course. And while the madness of this controlled armageddon makes a suitably surreal satire of the arms race in the 1960s, the story also evoked the endless, daily reports of body counts during the Vietnam war, with no resolution in sight. Aside from its parable aspect, however, the episode gave Kirk one of his earliest and most compelling scenes of Kirkian preachiness in a bold monologue about peace, reportedly written and rewritten numerous times by series producer and indispensable creative hand, Gene L. Coon. --Tom Keogh
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 12, Episodes 23 & 24: A Taste of Armageddon/ Space Seed Reviews:
Space Seed - Original Star Trek Episode 
2009-06-29 - Along with "The City on the Edge of Forever", this is one of the better original Star Trek episodes. Ricardo Montalban was excellent as Khan. Desilu Studios did a superb job with this episode. It has a little sex, loyality, drama, and shows the Enterprise crew. All in all, an enjoyable episode.
Michael N. Washington
prologue to the movie Star Trek 2
2008-06-23 - Every successful story has to have a great villain; Khan is physically and mentally superior and knows it, what more could you ask for? How can Kirk possibly defeat him? This is from the 60's so it's quite primitive TV viewing now, but it was ahead of it's time back then.
This is where the movie franchise got it's start. The second movie picks up the story line 20 years after the TV show.
Space seed is a must have Star Trek episode!
2008-02-06 - Star Trek episodes Space Seed and the Taste of Armageddon are on this DVD! These episodes are about War! I recommend "Space Seed" more because This is the episode that inspired the film, Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan! Space Seed tells the first appearance of Khan Noonian Singh (Ricardo Montalban) and his crew of supermen from the Eugenics Wars in the 1990s. They were rescued by Captain Kirk and his party form the starship Enterprise. they were in suspended animation on spaceship called the Botany Bay! This is a great episode that introduces the classic Star Trek villain, Khan to Star Trek lore. I highly recommend this DVD! A-
A Keeper! Among the Very Best Eps of the First Season! 
2006-08-05 - If you are picking and choosing the best volumes to keep, this one is indispensable. This volume is a must-have for "Space Seed" alone but thankfully, "A Taste of Armageddon" is also an excellent episode. In "Space Seed" we get an introduction to Khan Noonian Singh, the protagonist in what was to arguably become the best classic Trek movie ever. Ricardo Montalban turns in an excellent performance as Singh, a superhuman and the product of eugenics gone wrong awaken from a 200-year slumber.
In the other ep, we get a very strong statement against war in which a society insists that its members commit suicide to maintain an uneasy "peace" which effectively becomes like a real-life game of Battleships except that "casualties" are mathematically decided via computer. When Kirk and the Enterprise end up as "casualties" Kirk has to find a way to break the cycle.
Highly recommended.
A Taste of Armageddon/ Space Seed (Khan)
2006-08-04 - The very first STAR TREK tv series (1966-69) was broadcast on NBC on September 8, 1966. It was a DESILU production, a company put togther by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz ("I Love Lucy") when they bought RKO. It was Lucy who chose "Star Trek" along with other proposed tv series' and said to go with it.
I became a fan of Star Trek when the series was syndicated in the later 1970's. My father had it on. I liked the colorful sets and those red elevator doors, the sound effects were good to hear and the adventures out in space stretched our imagination of fantasy. Remember, this tv series originally aired before our American astronauts landed on the moon for the first time on July 16, 1969. By that time, they had ended the Star Trek tv series (until the 1979 movie).
A TASTE OF ARMAGEDDON, episode 23, originally broadcast February 23, 1967.
Captain's Log, Stardate: 3141.9. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) has informed planet Eminiar 7 their wish to open diplomatic relations with them. Their reply is not to approach the planet. It is code 710. Ambassador Fox (Gene Lyons) is aboard the bridge and he tells Captain Kirk to ignore the message to continue en route to Eminiar 7. Once on orbit and have beamed down, Kirk meets Mea 3 (Barbara Babcock, later of Hill Street Blues tv series) and upon meeting Anan 7 (David Opatoshu) they are subjected to an unseen war fought by computers. People are disintegrated in machines at suicide stations. There is more trouble ahead for our Enterprise crew.
Note: Chekov and Sulu do not appear.
SPACE SEED, episode 24, originally broadcast February 16, 1967.
Stardate: 3141.9: The Enterprise spots a derelict Earth vessel. Kirk (William Shatner), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan) and at the request of Kirk, McGivers (Madlyn Rhue) joins the team due to her knowledge of the 20th Century. They discover on this sleeper vessel, from the 1990's, all of the crew is in a sleeping mode. They have been traveling for 200 years. They revive Prince Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) aboard the S.S. Botany Bay. He becomes a guest aboard the Enterprise, but soon takes control of Lt. McGivers. Khan was a ruler of a quarter of this world from 1992 to 1996. He controlled Asia through the Middle East. Now Khan, not familar with men of 2267, will try to take over the Enterprise.
Note: Chekov and Sulu do not appear.
This story did indeed continue 15 years later in the Star Trek motion picture, Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (1982), with Ricardo Montalban returning as "Khan" in fine physical form.
John Winston appears as the Transporter Techician.
Easter Egg: on the EP #23, when the dot is red, click up. You will see no red dot, but the insigna is lighter. Now press "enter". You can select Next Voyage preview trailers of , A Taste of Armageddon, Space Seed, This Side of Paradise, The Devil in the Dark.
Update: Director of the new STAR TREK (2009) movie, J.J. Abrahms mentioned during the release only as an idea that they could bring back the character of "Khan" and William Shatner in the next film in 2012.
