Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 HD DVD review roundup
Paramount's Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 HD DVD boxed set has finally hit shelves, and we've just got to know if it's worth the price. That price is a heft $194.99 MSRP for the ten disc DVD / HD DVD combo set -- currently selling for around $135 at various online retailers -- and judging by the reviews, that may be its only notable flaw. Every review we've seen gave consistent praise to the audio and video quality of the remastered and retouched high definition transfers. The special features are also praiseworthy with some HD DVD exclusives, although digitallyObsessed notes a few are only available on the SD side. We have to wonder if Paramount might follow 300's lead and release a DVD-less set, but any Trekkies that pick this up can expect the best looking and sounding Star Trek: TOS ever.Read - digitallyObsessed
Read - IGN
Read - The ManRoom
Read - PS3 Center
Read - High Def Disc News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ras Thavas @ Nov 19th 2007 2:12PM
I initially balked at the price when it was first announced. I figured it was just another way to get money from the faithful.
After seeing "The Menagerie" at the theater I have changed my mind. They showed how the episodes were restored. A lot of the original negatives were in bad shape. The touch up work needed to replace the lost information from scratches and defects must have taken a lot of time, and a lot of it was done manually.
ryaninc @ Nov 19th 2007 2:20PM
Yeah, after seeing Menagerie, I'm sold. The behind the scenes about the restoration was amazing. As soon as I get an HD DVD player (and an extra $135 :-) I'll probably be getting it. Here's hoping they follow up with other Trek series.
LiqwidZero @ Nov 19th 2007 2:51PM
I heard that Paramount's going to release Season 2, next year, on March 25th.
http://forums.highdefdigest.com/showthread.php?t=26455
ryan @ Nov 19th 2007 2:46PM
I thought Bill Cook said it was terrible at digitalbits. I guess he's nothing but a talking head for the BDA people.
Star Trek isn't my thing but I like how they released this on a combo and didn't release it on DVD. They need to advertise it well to avoid any confusion.
Nfinity @ Nov 19th 2007 3:02PM
LOL... DigitalBits is a joke.. I don't think anyone sane reads or believes anything they say. From insulting and attacking every company involved with HD DVD to deliberately lying and misleading in order to defend BDA and Blu-Ray Bill Hunt and other Blu-freaks on that site are a huge joke. Not much different from the insane on Blu-Ray.com to be honest who go around retail stores hiding HD DVD titles, talking customers not to buy HD DVD etc etc. Bunch of idiots.
Mr. E @ Nov 19th 2007 3:01PM
I've always enjoyed Star Trek, and my favorite was always Star Trek: The Next Generation. What a shame that Paramount went cheap with that series by filming it in NTSC. No HD release for Picard and crew, ever. :(
STMan @ Dec 4th 2007 10:09PM
That is not entirely true. ST:TNG was filmed, yes filmed not video taped. They used 35mm Panavision cameras to shoot the entire series. However the post production was done on video. So it is possible to redue the series in High Definition, but as far as I know they would have to re-do the post production (special effects etc.)
Will Merydith @ Nov 19th 2007 3:07PM
If you are a Star Trek fan this is a no brainer purchase. The remastering is amazing and tastefully done. They seem to have gone through an effort to update fx and music, while maintaining the look and feel of the original.
Jason @ Nov 19th 2007 3:29PM
It's Bill HUNT at the digitalbits.com.
And what he said was that he was initially underwhelmed, but that the set deserved a better review as soon as he can make the time.
The review links above say some fo the exact same thing Bill HUNT said: It was visually impressive most of the time, but not all of the time.
ryan @ Nov 19th 2007 3:42PM
Thank you for the correction to Bill Hunt, I obviously had that wrong.
TrentD @ Nov 19th 2007 3:47PM
Basically he said "this looks awesome, but I wonder what it could have looked like on Blu-ray".
That's like saying "(insert favorite supermodel here) looks perfect, but I wonder what she'd look like with a darker tan?"
He was operating from the premise that additional bitrate would improve the transfer - but forgets that it's impossible to improve on perfection.
Nfinity @ Nov 19th 2007 3:51PM
Typical Blu-Ray BS. The guy is paid Blu-Ray shill and if he's not getting paid, well he's just an idiot.
John B @ Nov 19th 2007 4:00PM
I'll be getting this, but I'm still upset about the whole CGI thing. How is this nothing more than "Star Trek: The Special Edition" where the past 40 years are wiped out thanks to CGI replacement? Even the theme music is a brand-new recording. I've spoken with others who are also upset claiming that this is a different "Star Trek" for the purpose of appeasing modern geeks who didn't grow up with TOS.
There's still a feel to the original special effects that places the series squarely in the late 1960s -- and there is NOTHING wrong with that. Of course, there's a peculiar charm to Scotty burning through a wall with his phaser but without the beam. :)
This set would have been far more appealing if Paramount offered the original versions and newer modifications via seamless branching, even if the originals were direct ports from the previous DVD release. Yes, I know, that would have been a problem with the HD DVD version, but it still would have been nice to preserve the unaltered content without the need to purchase the previous, "non-Special Edition" DVD releases.
Oh, well. I'm still probably going to buy it, and I'll probably be wowed by the modified scenes. But I'm still a bit disappointed by the whole "screw the past, bring on the CGI" thing.
TrentD @ Nov 19th 2007 4:08PM
If you ask me, they should have released the original, un-touched up version on the SD DVD side, and put the retouched, remastered version on the HD DVD side. Great way to promote HD DVD - you'd have to buy a player to watch the special remaster.
Philip S @ Nov 19th 2007 5:52PM
As a somewhat casual Trekkie, I too am a little concerned with the new effects that have been added to The Original Series. I specifically purchased the original DVD season sets because it may not ever be released again as it was originally produced. I would like to have the series in HD, but would like to have the original cheesy effects left intact.
Michael @ Nov 19th 2007 9:00PM
Best part? HD-DVD ONLY!!! Now all we need is the LOTR trilogy...
HDpurist @ Nov 19th 2007 11:48PM
Yippeee, can't wait too see this 1966 show in Technicolor all in 1080p!
MI @ Nov 20th 2007 2:01AM
Nov 17th 2007 2:58AM "Ben if you choose to delete my posts, then also delete posts that insult me.."
NFinity, I didn't see where Hunt called you an idiot, or said that you were taking money to support HDVD, so I guess you've decided to change your rules already?
Fact of the mater is that all Hunt said was "I was expecting to be blown away by remastered TOS on disc, and at times I was. But I was also expecting the quality to be significantly improved from the high-def broadcasts, given how much better the video bit rates should be on disc, and I wasn't so much. I'm having a hard time coming up with a reason why that would be - because it shouldn't be - other than that the video may have been compressed a little too much to fit these episodes on to the HD-30 portion of the combo discs."
Now if speculating that a limit in quality, is due to a limit of the format makes him an idiot, and saying that the format has no limits becasue it only cost you $99 makes you something more than that, then I'm just missing something. The fact of the mater is that hdvd has less capacity than BD, and collections like this, where you want to fit more per disc is where it's likely to show up. I'm surprised they didn't utilize all the space and bandwidth, limited as it may be, as best they could and just use more discs.
Also, you forget to mention what idiots the people at DVD Review, IGN and HighDef Disc news are, since they all gave it 8 of 10, 8.5 of 10 and 3.5 of 5 stars for video quality. If you want, I'll ignore the PS3 Center review, since they must be on the Blu-Ray payrol (although they did give the video better rating), but in any event, they must be idiots so we'll trust you on that one.
Aside from that, at over $200 list (or about $140 at a discounter) and all the work they did on it, I too would have expected better than broadcast quality.
Mike @ Nov 20th 2007 2:07AM
Somewhere I read you can get this... i think deepdiscount for $100 with a 20% code.
Leonardo DiCrapio @ Nov 20th 2007 12:05PM
$106 and change after applying 20% discount code at DeepDiscount.com
Use Coupon Code "PRICEGRABBER" to get the 20% discount.
Coupon code expires this Sunday (11/25).
D@n @ Nov 20th 2007 5:45AM
A site makes a minor critical assessment of a HD-DVD release and so MUST be on the Blu Payroll?
ROFL!!! Paranoia! Love it! :D
I hope not all HD-DVD fans sit down in their basements with tin foil wrapped snuggly around their heads? Nfinity obviously does because EVERYONE seems to be on Sony's payroll one way or another!!!
Eric @ Nov 20th 2007 10:57AM
Man, the HD-DVD astroturfers are everywhere. I'm mad that Paramount didn't have the integrity to release this on Blu-ray after saying they would. They should have cut it off after all promises were met! I might have bought HD-DVD at the time if I knew Paramount was going to drop Blu-ray.
From what I'm reading, the remaking of Star Trek takes away some of the charm of the old 60s show. I saw it all the first time it was aired. It was great stuff back then! But I guess not I'm stuck with recording the HD broadcasts on my TiVO, moving it to my Mac and burning it to a Blu-ray disc when I get a burner. Not as good as the real thing, but I'll have it.
JeffDM @ Nov 20th 2007 11:50AM
Nothing like a major single format release to bring out the douchebags on both sides.
Leonardo DiCrapio @ Nov 20th 2007 3:31PM
Do Star Wars nerds complain about the CGI in TOSW: New Hope, ESB, and ROJ like you Star Trek nerds?
LiqwidZero @ Nov 20th 2007 3:41PM
Actually, the craptastic effects that were added into the Star Wars films were awful. Yes, I complained so much that I sold my DVDs that I got for Christmas, regardless of who's feelings I hurt (mother's or father's). And it's a good thing, because Georgie boy finally found out we wanted the Theatrical Versions.
Griffon2k @ Nov 20th 2007 10:31PM
MI,
You're trying to defend a man who says the exact same thing on EVERY HD DVD review; "It could have been better if it had more capacity...higher bitrate". I'm not leading a campaign against the man, but let's not pretend he's being objective in his reviews.
From the sum of all the reviews thus far, this release is of high quality. As my wife is a TOS fan (knows episodes by the first 30 seconds)and this includes both SD and HD, this is a likely Christmas gift.
I hope season 2 has the same quality.
TheDalton @ Nov 20th 2007 11:13PM
I don't think Paramount will forever leave the original effects on the cutting room floor. With the fanbase strong, there is still a major market for them - also remember that unlike the George Lucas comparison, at least we have the original Star Trek effects readily available on standard DVD, something the original Star Wars series lacks - sans a crappy non-anamorphic DVD "bonus feature."
Some have complained the new effects look cheesy. Well, I can't see how that's any different from the original effects. The ship never moved realistically before, now at least you won't be seeing through it half the time, you know? I grew up with the original series back in the day - I'm a vintage fan, born far before any Next Generation stuff and this doesn't offend me at all. At least their hearts are in the right place. They aren't changing story content. I saw The Menagerie on the big screen - the restoration is impressive and clearly expensive.
I'm counting my blessings and I'm thankful Star Trek is the first show to be given the HD treatment. Speaking of HD, my understanding about Next Generation is that it was actually shot on film, but all the episodes were edited on video - so the negatives would have to be reconstructed and new effects shots made for every episode before any HD mastering could be done - a colossal chore by any measurement - as all the originally edited elements are in SD - while the source material is still uncut without any HD-resolution effects.
Rudy @ Nov 21st 2007 2:14PM
Cheesy props deserve cheesy special effects. That's the charm of TOS, the ORIGINAL series.
They should've just restored/fixed the original film and not re-do the effects. Are they also going to fix the bell-bottom and mini-skirt uniforms? I don't think so.
Daimyo Nintendo @ Nov 24th 2007 12:12PM
Yea I bought it yesterday at Best Buy in Canada. So far this is amazing, the picture is incredible the FX are a superb update. Being a trek fanboy, I can say the work done makes it looks great, enhances the original, and does justice for trekit does not ruin it!
Donald Blody @ Dec 7th 2007 7:57PM
I was wondering if anyone else has experienced manufacturing defects on the Star Trek HD DVD set?
On disc #1 when playing the "Charlie X" episode it gets to a specific point (about at minute 34) and the sound goes off, the picture is distorted and does not play properly for about 2 minutes.
We returned the first set and received another new set today. The second set had the same defect at the exact same spot.
I would return it for another new set, but am afraid that it is a manufacturing defect on all of them.