5/5 Could only be 1/4 star happier ... 5 stars !!
  by Donald Gillies (San Diego, CA United States)
First, the high points :
1. Details are fantastic:
You can see the veneers on Scotty's Teeth (Wolf in the Fold)
You can see that computer tapes are painted pieces of wood (Obsession)
You can read the certificates on the walls (Devil in the Dark)
2. The original 1-minute 'next time' previews are included (albeit, w/noise)
3. You can flip between original (w/noise) and new special effects.
4. You see the full episode, not someone's edited-to-squeeze-more-commercials version.

Now, the low points

The Blue-ray quality is so good, that in some cases the remastered special effect are obviously computer generated! On DirecTV SD resolution, the new special effects are not discernible. The same episode in Blu-Ray HD, at times, looks a little plastic and fake. However, not all planets look like 'shooter' marbles in the new series, and there are many nice details (such as when the Enterprise warps out of orbit from the planet in 'Obsession' and there is a giant blast crater created by an antimatter explosion, visible on the surface.)

Personally, I dislike the new special-effects intros, because the enterprise seems to fly towards the camera with the saucer section facing DOWNWARDS. It is not fly level, imho, like in the original series. Also, I expected more creativity in the re-doing of 'The Doomsday Machine' special effects, because the doomsday machine itself should have been MUCH larger than the enterprise (as much as 50,000x larger than the ~1000-ft enterprise), otherwise, it could never have eaten a planet the size of earth. However, maybe this was just a hole in the plot so large that it could never be filled? I don't know.

In the DVD Guide, there are no episode summaries. If you don't know the exact plot of each episode, by title, sorry, you're out of luck. They should have added space for maybe 3 sentences of text so that you could choose between episodes.

Now, the biggest drawback of these episodes is the lousy and cheap way they produced the DVD carrier. The index to shows is ONLY printed on the inside cover of the DVD carrier, so you have to look through the blue plastic at the really, really tiny print to figure out which disk to read. What's even WORSE is that Disc #7 covers up HALF the episode titles !!

I recommend that when you get the discs, you should immediately take out the paper insert and make a 95% xerox copy of it. Then, cut it out, fold it in half, and slip it into the paper clamps at the front of the DVD. That way, you can open the DVD box, and immediately open your xerox-page (no need to remove it from the paper clamps), to find the episode you're looking for.

What's more, if you want to see a particular episode, like "Menagerie", you have to know what season it was from! Because the episodes AREN'T printed on the back of each DVD box !! aaarrrrrggggghhhhhh !!!! Minus 1/4th star for such bad box mastery, but still, the score rounds up to 5 stars !!!

We are watching this on a SAMSUNG HD1500 player and Samsung LN52A850 HD Television. We have experienced a few 'scene stalls and jumps' at critical points (often, when cutting to a special effect, and once, during a 30-second countdown to death for the main characters.) I am hoping these are problems with our player, not with our discs.


5/5 A Great Encore...
  by Robert Stone (Worthington, OH)
If you are reading this you likely already have the first season blu-ray and this one is more of the same excellent quality. The transfers are superb - almost too good, sometimes, as it is easy to see when a stunt double is used instead of Shartner / Nimoy etc! I was often amazed I was looking at something over 40 years old with the high picture quality in almost every shot.

I thought before seeing the first set that I would be a 'purist' and hate the re-done effects but to my surprise I find they add to the show rather than detract from it. All the effects are done in the exact style of the originals - it's more like you are seeing more detail than a new effect in most cases. For example, the 'hand' effect in "Who Mourns for Adonais" from this set looks nearly identical at first glance, though it is coming up from the surface of the planet rather than just out in the middle of nowhere. As it gets closer, you can see that it is an undulating energy field shaped like a hand. I suspect if it had been technically possible to do it that way and stay in budget in the 60s this is the way they would have done it. All the effects are done this way, they don't look like transplanted effects from Star Wars Clone Wars or even Star Trek TNG. It is obvious to me that the creators of the new effects share a fan's love for the original show and their efforts have paid off. On the other hand, if you prefer the original effects they are there. If you want to annoy anyone else in the room, you can even switch back and forth, hitting replay to compare them.

If by any chance you are not familiar with the series, this is certainly the way to watch it. It is one of the most ahead-of-its-time series ever made and IMHO remains the best of all the ST series. The first season is generally considered the best but looking over Season Two this is really where ST hits its stride; you can see that the relationships established in the first season are much more fleshed out here. Even among the much-maligned third season there are some gems to go along with turkeys like "Spock's Brain" and "Turnabout Intruder". But I'm getting ahead of myself, season three will come out in December, so Paramount can get another $50 or so from me and maybe I'll review that one as well.

The bottom line is that this is a great set and well worth the money for any fan of ST.

5/5 An Adventure In Time Both Ways
  by Becketo (Kashiwa, Chiba Japan)
When I was a kid my sister and I huddled in front of the TV to make our journey into space of course along with a pint of chocolate marble ice cream.

Star Trek TOS one of the greatest adventures created by man. I gotta tell you I've been jaded by Deep Space Nine,Voyager and Enterprise. I thought watching TOS would not live up to my expectations happily I was wrong.

The stories are on to their own and best describe the human condition. The video format I believe is 4:3 Aspect ratio but if you have HDTV you can set the aspect ratio to full screen. I encoded the episodes because my laptop is lowgrade and I usually watch them at my bedside.

It's a must have if your into Star Trek fan.

5/5 Better Than You Remember It On Television
  by D. Kay (Columbus, OH)
Season Two has some of the greatest episodes. There is a whole disc devoted to the "Trouble with Tribbles". I find myself watching the show in amazement at the stunning color and clarity that just was not technically possible with earlier versions of the series releases. Season two has more advanced character development between Kirk, Spock, McCoy ect. The writers had more latitude to polish and explore more depth into the main characters. I love the chemistry that existed on TOS. I now have both season one and two and will soon be ordering season 3 with it's release coming December 15, 2009. I must say that I do not watch the "enhanced" versions of the show but prefer the original special effects just as I remember them from my childhood in the 60's. Even though they used models and some crude effects, I prefer them to the digital stuff that seems somewhat out of place. The digital effects seem two dimensional and flat to me. Call it a personal preference but I like my Star Trek original and straight up. Cheesey or not...I think they really did a fairly good job with the models and camera tricks of the day.
Another great quality of the Blu Ray discs is the wonderful sound quality. Everything is crystal clear and consistant. The discs from season 2 seem to load a bit slower than season 1 on my Sony machine. Not a great distraction though.
I have been extremely happy with my purchase and enjoy watching the original Star Trek with my 3 daughters. The new movie which was released this summer really helped to build excitement with the younger crowd too.

1/5 When will you deliver?
  by Steen Pihl (Denmark)
I have ordred this great Blu-ray collection for over 2 months ago and still haven't seen it yet! Sure you're a serious firm?
No kind regards from
Steen