Star Trek: The Original Series — Season One (Blu-ray Review)

24 Jun, 2009 By: John Latchem

Paramount/CBS
Sci-Fi
$118 seven-disc Blu-ray
Stars William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley.

I get it now. Watching the remastered 1960s “Star Trek” on a standard-def TV, where the original effects still exude a bit of charm, the new CGI special effects looked kind of hokey. But watching it on Blu-ray on an HDTV, the new effects come to life.

This Blu-ray edition is the ultimate presentation of the classic series. The most fun thing about it is the ability to toggle between the old and remastered versions while the episode plays, which really shows off the beauty of the new visuals. Some of the old shots are so grainy and degraded, the Enterprise looks as if it is made of sand.

The set includes most of the extras from the earlier DVD and HD DVD releases, including several featurettes about the origins of the show; William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy reflecting on life after “Star Trek”; a look at the remastering process; and a CG tour of the Enterprise. In addition, several of the 29 episodes are enhanced with “Starfleet Access,” a picture-in-picture commentary mode that discusses the effects alterations, accompanied by a trivia track.

The content that hasn’t been ported, such as Easter egg interviews from the first DVD and a “Trekker Connections” game, are available through BD Live, which also offers several exclusive featurettes. Accessing BD Live is still a bit cumbersome; it took 10 minutes of load time to watch a two-minute clip.