Featured TV on DVD Review: Star Trek: The Original Series: Captain Kirk's Boldest Missions
March 16, 2015
Star Trek: The Original Series: Captain Kirk's Boldest Missions - Blu-ray - DVD
The latest home market release for Star Trek: The Original Series is a two-disc DVD... DVD? You would think there would at least be a Blu-ray option. What episodes are on this two-disc DVD? And is the DVD worth the asking price?
There are a trio of short featurettes on the first disc and an intro for The City on the Edge of Forever.
Star Trek: The Original Series: Captain Kirk's Boldest Missions is a good value for this type of release. The price-per-minute is a little higher than most other TV on DVD releases, but lower than most Star Trek releases. If you like the show, but have been scared off by the prices in the past, this isn't a bad way to go.
The Show
Of the eight episodes on this list, five of them are absolute classics. Even the three weaker episodes are great. Additionally, the price-per-minute is lower than most other Star Trek releases. It is still higher than most TV on DVD releases, on the other hand.
The episode is one of the earliest episodes of the original series. In fact, it was the first made after the two pilots. It is also famous for its guest appearance by Clint Howard and the the good twist in the end. Even casual fans of Star Trek will likely remember this episode.
Another very famous episode, because it introduces the Romulans. Captain Kirk and the crew go to the Neutral Zone after several outposts were attacked. When they see the Romulans for the first time, the crew is surprised that they look like Spock.
James Kirk travels to Planet Q after being called by Dr. Thomas Leighton. He thinks it is because Dr. Leighton has come up with a new food source that will help prevent famines. However, instead he called Kirk there because he thinks the lead actor in the troupe that is performing on his planet is Kodos the Executioner. Kirk thinks this is crazy, but when Dr. Leighton is assassinated, Kirk begins to take his theory seriously.
The Enterprise comes across a derelict ship floating in space. It's from Earth and was launched in the 1990s, which was the era of the Eugenics Wars. Aboard the ship, they find 60 to 70 people in suspended animation. One of these is Kahn Noonien Singh. Yes, I cut and pasted this from the last time I reviewed this episode.
One of the most famous episodes of the first show's run. It involves time travel with McCoy going back into the past while under the effects of a fever only to accidentally change history. Kirk and Spock have to travel back in time to reverse the changes. There Kirk falls in love with Sister Edith Keeler; however, he learns that she must die in order to prevent the changes McCoy caused.
A series of destroyed star systems leads the Enterprise to its sister ship, the U.S.S. Constellation. The only survivors on the ship is the commanding officer, Commodore Decker. He reports that the planets were destroyed and eaten by a massive doomsday weapon and now the crew of the Enterprise will have to defeat it, or countless other planets will be eaten.
Two words: Mirror Universe. One of the most famous episodes of the franchise's 50-year history.
The crew of the Enterprise follow a series of clues arriving at a dead planet. When they get there, they scan the planet when they hear a booming voice from a being that calls itself Sargon. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy teleport to the planet, along with Dr. Ann Mulhall, an astrobiologist, who was instructed to beam down with them. When they get down there, they find Sargon, or at least his mind inside. Sargon wants to use the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Mulhall to build new artificial bodies. The Extras
The Verdict
- Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: Video Review, Joan Collins, Clint Howard, DeForest Kelley, Ricardo Montalbán, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Diana Muldaur