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Star Trek Eleven is now on DVD and Blu-Ray
Standard DVD 2-disc version:
Region 1 NTSC, U.S.
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 2 PAL, U.K.
Of course there is a cheaper 1-disc version missing most of the extras,
but you wouldn't want your Star Trek on the cheap, now would you?
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As the creators of TV's "Lost" move to the big
screen to give us the latest Star Trek feature film,
we can be thankful that complicated time travel
on Star Trek is finally being done RIGHT.
Good show. An exciting adventure is delivered, and
there is a lot of fun to be had watching this
alternate version of Kirk, Spock, McCoy
and the others come together again, with outstanding
and sometimes hauntingly familiar performances.
But what really is the point of it all? Missing
are the attempts to reach high philosophical and
social grounds that made Roddenberry's creation
special, and the pits of revenge and loss are mined
as poor character depth substitutes. It's a
thinly-disguised calculated
attempt to regenerate the market for the updated original
material all over again which may have some success.
But it's also a fun hoot, both a blast for general
audiences, and some purging medication for Trek fans
who took old Star Trek's time travel theories too much
to heart. So settle back and enjoy....
Blu-Ray 3-disc version:
Region 1 NTSC, U.S.
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 2 PAL, U.K.
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How to Tell the Latest Products Apart:
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The Movies - 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition Series
These editions of the first 10 Star Trek movies may well
remain the definitive ones for the standard DVD format,
featuring the latest Director's cuts of the films with
upgraded effects, audio commentaries by people who actually
made each film, informed text commentaries, and a generally
superior batch of supplementary featurettes and extras
on a second disc.
Be warned, they are becoming rare though. See the individual
listings in the catalogue below, and get them while
the bargains last!
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The Movies - 2009 Blu-Ray rereleases and derivatives
As the first six movies get rereleased for the Blu-Ray
format in 2009, the world of Star Trek movie products
becomes an infinitely more confusing place. If you have
a Blu-Ray player, and want all six movies (possibly again),
the "Summit Six-Pack" is the deal for you. Each movie
comes on one disc, packed with a new transfer of the film
and all the audio commentaries and other featurettes from
the standard DVD 2-disc collector's edition, PLUS additional
new commentaries and featurettes. New in-movie pop-up extras
replace the text commentaries of the collector's edtions.
A seventh disc, unique to this set, features William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and
Whoopi Goldberg having an open chat about their experiences
making Star Trek for 70 minutes - an event dubbed
"The Captain's Summit".
The only caveat is that the first two films are the old
theatrical releases instead of the directors' cuts, which
have very different timings, and so the audio commentaries
from the collector's editions are not included. So hang
on to your collector's editions of "The Motion Picture"
and "The Wrath of Khan", or seek them out as well if you
don't already have them.
However, if you don't want all six movies, or you're looking
for the current version for standard DVD, your options
will be very different depending on where you live,
and the extras may be somewhat limited depending on
which format you're looking for.
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Standard DVD 1-disc-per-movie
"Summit Six-Pack" 2009 release
with bonus 7th disc
Region 1 NTSC, U.S.
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 2 PAL, for the U.K.
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The Movies - 2009 standard DVD derivatives
Like their Blu-Ray counterparts, the standard DVD
derivative 2009 releases are also single-disc creatures,
which means they haven't got nearly the same amount of
space and can't hold all the same extras. And so these
discs exclusively present the new extras instead of the old.
So remember to also hang-on to your older 2-disc
collector's edition sets as well, or seek them out if you
didn't already have them, as word is those were generally the
better extras.
The somewhat
watered-down standard DVD version of the "Summit Six-Pack"
is now available to Regions 1 & 2 - see the links to the left.
Also, many of the movies are gradually becoming available
individually both in their full-fledged Blu-ray versions,
and their pared-down standard DVD versions - see the
individual movie listings below.
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Trilogy Box Set: Star Trek 2, 3, & 4
Standard DVD:
Region 1 NTSC, U.S.
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 2 PAL, for the U.K.
Blu-ray:
Region 1 NTSC, U.S.
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 1 NTSC, Canada
Region 2 PAL, for the U.K.
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The 2009 derivative Trilogy Sets
If you are in Region 1 (Canada or the U.S.),
your options are still a bit limited at this time.
"Star Trek III: The Search for Spock"
is still only available in
the full "Summit Six Pack"
or this "Trilogy" box set featuring
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
It is available in Blu Ray format or standard DVD.
Check for listings of extras on "The Wrath of Khan" as well.
The Nicholas Meyer solo audio commentary from the
2-disc Collector's Edition Director's Cut appears to have
been rejigged and included on the individual 2009 release
of the movie (see below),
but not in the "Summit Six Pack" or these
"Trilogy" box sets that came out a few months earlier.
Yeah, it's confusing. It may be
wise to hang on to your 2-disc Special Collector's Editions,
or seek them out if you don't already have them, until
Paramount gets its act together regarding the new
re-releases.
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The Original Series:
"Purist" Standard DVD Release
As someone interested in researching how the episodes
actually looked and sounded originally, and when and
exactly how certain musical cues first debuted,
this was the DVD set for me, and it remains the most
untampered-with full-season collection of Star Trek
out there. Unique extras include pure text commentaries
on select episodes.
Sadly, these sets are starting to
become rare, and prices are now rising as these
become collectors' items....
These sets also introduced "staple" extras that
continue to be included
in all subsequent releases
of Star Trek - The Original Series:
- "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy" Documentary
- Featurette "To Boldly Go" (1 per season featuring
cast and crew discussing individual episodes).
- Life Beyond Trek: (William Shatner on Season One,
Leonard Nimoy on Season Two,
Walter Koenig on Season Three)
- Special Interview featurettes on the writers,
Spock, the Kirk-Spock-Bones trio, individual
cast-members, designers, publicists, and fans.
- original tv trailers
- Photo Galleries
- Production Art
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The Original Series Remastered Sets
The re-mastered Star Trek sets are more readily available,
and in addition to picture and sound quality restoration,
liberties have been taken with "upgrading" the episodes.
Most famously, new CGI effects and optical shots have
replaced many space scenes, matte paintings, and phaser
effects. Unlike similar upgrades applied to select
Doctor Who DVD releases since 2002,
the CGI effects can not be turned off to see the original
effects and optical shots.
The kicker for me are reports that the episodes
have been rescored with new music. Interesting, funky, but
since it's primarily the original music I'm after in the first
place, this was not the set for me.
Another curiosity: Season One was released on double-sided
discs, with standard DVD on one side and HD on the other.
Reportedly, not all extras are accessible on the standard
DVD side. However, by the time the remastered versions of
seasons two and three were released, HD had clearly lost
the standards war to Blu-Ray, and so seasons two and three
"remastered" offer standard DVD only yet again.
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Season One - Blu Ray
29 episodes @ 51 minutes
Star Trek sets are now becoming available on Blu Ray.
Picture and sound quality restoration has gone up yet
another notch since the remastered version, as have the
liberties taken with "upgrading" the episodes.
Once again, even newer CGI effects and optical shots have
replaced many space scenes, matte paintings, and phaser
effects.... but this time the upgrades have the same respect
and user-functionality applied to select
Doctor Who DVD releases since 2002,
as the CGI effects can now be turned off
to see the original effects. Ahh, much more respectful!
Just the way it should be. Good show. It seems that the music
has still been tampered with too much for my liking though.
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Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Canada
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
A series of "Fan Collective" DVD Sets are also on the market,
offering a sampling of episodes from across all Star Trek
series and spinoffs. "Alternate Realities" is apparently
the first of those to offer the remastered versions of
original Star Trek episodes, with the upgraded special effects.
Those who are dubious about this process may wish to try
this less-expensive-than-a-full-season set to see what all
the fuss is about.
We also get some long-awaited audio commentaries on a few
of the episodes, a welcome rarity for Star Trek's
live-action tv shows, although some British fans have
complained that the audio commentaries are missing from
the Region 2 version.
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Star Trek Fan Collective:
Alternate Realities
20 episodes @
43-51 minutes each:
- Mirror Universe
- TOS: "Mirror, Mirror"
- DS9: "Crossover" (with audio commentary by David Livingston)
- DS9: "Through the Looking Glass"
- DS9: "Shattered Mirror"
- Ent: "In a Mirror, Darkly (Part 1)"
- Ent: "In a Mirror, Darkly (Part 2)"
- Parallel Dimensions
- TOS: "The Alternative Factor"
- TNG: "Parallels" (with audio commentary by writer Brannon Braga)
- Twisted Realities
- TOS: "The Enemy Within" (with audio commentary)
- TOS: "Turnabout Intruder"
- TNG: "Frame of Mind"
- Voy: "Shattered"
- Alternate Lives
- TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise" (with audio commentary)
- TNG: "The Inner Light"
- DS9: "The Visitor"
- Voy: "Before and After"
- Voy: "Timeless"
- Voy: "Course: Oblivion"
- Ent: "Twilight" (with audio commentary by Mike Sussman and Tim Gaskill)
- Ent: "E2"
- Special Features
- Mirror Universe: Part 1
- Mirror Universe: Part 2
- Parallel Dimensions
- Twisted Realities
- Alternate Lives: Part 1
- Alternate Lives: Part 2
- Audio Options (may vary for different regions)
- English
- Español
- Portugues
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Chronological Catalogue of Reviews and Products:
Click on the Amazon symbol for the location nearest you
for pricing and availability:
Amazon.com lists prices in U.S. Dollars and ships from the U.S.
Amazon.ca lists prices in Candian Dollars and ships from Canada.
Amazon.co.uk lists prices in Pounds Sterling and ships from England.
The Original Series |
(1966-69) |
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Season One (1966-1967)
29 episodes @ 51 minutes
Review Articles:
-Time Travel Season One
-Parallel Universe Opposites
-Prime Directive Origins
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Season Two (1967-1968)
26 episodes @ 51 minutes
Review Articles:
-Rise of the Prime Directive
-Time Travel Season Two
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Standard DVD release
with original effects
Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Can.
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
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Standard DVD 8-disc set remastered
with new CGI:
Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Canada
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
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Get your copy of this BluRay set
from the links below:
Region 1, U.S.
Region 1, Canada
Region 2, U.K.
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Season Three (1968-1969)
24 episodes @ 51 minutes
(plus a restored version of
the original pilot "The Cage")
Review Articles:
-Prime Directive Season Three
-Time Travel Season Three
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Standard DVD release
with original effects
Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Can.
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
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Standard DVD 7 disc set remastered
with new CGI:
Region 1, NTSC, U.S.
Region 1, NTSC, Canada
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
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Get your copy of this BluRay set
from the links below:
Region 1, U.S.
Region 1, Canada
Region 2, PAL, U.K.
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"Season Four" (1973)
The Animated Series
22 episodes @ 25 minutes
Review Articles:
-Time Travel Season Four
-Prime Directive Season Four
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The First Movies |
(1979-1991) |
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Star Trek One:
The Motion Picture
Director's Cut: 136 minutes
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Star Trek Two:
The Wrath of Khan
Director's Cut: 116 minutes
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Star Trek Three:
The Search for Spock
105 minutes
Review Article:
-Prime Directive: The Genesis Project
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Star Trek Four:
The Voyage Home
118 minutes
Time Travel:
-In-depth Analysis Review
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Star Trek Five:
The Final Frontier
106 minutes
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Star Trek Six:
The Undiscovered Country
113 minutes
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