DVD Review: The Best of Star Trek TOS
Paramount Offers Four Memorable Classic Trek Episodes on One DVD
With the possible goal of recruiting a new legion of fans, and to coincide with the release of the new Star Trek film, the good folks at Paramount/CBS Video, are releasing a modest "best-of" set of four episodes, spanning all three seasons of the classic Star Trek show, which starred William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, among others.
The Best of Star Trek The Original Series Overview
Starting with the thrilling Season One episode "Balance of Terror", Gene Roddenberry and his team utilized a clever script by seasoned TV writer Paul Schneider, and presented audiences with the first on-screen appearance of the Romulans, a passionate, war-like cousin race to the much more subdued, logical Vulcans.
Balance of Terror
Essentially an outer space equivalent of a submarine hunt in the vein of Das Boot or Run Silent, Run Deep, "Balance of Terror" pits Kirk and his beloved Enterprise, against a calculating Romulan war veteran, who is returning to Romulan space after having completed strategic hits on Federation outposts along the Federation/Romulan Neutral Zone.
Co-starring future Star Trek staple Mark Lenard, who went on to play Spock's father Sarek in both TV episodes and various movies, "Balance of Terror" was one of the rare classic Trek storylines to really make use of the Enterprise per se, rather than any planet-based intrigue, or retro villain of the week.
Lenard and Shatner get to engage in a moving bit of dialogue by the end of this gripping episode, and so this pick earns a worthy place on this disc.
The City on the Edge of Forever
The second episode offered on this set, the highly praised "City on the Edge of Forever", is not only the most popular episode ever for classic Trek fan, but in this writer's opinion, it is also its best written story.
Based on an awesome script by acclaimed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison (though controversially re-written by in-house scribes), "City" is one of those clever tales that toys with the ever-so troublesome concept of time travel, however in this case, it is done incredibly well.
While investigating temporal disruptions emanating from a nearby planet, helmsman Sulu (George Takei) is injured from a console explosion on the bridge. When Bones (Kelley) tries to inject him with a potent drug to tend to Sulu's trauma, the ship is hit with another wave, and McCoy accidentally injects himself with the full hypospray of the medication, driving him temporarily insane.
Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura and some nameless guy (isn't there always?) head down to the planet, and discover a mysterious disc shape formation, which then comes to life, and announces itself as a "Guardian of Forever", allowing people to pass through it, and go to any point in time and space.
A delirious McCoy jumps through the time vortex, causing the Enterprise above to cease responding to hails. The guardian tells Kirk and Spock that McCoy is now in Earth's far past, and has changed history, thus negating current history, thus preventing Starfleet from ever existing. Stranded forever on this planet, it is up to Jim and Spock to calculate the time McCoy jumped to, and make the leap themselves, to prevent history from forever being altered.
A very entertaining episode, "City" co-stars Joan Collins (Dynasty), as Edith Keeler, a 1930's social worker destined to inspire the world for the better. Watch this one more than once, it still packs a punch 40 years later.
Amok Time
The second season's opener, allows viewers to delve deeper into Spock's seldom explored Vulcan culture. A visibly upset and emotional Spock attracts the attention of the crew (note: Vulcans are famous for suppressing their emotions), when he is beset by bouts of rage. Kirk manages to learn from his first officer, that he is undergoing a pon farr, basically a Vulcan equivalent of the seven-year itch.
In essence, every seven years, a Vulcan male must mate with a Vulcan female to whom they are empathically bonded, lest they go insane with fever and die as a result. Therefore, Kirk must find a way to return his friend to his home planet for a violent ritual, though the Enterprise is urgently needed elsewhere. Kirk and Bones get involved in the complex ritual, with unexpected results.
The last act of this episode is the most memorable, and the finale is a classic clip of Trek lore.
The Trouble with Tribbles
The more comedic episode of the bunch, "Tribbles" is another fan favorite, where Kirk and his crew must contend with both a Klingon contingent enjoying shore leave at the same starbase, and with the unexpected proliferation of Tribbles, small furry cuddlies who reproduce at an exponential rate.
There is a semi-dramatic subplot about endangered grain that could supply planets with ample harvests of foodstuffs for countless masses, however it does take a backseat to the overall humorous scenes involving the crew, their affinity for the little tribbles, as well as some officers' troubles with maintaining decorum against Klingon bullies.
Alltogether an episode played for laughs, this episode was popular enough to warrant an offshoot in the Trek animated series of the early 70's ("More Trouble, More Tribbles"), as well as a very cleverly edited episode of Star Trek Deep Space Nine, "Trials and Tribble-ations", in which Captain Sisko and his crew travel back in time and interact with the classic crew.
The Best of Star Trek The Original Series Overall Analysis
This set is a decent start up disc for any non-fans who wish to get a fair sample of the show as it got its feet wet, and slowly got comfortable in its weekly incarnation. There are several other notable episodes which spanned all three seasons, namely "Space Seed", "The Squire of Gothos", and "Whom Gods Destroy" among others, and so perhaps we are to expect a second "best-of" disc in the near future? Only time will tell.
8 out of 10 for being a decent introductory start up disc filled with great story-based episodes.
Best of Star Trek TOS
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The Guardian of Forever
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Mark Lenard as the Romulan Commander
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Leonard Nimoy in Amok Time
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