Star Trek: The Original Series: The Beloved Show That Started It All Reaches a Milestone (60th Anniversary Blu-ray)

The Show:

60 years ago, the great Gene Roddenberry gifted us with his optimistic vision of the future in a little show called "Star Trek," whose basic premise involved a crew traveling the stars in a spaceship, but which provided the perfect template for Gene & his team to discuss important topics and themes such as race, class, tolerance, and the general betterment of humanity. It may not have been a tremendous hit at the time (though most of you likely already know of the famous write-in campaign that brought the show back for a third season after its cancellation), but the fandom only continued to grow more and more as the show was syndicated in the subsequent years, eventually leading to the first of several films with "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" in 1979 and the first of several new shows with the marvelous "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987.

To celebrate this remarkable milestone of the program that started it all, Paramount is unleashing a new Blu-ray set of the entire "Star Trek: The Original Series" (as it's commonly known), complete with all 79 episodes (plus the original pilot "The Cage") and over nine hours of special features spread across the 20 discs, so now it's time to revisit this timeless classic to see why it has continued to be so beloved by fans for six decades now, and why that's not likely to change anytime soon.

As mentioned, the basic premise has the crew of the USS Enterprise traveling to various planets as they carry out missions of peace for the United Federation of Planets, though there are times when these missions require them to defend themselves or fight for their very survival. The crew includes Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Science Officer/First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), Communications Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), and starting in the second season, Navigator Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). We follow along on their adventures as they "explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no man has gone before."

So what is it about this little sci-fi show that has kept fans coming back over and over again over the last 60 years? Starting off with just a basic look at the surface level, it remains a highly-entertaining program, one that has the intrepid crew of the Enterprise getting into some incredibly captivating adventures, and which features a group of fascinating (to use Mr. Spock's word of choice), compelling characters that are written in such a way as to have us actually caring about them and forming that all-important emotional connection. However, when you start to burrow under the surface, you find that there's actually a lot more going on here than there initially appears to be.

As briefly alluded to earlier, Gene never meant for this to simply be a silly space outing that has the crew getting into meaningless escapades. He wanted to use it to explore important topics that you wouldn't normally see on television, certainly not on a show like this. It's brilliance was in the fact that not only was it a fun, entertaining science-fiction adventure, but it also dealt with issues like racism, civil rights, war, and empathy & acceptance of others. This was no doubt lost on many viewers (to this day certain people still ask the ridiculous question "When did Star Trek get so political?"), but for those paying attention, the true meaning of what Gene & co. were trying to accomplish came through loud and clear. But why do people keep revisiting it? Simply because these issues are just as relevant as they were 60 years ago, with its exploration of them still hitting hard all these decades later.

As a die-hard Trekkie for the last 30 years (much more so of the classic era, 1966-2005, than the newer era), I've seen TOS in its entirety several times (including another rewatch in just the last couple of months), and it certainly has not lost its edge one bit. That said, I think it's more than fair to say that the show progressed on something of a sliding scale, with season one being almost entirely good-to-great episodes, season two still having mostly good-to-great episodes, but with a few more clunkers thrown in, and season three being the weakest of the lot with a handful of pretty good episodes, but mostly mediocre-to-bad entries. By that last season, the writing just wasn't quite what it was before. Again, there were some really good ones in there ("The Enterprise Incident" and "The Tholian Web" come right to mind), but for every good one, there seemed to be several dreadful episodes, including "The Paradise Syndrome," "The Lights of Zetar," "Elaan of Troyius," and "The Way to Eden."

However, the first two seasons offered plenty of greatness for the entire show, with fans often debating which of its strong episodes was its very best. Candidates often include "The City on the Edge of Forever" (a very common top pick), "The Devil in the Dark," "Mirror, Mirror," "Space Seed" (the introduction of Khan), and "The Trouble with Tribbles" (a particular fan favorite). All the while, throughout its 79-episode run of episodes good & bad, it did its best to speak out on the aforementioned issues & themes. Even when the writing was perhaps a little on-the-nose, such as for the often (and I'd say wrongfully) maligned "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield," its message was still loud & clear, which, as mentioned, was its main goal in the first place.

60 years later, "Star Trek" may have moved on to a plethora of new shows & films, with varying degrees of success, but the one that started it all remains just as popular as it ever was, with fans still turning out at conventions in droves to see surviving cast members William Shatner, George Takei, and Walter Koenig, while also continuing the debate & analysis of various episodes with their fellow fans. Even as the franchise currently faces a questionable future, the original still holds a very special place in the hearts of Trekkies, and as it celebrates this incredible six-decade milestone, it seems perfectly clear that that's a fact that will never change.

Video/Audio:

"Star Trek: The Original Series" returns to Blu-ray in a 4:3, 1080p High Definition transfer of marvelous quality. The picture has been beautifully restored and looks absolutely gorgeous, which is particularly surprising for a show that's now 60 years old. All of the original special effects have been perfectly preserved, and while there is an option to watch so-called "enhanced" effects, I'm not sure why anyone would want to, nor would I recommend it. The original 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital audio track is fantastic, giving you all of the dialogue, sound effects, and music in excellent quality (there is an option for 7.1 Surround Sound, but unless you actually have the set-up for it, the audio track is very quiet). Overall, Paramount has done a wonderful job in both departments for the show's new release.

Special Features:

The new 60th Anniversary set comes with over nine hours of previously-released special features spread across the 20 discs, and includes a mix of retrospective featurettes, interviews, comic-con panels, and more. Definitely more than enough supplements here to delight any fan of the show.

Conclusion:

Even as "Star Trek: The Original Series" turns 60 years old, the show that launched the entire franchise has lost none of its edge, not only entertaining viewers with its fun & exciting adventures, but also going much further & deeper by exploring important topics & themes that are still just as relevant today as they were back in the late '60s, ultimately making it quite easy to see why it's had such longevity and why it will always hold a very special place for every Trekkie out there.

Score: 4.5/5

Available on 60th Anniversary Blu-ray starting tomorrow

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