Rating: 
Summary: Star Trek's greatest Frontier
Review: At the height of Star Trek popularity the producers of the show created a spin off about a man who'd lost his wife, and was assigned to command the recently wrestled from Cardassian control Terok Nor (Renamed Deep Space Nine by the Federation of Planets). His name, Benjamin Sisko... And he didn't want to be there. Regardless, being the good soldier that he is he takes his son and relocates to the station where he meets the moody Kira Nyrese, the shape shifting Odo, the scheming Quark, and a reincarnation (sort of) of his old friend Dax.
DS9 got off to an excellent start with a very "odd couple" type feeling to the entire cast. Everyone was a misfit, no one really fit in, and this set the series apart from the other Treks. But to make matters more interesting Benjamin Sisko's life is turned even further upside down when he accidentally discovers a wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant, and while going back to the Alpha Quadrant of the galaxy he is "abducted" by non-caporal alien life forms. Because of this encounter the Bajorans (Major Kira's people) now believe that Sisko is the emissary of their deities. They believe the aliens in the wormhole are their Prophets, and if asked these aliens will state that they are "of Bajor". Sisko becomes a religious icon, and so the saga begins.
What I love about Deep Space Nine is that it removed the cowboy diplomacy of previous installments. The crew of DS9 was stationary, and had to deal with the consequences of their actions, unlike Kirk and Picard who could just fly off to the next planet, Sisko was stuck dealing with the problems that were created.
Season 1 does not delve into the Dominion, but does begin the development of each and every major character right away. DS9 developed their characters the best of any Trek. Unlike previous installments, this show wasn't satisfied focusing on the captain and one or two of his underlings. Everyone got good screen time in DS9, and even by the end of season 1 we knew our crew very well.
Because DS9 developed its characters so well it is, in my mind, the best of the treks. I am grateful to Paramont for these box sets, though I do feel they are awefully expensive (Fox's 24 in contrast runs about $50-60 a set). A price drop would be nice, but as of now I'm only two seasons short of the collection. Deep Space Nine is TV as it should be. Great stories with great role models for our kids, episodes that are completely inoffensive, and completely entertaining. I wish DS9 had never ended. Of all of the TV shows I love that are now gone I miss DS9 the most.
Rating:
Summary: Think STNG is great, think again!!!
Review: I almost did not buy into this series after completing my STNG collection. I, grudgingly, bought season one because I figured I'd give the series ONE chance to hook me. First, let me say, I could never seem to get into any of the shows, when they were originally airing; I looked nothing like STNG and I didn't like that. And that Ferengie...JUST could not stomach that character. I must say that once the Dominion thread started to take hold later on in the DS9 run, lookout, it takes OFF!!! Let me put this all in a nutshell. Buy the entire series....all seasons and prepare to have your loyalty to STNG CHALLENGED. I'm very serious. DS9, when watched in series will change how you think about the other shows. Better yet...just get season one and prove me wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: The first season of the best Trek show out there
Review: The first season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a very interesting beginning. We discovered in the first episode that we would be staying in one place, exploring a little but dealing much more with the Bajoran people and how they are recovering from years of occupation, along with their grooming to be new members of the United Federation of Planets. Past Trek shows have been on a ship, but this show would take place on a space station. One thing this means is that they can't run away from their problems. If something comes up, they have to deal with it, and the consequences of the problem could very well come back and haunt the crew later on. Recurring characters (Garak and Dukat are introduced in the first season, along with Keiko O'Brien coming over from Next Generation) abound, and relationships are allowed to grow and change. These characters are not static like the Next Generation characters generally were. I can't see much of a difference between William Riker in season 1 and William Riker in season 7 of Next Generation. Kira Nerys, on the other hand, has changed greatly just within season 1 of Deep Space Nine
I was really glad when all seven seasons came out in DVD boxed sets. The presentation is wonderful, with four episodes per disc (except the first one, which includes the 2-hour premiere). The menus are great, with the Deep Space Nine theme projecting majestically from the speakers. It's always been my favourite of all the themes anyway. After you choose an episode, you then can either play it, press "set up" (where you set up your audio and subtitle options), "chapter log" (where you can go to any scene), or return to the main menu.
There are six discs in the set, with the first five containing the episodes and then the sixth being a bunch of specials. There is a documentary on the first season, called "A Bold Beginning." There's a crew dossier on Kira Nerys, the secrets of Quark's bar, a sketchbook of production sketches and a little bit about alien props. There are also a bunch of easter eggs on this disc, with other crew dossiers and little interesting tidbits about the actors and their roles. We hear about how they got their part and what their feelings are about their characters. Some of the interviews are from the first season, when the actors didn't know where their characters were going. Others are from after the show, or during the last season. They're par for the course for actors' interviews, so if you're naturally bored by them, you won't find much of interest here. If you like the show, though, they're intriguing.
All in all, this is a wonderful collection of episodes. The picture quality is wonderful, with the exception of one episode, but I'm sure that's just on my edition. "The Storyteller" made my DVD player have conniptions, and I had already had so much hassle with Columbia House that I wasn't going to try and deal with them to get a better copy. It's just one episode, though. The packaging is interesting and sturdy, with two fold-out covers revealing the plastic disc trays. The overall quality of these discs is quite high. Only the quality of some of the episodes themselves brings the rating of the boxed set down to 4 stars. They had a rough patch in the middle of the season.
As for the episodes themselves, they are like many first seasons of shows gone by, with some standout episodes, some strong ones with weaknesses, and quite a few misses as they try to find their legs. The best two actually end the season, as "Duet" (the story of a Cardassian war criminal coming back to Bajor which is not necessarily what it appears) and "In the Hands of the Prophets" (dealing with the mixture of religion and schools, but also showcasing just how far Federation/Bajor relations have come, and how far they have to go). There are definitely some strong ones near the beginning, too, but there is a string of misses in the middle of the season that just makes you wonder. If it hadn't been for the strong opening, I may have really despaired.
This is a wonderful beginning to the Deep Space Nine odyssey, in my opinion the best Trek series out there.
David Roy
Rating: 
Summary: Anybody purchased the Asian imports?
Review: Hey - I'm looking to see if anybody has purchased the Asian import versions of DS-9 posted on Amazon. They are really cheap, as compared with the US versions. If someone has purchased one of these sets, can you post a review so we know whether this is a viable way to own these shows, or whether it is a rip-off? (I've bought Asian disks before and they are a "crap shoot", as far as quality goes. But if these are "official" released versions, then the quality of the package and media might be good.) Thanx.
Rating: 
Summary: Another awful Trek spinoff
Review: The Original Series had it all. Then came The Next Generation, and we were treated to wooden characters and technobabble solutions to technobabble problems. Then came DS9. They fixed the problem with the wooden characters - they made the characters completely unlikable. Sisko reads his lines like a man leaving the outgoing message on an answering machine, as if he's going to say "Oh, no, wait, let me do that again." at the end of each line. Kira is awful, one of the more pompous and obnoxious characters in a Trek universe full of pomposity and obnoxiousness. Then there's Quark, a goofy looking screwball who is supposed to represent all that is so terrible and evil about capitalism. Yes boys and girls, get in line to have Rodenberry's socialist dogma pounded into your skulls with all the subtelty of a photon torpedo. And last and least, Odo, another unlikable character.
Actually, the show did have a few good characters. Chief O'Brien was quite good, as was his wife. Okay, that about covers it.
If you want something that's pompous, preachy, poorly acted, HORRIBLY directed, and features some humor that can only make you pity the people have to say the lines, then this is the motherlode.
But, at least it was better than Voyager.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Moments in a Flawed Season
Review: I must admit right off the bat that DS9 was never a show I held close to my heart; The Next Generation was (and is) my favorite Star Trek series. But nonetheless I decided to give the series another chance. Unfortunately, I was still unable to embrace it.There are only four episodes in this season that I would want to watch more than once and they are; The Emissary, The Forsaken, Duet, and In The Hands Of The Prophets. The Forsaken is the weakest of the bunch, but I enjoy the insights into Odo's background and the nuances of Lawaxana Troi. The other three rank with the best of Trek. I was surprised at their high quality since the trest of the season was so lackluster. Kira and to a much lesser extent Odo, are the only characters that piqued my interest. Garak was great in his one and only appearance this season as well. The rest of the cast was uninteresting, especially Sisko. I'm sorry, but Avery Brooks is WAY too self-conscious (what's up with the overly precise enunciation and practiced gestures), hopefully he improves as the series goes on. As for the DVD set itself, it's done very well for the most part. I don't care much for the cases plastic slip cover and flip open design, but the book-like DVD trays are a welcome improvement over TNGs mile-long fold out. The menus are designed to look like Cardassian control panels and offer the standard features, but gone are the film clipped episode buttons of the TNG set, DS9 only offers a still image which makes finding the episode you want to see all the harder if you're not familiar with the show titles. The bonus disc is informative and done in the same style as the TNG bonus material except for the use of short `easter eggs' that are very easy to find. I don't mind that they are easy to find, but if they're going to be so easy to find I wish that they'd rather just put them all in one selection. I'd like to have rated this set higher since the four shows I liked, I thought were terrific, but as great as they are, they're not worth the full price. If you're a fan of DS9, you'll love this set. If you're new to the series, I'd suggest skipping this season and starting at season 4 which I hear is when the show shifted into high gear.
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