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Star Trek - The Motion Pictures Collection

Star Trek - The Motion Pictures Collection

List Price: $189.99
Your Price: $170.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sci-fi adventure, with mixed results.
Review: (Opinions of The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country are based on years old memory)
The original Star Trek crew worked solely on the basis of its lead trio. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley made for arguably the most charismatic and enjoyable trio to watch in cinematic history. As for the rest of the crew, I didn't much care for anyone else, though George Takei probably came across the best as Sulu, mostly because he never succumbs to the silliness that pervades the other three (Scotty's prat falls, Chekov's accents and mispronunciations, and Uhura's horrific dance number in Star Trek V).

It's been years since I've seen The Motion Picture, and memory serves that it was an engrossing adventure that was so far off from the camp I'd been used to while watching the original TV series. Basically, I liked it, and this is without having seen the director's cut, which I hope to catch some day. The Motion Picture is decidedly an attempt at the kind of cerebral science fiction that 2001 attempted, and while I'm quite certain it's not in the same league as that film, it holds its own.

Ooh, boy, it's with The Wrath of Khan that I'm sure people will shouting blasphemy when I state that I actually didn't much enjoy the film. Sure, the effects were good and the trio was as entertaining to watch as usual, but Nicholas Meyers' direction is stale, Ricardo Montalban is a cheesy-looking villain (that fake chest can't help, either) who talks tough without actually proving his dangerousness, and the space battles prove to be little different than two submarines stalking each other. The idea of two starships battling each other has never appealed to me, and the case is no different here. I will admit, however, that Spock's death scene is poignant.

Star Trek III is even worse than II. Cheap-looking sets, meaningless blather, and the overall snail pace make this easily the most boring film of the entire franchise. The only highlight is Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon commander.

Star Trek IV is a marked improvement, an enjoyable and funny fish-out-of-water tale. There's little else going on here than seeing our beloved crew interact in the 20th century, but that alone is enough to inspire a barrage of belly laughs, particularly Spock's use of colorful metaphors. Catherine Hicks' rather neurotic performance as a whale specialist is pretty annoying, and a downspot in an otherwise entertaining outing.

Star Trek V is easily the silliest of the lot, but it's also kind of fun and the premise is the most ambitious of them all: it's an all-out quest for God, who is believed to live in the center of the galaxy. The trio is given more screentime together here than in any other film, Jerry Goldsmith's score is marvelous (the best of the series), and there's actually a genuine sense of awe when they reach their destination. Oh, this isn't a good movie, but it's an undeniable watchable and often entertaining one, and I personally liked it more than Star Trek III.

Star Trek VI is the standout, the best movie of the original crew's series. It delivers the most solid plot of the bunch, good and plentiful action scenes, and a healthy dose of witty repartee. The ending is very sentimental, but it's welcome, considering this is the end of the journey for our long-running intrepid heroes.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sci-fi adventure, with mixed results.
Review: (Opinions of The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country are based on years old memory)
The original Star Trek crew worked solely on the basis of its lead trio. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley made for arguably the most charismatic and enjoyable trio to watch in cinematic history. As for the rest of the crew, I didn't much care for anyone else, though George Takei probably came across the best as Sulu, mostly because he never succumbs to the silliness that pervades the other three (Scotty's prat falls, Chekov's accents and mispronunciations, and Uhura's horrific dance number in Star Trek V).

It's been years since I've seen The Motion Picture, and memory serves that it was an engrossing adventure that was so far off from the camp I'd been used to while watching the original TV series. Basically, I liked it, and this is without having seen the director's cut, which I hope to catch some day. The Motion Picture is decidedly an attempt at the kind of cerebral science fiction that 2001 attempted, and while I'm quite certain it's not in the same league as that film, it holds its own.

Ooh, boy, it's with The Wrath of Khan that I'm sure people will shouting blasphemy when I state that I actually didn't much enjoy the film. Sure, the effects were good and the trio was as entertaining to watch as usual, but Nicholas Meyers' direction is stale, Ricardo Montalban is a cheesy-looking villain (that fake chest can't help, either) who talks tough without actually proving his dangerousness, and the space battles prove to be little different than two submarines stalking each other. The idea of two starships battling each other has never appealed to me, and the case is no different here. I will admit, however, that Spock's death scene is poignant.

Star Trek III is even worse than II. Cheap-looking sets, meaningless blather, and the overall snail pace make this easily the most boring film of the entire franchise. The only highlight is Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon commander.

Star Trek IV is a marked improvement, an enjoyable and funny fish-out-of-water tale. There's little else going on here than seeing our beloved crew interact in the 20th century, but that alone is enough to inspire a barrage of belly laughs, particularly Spock's use of colorful metaphors. Catherine Hicks' rather neurotic performance as a whale specialist is pretty annoying, and a downspot in an otherwise entertaining outing.

Star Trek V is easily the silliest of the lot, but it's also kind of fun and the premise is the most ambitious of them all: it's an all-out quest for God, who is believed to live in the center of the galaxy. The trio is given more screentime together here than in any other film, Jerry Goldsmith's score is marvelous (the best of the series), and there's actually a genuine sense of awe when they reach their destination. Oh, this isn't a good movie, but it's an undeniable watchable and often entertaining one, and I personally liked it more than Star Trek III.

Star Trek VI is the standout, the best movie of the original crew's series. It delivers the most solid plot of the bunch, good and plentiful action scenes, and a healthy dose of witty repartee. The ending is very sentimental, but it's welcome, considering this is the end of the journey for our long-running intrepid heroes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Great idea!!...but no savings!!!!
Review: Ever since I bought a DVD player, this has been the day I have been waiting for!!! The day when Star Trek comes out with a collection set of al there DVD's.

As I feared, the colleciton comes with all the what I call "naked" DVD's in it.

What a waste!!! Paramount had the perfect opportunity to hit us with a collection of DVD's that were packed with extra features from all the films!!! You will not convince me otherwise that Paramount is doing this just to make money and turn around and sell the better version of these DVD's later!!! If that is the case Paramount, then shame on you!!!!

You have enough money, so give the people what they deserve!!!!! A collection with deleted scenes, commmentary, still photos(there are millions of those!!!).

This is basically pathetic!! Don't waste your money so Paramount will come out with a product worthy of Star Trek fans!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: I'm with the other guys...
Review: Greetings, all. I was gonna warn you to not get this set 'cause Paramount will soon be releasing all of these in Special Edition format. Slowly. One by one. Probably on a monthly-to-bi-monthly basis, so they can all revel in the glee of the DVD-collectin' Trekkies' frustration whilst rakin' in the bucks from the sorry people who bought the regular-edition flicks. Like I did, unfortunately.

However, it looks like a couple folks have beaten me to it in the kvetching department. So, just ignore my review, and take a look at what my other fellow Amazonians are saying about this sad collection. As you can see, we're pretty much on the same page regarding this situation. Thank you for your attention.

'Late!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Boxed set
Review: I am a great Star Trek fan and am always on the lookout for Star Trek's movies. When I saw this set I couldn't resist it. It's a must for every Star Trek fan. Although most of the DVDs don't have many special feature but still it's a very good buy. I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in Science Fiction.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Only 1 Director's Cut out of 9 Films: Not worth the money.
Review: I am a long time Star Trek fan, but I would not spend my money on getting this set of all nine films. First, I didn't like all nine films. Second, only one out of nine films in the set contains a director's cut and extra material.

Paramount will be releasing each of the Star Trek films as director's cuts. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn" was just released as a director's cut and I have read that the director's cut of "Star Trek III" will be coming out later this year.

I'm really dissappointed that Paramount released the nine Star Trek films with only one director's cut. Sometime after the theatetrical release of "Star Trek X: Nemesis" later this year, I expect all of the Star Trek films to be available as director's cuts and to contain other bonus material. A set of all 10 director's cuts would be a truly great set!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Save your money (and pardon the rant)
Review: I was patient. I waited and waited for this box set. I steadfastly held out and did not buy the individual DVDs so I could buy them all at once with the new, exciting features I was sure this set would contain. I should have known better.

Mind you, the box itself is nice, but that's about it. Paramount is once again finding a way to milk the Trek fans for more money with a sub-standard product. There are virtually no extras, the sound and picture quality are nice (the Motion Picture does have a cleaner look & clearer sound) but almost every DVD I own is better than these. I am very, very disappointed. Not surprised, though. Paramount is famous for this. Look at the DVDs for the TV shows. While other big TV shows put out beautifully packaged box sets with extras and cool features (see X-Files, Sopranos, & The Simpsons for best examples) Paramount makes us pay (dollar amount) per DVD for 2 episodes with nothing special about them at all. At that pace, you'll spend over (dollar amount) for the whole series. I have the first 4 seasons of the X-Files (nearly 100 episodes - Original Trek had around 65) & I've spent (dollar amount). This is called greed, ladies and gentlemen.

But I digress. My advice is this: Next year, the 10th Trek movie comes out. This gives them 18-20 months to come up with some new extras & package all 10 films. Hold out, be brave, and pray that Paramount decides to be nice to the fans who have supported them and Trek for more than 30 years.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: THE BARE-BONES DVD COLLECTION
Review: I'm a big Star trek fan and a big DVD collector, but I own no Star Trek movie DVDs. Why? Because up until November 6th's release of The Motion Picture, the ST movie DVDs have had NO extras except for a trailer! Besides being overpriced for such bare bones editions, I found it insulting that Paramount would release such obviously collectible movies as anything less than Special Collector Editions jam-packed with extras... and had a feeling that they would start doing that AFTER they were finished releasing the bare bones editions, to make fans eat it twice - and lo and behold, Paramount has announced plans to revisit the movies as Special Editions... So its incredible that even then they're releasing this boxed set. WHY buy it? Wait until they release the Special Editions!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I'm sorry...
Review: I've always tried to shy away from the typical Trek fan's tendancy to gripe and complain about everything. In fact, I'm rather outspoken about the fact that I think certain factions of Trek fans are the biggest bunch of whiners ever. I am not a whiner. I liked Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. I enjoyed Star Trek Generations and I thought Kirk's death was fine. I like the "Enterprise" series and I have never once felt the urge to cry about the theme song. I'm NOT a Trek-malcontent.

However, I am sorry that I must complain about the treatment of the Trek films on DVD. With the recent exception of Star Trek-The Motion Picture, these films truly are "bare bones" DVD format. These movies had such great potential to be jazzed up with extras and commentaries, and you end up with nothing. What's more...there are rumors circulating that Paramount will soon be releasing special editions of all the films. I hope this is so, becuase I will not purchase a single Star Trek DVD (except for TMP) untill this is done. I'm not going to waste my money.

Let's review this collection:

ST-The Motion Picture: This is what they SHOULD be.

STII: The Wrath of Khan: One trailer, no other extras. There were at least 3 minutes of deleted scenes added to ABC's broadcast back in the 80's. Let's see some of that again.

STIII: The Search for Spock: One trailer, no other extras. How cool would it be to listen to a commentary by Leonard Nimoy? I KNOW that there are deleted scenes to be had here too.

STIV: The Voyage Home: Trailers and some bogus featurette that is on one of the VHS versions anyway (oooooo!) Now imagine how cool it would be to have that commentary by Nimoy AND Nicholas Meyers?

STV: The Final Frontier: 2 Trailers, no extras. This film could stand the same treatment that ST-The Motion Picutre got. I've read a lot about what Shatner's original vision was and how it was paired down because of budget cuts and the writer's strike. Let's see some improved visual effects and hear Shatner's commentary. And I KNOW that there were some cool deleted scenes here too.

STVI: The Undiscovered Country: 2 trailers. Let's see the TV campaign, there were some excellent ads for this film. Another excellent opportunity for Director's Commentary. More deleted scenes. Making of documentaries.

ST Generations: This one is totally empty. For god's sake, I have the trailer on the beginning of my VHS copy of Mission:Impossible, but they couldn't put it on the disk??? There were a ton of deleted scenes here...most alarming are those cut featuring Kirk at the beginning of the film. Also, there was an alternate ending filmed with a different death for Kirk (you can read about it in his Movie Memories book AND it is evidneced in the trailer).

ST:First Contact: Trailers, but no other features. Let's hear Jonathan Frakes' commentary. I know that there were "making of" featurettes for this movie. Let's see some deleted scenes, cast bios, better menus...c'mon! This thing was a blockbuster in the theatres!

ST:Insurrection: Trailers and a half-hearted making of featurette. The TV ad campaign for this film was cool. Another chance to hear Frakes. Also, there were different story angles that weren't shown in the final film and plenty of deleted scenes (including some more Riker-Troi stuff).

Message: WE KNOW you have the goods Paramount. Now fork it over or you'll be sorry!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This isn't what the DVD was invented for
Review: I've been an avid fan of Star Trek for several years now but I was truly disappointed with this box set of Star Trek movies. It lacked special features, one of the many features that were supposed to make the DVD stand out above the rest. Although the movies were up to par with the quality and sound expected from a DVD, it still wasn't enough. Star Trek is known for their high tech equipment and the DVD producers didn't even put in deleted scenes or other behind the scene footages except for the first disc, Star Trek the Motion Picture. I was even more dissatisfied when I heard that they were releasing Star Trek movies on DVD again this time with the Special Features that were not included in the box set and have been digitally restored. I suggest that you wait for Paramount to release a box set of the Star Trek movies that have been restored and have special features in them.


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