Rating: 
Summary: My personal journey is over
Review: Well, I have now finished all 79 episodes of ST-TOS. I have a sort of mesmerized nostalgia (can I use such an expresion in English?)
Season 3 really shows the effects of Gene Roddenberry departure and the budget cuts. Most shocking to me is the role of SuperSpock as a source of all solutions to Enterprise problems. But this is a review about the DVD's set not the series, so to the point.
As with the other sets (season 1 and season 2) video and sound quality is excellent, packaging is as bad and bonus material is specially good. The interview with an old and sick but spirited James Doohan broke my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I realized how much I love these characters and how much they have influenced my life.
I am really, really happy to now own the very much complete Star Trek Original series. I will treasure it the rest of my life.
I think notwithstanding that many things were left behind that could have been explored in deeper detail, like Star trek sound effects that were so crucial in giving the series its appeal, more about the design and creation of the starship Enterprise herself the most recognizable vessel in the world and how behind the scenes, with the crudest materials and techniques, the most wonderful and lovely special effects were created, well, well before the computerized movie-making of today
I would have liked more about the way Star Trek predicted many of the tech stuff we have today. Aren't those discs Mr. Atoz uses in the library in All our Yesterdays just our modern DVD's just to mention but one thing?
This is just not a matter of waiting for another DVD release. The very same people who created this wonderful thing called STAR TREK are getting old and sick. Time is of essence.
Well sorry, I am getting sentimental. THE PRODUCT IS FASCINATING, BUY IT. (It is the logical thing to do)
Rating: 
Summary: The Third Complete Season in an 8-DVD Set! Fantastic!
Review: When Paramount Home Video first started to release the original series of "Star Trek" in 1999, I was aghast at the fact that only one DVD with two episodes per DVD were being released one DVD at a time at a very high cost. The cost to own all 40 volumes (DVD's) was staggering. Of course, this doesn't even address the amount of shelf space required for all 40 DVD's.Now, with this repackaged version, all 24 episodes of the third season are being released together on 8 disks. It will probably also include both versions (color and black-and-white) of the unaired original pilot "The Cage". This is the packaged version of the original "Star Trek" that I fully intend to purchase because even at full list price, the cost of owning the third complete season is less than half the cost of owning its earlier cousins on an equivalent 13 DVD's. Also, the packaging itself has been designed similarly to the packaging used for other "Star Trek" series released in complete seasons, meaning that it will only require a small amount of shelf space. It is also possible that extra documentary and commentary material not released originally will be included in this complete third season box set. The original series of "Star Trek", that ran for three complete seasons between 1966 and 1969, started a franchise that has included six television series and ten big screen motion pictures. The main original characters of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander/Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley, 1920-1999), Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan), Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Keonig from 1967-1969), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney from 1966-1967) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) have become an inseparable part of Americana. Though series creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) was not able to keep the original series alive for five seasons as originally envisioned (it was cancelled after its third season), he, along with the countless series fans, was able to resurrect it in the form of six motion pictures beginning in 1979 and the first series spin-off, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, which ran for seven years and had spin-offs of its own. There was also a 22-episode animated version based upon the original series that ran from 1972 to 1974. In spite of receiving five Emmy nominations during its life and several previously successful efforts (including letter-writing campaigns) that had saved the show from cancellation on more than one occasion, the combination of poor Nielsen ratings, a shrinking budget and too-often weak episode writing made the third season of "Star Trek" its last. The most memorable episodes of the third season include "Spock's Brain", "The Enterprise Incident" (using Klingon ships for Romulans), "The Paradise Syndrome", "Is There No Truth in Beauty" (with guest character Dr. Ann Mulhall as played by Diana Muldaur, who had previously guest acted in the second-season episode "Return to Tomorrow" and also played the unpopular character Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", "The Tholian Web", "Plato's Stepchildren" (which had the first inter-racial kiss on televsion), "Wink of an Eye", "The Empath", "Elaan of Troyius", "Whom Gods Destroy", "The Mark of Gideon", "The Lights of Zetar", "Requiem for Methuselah", "The Cloud Minders", "The Savage Curtain" and "All Our Yesterdays". Arguably, the worst episode during the third season was "The Way to Eden", about a group of hippies searching for Eden (the probable inspiration for the worst-ever "Star Trek" film, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" in 1989). Other particularly weak third-season episodes include "And the Children Shall Lead", "Spectre of the Gun" featuring a re-enactment of the old-West shoot-out at the O.K. Corral, "Day of the Dove", "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" about racism, "That Which Survives" and the final episode "Turnabout Intruder" that showcased some of Shatner's worst acting abilities. Ironically, six weeks after "Turnabout Intruder" aired on 6/3/1969, Neil Armstrong and 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first human beings to land and walk upon an extraterrestrial body, Earth's moon, on 7/20/1969. Shortly thereafter, interest in "Star Trek" grew considerably. Paramount Pictures nearly resurrected the television show in 1977 (called "Star Trek: Phase II") after all but Leonard Nimoy had signed on, but the project was abandoned shortly after George Lucas' 1977 film "Star Wars" blew audiences away. Fans had to wait another two years when the disappointing film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was released. It is interesting to note that two of people (Jo and John Trimble) who started one of the successful letter-writing campaigns that had once saved "Star Trek" from cancellation in 1968, were the same people that started a letter-writing campaign to convince NASA to name the first space shuttle "Enterprise" in honor of "Star Trek". Overall, I rate the 8-DVD set of "Star Trek: Original Series Season 3" with an anticipatory 4 out of 5 stars. Clearly, this is how Paramount should have released the original series to begin with. Though the third season suffered from more poor episodes than the previous two, I continue to thank Gene Roddenberry for taking all of us "where no man has gone before".
Rating: 
Summary: Stat Trek TOS, Year 3: Not-so-boldly going...
Review: Ya know, I'm kinda depressed over this re-release of the classic Trek show on DVD. I'd already spent a big load o' bucks on the two-episode platters when Paramount threw 'em on the shelves again, only in far-more-compact and more bonus-material-laden full season box sets. Well, actually I'm not TOO depressed, seein' as how I sold my entire collection of 2-eppie platters through Amazon Marketplace (the fools!), and racked up enough dough to buy all three sets with a few shekels to spare for the upcoming cartoon series set and director's-edition double-disc movies! WOO-HOO! Ya gotta love bein' money ahead when you're trading up...
Speakin' of the two-eppie discs: you'll wanna check out my write-ups of volumes thirty-one to forty or so if ya wanna know my thoughts on the episodes themselves. For this review I'll be covering the technical and physical attributes of this set, as well as its bonus features.
And away we go...
I can hardly believe how ridiculous-looking and inconvenient the packaging is. The hard plastic cover shell resembles a giant cherry-flavored Chiclet, and opens in a rather unusual fashion. Inside this shell is a sleeved flip-book holder case containing all seven discs that make up the show's second year of eppies, as well as several retrospective featurettes. As you can imagine, it's a bit of a chore to unbox this veritable DVD nesting doll just so's you can watch yer fave third-season eppies (yeah, yeah, I know... "fave third-season eppies" is an oxymoron... I'm way ahead of ya on THAT crack, smart-@$$...). Personally, I think they should'a gone with the same design that they used with the DS9 season sets: a flexible plastic slipcase and a magazine centerfold-style fold-out disc holder. The set would look a lot cooler, and much more convenient to get around. And don't get me started on the shell case's raised "Star Trek: The Original Series" lettering and Starfleet logo, both of which possess a chromed finish that will gradually wear off with each slide into and out of your video cabinet...
An interesting twist they added to each episode is the inclusion of both a new 2-channel sound mix and a 5.1-channel mix. While I did hear a noticeable diff between the old and new versions-- more noticeable background sounds, slightly more comprehensible dialogue and such-- neither of the new soundtracks didn't sound that different from each other to me. The new audio mixes also seem to suffer from the same problem I've encountered with other pre-digital-video-era TV shows that have had their sound "upped" from mono or 2-channel stereo to 5.1 for release on DVD: when the background music swells to a crescendo, it tends to overpower the dialogue. Fortunately, the picture clarity is a bit crisper and lighter than what I saw on the old DVDs. Also, the English subtitles are a bit larger, makin' it easier for Trekkies of the geezin' persuasion to read.
Thrown in with the original and restored versions of the first pilot "The Cage" on the last platter are six retrospective featurettes, starting with a mini-doc that discusses the third season's highs and lows... most lows. The bulk of this show has Nichelle Nichols talking about the weirdness that occurred when they shot the infamous interracial kiss scene in "Plato's Stepchildren". They also briefly went over the delightfully awful "Spock's Brain"... VERY briefly. Needless to say, I can't say I blame `em for their brevity on this particular eppie...
Also thrown in is a "Life After Trek" look at Walter Koenig's collection of "little big books" that fill up an entire wall of his house, and his wide array of pinback buttons depicting various classic comic book and cartoon characters. Sheesh, and I thought I had a vast collection of geeky stuff! Oh yeah, he also has a few display cases fulla Chekov action figures and other Trek tchochkes that have his mug on `em. And he's got the nerve to cap on William Shatner for bein' a narcissist...
Next up is George Takei talking about his childhood in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, and his efforts to make people aware of the indignities he and other Japanese Americans had to endure during the war years. He also discusses his chairmanship of a Japanese American history awareness foundation, and expresses his highly optimistic hope that he'll finally get off the ground (so to speak) the "Captain-Sulu-on-the-Excelsior" series he's been trying to develop ever since "Star Trek VI" wrapped. Personally, I don't think it'll happen. But now that "Enterprise" has been given the boot, there might be a grain of hope for the "Oh My!" guy and his lofty dream...
Also thrown in for kicks is Gene Roddenberry's & Majel Barrett's son discussing his fave Star Trek eppies & moments, and the reason he likes `em. Sadly, I didn't pay much attention to what he said, `cuz I was floored by how much he resembled his old man.
Then there's the featurette that features a guy talking about how his creation of highly realistic-looking TOS phaser & communicator props helped land him a job as a Hollywood propmaker. His knowledge of the original old-school Trek phaser & communicator props was so extensive, it was scary. I just hope to God he's not one o' those super-geekin' get-a-lifers who camps out in front of the local CinePlex™ for two months so he'll be one of the first folks to see the latest Trek flick.
Finally, there's the saddest mini-doc featuring an Alzheimer's-suffering James Doohan trying to recall his fave classic Trek moments. It's quite apparent he's reading off of cue cards, and even with the help he's barely able to get the words out. I was only able to watch the first couple minutes before I skipped to another bonus feature, it was so depressing. I don't want to appear disrespectful, but I just can't bear to see "Scotty" like this. I wanna remember him the way he was before he started losing control of his mental faculties. And I have a feeling you'll wanna do the same thing, so just skip this one altogether, I implore you...
Before I wind things up, I might as well give ya fair warning: the episodes in this set are arranged chronologically by the date they were originally broadcast, rather than by their stated stardates as they usually were in previous collector's edition video releases. So if yer one of those super-geekin' "in-stardate-order" purist Trekkies, you'll likely find this set's eppie arrangement downright blasphemous...
'Late
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