Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 3 (Remastered Edition)
Description
Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks
on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the
command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock, from the
planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. With a
determined crew, the Enterprise encounters Klingons, Romulans, time paradoxes,
tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to
explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly
go where no man has gone before. Saved from the brink of
cancellation by its loyal fanbase, Star Trek’s third and final season rewarded
them with a number of memorable episodes. Tight budgets and slipping creative
control, however, made it the series’ most uneven season, though it did have
some of the coolest episode titles (“For the World Is Hollow and I Have
Touched the Sky,” “Is There in Truth No Beauty,” “Let That Be Your Last
Battlefield”). Some of the best moments involved a gunfight at the OK Corral
(“Spectre of the Gun”), a knock-down drag-out sword battle with the Klingons
aboard the Enterprise (“Day of the Dove”), the ship getting caught in an ever-
tightening spacial net (“The Tholian Web”), TV’s first interracial kiss
(“Plato’s Stepchildren,” and it should be easy to guess who participated),
Sulu taking command (“The Savage Curtain”), and Kirk’s switching bodies with
an ex-love interest (“Turnabout Intruder”). The 2008 DVD set benefits from the
same remastering given to the other two seasons, though only the first was
released in high definition (the now-defunct HD DVD format). Still, the
episodes are substantially cleaned up to the point where they look quite good,
rather than jarringly fuzzy to the modern viewer. And there are some new
visual effects that are well-done, and obtrusive only to the strictest fans.
Compare, for example, the dramatic close-up of the green-glowing U.S.S.
Defiant in “The Tholian Web” with the original effect, which had the ship
floating in a green haze. New bonus features are 11 more minutes of rare
footage from extra Billy Blackburn; “Collectible Trek,” a 14-minute discussion
of rare Trek items, filmed in 2004 with the rest of the bonus content but not
included on the previous DVD set; and the newly filmed “Captain’s Log: Bob
Justman,” an affectionate nine-minute tribute to the series producer.
Otherwise, the set retains almost all the special features from the 2004 set,
including the features on Walter Koenig, George Takei, and James Doohan (who
died the following year), plus the two versions of the series pilot, “The
Cage,” a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that
alternates between color and black and white. Starring Jeffery Hunter as
Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy as a relatively emotional Spock, and Majel Barrett
(the future Nurse Chapel and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) as a frosty Number One,
this pilot was rejected, but a second was commissioned, “Where No Man Has Gone
Before,” now considered the “official” beginning of the series. But “The Cage”
is very recognizably Star Trek with its far-out concepts (telepathic aliens
collecting species samples), sexy humanoid women, character development, and
of course cheesy costumes and special effects. Footage was later reused in the
season 1 two-parter, “The Menagerie.” –David Horiuchi
Features:
Product Details:
- Genre: Science Fiction
- Format: Color, Multiple Formats, AC-3, Box set, NTSC, Subtitled, Dubbed, Dolby, Full Screen, Original recording remastered See more
- Contributor: Frank da Vinci, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, James Doohan, Gene Roddenberry, George Takei, Majel Barrett, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy, Roger Holloway, Eddie Paskey, Bill Blackburn See more
- Language: English
- Number Of Discs: 7
- Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- MPAA rating : Unrated (Not Rated)
- Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches; 1.15 Pounds
- Item model number : 4440982098
- Media Format : Color, Multiple Formats, AC-3, Box set, NTSC, Subtitled, Dubbed, Dolby, Full Screen, Original recording remastered
- Run time : 22 hours
- Release date : November 18, 2008
- Actors : William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
- Dubbed: : Spanish, French