The Best of Star Trek the Original Series volume 2

In addition to being a big fan of the Horror genre I’m also a huge Star Trek fan.  I grew up watching the adventures of Captain Kirk, Spock, and Leonard “Bones” McCoy.  So when I heard that Paramount was putting out some Best of DVDs for the Original Series, as well as the Next Generation I was kind of excited.  But I was also wondering if they were really going to put the best episodes on these sets.  I have to say Volume 2 is pretty damn good.

First up is the 2nd pilot that they shot for the series, and the first with William Shatner playing Captain Kirk.  This is the episode Where No Man has Gone Before.  The Enterprise attempts to leave the universe, which requires them to penetrate a magnetic barrier.  While attempting to do this Enterprise is damaged and a couple of crew are changed into creatures with incredible powers.  One of them is slowly driven mad by the changes and it falls to Kirk to somehow stop him before he destroys the ship and crew. 

Then we have Space Seed, which is the episode that served as the catalyst for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, because here is where they introduce the Khan character.  The Enterprise finds a ship containing engineered super humans from Earths past.  When they are freed from their frozen hibernation they immediately set about to take over the universe.  Kirk and crew stop them, and offer them the chance to carve out a life on an uninhabited wild planet, which they accept.  Of course things don’t go so well as we find out later in Wrath of Khan. 

The next episode on the set is A Piece of the Action.  This time around Kirk and crew must outwit the inhabitants on a planet that is a carbon copy of 1930s Chicago, complete with gangsters, Tommy guns, and pool halls.  This has never been one of my personal favorites, but is considered to be one of the better episodes by most. 

Last up on the set is Journey to Babel, which is actually one of my favorites.  Here the Enterprise is host to over a hundred diplomats from the Federation.  They are all on board to travel to a neutral site called Babel where they are debate the entrance of a planet into the Federation.  To further complicate things the planet has a wealth of natural resources that many want to exploit.  This episode also introduces us to Spock’s father and mother, all with a backdrop of murder, attempted murder, and intrigue.  Imagine an old school thriller from the 30s with a Star Trek flavor.  It is a great episode.

I need to mention one more thing about the set.  These episodes all contain the new digital effects that replace the dated ones from the 60s.  The purist in me cringes that they decided to pull a “Lucas” and go back to fix something that wasn’t really broken.  But at least in these episodes it isn’t that obvious or intrusive.  Plus if this makes these more accessible to a modern audience then I’m all for doing some updating I suppose.  At least it isn’t that abomination from J.J. Abrams.  I recommend the Best of Star Trek the Original Series volume 2.

3 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer