The Show
Just how much of an impact has a Star Trek Season Two episode such as "Mirror, Mirror" had on popular culture? How about the fact that a goatee has become the symbol for an evil twin (sorry, Boylan - [editor's note - you do realize that I'm reading this, right?]), in deference to First Officer Mr. Spock's whiskers, as seen in this alternate reality tale. Sadly the now-legendary series did not inspire such social ripples in its day (1967-68), at least not by the standards of NBC and its advertisers, but its ever-expanding popularity over four decades is the ultimate triumph.
Relatively speaking however, Star Trek was feeling the love in Season Two, with a respectable fan base and license to get into 26 more predicaments. Even better, since the sets had already been built and paid for in Season One, the producers had a skoshe more resources left over for sets, costumes and special effects. That fact might amuse some who find this show deliciously cheesy, but the Blu-ray allows us to toggle between beautifully restored original versions plus the "Remastered" takes on the classics, with elaborate new effects shots inserted for the benefit of more critical 21st-Century eyes.
Some of your favorites are bound to be found in this sophomore collection, including "Amok Time," arguably the best Spock episode of all, along with the grim "Obsession" of Captain Kirk. We also witnessed the arrival and frequent inclusion of a young Pavel Chekhov, but in the end it's all about the Tribbles, as the unusually comedic--and brilliantly so--"The Trouble with Tribbles" has become an old-shoe favorite for many a fan.
The Picture
As is often the case with lower-budget or TV-originated material, the limits of the source elements themselves appear to be putting a ceiling on the video quality here. The 4:3 image shows a healthy level of grain and can be a little noisy (the look of noisy black space is a little disconcerting), occasionally severely so, and the blacks can be a little harsh. Colors--and the series frequently employs a basic red/yellow/blue palette--really pop, and the integration of the new visual effects is not jarring, thanks largely to clever matching, particularly the artificial lighting. Even when the re-imagined shots represent the more dynamic camera moves now possible within the computer, they somehow seem to blend in happily. But ironically the image is so clear that the softening filter used on close-ups of the lovely ladies of the 23rd Century are fully evident.
The Sound
Upped from their previous 5.1-channel remixes, every episode now enjoys a brand-new high-resolution DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack. Thankfully the modern sound designers have not gone overboard, and this new mix doesn't really "wow" us, but every once in a while it will make the experience, a ride we've taken many times before, more interesting. You'll likely be pleased with the use of the surrounds for spaceship flyovers and ship-wide alarms, both of which occur quite a bit, and fidelity is greatly improved, making this science fiction that much more believable. Honestly, if anything this new DTS-HD MA 7.1 makes the original audio--included as dual-channel Dolby Digital mono--sound downright anemic.
The Extras
"Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories Part 2" picks up where Part 1 left off, with the personal on-set films of Trek's favorite bit player. The vintage footage itself is pretty sparse but what there is pretty nifty, backed by good stories from Blackburn himself. "Amok Time" is presented with an optional "Starfleet Access" Picture-in-Picture mode comprised of interviews and text pop-ups, but Disc Four is where the action really is. A celebration of all things Tribble, it carries the set's only other Star Fleet Access episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles," the "More Tribbles, More Troubles" sequel from the Star Trek Animated series (24 minutes) with commentary by writer David Gerrold, as well as "Trials and Tribble-ations" from Deep Space Nine (45-and-a-half minutes) and its two relevant featurettes, "Trials and Tribble-ations: Uniting Two Legends" and "Trials and Tribble-ations: An Historic Endeavor."
"Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray" serves up a roundtable interview with some of the Trek franchise's VIP's (10 minutes), "Designing the Final Frontier" introduces us to art director Matt Jeffries (22 minutes), "Star Trek's Favorite Moments" shares the recollections of the more modern casts and crews (17 minutes), while "Writer's Notebook: D.C. Fontana" provides an invaluable window into the weekly creation of the show from someone who toiled behind the closed doors.
The original stars get their due in featurettes like "Kirk, Spock & Bones: Star Trek's Great Trio" (seven minutes), with musings from the points-of-view of multiple insiders; "Star Trek's Divine Diva: Nichelle Nichols" gives us 13 minutes with the incredibly charming actress; and "Life Beyond Trek: Leonard Nimoy" (12 minutes) brings us up close and personal, and he's a fascinating guy. "'To Boldly Go...' Season Two" is an overview of the year (19-and-a-half minutes) composed of disparate interviews. Technically all of the extras read as HD, but many are ported over from DVD and other sources and so some can look extremely soft.
All seven discs in this set also support BD-Live Dynamic HD content and Mobile Blu, which allows our eligible portable device (just the iPhone at present) to be used as a Blu-ray player remote control and to download video clips. I also stumbled across a few relatively easy-to-find Easter eggs concealed within the menus.
Final Thoughts
If you picked up Season One, and have the means to procure Season Two, I can't imagine why you wouldn't. There's more of everything we love, and plenty of it. And if you enjoy "The Trouble with Tribbles" half as much as I do, I can't believe you're still reading this and haven't clicked over to Amazon yet...
Product Details
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