Trekkies Documents The Fringe Aspect Of An Interesting Subculture In The U.S.

The Good: Decent interviews
The Bad: Focuses on the fringe of the subculture
The Basics: Trekkies could have been a groundbreaking documentary, save that the director and host/documentarian focuses on the fringe of the subculture.


I am a fan of the Star Trek franchise. In fact, I eagerly identify as a Trekker. I had started my small business geared around Star Trek collectibles when the documentary Trekkers was being filmed and it was around that time that I started to truly identify with the culture.

Ironically, last night was the first time I sat down and watched the documentary Trekkies. It is worth noting that there is a difference between Trekker and Trekkies. Trekkers are the folks who know the show is a television show; we enjoy the franchise, we collect the collectibles, but we know it is not real and we have a life outside our favorite hobbies. “Trekkies” are the stereotypical unhygienic, obsessed fanatics who give Trekkers a bad name. “Trekkie” is, in fan culture, the derogatory – the “N word” – for the fans, relative to Trekker. So, I did not have high hopes for Trekkies.

Trekkies documents well; it is a true documentary, with no judgment made (explicitly) on the subjects. However, the subjects of the documentary exhibit a bias. Trekkies includes interviews with a Star Trek talk radio show, a transvestite male fan, a fourteen year-old fan who yells at a friend who calls during his interview (and once got in trouble at his Catholic school for wearing his costume), a dentist’s office designed to mimic a Federation ship, and others (like people who go out in daily life wearing their Star Trek uniforms).

These interviews are mixed in with Denise Crosby’s interviews with cast members and convention promoters/dealers. The cast members that Crosby interviews are remarkably gracious and they tell stories that are not available in other movies, shows or DVD bonus features.

Trekkies is interesting when Crosby and director Roger Nygard focus on the interviews from the celebrities and people behind the scenes of the conventions. The documentary exhibits a strong bias against fandom by focusing early on people like the juror in the Clinton trials who appeared for jury selection wearing her StarFleet uniform. By the time the film gets to interviewing a person who dresses their cat up in a StarFleet uniform, the movie has lost most of its cohesion.

Outside the bias, Trekkies suffers most from lacking a specific and careful focus. The movie meanders from interviews of celebrities to fans to writers of Kirk/Spock fanfiction without any real focus or finesse. The documentary is not horrible, but it is not going to attract legions of new fans or make Trekkers admit they would be associated with the Trekkies shown in this film.

For other documentary reviews, please visit my reviews of:
The Furious Gods: Making “Prometheus”
The Cream Will Rise
The Big One

4/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Passably Cool McCoy! The Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy Ornament Is Nice!

The Good: Decent detailing, Good balance, Fair price
The Bad: Overproduced, Animated look, Head size is off.
The Basics: The 2012 Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament might just be the best "Legends Of Star Trek" ornament Hallmark has produced thus far!


So far in Hallmark’s attempts, I have not been wild about the Legends Of Star Trek character ornaments. Honestly, I’ve been frustrated with Hallmark going back to recast original series Star Trek characters before giving a first pass at some of the other memorable characters in the franchise. So, no one was more surprised than me when it turns out that the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament would get a weak recommendation from me. Unlike its predecessors, the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament has decent detailing and is an overall good sculpt, though there are details that are off and the ornament still has a somewhat animated appearance to it.

Starting out at $14.95, the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament looks more like McCoy than the prior subjects looked like Kirk or Spock. McCoy is not as overly-merchandised a character as Kirk and Spock, though the appearance of the new McCoy ornament already seems to be upsetting the value of the 1997 Dr. McCoy Hallmark ornament. Even so, this might well be worth it!

For those unfamiliar with Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, he was the Chief Medical Officer aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise for almost every episode of Star Trek (reviewed here!). Played brilliantly by DeForest Kelley, Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy became an iconic character in popular culture with his emotionalism, desire to be a plain country doctor and the way he constantly traded barbs with the logical Mr. Spock. The "Legends Of Star Trek" series gives Hallmark a chance to recast Dr. McCoy outside a transporter pad and that helps make the Legends ornament seem more respectful to the character (who loathed the transporter!).

Basics

The Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy recreates well the famed Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 2012, is an odd combination of wonderfully precise and problematically sloppy. Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is instantly recognizable to genre fans holding up his hypospray in one hand, with his other on a protoplaser. Molded to be clearly recognizable, the ornament still has a more animated look for the character than one might hope for. This comes, arguably, from the character’s rounded head and very generalized colorscheme that lacks realistic depth and shading. Measuring four and a quarter inches tall by one and a half inches wide by one and a quarter inches deep, the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament has been selling slowly at my local Hallmark’s since its Preview Weekend.

The Hallmark Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament is made of a durable plastic and has the human officer standing in his blue shirt, tight black pants and shiny black boots. The face is sculpted a bit more round than DeForest Kelley's ever was. This ornament is molded without deep attention to detail, like fingernails. Even so, it is clearly DeForest Kelly’s most famous character! Moreover, Hallmark went to create painstaking detailing for the hypospray and other medical tool, getting them in perfect proportion with the rest of the ornament. Oddly, the same cannot be said about the head. McCoy’s head looks disproportionately small, especially compared to his hands.

The Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is colored correctly with his blue Medical and Sciences shirt. Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy's flesh looks fine, but is monotonal in its rendering. I was impressed that the boots were a glossy black, while McCoy’s pants were appropriately matte in their finish. While the medical devices and the rank badges on McCoy’s wrists are well-colored, the three I looked at for review, all had paint issues on the cuff, like one that had black paint sloppily applied to the character’s wrist. I would double check when buying this ornament to find one that has few or no painted issues.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament, a low-cost (comparatively) option for those who might not want to shell out for the starship or mural series of Star Trek ornaments. This is Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, standing alone with his medical tools. Having the ornament without any features might disappoint some collectors.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Star Trek Christmas Tree, the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament is an utterly unnecessary one, in light of the past ornament, though I still like this ornament. The ornament has a brass hook loop that comes out of the top, back, of Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy's skull. To its credit, Hallmark's Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy is very well-balanced from that point.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (reviewed here!). Since then, they have made ornament replicas of almost all of the major starships from the franchise and when they started on the personnel in 1995, they were quite a bit more mass produced than that first one. The Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament was a commercial flop in its first weekend (two of my local Hallmarks informed me they have not sold a single one) and it has not picked up since.

Despite the quality improvement over the prior Legends Of Star Trek ornaments, , this is not the best investment piece; hold out for it to be on the clearance racks at the season’s end.

Overview

Fans of the Star Trek franchise, DeForest Kelley and Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy are likely to have mixed reactions to the Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy ornament. For those who have not picked up the 1997 version, this is a decent McCoy ornament to get, but Hallmark still hasn’t gotten the character perfect, which means we might see another one fifteen years from now!

For other Star Trek ornaments of characters, please check out my reviews of:
2011 Legends Of Star Trek Spock
2010 Legends Of Star Trek Captain James T. Kirk
2009 Limited Edition Ilia Probe
2005 Khan
1997 Dr. McCoy
1996 Mr. Spock

5/10

For other Christmas ornament reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Worst Ten Episodes Of The Original Star Trek!

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The Basics: Just because a show is considered classic does not mean all of the episodes are gems; here are the episodes of classic Star Trek that may safely be avoided.


A few days ago, I weighed in with my Top Ten episodes of the classic Star Trek series (available here!) and I found myself contemplating what the bottom of the original Star Trek barrel would be.

The thing is, Star Trek is a generally wonderful television series and it offers an optimistic view of the future that is very promising and enlightened. It is hard to complain with that. But at the same time, the series had episodes that were troublingly dated and that go beyond campy to just plain hokey. Because Star Trek is so available in syndication and in various media, it can be most useful to know not just which episodes to watch, but which episodes one may safely avoid. These are the worst ten episodes that Star Trek produced and if given the opportunity to watch them, you might want to strongly consider watching something . . . anything . . . else.

Without further ado:

10. "The Omega Glory" - reviewed here! - At the end of a long series of Prime Directive violation episodes came this installment which put the most obscure metaphor into play. Not-so-cunningly veiled were the Yangs and the Kohms (Yankees and Communists) and while the idea of a disease that crystallizes its victims is intriguing, the rest of the episode is a complete wash. Moreover, the sudden understanding by Kirk of the Pledge Of Allegiance backwards has to be one of the most ridiculous escapes a writer ever used,

9. "The Squire Of Gothos" - reviewed here! - Whenever anyone talks about the heroism and greatness of Captain James T. Kirk, I just say, yeah, but he was defeated by a man in an ascot and ruffles! This is that episode. It's one thing to get your butt kicked by superhumans and aliens who can make your crew into little geometric blocks, but to be menaced by a bad parody of Oscar Wilde and be defeated by that being . . . that's just wrong,

8. 'The Apple" - reviewed here! - Say what you will about the special effects on the original Star Trek, but I think having a paper mache lizard is actually a pretty cool villain. No, the real problem with this episode - in addition to the sudden addition of capitalism in Kirk firing and rehiring Scotty - is a group of nitwits who don't have any clue what sex is. This is just a ridiculous make-out episode of Star Trek and it reinforces the idea that the security officers aboard the Enterprise all had the worst training in the galaxy as they get taken out by poisonous flowers, exploding rocks and idiots with big clubs,

7. "The Changeling" - reviewed here! - Gene Roddenberry ought to have figured that if this episode was so bad on the small screen it wouldn't be much better on the big screen, but he used this as the template for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In addition to the preposterous idea of wiping Uhura's memory and leaving her learning to read at the end of the episode and killing Scotty, "The Changeling" is plagued by the idea that a real smart computer would mix up something like a name and that would be enough to confound it long enough to destroy it,

6. "The Way To Eden" - reviewed here! - Getting into the classically bad episodes (my list omits, for example, the delightfully campy "Spock's Brain") this is best known as the space hippie episode. What makes the idea of hippies in space so bad? Well, they are able to take over the Enterprise and convert some of the crew to their cause and Spock is pretty sympathetic to them. So, other than abandoning the basic principles of StarFleet officers being disciplined or principled, nothing! An easy one to pass on,

5. "Who Mourns For Adonais?" - reviewed here! - The Greek god Apollo shows up. Seriously. Do I need to say more? Okay, what makes this so bad is the idea that every woman aboard the Enterprise will find any godlike man (or actual god) worth running off with and this episode reuses pretty much the same ploys Kirk used against Khan in the vastly superior "Space Seed." And all of the humor in this one falls flat,

4."I, Mudd" - reviewed here! - In Star Trek, computers are portrayed as either all-powerful and oppressive or completely idiotic. "I, Mudd" combines that idea with idiotic androids who are poised to take over the galaxy. And in the original Star Trek, there is (sadly) only one villain who recurs and that is Harcourt Fenton Mudd and this is the episode he returns in. Even so, there is no good reason to watch it as the androids and Mudd take over the Enterprise,

3. "Elaan Of Troyius" - reviewed here! - From this episode, the viewer learns: women are spoiled crybabies and Captain Kirk, who will sleep with anything that moves, can have sex, but still be devoted in as emotionally powerful a way to his starship. Wow, it's bad! This is one of the episodes where the acting is so poor, it is surprising anyone from the show had any form of a career afterward,

2. "Catspaw" - reviewed here! - The Halloween episode of Star Trek is a dismal starting place for the second season. In addition to campy special effects - wonderful costumes! - this episode is plagued by two villains who wield incredible technological power but once again seem to be utter morons. It is unfortunate that the story is so bad and the character portrayals are so ridiculous because . . . no, this was pretty much a bad idea gone bad in the execution. It is not scary (as the teaser sets it up to be), it is not clever and it is ultimately only laughable,

and . . .

1. "And The Children Shall Lead" - reviewed here! - Sometimes an episode is campy, sometimes it is just hokey, sometimes it is bad start to finish. Star Trek never, arguably, got worse than this. It is a shaky premise: a colony of adults have been killed while the children who survive are protected and plagued upon by the villainous spectral Gorgon. This episode is plagued by child actors, unspeakably bad special effects (Sulu menaced by the knives on the viewscreen is so ridiculous it is painful to watch) and not one of the main cast gives a performance worth watching. With a terrible story, poor performances and ridiculous uses of decent characters, this is the worst they could - and did - do!

For other Star Trek reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page where the reviews are organized from best episode to worst across the entire franchise!

©2012, 2009  W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Top Ten Episodes Of Star Trek: A More Balanced View!

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The Basics: Just because a television show is called a classic does not mean some episodes are not better than the others and for Star Trek, these are the best ten!


I have eagerly reviewed all of the episodes of Star Trek franchise video products. I have reviewed every episode available of Star Trek, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and am almost through Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In addition, I've reviewed all of the Star Trek films and I even wrote an attempt at the next Star Trek film (check out the proposal here!). Yes, I may be a Beta in many other ways, but I am a proud Alpha Geek.

So, it seemed about time I present a list of the Top Ten episodes of the original Star Trek. Like many of my "best of" lists, I tend to diverge from my colleagues some and as a result, this is very truly, my list of the best ten episodes of Star Trek.

The differences, though, come down to the standards. For years, many people have looked at the "Top Ten" Best episodes of Star Trek as a sacrosanct list; whenever leading publications like StarLog did the lists, there was seldom any movement even decade to decade. This, I find, is folly. My Top Ten Star Trek episodes have two things in common: first, they look at what makes Star Trek truly great, which is Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future for one important thing and two they replay better than most episodes.

As a result, there are two omissions that most people are likely to gripe about that did not make my cut: "The City On The Edge Of Forever" and "The Trouble With Tribbles." The first is a much-beloved time-travel episode and one that usually tops lists like this one (take THAT convention!), but viewed objectively, it is exceptionally plot heavy, the dialogue is dragged down with so much exposition and the "love" story is so forced that it almost is tacked on as an afterthought. Similarly, "The Trouble With Tribbles" may be beloved and the conspiracy aspect of it is genuinely clever, but the humor holds up poorly as the one "furballs are cute" joke gets beaten into the ground pretty quickly.

So, with that in mind . . . I present, the Top Ten Star Trek episodes:

10. "The Cage" - reviewed here! - Each and every one of my listing reviews like this has a cheat and here I get it out of the way at number 10. In this case, in my individual reviews of episodes, there were about seven episodes that scored at or higher than "The Cage" in my objective standards (including "The City On The Edge Of Forever"). I bumped it up onto this list because it is essential Star Trek: it is cerebral, thought-provoking and illustrates a community filled with diversity. Yes, it has "pilot" errors and the acting is not up to the standards of other episodes, but this is the pilot that started it all and Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike makes for a couple of great hours of television that deserve to be seen and understood to fully fathom what Star Trek is intended to be,

9. "Requiem For Methuselah" - reviewed here! - Arguably the most controversial episode on this list (it has never, to my knowledge, ever made anyone else's Top Ten list for Star Trek episodes) this episode tells the story of Kirk, Spock and McCoy stranded on an alien planet. Far from Earth, they are there to get a medicine for the ship before crewmembers start dying and there they discover a treasure trove of artistic works. There, Kirk falls in love with a young woman named Rayna . . . with disastrous results. The idea of Flint is far more original than that of the Nazis winning World War II and the love story between Kirk and Rayna is actually developed better than the one Kirk had with Edith Keeler. And in this episode, Spock's passion for science and the arts has a real sense of importance and consequence,

8. "The Enterprise Incident" - reviewed here! - A political thriller, this episode has some of William Shatner's best and most appropriate over-the-top acting. Kirk, crazed, sends the ship into the Romulan Neutral Zone, where Spock assumes command, begins consorting with the Romulan Commander and inadvertently kills Captain Kirk! This could be a ridiculously plot-heavy episode, but it becomes both a great acting exercise and the characters move it beautifully,

7. "Obsession" - reviewed here! - Sometimes, there is an episode that it so universal, it hardly needs to be set in a fictional universe. "Obsession" would be a great episode of television even if it weren't on Star Trek, the themes are so universal and so well-executed. When the Enterprise encounters a vampiric cloud, Kirk's sense of guilt over an incident he was involved with as a junior officer resurfaces. Feeling the death of one of his previous crews on his hands, he becomes obsessed with killing the cloud entity before it can hurt anyone else. Tense and compelling, "Obsession" explores that basic human emotion perfectly and in a way that still makes the viewer able to watch and respect Captain Kirk afterwards,

6. "The Devil In The Dark" - reviewed here! - Arguably the best performance William Shatner ever gave as Captain James T. Kirk, I defy anyone to find the moments performed before versus after the actor found out his father had died. The consistency and professionalism of Shatner are absolutely incredible. And this episode is an emotionally tough one to wrestle with, regardless of the personal issues. Deep beneath the surface of a planet, Kirk and Spock attempt to track down an entity that has been killing miners so that the Federation's supply of pergium can continue. As Spock argues for the sanctity of life, Kirk finds he must prepare to kill whatever they find and as both officers put their life on the lines, they truly encounter a new life unlike any they had imagined,

5. "The Doomsday Machine" - reviewed here! - Star Trek's best episodes, it seems, were often thrillers and in the second season, they hit a real stride. Despite the original special effects, what makes "The Doomsday Machine" so great is the acting. Commodore Matt Decker, sole survivor of an encounter with a device that destroys entire planets, snaps, stranding Kirk and Scotty on his abandoned ship. Aboard the Enterprise, he pulls rank, assumes command and while McCoy fights him verbally for command of the ship, Decker attempts to destroy the massive killing machine. The thing is, Decker actually did virtually everything right; trying to safeguard his crew and save lives. The problem is, he did it poorly and his decisions cost a ton of people their lives. "The Doomsday Machine" is a riveting drama that creates an intriguing character that illustrates the consequences of one of our heroes making a wrong step. Moreover, it is about loyalty and it is entertaining and strong, a great combination,

4. "Balance Of Terror" - reviewed here! - In a deeply suspenseful episode, Star Trek dared to take us away from the Enterprise for a serious amount of time. Aboard a Romulan ship, a military commander attempts to return to his side of the border after a series of daring raids on the Federation. Kirk and company pursue and aboard the ship, there is tension when Spock manages to get a relay from the Romulan ship that illustrates that Romulans and Vulcans share a common physiology. As a result, racial tensions leap up and Kirk finds himself fighting a battle inside and outside. Relevant today (still), "Balance Of Terror" manages to be a tense submarine-style thriller as Kirk and the Enterprise play cat and mouse with the equally well-trained Romulan ship,

3. "Mirror, Mirror" - reviewed here! - A classic science fiction episode, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura find themselves in a brutal mirror universe where history turned out very different. In this dark reality, they must survive assassination attempts, new love interests and the truth from being exposed. As Kirk and his crewmates work to return to our universe, he tries to argue the value of freedom over oppression with the alternate Spock. The premise is clever, the episode replays remarkably well and it was so successful it was eventually followed up on in multiple books, comics and on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine! And yes, there is the cheap thrill factor of seeing the twists in the regular crew members, but . . . it's fun to see the good go so bad,

2. "Amok Time" - reviewed here! - Spock in heat, it's a great premise for an episode and this is Leonard Nimoy's acting tour de force! Arguably, too much of Spock's character is defined by what people say he usually acts like (something like every third episode has Spock acting uncharacteristic) but in this one, there is a great sensibility to it. Watching the logic get stripped from the venerable Spock is a real treat and the friendship between Spock, McCoy and Kirk is perhaps best exemplified by this episode,

and . . .

. . . .drumroll please . . .


1. "A Piece Of The Action" - reviewed here! - Yes, it is a comedic episode that works best for Star Trek! Star Trek touts a Prime Directive, a "do no harm" for space explorers and "A Piece Of The Action" illustrates perfectly why such a level of ethical development is essential before humanity becomes a spacefaring people. Kirk and crew encounter a planet that has modeled their entire civilization after the book Chicago Mobs Of The 1920s when a prior vessel simply left that book behind. Funny, filled with an actual compelling social issue, great acting, great costumes and character moments that fit all of the principle and secondary characters perfectly, this has a great, enduring concept that does what all of the best television ought to do: it tells us something about ourselves, more than just something about other people. A true television gem!

For other Star Trek reviews, please visit my Star Trek review page for an organized listing of all the Star Trek franchise reviews I have written!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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One Of The Best, Classic "Legends Of Star Trek" Sets: "The Legends Of Dr. McCoy!"

The Good: Some truly wonderful images! Limited quality, Cardstock
The Bad: Cost/Value, Lack of image diversity, Does not capture full history
The Basics: With only nine cards, the "Legends Of Dr. McCoy" is bound to satisfy casual fans of McCoy and DeForest Kelley and card collectors alike!


When the "Legends Of Star Trek" set began, I was quite excited. Because it was originally intended to be the very best of all of the franchise, the initial list of characters presented was going to leap around the various series' and make a very true and complete view of the Star Trek franchise. I was also excited because from the initial list, I would be able to get everyone who was going to be in the set to autograph a card of their character. Unfortunately, with its third release, Rittenhouse Archives abandoned the original premise and with the "Legends Of Dr. McCoy," my ability to get this set autographed was crushed and I felt disappointed.

When the "Legends of Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy" was originally released, the concept was so new and different and exciting that collectors had a lot to look forward to. Because the concept was somewhat undermined by the McCoy release, many fans did not give this set as fair a shake as the prior ones that had been released and as a result, it is a lot of fun to go back and see the set now. In retrospect, the "Legends of Dr. McCoy" is one of the better "Legends Of Star Trek" sets, even if it lacks incredible image diversity.


Basics/Set Composition

"The Legends of Star Trek" set is a series of cards produced by Rittenhouse Archives and released on average twice a year over the last five years. The "Legends Of Dr. McCoy" set is the third in the ever-expanding series that is released in nine card, limited edition increments. There are no bonus cards in this set, they come as complete sets of nine cards sealed in a cellophane package. There are three things that make these sets truly special: cardstock, an individual limited edition number, and the images on the cards. The cardstock is a 20pt. (thicker than usual) cardstock with the standard UV resistant coating that all quality trading cards come with these days. To illustrate the truly limited nature of the "Legends of Star Trek" cards, every set is strictly limited to 1701 sets and the L9 card (visible at the back of the cellophane pack) is foil stamped with an individual number for the specific "Legends Of" set. So, for example, my personal set is number 0440/1701! This is where it helps to have a dealer that you are loyal to; dealers were able to order all of the same limited edition collector's numbers each time, so every time I get an order in, they are the same limited edition numbers and I - and my customers - are assembling sets with matching numbers, which will presumably hold the value of the overall series better in the long run.

Finally, the "Legends of Star Trek" series is characterized by wonderful, uncommon images that are not the typical shots that have been on 8x10s, t-shirts and collector's plates before. Instead, these cards capitalize on big rare images, vivid color contrast and cards that are uncluttered by pesky text! These cards are for the fans who know the accomplishments of their heroes! No need to write about them, the images speak for themselves!

Common Cards

The "Legends Of Dr. McCoy" set is a nine-card "Legends of Star Trek" set that features eighteen images of Dr. McCoy from throughout the three seasons of Star Trek! These are all screen captures and present heroic shots of Dr. McCoy from the five year mission of the Enterprise. It's mostly blue uniforms and tight headshots. Actually, the "Legends Of Dr. McCoy" makes a decent effort to show McCoy with gadgets, like a hypospray and a communicator. What makes the set so wonderful is that the shots are all from the episodes and it's very hard to tell which episodes the images are pulled from.

Sure, there is the iconic "Miri" shot of McCoy with his hypospray, McCoy among the trees in "Shore Leave," and his hands covered in cement from "Devil In The Dark!" And while the centerpiece card appears to be McCoy from "The Tholian Web," and L6 is likely from "Space Seed" (which I know from the background person), the rest of the images are pretty tough to place. It's a rare thing to make a set with images so intriguing that their source does not instantly leap out to the fan/collector.

At least there are no publicity shots. Instead, these are eighteen hard-to-find shots of Dr. McCoy doing his thing. He is scowling in one shot, smiling compassionately, leaning over the bridge railing in still another shot. Interestingly enough, he's not caught looking at the camera in any of the shots.

The problem is, the image diversity is intriguing, but it could have been better for the fans. The true crime here is that there are no shots of McCoy from his appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation and none of the films! To truly capture the full legendary quality of McCoy, it would have been nice to have some shots of him in his later life when his heroism continued to endure. But even more than that, it would have offered some different color contrasts and potential poses. This is a very blue set!

Moreover, it is a very straightforward and bland set. It is all McCoy in his uniform. Where is McCoy aged from "The Deadly Years?" McCoy disguised himself as a Nazi in "Patterns Of Force" and as a member of the community in "Return Of The Archons," but those images are not included here. It's disappointing that McCoy is not shown following the sacrifice he made in "The Empath" or with his wife, Natira in "For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky." And what about McCoy in one of those blasted dress uniforms, from "Journey To Babel?!"

Visually, this is a less exciting set than it could be, in terms of diversity. But it does a pretty phenomenal job of capturing images of McCoy that are not the typical ones.

Overall

Those who love DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy will likely enjoy this at least as much as the die hard fans and the card collectors. They are good shots. Overall, it's enough to sell a casual fan on picking up this set, if not starting a "Legends Of Star Trek" collection. Those who have other characters they love and decide not to collect the entire "Legends OfStar Trek" series will find that there are fans of DeForest Kelley and/or Dr. McCoy who are willing to buy up these sets, if for no other reason than they represent something fairly different to keep as a tribute to the late Kelley! One suspects in the future, the "Legends Of Star Trek" sets will be sold in the secondary market almost exclusively as entire series collections, so fans who simply have a favorite character will want to snatch up the releases when they first come out!

For fans of DeForest Kelley and McCoy, despite the limited range of the collection, this is the "Legends" set for you!

This set culls images from:
Star Trek
most recognizably "Shore Leave"
"Miri"
"The Tholian Web"
And "Devil In The Dark"

For other original Star Trek trading card sets reviewed by me, please check out:
Star Trek - Season 1 Episode Collection trading cards
Star Trek - Season 2 Episode Collection trading cards
Star Trek - Season 3 Episode Collection trading cards
Star Trek In Motion
35th Anniversary HoloFEX Holofoil cards
Legends Of Captain James T. Kirk
The Art And Images Of Star Trek
Legends Of Spock
"Quotable" Star Trek
Star Trek 40th Anniversary Season 1
Star Trek 40th Anniversary Season 2
Star Trek (2009 movie) cards

7/10

For other card reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2009, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Final Outing Of Star Trek: The Animated Adventures Is Typically Poor With "Volume 11!"

The Good: Use of mythology for one episode
The Bad: Terrible animation, Vocal presentations are mediocre, Lack of scientific basis makes one a children's story!
The Basics: Kirk is abducted by a Mayan/Aztec god and Spock watches as the crew gets significantly younger in this volume of the Animated Series!


I know there are those who might like the Star Trek: The Animated Series. I tend not to be one of them. At times, it is the natural successor to Star Trek, presenting adult storylines as best as can be crammed into half an hour, the remainder of the time, it is the most disappointing of children's programming relying on the silliest standards and obvious plot devices that only a child would find fresh and new. In other words, at times, this series is Star Trek and the rest of the time, it is something far worse. And the result is quite disappointing.

With the "Volume 11" VHS of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, the series concludes and it goes out on a downbeat with "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" and "The Counter-Clock Incident" the viewer is subjected to one of the most dismal pairings of episodes on the volumes of the series. "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" is cerebral and a strangely complex remixing of "The Cage" (reviewed here!) and "Who Mourns For Adonais?" (reviewed here!). "The Counter-Clock Incident" finds the crews de-aging in a story that is pure children's fare. The result of watching this final pairing of episodes is a viewing experience that will leave neither children nor adults truly satisfied.

"How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" finds the Enterprise following an alien probe which leads it to an immense alien ship. Trapped by the huge ship, the Enterprise is hailed by a hologram of the Mayan/Aztec god Kukulkan, which suddenly abducts Kirk, McCoy, Scotty and the ethnically convenient Ensign Walking Bear. Trapped in a menagerie of life forms Kukulkan has saved, the quartet struggles to get released, despite the god's benevolent intentions.

"The Counter-Clock Incident" finds the Enterprise transporting Robert April and his wife, two dignitaries headed toward a retirement colony. April, as it turns out, is the first and original captain of the Enterprise, preceding Captain Pike. While aboard, the crew begins to de-age, quickly becoming children. As the crew becomes incapacitated, Robert April becomes the only hope for the ship and its crew!

First the positive: "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" has a strong sense of mythology and a relatively clever gimmick for presenting the Mayan-Aztec god. The episode is mostly about understanding human heritage and the value of all of the different peoples of the Earth. The episode promotes the lessons of working together and growth through understanding of history. With "The Counter-Clock Incident," children - because the episode is clearly intended for a younger audience - are implored to treat elders with respect and so see the value of the contributions of the elder generation.

Beyond that, though, the episodes fall down. And hard. "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" is heavily plot-driven and there is no genuine character development in it. Moreover, it seems like a lesson more than an actual episode of the series as there is a great deal of exposition needed to explain the circumstances and backstory.

And far worse than that is "The Counter-Clock Incident." That episode is all about a gimmick, a condition where the crew begins to shrink into children. There is no scientific or pseudo scientific explanation of the phenomenon and as a result, it is wiped away as a children's cartoon conceit. This is much like the fact that the episode should be wiped away from memory!

The problem with "The Counter-Clock Incident" is that it is a kid's cartoons more than they are an animated reimagining of Star Trek. For a series that promised sophisticated stories and character development for adults, Star Trek: The Animated Series here degenerates into pretty standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. That is a huge disappointment, especially in comparison to the educated and vaguely adult "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth;" "The Counter-Clock Incident" seems largely silly and childish.

The animation in Star Trek: The Animated Series is pretty terrible and on the videos, it is not cleaned up like it was for the DVD versions. Even on DVD, the animation is choppy and rather generic. Backgrounds are looped in both episodes. The only genuine benefit of the animation comes in the creature design and ability to do some actual starship maneuvering, which were not possible in Star Trek. "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" makes use of this with the Enterprise encountering the zooship of Kukulan, though the animation is still pretty primitive looking. In "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth," there are also several creatures visible in the zooship.

The thing is, many of those creatures could have been very easy to pull off in a live-action series, at least as they are imagined and presented in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth." As well, the de-aged crew of the Enterprise could easily been performed in a live-action episode using the talents of child actors. I suppose the episode was easier in this regard utilizing the animation, despite how silly it looks with the kids with their big black dot eyes.

Neither episode involves genuine character development. The episodes do not enhance or progress Kirk, Spock, McCoy or any of the supplemental characters' character. Indeed, there is never a moment that the viewer doubts Kirk and the others will escape from the alien ship and Robert April becomes the essential character in "The Counter-Clock Incident" In fact, far from developing, Kirk lets another rescue the Enterprise!

The voice acting in these episodes is homogeneously unremarkable. The actors give performances that sometimes feel like straightforward line readings and it is odd to see the minimally expressive animation with the more expressive vocals when they are. Even James Doohan, who voices many of the supporting guest roles, gives a surprisingly inexpressive performance and the result is a bland characterization of the various aliens. Between the blockish animation, the dull voice-overs, the recycled plots and the minimal growth of character, these episodes truly are unremarkable.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the complete collection here!
Thanks!]

"How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth" - 2.5/10
"The Counter-Clock Incident" - .5/10
VHS - 1/10

Check out how these episodes stack up against the others and get direct links to the other episode reviews by visiting the index page here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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One Fair, One Absolutely Abysmal Episode Tears Apart Star Trek: The Animated Adventures Volume 10!

The Good: Tension and plot of "The Pirates Of Orion."
The Bad: Terrible animation, Vocal presentations are mediocre, Lack of scientific basis makes one a children's story!
The Basics: Spock contracts a fatal disease that Kirk must negotiate medicine for and the Enterprise falls victims to dumb pranks in this volume of the Animated Series!


Star Trek: The Animated Series is a problematic collection of inconsistent television. At times, it is the natural successor to Star Trek, presenting adult storylines as best as can be crammed into half an hour, the remainder of the time, it is the most disappointing of children's programming relying on the silliest standards and obvious plot devices that only a child would find fresh and new. In other words, at times, this series is Star Trek and the rest of the time, it is something far worse. And the result is ultimately disappointing. While some episodes rise above being simplistic and childish recreations of Star Trek, some of them are just children's programming. And those tend to be pretty unremarkable, if not outright terrible kid's programming.

With the "Volume 10" VHS of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, "The Pirates Of Orion" and "The Practical Joker" the viewer is subjected to one of the most disconcerting pairings of episodes on the volumes of the series. "The Practical Joker" is entirely a silly children's story, while "The Pirates Of Orion" is far too intense and realistic for most children. The result is a viewing experience that will leave neither group satisfied.

"The Pirates Of Orion" has Spock contracting a case of choriocytosis, a disease that is a mere annoyance to humans, but fatal to Vulcans. While Doctor McCoy struggles to keep Spock alive, Kirk takes the Enterprise in search of the drug needed to save Spock's life, strobolin. Spock needs naturally-occurring strobolin, the nearest supply of which has just been hijacked by Orion pirates. As Spock lays dying, Kirk and the crew must negotiate and outwit the Orions.

"The Practical Joker" finds the Enterprise near the Romulan Neutral Zone where the ship comes under attack by three Romulan ships. Fleeing, the Enterprise encounters an energy field which essentially causes the computer to have a nervous breakdown. The computer begins altering reality around the crew, condemning them to a series of annoying pranks and hijinx all the while the ship is under the threat of the Romulans returning.

First the positive: "The Pirates Of Orion" has some genuine tension to it and it is a surprisingly strong idea for the Animated Series. Spock and Dr. McCoy are put in a medical drama and there is a strong sense of political drama as Kirk works to get the strobolin. Despite the certainty in the mind of the viewers that Spock will not die, the episode plays the threat out remarkably well and in a fairly adult fashion.

Beyond that, though, the episodes fall down. And hard. "The Pirates Of Orion" is heavily plot-driven and there is no genuine character development in it. Moreover, even the aspects with the mysterious Orions gives us little new information about them - despite the fact that this is the first time in the franchise that male Orions appear.

And even worst than that is "The Practical Joker." That episode is all about a gimmick, a spatial anomaly that allows dumb pranks to be pulled on members of the crew. Yes, to be clear, the big gimmick of "The Practical Joker" is that the computer is altered to play tricks on the crew like writing "Kirk Is A Jerk" on the back of the Captain's uniform shirt. There is no scientific or pseudo scientific explanation of the anomaly and as a result, it is wiped away as a children's cartoon conceit.

The problem with "The Practical Joker" is that it is a kid's cartoons more than they are an animated reimagining of Star Trek. For a series that promised sophisticated stories and character development for adults, Star Trek: The Animated Series here degenerates into pretty standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. That is a huge disappointment. Especially in comparison to the more tense and adult "The Pirates Of Orion," "The Practical Joker" seems largely silly and childish. But even that is not entirely consistent; "The Pirates Of Orion" guts Star Trek continuity by introducing force field belts so Kirk can be beamed to an asteroid without atmosphere, instead of the classic environmental suits fans would be familiar with.

The animation in Star Trek: The Animated Series is pretty terrible and on the videos, it is not cleaned up like it was for the DVD versions. Even on DVD, the animation is choppy and rather generic. Backgrounds are looped in both episodes. The only genuine benefit of the animation comes in the creature design and ability to do some actual starship battles, which were not possible in Star Trek. "The Practical Joker" makes use of this with the Enterprise under attack by Romulans, though the animation is still pretty primitive looking. In "The Pirates Of Orion," the male Orions are introduced.

The thing is, the Orions could have been very easy to pull off in a live-action series, at least as they are imagined and presented in "The Pirates Of Orion." In fact, they look very '70's cartoonish with their round heads and bright color schemes.

The animation is fair at best by today's standards and the look of the series is a little more blockish than reality. As a result, Kirk has more in common with Captain America in terms of physique than the live-action William Shatner Kirk. Similarly, Spock seems surprisingly ripped (though not in a way that is extreme) and Uhura's uniform actually seems a little longer! All the animation truly allows this incarnation of Star Trek to do that it could not before is make more interesting alien races and this set does that, even if they still look somewhat off.

Neither episode involves genuine character development. The episodes do not enhance or progress Kirk, Spock, McCoy or any of the supplemental characters' character. Indeed, there is never a moment that the viewer doubts Dr. McCoy's determination to save Spock in "The Pirates Of Orion" and the preoccupation with the anomaly and the ridiculous pranks that follow in "The Practical Joker" makes for little or no time to focus on the heroism of our recurring protagonists. In fact, far from developing, Kirk rescues the Enterprise from that scenario the way he usually does.

The voice acting in these episodes is homogeneously unremarkable. The actors give performances that sometimes feel like straightforward line readings and it is odd to see the minimally expressive animation with the more expressive vocals when they are. Even James Doohan, who voices many of the supporting guest roles, gives a surprisingly inexpressive performance and the result is a bland characterization of the various aliens. Between the blockish animation, the dull voice-overs, the recycled plots and the minimal growth of character, these episodes truly are unremarkable.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the complete collection here!
Thanks!]

"The Pirates Of Orion" - 5/10
"The Practical Joker" - 1/10
VHS - 2.5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject and click here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Pretty Bad, The Star Trek: The Animated Series Continues On Volume 8.

The Good: This time, you've got me.
The Bad: Two VERY lame episodes, Terrible animation, Vocal presentations are mediocre, Children's stories! Lack of character.
The Basics: When Kirk and Spock are put in a zoo and Uhura is captured by robots, viewers just shudder at the Star Trek: The Animated Adventures.


One of the strongest arguments to be made against the Star Trek: The Animated Series is that it is largely children's programming. While some episodes rise above being simplistic and childish recreations of Star Trek, some of them are just children's programming. And those tend to be pretty unremarkable, if not outright terrible kid's programming. With the "Volume 8" VHS of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, "The Eye Of The Beholder" and "Once Upon A Planet" subject viewers to some of the worst that the Star Trek: The Animated Series could do, with formulaic children's programming and cheap rewrites. They are a terrific disappointment and it's hard to see how the argument that this is a worthy continuation of Star Trek could be made with episodes like this.

For those unfamiliar with Star Trek: The Animated Series, the two seasons aired in the early-1970s and acted as a bridge between Star Trek (reviewed here!) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reviewed here!). These episodes aired in 1974 and represented the attempt on the part of Paramount and Filmation to gauge the interest in new Star Trek material while working around the busy schedules of the principle talent from Star Trek. This series continued the five-year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk and featured the voice talents of most of the Star Trek cast as well as writing from some of the better Star Trek writers.

"The Eye Of The Beholder" finds the Enterprise searching for survivors of the U.S.S. Ariel around Lactra VII. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to the planet where they encounter the giant slug-like Lactrans, who are telepathic and highly evolved. The Lactrans put the landing party in their zoo, where they find the survivors of the other starship, one of whom is seriously wounded. As they work to escape, Spock comes to realize just how powerful the Lactrans are.

"Once Upon A Planet" has the U.S.S. Enterprise visiting the "Shore Leave" planet where Dr. McCoy and Uhura almost immediately find that things have changed. Uhura is abducted by robots and McCoy barely makes it back to the ship alive when the Queen Of Hearts starts chasing him. Kirk and Spock mount a rescue for Uhura while trying to figure out what has happened on the planet and how to make it safe again for visitors. Unfortunately, they soon make a discovery that reveals how difficult it could be for them to restore the planet to its working order.

First the positive: "Once Upon A Planet" attempts to establish a decent sense of continuity by returning to the planet from "Shore Leave" (reviewed here!). The idea of more continuity in the series is a good thing to me. Moreover, the use of Uhura - even if she is yet again insulted - is always a good thing. The opportunity for Uhura to participate and try to develop her character is a worthwhile endeavor.

Finally, the idea that the Enterprise and its crew might well be outmatched, even by a bunch of twenty-foot slugs, is a good thing. In Star Trek, the Enterprise was more frequently than we'd like to remember outmatched by an adversary. Having that carry over into the Star Trek: The Animated Series works quite well, especially when the more powerful force is not a bland hostile.

Unlike other episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, these two episodes are pretty low on moral. Whenever the series does a particularly lame children's programming-type episode, usually it falls into one of the typical "obvious moral" categories. So, for example, the viewer might be plagued with "everybody needs to work together" or "different types of people all have value" stories, which are fine but formulaic. Instead, in this volume, the viewer is subjected to the even lesser plot formula. Like earlier episodes that manage to be the generic "Bermuda Triangle" episode, "Once Upon A Planet" is "robots run amuck!" plot #2.

And that seems cheap for the Star Trek franchise.

"The Eye Of The Beholder" is a little tougher to classify (other than just "boring"), but it essentially is a rewrite of "The Cage" (reviewed here!) without the panache. It is lacking in a strong message or an original plot and the result is twenty-two minutes of "ho-hum" boredom.

The problem with both episodes is that they are kid's cartoons more than they are an animated reimagining of Star Trek. For a series that promised sophisticated stories and character development for adults, Star Trek: The Animated Series here degenerates into pretty standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. That is a huge disappointment. Virtually every Saturday morning cartoon does a "robots run amuck" type episode.

There is nothing particularly engaging for adults in either of these episodes.

The animation in Star Trek: The Animated Series is pretty terrible and on the videos, it is not cleaned up like it was for the DVD versions. Even on DVD, the animation is choppy and rather generic. Backgrounds are looped in both episodes. The only genuine benefit of the animation comes in the creature design and ability to do some actual starship battles, which were not possible in Star Trek. While there are no significant starship actions in these episodes, there is a decent use of character design in both.

The Lactrans and the robots would have been difficult to pull off with Star Trek on the live action show, as their design is fairly complicated. Now, by "fairly complicated," I mean that they look like giant slugs and spindly robots that couldn't have had people in suits and they have a scale that would have been prohibitive to make for a live-action episode. Sadly, they are still pretty clunky 70's animation.

The animation is fair at best by today's standards and the look of the series is a little more blockish than reality. As a result, Kirk has more in common with Captain America in terms of physique than the live-action William Shatner Kirk. Similarly, Spock seems surprisingly ripped (though not in a way that is extreme) and Uhura's uniform actually seems a little longer! All the animation truly allows this incarnation of Star Trek to do that it could not before is make more interesting alien races and this set does that, even if they still look somewhat off.

Neither episode involves genuine character development. Uhura takes the brunt of insults in "Once Upon A Planet" again, but the robots get their comeuppance, so it's not all bad. But the episodes do not enhance or progress Kirk, Spock, McCoy or any of the supplemental characters' character. Indeed, the only notable aspect is that we are treated to Lt. Arex, the three armed, three legged helmsman who takes command of the ship when Kirk is off ship.

The voice acting in these episodes is homogeneously unremarkable. The actors give performances that sometimes feel like straightforward line readings and it is odd to see the minimally expressive animation with the more expressive vocals when they are. Even James Doohan, who voices many of the supporting guest roles and Lt. Arex, gives a surprisingly inexpressive performance and the result is a bland characterization of the various aliens. Between the blockish animation, the dull voice-overs, the recycled plots and the minimal growth of character, these episodes truly are unremarkable.

[Knowing that VHS is essentialxly a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the complete collection here!
Thanks!]

"Eye Of The Beholder" - 2/10
"Once Upon A Planet" - 3/10
VHS - 2/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Lame Children's Programming: Star Trek: The Animated Series Vol. 7!

The Good: Basic idea of "The Jihad" is not terrible
The Bad: Terrible animation, Vocal presentations are mediocre, Children's stories! Lack of character.
The Basics: When the Enterprise encounters a shrinking ray and Kirk and Spock must join a team to solve a mission, even kids will be bored.


One of the strongest arguments to be made against the Star Trek: The Animated Series is that it is largely children's programming. While some episodes rise above being simplistic and childish recreations of Star Trek, some of them are just children's programming. And those tend to be pretty unremarkable, if not outright terrible kid's programming. With the "Volume 7" VHS of the Star Trek: The Animated Series, "The Jihad" and "The Terratin Incident" expose viewers to some of the most formulaic children's programming made for the series. They are a terrific disappointment and it's hard to see how the argument that this is a worthy continuation of Star Trek could be made with episodes like this.

For those unfamiliar with Star Trek: The Animated Series, the two seasons aired in the early-1970s and acted as a bridge between Star Trek (reviewed here!) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reviewed here!). These episodes aired in 1973 and represented the attempt on the part of Paramount and Filmation to gauge the interest in new Star Trek material while working around the busy schedules of the principle talent from Star Trek. This series continued the five-year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk and featured the voice talents of most of the Star Trek cast as well as writing from some of the better Star Trek writers.

"The Jihad" finds Spock and Kirk transported to a secret location where they become involved in a meeting with the ancient Vendala. It seems they have lost an artifact of incredible power called the Soul Of Skorr and they are imploring Kirk, Spock and their team of interstellar aliens to find the artifact on a crazy and dangerous planet where the Vendala believe it is. So, Kirk, Spock, a lockpick named Em/3/Green, a hunter named Lara, a reptile creature and the prince of Skorr, Tchar agree to the task and are transported to the mad world where the Soul of Skorr is. There they encounter lava rivers and obstacles and a floating fortress where they must get the Soul of Skorr before it poisons them against one another.

"The Terratin Incident" has the U.S.S. Enterprise visiting a dead star where it received a signal from a nearby planet that is thought to be uninhabited. The Enterprise is hit with a beam like lightening and soon the whole crew begins shrinking. Kirk risks everything to beam down to the planet, where he finds a race of Lilliputians who need his help.

First the positive: "The Jihad" has a very positive message. By working together peoples of different races and affiliations may achieve great things. It's a strong, positive message, even it if it Generic Cartoon Plot #2. Adversaries always have the "team up" episode where they must work together to solve their problems. Star Trek: The Animated Series seems particularly lazy with "The Jihad" as they already did a similar episode, "The Time Trap" (reviewed here!) where they had to work together with the Klingons to overcome a mutual obstacle.

But still, the message resonates and that is a positive thing about this video. Alas, that's pretty much it on the plus side.

The problem with both episodes is that they are kid's cartoons more than they are an animated reimagining of Star Trek. For a series that promised sophisticated stories and character development for adults, Star Trek: The Animated Series here degenerates into pretty standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. That is a huge disappointment. Virtually every Saturday morning cartoon does an "everyone has to work together" type episode where the whole point is everyone needs to work together and most of them do some play on religious tolerance as well, though most are not as extreme as using terminology like "jihad!" But hey, children in the 70s needed to know about holy wars, too.

But "The Jihad" otherwise follows a very formulaic plot for children's programming. There are obstacles and everyone gets to participate in reaching the goal and there is a somewhat simplistic resolution after a betrayal. The characters are all new and that makes it a little less interesting to fans of the franchise, because it is less "adversaries working together" and more "everyone has something to contribute." I suppose it was formatted with the various alien races because in the 23rd Century there aren't many lockpickers in StarFleet.

The children's programming idea, I suppose, is what allows the series to try to get away with the ridiculous notion of the other episode's conceit: the shrinking people episode. "The Terratin Incident" is just plain awful. It is amateurish, not at all exciting and it very much plays down to the notion of Star Trek: The Animated Series as a kid's program. In "The Terratin Incident," by the time the Lilliputians are introduced even children will be tuning out, it is such a weak and predictable and silly story.

There is nothing particularly engaging for adults in either of these episodes.

The animation in Star Trek: The Animated Series is pretty terrible and on the videos, it is not cleaned up like it was for the DVD versions. Even on DVD, the animation is choppy and rather generic. Backgrounds are looped in both episodes. The only genuine benefit of the animation comes in the creature design and ability to do some actual starship battles, which were not possible in Star Trek. While there are no significant starship actions, save the ship being struck by the magic lightning in "The Terratin Incident," "The Jihad" is pretty rich in character design. The alien races that accompany Kirk and Spock are intriguing and include giant bird people and they would have been difficult to pull off with Star Trek on the live action show, as their design is fairly complicated. Now, by "fairly complicated," I mean that they look like birds and reptiles and they have a scale that would have been prohibitive to make for a live-action episode. Sadly, they are still pretty clunky 70's animation.

The animation is fair at best by today's standards and the look of the series is a little more blockish than reality. As a result, Kirk has more in common with Captain America in terms of physique than the live-action William Shatner Kirk. Similarly, Spock seems surprisingly ripped (though not in a way that is extreme) and Uhura's uniform actually seems a little longer! All the animation truly allows this incarnation of Star Trek to do that it could not before is make more interesting alien races and this set does that, even if they still look somewhat off.

Neither episode involves genuine character development. For sure, there are morals that are obvious pretty much from the first frame of each episode. Wow, Captain Kirk will help out aliens in need. Actually, both episodes in this set deal with that! It's Kirk to the rescue while his crew shrinks and Kirk and Spock working together to help an alien race in need. And the latter is not even a selfless act; Kirk is concerned the loss of the Soul Of Skorr could lead to an interstellar war. So, again, it's not any sort of extreme character growth that Kirk is willing to help out. In fact, structurally, the episode has a lot in common with the live-action episode "The Savage Curtain" (reviewed here!) so it's even less surprising to fans of the franchise. As well, anyone who watched most of Star Trek will know Spock sees logic in working together with an adversary to get one another out of a mutual jam. McCoy is quite underutilized in these episodes, but that's pretty much par for the Animated Series course!

Both episodes suffer because this volume has a pretty generic kid's cartoon plot version of the "everyone work together" and "generic shrinking" story. They just seem to come up a lot in cartoons and this does not actually have any sort of real twist to it.

The voice acting in these episodes is homogeneously unremarkable. The actors give performances that sometimes feel like straightforward line readings and it is odd to see the minimally expressive animation with the more expressive vocals when they are. Even James Doohan, who voices many of the supporting guest roles, gives a surprisingly inexpressive performance and the result is a bland characterization of the various aliens. Between the blockish animation, the dull voice-overs, the recycled plots and the minimal growth of character, these episodes truly are unremarkable.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the complete collection here!
Thanks!]

"The Jihad" - 3/10
"The Terratin Incident" - 0/10
VHS - 1.5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, be sure to check out my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Two Lame Episodes Of Star Trek: The Animated Series Makes For A Dismal "Vol. 5!"

The Good: Moments of satanic acceptance in "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu," Message of working together
The Bad: Terrible animation, Vocal presentations are mediocre, Children's stories! Lack of character.
The Basics: When the Enterprise encounters a being that vaguely represents their notion of satan and is trapped in an alternate dimension, boredom follows, even for children.


Despite what some say about Star Trek: The Animated Series being the logical qualitative successor to Star Trek, there are times when the series just went in a direction that made it into what many assume an animated show is: kid's programming. With "Volume 5" of Star Trek: The Animated Series, which features "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" and "The Timetrap," viewers are met with just that. These two episodes gut the series of any genuine connection to Star Trek and present episodes that are reduced in diction and plot to stories that are designed for children and the two episode video is easy to walk away from for adults.

For those unfamiliar with Star Trek: The Animated Series, the two seasons aired in the early-1970s and acted as a bridge between Star Trek (reviewed here!) and Star Trek: The Motion Picture (reviewed here!). These episodes aired in 1973 and represented the attempt on the part of Paramount and Filmation to gauge the interest in new Star Trek material while working around the busy schedules of the principle talent from Star Trek. This series continued the five-year mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk and featured the voice talents of most of the Star Trek cast as well as writing from some of the better Star Trek writers.

"The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" has the Enterprise visiting the center of the galaxy to explore the nature of the Big Bang. Under the theory that the process by which matter was created in our universe might still be occurring, the Enterprise investigates an energy/matter maelstrom and is sucked into an alternate universe where the oxygen in the ship almost immediately disappears, leaving the crew desperate and near death. Then a creature named Lucien appears and magically makes it all better. Literally. In this universe, it appears, magic works and the Enterprise crew begins using it. This attracts the Megans, who take the form of humans from Salem during the witch trials and try the Enterprise crew and then Lucien for their use of magic.

"Timetrap" puts the Enterprise in the Delta Triangle, a Bermuda Triangle in space wherein the ship is caught alongside a massive collection of ships of various alien races. Led by a Romulan named Xerius who leads the pacifists in the dimension, known as Elysia, Captain Kirk is put on trial for attempting to destroy a Klingon ship that was attacking the Enterprise when they entered the dimension. Spock discovers that the Klingons have a clever new weapon and he and Klingon Captain Kor work together to get the ships free of the dimension while trying to rescue Captain Kirk as well.

First the positive: Lucien is essentially characterized physically as the pan-like representation of Lucifer and after defending the use of magic in the dimension in "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu," Kirk ends up defending Lucien for helping the Enterprise crew become familiar with the magical forces of the alternate universe. So, the open-mindedness toward wiccans and those who worship or respect Satan is a positive thing to come out of "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu." When push comes to shove, Star Trek: The Animated Series preaches tolerance and respect for all. Right on! And in "The Timetrap," the obvious moral is "we all need to work together."

The problem with both episodes is that they are kid's cartoons more than they are an animated reimagining of Star Trek. For a series that promised sophisticated stories and character development for adults, Star Trek: The Animated Series here degenerates into pretty standard Saturday morning cartoon fare. That is a huge disappointment. Virtually every Saturday morning cartoon does a "Bermuda triangle" type episode where the whole point is everyone needs to work together and most of them do some play on religious tolerance as well, though most are not as extreme as bringing on a representation of people's perception of Lucifer.

"The Timetrap" utilizes Kor, the fearsome Klingon from "Errand Of Mercy" (reviewed here!), who as the military governor of Organia was easily a match for Captain Kirk. Unrestrained by such restrictions in "The Timetrap," Kor ought to have been much more vicious than he is portrayed as. Except that this is children's programming all of a sudden and the Klingons are all snarl and no kill.

The children's programming idea, I suppose, is what allows the series to try to get away with the ridiculous notion of going to the center of the galaxy to watch the continual Big Bang in action. Fans of the Star Trek franchise debate how established Star Trek: The Animated Series is in terms of the cannon of the show and "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" forces the issue. After all, in this episode, the center of the galaxy is a maelstrom with a matter-energy vortex. In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (reviewed here!) , it is the prison for a massive malevolent godlike being. And for those who loathed The Final Frontier, "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" is even worse!

There is nothing particularly engaging for adults in either of these episodes.

The animation in Star Trek: The Animated Series is pretty terrible and on the videos, it is not cleaned up like it was for the DVD versions. Even on DVD, the animation is choppy and rather generic. Backgrounds are looped in both episodes and the basic character design of Kor, who was an established character from Star Trek adapted to the Star Trek: The Animated Series is passable, at best.

The only genuine benefit of the animation comes in the creature design and ability to do some actual starship battles, which were not possible in Star Trek. Lucien and the Salemite Megans could have been pulled off with Star Trek on the live action show, as their design is hardly complicated. The starships that appear in "The Timetrap" represent something a little more impressive on the animation front as Elysia supposedly contains 123 different races and a slew of starships trapped to form the community there. But, they're still animated ships and many of them look ridiculous.

The animation is fair at best by today's standards and the look of the series is a little more blockish than reality. As a result, Kirk has more in common with Captain America in terms of physique than the live-action William Shatner Kirk. Similarly, Spock seems surprisingly ripped (though not in a way that is extreme) and Uhura's uniform actually seems a little longer! Sulu, who conjures himself up a woman in "The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" is only a vague representation of the live action George Takei. All the animation truly allows this incarnation of Star Trek to do that it could not before is make more interesting alien races and this set fails to capitalize on that.

Neither episode involves genuine character development. For sure, there are morals that are obvious pretty much from the first frame of each episode. Wow, Captain Kirk believes in tolerance, who would have thunk? Well, anyone who watched most of Star Trek. Spock sees logic in working together with an adversary to get one another out of a mutual jam; I know I am shocked! Captain Kirk must heroically save his crew from death from magical beings and from being trapped in a place where time moves slowly and the ship would soon become uninhabitable. That's all Kirk consistently ever does! He's all about saving his ship, it's his character, there's no actual development here! As well, Spock and McCoy are relegated to supporting players and McCoy is quite underutilized.

Both episodes suffer because this volume has a pretty generic kid's cartoon plot version of the Bermuda Triangle and "generic magic" story. They just seem to come up a lot in cartoons and this does not actually have any sort of real twist to it.

The voice acting in these episodes is homogeneously unremarkable. The actors give performances that sometimes feel like straightforward line readings and it is odd to see the minimally expressive animation with the more expressive vocals when they are. Even James Doohan, who voices many of the supporting guest roles, gives a surprisingly inexpressive performance and the result is a bland characterization of the various aliens. Between the blockish animation, the dull voice-overs, the recycled plots and the minimal growth of character, these episodes truly are unremarkable.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: The Animated Series on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the complete collection here!
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"The Magicks Of Megas-Tu" - 3/10
"The Timetrap" - 2/10
VHS - 2.5/10

For other Star Trek episode, movie and DVD set reviews, be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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