Against My Original Standards, I Fall In Love With The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary Trading Cards!

The Good: Awesome sketches, Very cool bonus cards, Neat common cards, Quality of cards
The Bad: Collectibility, One less impressive bonus card set, A few obscure autograph signers
The Basics: The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary may be a bear to collect, but the end result is a pretty fabulous trading card set!


It seems like the last ten years have just flown by for me. Ten years ago, the Star Trek trading card market underwent a fundamental shift from which it could never turn back: the trading card hobby became the trading card industry. I adequately kvetched about that when I reviewed the set that destroyed collecting once and for all with the Star Trek 40th Anniversary Series 2 trading card set (reviewed here!). Since then, the bar has been raised several times for Star Trek trading card collectors and when there has been even a shift toward the way card sets used to be, the set released has not performed nearly as well in the marketplace. Go figure; I guess most collectors actually want the impossible find!

So, last year, when Rittenhouse Archives produced their Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading card set as a premium trading card release, I vowed not to simply complain about how uncollectible the cards were. I found my happy medium last month when I reviewed the Rogue One: Mission Briefing trading cards (reviewed here!) and I decided to review the product with dual ratings; the substance of the set and separately with "collectibility" factored in. It is with that new sense of standards that I sat down to review the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading card set.

And WOW! The substance of the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary set is amazing. For the money, the set is a bit small (a true master set only has 359 cards), but the content is absolutely incredible!

Basics/Set Composition

The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary set was a set of trading cards produced by Rittenhouse Archives to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Original Series, instead of doing season by season celebrations of the 50th Anniversary. Boxes of the TOS 50th Anniversary cards contained only twelve packs with five cards per pack. One does not get a lot per box and the only guarantees are one common set and two autographs per box. One of the decent aspects of the Rittenhouse guarantee for this product is that one is guaranteed one of each of the two different autograph types on a box. Unfortunately for those trying to collect the set, there is not a single chase set that can be completed with even a single case of these cards!

The common set traverses the entire 80-episodes of Star Trek. The chase cards are focused largely on "The Cage" and "Mirror, Mirror" with generic crew cards and production artwork cards thrown in. The set has a beautiful tribute set to the late Leonard Nimoy (still nothing for Grace Lee Whitney, who also died since the last Original Series set!), a diverse array of autograph cards and sketch cards that are actually very dud-free. The element that makes the set virtually impossible to complete, though, are the 3 cut signature cards that made the cases a sell-out at the manufacturer's level and left a few very determined collectors hunting them down!

The TOS 50th Anniversary set consists of 359 cards. The 359 card set consists of 80 common cards and two hundred seventy-nine chase cards, eleven of which cannot be found in the packs or boxes.

Common Cards

The 80 card common set of TOS 50th Anniversary cards are a fairly cool design (though I still have not figured out how the form fits into the theme of the set/show). The common cards are die-cut so they have indents in the centers of the sides, top, and bottom. The corners are not squared; they have beveled edges. As a result, each card is a 14-sided (?,!) trading card with a text block at the top and one at the bottom that makes it vaguely resemble the viewscreen on the Enterprise bridge. Each card has gold foil borders around each of the four pictures on the front and a gold foil center that features the Star Trek 50th Anniversary symbol.

The common card set for the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary is another set that makes an episode by episode journey through all of the episodes of the original Star Trek. The twist on the familiar subject - other than the physical form of the cards - is that the backs are written as if they were Spock's logs about the plot of the episode. Spock makes perfect sense as the "writer" of the mission logs as he is the only character to appear in each episode and it avoids narrative hassles like "which version of Captain Kirk made the log for 'The Enemy Within' or 'Turnabout Intruder?'"

The writing on the cards is fun and done at a consistently high level of quality. The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary are written to sufficiently capture Spock's sense of humor and observations on humanity, while adequately telling the story of each episode of Star Trek.

The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary cards feature bright, beautifully-crisp images on each card. The four pictures on the front of each card tend to be different from shots used in prior sets, which is a nice thing. The photogaphy on the front of the cards also finds the right balance of character images without neglecting the special effect shots. The result is a structurally-weird looking common set that actually serves as a fitting tribute to the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek!

Chase Cards

The TOS 50th Anniversary set has two hundred seventy-nine chase cards, of which two hundred sixty-eight are available in the right packs! Some of those cards, though, are statistically improbable for a collector to pull from the packs or boxes. Ironically, there are some sketch card artists whose works are more rare than the Jill Ireland cut signature card that was pack-inserted!

The first level of chase sets are two expansion sets that explore "The Cage" and "Mirror, Mirror." Cards in each of these sets are found only two per box, which means that they take three cases to assemble each set (assuming one does not pull duplicates!). These two chase sets are substantive and incredible. The "Mirror, Mirror" cards feature foilboard borders that are shiny and distinctive. The "The Cage" bonus cards have neat purple borders and a thin gold border around the image on the card, which makes it look like one is using one of the Talosian's viewscreens to look in on the episode! These chase sets are reminiscent of the James Bond retro "throwback" sets that Rittenhouse Archives has produced for some of the older James Bond films. The result is essentially a flashy additional "common" set for two of the best episodes of Star Trek and it's hard not to gush over just how pretty the "The Cage" cards actually are!

Interestingly, Rittenhouse Archives continues to state the odds of its chase cards in terms of packs. I find this interesting because, especially in the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading cards, the odds for most of the bonus cards are more reasonably stated in terms of boxes or even cases! The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary two chase sets where their components are found one in every four boxes and three that have only a single card from the set in a case!

The Bridge Crew Hero cards are landscape-oriented acetate trading cards featuring the seven core Star Trek characters, plus Nurse Chapel and Yeoman Rand. The Bridge Crew Hero cards look good, but I found myself split on them. The rarity of the cards is high, the content is hardly audacious and as an avid convention-goer, the Bridge Crew Hero cards are another set that is unfortunate in its timing. This is yet another set that fans cannot use to get autographed by the stars of Star Trek. For sure, the four cast members featured who are still alive and represented in this set could make thes cards look amazing by signing them in gold, but it's a set one could never possibly get completely signed and that's sad. While that is not an inherent problem with the Star Trek cards themselves, whenever Rittenhouse Archives makes a new-looking, cool card like this, it is hard not to look at them and consider the alternative use for them! That said, the acetate cards are clean and crisp and look very good.

Also one in every four boxes is one of the nine U.S.S. Enterprise Concept Art cards. Rittenhouse Archives managed to get the original production artwork that pitched various looks (and feels!) of the U.S.S. Enterprise before the first shooting model was ever made. These cards might be the low point of the set; they are gold-bordered and brown and do not look overly distinctive (the back of each card is, essentially, a visual checklist of the set). Sadly, the designer of the U.S.S. Enterprise is dead, which prevented Rittenhouse Archives from using behind-the-scenes interviews on why each of the concept sketches for the Enterprise was rejected. For an unfortunately unremarkable chase set, the rarity of these cards is vastly disproportionate to their value.

One per case is a "Mirror, Mirror" card. Reminiscent of the mirrorboard cards made popular in the Star Trek Season 2 trading card set (reviewed here!), each of the cards in this subset feature big pictures of the main cast, Marlena, and the Enterprise. On one side of each card is an image of the regular universe version of the character, the obverse has the Mirror Universe version. These high-quality cards are a great alternative to the Season 2 Mirror, Mirror set at a more affordable price point!

Also one per case is one of the nine Leonard Nimoy Tribute cards. Since Rittenhouse Archives started producing trading cards, they have made Tribute cards to the now-deceased stars of Star Trek: DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Majel Barret. The Leonard Nimoy Tribute cards are the first ones in the set that have been included in the packs (previously, they were casetoppers and there were only 3!). The standard trading card-sized Tribute cards are individually hand-numbered on the front out of 125 and feature bright, distinct images of Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek (no shots from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Star Trek films or his Spock Prime role from the new film universe). The tribute to Nimoy is a fitting one and this is one of the nicest all-Spock sets ever assembled!

Like most modern Star Trek sets, the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading cards feature autograph cards. Found one per box is a Silver Series autograph card and one "Black" autograph. The "Black" autographs are the same format as the Bridge Crew autographs from the Star Trek Portfolio Prints trading cards (reviewed here!). The "Black" autographs feature a much wider range of characters than the initial bridge crew run - performers like Sany Gimple, Michael Dante, and the grail Teri Garr! The Silver Series autographs are an incredibly popular, landscape-oriented autograph card with a single characrter image and the autograph - signed in silver ink - over a black starfield. The Silver Series Autographs feature the likes of William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Walter Koenig before going into the significant (and a few unfortunately indistinct) guest stars. The set has a Joan Collins autograph card and autographs from the now-deceased Grace Lee Whitney and Yvonne Craig. Regardless of the occasionally mundane subjects on the cards, all of the Silver Series autographs look incredible! Rittenhouse Archives assembled an impressive list of signers for the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading card set!

The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading cards also featured sketch cards found only one per case. The sketch cards in the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary were beautiful and there is something to the overall value of the set when one of the most common sketches comes from the acclaimed artists Mick and Matt Glebe! The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary features sketch cards from 42 different artists, with only 8 of them being done by artists who produced less than 25 sketches for the set. I have yet to see a lousy sketch from this set, with truly amazing works from Sean Pence, Kirsten Allen, Helga Wojik, and Melike Acar! Rittenhouse Archives advertised the set as featuring the best-yet sketch cards and they absolutely delivered!

Finally, found about one in every eighteen CASES was one of three Star Trek cut signature autograph cards. Rittenhouse Archives managed to get their hands on authenticated autographs from the long-deceased Jeffrey Hunter, Susan Oliver and Jill Ireland. Ireland's material is the most plentiful, while Hunter's cut signature autograph cards are now the rarest Rittenhouse has produced for a Star Trek set. The cut signature cards for the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary might be virtually impossible to find, but they look amazing!

Non-Box/Pack Cards

There are eleven cards that cannot be found no matter how many packs one opens. These include the regular P1 promotional card, which is easily available in the secondary market, as well as the P2 promotional card which was exclusive to the Rittenhouse-produced binder. The two promotional cards are distinctive from the other cards by being heavily-embossed, gold foil cards that advertise the Star Trek 50th Anniversary!

One per case, there is an alternate version of the common card #40. The 40a Casetopper card is a "Mirror, Mirror" card that features different images and alternate text from the common card. The 40a is written as it if were from the perspective of the Mirror Universe Spock and they look cool. Having had casetoppers that were once autograph, autographed-costume, sketch or dual-autograph cards, it is hard to get truly psyched about an "alternate common" card as the Casetopper.

For every six cases purchased, Rittenhouse Archives gave dealers a Silver Series Leonard Nimoy autograph card. If the casetopper is lackluster, the six-case incentive is absolutely incredible! Featuring artwork of Nimoy as the Mirror Universe Spock, the 6-case incentive autograph from the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary matches the quality of the other silver series autographs and has much higher inherent value to it!

For every nine cases purchased, dealers were granted a Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy Dual Autograph card! The dual autograph for this set is similar to the Shatner/Nimoy Dual Autograph from the Star Trek Portfolio Prints trading card set. Where that incentive card featured Kirk and Spock in their Mirror Universe garb (and, in Spock's case, facial hair), the Dual Autograph for the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary features a traditional promotional photo of the Captain and First Officer. Oddly, its value has been depressed since the cards were released in the secondary market, but this card is poised to explode in value given the more universal appeal of the traditional appearance of Kirk and Spock.

Finally, there are the Archive Box exclusive cards. Rittenhouse Archives expanded the SkyBox "Mirror, Mirror" trading card set with an Archive Box exclusive M8 card of Marlena Moreau! Because Charendoff designed the original "Mirror, Mirror" card back in 1998, the new card exactly matches the style and quality of the prior release!

Rittenhouse Archives also included a set of printing plates in each Archive Box and it is hard not to give the company a huge amount of credit for the way they released them. Some trading card companies release the printing plates in the packs and collectors have to desperately attempt to cobble together one of four possible printing plate sets to achieve a true master set. Rittenhouse Archives takes a different approach and it is far more humane to collectors! The Archive Box includes one set of all four printing plates used to make a single common card (and the casetopper!), so collectors get a set of printing plates as opposed to trying to reconstruct a whole set of cards in printing plate form.

For the serious collectors, there is a Rittenhouse Rewards card as well, the E10 expansion card that makes the 9-card Enterprise Concept Art card set into a 10-card set. Available only through redeeming points from wrappers, the E10 features the familiar version of the U.S.S. Enterprise, which is a cool way to cap off the lackluster subset.

Overall

The Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading cards are well-organized, look amazing and make a potentially stale subject feel remarkably fresh again. While the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading card set is a fairly small trading card set for the price one would pay attempting to assemble it, it is a true celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek. Those who are not obsessed with creating a master set will still find ample material to gleefully collect in the Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary trading card set!

This set culls images from Star Trek, which is reviewed here!

These cards are available in my online store! Please check out my growing Star Trek The Original Series 50th Anniversary Trading Card Inventory!

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 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
Legends Of Dr. Leonard McCoy
Legends Of Scotty, Sulu And Uhura
Legends Of Chekov, Chapel And Rand
Star Trek 40th Anniversary Season 2
Star Trek (2009 movie) cards
Star Trek Heroes & Villains

8.5/10 (substance/content)
2/10 (factoring collectibility)

For other card reviews, please visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2017 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Nod To The Star Trek Fans When Star Trek: Voyager Presents A Listless "Flashback"

The Good: Good acting, Enjoyable for fans, It's nice to see Sulu . . .
The Bad: Ridiculous/tedious plot construction, Minimal character work, Harbinger of poor writing
The Basics: In a surprisingly lackluster tribute to Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager concocts a reason to present Captain Sulu's Excelsior for an episode.


When Star Trek: Voyager entered its illustrious third season, it was the thirtieth anniversary of Star Trek and the stewards of the franchise set out to pay tribute to the original series. On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the writers conceived of a time travel adventure that put members of the Deep Space Nine crew into a situation alongside Kirk, Spock and the Tribbles in "Trials And Tribble-ations" (reviewed here!). Over on Star Trek: Voyager, where the proverbial wheels were wobbling off the creative wagon and the show was limping along without any real sense of direction, the writers and producers decided to go another way. Like the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Unification" (reviewed here!) and "Relics" (reviewed here!), Star Trek: Voyager took the simple route of having a member of the original series appear on the show. The character that pops up is Captain Hikaru Sulu and the episode is "Flashback."

While exploring a nebula, Lieutenant Tuvok begins to hallucinate and becomes unable to function in his post as Chief of Security. Janeway, ever compassionate to her good friend, offers to help and the unlikely solution of a Vulcan mind-meld comes into play. Janeway journeys with Tuvok back to his first StarFleet mission aboard the U.S.S. Excelsior in his mind. There, they realize that the nebula Voyager is exploring bears a resemblance to a nebula the Excelsior explored. Soon, while Tuvok hallucinates of a girl falling to her death repeatedly, it becomes clear there is a repressed memory or other force at work here and Tuvok's true condition puts his life in jeopardy.

Sadly, what afflicts Tuvok is an unexciting as it is unmenacing. Its existence within Tuvok after some eighty years is as improbable as it is ludicrous. In order for the episode to work, it hinges on a fairly common reversal and a plot device that is disappointing to see any series in the Star Trek franchise utilizing. Even fans of general science fiction will find the resolution unsurprising and dull. Sadly, "Flashback" marks the first of several episodes in the third season that will employ similar . . . entities that utilize memories. At least this episode is the first and therefore is not derivative.

But outside that, the episode is just a tribute to Star Trek that is little outside itself. In short, a retrospective look at Star Trek has about as much original content and enthusiasm working for it as "Flashback." This is a thinly-veiled tribute worked around a plot that is weaker than . . . well some of the social issues disguised as aliens of the week in Star Trek. My point here is that while "Trials And Tribble-ations" strove to create something in its own right within the Star Trek universe, "Flashback" seems to just regress to an acknowledgment of itself.

That said, Star Trek fans are likely to find quite a bit to enjoy in just seeing Sulu again. Following up with the role and position Sulu achieved in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (reviewed here!) as the Captain of the U.S.S. Excelsior, "Flashback" finds Sulu on a mission and Ensign Tuvok along for the ride (with Janeway as well). Sulu is a worthy character to focus on and one who there's enough in the series (especially including the films) to suggest he had quite a life and history to him outside the paltry role he played as the helmsman of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

What "Flashback" does exceptionally well, then, is to present Sulu as a legitimate character in his own right as opposed to a tool of Captain Kirk's. Sulu here is seen as authoritative, clever, independent and self-actualized, something he almost never was on the original Star Trek. In the '60s, Gene Roddenberry got points just for having a multiethnic cast. In the 90s, the novelty of seeing an Asian flying the ship was not enough; we need our cast doing things, working as equals, having a personality. While Sulu had more footnotes than Scotty, Chekov or Uhura, he was still never on par with the credited three Star Trek actors. In "Flashback," Sulu gets real character and actor George Takei gets a real role.

Takei steals every scene he is in and while it's a pleasure to see him, this feels more like a sales pitch for the next Star Trek spin-off (in retrospect, "The Adventures Of Captain Sulu" seems like a far better idea than the execution of Enterprise!). At Star Trek conventions for years afterward, Takei proudly declared that "Flashback" reunited the entire Excelsior bridge crew from Star Trek VI. Takei wanted this to lead to something and honestly, it would not have been so bad if it did.

Sadly, the episode is a one-shot and Tuvok and Janeway are simply plot devices used to enable the producers to do something other than Star Trek: Voyager for a week. Fans are likely to enjoy seeing Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Janice Rand in the first few episodes of Star Trek, now a Commander and the Excelsior's Communications Officer) in a scene where she dominates the screen. But again, it's pretty obvious and pretty much in place of any real content.

My point in all of this is that "Flashback" is a decent tribute and as a fan of Star Trek, I recommend it solely for the novelty viewing (it's not worth more than one spin) and the chance to give a fitting sendoff to another member of the original Star Trek cast. Taken as a loving tribute to Star Trek, it is entertaining and it is what it is. It is, sadly, not much more.

This is more of a side trip away from Star Trek: Voyager and there's not enough plot to even suggest that Tuvok's quest to find why he's hallucinating about a girl dying and that the result is brain damage is at all compelling or even interesting. But hey, it's a chance to see a character from Star Trek in action one more time. That's worth one viewing, even if that's all.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Voyager - The Complete Third Season on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the entire season here!
Thanks!]

5.5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Legends Of Star Trek Hits Rock Bottom With "Legends Of Chekov/Chapel/Rand!"

The Good: Limited quality, Cardstock, No publicity shots!
The Bad: Cost/Value, Lack of image diversity, Does not capture full history, Far from legendary characters!
The Basics: With only nine cards, the "Legends Of Chekov, Rand and Chapel" disappoints casual fans and collectors of all three characters and actors!


Rittenhouse Archives, the current manufacturer of the Star Trek trading cards deserves quite a bit of credit for being innovative and releasing quality trading cards. They have done an impressive job of holding onto the license and largely satisfying customers, collectors and sustaining what it can of the niche market of Star Trek trading card collectors. Unfortunately, even Rittenhouse Archives occasionally produces a Star Trek lemon and there's no amount of squeezing to make it lemonade!

The "Legends of Chekov, Rand and Chapel" is one of those utter failures that makes one surprised the product came from Rittenhouse! When the Legends Of Star Trek cards were originally released, the concept was so new and different and exciting that collectors had a lot to look forward to. This Legends Of Star Trek set is the lowest the series has yet managed as the characters depicted are hardly the definition of legendary.


Basics/Set Composition

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 Chekov, Rand and Chapel" set is the fifth 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 Chekov, Rand and Chapel" set is a nine-card Legends Of Star Trek set that features six images each of Chekov, Yeoman Rand and Nurse Chapel from throughout the three seasons of Star Trek! These are all screen captures and present heroic shots of the three characters from the five year mission of the Enterprise. It's fairly unimaginative and pedestrian uniforms and tight headshots. Actually, the "Legends Of Chekov, Rand and Chapel" is one of the most bland sets yet released and the only real joy in it is in trying to figure out just which episodes the images come from.

Sadly, that is not enough.

First, the titles defining the characters are simplified from the prior releases in a way that damages the continuity of the series. Instead of being labeled as the Legends of Ensign Pavel Chekov, the first three cards are noted simply as "Chekov." Similarly, there are "Yeoman Rand" and "Nurse Chapel" as opposed to Yeoman Janice Rand and Nurse Christine Chapel. This represents a significant shift from the way other characters were defined on the cards in the prior releases.

The images are hardly imaginative, but then the characters are not some of the most interesting or active ones in the series. All of the shots are head shots of Chekov, Rand or Chapel. The Chekov cards are fairly easy to identify: one is from "The Apple," another is from "Day Of The Dove." The others, which have Chekov on the bridge, at his helm or science consoles could be from one of several episodes and the fact that they are so stylistically similar makes for a disappointing release for fans of Chekov. Sadly, the "Legends of Rand" section looks like it might have been made entirely of images from "Charlie X!" Chapel is possibly treated the best, with images from "The Naked Time," "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and at least one of the later series episodes.

At least there are no publicity shots. Instead, these are eighteen hard-to-find shots of Chekov, Rand and Chapel separately doing their thing. The problem here, too, is that none of these seem to be the same type of hard-to-find shot from other Legends Of Star Trek sets. It seems like each of these images has been captured on other cards in prior or subsequent releases, hardly keeping in the tradition of the Legends sets.

Furthermore, the problem is the image diversity is far from intriguing and it could have been better for the fans. The true crime here is that there are no shots of Chekov from his appearance in Star Trek: Generations, nor any of the other films! Rand is not shown as a Commander from Star Trek: Voyager (or Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country). If one wishes to argue any of these characters are truly legendary, their entire StarFleet career ought to be encapsulated. It would have been nice to have some shots of them from in their later life when their heroism continued to endure. But even more than that, it would have offered some different color contrasts and potential poses. This is a very red, blue and gold set!

Moreover, it is a very straightforward and bland set. It is all the characters in their uniforms. Okay, there is a shot of Rand from "Charlie X" in her nightgown, but that's actually a pretty often reprinted shot. Perhaps Chekov never appeared out of uniform in his two years on Star Trek, but he did appear wearing the Collar of Obedience in "The Gamesters Of Triskelion" and he was out of uniform when he was crazed in "The Tholian Web." Why Chekov strapped down to a medical bed is not considered legendary is questionable, though one suspects the big hair that had plagued Chekov in "Catspaw" was easily ruled to be more terrifying than legendary. Come to think of it, though, there was less to do with Chapel and/or Rand, so Rittenhouse seems like they did their best with this set.

Then again, this just reinforces the idea that these were hardly legendary characters.

Overall

The images of Walter Koenig as Chekov, Grace Lee Whitney as Rand and Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel are great for their fans, but with only three cards, it's hard for those who are fans of only one of those actors/characters to justify shelling out the full price for this set. Overall, it's unlikely to sell a casual fan on picking up this set, and if anything likely to discourage one from starting a Legends Of Star Trek collection.

This is an all-around disappointing set and it's not surprising that many dealers still have this one in stock.

One suspects in the future, the Legends Of Star Trek sets will be sold in the secondary market almost exclusively as entire series collections, but fans who simply have a favorite character among these three will likely find this set readily available in the future!

It's disappointing and it feels less than the other Legends Of Star Trek sets that were released.

This set culls images from:
Star Trek
most recognizably "The Apple"
"Day Of The Dove"
"Charlie X"
"The Naked Time"
and "What Are Little Girls Made Of"

For other Legends Of Star Trek cards, please be sure to read my reviews of:
Legends Of Captain Kirk
Legends Of Spock
Legends Of Dr. Leonard McCoy
Legends Of Sulu, Scotty And Uhura

2/10

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

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, A Last Hurrah That Works More Than Just Metaphorically!

The Good: Good plot, Nice message, Decent acting, Most character work
The Bad: Returned scenes garble everything, Spock's character
The Basic: Despite some serious character and plot flaws, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country remains a solid film that illustrates a diplomatic process that meets with resistance.


"All good things must come to an end," goes the old saying and as the actors portraying the primary cast of the classic 60's science fiction show Star Trek aged and decided they were done with their occasional outings into the final frontier, they closed the series with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Not ones to go out on a low note, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A is charged with essentially creating universal peace and making the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek an event.

When the Klingon moon Praxis explodes, the Klingon homeworld's environment and power supply is crushed. Unprepared for the magnitude of the environmental disaster, the Klingons turn toward their old enemies, the Federation for help. Captain James T. Kirk and the U.S.S. Enterprise head to a rendezvous with the Klingon flagship that ends with an unfortunate incident wherein the Enterprise apparently fires on the Klingon ship and StarFleet officers beam aboard and kill the Klingon Chancellor.

As Kirk and McCoy are tried and convicted by the Klingons for failing to save the life of Chancellor Gorkon, a new Chancellor is named. Spock works to find the evidence to exonerate his friends before they are killed on an icy prison planet and in the process, he uncovers a plot that strikes at the heart of all he believes in.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is one of those movies that comes in with a bang - the explosion of Praxis is quite impressive - and manages to go out with one as well. This is the end of an era, the cinematic adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew, and by the way the crew is split up, the viewer feels that. To wit, Captain Sulu is in command of the U.S.S. Excelsior and while he is invaluable to the film, actor George Takei is virtually relegated to a cameo role as a result.

The Undiscovered Country is hailed by many as the best of the Star Trek film franchise and while it is a wonderful film, three things keep the movie from rising to the level of greatness that was achieved by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (click here for my review of that!) and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (click here for that review! ), especially when those two are viewed together as one longer movie. The three things that keep The Undiscovered Country from being even remotely considered perfects are: the bastardization of the idea of the Federation and StarFleet for plot points, Spock's actions near the climax of the film, and the sloppiness of the writing as far as basic details go.

On the two-disc special edition DVD of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the director's cut of the film is presented, which simply reinserts a subplot into the movie that involves a rescue attempt for Kirk and McCoy by high command figures in StarFleet. Recutting the Colonel in with his essentially racist (against Klingons) viewpoints and remarks cheapens what Star Trek stands for.

I've vigorously argued that Gene Roddenberry's vision of Star Trek was not truly achieved until Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yet, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, the supplemental characters are all motivated by conservative ambitions to keep a cold war mentality going and they are almost universally prejudiced, barbaric and, well, dumb. In short, Roddenberry's vision is of a humanity that is not motivated by greed, war or prejudice and yet in The Undiscovered Country, the highest levels of StarFleet are filled with people who are only avaricious, barbaric and bigoted. It's insulting to anyone who has watched Star Trek and bought into concepts like Infinite Diversity through Infinite Combinations. It's a cheap way to flesh out the plot at the expense of the greater themes Star Trek had stood for for a long time before.

Moreover, the viewer is asked to believe that high level conspirators within StarFleet, the Klingon and Romulan Empires are working together to . . . prevent the major powers from working together. Wrap your head around that.

Even more troubling is what happens with Spock near the climax of the film (I'm writing around a lot of details here to prevent any "surprises" from being leaked!). On the bridge of the Enterprise, Spock roughly grabs a fellow officer and performs a Vulcan mind meld. The person resists and Spock pushes. In essence, the audience watches Spock rape another character and the scene is disturbing, treated as uncontroversial and guts the pacifistic, rational character that fans have loved for the twenty-five years before this film was made. The scene is violent and more than anything else in the movie is why the film ought to have been rated PG-13 (it escaped with a PG and for those who do not follow my reviews, I seldom bother even noticing ratings from the MPAA). Strange, considering Leonard Nimoy was intimately involved with the creation of the story, that the writers would so incredibly botch the character of Spock.

While the other two elements might only be appreciated by fans, the final problem is sloppiness that any moviegoer who is awake for this film will find troubling. The first words of the film are uttered by Captain Sulu, dictating a captain's log about how the Excelsior is returning from the Beta Quadrant where it has been cataloguing gaseous anomalies. At the climax of the film, Spock and McCoy retrofit a photon torpedo with . . . the sensor equipment that the Enterprise had used on its last mission, cataloguing gaseous anomalies. Now, I'm not saying that there isn't a whole lot of gas that needs to be catalogued in space, but it seems like the writers mixed up their two ships and that's just indefensibly sloppy. What's sadder is that Uhura's suggestion that they utilize this equipment is the strongest contribution she makes to this endeavor.

Beyond that, the movie is wonderful. Even if one does not like Star Trek (heretic, you!), The Undiscovered Country is a vital outing that is accessible to anyone. Like the very successful cinematic outing Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, The Undiscovered Country takes a powerful social idea and couches it in the science fiction/adventure trappings of Star Trek. In this case, the philosophical question of what happens when there are no more wars to fight is tackled.

The Undiscovered Country is a metaphor for the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, with the Klingons taking the place of the USSR and the Federation embodying the United States. The tensions, mistrust and machinations are compelling. Sure, it buggers the viewer to see Klingons and humans working together so they won't have to work together, but the idea is very well explored.

In fact, outside the comedic elements that are thrown in to try to capitalize on the same formula as The Voyage Home, the dinner scene wherein the concept of peace and life without wars is debated is brilliant and vibrant.

The reason The Undiscovered Country ultimately works as well as it does is because it maintains the focus on the characters, in this case Captain Kirk and . . . well, virtually everyone else. Chancellor Gorkon is an idealist, General Chang is the fairly generic villain and Captain Spock is more diplomat than science officer here, which foreshadows his return in "Star Trek The Next Generation's "Unification, Part II.” Gorkon and Spock are rational, idealistic alternatives to the conservative, warring viewpoints expressed by Kirk and Chang. These other characters service Kirk by providing him with guides by which to grow.

And Kirk grows beautifully in The Undiscovered Country. While some die-hard fans seem to hate the idea that Kirk might hate Klingons, the motivations seem very vivid, considering what happened to his son in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. Kirk's anger becomes something he must confront and a serious liability to his ability to perform his mission. Indeed, because he is clinging to his hatred of Klingons, he is easily convicted at his trial on the Klingon homeworld. Through the course of the movie, Kirk wrestles with his dislike of Klingons and his desire to see them suffer as a result of the actions certain individual Klingons have taken.

One person I know is deeply offended by Kirk's suggestion near the beginning of the movie that the Federation's response to the Klingon's desperate crisis is "Let them die." I believe his utterance, in the halls of StarFleet's most powerful people, is a shocking statement that serves the story well, while preserving the character of Captain Kirk quite well. It's hard to be high and mighty when you are hurt, no matter how evolved one is.

Moreover, how Kirk's reaction evolves from being willing to let the Klingons suffer and die without aid to his shock when Gorkon is murdered, is compelling. This leads the viewer on an emotional journey that is realistic, intense and wonderful to watch.

Part of what does this is the acting. Guest actors include David Warner as Chancellor Gorkon, Kurtwood Smith as the Federation president, Mark Lenard as Sarek and Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright, all of whom are familiar to fans of the "Star Trek" franchise for other roles. Here they each perform wonderfully, contributing to their characters in ways that transform them from "types" on the page to vivid individuals on the screen.

Christopher Plummer plays General Chang and his performance is wonderful. Plummer is menacing, maniacal and clever as the one-eyed general. Plummer varies his performance between cultured and deadly with an ease that overcomes his prosthetics. He steals every scene he is in.

Having seen some episodes of Sex and the City, it's a pleasure to see Kim Cattrall acting in The Undiscovered Country. She plays Spock's protege, the Vulcan Valeris. She is emotionless and wonderful in the role and it's a big stretch for those who are used to her from the other show.

It is William Shatner whose performance rules The Undiscovered Country. Kirk's character journey would not be possible were it not for the depth and scope Shatner used to portray him. He throws his whole body into the role, playing sedate and intellectual in the dinner scene and making his brawl on Rura Penthe completely believable. Shatner earns his pay and it's a pleasure to see him redefining Captain Kirk as a truly dynamic character in this outing.

The two-disc DVD set is very much designed for the fans. Bonuses include commentary and a number of featurettes that explore the ending of the adventures of the original Star Trek. Virtually all of the bonus features explore The Undiscovered Country in the context of the Star Trek universe (including a wonderful one where guest actors are shown in their various other Trek incarnations), leaving little for those who are not fans of the franchise to celebrate.

And there is a lot in the movie that is geared toward a more mainstream audience. The conflict in The Undiscovered Country is one of life and death that is wonderfully open to anyone who likes a good political thriller. At the end of the day, The Undiscovered Country is about how governments relate and the machinations that are in place to create and disrupt peace. As a result, the film succeeds admirably in making a statement about what peace ought to cost.

That's a lesson anyone can appreciate.

For the other Star Trek film adventures, please click here!

7.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please click here to visit my index page!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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A Pan In Glowing Clothing: Star Trek: The Motion Picture Is A Good Idea, Poorly Executed.

The Good: Character development, Moments of acting, Good blend of new and old effects
The Bad: Slow pace, Emphasis on the wrong aspects of the story, Cluttered
The Basics: With Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the attempt to make a cerebral film fails, burying real explorations of human condition in special effects and a plot of one of the least successful episodes of Star Trek.


Right off the bat, if you have to watch Star Trek The Motion Picture, the version to watch is the 136 minute, 2 DVD Star Trek The Motion Picture - The Director's Cut. On the topic of the bonus c.d., this is a must for a fan of "Star Trek. It's packed with deleted and reworked scenes from Star Trek The Motion Picture and includes documentaries and commentaries on the making of the film, the impetus behind the director's cut and the whole idea of what Star Trek was trying to accomplish. For the die hard fan, I'd recommend the DVD solely for the extra features because they are informative and fun to watch. The truth is, for the primary material, I didn't enjoy the film enough to recommend it and I think, for a change, my reason is different than most everyone else's.

The fault of Star Trek The Motion Picture is not entirely in its pacing or in its multiple storylines or even that it's poorly written. The problem with Star Trek The Motion Picture is that it's not original. It is not going anywhere that Star Trek hadn't already gone before. How can I say that?

The Enterprise crew encounters an ultra-powerful force that is threatening a vital Federation interest. The Enterprise investigates and discovers an entity that seeks to become more than it is, believing misguided information. It becomes apparent that the threat is a machine; quite powerful and quite logical. Captain Kirk bluffs the powerful being until it reveals its most basic form at which time the resolution becomes simple.

Sound familiar? If you're a fan of the original Star Trek, it ought to. Star Trek The Motion Picture is a combination of two episodes: "The Changeling" and "The Corbomite Maneuver." If you're a casual watcher of Star Trek or not a fan at all, there's a reason you've probably not heard of either one of them: they're not terribly good episodes. In fact, the true killing blow to Star Trek The Motion Picture is it decided to steal from some of its weakest links. As a general rule of film making for a franchise, it always helps to go with your best ideas, not your most shaky.

The plot is killed by being a weak combination of places Star Trek has gone before. The reason it fails is because of the tack they take on it. "The Changeling" is a fast-paced, "figure out the alien of the week and defeat it" episode. Star Trek The Motion Picture, on the other hand, takes a higher road and that's what nails the coffin. Rather than spending a lot of time figuring out what the threat (V'Ger) is, much of the film is spend on exploring the human condition.

At the end of the film, the line "The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning" appears and it's true. That's the downfall of the film; it's a philosophical journey, not a special effects trip. The journey is about characters, not about creature threats. The real nuts and bolts of Star Trek The Motion Picture is in the characters. The promoted Admiral Kirk returns to the Enterprise because there is a lack in his life, Spock leaves Vulcan because what he's searching for isn't available for him there. The new first officer, Decker, clashes with Kirk because they believe they want the same things. The essential story in Star Trek The Motion Picture is about humanity's need to find what is lacking, to understand their own purpose.

The only fault of Star Trek The Motion Picture is that it tries to be something else then. The film is a character study buried in a special effects film. Star Trek The Motion Picture is exploring the same caliber of emotion as Magnolia. What saves Magnolia is that it is what it is trying to be, not attempting to conceal that exploration of humanity as a special effects film. The combination of the heavy character aspects with the attempts to be a special effects story with the intruder, make for a feeling that the film doesn't know what it wants to be.

Surprisingly, the acting is competent. From the supporting cast through William Shatner, everyone reprises their roles as if they had not left the set of Star Trek. And yet, there is a sense that each of the characters has been busy and that is as it ought to be. In the new director's cut, there are some pleasant special effects additions that work quite well.

I want to be able to recommend Star Trek The Motion Picture; it's a philosophical film that does what Star Trek The Next Generation did in its first season and what it tried to get to at the end of the series. It's refreshing to see a film where violence isn't the solution, where it isn't simply: Our Heroes arrive to destroy the bad guy. Instead, it's about attempting to understand the unknown. As McCoy notes, "Why is everything we don't understand called a thing?"

Had the plot been borrowed from any other combination of original Star Trek episodes, perhaps it would have had a chance. Had the focus remained more on the character development that is present but constantly glossed over for effect shots, the film would have been worth recommending. As it is, on a razor decision, I cannot recommend Star Trek The Motion Picture The Director's Cut to anyone but the serious fan of Star Trek and then preferably to those who haven't seen "The Changeling." 

For the whole Star Trek cinematic collection, please click here!

For other cerebral journey films, please check out my reviews of:
Inception
The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus
The Red Violin

4/10

For other Star Trek episode and film reviews, please be sure to check out my index page!

© 2010, 2002 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Star Trek Brings The Drama Home With "The Conscience Of The King!"

The Good: Tense, Generally good acting, Decent story, Decent character work
The Bad: Some very hammy acting, Forced romantic subplot, Effects
The Basics: When the U.S.S. Enterprise takes aboard an actor whose background may reveal he was guilty of genocide, Kirk’s objectivity is compromised!


Star Trek is rather well known for being a science fiction show that cleverly hid social messages in the program. It did this with varying degrees of success and often it provided a character with a sudden backstory element to help introduce the social issue de jour and one of the first episodes to truly nail that was “The Conscience Of The King.” This episode fills in a bit of Captain Kirk’s childhood and it’s no surprise that when William Shatner was writing Avenger, his co-authors were able to put this episode in a larger context that made sense!

The U.S.S. Enterprise takes aboard a troup of actors who are performing Shakespeare plays throughout the Federation. While ferrying them to their next stop, Kirk and his crew delight in having live theater, though Kirk is immediately set off by an old acquaintance who believes that the lead actor in the play is a genocidal governor who was responsible for wiping out a planet’s population when a food supply fell short many years before. Kirk is skeptical until his friend ends up dead and Kirk realizes that only he and Lt. Riley are eyewitnesses to the massacre who could identify Kodos The Executioner!

Of course, being a Star Trek story and one where Kirk is the protagonist, there is a romantic subplot and in this case, Kirk falls for the blonde on the scene, Lenore Karidian, the daughter of the famed actor Anton Karidian (who may or may not be Kodos The Executioner). In this case, the relationship seems contrived for dramatic effect. While Barbara Anderson – who plays Lenore - is quite attractive, she and William Shatner have no real on-screen chemistry. The result is a relationship that the viewer does not get at all attached to. Instead, we see no real consequences to Lenore’s comings or goings and the resolution to the episode is not terribly exciting as far as the romantic subplot.

But that’s about the weakest “The Conscience Of The King” truly gets. This is a wonderful exploration that asks the big questions of “What is the practical statue of limitations on genocide” and “What is the value of redemption?” Simply suspecting Anton Karidian of being a genocidal figure like Kodos is potentially inflammatory and as the body count rises, Kirk is faced with the question of what to do and what will be the most effective way to neutralize the problem.

The exceptional aspect of “The Conscience Of The King” that seems to be lacking from today’s discourse on issues like this is that Captain Kirk is obsessed with being certain that Anton is the right man. He wants to be sure he does not accuse the wrong person or allow the court of public opinion to sway him on hearsay. Instead, he is methodical and calm, using reason and judgment bring him to the proper conclusions as opposed to simply going with his gut and his beliefs. This, especially in today’s climate, makes him seem all the more heroic.

Kirk is contrasted well by the only other survivor of the massacre on the Enterprise, Lt. Kevin Riley. Riley was seen previously in “The Naked Time,” where he serenaded the ship with his rendition of “Kathleen” far too many times. Riley makes for a decent foil to Kirk in this regard as he reacts emotively and instinctually, while Kirk is tempered with more mature judgment – usually it is Spock intervening to the captain’s brash actions, so it’s refreshing to see some growth here!

So, much of the episode is a search for the truth and the idea of Kirk as survivor of a calamity or genocide works well, though if one were to look at his whole story I suspect it would seem he is around all sorts of bad things. Regardless, the idea of Kirk having a childhood trauma like watching the majority of a population be killed so the food supplies on a planet could hold out until more arrived is both gruesome and intriguing.

This gives actor William Shatner some fertile ground to play in and it works well. Sure, we’ve seen Captain Kirk disturbed before; in the first episode he appeared in, he had to debate about killing his best friend! But in “The Conscience Of The King,” we see a man torn by his past some and a strong desire to know the truth. And his feelings for Lenore do make him reluctant to rush to any judgment, which at least helps fill the full fifty minute episode up.

This is where Star Trek works well. In an instance where Kirk cannot trust himself to be truly objective, he does what any good leader would do; he defers. Seeing Kirk trust the judgment of Spock works wonderfully and reinforces the idea that Kirk is neither all-powerful or all on his own. By spreading the workload out, it makes the starship Enterprise seem that much more real. It also makes the episode much more watchable.

So, too, does the performance by Bruce Hyde as Kevin Riley. Hyde is agitated and edgy as the babyfaced officer who has an attempt on his life made. Hyde plays Riley well with a sense of the youthful exuberance leaving him for vengeance when the possibility arises that Anton is Kodos. The result is some very intense acting from the guest star that works far better than his earlier performance in “The Naked Time,” where he was essentially a singing punchline.

But it is Arnold Moss who steals the show. Moss, an aged actor who seems classically trained in Shakespeare, is perfectly cast as Anton Karidian. He bears himself like an actor of some reputation and as he develops through the episode, he is eminently watchable and thoroughly convincing as Karidian. Moss has a wonderful sense of when to play Karidian as strong and when to have him appear frail and essentially human. His performance foreshadows that of real-life dictator Augusto Pinochet and it’s unfortunate Moss did not live long enough to portray Pinochet in any work now!

This episode is accessible to all audiences and it quite likely to be enjoyed by fans of drama in general, as opposed to just science fiction fans. This is an episode that raises reasonable questions about the nature of genocide and how to prosecute it. It is intense, clever and worth your time and attention, tacked-on romantic subplot or not!

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into "Star Trek - The Complete First Season" on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the premiere season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

6.5/10

For other Star Trek reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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"Miri:" Reminding Us That Children And Animals Are The Worst Variables In Hollywood (Outside Make-up)!

The Good: Decent idea, Generally good acting
The Bad: Weak plot, Light on character, Make-Up effects
The Basics: When the Enterprise journeys to a planet struck with a plague four of the crew contract it and must work with children to find a cure or die!

Long before House, M.D. broke onto the scene with weekly medical mysteries, there was Star Trek, which featured Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock discovering alien diseases or unheard of medical conditions and working to fight them. By the time Star Trek reached its twelfth episode, it had already dealt with a man developing godlike powers, another using mind control, an alien parasite that drained its victims of salt, and one viral outbreak aboard the Enterprise. With "Miri," Dr. McCoy goes to the virus and he, Kirk, Spock and Yeoman Rand are infected and given a prognosis of five days to live!

While out exploring the galaxy, the U.S.S. Enterprise comes across a planet that seems to mirror Earth, save that there appears to be no one around. A landing party consisting of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Yeoman Rand beams down to investigate the planet, which is covered in ruined cities. The quartet soon discovers they are not alone; there are children on the planet and as near as anyone can tell, they have been alone there for quite some time. When the members of the landing party develop terrible blue splotches on their bodies, it becomes clear that they are infected with something. Kirk, who has befriended a girl named Miri - who has a crush on him -, learns that the adult population was wiped out by an experiment. The children who survived are actually hundreds of years old, though they, too die when they hit puberty. Kirk and his team are given five days to find a cure before they will die horribly . . . when Yeoman Rand is kidnaped by one of the kids!

"Miri" is a precursor to many, many, many post-apocalyptic viral outbreak movies and television series. Indeed, as I sat down to write this review I kept trying to think why the plot seemed so familiar - though I had just watched the episode - and I realized it was because I had just seen Jeremiah recently! The basic idea behind "Miri" is the same as Jeremiah with a large dose of House, M.D. thrown in. The result is an episode that belabors the medical, presents well immature children who rule a planet and is forced to fill with a hostage story to meet the time requirements.

Indeed, there is not an episode of the original Star Trek that comes to mind that is so preoccupied with the actual medical attempt to solve the problem of identifying and counteracting the plague. While "The Naked Time" had such a search, it was not illustrated in as painstaking detail as "Miri" does. The problem is that even with this devotion to the details of medical science, this Star Trek episode needed to go somewhere - i.e. the reveal of what the agent is is big, but what do you do after that?

The result is a plot twist that feels somewhat contrived. Yeoman Rand being captured and the efforts to rescue her distract the viewer from the medical aspect of the show and while it makes for more dramatic television, it still feels forced. In a similar fashion, the rescue effort diminishes the menace of the disease; while attempting to rescue Yeoman Rand, none of our heroes are crippled by the effects of the disease. Sure, it may be killing them, but you wouldn't know it from the acting.

This leads us to the infection itself. Wow, is it campy! Yes, Kirk and Company are infected by the giant splotch of purple-blue grease paint! The make-up is absolutely terrible. The splotches appear, they look hokey and fortunately, the show does not focus too much on them because they are essentially dollops of clown-style make-up. Fortunately, as well, I'm not big on rating on the grounds of effects (that's one point out of ten in my pantheon!) so the episode does not suffer too much for being utterly campy with the representation of the infection.

That said, the episode is largely enjoyable, if a bit light on character. "Miri" seeks to establish more of the subtext in the relationship between Kirk and Yeoman Rand (moments before she leaves the series!). As well, the episode is complicated because of Miri's crush on Kirk. Like the virus suddenly having no appreciable effects, the episode introduces the idea of Miri's crush then suddenly sweeps it aside when it could genuinely complicate matters for the Enterprise crew.

And despite my title, the acting in the episode is all right, though some of the kids are . . . well, kids. Actress Kim Darby appears as the title character of the episode and she has a quality that makes the viewer believe that she truly could be quite old and more mature than the child she appears as. Darby has wonderful posture and a very clear ability to speak, lending the perception that she is not as simple as many of the other children.

Grace Lee Whitney gives a decent, if simple, performance as Yeoman Rand. When she's not stuck sitting in a corner, Whitney plays Rand as inquisitive and a vital member of the landing party, which is more than she usually gets to do. In this episode she and William Shatner actually exhibit some decent on-screen chemistry that no doubt led to the mountains of fanfic about the two of them.

"Miri" is only notable on the character front for truly deepening the sparring and love/hate relationship between Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock. In this episode, the two verbally jab one another, but when McCoy is at his most vulnerable, Spock softens and is incredibly compassionate to him. Actors Deforest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy play off one another quite well and this no doubt spawned the many many scenes of them verbally sparring that followed in the series (and hey, if it works, why not stick with it?!).

Overall "Miri" works because while it has many different directions to go in, it comes together fairly well in the end. Jeremiah, for example, if far more realistic, gritty and dark, but "Miri" has a real good sense of mood to the medical mystery half that does keep the viewer actually wondering if some of the principles will not survive (keep in mind, only Shatner and Nimoy are credited cast for the show at this point!). Indeed, there comes a moment when McCoy collapses that still gets me. That takes something, especially for classic Star Trek (I've seen every episode SO many times at this point!).

Anyone who likes a good medical drama is likely to enjoy "Miri," though fans of Star Trek will likely be the ones who appreciate the character aspects more. Fans of science fiction in general may appreciate the episode, though I think it is more likely they will feel it is something they have already seen before. But it is generally intended for a more adult audience and it plays well to that.

Ultimately it's a generally average, but enjoyable episode, one of the ones that one wishes were part of a larger story. It works, it just could have worked better. Indeed, that is probably the episode's epitaph; everything was generally fine, but nothing more.

[Knowing that VHS is essentially a dead medium, it's worth looking into "Star Trek - The Complete First Season" on DVD, which is also a better economical choice than buying the VHS. Read my review of the premiere season by clicking here!
Thanks!]

5/10

For other "Star Trek" reviews, please check out my index page!

© 2010, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Star Trek: Science Fiction's Mediocre Masterpiece, Star Trek Seasons 1 - 3 On DVD!

The Good: Some moments of great acting, plot, characters, Good DVD bonuses, Themes
The Bad: Some moments of terrible acting, plot, characters, No commentaries, Some themes seem dated
The Basics: With all 79 episodes of Star Trek bundled into a single pack, Star Trek The Complete Series gives fans of the original series something to write home about!

I grew up on Star Trek, it was a catalyst in my life. One day while visiting my mother, my brother went for a walk and started smoking, I stayed at home, flipped on the television and caught an episode of Star Trek. It changed my life, definitively. I became interested in Star Trek, an interest my mother fostered by buying me Star Trek books literally by the dozen, which led to a broader interest in fantasy and science fiction novels, which led to my love of literature and my trying my hand at it and uncovering the only thing I've ever been truly talented at: writing. If I had not seen that episode of Star Trek, today I'd likely be a marine biologist instead of a starving novelist. My mother's never going to forgive herself for going to work that night!

Star Trek was a short-running television program that used a science fiction setting to explore social issues of the day in a way that would get the themes by the censors. It ran from 1966 - 1969 and was virtually always on the edge of cancellation. It was saved by the fans who had writing campaigns and it ended up becoming even more popular in syndication, which prompted movies, books, and a merchandising empire. The three seasons of Star Trek were released on DVD separately and have now been bundled into a bulk package. This is just a bundle pack; there are no DVD extras or bonuses of any kind that are included in this set that were not a part of the earlier DVD releases. Indeed, the packages is a collection of the three bulky cases connected by a cardboard tray and shrink-wrap.

The U.S.S. Enterprise is a starship (a space ship with gravity that moves faster than light and has a crew of over 430 people) that is part of the United Federation of Planets' exploratory/military division known as StarFleet. It is on a five year mission designed to explore space and alien worlds with the hope of making benevolent contact with new races. The ship is commanded by the intrepid Captain James T. Kirk, an explorer and soldier who is resourceful, strong and courageous. Kirk commands an ethnically diverse crew that includes humans of almost every ethnic background as well as non-humans, like the half-human, half-Vulcan first officer, Mr. Spock.

Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise crew travel to the edge of the galaxy and back encountering androids with plans to dominate organic life forms, overbearing computers, aliens that look like lizards and rocks, and cultures where machines have enslaved the organic population. They end up in fights, work to avert wars, reluctantly arm a population to keep it from being exterminated when another race arms one side of a planet, end up enslaved and fighting against gods. They explore alternate universes, stellar phenomenon and find themselves preyed upon by multiple entities.

Star Trek is one of those ultimate mixed bags. It is truly great science fiction and it has some of the most ridiculous television episodes ever put onto t.v. It has great highs and great lows. But because it is episodic - there is no overwhelming story arc, the episodes stand independent of one another - the series as a whole is collected as a work that has a troubling inconsistency to it. There are thematic arcs that are repeated with troubling frequency, for example in the first season the crew encounters godlike creatures who have incredible powers and are only saved from being destroyed when something more powerful comes to rescue them. In the second season, there is a row of episodes that all have the same premise: the Enterprise journeys to a planet where the Prime Directive (not to interfere in primitive cultures) has been violated and a specific Earth culture has been replicated and needs to be "decontaminated." That they all seem to come right around the same time is troubling, like the writing staff assigned all the writers to the same episode and when they all came back with similar scripts, they just decided to go with it.

On the balance, though, Star Trek is an engaging drama/science fiction show that promotes a positive message of the importance of getting along with other people, the value of peace and the importance of science over superstition. Over the seventy-nine episodes, Captain Kirk and his crew do not seek to dominate anyone, they do their best to avoid fights and they express intellectual curiosity in the galaxy around them. They treat new experiences and people as an opportunity to learn and with the fairness of objectivity.

Conversely, Star Trek also finds itself preoccupied with some of the most ridiculous premises or poorest executions of ideas to ever grace a television. The Enterprise is thwarted for a time by space hippies who are searching for Eden, children, and a lone, ridiculous android sent by a space pirate. They find themselves plagued by lights, body-swapping women, and children who have godlike powers. Episodes like "Spock's Brain," fall back on tried and true Star Trek themes like fearing the overbearance of technology when women in go-go boots steal Spock's brain.

Star Trek has many timeless storylines, like when it explores the futility of warfare through a balance of power or the importance of freedom over slavery or the importance of respecting other people, regardless of the color of their skin. The show also has some dated references, like an episode that explores the overwhelming fear of nuclear proliferation and episodes that have Vietnam analogies couched in them. So, while much of the series is timeless, some of it is remarkably dated.

The style of the 1960s is very much reflected in the look of the show, especially the costumes. This is, in some ways, very refreshing as it gives Star Trek a unique look and feel in the realm of science fiction. It does not look like anything else and while the make-up may be rather limited on a lot of alien races, the costumes are usually distinctive and interesting. The lighting, though, also reflects the feel of the time relying on colored gels to give much of the Enterprise funky mood lighting. It's intriguing to watch it now for that reason.

And as much as we might like to note that television series that are classic are often considered classics because of the characters, Star Trek had a memorable cast, but only three primary characters. Despite what followed in the franchise, Star Trek was very much a show about the adventures of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock . . . with Dr. McCoy! The supplemental characters were essentially recurring guest stars and as a result, the series feels somewhat limited on the character front. This is also because the characters in the television series do not evolve so much as find themselves in new situations. So, Captain Kirk in the last season is very similar to Captain Kirk in the first season. So, too, with Spock and Dr. McCoy.

But in order to understand the appeal of Star Trek, it helps to understand who the primary characters and most significant supplemental characters were. The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise includes:

Captain James T. Kirk - The leader of the Enterprise, he is the embodiment of the heroic explorer who is tied to his ship and his sense of duty. A reluctant fighter, he is responsible for the lives of the crew who serve under him and he is more than able to hold his own in a fight. When faced with overwhelming odds, he will use guile to attempt to survive and he relies on his senior officers to make decisions, though when the time comes to be decisive, he is able to make snap decisions and live with the consequences,

Mr. Spock - The half-human, half-Vulcan Science Officer and First Officer, he is Kirk's closest advisor and over the course of the series, he develops into his truest friend. Logical and in control of his emotions, Spock uses reason to guide him. He also has limited telepathic abilities and incapacitates adversaries by using a nerve pinch to render them unconscious as he deplores violence,

Dr. Leonard McCoy - The Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise, he is a passionate, emotive man who delights in arguing with Spock. A good friend to Kirk, he is often called upon to identify what the nature of an illness or alien truly is. Laid back and pacifistic, McCoy is the heart of the Enterprise command staff,

Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott - The ship's engineer who keeps the Enterprise intact and going faster than it was ever designed to,

Lt. Uhura - The ship's communication's officer, she opens the hailing frequencies and loves to sing for the crew in her off time,

Lt. Sulu - The ship's helmsman, he is an avid explorer and has many different hobbies in his off hours, like botany, fencing, and learning about ancient firearms,

Ensign Chekov - The green navigator aboard the Enterprise, his characterization is essentially that he is young and Russian,

and the U.S.S. Enterprise - The starship that houses everyone, the ship's computer allows Spock to solve virtually any problem and Kirk is bound to it with a devotion that is greater than any romantic love he ever illustrates.

Star Trek is often more concerned with the plot-of-the-week than developing the characters, which is why characters like Chekov show up week after week, but there is little in the series that actually characterizes him. And while series creator Gene Roddenberry ought to be given credit for utilizing a multiethnic cast, he did very little with it in terms of developing viable characters with the diverse actors he cast. The result is the cast often feels like window-dressing and the significance of Roddenberry's efforts are lessened as time goes on.

The performances in Star Trek are hinged mostly on the acting talents of Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and to a far lesser extent, DeForest Kelley. Kelley plays Dr. McCoy and he is consistently established as a man of passion and emotion and Kelley is quite good at portraying that. Kelley plays McCoy as the Id to Nimoy's super ego Spock and Shatner's ego Kirk. Kelley does a wonderful job of bringing humanity to a character who usually has to explain some bizarre science fiction or medical phenomenon and he does it quite well.

Leonard Nimoy is tremendous as Mr. Spock. He establishes the character using an economy of body language, wonderfully creating a minimalist, logical and unemotional character by simply sitting stiff and still and emoting through nothing more than a movement of his eyebrow. Nimoy has the ability to deliver science fiction jargon convincingly and he was able to - quite frequently - stretch his acting wings by infusing emotion into the Spock character through extreme circumstances or alien possessions.

But much of the burden on the acting front falls on William Shatner. Shatner is a truly wonderful actor, but his performances in Star Trek are erratic. As a result, he will frequently deliver monologues with a dramatic presentation that steps far over the line into melodrama. As well, by the end of the series, even Shatner seems bored with kissing a new female guest star each week and so his willingness to play passionate is dulled. There are many great performances Shatner gives in Star Trek where Kirk is efficient, convincing and articulate, but there are at least as many where the performance might best be described as "hammy."

On DVD, Star Trek's 79 episodes are presented with minimal DVD extras in bulky plastic cases that take up more room than they ought. There are no commentary tracks on any of the episodes, though there are excellent behind-the-scenes featurettes for each season and every episode has the original preview included on the disc! As well, there are Easter Eggs wherein cast members provide snippets of what they are doing with their lives now as well as their thoughts on the series almost forty years after the episodes originally aired.

Star Trek is good.  It is good television on the balance and it remains culturally relevant. But it is not the best science fiction show ever and while it began the Star Trek franchise, it is not even the best series in the franchise. It is, however, enough to recommend to anyone who loves science fiction! This bundle pack brings the entire series home, preserved as it originally was. And that makes it worthwhile.

For more information on the specific sets bundled into this pack, please check out my reviews on the component sets at:
Star Trek - Season 1
Star Trek - Season 2
Star Trek - Season 3

5/10

For other television series reviews, please check out my index page!

2007, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.



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