Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection

I begrudgingly purchased this a couple of years ago when it was on sale. I've always been a bit lukewarm on TOS, had never seen an episode of TAS. But I loved the first six films. When I moved, I somehow misplaced my "Stardate Collection," the white box that had the first ten films on Blu Ray. I was going to repurchase that, when I saw this ...I was introduced to Star Trek in 1990 with TNG, and later DS9, VOY, and ENT. Our local affiliate that carried TNG and DS9 on syndication also ran episodes of TOS weeknights after the late shows, so during the summer I would catch them while waiting for TNG re-runs. It never really clicked with me - the teenage me didn't like the 60's special effects, which I learned to appreciate later in my adult years.This set gives you everything featuring the original Trek cast from 1966 to 1991. You get TOS on Blu-Ray (and you can switch between the original 1960's special effects and the updated ones), The Animated Series (which I'll admit I was very hesitant about ... until I watched it ... give it a try!!!), all six feature films starring the original cast (you get two remastered versions of The Wrath of Khan (the original Blu Ray remaster and the director's cut), and a special bonus disc titled "Journey to the Silver Screen." This disc features several mini-docs that chronicle the evolution of Star Trek from the conclusion of TOS to The Undiscovered Country.If I had to nit-pick anything ... I do feel like the film set could received a bit more love. I mean, for the franchise's fiftieth, Paramount could have put some work into remastering the director's cut versions of several of the other films.Is the set worth the price? Absolutely! The one thing I would recommend ... many other reviewers have shown pictures of the packaging for the TOS/TAS portion of the set ... it can be tedious to work with, and the discs sometimes have a tendency to come loose during shipping. When you get your package, make sure to examine all the discs. If any are loose, play them right away to make sure they work.

I am only halfway through the first season, but am amazed at the quality of work performed on these blu-ray discs. The color and clarity restoration is superb. I have found only a few scenes where artifacts appear on the screen, and they are noticeable only because everything else is pristine. The same can be said of the audio.A few technical issues: there is a pop-up menu option that allows the user to switch screen angles, which serves to switch between original graphics and re-created graphics that use existing technology but are made in the old style to match the rest of the episodes. That is, the graphic detail does not look like that in the newer movies. It is visually pleasing and supportive of the story lines. The problem is that the switching is available ONLY when the new graphic scenes are being displayed. So, you cannot switch angles except while those graphics are appearing, and there is no way to know when those graphics are showing! It's a catch-22. Obviously, the exterior scenes of the Enterprise are all new, but there are interior scenes that are sometimes new as well, whether it's a background graphic or a time display on a console. It would be nice/interesting to have a split-screen display option to show both versions simultaneously.[UPDATE at end of paragraph] Secondly, on some of the discs, the user is granted special "Starfleet Access," to selected episodes that brings up a picture-in-picture display showing things like pre- and post-restoration. It also brings up picture-in-picture of staff apparently describing what they did technically to the scenes, but it's impossible to tell on my display since there is no audio selection to hear what they are saying. Even under the "Audio" options, there are no selections for "director's notes" or "English 3" or anything that might play the audio notes. Sad. So very sad. [UPDATE: after searching the internet on these issues, others noted that the player has to enable "secondary audio" to hear the overlaid audio. I have a Sony BDP-BX370 blu-ray player. On this player, the "BD Audio MIX Setting" needs to be set to "On." Doing so mixes the overlaid audio into the output. Yes, I now hear the extra audio.]Having said all of that, I first saw Star Trek episodes as re-runs on a black and white television. I haven't seen most of the shows in 40 years or so. I had forgotten some episodes entirely, and others are just amazingly wonderful to see in fully restored color. I had no idea that the insignia on the shirts was different based on profession, e.g., science, medical, command, etc. Also, in the earliest of episodes, I don't think that they had much in the way of air conditioning: in almost all shots, all of the faces continuously show beads of sweat. In some of the later episodes, they seem to have gotten the overheating of actors under control.Mr. Spock gets special notes: in the earliest of episodes, they seem to have experimented with the color of his face, which in some episodes is downright yellow. In other episodes, he has typically "human" skin color. Also, Mr. Spock's cadence changed from the earliest shows where he sounds like an officer giving commands on a submarine (through odd voice inflection), but later takes on a more "normal" voice. Of course, Mr. Spock's ears and eyebrows changed a lot from the earliest episodes (eyebrows were almost vertical and thick as caterpillars in the earliest episodes). Also, my memory had only one instance of Mr. Spock showing emotions. How wrong I was: Mr. Spock shows emotions in most of the episodes (at least the early ones). In some of them, he downright laughs/smiles, but in almost all episodes, he shows a slight grin, especially at the end of the shows when he banters with Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy.There also appears to be much more romance than I remember from 40 years ago. In almost every episode, there is romance for Captain Kirk. I remember that he was a ladies' man, but it's almost every single episode...even with Yeoman Rand.I suppose that the best part of my journey through these shows is that I now see them through adult eyes (not the pre-teen and teenager eyes of my first viewing). I now see all of the nuances and moral values that are embedded in the series. This show was not just a science fiction series: it was a reflection of a generation of hopes and dreams. I thoroughly enjoyed (and am still enjoying) my romp through the past.

Very nice box set comes with the cartoon version all the movies of the original Star Trek plus original Star Trek series and a collectors pin and a few posters

I’ll be honest, I bought the pack for the TOS series only. But for the price, which started at 120 pre-pandemic, then rose to 200 USD, and is now below 100 USD, you get a LOT OF VALUE.Paramount released a 55th anniversary (huh?) set without the animated series or the 6 movies and yet costs 70% of the 50th anniv set: go figure.That packaging is regal, though I know most of the colors will have probably faded away within 5 to 10 years.The collector badge is terrible (paint, plastic, design), so don’t buy this set for that reason.And for clarity, I won’t be buying any other set even if it’s 4K, 8k, 16k or 1064k. I usually don’t buy packaged films or tv anymore, but I needed the TOS and will probably invest in TNG if they do something similar and at least 2K resolution.

The box arrived opened, plastic cover damaged, and missing the collectible badge.I don't really care - I don't collect things - but it's kind of annoying all the same.The discs are all present and undamaged so that's good enoughFive star for the product. Two for the shipper :|

I got this at a wonderful price. It’s a beautiful set. Yes, I even wear the badge that came with it on occasion. The artwork is gorgeous. Plus the movies and the shows themselves are brilliant. For any Trek fan, this is a must have collection.