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"Space, the final frontier." words etched onto the heart
of every science fiction fan around the globe. And finally,
after years of waiting, we're to get the series that brought
us the split infinitive voice-over intro on DVD. About time
too...
The first season of Star Trek is generally regarded
as the best and this collection of episodes is therefore unlikely
to disappoint either fans or more casual viewers. Scripts
are generally intelligent, the directing is solid and reliable
and the acting is generally short of ham. In fact, you can't
really go far wrong, whichever disc you first drop into your
player.
And
now the bad news. The transfer to DVD is bright, colourful
and sharp - but peppered with dust, scratches and sparkle.
Worse still, every optical shot is crawling with hairs and
printed-in muck. The reason this debris is there in the first
place is well known - rushed optical houses back in the 60s
working against impossible deadlines - but in an age when
technology exists to automatically remove the worst of these
problems there really is no excuse. It's not as if this DVD
set won't make back the investment.
Watching
the Enterprise orbit a planet in a swarm of fly-like
dust and scratches is distracting enough but when great scars
of film emulsion slash across the picture it becomes very
hard indeed to watch. Shoddy hardly starts to explain how
bad some of this looks.
Although
I've not had time to check in depth, the transfers used on
this set look to be the same ones used on the original region
1 discs - the transfers the BBC said weren't broadcast standard.
And frankly you can see the corporation's point.
A
similarly lousy set of productions stills are used to illustrate
the interviews on the extras disc which are unfortunately
as second-rate as their illustrative material. Yawn. Still,
nice menus and a good clean soundtrack.
In
the end, whatever the faults, you need to own this box set.
It may be compromised but it's still essential. Maybe if we
complain enough something will be done about future releases.
Who am I kidding? Go get it anyway.
Anthony
Clark
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