Star Trek - Original Motion Picture Collection 1-6 [Blu-ray] [2009]

As a fan of the original crew, I'm grateful to have all their movies together in one pack. Not all of them were good, but they were what they were. For those of you who don't know:The Motion Picture- Probably not the best place to start for the uninitiated. The special effects were excellent for 1979, and we got to see the new "refit" of the original Enterprise (which is my favorite version of the ship), but that's about all there is to rave about. It was directed by someone who was not a fan of the original series- he didn't "get" what Star Trek was all about, so he made a special effects movie with a thin story and FAR too little action. Sure, watch it, but watch the good ones first. This one is not really important to the overall story.The Wrath of Khan- often regarded as the best of the bunch- probably should start with this one. This one brings to the table an old enemy of Kirk's from an episode of the original series, an early (although short) example of computer animation, and Kirk's son who nobody knew about (except Kirk and his ex). The showdown between the Enterprise and the Reliant may not be nearly as flashy as, well, pretty much any similar scene made today, but it is very suspenseful and leads to (what was at the time) a shocking and sad ending.The Search for Spock- my personal favorite. Way better than what most people think. It continues the story started in The Wrath of Khan.The Voyage Home- the one with the whales, also a good one. This one has a much more lighthearted and almost comedic feel to it, supposedly to offset the darkness of the two previous films. Spock even learns to cuss in this one, which is hilarious given his deadpan delivery.The Final Frontier- not one of the better ones. This one was done on a smaller budget, and it shows. It doesn't really continue the story arc of the three previous ones. There are a few parts here and there which keep it from being a total loss. The characters on The Big Bang Theory once debated whether this movie or the first Star Trek movie was the one against which all things that suck should be judged, or something like that.The Undiscovered Country- much better than the one before it. This one brings a fitting end to the story of the original Enterprise crew. I remember hearing at the time (1991) that this one would bridge the gap to The Next Generation, but it didn't. Michael Dorn (Worf) played a Klingon lawyer who defended Kirk and McCoy, and it was said that his character was Worf's grandfather, but no reference was made to that in the movie, so nobody who saw the interview in which that was revealed would have known. Anyway, this one had some cool computer effects such as floating zero-gravity Klingon blood as well as morphing- David Bowie's wife Iman plays a shapeshifter- that looked great. Maybe they should have skipped the 5th movie and gone straight to this one.The gap to The Next Generation didn't get filled until the next movie (Generations), which was very boring in my opinion. I'll always love the original Enterprise crew over the ones who came after, or before. If you agree, or if you're new to the whole Star Trek experience, then get these movies! Of course, you should watch all of the original series first...

Great product and series.

Just got started with this set. Decided to start in the middle, and will have to get to all of them soon.I'm perfectly fine with the fact that these are all supposed to be the theatrical versions. I like some of the little changes on the previous home releases of these movies, but it's kind of nice to see them make these available in their "original" form. I'm sure that if they didn't, some would surely complain, and it'd be kind of sad.Think about it - the real original Star Wars movies (4-6) are only available on a badly transferred, letterboxed-inside-4:3-Standard-def-DVD, as a bonus disc, on out of print DVDs (circa 2006, which, I do own).These Star Trek movies are high quality, high definition transfers of 6 classic movies, as they were, "warts and all," and I'm fine with that. Maybe someday, they'll put out a set with "directors cuts" etc, and sure, I do see the point some have made about "why couldn't they have just done seamless branching" - but - this is still really nice to have the best qualtiy copies of these movies, using as much of a disc as they can, even with a few extras on each one.Nice set. Well done. Not overdone. Nice simple menus, though I don't understand the promo for the 11th movie on these in the beginning. It's a box set. If anything, they should've put that on the bonus disc, as a bonus trailer or something. No reason for it to be on the main discs. Kind of cheesy. Kind of lame. It's not like most fans haven't heard of this, or wouldn't go see it. Then again, I suppose it doesn't really hurt anything. I do have an individual blu-ray of IV, so I'll have to see if it's also on that too. At least it's not taking up too much space.Transfer seems nice on III so far. I'm sure the others also look great. Pretty cool to have a good box set of all of these on blu-ray.Checked one extra on III before starting the movie, and it was really cool to see and hear the stories from some of the folks who worked on these movies. Digital effects are neat at times, sure, but these guys really made some great things happen with the tech they had to work with.Real models and effects are still great. No matter how great computer graphics get, and no matter how cool some of it really is, the capture of something really tactile and really reacting is ...well... more real... These folks also have another great point - they had a lot of fun doing a lot of this work, and I can really respect the work they did to bring us their efforts.All in all, this is a good set. If you already have a DVD set, it might not interest you that much. If you don't care about the theatrical versions, it might not matter to you. To me, it just seemed like a fair deal to finally get this collection, and as a long time fan, I am not in the least bit disappointed. I am quite happy to have this set, and to be able to enjoy these classic films once again.

I will admit right out of the blocks that I am a 'newbie' to HD. I waited until the BD / HDDVD war was over and this is my first purchase of BD disks. That said, I read with a LOT of concern reviews posted here by many people who posted reviews prior to release of these; it is odd that reviews are allowed prior to any chance of the reviewer having possession of the item.Anyway, I received the set a couple days ago and thus far have watched large parts of I, II, and IV. I have to say that I find the quality excellent. I was worried about the DNR issue but for me it is not very noticeable; I have carefully watched for loss of information / facial expression and when I have seen that effect it is apparent it is not from DNR but from soft focus either intentional or accidental in the filmmaking process (one can tell that the focal plane for the original film is not set for sharp facial focus but is focused on nearby objects or another face with lighting and camera setup not giving adequate depth-of-field for sharp focus for both). The visual detail is really stunning. It really took me back to seeing TWOK in the theater years ago with a level of detail that was only barely hinted at on my old VHS copy; better hinted at on LaserDisc, quite viewable on DVD, and now is back. (Yes, Paramount has done well by me)I respect the opinions of those who honestly AFTER VIEWING THE MOVIES feel there are issues; but please don't avoid the purchase and enjoyment of this great set (at a great price) just because some folks who have never seen them are critical. I am personally very pleased with the purchase; using the opportunity to introduce ST to my 4 and 6 year old kids.