Star Trek: The Original Series: Season 2 (Remastered Edition)

If you are reading this you likely already have the first season blu-ray and this one is more of the same excellent quality. The transfers are superb - almost too good, sometimes, as it is easy to see when a stunt double is used instead of Shartner / Nimoy etc! I was often amazed I was looking at something over 40 years old with the high picture quality in almost every shot.

I thought before seeing the first set that I would be a 'purist' and hate the re-done effects but to my surprise I find they add to the show rather than detract from it. All the effects are done in the exact style of the originals - it's more like you are seeing more detail than a new effect in most cases. For example, the 'hand' effect in "Who Mourns for Adonais" from this set looks nearly identical at first glance, though it is coming up from the surface of the planet rather than just out in the middle of nowhere. As it gets closer, you can see that it is an undulating energy field shaped like a hand. I suspect if it had been technically possible to do it that way and stay in budget in the 60s this is the way they would have done it. All the effects are done this way, they don't look like transplanted effects from Star Wars Clone Wars or even Star Trek TNG. It is obvious to me that the creators of the new effects share a fan's love for the original show and their efforts have paid off. On the other hand, if you prefer the original effects they are there. If you want to annoy anyone else in the room, you can even switch back and forth, hitting replay to compare them.

If by any chance you are not familiar with the series, this is certainly the way to watch it. It is one of the most ahead-of-its-time series ever made and IMHO remains the best of all the ST series. The first season is generally considered the best but looking over Season Two this is really where ST hits its stride; you can see that the relationships established in the first season are much more fleshed out here. Even among the much-maligned third season there are some gems to go along with turkeys like "Spock's Brain" and "Turnabout Intruder". But I'm getting ahead of myself, season three will come out in December, so Paramount can get another $50 or so from me and maybe I'll review that one as well.

The bottom line is that this is a great set and well worth the money for any fan of ST.

This was the best season of TOS. It added a lot of characterization to the crew, particurlarly Spock.

Stardate 3372.7 "Amok Time" Introduces TRek fans to the Vulcan mating ritual, and one of the best Vulcan episodes of the whole franchise. 4 stars

Stardate 3468.1 "Who Mourns for Adonis?" Theory of Greek gods being aliens from other planets. Kinda dull. 2 stars

Stardate 3451.9 "The Changeling" Evil robot tries to exterminate all imperfect beings. Very interesting theory, and very cool conclusion. 3 stars.

Stardate Unknown "Mirror, Mirror" EXCELLENT EPISODE! Crew runs into parallel universe where everything is opposite. Started a long run of episodes on DS9. 5 stars

Stardate 3715.3 "The Apple" Crew finds society controlled by computer. Slightly better than the last season's attempt at this theme. 3 stars

Stardate 4202.9 "The Doomsday Machine" Indestructible machine destroys lots of planets for fuel. Good tension between Kirk, Spock, McCoy and visiting Commodore Decker. 4 stars

Stardate 3018.2 "Catspaw" Possibly the Halloween episode? In any case, very stupid. The three witches have laughing hysterically every time. 1 star

Stardate 4513.3 "I,Mudd" The return of Harry Mudd from Season 1. A better episode than his last. 3 stars

Stardate Unknown "Metamorphosis" Crew meets Zefram Cochran, inventor of warp flight, on a deserted planet. Fairly good episodes, but the Zefram Cochran is nothing like the Cochran seen in TNG's First Contact. 2 stars

Stardate 3842.3 "Journey to Babel" The first introduction to Spock's parents; Amabassador Sarek and his human wife, Amanda. Excellent. 4 stars

Stardate 3497.2 "Friday's Child" Another episode with the Klingons and a tribal war. Could have been better. 2 stars

Stardate 3478.2 "The Deadly Years" Crew ages quickly. Interesting idea, and another one of Kirk's former love interests. 4 stars

Stardate 3619.2 "Obsession" Kirk is obsessed with a deadlu cloud that killed his former commander. Could have been a lot better. 2 stars

Stardate 3614.9 "Wolf in the Fold" Scotty is the main suspect in a string of murders. OK until the end, which I thought was stupid. 2 stars

Stardate 4523.3 "The Trouble With Tribbles" The most famous episode to come out of TOS, it spawned a counterpart in DS9, and tribbles have now become a cult item (I have a fluffy stuffed one that purrs when touched on my bookshelf). 5 stars

Stardate 3211.7 "The Gamesters of Triskelion" Kirk and crew are captured by aliens who force them to fight. Interesting idea, just didn't work. 2 stars

Stardate 4598.0 "A Piece of the Action" Planet run by imitation of Chicago Mob. Very funny to see Spock trying to be a gangster, and "fizzbinn" will go down in ST history. 4 stars

Stardate 4307.1 "The Immunity Syndrome" Giant amoeba threatens galaxy. Laughable idea, but good feeling. 3 stars

Stardate 4211.4 "A Private Little War" A thinly veiled version of the Vietnam War, except with Starfleet and the Klingon. 3 stars

Stardate 4768.3 "Return to Tomorrow" Aliens take over Kirk adn Spock's bodies. All right. 3 stars

Stardate 2534.0 "Patterns of Force" Planet runs by Nazis. Interesting theory, but Bread and Circuses was better. 3 stars

Stardate 4657.5 "By Any Other Name" Andromedan aliens take over the Enterprise. Very good episode dealing with extra-galactic aliens. 4 stars

Stardate Unknown "The Omege Glory" Planet that is counterpart to Earth's Cold War. Would have been better if they didn't throw the American flag in at the end. Aren't all countries supposed to be gone by now? 2 stars

Stardate 4729.4 "The Ultimate Computer" CAptains look like they're about to be replaced. Great look at a captain's place. 4 stars

Stardate 4040.7 "Bread and Circuses" Planet run by Rome. Great gladiator fight. 4 stars

Stardate Unknown "Assignment: Earth" Enterprise interferes with mission to save 20th century Earth. Weird episode, was supposed to start a spin-off series that never happened. 4 stars

Good season...wish it was reasonably priced so i could buy it. >.<

First, the high points :

1. Details are fantastic:

You can see the veneers on Scotty's Teeth (Wolf in the Fold)

You can see that computer tapes are painted pieces of wood (Obsession)

You can read the certificates on the walls (Devil in the Dark)

2. The original 1-minute 'next time' previews are included (albeit, w/noise)

3. You can flip between original (w/noise) and new special effects.

4. You see the full episode, not someone's edited-to-squeeze-more-commercials version.

Now, the low points

The Blue-ray quality is so good, that in some cases the remastered special effect are obviously computer generated! On DirecTV SD resolution, the new special effects are not discernible. The same episode in Blu-Ray HD, at times, looks a little plastic and fake. However, not all planets look like 'shooter' marbles in the new series, and there are many nice details (such as when the Enterprise warps out of orbit from the planet in 'Obsession' and there is a giant blast crater created by an antimatter explosion, visible on the surface.)

Personally, I dislike the new special-effects intros, because the enterprise seems to fly towards the camera with the saucer section facing DOWNWARDS. It is not flying level, imho, like in the original series. Also, I expected more creativity in the re-doing of 'The Doomsday Machine' special effects, because the doomsday machine itself should have been MUCH larger than the enterprise (as much as 50,000x larger than the ~1000-ft enterprise), otherwise, it could never have eaten a planet the size of earth. However, maybe this was just a hole in the plot so large that it could never be filled? I don't know.

In the DVD Guide, there are no episode summaries. If you don't know the exact plot of each episode, by title, sorry, you're out of luck. They should have added space for maybe 3 sentences of text so that you could choose between episodes.

Now, the biggest drawback of these episodes is the lousy and cheap way they produced the DVD carrier. The index to shows is ONLY printed on the inside cover of the DVD carrier, so you have to look through the blue plastic at the really, really tiny print to figure out which disk to read. What's even WORSE is that Disc #7 covers up HALF the episode titles !!

I recommend that when you get the discs, you should immediately take out the paper insert and make a 95% xerox copy of it. Then, cut it out, fold it in half, and slip it into the paper clamps at the front of the DVD. That way, you can open the DVD box, and immediately open your xerox-page (no need to remove it from the paper clamps), to find the episode you're looking for.

What's more, if you want to see a particular episode, like "Menagerie", you have to know what season it was from! Because the episodes AREN'T printed on the back of each DVD box !! aaarrrrrggggghhhhhh !!!! Minus 1/4th star for such bad box mastery, but still, the score rounds up to 5 stars !!!

We are watching this on a SAMSUNG HD1500 player and Samsung LN52A850 HD Television. We have experienced a few 'scene stalls and jumps' at critical points (often, when cutting to a special effect, and once, during a 30-second countdown to death for the main characters. I am hoping these are problems with our player, not with our discs.

I have been a Star Trek the original series fan going back to the mid-70's as a kid. I took my time with shopping for a quality Blue Ray set. This is just Season 2 out of the set, so I purchased Seasons 1 and 3 to complete the entire set. This sensational Blue Ray set far exceeds what I expected. I knew that it would be good, but I didn't think that it would be this good. The sound quality is fantastic, and the video looks absolutely spectacular! Very well done! There are multiple episodes on each disc, and I love how when you load up the disc in the Blue Ray Player, you hear the sound of instruments on the bridge, while seeing images from some of the episodes on a particular disk. On the screen, below is a box that allows you to select which episode on the disk that you'd like to view, and the ease of selecting either the enhanced effects or the original effects as they were during the original filming in the 60's makes this set superb! In addition, the episodes are seen in their entirety rather than the shortened cut versions that we saw on TV over the years. Scenes are seen in full length that were often not included in the TV versions. Every single episode is included when you purchase all 3 Seasons; yes, "The Cage" too! "The Cage" is included in Season 3. I am so happy that I bought all 3 Seasons and have every single episode (80 episodes).

I haven't been able to stop watching episodes ever since I bought them 3 weeks ago. I certainly recommend buying this Season 2 as well as Seasons 1 and 3 in these Blue Ray cases. Who needs the Paramount network? This is the best viewing of the original series ever! It is a must have for those who love Star Trek the original series.

Now, I am off to go watch another episode right now...LOL!

When Paramount Home Video first started to release the original series of "Star Trek" in 1999, I was aghast at the fact that only one DVD with two episodes per DVD were being released one DVD at a time at a very high cost. The cost to own all 40 volumes (DVD's) was staggering. Of course, this doesn't even address the amount of shelf space required for all 40 DVD's.

Now, with this repackaged version, all 26 episodes of the second season are being released together on 8 disks. This is the packaged version of the original "Star Trek" that I fully intend to purchase because even at full list price, the cost of owning the second complete season is less than half the cost of owning its earlier cousins on an equivalent 13 DVD's. Also, the packaging itself has been designed similarly to the packaging used for other "Star Trek" series released in complete seasons, meaning that it will only require a small amount of shelf space. It is also possible that extra documentary and commentary material not released originally will be included in this complete second season box set.

The original series of "Star Trek", that ran for three complete seasons between 1966 and 1969, started a franchise that has included six television series and ten big screen motion pictures. The main original characters of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander/Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley, 1920-1999), Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan), Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Keonig from 1967-1969), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney from 1966-1967) and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) have become an inseparable part of Americana. Though series creator Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) was not able to keep the original series alive for five seasons as originally envisioned (it was cancelled after its third season), he, along with the countless series fans, was able to resurrect it in the form of six motion pictures beginning in 1979 and the first series spin-off, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, which ran for seven years and had spin-offs of its own. There was also a 22-episode animated version based upon the original series that ran from 1972 to 1974.

The most memorable episodes of the second season include "Amok Time" (Spock's Vulcan mating ritual), "The Changeling" (the inspiration for the 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"), "Mirror, Mirror", "The Apple", "The Doomsday Machine" (with guest star William Windom as Commodore Matthew Decker, the father of the character Capt. Willard Decker (Stephen Collins) in the 1979 film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"), "I, Mudd" (with returning guest character Harcourt Fenton 'Harry' Mudd, as played by Roger C. Carmel, 1932-1986), "Journey to Babel" (which introduces Spock's parents: Ambassador Sarek as played by Mark Leonard (1924-1996) and his human wife Amanda as played by Jane Wyatt), "Friday's Child", "The Deadly Years", "Obsession", "Wolf in the Fold", the fan-favorite "The Trouble with Tribbles", "A Piece of the Action", "The Immunity Syndrome", "A Private Little War", "Return to Tomrrow" (with guest character Dr. Ann Mulhall as played by Diana Muldaur, who also played the unpopular character Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), "By Any Other Name", "The Ultimate Computer" and "Assignment: Earth". The were no truly awful episodes during the second season, but there were a few that had rather weak plots, including the ancient-Greek-inspired "Who Mourns for Adonais?" the gothic "Catspaw", the Nazi-inspired "Patters of Force" and the twentieth-century version of the Roman Empire in the episode "Break and Circuses". The episode "The Omega Glory" was rather good until the final scenes that are somewhat corny.

Overall, I rate the 8-DVD set of "Star Trek: Original Series Season 2" with an anticipatory 5 out of 5 stars. Clearly, this is how Paramount should have released the original series to begin with. Thank you Gene Roddenberry for taking all of us "where no man has gone before".

Good series. Operating as described

Others have extolled the greatness of this set as well as I could have. Stated simply, Star Trek (Season 2) on Blu-ray is pure greatness. The picture is phenomenal. You should buy it. Now.

They have also taken full advantage of the new Mobile-Blu and BD Live features, but at an apparent cost. I have discovered that when I press stop (once) on my machine (JVC XV-BP1), with or w/out using the remote, and then restart it, it does NOT pick up where I left off, but rather goes right to the beginning of the disc and re-loads the menu, and I have to navigate back to the episode I was watching and then to the point in the episode where I left off. VERY irritating.

Additionally, the "zoom" feature on my player does not work with this set. The Season 1 Blu-ray set allowed for both zoom and stop memory. I use a standard TV with a terrific picture with my Blu-ray player (no bucks for LCD or Plasma... yet), so on the Season 1 set the zoom feature eliminated the letterboxing that is created on all four sides of the picture on my TV. Thus, I am forced to watch Season 2 episodes in a smaller picture size than Season 1 with black bars all the way around. I don't know if this or the lack of stop memory is a production flaw or something that had to be sacrificed for the Mobile-Blu and BD Live features, but whatever the cause, I am unhappy about it.

These are the only things wrong with an otherwise perfect set. I can't wait to see what it looks like on 1080p because on standard TV it looks fantastic!

By the way, Shatner Defender, I could not have said it better myself. Shatner is a terrific actor and it is sad that it is somehow hip these days to trash him. To the Shatner-Hater: You like "Buffy." If you think that's great acting, then I am certain that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Season Two has some of the greatest episodes. There is a whole disc devoted to the "Trouble with Tribbles". I find myself watching the show in amazement at the stunning color and clarity that just was not technically possible with earlier versions of the series releases. Season two has more advanced character development between Kirk, Spock, McCoy ect. The writers had more latitude to polish and explore more depth into the main characters. I love the chemistry that existed on TOS. I now have both season one and two and will soon be ordering season 3 with it's release coming December 15, 2009. I must say that I do not watch the "enhanced" versions of the show but prefer the original special effects just as I remember them from my childhood in the 60's. Even though they used models and some crude effects, I prefer them to the digital stuff that seems somewhat out of place. The digital effects seem two dimensional and flat to me. Call it a personal preference but I like my Star Trek original and straight up. Cheesey or not...I think they really did a fairly good job with the models and camera tricks of the day.

Another great quality of the Blu Ray discs is the wonderful sound quality. Everything is crystal clear and consistant. The discs from season 2 seem to load a bit slower than season 1 on my Sony machine. Not a great distraction though.

I have been extremely happy with my purchase and enjoy watching the original Star Trek with my 3 daughters. The new movie which was released this summer really helped to build excitement with the younger crowd too.

Avevo quasi consumato fisicamente videoregistratore e cassette VHS a forza di vedermi e rivedermi le puntate di Star Trek che avevo registrato dalla TV.

Col tempo le immagini su supporto VHS tendevano a peggiorare, così ho voluto acquistare i dvd.

Devo dire che non c'è paragone. Audio nettamente migliore, immagini rimasterizzate, extra, riprese dell'epoca, interviste che hanno appagato appieno tutte le mie curiosità. In particolare ho apprezzato molto le riprese sul set di questa stupenda serie.

Sono contentissimo di questi dvd e li consiglio vivamente a chi, come me, vuole vedere questa bellissima serie con audio e immagini migliori.

La saison 2 de Star Trek est une continuation passionnante de l'une des séries de science-fiction les plus emblématiques de tous les temps. Cette saison, composée de 26 épisodes, plonge les spectateurs dans de nouvelles aventures intergalactiques aux côtés de l'équipage de l'USS Enterprise.

La saison 2 poursuit la tradition de Star Trek en explorant des thèmes complexes et en proposant des histoires captivantes. Chaque épisode offre une combinaison unique d'action, de suspense et de réflexions philosophiques, offrant une expérience riche et variée pour les spectateurs. Les épisodes abordent des questions sociales, morales et scientifiques, tout en mettant en valeur les relations entre les membres de l'équipage.

L'une des forces de Star Trek réside dans ses personnages bien développés et mémorables. Le capitaine James T. Kirk, M. Spock, le Dr McCoy et les autres membres de l'équipage apportent tous leur propre personnalité et leurs compétences uniques à chaque épisode. Leurs interactions dynamiques et leurs dialogues mémorables créent des moments de comédie, d'émotion et de tension.

La saison 2 de Star Trek est également connue pour ses épisodes emblématiques, tels que "Amok Time", "The Trouble with Tribbles" et "Mirror, Mirror". Ces épisodes ont marqué la culture populaire et continuent d'être appréciés par les fans de la série. Ils ont contribué à façonner l'univers Star Trek et ont laissé une empreinte durable dans l'imaginaire collectif.

La qualité de production de la saison 2 est remarquable, en particulier pour l'époque à laquelle elle a été diffusée. Les décors, les costumes et les effets spéciaux sont bien réalisés, créant un monde visuellement captivant et immersif. De plus, la musique emblématique de la série ajoute une dimension supplémentaire à chaque épisode, renforçant l'atmosphère et les émotions.

En conclusion, la saison 2 de Star Trek est un incontournable pour les fans de la série et pour tous ceux qui apprécient la science-fiction captivante et intelligente. Avec ses intrigues stimulantes, ses personnages mémorables et sa qualité de production solide, cette saison continue de captiver les spectateurs et de laisser une marque indélébile dans l'univers Star Trek. Préparez-vous à embarquer pour de nouvelles aventures intergalactiques et à explorer les confins de l'inconnu avec l'équipage de l'USS Enterprise.

The voyages of the Starship Enterprise, encountering new diverse cultures, life forms, adventures and dangers. On the surface, exciting space adventure centuries in the future, and just on that level, the show does it very well; on another level, a lot of the stories are morality plays, allegories of human problems on Earth in the 1960s and equally valid today. What makes the show so interesting is it's about humanity, character interaction, and how we deal with problems. The stories often question whether they (meaning we) have all the answers and do the right thing. Every episode has points of interest, great action, and exciting heroic and romantic incidental music. Who cares if a lot of planet surfaces are so obviously dressed sound stages. Because there wasn't a huge budget for sets and special effects, more emphasis had to be placed on story and characterisation. There are many terrific stories, and interesting main characters head up the show. Captain Kirk, a thoughtful, intelligent leader, often headstrong and very hands-on, not afraid to kick ass or question, even disobey, his orders to do what's right. Spock, the cool, logical science officer, half human, half alien, but with probably more humanity than many. McCoy, the passionate, caring medical officer, the voice of compassion and impulse. Spock and McCoy make up and inspire opposing yet complementary sides of Kirk's character and motivation. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley are superb in the main roles, they work and blend together really well - and that's just a summary of the main characters and leading cast in a terrific show mixing adventure, philosophy and humour.

In the words of the great visionary, show creator Gene Roddenberry: 'I realized that by creating a separate world, a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam, unions, politics and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek; we were sending messages, and fortunately they all got by the network.'

Watching all 79 episodes (Seasons 1 - 3) back to back reminded me just how good and enjoyable they are - it doesn't get much better than this! Star Trek was the first show I ever watched and enjoyed on TV and I still think it's great. There's plenty of humour, and while the stories are serious adventures, the show takes itself seriously but not too seriously, if that makes any sense. Of course, those who think it's silly, or camp, are welcome to their opinion, and will enjoy it too. Many of the 26 episodes in Season Two are top notch stories, and on the whole the show is sound in terms of speculative science, authentic and credible. The episodes stand up to repeated viewings and it is possible to find something to appreciate each time.

Please note this review was written for the 2009 restored DVD edition - Amazon have also linked the review to the 2004 edition so the following comments will not apply to the earlier edition, except for comparisons.

Working from the original film negatives, the restoration / remastering has been lovingly and sympathetically executed, picture quality is sharp and pristine, belying the age of the originals. Scratches and damage to negatives, seen on the 2004 edition as occasional white lines and marks, have been removed. Colour is rich and vivid, having been enriched with a touch of added contrast in places, beneficial for the most part. The original optical external special effects have been replaced by CGI, so for example instead of the iconic model Enterprise passing a diffuse looking planet, you now have a crisp detailed CGI Enterprise passing a detailed CGI planet. In 'The Doomsday Machine' the original optical shuttlecraft was out of proportion to the planet killer, CGI has corrected that. The CGI is not always satisfactory, for example in 'The Doomsday Machine', the original planet killer was a bit blurry with a shiny indistinct featureless surface, which made it all the more sinister looking. The CGI one, while the same basic shape, has a rocky craggy surface, and doesn't look as sinister, or threatening. Until it fires. Also, in 'The Immunity Syndrome', the huge space amoeba CGI has the same basic shape and coloration, but the original optical, using coloured chemicals between glass plates which were moved gently, looked alive, organic, with depth and slightly better colour. The main title music has been re-recorded with a new soprano, and with Shatner's 'Space, the final frontier ...' looped in. The restoration's attention to detail is seen in the main titles - the letter 'H' in 'Starring William Shatner' now has its bar upswept to match the font.

Aspect ratio is 4/3 fullscreen. There are optional subtitles and plenty of featurettes of interest. As a bonus, to complement 'The Trouble With Tribbles', there is the animated sequel 'More Tribbles More Troubles' and Deep Space Nine's 'Trials and Tribble-ations'. My copy has all the DVDs mounted on swivelling pages book style so they are conveniently accessible and the episode list is visible. At the time of writing at just under £16 - about 60p per episode - this DVD set is excellent value and will hopefully give a lifetime of viewing pleasure.

Footnote: I have recently (2019) added the 2016 Blu-ray set, though not an Amazon purchase, thought it helpful to add a few comparisons. There is the invaluable option to watch all episodes restored, either with the enhanced CGI external effects, as seen on the 2009 DVD edition, or the original optical SFX and model Enterprise. There is also the option of either 7.1 sound, or the original mono soundtrack, the latter including the original recording of the main title music, where the soprano is steadier and so more ethereal. Blu-ray episodes run about a minute and a half longer than the same footage on DVD presumably due to different frame rates (NTSC at 24 frames per second vs. PAL at 25 fps) with a corresponding difference in audio pitch. Comparing with official soundtrack CDs, Blu-ray NTSC is the correct speed and pitch. The discs are conveniently mounted individually, book style.

Neue Staffel, neues Crewmitglied. Der Russe Chekov ist an Bord der Enterprise angekommen, oder war er schon immer da? Eine Frage die seit "Star Trek II - Der Zorn des Khan" die Fangemeinde bewegt und wohl niemals zufriedenstellend beantwortet werden wird. Khan, der in der ersten Staffel aus einem zweihundertjährigen Kälteschlaf erweckt und dann auf einem einsamen Planeten ausgesetzt wird, wird dort zwanzig Jahre später entdeckt und behauptet nun Chekov zu kennen. Vielleicht stimmt die Geschichte ja doch, die Chekov-Darsteller Walter Koenig als Antwort auf diese Frage immer zum Besten gibt: nämlich daß Chekov zu diesem Zeitpunkt doch schon an Bord war und dort auch noch die Toilette blockierte, während Khan mal ein dringendes Bedürfnis hatte. Ja, und sowas vergißt ein genamnipulierter Supermensch nie.

Ja, das 23. Jahrhundert... als die Sternenflotte noch nicht so militaristisch war, wie ein Jahrhundert später. Hier wurde noch nicht so mit den Dienstgraden angegeben, außer dem Captain natürlich. Hier war ein nicht so förmliches 'Mister' üblich. Mister Sulu, Mister Scott, Mister Chekov, Mister Uhura... nein, halt... da hieß es dann doch Lieutenant. Hätten die Charaktere Vornamen gehabt, wäre es vermutlich noch lockerer an Bord zugegangen. Aber die hatten sie damals noch nicht. Okay, der Captain brauchte natürlich einen Vornamen. Vielleicht um Verwechslungen mit einem Captain Roderick Kirk der USS Daedalus zu vermeiden, der so eine Art Captain Harriman des 23. Jahrhunderts war, sodaß die Klingonen, wenn sie dieser doof-naiven Flachschippe begegneten, sich erst mal vor Lachen auf dem Boden rollten und es nicht mal mehr schafften die Disruptoren klar zu machen. Aber hier haben sie es ja mit Captain James T. Kirk zu tun, also gleich 1 1/2 Vornamen, was gleich noch wichtiger und erfahrener rüberkommt. Mister Spock hat natürlich einen Vornamen, ist aber für uns Normalsterbliche nicht aussprechbar ohne sich dabei die Zunge zu verknoten, womit wir zu Leonard McCoy kommen, der dieses Unglück wieder richten darf, sollte es doch jemand versuchen. Er ist der Schiffsarzt und braucht natürlich auch einen Vornamen, denn er ist ja die Vertrauensperson und Ansprechpartner eines jeden auf dem Schiff, und wie soll man jemanden im Vertrauen ansprechen, wenn nicht beim Vornamen? Aber der damals noch (austauschbare) Rest hat Pech gehabt, von dem Sicherheitspersonal in Rot mal ganz zu schweigen, aber von denen lebte eh kaum einer lang genug um von seinem Namen Gebrauch zu machen... Aber, Moment... Pavel Chekov hat doch einen Vornamen. Ja, stimmt, doch wurde dieser im Deutschen natürlich gleich mal mit 'Pane' übersetzt, was (wie ich unlängst las) tschechisch ist und 'Herr' bedeutet, was natürlich englisch übersetzt 'Mister' heißt. Also sind wir wieder bei Mister Chekov. Toll, wie die intelligenten deutschen Übersetzer das Namen-System der Serie gleich durchschaut und wie so oft einen 'Fehler' des Original ausgemerzt haben. :) Warum der Captain seinen russischen Navigator allerdings tschechisch anspricht, ist natürlich eine andere unbeantwortete Frage.

Zur Blu-ray: Die Bildqualität ist wie schon bei der ersten Staffel sehr gut geworden. Verschmutzungen wie bei der DVD-Erstveröffentlichung sucht man hier vergeblich und auch die Farben sind prachtvoller als je zuvor.

Auch der Ton hat im Vergleich zur ersten Staffel nichts Neues hervorgebracht. Alle die des Englischen mächtig sind werden wieder mit einem DTS 7.1 HD MA-Track dafür belohnt, daß sie in der Schule gut aufgepaßt haben. Dieser kann gerade bei den Effektgeräuschen punkten, da hier die hinteren Lautsprecher auch ab und an gefordert werden. Alle anderen (ja, ich war auch immer krank während der Englischstunden) müssen sich mit dem originalen deutschen 2-Kanal-Mono-Sound begnügen. Aber zum Glück gibt es ja deutsche Untertitel und für Nostalgiker gibt es auch eine englische Audiospur in Mono.

Auch beim Bonus-Material wird wieder geklotzt. Es gibt eine ordentliche Portion Dokumentationen (Laufzeit zusammengerechnet ungefähr 155 Minuten), einen Vorschautrailer zu jeder Episode und einen Blu-ray-Trailer für das "Star Trek"-Universum. Desweiteren gibt es wieder den sogenannten "Starfleet Access", ein Bild-im-Bild-Feature, diesmal aber leider nur zu zwei ausgewählten Episoden. Hier kann man sich die Episode anschauen und bekommt in kurzen Abständen Infos in Textform oder auch in Form von Interviews mit "Star Trek"-Beteiligten eingeblendet. Leider wird dieses Extra auch hier wieder nur in Englisch und ohne Untertitel angeboten. Mithilfe von BD-Live lassen sich außerdem noch weitere Features herunterladen.

Als zusätzlicher Bonus sind die TAS-Folge "Mehr Trouble mit Tribbles" und die DS9-Folge "Immer die Last mit den Tribbles" an Bord, und das sogar in HD-Qualität. Also ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf das, was noch kommen wird.

Aber leider müssen wir hier wieder auf die informativen Textkommentare von Michael Okuda der DVD-Erstveröffentlichung verzichten.

Auch kann man, wie schon bei der ersten Staffel, wieder zwischen den Originalen Spezialeffekten und den neuen am Computer generierten wählen. Und auch wenn man die neuen von vornherein nicht mag, sollte man ihnen doch mal eine Chance geben. Besonders zu erwähnen wäre natürlich die Episode 'Planeten-Killer', die einen besonders hohen Spezialeffekt-Anteil besitzt. Wenn man sich hier im Original das angekokelte Modell der Constellation ansieht, das nur rudimentär Ähnlichkeit mit einem Schiff der Constitution-Klasse aufweist, und dem das Computer-Update gegenüberstellt, ist dies ein Unterschied wie Tag und Nacht. Als diese Folge, welche meine absolute Lieblingsepisode ist und die ich schon hundertmal sah, mit den neuen Effekten das erste Mal über den Bildschirm flimmerte, war mir, als ob ich die Episode zum ersten Mal sehen würde. Wenn die Constellation den Impulsantieb zündet oder die Enterprise Angriffe auf die Maschine des Jüngsten Gerichts fliegt, ist das ein komplett neues Fernseherlebnis. Aber für die absolut standfesten Computer-Effekt-Hasser, die auch eine elektrische Zahnbürste für Teufelswerk halten, sind natürlich auch die originalen Tricks wieder enthalten.

Auch hier wurde wieder die Reihenfolge der Erstausstrahlung benutzt, statt der logischeren Produktionsfolge. Erkennbar daran, das sich die Frisur Chekovs öfters merklich ändert. Da Walter Koenig mit einer modischen Kurzhaarfrisur in die Produktion einstieg, man aber mehr den Monkees-Look (die Monkees waren eine amerikanische Pop-Band, mit den Beatles vergleichbar) wollte, um das jüngere Publikum anzuziehen, wurde dem armen Chekov flugs ein alter Wischmop auf den Schädel getackert und ein falscher Akzent aufgesetzt: fertig war der Russe. Nach acht Wochen waren die Haare nun lang genug und Koenig durfte seinen echten Kopfschmuck zeigen. Da die ersten Folgen nun aber irgendwann zwischendurch immer wieder auftauchen, wünscht man sich doch ab und zu, daß der Bordfriseur sich mal ein Herz nehmen und die schlechtsitzende Perücke endlich mal ins Weltall entsorgen würde... Nein, halt... Das wäre ja Raumumweltverschmutzung.

Fazit: Die zweite Staffel steht der ersten in nichts nach. Der deutsche Mono-Ton ist zwar wieder nicht gerade High-Def, aber dieser falsche, hochgepuschte 5.1 Upmix, den man bei anderen Veröffentlichung "bewundern" durfte ist nun auch nicht gerade das, was ich mir wünschen würde. Dann doch lieber das Original. Und das Top-Bild und die Extras sind dafür über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Auch hier, wie bei der ersten Staffel, die Höchstnote: 5 Sterne.

P.S.: Der FSK-Würfel, diesmal im schicken blau und damit passend zur Box-Farbe, wird natürlich die Wertung auch hier nicht beeinflussen, weil er nun mal ein Wunschkind der Familienministerin ist, auch wenns und nicht gefällt. Er ist aber auch hier nur auf dem Schuber aufgedruckt, das Cover der eigentlichen Amaray-Box ist nicht beschmutzt.

Es la temporada 2 de la serie original. Imágenes remasterizadas, a elegir el audio entre varios idiomas, y con subtítulos también en varios idiomas. Amazon debería dejar claro estos detalles, pues su presentación del producto puede hacer dudar. Es una buena compra.