Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Animated Series, Vol. 6: The Slaver Weapon/ The Ambergris Element [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget Ambergris; the real story here is "slaver weapon," which science fiction writer Larry Niven adapted (virtually intact) from his short story "the soft weapon" (available in a collection entitled "Neutron Star"). It's one of Niven's finest, much tighter and less pedantic than some of his novels, and it translated easily, perfectly to the Trek universe. We got an interesting new set of villains (the Kzin), an intelligent weapon from a long-dead empire, real mystery and real jeopardy. Not bad for a twenty-two minute cartoon.

In the period between the original's cancellation and the resurgence of the franchise via the movies, there was an animated version of the series that ran for two years on NBC. While not up to the Disney standard, the show did feature most of the actors (Walter Koenig, the sole member absent), great incidental music, and many of the same scriptwriters of the sci-fi classic.

This particular tape features one of the best episodes of the series: "The Slaver Weapon." A tightly-told show that allows greater use of Uhura, the character voiced by Nichelle Nichols, as she, Spock, and Sulu are held captive by a race that wishes to make use of a "doomsday" device left abandoned on a desolate world. The various transformations of the weapon, each deadlier than the former, make for a most intriguing story.

The animated version was able to do some things that would've been impossible to create on the original's budget. A great tale is woven in "The Slaver Weapon."

Unlike earlier reviewers, I find the other installment "The Ambergris Element" to be less interesting. Thus, I can't give it five stars.

This volume 6 is awesome. This has got to be one of my favorite volumes. The Ambergris Element is one of my favorite series. When you see Captain Kirk and Spock transformed into water breathers, it is awesome, because I felt like I was experiencing the things that they were feeling.

They faced a lot of hardships through this great series. however, they overcame those difficulties, but it was totally awesome. This series is definitley worth the money.

The Slaver weapon is also a very well written story, It is also kind of funny, but it is very exciting. Hope this review helps.

This has got to be one of my favorite series. The slaver weapon was good, it has a wonderful plot, and there was various degrees of action.

The ambergris element has got to be my favorite, because I love water, Spock and Kirk got attacked by a huge red marine creature( Argo Sur Snake), similar to an earth whale. After that encounter with the sur snake, the inhabitants genetically tranformed them into beings that could live in water.

You will experience a great adventure, where Kirk and Spock are trying to find a way to reverse their transformation, and save the inhabitants from severe geological events. This is a great series, worth every penny!