Customer Reviews

Star Trek Deep Space Nine - The Complete Seasons 1-7 [DVD] (2004)

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

With glee I write this review for my favorite show of all time.

If you passed on the Deep Space phenomenon at the time, you were'nt alone. Many who had interest in TNG didn't really take to DS9 at first, myself included. I started watching it again in the second season and it slowly grab held of me. There are a few bad episodes ("Melora" for one), but overall these are the most fascinating, imaginative stories ever collected into a series of any kind. It's a saga no doubt, a soap opera of sci-fiction, but Deep Space went so much further. With great special effects and audio, the production value alone was entertaining. But the episodes were extremely dark at times too, with the greatest characters, a healthy budget and fantastic writing. This combination led "Kira" in an interview to state that she believes this will be one of the most time enduring Television shows ever created. I really agree. It generally becomes a sleeker show over time, but always interesting and asking extremely dark moral questions. My favorite episode of all time "In the Pale Moonlight", I believe is in the sixth season. An episode where the absolute moral boundary of war is questioned and Sisko and Garek do the craziest sh*# to assure security for the federation. It's a Narly episode. Garek actually kills a Romulan Senator by sabotaging his craft and Sisko actually trades biogenic weapons material for information. All to draw the Romulans into the war against the Dominion, I was stunned. There's another episode where the Dominion actually engineers an attack against themselves in order to destroy the military of a planet inwhich they eventually occupy. The way the episodes fold back into one another, is masterful. Don't miss it, treat yourself to extraordinary, well-thought-out sci-fi for a change. I own them all and plan on hermetically-sealing them for future generations. :)

Star Trek Deep Space Nine will always be the cult within the cult.Although not as popular as the other Star Trek spin-offs(even the anemic Voyager who had the benefit of the UPN network behind it),it has the diehard follwing of Trekker Niners who'll easily attest that DS9 was the best Trek show ever.

Unlike the other spin-offs,the show as well as the characters evolved in its seven seasons.Notably The lead character Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) who started as a brooding arbitrator of a rundown space station.In the later seasons, the character was injected with the same passion that fueled Kirk and Picard,becoming a great Captain as well as accepting his role as the Bajoran's Emissary and in the end,joined the Bajoran prophets.Sisko's crew includes first officer/Bajoran lieson Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor),Trill science officer Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell),Cheif Medical Officer Dr Julian Bashir(Alexander Siddig),Cheif of Operations Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) and changeling Security Chief Odo (Rene Abourjonios).Station residences includes Ferengi Barkeeper Quark (Armin Shimmerman), Cardassian Tailor, former spy Garak (Andy Robinson) and Sisko's son Jake (Cirroc Lofton).

Although known as the darkest of all the Trek shows(despite having some of the most humorous episodes in the entire franchise)DS9 has the most complex storytelling ever to come out of Gene Roddenberry's universe.

In season one we have the humble beginnings of the station formerly known as Terok Nor.Sisko was more of an administrator than the passionate individual he is to become,Kira Nerys is unsettlingly fiesty,Julian Bashir rates high on the arrogent meter,and Jadzia Dax comes off as somewhat aloof.The shakedown season still plays better than the latter seasons of any of the following Trek Series(Voyager,Enterprise).The standout episodes include Past Prologue,Captive Pursuit,Progress,In The Hands Of The Prophets,and Duet,which in many opinion, is the best ever DS9 episode.

With the final season of TNG over shadowing,as well as the upcoming Voyager series in the wings ,DS9 was trying to find it's footing in the second season.Besides character development,we see the seeds of events begin to evolve,including the rise (and eventual downfalls) of Kai Winn & Gul Dukat,the re-introduction of The Original Series "Mirror,Mirror" Universe,as well as the dreaded Dominion.

The standout episodes includes Cardassians,Whispers,Blood Oath,The Maquis,The Wire,and The Collaborator.

Season two ends with the ominous The Jem'hadar,preparing us for a direction never seen in Star Trek

With the Dominion threat,and the introdution of the battleship,Defiant,DS9's third season was finally coming into it's own.

Along with more character development in the lead as well as the supporting cast(Garak,Dukat,Kai Winn,Rom & Nog),the writing was even stronger than before with great episodes such as House Of Quark,Civil Defense,Second Skin,Visionary,Past Tense,and Explorers.Also introduced in this season are Leeta,Ishka("Moogie"),Brunt,Shaakar,and Lt.Commander Eddington.

Unfortunately with Star Trek Generation hitting the big screen,and Star Trek Voyager's big premire,DS9 was lost in the shuffle.But it would use it's underdog status to emerge as the greatest Trek series the following season.

The final ingredient that was needed in DS9,Worf becomes a member of the crew in the fourth season,and it will never be the same again.

Not only it was Starfleet's Klingon officer's introduction,but Way of the Warrior was DS9's most exciting episode(it's equivelent of TNG's Best Of Both Worlds),dealing with the Federation-Klingon Empire relation being strained and underminded by the Dominion,which concluded with the greatest battle scenes ever seen on televised Trek.

Sisko ,promoted to Captain in the previous season,finally emerges as a commanding presence,in part to his image makover including a bald head & goatee.

Many classic episodes including WOTW,The Visitor,Little Green Men,Our Man Bashir,Rejoined,The Sons Of Mogh,Bar Association,Hard Time,and Broken Link which concludes with a surprise ending for the season.

This is the season where the writers & producers realise that the show will never come close to being the success that TNG was,and decided to make the show something to be proud of and making it's place be known in the Star Trek Universe.

DS9's fifth season proves there is so much more to the show once described about a station that didn't "go anywhere".When most TV shows wear out their welcome by season five,ST-DS9 just kept getting better

One of the factors is the strong writing,as well as the characters evolution(Worf & Dax's romantic relationship,Bashir's genetic enhancement secret)and such classic episodes as,Looking For Par'Mach In All The Wrong Places,The Ship,Children Of Time,By Inferno's Light/In Purgotory's Shadow,and Trials and Tribble-ation(featuring the original ST crew).

The season ends with the beginning of the Dominion War which has been building up since season three.

In the sixth season ,you come to realise that it's far removed from the premise of a darker edgier Trek of the first two seasons ,only to emerged as the greatest Trek show of all time.

The writing had become more ambitious than any other latter day Trek Series(TNG,VOY,ENT),and it was only the penultimate season. The six-part Dominion War Arc(including classic episodes A Time To Stand,Rocks & Shoals,The Sacrifice Of Angels) showed the producers going for broke as well as establishing DS9 as a show that's not afraid to take chances.

The best season six episodes are too many to list(....Cordially Invited...,Waltz,Far Beyond The Stars,Inquisition,His Way,Reckoning,The Valient),but it's In The Pale Moonlight that is the highlight of the entire season(as well as my 3rd favorite episode behind season one's "Duet",and four's"The Way Of The Warrior")as Captain Sisko wrestles with his conscience as Garak helps him to dupe the Romulans into joining their efforts in the war.The season ends on a dark tone with "Tears Of The Prophet" in which Jadzia Dax is killed by a Pah-Wraith possessed Dukat.

Although season six staked DS9's claim as Star Trek's best ever show,the seventh, and finale season of DS9,coming after a three season winning streak,hits a bump during the season ,yet it was still superior than any other show of it's genre .

The death of Jadzia Dax somewhat took the wind out of the series,and the new Dax,Ezri(Nicole DeBoer)an unprepared new Trill host,was written as"Ally McTrill",only to emerge as more comfortable with the roll as the show wound down.

Some episodes ranged from mediocre(Prodigal Daughter) to downright weak(The Emperor's New Cloak,Extreme Measures) .Aside from the Finale Arc(including Penumbra,Strange Bedfellows,Tacken To The Wind & Dogs Of War),Take Me Out To The Holosuite,The Siege at AR 558,Chimara and Inter Arma...ranks as some of DS9's greatest episodes.The ten part finale arc which ended with What You Leave Behind closed the show on a fitting yet premature ending.

Paramount released the DVD sets throughout 2003(the tenth anniversary of DS9)as well as insatiate the many fans of this brilliant yet overlooked show(hopefully a series of TV movies in the future),reminding us of how great DS9 was,and that hopefully we'll return to her someday.

Ten Favorite Episodes

1.Duet (first season)

2.The Way Of The Warrior (fourth season)

3.In The Pale Moonlight (Sixth Season)

4.The Visitor (Fourth Season)

5.The Seige at AR-558 (Seventh Season)

6.Trials and Tribble-ations (fifth season)

7. ...You Are Cordially Invited(sixth season)

8.Looking For Par'Mach In All The Wrong Places (fith season)

9.Take Me Out To The Holosuite (seventh season)

10.Far Beyond The Stars (sixth season)

I saw this series when it first aired and I have seen it in syndication many times since. I even watch it now on the Spike channel. It is by far one of my favorite Star Trek's or any TV series for that matter. The last few seasons were especially exciting. It is amazing how you watch the characters grow over the years. I can't say enough positive things about this series. Sisko, Nerys, Odo, Jadzia, Worf, Quark, Bashir, and Garak added wonderful characters that really made a difference to me. The guest stars were great too. The directing, cast, stories, sets, music, and the rest the production are first class all the way. If you are a fan of SciFi and not buying a number of other TV series, buy this set.

Now that said, I would like to say Paramount needs to be slapped up side the head for being so greedy, and that is saying it nicely. I can buy a season of ANY other Non-Paramount series for half or less the price. Why are you making us fans of Star Trek suffer? Do you think, oh they are Star Trek fans, they will pay anything? Give us some credit. I am not buying this series unless you lower the price. I bought all the original Star Trek series and even three seasons of Next Generation. But after spending over $650 for six seasons I realized this is absurd. I bought six seasons of Stargate SG-1, a great series, for under $300 with tax. Here's a concept Paramount, sell it reasonable so you will make more sales and your customers will appreciate you.

I decided to go ahead and get this set since they at least give a break for buying all seven seasons together. Do not use Amazon overnight or two day shipping unless you are home all day. I paid for two day shipping but I didn't know Amazon would insist the package be signed for in person. UPS took four days to finally bring it by when I was home after work after they said they couldn't except a signed receipt and I then told them to come after 5 PM.

This set is FANTASTIC. Even better than I remembered. For some odd reason my wife and I thought the first couple seasons weren't all that good. Now that we are watching them again, we are very impressed with all the episodes. The only thing I can figure is at the time they were originally shown we were more interested in TNG since they were exploring space and we thought a space station was not as interesting. Seeing them now I realize that was just not true and we did it an injustice thinking that way.

ADDENDUM: Don't buy thses for more than fifty-five a season. I have seen them for that and and now kicking myself for paying this price. Furthermore they have now brought down the price on STTNG set and I bet this is next.

Briefly put, this was a great and very underrated series that I preferred over all other Star Trek series, even the mostly excellent NextGen. Probably because, unlike TNG, DS9 was not afraid to be about non-idealized heroes, and because the writers on 'Nine were willing to take chances in dark, humorous, and unexpected ways.

Would give it 5 stars, but I have to dock it one star for the (ridiculously high) price, and the fact that this series really deserved (and was plotted out for) an eighth season, but was denied it due to some truly idiotic decision-making by the suits at Viacom and Paramount.

Would also add that, as much as I'd like to buy the series, I won't until the price comes down to about $60/season, and $399 or less for the 7-season box set. That's fair, the current pricing isn't... its just greed + stupidity on Viacom/Paramount's part.

Hey V/P, my credit card's always at the ready if you ever decide to get realistic about this.

PS- Since I wrote this review, the Viacom/Paramount suits have taken one step forward, one step back on pricing.

The good news: The first three seasons of DS9 are now available for around $55 each- a very fair price, and I encourage anyone interested in the series to pick them up, especially Season 3 (the show was still finding its legs in Season 1, and for part of Season 2).

Judging from the (VASTLY) improved Amazon sales ranks for these seasons, the lower prices have definitely goosed sales, so perhaps the suits will finally get it through their skulls that this is the way to go.

The BAD news: The price for the full 7-season set jumped from the already-ridiculous $630 or so to $818. LOL, just too funny, especially considering that with the price drops on the first 3 seasons, you can still buy the 7 seasons individually for $630 and save nearly two hundred bucks. Not that you'd really want to, since you'd still be vastly overpaying for Seasons 4 thru 7.

Even if you are a huge DS9 junkie, I'd say hold off 'til all the seasons are at the Seasons 1-3 price, and the total series' box set drops to $399 or so. That's the fair price, too bad Viacom still doesn't get it.

PPS- (1/10/11) Well, whaddya know? FINALLY a good price on the Complete Series set. Yay Viacom, you finally got it together. Or it just wasn't selling at the ridiculous former price, whichever.

This show has something that TOS, and TNG doesn't. Repercussions. I loved how everything affected everyone on this show. How the actions of those on the Enterprise would rattle those behind the lines at DS9. No more was it prevalent than in the pilot episode, depicting the destruction of the federation fleet at wolf 359. WHere Benjamin Sisko losses his wife, and eventually gets stationed on the run down space station DS9. A stark difference to the trekking enterprise, who is equipped with all the best that Starfleet can provide. You are welcomed to a cast of characters who all have darker sides. Something unheard of in the galant trekking crews of the past who mingle never outside their ranks. In the first few seasons the crew and personel at DS9 are hard to work with. A surroundings of different races from all over the galaxy, Where the federation is a small presence. Not in the safety of federation space, but the war torned boundaries of the bajorans. You see the struggle, and the strength, and ultimately the unique friendship that is created later. That uniqueness is key in the last seasons of the show, where war is waged against the Dominion and victory depends not on the fleet, but in the unforeseen bonds that arise from a new friendship. The cost this time for failure is not a ship and crew but all of the races and planets of the federation, and all of the alliances and governments of the quadrant. DS9 will entertain me for the rest of my life, I am happy to own all seven seasons of this one of a kind show.

I just finished the last episode of Deep Space Nine, called "What You Leave Behind," after watching every single episode in order. All 176 of them.

I am convinced that DS9 is the best acted, written, directed, and produced television series of all time, not just of the Star Treks. It goes far beyond standard science fiction and ventures into the realm of things like spirituality and even metaphysics. It's the best Star Trek series because it is the most realistic. The other series are mainly episodic, with the Enterprise crew solving whatever problem they encounter, and then triumphantly warping off into space at the end of the episode, having no bearing on the following episode. With DS9, the characters and their relationships are very real, complex, and developed, and they face the consequences of their actions for the rest of the series. Also, the very black-and-white good-vs.-evil of most of the rest of Star Trek is totally gone here. Everything is a much more realistic shade of grey. You see the good guys forced to do things that are not moral. You feel compassion for the bad guys.

As for the original Star Trek series from the 60s, it's too cheesy for me to take very seriously (although it's to be expected of its era, and I admittedly have never seen a whole episode). As for Voyager (1995-2001), while it does have some good episodes, the best word I have seen someone use to describe it is "anemic." And of the new series, Enterprise (2001-2005), I've only seen a couple episodes but it doesn't interest me too much.

Deep Space Nine is often neglected, since it was sort of the "middle child" between TNG and Voyager. But while all of the other series have more or less the same premise (a starship flying around and exploring space), DS9 is set on a space station in a region reeling from the recently-ended and bloody Cardassian occupation of Bajor. Next to the station is a wormhole that not only connects the Alpha Quadrant with the Gamma Quadrant but is also the home of the Prophets, the noncorporeal aliens who are the Bajoran gods. There is nothing else like it in all of Star Trek. Especially starting with the 3rd season (though the 2nd season has a lot of good stuff too) and getting even better in the 4th and 5th, and becoming unbelievably good in seasons 6 and 7. Plus there are episodes with amazingly cool titles like "Whispers", "Rapture", "In Purgatory's Shadow", "By Inferno's Light", "Far Beyond the Stars", "Wrongs Darker than Death or Night", "In the Pale Moonlight" (which is often accepted as not only the best episode of Deep Space Nine, but of any Star Trek series), "Image in the Sand", "It's Only a Paper Moon", "The Changing Face of Evil", and "When it Rains...". And of course "What You Leave Behind," which I think is the best title the series could end with.

The Next Generation (1987-1994) I have always loved. But as a series on the whole, the richly developed, growing characters and continuing storylines that run throughout the entire series of DS9, from 1993 when its pilot aired to the final episode of 1999, are so compelling that it narrowly edges out TNG as my favorite Star Trek series. After TNG, there's a huge gap and then the others kind of land in a limp, half-hearted pile an indeterminate distance below.

You can purchase each season of this wonderful series separately for nearly $200 less.

Don't be fooled by the people offering a "brand new factory sealed" DS9 set for ridiculously cheap prices [mine was 100 bucks cheaper than the official Amazon price]- they are bootlegs from China, they are new, do look similar to the US official sets but are defective in quality- you can tell the difference because of the cheapness of the plastic used for the cover, cheap paint used to paint the logo on the discs, and the fact that the discs have bubbles in them. They may or may not freeze when played depending on the quality of your player. You are getting ripped off, they cost 1/5th to 1/10th in China, these guys claim they are from the US, they do claim to have addresses here but they have the sets shipped directly from China to your home [takes about 3 weeks to arrive] and you wind up paying for shoddy stuff. I know this because it happened to me, I wound up filing a claim with Amazon, and thank god those guys are honest and helped me recover my money. So- 5 stars for the show, 5 stars for Amazon, and negative 5 for the bootleg selling scum

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is the most unique, and in my opinion the best, of the five Star Trek series. Set on a space station and not a starship (though they get their own starship in the Defiant), Deep Space Nine gives you the chance to really live in the Star Trek universe for seven seasons. Since the crew can't just solve planet-wide problems in 45 minutes and move on to the next system, you end up with much deeper and long-lasting storylines. Just as one example, you first hear of the Dominion in season 2 before you ever meet them in the Season 2 finale, and they remain a major part of the series until the very last episode. Actions have consequences for every character. And there are as many fascinating recurring characters as there are in the main cast.

Due to its ongoing-story-line nature, this is also the best Trek series to own on DVD--catching an episode now and again on TV just doesn't cut it as well with Deep Space Nine. Season one starts out fairly slow (except for gems "Emissary," "Duet" and "In the Hands of the Prophets") but gets better and better withe very season right up until the end. Season 6 is, in my opinion, the best season of any Star Trek series.

The special features are also a lot of fun, but the real joy here is getting to watch the entire epic story without a single commercial and at your own convenience. Buy it!

Even though all the previous 'STAR TREK' series were filmed in color, their stories were, for the most part, BLACK&WHITE..... And then came DS9, a study of Gene Roddenberry's universe in complex shades of gray. With thought provoking episodes like 'The Darkness and the Light', in which Kira is forced to confront the consequences of her actions as a member of the Bajorian resistance (considered a terrorist group by the Cardassians), and 'In the Pale Moonlight', where Sisco finds himself an unwitting accomplice in the assassination of a Romulan Senator and then an active participant in it's cover-up, DS9 will challenge as well as entertain you.