Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig
• Directors: Michael Mahler
• Writers: Michael Mahler, Gene Roddenberry, Harry Werksman
• Producers: Chris Cowan, Dan Sarnoff, George Zaloom, Jean-Michel Michenaud, Les Mayfield
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 69 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303944736
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #222,702 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Released in 1996, this straight-to-video effort focuses almost entirely on the classic Star Trek series, as told by the principal actors of Star Trek: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Walter Koenig. Shatner, of course, gets center stage, telling anecdotes about the way each of the roles was cast and why each actor was uniquely suited for his or her role. A great deal is also made (and rightly so) about what a breakthrough the show represented in its multicultural casting. Shatner, who also serves as host, repeats many of the same stories he used in his book, Star Trek Memories, as do his old cast mates. Indeed, this is one of several Star Trek retrospective tapes in which Nichols or someone else tells the story about her encounter with Martin Luther King Jr., at a point when she was considering quitting the show because her part seemed so inconsequential. --Marshall Fine

From the back cover

As James T. Kirk, the intrepid captain of the Starship Enterprise, William Shatner was at the forefront of the world's most popular sci-fi series. Now, for the first time, Shatner shares his personal remembrances of the original TV series and the Star Trek phenomenon. Joining him are original crew members Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelly, James Doonhan, George Takei, Nichell Nichols and Walter Koenig. You'll hear never-before-told stories behind Star Trek. How the fans rallied to save the show after it was canceled. How Chekov's look was styled after The Monkee's Davy Jones. Why the ship's chief engineer was Scottish, the origin of the Vulcan hand-salute, and much more. William Shatner's Star Trek Memories is the behind-the-scenes story of a classic series that lived long and prospered, hosted by the man who captained its amazing journey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Shatner grants equal time to costars, February 3, 2004

By 

Eddie Konczal - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek: Memories [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Before I start my review, let me address what I think is a bit of revisionism going on among Star Trek fans. Some reviews of "Star Trek Memories" (written by "Next Generation" snobs, no doubt) suggest that William Shatner had nothing to do with the success of "Star Trek," and that his career would have gone nowhere had he not been lucky enough to win the role of James T. Kirk. First, I would argue that after Gene Roddenberry, William Shatner is probably more responsible for the phenomenal success of Star Trek than any other person. Without his bold, histrionic, over-the-top performance as Kirk, I seriously doubt Star Trek would have achieved cult status shortly after its original cancellation in 1969. And without the development of that cult following into massive proportions, there would have been no movies, no "Next Generation," no "Deep Space Nine" or "Voyager" or "Enterprise" - none of it. Second, Shatner was already established when he joined the "Star Trek" cast. Before Trek, Shatner had already played Shakespeare on stage, starred on Broadway, and appeared in major motion pictures (notably "Judgement at Nuremburg"). Love him or hate him, you can't deny that Shatner brought a unique talent to the original "Star Trek" that was crucial to the show's popularity.

Anyway, on to the video review. "Star Trek Memories" is a highly condensed documentary based on Shatner and Chris Kreski's book of the same name. I recommend the book over the video - you've seen all the clips already, and after a while the documentary succumbs to "talking head" syndrome. But there are definitely some worthwhile moments here, thanks to generous allotments of time to Shatner's costars. James Doohan entertains with alternate accents for Scotty, while Nichelle Nichols offers a moving account of her meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who convinced her not to quit the show. Shatner himself offers a cogent theory about Star Trek's popularity stemming from a relatively young nation's search for its own mythology.

If you've read the book, the video isn't essential, and might even be superfluous. But it makes a nice gift for fans of the original "Star Trek" series. "Live long and prosper!"

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best TOS videos yet!, August 10, 2000

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Star Trek: Memories [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Of all the Trek documentaries that have come out in recent years, this is one of the best. Narrated by William Shatner, the video features never-before-seen footage of all the main TOS actors, who share personal insights about the show and the characters they played. You will get to hear James Doohan do some other accents besides Scottish (er, what if "Scotty" had been a Brit instead?) Nichelle Nichols tells the story about her encounter with Martin Luther King in much more detail than I've ever heard her do before, and explains the origin of Uhura's first name, "Nyota" (meaning "star") in the Trek novels. George Takei sets the record straight about that "wildman with a rapier" incident on the set, and D.C. Fontana adds a number of behind--the-scenes stories. I especially liked Leonard Nimoy's discussion of how the Spock character grew and evolved in terms of logic versus friendship, etc. All in all, I really enjoyed this video.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good honest look at the original series, October 2, 2005

By 

Eric Kassan (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My "Star Trek" Memories (Paperback)

At first I was skeptical that this book would be "William Shatner's version" of the Star Trek series. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the author used his access to the other people involved to get everyone's story. Almost everyone involved was heavily quoted, even when it reflected negatively on the author.

One thing to be aware of is that the book is written for Trekkies- that is people with a solid knowledge of the series and characters. Episodes are referred to by title, and the reader is expected to recall the details. The writing itself is good and enjoyable.