15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two classic episodes, June 5, 2000
One of the real treats about Parmount releasing two episodes of Star Trek per DVD is that the entire series was so good you're guaranteed of at least getting one good episode. But on rare occasion, the unthinkable happens--you get not only two good episodes, but two GREAT episodes on one offering. Such is the case with this Trek DVD.
Both episodes are classics and they both look stunning being remastered.
Of course, Space Seed is probably the most famous episode on the set, namely because it features the first appearance of Khan. The episode itself is what classic Trek is all about--suspense, drama, great characters, well-written dialogue and some nice action. Ricardo Montelban delivers a great performance as the arrogant, superman Khan and Shanter plays off him point for point. And, of course, this episode features one of the all-time great Star Trek bloopers of all time (watch DeForest Kelly's reaction very closely when Khan is first coming out of stasis and Shanter knocks his prop off his belt). Space Seed is simply marvelous--one of the top ten episodes of all time.
Ranking right up there with it is the superb and underrated A Taste of Armageddon. Kirk and company are sent to make contact with a society that fights their war by computers with "casualties" being tallied and herded into disentegration chambers. No sooner have Kirk and Spock beamed down then the Enterprise is declared a war casualty, a set of events that does not agree with Kirk. Kirk must then spend the rest of the episode upping the stakes to save his ship and to stop the war. (Prime directive you ask? We don't need to steeenkin' prime directive!) It's an episode that features the theme of Kirk vs. computer (though not as much as Return of the Archons or the Ultimate Computer) and it also features the recurring theme that if you rank above Kirk most chances are you're either an idiot or gone mad. In this case, it's the Federation ambassador who can't see beyond his limited range and almost gets red-shirted for it. It's a great episode that is still exciting and entertaining to watch today and is certainly looks spectacular on DVD.
These are two superb episodes...and they've never looked better. Episodes like these are why classic Trek has endured to this day. And like great wine, it gets better and better with age.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
DVD Special Features, November 20, 2001
You may be asking . . . "Why buy this DVD?" Well, it is much more than classic television at its finest digitally remastered and enhanced best. If you have gotten this far, you obviously already know the storyline . . . This ENTIRE DVD series is outstanding in its production for DVD. When you watch this DVD for the first time, it will be like viewing these episodes for the first time ever! The image clarity and brightness is far superior to any previous version or broadcast of either episode. The colors are rich and the sound has been remastered in Dolby Digital for 5.1 Surround sound for all audiophiles! It includes added bonus footage of the weekly original broadcast preview trailers and fully interactive menus for scene or feature selection. Each disc includes liner notes with trivia for each represented episode, giving original air dates,etc. In special features, you should note that the episodic trailers have NOT been remastered. Each episode has the option of English Subtitles for the hearing impaired (they of course can be turned on or off). I HIGHLY recommend this ENTIRE series. Order each volume in this collection--it will be a lifetime treasure! By the way . . . this volume, AND volume 10 & 11 of this series are increasingly difficult to find in stores, so order your copy of on Amazon.com right NOW! You won't be sorry!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Apocalyptic Politics, August 1, 2002
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 12, Episodes 23 & 24: A Taste of Armageddon/ Space Seed (DVD)
Politics gone wrong is the theme behind these two early Trek winners.
"A Taste of Armageddon" is what Captain Kirk and his landing party get on Ameniar 7, a planet that theoretically has been at war with one of its neighbors for centuries. But Kirk and his party find nothing wrong on the planet - no ruins, no signs of violence, no injuries or bodies. Bureaucrat David Opatoshu sadly informs the landing party that they and their ship were blown up in orbit - and since Kirk and the others are obviously quite well, and a quick call on their communicators confirms that, yes, the Enterprise is, too, the mystery deepens. Opatoshu explains that, in order to avoid the bloodshed of real war, Ameniar and its enemies long ago decided to fight their wars by computers. Those areas listed as casualties are obliged to report their populations to disintegrator booths, for neat disposal. Now, if the Captain and his crew will merely oblige, by walking into the disposal ovens...
A solid script, and a chilling premise. Opatoshu is a squirrelly and cagey bureaucrat, the charming Barbara Babcock a credible tender trap, and Gene Lyons really shines as a humorless by-the-book Starfleet diplomat who nearly gets the Enterprise destroyed by his own lack of common sense.
"Space Seed" was the forerunner story to the second movie in the later film series, "The Wrath of Khan." The Enterprise encounters a centuries-old derelict in space, with the cryptic enough name of "Botany Bay." It contains several dozen cryogenically frozen perfect human specimens, the leader of whom, Khan, is awakened for questioning. Khan turns out to be Khan Noonian Singh, the leader of an uprising of eugenically created Nitzschean supermen that nearly destroyed Earth in an atomic war at the turn of the 21st century. With the aid of the Enterprise's romantic Lieutenant Marla McGivers - who is helplessly smitten with Khan's physique and dominant persona - Khan attempts to take over the Enterprise, and conquer the universe it will give him access to in this new age.
Ricardo Montalban lends his unique charisma to the role of Khan, and Madlyn Rhue sympathetically plays the lieutenant of divided loyalties. One of the more satisfying melodramas of the series, it also contains at least one of Star Trek's famous amusing bloopers, if you pay attention - a crewmember who runs straight back into a gas-filled room he was easily escaping, as if responding to the off-camera director signalling, "No! Go back! Go back!"
Both quite good, "Space Seed" especially.
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