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44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No Dogs in Volume 20, December 13, 2000
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 20, Episodes 39 & 40: Mirror Mirror/ The Deadly Years (DVD)
The Star Trek DVD series is being issued in more-or-less the order in which the episodes were originally produced. So to date, some of the best episodes of the series have been issued in the same volume as some of the most, well, mediocre. Both episodes on volume 20 are fantastic and emblematic of the best shows in the original series. "Mirror, Mirror" easily makes just about everybody's top ten list of best episodes. While the concept of alternate realities was hardly invented on Star Trek, this series (and its progeny) handled the "world-turned-upside-down" set up better than any. "Mirror, Mirror" is in many ways the inspiration for The Next Generation's "Yesterday's Enterprise" episode which finds the Federation losing an interstellar war to the Klingons. The mirror universe first introduced in "Mirror, Mirror" was the setting for a good half dozen episodes of Star Trek Deep Space Nine. The premature aging concept at the core of "The Deadly Years" is hardly innovative either, but again, it is executed deftly on Star Trek. Watching the crew stumble into senility is amusing, but doubly so since we've got the benefit of still knowing the actors some thirty years after this story was filmed. Jimmy Doohan (Scotty) for one seems to age better in this episode than he would in real life. If you're cherry-picking your way through this DVD series, this is among the handful of Star Trek volumes that you really must have.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two Popular Treks on this DVD, March 1, 2001
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 20, Episodes 39 & 40: Mirror Mirror/ The Deadly Years (DVD)
Volume 20 of Paramount's complete Star Trek collection contains two ever popular episodes from Season Two. More than thirty years after its original airing, Mirror, Mirror, remains on most Trekkers' lists of Top Ten episodes. This story has also spawned a spinoff novel by George Takei, follow-ups on Deep Space Nine, and been touched upon in William Shatner's Star Trek novels. It's not hard to see why. From the redecorating of the ISS Enterprise, to the sexy uniforms, to being able to watch each Trek character engage in evil scenery chewing, this episode has something for every Star Trek fan. Indeed, this is one of the few episodes to make use of the entire ensemble cast. George Takei and Nichelle Nichols in particular shine here. The Deadly Years is less effective now than it was originally. Looking back with 20/20 hindsight, it's a relief to know that the Star Trek regulars have aged more gracefully than portrayed here --even if some of them have been aided by cosmetic surgery and expensive hairpieces. Actually, hairpieces are one of the problems here. The visual restoration has been successful to the point that the seam in William Shatner's toupee is glaringly evident when the "old" Kirk's hair is combed straight back. (Look at the forehead, just under the hairline, and you can't miss it.) For the most part, though, the old-age makeup stands up to today's standards surprisingly well. The Corbomite reference near the episode's end is a testament to how seriously story continuity was taken. Sound and picture have never been better.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Beloved Characters Turned Upside-Down, August 2, 2004
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 20, Episodes 39 & 40: Mirror Mirror/ The Deadly Years (DVD)
Another reviewer hit the nail right on the head when he stated that so many times in the Star Trek: The Original Series DVD sets, a very good or great episode is paired with a real clinker. However, not this time. This DVD pairs up two terrific episodes that succeed on every level. Both episodes offer the varous cast members ways to play off of their usual characterizations on Star Trek:
MIRROR, MIRROR: I love watching films or TV episodes where you know that the cast and crew must have had a ball filming it. Mirror, Mirror is one of those episodes in spades. Those who have been to a Star Trek convention have, more than likely, seen the Star Trek blooper reel. It seems that a quarter of the bloopers shown are from this episode. William Shatner, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols must have felt cheated, not being able to play their snarling, savage altnerate counterparts for the entire episode. Of the four, only Shatner, in his inimitable small-screen Charlton Heston way, gets to play his evil self at all. George Takei gets the Snidely Whiplash prize for the most flamboyant evil counterpart. With his red uniform shirt, huge scar and lecherous leer, Takei jumps into the role with both feet as the Gestapo-like head of security on the I.S.S. Enterprise. Walter Koenig plays the alternate Chekov as a sneering rat and is, unfortunately, gone from the episode too soon. The best performance in the episode, however, is from Leonard Nimoy who manages to make Spock fit into the alternate universe while still maintaining the integrity and intellectual honesty that is so much a part of the character. It's one of the great episodes of the series and regretably wasn't followed up either later in the series or in one of the feature films. I would have loved to have seen how the crew of the I.S.S. Enterprise was doing 15-20 years in the future.
THE DEADLY YEARS: Star Trek fans have become used to the robust images of the original crew. So much so that even when the cast, some well into their sixties, appeared in the feature films from 1979 to 1991, the producers had them jumping through the same hoops as if they hadn't aged since the 1960's. (The Simpsons brilliantly spoofed the advanced ages of the Enterprise crew in a vignette called "Star Trek 6: So Very Tired.") In The Deadly Years, however, fans did get to see their heroes age and become physically weak and vulnerable. The writers of this episode do an excellent job of aging each character differently. (I especially liked the touch by DeForest Kelly of making Dr. McCoy's southern accent thicken as he aged). Most moving, however, is the relationship between Kirk and Spock when the aging disease takes hold. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy's chemistry works very well because of their divergent acting techniques. Shatner hams it up and emotes furiously while Nimoy underplays, letting only the smallest indication of emotions leak out. Of course, the way the roles were written do, to a large extent, dictate how the actors perform them. However, try to imagine Shatner playing off of the much more emotive Martin Landau who was originally cast as Mr. Spock. When Spock conducts the competentcy hearing that removes Kirk from the captain's chair, Shatner becomes emotional and accuses Spock of stabbing him in the back. Nimoy, through very subtle gestures, shows that the situation pains Spock just as much as it does Kirk. It's a terrific job of acting, writing and directing that works perfectly.
The picture quality is as clear as a bell. The only problem I have with this (and all the other) DVD's is that not enough extras were included. The DVD only offers teaser previews for the episodes on the disk. Too bad the producers of this DVD didn't include the bloopers from Mirror, Mirror -- they would have added immensely to the DVD.
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