Product Details

• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
• Writers: Gene Roddenberry
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
• DVD Release Date: April 24, 2001
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000059XU0
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,810 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  #20 in	Movies & TV > Television > Classic TV > Star Trek: The Original Series
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• For more information about "Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 22, Episodes 43 & 44: Bread And Circuses/ Journey To Babel" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

• This is item 22 in The Star Trek: The Original Series Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Bread and Circuses"
Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discover that Captain Merik (William Smithers), commander of the long-missing Starfleet vessel S.S. Beagle, has become "First Citizen of the Empire" in a re-creation of ancient Rome on an obscure, unnamed planet. Under orders from the Emperor, Merik forced his own crew to die in gladiator battles and lured other Starfleet personnel to the same fate. Now with Kirk, McCoy, and Spock in hand, the Emperor's barbaric (and televised all over the planet) amusements carry on another day. While the script takes a swipe or two at the sometimes less-than-elevated tastes of global audiences, the episode's most interesting idea is the existence of a long-suffering cult of sun worshippers, a parallel to the suppressed Christian groups in Roman times. For Trekkers, however, this one is full of the essentials: a surreal premise, a hostile planet, lots of fighting, and Scotty (James Doohan) on the bridge. --Tom Keogh

"Journey to Babel"
Years before George Lucas knocked us out with his wildly imaginative bar scene in Star Wars (in which a broad mix of exotic creatures mill about), Star Trek did much the same thing in "Journey to Babel." Serving as a transport for a variety of extraterrestrial diplomats, the Enterprise becomes a warp-capacity hotel for truly eclectic visitors. (Director Joseph Pevney credits the makeup artist with this episode's impressive array of alien species.) The story finds murder committed aboard the ship and an attack on Captain Kirk (William Shatner), all in an effort to sabotage the imminent signing of a peace treaty. But against this mystery is an even more curious family drama featuring Spock's conflicts with his parents, the Vulcan ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), who disapproves of his son, and his human wife, Amanda (Jane Wyatt). Story editor Dorothy Fontana wrote the script after deciding it was time to show us the oft-mentioned mother and father of the Enterprise's first officer (Leonard Nimoy). We can thank her for inventing all the fascinating details of a complicated family relationship that ultimately became crucial to a couple of feature films and even a memorable episode of The Next Generation. --Tom Keogh

Product Description

"Bread and Circuses," Ep. 43 - Kirk, Spock and McCoy must contend with a former starship captain-turned-traitor, Roman gladiators and television ratings in this unusual story. "Journey to Babel," Ep. 44 - The Enterprise is crowded with alien ambassadors, Kirk is attacked and Spock is in a terrible dilemma: he's replaced Kirk on the bridge of the Enterprise, but his ailing father needs a transfusion in order to survive.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda ARE Spock's parents, October 23, 2001

By	Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

There really is not an obvious connection between the two second season episodes of Star Trek included on Volume 22 of this DVD series, but the cover photograph of Mark Lenard as Sarek tells you why you want this one in your collection. Following the wreckage of the SS Beagle, the Enterprise comes upon another one of those planets that is essentially Earth with a twist (remember Hodgkins' Law of Parallel Planet Development for future reference). In "Bread and Circuses" the twist is that the Roman Empire has never fallen. The Enterprise discovers some of the Beagle crew are still alive because they are being used as gladiators in the Roman's televised Circus. But the worst news is that Merrick, the Beagle's captain, has been helping Proconsul Cladius Marcus in violation of the Prime Directive. When the away team is captured, Marcus tries to get Kirk to help by making Spock and McCoy fight in the arena. But as Merrick tries to explain to Marcus, Kirk is a starship captain who will not give in to coercion. "Bread and Circuses" is an average Star Trek episode, although there is a nice scene between Spock and McCoy as they sit in their cell worrying about Kirk and Uhura's explanation of planet's religion of "sun" worshippers is a surprising twist for network television in the Sixties.

Certainly "Journey to Babel" has the best teaser in Star Trek history. The Enterprise crew is decked out in their formal dress to welcome the Vulcan Ambassador Sarek aboard. Kirk and McCoy are surprised when Sarek snubs Spock and go into complete shock when Spock tells that Ambassador Sarek and his wife are his parents. Sarek is one of several delegates bound for a conference that will debate the admission of Coridan to the Federation (the planet is rich with dilithium). When one of the delegates shows up dead, Sarek is a prime suspect until it is revealed he has a heart condition. McCoy is all ready to perform surgery with Spock serving as a blood donor when Kirk is also attacked by the assassin. With the captain incapacitated, Spock cannot relinquish command, even if it costs his father his life. Mark Lenard as Sarek is absolutely the ultimate Vulcan and even Leonard Nimoy seems to be acting more Vulcan-like in this episode. Jane Wyatt as Amanda is clearly too emotional for a woman who has been living with Vulcans most of her life, but she looks great when she smiles and casting Mrs. Anderson from "Father Knows Best" is just a tad short of being as great as that of casting Lenard. "Journey to Babel" is just a wonderful episode with every scene involving Spock and his parents a treat, especially when father and son comment on Amanda's emotional outburst on the subject of logic. It is just so clear these two love her so much. Simply a wonderful, wonderful episode that deserves to be on everyone's list of Top 10 Star Trek episodes.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Critical Trek Episode: Journey to Babel, July 3, 2001

By	"adman_" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Over the course of 79 original Star Trek episodes, can anyone imagine the gravity of this series and its progeny without the importance lent by the episode "Journey to Babel?"

No other original series episode visually demonstrates the scope and inclusiveness of The United Federation of Planets as does this episode. Over the course of the series, the grand United Federation of Planets is represented mostly as a boatful of multicultural humans plus one Vulcan. Sure, the costumes and productions values are not up to modern-day snuff--the Tellerite masks were no doubt deplorable in their OWN time--but folks, THIS is THE original Cantina scene. In an admittedly shoddily re-set USS Enterprise conference room, we have, perhaps, THE original "casual" meeting of indiscriminate races and alien life-forms. Not only is does this scene represent the true substance of seven years worth of DS9 Promenade beauty-shots, this is one of the only episodes in the entire series that attempts to demonstrate that humans were working with other races to solve to varied woes of newly encountered species. Ironic that in one of the only other instance in which we saw an Andorian, he is crazed murderer looking to escape a Federation penal colony. (Andorians are, after all, one of the five founding races of the the Federation, along with Terrans, Vulcans, Tellerites, and the Alpha Centauri).

This episode is worthy of recommendation even were it not for the very compelling 'human' drama of a successful hero facing the life-threatening choice of saving the life of his own unsupportive father. Spock's prioritization of the good of the Enterpise (and by that logic, the good of the Federation) before the life of his own flesh-and-green-blood father takes on further resonance when the themes of their reconciliation are revisited at the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

This is yet another example of the drama woven almost haphazzardly woven inot the tapestry of Star Trek. In the end, many, many story lines in the franchise would wind up "making sense," seemingly by accident. It's this "logic" to it all that keeps us interested: the consistency of the on-screen story and it's adherence to the codified "rules" of the the Star Trek universe: many of which, we FANS formulated. Yet it all seems to have been impacted by the personalities "behind the screen," the Roddenberrys, Bermans, and myriad writers, who have at least kept up the appearance of maintaining a dialogue with fans.

After all, it was really the fans who decreed that the Andorians and Tellerites were among the original five founding races of the Federation. And we fans who keep the franchies alive through weak patches, like the one officially known as "Star Trek Voyager."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bread & Journey, June 18, 2001

By	McHenry John (McHenry, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

"Bread & Circuses"...An episode written by Gene Roddenberry & Gene Coon...an episode with the hidden Easter message. It works quite well.

"Jounrey to Babel" Meet Spock's father Sarek for the first time.Jane Wyatt stars as Amanda...Spock's mother. Kirk is almost killed in an assassination attempt and Sarek almost dies.We also get a "first look" at the Andorians. I feel kinda sorry for the Tellarite though. He suffered from bad makeup.