I already have the entire Original Series (TOS) on DVD, so I didn't see much need to buy it again, but a few 'must have' episodes on Blu-Ray seemed like a pretty cool idea. This collection includes the two pilot episodes, "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before", as well as three other favorites, "The Space Seed", "Errand of Mercy", and "The Trouble with Tribbles". The episodes were chosen because they represent beginning points for pivotal Star Trek characters including Capt. Pike, Capt. Kirk, Khan, and the Klingons. It's unclear how "The Trouble with Tribbles" fits into that mix, but it is a beloved episode. Sadly, the collection is quite short on bonus features, just a two-minute introduction to "The Cage" by Rod Roddenberry, Gene Roddenberry's son. Another slight disappointment is that unlike the full season Blu-Ray collections, which allow the viewer to choose either the original visual effects or the new "remastered" digital effects, this single-disc collection only offers the remastered versions. This is a negative in my opinion, since they just don't seem to fit in with the rest of the show. Other than that, these Blu-Ray episodes offer a lot of high definition goodness. The level of detail these recordings bring out is really amazing. Of course, sometimes it brings out things the viewer was likely not meant to see like the coffee stain on Spock's shirt in one scene from "The Trouble with Tribbles". One annoying aspect is they've punched up the color saturation to the point of garishness; for instance, I never remember sick bay having lime green walls, but in "Where No Man Has Gone Before", that's the color they appear, almost exactly the same shade of green they use today for "green screen" items. Fortunately, the episodes are kept at their original 1960s running times of about 51 minutes each. "The Cage" runs about 61 minutes. I point this out because the broadcast versions of the "Remastered" episodes were cut down to about 43 minutes each. All in all, the "Origins" collection is an attractive package for someone who came to Star Trek through the recent J.J. Abrams feature films and wants to delve into the original series or someone who doesn't already own the entire original series on DVD and has no wants a few essential episodes. I'm pretty dubious of the overall value of Blu-Ray discs over DVDs, and this collection has precious little to recommend it. I'm just glad I got the thing for about a third of the inflated suggested retail price.Read full review
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