Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Second Season (Remastered)

I grew up on the original series. Kirk was my hero as a child. Over the years, with the many, many viewings of these three all-too-short seasons, they began to age and lose some of the vitality they once held. I recently bought the 2nd Season Remastered and I am about 2/3 of the way through viewing it. I am so pleased with it!

The clean up of the film, restoring the colors and crispness of the images, together with the recreation of the special effects of the ships, planets, etc., have turned this ancient masterpiece into a modern one. It lives again, and so much fun to watch again. The new special effects really bring it back to life without pulling a George Lucas and over-doing it. They went for making it look like it could have been done back in the late 60's had they not been limited in their budget. In other words, the new special effects are beautiful, exciting, but they do not stick out like a sore thumb from the rest of the scenes... they look like they belong, and causes the entire episode to become fresh and new! Many kudos to those involved in making this remastered series.

The restoration of year two of the original series brings new life to the old show. The carefully inserted computer generated images of ships, panets and phasers firing in episodes like the Doomsday Machine really makes a positive impact. I can find very little to fault CBS on in this bundle of CDs. Well worth the money in my opinion.

This product is a must have for any fan of Star Trek. The remastered episodes are great and really bring the original series to a whole new level of enjoyment. The price was great too. It was significantly lower then the price I've seen at Best Buy and other stores.

"Star Trek: The Original Series - The Complete Second Season (Remastered)"
(Released: Summer, 2008)
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So, the original 1960s "Star Trek" has been given the George Lucas treatment and had new special effects digitized in to make it look more modern and "realistic." The stars look starrier and there are more of them, the exterior shots show a more detailed model of the Enterprise, planets look more realistic as the starships circle them (with clouds and layered atmospheres) And, perhaps, if my eyes don't fail me, the non-special effects interior shots look like they may have had their color and contrast punched up a little (although I could be wrong about that...)

Personally, I don't see the point -- if you're going to be a true, red-blooded Trekkie, you should fully enjoy the robust kitschiness of the original series, including loving how fake the space stuff looked (or rather, how much "of its time" it was: if that's what Rodenberry and Company actually created in the late '60s, then embrace it, enjoy it, celebrate it and appreciate it for the TV time capsule it is. It's wowed fans for over forty years, so why fix what ain't broken?) Also, the alterations are relatively minor: most of the action takes place in interior locations, or on outside lots, so the opportunities to goose up the special effects only take up a little screen time. (One exception is the extensive remake of the "Doomsday Machine" episode, which looks pretty cool. Also, they re-recorded the intro theme, doing away with that super-shrill female chorus -- an alteration that, again, I find a little questionable...)

Still, I suppose that the fact that the majority of the other Amazon reviews are more concerned with the technical specifications of the delivery formats -- rather than whether we should digitally alter the culture of the past -- is indicative of where this is all headed. It's a slippery slope, but doubtless some day all these old TV episodes will be completely overhauled and made into 3-D virtual reality adventures in which you can play any character you want (try not to be a red-shirt!) etc. etc. The march of technology will go on: Fred Astaire will dance with a vacuum cleaner, Han Solo won't shoot first, the Enterprise will no longer look like it was made of balsa wood. I suppose the real tipping point is whether or not The Powers That Be will still allow us to see and buy the original versions: I personally think that it's better to watch TV shows and movies the way they were originally released. Just because you can alter them, doesn't mean that you should. In this case, though, little harm is done. Kirk is still Kirk, Spock is still Spock, McCoy still says "He's dead, Jim!" in almost every episode. And the new planets do look cool. Beam me up, Scotty! (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue film reviews)

First off this is obviously priced better than the previous HD/Combo season...so that is a major plus.

There are many fan favorite episodes here as well as a ton of extras. Totally worth it.