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The Final Frontier 1
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Final Frontier 1 (Disk 1 of 2).adf
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VIDEO-REVIEWS
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VIDEO-REVIEWS
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1991-09-09
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VIDEO REVIEWS
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STAR TREK - EPISODES 77, 78 & 79
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Reviewed by Simon Plumbe
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In an unusual move, CIC decided to release the final three episodes of the
original series on one tape at a price of £12.99. Although more expensive
than the other tapes, it is actually cheaper on a pounds-per-episode basis.
One up to CIC!
The first, "The Savage Curtain" is very much a traditional affair, with Kirk
and Spock beaming down to an area of Earth-like land on an otherwise
inhospitable planet whose surface is entirely composed of molten lava. They
didn't beam down unnoticed - in fact they were actually invited down by none
other than Abraham Lincoln!
They soon meet a creature formed from "living rock" who orders Kirk and Spock
to join in with Lincoln and the image of the Vulcan philosopher Surak to
fight, representing good, against Ghengis Khan, a Klingon and two others
representing evil.
Ultimately the episode is the weakest of the three, mainly because it is an
idea over used in TREK - the characters being forced to do something against
their will - and this is not the best example of such a story line. In this
episode, Kirk and Co. are forced to fight the "evil" foursome in order to
save the crew of the Enterprise. William Shatner manages to tone down his
"hamming" but there is nothing memorable about this one. With saying that,
it's no Spock's Brain either!
Next is "All Our Yesterdays". A definite classic! The Enterprise is in orbit
around the planet Sarpeidon, whose sun is about to explode. The Enterprise is
there to offer emergency assistance, but when Krik, Spock and McCoy beam down
they find the planet deserted except for a librarian and a few of his clones.
The librarian reveals that all the population have left, travelling back into
various stages of the planet's history. Kirk is accidentally sent back in
time, to the time of the planet's Witch Hunts, and Spock and McCoy chase
after him, but they are sent to the planet's Ice Age.
It is here that the story starts to get interesting. Spock and McCoy find
that they can't return to the library and Kirk is captured and accused of
being a witch when he is seen talking to McCoy (who he can't see) and calling
him Bones!
While in the Ice Age, McCoy falls prey to the insufferable climate and is
close to death, when he and Spock are rescued by a woman called Zarabeth - a
convict who was sent back to the Ice Age as "punishment".
It is here where the problems really start. When people are sent back in
time, their bodies and minds begin to change to suit their new environment
and Spock starts to revert to the time when Vulcans were violent and
emotional and he falls in love with Zarabeth.
It's a great episode with superb performances from all concerned. It is a
novel twist on the cliched time-travel stories and it all adds up to classic
TREK.
The final episode on the tape is the much-maligned TURNABOUT INTRUDER.
This episode sees the Enterprise responding to a distress call sent from
Carnus II where virtually all the inhabitants have died from radiation
poisoning. The only surviviors are a Doctor Janice Lester (an ex-girlfriend
of Kirk's) and her assistant. However, she resents and envies Kirk's position
as captain of a starship, and when left alone with him, she uses an alien
device and transfers her life essence into Kirk's body and Kirk's into her
body.
She is then able to board the Enterprise posing as Kirk and fulfill her life-
long dream to command a ship, while Kirk, in Lester's body, is kept sedated.
It is a much-criticised story by many fans, but I find it to be an enjoyable
episode with very few faults and I can't see why it has been targetted like
this. We see Scotty joining in with the "big three" of Kirk, Spock and McCoy,
giving more diversity in the storylines. It's a pity that we didn't really
see more of this happening until season three.
The acting all round is fantastic with Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and
James Doohan adding to the tension of the episode showing that the crew KNOW
something is wrong with Kirk, but they don't know what. Great stuff. Also you
have a superb performance from William Shatner who gives a VERY convincing
performance of Janice Lester in Kirk's body. You can believe that it is a
different person, right down to the way he moves and all his mannerisms.
Well, if a series has to end, it's best to go out on such a high!
This episode was never transmitted on the Network, instead, it was chosen to
start STAR TREK's syndicated run, which is still going today!
Overall, the tape represents fabulous value for money - one average episode
and two good ones. It was rare to see a tape with one good episode on for
Season Three, so this comes as an added bonus.
It was great to see that CIC Video avoided falling into the trap of "ripping-
off" the fans and putting TURNABOUT INTRUDER on a tape of it's own for £9.99.
Well done CIC, and don't tape too long in releasing the Animated episodes!
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - EPISODES 9 & 10 (THE BATTLE and HIDE AND Q)
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Reviewed by Barry Beale
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"The Battle"
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As we start this 5th tape of the first season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION, we see the horific past of Captain Jean-Luc Picard when the
devious Ferengi use a mind meld to capture Jean-Luc and put him back on his
old ship, the STARGAZER, to relive the final moments of the ship's
destruction and of the Captain's.
My personal opinion of this episode is a good one, because we see more of
Picard's past than we usually do. Patrick Stewart plays a good role in this
episode and we have Commander Will Riker, trying to overcome the most famous
move in Starfleet history - the PICARD MANEUVER.
The script is well written for an early episode, not like LONELY AMONG US,
where there is no story, or should I say plot to it, but that is another
story. Rob Bowman has done an excellent job in this episode and you get a
really tense atmosphere and there are a fair few surprises here and there.
The effects are outstanding for an early episode in the season and there are
some good camera angles on the ENTERPRISE and the STARGAZER.
The plot thickens as the story goes, Rob Bowman has done some very good
episodes further on into the season, and also the second season starting with
the third episode, ELEMENTARY, DEAR DATA. All I can say is that as the
seasons move on, the stories get better.
"Hide and Q"
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This is the second episode on the fifth tape and what a good one this has
turned out to be as well, we see the return of the Q entitiy.
As we begin this episode, we see the ENTERPRISE rushing medical supplies to a
nearby planet when the ENTERPRISE is rudely interrupted by Q, who will not
let them continue their mission, and to pass Q offers them a challenge, a
game in fact. Q then takes the following officers to participate in his
childish game: Riker, Tasha, Data, Geordi, Worf, and Acting Ensign Wesley
Crusher.
This episode has turned out to be one of the best episodes in season one, and
there is hopefully many more to come. There are some very nice touches, for
example when Q turns into Data, and the best part of the episode is when
Wesley gets himself killed!
Q offers Riker a very special gift, but I will not go into that any further,
you will have to watch the episode yourself, but for most of you fans out
there will agree this is one of the better episodes of season one, as this is
a great tape to collect. I have already said before that there are some
surprises, there are also some great special effects and even though it is an
early episode it is very entertaining and the foreign legion are very nasy.
Have we seen the last of the Q entity or will he be a menace in future
episodes? I must admit that Q is becomming very soft, his role is not as
nasty as we saw in ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT and I hope they don't make his
character as less menacing as they have in this episode because John de
Lancie is an excellent actor and I wouldn't want him to be firing Andrex
toilet tissue at the ENTERPRISE.
STAR TREK - A COMPUTER GENERATED FILM by Tobias Richter
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Reviewed by Simon Plumbe
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If you've already read the PD reviews, you will know about Tobias Richter's
forthcoming Next Generation video animation. Well, I was fortunate enought to
have seen it's predecessor, an 8-minute Star Trek animation released last
year.
The animation revolves around four Klingon vessels (three D-7 Battlecruisers
and an L-42 Bird Of Prey) which are heading towards the planet Aretris.
Starfleet is informed, and the Enterprise is sent to intercept the ships. The
Enterprise arrives, a battle takes place, and the victorious Enterprise flies
off into the sunset on another mission. There are a few sound effects, but
most of the sound is in the form of music taken from the soundtrack album to
STAR TREK V by Jerry Goldsmith.
The animation was created entirely on an Amiga 2000, with a 68030 second
processor and a 68882 maths co-processor with a hard drive. There are 6000
frames of animation and every frame is in ray-traced overscan HAM. (For those
of you who don't know, that means a resolution of approximately 368 by 260 in
4096 colours!). It took 20 days just to calculate all the images for the
animation!
The animation is absolutely stunning and it really shows what the Amiga is
capable of doing in the right hands. Although it is short, it is very
watchable and enjoyable. Within the first three days of getting my hands on
the video, I had seen it over 20 times!!
One thing to look out for is the two scenes on the bridge. The graphics have
been taken straight from Tobias's two-disk Star Trek game! A nice touch! All
of the sound effects have also been taken from the game.
But, how can you get to see it? I received my copy from Tobias Richter
personally, and obviously, I can not copy it for everyone who wants to see
it! However, I think it was shown at the Commodore Show in London in late
1990 and I am taking it to various Star Trek conventions around the U.K. so
as many Trekkers can see it as possible (assuming the committees will let me
show it!!). If you are at a convention and I'm there with the tape, try and
see it - it's an experience! If you would like the tape for yourself, it can
be bought direct from Tobias for £8 (including postage) along with his
current demo reel which has a total running time of 15-20 minutes. For his
address, see the Reader's Adverts section. Rating - 97%
Send your reviews in - of videos OLD and NEW!