Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 18, 2016

It may be minus Chekov (who, coincidentally, wasn't with the original series right out of the gate, either...poor guy has a hard time making it through from start to finish!) and plus his alien replacements Lt. Arex and Lt. M'Ress, and it may be animated rather than live-action, but Star Trek: The Animated Series is every bit Trek as anything else to have ever born that name. The show debuted on September 8, 1973, ran for two seasons (the second of which was condensed from 16 episodes to six), and ended its run a bit over a year after it warped out of the gate. For fans, that four-year stretch between the end of The Original Series and the debut of The Animated Series must have felt like a lifetime. Blu-ray fans can relate. TOS' third season debuted on Blu-ray in 2009. That's practically double the wait. But CBS and Paramount have finally released the show, individually, now, and no longer exclusive to the recently released, and much pricier, original crew box set. The show is, of course, terrific, and the Blu-ray presentation is fine. Beam on down to the sections below for more.

These are the animated voyages of the starship 'Enterprise.' Her two-season, 22-episode mission: to explore strange new animated Saturday morning territory, to maintain interest in the franchise, to return most of the original voice cast, to adventure to places and interact with strange new beings heretofore unavailable to a show made in the live action realm, to boldly go where no other cartoon has gone before!

Episodes are fewer and runtimes are shorter, but don't mistake the simplified look and structure of The Animated Series for a lesser product. This is Star Trek in a very recognizable form and fashion beyond the obvious differences in visual style, and in some ways a much more free product than aired on television a few years prior. Certainly not as iconic but capable of doing so much more with its stories, creatures, and worlds, the animated realm, at the time of its production, was practically a godsend for the creative minds behind the show that, now with the stroke of a pen rather than worrying about practical special effects, could put the crew in any situation, alongside any alien lifeforms, and on any sort of world the mind could imagine. The result is, much like every iteration of Trek, a fantastic collection of episodes, some better and more memorable (and by a large margin in a few instances) than others, but in every way the embodiment of the show in advancing the crew's mission and Roddenberry's vision for the series, not only in terms of nuts-and-bolts characterizations and interstellar dealings but in a much more crucial, and often more interesting, exploration of the human condition through the prism of a future world exploring the stars.

While the show looks a little dated, at least by modern CGI standards which (though whether contemporary Saturday morning digital is an "improvement" over classically styled animation is up for debate), and sounds a little dated, too, it again retains all of the core Star Trek characteristics in tone and cadence, in the basic look and texture of the show, in all the key musical cues and sound effects with very little serious alteration. It's not so much amazing that the show just feels like Star Trek -- shot composition, environments, basic show structure, thematic relevance -- but that it infuses the episodes with that same spirit and character camaraderie. Certainly, the key factor here, even beyond the loving creations of the animated world and the richly textured, albeit a bit more compact, storylines, is the retention of the core voice cast. That Kirk-Spock-McCoy triumvirate is as pleasantly banter-filled as usual, and the show captures that same authentic sense of knowing characterization and understanding of the intimate relationship quirks and qualities that played such a major role in making the original live action show a runaway success and arguably both the defining Science Fiction show and one of the most important television programs in history. When considered not a spiritual successor or a spinoff but rather a serious, full-fledged continuation of Star Trek, the animated series stands as an equal to the original, perhaps not so acclaimed but certainly every bit as important, relevant, and entertaining.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Star Trek: The Animated Series' 1080p transfer doesn't quite live up to the excellence of more contemporary animated fare, but the presentation holds its own with crisp definition and vibrant colors. The image displays at a 4x3 aspect ratio, featuring vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 display, ensuring preservation of the series' original broadcast ratio. The source is frequently littered with pops, nicks, and debris, some static, some instantaneous. The good news is that, while frequent, they don't intrude into the core qualities of color presentation and clarity. The image is sharp and clear, with well defined lines and a good level of inherent detailing on characters, alien worlds, star fields, and Enterprise doodads throughout the ship and particularly on the bridge. Most surface areas are rather crude -- faces and clothing lack any kind of texturing, but the 1080p presentation does boost raw clarity by a substantial amount over the standard definition presentations of yesteryear. Colors are appropriately vibrant, with the crew shirts -- red, mustard, and blue in particular -- the standouts. Various blinking lights and consoles throughout the bridge, and any number of abundantly colorful star fields, alien worlds and characters, and additional attire colors are nicely defined, though rather monochromatic. Of interesting note, however, are some shifts in the basic palette between some episodes. Look at screenshots 38 and 39 in this review. They're a good example of shifting contrast as well as how the show reused some static elements between episodes. If audiences can accept the relative crudeness of the source, the Blu-ray, despite some shortcomings in the raw materials, boosts clarity and colors at a substantial level over any previous home video release.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Star Trek: The Animated Series' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack doesn't exactly explore the furthest reaches of surround sound excellence, but it's a solid enough bit of Star Trek audio goodness that serves the material well enough. Music is more front heavy than balanced and immersive. Clarity is fine across the board and the presentation is well balanced along the front. Surrounds do carry a little more in terms of action. Red alert klaxons blare through the back channels, again not with the sort of vigor and stamina one might find in a new big budget movie but nicely setting the tone and pace of any scene requiring their alert. Likewise, various beeps and bloops around the bridge spring to life from all over, while some heavier effects of starship movement and such in space are satisfyingly deep and dense. Dialogue is clear and detailed with fine front-center presence and priority. What the track lacks in finesse and aggression it makes up for in balance and sincerity.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Star Trek: The Animated Series contains a few text and audio commentaries on all three discs and several additional extras on disc three. This release also contains "collector cards," one for each episode, that depict key artwork from the show and key crew information. These come housed in a handsome black sleeve separate of the Blu-ray case, but nestled beside it in a larger slipcover.

Disc One:

• Text Commentary: Star Trek Historians Michael and Denise Okuda again provide their patented text-based commentaries, on this disc for "Yesteryear." The text commentaries appear at the bottom of the screen and deliver not only insight into the episode in question but point out fun trivia from the greater Trek universe.
• Audio Commentary: Writer David Gerrold for "More Tribbles, More Troubles,"
• Storyboard Gallery (1080p): A collection of storyboards for "The Infinite Vulcan."

Disc Two:

• Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda for "The Eye of the Beholder."

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentaries: David Gerrold for "Bem" and David Wise for "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth."
• Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda for "The Counter-Clock Incident."
• Drawn to the Final Frontier The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series (480i, 24:31): A quality look back at show origins, its audience, getting the series off the ground, ideas that carried over from the live action to the animated realm, Gene Roddenberry's involvement, voice work, the animation process and style, the benefits of working in the animated realm, the series' place in Trek canon, the show's Emmy win, and the show's legacy.
• What's the Star Trek Connection? (480i, 7:12 total runtime): A quick look at some of the ways the animated series connects to other shows and films in the larger Star Trek universe. Included are Introduction, Sehlat, Tribbles, Mind Meld, Holographs, Kor, Orion, Eugenics, Rapidly Aging Crew, James T. Kirk, and Native American Crew.
• Show History (1080p): A brief text-based overview of the show.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Animated Series sometimes feels like the forgotten Star Trek, but that shouldn't be the case. Even from the animated realm and perception as "kid fare," condensed runtimes, and a relatively short run, the series is Star Trek through and through, capturing the flavor, thematic relevance, character detail, and fun factor of the original series. For series fans who may have let it fall through the cracks or longtime admirers of the series and the larger universe around it, there's no better time to visit it than right now. CBS/Paramount's Blu-ray delivers quality video and audio and a nice allotment of extra content. It would be nice if there was a little more there, but that's the only real, even relatively minor, downside to this release. Highly recommended.