Where are some of those outstanding reviews you are talking about?
Star Trek has made its first appearance in high-definition home video on HD-DVD and to be quite honest it comes very close to being absolutely perfect. The biggest drawback to this set is the price point as the lowest we have seen it around various retail outlets have it just below the $200 price point. Regardless though, those Star Trek fans out there with an HD-DVD player lying around may be hard pressed to skip out on this set this holiday season. This is Star Trek The Original Series Season One in its pristine form, looking and sounding better than ever in this HD-DVD combo format box set.
Episodes: 9.0 It is the original season of the original Star Trek series, what is not to love?
Video: 9.0 The original Star Trek has never looked this good as it has been restored absolutely beautifully.
Audio: 8.5 Not as impressive of an upgrade as the video but the re-recording of the musical score is absolute breath-taking.
Special Features: 9.5 HD-DVD owners will be pleased with the immense amount of exclusive features packed in here.
Final Score: 9.2 Highly Recommended
Full review may be found at:
http://www.ps3center.net/story-1272-HD-DVD-Combo-Format-Review-Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-Season-One.html
Or how about this:
In the end, I’m incredibly torn on this first Star Trek appearance on high definition home video. It’s so close to perfection, yet the obvious anti-Blu-ray decision to make it a Combo Format release detracts from the pure high definition package – in terms of content placement/navigation, number of discs, and absurd pricing. I’m not advocating Blu-ray in any respect with that statement as I remain 100% format neutral both professionally and personally. Even with the HD DVD exclusive announcement, Paramount could have released a separate HD DVD-only set on fewer discs for fewer dollars. Instead, many prospective buyers will be crossing their fingers, toes, and everything in-between hoping retailers run some equally absurd holiday sales.
Full review at:
http://dvd.themanroom.com/dvd-review.php?id=567
More? Okay:
Each of the episodes was painstakingly remastered frame by frame, and I must say, this is one of the best restoration jobs that I have seen. All forms of print damage have been removed from the episodes, and this is by far the best these shows have ever looked. The color timing was also redone and what is presented is a fabulous rendition of what the show should look like. Primaries jump off the screen, especially red. Where the show really shines though is in the shadow detail. The image just pops now, especially with the excellent lighting employed on the set where on close-ups, a beam of light generally shoots midway through the characters faces leaving their foreheads and chins with a shadow across them. This effect in HD gives the image a really 3D look with excellent depth and clarity.
The show was remastered with a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix for it’s box set release on DVD a few years ago, and Paramount has raised the bar in this release by offering a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. In listening to the episodes, you can certainly tell that this was originally a mono mix to begin with since most of the show is presented across the front soundstage and collapsed to the middle. The ambiance provided by the rear speakers are good enough to let you know they are there, but they rarely call attention to themselves except when the re-recorded opening theme is played. This really opens up the soundstage and shows what the audio mix brings to the table. Is the audio as good as a feature film? No, but it isn’t meant to be. For a 40+ year old TV show, the audio has never sounded so sweet!
If you are a fan of this show and an owner of a HD DVD player, then I can see no reason why you wouldn’t want to have this version of Star Trek in your movie collection. The audio and video upgrades are well worth the investment and seeing this show presented in HD reminds me of why I fell in love with the franchise in the first place. Highly Recommend!
Full review is here:
http://www.hometheaterspot.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?fid/226/tid/139458/
And then there's this excerpt as well:
Image Transfer Review: Paramount takes the novel step of pushing the HD DVD format by offering this upgrade only as a combo package of the standard DVD and the HD DVD discs; even if you don't have an HD DVD player now, this set is future-proofed (assuming you think that HD DVD will survive the HD format war—and even if it doesn't, you still have the SD versions). Does it translate well to HD? The answer is, absolutely, yes. The original series was shot on film, and while the original effects might not have held up to such close scrutiny, the reworked effects aren't a problem (other than a few stray shots, such as one in Where No Man Has Gone Before where the Enterprise still looks like a toy in one brief shot).
The main improvement is the color saturation and differentiation, which at times is just gorgeous. This was an early color television program (when it first aired, I saw it in black & white), and it thus placed very heavy emphasis on primary colors. In particular, wild gel lighting is seen often, giving unnatural and bright color to the otherwise drab sets. The colors come across with dazzling clarity, with the reds in particular being eye-popping without suffering from the usual video or chroma noise in the process. Many shots seem rather softened, possibly due to video filtering, but there's still reasonably good grain structure so it still looks film-like for the most part, even though there isn't quite the crispest clarity one might have wanted. Although Captain Kirk's skin tones seem a little reddish, others seem normal so that appears to just be how his makeup was designed. Skin texture and drops of sweat have nice clarity, as does the velour of the uniforms. Edge enhancement is present but only in very mild form, and one has to look hard to spot it, so casual viewers will in all likelihood never notice it. The picture is definitely worth the upgrade, and the SD DVD side looks pretty nice as well, though it has the expected aliasing issues and inability to handle the color that the HD side manages with aplomb. The grade would be even higher if the filtering had been a bit more controlled.
Paramount finally offers commentaries on its classic Trek episodes, as well a few new materials in addition to those previously seen on the season one set. Not only are the special effects souped up, that's done with care and taste, and the original film is substantially spruced up. The picture is often eye-poppingly excellent, and those who held out on the original season one package should be very happy to pick up this one.
Found at: http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/showreview.php3?ID=9792
Pretty outstanding reviews by professional reviewers, yes?If you want more, there is more...but your fingers should do the work of finding them. :-)