When
it comes DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK fans are generally
divided into two camps. There were those that looked upon DEEP SPACE
NINE as a bastard child, and those that thought it was the best of all
the STAR TREK television series. As for myself, I fall into the
latter category, firm in my opinion that STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
was indeed the best of all the offshoots of the science fiction universe
created by Gene Roddenberry. Those that didn’t care for DEEP SPACE
NINE usually disliked the space station setting; complaining that
there was no spaceship that took the characters to the far reaches of the
galaxy. However, what I found refreshing about DEEP SPACE NINE was
that it was the most character driven of the STAR TREK series, and
that the show wasn’t afraid to go over to the dark side of storytelling,
stepping back from Roddenberry’s utopian view of the future.
STAR
TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE ($130) has been released on DVD by
Paramount Home Entertainment in a six disc set, which contains all
nineteen episodes that aired in the first year. Disc one contains the
episodesEmissary,Past Prologueand A
Man Alone.Emissary is the two-hour series premiere
that has been broken up into two episodes for subsequent syndicated
broadcasts. The episode itself is one the series best, starting things off
with a bang, with Emissary being the kind of television
program that telegraphs that this show is going to be a radical
departure from previous incarnations of STAR TREK.
Steeped
in political intrigue, alien mysticism and a personal journey of discovery
for its leading character, Emissary tells of the arrival of
Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) at Starfleet’s newest outpost,
which happens to be a former Cardassian space station in orbit around the
planet Bajor. As the new commander of Deep Space Nine, it will be Sisko’s
job to hasten Bajor's membership into the federation, after the planet and
its people suffered through an oppressive Cardassian occupation. To
achieve this objective, Sisko requires the cooperation of Bajor’s major
religious leader, which leads the new station commander to the discovery
of a stable wormhole in Bajoran space that connects to the Gamma Quadrant
of the galaxy. Episode two, Past Prologue, tests the loyalty
of Sisko’s Bajoran first officer, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), after
a Bajoran terrorist comes to DS9 seeking asylum from the Cardassian
military. In A Man Alone, station security chief Odo (Rene
Auberjonois) finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation,
after a criminal that the Constable once sent to prison turns up dead on
the station.
Disc
two contains the episodes Babel,Captive Pursuit,Q-Lessand Dax. Babelfinds the
crew of DS9 falling victim to engineered virus designed by the Bajoran
resistance to eliminate the Cardassian threat to Bajor. In Captive
Pursuit, Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) befriends a visitor from the
Gamma Quadrant who turns out to be the "prey" in a hunt being
carried out by his people. Q-Less features a visit from the
omnipotent Q (John De Lancie), who brings his usual brand of havoc to DS9.
The episode Dax delves into a past incarnation of the
symbiont life form known as Dax, with Jadzia (Terry Farrell), the symbiont’s
current host, finding herself on trial for a murder possibly committed by
her immediate predecessor, Curzon.
Disc
three contains the episodes The Passenger,Move Along
Home,The Nagus and Vortex. InThe
Passenger, a criminal is killed on his way to DS9, but when the
theft of a valuable shipment continues according to the criminal's plan,
everyone begins to question if he is really dead. Move Along Homefinds the DS9 crew playing an alien game, in which they don’t know
the rules, after Quark (Armin Shimerman), the Ferengi proprietor of the
station’s bar is caught cheating visitors from the Gamma Quadrant. The
Nagus marks the arrival of the Ferengi leader on DS9, who selects
Quark as his successor. In Vortex, a prisoner in Odo’s
charge informs the shape shifting Constable that he has encounter other
members of his race in the Gamma Quadrant.
Disc
four contains the episodes Battle Lines,The
Storyteller, ProgressandIf Wishes Were
Horses. Battle Lines marks a surprise visit of Bajor’s
spiritual leader to DS9, who requests a tour of the wormhole, then finds
herself caught in a battle between two warring factions in the Gamma
Quadrant. The Storyteller finds O’Brien and Dr. Bashir
(Alexander Siddig) tending to an ailing Bajoran community leader, who has
the ability to chase away a "mythical creature" that poses a
very real threat to his village. Progress finds Major Kira
leading the evacuation of a Bajoran moon and forced to deal with a crusty
old colonist, who refuses to leave. In If Wishes Were Horses,
the imaginations of the station’s inhabitants come to life, posing a
very serious threat to DS9.
Disc
five contains the episodes The Forsaken,Dramatis
Personae,DuetandIn the Hands of the
Prophets. In The Forsaken, the crew of DS9 has to
deal with a probe from the Gamma Quadrant, while Odo fends off the
romantic attentions of the visiting Lwaxana Troi (Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry). Dramatis Personae finds a Klingon ship
exploding after returning from the Gamma Quadrant, with the survivors
having a very strange effect on everyone aboard DS9, all except Odo. In Duet,
a Cardassian, who may or may not be a war criminal, arrives on DS9 in need
of medical aid. In the Hands of the Prophets marks a visit
from a self promoting religious leader named Vedek Winn (Louise Fletcher),
whose issues with the curriculum being taught at the DS9’s newly
established school threatens the alliance between the Federation and Bajor.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all of the episodes from STAR TREK: DEEP
SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE available on DVD in the proper full screen
aspect ratios of their original television broadcasts. The presentation of
the episodes is on par with that of the best of the STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION DVD box sets. Shot on film, with the special effects
completed on analog video, the episodes have their strengths and
weaknesses. Film sequences without special effects work provide the
cleanest and sharpest aspects of each episode. The special effects
segments can appear a bit softer and occasionally display analog video
anomalies. Colors usually appear robust, with the flesh tones coming
across in a convincing manner. All of the episodes look better on DVD than
they do in syndicated broadcasts, but they are clearly television
productions, with flat lighting and contrast. Digital compression
artifacts are well concealed, even with four episodes encoded onto the
dual layered DVDs.
All
of the episodes have had their matrixed surround soundtracks upgraded to
full Dolby Digital 5.1 channel status. Owing to the fact that the show
wasn’t particularly action oriented during the first season, the sound
mix doesn’t have much by way of that "wiz bang" quality. The
forward soundstage tends to dominate, with the surrounds providing a bit
of ambient and musical fill. However, the sound is well recorded, and
reproduced with good fidelity. Dialogue is always crisp and completely
understandable. The bass channel is solid, enhancing the overall sound,
but never becoming thunderous. . English Dolby Surround soundtracks are
also encoded onto the DVDs, as are English subtitles.
Full
motion video, 3-D animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s cool
looking interactive menus, which utilize an interface reminiscent of DS9’s
Cardassian designed computer system. Through the menus, one has access to
individual episodes and scene selection within the episodes, as well as
each disc’s set up features. The menu system on disc six also provides
access to season one’s supplemental content. Deep Space Nine: A
Bold New Beginning is an eighteen minute program that looks at the
inception of DS9 and why the show went in an entirely new direction. Crew
Dossier: Kira Nerys is a fourteen-minute program that looks at DS9’s
Bajoran first officer and Nana Visitor, the actress that brought the
character to vivid life. Michael Westmore's Aliens offers a
ten-minute look at the show’s makeup designs.
Secrets
of Quark's Bar is a five-minute look at the interesting props used
in the show’s drinking/gambling establishment. Alien Artifacts
is a three-minute program concerned with even more of the show’s props. Deep
Space Nine: Sketchbook offers five minutes worth of conceptual
drawings for the series. Also included amongst the supplements is a Photo
Gallery, as well a number of slightly hidden extras for those who enjoy
DVD Easter egg hunts. One last thing I should mention, I really like the
all-plastic packaging that the collection comes in. It takes up less space
and seems sturdier than the cardboard solution designed for the STAR
TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION sets.
Since
DEEP SPACE NINE is my favorite STAR TREK television series, I
am totally revved up now that Paramount has begun releasing all of the
episodes on DVD in season by season sets. Not only do the episodes look
and sound better than they do in syndicated broadcasts, the supplements
are cool. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE is a must have DVD
collection for any DS9 fan, as well as being a perfect introduction for
anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to see the show before now. I know
I will be anxiously awaiting the DVD release of the rest of the show’s
of seven-season run, all of which has been scheduled for 2003.
When
it comes DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK fans are generally
divided into two camps. There were those that looked upon DEEP SPACE
NINE as a bastard child, and those that thought it was the best of all
the STAR TREK television series. As for myself, I fall into the
latter category, firm in my opinion that STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE
was indeed the best of all the offshoots of the science fiction universe
created by Gene Roddenberry. Those that didn’t care for DEEP SPACE
NINE usually disliked the space station setting; complaining that
there was no spaceship that took the characters to the far reaches of the
galaxy. However, what I found refreshing about DEEP SPACE NINE was
that it was the most character driven of the STAR TREK series, and
that the show wasn’t afraid to go over to the dark side of storytelling,
stepping back from Roddenberry’s utopian view of the future.
STAR
TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE ($130) has been released on DVD by
Paramount Home Entertainment in a six disc set, which contains all
nineteen episodes that aired in the first year. Disc one contains the
episodes Emissary, Past Prologue and A
Man Alone. Emissary is the two-hour series premiere
that has been broken up into two episodes for subsequent syndicated
broadcasts. The episode itself is one the series best, starting things off
with a bang, with Emissary being the kind of television
program that telegraphs that this show is going to be a radical
departure from previous incarnations of STAR TREK.
Steeped
in political intrigue, alien mysticism and a personal journey of discovery
for its leading character, Emissary tells of the arrival of
Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) at Starfleet’s newest outpost,
which happens to be a former Cardassian space station in orbit around the
planet Bajor. As the new commander of Deep Space Nine, it will be Sisko’s
job to hasten Bajor's membership into the federation, after the planet and
its people suffered through an oppressive Cardassian occupation. To
achieve this objective, Sisko requires the cooperation of Bajor’s major
religious leader, which leads the new station commander to the discovery
of a stable wormhole in Bajoran space that connects to the Gamma Quadrant
of the galaxy. Episode two, Past Prologue, tests the loyalty
of Sisko’s Bajoran first officer, Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), after
a Bajoran terrorist comes to DS9 seeking asylum from the Cardassian
military. In A Man Alone, station security chief Odo (Rene
Auberjonois) finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation,
after a criminal that the Constable once sent to prison turns up dead on
the station.
Disc
two contains the episodes Babel, Captive Pursuit,
Q-Less and Dax. Babel finds the
crew of DS9 falling victim to engineered virus designed by the Bajoran
resistance to eliminate the Cardassian threat to Bajor. In Captive
Pursuit, Chief O'Brien (Colm Meaney) befriends a visitor from the
Gamma Quadrant who turns out to be the "prey" in a hunt being
carried out by his people. Q-Less features a visit from the
omnipotent Q (John De Lancie), who brings his usual brand of havoc to DS9.
The episode Dax delves into a past incarnation of the
symbiont life form known as Dax, with Jadzia (Terry Farrell), the symbiont’s
current host, finding herself on trial for a murder possibly committed by
her immediate predecessor, Curzon.
Disc
three contains the episodes The Passenger, Move Along
Home, The Nagus and Vortex. In The
Passenger, a criminal is killed on his way to DS9, but when the
theft of a valuable shipment continues according to the criminal's plan,
everyone begins to question if he is really dead. Move Along Home
finds the DS9 crew playing an alien game, in which they don’t know
the rules, after Quark (Armin Shimerman), the Ferengi proprietor of the
station’s bar is caught cheating visitors from the Gamma Quadrant. The
Nagus marks the arrival of the Ferengi leader on DS9, who selects
Quark as his successor. In Vortex, a prisoner in Odo’s
charge informs the shape shifting Constable that he has encounter other
members of his race in the Gamma Quadrant.
Disc
four contains the episodes Battle Lines, The
Storyteller, Progress and If Wishes Were
Horses. Battle Lines marks a surprise visit of Bajor’s
spiritual leader to DS9, who requests a tour of the wormhole, then finds
herself caught in a battle between two warring factions in the Gamma
Quadrant. The Storyteller finds O’Brien and Dr. Bashir
(Alexander Siddig) tending to an ailing Bajoran community leader, who has
the ability to chase away a "mythical creature" that poses a
very real threat to his village. Progress finds Major Kira
leading the evacuation of a Bajoran moon and forced to deal with a crusty
old colonist, who refuses to leave. In If Wishes Were Horses,
the imaginations of the station’s inhabitants come to life, posing a
very serious threat to DS9.
Disc
five contains the episodes The Forsaken, Dramatis
Personae, Duet and In the Hands of the
Prophets. In The Forsaken, the crew of DS9 has to
deal with a probe from the Gamma Quadrant, while Odo fends off the
romantic attentions of the visiting Lwaxana Troi (Majel
Barrett-Roddenberry). Dramatis Personae finds a Klingon ship
exploding after returning from the Gamma Quadrant, with the survivors
having a very strange effect on everyone aboard DS9, all except Odo. In Duet,
a Cardassian, who may or may not be a war criminal, arrives on DS9 in need
of medical aid. In the Hands of the Prophets marks a visit
from a self promoting religious leader named Vedek Winn (Louise Fletcher),
whose issues with the curriculum being taught at the DS9’s newly
established school threatens the alliance between the Federation and Bajor.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all of the episodes from STAR TREK: DEEP
SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE available on DVD in the proper full screen
aspect ratios of their original television broadcasts. The presentation of
the episodes is on par with that of the best of the STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION DVD box sets. Shot on film, with the special effects
completed on analog video, the episodes have their strengths and
weaknesses. Film sequences without special effects work provide the
cleanest and sharpest aspects of each episode. The special effects
segments can appear a bit softer and occasionally display analog video
anomalies. Colors usually appear robust, with the flesh tones coming
across in a convincing manner. All of the episodes look better on DVD than
they do in syndicated broadcasts, but they are clearly television
productions, with flat lighting and contrast. Digital compression
artifacts are well concealed, even with four episodes encoded onto the
dual layered DVDs.
All
of the episodes have had their matrixed surround soundtracks upgraded to
full Dolby Digital 5.1 channel status. Owing to the fact that the show
wasn’t particularly action oriented during the first season, the sound
mix doesn’t have much by way of that "wiz bang" quality. The
forward soundstage tends to dominate, with the surrounds providing a bit
of ambient and musical fill. However, the sound is well recorded, and
reproduced with good fidelity. Dialogue is always crisp and completely
understandable. The bass channel is solid, enhancing the overall sound,
but never becoming thunderous. . English Dolby Surround soundtracks are
also encoded onto the DVDs, as are English subtitles.
Full
motion video, 3-D animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s cool
looking interactive menus, which utilize an interface reminiscent of DS9’s
Cardassian designed computer system. Through the menus, one has access to
individual episodes and scene selection within the episodes, as well as
each disc’s set up features. The menu system on disc six also provides
access to season one’s supplemental content. Deep Space Nine: A
Bold New Beginning is an eighteen minute program that looks at the
inception of DS9 and why the show went in an entirely new direction. Crew
Dossier: Kira Nerys is a fourteen-minute program that looks at DS9’s
Bajoran first officer and Nana Visitor, the actress that brought the
character to vivid life. Michael Westmore's Aliens offers a
ten-minute look at the show’s makeup designs.
Secrets
of Quark's Bar is a five-minute look at the interesting props used
in the show’s drinking/gambling establishment. Alien Artifacts
is a three-minute program concerned with even more of the show’s props. Deep
Space Nine: Sketchbook offers five minutes worth of conceptual
drawings for the series. Also included amongst the supplements is a Photo
Gallery, as well a number of slightly hidden extras for those who enjoy
DVD Easter egg hunts. One last thing I should mention, I really like the
all-plastic packaging that the collection comes in. It takes up less space
and seems sturdier than the cardboard solution designed for the STAR
TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION sets.
Since
DEEP SPACE NINE is my favorite STAR TREK television series, I
am totally revved up now that Paramount has begun releasing all of the
episodes on DVD in season by season sets. Not only do the episodes look
and sound better than they do in syndicated broadcasts, the supplements
are cool. STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE- SEASON ONE is a must have DVD
collection for any DS9 fan, as well as being a perfect introduction for
anyone who hasn’t had the opportunity to see the show before now. I know
I will be anxiously awaiting the DVD release of the rest of the show’s
of seven-season run, all of which has been scheduled for 2003.