From the lofty heights of The Wrath of Khan to the abysmal depths of The Final Frontier, Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection spans an entire galaxy of quality, but to only look at the films on that level is to miss something truly special. The recently released Blu-ray set features all six theatrical adventures of the original crew of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701 & NCC-1701-A), and provides an incredible look at a fictional universe.
Featuring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and George Takei, the movies sought to expand the world of Star Trek and helped Paramount capitalize on the renewed interest in science fiction George Lucas created with Star Wars in 1977. It was an incredibly successful move as the films helped rejuvenate the universe of Star Trek and led to four more TV series and four movies with the cast of The Next Generation.
There are actually two different ways to consider the six films the original crew starred in — taken separately one can pick apart each film, identify what worked and what didn't, and mourn almost the entire idea that was The Final Frontier; or, one can look at them as a whole, as the continuing adventures of a group of co-workers who became something more over time. Sure, some of the nefarious plots they foiled were less interesting than others, but perhaps that was the fault of the villain and not the producers.
All foolishness aside, sitting down to watch six Star Trek movies over the course of two or three days gives the semi-casual viewer a very different impression of the series than they would have gotten going to the theater every few years between 1979, when Star Trek: The Motion Picture came out, and 1991, when Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released. Watched consecutively one can quickly notice when a bit character in one movie appears again in another, thereby adding a greater sense of continuity to the Star Trek universe.
Watching the films in this fashion certainly allows for the glossing over of weaknesses in the series. For instance, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, an inordinate amount of time is spent on incredibly slow, incredibly long tracking shots, first of the Enterprise and then of V'ger. If one is only watching this first film in the series, there's almost a sense of being cheated out of something more interesting, more spectacular. However, if one is watching all the films in relatively rapid succession, the amount of time spent on the establishing shots in the first movie is much more acceptable.
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