There is a noticeable ebb and flow to the series when the films are watched back-to-back. While the first film establishes the return of the franchise and catches us up on the characters, things really get going with the second, The Wrath of Khan. By far, Khan is the franchise's high-water mark and really sets the stage for the other four movies that follow. Without Spock dying in the incredible, emotional ending to Khan, there can be no Search for Spock, and without that no court-martial in The Voyage Home and Kirk and the Enterprise wouldn't have been selected to accompany the Klingon delegation in The Undiscovered Country.
Not only is Khan a great movie which builds on the original television series, it has emotional depth and breadth, action, and good for the time effects, it is the axis around which the rest of the series turns. For me, that makes Khan the best of the films, even if there is a sizable contingent of the Trek community who prefers The Voyage Home.
Another amazing thing one gets a sense of watching the films back-to-back are the incredible actors and name talent (either known then or known later) playing roles in the film. Everyone knows Ricardo Montalban plays Khan, and that Kirstie Alley appears in the same film as Lt. Saavik (one of the big mistakes in the franchise is not getting her to reprise the role in the next two films, where it was given to Robin Curtis instead). What about Christian Slater and Kurtwood Smith being in The Undiscovered Country (Christopher Plummer and Kim Cattrall are more obvious in it)? Or Christopher Lloyd and John Larroquette being in The Search for Spock?
The new Blu-ray release, as one would expect, features an incredible amount of bonus content, including over 12 hours worth that has appeared elsewhere before. There is also over two-and-a-half hours worth of new behind-the-scenes and footage and real-life stories relating to the franchise included. Additionally, each film contain the a "Library Computer" which can play in the film giving the viewer extra facts about the characters, ships, etc.
Those bonus features pale in comparison to what exists on the seventh disc in the set. The seventh disc features something called "The Captains' Summit" and has, for the first time ever, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, and Jonathan Frakes sitting down and chatting with one another and moderator Whoopi Goldberg. For 70 minutes these Star Trek people tell stories of their time on set, their time after set, what led them to the franchise, and what they think about it all now.








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