Star Trek - Origins

Kirk and crew have reached an apex of high-def glory with the Blu-ray release of their remastered, CGI-enhanced Original Series adventures, with all three seasons of the landmark 1960s Sci-fi show now available on the latest and greatest home viewing platform.

Fans who bought the initial DVD offerings (two episodes on a disc) and then shelled out for the first DVD season sets, only to then have to rush out and buy the three-set edition in which CBS rejiggered the optical effects (replacing the old model-and-blue-screen SFX with detailed and dynamic CGI work) must be feeling a little burned out by now. Is it really worth going back to the ATM to acquire the same episodes yet again -- no matter how pristine they might look?

CBS Home Video is betting that once you sample this latest offering, "Star Trek: Origins," a five-episode grab-bag themed on first introductions, you'll be sold one more time. There are no new special effects, and the only special features you'll find here are episode introductions by Rod Roddenberry, son of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry. But there's no topping the set for image crispness and clarity (though you're going to need a good sound system to appreciate the remastered audio -- just sayin').

Every hair on the characters' heads can be counted; every thread in their retro-futuristic '60s costumes stands out; even the grain of the source film is evident, which is sometimes distracting, as is the green makeup on Leonard Nimoy in the second series pilot, where they just slathered him in the stuff.

But if you're going to see the Original Series in this much detail, with color this rich, these top-shelf episodes are a good place to start. Original (and long unaired) pilot "The Cage" looks fantastic in its meticulously reconstructed full-color entirety, and with sparkling new visual effects. "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the second pilot, carries an equal sheen. Regular series episodes "Errand of Mercy" (in which we first meet the Klingons), "Space Seed" (where super-bad-guy Khan debuts), and "The Trouble With Tribbles" (surely the title explains all) just about leap out of screen. (Indeed, you have to wonder whether that's literally the next step: Will we be presented with a 3D conversion of the show some day? Can we stand it?)

Buy, watch, marvel, and then decide for yourself whether to take the newest plunge into the final frontier and spring for the full season sets. Even if you don't, you're going to treasure this disc for showing you what's possible.

"Star Trek: Origins"
Blu-ray
$26.99