Trekkies are a loyal bunch. Many diehard fans of the expansive television and film series can trace their support back to the debut of Star Trek: The Original Series on September 8, 1966. Other fly-alongs stumbled across the starship Enterprise and its continuing mission much later in its 50-year history. One thing Star Trek fans young or old share, though, is a deep love of the classic 79 episodes (for the most part), as well as the extended adventures of Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Nyota Uhuru, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov on the big screen.
While Star Trek’s semi-centennial celebration revels in each and every moment from the franchise’s distinguished history, the moment is especially poignant for the initial crew. In honor of the series’ maiden voyage, CBS and Paramount have created a special collector’s edition boxed set that super fans will truly appreciate.
The Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection goes boldly beyond any completists’ wildest dreams. Contained within the limited edition collection is what CBS and Paramount call the “most comprehensive Star Trek collection ever offered.” The boxed set includes 30 uniquely decorated Blu-ray discs covering each episode of TOS, a freshly renovated full spread of The Animated Series, and each film featuring the original crew from The Motion Picture to The Undiscovered Country – including a brand-new director’s cut of Wrath of Khan.
The Trek collection also includes an expansive documentary detailing the cinematic adventures of Kirk and crew, as well as 20 hours of previously available bonus material. In addition, fans will take home six miniature movie posters created by Juan Ortiz and a commemorative Starfleet pin. Launching on September 6, two days before TOS’s first outing, the commemorative edition will retail for $208.99 and is available for preorder on Amazon.
Take a look at the extensive contents of the Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection:
- Star Trek: The Original Series Blu-ray
- Star Trek: The Animated Series Blu-ray
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blu-ray
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut Blu-ray
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Blu-ray
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Blu-ray
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Blu-ray
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Blu-ray
- Star Trek: The Journey to the Silver Screen—New 50th Anniversary Multi-Part Documentary
- The New Frontier: Resurrecting Star Trek
- Maiden Voyage: Making Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan
- The Dream is Alive: The Continuing Mission
- End of an Era: Charting the Undiscovered Country
- Collectible 50th Anniversary Starfleet Insignia Pin
- Collectible Mini-Posters for Movies 1-6
- Plus over 20 hours of bonus content!
As Star Trek turns 50, it’s fascinating to reflect upon the show’s impact on our society. In addition to leaving us with classic pop cultural references like the Starfleet insignia, Captain Kirk's dramatic pauses, and gestures like Spock’s split-finger Vulcan salutation (combined with “live long and prosper,” of course), Trek also contributed to creative and technological developments that have dramatically altered our lives and will continue to do so for generations to come, such as cell phones, interactive personal assistants (Siri and Cortana), touch screens, and universal translators. Most importantly, Trek gave us an alternative, positive vision of the future, in contrast to the dystopian view prevalent in many science fiction offerings.
Ironically, on the cusp of its 50th year, the franchise is heading backwards in an effort to reinvigorate itself. The J.J. Abrams’ reboot wiped the slate clean for a new cast to explore the characters from TOS. And as Trek returns to TV, a new Bryan Fuller-led series also chose to roll back the clock to 10 years before the classic crew's five-year mission. Hopefully, Star Trek’s current handlers will continue Gene Roddenberry’s prime directive of encouraging human cooperation for the betterment of our species as we head into our own undiscovered country. Worst comes to worst, at least we’ll have 726 episodes and 13 feature films to keep us upbeat about our future.
Next: What We Want to See in Star Trek 4
Source: Star Trek, CBS, Paramount