VIDEO REVIEWS --------------- STAR TREK - EPISODES 77, 78 & 79 -------------------------------- Reviewed by Simon Plumbe ------------------------ In an unusual move, CIC decided to release the final three episodes of the original series on one tape at a price of £12.99. Although more expensive than the other tapes, it is actually cheaper on a pounds-per-episode basis. One up to CIC! The first, "The Savage Curtain" is very much a traditional affair, with Kirk and Spock beaming down to an area of Earth-like land on an otherwise inhospitable planet whose surface is entirely composed of molten lava. They didn't beam down unnoticed - in fact they were actually invited down by none other than Abraham Lincoln! They soon meet a creature formed from "living rock" who orders Kirk and Spock to join in with Lincoln and the image of the Vulcan philosopher Surak to fight, representing good, against Ghengis Khan, a Klingon and two others representing evil. Ultimately the episode is the weakest of the three, mainly because it is an idea over used in TREK - the characters being forced to do something against their will - and this is not the best example of such a story line. In this episode, Kirk and Co. are forced to fight the "evil" foursome in order to save the crew of the Enterprise. William Shatner manages to tone down his "hamming" but there is nothing memorable about this one. With saying that, it's no Spock's Brain either! Next is "All Our Yesterdays". A definite classic! The Enterprise is in orbit around the planet Sarpeidon, whose sun is about to explode. The Enterprise is there to offer emergency assistance, but when Krik, Spock and McCoy beam down they find the planet deserted except for a librarian and a few of his clones. The librarian reveals that all the population have left, travelling back into various stages of the planet's history. Kirk is accidentally sent back in time, to the time of the planet's Witch Hunts, and Spock and McCoy chase after him, but they are sent to the planet's Ice Age. It is here that the story starts to get interesting. Spock and McCoy find that they can't return to the library and Kirk is captured and accused of being a witch when he is seen talking to McCoy (who he can't see) and calling him Bones! While in the Ice Age, McCoy falls prey to the insufferable climate and is close to death, when he and Spock are rescued by a woman called Zarabeth - a convict who was sent back to the Ice Age as "punishment". It is here where the problems really start. When people are sent back in time, their bodies and minds begin to change to suit their new environment and Spock starts to revert to the time when Vulcans were violent and emotional and he falls in love with Zarabeth. It's a great episode with superb performances from all concerned. It is a novel twist on the cliched time-travel stories and it all adds up to classic TREK. The final episode on the tape is the much-maligned TURNABOUT INTRUDER. This episode sees the Enterprise responding to a distress call sent from Carnus II where virtually all the inhabitants have died from radiation poisoning. The only surviviors are a Doctor Janice Lester (an ex-girlfriend of Kirk's) and her assistant. However, she resents and envies Kirk's position as captain of a starship, and when left alone with him, she uses an alien device and transfers her life essence into Kirk's body and Kirk's into her body. She is then able to board the Enterprise posing as Kirk and fulfill her life- long dream to command a ship, while Kirk, in Lester's body, is kept sedated. It is a much-criticised story by many fans, but I find it to be an enjoyable episode with very few faults and I can't see why it has been targetted like this. We see Scotty joining in with the "big three" of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, giving more diversity in the storylines. It's a pity that we didn't really see more of this happening until season three. The acting all round is fantastic with Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley and James Doohan adding to the tension of the episode showing that the crew KNOW something is wrong with Kirk, but they don't know what. Great stuff. Also you have a superb performance from William Shatner who gives a VERY convincing performance of Janice Lester in Kirk's body. You can believe that it is a different person, right down to the way he moves and all his mannerisms. Well, if a series has to end, it's best to go out on such a high! This episode was never transmitted on the Network, instead, it was chosen to start STAR TREK's syndicated run, which is still going today! Overall, the tape represents fabulous value for money - one average episode and two good ones. It was rare to see a tape with one good episode on for Season Three, so this comes as an added bonus. It was great to see that CIC Video avoided falling into the trap of "ripping- off" the fans and putting TURNABOUT INTRUDER on a tape of it's own for £9.99. Well done CIC, and don't tape too long in releasing the Animated episodes! STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - EPISODES 9 & 10 (THE BATTLE and HIDE AND Q) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Barry Beale ----------------------- "The Battle" ------------ As we start this 5th tape of the first season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, we see the horific past of Captain Jean-Luc Picard when the devious Ferengi use a mind meld to capture Jean-Luc and put him back on his old ship, the STARGAZER, to relive the final moments of the ship's destruction and of the Captain's. My personal opinion of this episode is a good one, because we see more of Picard's past than we usually do. Patrick Stewart plays a good role in this episode and we have Commander Will Riker, trying to overcome the most famous move in Starfleet history - the PICARD MANEUVER. The script is well written for an early episode, not like LONELY AMONG US, where there is no story, or should I say plot to it, but that is another story. Rob Bowman has done an excellent job in this episode and you get a really tense atmosphere and there are a fair few surprises here and there. The effects are outstanding for an early episode in the season and there are some good camera angles on the ENTERPRISE and the STARGAZER. The plot thickens as the story goes, Rob Bowman has done some very good episodes further on into the season, and also the second season starting with the third episode, ELEMENTARY, DEAR DATA. All I can say is that as the seasons move on, the stories get better. "Hide and Q" ------------ This is the second episode on the fifth tape and what a good one this has turned out to be as well, we see the return of the Q entitiy. As we begin this episode, we see the ENTERPRISE rushing medical supplies to a nearby planet when the ENTERPRISE is rudely interrupted by Q, who will not let them continue their mission, and to pass Q offers them a challenge, a game in fact. Q then takes the following officers to participate in his childish game: Riker, Tasha, Data, Geordi, Worf, and Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher. This episode has turned out to be one of the best episodes in season one, and there is hopefully many more to come. There are some very nice touches, for example when Q turns into Data, and the best part of the episode is when Wesley gets himself killed! Q offers Riker a very special gift, but I will not go into that any further, you will have to watch the episode yourself, but for most of you fans out there will agree this is one of the better episodes of season one, as this is a great tape to collect. I have already said before that there are some surprises, there are also some great special effects and even though it is an early episode it is very entertaining and the foreign legion are very nasy. Have we seen the last of the Q entity or will he be a menace in future episodes? I must admit that Q is becomming very soft, his role is not as nasty as we saw in ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT and I hope they don't make his character as less menacing as they have in this episode because John de Lancie is an excellent actor and I wouldn't want him to be firing Andrex toilet tissue at the ENTERPRISE. STAR TREK - A COMPUTER GENERATED FILM by Tobias Richter ------------------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Simon Plumbe ------------------------ If you've already read the PD reviews, you will know about Tobias Richter's forthcoming Next Generation video animation. Well, I was fortunate enought to have seen it's predecessor, an 8-minute Star Trek animation released last year. The animation revolves around four Klingon vessels (three D-7 Battlecruisers and an L-42 Bird Of Prey) which are heading towards the planet Aretris. Starfleet is informed, and the Enterprise is sent to intercept the ships. The Enterprise arrives, a battle takes place, and the victorious Enterprise flies off into the sunset on another mission. There are a few sound effects, but most of the sound is in the form of music taken from the soundtrack album to STAR TREK V by Jerry Goldsmith. The animation was created entirely on an Amiga 2000, with a 68030 second processor and a 68882 maths co-processor with a hard drive. There are 6000 frames of animation and every frame is in ray-traced overscan HAM. (For those of you who don't know, that means a resolution of approximately 368 by 260 in 4096 colours!). It took 20 days just to calculate all the images for the animation! The animation is absolutely stunning and it really shows what the Amiga is capable of doing in the right hands. Although it is short, it is very watchable and enjoyable. Within the first three days of getting my hands on the video, I had seen it over 20 times!! One thing to look out for is the two scenes on the bridge. The graphics have been taken straight from Tobias's two-disk Star Trek game! A nice touch! All of the sound effects have also been taken from the game. But, how can you get to see it? I received my copy from Tobias Richter personally, and obviously, I can not copy it for everyone who wants to see it! However, I think it was shown at the Commodore Show in London in late 1990 and I am taking it to various Star Trek conventions around the U.K. so as many Trekkers can see it as possible (assuming the committees will let me show it!!). If you are at a convention and I'm there with the tape, try and see it - it's an experience! If you would like the tape for yourself, it can be bought direct from Tobias for £8 (including postage) along with his current demo reel which has a total running time of 15-20 minutes. For his address, see the Reader's Adverts section. Rating - 97% Send your reviews in - of videos OLD and NEW!