The VHS Corner: Star Trek: The Movie Collection (1979-1991) VHS Overview

 Hey everyone, how's it going? I'm doing pretty well for a Tuesday. Since I'm not going to have much time to post anything tomorrow as I have an appointment to go to, and it being Tuesday, I thought I'd come on here and do another edition of the VHS Corner. It's another Star Trek release, but I've actually kinda had alot of Star Trek tapes when I was a kid, in addition to the few that I own now. So let's get into it.

While the original Star Trek movies, starring the cast of the '60s TV series have had several releases on VHS in the '80s and '90s, the one my dad had when I was a kid was the 1993 box set that came out three months before Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was released on home video on its own. In fact, this box set was the debut of the movie on home video. I don't remember when my dad got this set or whether it was a gift or if he bought it for himself. The set contains the 1991 VHS re-releases of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which had been re-released for the franchise's 25th Anniversary with all new packaging, which you'll see shortly, along with Star Trek VI. This is how I saw the majority of these movies for the first time, which I'll explain as I talk about each movie.

I think out of the six movies, I think I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture the most. It's a severely underrated movie, probably because it's the longest of the first six films. Especially since this release is the "Special Longer Version", which had originally aired on TV back in 1983 and was subsequently released on VHS and Laserdisc that same year, though the widescreen releases of this tape still contained the theatrical version of the film. Which interests me. I think one of the reasons I watched this tape so much is because Jerry Goldsmith's opening theme would later be used for the opening theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the closing theme for Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis, though those movies hadn't come out yet at this point, so I was only familiar with the opening theme through TNG.

I usually skipped Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan whenever I would borrow this box set from my dad. So I'd originally tried to watch it back in 1992 when one of the nurses who looked after me at the hospital brought in the 25th Anniversary VHS box set, containing the first five movies, for me to watch. It scared the crap out of me with the horror images of slugs, i.e. the Ceti Eels, going into Chekov and Terrell's ears, Khan leaving dead bodies hanging up on Regula I, and how the Eel got out of Chekov's ear. It wasn't until I was a teenager in the 2000s that I was able to sit through this movie without getting completely creeped out by it. The movie's really good, it was just a little too intense for 5 year old me.

Next up  in the box set is Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This is my favourite Star Trek movie of all time. If I wasn't in the mood for Jerry Goldsmith's music, or long establishing shots, I'd borrow this tape from my dad and pop it into the VCR. Especially when I was a teenager and had my own VCR, before I got these movies on DVD in the late 2000s. The dialogue, the lighter tone from the previous two movies, and Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon are all reasons why I love this movie. Trust me, there will be reviews of all six of these movies in the future.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is another movie in this collection that I didn't like when I was a kid. Mostly because...well...it had Chekov in a 20th Century operating room and I spent way too much time in the OR when I was a kid, and it freaked me out. Don't ask. I was a kid, my brain wasn't logical at the time. I did grow to love this movie when I watched it on both VHS and DVD when I was a teenager and a 20-something year old adult. Though The Search for Spock is still my favourite of these first six movies.

Then we come to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which is my second favourite of these first six movies, mostly because the quality of this one isn't as good. Though I love Jerry Goldsmith's score for the movie. By the time this movie came out, Star Trek: The Next Generation was already on the air, so the theme that Goldsmith had created for Star Trek: The Motion Picture had already started to be used for the new TV series, and was repurposed yet again for this movie. I even have the score on audiocassette and as a digital download on iTunes. This is another of these tapes that I'd go to whenever I borrowed this box set from my dad.

Besides Star Trek II, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is probably the tape I watched the least when I was a kid. Not because I didn't like it but I actually had my own copy. A nurse at the hospital had taped the movie off TV and given me the tape. So I didn't need to borrow this tape from my dad, though I still did from time to time.

None of these tapes have previews at the beginning of them. Just the usual warnings and logos. The cover art is great. Especially because whoever designed the cover for Star Trek VI thought to match it with the cover design for the 1991 VHS releases of the first five movies. The box set is a bit weird though because the tapes slide in on a slant because of how the box was designed. Particularly in comparison to the 25th Anniversary box set, and even later Star Trek movie VHS box sets that were released throughout the '90s. It's not a problem or anything, it's just weird is all

Well that's all I have to say about this box set. I probably get the 25th Anniversary box set and then just get Star Trek VI separately though because I've always wanted the 25th Anniversary box set and it seems less cumbersome than this set, but this is still a good set. And that's it for me for today. I'll be back soon with more reviews and posts. Until then have a great night and I will talk to you later. Take care.