Press Release Mill Creek Press Release: The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek (DVD) (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

Apologies for the delay - the review is now live:

The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek DVD Review

The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek may not appeal to every single Trek viewer. If you’ve never been to a Star Trek convention...

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[ScottRE]

This is a great review and may be the tipping point to get me to buy it. Thanks, @Josh Steinberg! Much like the old 80's movie reviews - "add a star if you're a Trekkie."

 

[Sam Favate]

I've watched the first 5 episodes and enjoyed it tremendously. One thing that struck me: It definitely has a point of view that you don't get from the official docs on the Paramount blu-rays/DVDs, even the best ones produced by Roger Lay. This show sometimes savages Gene Roddenberry and William Shatner, all in ways that's been hinted at in the past, but there's no pretending here or innuendo.

This doc feels very honest, especially when you get Star Trek V producer Ralph Winter savaging his own movie! It's a relief to hear these people being real. And what more can you say about Harold Livingston and his brutally honest take on Gene and the process of making TMP? It's easily the highlight of the show.

 

[John Dirk]

Outside a brief mention and clip of "Generations" (because it showed Kirk) in the ST:VI film episode, the TNG films were not mentioned at all. While I don't think they're particularly good they, at the very least, deserved to have an entire episode devoted to them. That would have been a better episode than one exclusively about the various ships. For me, *all* of the series after TOS needed a 2nd episode.

This is hugely disappointing. At it's current price I still feel good about ordering but, yea, that was a big "miss."

 

[BobO'Link]

This is hugely disappointing. At it's current price I still feel good about ordering but, yea, that was a big "miss."

In spite of the issues I have with the production, especially some of the decisions as to what to include or not, it *is* worth the price - even at MSRP... but I'm quite happy to have picked it up from BB at a bargain price and look forward to watching the the unedited interviews with Nimoy, Nichols, and Alley as well as giving it a 2nd viewing at a more leisurely pace than when I watched it via streaming.

Josh's review is good and fair, as well as a bit more forgiving than what I'd have done. He also has some insights into just why some commentary is rather scathing for earlier material while later productions either are mentioned in passing or not at all. And I feel he's pretty spot on with that - like the saying "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

 

[Sam Favate]

I finished this doc last night, and I still think it's well done and something that most Star Trek fans will appreciate. That said, since this is obviously made for serious fans, the tone of the writing is sometimes skewed to a general audience that needs their hands held a little, and the final two episodes - about the starships in the various series and all the actors who have appeared - feel tacked on. It's fine to end the series with the end of the Berman era, which they essentially do, but just adding bits of the Abrams movies and the Kurtzman series doesn't do them justice.

Some notable omissions in terms of who is represented (none of the captains, except Kate Mulgrew, and even her only a bit, and other big players like Jonathan Frakes) but overall they did a thorough job. I'd recommend this.

And as has been said, the DVD quality on this is amazing. I never would have thought I was seeing a DVD.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Some notable omissions in terms of who is represented (none of the captains, except Kate Mulgrew, and even her only a bit, and other big players like Jonathan Frakes) but overall they did a thorough job. I'd recommend this.

I agree but I also think they made a wise choice to focus on which participants they had and giving them the extra time, instead of relying on familiar archival interviews we’ve seen many times before with the people who declined interviews.