Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #41279 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-03-24
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 960 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Of all the spin-off TV incarnations of Star Trek, Deep Space Nine had the hardest job persuading an audience to watch. By all accounts, Gene Roddenberry had concerns about the idea before his death in 1991. It took two more years to develop, and when it finally aired in 1993 reasons for that concern were evident right away. The show was dark (literally), characters argued a lot, no one went anywhere and the neighbouring natives were hardly ever friendly. Yet for all that the show went against the grain of The Great Bird's original vision of the future, it undeniably caught the mood of the time, incorporating a complex political backdrop that mirrored our own.

In the casting, there was a clear intent to differentiate the show from its predecessors. Genre stalwarts Tony Todd and James Earl Jones were considered for Commander Sisko before Avery Brooks. The one let down at the time was that Michelle Forbes did not carry Ensign Ro across from TNG, but when the explosive Nana Visitor defiantly slapped her hand on a console in the pilot episode, viewers knew they were in for a different crew dynamic. In fact, the two-part pilot show ("The Emissary") is largely responsible for DS9's early success. Mysterious, spiritual, claustrophobic, funny and feisty, it remains the most attention-grabbing series opener (apart from the Classic original) the franchise has had. The first year may have relied on a few too many familiar faces--like Picard, Q and Lwaxana Troi--but these were more than outweighed by refreshingly detailed explorations of cultures old and new (Trill, Bajoran, Cardassian, Ferengi). As it turned out, Deep Space Nine was the boldest venture into Roddenberry's galaxy that had been (or ever would be) seen.

On the DVD: Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Series 1's hour of special features is split between seven featurettes that really would have worked better edited together. Covering the show's origins and most aspects of Year One's production design, they all crib from interviews with actors and crew from the 1992 shoot (exclusively so in the 10 "Hidden Files"). Other interviews conducted in 1999 and 2002 tend to be more revealing, although the solo section on Major Kira is curiously lacking in recent input. While the designers describe their work with passion, creators Michael Piller and Rick Berman come off as stiff and lacking in knowledge. Hopefully this is something that will improve through the next six box sets. The interactive CD-ROM to build a DS9 database on your PC is something that will become more involving, too. Obviously the most important thing is the episodes themselves, and despite the lack of a commentary to enhance the best of them, sound in 5.1 and the crisp full-frame picture do them ample justice. --Paul Tonks END

DVD Description
Complete Season 1 on 6 discs, containing all 19 episodes and exclusive extra features.

Special Features
Six-disc box set plus 12-page collector's booklet
Six brand-new featurettes:
Deep Space Nine: A Bold New Beginning
Crew Dossier: Kira Nerys
Michael Westmore's Aliens: Season One
Secrets of Quark's Bar
Deep Space Nine Sketchbook
Alien Artifacts: Season One
Section 31 Hidden Files
Original Deep Space Nine Preview
Free Interactive CD-ROM
Section 31 Hidden Files
Original Deep Space Nine Preview
Picture: Full screen
Sound: Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround and Dolby Surround
English Subtitles

Customer Reviews

DS 9 - The Best of Trek
I never caught much of DS9 when it was first shown on TV, mainly due to being out of the country and not having English TV to watch. The episodes that I did catch I enjoyed, although not having senn many episodes much of the back story was a mystery to me. So when the DVDs came out I decided to buy them all and watch it from the beginning.

What can I say but wow! The way the overall story arcs interweave through out the series, such as Dukat and Kai Winn, the emmisary story lines and the Dominion war puts it streets ahead of the "Pick up and Drop" nature of TNG. In a way it reminds me of the Babylon 5 (which is my all time favourite SF show) story lines were something happens and in a few more series it gets referred back to and suddenly it all makes sense.

Also, unlike TNGs "everything always turns out alright in the end" typical Star Trek stories, in DS9 sometimes things go tragically wrong (Duet springs to mind).

The evolution of the characters throughout the series is far superior to other ST franchises. Lets face it in TNG, apart from Data getting a little more human and Worf occasionally smiling, the characters ended the series much as they started it. The fact as well that the characters in DS9 frequently conflicted with each other and had their own agenders other than the perfect idea of Federation paradise added a grittier feel to the series.

Overall DS9 is darker, grittier and dirtier than other ST offerings, which is possibly why a lot of hardened fans didn't like it as it ruined the idea of a utopian Federation, but dont let that put you off. Its a roller coaster of a ride, from the relativley slow begining of series 1 through to the adrenaline pumping close of series 7. Buy them all, you won't be disappointed.

Deep Space 9 - About time !!!!
By far, the best incarnation of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe. A series that started off darkly, only got better and better as it went on, and Im glad that it has made its way onto the DVD format. The character chemistry between Odo and Quark is made obvious and is likened to that of Spock and McCoy. Avery Brooks is spellbounding as Commander Benjamin Sisko, who appears at all times, to be in control of the often chaotic surroundings of the Cardassian space stations. Over all, an amazing first season and well worth the money and wait.

About time too!
Can't wait to own DS9 on DVD. DS9 was always considered the black sheep of the Star Trek family, and in many ways it was... however, given that the franchise has stretched for some 35 years and is almost totally bereft of creative spark nowadays (just look at the waste of film that was Voyager) that is no bad thing. DS9 was the Trek series that dared to take risks...it pushed the boundaries of what TV sci-fi could do, and at its best it pushed the boundaries of what television itself could achieve. Bold, daring, inventive, dark, twisted, complex, funny, intelligent...DS9 was all of those things.

Granted, this first season was a bit of a mixed bag. Despite an assured debut (Emissary is still the best of the Trek pilots by a long shot), the season meandered with rather nodescript plots some of which felt like TNG castaways. DS9 was afraid to be that much different to TNG: there are umpteen TNG crossovers. DS9 wasn't being allowed to truly be itself and plays to its own strengths until the final two episodes of the season, the stunningly powerful holocaust allegory 'Duet' and the impressive season finale. Those two episodes demonstrate just how could DS9 can - and would - be. Shame it took so long to get there.

Nonetheless, I'm still looking forward to owning season one. The highlights are: Emissary, Captive Pursuit, Battle Lines, Progress, duet and In the Hands of the Prophets. The low points are: Babel, The Passenger, Move Along Home and Q-Less.