Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Complete Series

This is not your Fathers Star Trek. The days of James T. Kirk have grown up. Not even the Next Generation series was as brilliantly written and filmed as Deep Space Nine. This series was a novel written for TV. A continuous story about a new Lt Ben Sisko as the first Federation officer taking command of a large space station for the Federation Of Planets. His beginnings are shaky trying to get used to a new command and his new home, DS9, located out in deep space, very far from Earth. Sisko soon finds his place with his staff and they slowly become more like a family in surreal surroundings. ST:DS9 has everything that a good novel should have. Love, hate, peace, war, duty, mystery, intrigue, wonderment, quality special effects, and friendship. Over time, we see every one of these aspects. We get to know each of the perfectly casted characters as if they are our own friends, and yes, enemies. We feel their pain, and their triumphs. In essence, Deep Space Nine becomes home, and the casts are our neighbors and friends who we care about. This series is not a video game designed around the special effects. Although there will be some good action and adventure, it is not the constant action adventure of the other Star Trek series. DS9 is a darker story about the characters and their lives. It is about the loyalty of duty and friends. It is about freedom and patriotism. It's about families. It is about many alien races working together, fighting in a common cause for the benefit of everyone. This series had a good budget which shows in the quality of the scripts, lavish sets, and very good special effects. Before the series ends, you will have laughed, cried, jumped for joy in victories, sat on the edge of your seat many times, and pounded your fist in hate and frustration for the bad guys. You can't help yourself. The stories draw you in like a dream you don't want to wake up from, just so you don't miss anything. My only regret at the end was that it ended. But as they say, all good things must come to an end. Deep Space Nine is for the true trekkie at heart that loves everything about the Star Trek universe. If that describes you, then DS9 will not disappoint you. I have watched this series in TV reruns maybe 5 or 6 times, and yet I just purchased the series on DVD. Am I crazy? Maybe a little, but I like to look at myself as a true fan, and a dreamer. UPDATE: Bad but a happy ending..... Most of the discs had problems with skipping, freeze frames, and many episodes would not finish playing near the end. I returned the set to the seller and got a refund. Then, I repurchased the series from an different seller, and found the same flaws in exactly the same time marks on the same disc number and episodes. I just returned the new set for another refund. Then I purchased the series direct from Amazon on sale. When I got the replacement, I noticed it was packaged differently. And every episode was much higher quality and without defects of any kind. Then it dawned on me that the packages I got from other dealers were either poor illegal copies, or much older repackaged defective packs being sold cheaper. Either way, be aware of this. Alawys buy directly from Amazon or only sellers that are fullfilled by Amazon. Many sellers get illegal copies packaged to look like the real thing, but they are not. But Amazon direct sales are always the real thing.

Although I am sure there are those who will disagree, DS9 represents the best of Trek. True, it is darker and not as rosy/hopeful as the Next Generation, and it does not resolve itself as neatly and happily as Voyager. I grew up on the original show, and loved it. DS9 started out shaky the first few seasons. I don't think the writers were sure what to do with it. They had the space station idea down (as opposed to the show being based on a ship) but weren't sure what else. In the bonus features, you can hear the writers talk about how they didn't get the Emissary concept at first, but ended up being glad they put it in there. Basically this show deals with religion, politics, war, and the concept of pre-destiny. It works in a wide arc, but brings things together in a conclusion in which not all the characters survive--in that sense, it is more "real" than the other versions of Star Trek, where everyone is generally happy and content and things usually seem to work out fine in the end. Although there are episodes here and there which fall short, it is worth making the journey through the entire series. Other reviews may focus on specific episodes, and there are several excellent ones, but this is about the series as a whole. As with all Treks, this one is character driven, and all the major characters take interesting journeys during the 7 year run of the series. I was not sure when the show's 4th season first premiered that adding Worf to the cast at the end of the Next Generation's run was a smart move (it seemed like a desperate move at the time) but it turned out to be brilliant, because it allowed us to delve more deeply into the world of the Klingons, how they view conflict, and how they achieve honor. The interaction of the cultures - the artistic, religious (and persecuted) Bajorans...the political, calculating Cardassians...The aggressive and honorable Klingons...the greedy Ferengi...the secretive and isolated Romulans...and the (not so) innocent Federation (thanks to Section 31) - makes for TV that does more than entertain. It elevates. If you like this show, and you have not seen the new version of Battlestar Galactica, you should. It was created by some of the same people, and takes some of these same concepts to an even higher place. I like shows that make you think as well as entertain you. DS9 will certainly make you rethink what you think you know about the Star Trek universe.

There are two innovations in the past few years that have made television viewing perhaps the best it's ever been: the ability through TiVo and other DVRs to watch programs as they are being recorded (eliminating the need to sit through commercials) and the establishment of complete season/complete series dvd sets of television programs. I waited a while to purchase Deep Space Nine on dvd, waiting not only for a good price, but for a time when I would have a chance to spend some serious time with one of my all-time favorite shows. When the now-familiar amazon package arrived, it made my day, and I immediately put the first disc in. My emotional response was immediate, and quite intense: it felt like coming home after many years away. I hadn't quite realized until that moment just how much I'd missed coming to this place each week. The premiere was set up perfectly, introducing the major characters and conflicts that would play out over the course of the season, and, ultimately, the series. The strength of DS9, as its fans will tell you, is in its depth. Setting the show in a stationary locale, the major plot-ines involved places and characters that would be back week after week, season after season. The regional conflict between Bajor and Cardassia, in particular, of necessity had to be complex enough to form the backbone of the overall story. The show couldn't introduce a story element and resolve everything tidily as the ship went on its merry way. The people stayed where they were, for the most part, and each plot added to the tapestry. For this show to work, the characters had to be strong, as well, and boy are they ever. The strong Commander (later Captain). The Bajoran freedom-fighter torn between old loyalties and new. The young doctor. The trill. The shape-shifting constable. The weasely owner of the local watering hole/gambling establishment. The list goes on and on. There are bonds of friendship and love, but of conflicts and rivalries as well. Science fiction has always been about talking about humanity from a different perspective - and these characters are the most human (no matter their species) of any of the trek series. For the depth of character and overarching plot lines, DS9 is my favorite star trek series. If you didn't think much of it while it was on the air, or if you missed it as much as I did, I highly recommend revisiting this jewel of a series.

This is my absolute favorite series of all time! However, some of the discs are corrupted and won't play, which is a real bummer during a re-watch. :( Might be better to watch this one on streaming, since you'll miss out on at least a few episodes with the disc set.

Friendship. That's the word I would use to describe the series from start to end; in all shades and forms. Unlike all the other Star Trek series where the characters are all just noble and natural coalesce around each other this one has realistic push and pull. Friendships take time to build however and as someone from an actual military background the inter-workings of personal dynamics make the series worthwhile. Some of these characters do not get along and in fact never like each other. Quark and Kira feud the entire series and realistically so, they have different value systems, beliefs and goals that will never quite see eye to eye. Even after saving each others lives a couple times (out of mutual purpose or duty) you see them more friendly for a couple episodes then back to arguing. O'Brien and Bashir form the series tightest bond after initially finding each other annoying. A young idealistic doctor and a battle hardened noncommissioned officer make the best series odd couple. They don't become friends though until the doctor grows up a little bit and O'Brien, beset by an unhappy wife and family responsibilities, rediscovers a little bit of the kid in him. It doesn't happen overnight and literally takes seasons to full develop. Rom and his brother Quark cannot be more different and Rom's son Nog grows up with the best qualities of both and his close friend Jake Sisko. Odo, ever the dogged investigator who sees the world in black and white struggles to work with a crew that sees the world in plenty of grey shades but eventually finds the courage to reveal and pursue his crush on Kira. All of this set against the backdrop of a world recently freed from a military occupation; the one time buddhist-esque peace lovers forced to face hard realities attempt to rediscover their compassion while never again allowing themselves to fall under the thumb of an oppressor. If you want the constant exploration of the original Star Trek series with its Roddenberry inspired optimistic view of humanity this may not be for you. If you like characters who have to find a way to work with each other despite differences in order to achieve shared goals and overcome adversaries; this is a perfect series Trek fan or no.

First disc.kept skipping, second disc would not play at all. Tested the discs on multiple players and had the same issues. I'd recommend the series but stay away from these DVDs.

I watch Star Trek daily on Netflix and have been waiting to own this series for a long time. I have been buying the box sets of all of the Star Trek series in blu ray as they are now at a much more reasonable price. It is sad that CBS transferred their original film recordings to video tape and sold the film of Next Generation, DS9, and Voyager. Because of that it now is very expensive and time consuming to get them transferred to blu ray. They tested out the sales on Next Generation when they went through that costly process and because of low sales they decided it would not be worth it for for DS9 or Voyager to be transferred. If they still had the original film we would of had them long ago. So now we are stuck with DVDs on those 2 series until technology makes it easier and cheaper. This is my favorite of all the Star Trek series. It took 2 seasons for the series to find it's legs but once it did it got really good. It is a different format from the starship exploring new worlds. Instead it focused on a deep season long plot lines. They focus much more on character development and they used a much larger supporting cast then the other series did. The only downside of this series is that if you just want to sit down and watch a random episode (especially in later seasons), you might get lost or not get all the connections that are being made if you did not watch some pervious episodes.

I did not have this part of Star Trek and love watching these excellent episodes.