All Star Trek Series Set For Region 2 DVD Release

Though Paramount hasn't been very active in the US in bringing Star Trek to DVD, releasing only the movies and the Original Series, things have been even worse in Europe, where only a few of the movies have been released so far. However, things seem set to change now, with a DVD news site reporting Paramount is planning on bringing all four Trek series out on the new format.

According to the DVD Debate, Paramount is currently planning to start releasing Region 2 DVD box sets as early as June 2001, beginning with Voyager's first season. In addition, the studio is reportedly also planning to release gift boxes and special-edition single DVDs for casual collectors, as well as DVD versions of existing box sets, such as for instance the Seven of Nine box.

DVD Debate published the following release date list, which is apparently still subject to constant change, while it is also not certain exactly how official the list is. Take a look:

• The Original Series

  - Season 1 / December 2001
  - Season 2 / December 2002

• The Next Generation

  - Season 1 / April 2002
  - Season 2 / July 2002
  - Season 3 / November 2002
  - Season 4 / March 2003
  - Season 5 / June 2003
  - Season 6 / September 2003
  - Season 7 / December 2003

• Deep Space Nine

  - Season 1 / November 2002
  - Season 2 / February 2003
  - Season 3 / May 2003
  - Season 4 / August 2003
  - Season 5 / November 2003

• Voyager

  - Season 1 / June 2001
  - Season 2 / September 2001
  - Season 3 / December 2001
  - Season 4 / March 2002
  - Season 5/ June 2002
  - Season 6 / September 2002
  - Season 7 / December 2002

A report published at the British DVD Times would seem to confirm these rumours, and also includes the extra news that the box sets will end up costing £89.99 ($130). The site also passed on a rumour saying that the episodes included on the box sets will be remastered, and extras such as trailers, a DVD-Rom Trek video database and per-episode introductions might be included.

Due to the different region encoding and television system used in the US, most American fans will not be able to watch these European DVDs. However, these European releases might also lead to Paramount US deciding to release more of the Star Trek franchise on DVD, perhaps also choosing per-season box sets over single discs.

The original report from the DVD Debate can be found here. Thanks go out to The Great Link for pointing us to it.

In related news (and also courtesy of the Great Link), the DVD Times also has some news on the 'Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country' Region 2 DVD, which is scheduled for release on the 19th of March. Apparently, a Special Edition of the DVD will be released, which like the regular edition will feature a DD5.1 soundtrack and 2 theatrical trailers. In addition to that, it will also include a demo of the 'Star Trek: New Worlds' game, which most people wouldn't consider enough to call it a true special edition, but apparently it is for Paramount.

However, it turns out that the DVD will in fact be non-Anamorphic, like the Region 1 DVD also was, but unlike all the previous Star Trek Region 2 DVDs. With this in itself already being worrying, the DVD Times also quoted a reader as saying that both the Region 1 DVD and Laserdisc releases of 'The Undiscovered Country' were more watchable than the "ugly" Region 2 DVD.

More info on this can be found at the DVD Times. We'll of course also keep you up to date if more information becomes available on either the 'ST:VI' DVD or the exciting box set news.

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