Following last year’s 4K boxed set of the six Star Trek films with the original cast comes the inevitable upgrade for the Next Generation movies. Similarly, each of these films feature impressive new scans for a picture that is an overall improvement on the previously released Blu-rays, with sound quality that’s more-or-less on par with what we’ve heard before (meaning they still sound pretty great).
This set doesn’t include any new supplementary material, but in true Star Trek fashion, each accompanying Blu-ray is loaded with a comprehensive selection of fan-friendly features carried over from other releases. At this point, it’s hard to imagine there’s much left to discover about these films that hasn’t already been well-documented. Adding anything more would probably be superfluous.
As for the movies themselves, they run the gamut in terms of quality…
The first, Star Trek: Generations, is a narratively shaky but still entertaining transition to the big screen for the TNG cast. While the story itself doesn’t bear a whole lot of scrutiny and the much-ballyhooed union of Captains Kirk and Picard is fairly gratuitous (as is the former’s underwhelming sendoff), the film does continue the growing tradition of destroying the Enterprise in spectacular fashion. Despite some dated special effects - exacerbated by the 4K transfer - it remains the best sequence in the entire film. Data’s newly-installed emotion chip is also good for some genuine laughs.
Star Trek: First Contact is not only the best TNG film, it arguably ranks among the best entries in the entire Trek franchise. More focused, action-oriented and undeniably darker (though still sometimes quite funny), this one features the series’ most creatively malevolent antagonists - the Borg - marvelously personified by Alice Krige, who brings a weird touch of sexuality to the Borg queen. Like The Wrath of Khan, it tells a compelling story that draws inspiration from past episodes from the series.
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| "Maybe you should try turning it off and then on again." |
Godawful wedding sequence notwithstanding, Star Trek: Nemesis is a wonderful return-to-form and much better than its maligned reputation suggests. The plot features a coup within the Romulan government led by Shinzon (a very young Tom Hardy), whose tragic history reveals a surprising connection (and obsession) with Picard, fueling his desire to annihilate the Federation with a deadly new super-weapon. This one also features the best action and special effects since First Contact, with the Enterprise once-again being gloriously sacrificed. Unfortunately, Nemesis severely underperformed at the box office, ringing the death knell for the TNG franchise.
Nicely packaged in a sturdy case and box with decent artwork, this 8-disc set is a solid technical upgrade for Trek fans, especially those who want to grab all the films in 4K at one time. Though this fan can’t imagine being compelled to revisit Insurrection again, at least it’s here should I ever change my mind.
EXTRA KIBBLES
4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES (all movies)
LIBRARY COMPUTER MODE (all movies) - Option to watch first film while accessing various bits of trivia, facts and glossary.
STAR TREK: GENERATIONS
PRODUCTION FEATURETTES - “Uniting Two Legends”; “Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion”; “Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire”; “Scoring Trek.”
FX FEATURETTES - “Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures”; “Crashing the Enterprise.”
SCENE DECONSTRUCTION FEATURETTES - “Main Title Sequence”; “The Nexus Ribbon”; “Saucer Crash Sequence.”
“THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE” - “A Tribute to Matt Jeffries”; “The Enterprise Lineage”; “Captain Picard’s Family Album”; “Creating 24th Century Weapons”; “Stellar Cartography on Earth”; “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond Part One”; “Roundtable: Generations”; “Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 007: Trilithium.”
3 COMMENTARIES - 1) Audio commentary by director David Carson & Manny Coto; 2) audio commentary by Brannon Braga & Ronald D. Moore; 3) Text commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda.
DELETED SCENES & ALTERNATE ENDING
STORYBOARDS & PRODUCTION GALLERY
2 TRAILERS
STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT
PRODUCTION FEATURETTES - “Making First Contact”; “The Art of First Contact”; “The Story”; “The Missile Silo”; The Deflector Dish”; “From ‘A’ to ‘E’”.
SCENE DECONSTRUCTION FEATURETTES - “Borg Queen Assembly”; “Borg Queen Demise”; “Escape Pod Launch.”
“THE BORG COLLECTIVE” - “Unimatrix One”; “The Queen”; “Design Matrix.”
“THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE” - “Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute”; “The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane”; “First Contact: The Possibilities”; “Industrial Light & Magic: The Next Generation”; “Greetings from the International Space Station”; “SpaceShipOne’s Historic Flight”; “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond Part Two”’; “Trek Roundtable: First Contact”; “Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Temporal Vortex.”
4 COMMENTARIES - 1) Audio commentary by director Jonathan Frakes; 2) audio commentary by Brannon Braga & Ronald D. Moore; 3) Audio commentary by Damon Lindelof & Anthony Pascale; 4) Text commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda.
STORYBOARDS & PHOTO GALLERY
EASTER EGGS
3 TRAILERS
STAR TREK: INSURRECTION
PRODUCTION FEATURETTES - “It Takes a Village”; “Location, Location, Location”; “The Art of Insurrection”; “Anatomy of a Stunt”; “The Story”; “Making Star Trek: Insurrection”; “Director’s Notebook.”
“THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE” - “Westmore’s Aliens”; “Westmore’s Legacy”; “Star Trek’s Beautiful Alien Woman”; “Mirina Sirtis: The Counselor Is In”; “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond Part Three”’; “Trek Roundtable: Insurrection”; “Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: The Origins of the Bak’U and Son’A Conflict.”
“CREATING THE ILLUSION” - “Shuttle Chase”; “Drones”; “Duck Blind.”
2 COMMENTARIES - 1) Audio commentary by director Jonathan Frakes & Mirina Sirtis; 2) Text commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda.
PROMOTIONAL FEATURETTE
DELETED SCENES & ALTERNATE ENDING
STORYBOARDS & PHOTO GALLERY
EASTER EGGS
3 TRAILERS
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
PRODUCTION FEATURETTES - “Nemesis Revisited”; “New Frontiers: Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis”; “Storyboarding the Action”; “Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis”; “Build and Rebuild”; “Four-Wheeling in the Final Frontier”; “Screen Test: Shinzon.”
“THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE” - “A Star Trek Family’s Final Journey”; “ABold vision of the Final Frontier”; “The Enterprise-E”; “Reunion with the Rikers”; “Today’s Tech Tomorrow’s Data”; “Robot Hall of Fame”; “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond Part Four”’; “Trek Roundtable: Menesis”; “Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Thalaron Radiation.”
“THE ROMULAN EMPIRE” - “Romulan Lore”; “Shinzon and the Viceroy”; “Romulan Design”; “The Romulan Senate”; “The Scimitar.”
4 COMMENTARIES - 1) Audio commentary by director Stewart Baird; 2) audio commentary by producer Rick Berman; 3) Audio commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda; 4) Text commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda.
DELETED SCENES
STORYBOARD & GALLERIES
EASTER EGGS
3 TRAILERS
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