 Tremendous Quality and Value - TNG arrives in serious style on Blu-Ray |
| Review Date: September 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Matthew T. Weflen, Chicago, IL |
I just received my TNG Blu-Ray set from Amazon. After the TOS set, which had a decidedly mixed quality, I was ready to give this set some tough scrutiny. Happily, I can report that A/V quality is superior to the previous set, and the extras and packaging share the same quality with that set.
The films:
Generations - I find this movie to be underrated. The intro sequence aboard the Enterprise B is just a terrific bit of continuity expanding coolness. The emotional weight of the movie is great, and although it falls into the "big villain" syndrome, the big villain is 1. played by Malcolm McDowell, 2. is realistic in his motivations and his abilities. The only failings in my book are some torpid pacing in the "Nexus" scenes, and some painful Data scenes. Still, this is a movie that I appreciate more each time I watch it.
First Contact - this is everyone's pick for "2nd best of all time" (after "Khan" of course). I'm not going to disagree. It's got a whiz bang action story, the Borg, time travel, good continuity, and great effects. I do think the story sullies the Borg somewhat by introducing the "Queen." But, then again, she is played very well by Alice Krige. As far as time travel, while this wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back, it did probably contribute to the trend of too much time travel in Trek.
Insurrection - More like an extended episode than a movie, this film has the germ of a good sci-fi story: how much of its scruples will the Federation trade for a technology that could render humanity immortal? Unfortunately, this movie more than most falls prey to the "big villain" syndrome, with an extremely irritating antagonist, the Sona. There is some good fan service, however, with Troi and Riker finally getting together for good. I'd rate this along with some of the so-so two parters in TNG's TV run.
Nemesis - Ah, Nemesis. The film that "killed the franchise." The one which necessitated a "Reboot." The one which pooped on several characters and even a few races. This movie is riddled with problems from concept through to execution. It ret-cons the Romulans and adds the "Remans." It brings back Wesley as a Starfleet lieutenant, even though he dropped out of the academy to cross dimensions with the Traveler. It introduces Data's retarded brother "B-4," even though this is specifically contradicted by several TNG episodes. It shamelessly rips off a TNG episode in which Troi is mentally assaulted. It posits an outlandish clone plot with Captain Picard, as if the Romulans could both obtain his DNA several decades ago and anticipate its usefulness in the future. It kills a main character for no apparent reason. About the only thing worthwhile in this film is the wedding of Troi and Riker. The more I see this film, the angrier I get at the complete lack of care that went into its making.
The Blu-Rays:
Unlike the TOS set, the video quality of these 4 films is in general extremely good, and at times spectacular. Though there is a tiny bit of edge enhancement visible at times (Especially on the sailboat in Generations), Digital Noise Reduction is not obtrusive at any point. Detail is extremely strong for the most part, and colors are absolutely vibrant. Black levels are deep and strong, but detail in shadows is still evident. You will want to be sure to check the calibration of your brightness, contrast, and gamma, to get the most from these films (for those without a disc like AVE, try the THX calibrator on "Star Wars" DVDs for some good brightness/contrast patterns).
I would say First Contact is the best transfer of the bunch, but truthfully, all of the final three films are competitive with the upper tier of Blu-Rays on the market today. Only Generations shows its age a bit, but it still looks very good - better than all but ST2 in the TOS set. Insurrection and Nemesis betray a bit of color banding in clouds and space scenes, but it is not oppressive. Some standout scenes from all the films in terms of visual quality: Data and Geordi discussing the emotion chip (Generations). The opening pull-back in First Contact. The establishing shot of the Baku homeworld in Insurrection (known as a torture test for 3:2 pulldown on DVD).
Audio is presented in a set of aggressive 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD mixes. All of them work well, with lots of surround action, deep bass, and clear dialogue.
Packaging is identical to the previous set, with a slipcase and 5 slim BD cases. Art and inserts are all tasteful and good-looking.
Extras include a plethora of commentaries. The most interesting of these are Ron D. Moore and Brannon Braga on Generations and First Contact, and Jonathan (Riker) Frakes and Marina (Troi) Sirtis on Insurrection. Most of the films have multiple commentaries, some have three! The same amount of detail goes into the extras on each film as did the previous set, with most discs recapitulating all of the DVD extras and adding some new ones (such as the execrable "Starfleet Briefings" from the TOS set). Like the previous set, trailers include the 2009 Trek film and a promo for all the recent Trek Blu-Rays. Thankfully, these are skippable.
As far as deleted scenes go, it seems that the DVD extras have been replicated for Blu-Ray. The most interesting are for Nemesis, the deleted scenes being excised "character bits" including "Wesley's New Mission" and "Crusher At Starfleet Medical" that would have made this film feel a lot less generic. Why Paramount has not authorized an extended edition with this material edited into the film is beyond me. It would certainly take some of the bad taste out of true Trekkies' mouths that their favorite characters got short shrift. Unfortunately, all are presented in non-anamorphic 480p, so they look terrible, for the most part.
The main extra is the bonus Blu-Ray, with 77 minutes of new HD documentary footage split into 7 programs. These include investigations into the evolution of the Enterprise, a spotlight on villains, a piece on the movies' influence on fans and Trek creators, an interactive map of the Trek Galaxy, and three (?!) pieces on the Star Trek Experience from Las Vegas. The Enterprise and Villains segments are the best (though still not very good), and I wish they had been expanded and improved. The other pieces are a bit more frivolous. All told, it's definitely not as impressive as the interview disc from the TOS set, but it still should entertain fans at least marginally.
Summary:
For this price, a Trek fan really can't go wrong with this set. You're getting 4 feature films (two great movies, one good one, and one stinker) with loads of special features and a full disc of (so-so) HD extras. The A/V quality is almost uniformly spectacular, especially in comparison with the TOS set. As far as I'm concerned, this is a must buy for a Trekkie/Trekker with an HD setup. Worth every penny.
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A very pleasent surprise!
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| Review Date: October 31, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Obiturized, New Hampshire |
I never saw these before I bought this set, as I became a Trekkie after 'Nemesis' came out, and so I finally wanted to give these movies a shot, and let me tell you, I'm glad I did!
Star Trek: Generations,
This is the first movie of 'The Next Generation' series, before I watched it, I was skeptical, because I had heard/seen mixed reviews, but of course I still wanted to watch it and judge for myself, this movie I find is VERY underrated, I mean you get to see the original crew (for the most part), Kirk, Scotty, Chekov, but no Spock, Dr. McCoy, Uhura, and Sulu, but still, it was nice to see the rest on the Enterprise 'B' maiden voyage, I'm not gonna play spoiler, I just loved this movie from the get-go, I started watching it the day I got it, and didn't plan on watching the whole thing, I just wanted to sample it, well let me tell you, I watched the whole thing, and fell in love right off!
Star Trek: First Contact,
This is the second movie, and it does not dissapoint, same as 'Generations' right from the get-go I liked it, this goes back to 'The Best of Both Worlds' episodes, with the Borg, and we all know what happened to Captain Picard, this is one excellent, exciting movie, most say the best in the series, and while it was hard for me to pick, I agree, everything about it just works, great action scenes, great story, great storytelling, and of course great acting!
Star Trek: Insurrection,
This is the third movie, this one I think is very underrated as well, this is kind of like alot of the 3rd season episodes of 'The Original Series' where it's about a superior race on the planet becomes the target of a conspiracy, and the story is well thought out, and put to screen very well, lots of great battle scenes in this one, and this movie gets going right off like the first 2, I wasn't expecting a great movie, but like 'Generations' it was a pleasent surprise, it's very well executed, and very well acted!
Star Trek: Nemesis,
This is the fourth movie, and I do not see HOW this one gets ignored, the plot is excellent, I don't want to play spoiler, so I will make this short and to the point, there is a leader of a race that wishes to become Captain Picard (a clone), he was programmed to skip 30 years of his life in order for this to be possible, lots of action, and alot of people say it's not directed like a Star Trek film? I disagree, I knew all along I was watching Star Trek, and not just because of the characters, but the shipshots/space shots, it very much felt like Star Trek, in my opinion, they went out with a big BANG!
Bottom line, if you are a fan of Star Trek, you MUST get this set, the video and audio are excellent quality, and you get a nice load of extras, and the bonus 'Evolutions' disc, once again I never saw these movies before, and I will be watching these again soon, now I need to get 'The Original Series' movie set, I've seen all those, but I still need it on DVD, buy this with confidence!
Trek-on. |
A Beautifully Done Box Set
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| Review Date: November 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: heyheyheywotisay, |
I have been a big fan of this series since it's inception and loved these movies the first time I saw them. I bought this set as soon as it became available, and I'm very glad I did. I got a high quality product at a very reasonable price. This was an all around great purchase.
The CGI effects are wonderful, the picture and sound quality are excellent--love seeing the Enterprise and crew in wide screen 16:9 letterbox-- the packaging is outstanding. And watching the recently produced bonus disc "Evolutions" is like getting together with old friends.
If you are a fan of the "The Next Generation" cast, crew, universe, then you must buy this set. If you are just coming to TNG, you get a beautifully done box set of four great movies to begin your journey. But of course, you can't go wrong starting with the equally well made Season One box-set and working your way up from there. |
LISTING OF ALL THE SPECIAL FEATURES
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| Review Date: March 4, 2010 |
| Reviewer: TSDKING, MICHIGAN |
5 DISC SET.
DISC 1. STAR TREK GENERATIIONS. 7 SPECIAL FEATURES.
A. COMMENTARY BY:DIRECTOR DAVID CARSON AND MANNY COTO.
B. SCORING TREK.
C. NEXT GENERATION DESIGNER FLASHBACK: ANDREW PROBERT.
D. STELLAR CARTOGRAPHY ON EARTH.
E. BRENT SPINER: DATA AND BEYOND PART 1.
F. TREK ROUNDTABLE: GENERATIONS.
G. STARFLEET ACADEMY: TRILITHIUM.
DISC 2. STAR TREK FIRST CONTACT. 7 SPECIAL FEATURES.
A. COMMENTARY BY: DAMON LINDELOF AND ANTHONYPASCOLE.
B. INDISTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC - THE NEXT GENERATION.
C. GREETINGS FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION.
D. SPACESHIPONE'S HISTORIC FLIGHT.
E. BRENT SPINER: DATA AND BEYOND PART 2.
F. TREK ROUNDTABLE: FIRST CONTACT.
G. STARFLEEY ACADEMY: TEMPORAL VORTEX.
DISC 3. STAR TREK INSURRECTION. 6 SPECIAL FEATURES.
A. COMMENTARY BY: JONATHAN FRAKES AND MARINA SIRTIS.
B. WESTMORE'S LEGACY.
C. MARINA SIRTIS: THE COUNSELOR IS IN.
D. BRENT SPINER: DATA AND BEYOND PART 3.
E. TREK ROUNDTABLE: INSURRECTION.
F. STARFLEET ACADEMY: THE ORIGINS OF THE BA'KU AND SON'A CONFLICT.
DISC 4. STAR TREK NEMESIS. 7 SPECIAL FEATURES.
A. COMMENTARY BY: MICHAEL AND DENISE OKUDA.
B. REUNION WITH THE RIKERS.
C. TODAY'S TECH TOMORROW'S DATA.
D. ROBOT HALL OF FAME.
E. BRENT SPINER: DATA AND BEYOND PART 4.
F. TREK ROUNDTABLE: NEMESIS.
G. STARFLEET ACADEMY: THALARON RADIATION.
DISC 5. STAR TREK EVOLUTIONS. 7 SPECIAL FEATURES. (BONUS DISC)
A. THE EVOLUTION OF THE ENTERPRISE.
B. VILLANS OF STAR TREK.
C. I LOVE STAR TREK MOVIES.
D. FAREWELL TO STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE.
E. KLINGON ENCOUNTER.
F. BORG INVASION 4D.
G. CHARTING THE FINAL FRONTIER.
THE 5 DISCS ARE ENCASED IN BLACK SINGLE DISC CASES.
THE OUTER CASE HAS A COLL HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGE OF THE ENTERPISE.
ALL INFORMATION CAME DIRECTLY FROM THE DVD CASES.
NO OPINIONS JUST FACTS.
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THE WAY THEY WERE MEANT TO BE SEEN...........
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| Review Date: September 25, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Kent R. Garrett, Rainbow City, AL United States |
| Ok. Remember when you went to the moves and saw Trek and were just lost in the visuals? I mean everything from the displays to the ship details. Then when you got the DVD (or if you're old like me the VHS) and it just didn't look quite the same. You could follow the story and it was the same movie and all, but it just seemed to lose some of the magic. Well it's back with this set! I watched Generations last night and I saw textures and colors and details that I never could see before. If you are even a casual Trek fan you've got to get this for the deal. If you're a serious fan it is an absolute must! |
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