Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection 4K UHD Review
The “Star Trek: The Next Generation” films warp speed their way to 4K.
With “Star Trek: Picard” season 3 currently airing (which is basically one big TNG reunion), Paramount has wisely released the Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection to coincide with the series The box set contains “Star Trek Generations,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “Star Trek: Insurrection,” and “Star Trek: Nemesis.” Now, you can relive these 4 adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew comprised of Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Data (Brent Spiner), Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and Worf (Michael Dorn).
It’s easy to see why 1994’s “Star Trek Generations” contains cast members from TOS and TNG. Clearly writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore not only wanted to create a passing of the torch type story, but also a big accessible cinematic adventure with 2 of the most well known Captains. Alas, the writers and director David Carson didn’t quite hit of the park with this story about an energy ribbon (the Nexus) which grants your deepest desires, the villainous Dr. Soran, Klingons, time travel, and, yes, William Shatner returning as Captain James. T. Kirk. Yes, it’s fun to see the Captains together, but at the same time, it makes Picard look weak as he has to seek the help of Kirk instead of accomplishing a task on his own.
On the plus side, there’s still a lot to admire about the film. There’s some great cameos, the Nexus proves to be an intriguing concept, Malcolm McDowell has some great scenery chewing as Dr. Saron, and Data steals the entire movie with the subplot about an emotion chip.
Jonathan Frakes stepped into the director’s chair for 1996’s “Star Trek: First Contact” which is far and away the best of the 4 TNG movies AND a top 3 Trek movie in general. Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore returned as writers and created a story in which the Borg attempt to change the past and stop Earth from making first contact with the Vulcans.
“Star Trek: First Contact” perfectly utilizes one of the best Trek foes with the Borg while also featuring a fantastic new character with The Borg Queen. On top of that, the movie also doubles as a compelling “race against time” time travel story.
1998’s “Star Trek: Insurrection” saw Jonathan Frakes returning as director. Veteran Trek writer Michael Piller takes on screenwriting duties here with a movie that feels like you’re watching episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Admittedly, ‘Insurrection’ didn’t work for me on the first viewing upon its initial release, but this one actually improves on repeat viewings. The plot about an immortal alien race (the Ba-ku) and the life obsessed Son’a alien race very much feels like a topical TNG episode that explores bigger issues about mortality and greed. The exploration of Riker and Troi’s relationship, the abundance of humor, and the splendid performance by F. Murray Abraham as Ru’afo are an added bonus.
2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis” is the last of the TNG movies. It may have been a box office bomb that laid the TNG franchise to rest for many years, but it’s not as bad as reviews indicate. Without spoiling too much, writer John Logan penned a story about Romulans and Remans, a Picard clone, and a life threatening weapon.
‘Nemesis’ has perhaps become most notable for being the movie that launched the career of movie star Tom Hardy who stars as Shinzon (who is one of the film’s highlights to be sure). The movie does suffer from being more like a mainstream action movie than a Trek film at times (particularly due to Stuart Baird’s direction). Still, there’s some memorable moments here including Ron Perlman as the Reman Viceroy and a very emotional Data story arc.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.35:1 2160p for ‘First Contact’ and ‘Nemesis’ and 2.39:1 2160p for ‘Generations’ and ‘Insurrection.’ How do they look? Fans will no doubt be pleased by these crisp new transfers. Not only do they maintain the original grain of the prints, but these are the best home video transfers we’ve seen to date.
Audio Track: 7.1 Dolby TrueHD. How does it sound? Happy to report that all 4 films also get new audio mixes with 7.1 Dolby TrueHD tracks. These are nice new upgrades that really showcase the wide array of sounds in the Trek films.
Extras:
* Digital copies of all 4 films
* Blu-ray copies of all 4 films
* 3 commentary tracks for “Star Trek: Generations” on the 4K and Blu-ray. One by director David Carson and Manny Coto, one by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore and one text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda.
* 4 commentary tracks for “Star Trek: First Contact” on the 4K and Blu-ray. One by director/star Jonathan Frakes, one by writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, one by Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale and a text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda.
* 2 commentary tracks for “Star Trek: Insurrection” on the 4K and Blu-ray. One by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis and the other text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda.
* 4 commentary tracks for “Star Trek: Nemesis” on the 4K and Blu-ray. One by director Stuart Baird, one by producer Rick Berman, and 2 by Michael and Denise Okuda (one standard track and one text track).
* Archival extras on the “Star Trek: Generations” Blu-ray- Teaser and theatrical trailer, 4 deleted scenes, 3 storyboards, production gallery, 2 visual effects featurettes, an interactive Library Computer extra with a wealth of content, 4 production featurettes about filming, sets, location shooting and the score, 3 scene deconstructions and an additional 9 featurettes about the late prop designer Matt Jeffries, ships named Enterprise, props/weapons, illustrator Andrew Probert, astronomy, Brent Spiner chatting about Data, a roundtable discussion on “Star Trek: Generations” by writers/bloggers, and an in universe discussion of the plot of “Star Trek: Generations.”
* Archival extras on the “Star Trek: First Contact Blu-ray”-Library Computer (again), teaser, theatrical and Borg Invasion trailers, 3 scene deconstructions, 3 Borg centric featurettes on the Borg Queen, character designs, and Borg history in Trek, storyboards, photo gallery, 3 easter eggs (Ethan Phillips interview, “Queen’s Demise” featurette, and alternate titles), a making of featurette, art design featurette, an extra about the story, a featurette on the Missile Silo, a featurette on the set design, a featurette on the Deflector Dish action sequence, a tribute to the great composer Jerry Goldsmith, a featurette on Zefram Cochrane, an ILM effects bonus feature, a featurette on the possibility of a real first contact situation with aliens, an International Space Station video, another Brent Spiner interview, SpaceShipOne’s flight video, another roundtable discussions (this time about ‘First Contact’) and another in universe discussion about the events that transpired in ‘First Contact.’
* Archival extras on the “Star Trek: Insurrection” Blu-ray- 8 deleted scenes, teaser and theatrical trailer, promo featurette, Borg Invasion trailer, Library Computer, storyboards, photo gallery, 3 easter eggs (Worf and Troi, Tom Morello and Marina/Craft Services), 3 visual effects featurettes, 7 production centric extras about the shooting locations, sets, story, artwork, stunt work, the making of, and Jonathan Frakes, 2 featurettes on alien makeup designer Michael Westmore, a featurette on alien women, an interview with Marina Sirtis, and more installments of the Brent Spiner Interview, the roundtable discussions (about ‘Insurrection’) and the in universe rundown of the plot.
* Archival extras on the “Star Trek: Nemesis” Blu-ray- 13 deleted scenes with Rick Berman intro (including one with Wesley), teaser, theatrical and Borg Invasion trailers, 4 storyboards, production and props photo galleries, 3 easter eggs (Bryan Singer, Riker and the Beast and Terry Frazee), Library Computer, 5 featurettes on Romulans that include Shinzon and the Viceroy, set designs, Romulan history, and the ship Scimitar, 7 production featurettes on how the film came about, director Stuart Baird, storyboarding, the action, sets, the dune buggy, and a Shinzon screen test, and 9 other featurettes on the story and themes, the set design, the Enterprise E, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis talking about their characters, robots, Data’s induction in the Robot Hall Of Fame and one last interview with Brent Spiner, one last roundtable discussion, and one last in universe discussion.
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