Blu-ray Movie Reviews

With178 TV episodes under its belt, the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation made its feature-film debut in 1994's Star Trek: Generations, which passed the baton from Kirk and company to Picard's crew. The film opens with a retired James T. Kirk aboard the Enterprise-B as it makes its maiden voyage, but when a distress call comes from a nearby ship, Kirk apparently pays the ultimate price helping the new captain save his ship from a mysterious energy ribbon. Seventy-eight years later, the Enterprise-D encounters an enigmatic humanoid named Soran, who's devious plan will cost millions of lives, and only Picard and Kirk—who's been living in limbo all this time—can stop him.

The second and strongest TNG film, First Contact, is a pure action vehicle. The Borg have their sights set on Earth and travel through time to assimilate pre-warp humans. The crew of the new Enterprise-D follows the Borg through a temporal vortex in order to ensure that Zefram Cochrane's first warp flight takes place.

If Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry were still alive, Insurrection would probably be one of his favorite TNG films because it’s the most like the original series. When Data discovers that members of Starfleet want to secretly emigrate the natives of a planet in order to harness its mysterious power, he goes "off the reservation" and exposes the evildoers.

After a four-year hiatus, the final TNG film hit theaters in 2002 with the much-maligned but underrated Nemesis. When the entire Romulan Senate is assassinated by former Reman slaves, their human leader Shinzon takes power and requests the help of the Federation. The Enterprise is dispatched to the Romulus, and Picard seizes the opportunity for peace, but the Remans and their evil leader have a few dirty tricks up their sleeve.

The video quality is a mixed bag between the four films. Generations is the worst of the bunch due to some prevalent edge enhancement, a lack of any film grain, and unnatural flesh tones. First Contact improves things remarkably with natural flesh tones, rich contrast, and vivid hues. Occasional softness creeps into the picture, but this has more to do with the photography than with the high-bitrate AVC 1080p encode.

Insurrection is a middling transfer with interior shots lacking any depth, but the exteriors are much better in this regard. Flesh tones are a bit waxy and backgrounds aren't as sharp as they could be. Nemesis is the best-looking and most film-like presentation of the four. Black levels are inky, shadows are revealing, and flesh tones are accurate.

The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks are all well-crafted experiences, particularly the final three films. Each has an enveloping sound design, smooth dynamics, and intelligible audio. The best of the bunch is Nemesis, which is loaded with demo sequences ranging from a phaser battle on Kolarus III to foundation-shaking space battles.

Each film has its own assortment of bonus features that include deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and behind-the-scenes featurettes. A couple of Blu-ray exclusive features include a Bonus View "Library Computer" viewing mode, which provides technical and background information on Star Trek indexed by topic. For those with BD-Live players, there's a Trek trivia game with clips from the films. You can even create your own quiz and have it rated by other viewers.

The boxed set also includes a fifth disc called "Star Trek: Evolutions," which has a feature on the various Enterprise ships throughout the years, a look at the Star Trek villains, and a "Farewell to Star Trek: The Experience," which entertained Trekkies for 10 years at the Las Vegas Hilton.

First Contact is regarded as the strongest of the TNG movies by fans, and it just happens to be one of my favorites too. The story by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore tackles the issues of revenge and reverence, and Frakes' direction keeps the pacing brisk and ratchets up the tension. Nemesis was poorly received by many, but I believe much of the criticism it has received is due to Star Trek overload at the time of its release, which is certainly justifiable. Over a span of 15 years, there were four weekly TV shows and six feature films, and even the most diehard Trekkies—like me—felt a little overwhelmed by the experience and needed a break from everything Trek. After a 7-year hiatus I realized how much I enjoyed the TNG crew, and they look and sound great on Blu-ray. Highly recommended.

Release Date:September 22, 2009
Studio: Paramount

Star Trek: Generations

Movie: 7/10
Picture: 6/10
Sound: 8/10

Star Trek: First Contact

Movie: 9/10
Picture: 8/10
Sound: 9/10

Star Trek: Insurrection

Movie: 7/10
Picture: 7/10
Sound: 9/10

Star Trek: Nemesis

Movie: 8/10
Picture: 9/10
Sound: 10/10

Review System

Source
Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray player

Display
JVC DLA-RS1 projector
Stewart FireHawk screen (76.5" wide, 16:9)

Electronics
Onkyo Pro PR-SC885 pre/pro
Anthem PVA-7 power amplifier
Belkin PF60 power conditioner

Speakers
M&K S-150s (L, C, R)
M&K SS-150s (LS, RS, SBL, SBR)
SVS PC-Ultra subwoofer

Cables
Monoprice HDMI cables (source to pre/pro)
Best Deal analog-audio cables
PureLink HDC Fiber Optic HDMI Cable System (15 meters) from pre/pro to projector

Acoustical treatments from GIK Acoustics