Star Trek: The Next Generation 4 Movie Collection (UHD Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Paramount
Release Date: April 4, 2023
Rating: PG & PG-13
Film: See below

Plot + My Thoughts
With178 TV episodes under its belt, the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generationmade 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. Film grade (4/5)

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. Film grade (4.75/5)

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. Film grade (3.5/5)

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. Film grade (3.5/5)

After seeing the original series cast get their due with 4K releases, I was looking forward to seeing all of the films in 4K and the time has finally arrived. Overall, the video quality is quite good with the first two films looking the best and the final two a slight notch below—figure 9/10 for the first two, 8/10 for the last two. Outdoor scenes look particularly good on Generations and I’m happy to see that the natural film grain hasn’t been DNR’d to death. First Contact is arguably the finest looking disc of the four, but it’s also my favorite of the bunch so maybe I’m biased. Regardless, there should be no complaints with the look of the films in 4K.

The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 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.

Video 8.5/10

Audio 9/10 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1)

Special Features:

STAR TREK: GENERATIONS Bonus Content

• Commentary by director David Carson and Manny Coto
• Commentary by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production
  
  • Uniting Two Legends
  • Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion
  • Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire
  • Scoring Trek
• Visual Effects
  
  • Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures
  • Crashing the Enterprise
• Scene Deconstruction     
  
  • 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 24^th Century Weapons
  • Next Generation Designer Flashback Andrew Probert
  • Stellar Cartography on Earth
  • Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 1
  • Trek Roundtable: Generations
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 007: Trilithium
• Deleted Scenes
• Archives
• Trailers

STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT Bonus Content
        ·        Commentary by director and actor Jonathan Frakes
        ·        Commentary by screenplay writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
        ·        Commentary by Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale
        ·        Text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
        ·        Library Computer
        ·        Production
        o  Making First Contact
        o The Art of First Contact
        o  The Story
        o  The Missile Silo
        o  The Deflector Dish
        o  From “A” to “E”
        ·        Scene Deconstruction
        o  Borg Queen Assembly
        o  Escape Pod Launch
        o  Borg Queen’s Demise
        ·        The Star Trek Universe
        o  Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute
        o  The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane
        o  First Contact: The Possibilities
        o  Industrial Light & Magic - The Next Generation
        o  Greetings from the International Space Station
        o  SpaceShipOne’s Historic Flight
        o  Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 2
        o  Trek Roundtable: First Contact
        o  Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Temporal Vortex
       ·        The Borg Collective
        o  Unimatrix One
        o  The Queen
        o  Design Matrix
       ·        Archives
       ·        Trailers

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION Bonus Content

• Commentary by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production
  
  • 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 Women
  • Marina Sirtis - The Counselor Is In
  • Brent Spiner - Data and Beyond Part 3
  • Trek Roundtable: Insurrection
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 009: The Origins of the Ba’ku and Son’a Conflict
• Creating the Illusion
  
  • Shuttle Chase
  • Drones
  • Duck Blind
• Deleted Scenes
• Archives
• Advertising

STAR TREK: NEMESIS Bonus Content

• Commentary by director Stuart Baird
• Commentary by producer Rick Berman
• Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production
  
  • Nemesis Revisited
  • New Frontiers – Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis
  • Storyboarding the Action
  • Red Alert! Shotting 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
  • A Bold 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 4
  • Trek Roundtable: Nemesis
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 010: Thalaron Radiation
• The Romulan Empire
  
  • Romulan Lore
  • Shinzon & the Viceroy
  • Romulan Design
  • The Romulan Senate
  • The Scimitar
• Deleted Scenes
• Archives
• Trailers

Conclusion
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. I haven’t revisited any of these films since their release on Blu-ray almost 14 years ago, and it was like meeting with old friends after a long hiatus. Fortunately, the reunion was a lot of fun in 4K and the film set receives my highest recommendation. 


Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS3100 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 110” 2.35:1 Screen
Trinnov Altitude 16 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Kaleidescape Strato + Server
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-990
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
SVS SB3000
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
M&K Sound X15+ Subwoofer
Mini DSP HD controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling

PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[Paul Heroy]

I watched the 6 TOS movies last fall while I had a few weeks to myself and it was a lot of fun to revisit those. There's another 2 week "bachelor break" coming up in late May and I'm thinking I need to grab this set for a repeat with the TNG movies. 

[AVSCraig]

I'm looking at my box set here on my desk and totally looking forward to watching these. I still have the original Star Trek films on 4K to watch - I have a serious backlog!