Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


WARNING: THE SCORES ABOVE ARE A COMBINED SCORE FROM ALL 4 FILMS, THE INDIVIDUAL SCORES ARE CONTAINED BELOW IN THE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE REVIEW


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Movie
Well, we finally have ALL of the Star Trek movies in 4K UHD thanks to this latest boxset from Paramount! Unlike the original series of movies, Paramount didn’t release part of them in a box set, then wait a year and release the rest. Instead we get a nice 8 disc clamshell 4K UHD case with all TNG movies ensconced withing, with brand new 4K remasters on both the 4K UHD discs as well as the Blu-rays (which is right in line with the previous TOS movies). I actually haven’t watched most of the TNG movies in quite some time (my first theatrical Star Trek film was Insurrection with my sister in law back in 1998) and it’s proven time and time again, that while TNG was the best TV series to date (fight me on that one) the movies stumbled a lot more than The original Shatner films did (despite First Contact being a massive fan favorite). Luckily the boxset is really nice, with great video and audio, TONS of special features, and a classy slip box to house the black case in.

Star Trek: Generations:
Ah yes, Generations. The film that Paramount executives wanted to make, but were nervous that the TNG cast wouldn’t be able to fill the roles of the original series cast, so they shoehorned Captain Kirk (William Shatner) into the film to sort of “bridge the generational gap” so to speak. Originally I always felt that Generations was a baton hand off from one generation to the next (hence the name), but as I’ve gotten older and dug deeper into the production issues I see the awkwardness of having Captain Kirk in the film, and how it would have been a smoother experience if they had just kept with the original plot and not needed both Captains on deck (so to speak).

The film luckily only had a couple year break from it’s run on CBS to hitting the big screen with their first movie, and the momentum was still going for them. Picard was still in his prime and everyone was craving a TNG movie. The film starts out with a fantastic setup with Captain Kirk acting as a sort of patriarchal figure to the launch of the Enterprise B, the long awaited successor to his command, only for the maiden voyage of the underfitted craft to get sucked into a distortion field trying to rescue another ship. The refugees are saved, but Kirk lost in the distortion field. Fast forward many years later, and we are re-introduced to the crew of the Enterprise D with Captain Jean Luc Picard running to the rescue of a research post that has been attacked by an unknown source. There they find Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell) who only wishes to return to his station and continue his sensitive research. However, Soran is more than he appears, having an ulterior motive to his work, and it soon becomes obvious that the man is manipulating a time dilation distortion for his own means, and now it’s up to the Enterprise crew to stop him and his Klingon allies before it’s too late.

As a first movie to the TNG crew, Generations is rather good. It’s not perfect, with a 3rd act that starts to fall apart logically (how come Guinan and Picard never thought to do the sane and logical action to wrap things up is beyond me, but I chalk it up to movie magic that needs something stupid to happen in order to have a big action scene. Kind of like how no body ever communicating is the basis for every Rom-Com ever created), and the cramming in of Kirk feels really forced and awkward. That being said, there’s a lot of fun going on with the crew, especially Data getting used to his emotions chip (and saying some rather iconic lines). It may not be perfect, but it was a fun start to the silver screen debut.

Star Trek: First Contact:
First Contact has loudly been proclaimed the fan favorite of the TNG cast movies, and rightfully so. Jonathan Frakes combined the popularity of the Borg with a high flying action movie that is over the top and the first of the PG-13 films as well. It went in guns blazing with no holding back, and doesn’t let up until the final credits roll. It’s flashy, fun, full of big name actor cameos, and so easy to get lost in. However, it also is probably the most cliched and rote of the group too.

The Borg have crossed over from the Delta Quadrant to Federation space, and they are on a collision course for Earth. The Federation is assembling to stop them before the lone cube can get to Earth, but the powers that be have ordered the crew of the newly assembled Enterprise E to stand down. Picard (Patrick Stewart) rightfully realizes that it is his past connection of being assimilated by the collective is the reason for his orders to stand down, but in true Picard fashion he and the crew decide to disobey that order and go into the fray. Arriving in the nick of time, Picard watches as the cube is decimating the entire fleet, and decides to use his intimate knowledge of a Borg cube (when he was Locutis) to target a hidden weak spot.

As the Borg cube disintegrates, an escape “sphere” emerges from the wreckage and opens a wormhole in time before disappearing through. Realizing that the collective are going back in time to assimilate humanity when they are technologically inferior, the Enterprise E follows the sphere through the portal and attempts to undue whatever damage they are going to cause before it happens.

Coming out the other side of the portal, Picard and Data head down to a post WWWIII Earth where a special launch is about to happen. To be precise, the launch where famed astronaut Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) is going to make first contact with the Vulcan race, effectively catapulting humanity into the space faring races. Now it’s up to Picard and his “out of time” crew to keep the Borg from stopping the launch and keeping history intact so that Humanity can become of the most prominent races in the entire Alpha Quadrant.

On the surface First Contact is the best of the TNG films. It’s got tons of action, uses the most famed TNG villain of all time, and is filled with great dialog. The problem is, that it also sort of undercuts itself at the same time, and the Borg along with it. This was the first time that we are introduced to the idea of a Borg Queen, and sort of throws a monkey wrench into the idea of a hive mind. It was cool at the time, and gave us a singular villain to attack, but the application of having a single mind outside of the collective kind of takes the weight and gravitas away from the unrelenting mechanical monsters. The same can be said for the action. There’s a few too many lines like “assimilate this!” and big explosions rather than plot development.

On the flip side we have some really good interactions between Lily (Alfre Woodard) and Picard, with Lily sort of exposing Picard’s built up hatred and vengeance that was eating him alive ever since his assimilation by the Borg. The whole Captain Ahab scenario was by far the highlight of the film, especially with Picard having to humble himself before Worf (whom he had brutally insulted hours before).

Star Trek: Insurrection:
I don’t care what anyone says, but Insurrection was completely under rated. It’s been derided for years as the second worst of the entire TNG film set (Nemesis of course being the worst), but I’m one of the few who actually really loves the film. It’s silly, got some stupid dialog, but it’s the only one of the four films that actually feels really like TNG. In fact, I’d say that it’s really more of an extended two part TNG episode vs. being a film at all.

The Federation in conjunction with an alien race called the Son’a are secretly observing a primitive life form on a planet called Ba’ku. Data goes unintentionally rogue, exposing the cloaked observation post to the people of the Ba’ku, and effectively breaking the Prime Directive in one fell swoop. Hearing of the weird malfunction from Data, Picard begs the bass in order to be the officer in charge of the cleanup operation in hopes of finding out what happened to his old friend. Heading into the “Briar patch” (the section of space where Ba’ku is located, midst a ton of spacial anomalies) Picard is able to retrieve his friend, but upon arriving he starts to piece together what actually happened, and in the process uncovers a Starfleet/Son’a conspiracy that would put an entire people at jeopardy for ill gotten gains.

As I said, Insurrection usually gets raked over the coals for being an incoherent mess, but I’m going to be the fly in the ointment and disagree. Insurrection had a VERY troubled production (Jonathan Frakes goes into great detail in the commentaries about the issues and troubles they had), but the movie is still a barrel of fun. Action is pretty light, but the final battle in the Briar Patch is way better than it has any right to be, and the villainous twist of the Son’a people and the people of Ba’ku is rather intriguing. Except for Data’s infamous “Saddle up, lock and load” line (that still makes me cringe 25 years later), I feel that a lot of the vitriol levied against Insurrection is unwarranted (ok, Riker piloting the Enterprise with a pop up joystick was pretty bad). Or at the very least over the top as fans were hoping for something as good as First Contact.

Star Trek: Nemesis:
Then we have the movie that killed the TNG films dead as a door nail. Controversial opinion again, but I find Nemesis to be the worst movie of all of the films, tying even Star Trek VI for sheer awfulness. It had a young Tom Hardy in it, Brent Spiner was tired of playing Data and asked that the producers kill him off so that he didn’t have to return, and the plot was a worn out Romulan story that really couldn’t hunt that well.

The film is dark and eerie, with a mysterious Romulan warbird coming out of hiding, helmed by the sub species of Reman’s (Romulan’s and Remans, good old Roman allegories) Shinzon (Tom Hardy). It’s an experimental craft and can actually fire while cloaked unlike the rest of the Romulan warbirds. The crew of the Enterprise are soon attacked by the Warbird where it is revealed that Shinzon is no Reman, but instead a clone of Picard raised to think like the human Captain in hopes of finding better ways to defeat him. However, Shinzon has plans of his own, and is not about to let the Romulan overlords keep him from a tale of revenge and murder, both against those who oppressed him and his Reman people, but also against the “father” that he never had.

There’s s a sort of poetic somberness to the whole thing, with a flair for the Macbeth at the heart of this Shakespearean drama. There’s tons of action to be had, but the plot meanders all over the place, with a seemingly intense “father/son” connection betweeen Picard and Shinzon, but with a completely flat and bland result. Michael Dorn and Brent Spiner both sleep walk their way through their respective roles, and Tom Hardy over acts to an extreme amount. I know this one has a special place among SOME people’s hearts, but it is the one TNG film that I can barely make it through. Especially multiple times.




Rating:

Rated PG (Generations and Insurrection) and PG-13 (First Contact and Nemesis)




4K Video: Video:

Star Trek: Generations:
Generations is a HUGE step up from the old Blu-ray on 4K UHD. The old Blu-ray was a DNR’s mess, and sported murky grain and a whole host of other issues. This time the 35mm film just sparkles in 2160p. There is a very neutral and clear aesthetic for this particular film, with bright outdoor shots (such as Kirk’s cabin in the alternate dimension), burgundy red uniforms, and stunning grain structure. This is an early 90s film, so be aware that there will be a lot of grain, but it’s never obtrusive or (even worse) smoothed out of existence. Blacks are deep and revealing, with no signs of crush or other major abnormalities. It’s not going to be a perfect disc, but by golly this is the single best version of Generations I’ve ever seen.

Star Trek: First Contact:
First Contact ties Generations for looking the most balanced and nicest of the bunch. There’s a wonderfully dark and brooding appearance with heavy neon greens of the Borg cube, and a lightly dusted hint of misty gray in the interior of the Enterprise E once the Borg take over and “terraform” the ship to their own atmosphere. The Uniforms have switched over to the Grey tops that happened during Deep Space 9, which adds to the grim atmosphere, but outdoor shots down on Earth look amazing. The sun shining over the Montana woods sparkles with greens and brown debris of the ground, while interior shots can look a bit CGI ish (especially in the first contact launch bay). All in all, this is a great looking disc with good blacks (the night sky and space shots are INCREDIBLY deep and inky) and this is a fantastic looking 4K disc.

Star Trek: Insurrection:
Insurrection looked horrible on Blu-ray, and the DVD was even worse (it was a smeary mess), and while it’s not going to be the best looking of the new 4K discs, it still is light years better than the aging Blu-ray ever looked. There’s plenty of wonderful earth tones, blended with autumn colors for the planet of Ba’ku (and even the Briar Patch’s cheap CGI has that Autumn and burnished orange/red tone to it), mixed with bright daylight sequences that showcase plenty of fine detail. I did still notice that the image could be a little soft at times, especially in space where the film’s slashed budget couldn’t keep up with all of the CGI going on. Blacks are generally deep and inky though, and skin tones creamy and clean.

Star Trek: Nemesis:
Even though Nemesis was the newest and best looking Blu-ray of the batch, it is the weakest looking of the 4K UHDs. I wanted to give it a 3.5/5, but felt that it was too low, and a 4/5 seems just a little too high, so I’ll unofficially call it a 3.75/5 (rounded up to 4/5 for simplicity sake). The whole film feels rather smoothed and hazy looking. This is partially due to the film’s aesthetics, as it given a weirdly somber black and dark dark green tone, with heavy greens down on the planet where they dig up the Data clone, and overly crushed blacks in the center of Shinzon’s ship. It’s not BAD by any stretch of the imagination, but fine details can be a bit soft and facial tones a bit white and browned instead of natural tones.








Audio:

Similar to the Rocky tracks, I’m going to do a “catch all” review for the audio mixes. These are the same 7.1 Dolby TrueHD tracks from the older Blu-rays, and they are STILL a fantastic listen to this day. They do a terrific job with all of the phaser fire and space ships swooshing into each other (especially that guttural crash of the Warbird and the Enterprise in Nemesis, or the Crashing of the Enterprise D in Generations). Surrounds are used with great aplomb, and there is spot on perfect clarity with the instrumental orchestral score. Dynamic range is good, but never stupendous, and the entire mix set feels a bit “squashed” in terms of the overall range. Bass is good, except for Nemesis where it is absolutely soul crushing. Those of you who have seen the Blu-rays over the last decade plus will know exactly what you’re in for, and for those who haven’t, prepare to be superbly pleased.








Extras:

Star Trek: Generations

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• 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 24th 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

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• 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
  • Making First Contact
  • The Art of First Contact
  • The Story
  • The Missile Silo
  • The Deflector Dish
  • From "A" to "E"
• Scene Deconstruction
  • Borg Queen Assembly
  • Escape Pod Launch
  • Borg Queen's Demise
• 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 2
  • Trek Roundtable: First Contact
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Temporal Vortex
• The Borg Collective
  • Unimatrix One
  • The Queen
  • Design Matrix
• Archives
• Trailers

Star Trek: Insurrection

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• 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

• DOLBY VISION/HDR PRESENTATION OF THE FILM
• 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

Final Score: ​

Honestly, this is a fantastic new set for the TNG films. The video quality was pretty mediocre for all of the flicks but Nemesis back with the original Blu-ray releases, and the new remasters look AMAZING in comparison (although not always perfect). Also, the Blu-rays included in this set get the new remasters as well (just like The Original Series films with Shatner did), so those of you who don’t have 4K yet, but want all the goodies, will definitely find this set appealing. Very good set of films (well, except for Nemesis) and a great looking/sounding set with absolutely stellar extras. Definitely grab this one if you can.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Malcolm McDowell, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Tom Hardy
Directed by:
Star Trek: Generations: David Carson
Star Trek: First Contact: Jonathan Frakes
Star Trek: Insurrection: Jonathan Frakes
Star Trek: Nemesis: Stuart Baird
Written by:
Star Trek: Generations: Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore
Star Trek: First Contact: Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga
Star Trek: Insurrection: Gene Roddenberrry, Rick Berman, Michael Piller
Star Trek: Nemesis: Gene Roddenberry, John Logan, Rick Berman
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC (all 4)
Audio:
Star Trek: Generations: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, German, Spanish, French, Japanese DD 5.1
Star Trek: First Contact: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, German, Spanish, French, Japanese DD 5.1
Star Trek: Insurrection: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, German, Spanish, French, Japanese DD 5.1
Star Trek: Nemesis: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, German, Spanish, French, Japanese DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish (all 4)
Studio: Paramount
Rated: PG/PG-13/PG/PG-13
Runtime: 448 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: April, 4th, 2023

Recommendation: Good movies, Good Boxset

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[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I have seen them long time ago and I will have to do a marathon.. It has been too long.

 

[NBPK402]

Thanks for the review!