While STAR TREK: NEMESIS
($30) is somewhat derivative of previous Trek adventures, THE WRATH OF
KHAN in particular, the movie really doesn’t deserve the unfavorable
reputation it acquired. I went to see STAR TREK: NEMESIS in the
theaters, and although the film didn’t blow me away, it proved to be an
entertaining and dramatic swan song for THE NEXT GENERATION cast.
In the film's favor, STAR TREK: NEMESIS does take certain long
running story arcs to their inevitable conclusion, as well as paving the
way for another reinvention of the Trek franchise, one that could
conceivably feature the adventures of Captain William Riker and the crew
of the USS Titan. Another thing STAR TREK: NEMESIS has going for it
is the fact that it is the slickest of all the Trek movies in terms of
visual effects, making it a perfect piece of science fiction eye candy.
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
opens with a coup d'état that radically alters the political makeup of
the Romulan Empire, then the movie segues to the wedding reception of
Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina
Sirtis). This wedding also marks the impending departure of the bride and
groom from the Enterprise crew, because Riker has finally accepted
promotion to captain and will be taking command of the USS Titan. During
the crew’s final mission together, the Enterprise picks up a signal that
leads them close to neutral zone bordering the Romulan Empire, where they
discover a prototype android that appears to be an earlier version of
Commander Data (Brent Spiner).
Because of the Enterprise’s
proximity to Romulan space, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) receives new
orders from Starfleet Command that entail a diplomatic mission to the
Romulan home world to meet with Praetor Shinzon (Tom Hardy), whose Reman
faction has just seized control of the empire. Upon the their initial
meeting, the crew of the Enterprise discover that Shinzon is neither a
Romulan nor a Reman, but instead a human clone of Captain Picard. This
leaves both Picard and Data faced to face with doppelgangers, and in the
midst of a diplomatic situation that could be a prelude to war between the
federation and the new Romulan government. The cast of STAR TREK:
NEMESIS also features LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Ron
Perlman, Dina Meyer, Kate Mulgrew, Wil Wheaton and an uncredited Whoopi
Goldberg.
Paramount Home
Entertainment has made STAR TREK: NEMESIS available on DVD in an
utterly superb 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for
playback on 16:9 displays. The image is virtually flawless and whatever
minor print flaws are present, are so inconsequential, that the go by
completely unnoticed. The image is incredibly crisp and beautifully
defined, so much so, that even the more artful section of cinematography
come across with the utmost clarity. Color reproduction is outstanding,
with all of the most vibrant hues coming across without a trace of noise
or smearing. Blacks appear completely pure, whites are clean and the
contrast is generally smooth, except in the one sequence in which it is
intended to appear otherwise. Shadow detail is all that anyone could hope
for and the image produces a nice dimensional quality. Digital compression
artifacts are well camouflaged on this dual layer DVD.
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
features a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack that I would rate as one
of the best to ever grace any Trek movie, and something that is certain to
blast the viewer into outer space. The sound designers pulled out all the
stops to produce a highly aggressive and dynamic sound mix that draws the
viewer into the middle of the film’s big action set pieces, as well as
enveloping them in an acoustical cocoon during the smaller moments.
Surround junkies will get a kick out of how well the rear channels are
deployed for split sound effects and how well the meld to form a cohesive
soundstage. Dialogue reproduction is excellent; everything is completely
intelligible (techno-babble notwithstanding) and the actors’ voices
resonate with a natural and sometimes authoritative timbre. The bass
channel is decidedly thunderous, while Jerry Goldsmith’s score is
rendered with complete musical fidelity. English and French Dolby Surround
soundtracks are also encoded into the DVD, as are English subtitles.
Full motion video,
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive menus.
Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and set
up features, as well as the DVD’s supplemental section. Director Stuart
Baird is on hand for a running audio commentary, and while it isn’t the
most chocked full of details track in the history of DVD, fans of the
movie should find it interesting. There are four featurettes provided on
the DVD, although the ten-minute New Frontiers: Stuart Baird On
Directing Nemesis and eight-minute A Bold Vision Of The
Final Frontier play as two halves of the same interview intensive
program. Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis is a
ten-minute program that focuses on the film’s action sequences. A
Star Trek Family's Final Journey is a sixteen-minute featurette
that gives the cast members to reflect back on the their characters and
the final time that they will be appearing together as the crew of the USS
Enterprise. Twenty minutes of deleted scenes have been included on the
DVD, and while the material is interesting, another twenty-five minutes of
excised material is supposed to exist and it would have been nice if it
could have been included as well. A photo gallery and some Trek promos are
also included on the DVD, but alas the trailer for STAR TREK: NEMESIS
is strangely absent.
I have to admit I really
liked STAR TREK: NEMESIS; it may not be the greatest Trek adventure
of all time, but it certainly doesn’t deserve the unfavorable reputation
that it quickly acquired. In fact, I actually liked it more the second
time I saw it, so it might be that this is the kind of film that grows on
you. As for the DVD, kudos to the folks at Paramount for producing a
superb looking and sounding disc that boldly goes into the realm of demo
quality material.
While STAR TREK: NEMESIS
($30) is somewhat derivative of previous Trek adventures, THE WRATH OF
KHAN in particular, the movie really doesn’t deserve the unfavorable
reputation it acquired. I went to see STAR TREK: NEMESIS in the
theaters, and although the film didn’t blow me away, it proved to be an
entertaining and dramatic swan song for THE NEXT GENERATION cast.
In the film's favor, STAR TREK: NEMESIS does take certain long
running story arcs to their inevitable conclusion, as well as paving the
way for another reinvention of the Trek franchise, one that could
conceivably feature the adventures of Captain William Riker and the crew
of the USS Titan. Another thing STAR TREK: NEMESIS has going for it
is the fact that it is the slickest of all the Trek movies in terms of
visual effects, making it a perfect piece of science fiction eye candy.
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
opens with a coup d'état that radically alters the political makeup of
the Romulan Empire, then the movie segues to the wedding reception of
Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina
Sirtis). This wedding also marks the impending departure of the bride and
groom from the Enterprise crew, because Riker has finally accepted
promotion to captain and will be taking command of the USS Titan. During
the crew’s final mission together, the Enterprise picks up a signal that
leads them close to neutral zone bordering the Romulan Empire, where they
discover a prototype android that appears to be an earlier version of
Commander Data (Brent Spiner).
Because of the Enterprise’s
proximity to Romulan space, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) receives new
orders from Starfleet Command that entail a diplomatic mission to the
Romulan home world to meet with Praetor Shinzon (Tom Hardy), whose Reman
faction has just seized control of the empire. Upon the their initial
meeting, the crew of the Enterprise discover that Shinzon is neither a
Romulan nor a Reman, but instead a human clone of Captain Picard. This
leaves both Picard and Data faced to face with doppelgangers, and in the
midst of a diplomatic situation that could be a prelude to war between the
federation and the new Romulan government. The cast of STAR TREK:
NEMESIS also features LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Ron
Perlman, Dina Meyer, Kate Mulgrew, Wil Wheaton and an uncredited Whoopi
Goldberg.
Paramount Home
Entertainment has made STAR TREK: NEMESIS available on DVD in an
utterly superb 2.35:1 wide screen presentation that has been enhanced for
playback on 16:9 displays. The image is virtually flawless and whatever
minor print flaws are present, are so inconsequential, that the go by
completely unnoticed. The image is incredibly crisp and beautifully
defined, so much so, that even the more artful section of cinematography
come across with the utmost clarity. Color reproduction is outstanding,
with all of the most vibrant hues coming across without a trace of noise
or smearing. Blacks appear completely pure, whites are clean and the
contrast is generally smooth, except in the one sequence in which it is
intended to appear otherwise. Shadow detail is all that anyone could hope
for and the image produces a nice dimensional quality. Digital compression
artifacts are well camouflaged on this dual layer DVD.
STAR TREK: NEMESIS
features a Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack that I would rate as one
of the best to ever grace any Trek movie, and something that is certain to
blast the viewer into outer space. The sound designers pulled out all the
stops to produce a highly aggressive and dynamic sound mix that draws the
viewer into the middle of the film’s big action set pieces, as well as
enveloping them in an acoustical cocoon during the smaller moments.
Surround junkies will get a kick out of how well the rear channels are
deployed for split sound effects and how well the meld to form a cohesive
soundstage. Dialogue reproduction is excellent; everything is completely
intelligible (techno-babble notwithstanding) and the actors’ voices
resonate with a natural and sometimes authoritative timbre. The bass
channel is decidedly thunderous, while Jerry Goldsmith’s score is
rendered with complete musical fidelity. English and French Dolby Surround
soundtracks are also encoded into the DVD, as are English subtitles.
Full motion video,
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s interactive menus.
Through the menus, one has access to the standard scene selection and set
up features, as well as the DVD’s supplemental section. Director Stuart
Baird is on hand for a running audio commentary, and while it isn’t the
most chocked full of details track in the history of DVD, fans of the
movie should find it interesting. There are four featurettes provided on
the DVD, although the ten-minute New Frontiers: Stuart Baird On
Directing Nemesis and eight-minute A Bold Vision Of The
Final Frontier play as two halves of the same interview intensive
program. Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis is a
ten-minute program that focuses on the film’s action sequences. A
Star Trek Family's Final Journey is a sixteen-minute featurette
that gives the cast members to reflect back on the their characters and
the final time that they will be appearing together as the crew of the USS
Enterprise. Twenty minutes of deleted scenes have been included on the
DVD, and while the material is interesting, another twenty-five minutes of
excised material is supposed to exist and it would have been nice if it
could have been included as well. A photo gallery and some Trek promos are
also included on the DVD, but alas the trailer for STAR TREK: NEMESIS
is strangely absent.
I have to admit I really
liked STAR TREK: NEMESIS; it may not be the greatest Trek adventure
of all time, but it certainly doesn’t deserve the unfavorable reputation
that it quickly acquired. In fact, I actually liked it more the second
time I saw it, so it might be that this is the kind of film that grows on
you. As for the DVD, kudos to the folks at Paramount for producing a
superb looking and sounding disc that boldly goes into the realm of demo
quality material.
