STAR TREK: GENERATIONS
(Special Collector’s Edition)
STAR
TREK: GENERATIONS ($20) was the movie that passed the cinematic baton
between the casts of The Original Series and that of The Next
Generation. STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also factored in as the
seventh installment in the STAR TREK movie series and seemingly
susceptible to the curse that seemed to affect the odd numbered films. As
it has been stated in numerous places, the odd numbered STAR TREK
films never seem to be quite as good as their even numbered counterparts,
although I am no longer sure if this was a curse or mere coincidence. When
STAR TREK: GENERATIONS was released, I was somewhat disappointed
because I felt The Next Generation crew’s inaugural voyage on the
big screen should have told a bigger story- one involving their greatest
nemesis: The Borg. However, the necessities of integrating the Captains of
these two separate eras into a single story obviously tabled a Borg based
adventure until The Next Generation’s second cinematic opus.
Of
course, I don’t want to give the impression that STAR TREK:
GENERATIONS is a bad movie, it’s actually quite a lot of fun and
offers fans plenty of great Trek moments on a much larger scale than could
be accomplished during the seven year run of STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION. STAR TREK: GENERATIONS opens with the christening
voyage of the Starship Enterprise, registration number NCC-1701B. Retired
legends, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Captain Montgomery Scott
and Commander Pavel Chekov, from the crew of previous two Starships to
bear the name Enterprise are on hand for all the pomp and ceremony, as
well as quick trip around the solar system to inaugurate the new Starship.
Unfortunately,
a crisis arises in a nearby sector of space, which requires the Enterprise
B to mount a rescue mission- a mission in which Captain Kirk is lost.
Flashing forward 78 years, we encounter Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick
Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise D, who find their hands full with
Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), a madman intent on killing millions
in an effort to be returned to the strange galactic phenomena, from which
he was rescued by Captain Kirk and the Enterprise B so many years earlier.
Like a television series episode, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also
features an entertaining "B" storyline involving the Enterprise
D’s android second officer, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), who
experiences emotions for the first time, thanks to some hardware upgrades
provided by his creator. The cast of STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also
features Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden,
Marina Sirtis, Alan Ruck, Jacqui Kim, Jenette Goldstein, Barbara March,
Gwynyth Walsh and Brian Thompson.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made STAR TREK: GENERATIONS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on
16:9 displays. This is a very nice-looking transfer, which offers a fairly
big improvement on Paramount’s previous DVD release that was little more
than a retread of the widescreen Laserdisc master. Image sharpness and
detail are both quite fine and help to bring out the beauty in John Alonzo’s
excellent cinematography. Colors appear lush and fully saturated, without
a trace of noise of smearing. Blacks are dead on, white are completely
stable and the picture boasts highly smooth contrast. Occasionally, a bit
too much video processing has been applied to the image, which sometimes
can be annoying on larger displays. The film elements used for the
transfer displays some blemishes, and while not excessive, they could have
been cleaned up just a bit more. There is a bit of noticeable grain here
and there, but it gives the presentation a nice film like quality. Digital
compression artifacts are well concealed throughout the presentation.
For
this release, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS comes with 5.1 channel
soundtracks in both the Dolby Digital and DTS varieties. Ten years ago,
this sound mix was definitely demonstration quality and has held up
extremely well over the decade. Aggressively implemented, the sound design
makes excellent use of all the discrete channels for directional effects,
as well as panning sounds across a very broad soundstage. Fidelity is
generally excellent, which makes the sound effects completely convincing
and adds great musical detail to Dennis McCarthy’s fine score. Voices
have a nice, natural timbre, while the film’s dialogue is always totally
understandable. The bass channel packs quite a punch and is certain to
shake one’s listening room during key moments in the film. As for the
differences between Dolby Digital and DTS, the latter has a slight edge in
terms better localization and sonic warmth, but the standard bearer is
certainly no slouch. English and French 2.0 surround tracks are also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English subtitles.
Computer
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's very nicely designed
interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as the fine array of supplements,
which have been spread across both discs of the set. Disc one begins with
a running audio commentary featuring screenwriters Ron Moore and Brannon
Braga. The two talk in extensive detail about the development of screen
story, as well as sharing their memories of working on the series. Disc
one also features a text commentary on a subtitle channel by Michael and
Denise Okuda, authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia.
Presented pop-up style, the text stream provides plenty of Trek trivia and
other interesting bits on the making of the movie.
Moving
on to disc two, we find the remainder of the supplemental programming,
which has been broken up into various sections. The Scene
Deconstruction section shows how the special effects were achieved
and assembled for the Main Title (three minutes), The
Nexus Ribbon (seven minutes) and the Saucer Crash Sequence
(five minutes). The Visual Effects section features these
detailed programs: Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures (nine
minutes) and Crashing the Enterprise (ten minutes). The Star
Trek Universe section features A Tribute to Matt Jefferies,
who designed much of the look of original series (nineteen minutes), The
Enterprise Lineage, a look at the ships (both real and fictional)
that bear the name Enterprise (twelve minutes), Captain Picard’s
Family Album (seven minutes) and Creating 24th Century
Weapons (thirteen minutes).
The
Archives section features a Production Gallery
of photographs and Storyboards for three sequences in the
film. The Production section features Uniting Two
Legends, a look at the bringing together of two Trek generations
(twenty-five minutes), Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion
focusing on one of the film’s most visually impressive sequences (nine
minutes), Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire discusses
the difficult location shoot for the film’s climax (twenty-two minutes).
The Deleted Scenes section offers roughly thirty-three
minutes worth of footage, including interviews and a look behind the
scenes, plus these sequences Orbital Skydiving, Walking
The Plank, Christmas With The Picards and Alternate
Ending. Although theatrical trailers are indicated on the DVD’s
initial packaging, they are not present on either disc.
STAR
TREK: GENERATIONS may not be the best film to feature the cast of The
Next Generation, but it is an enjoyable adventure, with a number of
great sequences. Paramount’s Special Collector’s Edition is a decided
step up from their previous movie only DVD release- offering better
picture quality, a DTS sound option and some very enjoyable supplements.
If you are a Trek fan, you’ll either want to add this disc to you
collection for the first time or upgrade the old DVD.
STAR
TREK: GENERATIONS ($20) was the movie that passed the cinematic baton
between the casts of The Original Series and that of The Next
Generation. STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also factored in as the
seventh installment in the STAR TREK movie series and seemingly
susceptible to the curse that seemed to affect the odd numbered films. As
it has been stated in numerous places, the odd numbered STAR TREK
films never seem to be quite as good as their even numbered counterparts,
although I am no longer sure if this was a curse or mere coincidence. When
STAR TREK: GENERATIONS was released, I was somewhat disappointed
because I felt The Next Generation crew’s inaugural voyage on the
big screen should have told a bigger story- one involving their greatest
nemesis: The Borg. However, the necessities of integrating the Captains of
these two separate eras into a single story obviously tabled a Borg based
adventure until The Next Generation’s second cinematic opus.
Of
course, I don’t want to give the impression that STAR TREK:
GENERATIONS is a bad movie, it’s actually quite a lot of fun and
offers fans plenty of great Trek moments on a much larger scale than could
be accomplished during the seven year run of STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION. STAR TREK: GENERATIONS opens with the christening
voyage of the Starship Enterprise, registration number NCC-1701B. Retired
legends, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Captain Montgomery Scott
and Commander Pavel Chekov, from the crew of previous two Starships to
bear the name Enterprise are on hand for all the pomp and ceremony, as
well as quick trip around the solar system to inaugurate the new Starship.
Unfortunately,
a crisis arises in a nearby sector of space, which requires the Enterprise
B to mount a rescue mission- a mission in which Captain Kirk is lost.
Flashing forward 78 years, we encounter Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick
Stewart) and the crew of the Enterprise D, who find their hands full with
Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell), a madman intent on killing millions
in an effort to be returned to the strange galactic phenomena, from which
he was rescued by Captain Kirk and the Enterprise B so many years earlier.
Like a television series episode, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also
features an entertaining "B" storyline involving the Enterprise
D’s android second officer, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), who
experiences emotions for the first time, thanks to some hardware upgrades
provided by his creator. The cast of STAR TREK: GENERATIONS also
features Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden,
Marina Sirtis, Alan Ruck, Jacqui Kim, Jenette Goldstein, Barbara March,
Gwynyth Walsh and Brian Thompson.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made STAR TREK: GENERATIONS available on DVD
in a 2.35:1 widescreen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on
16:9 displays. This is a very nice-looking transfer, which offers a fairly
big improvement on Paramount’s previous DVD release that was little more
than a retread of the widescreen Laserdisc master. Image sharpness and
detail are both quite fine and help to bring out the beauty in John Alonzo’s
excellent cinematography. Colors appear lush and fully saturated, without
a trace of noise of smearing. Blacks are dead on, white are completely
stable and the picture boasts highly smooth contrast. Occasionally, a bit
too much video processing has been applied to the image, which sometimes
can be annoying on larger displays. The film elements used for the
transfer displays some blemishes, and while not excessive, they could have
been cleaned up just a bit more. There is a bit of noticeable grain here
and there, but it gives the presentation a nice film like quality. Digital
compression artifacts are well concealed throughout the presentation.
For
this release, STAR TREK: GENERATIONS comes with 5.1 channel
soundtracks in both the Dolby Digital and DTS varieties. Ten years ago,
this sound mix was definitely demonstration quality and has held up
extremely well over the decade. Aggressively implemented, the sound design
makes excellent use of all the discrete channels for directional effects,
as well as panning sounds across a very broad soundstage. Fidelity is
generally excellent, which makes the sound effects completely convincing
and adds great musical detail to Dennis McCarthy’s fine score. Voices
have a nice, natural timbre, while the film’s dialogue is always totally
understandable. The bass channel packs quite a punch and is certain to
shake one’s listening room during key moments in the film. As for the
differences between Dolby Digital and DTS, the latter has a slight edge in
terms better localization and sonic warmth, but the standard bearer is
certainly no slouch. English and French 2.0 surround tracks are also
encoded onto the DVD, as are English subtitles.
Computer
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's very nicely designed
interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene
selection and set up features, as well as the fine array of supplements,
which have been spread across both discs of the set. Disc one begins with
a running audio commentary featuring screenwriters Ron Moore and Brannon
Braga. The two talk in extensive detail about the development of screen
story, as well as sharing their memories of working on the series. Disc
one also features a text commentary on a subtitle channel by Michael and
Denise Okuda, authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia.
Presented pop-up style, the text stream provides plenty of Trek trivia and
other interesting bits on the making of the movie.
Moving
on to disc two, we find the remainder of the supplemental programming,
which has been broken up into various sections. The Scene
Deconstruction section shows how the special effects were achieved
and assembled for the Main Title (three minutes), The
Nexus Ribbon (seven minutes) and the Saucer Crash Sequence
(five minutes). The Visual Effects section features these
detailed programs: Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures (nine
minutes) and Crashing the Enterprise (ten minutes). The Star
Trek Universe section features A Tribute to Matt Jefferies,
who designed much of the look of original series (nineteen minutes), The
Enterprise Lineage, a look at the ships (both real and fictional)
that bear the name Enterprise (twelve minutes), Captain Picard’s
Family Album (seven minutes) and Creating 24th Century
Weapons (thirteen minutes).
The
Archives section features a Production Gallery
of photographs and Storyboards for three sequences in the
film. The Production section features Uniting Two
Legends, a look at the bringing together of two Trek generations
(twenty-five minutes), Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion
focusing on one of the film’s most visually impressive sequences (nine
minutes), Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire discusses
the difficult location shoot for the film’s climax (twenty-two minutes).
The Deleted Scenes section offers roughly thirty-three
minutes worth of footage, including interviews and a look behind the
scenes, plus these sequences Orbital Skydiving, Walking
The Plank, Christmas With The Picards and Alternate
Ending. Although theatrical trailers are indicated on the DVD’s
initial packaging, they are not present on either disc.
STAR
TREK: GENERATIONS may not be the best film to feature the cast of The
Next Generation, but it is an enjoyable adventure, with a number of
great sequences. Paramount’s Special Collector’s Edition is a decided
step up from their previous movie only DVD release- offering better
picture quality, a DTS sound option and some very enjoyable supplements.
If you are a Trek fan, you’ll either want to add this disc to you
collection for the first time or upgrade the old DVD.
