Star Trek: The Next Generation Movie Collection

I'm focusing on review discs (which does not include this set); so I've only had time to glance at Generations, and I skipped right to the TNG section, because that has never looked right in any version (and I've had every one, including the laser disc). Well, it finally looks right. The acid test has always been Brent Spiner's make-up, which, even at DVD resolution, caused serious aliasing because of the rough textures and the harsh lighting that seems to have been toned down in later TNG films. But the Blu-ray has sufficient resolution to handle the detail without problems. The very funny (and then very tense) scene where Geordie and Data are searching the wrecked space station finally looks like it should.

It's going to be a while before I can get to the others. I'm sure Pat Wahlquist is working on the official HTF review.

I was so excited to see the preview for Star Trek (J.J. Abrams) at the start of these discs.  "Available now on Blu-Ray and DVD" it said!  Thank goodness, I thought I was going to have to wait until mid November to pick that up!  Now, where can I go to buy it???

The review copies just came today, but I can't guarantee I'll get them all done this weekend.  Would you guys like some updates as I go along prior to the formal review?

Paramount has been exceptionally spotty with review product recently, to the point Adam and I are going "WTF?" almost every week.  Titles due out over the past two weeks have yet to arrive and yet I got the ST set today.  I'm hoping Paramount gets its act together prior to the new movies BD release.

First Contact was reviewed at DVD Beaver.

Jeff and I are already committed (  ), but if others are on the fence, they'd probably appreciate an interim report.

That's unfortunate about the Paramount review copies. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Picked the set up and watched the bonus disc.
I'm debating whether or not to wait and rent Treks 1, 5 and 6 and have a full Blu-ray marathon or not before watching these new releases.

I've been focusing on Generations.  I haven't seen it since I watched it in the theater. It Looks utterly fantastic.  I forgot all about Data's "Emotion Chip".  I love it.  I can't wait to get to the others.

anybody notice that these blu-rays seem physically thinner then most others? Very bendable ... not that I'm bending them or anything.

I love having TNG movies on Blu Ray!! 

As far as the tv series (and DS9 and VOYAGER), even if they can't upconvert the video or whatever the problem is, would it be worth a release if they are LOADED with extras?  I mean audio and video commentaries on episodes, adding the Best Buy exclusive disc extras, etc.  I would buy it.

I've only looked at Generations and First Contact so far. I have a 42" LCD HDTV and I am not the best judge of A/V quality.

Random thoughts...

-The picture quality on GEN is miles ahead of the DVD which had serious sharpening/aliasing issues (jagged lines on Data's forehead, for example). First Contact doesn't look too shabby either.

-The GEN trailers are included!

-Still the same four deleted scenes - nothing else.

-The GEN commentary with David Carson and Manny Coto (acting as moderator) is nice but the Moore/Braga one is much more candid and informative. Coto brings up a few irrelevant issues (asking David Carson if he knows about digital cinematography and the Red Camera) and they do get a few facts wrong (I believe the ships in the Nexus were CGI and not models, and the stellar cartography scene was done via a combination of bluescreen and translights, not just bluescreen). Carson does have high praise for the actors, the late director of photography John Alonzo, and composer Dennis McCarthy. (How come no one ever mentions Peter Berger? He edited four of the films!)

-The Andrew Probert interview is cool but it's only five minutes long!! They could have done a 30-minute featurette about him and his contributions to both TMP and TNG but we have five minutes instead.

-The Dennis McCarthy interview was a nice bonus. (Watching all these DVD interviews over the decade, you can tell the longtime Trek vets are getting up there in years!)

-The back of the GEN Blu-Ray case features a still of Data from one of the later movies (you can tell from the uniform). QC people!

-The Anthony Pascale/Damon Lindelof commentary on FC is okay but it's nothing we haven't heard before (which seems to be a running theme here). Lindelof's sense of humor might get on some people's nerves but it's worth a listen.

-The FC roundtable was okay. I really wish Jeff Bond had actually been on some of these commentaries. He's a film/music historian (and writes liner notes for plenty of vintage score releases) and I would've loved to get his thoughts on the passing of Alexander Courage and Leonard Rosenman, not to mention Jerry Goldsmith.

Re: the bonus disc - I only watched "Villains of Star Trek" and "We Love the Star Trek Movies". "Villains" was interesting and it was nice to get Nick Meyer's take on the films he didn't direct. (What was with the handheld camera during his interview?) "We Love..." is just a little 5-minute fluff piece with Orci/Kurtzman, the Reeves-Stevens, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, and a couple others talking about their favorite moments.

I was pretty disappointed with the breadth of the subjects on the bonus disk. The only thing of real substance (unless there are hidden easter eggs) is the piece on the closing of "Star Trek: The Experience" (although I do wish they would have delved a little into why it was being closed).

As for the movies, I have only looked at parts of "Generations" so far. Visually it is so far ahead of the DVD releases that it almost looks like a new movie. Unfortunately, the improved PQ doesn't change my opinion that it is the stupidest Trek movie ever made.

And I agree that the McCarthy piece is really pretty good. Although, I thought the roundtable was pretty worthless.

I'm look forward to spinning the rest of them this weekend.

I've been concentrating on the Star Trek TOS S2 release, so I have not opened this set yet. Of the extras, the main thing for me is the Andrew Probert piece. I agree his interview should be deserving of more depth. I met him once. 

I can't watch Generations. It shouldn't have been made! First Contact would have been a better first film. but I can see them thinking it was too obvious a story to make into a film. 

Rented Star Trek Generations on blu from Netflix. Just watched it with the kids. Great movie. This is my favorite next gen film. After this they went way downhill, at least imho.

Anyway, as for the pic quality of Generations in Blu, I can say that overall I was quite pleased. It's maybe about 4 out of 5. There are rich details and colors throughout. I never saw before (maybe not even in the theater) that the insides of the guitarian (sp?) eggs that Kirk cooks in the nexus are dark green when you see them for a sec on the tray. Good details of skin, etc. Once on an early scene in the movie it looks like Shatner has a blackhead/zit on his upper lip! Mostly they are good details, however. Special effects look great. Data and his emotion chip are a lot of fun throughout: "Oh sh**!"

Dark scenes weren't so well handled in the scene in the stables or on the ruined enterprise at the end. But overall, great pq and great film. I love Dr. Tholian Soren, brilliantly played by Malcolm McDowell: "They say that time is the fire in which we all burn!" One of the best bad guys in Star Trek history. Up there with Khaaaaaaaan! for me....

Tolian--the Tholians were bad guys from TOS. But I agree completely. He's half the reason I really hope for a Wing Commander III-IV rerelease...

Thanks for the spelling help AT! The mental spell check has no teeth in the nexus of my brain!

If I'm lucky, I'll get my set by tomorrow.  Things have been a little tense here, so we'll see.  Anyway, I'm glad to here the positive reports so far.  My wife and I are looking forward to seeing these movies except, maybe, "Generations".  We didn't like "Generations" when it came out, but that was a long time ago.  Who knows, maybe we'll like it better now. 

 



Generations really isn't as bad as all that .  Just to see the two captains acting together is classic.  It's not my favorite, but it sure as heck isn't my least favorite.

The only one of these I have decided to pick up for now is First Contact.  I watched most of it last night, and I am very happy with the quality.  Spot checking against the two disc DVD edition, they have definitely done dirt and scratch removal, though done right, that can be a good thing.  In general, it does have a cleaned up look to it, and I don't really detect that "layer of film grain".  That being said, there is a lot of detail, and no real signs that it is of the EE or artificial variety.  Aside from prosthetics, I don't get any waxy impressions either.  If someone told me that this is what the digital intermediate looked like, I'd believe them.

So for First Contact at least, pick it up and enjoy it, because there are no real signs of foul play, and it looks great.

Neither Target, Best Buy nor Wal-Mart got any copies here. Paramount must be experiencing technical difficulties. The only place which got the set on release day was Hastings but their retail price is disturbingly high at $70.

I seem to recall similar distribution issues with one or both of the TOS movies and TOS S1...

I bought it on release day at Best Buy. $50! They had several copies. I was wondering why there was no discussion on HTF about it. Thanks for starting one Jeff!

I popped in Generations and Nemesis. I thought Generations looked better even though that might be because of how dark Nemesis is when compared to the colors in Generations. I'm really looking forward to viewing these along with the new special features. Gotta watch my Braveheart disc first then off to Trekland!

I'm surprised no one's mentioned it yet, but Paramount finally got the rights figured out to the original theatrical trailer for Generations.  If memory serves, it was not present on either of the DVD editions. 

Now, the information I had always said the reason it wasn't included was something with music rights.  If they can figure this one out, what are the chances the home video folks (aka CBS) can do the same with the inevitable Enterprise or TAS BD's?  (TNG, DS9 and VOY would be nice too, but it's not quite inevitable they'll get the HD treatment.)

I also picked up the set at BB on Tuesday. They only had a couple on the shelf when I went in at lunch time.

Thus far, we have only screened Insurrection, which I thought looked and sounded fantastic on my 53" Pio. There was nothing about the image that I saw that warranted anything but an overall rave. Solid colors, excellent detail, great contrast. There was even a bit of 3D pop apparent from time to time.

Looking forward to screening the others.

Brian

 I plan on picking up this set very soon. Looking forward to watching the films in HD very soon. 

I was able to find a set at Best Buy on Saturday morning. I called and was informed they only got in two sets and one was already gone when I got there at 11 so I snatched the other one. It kinda sucks that it was on sale for $20 off on release week and they only got a small handful of copies. Today I was back in the check out Labyrinth and they had a whole bunch of the sets... for the original $70 retail price. Maybe next weekend I can start watching them.

The strangest part of the new Carson/Coto commentary on GENERATIONS is David Carson's insistence that the Klingon ship explosion was a new element created and shot for his film.  He even says he was onstage when the effects crew blew up the ship, and discusses the timing of the pyrotechnic blasts.

The problem with this is that this explosion was directly lifted from footage used for THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.  There are plenty of new effects shots and explosions in GENERATIONS but that one is not one of them.  I'm not even sure which explosion Carson actually saw but he has to know that he recycled a major shot from the prior film.

This mistake ranks along with David Gerrold repeatedly saying that his "Trouble with Tribbles" was the second appearance of Klingons in the series, when "Friday's Child" had already been shot before he got his own episode past the basic outline stage.

i picked up the single editions of first contact and undiscovered country. Watched first contact saturday and was blown away how much better it was than the dvd. audio and video. (42" 1080 lcd). I've always thought the dvd audio was a bit week in the opening space battle and the blu did not dissapoint. Even all the atmospheric stuff around the borg was very nice in the surrounds.

my only complaint was i dont remember off the top of my head of any deleted scenes for this movie on blu or dvd  yet on the data feature they showed a quick scene i'd never seen before. am i just remembering wrong or has deleted scenes been put out there?