HTF REVIEW: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Season One (with screenshots) (1 Viewer)

[Mark Maltais]

Excellent review, I was going to skip the first two seasons because with the exception of a few episodes I think most of them are pretty bad. The series took off in the third season IMHO but now with the description of the 5.1 I guess I'm going to have to buy them, maybe I can sell my vhs copies on e-bay Anyone know the time line of the release of the next 6 seasons?? Once a month, two months???
Taiser

 

[CaptDS9E]

Every other month a new season will be released and in december both 6 and 7

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

I concur. It's an excellent set. I was particularly impressed with the sound on this set. Although my best comparison is a foggy memory of what was doubtless a mono TV speaker. Still: hearing the ship sounds, I say to myself "I never heard it sound like *that* before!"

 

[Daniel Kikin]

Got mine today! I won't say from which online retailer on this board to avoid getting them in trouble but I am very excited! The set looks great, I'm going to start watching it tomorrow.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I've only made it through the first two discs, but all the episodes I have seen so far have been sourced from composite video masters, perhaps the same composite D2 masters used for the laserdiscs. All the shortcomings of composite video are present. Dot crawl, crushed blacks (lack of shadow detail), smeared colors, inaccurate color balance.

This is what I predicted in a couple of posts over the last few weeks.

Last I heard the early seasons only exist on composite master, but later seasons exist on component. I'm not sure which season makes the cutoff, but I'll look into it.

 

[Everlasting Gobstopper]

Just a note on the packaging. It is beautiful, but it's still cardboard. The corners on mine are a little dinged, but other than that it looks really nice.

 

[ChrisA]

Was Star TRek TNG shot in 1.33 OAR?
Also, as much of a fan I am of Star Trek, I'm hesitant to buy all of the seasons, although I will definitely buy one or two seasons. I think I'll skip the first season for sure. Does nanyone know what season the borg are first introduced and when Picard first meets the Borg? I believe Q (cue?) sends the Enterprise into the Borg realm and that is there first encounter, I don't remember for sure...
I'm very glad to see TNG released on DVD, but I am one of the people who would have rather purchased these in blocks. There were lots of lame episodes I care not to see again. I'd rather just purchase a few episodes here and there, especially the season finalies.
Do any of you watch the current Enterprise show? I haven;t been watching it (but I work all the time). In any case I hope they have the sense to start shooting with HD cameras. Anything from this time on forth should be shot with HD cameras and done in widescreen. 1.33 Blech!!

 

[Joel C]

The Borg appear in the second season Q episode (I think it is called Q Who. TNG was 1.33:1 OAR and I think it is a bit foolish to dismiss it as "1.33:1 bleh" as the Academy Ratio has its own elegance that does not always translate to a widescreen frame. The beauty of The Red Shoes, Citizen Kane, and the Third Man would be very different had they been filmed in widescreen.

 

[ChrisA]

Something tells me 1.33 for television shows is not artistic intent. I think Star Trek is best viewed in 1.85 or something wider, just as all of the Star Trek movies were shot. So the reason I say "Bleh" is the uneccessary use of 1.33. Would I have rather seen TNG shot in 1.67 or 1.85 with an HD camera? Sure, I'm sure it would better represent the artistic intent... 1.33 might have suited some films, but not Star Trek. 1.33 is just 'what is used'.

 

[David Lambert]

Something tells me 1.33 for television shows is not artistic intent. I think Star Trek is best viewed in 1.85 or something wider, just as all of the Star Trek movies were shot. So the reason I say "Bleh" is the uneccessary use of 1.33. Would I have rather seen TNG shot in 1.67 or 1.85 with an HD camera? Sure, I'm sure it would better represent the artistic intent... 1.33 might have suited some films, but not Star Trek. 1.33 is just 'what is used'.

Before these was a World Wide Web, there were subscription services similar to AOL, called Prodigy, The Source, and CompuServe.

I was a huge user of CompuServe back in the days that TNG was being produced and aired. So were many of the producers, writers, effects guys, etc. from that show.

I could drop names here, but I won't bother to stroke my ego. Suffice it to say that I'm certain that there was never any thought given to the concept of an artistic intent of widescreen. It just wasn't an issue at the time. There was no thought that these would ever be projected in a theater, and widescreen televisions just did not exist at the time.

No...it was 1.33:1 all the way, baby. Sorry if that hurts your feelings. But it's accurate.

 

[ChrisA]

No...it was 1.33:1 all the way, baby. Sorry if that hurts your feelings. But it's accurate.

Why would it hurt my feelings? I agree with what you said.. no thought was given....

I'm simply stating my opinion that Star Trek, especially the new series, and many other T.V shows, should consider shooting in aspect ratios other than 1.33. I don't think may people would argue against the new Star Trek "Enterprise" being shot in 1.67 HD instead of 1.33. Out of curiousity, I wonder what they are shooting the new "ENTERPRISE" series with. Some shows are shot in wider aspect ratios, then cropped or matted down to 1.33.

Chris

 

[Britton]

ENTERPRISE is broadcast in widescreen, so they have definitely taken the conversion to HDTV sets into consideration.

 

[ChrisA]

Cool... I wonder if they are using digital HD cameras... probably.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

Cool... I wonder if they are using digital HD cameras... probably.

Uhhh, no, it's shot on film (which is just fine for HD). They are composing 16:9 to make it more future-proof. They are making HD masters, but with upconverted SDTV effects shots; so if they ever want to do a REALLY good HD broadcast, they'll have to re-do the effects shots in 1080i.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Can anyone confirm that TNG is shot on film but mastered on video? I think that's what someone said, and I mentioned it earlier, but no one ever responded. Very curious to know if this is the case. The DVDs showed lots of problems related to video, but I also saw a fair amount of what appeared to be film-related flaws, so I'd like to know the facts before I spout off like an idiot in my review...

 

[Michael St. Clair]

The issue of visual effects had to be addressed early in the planning stages for Star Trek - The Next Generation. With fifty or more quality effects shots needed for each weekly episode - and only a modicum of time and money to spend on them - an alternative to film opticals was considered essential. Aware of advances in video effects technology, the producers turned to two of the most progressive video postprodiction companies in the business - The Post Group and Composite Image Systems - to take them where no television series had gone before.

In old interviews with the effects guys for TNG they often stressed how doing effects and other post-production in the 35mm domain would have cost way too much, there was just no budget for it.

 

[John Berggren]

Thanks for the review. Just one more tickler to make me itchy for the release. I've been impatiently waiting for this one (though I've yet to find a satisfactory preorder price - I'll end up getting it at B&M no doubt)

I still would have preferred the R2 packaging. And as soon as my promised "wait until I have the packaging in my hands" passes, I'll likely be asking for just that in "feedback".

 

[Frank Anderson]

I just wrote a check for pre-ordering sets 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 from Direct Video @ 84.49 each. Final cost including shipping $461.15. I called them to double check that they will NOT hold my order until it is complete. The lady told me they will ship them as they are released.

I already preordered 1 and 2 from DVD Empire.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Looking forward to this box set but would love to see Blooper reels in the next sets.

 

[Bryan]

Ron, :star: (that's 4 thumbs up and a star for extra credit)
Very impressive. This and the Mad, Mad, etc article have really impressed me (though I've always thought you were right up there). Just one thing. Patrick Steward? You spelt his name correctly once, then proceeded to mistype it the other 2 times. Not that my typing is 100% either :b
Can't wait! My wife and I have been really looking forward to this release. With the look it has, I almost don't care if it came in a shoebox. No swapping your shoeboxes for my case though.
Best Regards,
Bryan