Star
Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven
(The
Final Season/1993
- 1994/Paramount/CBS Blu-ray Set)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B+ Episodes: B
Star
Trek: The Next Generation
has reached the final frontier; or in this case, its final season.
Star
Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven
marks the final release to complete the Next
Generation
series and oh what a journey it has been. At first, fans had their
reservations about this series' release; with so many technical
tragedies before it and some hiccups on this series' first season
release, it is understandable that fans were cautious. In the end,
the past six Next
Generation releases
were wonderfully remastered with stunning picture, sound, and extras.
Though
it was most definitely time for Next
Generation to
end, the series remained fun, entertaining, and for the most part
solid. It was interesting (in hindsight) to see how the series (in
Season 7) was establishing the groundwork for the coming of Star
Trek: Voyager;
the next series in line. There was heavy emphasis on the tensions
building in Starfleet and the Cardassians. It also was nice to see
the writers mix it up a bit, taking risks and exploring aspects of
the Enterprise and crew we had very little knowledge of; coupled with
coming to a satisfying end.
Was
Season
Seven the
best in the series? No, certainly not. But again it stayed true to
the Star
Trek we
all know and love and paved the way for future series.
If
nothing else this reviewer is glad to finally have the complete
series available on stellar Blu-ray; looking and sounding better than
ever before. Many series suffer from hasty (non-remastered) releases
that look like grandma's VHS; and if a series does get a release it
often takes years and years to have a complete collection. With Next
Generation there
was no delay as the complete series was a quick and quality delivery.
Season
Seven
again
delivers the same beautiful restoration/remastering that was
delivered for six other seasons. CBS and Paramount have truly
outdone themselves and gave fans a quality presentation. The picture
once more is a stunning 1080p 1.33 X 1 image (centered in the 1.78 X
1 frame) restored in-house leading to beautifully brilliant colors,
solid contrast, inky black levels, and amped up visual effects.
Restoration again includes the conscious decision to install a CG
created ship in certain shots that were deteriorated or poorly filmed
from the start; other exterior shots/ships also utilize newer CGI.
Again noticeable, but not a bad thing as the series continues to look
great. Granted the image is not perfect, with some digital noise and
occasional color consistency issues; but overall continues to make
the futuristic series look better than ever before and going back to
the original 35mm camera materials has been one of the great TV
upgrades of our time, inspiring more companies to do the same with
hit TV like it from the same period.
The sound is equally
impressive in its 7.1 DTS-HD (MA) Master Audio lossless mix that
surrounds the viewer with full immersive sound. Being heavily
dialogue driven the sound comes much of the time from the front, but
as the crew moves about the ship of action sequences occur the
surrounds kick in with booming base and solid panning effects. This
includes an overwhelmingly well done presentation of the original
musical scores.
Extras are again
detailed and plentiful, giving fans plenty to dig into; including but
not limited to deleted scenes, interviews, featurettes, and many
retrospectives. The extras also include the following:
Archival Mission Log:
Mission Overview Year Seven
Archival
Mission Log: Captain's Tribute
Archival
Mission Log: Departmental Briefing Year Seven - Production
Archival
Mission Log: Starfleet Moments and Memories
Archival
Mission Log: Special Profiles
Archival
Mission Log: Inside Starfleet Mission Archives - Dressing the Future
Closed
Set - A Tour of the Real Enterprise
Archival
Mission Log: Making of All
Good Things
Journey's
End
Audio
Commentary
Deleted
Scenes
Gag
Reel
The
Sky's the Limit: The Eclipse of Star Trek Next Generation - Part
One; Umbra
The
Sky's the Limit: The Eclipse of Star Trek Next Generation - Part
Two; Penumbra
The
Sky's the Limit: The Eclipse of Star Trek Next Generation - Part
Three; Antumbra
The
three part, The
Sky's the Limit
featurette is an all-encompassing look at Season 7. It takes
viewers through the writing process, stunt coordination, acting,
and preparation for future series (Voyager).
It displays the fatigue Next
Generation was
feeling by Season 7, with writers stretching for new storylines and
actors feeling the end were near as well.
- Michael P.
Dougherty II