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Category:    Home > Reviews > Science Fiction > Action > Horror > Star Trek - Nemesis: Special Collector's Edition (DTS)

Star Trek – Nemesis: Special Collector’s Edition (DTS)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: A-     Extras: B+     Film: B+

 

 

When we last looked at Star Trek - Nemesis (2002), the Trek franchise was still active and Paramount hoped they could continue it.  Three years later, the franchise has folded; the Enterprise series (reviewed elsewhere on this site) has come to an abrupt end and Nemesis still remains the last feature film made to date.  Also, Paramount has now issued each of the ten films twice, including in deluxe Special Collector’s Edition double sets.  I was a big supporter of Nemesis before and still feel it is one of the best Science Fiction feature films in many years, which you can read about in my previous review of the single DVD as follows:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/179/Star+Trek+-+Nemesis

 

 

Looking at the film yet again a few years later, it has only appreciated in value and as far as I am concerned, is the last great Trek adventure.  It has the scope, ambition and depth of the great space epics that was expected by more demanding viewers not that long ago.  It does not have the plasticity and woodenness Trek never shook off.  That the digital visual effects hold up so well when most of the same kind of work I have seen recently looks awful says something about how well made the film was and how serious Paramount backed the picture.  The new set gives viewers a second chance to really appreciate what was really achieved here in a version that easily succeeds the single DVD form before.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is still one of Paramount’s best to date, detailed and colorful, with impressive cinematography by Jeffrey L. Kimball, A.S.C. that is an exceptional use of the scope frame.  The sound is once again presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, lesser Dolby 2.0 English and French Stereo mixes with Pro Logic surrounds from the last disc, but the DTS 5.1 mix is the #1 reason to buy this set.  If one of the last great Jerry Goldsmith scores is not enough of a reason, it can be stated unequivocally that this is one of the best sounding films on DVD to date.  Star Trek – First Contact (1996) surprised everyone a year ago when Paramount did its Special Collector’s Edition (reviewed elsewhere on this site) when its DTS mix held up strikingly well.

 

This DTS Nemesis is a high watermark of excellence in 5.1 mixes as much as any film, especially in its genres that have been released to date.  Not only is it exceptional in the space ship, vehicle and hand-to-hand combat sequences, but in the quieter sequences where the resonance and fullness of sound runs through the entire frequency range like hardly any recent title you can get on the market.  Sony’s DTS track on their Superbit Spiderman 2 (2004) is one of a very small handful of such films.  That also means loud sounds are not just there to be loud and the harshness too many digital soundtracks of late have displayed are not here, as these are smoother, less bright and done with real engineering talent.

 

Extras have been expanded, of course, including previous extras like the seven interesting deleted scenes, the option of previews before going to the main menu, a good photo gallery, four featurettes, and a well-done (if not non-stop) commentary by Baird that respects the listener.  DVD 1 adds text commentary by Michael Okuda & Denise Okuda and a fine new commentary by the often-criticized Producer Rick Berman.  DVD 2 offers those previous extras, plus the original teaser, trailer, a five-part Romulan Empire segment, three-part Star Trek Universe Section and seven-part Production section that includes the previously featured New Frontiers: Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis and Red Alert: Shooting the Action of Nemesis.  A Bold Vision of the Final Frontier and A Star Trek Family's Final Journey are again featured in the Star Trek Universe Section.  The menus are also improved, something we rarely discuss, but were unhappy enough with the previous ones to say something.

 

Star Trek – Nemesis: Special Collector’s Edition is a must-have set for anyone serious about their home theater and non-Trek fans will be stunned at how good this one is.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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