Star Trek fans have been eating well in recent years with a bounty of new and successful shows that all expand on the universe in their own unique ways, as well as the release of the original Star Trek films in 4K. Now joining the remastered ranks are the theatrically released Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, who can now beam into your living room and join their brethren in glorious 4K UHD. You can pick these releases up individually or, as we’ll be reviewing here, in a 4K box set that houses 8-discs, allowing fans to store both the 4K and newly restored Blu-ray copies of each film all in one place.
Fans who picked up the box set of the original Star Trek films will be happy to hear that Paramount has delivered box art that perfectly compliments that release. At the top of the front cover we’ve got Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), William Ryker (Jonathan Frakes) and Data (Brent Spiner), and below we’ve got a wonderful mix of both heroes and villains from each of the films found within, as well as the Enterprise blasting through space. It’s a beautiful cover and the foresight to have it work in perfect unison with the original series’ 4K collection makes this a no-brainer if you don’t want to go the route of collecting each 4K release independently.
Inside of this illustrated slipcase we’ve got the trio front and center once again, and on the back we’ve got a list of the films, their cast and crew as well as ratings, plus the absolutely insane amount of legacy features that have been carried over from each of the previous releases that these films have received.
Opening it up we’ve got all the 4K discs nice and secure in plastic that flips open like a book. It’s a much nicer option than the often-found paper slips that some find raise the potential for scratches on the discs when removing and placing them back into their place. Here you can easily flip to the film you want to watch, unsnap it like you would from any Blu-ray case and place it back just as easily without disturbing it or any of the other discs in the set. After the initial four 4K discs we’ve got the four Blu-ray discs as well.
What’s great about the inclusion of both discs is that it helps future-proof the collection if you’ve yet to upgrade to 4K. Being able to enjoy the fully remastered Blu-ray films, which include a superb 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio, while also getting the 4K versions of the film to also have on hand for whenever you do eventually upgrade is a win win all around.
So, box art and casing aside, most importantly is how do these films look? In short: phenomenal. We’ve got Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis all looking the best they’ve ever looked. Each film comes to life with their fresh 2160p/Dolby Vision makeover that will impress even the pickiest cinephile out there. The filmic appearance of each movie is retained in a way that helps keep the heart of the style alive, while also elevating everything around it.
The colour grading on each movie is beautiful and shines a light on the masterful cinematography that the series has benefited from both on the big screen and small. While the Blu-ray restorations are excellent in their own right and beat out any previous releases, the detail, vibrance and overall sharpness just can’t be matched when it comes to the films in 4K. The colours are richer and deeper, and everything just shines so much brighter that there’s truly no going back once these are available to you.
So the picture on all four films is superb, but what about the audio? It can sometimes be overlooked, but audio is just as important as picture quality, as even if something is presented with the highest visual quality, if the audio doesn’t deliver then the overall product suffers. Luckily Paramount has mastered both sides of the coin, as the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless audio (which is found on both the 4K and Blu-ray discs) brings a wonderful sense of depth and emersion to the viewing experience.
There are too many moments to mention, but hearing ships buzz by on one side of the room, or phasers blasting from the other just brings you into the action in your home like never before. The top tier scores for each film harmoniously blast out both subtly and all-encompassing depending on what the scene calls for, and each time never interfering with the crisp, clean and clear dialogue that shines through center stage. It’s a perfectly balanced track that more than compliments the astonishing visuals that have been delivered with this set.
I won’t delve too deep into the individual films themselves, as you’ve definitely seen them if you’re a Trek fan, and if you’re new to the series and haven’t experienced them yet then I wouldn’t want to ruin them for you here – but just know that you couldn’t have picked a better time to get on board, as this collection is a win all around for first time viewings of these oldies but goodies. I’m not sure if Nemesis should be considered an oldy, as it came out in 2002; however, that was sadly 21 years ago, so I suppose odds to lean in favour of it being called an older film at this point in time. Oh, how the years fly by at warp speed.
Each of the four Star Trek: The Next Generation films were released after the show came to an end, so it was through these that the story of Picard and his crew continued on. First up was the Generations, which was released the same year the show ended and saw both iconic captains in Jean-Luc Picard and the returning Captain James Kirk (William Shatner) join forces for the first time ever to save the galaxy as any good Starfleet captain would. Being the oldest of the TNG film set this is one that may have the most eyes on it to see how strong the 4K remastering is, and I’ll once again reiterate that the movie has never looked better – or at least not since its theatrical release, but in terms of home viewing this release can’t be touched.
Two years later we’d get the release of Star Trek: First Contact, which saw the crew of the USS Enterprise take on their, well, I was going to say nemesis, which is apt given that it’s exactly what the Borg are; however, it’s also the name of the fourth film, so it may get a little redundant momentarily. Still, we’ll go with it because there’s no better descriptor when it comes to this enemy of Starfleet. The Borg are attempting to take over Earth in a past era, as Borg do, and it’s up to our heroes to stop them. Here we get a bit of a separation of the crew, as Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) is trapped in the past and is attempting to build the first warp drive, all while Picard, Data and the crew try to stop the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) from taking over the Enterprise.
First Contact is great fun and remains one of the more vital films when it comes to the long-term storyline for Captain Picard. If you’re keeping up with the current show Picard and have seen First Contact then you’ll know how important this film is overall. Much like its predecessor, First Contact looks and sounds absolutely top tier, which will become a continuing theme when it comes to the two remaining films.
Again we jump forward two years to 1998 and another Star Trek film in Star Trek: Insurrection, where we’ve got a malfunctioning Data taking hostages, a potential Federation mission coverup, and some great sci-fi planetary side effects that hinder our heroes as they try to save the day. For those who love Insurrection you can rest easy as Paramount absolutely nailed this 4K remastering of the third TNG film, which is a great running theme to have if you’re going to have one in a 4K box set.
Last up we see an extra two years pass as we jump to 2002 before Star Trek: Nemesis is released. This one was critically panned, though I think we’re long past the point where critically panned automatically means bad, as this may very well be the favourite film of many Star Trek fans out there. In the end all that matters is that it looks and sounds astonishing, so if you love it you’ll be overjoyed with what was done here, and if you’re not as big a fan but still want the best possible version out there, well then you’re in luck because here it is.
When all is said and done, after revisiting these Next Generation films I can boldly say that fans of the franchise should engage their wallets at their earliest convenience because it won’t get any better than this for a long time to come. Each 4K restoration is just top tier quality and delivers everything anyone could hope for when it comes to these sort of remastered/upgraded collections. Now we just have to hope that we’ll one day see a fully restored version of the series to go with it!
Overall Rating: 5/5
Special Features:
There are no new special features to go along with this set, but that’s almost because there isn’t much more that can be added that wasn’t already put out with the previous releases of each film. All the legacy features from those releases are all found on the disc of their respective movie and there is an absolute abundance of them.
Since these extras have been around for years I won’t go into detail of what each is about but will post what each disc has on it. This way if you don’t own the previous releases then you’ll get to see just how many extras you’ll get to enjoy with this purchase. Try not to be intimidated because they really go above and beyond here.
Star Trek: Generations (Legacy) Special Features:
There are THREE commentary tracks, two audio and one text, which can be found on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. The remainder of the special features are found solely on the Blu-ray disc.
Audio Commentary: Director David Carson and Manny Coto.
Audio Commentary: Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.
Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
Blu-ray Special Features:
Library Computer
Production – This feature is broken up into four parts
- Uniting two Legends
- Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion
- Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire
- Scoring Trek
Visual Effects:
- Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures
- Crashing the Enterprise
Scene Deconstruction:
- Main title Sequence
- The Nexus Ribbon
- Saucer Crash Sequence
The Star Trek Universe:
- A Tribute to Matt Jefferies
- The Enterprise Lineage
- Captain Picard’s Family Album
- Creating 24th Century Weapons
- Next Generation Designer Flashback: Andrew Probert
- Stellar Cartography on Earth
- Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 1
- Trek Roundtable: Generations
- Starfleet Academy Scisec Brief 007: Trilithium
Deleted Scenes – There are four deleted scenes, including an alternate ending.
Archives:
- Storyboards
- Production Gallery
Trailers
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
Star Trek: First Contact (Legacy) Special Features
There are FOUR commentary tracks, three audio and one text, which can be found on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. The remainder of the special features are found solely on the Blu-ray disc.
Audio Commentary: Actor/Director Jonathan Frakes.
Audio Commentary: Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.
Audio Commentary: Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale.
Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
Blu-ray Special Features:
Library Computer
Production – This feature is broken up into 6-parts
- Making First Contact
- The Art of First Contact
- The Story
- The Missile Silo
- The Deflector Dish
- From “A” to “E”
Scene Deconstruction – This feature is broken up into three parts
- Borg Queen assembly
- Escape Pod Launch
- Borg Queen’s Demise
The Star Trek Universe – This is a massive 9-part feature
- Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute
- The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane
- First Contact: The Possibilities
- Industrial Light & Magic The Next Generation
- Greetings from the International Space Station
- SpaceShipOne’s Historic Flight
- Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 2
- Trek Roundtable: First Contact
- Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 008 Temporal Vortex
The Borg Collective – This feature is broken up into three parts
- Unimatrix One
- The Queen
- Design Matrix
Archives – This feature is broken up into five parts
- Storyboards
- Photo Gallery
- Alternate Titles
- Ethan Phillips Cameo/Interview
- Queen’s Demise
Trailers
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
- Borg Invasion Trailer
Star Trek: Insurrection (Legacy) Special Features:
There’s a measly SINGLE commentary track here (I kid, one is awesome, anything more is gravy), which can be found on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. The remainder of the special features are found solely on the Blu-ray disc.
Audio Commentary: Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis.
Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
Blu-ray (Legacy) Special Features:
Library Computer
Production – This feature is broken up into seven parts
- It Takes a Village
- Location, Location, Location
- The Art of Insurrection
- Anatomy of a Stunt
- The Story
- Making Star Trek: Insurrection
- Director’s Notebook
The Star Trek Universe – Again we’ve got a great 7-part feature for fans to enjoy
- Westmore’s Aliens
- Westmore’s Legacy
- Star Trek’s Beautiful Alien Women
- Marina Sirtis The Counselor Is In
- Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 3
- Trek Roundtable: Insurrection
- Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 009: The Origins of the Ba’ku and Son’a Conflict.
Creating the Illusion – Here we’ve got a three part feature
- Shuttle Chase
- Drones
- Duck Blind
Deleted Scenes
Archives – We’ve got five parts to this feature here
- Storyboards – Secondary Protocols
- Photo Gallery
- Worf and Troi
- Tom Morello
- Marina/Craft Services
Trailers
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
- Original Promotional Featurette
- Borg Invasion Trailer
Star Trek: Nemesis (Legacy) Special Features
Here we are finishing off like we started with FOUR commentary tracks, three audio and one text, which can be found on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs. The remainder of the special features are found solely on the Blu-ray disc. UHD:
Audio Commentary: Director Stuart Baird.
Audio Commentary: Producer Rick Berman.
Audio Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
Blu-ray (Legacy) Special Features
Library Computer
Production – Here we’ve got a beefy 7-part feature for fans to enjoy
- Nemesis Revisited
- New Frontiers Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis
- Storyboarding the Action
- Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis
- Build and Rebuild
- Four-Wheeling in the Final Frontier
- Screen Test: Shinzon
The Star Trek Universe – And to two up the last one we’ve got a 9-part feature here for your viewing pleasure.
- A Star Trek Family’s Final Journey
- A Bold Vision of the Final Frontier
- The Enterprise E
- Reunion with the Rikers
- Today’s Tech Tomorrow’s Data
- Robot Hall of Fame
- Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 2
- Trek Roundtable: Nemesis
- Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 010: Thalaron Radiation
The Romulan Empire – We’ve got a five-part history lesson here for those looking to brush up on their Romulan culture.
- Romulan Lore
- Shinzon & The Viceroy
- Romulan Design
- The Romulan Senate
- The Scimitar
Deleted Scenes
Archives – Here we’ve got a five-part feature
- Storyboards
- Galleries
- Bryan Singer
- Riker and the Beast
- Terry Frazee
Trailers:
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailer
- Borg Invasion Trailer
Paramount Pictures Presents Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie 4K Collection. Star Trek Created by: Gene Roddenberry. Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, John de Lancie, Wil Wheaton, Tom Hardy. Running time: 448 minutes. Rating: PG. Blu-ray Released: April 4, 2023.
