Customer Reviews

The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION", the series which is noted for its popularity and winning 18 Emmy Awards and the first syndicated television show to be nominated for an Emmy for Best Dramatic Series. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, I practically became a Trekker because of this series. The well-written storylines, awesome acting and most of all, hoping that this series can generate interest in encouraging further development of technology and possibly more research and development in the space program.

The series was shot entirely in 35mm film, among the first shows to be recorded in Dolby Surround and would feature four feature films with the characters from the series and also help pave the way for three more "STAR TREK" related series. The TV series was released on VHS and all episodes released on DVD and in 2006, "Fan Collective" DVD box sets containing ten episodes that were voted by fans revolving around the theme of the "Borg", "Time Travel", "Q" and "Klingon".

With the release of the latest "Star Trek" film, Paramount has released the Blu-ray edition of the "Star Trek: The Original Series - First Season" and the first six films. On DVD, Paramount has released "THE BEST OF STAR TREK" for "The Original Series" and "The Next Generation".

"THE BEST OF STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION" features a total of four episodes: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS (PART I), THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS (PART II), YESTERDAY'S ENTERPRISE and THE MEASURE OF A MAN.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

The following four "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION" episodes are featured in standard definition (4:3). Picture quality is what you would expect from a DVD but after seeing the recently released "STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SEASON 1' on High Definition, many people wonder if Paramount will give "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION" the same type of treatment and digitally remaster each episode. With that being said, quality is satisfactory for a TV series on DVD, especially for a series that was shown on television nearly 20 years ago.

Audio is featured in English 5.1 and Spanish and Portuguese Mono. "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION" was among the first TV series to adopt Dolby Surround, so the series sounds good for four episodes that were shown on television nearly 20 years ago. Again, I await the digital remastering of this series because I'm sure audio quality will definitely be revamped. "THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS", both episodes feature a lot of action and a very involving musical score which sounds very good on DVD. Overall, audio quality is clear and because the series is more dialogue-based and music based, the episodes are front channel heavy.

As for subtitles, the series is presented in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"THE BEST OF STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION" features no special features but trailers.

JUDGMENT CALL:

With the release of the latest Star Trek film in theaters, Paramount is making sure they are releasing a good number of Star Trek related films and TV series on Blu-ray but two DVD's that would showcase both "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" on DVD with four episodes.

Personally, any "Best of" is subject for criticism by fans. I think with a series that ran for nine years, anyone could have their own opinion of what their top 3 would be. Personally, I think three of the four episodes selected were well chosen but again, anyone can have their own opinion on what episode was their favorite.

For those who have owned the box sets or the fan collections, personally, there is no reason for them to buy this DVD. Unless one is a hardcore completest or want to own a "Star Trek" DVD with a "Best Of" attached to the name, then go for it. I can tell you that when "THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS (PART 1)" was released on LaserDisc with two episodes, I was willing to pay nearly $35 way back then (both part 1 and part 2 were on two separate LD's back then). But I was such a big fan of ST:TNG that I even went as far as buying the original soundtrack for these two episodes.

So, for those who never owned the series, getting all four DVD's for a low price is quite cheap but spend a little more and you can possibly find the DVD season box sets pretty cheap these days. Overall, These four episodes are quite enjoyable but the DVD is quite barebones, it's a choice if these episodes are worth buying. Personally, for me, I'm still waiting for that digital remastered and digitally restored version of the "STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION" series.

But assuming you have not bought any of the ST:TNG DVD's, you can't go wrong with this DVD release, as you do get four solid and enjoyable episodes for a very low, low price!

The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Less than a week after the new motion picture hit the big screen, Paramount rushed two single disk "Best of" DVD releases to the store shelves with no bonus material, and a mere four episodes per disk. One might accept four episodes chosen out of the 79 episodes from the original series, but, one could reasonably expect more episodes to be included in "The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation" considering the complete series consists of more than twice as many episodes as its predecessor. One might also expect better episodes than the four included. These four aren't terrible, but all represent writing that rush the all to convenient endings almost as much as the releases were rushed into production.

The four episodes include a two part outing featuring the relentless Borg, a story revolving around the rights of Data to control his "life", and a story with time travel at it's center, which has become a tired theme in the Star Trek franchise.

The first offering in the collection is "The Best of Both Worlds" (Part 1) which aired on June 18th, 1990 and served as the cliffhanger conclusion to season three of this iconic series. In this episode, which was written by Michael Piller and directed by Cliff Bole, we find the Federation unprepared for the inevitable encounter with the hostile Borg with whom we became familiar in episode sixteen "Q Who" of season two. In part one of "Best of Both Worlds" Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is captured by the Borg and assimilated. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who is dealing with an aggressive up and coming officer who is after his job, and concerns about his career choices, must give the order to blow up the Borg vessel with Picard (Now called Locutus of Borg) aboard.

"The Best of Both Worlds" (Part 1) is a fine episode that will set the stage for many storylines to come including the war between the Federation and the powerful Borg, the after affects of Picards assimilation, Rikers career choices, and more. The aspects of the production are good, though there are some disappearing Borg drones between the assimilated Picard and the away team when he is first spotted, that create a distraction.

Season four opens with the second part of "The Best of Both Worlds" and finds that Riker did indeed pull the trigger on the Borg cube, but the weapon failed and the Borg, and the assimilated Picard live on.

Unfortunately the writing (Still Cliff Bole) in the second installment is more reflective of the other two episodes in this "Best of" release than part one of this story, in that the plot simply gets resolved all too conveniently i.e.: Picard is rescued, de-assimilated, Borg ship destroyed, etc. The facts related to the respective accomplishments are too convoluted, and the impact of the battle between the Federation and the Borg ship is not truly dealt with in this episode, though the impact will be felt in future Star Trek endeavors.

"The Best of Both Worlds" is one fine story, but not worthy of taking up half of the "Best of" release.

Next up on the "Best of" menu is "Yesterdays Enterprise" which aired on February 19th, 1990. Directed by David Carson with numerous writers involved, "Yesterdays Enterprise" deals with a rift in the space/time continuum that allows for a previous enterprise ship to come 22 years into the future, changing the timeline and the lives of the current enterprise crew. The Federation is now at war with the Klingon Empire, some characters are gone, and others have returned. This paradox creates a very interesting story. Unfortunately the story is far too reliant on the fact that Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) is the only one who is aware that the timeline has changed, must convince the Picard that the previous Enterprise must return to its own time even though it is doomed, and she is unable to be specific regarding her knowledge. This aspect of the story is annoying as are references to what current history records reveal about the history of the visiting ship.

"Yesterdays Enterprise" is the most enjoyable episode in this release, despite the previously mentioned flaws, simply because it has more depth of story than the others.

The final episode on the disk was written by Melinda M. Snodgrass and directed by Robert Scheerer, and aired on February 13th, 1989. In "The Measure of a Man" Datas rights as a sentient individual are put on trial with Picard defending Data, and Riker reluctantly leading the opposition.

This episode has some of the best dialog in the release, but simply does not go deep enough and is resolved too easily. The story fails to adequately play out the concept.

Recommendation: There is enough Star Trek The Next Generation fun here for the price, but no bonus material, providing only four episodes, two of which are one story, and ignoring seasons five through seven is inexcusable. Good, but should have been much better.

I have bought the other compilation sets (Time Travel, Klingon etc.) as they are a great compromise between not owning them or buying the entire series. Unfortunately all these episodes are already released in the other compilations. I see this as an impulse buy by the people that just saw the New Movie and want a bit more. I still gave it 3 stars as these episodes are really indeed some of the best.

I purchased this DVD used to expose my children (6, 7, 9, and 11) to Star Trek: The Next Generation, a series I watched avidly before they were born. We watched the four episodes in four days, and have since started watching the entire series, starting with season one. The four episodes on this DVD are truly some of the best-made. The Best of Both Worlds is my favorite TNG episode.

So, I am giving this four stars, but if you have Netflix, you can save your money, as all of the Next Generation seasons have recently been made available for streaming.

The disk only contains four episodes: "Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II", "Yesterday's Enterprise", and "The Measure of a Man", and doesn't have any special features, bonus footage, commentary, etc. So why does it look like it was video recorded from a television station using an analog signal and then transferred from a worn out video cassette to a DVD disk? With today's digital technology, there is no reason for a DVD to be sold looking this bad. Especially since the entire disk has less than four hours of viewable content.

Bought this as a gag gift! It had Warf in it so it was a winner! So brought back memories from growing up watching Star Trek.

This disc gave me the two parter "The Best of Both Worlds." I've collected most of the other seasons, but Season Three didn't have as many episodes I really wanted to own; this disc gave me what I wanted.

STAR TREK: TNG IS BEST STAR TREK SERIES SINCE THE ORIGINAL!!! FOR ALL TREKKIES OUT THERE-GET THIS DVD THAT SHOWCASES MEMORABLE EPISODES THAT WE ALL LOVE!!!

ST-TNG has always been a cerebral show, filled with all kind of philosophizing about problems that might someday arise, given the right developments in technology. The episode I remember the most is on this set - is the android Data a person or property - what my friend called the Dred Scott episode. They really do cover all the potential issues with intelligence, warmth and humor. Plus there's an episode dealing with potential time-travel issues, and two with Jean-Luc dealing with the Borg - gotta love Patrick Stewart with robotics in his face! If you don't want the whole series, this is a great way to get the best of it for a small price.

If you are not a diehard trekkie and don't own all the seasons of the series or the fan collectives then this along with the 2nd volume are an inexpensive way to get some of the top episodes of the show. Of the four episodes included in volume 1 "Best of Both Worlds I & II" not only introduces the Borg but is undoubtably the most action packed two-parter that ST:TNG ever had and this movie length episode is better then any of the theatrical ST: TNG films, " Yesterday's Enterprise" is a fan favorite episode that brings back a beloved character and deals with time travel and alternate timelines, and "The Measure of A Man" features Data, one of ST:TNG's most popular characters, in a courtroom drama that debates the sentiency of an android.
While the 2nd volume has some outstanding episodes also, I felt that it was too Picard and/or time anomaly centered and would have liked to have seen other characters from the series, especially Worf, get a spotlight episode. Of the four episodes in volume 2 "Inner Light" and "Tapestry" both show Picard living very different lives, "Cause and Effect" has the Enterprise caught in a time loop where events keep repeating themselves, and "Relics" features a guest appearance by a member of ST:TOS cast and deals with aging. My personal favorites of volume 2 are "Tapestry" and "Relics".
Hopefully, a volume 3 will be released, making "the best of" an even dozen. If so, I would hope that they would include "Sins of the Father" ( a great Worf episode), "First Duty" ( an excellent episode spotlighting Wesley Crusher) and the two-part series ending episode "All Good Things".