Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: April 6, 1999
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000003K5Y
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #407,041 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't get much worse, October 14, 2000

By 

Robert Sutton (Woodland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 169: Masks [VHS] (VHS Tape)

None of the Next Generation episodes are terribly bad, but this episode ranks with "Encounter at Farpoint" and some of the very preachy episodes in the first season as being among the worst of the series. The plot deals with a strange device within a comet slowly transforming the Enterprise into an ancient alien temple. It gives Picard, as an amateur specialist in archaeology and ancient cultures, a chance to guess as to what it all means rather than do what Kirk would have done if he were there: blow the comet into bits. The plot also provides the writers a chance to cause Data to malfunction yet once again and turn into a god (and a few other unusual personages). On a positive note, this episode gives Brent Spiner fans a chance to see him at his best and I really did enjoy his performance despite the weak story.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best episodes., February 17, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 169: Masks [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is in fact one of the better Next Generation episodes because it doesn't have all the usual blowing up of stuff from the original series, and also lacks the preachy diplomacy and technobabble common to the worst of the "modern" Trek episodes. It is an intelligent and subtle episode, and is one of the few where Picrad's interest in archeology is actually shared by the viewer, at least for me.

So many of the alien species in Star Trek seem have artificial seeming cultures, designed to be counterbalanced against one another, ie the Klingons, Vulcans, Cardassians, Romulans, Bajorans, Ferengei, etc. They all embody more or less their own little ideological box, which make them good as contrasts to the central and all encompasing touchy-feely-goody-two-shoes Federation culture, i.e. a paradise of techno-meritocracy.

Whats so good about this episodes treatment an alien culture is that the culture is not obvious in its meaning within the ideology of the show nor does it have any overtly political elements, it is much like an ancient culture of earth, complex, organic and full of nuance. As well, figuring out the secret of the artifact and the culture it contains is actually interesting to the viewer, much in the way a real ancient culture from earth would be for archeologists.

This episode is Star Trek at it's most intelligent, and one might also say it is the closest that it gets to becoming art.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In the eye of the beholder, November 15, 2002

By 

Joseph C. Rody "jojo349199" (Tampa, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 169: Masks [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was fortunate enough to review this episode after others have done so and I found myself agreeing with the points being made by almost every reviewer but my conclusion differs.

Masks is a star-vehicle ... allowing actors Brent Spiner and Patrick Stewart to display the skill that put them on board the Enterprise. No, not the ability to command but the ablity to act. Each actor gives a very entertaining portrayal and I found myself enjoying my viewing much like one would enjoy "Night Gallery" or "Twilight Zone".

Unlike most "Star Vehicles"... this plot plays on Jean Luc Picard's interest in Archaeology, thus being true to the series and true to the character. The tale interweaves great ideas that could have made a better full length movie than hour-long episode. Not only does the script and the setting evoke images of fogotten Gods and Mayan-type religions, but the names (especially Korgano and Masaka) instills a sense of mythical curiousity and cautious foreboding.

This is another one of those episodes where telling you the facts(comet, ancient civilization, changes, near-catastrophe, clever solution) does not really help you to understand it. Those are only the plot devices. The strength of this interlude is way it is handled.

This is a not a stereo-typical, definable race encounter nor is there ever meant to be a clear understanding of this alien ideology. Part of the entertainment value is in the mystery and the inability to label the motivations. This clever use of props to portray a mood (symbology, subtle design of artifacts) and gives depth to an alien culture without the need to define it in formal terms. The almost subliminal way the writers play on our innate understanding of ancient cultures and religions stands out without being heavy handed.

There are some obvious shortcomings... the obligatory investigation of an object in space gone awry, the all-powerful alien artifact, the ever-malfunctioning Data. Despite these fallacies, this episode is like a roller coaster. All coasters look alike from a distance but you notice the differences when you ride them.

This is one of those interludes where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. I didn't come away from this viewing as a better person with deeper understanding of mankind... I came away thoroughly entertained and had my curiousity stimulated beyond the confines of a mere TV show.