Okay, I'll admit I'm a little scared of writing a Star Trek review. If I mess something up I'll get mass emails pointing out the errors so I've decided to stick to the facts as I know them.
September 28, 1987 - A new Star Trek show premieres with the episode "Encounter At Farpoint". We're introduced to Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Geordi, Troi, Yar, Dr. Crusher and her son Wesley. The show brought Trek to a new generation of fans (myself included) as well as retaining fans from the original series from the 60's.
March 26, 2002 - Paramount Home Entertainment releases Season One, nearly 15 years after the premiere of the first episode. The release schedule for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is the most aggressive for a TV product yet. It took the original "Star Trek" series over two years to have 80 episodes released but we'll see all 178 episodes of TNG released in a year. Paramount conducted a survey on StarTrek.com and used that feedback to plan the schedule. I wish more companies would pay attention to what the fans want!
I was in grade 5 when the first season of TNG was on. My parents decided that my brother and I watched too my TV, so they paid us $500 to not watch it for a year. They hoped we would develop some other hobbies and not watch as much TV when the year was over. Note to parents: it didn't work. Unfortunately I missed quite a few of the episodes from the first season, and some from the start of the second. I never got to see Tasha Yar die, until the box set arrived at my door that is.
For the most part this set from Paramount Home Entertainment is very nice.
The Packaging
As expected for a 7 disc set, the package is very large. There's a custom case that opens to hold a 7 panel fold out containing the discs and a booklet containing character information and a list of episodes in alphabetical order, the disc they appear on and the original airdate. Each disc lists the episodes and the production number.
Menus
The menus are setup to look like the computer screens found on the Enterprise and even feature little blips from the computer. Very nice. Check out the screenshots for examples.
Video
Like most TV shows, "Star Trek: TNG" was broadcast in full frame (1.33) and is presented that way on these discs. Shot on film, the print displays some dust and grain. A few of the scenes are fuzzy, some of the space scenes display shimmering, but the main problem with the picture is contrast. Far too many of the scenes have contrast problems and color shifting. Here are two examples of colors shifting; this picture shows two different scenes with Riker. Notice the difference in the picture, especially in his uniform and face. The second picture shows another difference between two scenes. As you can see, the image on the right is too dark. It's unfortunate, but every episode suffers from these problems.
Most of the episodes have chapter breaks right after the opening credits, but a handful do not.
Audio
We get a very nice Dolby Digital 5.1 track on this release, along with a Stereo track. I listened to the 5.1 track for this review, and overall I was happy with it. It's really cool to hear the ship zipping by you in the opening credits. The rears are mostly used for music, the ship zipping by and the ambient hum in some scenes. I noticed a few instances of muffled audio and a bit of crackling. Overall it's a very nice mix. English subtitles are also included.
There are subtitles on all the extras included in this set.
The Beginning (18:09)
This featurette including interviews with the cast and crew that worked on the show. They talk about casting choices and the fact that many of the fans from the original series were upset about the thought of a new Star Trek show.
Selected Crew Analysis (15:26)
The cast share funny stories from their auditions, the fact that the characters and writers stumbled a few times in the first season, and the actors discuss their characters.
Making of a Legend (15:35)
This one deals with the work that goes into a Star Trek production. Everything from the sets, the look of the show, photographic effects, the secret behind the transporter effect, makeup and the graphic design of the computers are covered in this featurette.
Memorable Missions (17:12)
Cast and crew share their memories of: Heart of Glory, Where No One Has Gone Before, The Arsenal of Freedom, Lonely Among Us, 11001001, The Last Outpost, Justice, Conspiracy, Code of Honor and Skin of Evil.
Summary
I really enjoyed going through the 20 hours of material in this set. I recognized quite a few guest actors on the show, some of which include Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Nash Bridges, Rising Sun, Mortal Kombat), Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat on X-Files), Brenda Strong (Mrs. Mackoul on 7th Heaven) and Walter Gotell (General Anatol Gogol in many of the James Bond movies). And I finally got to see the death of Tasha Yar.
I can only hope that some of the video problems will be taken care of in the future sets. I can tolerate a little grain and some dust, but color shifting and scenes that are too dark are rather annoying.
