The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Region 1 CBS/Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
180 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 2.0 mono Spanish, DD 2.0 mono Portuguese
Subtitles: Optional English, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: previews for other products

Released: 12 May 2009

In conjunction with the release of J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek re-boot in movie theatres, CBS and Paramount are flooding the market with new Blu-ray and DVD editions of Star Trek programming. This flood includes two “best of” compilations meant to introduce new fans (whose interest might’ve been piqued by the new movie) to The Original Series and The Next Generation. Each “best of” DVD contains four episodes each from the two series, and they both offer a good mix of fan favorites alongside genuine high points.

The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation includes “The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1”, “The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2”, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, and “The Measure of a Man”.

“The Best of Both Worlds” presented the part-organic/part-mechanical Borg as a genuine menace to the Federation. This is an exciting two-parter (originally a season-ending cliffhanger and a season opener) that had Trekkies talking all summer about how the story would conclude. Alas, having the perspective of history, it’s also kind of sad watching “The Best of Both Worlds”. The Borg became so over-used and dumbed down in subsequent episodes that they became a lame crutch for whenever the writers ran out of ideas. This malaise extended even into another series in the franchise, Star Trek: Voyager.

“Yesterday’s Enterprise” is routinely cited as a fan favorite, though I’m someone who doesn’t really “get” it. An Enterprise from the past meets an Enterprise from an alternate “present”, which results in a presumably dead character re-appearing on the show, going back in time, and giving birth to a half-human/half-Romulan daughter who gives grief to the Federation in other episodes. I liked Denise Crosby’s portrayal of Tasha Yar in Season One, but her re-appearances as Sela were annoying.

“The Measure of a Man” is possibly one of the two best TNG episodes (the other being “The Offspring”, in which Data creates an android daughter). A Starfleet chode (yes, even Starfleet has chodes) wants to perform experiments on Data as if Data were just another piece of equipment. Picard has to defend Data’s rights in a court of law, and the judge forces Riker to take up the chode’s side so that an adversarial judicial proceeding can take place. This is Star Trek’s most direct, profound, and powerful examination of what it means to expand our horizons and to break barriers. Patrick Stewart’s impassioned oratory is so remarkably moving that I usually cry when I watch this episode.

Video:
TNG has not been restored like TOS, so these 1.33:1 episodes look rather old and tired due to the fact that TNG was post-produced in 480i video. The images are mostly soft, and colors tend to be muted and faded. On the plus side, it appears that the video has not suffered physical damage or significant degradation over the years; the episodes look about as good or better than what we’re used to seeing of the show in re-runs.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English tracks were re-jigged from the original stereo or stereo surround mixes. There are some nifty stereo effects across the front soundstage, and the rear channels are frequently active for the first three episodes. Bass response is decent though obviously not as powerful as what’s offered by today’s state-of-the-art recordings. Oddly, dialogue is a tad muted and flat in some parts.

Extras:
The only disc-based extras are previews for other products.

--Miscellaneous--
The keepcase includes two inserts advertising other products.