Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection (4K UHD Review)

Estimated reading time: 13 minutes

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection includes all four feature films from the Star Trek franchise featuring the cast of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation, the first of the franchise series to continue from the original.

The first film, Star Trek: Generations does not allow the cast to stand on its own, bringing in the members of the original series to support them. In this film, Captain Kirk (William Shatner, thought to be long dead, helps Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew stop a mad scientist, Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowall), from launching a massive superweapon. While the film may be fun for longtime fans of Star Trek, it suffers from mixing the casts of the original series and Next Generation rather than allowing the latter to shine on their own.

The second film, Star Trek: First Contact, The Next Generation crew finally gets their moment alone in the sun. This one pulls from Star Trek lore going all the way back to the history of Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), his first warp engine flight, and the first contact of Vulcans with humans. A Borg queen brilliantly played by Alice Krige, leads the collective into the past to disrupt and stop the historic flight, thereby conquering Earth before they even get a chance to develop warp travel. It falls onto the shoulders of the Enterprise and its crew to stop them. This is the strongest, most cohesive, and most cinematic film of the bunch. Directed by Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker) who knows exactly how to handle the material and the cast, it feels both like a traditional Next Generation story and one that expands the scope of the franchise.

Star Trek: Insurrection is another film that feels just like it could have been lifted directly from the TV series, but unfortunately, it never reaches escape velocity and stays in that Made-for-TV realm. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) is at the center of uncovering a genocidal conspiracy between the Federation and an alien race that need the resources on a planet where another peaceful, luddite race exists. The questions raised in this film are important ones and as Star Trek has always done, the film turned a mirror on contemporary society through science fiction parables. With that said, even given the sympathetic direction from Jonathan Frakes, the film does not reach the cinematic levels of First Contact.

Finally, we come to the film that might not have been, Star Trek: Nemesis. The crew were all out of their contractual obligations and there was no certainty that this one would be made – but it was. This one tries to recapture some of the cinematic glory of First Contact, but with some less-than-believable visual effects and a convoluted screenplay, it does not really work as well. Tom Hardy plays the new, human Praetor of Romulus, Shinzon. The Enterprise arrives in the Romulan empire, supposedly to strike a new peace deal, but instead they find that Shinzon is a clone of Captain Picard and wants to attack the Earth.

The Video

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection presents each film in 2.39:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision. Star Trek: Generations has HDR10 metadata with a MaxLL of 1000 nits and MaxFALL of 618 nits. Star Trek: First Contact shows a MaxLL of 1000 nits and MaxFALL of 567 nits. Star Trek: Insurrection has a MaxLL of 1000 nits and MaxFALL of 390 nits. Star Trek: Nemesis has a MaxLL of 1000 nits and

MaxFALL of 716 nits.

The first three films are very close in quality with natural grain structure, no issues with source damage, and strong details. The colors come through nicely especially thanks to the wide color gamut of Dolby Vision, which also supplies specular highlight ‘pop’ in the phaser fire and glistening stars against the inky black backdrop of space. First Contact stands out as the best-looking film of the collection with perfect contrast, detail, and vibrant colors, including the neon green glow of explosions. Unfortunately, Star Trek: Nemesis is a disappointing inclusion in the collection visually. From the opening sequences things look off, with banding and poor, fake look to the visual effects. The situation does not improve much from there. The overall image looks soft, some shadows are a bit washed out, there are areas where the whites clip. This fourth and final film is very inconsistent likely due to both the original production and the transfer.

The Audio

Each film in the Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection on 4K Ultra HD is provided with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio mix, downmixed to 5.1 on my setup. These are wonderfully mixed, balanced, and aggressive mixes. The make full use of the surround channels for atmospherics and discrete sound effects, have a wide stereo spread across the front three channels, and deep, bombastic low-end that bulks up the numerous explosions and phaser shots. The score for the films also comes through with excellent dynamics and natural high end ‘air.’

The Supplements

The Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection comes with hours of bonus features that have all been previously released. All but the audio commentaries are included only on the included Blu-ray Discs. Digital Copy Codes are also included.

Generations

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by Director David Carson and Manny Coto
• Commentary by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda

On Blu-ray:

• Commentary by Director David Carson and Manny Coto
• Commentary by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production:
  • Uniting Two Legends (SD; 00:25:40)
  • Stellar Cartography: Creating the Illusion (SD; 00:09:23)
  • Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire (SD; 00:22:42)
  • Scoring Trek (1080p; 00:08:57)
• Visual Effects:
  • Inside ILM: Models & Miniatures (SD; 00:09:39)
  • Crashing the Enterprise (SD; 00:10:44)
• Scene Deconstruction:
  • Main Title Sequence (SD; 00:03:32)
  • The Nexus Ribbon (SD; 00:07:08)
  • Saucer Crash Sequence (SD; 00:04:50)
• The Star Trek Universe:
  • A Tribute to Matt Jefferies (SD; 00:19:38)
  • The Enterprise Lineage (SD; 00:12:49)
  • Captain Picard’s Family Album (SD; 00:07:05)
  • Creating 24^th Century Weapons (SD: 00:13:48)
  • Next Generation Designer Flashback — Andrew Probert (1080p; 00:05:04)
  • Stellar Cartography on Earth (1080p; 00:07:39)
  • Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 1 (1080p; 00:10:21)
  • Trek Roundtable: Generations (1080p; 00:12:23)
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 007: Trilithium (1080p; 00:03:06)
• Deleted Scenes (SD; 00:33:10):
  • Orbital Skydiving
  • Walking the Plank
  • Christmas with the Picards
  • Alternate Ending
• Archives:
  • Storyboards (1080p):
    • Enterprise B
    • Worf’s Promotion
    • Two Captions
  • Production Gallery (1080p)
• Trailers:
  • Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:01:30)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:22)

First Contact

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by Director and Actor Jonathan Frakes
• Commentary by Screenplay Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
• Commentary by Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda

On Blu-ray:

• Commentary by Director and Actor Jonathan Frakes
• Commentary by Screenplay Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore
• Commentary by Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production:
  • Making First Contact (SD; 00:20:19)
  • The Art of First Contact (SD; 00:16:34)
  • The Story (SD; 00:15:29)
  • The Missile Silo (SD; 00:14:04)
  • The Deflector Dish (SD; 00:10:30)
  • From “A” to “E” (SD; 00:06:38)
• Scene Deconstruction:
  • Borg Queen Assembly (SD; 00:11:10)
  • Escape Pod Launch (SD; 00:04:58)
  • Borg Queen’s Demise (SD; 00:03:12)
• The Star Trek Universe:
  • Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute (SD; 00:19:46)
  • The Legacy of Zefram Chochrane (SD; 00:12:19)
  • First Contact: The Possibilities (SD; 00:19:31)
  • Industrial Light & Magic The Next Generation (1080p; 00:12:17)
  • Greetings from the International Space Station (1080p; 00:08:31)
  • SpaceShipOne’s Historic Flight (1080p; 00:04:41)
  • Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 2 (1080p; 00:07:30)
  • Trek Roundtable: First Contact (1080p; 00:12:51)
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 008: Temporal Vortex (1080p; 00:02:36)
• The Borg Collective:
  • Unimatrix One (SD; 00:14:15)
  • The Queen (SD; 00:08:31)
  • Design Matrix (SD; 00:18:10)
• Archives:
  • Storyboards (1080p):
    • 1930s Nightclub
    • Hull Battle
    • Hull battle – Alternate Shots
    • Worf vs. The Borg – Alternate Shots
  • Photo Gallery (1080p)
  • Alternate Titles (SD; 00:01:05)
  • Ethan Phillips Cameo/Interview (SD; 00:04:00)
  • Queen’s Demise (SD; 00:03:51)
• Trailers:
  • Teaser trailer (1080p; 00:01:26)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:26)
  • Borg Invasion Trailer (SD; 00:00:32)

Insurrection

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda

On Blu-ray:

• Commentary by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production:
  • It Takes a Village (SD; 00:16:41)
  • Location, Location, Location (SD; 00:19:56)
  • The Art of Insurrection (SD; 00:14:53)
  • Anatomy of a Stunt (SD; 00:06:33)
  • The Story (SD; 00:17:19)
  • Making Star Trek: Insurrection (SD; 00:25:07)
  • Director’s Notebook (SD; 00:18:56)
• The Star Trek Universe:
  • Westmore’s Aliens (SD; 00:17:43)
  • Westmore’s Legacy (1080p; 00:12:45)
  • Star Trek’s Beautiful Alien Women (SD; 00:12:40)
  • Marina Sirtis the Counselor is in (1080p; 00:08:26)
  • Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 3 (1080p; 00:08:17)
  • Trek Roundtable: Insurrection (1080p; 00:10:50)
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 009: The Origins of the Ba’ku and Son’a Conflict (1080p; 00:03:00)
• Creating the Illusion:
  • Shuttle Chase (SD; 00:09:36)
  • Drones (SD; 00:04:43)
  • Duck Blind (SD; 00:04:38)
• Deleted Scenes (SD; 00:12:56):
  • Peter Lauritson Introduction
  • Ru’afo’s Facelift
  • Working Lunch
  • Flirting
  • The Kiss
  • Status: Precarious
  • Disabling the Injector
  • Alternate Ending
• Archives:
  • Storyboard – Secondary Protocols (1080p)
  • Photo Gallery (1080p)
  • Worf and Troi (SD; 00:01:58)
  • Tom Morello (SD; 00:02:17)
  • Marina/Craft Services (SD; 00:02:02)
• Advertising:
  • Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:01:46)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:25)
  • Original Promotional Featurette (SD; 00:05:02)
  • Borg Invasion Trailer (SD; 00:00:32)

Nemesis

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by Director Stuart Baird
• Commentary by Producer Rick Berman
• Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda

On Blu-ray:

• Commentary by Director Stuart Baird
• Commentary by Producer Rick Berman
• Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Library Computer
• Production:
  • Nemesis Revisited (SD; 00:25:45)
  • New Frontiers Stuart Baird on Directing Nemesis (SD; 00:08:42)
  • Storyboarding the Action (SD; 00:03:37)
  • Red Alert! Shooting the Action of Nemesis (SD; 00:10:08)
  • Build and Rebuild (SD; 00:07:44)
  • Four-Wheeling in the Final Frontier (SD; 00:10:14)
  • Screen Test: Shinzon (SD; 00:06:29)
• The Star Trek Universe:
  • A Star Trek Family’s Final Journey (SD; 00:16:17)
  • A Bold Vision of the Final Frontier (SD; 00:10:17)
  • The Enterprise E (SD; 00:11:37)
  • Reunion with the Rikers (1080p; 00:10:47)
  • Today’s Tech Tomorrow’s Data (1080p; 00:04:23)
  • Robot Hall of Fame (1080p; 00:04:34)
  • Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 4 (1080p; 00:09:18)
  • Trek Roundtable: Nemesis (1080p; 00:10:26)
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 010: Thalaron Radiation (1080p; 00:02:27)
• The Romulan Empire:
  • Romulan Lore (SD; 00:11:51)
  • Shinzon & the Viceroy (SD; 00:10:00)
  • Romulan Design (SD; 00:09:05)
  • The Romulan Senate (SD; 00:08:57)
  • The Scimitar (SD; 00:13:14)
• Deleted Scenes (SD; 00:27:13):
  • Rick Berman Intro
  • Wesley’s New Mission
  • Chateau Picard, 2267
  • The Time of Conquest
  • Data and B-4
  • Federation Protocols
  • The Chance for Peace
  • A Loss of Self
  • Remember Him? [Extended]
  • Turbolift Violation
  • Sickbay Prepares for Battle
  • Cleaning Out Data’s Quarters
  • Crusher at Starfleet Medical
  • Advice for the New First Officer
• Archives:
  • Storyboards (1080p):
    • Scorpion Escape
    • The Jefferies Tube
    • Collision
    • Data’s Jump
  • Galleries (1080p):
    • Production
    • Props
  • Bryan Singer (SD; 00:03:00)
  • Riker and the Beast (SD; 00:05:30)
  • Terry Frazee (SD; 00:04:28)
• Trailers:
  • Teaser Trailer (1080p; 00:01:38)
  • Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 00:02:08)
  • Borg Invasion Trailer (SD; 00:00:32)

The Final Assessment

Despite some unevenness in the films and a strange drop-off in picture quality for the final film, this is still a solid collection for fans of The Next Generation cast. The audio mixes, though not Atmos, are still showcase tracks for home theater enthusiasts.

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection is out on 4K Ultra HD Combo April 4, 2023 from Paramount Home Entertainment.

• Rating Certificate: PG (Generations) | PG-13 (First Contact) | PG (Insurrection) | PG-13 (Nemesis)
• Studios & Distributors: Digital Image Associates | Paramount Pictures | Paramount Home Entertainment
• Directors: David Carson (Generations) | Jonathan Frakes (First Contact) | Jonathan Frakes (Insurrection) | Stuart Baird (Nemesis)
• Run Time: 118 MIns. (Generations) | 111 Mins. (First Contact) | 103 Mins. (Insurrection) | 116 Mins. (Nemesis)
• Street Date: 4 April 2023
• Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• HDR10 Metadata:
  • Generations:
    • MaxLL: 1000 nits
    • MaxFALL: 618 nits
  • First Contact:
    • MaxLL: 1000 nits
    • MaxFALL: 567 nits
  • Insurrection:
    • MaxLL: 1000 nits
    • MaxFALL: 390 nits
  • Nemesis:
    • MaxLL: 1000 nits
    • MaxFALL: 716 nits
• Primary Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
• Secondary Audio: English Audio Description | German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 | Spanish (Castilian) DD 5.1 | French DD 5.1 | Japanese DD 5.1
• Subtitles: English | English SDH | Danish | German | Spanish (Castilian) | French | Japanese | Dutch | Norwegian | Finnish | Swedish