The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation – DVD Review

 

The Collection

Star Trek was a huge part of my childhood, and The Next Generation was especially important to me.  My father and I don’t have a lot in common.  He like sports, and hard work, and I enjoy books, and sitting behind a computer.  But the one thing that we did have in common was a love for the Star Trek series.  When I was young we would watch the original series together, and when the movies hit the theaters, my dad and I were always members of the audience.  So it goes without saying that when The Next Generation invaded our television I was instantly hooked.  I related to the characters in Next Generation more than those in the original series.  Also the Picard (Patrick Stewart) rocked!

Fond childhood memories aside I was excited to receive the Best of DVD, yet skeptical that this awesome long running series could be reduced to four highlight episodes.  The first episode to make it’s way onto the disc actually takes up half of the prime real-estate .  That’s because The Best of Both Worlds is a two parter, and in my opinion one of the best Star Trek adventures ever.  It’s the episode that left fans wondering the fate of their favorite Captain, when Picard gets overtaken by the Borg.  Holy moly Batman!  This two part television masterpiece is so awesome I could watch it three or four times back to back and not get tired of it.  

Next up is Yesterday’s Enterprise, a highly memorable episode that chronicles the U.S.S. Enterprise’s journey through a rift in time.  I remember seeing this on the boob-tube.  Time travel almost always makes for strong subject matter, and when the Enterprise and crew are involved said subject matter is elevated to a whole new level of cool.  

Rounding out the disc is The Measure of A Man.  This episode features the android Data (Brent Spiner) fighting for his life.  The crew of the enterprise must prove that Data is more human than some would believe.  I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the others, but I can understand why it made it onto the disc.  

Overall I enjoyed this collection very much, but obviously it still falls short.  It’s probably impossible to put together a perfect Best of collection only being able to choose four episodes.  With that said, if your a fan of the series you’ll probably be left wanting more, and if your new to the series you’ll probably be left wanting more.  What I’m saying is that while this collection isn’t as packed as I would have liked it was still killer.  

The Disc

The sound and audio were loud and clear, but the Special Features were non-existent.

Rating: