Star Trek: The Next Generation – Next Level [Blu-ray]
Star Trek: The Next Generation – Next Level [Blu-ray]
Welcome to the next generation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, like you’ve never seen or heard it before! For the first time ever, you can experience some of the show’s most important and beloved episodes in glorious 1080p high definition, with true high definition visual effects and digitally remastered 7.1 sound – or with the original audio. You’ll witness new picture detail and depth you haven’t seen before, and enjoy spectacular visual effects that have been painstakingly re-created from the original film elements…not upconverted from videotape! This “Taste Of TNG” is a glimpse of what the upcoming complete season Blu-ray releases of TNG will be like, and will transport you to the next level.
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The Next Generation Never Looked this Good!,
Let me start by saying Star Trek: The Next Generation has never looked this good! Having seen TNG from the first airing, syndication, and on DVD, I’ll say without reservation this is by far the best quality release.
As soon as I started watching Encounter at Farpoint, I couldn’t help but stare at the detail. The extra detail is amazing, especially in the effects shots. It’s hard to believe that so much was washed out in the lower resolution original. But the new transfer of the film really shines.
The uniforms pop, you can see the detail in the fabric. The Klingon costumes in Sins of the Father really show this. The space aliens in Farpoint look amazing. Until seeing this on Blu-Ray I knew they were both the same color – but they’re not! The rebalanced color looks great. It’s no longer washed out and it really brings out the details.
The only possible negative I would point out is that you can see some of the imperfections in the makeup. Worf’s especially, including some stray hair in one scene. Everyone else has lost their smoothed out unblemished skin, now replaced with a more natural texture. At one point I swear you can see a red mark on Riker’s forehead.
One of the most notable things that’s fixed is the blue glow on the left side of the screen. They finally removed it!
None of the over smoothing from DNR that happened in the movie releases is present here. The picture quality is truly top notch. If they do the rest of the series this way, this will be by far the definitive version.
I’m also ecstatic that they didn’t redo the visual effects in CGI. I still think actual filmed models look more realistic if done well. There’s just something that CGI doesn’t quite replicate. For the original series I was hoping they would reshoot the effects scenes with new models, but they took the CGI route and it stands out. Not here! Because they had the original film elements they were able to rescan and re-composite the effects shots and they look wonderful!
The only real hiccup is 13 seconds of missing footage from Sins of the Father. They were unable to locate the original film for a scene where Beverly and Riker talk on the bridge. They had to replaced it with up-converted standard definition video. They did a good job color balancing it and looks good with the rest of the video. Paramount gets credit for not only mention this on the box, but on the menu under the episode selection as well. It’s great when a company is upfront about what you’re getting. That said, even though I knew it was in the episode and was looking for it, I missed it on my first viewing. I had to look online to find where the scene occurred and watch it again it to notice the difference.
All in all this is a great taste of things to come. As they said the night TNG premiered:
“Tonight, the 24th century begins!” I can’t wait for the rest of the seasons to be released on Blu-Ray! Excellent job!
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|A word to the wise on ratios and HDTV’s…,
This is in reply to all the “It’s not fair, it doesn’t fill my TV… why do I have these black borders at the sides?” people:
The ratio on the Blu-ray discs is the same as it ever was for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Same as it was shot in, same as it was broadcast in, same as it was presented on VHS and the same as it was presented on DVD. Why on earth some people expect Blu-ray to magically alter this situation is beyond me, but you only have to note the two and one star reviews to see they are. The series was filmed in 4:3, a quarter of a century ago, long before anyone envisaged that we’d all have 16:9 widescreen TV’s in our homes in the future. “But I could make my Star Trek TNG DVD’s play in widescreen”, I hear you cry. No, actually you couldn’t. What you were doing was stretching or zooming the image to fill your widescreen TV. This is fake widescreen, and something purists never do, but was quite easy to achieve with a standard definition DVD, on a standard definition DVD player, over a standard definition connection. This is HD though, and stretching or faking widescreen is not really an option. “Why?”, I hear you cry. Well, HDTV resolutions are either 720p or 1080i/p… 1280×720 or 1920×1080. These are 16:9 ‘widescreen’ resolutions by default. This means that your Blu-ray player HAS to display everything as a 16:9 image. In the case of films and TV shows shot and framed for cinema or 16:9 broadcast, it will fill your widescreen TV. Sometimes with small black borders at the top and bottom if they have chosen to present the original cinematic ratio. Now, when they are presenting a 4:3 image on HD Blu-ray… this same rule applies. It HAS to be displayed as part of a 16:9 frame. Meaning the 4:3 picture displayed correctly in the middle of the screen, and two black bars, one either side of your TV’s screen, which all forms the 16:9 frame. It is pretty much unavoidable.
“But wasn’t there more screen information on the 35mm negatives”, you may ask. Well Mike Okuda has said in some scenes there was. Not all, but *some*. However, in many of the scenes there was lights stands, bare studio, crew and other equipment in the wider frame. In other words, it was framed *purely* for 4:3 broadcast.
So zooming and pan scanning was the only other alternative. I have ONE DVD set that had this treatment out of the thousands I own. The TV series ‘From Earth to the Moon’. This was shot and framed for 4:3 broadcast, and it was released in America in the correct ratio. However, when it released in the UK, for some bizarre reason, they decided to zoom the image out to 16:9. The result is not pretty… you think those black bars at the side of the screen are ugly? You have not seen ugly! From Earth to the Moon in Region 2 DVD is the most claustrophobic and fuzzy mess you will ever witness. There was also a huge public outcry when they recently did this same thing to The World at War documentary series, and people returned their box sets in droves. It literally means that in closely shot scenes, of which there many in Star Trek: TNG, that people’s faces are cut off at the eyebrows, and legs are cut off at the knees. Further, it will no longer be true HD as you are zooming the image. Think passport photo blew up to A4 size. In other words, it is FAR too much of a sacrifice to even contemplate for something as cherished as Star Trek. Had they done this to Star Trek, there would have been an outrcry from fans, and they wouldn’t be selling too many box sets. Of that I can assure you. Plus, the people charged to see that this franchise is represented the best way it can be, people like Mike and Densise Okuda, who oversaw this restoration, could never sanction such a travesty.
So I can only suggest you try get used to those black borders at the sides, as if you have a fondness for anything filmed for TV from this era or before, that is how your Blu-ray discs will come. It is the same for Star Trek: The Original Series on Blu-ray, seasons 1-3 of Farscape on Blu-ray… anything and everything that was shot for 4:3 broadcast. It is also true of many films, such as It’s a Wonderful Life on Blu-ray, and very old films like The Wizard of Oz. All of these come with fixed black borders in HD. It isn’t some sinister Big Brother forcing you to watch it a certain way, it is literally the only way they can present 4:3 without totally ruining the composition. The good news is that everyone goes through this stage when they first play 4:3 on their widescreen sets. At first you can’t help but be conscious of the offending black bars. However, hand on heart, I never even see them now, and many people will tell you the same. Your brain just cancels them out. It just takes time, and a little appreciation for why this situation happens.
Back to the Star Trek The Next Generation: The Next Level on Blu-ray:
It is superb. There are details no one has ever seen before. This series may…
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|amazing transformation,
The original masters for this show, edited on videotape, were so bad, in my opinion, and the transformation into HD by painstakingly piecing together original film elements and when necessary, recreating the CGI, is being handled so well, that the end result to the eyes, is just stunning. For a fan of TNG, this is really a priceless addition to one’s library. I’ll be purchasing every season to encourage them to do the same thing with Deep Space Nine.
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