Star Trek The Next Generation - Season 1 (Slimline Edition) [DVD]

RRP: £34.99
Our Price: £12.99 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Warping into syndication in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation successfully launched its seven-season "continuing mission" of the starship Enterprise, and this classy DVD boxed set gathers the show's inaugural season in crisp picture clarity and dazzling 5.1-channel sound. A ratings leader with a sharp ensemble cast, this revamped Trek honoured series creator Gene Roddenberry's original Trek concept, nurtured by returning veterans like producer Robert H. Justman and writers D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold. Several first-season episodes have original-series counterparts, and while the season was awkwardly inconsistent for all involved (including Roddenberry's heir apparent, producer Rick Berman), in retrospect the series began on remarkably solid footing.

Patrick Stewart was perfect as Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard, while Marina Sirtis struggled with a wretched hair bun and an ill-defined character, eventually blessing Counselor Troi with delicate nuance. Denise Crosby made a strong but underutilized impression as Security Chief Tasha Yar, and left the series before season's end, allowing writers to develop Klingon Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) into a fan favourite. Brent Spiner transcended Spock comparisons with his triumphant portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data; and while Jonathan Frakes was accepted as First Officer Will Riker, fans ultimately rejected Wil Wheaton as ensign Wesley Crusher, the teenaged son of the ship's doctor (Gates McFadden). Still, these 25 episodes laid a firm foundation for subsequent seasons, and highlights include the Raymond Chandleresque "holo- novel" of "The Big Goodbye," Data's backstory in "Datalore," the Klingon rituals of "Heart of Glory," and a Romulan encounter in "The Neutral Zone." The DVD supplements (all on the seventh disc) are good enough to make anyone wish for more: four featurettes recall myriad first-season challenges, filled with insider perspective and enough NextGen trivia to satiate all but the most obsessive Trekkers back on Earth. Looking back, it's easy to see why NextGen lived long and prospered. --Jeff Shannon

My thoughts.....
Review date: 2010-08-07 Rating: 10 out of 10

As with all the slim line editions this is excellent value for money and personally all I'm interested in is the series not fancy packing or hours of extras.

The only issue really is that certain episodes, the first few if memory serves me well, do suffer from poor picture quality (colour seems faded) but I think this is more the quality of the orignal transfered to DVD rather than anything to do with the product itself.
Rest assured its only a couple of episodes thankfully no doubt it will be sorted when DVD's go the way of VHS and we find ourselves purchasing this set again on Blue Ray in ten years.

Reviews

Feminized and quite poor
Review date: 2010-07-23 Rating: 2 out of 10

Having watched all three seasons of the Original Star Trek (with Shatner and Nimoy, which was brilliant), I was looking forward to watching Star Trek 'The Next Generation', but I couldnt have been more disappointed.

Apparently, alot of the old trekkies that watched TNG didnt like this first series, but they only have a vague reason why..

Here's why.

TNG started in the late 80's, a good 15-20 years after the feminist movement began in the US, and it really shows in this first season of TNG.

In this version of Star Trek, alongside the Captain, there is a female 'empath' called 'Troi', who can physically 'feel' emotion from crew mates and aliens. Everytime something happens, Captain Picard turns to her, and she contorts her face and says things like "I feel great sorrow, captain...". The Chief Medical Officer is now also female, but considering 'Bones' from the original series behaved like an hysterical female, there isnt much change in the charactor. Head of Ships Security Lieutenant Yar, is, again, female. One of the oddest things about this first season is the first 6 episodes. In 2 of those episodes, the female Lt. Yar talks about 'rape squads' when she was a young girl on her home planet. Why that needed to be injected into Star Trek, I really have no idea. Whats more, in these opening episodes, the aliens that the enterprise encounter are male barbarians, who say things like "FEMALES?! CLOTHED?! SERVING ABOARD A STARSHIP?!", while the crew of the enterprise smugly look down on them. Theres a definate misandric undertone to those first 6 episodes.

It gets less man-hating as you go through the season, but episodes keep popping up where female charactors are seen as victims of the 'male' charactors/aliens, who are backward savages.

The best example of the feminization in this first season, is in episode 18 'Home Soil'. An alien is onboard the Enterprise, and the ship starts to lose power, and the female engineer says "WE CANNOT STOP IT CAPTAIN! IT MAY AFFECT THE SURGERY.. OR THE NURSERY.." !! hilarious.

There are no real male charactors (other than the Captain, and thats debatable). Commander Riker's face looks asthough he's just been divorced by his wife, and Lt. Commander Worf, an alien from the Klingon warrior race, seems to have been neutered.

Also, The crew seem to be godless, and look down on 'primitive' alien religions, which I found quite annoying. Personally Im not religious, but I didnt like how matter-of-fact and condescending they were about it.

There are a couple of episodes which arnt overly feminised, 'Arsenal of Freedom' is particularly good.

If your buying this as a present for a young boy as a christmas present or for a birthday, better to get Star Trek - The Original Series (with Captain Kirk, Spock, and bones).

Annoying intros, but great series.
Review date: 2010-07-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

This review applies to all seven series.
This slimline edition of the Star Trek TNG series covers all seven series and is great value for money.
It may well be better value to buy these series box sets separately, rather than the all-in-one box set.
The main draw-backs to these DVDs are the very long, compulsory intros. In Series 1-3 the intro is about 1 minute long and you cannot skip or FFW.
Then from series four, the intro splits into two separate compulsory sections, lasing nearly two minutes in total. There is the same annoying montage of the Star Trek crew looking winsome on each DVD of each series. This plays every time you start a DVD, whether it's the first time or not. Extremely annoying.
These are great for light sci-fi entertainment, just go and put the kettle on (or write a review) whilst the intro plays and always stop the DVD whilst the titles are playing, rather than on a menu screen.

auch in deutsch
Review date: 2010-03-01 Rating: 10 out of 10

Ich habe lange nach einer bezahlbaren Variante von ST:TNG gesucht und dann hier bei amazon.uk gefunden. Anders, als in der Produktbeschreibung angegeben, ist eine deutsche Tonspur enthalten. Also, es lohnt sich der kauf, da selbst inklusive Versand weitaus preiswerter als in Deutschland. Zur Serie selbst muß man ja nichts sagen, die DVD's sind in Ordnung, es gibt auch Extras zu jeder Season.

Deutsche Tonspur vorhanden!
Review date: 2010-02-09 Rating: 8 out of 10

Perfekt,
wozu mehr als das doppelte bezahlen wenn man es aus UK billiger bekommen kann?

In der Beschreibung ist ja leider nur von einer Englischen Tonspur die Rede, daneben ist aber auch wie gesagt Deutsch, aber auch Spanisch, Italienisch und Französisch vorhanden.

Einen Punkt abzug gibt es wegen der durchschnittlich bis guten Bildqualität.
Ansonsten für den Preis unschlagbar.

Wer nicht auf deutsche Synchronisation verzichten mag, der importiert es aus UK.
Wer es nicht brauch und dem Englisch völlig ausreichend ist... der macht es genauso. ;)

Product Details/Specifications

Artist(s):
Star Trek the Next Generation

Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437902931
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 7
Format: Colour, PAL,
Release date: 2006-05-22
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 999 minutes
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Catalan (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)