Plot: What’s it about?
The fans have spoken (via an online poll) and have voted for the most popular “Time Travel” episodes from every incarnation of the “Star Trek” franchise. The Fan Collective seems to be a way for us “Star Trek” fans who don’t want to pony up the money for those expensive season sets, yet still be able to enjoy some of the better episodes that the franchise has to offer. The previous installment was the “Borg” in which all of the episodes had to do with those crazy little critters in the square spaceship. Well now we’re onto time travel and, wouldn’t you know it, “Star Trek” has some pretty interesting episodes when dealing with the ever-important space-time continuum. Below is a summary of what you can expect to find on the Time Travel box set.
Disc One
“Tomorrow is Yesterday” – Star Trek: The Original Series – Kirk and the crew are thrown into a warp in time that sends them into the past. They find themselves, ironically enough, in 1960’s Earth. They use an Air Force fighter pilot and must use his skills to rescue the crew and get him safely back to Earth without changing the future.
“The City on the Edge of Forever” – Star Trek: The Original Series – Perhaps known as one of the better “Star Trek” episodes of all-time. Kirk and Spock travel back in time to find Dr. McCoy who accidentally injected himself with a drug. McCoy altered the future so that Starfleet doesn’t exist. Look for a Joan Collins appearance as Kirk’s love interest.
“Yesterday’s Enterprise” – Star Trek: The Next Generation – This is probably my personal favorite episode of “ST: TNG” and for good reason, a lot of the crew dies! Ok, that’s kind of morbid but the crew finds the Enterprise C that was believed to be destroyed 20 years earlier. They meet Tasha Yar (who died earlier in the series) along with the rest of the ill-fated crew.
“Cause and Effect” – Star Trek: The Next Generation – The crew of the enterprise gets stuck in a loop in space and they keep crashing into another Federation ship – the U.S.S. Bozeman. While the Enteprise was only in the loop for 17 days, it’s discovered that the Bozeman was caught for 90 years!
Disc Two
“Time’s Arrow: Part I and II” – Star Trek: The Next Generation – Data’s head is discovered in 19th century San Francisco and must deal with the aliens who are trying to steal energy from the 19th century Californians.
“All Good Things: Part I and II” – Star Trek: The Next Generation – The last two episodes of the series, this has the constant back and forth as Picard must try to right the wrongs of humanity proving that, once again, the universe revolves around the Picard.
Disc Three
“Little Green Men” – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Quark and Nog travel to Earth in a shuttle but get caught in a rift in time and crash into Roswell, NM circa 1947.
“Trials and Tribble-ations” – Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – This episode blends the infamous “Trouble with Tribbles” from the original series with new footage with the DS9 crew. The crew travels back 100 years to try and find Capt. Kirk and through some fancy F/X, interact with the original Enterprise crew.
“Year of Hell: Part I and II” – Star Trek: Voyager – The Voyager became a victim of Krenim time weaponry which alters the present as well as the memories of the crew while experimenting in space.
Disc Four
“Endgame: Part I and II” – Star Trek: Voyager – Another series-ending two parter that weaves time travel and resolves the problem that plagued the Voyager from the first episode. We also get to witness the destruction of the evil Borg Queen.
Video: How does it look?
The only “Star Trek” series that was presented in anamorphic widescreen was “Enterprise” and that isn’t on this set. So, by process of elimination, all of the episodes are presented in full-frame format. They look good, and the transfers are the same as they are on the season sets. They appear much better and sharper than when they aired on television. Very little edge enhancement, increased contrast and superior black levels bring new life to these episodes.
Audio: How does it sound?
These episodes are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and they range from sounding very good, to just so-so “Star Trek: TOS” sounds the worst of the bunch for obvious reasons. Dialogue is clean and the ambient noise of the starships continue to keep all of the speakers humming along. There are some pretty good explosions along the way and suffice it to say, they sound just as good as their season disc counterparts.
Supplements: What are the extras?
There’s not a whole lot of extras save for a text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda on “Tomorrow is Yesterday”, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “Little Green Men”. If you already own the seasons, then there’s no reason to pick this set up but if you don’t – this is a great sampling of episodes from four of the five “Star Trek” series.
