Plot: What’s it about?
With the success of the previous Star Trek series and subsequent feature films, it might have seemed like there wasn’t many “new worlds and new civilizations” to go to. We’d seen aliens, beautiful women, powerful enemies and oodles of twists and turns in just about every size, shape and form. Had Star Trek run its course? Was there literally no new material out there? Of course not. This is Science Fiction and if anything, there’s always something that can be dreamed up. I remember hearing about Star Trek: Enterprise back when it was airing and we’re going back about a decade now. I remember that Scott Bakula (who I’d remembered from Quantum Leap) was the captain and that it pre-dated the original series by about 100 years. An interesting concept, but at the time I had a lot going on in my life and just didn’t have the time, effort or energy to add a new show to my routine. Time has passed, the show has run its course and now the seasons are coming to Blu-ray. Ok, so maybe it’s high time that I found out what all the buzz was about?
Having never seen a single episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, I wasn’t really sure what to think. I’d actually missed Paramount’s email about the first season, so I wasn’t able to request it (and when I did their supply had been depleted) so I’m starting out at a bit of a disadvantage here. Yep, I’m starting with the second season and I’ll try and piece together what it’s all about. As with any Star Trek series, it’s all about the bridge crew. We’ve got Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula), T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) the uber-sexy Vulcan and this series’ “7 of 9”, Trip Tucker III (Connor Trinneer), a friend of Capt. Archer, Reed (Dominic Keating), Sato (Linda Park) and Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley). It’s this new crew that we get to know and explore the universe with. Being a fan of TNG I have to say that taking on a new Trek series is an acquired taste. I can watch an episode of TNG and remember when I first saw it. Not the case with Enterprise. Still, this sophomore season had some misses, but far more hits. Of note, a few episodes stood out to me: “Carbon Creek” in which they group goes to a small Pennsylvania town. “Future Tense” in which a mysterious human is found aboard a pod and “The Expanse” in which the crew of the Enterprise is called back to Earth and encounter the “Xindi.” Obviously I’m hooked, so I’ll need to track down a copy of the first season. Fans of the show will be pleased as the sheer amount of supplemental material is more than enough to warrant a purchase.
Video: How does it look?
Having been super spoiled by the way that Star Trek: The Next Generation looks on Blu-ray, I was more than a bit excited to see how Enterprise would look. Having missed out on the first season’s Blu-ray offering, I did know that the show was filmed in a flat 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Yes, Trek in HD! Having said that, the AVC HD transfer is good, but it’s nowhere near the quality of TNG. Not to say it’s bad, but clearly there was much more effort put into the aforementinoed series than this one. Perhaps they figured this was newer and didn’t need as much “work?” Whatever the case, detail is good and anyone wanting to oggle T-Pol fear not – she looks good on Blu-ray. The show has a much more coroprate look and feel to it than other Trek’s, which utilize the entire spectrum. Still, the episodes do look good – just not great.
Audio: How does it sound?
Thankfully the DTS HD Master Audio soundtrack is up to par with what a Trek series should be. Having never seen an episode of this particular series, I was pretty impressed at what the episodes sounded like. Then again, I had an inkling having sat through four seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Vocals are crisp and solid, no distortion is present in the least. Surrounds were surprisingly active and the front stage is almost always humming away. The LFE got involved as well making for a very nice-sounding experience.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Die-hard fans of the show (or perhaps maybe even Star Trek in general) are going to be in heaven with this sophomore season’s Blu-ray release. Of course, the show has already been released on standard DVD several years ago and all of those features have found their way to this Blu-ray set, but Paramount – in keeping with their commitment to all things Trek – have added some new features that are sure to please. Now some might call what I’m about to do lazy, but I’m not a big believer in re-inventing the wheel so the aforementioned pre-existing features are there. They’re all presented in SD, but I wanted to highlight the new to Blu-ray features. Let’s get started. The first disc contains a new deleted scene: “Minefield” but the major draw here is the first part of the “In Conversation” features. We start with “In Conversation: The First Crew” in which Braga and the major players of the cast sit down (the first time in over a decade, I might add) and discuss the show. What’s been going on in their lives, the fan’s reaction to the show and just about everything in between. Running at just over 90 minutes, this is some interesting stuff. The third disc sports a new HD photo gallery. The remainder of the new features are found on the sixth and final disc. In this we get a three part “Uncharted Territory” features. Part One is entitled “Destination Unknown” in which the series’ creation is detailed. How do craft a new series that appealed to a new Trek fan as well as one who had seen TOS, TNG, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. A daunting task indeed. The next installment is “The First Crew” which is more character driven. Bear in mind that this show pre-dated the original series, so it has a more human aspect to it. Finally we wrap with “Course Correction” in which the conflict between the writers and the studio influenced the show. The interviews are spot on and dead honest. A good look and it’s a nice change of pace not to see the cast kissing the studio’s ass in a feature for a change! Again, as noted before, the commentaries, photo galleries, deleted scenes and other features found on the standard DVD set are all there.
