Star Trek the Next Generation Season Two

Although the new Star Trek movie is almost upon us... the classic Star Trek franchise, especially The Next Generation still holds a special place in my heart and may Trekkers from around the globe.. Unlike the dark action-packed remake, Star Trek the Next Generation was in line with the story of Gene Roddenberry and best of all, it had a true connection with the original TV series.

With that said, Paramount have just released Season Two of Star Trek the Next Generation that presents it in brilliant 1080p high definition and digitally remastered 7.1 sound. Star Trek the Next Generation has never looked and sounded this good! I'll say it again, it's an awesome time to be a Star Trek fan!

Apart from featuring amazing video and audio, this collection features all 22-episodes of season two and all good trekkers know that season two featured the first appearance of the Borg thanks to Captain Piccard's (Patrick Stewart) nemesis Q (John de Lancie). This was the enemy that almost lead to the annihilation or assimilation of the Federation.

Although some of the episodes included in this collection where not the best stories of the Star Trek universe, there are still some amazing stories such as episode 8 (A Matter of Honor) which saw Riker assigned to a Klingon Vessel in an exchange program and episode 13 (Time Squared) that sees Picard and the Enterprise caught in an eternal time-loop.

Of course, the highlight of Season 2 is episode 16 (Q Who) that is the catalyst to the Borg which almost assimilated humanity in other episodes and the later movie when Q forces the Enterprise to go 7,000 light-years away into Borg territory. It's filled with drama, action and intrigue... classic Star Trek.

However as I watched each episode, I could not help but be drawn back into this carefully crafted world of Star Trek with its diverse characters such as Data (Brent Spinner), an android who desperately wishes to become human and at times is the butt of jokes on the Enterprise.

Each character is carefully written and more importantly, it is easy for the viewer to relate to them, whether it's the warrior Klingon security officer Worf (Michael Dorn) or telepath Counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), all characters have their moment to shine.

Video/Audio

Like I touched on before, being a Star Trek fan in 2012 is definitely the highlight for any trekker as 2012 saw the digitally remastered season one of Star Trek the Next Generation and just like season one, season two looks amazing on Blu-ray. The good folks at Paramount have painstakingly remastered the video and audio quality to almost make it appear as the series was filmed today.

However due to the budget of the TV series, at times things look a little bad because the flaws can easily be seen now but overall, it is a great walk down memory lane. Audio is equally as impressive thanks to the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio which sounds phenomenal, especially the ambience of sound effects coming from the Enterprise to the overall voice quality.

Special Features

To compliment the video and audio, there are a wealth of special features included in this release. From really funny gag reels from the TV series to a never before seen extended episode of Measure of Man, there's some great Easter Eggs to be found here.

Another highlight in the special features is the reunification episode that is a great cast reunion of the actors who played these amazing characters. My favourite special feature however is the audio commentary of "Q Who", the episode that saw the first appearance of the Borg which really goes into the dynamics of the story and the Borg themselves.

Final Thoughts?

With so much to be found on this release, it's very hard to fault it at all but just be warned that a few episodes date a little on the poor side but for the majority, this is what Star Trek is about and seeing it and hearing it in FULL HD is not to be missed. Highly Recommended!