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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Star
Trek: TNG - Complete Fourth Season
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Reviewed
by: |
Charles
J. Amadori |
| Genre: |
Sci-Fi |
| Video: |
Fullscreen |
| Audio: |
English DD
5.1, English Dolby Surround 2.0 |
| Language: |
English |
| Subtitle: |
English
(also on all featurettes!!) |
| Length: |
1181
min., 19 hrs. 41 min., 26 episodes @ 45 min. each average |
| Rating: |
NR |
| Release
Date: |
Sept. 3,
2002 |
| Studio: |
Paramount
Studios |
| Commentary:
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None |
| Documentaries:
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Five -- Mission
Overview: Year Four; Selected Crew Analysis: Year Four; Departmental
Briefing - Year Four: Production; New Life and New Civilizations;
Chronicles from the Final Frontier |
| Featurettes:
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See Above |
| Filmography/Biography:
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None |
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Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
None |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Some sets
come with a free CD-Rom (mine, however, did not) |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Patrick Stewart
as Capt. Jean Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William T.
Riker, Brent Spiner as Lt. Cmdr. Data, Marina Sirtis as Counselor
Deanna Troi, Michael Dorn as Lt. Worf, Levar Burton as Lt. Geordi
LaForge, Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher(departs in episode 4.09
though) and Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher |
| Screenplay
by: |
Various |
| Produced
by: |
Rick Berman, Gene Rodenberry
and various others |
| Directed
By: |
Various |
| Music: |
Jerry Goldsmith,
theme |
| The
Review: |
Disc
1: The Best Of Both Worlds, Part II, Family, Brothers, Suddenly
Human Disc 2: Remember Me, Legacy, Reunion, Future Imperfect
Disc 3: Final Mission, The Loss, Data's Day, The Wounded Disc
4: Devil's Due, Clues, First Contact, Galaxy's Child Disc 5:
Night Terrors, Identity Crisis, The Nth Degree, Qpid, Disc 6:
The Drumhead, Half A Life, The Host, The Mind's Eye Disc 7:
In Theory Redemption, Part I.; STNG Season 4 is another fine
addition to the season collections. As in all seasons, there
were some standout episodes in this season, such as the conclusion
to season three's cliffhanger, Best of Both Worlds Pt. 2. Other
great episodes include Reunion, Future Imperfect, Data's Day,
Clues, Minds Eye, In Theory and Redemption Pt.1. The central
theme of this season is family relationships, as we are introduced
to Worf's adoptive parents, Picard's brother, Lwaxana makes
another appearance and we are also introduced to family members
of Tasha Yar. Some fans may be happy to know that Wesley Crusher
exits the series for good in episode Final Mission. |
| Image
and Sound |
The
image continues to improve over previous season sets. Although
like Season 1, 2 and 3 the image is inconsistent at times. Sometimes
colors fluctuated from scene to scene. Aside from inconsistencies,
I found the colors to be vivid. There is some grain in dark
scenes, but I think that can be attributed to the age of the
prints. As each successive season set is released, we will probably
see better and better image. The 5.1 DD track is outstanding
for music and ambient effects. In particular, the humming of
the warp nacelles is powerful enough to leave the impression
that the viewer had just watched the season from inside the
ship. Concerning dialogue, it seems that not as much care went
into it… which is in no way saying that it is not still very
much an improvement over VHS and TV broadcasts. |
| The
Extras |
Featurettes;
Once again, all featurettes include subtitles for the hearing-impaired.
Mission Overview Season 4 - cast and crew discussions on major
changes for the season; Selected Crew Analysis - focuses on
the growing character depths and talks about the growing familial
theme; Departmental Briefing, Production - is a bunch of interviews
hitting on key moments of the season, it also talks about the
new creative blood on the writing team; New Life and New Civilizations
- offers an inside look at creating alien landscapes and shooting
on location with focus on The Best of Both Worlds; Chronicles
from the Final Frontier - the shows writers talk about memorable
missions and behind the scenes situations. Some of these featurettes
have spoilers, so you may want to watch the season first. I
don't know why teaser trailers aren't included… they have proven
helpful to me on the X-Files sets. I also enjoyed the new and
improved menu design and navigation… it looks just like the
computers onboard the Enterprise. |
| Commentary |
None |
| Final
Words: |
This
is definitely an improvement in image quality and content quality
over the previous three seasons. It still is very entertaining
and may be better than a lot of TV that's out there. I must
give Paramount props on their incredibly consumer friendly release
schedule (friendly on patience, not on the wallet though). All
studios should do things like this (take note MGM, 15 months
between season 1 and season 2 of Stargate SG-1, why?!!)(I did
hear a rumor that SG1 season three will be out early 03). With
the TV seasons on DVD making 100 million a year, we will see
more great shows released in 2003. Rumor has it that DS9 will
be hitting shelves in 03 with the same frequency as TNG!! |
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