June 2005
TO BOLDLY GO….
Star Trek: Enterprise
Complete Season 1 on DVD
When I was asked to review the first season of Star Trek: Enterprise (which originally didn’t carry the “Star Trek” moniker, presumably an attempt to appeal to non-Trek fans) I was of two minds; being a Star Trek fan, I was excited, yet remembered being somewhat disillusioned by the apparent attempt to reel in viewers by showing a lot of skin. Well, while there are scenes that are more risqué than anything that I remember seeing in the previous Trek incarnations, there is also an element present that carries throughout the other series: a sense of anticipation about exploring the unknown. From the opening scene of the premiere episode, “Broken Bow”, I was caught up again in the excitement of the series that I had felt four years ago when Enterprise made its debut.
I know that there have been complaints about the fact that there are species and events included in Enterprise that are never mentioned in the original Star Trek; for instance, the Suliban and the Temporal Cold War from the first season, and the fact that the technology, and the ship itself, seemed more advanced than that of the original series. The creators of Star Trek: Enterprise have stated that since not much is known about the period between Zephram Cochrane inventing the warp drive, and the events of the first series, set in the 23rd century, that they had a certain leeway in coming up with storylines. I know that I was intrigued anew at the Temporal Cold War plot, and was wishing that I knew how it had been concluded. There were also concerted efforts made to tie in the instruments on the bridge of Enterprise NX-01 with that of Enterprise NCC-1701.
There are seven discs, each with four episodes on them; the exceptions are the first disc, which contains the two-hour premiere and the following two episodes, and the seventh, which offers the final two episodes and the several bonus features. From the main menu on each disc, the viewer chooses among the episodes on the disc, and from each resultant sub-menu can either start the episode, turn on subtitles or any available commentaries, see deleted scenes from the episode, or view individual chapters. The second chapter is conveniently located right after the opening credits, so one can view the teaser, then skip right over the credits into the meat of the story.
There is one audio commentary, for the premiere episode, as well as a text commentary for that and two other episodes. The text commentary tends to be more about technical aspects of the show, although amid the dry information about shooting schedules, makeup procedures, and set trivia, I learned that the control booth window for the launch bay was one of the few pieces of the Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation that has survived, and that Vulcans were the first aliens that series creator Gene Roddenberry devised for the show. There is a booklet that accompanies the set which lists the episodes on each disc, along with a short synopsis of each, as well as a notation whether there are deleted scenes or a commentary for the episode. There is also a short description about the events that led up to the premiere, as well as delineating the Prime Directive.
There are several bonuses included, such as a short piece about the creation of Enterprise, the ship, and one that reveals a few of the secrets behind the scenes, and a collection of outtakes. There is also a feature about the Temporal Cold War that lists the various times that the different Trek series and movies have utilized time travel. There are even a few Easter Eggs hidden among the other goodies. What’s unusual about this set of bonus features from others that I’ve seen is that there are available subtitles, although, as in the show itself, they are only in English; the set is also closed captioned.
The audio options are 2.0 or 5.1 surround sound, but as with the subtitles, English is the only language available. Even listening to the sound through my computer speakers, it sounded as though the Enterprise was in my living room. The video is crisp, with vibrant colors and sharp edges, and is presented in widescreen format. My one, very trivial quibble with the set is the packaging; the oval plastic outer case that surrounds the plastic sleeve-wrapped interior case is appropriately futuristic, but it makes even two-handed operation difficult.
Star Trek: Enterprise Complete Season 1 on DVD
Reviewed for Coffeerooms by Melinda
Talk about it here
Posted June 16, 2005 Permalink
