Star Trek: Nemesis (DVD)

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Video:
I was a smidge worried about the 2.35:1 Anamorphic widescreen transfer on this disc at first. During the scenes in the Romulan senate chamber there looked to be a little grain and compression evident, but that perception changed rapidly. The film is dark, due to a variety of factors, not the least of which is the fact that the Enterprise is fighting a race raised on the dark side of a moon, but the fine detail looks excellent. There isn´t any noise and few blemishes, and the colors come through with a great vibrancy.

Audio:
Clear, deep, enveloping and resonant. There is nothing more I can say about the excellent audio tracks included on this DVD. I primarily listened to the dts track, which was wonderful, but the 5.1 Dolby Digital track was no slouch either. I give a slight edge to the dts track because it sounded cleaner, but there were few differences that I noticed.

Extras:
Paramount has been going all-out on these new Collector´s Edition DVDs for the Star Trek films and "Nemesis" is no exception. On the first disc we´re treated to two audio commentaries, the first by the film´s director Stuart Baird. Baird leaves a lot of empty spaces in his commentary and speaks lazily. But the information he speaks of, on editing choices and how to film, in addition to character motivations. Unfortunately it devolves into a lot of explaining of what´s on the screen.

Producer Rick Berman also sits in for a track and talks about casting and putting the film together. He, too, leaves a lot of space for the audience to watch the film and not hear his thoughts. If the two had been in a room together, we might have had just one great track instead of two that are mediocre.

If you´ve ever read any of my "Enterprise" DVD reviews, you know how much I love the Text commentaries by Michael and Denise Okuda. And one is included here, throwing out tons of in-universe and behind the scenes information on the actors and production. If you are only going to use one track, this would be the one I recommend for fans.

The second disc is dedicated to extra features alone. I should also take this chance to mention the very nifty animated menus that are included on this disc. A nice bonus.

The first category is "Production." An austere title, this section is dedicated to behind the scenes information. "Nemesis: Revisited" is a twenty five minute documentary that mixes behind the scenes shots and retrospective interviews with Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, et al. Writer John Logan, who is a real "Star Trek" fan, also joins the Revisited documentary. It would have been great to hear more from him, because he seems like he really cares about the material. This is an excellent documentary, as DVD extras go.

"New Frontiers: Stuart Baird on Directing Star Trek" is a feature that looks at the director. As bored as he sounds talking about the movie, it´s obvious he has a passion for making good movies.

There is also a short three-minute featurette with Tom Southwell, the storyboard artist on the film that talks about the stopgap between script and shooting, helping to design the look of "Nemesis." The feature takes the time to contrast the storyboards and the final product.

"Build and Rebuild" is a quick montage of the creation of the magnificent sets that make up "Nemesis." I mentioned in the review how much I liked the design, and it´s great to get a chance to hear from the designer.

And one of the sillier scenes in the film, the dune buggy chase, is recounted in documentary form. "Four Wheeling in the Final Frontier" talks to Rich Minga, the stunt coordinator, and Donald Woodruff, the art director as they create the vehicles used in the extravaganza.

The final extra under the Production category is the screen test for Tom Hardy as Shinzon, leader of the Remans. He plays opposite Patrick Stewart.

The second section is titled "Star Trek Universe." "A Star Trek Family´s Final Journey" treats this film as the final episode in The Next Generation´s, and explores the familial dynamic of the cast.

"A Bold Vision of the Final Frontier" talks about the design of the Scimitar, the bad-ass Reman battle cruiser. There is a similar design discussion for "The Enterprise E."

The third section features "The Romulan Empire." It´s broken down into a retrospective exploration of who the Romulans are, who the Remans are, and why Shinzon is so bitter toward the world. The next feature looks at the designs of the Romulan homeworld, one which I don´t know has ever been seen before in the Star Trek Universe. The designs are beautiful, on a tangential note. Similar breakdowns are completed for the Romulan Senate chambers and the ship for the film´s antagonists, the Scimitar.

There are also a section of deleted scenes from the film that discuss omissions and seeming mistakes in the film. The initial cut of the movie was about 45 minutes longer than the final theatrical cut, and Rick Berman explains some of the omissions, including the return of Wesley Crusher. Some of the scenes are introduced by members of the cast and crew, giving them some great perspective. The quality of the scenes is generally rough, looks like they came from video and had no processing.

The second-to-last section is entitled "Archives," which is a selection of still photographs of props, production photos, and storyboards.

The final section is dedicated to the teaser and theatrical trailers, plus an advertisement for the "Borg Invasion" in Vegas.

Film Value:
"Star Trek: Nemesis" is different from just about any Trek film that has come before it. A great antagonist, a clear protagonist, great design, and a story that is epic yet contained in tight quarters all combines to make a pretty decent film.

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