For good or for bad, “Insurrection” also doesn’t feel like an entry into the “Next Generation,” rather it is a return to the more lighthearted faire of the original “Star Trek.”
Audio:
I listened to the 5.1 dts track on this DVD set and was suitably impressed. While it´s nothing to write home about, the set does have good channel separation and uses the rear channels to good effect. The subwoofer does get a good workout but it´s never an unnatural sound. Phasers and explosions have a good solid low frequency response. The sound never came across as "gimmicky" which is wont to happen with films of this nature. There was little difference between the Dolby Digital and dts tracks.
Extras:
These new "Star Trek" movie DVD sets have been nothing if not flush with extra features and "Insurrection" is no different.
The first disc houses a text-based commentary by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda. I remarked, in my review for "Enterprise" just how much I appreciated the wealth of information they imparted and the same is true here.
The second disc is broken up into a few different sections. The first deals with the act of producing the film.
"It Takes A Village" is an overview of the creation of the movie. Production Designer Herman Zimmerman takes us on a tour of the different sets they needed to create and the challenges of shooting the bulk of the movie on location.
"Location, Location, Location" deals with going… on location. Shocking, I know. Actors and production staff reflect on working in an actual location as opposed to a constructed soundstage. Director Jonathan Frakes opines on how they created the sets and why the construction worked. The reason it´s easier to work on a set is that it, simply put, is a controlled environment. Zimmerman goes through the pains they had to do for consistency on screen as well.
Johnny Eaves, the art director for the movie goes through the design process in "The Art of Insurrection." He talks about going into CGI graphics for the first time, creating a whole new group of ships and working on scale. This feature is primarily focused on the ships, whereas the previous extra looks more at the planet.
"Anatomy of a Stunt" is the process by which a stunt is created and executed… one which never made the final cut of the movie. It´s interesting, too, because a lot of work is put into it for naught.
I find it a little humorous that the extra feature that goes into the story of "Insurrection" is found half-way through second DVD. Writer Michael Piller begins a discussion of the "Fountain of Youth" theme and how we would react were a place like this planet ever found. Piller talks about the difficulty of merging the "Seven Samurai" protection story along with the fountain of youth construct. He is honest with what works and what doesn´t work and why that is. This is perhaps the most earnest extra feature I´ve seen on DVD, especially when Piller talks about "Star Trek" moving away from Roddenberry´s moral principles. Piller´s way of going about this, making Picard the "Moral Center of the Universe" is very heavy-handed, but it works.
The cast and crew ruminate on the nature of the story and its repercussions in the extra "Making Star Trek Insurrection." This feature is very "EPK" but houses a nice dialogue on the themes of the film. I wouldn´t say it´s fluffy, but the discussion is fairly obvious. It´s nice to see the process behind the actor´s choices.
"Director´s Notebook" is a behind-the-scenes look at Jonathan Frakes at work behind the camera. Frakes discusses the look of the movie, which I appreciated, and using it to mask the weaker story. It´s interesting to see how he balanced his different roles and the familial relationships of the cast.
The second section of extras is aimed less at this movie and more the entire Star Trek Universe. "Westmore´s Aliens" details the designs, from Neelix to Worf and everyone in between. Make-up and Design Supervisor Michael Westmore talks about his work in creating entire races of people.
And what would a phalocentric DVD set be without a look at the beautiful women of Star Trek? This extra looks at the lovely women and their designs over the years of Trek. Frakes is hysterical looking back, while other crewers, including Marina Sirtis and Conner Trinneer (Trip Tucker from "Enterprise") all reflect on sex in the various series. Luckily everyone is talking firmly tongue-in-cheek so this comes off as pretty funny. Unfortunately they skip over the most beautiful woman of "Star Trek," Ensign Hoshi Sato, the lovely Linda Park. A shame.
The features under the heading of "Creating the Illusion" deal with the staging of, and special effects in "Insurrection." Specifically the designers detail the Shuttle chase, the flying drones, and the so-called "Duck Blind" where Starfleet studies the residents unseen. These are pretty standard as far as special effects extras go, but it´s nice to see the creative process broken down.
There are a few "Deleted Scenes" included for your perusal as well. Seven, to be specific. Each has a brief introduction that explains why they didn´t work and were ultimately removed.
The archives contain a selection of storyboards for the "Secondary Protocols" scene and a photo gallery as well. If you´ve seen one…
The final set of extras houses a selection of promotional items, specifically theatrical teaser and final trailers and an EPK featurette.
Film Value:
While "Insurrection" is a very different movie than the "Star Trek" features that preceded it, and from the material that spawned it, I feel that it is a good return to the Roddenberry ideals that are the true heart of this space opera. As a stand-alone movie it´s a mixed bag, but the wealth of extra features take this from being a rental to a purchase for Trek fans. If the video quality were as stellar as the audio this could be an easy recommendation as a DVD package.
I listened to the 5.1 dts track on this DVD set and was suitably impressed. While it´s nothing to write home about, the set does have good channel separation and uses the rear channels to good effect. The subwoofer does get a good workout but it´s never an unnatural sound. Phasers and explosions have a good solid low frequency response. The sound never came across as "gimmicky" which is wont to happen with films of this nature. There was little difference between the Dolby Digital and dts tracks.
Extras:
These new "Star Trek" movie DVD sets have been nothing if not flush with extra features and "Insurrection" is no different.
The first disc houses a text-based commentary by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda. I remarked, in my review for "Enterprise" just how much I appreciated the wealth of information they imparted and the same is true here.
The second disc is broken up into a few different sections. The first deals with the act of producing the film.
"It Takes A Village" is an overview of the creation of the movie. Production Designer Herman Zimmerman takes us on a tour of the different sets they needed to create and the challenges of shooting the bulk of the movie on location.
"Location, Location, Location" deals with going… on location. Shocking, I know. Actors and production staff reflect on working in an actual location as opposed to a constructed soundstage. Director Jonathan Frakes opines on how they created the sets and why the construction worked. The reason it´s easier to work on a set is that it, simply put, is a controlled environment. Zimmerman goes through the pains they had to do for consistency on screen as well.
Johnny Eaves, the art director for the movie goes through the design process in "The Art of Insurrection." He talks about going into CGI graphics for the first time, creating a whole new group of ships and working on scale. This feature is primarily focused on the ships, whereas the previous extra looks more at the planet.
"Anatomy of a Stunt" is the process by which a stunt is created and executed… one which never made the final cut of the movie. It´s interesting, too, because a lot of work is put into it for naught.
I find it a little humorous that the extra feature that goes into the story of "Insurrection" is found half-way through second DVD. Writer Michael Piller begins a discussion of the "Fountain of Youth" theme and how we would react were a place like this planet ever found. Piller talks about the difficulty of merging the "Seven Samurai" protection story along with the fountain of youth construct. He is honest with what works and what doesn´t work and why that is. This is perhaps the most earnest extra feature I´ve seen on DVD, especially when Piller talks about "Star Trek" moving away from Roddenberry´s moral principles. Piller´s way of going about this, making Picard the "Moral Center of the Universe" is very heavy-handed, but it works.
The cast and crew ruminate on the nature of the story and its repercussions in the extra "Making Star Trek Insurrection." This feature is very "EPK" but houses a nice dialogue on the themes of the film. I wouldn´t say it´s fluffy, but the discussion is fairly obvious. It´s nice to see the process behind the actor´s choices.
"Director´s Notebook" is a behind-the-scenes look at Jonathan Frakes at work behind the camera. Frakes discusses the look of the movie, which I appreciated, and using it to mask the weaker story. It´s interesting to see how he balanced his different roles and the familial relationships of the cast.
The second section of extras is aimed less at this movie and more the entire Star Trek Universe. "Westmore´s Aliens" details the designs, from Neelix to Worf and everyone in between. Make-up and Design Supervisor Michael Westmore talks about his work in creating entire races of people.
And what would a phalocentric DVD set be without a look at the beautiful women of Star Trek? This extra looks at the lovely women and their designs over the years of Trek. Frakes is hysterical looking back, while other crewers, including Marina Sirtis and Conner Trinneer (Trip Tucker from "Enterprise") all reflect on sex in the various series. Luckily everyone is talking firmly tongue-in-cheek so this comes off as pretty funny. Unfortunately they skip over the most beautiful woman of "Star Trek," Ensign Hoshi Sato, the lovely Linda Park. A shame.
The features under the heading of "Creating the Illusion" deal with the staging of, and special effects in "Insurrection." Specifically the designers detail the Shuttle chase, the flying drones, and the so-called "Duck Blind" where Starfleet studies the residents unseen. These are pretty standard as far as special effects extras go, but it´s nice to see the creative process broken down.
There are a few "Deleted Scenes" included for your perusal as well. Seven, to be specific. Each has a brief introduction that explains why they didn´t work and were ultimately removed.
The archives contain a selection of storyboards for the "Secondary Protocols" scene and a photo gallery as well. If you´ve seen one…
The final set of extras houses a selection of promotional items, specifically theatrical teaser and final trailers and an EPK featurette.
Film Value:
While "Insurrection" is a very different movie than the "Star Trek" features that preceded it, and from the material that spawned it, I feel that it is a good return to the Roddenberry ideals that are the true heart of this space opera. As a stand-alone movie it´s a mixed bag, but the wealth of extra features take this from being a rental to a purchase for Trek fans. If the video quality were as stellar as the audio this could be an easy recommendation as a DVD package.
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[release]15695[/release]