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Star Trek - Nemesis (Widescreen)
Stars:
Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn,
Gates McFadden, Tom Hardy, Ron Perlman, Kate Mulgrew, Will Wheaton, and Whoopi
Goldberg
Writer:
John Logan
Based
On A Story By: John Logan, Rick Berman, and Brent Spiner
Based
On “Star Trek” Created By: Gene Roddenberry
Director:
Stuart Baird
Feature
length: 116 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Photo Gallery, Bonus
Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English and French Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions and French Subtitles For The Extra Features
Only
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: PG-13
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
The
tenth feature film in the “Star Trek” franchise and the fourth to feature
the characters from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” probably seemed like a
good idea on paper. Bring in the screenwriter from “Gladiator” and hire
Stuart Baird to direct with the hope that collectively this would infuse the
franchise with a transfusion of creativity, but unfortunately the producers of
“Star Trek” have been serving variations of the same kind of stories for so
long that I really think they have lost touch with how to tell an original and
intriguing “Star Trek” adventure. This is why a major “course
correction” has been implemented on “Enterprise” in an effort to make the
show have more of it’s own identity as well as intrigue. I love “Star
Trek” and I cannot imagine a television season with a “Star Trek” series
running first run episodes, but I really think that the majority of the
lackluster second season of “Enterprise” and the fact that not only was
“Nemesis” the lowest grossing of the ten feature films yet, but also broke
the mold being the worst “Star Trek” film produced since “Star Trek: V:
The Final Frontier” has made many a fan to wonder whether Rick Berman should
step aside? If “Enterprise” season three sinks, there might not be a new
“Star Trek” for awhile so I hope I am wrong because like I noted above, I
cannot imagine TV without “Star Trek.”
The
problem with “Nemesis” boils down to the script. The film has moments in it
that seem to contradict elements within the “Star Trek” universe such as the
whole “B4” subplot and the discovery of it. Here are some of my problems
with it, after an entire feature devoted around the preservation of the Prime
Directive, the entry onto this desert planet with a pre-warp civilization seems
like a complete contradiction. Why drive around on a glorified dune buggy like
the Argo when they could fly just over the surface in a shuttle and pick
up the pieces as they go along, faster and safer. Instead they are firing at the
aliens who seem to look like a cross between the “Jawas” and the
“California Raisins” without regard for the fact they are the invaders and
just fly away having in a sense made a mess of an impromptu first contact
situation.
Then
there is Shinzon, played by Jonathan Hardy. My problem is not so much the idea
of a Picard clone, but again for the complete and total lack of regard for
continuity between “The Next Generation” series and “Nemesis.” Judging
from the stubble that can be clearly seen on top of Shinzon’s head, one could
guess that he shaves his head to appear more Reman, but then there is a scene
where Picard refers to a picture of himself when he was a young man to Dr.
Crusher and we see that they just took a photo of Hardy in an ensign’s uniform
complete with the shaved head. Well this completely contradicts the fact that in
a flashback on “The Next Generation” we can see that Picard still had hair,
though it was receding, long after his days at the academy. Ordinary viewers
might not care, but “Star Trek” fans do. The Scimitar has also got to
be one of the most butt ugly spaceships I have ever seen in my life. There’s a
difference between making something look menacing and something look monstrous,
but cool if not alluring. Klingon Birds Of Prey and Romulan War Birds are cool
looking ships that also appear menacing in nature. Heck, Star Destroyers from
“Star Wars” look threatening and yet there is something about the design
that looks interesting. A good villain and a good villain’s spaceship should
be scary, but eye catching. It should capture the viewer’s imagination. When I
see the Scimitar all I want to do is swat it like it was some giant
hornet. The design of the Remans did not work to well either. They look like a
bunch of Cenobites from Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser” series. I mean are the
Remans related to Romulans in any way or are they truly a separate species? This
has never been made clear either. Finally the story itself misses so many
opportunities to conjure up characters from “The Next Generation” that could
be on Romulus during this crisis like “Sela” or even “Spock,” but
instead it seems like the filmmaker’s just tossed everything aside and what
cast members that do appear in the film got nothing more than thankless cameos
or wasted appearances. On the big screen there were times when “Nemesis”
simply dragged, but on the small screen it plays a bit better, but not nearly as
good as some of the other entries before it. Dina Meyer is completely wasted in
the film as a Romulan Commander who changes sides so quickly in the film that
one wonders why the hell is she got involved to begin with? Director Bryan
Singer has an uncredited cameo aboard the bridge of the Enterprise-E in
the film’s climactic space battle sequence. I also have to ask why would the
United Federation Of Planets fall apart if Shinzon did succeed in destroying the
Earth? Are there not many planets containing humans as well as Federation member
alien species that could carry on without Earth? I do not want to see the Earth
get destroyed, but a space faring society dependent upon one planet may work in
“Dune,” but not “Star Trek.” Data’s death has little to no impact
since we already know death is almost never final on “Star Trek.” The last
scene with Picard smiling as he heads for the bridge also seems ridiculous.
“What the heck does he have to be happy about?” If this is the last “Next
Generation” feature, it is clumsy ending at best. They deserve a better send
off than this Mr. Berman.
Now
that I have completed my “Nemesis” griping, I can go into the DVD itself,
which looks marvelous in the anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) theatrical aspect
ratio presentation. A panned and scanned version is also being released day and
date with the widescreen version and contains the same bonus materials. The
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is discrete and well mixed and
gives off the little sound nuances that create a better home theater experience
as a whole. English and French Dolby Surround Soundtracks are also included
along with English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired and the
addition of French Language Subtitles for the extra value features. Stuart
Baird’s commentary is rather disappointing. Rather than reveal anything truly
interesting about the making of the film, he just seems to narrate the action as
it occurs and then pauses from time to time.
Extra
features include “New Frontiers: Stuart Baird On Directing Nemesis” (8:42),
which features filmed and videotaped interviews as well as behind-the-scenes
footage from the production, but comes off rather fluffy instead of interesting.
“A Bold Vision Of The Final Frontier” (10:17) only reminded me how much they
botched this film up, and “A Star Trek Family’s Final Journey” (16:16) is
just more of the same EPK style interviews with cast and crew members while
“Red Alert: Shooting The Action Of Nemesis” (10:08) is just another glimpse
at some of the silliness that was shot for the film, like that ridiculous Argo
dune buggy like thing.
Perhaps
the best extra feature included on the DVD are the 7 deleted scenes that can be
viewed as one reel (19:53) or separately and they begin with a general
introduction by Rick Berman (: 46) followed by an introduction by Patrick
Stewart (1:43) regarding a scene he shares with the character of Data that I
think should been left in the film because it bookends the film nicely. The
scene is entitled “Chateau Picard 2267” (4:04). Stuart Baird, who explains
quite rightly that this earlier introduction of Shinzon would have destroyed the
surprise for the audience, introduces the next scene. Unfortunately the trailers
pretty much spoiled the premise anyway. This scene is entitled “The Time Of
Conquest” (3:20). Following that deleted scene are two short scenes without
introductions for “Federation Protectors” (: 53) and “A Loss Of Self” (:
50) and then Baird returns to introduce the deleted second psychic rape scene
(1:09) entitled “Turbolift Violation” (1:16). “Sickbay Prepare For
Battle” (1:00) and the alternate ending “Advise For The New Officer”
(3:39) conclude the deleted scenes, which are all presented in (2.35:1) aspect
ratios with English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. Of the deleted scenes I
think the second and fourth could have been included and help round up the film
a bit better without repeating certain story points too much.
A
photo gallery of sketches, sets, props, and character designs and a reel of
bonus trailers (7:68) that include a trailer for “Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine” on DVD, the “Star Trek: Experience” in Las Vegas, and a trailer for
“The Hours” wraps up the extra features included on this DVD. Unless it is
hidden as an Easter egg, the trailer for “Star Trek: Nemesis” is not
included. The interactive menus are beautifully rendered and three dimensional
as well as easy to navigate.
Though
not the worst “Star Trek” feature film ever made, “Star Trek: Nemesis”
is a flawed entry in the series that does play better at home than it did on the
big screen. Just ignore the contrivances if you can. “Star Trek: Nemesis”
will debut on DVD on Tuesday, May 20, 2003 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Now By Clicking On The Text Link Below!
Star Trek - Nemesis (Widescreen)