Episodes
Disc One: “Times Arrow, Part II”, “Realm Of Fear”, “Man Of The
People”, “Relics”
Episodes
Disc Two: “Schisms”, “True-Q”, “Rascals”, “A Fistful Of Datas”
Episodes
Disc Three: “The Quality Of Life”, “Chain Of Command, Part I”, “Chain
Of Command, Part II”, “Ship In A Bottle”
Episodes
Disc Four: “Aquiel”, “Face Of The Enemy”, “Tapestry”, “Birthright,
Part I”
Episodes
Disc Five: “Birthright, Part II”, “Starship Mine”, “Lessons”, “The
Chase”
Episodes
Disc Six: “Frame Of Mind”, “Suspicions”, “Rightful Heir”, “Second
Chances”
Episodes
Disc Seven: “Timescape”, “Descent, Part I”
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Levar Burton, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, and Gates McFadden
Guest
Stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Colm Meany, Dwight Schultz, James Doohan, Michelle
Forbes, Brian Bonsall, John DeLancie, Ronny Cox, Jim Morton, Stephen Hawking,
Jerry Hardin, Daniel Davis, John Neville, Norman Lloyd, Salome Jens, Kevin
Conway, Siddig El Fadil, James Cromwell, and David Warner
Writers: Michael Piller, John Whelpley, Jeri Taylor, Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore, Lee Sheldon, Joe Monosky, Maurice Hurley, Thomas Kartozian, Pamela Douglas, Sheri Goodhartz, Brannon Braga, Ira Steven Behr, Timothy DeHaas, Peter Allan Fields, Morgan Gendel, Edith Swensen, Jean Louise Matthias, Garry Perconte, Peter Allan Fields, Sara Charno, Stuart Charno, Barry Schkolnick, Michael Horvat, Allison Hock, Ward Botsford, Diana Dru Botsford, Frank Abatemarco, Ron Wilkerson, Naran Shankar, and Rene Echevarria
Directors: Rob Bowman, Winrich Kolbe, Gabrielle Beaumont, David Carson, Robert Scheerer, Cliff Bole, Rob Wiemer, Jonathan Frakes, Levar Burton, Timothy Bond, Chip Chalmers, Robert Wiemer, Patrick Stewart, Marvin Rush, David Livingston, Tom Benko, Robert Legato, Alexander Singer, Larry Shaw, Les Landau, Tom Benko, Corey Allen, Paul Lynch, Adam Nimoy, and Robert Iscove
Executive
Producer: Rick Berman
Created By Gene Roddenberry
Feature length: 43 Minutes Each/ 19 Hours, 17 Minutes
Extras: “Mission Overview: Year Six”, “Special Crew Profile: Lt. Commander Data”, “Bold New Directions”, “Departmental Briefing – Year Six: Production And Dan Curry Profile”, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine DVD Trailer”, “Star Trek: Nemesis Trailer”
Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Dolby Pro Logic Surround 2.0
Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging: Digipack Gatefold Within A Box
Chapter Stops: 8 per episode/ 208 total
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1Surround Sound and Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound
Year of Original Television Broadcast: 1992-1993/DVD Release: 2002
Home Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
On
December 3, 2002 Paramount Home Entertainment released “Star Trek: The Next
Generation: The Complete Sixth Season On DVD Box Set.” Only a month after the
fifth season release on DVD and a mere few weeks away from the DVD release of
the complete seventh season, Paramount has successfully achieved something no
other studio or independent alike has ever done before. Paramount will have
released an entire seven season series to DVD in less than a year. Just think
about the work that goes into that commitment for both the “Star Trek” fans
and casual buyers alike. If anything for achieving that goal alone Paramount
deserves a great thanks and special recognition for completing this project once
the seventh season hits stores on December 31, 2002.
Well
by season six there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that “The Next
Generation” had more than earned it’s place in the history of “Star
Trek” and television alike. So with season six came more thought provoking
scripts, better effects, and more location shooting. During this time the third
live action “Star Trek” TV series would launch in early 1993 entitled
“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” Arguably the darkest of any “Star Trek” TV
series to have appeared yet, the seeds of support and growth that led to that
series individual identity can be seen in some of the episodes presented here in
this 7-disc set.
Among
some of the darker and creepier episodes in season six are “Schisms,” where
beings from another plane of existence are abducting crewmembers in their sleep
and performing gross experiments, “Chain Of Command, Parts 1 & 2” where
we see Picard undergo terrible physical and mental torture by the Cardassians,
and “Second Chances” where Commander Riker discovers a duplicate Riker
exists who apparently was created eight years earlier during a transporter
malfunction. This other Riker would also appear in an episode of “Star Trek:
Deep Space Nine.”
Notable
episodes featuring recurring characters include “Realm Of Fear” with Dwight
Schultz back again as Reginald Barclay, “Relics” with James Doohan reprising
his signature role of Montgomery Scott from “Star Trek: The Original
Series.” That episode was noted as being one of the top rated installments of
“Star Trek: The Next Generation” by TV Guide. “Ship In A Bottle”
features the return of Moriarty and delved in themes regarding sentient
holographic life forms that would be explored with much greater detail over the
course of “Star Trek: Voyager.” “Birthright, Parts 1 and 2,” which not
only gives viewers a “Deep Space Nine” crossover adventure, but also
presents Dr. Noonien Soong as a young man as played by Brent Spiner in a dream
like sequence. The reason for humanoid life being a regular occurrence in the
“Star Trek” Universe is addressed in “The Chase” Brent Spiner returns as
“Lore” in “Descent, Part 1.” Q and the Romulans also figure prominently
in season six too.
One
of the interesting aspects of the “Descent” storyline is not only does it
feature the return of the Borg, but that it deals with the consequences of
Picard’s decision not to infect the collective with a Trojan Horse like virus
through the character of “Hugh” in Season Five’s “I’ Borg.” It shows
that sometimes the best intentions have their unforeseen results that are not
necessarily positive. It explores the “Emotion Chip” that will play a role
in the feature films, and it introduces how the Borg are able to travel great
distances in short time spans using transwarp conduits. Transwarp drive was
first introduced as a concept in “Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” with
the Excelsior and ultimately both the virus and the use of the Borg’s
transwarp conduits would enable an older Admiral Janeway to defeat and destroy
the Borg Collective while enabling Captain Janeway and the crew of the starship Voyager
to get back to Earth in the “Star Trek: Voyager” series finale
“Endgame.”
Like
the previous sets, all of the season six episodes of “Star Trek: The Next
Generation” are presented in their original broadcast aspect ratio of (1.33:1)
and as expected this batch looks better than the previous sets with only a very
faint grain. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is well mixed and
an English Dolby Surround Soundtrack with English Captions and Closed Captions
for the hearing impaired are encoded on to all seven discs as options.
The
extra features on disc seven include “Mission Overview” (17:54), which
features cast and crew interviews discussing season 6 episodes that include
“Ship In A Bottle,” “Time’s Arrow,” “Rascals,” “A Fistful Of
Datas,” “Birth Right,” Chain Of Command,” and the launching of “Star
Trek: Deep Space Nine.” “Bold New Directions” (17:55) covers Patrick
Stewart’s directing of “A Fistful Of Datas” as well as that episode’s
writer Brannon Braga’s distaste for westerns. What the hell does he think in
part Sci-Fi and “Star Trek” owe some debt to as a genre and series? Levar
Burton discusses his directorial debut with “Second Chances” and there are
even some discussions from various points of view about the shadow effects
needed to be correctly choreographed for the two “Rikers” interacting in the
episode, which would be composited for the final airing.
Departmental
Briefings on “Production” (15:32), which in part reveals how the partial
bridge set of the Enterprise from “Star Trek: The Original Series”
was built and then with effects made to create the illusion of the complete
bridge for the characters of “Scotty” and “Picard” to interact in for
“Relics.” “Trials and Tribble-ations” on “Star Trek: Deep Space 9”
would take this effect a few steps further incorporating technology used in
“Forrest Gump” to place the characters of “Deep Space Nine” into scenes
from the classic “Star Trek The Original Series” episode “The Trouble With
Tribbles.” There is a very interesting profile on Visual Effects Producer Dan
Curry (19:56) complete with a tour of his home office and a profile of the
character of “Data” (18:59) as played by Brent Spiner. This of course has a
definite tie in with the upcoming feature film “Star Trek: Nemesis,” which
Spiner has an important role in and the insert contains some brief information
on The Romulans, who not only play an active role in season six, but the
upcoming feature film as well.
The
trailer for “Star Trek: Nemesis” (1:34) and a trailer for the upcoming DVD
season by season release of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1:29) wraps up the
extra features in this set. As an aside from what I could see, I think “Deep
Space Nine” is going to look great on DVD and probably better than “The Next
Generation.” The trailer mentions that these sets will feature interactive
elements though it does not state what they will be. The menus of “Star Trek:
The Next Generation: The Complete Sixth Season On DVD” appear to reflect a
sensor station on the bridge of the Enterprise-D.
“Star
Trek: The Next Generation: The Complete Sixth Season On DVD Box Set” is
available at retailers on and offline now while “Star Trek: The Next
Generation: The Complete Seventh Season On DVD Box Set” will debut on Tuesday,
December 31, 2002 and don’t forget “Star Trek: Nemesis” opens theatrically
on Friday, December 13, 2002. “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Complete First
Season On DVD Box Set” will debut in February of 2003. I can’t wait to check
these all out.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
The Top Ten TV On DVD-Videos Of 2002 As Reviewed At GENRE ONLINE. NET
