“Star Trek: Enterprise” Season One serves as fine entertainment but not much more as it doesn’t come close to the drama of “The Next Generation” or the performances from “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine”. Even so, there’s something about the then fledgling series which I enjoyed and can only hope it improves with each season.
“Enterprise” Season One (2001-02)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Adventure, Drama
Paramount | NR – 1149 min. – $119.99 | March 26, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Gene Roddenberry and Brannon Braga and Rick Berman (created by)
Cast: Scott Bakula, John Billingsley Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Connor Trinneer, Linda Park, Anthony Montgomery
DISC INFO:
Features: Episode Commentaries, Featurettes
Number of Discs: 6
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
Disc Size: NA
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 3.5/5
I’ve never been a big “Star Trek” fan but have enjoyed the various shows and movies over the years, appreciating the entertainment value more than continuity in the “Trek” universe or getting deep into the nuances of the ship, species, characters, etc. So going in, I was open-minded about “Enterprise”, a series which follows the journeys of the famed Starship in her infancy.
Captained by Jonathan Archer (SCOTT BAKULA), he and his ragtag team – which includes Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker (CONNOR TRINNEER), Sub-Commander T’Pol (JOLENE BLALOCK), Lieutenant Malcolm Reed (DOMINIC KEATING), Ensigns Hoshi Sato (LINDA PARK) and Travis Mayweather (ANTHONY MONTGOMERY) and Dr. Phlox (JOHN BILLINGSLEY) – explore the universe encounter various species and planets, collecting data for their records, stepping in to help the weak and often getting into trouble being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
One of the complaints about “Enterprise” was that it rarely broke new ground, going over many of the same subjects or encounters from “The Original Series” and “The Next Generation” (which is the gold standard as far as “Star Trek goes it seems). For me, as a novice, I enjoyed this first season. No, it’s hardly perfect as the performances are relatively average (save perhaps for Jolene Blalock and John Billingsley) and, especially early on, the stories tend to be a tad boring.
Although the various “Star Trek” series had some comedy, even comedic-centric episodes, I found “Enterprise” seemed to have an above average number of those including Reed becoming pregnant while aboard a foreign alien vessel (attempting to repair their warp system).
The season, and series, isn’t without its flaws and even though it doesn’t exactly break new ground from other “Star Trek” series, other than being a prequel of sorts, I kind of enjoyed a majority of the episodes. The plots are generally well written and each episode helped pass 45-minutes by quite nicely, although there’s not one episode that stood out from the next.
Episodes:
1. Broken Bow
2. Fight or Flight
3. Strange New World
4. Unexpected
5. Terra Nova
6. The Amdorian Incident
7. Breaking the Ice
8. Civilization
9. Fortunate Son
10. Cold Front
11. Dear Doctor
12. Sleeping Dogs
13. Shadows of P’jem
14. Shuttlepod One
15. Fusion
16. Rogue Planet
17. Acquisition
18. Oasis
19. Detained
20. Vox Sola
21. Fallen Hero
22. Desert Crossing
23. Two Days and Two Nights
24. Shockwave, Part 1
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.5/5
This release comes with an embossed and glossy slip cover. The 6-disc set is housed in an HD Keep Case.
Episode Commentaries
‘Broken Arrow’ – Writer/Exec Producer Brannon Braga, Episode Director James L. Conway, Actors Connor Trinnear and Dominic Keating & Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry; Brannon Braga and Rick Berman (2005)
‘Silent Enemy’ – Wirter/Co-Producer Andre Bormanis and Dan Curry
‘Shadows of P’Jem’ – Episode Writers Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong
‘Shuttlepod One’ – Brannon Braga, Episode Director David Livingston, Connor Trinnear and Dominic Keating
Text Commentaries are included from Mike & Denise Okuda on ‘Broken Arrow’, ‘The Andorian Incident’ and ‘Vox Sola’
Disc 1:
Cast Introduction (2:15; SD) is a little intro made as a sneak peek at the main characters.
In Conversation: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga (1:09:59; HD) is an extensive and fantastic featurette/documentary with the producers talking about how “Enterprise” came to be and going over their memories of the show. This is a simple back and forth interview style but absolutely fascinating.
Network Presentation (3:17; SD) was the reveal for the series using clips from the previous TV shows.
Syndication Presentation (7:15; SD) is much the same idea advertising the series for syndication.
Lastly, there are some “Archival Mission Logs”: Creating “Enterprise” (11:28; SD) featurette showing some of the basics of making the series, and a fair amount uses the “Cast Introduction” segment; O Captain! My Captain! A Profile of Scott Bakula (9:32; SD) provides some background on the TV series veteran actor and glowing admiration from his co-stars; NX-01 File 02 (2:11; SD) breaks down the visual effects and matte paintings on the episode “Broken Bow”.
Disc 2:
Cast Impressions: Season One (12:24; SD) finds Scott Bakula and company talking about working on the first season and with one another.
Enterprise Secrets (2:00; SD) is a featurette showing off the behind-the-scenes of the Starship Enterprise and how some of the tricks of the lights and such.
Disc 3:
Star Trek Tim Travel: Temporal Cold Wars and Beyond (8:11; SD) – This featurette looks at the Temporal Cold War storyline which takes place in the distant future. It also lays out the different time travel aspects done in the movies and TV shows.
Admiral Forrest Takes Center Stage (5:14; SD) – Actor Vaughn Armstrong (Maxwell Forrest) talks about his character on “Enterprise” as well as the other “Star Trek” shows he appeared on.
Disc 4:
Inside Shuttlepod One (7:57; SD) is a breakdown of the episode which was intimate and character-driven.
NX-01 File 01 (2:56; SD) and NX-01 File 03 (4:59; HD) are featurettes discussing different aspects, and challenges of the show and includes sound bites from either the cast or crew.
Disc 5:
On the Set (28:32; SD) – Produced for TV but never broadcast, this is a firsthand account of the making of an episode.
Outtakes (9:05; SD) show the lighter side with line flubs and giggle fits.
Disc 6:
To Boldly Go: Launching “Enterprise” (TRT 1:29:52; HD) is a three-part documentary covering just about every aspect of the series. The cast and crew relay stories about how the show developed and other aspects of the show’s implantation. Anything and nearly everything you want to know about “Enterprise” is covered here…
Celebrating “Star Trek” (15:19; SD) – This featurette showcases the “Trek” conventions and contains footage for the big “Trek” fan base.
VIDEO – 3.5/5
“Enterprise” Season One makes its debut on Blu-ray courtesy of Paramount and although it’s not as pristine or gorgeous looking as the “Next Generation” releases (which aired a good 12 years before), the video still looks good with some decent detail levels and a nice color array. The problem starts with some odd bits of noise throughout each episode and some special effects that are, at least appear to be, in standard definition.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The season receives a fine 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. It’s not exactly a dynamic sounding lossless track, it does show off clear dialogue through the center speaker and some of the action elements, and the score as well, are helped with the surrounds. However, at times the audio sounds a bit flat but that’s more due to the relatively low budget and the age of the series.
OVERALL – 3.75/5
Overall, “Star Trek: Enterprise” Season One serves as fine entertainment but not much more as it doesn’t come close to the drama of “The Next Generation” or the performances from “Voyager” and “Deep Space Nine”. Even so, there’s something about the then fledgling series which I enjoyed and can only hope it improves with each season. The Blu-ray release, however, has a fantastic selection of features, the audio transfer is pretty good and the video, not without its own problems, is in the acceptable range.
The Movieman
Published: 04/05/2013