I was relatively surprised that I enjoyed Star Trek: Discovery especially considering some of the backlash among certain segments as well as that the writing could be a bit clunky but got roped in as the season went along.
Star Trek: Discovery: Season One
(2017-18)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Drama, Adventure
Paramount | NR – 1031 min. – $50.99 | November 13, 2018
Date Published: 11/18/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Paramount provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.5/5 |
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I’ve probably stated in this in past Star Trek-related reviews be it for The Next Generation or the J.J. Abrams-verse ones, I’m not some rabid fan of the series so I don’t have some affinity for the franchise or any changes made. Now we get Star Trek: Discovery, the latest television show and the launch title for CBS’s All Access video-on-demand streaming service, For the most part, I did find some interesting elements even when the writing is at times rather terrible and the acting not much better. The story Star Trek: Discovery is less a show about exploratory like its predecessors and more the season-long story arc that, honestly, I’m not always a fan of, having appeal more for one-offs or even two-three part episodes as I tend to divert my attentions away to other things and will often lose interest in a show and if I miss an episode or two, will just give up (when aired “live”) feeling I might get lost. But when it comes to these home video releases, I can binge watch and as such, I did find Discovery to be pretty entertaining. While the writing isn’t always the best and to go with it some of the performances, I did quite like lead actress Sonequa Martin-Green, a Vulcan-raised human who pretty serves as our Spock, just with more human emotions versus logic, or a mix between the two. I also did enjoy the darker look including a warring Federation with the ‘Discovery’ ship commanded with effectiveness by Gabriel Lorca, portrayed by Jason Isaacs, a nice addition to the ensemble. Also included, albeit only for the first two episodes, Michelle Yeoh (plus another, but won’t get into that appearance as to not get to spoiler-y). In any case, she was decent though she too is straddled with some bad dialogue. Also impressive was some fine visual effects. Yes, some of it basically looks like it could’ve come from a video game, but for a TV series, it was visually pleasant as is the production designs for both the USS Shenzhou and the Discovery, albeit Star Trek purist certainly had (somewhat valid) issues with how advanced these ships were considering this show takes place roughly a decade before The Original Series. Even so, I don’t know, it was nice and sleek set designs and can just roll with it. In the end, Star Trek: Discovery actually isn’t a half-bad science fiction series that, yes, has some pretty shoddy writing and a few performances not always the best, but for people are not big Star Trek fans and won’t get hung up on either the dark tones or any continuity problems, it’s a perfectly fine way to spend an hour or so with some fun escapist entertainment. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.25/5 |
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This 4-disc set comes housed in a matted, title-embossed slip cover. The front opens up revealing a portrait picture of the main cast. Every episode comes with a Promo. A pretty good selection here, all the featurettes totaling to 2:39:12. DISC 1: Standing in the Shadow of Giants: Creating the Sound of Discovery (8:07) looks at how the music/score of the series was approached with its iconic theme interwoven into this series. Creature Comforts (15:55) – This featurette looks at the make-up and wardrobe for the various characters, such as the Klingons. Deleted Scenes – ‘Battle at the Binary Stars’ and ‘The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry’ Launch Promos (4:44) DISC 2: Creating Space (13:08) is on the visual effects on the series and attempts to have it measure up to feature films. Prop Me Up (12:54) examines the creating of the various props like the Federation phasers, tricorders and badges and keeping the designs as close as possible to The Original Series. Deleted/Extended Scenes – ‘Choose Your Pain’ and ‘Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad’ DISC 3: Dress for Success (21:28) is on the costume designs. Feeding Frenzy (6:42) is the, well, design of the food featured in the episode ‘Vaulting Ambition’. DISC 4: Star Trek: Discovery: The Voyage of Season 1 (40:53) – This lengthy featurette kind of wraps things up with the thoughts on this first season from the cast and crew. Deleted/Extended Scenes – ‘What’s Past is Prologue’ and ‘Will You Take My Hand?’ |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Paramount launches Star Trek: Discovery onto the Blu-ray format where it is presented with a 2.00 widescreen aspect ratio as originally aired… er… streamed. The 1080p transfer does look sharp with some good detail throughout and some nice splashes of color amongst some of the darker backgrounds. Textures also look great, most notably the alien prosthetics, especially the Klingons. |
AUDIO – 5.0/5 |
| Each episode is accompanied with a robust and very impressive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which sounds absolutely fantastic. Dialogue levels sound crisp and clean but where it especially amazes is with the various action-centric scenes which makes usage of every available channel where the surrounds envelop the room and the bass turns for that extra kick rattling the floor with each phaser blast or impact strike. |
OVERALL – 4.0/5 |
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Overall, I was relatively surprised that I enjoyed Star Trek: Discovery especially considering some of the backlash among certain segments as well as that the writing could be a bit clunky. But as the season progressed, I got roped in a bit more and with the different direction this took compared with the other Trek shows. This Blu-ray offers up great video/audio transfers to go along with a good selection of bonus features. |