Allan Bryce, Roger Crow and John Martin take a critical look at some of the very latest cinema, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and streaming releases...

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION MOVIE BOX SET

4K UHD Out Now.

Paramount. Cert 15

Fan favourite Star Trek characters Picard, Riker, Data, LaForge, Worf, Troi, and Dr. Crusher embark on four iconic, action packed big screen adventures, collected here for the first time on 4K UHD with HDR-10 and Dolby Vision, and remastered bonus Blu-rays.

Taking them in chronological order, Star Trek: Generations (1994) is the first Next Generation big screen adventure and has the old guard giving way to the new, with James T. Kirk (William Shatner) passing the baton to new Starfleet commander Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart).

The plot takes a 78-year jump into the future to find a new crew aboard the Enterprise, and we join them as they take on a Klingon Bird of Prey whose female commanders (Barbara March and Gwyneth Walsh) have joined forces with intergalactic super-villain Malcolm McDowell. It seems that McDowell wants to destroy an entire solar system just to get back to the paradise planet of Nexus. When he does get there, he’s joined by Picard and his previousgeneration predecessor Kirk.

The climactic teaming of hammy Shatner and Shakespeare-trained Stewart is fun, even though it’s the corniest part of the movie, and Malcolm McDowell earns his place in the villains hall of fame by committing one of the most dastardly acts in sci-fi history. Guess what that is?

Next up is Star Trek: First Contact (1996), one of the best films in the set. In the grand tradition of Star Trek actors being given the job of directing feature movies of the show, Jonathan Frakes (aka Riker) steps in to do a solid job with this darker than usual Trek flick. Patrick Stewart’s Captain Jean Luc Picard has to live out his own worst nightmare when the villainous Borg (who almost possessed him in a 2-part TV episode) land on Earth with domination in mind.

The only way to set things straight is for the crew to go on a time travel jaunt back to the year 2063 to make sure that eccentric boffin James Cromwell fulfills his place in history with a precedentsetting rocket flight. The storyline gets a mite confusing in places, but it’s generally very well done, with some quite strong action sequences and an impressive performance by British actress Alice Krige as the scary Borg Queen.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) is another solid entry in the big screen series. This has the crew befriending the eternally youthful residents of a Shangri-La-like planet whose existence is being threatened by the nasty, vengeful F. Murray Abraham. It’s leisurely paced, but well made and consistently interesting, with good special effects and strong performances. It suffers a bit from over-familiarity, however. This is the one where Patrick Stewart’s Picard has a romantic dalliance! Jonathan Frakes again directs.

Then last and probably least comes Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). Easily the most disappointing of the Next Generation movies, this boring effort plays like a substandard TV movie. It kicks off with a corny wedding scene as Riker (Jonathan Frakes) ties the knot with Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Data serves up the musical accompaniment - aslightly off-tune version of Irving Berlin’s Blue Skies! Then the draggy plot has Picard and crew heading off on another peace mission that you just know is going to turn sour.

The villain of the piece this time is a younger, twisted twin of Picard (played by Tom Hardy), whose motives are cloudy to say the least. The usual space battles ensue, but it’s all a little tired and predictable. Even Jerry Goldsmith’s bland score is a by-the-numbers retread of his better, earlier work.

It almost goes without saying that all of the movies look absolutely sensational here, but we’ve had great HD releases before and it’s the extras that will make this one a worthwhile purchase for Trek fans. Talking of which...

Extras: Star Trek VII: Generations: Commentaries by Director David Carson and Manny Coto/Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore; Text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda; Scoring Trek; Next Generation Designer Flashback: Andrew Probert; Stellar Cartography on Earth; Brent Spiner: Data And Beyond Part 1; Trek Round-table: Generations; Starfleet Academy: Trilithium; Library Computer.