Captain’s Log, Star-date 2012-25-01: Today, I am uniquely privileged. After traipsing the far frontiers of the lost city once known as ‘London’, I was fortunate enough to come face to face with the legendary Captain Jean Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise-D on their maiden voyage to ‘Farpoint’, using a glorious new technology known as ‘Blu-ray’.
Geek moment aside, I do feel privileged to have seen such a fantastic example of modern technology’s stunning effect on the once dated.
Encounter at Farpoint isn’t considered a terribly memorable start to the arguably the most popular Star Trek series; its ropey acting and weak, thrown together storyline appearing more like an uncompleted pilot than an explosive beginning.
Despite the episode’s problems, the spruced-up Blu-ray, taken directly from the original film reels, accompanied by the stunning 7.1 surround sound, delivers a whole new layer to the roots of the legendary characters and ship.
We can finally see the glory of the USS Enterprise-D’s command bridge and the intricacies in the design that we could never truly appreciate first time around, along with the many expressions of Patrick Stewart as he faces down the mysterious (and frankly annoying) Q, caught in the full majesty of High Definition. Oh, and let’s not get started on Counselor Troi’s legs…
With three completely remastered episode on this week’s The Next Level release and more due later in the year, this is without doubt a must have for all TNG fans.
Make it so, number 1!