Star Trek: The Next Generation (Collector's Edition )- The Best of Both Worlds Part I & II Review

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(More customer reviews)In "Q Who?" (Episode 42), Q sent the Enterprise-D 7,000 light-years away, where they first encounter the Borg. Ever since the conclusion of that episode, which heralded the coming of age of Star Trek: The Next Generation, we have known that the Borg were coming to destroy the Federation. After a year and a half (as reckoned by television time), the Borg finally arrive in the the cliffhanger season finale of season three. Fortunately, this Collector's Edition videotape has both parts:
Episode 74, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" (Written by Michael Piller, First aired June 18, 1990), finds Starfleet has been preparing for the invaders and Commander Shelby, head of the Borg Tactical Analysis Team, arrives on the Enterprise to tell everybody how to do things right, so nobody likes her. The Borg arrive and demand Picard beam over to their ship. Picard refuses and although the Enterprise escapes from the initial battle, hiding in a nebula until they can devise a new high-energy beam weapon, the Borg appear on the bridge during the next encounter and disappear with the Captain. Riker sends an away team to rescue Picard, but to their horror they discover the captain has been transformed into a Borg named Locutus. When he threatens them with assimilation, Riker orders Worf to fire the weapon and destroy the Borg cube and Locutus (to be continued).
Episode 75, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (Written by Michael Pillar, First aired September 24, 1990), picks up where we left off and we quickly learn that because Picard has been assimilated his knowledge has been added to the collective: the energy weapon does not work. This cannot be good and indeed it is not. With the help of Locutus, the Borg annihilate the armada sent by Starfleet (one of the casualties being Benjamin Sisko's wife, as we shall find out in the pilot for Deep Space Nine). In the wake of this almost total defeat, Riker comes up with a new plan: kidnap Picard and turn the tables by using his knowledge of the Borg to discover THEIR weaknesses.
The first "The Best of Both Worlds" ended with one of the great cliffhangers in television history that produced a summer of intense speculations and suspense that was not satiated until Part 2 aired the next fall. With this set containing both episodes you can relive that exquisite agony all over again. This is the zenith of "STNG" and establishes the Borg as THE villains for the show and not even the show's final episode tops this two-parter. This is where the series fulfills the promise it first showed in "Q Who?", and as we shall see in future episodes, there are significant ramifications to what happens here as well, especially in the next episode when Picard goes back home to try and deal with what has been done to him (Episode 76, "Family").

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Captain Picard is taken by the Borg and transformed into one of them.

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Star Trek: The Motion Pictures DVD Collection (Motion Picture/ Wrath of Khan/ Search for Spock/ Voyage Home/ Final Frontier/ Undiscovered Country/ Generations/ First Contact/ Insurrection/ Nemesis) (1991) Review

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(More customer reviews)In 1966, a TV show writer/producer named Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) had an idea for a futuristic sci-fi TV series in which humanity has united, achieved faster-than-light interstellar space travel and joined other worlds in the "United Federation of Planets". The show, known as "Star Trek", was on the air for a mere three years, but thanks in part to the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, in syndication the show gained a huge audience and fans began to gather at "Star Trek" conventions. With so much interest growing in "Star Trek", producers at Paramount (which obtained the show from Desilu Productions) considered reviving the TV series in the late 1970's, but opted instead to produce a big-screen feature-length film.
In 1979, the first film, called "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", was produced and reunited the entire cast from the cancelled series: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander/Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard H. 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley, 1920-1999), Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan, 1920-2005), Lt. Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Ensign Pavel Chekov (Walter Keonig), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) and Doctor (formerly Nurse) Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett, who is Gene Roddenberry's widow). Directed by the Oscar-award winning director Robert Wise (1914-2005), the film opened to throngs of waiting fans, but sadly, the film's story (inspired by an episode from the original series) was not well received.
Three years later in 1982, the second film entitled "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn" opened in theaters. Based upon an original series episode that guest-starred Ricardo Montalban as the villian Khan Noonien Singh, this film was hailed by fans and remains to this day one of the most popular of all of them. Though the character of Spock died at the end of this film, the third film released in 1984, "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", saw his character return because his body at the end of the second film had been left on a newly formed, man-made planet. The next film released in 1986, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home", was another very popular film in which the entire original crew travels back in time to current-day Earth in a captured Klingon ship. Unfortunately, the fifth film released in 1989, "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", is regarded by many as being the worst "Star Trek" film ever produced. Directed by William Shatner, the film's story features Spock's long-lost brother (Laurence Luckinbill) taking over the new Enterprise starship in order to find what he believes is the Garden of Eden, but instead finds an irritated alien entity that had been dumped there by someone else. The sixth film produced in 1991 and entitled "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" was the final film starring the entire original cast and featured an interesting story involving the Klingons wanting to create a peace treaty with the Federation.
With so much interest in the franchise again, Paramount decided in 1987 to produce an entirely new "Star Trek" TV series featuring a new cast, which would form the crew for the latest version of the starship Enterprise set about 100 years after the time of Kirk. The cast included Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lieutenant/Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), Lieutenant Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby, first season only), Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn), Commander Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Lt. Commander/Commander Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), the boy Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and the frequently recurring character Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg). The new TV show, named "Star Trek: The Next Generation", ran for seven complete seasons between 1987 and 1994.
Four additional big-screen films were then produced starring the cast from "Star Trek: The Next Generation", except for the characters portrayed by Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton. The first of these films was released in theaters in 1994 and was entitled "Star Trek: Generations". It also included three original cast characters (Captain Kirk, Scotty and Pavel Chekov) to link the "Next Generation" with the original cast. Many fans were disappointed with the film, but I enjoyed it. The second of these "Next Generation" films was released in 1996. Entitled "Star Trek: First Contact", most people enjoyed the excitement of this film's story that featured a deadly cybernetic enemy known as the Borg that had been discovered during the "Next Generation" series. Controlled by the powerful Borg Queen (Alice Krige), the Borg travel back Earth's past in order to stop the father of warp drive, Dr. Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), from testing humanity's first-ever warp-powered ship that allowed Earth to make its first contact with an alien species, the Vulcans.
The third film featuring the "Next Generation" cast was released in theaters in 1998. Entitled "Star Trek: Insurrection", the film was not received as well by fans as the previous film, but was entertaining. The final film produced to date in 2002, "Star Trek: Nemesis" featured an alien species that had yet to be shown in any big-screen film, the Romulans. Unfortunately, this film's poor performance in theaters was due to a somewhat lackluster story. Whether or not Paramount will ever produce another film based upon "Star Trek" is currently unknown, but if another one is produced, it would more than likely feature another completely new cast of characters.
Overall, I rate the complete "Star Trek - The Motion Pictures DVD Collection (Special Edition)" DVD set with 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it to anyone who has not yet purchased any of the special edition "Star Trek" films on DVD. Thank you Gene Roddenberry, wherever you are, for creating such a wonderful universe of characters and stories in "Star Trek".

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Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Third Season (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)Now this is where it gets interesting! After the shortened and varied second season, The Next Generation finally gets going in the third season. Not only is the writing brilliant but the production values have had a shot in the arm. The revised title sequence is much stronger and the title music is re-mixed. The entire ship looks and sounds better too, with the new uniforms with the collars (much better).
A new director of photography was brought whose lighting technique allowed them to get rid of that "this is obviously filmed in a studio" look when creating planet side sequences. This season also has some of the best scores to accompany the series before it became a constant rehash of the same orchestral sequences later on in the programme. Ron Jones does a particularly excellent job, especially with "The Best of Both Worlds" and newcomer Jay Chattaway's score to "Tin Man" turned a mediocre episode into something more emotional.
This season shines with great episodes such as The Enemy (Romulans!), The Defector (real spy thriller stuff), The Hunted, The High Ground (terrorist episode). There are however 2 stunners: "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Best of Both Worlds." Alternative timelines and the Borg have always made some of the best episodes - Yesterday's Enterprise gives Tasha Yar a chance to return for an episode where the Federation is still at war with the Klingons. The Best of Both Worlds is the high point of the entire series - great story, great effects, great music, and that feeling of "they can't do that" when the "To be continued...." line appeared on the screen. Great stuff.
Episode List:
Evolution
The Ensigns of Command
The Survivors
Who Watches The Watchers?
The Bonding
Booby Trap
The Enemy
The Price
The Vengeance Factor
The Defector
The Hunted
The High Ground
Deja Q
A Matter of Perspective
Yesterday's Enterprise
The Offspring
Sins of the Father
Allegiance
Captain's Holiday
Tin Man
Hollow Pursuits
The Most Toys
Sarek
Ménage à Troi
Transfigurations
The Best of Both Worlds, Part I

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26 episodes on 7 discs: Evolution, The Ensigns of Command, The Survivors, Who Watches the Watchers, The Bonding, Booby Trap, The Enemy, The Price, The Vengeance Factor, The Defector, The Hunted, The High Ground, Deja Q, A Matter of Perspective, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Offspring, Sins of the Father, Allegiance, Captain's Holiday, Tin Man, Hollow Pursuits, The Most Toys, Sarek, Menage a Troi, Transfigurations, The Best of Both Worlds Part 1.

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Star Trek Online Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first heard that Cryptic Studios was taking over production of STO from Perpetual Entertainment, I was thrilled. Perpetual had effectively done everything in its power to alienate the Trekkers who would be playing the game, and Cryptic had a solid reputation with me from their work done on City of Heroes/Villains.
Star Trek Online ultimately proved disappointing to me. I bought the Collector's Edition, which is very nicely packaged and includes a slew of freebie passes to hand out to your friends, a cool-looking replica of the new combadge featured in the game, and a very nice selection of production art. The game installs easily and once the patcher finishes updating, you're ready to go. Character creation is very involved, enabling you to customize virtually to your heart's content. Human, Vulcan, Bolian, Betazoid, non-joined Trill, Andorian...or get really creative & invent your very own 100% original Star Trek alien species! You choose Tactical, Engineering or Science career path, the only difference between which is the powers granted for use in space & ground combat.
Combat is the primary focus of STO, with a greater subjective focus on ground combat over space--which was sad for me, because I enjoyed space combat so much more. There's minimal "exploration", really no boldly going anywhere 100's of players haven't already been. There is an economy, which is strange really, but nice work has been done trying to shoehorn it into the canon. The levelling pace in STO is INSANE. You begin as a lowly Ensign. You're rapidly promoted to Lieutenant, and from there you'll go to Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, and finally Rear Admiral. Each rank (aside from Ensign, which has 1, and RA which has 5) has 10 ranks. I rocketed all the way through to RA5 in what felt like no time at all, and I soloed 98% of the game. (This from the guy who took ~4 years to finally get 1 character to level 50 in City of Villains.) Unfortunately, STO suffers the exact same disease as any other MMO: Once you get to max level, there are only two things to do: PvP & large-scale raids. Since I'd rather gouge out my heart with a plastic butterknife than do either of those, I guess I'm done.
Klingon play is 99% PvP. There's some minimal PvE content, and they say there's more coming, but...meh.
I liked my time in STO. I want to love this game. Unfortunately, it was all over too fast & wound up feeling really rather empty. There's very little "Star Trek" feeling to the game; I know that's a meaningless statement without some examples to back it up, but I suppose it's more subjective than anything else. There are other players in the game--you see them whizzing past in their own starships--but there's no real conversation. No chatter, no roleplay, no...nothing. It's a Massively Single-Player Online Not-Quite-Role-Playing Game.

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With episode missions, every moment spent playing Star Trek Online feels like a new Star Trek episode in which you are the star. Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century: a time of shifting alliances and new discoveries. And with the wealth of items included with the Star Trek Online Collector's Edition (see item list below), enjoy the most engrossing Star Trek video game experience to date. Adventure in the Final Frontier Explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations in a vast, expanding universe. Establish contact with new races, discover resources and uncover mysteries that will influence Star Trek's future. In 2409, Star Trek Online exists in a timeframe beyond even the latest movies, so everything you experience will be brand new, but still based on all the fiction you love. You Are the Captain Star Trek Online is the first AAA MMO to feature space and ground combat at launch. Missions will take you and your friends into the depths of space, across exotic planets, and even inside starships. As the Captain of your very own ship, it's up to you to lead your crew on missions that span a number of locations. You call the shots, no matter where you are. When you're in space, you direct the action - be it in the middle of a high-tension battle, where you can maneuver in 3-D space and fire a vast array of weaponry at your enemies, or as you enter warp to explore parts of the galaxy never before documented. On the ground, you lead your away team across exciting terrain, interacting with allies and battling enemies. Every Captain commands five subordinates on the ground, all of which can be directed to act in any manner you choose. Can you lead them safely through dangerous locales? Total Customization Using Cryptic\'s Total Customization technology, every ship you command can be customized by you, from its color to its construction. Your ship will retain a Star Trek "feel," but it will also represent your style. What\'s more, anyone can create their own species in Star Trek Online, meaning you can tell your own story about how you came to be in the galaxy and leave your mark on the Star Trek universe. Built by Veterans with You in Mind Star Trek Online is developed by Cryptic Studios, creators of the massively successful City of Heroes and City of Villains. It\'s built on the Cryptic Engine, a core technology that means Cryptic game designers can focus less on a game\'s nuts and bolts and more on creating a game that captures Star Trek\'s essence, guaranteeing that both longtime fans of Star Trek and people new to the universe will feel at home. Star Trek Online Collector's Edition Bonus Items Included with Game:
System Requirements:

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Star Trek: Legacy Review

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(More customer reviews)I've played just about every Star Trek game on the market (Bridge Commander, Starfleet Command series, Star Trek Armada series, Dominion Wars, Star Trek Encounters, Star Trek Tactical Assault, Klingon, DS9 the Fallen, Elite Force, etc....) and I haven't quite found one that gives me what've wanted until now. Bridge Commander + Starfleet Command were the closest. This game worked for me because it felt like I was replaying a fleet battle from the TV series- where I can enjoy the tactical elements and the spectacular 3D ship-to-ship battle graphics.
This game is at its best when it requires you to develop a strategy, such as splitting your fleet apart to tackle multiple things simultaneously, requiring you to use the tactical map and fleet controls.
E.g. I had to locate bases that were creating drones that were poisoning the sector. So I dispatch all ships to all planets to locate all the bases. Then I pair up the ships so that one pair (the battleships) goes to each station to destroy them, while the remaining pair (cruisers) seeks out and dispatches the drones. Then eventually on the final station I consolidate the entire fleet for the final assault. Keeping fleet sizes to a maximum of 4 gives the game a light-weight command and conquer flavor but yet still gives you needed control of the helm so you can execute the satisfying kills. I find myself using the tactical display alot to maintain awareness. Then i have to switch to ship view to make sure each ship is targeting the right enemy.
Here are the negatives I found:
The missions can last about 30 minutes and there are no save points in between. So if you die, you're screwed. That's not been too bad because the tactical elements let you try a different strategy the second time.
The controls appear difficult at first. It took me about an hour to get used to them. But once you've mastered the fleet controls the game takes on a far more interesting dimension than a mindless slug fest.
3-space control can get wacky, so your best bet is to target enemies and allow the computer to do most of the flying so you can just worry about firing the torpoedoes and phasers.

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Star Trek: Legacy is an epic game of Starfleet combat. You'll become the Admiral of a task force of warships and must lead their fleet to victory in large-scale battles. Choose the ships, equipment, and captains that you will lead into battle. It provides an immersive strategic and tactical experience by emphasizing the dramatic excitement of large-scale battles without the hassle of complex starship management. Single player Federation campaign, spanning three full epochs (Enterprise, The Original Series, and The Next Generation) Robust multiplayer with full Xbox Live support

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Star Trek Online Timecard Review

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(More customer reviews)This isn't a review for the game. This is a review for the 60-day online timecard.
The card was easy to use, just go to your Cryptic account at [...] and enter in the timecard's key number where you would normally put your Paypal or Credit Card information on the subscription page, make sure you select the the option for pre-paid timecard before you enter in the timecard's key or it will not work. Easy and quick.
NOTE: The timecard is stackable meaning that if you just bought the game you will have 30 days play time already. You can enter in this kind of card at any point and it will ADD the 60 days to whatever remaining time you have on the account. So if you had 15 days left over from the retail copy of the game or another timecard it would add 60 days to that making it 75 days of play time remaining. It does not cancel out or make you lose already paid for time so add the cards whenever you like. I prefer to do this right away so I don't lose them.

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Become part of Star Trek: The Star Trek universe will appear for the first time in a massively multiplayer online game. Everything from the elegant domes of Starfleet Academy to the ancient temples of Vulcan, from the towers of Qo'noS to the Fire Caves of Bajor, from the mysterious Mutara Nebula to the unexplored voids of deep space, all will be represented in stunning 3-D graphics. Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century: a time of shifting alliances and new discoveries. A monthly fee is required to play.

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