Star Trek: 1-10

William Shatner
Catherine Hicks
Nichelle Nichols
David Warner
Patrick Stewart

Director

William Shatner; Leonard Nimoy

Even if (when) more big-screen adventures come along, this Star Trek DVD Movies Collection will remain a fitting memento of this astonishingly long-running franchise. Containing all 10 movies from The Motion Picture (1979) to Nemesis (2003), this box set charts the voyages of the USS Enterprise(s) from the original ship's first major refit since its legendary five-year mission to the last outing for the Enterprise E in the next century. After this, there will be new ships and new crews. The most famous starship in the galaxy has finally retired.

Along the way, there have been many highs and just a few lows. The Motion Picture's Director's Edition solved many of the theatrical release's problems. Its follow-up, The Wrath of Khan, is still regarded as the series' finest hour. Movies III and IV chart Spock's fall and resurrection in quasi-religious terms, but also add welcome humour in The Voyage Home. Taken together II, III and IV make for a satisfyingly self-contained trilogy, which is one reason why the next entry, The Final Frontier, seemed like a disappointment. Khan director Nicholas Meyer returned for the superior VI, The Undiscovered Country, allowing the original crew to sign-off in style. Attempting to please fans old and new, the messy Generations ended up pleasing almost no one. Thankfully, the second Next Generation film, First Contact, comes in a close second to Khan in the series-best stakes. Neither Insurrection or Nemesis could quite match what had gone before, but both were solidly entertaining adventures nonetheless.

On the DVDs: The Star Trek DVD Movies Collection is a 10-disc set complete with booklet and postcard-size Nemesis film stills. However, only the first four movies are presented in their Special Edition versions--these have the same content as the feature discs of the separately released two-disc sets--and the Nemesis disc also contains a commentary, documentaries and deleted scenes. Movies V-IX are bare-bones releases, though, with no extra content to speak of. Fans will therefore not find this box set to be a substitute for the individual Special Edition versions. --Mark Walker