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PARAMOUNT

SERIES INFO
Creators:
Kirsten Beyer, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Alex Kurtzman
Cast:
Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd
Writing Credits:
Various

Synopsis:
After receiving a distress call from Beverly Crusher, Jean-Luc Picard enlists help from generations old and new for one last adventure: a mission that will change Starfleet and his old crew forever.


MPAA:
Rated TV-MA.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
German Dolby 5.1
Spanish Dolby 5.1
French Dolby 5.1
Italian Dolby 5.1
Japanese Dolby 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Danish
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Japanese
Dutch
Norwegian
Finnish
Swedish
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
English
Danish
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Japanese
Dutch
Norwegian
Finnish
Swedish

Runtime: 533 min.
Price: $43.99
Release Date: 9/5/2023

Bonus:
• Audio Commentaries for 5 Episodes
• Deleted Scenes
• “The Gang’s All Here” Featurette
• “Villainous Vadic” Featurette
• “Final Season” Q&A
• “Making of ‘The Last Generation’” Featurette
• “Rebuilding the Enterprise-D” Featurette
• Gag Reel


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

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RELATED REVIEWS


Star Trek: Picard - The Final Season [Blu-Ray] (2023)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (September 3, 2023)

With 2020’s CBS All Access series Star Trek: Picard, Patrick Stewart came home to the role that made him famous, Starfleet Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

On this 3-Blu-ray set, we find all 10 episodes for 2023’s third – and final - season of Picard. The plot synopses come from the series’ official website.

The Next Generation: “After receiving a cryptic, urgent distress call from Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) enlists help from generations old and new to embark on one final adventure: a daring mission that will change Starfleet, and his old crew forever.”

As we will see, S3 of Picard brings back a hunka buncha old Next Generation characters, with Dr. Crusher as just the first. The question becomes whether or not these returning roles serve a true dramatic purpose or if they simply act as a gimmick.

At least for one episode, “Next” offers a good kick. It leans into nostalgia to a more than slight degree, but it works, as this turns into a vivid and lively start to the season.

Disengage: “Aided by Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and the crew of the USS Titan, Picard makes a shocking discovery that will alter his life forever – and puts him on a collision course with the most cunning enemy he’s ever encountered. Meanwhile, Raffi (Michelle Hurd) races to track a catastrophic weapon – and collides with a familiar ally.”

S3 introduces us to Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), Beverly’s son unknown to us previously. I’d like to say he offers an intriguing new personality, but he seems trite so far.

Despite that potential misstep, “Disengage” works due to some good plot points and action. I don’t know if I’ll warm to the Jack thread, but enough of “Disengage” succeeds for me to ignore those feelings for now.

Seventeen Seconds: “Picard grapples with an explosive, life-altering revelation, while the Titan and her crew try to outmaneuver a relentless Vadic (Amanda Plummer) in a lethal game of nautical cat and mouse. Meanwhile, Raffi and Worf (Michael Dorn) uncover a nefarious plot from a vengeful enemy Starfleet has long since forgotten.”

Although I don’t feel wild about the semi-trite Jack and Picard connection, at least “Seconds” gives us some good moments between Jean-Luc and Beverly. These happily avoid the sentimental sappiness that could harm the show.

In addition to these interpersonal domains, we get more action and intrigue from the interactions with Vadic. All of these add up to another solid episode.

No Win Scenario: “With time running out, Picard, Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and crew must confront the sins of their past and heal fresh wounds, while the Titan, dead in the water, drifts helplessly toward certain destruction within a mysterious space anomaly.”

With “Scenario”, we get a good mix of action, character development and plot. The episode finds some intriguing threads and keeps the season on the move well.

Imposters: “Caught by Starfleet and facing court martial, paranoia grows as Picard struggles to uncover whether a prodigal crewman from his past has returned as an ally – or an enemy hellbent on destroying them all.”

The prior episode wrapped up one aspect of the season’s storyline but it left threads hanging. “Imposters” pushes along these elements, with the return of a semi-obscure Trek character in an interesting shift.

The Bounty: “Now on the run, Picard and the skeleton crew of the USS Titan must break into Starfleet’s most top-secret facility to expose a plot that could destroy the Federation. Picard must turn to the only soul in the galaxy who can help – an old friend.”

Through S3, two parallel storylines ran, and “Bounty” finally formally unites them. Throw in the return of more Next Generation characters as well as some good twists and we get another fine episode.

Dominion: “Crippled, cornered, and out of options, Picard stages a gambit to trap Vadic and reveal her true motive – a gamble that puts the Titan in the crosshairs and forces Picard and Beverly to question every moral code they’ve ever held.”

Probably still best-known as “Honey Bunny” from Pulp Fiction, Amanda Plummer feels like an unusual choice to play the aggressive Vadic. However, she proves solid in the part, especially since “Dominion” allows her to broaden her role’s emotional horizons. “Dominion” adds depth to S3 and keeps us on the right course.

Surrender: “Vadic forces Picard to make an impossible choice: deliver what he can never give… or watch his crew perish. Their only salvation lies in the mind of an old friend and old foe.”

“Surrender” brings one aspect of S3’s arc to a close, and it can feel like a “season-ender”. However, we still get a bit left unresolved, so don’t expect a sense of finality. “Surrender” delivers another quality episode.

Võx: “A devastating revelation about Jack alters the course of Picard’s life forever – and uncovers a truth that threatens every soul in the Federation. The final battle begins as Picard and his crew race to save the galaxy from annihilation – but not without a gut-wrenching cost.”

As mentioned, “Surrender” felt a bit like a season-ender, but we see here that S3 comes with plenty of material left to explore. With only one more episode to go in the Picard saga, “Võx” ramps up the action nicely.

The Last Generation: “In a desperate last stand, Jean-Luc Picard and generations of crews both old and new fight together to save the galaxy from the greatest threat they’ve ever faced.”

This episode appears to provide our final adventure with the Next Generation crew. Of course, we thought that more than 20 years ago when 2002’s Nemesis bombed at the box office and concluded that cast’s cinematic adventures.

Given the ages of all involved, though, it seems pretty rational to suspect that S3 of Picard indeed finishes this group’s run. If correct, it does so on a positive note.

I feared S3 would bring back all the familiar faces just for nostalgia, but it proves much more effective than that. “Last” wraps up both the season’s arc and the path of the Next Generation characters in a very positive manner.


The Disc Grades: Picture B+/ Audio B+/ Bonus B

Picard appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.39:1 on these Blu-ray Discs. As usual, the shows boasted appealing visuals.

Overall sharpness satisfied. Some interiors demonstrated a little softness, but these occasions didn’t intrude with the proceedings.

No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws didn’t become an issue.

Colors tended toward a palette that favored somewhat grimy greens and blues. The discs reproduced the hues as intended.

Blacks felt deep and dense, and shadows looked smooth and clear. S3 presented positive picture quality.

S3 also came with episodes that brought involving DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio. Of course, the soundfields fared best when the episodes engaged in action, which happened enough to use the five channels in a compelling manner.

Music showed good stereo imaging, and quieter scenes brought convincing environmental information. The soundscapes created a nice complement to the visuals.

Audio quality seemed good. Music brought warm, vivid material.

Speech sounded concise and distinctive, while effects appeared accurate and packed a nice punch. The shows came with above-average audio.

Five episodes provide audio commentaries. Here’s who appears:

“The Next Generation”: actors Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, Ed Speleers, and Todd Stashwick, writer/executive producer Terry Matalas and composer Stephen Barton.

“Seventeen Seconds”: Matalas and actors Gates McFadden and Michelle Hurd.

“No Win Scenario”: Frakes, Matalas and Stashwick.

“The Bounty”: Frakes, Matalas, and actors LeVar Burton and Brent Spiner.

“The Last Generation”: Frakes, Ryan, Speleers and Matalas.

Across these, we learn about story/character domains, cast and performances, sets and production design, music, links to other Trekprojects/Easter eggs, and connected topics.

Don’t expect a lot of insights over the commentaries. We get occasional useful nuggets but much of the time, the participants just joke around and/or praise the shows and each other.

It can become fun to hear the old TNGactors interact, but even those moments of frivolity don’t appear terribly often. The commentaries lack a lot of real value, though they go down painlessly.

Five episodes come with Deleted Scenes. We find clips for “The Bounty” (2, 2:53), “Dominion” (3, 3:02), “Surrender” (1, 0:47), “Võx” (1, 3:29) and “The Last Generation (2, 1:46).

Most of these offer extensions of existing scenes, so don’t expect a lot of unique material. Still, we get some good stuff, such as an explanation for “Zen Worf” and more Dominion backstory, so the segments merit a look.

On Disc One, three featurettes appear, The Gang’s All Here spans 19 minutes, eight seconds and involves Frakes, McFadden, Spiner, Burton, and actors Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis.

As implied by the title, “Here” looks at the Next Generation reunion found in S3 of Picard. It proves more substantial than the puff piece I expected.

Villainous Vadic goes for 20 minutes, 44 seconds. It brings info from Matalas, Stewart,co-executive producer Christopher Monfette, supervising producer Cindy Appel, senior concept designer Neville Page, prosthetic designer Vincent Van Dyke, production designed Dave Blass, executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Aaron Baiers, and actor Amanda Plummer.

Unsurprisingly, this featurette examines aspects of S3’s main baddie as well as Piummer’s performance. We get more praise than I’d like, but we still find enough insights to make the program useful.

The Final Season provides a 42-minute, 36-second Q&A. Its panel includes Stewart, Frakes, Burton, Ryan, McFadden, Dorn, Spiner, Matalas and Kurtzman.

The chat looks at goals for S3 and aspects of its production as well as story/characters, cast and performances and related Next Generation topics. Like most panels of this sort, matters lean superficial, but we get some decent notes, and it’s simply nice to see so many of the actors together one last time.

Disc One finishes with a Gag Reel. it lasts six minutes, 11 seconds and presents some of the usual goofs and giggles. Still, we get enough fun interplay among the actors to make the compilation more amusing than usual.

Disc Three comes with more featurettes, and The Making of ‘The Last Generation’” goes for 42 minutes, 50 seconds. It involves Matalas, Kurtzman, Stashwick, Ryan, Appel, Speleers, Hurd, Stewart, Burton, Monfette, Spiner, co-executive producers Jane Maggs andSean Tretta, associate visual effects supervisor Brian Tatosky, and actors Orla Brady, Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut, and Mica Burton.

Though the program’s title implies a focus on the series’ final episode, instead it gets into broader topics. We learn about story/characters across the season as well as cast/performances, effects, and related areas.

Honestly, I don’t know why they gave the featurette the title they did, since it ends up with little to do with the finale. Still, it delves into some good subjects and gives us a nice season overview.

Rebuilding the Enterprise-D spans 16 minutes, 54 seconds. Here we find remarks from Kurtzman, Matalas, Blass, Stewart, Monfette, Burton, art director Liz Kloczowski, computer playback supervisor Todd A. Marks and graphic designer Michael Okuda.

Just as the title indicates, this piece tells us about S3’s use of the Enterprise-D and topics related to that. It becomes a solid little view of the work done to bring the ship back to life.

If Season Three of Star Trek: Picard truly marks the end of the road for the Next Generation crew, it gives them a thrilling farewell. The 10 episodes create a compelling adventure and send the characters off in splendid fashion. The Blu-rays come with very good picture and audio as well as a decent array of bonus materials. Picard got better with each successive season, and S3 concludes matters well.

Viewer Film Ratings: 4 Stars Number of Votes: 3
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Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main