Reviews of the new Star Trek: First Contact DVD collector's edition have begun to appear online, mostly praising this new release of one of the most popular Star Trek films, though a few critics lamented the absence of deleted scenes or rarer material.

• "First Contact is easily the best of the Next Generation cast's Star Trek films, albeit with a few minor flaws," stated UnderGroundOnline. The new print of the film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, "and the resulting transfer is phenomenal. Colors are rich and vibrant, and blacks are deep and dark...excellent work, Paramount."

• FilmCritic.com gave the special edition three and a half stars out of five, saying, "If it weren't for some really tired antics -- time travel again, Alfre Woodard in an absurd role (and delivering one of the series' silliest speeches, comparing Picard to Captain Ahab), and a finale that doesn't quite end in the self-destruction of the Enterprise -- we'd almost have a classic installment on our hands." This reviewer found the commentary tracks intrusive but appreciated the new extras.

• With an overall A- rating, Digitally Obsessed found a lot to like in the DVD set. "Its well-constructed story and striking effects stand up well today and might represent the last truly memorable Star Trek film in existence," noted the review, which had particular praise for the audio transfer, the tribute to Jerry Goldsmith and "The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane", which features interviews with James Cromwell.

• Home Theater Forum found the commentary by writers Brannon Braga and Ron Moore engaging as well as the interview with Borg Queen Alice Krige. "While there are some minor quibbles I have with the film, and it still doesn’t possess the magic of the early Star Trek films, this is a solid and exciting film featuring The Next Generation crew...strong supporting characters and great villains are what make this film work. Image quality is excellent, and there’s a very active DTS track offered up for Star Trek fans."

• Four out of five was the value rating at DVDFile.com, which says that First Contact "is not only a good Star Trek film, it's a good film, period." The connections between the original and newer series in "The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane" and the "great on-set footage" from "The Scene Deconstruction" segments earned particular praise.

More reviews are available at DVD Talk, which gave the special edition an average rating of four and a half out of five stars; at Zap2It, which rated the extras higher than the film itself; and at The Aisle Seat, which named the First Contact special edition its DVD Pick of the Week and said, "This is a superb package that’s one of the best 'Trek' Special Editions, with plenty of supplementary materials backing the best Next Generation feature film."

The Star Trek: First Contact collector edition will be available next week from Amazon.com.

DVD Answers also has a new Star Trek: Voyager season one DVD review to start the site's Voyager marathon. Giving the set an overall 7/10 rating, the site says, "While the episodes vary in quality, a calibre-threshold exists here and every episode bar two or three adheres to it."

The DVD set of the first season of Voyager is also available at Amazon.com.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!