Search - Star Trek - Insurrection (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) on DVD

Adam C. (i12bnmovie) from SAINT LOUIS, MO
Reviewed on 10/21/2013...

The tight aspect ratio remains, but the overture is completely gone at the start of Star Trek: Insurrection. The film opens a Ba’Ku village under covert observation by a Federation team, lead by Gallatin (Gregg Henry), of a new alien race known as the Son’a. They are hidden behind a hologram illusion similar to the one used in the TNG episode “Who Watches the Watchers.” There are Federation members in special suits in the village who cannot be seen. Suddenly, one goes rogue, the beloved Data (Brent Spiner).

Next, we are aboard the USS Enterprise-E where we come across all of our TNG favorites: Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Cmdr. William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge (Lavar Burton), Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden), and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Worf (Michael Dorn) also makes a return to the Enterprise. At this time, Worf is stationed on Deep Space Nine. Anyway, Picard and crew are preparing to welcome the Evoran delegation. This is all cut short when Picard learns of Data’s malfunction from Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe). The Enterprise heads to Ba’ku planet to try and figure out what is going on with Data.

We then meet the final piece of puzzle, Adhar Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham), the leader of the Son’a people. He and the Admiral are in cahoots, but we are not sure what their endgame is. Upon their arrival, the crew of the Enterprise does not find the Son’a captives being harmed or maltreated in any way as they were lead to believe was the case. As a matter of fact, the exact opposite is going on. While trying to discover the cause of Data’s malfunction, Picard and Data discover a holoship in the middle of the lake where Data last remembered what happened before going crazy. This ship has a hologram of the Ba’ku village. They also discover the true nature of the planet, and the motives of Ru’afo and Admiral Dougherty. The Ba’ku planet has fountain of youth properties, and the Ba’ku want it.

Now, Picard, Data, Worf, Dr. Crusher and Deanna, with the Anij (Donna Murphy) and Sojef (Daniel Hugh Kelly), the leaders of the Ba’ku people, make their stand against the Son’a and the Federation. Meanwhile, the Enterprise, Riker, and LaForge make a run to alert the Federation of the true nature of what is to take place on the Ba’ku planet.

Star Trek: Insurrection lacks drastically in all aspects, and even more so when following the vastly superior Star Trek: First Contact. What sticks out to me as the biggest flaw is the story. It would have made a decent TNG episode, but it just doesn’t work for a feature film. The “twist” at the end is just plain dumb and borderline pointless. The dialog is too tongue in cheek at times. It’s as if Michael Piller realized that he had an error in his script, but instead of going back and fixing it, he just made one of the characters spout a shitty line of dialog to explain it. It just tries too hard to be more than it is.

Jonathan Frakes returned to the director’s chair, but his expertise was not on display this time around. His direction of this reminds me of Shatner’s direction of Star Trek: The Final Frontier. Riker is given a lot to do, maybe even too much. He rekindles his love for Troi, he captains the ship and battles the Son’a fleet, and returns to save the day. It just didn’t work for me.

None of the acting is anything special. The villain Ru’afo is not a great villain. He is not menacing or maniacal. I expect more from F. Murray Abraham. I think he just signed on because he wanted to be in a Star Trek movie. Donna Murphy’s Anij is thrown into a pointless love story with Picard that feels awkward at best. She doesn’t do much for the flailing story. Worf had random Klingon “things” pop up from the rejuvenating effects of the planet, but they are lame. The actors were not given much to work with, and they don’t use it well.

Jerry Goldsmith returned for his fourth Star Trek score, and this one almost seemed phoned in. Not mush stands out to me about it. The TOS theme opens the movie which I find odd. Then, it rolls right into the film, with no overture. The rest of the score is just there and unmemorable.

Star Trek: Insurrection would not score well on its own in the franchise, but it is hindered even more by following Star Trek: First Contact. Insurrection just doesn’t work. I was hoping to disagree with the odd and even theory, and think that the Trekkies had preconceived hate toward the odd film, like Star Trek: Generations. Sadly, Star Trek: Insurrection just fails to excite or entertain me.

RATING: 5/10

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Richelle R. (axhealingxheart) from MADERA, CA
Reviewed on 1/24/2010...

Great movie! Nice combination of action, thrill and comedy. Loved it!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Updated to reflect new 6/7/05 Special Edition

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 09/16/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Please note: This review is for the Special Edition of "Star Trek: Insurrection" released 6/7/05 and was updated.

Most of these reviews of Insurrection damn the film with faint praise. It wasn't this, it wasn't that. The Federation wouldn't do this. There's petty squabbles about legal points, etc. Writer Michael Piller clearly uses Star Trek Insurrection, much as Roddenberry did, as a soapbox to decry the injustices visited upon others. Usually he'd use Star Trek as a analogy of what had occurred in the past or present.

The next to last installment in the "Trek" film franchise, "Star Trek: Insurrection" received a bad rap from the very beginning. Despite the fact that it was scripted by one of the series best writers (Michael Piller a producer and writer on "The Dead Zone") and directed by series vet/actor Jonathan Frakes the film was seen as disappointing as a follow up to the action driven "Star Trek: First Contact". While the film certainly lacks the intensity of "First Contact", the humor and thoughtfulness that drove some of the best episodes of the TV series remain remarkably intact. "Insurrection" certainly is much, much closer to an expanded bigger budget TV episode but it is by no means a bad "Trek" film.

Data (Brent Spiner) while on a covert mission to gather information on an alien race called the Ba'ku malfunctions and exposes the mission to the natives. It seems that the radiation belt that surrounds the planet is a fountain of youth reversing aging for those that live there. The Federation in collaboration with a race called the Son'a plan on relocating the Ba'ku so that the Federation can "harvest" the radiation belt and use it to cure people of illnesses. The leader of the Son'a Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham) demands that Vice-Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) contact the Enterprise and find out how to deactivate or destroy the android. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) elects to take the Enterprise there to the Ba'ku's planet and try deactivating Data while keeping him intact. He discovers a conspiracy among the Federation and the Son'a that he would never suspect.

While it appears this is the same digital transfer as the first DVD issue, there's considerably better detail and crisper images as the result of improvements made since that first disc appeared. The deep, rich blacks and bright vivid colors of the planet come to life on this DVD. The wonderfully rich 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and DTS mixes both sound terrific using the surrounding speakers exceedingly well. The DTS mix has the edge here with a deeper, richer bass and better overall presence but the two are exceptionally close in quality otherwise.


Disc one is devoted to the film and text commentary. Disc two has all the extras on it. There's a number of deleted scenes including, most importantly, an alternate ending not previous seen. The alternate ending is actually fascinating although it might have been a bit confusing for some folks. Evidently Ru'afo's exposure to the metaphasic radiation turns him younger and younger. Sadly, the optical effects aren't in the alternate ending beyond some simple computer graphics. We also have Peter Lauritson introducing the deleted scenes and giving us background on why they didn't make it into the movie including an extended version of Ru'afo's facelift. Image quality for the deleted scenes aren't quite as good as the movie because they weren't color corrected and/or completed. We get more scenes of Riker and Troi flirting which are quite funny and actually would have worked within the film quite well as part of a "director's edition". There's also a scene where Picard kisses Anij that was cut.

"The Star Trek Universe" focuses on the aliens created by make up artist Michael Westmore and the beautiful alien women throughout the run of the entire series and films. Jonathan Frakes comments on his favorite alien women that Riker has seduced.

"Production" looks at everything from the creation of the Ba'ku village in Thousand Oaks, California to the creation of one of the most elaborate stunts that wasn't SEEN in the movie. We get to see Data save some of the Ba'ku fighting three aliens who are armed taking all three out with one punch. "Creating the Illusion" shows us how the visual effects were created for three sequences; the shuttle chase involving Data, Picard and Worf; when the drones attack trying to transport the Ba'ku and the sequence involving the Duck Blind at the beginning when Data reveals there are Federation personnel invisible among the Ba'ku in their village. Each one is introduced by co-producer/ 2nd unit director Peter Lauritson. We also see the storyboards for the sequence and what the visuals look like at various stages of production.

"The Story" features Michael Piller discussing their take on the screenplay. Piller relates the story to the obsessive culture of youth we live in and relates a personal experience that inspired the story. He discusses the metaphorical nature of the story but also the real world issues that underlie the story and that could be applied to the 21st century. We also get footage from the original featurette and interviews from around the same time incorporated into a new featurettte on the making of the movie. There's also a section on the advertising featuring the teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, the original promotional featurette that appeared on the previous DVD and the Borg Invasion Trailer for the Las Vegas attraction. There's an archieve section with Storyboards and a photo gallery.

"Director's Notebook" consists of video footage shot behind the scenes of Frakes shooting the film. Featuring a new interview with Frakes discussing the approach to the story which he felt wasn't quite as strong as "First Contact". He felt that the look of the movie was a highlight of the film. He also discusses the difficulty in balancing the story so that both old Trek fans can enjoy it but also so that new Trek fans won't feel excluded. It's tremendously difficult with a franchise with so much backstory as the franchise has. He also discusses the challenges of acting in a film he's directing.
Oh, and keep your eye out for Easter eggs on the second disc. There's one that shows the craft services food and Marina Sirtis discussing how difficult it is for the actors to remain so slim. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek but also interesting. Look for some of the little logos to the left and right of the area where the menu is and click on them to access the Easter eggs.

Surprisingly Jonathan Frakes either wasn't asked or elected not to do a commentary track for this film. It's a pity because Frakes' entertaining commentary track for "First Contact" was a highlight of that disc. He knows when to say something informative and when to stay quiet letting the film do the talking. Many directors could take lessons from Frakes in terms of doing a commentary track.

There is an extensive text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda that's both informative with trivia about everything from Gilbert and Sullivan, to set redresses from the "Voyager" TV show and "First Contact" movie. There's also humor which has been a hallmark of all the text commentary tracks that the Okudas have done. There's also plenty of trivia about various episodes and how they relate to the film. Of course, there's also some useless information that is there just to be there but, on the whole, the Okudas continue to be a fount of useful "Trek" information.

"Insurrection" certainly deserved the deluxe treatment that "First Contact", "Generations" and "Nemesis" received in their DVD incarnations. Hopefully "Nemesis" (one of the most polarizing of "Trek" releases) will also be expanded to a two disc edition but incorporate the best features of the previous version. While not the best of the "Trek" films, "Insurrection" is a good, solid adventure that has lots of humor and fun throughout the film. The visual effects are, as usual, spectacular and this is our first glimpse of a completely computer generated Enterprise in a film. A top notch release from Paramount, I'd be curious to see how Paramount could possibly improve this edition when they release the High Definition version of this film on disc.
"

Sound over Substance.

Jack McPherson | Bend | 01/11/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"OK, lets face it. We want to love Star Trek movies because we feel so apart of the series. And for the most part, the movies just don't hit their mark. As a movie, this one probably ranks fourth in the series behind, Kahn, IV, and First Contact. But it's certainly not a bad film, which can't be said for about half of the Star Trek movies. However, if you have a sub woofer, surround sound speakers and are buying this for your 5.1 DVD... Pull out your wallet and get it. Star Trek is perfect for DVD. The Laser Fights, the Space Battles, the hiding in caves during an alien bombing give ample opportunity to be pounded into your chairs. In DVD no one can hear you scream, simply because the movie is so darn loud. I LOVE IT. So if you're a Star Trek fan or just someone who enjoys your home theater. Pull out your wallet and have a great time. However, if you don't have 5.1 DVD with all the trimmings, buy the wrath of Kahn, or simply go buy a better movie."

Perhaps not a great film...but it is true trek

Paul MacKinnon | Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada | 10/19/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Whereas, Wrath of Khan and First Contact stand on their own as terrific films, whether you're a ST fan or not, Insurrection, has to rank up there with Final Frontier and Generations: films that despite their plot holes and somewhat disappointing special effects, succeed because we Trekkers love the characters, and they stay true to the original Trek concepts. However, I must say that Paramount has really missed the boat on these DVDs. Insurrection comes with a lame 10 minute making-of featurette, but that's it. Let's face it, we Trekkers are the ones who WOULD sit through a two hour director's commentary, or 5 theatrical trailers, or real behind-the-scenes documentaries, etc. If you liked the film, then by all means buy the DVD, but I suspect that down the road, Paramount will release a Special Edition box set with all of the extra crap. Until then, my widescreen video editions of Star Treks 1-8 will have to do."