Season THREE OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Discussion Thread

[davejames]

I'm conflicted about this. There isn't a single wasted second in Yesterday's Enterprise, and I think too many two-parters end up struggling to fill the running time. A 60 minute episode would be great, but 90 minutes?

I used to always think it worked great the way it was, but now honestly it feels to me a bit rushed and abbreviated.

We have this massive war with the Klingons, the epic return of the Ent-C, our first look at Captain Garrett, a more hardened Picard and crew, the return of Tasha Yar... and we only get brief glimpses at any of those. And the whole thing is suddenly over before you know it.

Of course it could just come down to the fact this version of TNG feels SO much more interesting and complex than the one we normally see, and it's just tempting to want to see more of it.

 

[jimbotron]

The movie-era uniforms used in Yesterday's Enterprise looked goofy. They look cheap without the tunics underneath, especially at the neckline. And then they took out the belt, but they still kept the belt loop.

 

[davejames]

I didn't mind the lack of a belt, but it did seem to be missing something without the turtleneck.

It also looks odd in retrospect that the crew were using the older TWOK-style phasers instead of the later TUC phasers (even though I do think the TWOK ones were a heck of a lot cooler).

 

[Nero's Shadow]

Just watched the episode Sarek...... Loved it didn't appreciate it when I was kid but now great episode some great scenes and good acting definitely Patrick Stewart loved that scene when he's feeling Sarek emotions and pain fantastic. So glad they did this episode now !!!

 

[Doug Otte]

Interesting they didn't fix the missing port thruster effect in booby trap when they are trying to get out of the debris field.


-Chris

I just watched it last night and noticed it, too. Was it like that in the original version?

 

[Dukhat]

The movie-era uniforms used in Yesterday's Enterprise looked goofy. They look cheap without the tunics underneath, especially at the neckline. And then they took out the belt, but they still kept the belt loop.

I was having a discussion about this over at Flare Forums. Basically, I surmised that the production spent so much money on the new Enterprise-C model that they didn't have a budget for new 2340's-era intermediate Starfleet uniforms and phasers. So they ultimately used a uniform that was already about 65 years old (Trek-chronologically speaking), and a phaser design that was even older.

The thing is, they could have easily re-used some alien-of-the-week uniforms and weapons for the Ent-C crew. The cool Rutian police uniforms come to mind. Heck, they could even have bought some futuristic-looking water pistols at a dollar store, painted them black, and stuck them onto the belt loop. It's not like the Ent-C crew even used the phasers anyway.

Conversely, they could have used the already-existing Excelsior model as the Enterprise-B instead of the C, and push the date for its disappearance back to say, the 2320's. That way the movie-era uniforms wouldn't have been such a problem; there would have been a lot more time for an Ent-C ship to have been in existence (2320's to 2360's) instead of no Enterprise at all for the 20 years between the C's destruction and the construction of the D; and best of all, they wouldn't have had to spend any money on a new starship model. Of course then Sela couldn't have existed (or at least she would have been about 20 years older than she was portrayed as).

 

[davejames]

What happened, is everyone bored with S3 already? lol

Anyway, I just watched Allegiance, and I still think it's a solid and underrated episode. It's fun watching Picard take charge of the prison cell and slowly piece everything together, and the scenes with his doppelganger are hilarious to watch (although once again I have to wonder why it takes the crew so long to figure out he's an imposter; With all they've encountered, shouldn't that always be their FIRST guess anytime someone acts a bit strange?)

And man, that bridge forcefield sure could have come in handy at other times (like, say, when the Borg beamed onboard to kidnap Picard).

It was also strange how much the Picard poker scene resembled the one from the finale, with what seemed like the same dialogue early on ("You were always welcome", etc).

And finally I gotta say, between the bright lights of the holding cell and the pulsar effects, this is an episode that just looks especially good in HD.

 

[Harvey]

Maybe there's just not as much to say? Unlike season one, season three was already well-liked by a majority of fans. Unlike season two, the HD conversion wasn't bungled.

Personally, I haven't been talking much about it because I haven't been able to afford the set yet. Money is tight, and watching the series on Netflix is a much cheaper alternative for me, even if it isn't yet the HD version. But I will pick it up eventually -- everything I've read about season three has been great.

 

[davejames]

I'm sure it's also because people are still busy talking about the new movie in the other forum (something I'm completely over myself).

 

[Start Wreck]

I'm waiting for ex-astris-scientia to put up its observation articles for S3.
1 and 2 were very interesting.

 

[Doug Otte]

I might be a little burned out w/ TNG due to rewatching seasons 1, 2, and now 3 in fairly short order. So, I haven't been too eager to get through season 3, and am taking my time. I've just gotten to the 2nd disc and watched Booby Trap.

However, I did skip ahead to watch Transfigurations a few weeks ago. It's interesting to contrast it visually to the early episodes of the season. They were shot much more cinematically, w/ more careful lighting, contrasting w/ deeper shadows. Transfigurations, by comparison, was lit much more even and bright, giving it a washed-out, flatter look. I think by the end of the season, they were burned out and/or had less time. Thus, the lighting setups suffered.

 

[jimbotron]

What happened, is everyone bored with S3 already? lol

Internet commenting thrives on negativity.

Everyone gushing about the things they love gets boring. It's all preaching to the choir. This is the first set to combine A+ video, audio, and episodes, so what is there to talk about? I'm too busy gawking at the results.

The boards should get more active for seasons 6 and 7.

 

[davejames]

True, but there's still lots of stuff in the season to nitpick about.

Of course I haven't seen most of these episodes in over 10 years, so I might be approaching it a bit differently than others.

 

[TheSeeker]

I've only just finished making it through Season 1. My wife and daughter have gone back home for a visit a few weeks ahead of me so I'm hoping to make some headway on Season 2 in the next couple of weeks. Maybe even start Season 3 if I'm lucky!

 

[jimbotron]

True, but there's still lots of stuff in the season to nitpick about.

Of course I haven't seen most of these episodes in over 10 years, so I might be approaching it a bit differently than others.

The only nitpicks I can think of:

- The 2-footer still looks like crap in Ensigns of Command (they chose not to replace it with CGI)

- Thruster effect still missing in Booby Trap (I'm starting to think they'll keep the notorious phaser error in Darmok)

- Sins of the Father is still cropped, and not as sharp as the rest of the season

Considering the issues with seasons 1 and 2, this is nothing.

 

[davejames]

I was talking more about story nitpicks, not problems with the set itself (which I agree are almost nonexistent).

Of course to be fair, most of the comments in the S1 and S2 threads were about the video and/or audio issues, and not really about the episodes themselves, so I guess it's nothing new.

 

[tomalak301]

What happened, is everyone bored with S3 already? lol

Anyway, I just watched Allegiance, and I still think it's a solid and underrated episode. It's fun watching Picard take charge of the prison cell and slowly piece everything together, and the scenes with his doppelganger are hilarious to watch (although once again I have to wonder why it takes the crew so long to figure out he's an imposter; With all they've encountered, shouldn't that always be their FIRST guess anytime someone acts a bit strange?)

And man, that bridge forcefield sure could have come in handy at other times (like, say, when the Borg beamed onboard to kidnap Picard).

It was also strange how much the Picard poker scene resembled the one from the finale, with what seemed like the same dialogue early on ("You were always welcome", etc).

And finally I gotta say, between the bright lights of the holding cell and the pulsar effects, this is an episode that just looks especially good in HD.

I've been marathoning Arrested Development so I kind of put TNG to the side. I went back to TNG last night and watched The Hunted, and was reminded on the incredible work CBS-D is doing with this series. Everything looks so clear and the planet itself was beautiful. This was really one of the more colorful episodes of the season and also one of the more underrated.

I'm surprised Fathom hasn't announced the Season 4 theatrical event yet. I'm pretty sure it's Redemption but I really hope not. I kind of want them to spotlight Season 4 instead, which was a very good season.

 

[BillJ]

It's a visually stunning set. But season three, for me, is where the show started feeling more like L.A. Law in Space than a sci-fi action/adventure show.

 

[Scotty]

I might be a little burned out w/ TNG due to rewatching seasons 1, 2, and now 3 in fairly short order. So, I haven't been too eager to get through season 3, and am taking my time. I've just gotten to the 2nd disc and watched Booby Trap.

Glad to hear Doug that it isn't just me. I watched both seasons 1 and 2 twice since their BD release. I already decided to watch only one episode of S3 per day, but I'm struggling to watch even a couple each week. I"m only at disc 3.

 

[davejames]

Yeah I admit the novelty has worn off somewhat. It's hard to be quite as impressed by the picture quality as we were early on, and so now we're basically just watching them for the episodes themselves.

Plus after the release of the new movie, and the nonstop discussion about that, it's hard not to be a bit burnt out on Trek altogether.