Star Trek: The Next Generation is heading into the deep, dark depths of the Klingon Empire with the upcoming feature-length release of the two-parter “Redemption” on Blu-ray. CBS have released a dramatic new trailer promoting the special Blu-ray and we’ve got a detailed high definition breakdown of it in this new article.

We’ve got hold of the trailer in full 1080p which you can watch through YouTube below or download it for far greater quality at the resolution of your choice!

Much like the blood-pumping “Best of Both Worlds” trailer, this raw and dramatic preview of “Redemption” gives the two episodes a feature film-like quality. The stylized opening of Picard’s footsteps carries a nice amount of symbolism and there are some great music choices with war drums in the middle section being particularly Klingonesque. The ultimate payoff in the trailer has to be hearing the narrator attempt to pronounce “Redemption” in Klingon (“quvqa’ghach” apparently) – a stroke of genius on the part of the designer here. There’s also a nice preview of a deliciously over-the-top Robert O’Reilly (Gowron) in the trailer, hinting at the exclusive 30 minute bonus documentary “Survive and Succeed: An Empire at War” which is included on the disc.

As we mentioned before, both parts of “Redemption” were remastered by CBS Digital to ensure a nice level of consistency over the season break. The remastering quality on display here is certainly on a par with the beautiful job the team did with Season 3 and “The Best of Both Worlds”. We’ve got a new selection of HD stills from the trailer plus we’ve taken a selection of our favorite shots and put them alongside their original SD counterparts for some commentary and analysis below.

Original SD (DVD)	Remastered HD (Blu-Ray)
The improved black levels, contrast and color here are astonishing. As I’ve mentioned previously, Season Four had some particularly egregious color timing/gamma issues in SD which are all the more noticeable when you directly compare to the wonderful HD. The rich sumptuous fur texture on Toral’s uniform sleeves jumps off the screen in HD – a beautifully remastered picture.
What an amazing difference. The Klingon Great Hall is an amazingly designed set, but due to the preponderance of shadow and red lighting, it’s always been poorly reproduced in standard definition. The superior black levels, color and resolution of the HD show us every nuance of shadow and tiny details on walls in the background are finally visible. Once again, the Klingon uniforms look incredible here – the red furred arms and gloves are terrific!
It’s sometimes all too easy to take a ‘standard’ bridge scene for granted, but the improvements in color still manage to impress. Those command reds are bursting off the screen again!
There’s some stunning model work on display here. This shot had originally been lost when it was first used in Season Two’s “A Matter of Honor” and as a result was recreated using CG. Thankfully in the time between, CBS located the footage and have restored it here in all its glory. The Klingon weapon fire has been digitally created from scratch to match the original. The leap in detail is vast – a great shot!
The jump in resolution that HD brings really benefits a scene like this. The Klingon writing on the console goes from being blurred and illegible in SD to clear and defined in HD. Those budding Klingon language scholars can finally translate the dire warnings that Worf is reading on his console! Also note the finely detailed texture of the lighting grill above Worf which is fully resolved in HD. The Klingon bridge looks so much more authentic in HD – the scuff marks on the walls add a rugged look to it which feels so very Klingon!
There’s some great work on display with the compositing of these Klingon ships. The Vor’cha class lighting is far more realistic, going from somewhat overlit in SD to a nice balance of light and shadow in HD. The patterning on the underside of the hull is far more pronounced now and looks superb. The team have also faithfully reproduced the rather unique Klingon weapon being fired. Shots like this would easily have taken CBS Digital days to put together and the impeccable attention to detail really shines through in the completed episode.
The Bird-of-Prey is a magnificent looking ship, but shots like this take it to a whole new level. What was a blurred poorly defined viewscreen shot has been totally transformed in HD. The model is clearly resolved making it possible to see the smallest of detail on the ship’s hull. Something as innocuous as the viewscreen interference lines will have created a lot of work and discussion at CBS Digital. They need to be recreated, but they’re so poorly resolved in SD, what form should they take? What angle? What opacity? What frequency? The team will bother over the tiniest of details in order to make sure that they are reproduced as faithfully as possible.
Eric Bruno and has his team have done some great work integrating these models into the scene. The numerous passes have been composited seamlessly and the ships have gone from being somewhat toy-like due to the bright exposure to a far greater level of realism. It’s going to be such a treat to see the Nebula-class U.S.S. Sutherland in high definition!
The burning Klingon city is – for me – the most iconic shot of the whole trailer. The movement and scale of the flames are far more realistic in the remastered version. The inferno underneath the city is truly hellish in design and the billowing clouds of smoke add a great sense of perspective. This is phenomenal work and a vast improvement over the original!
The sun and solar prominence has been recreated using CG and looks pretty magnificent to me! The prominence is now far more visible when it shoots up destroying the Klingon vessels. The ships themselves are clearly resolved and suffer from none of the artefacts present in the standard def version. Yet another great shot!

Star Trek: The Next Generation – “Redemption” is released as an exclusive single-disc release on Blu-ray on July 30 in the United States and Canada. The disc will also see releases in Australia, Japan and Germany, however fans elsewhere in Europe need not worry – the US release is region free and available to import from Amazon.com who are offering their usual discount.

The release comes with a nice complement of bonus material (which is exclusive to this disc) including a 30-minute documentary, “Survive and Succeed: An Empire at War” which features new interviews with Robert O’Reilly, Gwynyth Walsh, Michael Dorn, Dan Curry and others. There’s also a brand new 90-minute audio commentary with writer Ronald D. Moore sitting alongside Mike & Denise Okuda.

Pre-order your copy of “Redemption” at Amazon.com using the link below! Every order through our links helps to support the site and keep TrekCore going. Be sure to let us know what you think about the new trailer in the comments below as well as the quality of remastering on display.

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