After nearly three years, we’re just a few days away from the release of the final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Blu-ray, along with “All Good Things,” the timeless series finale!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6L-1TrQUg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbXqqyRmGY
We hope to have our full reviews available in the next week or so — we are still waiting for our review copies of the Blu-ray sets to arrive — but in the meantime, we wanted to satisfy some of your TNG cravings in the meantime with the much-demanded downloads of the season trailers, and some of the best featured upgrades from the old standard definition masters!
“Descent, Part I”
Beverly Crusher leads the Enterprise into the corona of a distant star in “Descent, Part II,” and the murky view the starship is cleared up by a massive degree in the revitalized Blu-ray edition. The warp nacelles, deflector dish, and other shipboard lighting effects shine much more brightly in high definition!
“Attached”
Picard and Crusher’s escape from a deadly fireball in “Attached” sees some notable changes from the DVD release. While the fiery element has been recreated from scratch using new digital elements, the live-action footage of Patrick Stewart and Gates McFadden seems to be a completely different take from the original version used in the broadcast master!
There could be a number of reasons for why this shot has been changed — the original film stock may have been damaged or lost sometime in the last two decades, or it may have been deemed unusable for some other technical reason. As there is no dialogue in this brief footage, it’s a fairly unnoticeable change.
This isn’t the first time a minor substitution has been made in non-speaking footage; another example can be seen in the first Borg visit to Engineering back in Season Two’s “Q Who.”
“Sub Rosa”
The massive storm in Caldos II’s upper atmosphere has been wonderfully rebuilt by Max Gabl and the rest of the CBS Digital team for “Sub Rosa.” One thing of note is that the storm is now spinning clockwise, the opposite of the original version which spun slowly counter-clockwise on DVD.
“Masks”
The ancient D’Arsay archive and surrounding icy comment was one of the earliest all-CGI effects used in Star Trek‘s television production, and the original elements created by Santa Barbara Studios has been faithfully duplicated by CBS Digital for “Masks.” The icy surface melts away with ease on Blu-ray!
“Eye of the Beholder”
Not only has the violent energy of the warp plasma stream been recreated for “Eye of the Beholder,” but CBS Digital has also rebuilt the original digital ceiling of the nacelle control room as well!
This subtle piece of computer-generated set extension is nearly invisible, even in the DVD release, but if you count the number of support struts in the upper section of the room in the above screenshots, the difference becomes clear.
“Emergence”
In an effort to save the ship from a newly-created life form in “Emergence,” the Enterprise fires an energy beam into the MacPherson Nebula — but it appears that the Enterprise itself is now a digital element!
The recreated starship has been showcased in a number of episodes since CBS Digital perfected the model for Season Five, and it seems that it’s been needed once again for this shot.
“All Good Things…”
The surface of primordial Earth has been restored to glory in the newly-composited “All Good Things,” showcasing the fiery lava against the now-visible ocean waves in the distant background.
Of course, the massive anti-time anomaly is the star of this shot, a wonderful combination of practical elements and digital wizardry which gives the object an added aura of wonder.
“All Good Things…”
The ancient volcano eruption has also been given a digital boost for Blu-ray, with a completely recreated eruption that takes the whole shot to the next level. This now feels like a truly dangerous event, rather than a tepid rupture in the distance.
“All Good Things…”
Beverly Picard’s Olympic-class USS Pasteur makes the leap to high definition, bringing out details in the much-loved medial ship that were never visible on DVD, like the tiny medical caduceus symbol on the aft hull hidden in standard-definition fuzz. The small starship’s final battle with the Klingons is a definite improvement in the rejuvenated footage!
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In case you missed it, be sure to check out our video comparison of the TNG S7 trailer, showcasing these upgrades in action!
With prices as low as we expect them to get before the holiday season, now is the time to lock in your orders for Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Seven and “All Good Things” on Blu-ray — or if you have been waiting to pick up all seven seasons at once, preorder the region-free Blu-ray box set from the UK using our links below!
 | Order Star Trek: TNG Season 7 on Blu-ray!    |  | Order TNG's "All Good Things..." on Blu-ray! |
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Order Star Trek: The Next Generation “Full Journey” Complete Series Region-Free Blu-ray Box Set! |