STAR TREK: THE PICARD LEGACY - Now That's A Gift!

As a life-long fan of STAR TREK, one of the many powerful aspects of the series is how it has grown and evolved over the years and remained such a solid form of entertainment dating all the way back to the 1960s with the Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) era and especially the movie series that took off in 1979. Yet the other major force of this entire series is none other than Captain Jean-Luc Picard who not only helmed a successful TV series in the 1980s but also a few movies in the 1990s. Looking back on all of this now, it was a glorious time to be a sci-fi fan.

THE NEXT GENERATION is my favourite series out of all of these. I grew up with this series in the 80s and it was an incredible mix of diverse talent, strong stories and unforgettable performances. The show really hit its stride as it went along with such a terrific cast; my personal favourite aside from Stewart was Brent Spiner as Data who really went above and beyond in his portrayal of an Android who developed a “personality” in the films later on.

All of this, of course, is a tribute to Patrick Stewart and one of the entire through lines of STAR TREK apart from William Shatner and the original series. The two legends did come together in the not-so-great STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, which I always felt was a good idea but a pretty underwhelming execution. Stewart absolutely comes into full form in the wonderful STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT which gives him one of the best leading roles in sci-fi and some very memorable moments (I’ll never forget his outburst scene where he finally decides to stand up to the Borg) and a personal favourite of the film series.

All of this now leads to the recent PICARD series and more of the reason for the gift set release, and this all comes to a big revival of the NEXT GENERATION cast, especially in Season 3 which I will leave for the viewer to discover if you haven’t done so already. It really is something special in an already special release.

About the Blu Ray Set:

First things first, I would love to thank Paramount for sending this as a review copy over to the site. This is a massive and heavy box and overall very generous to provide the box set to take a look at, and this certainly did take a lot of time and effort to go through.

Everything in this set are previously released versions of Blu Ray releases of THE NEXT GENERATION, PICARD and the movie collection. In fact, I have already reviewed the Picard movies in their 4k versions for the site, but I never had the opportunity to view HD releases of THE NEXT GENERATION.

All of the series here are in the Blu Ray format and no digital copies are offered, so do be aware of this if you plan to purchase the set for yourself or as a gift. I have reviewed the films in 4k in the past (link here) so do be aware that you won’t be getting the full HDR transfers in this set. For the films, they are the same transfers as before and this is all intended as a Blu Ray box set and not a 4k disc set. All of the feature movies are available in 4k via disc or digital retailers in 4k (as always I recommend the Apple TV versions) if you want the quality boost.

I could go on and on about the visual and audio quality but I was the most impressed with the restoration work on THE NEXT GENERATION and the show takes on a new life in the HD format. The 35mm negative is faithfully preserved here and of course it’s a much different experience watching this on my 65″, 4k monitor especially with all of the film grain present. Overall all of the series shows are the absolute best they can look.

The special features here are almost endless with too many documentaries to name, commentary tracks and many other additional features, so I have listed them here:

Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 1-4:

• Reunification – 25 Years After Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Star Trek: The Next Generation Inside the Writer’s Room

• Energized! Taking the Next Generation to the Next Level

• Resistance is Futile – Assimilating Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Gag Reels, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary Tracks on Select Episodes

Star Trek: The Next Generation Seasons 5-7:

• Beyond the Five Year Mission – The Evolution of Star Trek: The Next Generation

• In Conversation: The Music of Star Trek: The Next Generation

• The Sky’s the Limit – The Eclipse of Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Requiem: A Remembrance of Star Trek: The Next Generation

• Gag Reels, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary Tracks on Select Episodes

Star Trek: Picard – The Complete Series:

• Story Logs

• Deleted Scenes

• Commentaries

• Featurettes

• Gag Reels

Star Trek: The Next Generation – 4-Movie Collection:

• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda

• Four-Part Featurette “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond”

• Archives – Trek Roundtables

• Library Computer

Along with the generous special features, this gift set comes in a very large box that comes with a few Picard drink coasters, a deck of playing cards and a very nice small hardcover visual book. All of this is held in a very heavy duty, sturdy box that will be VERY visible on your physical media shelf.

THE PICARD LEGACY COLLECTION is a stunning box set and an absolute must for any STAR TREK fan, especially if you are still just in the Blu Ray world. If you get this as a gift for someone you will be forever their biggest fan, as it really does give a nice tribute to Jean-Luc Picard.