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Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season

Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Seventh Season

List Price: $139.99
Your Price: $111.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: All good things must come to an end....???
Review: In what seems a trend in the Star Trek series,the final season, after previous ones had quality episodes,produce some of the worst ever episodes.
A majority of the episodes ranged from mediocre(Liasons,Bloodlines,Journey's End,Homeward,Interface) to just plain terrible(Masks,Emergence,the season premire Descent Pt II).There was even an episode that was the ultimate guilty pleasure(Sub Rosa).
But season seven also had some classic episodes(Phantasms,Attatched,Parallels,The Pegasus,The Lower Decks,Pre-emptive Strike) and of course the memorable series finale All Good Things which would've made a better movie than Star Trek Generations.
Nearly ten years after the last episode,and four movies that seemed like big screen TV movies,it really was the end as the movies shifted it's focus solely on Picard and Data,leaving the other characters in the background(excluding Worf who was featured in the latter four seasons of Deep Space Nine).But even a flawed final season is a safer bet than it's big screen offspring.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A weak final season for a great series
Review: Looking back, the seventh season of Star Trek: The Next Generation really shows the programme starting to go downhill. There are only a couple of good episodes in here, "All Good Things" (which is worth the box set alone) is a great end to the series coming full circle back with Q (it had to be done), Preemptive Strike ties things up with Ensign Ro leaving a thread open for Deep Space Nine and Voyager to take over. But there's very little else in this season that stands out. Decent 2 was a big let down as was Gambit (a complete waste of a 2 parter), Dark Page, Sub Rosa, Masks and Genesis are all awful. The best episode in this season is "The Pegasus" where the Federation try to cover up their secret prototype ship with cloaking technology. This should have been the 2 parter! Again, with Riker arrested at the end of the episode, everything is back to normal the following week.

In a way it would have been better for The Next Generation to have finished its run after it's 6 year as so many of these stories fail to live to up the quality of writing in the third to 5th seasons. This season is on a par with Season 2 or an average season of "Voyager" considering the number of bottle shows. Compare this to the final season of Deep Space Nine, 26 brilliantly written stories continuing to develop and expand the story arc each week. The Next Generation does go out with a bang with All Good Things and returns for 4 (so far) movies.

Episode List:

Descent, Part II
Liaisons
Interface
Gambit, Part I
Gambit, Part II
Phantasms
Dark Page
Attached
Force of Nature
Inheritance
Parallels
The Pegasus
Homeward
Sub Rosa
Lower Decks
Thine Own Self
Masks
Eye of the Beholder
Genesis
Journey's End
Firstborn
Bloodlines
Emergence
Preemptive Strike
All Good Things... Part I
All Good Things... Part II

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Star Trek tails off a bit
Review: Season 7 is the first since Season 2 to feature some truly bad/rediculous episodes, such as Masks for one. I've always said that Star Trek: The Next Generation was cancelled one season too late ... BUT, then we would have missed out on what *I* believe is one of the best Star Trek episodes ever aired in any of the series, Below Decks. By featuring non-recurring characters - 4 ensigns - we get some actual drama, tension, and character development. Unlike the crushing majority of good Star Trek episodes, Below Decks is more than just exciting, interesting, or engaging - it actually has real emotional resonance.

Couple that with the showstopper series finale and a handful of pretty decent episodes, and there is enough in here to recommend it, albeit barely. For the hardened Star Trek fan, this is probably a must-have, for the rest of us, it's not as good as seasons 3-5, better and 1-2, and contains 3 eps (2-parter finale and Below Decks) that are amongst the best of Star Trek. The asking price is a bit steep, though, given the lack of consistancy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best season of TNG
Review: Season 7 is well worth waiting for; in my view it's the best season of TNG, slightly better than seasons 3, 4, and 6. By-the-technical-manuals-fans often reject such epsiodes as "Masks," "Emergence," and "Genesis," but these are some of my favorite episodes; they're highly apolitical, bend reality, and come off as being fairly Voyageresque and sci-fi to the core. Brannon Braga and Joe Menosky are my favorite TNG writers by far, and they have a lot going in this season. Don't miss "Bloodlines" either, as it's one of the best of the season. Bok is back at another shot at revenge from season 1's "The Battle," and this time the scenario is much more interesting and suspenseful. Bok actually comes off as dangerous here - probably because the script makes him smarter.

One of the obvious things in season 7 is that the staffers had fully learned how to make the most with a budget. Bottle shows in season 7 don't even seem like bottle shows - there is much tension in every one of these scripts. Action fans will still like a lot of these, such as "Preemptive Strike" and "Gambit," maybe "Parallels" as well. But clearly, I think, the term "bottle show" gains respect in season 6 and becomes admirable in season 7. Besides season 4's chiller "The Drumhead," bottle shows have mostly been confined to trivial plots with layers of subplots revolving around shipboard dieases, someone trapped on the holodeck and can't get off, or Lwaxana Troi chasing Picard while someone's in sickbay while the universe and time continuum are being swallowed up in a temporal flux anamoly, or something like that. Season 7 (as well as 6) illustrates that they are beyond those "formulas" for bottle shows with the least amount of tension possible and where Picard's final lecture proves all too predictable. Season 7 IS Star Trek the Next Generation.

The effects are also much better than in years past from footage of the ship itself down to phaser beams and the shimmering effect inside of them. Who can forget the dark, lifeless Enterprise looping slowly and uncontrolled through space in "Genesis?" Or Data as a Frankenstein like character in "Thine Own Self." Speaking of Data, he gets some good stuff in this season. Interesting things happen when Data goes haywire: "Phantasms." He's also a good captain and a leader, "Gambit, Pt. II."

Every one of these episodes is a gem, but the crown jewels are: "Bloodlines," "Genesis," "Emergence," "Masks," "Preemptive Strike," which actually features a space battle, "Sub Rosa," "Eye of the Beholder," "Phantasms," "Parallels," and "Descent, Part II." If you are one of those fans who finds yourself saying things like, "Well they can't fire phasers while the warp nacell flow sensors are in back flux from the..." you will likely think some of these shows go too far. The creepiness of the Braga/Menosky scripts is like a breath of fresh air when compared to some of the earlier episodes where the environment was wound up so tight and so by-the-books that characters couldn't even have personal differences amongst themselves! De-evolving the crew would positively absolutely never have happened before; neither would "Gambit," which features space pirates. I wish TNG could have been like this from the beginning.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Some good episodes but some bad ones too.
Review: Season 7 of STTNG suffers from the "too many episodes" malady with STTNG and STDS9 making 52 episodes per year. ... Halfway through the season,STTNG hits it's stride with an eccellent group of episodes in "Attached,Inheritance,Parallels,Homeward,Lower Decks and Thine Own Self",but as no writers were called for the last seven episodes(to save money),the show peters out right at the end with some truly dreadful episodes in "Journeys End,Masks and Emergence",but other good episodes like "Pre-emptive Strike and Genesis" make it worth buying.I was disappointed with "All Good Things" because they recreated the awful mankind on trial plot from the pilot.that idea should have been rejected.Overall,the poorer episodes didn't deter me from having every box set as the good episodes of STTNG are always worth having.This is truly the best Star Trek series with the best cast and the documentaries complete the box sets.What a pity though that they didn't give the show the send-off that it deserved.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: final season of Star Trek's greatest captain
Review: So what if the story left open plot lines and never came together like in the ethereal final season of Deep Space Nine. That is not what this show was about. Patrick Stewart and his memorable band of space cowboys continued to have new and fresh adventures as in previous seasons, a few episodes including the last one were amazing, and the entire product, the season in general, was some of the best TV you will ever see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: final season of Star Trek's greatest captain
Review: So what if the story left open plot lines and never came together like in the ethereal final season of Deep Space Nine. That is not what this show was about. Patrick Stewart and his memorable band of space cowboys continued to have new and fresh adventures as in previous seasons, a few episodes including the last one were amazing, and the entire product, the season in general, was some of the best TV you will ever see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Star Trek The Next Generation Season 7 DVD set
Review: Star Trek season 7 is by far the best season of all. Included are all of the best episodes (except for Timescape; The Best of Both Worlds; and Decent part I.) The great episodes in this season are:
Decent part 2
Parallels
The Pegasus (My favorite episode in which Riker's former commander tries to hide the prototype ship that has a cloaking device (That would violate the Romulan tready))
Masks
Genesis
Journey's End
Bloodlines
Emergence
Preemptive Strike
and All Good Things

The only episode that is not good at all is Eye of the Beholder

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The End of a Golden Era!
Review: Star Trek TNG goes out with a bang. It starts out with the second half of the cliffhanger involving the borg,Wesley returns only to leave again in a very unususal way, ensign Ro leaves as well. In the series finally the crew come full circle, Q puts Picard on trial again. Picard must time travel to save the universe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: STNG Season Seven - Journey's end!
Review: Strangely enough I'd found myself approaching this season on DVD the same way I'd approached it when it was first airing, anticipation and a sort of dread that there would be no more except for the movies. Ultimately, had there not been a great demand for these characters to move on to the silver screen the series could've easily had three or more years. It is amazing to think what the producers did during this final season as they were producing STNG's seventh season, DS9's second season, in pre production on Voyager's first season and ramping up for Star Trek Generations, STNG's first feature film. Kudos to all for a job well done.

Season seven was in many ways not the best of the series but it stands out as a season where the producers brought family to the forefront by introducing characters only previously mentioned or altogether new ones. This worked beautifully for the series as it was always about family whether it be the family of the original nine and later seven main characters or the family members of these great characters. Although the late Gene Roddenberry had passed away a couple years earlier I believe he would've been very proud of the series taken as a whole and the work that Rick Berman and company did.

A brief synopsis of the "stand out" episodes:

Interface - In this marvelous episode we're introduced to Geordi La Forge's father played by Ben Vereen and his mother played by the late Madge Sinclair.

Gambit parts I & II - This fantastic two part episode plays out beautifully as Picard is on an "archaeological" vacation but stumbles into a group of mercenaries and is captured by them. He is then forced to become a member of their crew. The crew then must find a way of finding Picard and extracting him from this situation.

.Attached - This episode is clearly one of the most well written and performed episodes of the season. Resounding poignantly of the relationship between Picard and Crusher, this episode is a masterpiece in every way. Picard and Crusher attempt to beam down to a planet that is seeking Federation membership but they're diverted to another location where a device is put on them linking them both mentally.

Parallels - From a science fiction standpoint this is the best episode of the season as we see Worf returning from a bat'telh contest and then some extremely odd things start happening to him and his surroundings. Among the finer points of this great episode, this is where the Worf/Troi relationship has it beginnings.

Lower Decks - This episode is another great highlight for the season and it doesn't even primarily concentrate on any of the primary characters. Focusing mainly on some of the junior officers of the Enterprise and their desires and hopes for promotion. One of the junior officers, a Bajoran named Sito Jaxa who had been part of the cover up Wesley Crusher was involved in at the Academy in "The First Duty," is given a secret mission which unfortunately resulted in her loss.

Masks - What is there to say about this episode other than it gave Brent Spiner the opportunity to show what an outstanding actor he is and that he has an unbelievable range of characterizations to draw from.

Journey's End - In this outstanding episode, we're treated to the circumstances that setup many things to come in DS9 and the setup of Voyager's beginnings. The Federation and the Cardassians have come up with a treaty that leaves citizens of both sides on the wrong side of the border and this of course creates descent on both sides and becomes for the catalyst for the creation of the Maquis which is explored thoroughly in both DS9 and Voyager. Along with this, we're treated to the return and a better departure for the Wesley Crusher character.

Firstborn - This is another of and the final TNG Klingon episode that we as fans had come to love so much. Alexander, Worf's son is coming of age and due to take his first right of ascension unfortunately, much to Worf's chagrin he doesn't wish to do so. In an attempt to kindle the warrior spirit in his son, he takes him to a Klingon outpost where they're celebrating the Kot'baval festival. While there, Worf is attacked and helped by who he believes is a trusted family friend K'mtar.

Preemptive Strike - This is another of the finest episodes of the season as it gives the character Ro Laren a fitting closure. It also delves deeply into the Maquis issue once again as Ro Laren is tapped to go undercover as someone wishing to become a member of the Maquis in order to secure their trust and then bring them out into the open. Both Ro Laren and Picard are extremely surprised by the final outcome though.

All Good Things... - I would have to say that the staff might've been hard put to come up with a better finale to the series than this one. It was simply brilliant to use Q to book end the series and the entire premise is absolute genius to have three different Enterprise crews attempting to fix and by that same nature be the cause of the problem in the first place. The final scene with Picard joining the rest of the group for a game of poker was pure brilliance. {ssintrepid}

Special Features:

Mission Overview: Year Seven
A Captain's Tribute:
Departmental Briefing: Year Seven-Production
The Making of All Good Things...
Starfleet Moments and Memories:
Star Trek Deep Space Nine DVD preview

Bonus DVD:

Special Profiles: John de Lancie as Q and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as Lwaxana Troi
Dressing the Future:

Episode list:

Descent, Part II
Liaisons
Interface
Gambit, Part I
Gambit, Part II
Phantasms
Dark Page
Attached
Force of Nature
Inheritance
Parallels
The Pegasus
Homeward
Sub Rosa
Lower Decks
Thine Own Self
Masks
Eye of the Beholder
Genesis
Journey's End
Firstborn
Bloodlines
Emergence
Preemptive Strike
All Good Things...



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