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Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Fourth Season

Star Trek The Next Generation - The Complete Fourth Season

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

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Season 4
Review: "The Drumhead" alone is worth the cost of this package. In my top
5 or so episodes of the entire series.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Better than season 3 and leads the way to wonderful season 5
Review: After the splendid third season, which kept most people wanting more after the season finale, the fourth season rolled along smoothly with high expectations from viewers. The basis of "character-development over action" was greatly improved upon and put to more use here, even though there are some great action episodes.

The fourth season got to a tremendous start with many action-packed and essential episodes:
1) "THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, PART II. Like the first part, that episode has great music, action, acting, plot, and suspense. Although the first part os just a tad bit better, the second part has all you expect from a borg episode: Spaceship fights, good special effects, stuff exploding, phaser fights, etc.
2) "REUNION." (The second episode out of four in the Worf saga) After Sins of the Father, what I consider to be the first part in the rough quadrilogy involving Worf, came "REUNION," which is even better than the first part. Worf's girlfriend comes back (along with his unexpected son) and so do many characters from the "SINS OF THE FATHER" as Worf must confront old enemies and try to gain back his honor. Directed by Jonathan Frakes, this episode has great special effects, good acting, and a great fight at the end. Bring on the third part!
3) "REMEMBER ME." A great episode which emphasizes on Dr. Crusher. Although this episode is not really known for its action, it does have cool concepts and great suspense.

After those ground-breaking episdoes, there were more character-based and humorous episodes.

1) "DATA'S DAY." I can't say enough about how great this episode is. All of the characters have funny lines, Chief O'Brien gets married, and of course anything with DATA in the title has to be good.
2) "BROTHERS." Yet another Data episode, this brought back Lore and his creator, Noonien Singh. The chemistry between the characters is great in thie episode. Brent Spiner plays THREE roles, all on screen at the same time.
3) "Q-PID." Any episode with Q in the title has be good, and this one is great. The Trek crew goes on a Robin Hood adventure. Worf has some great lines in the episode.
4) "THE MIND'S EYE." A Trek remake of The Manchurian Candidate, this episode emphasizes on La Forge and shows he CAN say some great lines of dialogue besides techno-babble.
5) "FAMILY." Here we meet Worf's adoptive parents and Picard's brother. Some great scenes in this episode, especially the mud fight between Picard andhis brother.
6) "THE NTH DEGREE." This episdoe features Lt. Barclay in antoerh humorous episode, though it's a bit more complicated that the last Barclay episode.
7) "IN THEORY." This is (another) a great Data episode. Basically, he puruses a relationship with a female officer aboard the Enterprise. A very funnny episode that shows that Data is NOT gay.
8) "FINAL MISSION." A great episode which bases on Wesely Crusher and Picard. Will Wheaton is great in this episode.

The season ended with a great cliffhanger: "REDEMPTION." The third part in the Worf quadrilogy, this episdoe retunrs old characters from "SINS OF THE FATHER" and Worf conintues his quest to restore his family honor. Worf's brother also makes another appearance. Filled with great special effects, action, and acting, it will have you biting your nails until you get the second part on the fifth season gift set. Also features a great ending and a Tasha Yar connection through her alternate demise in "YESTERDAY'S ENTERPRISE."

All in all, better than season 3 but will still be surpassed by season 5.

1990-1991; 21 hours; All episodes are rated PG for mild violence and brief language.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More great stories
Review: Continuing the high standard set by the quality of episodes from the third season, season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation maintains a high standard throughout. The conclusion of the previous season's cliff-hanger "The Best of Both Worlds" does not disappoint, it's the rollercoaster finish we were all hoping for. It doesn't end there though, the writers were brave enough to not have the next episode be "back to normal" as Star Trek is so good at doing but write a real character episode "Family" mainly dealing with Picard's trauma after being assimilated by the Borg.

There aren't any terrible episodes this season, Qpid is a bit silly with the crew as Robin Hood characters - most of the stories are strong. "Future Imperfect" continues the brinkmanship between the Federation and the Romulans (with Andreas Katsulas of Babylon 5 fame and Riker telling Picard to "shut up"), "Data's day" is an entire episode from Data's perspective, "The Wounded" introduces us to the Cardassians, "First Contact" is what Star Trek's all about, then we get into "The Mind's Eye" and "Redemption" where the Romulan, Klingon and Federation triangle plot finally starts to come out.

Episode List

The Best of Both Worlds, Part II
Family
Brothers
Suddenly Human
Remember Me
Legacy
Reunion
Future Imperfect
Final Mission
The Loss
Data's Day
The Wounded
Devil's Due
Clues
First Contact
Galaxy's Child
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
The Nth Degree
QPid
The Drumhead
Half a Life
The Host
The Mind's Eye
In Theory
Redemption, Part I

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Danger Will Robinson!!!!!!
Review: Dr. Zachary Smith is a great character. Nobody on The next generation even comes close!!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Consistently Great Season
Review: Fourth season is a strong contender for best season of the entire series. Perhaps what is most admirable about this season is that it is probably the most consistent of them all; while there are many excellent episodes, there are very few which scrape the bottom of the barrel.

While I've noticed that some people have individually summarized the entire season I have neither the time nor inclination to do anything that in-depth. Instead I will pick out some of the highlights and briefly mention them.

Season three ended with what many Trekkers would consider to be the best episode of all time (of any of the five series').The Best of Both Worlds was a monolithic episode that exemplified everything that was good about the series. There was strong acting galore (Stewart and Frakes both turn in great performances), wonderful special effects, and a great villain (the Borg). Indeed, The Best of Both Worlds was a cliffhanger in the true sense of the word; it created a genuine sense of urgency within virtually any viewer. There is one particular scene that always stands out for me: The Enterprise has earned a brief reprieve from the relentless Borg by hding in a nebula. Picard, like a forlorn Captain takes what seems like a final tour of the ship before resuming the hopeless battle. He goes to ten forward, the ship's bar and quitly dispenses one of the most brilliant bits of writing Star Trek has ever seen ("will this be the end of our civilation?... Turn the page").

Although they could have easily ruined the second part, thankfully they didn't. Part 2, season 4's opener is almost as good as the first and features some equally brillaint moments (sailing through the debris field at Wolf 359, the "Data; SLEEP" first contact). A brilliant conclsuion to the best two parter in TV history.

The season rolls along swiftly and along has many great moments along the way. "Brothers" is undoubtedly a highpoint for Brent Spiner's acting career as he juggles the roles of the quiet Data, the evil Lore, and the enigmatic creator of the two Dr Sung.
"The Wounded" features a nice cameo by Shawshank's Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) as a distraught Captain who goes renegade. "Clues" is a cleverly staged mystery that never seems to feel tired (no matter how many times I see it on TNN). "The Mind's Eye" has Levar Burton's best performance of the season, an assassination plot, and Picard swearing in Klingon all wrapped nicely into fifty-some minutes. "Reunion" is both touching and thrilling as it cleverly introduces the Klingon civil war angle that the series frequently alludes to over the following three years.
Then there's the wonderful "Nth Degree" that inverts the role of Brocolli (Barclay), the bed-wetter, into a man of great intelligence, only for him to take the crew on a trip to the center of the galaxy.

Perhpas best of all is "The Drumhead." I hated this episode when I was growing up because it seemed to be completely lacking in everything that the show tried to explore (funny aliens, good space battles). However, after repeated viewings, this episode shows itself to be a true gem as it brilliantly explores the notion of McCarthyism in a seemingly Utopian world.
There are some brilliant speeches by Picard and a wonderful cameo by the woman playing Nora Satti (forget her name). "I've brought down bigger men than you Picard!" - Does TV acting get any better.

I see this episode and realize this is why none of the later Trek series's ever worked as well; they simply did not have either the acting or the writing. Voyager could only dream of having scenes this good.

Of course there are other winners, "The First Duty" being a notable one.

There are the some bad moments as to be expected. At this point I think every fan was hoping that Lwaxanna would die in a shuttle accident, and if not "Half a Life" certainly did them in.
"First Contact" is mediocre and makes me laugh to think that it is Frasier's icy cold Lilith who wants Riker. Still, who cares?

Brilliant

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Problem on Disk 1 - Brothers episode
Review: I bought this set at (...) and had a problem with disk one during the episode, Brothers. The picture would freeze and then jump forward in the episode. In order to eliminate the possibility that it was my player, I played the other disks and found the same locations on layer 1 on each, but the others played fine. I exchanged the set for a new one and encountered the exact same problem on disk 1 with the exact same episode. I again played several other disks, finding the same points on the same layer, but had no problem. (...)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two Thumbs UP
Review: I have been a Star Trek Fan my whole life. Everything from Startrek The Motion Picure to UPN's new Enterprise. I love everything Star Trek. I even own one of Commander Riker's (Jonathan Franks) Original uniforms that was auctioned at a Star Trek Convention. My point is, Star Trek TNG was the best television series ever on television. I now own the first 3 seasons on DVD. If you don't already own those seasons buy them. I have also shopped around for these DVD sets, Amazon has the best prices I have seen, and thier free shipping is fast. As far as season 4 goes, From what I rember of watching it on tv. It was as good if not better than season 3. This is a must buy. I can't wait for it to come out. Also a note to Paramount, if you guys read this note, you should strongly consider doing a Voyager DVD season set too. But when you do Voyager, release them all at the same time, will ya?

"Live Long And Prosper" ~Lt. Spock

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Star Trek Fan
Review: I LOVE Star Trek:TNG! It had to be (while it was on the air) and still is one of my all-time favorite shows. It has characters that are engaging, interesting, likeable and just plain well done. It also seems that the perfect actor was chosen for each part. I've become so attached to the show that it almost seems like the TNG crew are not strangers but old friends. I can honestly say, save for one aspect, that I love EVERYTHING about this show. I already own the first 3 seasons on DVD and I am buying them all as they are realesed.

Unfortunately even the best show on TV has it's annoying aspect. The one person/character that this show could have done without is Wesley Crusher played by Wil Wheaton. If I was given a choice between watching a Wil Wheaton/W. Crusher TNG episode or sawing my own leg off with a rusty butter knife I'd probably go for the latter option. Unfortunately he happens to be involved in ONE of my favorite episodes (Remember Me).

Aside from that I REALLY love this show. Season 3 is truly the season when ST:TNG became a truly enjoyable show. The actors are finally comfortable with each other and have fully developed their characters interactions as well. But I must say that Season 4 is the absolute crown jewel in the TNG world. I eagerly anticipate the Sept. 3rd release date of the shows best year.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I can't rate just one!
Review: I love the ST:TNG cast, but when it originally aired I never did get to see all of the episodes. I can't rate just one season, because all the years it spent on the air I have enjoyed. I purchased this collection for two reasons: (a) I can watch ALL the episodes in chronological order [as they aired], and (b) so that I can watch it again and again. The bonus features that are included with the boxed sets adds to the interest I have in the show. Some people may not enjoy behind the scenes featurettes because it could detract the excitement of the story, but it's the opposite for me -- it adds to the enjoyment.

Because the collection is distributed on DVD it will display great picture quality as I'm sure the producers intended to be. It also won't wear down as quickly as tapes do, which is a good thing for those who like to watch and watch and watch until it's engrained into the subconscious. I think it's worth the money spent.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid but not as good as Season 3
Review: I must admit I remained oddly unmoved by the selection of episodes in ST:TNG Season 4. After a much better-than-expected experience with Season 2 (in part thanks to the direction of Rob Bowman, later of X-Files fame), and of course the absolutely top-notch first half of Season 3, Season 4 seemed to feature a run of solid but unspectactular episodes that just didn't venture much outside the Star Trek: TNG comfort zone. The difficulties with the season's opener, the finale for the Season 3 cliffhanger, presages the writing problems that are to come. Not that there aren't quite a few enjoyable episodes; Data's Day was very good of course (a personal favorite), as was The Drumhead, and I liked Night Terrors, cheesy as it was. Although Family didn't resonate much for me I must admit, it did dare to try new things, and I liked it enough for the attempt. But, this season is where Star Trek:TNG really found it's groove, and I'm not entirely sure this is a good thing. Even the episodes that Rob Bowman directs (after a 3rd Season absence) completely lack his usual visual flair, being subsumed into the Star Trek formula.
Anyway, it seems to me to come down to the ugly matter of cost. Would I like to own this set? Absolutely; I enjoy ST:TNG as much as the next guy, and there were certainly episodes I enjoyed here. But I'm glad I borrowed it from a friend instead of paying the asking price, which I find a bit steep. I'd have gladly paid half the price for a "best of" set a la Farscape, but I just can't justify shelling out the big-time cash for a season that, while achieving consistancy, does it at the cost of not having the top-notch eps.


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