Amazon.com: After Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) spent much of Voyager's fourth season trying to resist the pull of the Borg, and just when the tide of battle seemed to be turning, she returns to the Collective in a memorable confrontation with the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson) in the centerpiece story of the fifth season, the two-part "Dark Frontier." The Borg also factor into the nightmare-laden "Infinite Regress" as well as "Drone," in which a strange Borg-human-EMH hybrid teaches Seven the experience of parenthood, of sorts. Species 8472 returns as well, in another of the season's gritty episodes, "In the Flesh."
The series' historic 100th episode "Timeless" goes back in history as Kim (Garrett Wang) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) try to repair a past mistake (directed by and guest-starring TNG's LeVar Burton), and in another dizzying episode, "Relativity," Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) is spending her first day on Voyager when she discovers Seven, who has traveled back in time to prevent an act of sabotage. It was also a good season for buddies Kim and Paris (Robert Duncan MacNeill). In addition to "Timeless," Kim takes center stage in "The Disease" when he embarks on a dangerous romance. Paris is thrown in the brig in "Thirty Days," and his Captain Proton holodeck simulation goes haywire in "Bride of Chaotica!" In "Course Oblivion," a ship wedding is the prelude to a deadly displacement for the entire crew.
It wasn't all slam-bang action. The Doctor's (Robert Picardo) buried memories lead to an ethical conflict in "Latent Image," and he and Seven (the two most consistently interesting crew members) dabble in the most unlikely of romances in one of the series' most touching and memorable episodes "Someone to Watch Over Me." Also, Jason Alexander (then in Seinfeld) guest-stars as a scheming alien in "Think Tank." Voyager didn't always close its season with a cliffhanger, but in "Equinox, Part 1" an attempt to aid another Federation starship in the Delta Quadrant uncovers a threat that might destroy them both.
The bonus features include a season recap, crew profiles of Voyager's resident couple, B'Elanna Torres and Paris, a 19-minute spotlight on the makeup process (Neelix was created as a combination of Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King), and "The Borg Queen Speaks," in which Susanna Thompson discusses the difficulties of shooting and how she had originally auditioned for the same role in Star Trek: First Contact. --David Horiuchi
Description: STAR TREK VOYAGER: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON features the adventures of the Voyager crew led by Capt. Janeway (Mulgrew). Throughout the season, the Voyager crew plunges into a vast, empty, star-less expanse, makes a surprising discovery in a most unexpected place, has a chance encounter with the remains of a destroyed Borg vessel that results in an unusual effect on Seven of Nine, and suddenly discovers a wormhole that apparently leads to Earth.
A solid fifth season of star-spanning adventure Overall, season five of "Star Trek: Voyager" offers a very good batch of episodes. Even the few shows that are a little clunky at least have some interesting ideas being explored. But mostly you get intense, engaging episodes with top-notch special effects. Quick shout-outs go to the creepy "Night", the very amusing "Bride of Chaotica!", and the gritty Borg two-parter, "Dark Frontier".
And there's a great season closer, "Equinox, Part One", where the stranded Voyager crew meets up with another lost Starfleet vessel, one whose captain and crew are willing to cross quite a few lines to find a way to get back home, lines Captain Janeway and her crew would never cross, or at least haven't yet. This look at what Voyager and her crew members could have themselves become- or might yet become?- is quite compelling, and results in a darn fine episode (though you'll have to buy season six to see how it ends). And it's only one of many fine episodes.
The DVD set of the fifth season of "Star Trek: Voyager" includes the usual generous special features, and quality picture and sound. And Paramount finally dropped the price of this and other "Trek" boxed sets down into the "reasonably priced" realm. Get 'em while they're still there!
Voyager DVD sale I recently purchased this DVD from amazon.com and I was very satisfied with the product when I received this in the mail a few weeks ago. I really enjoyed the episodes, plus the special features. And I thought that it was a really good, reasonable price for a Voyager DVD set..they usually run about $[...] or more. But it was well worth the $[...] I spent! :)
Another strong season for VOYAGER STAR TREK: VOYAGER is an unusual show in that its worst seasons were the earliest. Virtually all shows ever made were better in their first half than in the second half, but VOYAGER is one of the few exceptions. There are two reasons for the dramatic improvement in the show over its final four seasons. First, an increasing amount of serial content. No doubt part of this was the result of a growing number of other shows on at the same time with serial formats. Whatever the cause, as more and more elements carried over from one episode to later episodes, the more interesting the series became. The second reason for the improvement in the show was the emergence of Seven of Nine as the show's most compelling character. Very shortly after her introduction at the start of Season Four, Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine became by far the most crucial character in most of the best episodes. VOYAGER did not, in fact, feel at all like the same show after Seven's appearance on the series. And as with the other three seasons featuring Seven, most of the best episodes on the show were Seven-centric.
Still, Season Five did not have as many truly excellent episodes as Season Four. On the other hand, it did not have nearly as man weak episodes as Seasons One through Three and Season Six. The two-part "Dark Frontier" is one of the exceptions, providing two of the most exciting episodes in the entire run of VOYAGER (again, a pair of episodes focused on Seven of Nine, as she temporarily returns to the Borg, learning that perhaps her having become a member of the crew of Voyager was part of a Borg plan). Still, the main virtue of Season Five is its persistent excellence, rather than its flashes of greatness.
There are some fun guest appearances in Season Five. Jason Alexander made one of his first post-SEINFELD appearances in the late season episode "Think Tank" (yet another Seven of Nine episode). John Savage appears in the end of the season episode "Equinox" (the second half of which would start Season Six). I did have a remarkable experience over a two-day period during which I encountered character actor Mark Harelik in three different shows. I rewatched an episode of the great, great series PUSHING DAISIES entitled "Bitches," in which the owner of a string of puppy stores, played by Harelik, attempts to clone the world's most perfect dog ("man's best, best friend"). Then I saw him on VOYAGER in "Counterpoint," one of the best episodes of Season Five, as Devore Inspector Kashyk. His role is one of the finest guest appearances in all of VOYAGER, as he plays a Devore officer who may or may not be attempting to defect from his people and who may or may not be trying to help Voyager. He and Janeway were really great together. Finally, I watched the second episode of the new series ELI STONE, and Harelik appeared as a defense attorney. For a brief period of time he seemed to be everywhere I looked.
All in all, a good season. But I agree with all those who think Paramount has priced these sets outrageously high. I own a very large number of shows on DVD, but not a single box set of any Star Trek series. Instead, I rely on Netflix. I strongly encourage everyone to refuse to purchase these sets at their current pricing level. Current technology makes the production of these sets extremely cheap, far cheaper than it cost to make old VHS tapes. And with little or no fees to be paid for use of music (something that represents a real expense for shows like NORTHERN EXPOSURE or SMALLVILLE) there is little in the way of overhead. There is a word for what Paramount is doing with the Star Trek DVDs and that word is "gouging." They are gouging fans of the show by forcing people to pay extravagant prices. There is simply no excuse for any box set to cost more than around $42 after discount. I can understand a show like ALLY MCBEAL costing more (if it ever makes it onto DVD) because of the licensing fees for its heavy use of music, but not a show like VOYAGER. The most I can say is that they have lowered the price somewhat. But it is still way, way too expensive. The sad part is that if they dropped the cost of the show, they would almost certainly make more money by greatly increased sales.
my review 1 The Star Trek Voyager - The Complete Fifth Season is a great buy!
Note to Paramount: no sane person is going to pay more than $60 for a DVD set, ever! Wake up Paramount! Take a cue from your sales on the STTNG sets. Now that you have finally come to your senses and dropped the prices on the sets to where they should have been in the FIRST PLACE, I would imagine that all of the hold-outs (like me) are now buying them.
See, it works like this, 30 minute shows on DVD, for a season, have earned a fair market price of $25-35. So, since Star Trek episodes are an hour long, that means a fair doubling of the price puts it into the $50-70 range. So, $60 is your sweet spot.
You will be able to take in the obsessive fans with your initial insane pricing points, but everyone else looks at your current price tags, especially with the shoddy packaging that you are still foisting on us, and just laughs and waits for the inevitable price drop. So, do us all a favor and fire your marketing and sales people, drop the price to where it is supposed to be, and earn your sales. Nobody sane is going to pay more than $60 for a season of an hour long/episode TV show on DVD, period.