Description: Finally, the complete, epic sci-fi television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation is available in a complete series set for the first time ever. Celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the landmark series and own all 176 classic episodes in one definitive collector’s boxed set, featuring all-new special features. This is the definitive release that fans have been waiting for!
Amazon.com: After Star Wars and the successful big-screen Star Trek adventures, it's perhaps not so surprising that Gene Roddenberry managed to convince purse string-wielding studio heads in the 1980s that a Next Generation would be both possible and profitable. But the political climate had changed considerably since the 1960s, the Cold War had wound down, and we were now living in the Age of Greed. To be successful a second time, Star Trek had to change too.
A writer's guide was composed with which to sell and define where the Trek universe was in the 24th Century. The United Federation of Planets was a more appealing ideology to an America keen to see where the Reagan/Gorbachev faceoff was taking them. Starfleet's meritocratic philosophy had always embraced all races and species. Now Earth's utopian history, featuring the abolishment of poverty, was brandished prominently and proudly. The new Enterprise, NCC 1701-D, was no longer a ship of war but an exploration vessel carrying families. The ethical and ethnical flagship also carried a former enemy (the Klingon Worf, played by Michael Dorn), and its Chief Engineer (Geordi LaForge) was blind and black. From every politically correct viewpoint, Paramount executives thought the future looked just swell!
Roddenberry's feminism now contrasted a pilot episode featuring ship's Counsellor Troi (Marina Sirtis) in a mini-skirt with her ongoing inner strengths and also those of Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) and the short-lived Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). The arrival of Whoopi Goldberg in season 2 as mystic barkeep Guinan is a great example of the good the original Trek did for racial groups--Goldberg has stated that she was inspired to become an actress in large part through seeing Nichelle Nichols' Uhura. Her credibility as an actress helped enormously alongside the strong central performances of Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard), Jonathan Frakes (First Officer Will Riker), and Brent Spiner (Data) in defining another wholly believable environment once again populated with well-defined characters. Star Trek, it turned out, did not depend for its success on any single group of actors.
Like in the original Trek, it was in the stories themselves that much of the show's success is to be found. That pesky Prime Directive kept moral dilemmas afloat ("Justice"/"Who Watches the Watchers?"/"First Contact"). More "what if" scenarios came out of time-travel episodes ("Cause and Effect"/"Time's Arrow"/"Yesterday's Enterprise"). And there were some episodes that touched on the political world, such as "The Arsenal of Freedom" questioning the supply of arms, "Chain of Command" decrying the torture of political prisoners and "The Defector", which was called "The Cuban Missile Crisis of The Neutral Zone" by its writer. The show ran for more than twice as many episodes as its progenitor and therefore had more time to explore wider ranging issues. But the choice of issues illustrates the change in the social climate that had occurred with the passing of a couple of decades. "Angel One" covered sexism; "The Outcast" was about homosexuality; "Symbiosis"--drug addiction; "The High Ground"--terrorism; "Ethics"--euthanasia; "Darmok"--language barriers; and "Journey's End"--displacement of Indians from their homeland. It would have been unthinkable for the original series to have tackled most of these.
TNG could so easily have been a failure, but it wasn't. It survived a writer's strike in its second year, the tragic death of Roddenberry just after Trek's 25th anniversary in 1991, and plenty of competition from would-be rival franchises. Yes, its maintenance of an optimistic future was appealing, but the strong stories and readily identifiable characters ensured the viewers' continuing loyalty. --Paul Tonks
review ok but Ididn't like the container it came in. Ithought it would be in seperate containers for every year, but the content is good.
The Next Generation... If you just want to watch the series this is perfect for you. It has all 7 seasons in one fairly small container, plus bonus material. My only complaint is that the packaging is fragile and a lot of the casing came broken in the mail. It doesn't effect how the DVDs play though. It's just a bummer that there are all these little plastic pieces everywhere. The other thing is that the DVDs haven't been altered at all, so the film quality is the same as it once back in the late 80s / early 90s. It can take some getting use to. The series is of course excellent, and watching the whole through is a must for fans of every variety. Plus there is bonus material on the last disc of each season.
Cheap Plastic Case The show is great and deserves 5 stars, but this set they've put together is only worth 2. This set comes with the discs set into double sided plastic trays that are cheap and fragile. They are taped together with packing tape in three packs. Mine came cracked, but I didn't return it because the discs are okay. I'll probably end up transferring the discs to a higher quality case. I bought this set because it was on sale. It would have been better had they used a higher quality plastic for the case.
Good value The product is great. The only thing I don't like is there are many discs crammed in thin sleeves. It seems like it would break easily.
Star Trek TNG Star Trek the Next Generation makes good sense for science fiction fans who want hours and hours of top quality sci-fi fun. This collection can be enjoyed again and again.
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