Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four Blu-ray Movie Review

The long road that wasn't long enough.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 22, 2014

It's been nine long years since a Star Trek program aired on television. Enterprise's cancellation following its fourth season marked the end of an uninterrupted run since 1987 -- almost two decades -- of Gene Roddenberry's beloved Science Fiction creation appearing on the small screen in some form or fashion, beginning with the hugely successful and franchise-defining Next Generation (debut 1987) and moving on to the darker and bolder Deep Space Nine (debut 1993), the entertaining Voyager (debut 1995), and, of course, the prequel series Enterprise (debut 2001). All before Enterprise ran for seven full seasons, four more apiece than the cherished original series, and not because "seven" represents some magical number but because of fan interest in and demand for the carefully developed and evolving characters, tight storytelling, fascinating new worlds, and the new life that the series' had injected into an entire civilization of fans now yearning for more than ever before. Enterprise boldly returned to the days before Kirk, Spock and McCoy -- to the days before the Federation, even -- to imagine the first steps of something remarkable, to tell the story of man's first foray into deep space and his relationship-forming years with new species and deep space warp-speed travel. For whatever reason(s) it didn't work as intended, though, not in the long run and not well enough to save it from premature cancellation. It was the first of the modern-era Treks to be canned before its time, to leave promise unfulfilled, potential wasted, and Paramount without its flagship cruising the universe, soaring in the ratings, and beaming into audiences' hearts and souls.

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Enterprise's fourth season was, and remains, rather good for a show not on life support -- it pulled through its darkest days with its third season -- but rather staring the inevitable in the face and living as best it could with certain death at its doorstep. Season four nevertheless features its fair share of dud episodes -- it wouldn't be Trek otherwise -- but they're a bit more scattered and there's absolutely no shortage of fun, meaningful, and even classic episodes and moments that include lengthy Vulcan arcs, Klingons, Nazis, the Mirror Universe, Brent Spiner and Data's distant heritage, and the groundwork for the Federation. In essence, it toys with a lot of standard Trek stuff, exploratory storytelling that further defines and enhances the universe while finding dramatic meaning and social relevance underneath a veneer of futuristic exploration and action. The season, which does not suffer from the return to, mostly, standalone episodes following season three's continuous Xindi arc, maneuvers through that potential minefield of disaster with a finesse and confidence -- impressive considering that the network pretty much forced it onto one of the explosives -- even as many of the basic story drivers take old ideas and make them new, whether leaning on another World War II angle (as in "City on the Edge of Forever" and "Patterns of Force") or returning to the well that is the "Mirror Universe" ("Mirror, Mirror" and a series-spanning angle in Deep Space Nine that began with "Crossover" and ended with "The Emperor's New Cloak"). Cast and crew manage to maintain a freshness even in the shadow of base storyline repetitiveness, blending raw entertainment with universe-defining canon. In essence, season four represents much of what Enterprise was seemingly destined to be but never fully became, a show that wouldn't so much create lore but rather expose, explore, and in some cases even exhume old ideas and depict the hows and the whys and the whens behind some of Star Trek's most famous elements and even some of its smallest fan service details.

Though it's disappointing that the series could never truly stretch its legs and tell the complete story of the Federation's birth and all the nitty-gritty political, social, and interspecies relationship details and repercussions that would follow, the season's build-up towards it gives it an air of importance lacking in previous seasons that enjoyed strong production values, great stories, satisfying character arcs, and universe-shaping happenings but not that tangible weight to them. Those were, in essence, classic modern Trek. Much the same holds true in season four, but that more pronounced weight is offset by a handful of largely frivolous but extremely fun episodes, including the Nazi and Mirror stories. Ultimately, though, it was a case of "too little, too late" with Enterprise. Though largely a success from a production standpoint, the series never did quite go where it should have gone from the outset, a victim, perhaps, of commercialization and numbers rather than a champion for the fans and the creative team behind the program. Season four gets it right where previous seasons didn't so much get it wrong but certainly didn't drive towards the ultimate goal of bringing order to the chaos of Starfleet and the Federation's early days, the older seasons offering only little bits of dialogue, mostly, rather than a full-bore effort to capitalize on the major potential within their grasp. Though it would seem Network directive dictated the (mis)direction, one cannot fully dismiss franchise fatigue as a driving force behind the cancellation (though the numbers would show a rather strong support) and an end product that, while about as good as it could have been under the circumstances, wasn't all it should have been destined to become. Fortunately, the wonderful cast camaraderie, fairly well developed characters, strong acting, solid production values, no shortage of memorable episodes, and a fair bit of fan service help to mask, but not fully overcome, the specter of squandered potential lost to a perfect storm of off-camera events that would lead Trek to its, for now, premature television demise.

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four materializes onto Blu-ray with a high quality 1080p transfer that's easily the best the series has looked on the flagship home video format. Not gone but far less pronounced is the murkiness and unevenness of previous seasons. Season four takes on a noticeably sharper, cleaner appearance, enjoying the best fine detail of all four seasons and a bold, even color palette that shines brightest under superior lighting conditions. Season four presents a clean, consistent texturing that reveals incredibly fine object detail with ease, whether complex alien makeup, human skin textures, fabric lines and seams, and background information with particular note on the clarity with which Enterprise buttons, readouts, and other assorted objects appear throughout the ship. Colors are rich and pleasing, showing everything from bright red Nazi armbands to natural green foliage with precision attention to detail and commendable gradation evenness. Nowhere is the superior coloring more evident than it is on the Defiant, where crew mustard, aqua, and red uniforms jump off the screen, ditto bright red accents and multicolored buttons. Even the less vibrant pieces of the palette take on a noticeably satisfying color scheme, particularly the dark blue Enterprise crew jumpsuits. Skin tones stay rather true to real life, while blacks are deep and inky and only occasionally veer towards unsightly crush in darker corners both in Nazi-era Earth and on a dim Klingon bridge. Light banding is evident across backgrounds here and there but never much hinders the shots in question. Additionally, a haze of noise is occasionally bothersome in some scenes, particularly around darker backdrops. Overall, however, this is a pleasant, well-defined image from top to bottom that serves the material very well.

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four beams onto Blu-ray with an upper end DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The track displays its muscle and spacial abilities early on in Storm Front when old World War II-era P-51 fighters buzz through the soundstage in one direction against an incoming Enterprise shuttle pod that whooshes through the other. Gunfire and other era-specific sound effects are clearly and robustly presented throughout the two-episode string. More generalized Star Trek sound effects power through the stage with commendable effort and clarity, whether the ship zipping through space or phaser blasts cutting through the listening area. The track enjoys a host of complimentary ambient effects, from general background hums on the Enterprise to clusters of beeps and bloops on the bridge and inside a Nazi headquarters. Music is delivered with a satisfying sense of richness and spacing, with particular note to the Pop-inspired opening theme song that enjoys effortless front spacing and welcoming surround support. Dialogue rarely hiccups as it flows clearly and naturally from the center. This is not the most dynamic Science Fiction soundtrack on the market, but it's a good vehicle for conveying the series' sonic needs.

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four features an abundance of mostly excellent supplemental content. It's a mixture of new and old material that helps shape the candid story of Enterprise and its fourth season in particular. Supplements appear on every disc; disc six houses the bulk of the material.

Disc One:

• Deleted Scene (SD, 2:45): From "Storm Front, Part I."
• Extended Scene (HD, 1:17): From "Home."
• Script Gallery: Original Ending (HD): From the supplement description: "The...script pages represent the original ending to the episode "Home" written by Michael Sussman. The scene was dropped prior to the start of principal photography due to time and budgetary constraints."
• Enterprise Moments: Season Four (SD, 16:26): A vintage supplement in which cast and crew recall season three's cliffhanger and resolving it in season four. The piece also examines a handful of episodes, including "The Forge," "Borderland," and "These are the Voyages..." It also highlights Brent Spiner's appearance, the series' "dual endings," exploring canon that had heretofore been ignored, and thoughts on the series' closure.

Disc Two:

• Audio Commentary: Writers Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "The Forge."
• Text Commentary: Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "The Forge" (text from 2005).

Disc Three:

• Audio Commentary: Writers Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "Observer Effect."

Disc Four:

• Audio Commentary: Director David Livingston and Writers Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens for "United."
• Deleted Scene (SD, 0:53): From "The Aenar."

Disc Five:

• Audio Commentaries: Director James L. Conway, Writer Mike Sussman, and Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I," Writer/Producer Mike Sussman and Editorial Director for StarTrek.com Tim Gaskill for "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part I" (from 2005 and StarTrek.com), Writer/Producer Mike Sussman and Editorial Director for StarTrek.com Tim Gaskill for "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (from 2005 and StarTrek.com), and Actors Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating for "Demons."
• Text Commentary: Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II" (text from 2005).
• Deleted Scene (SD, 2:28): From "In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II."
• Archival Mission Log: Inside the Mirror Episodes (SD, 15:42): A discussion of creating a "Mirror Universe" story in the Enterprise timeline, Defiant set design, costumes, alien character construction, and more.

Disc Six:

• Audio Commentaries: Actors Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating for "Terra Prime" and Writers Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Editorial Director for StarTrek.com Tim Gaskill for "Terra Prime" (from 2005 and StarTrek.com).
• Text Commentary: Star Trek Experts Mike & Denise Okuda for "These are the Voyages..."
• Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise Part One: New Voices (HD, 26:49): A look at the effort to link the series to the original program, Manny Coto's lead role in the series and his vision for season four, Brannon Braga's departure, the series' potential and Coto's push towards a true "prequel" show, his vision for what the series might have been, the World War II storyline, the Vulcan arc, and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens' contributions.
• Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise Part Two: Memorable Voyages (HD, 29:42): An examination of the "make or break" season four, budget cuts and the resultant blessings in disguise, Brent Spiner's appearance on the program, the effort to bring William Shatner onto the show, the Mirror Universe episodes, recreating the 1960s starship style, and the Trip-T'pol relationship.
• Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise Part Three: Final Approach (HD, 30:05): An examination of the show's descent towards cancellation in the shadow of UPN's own troubles, network versus studio interests, creative differences, the politics of the cancellation, the network's failure to properly read demographics and ratings, the one-year head-to-head comparison between Enterprise and Battlestar Galactica, the fans' efforts to save the show, emotional farewells, Archer's final major speech, thoughts on the final episode, and what might have been in future seasons.
• Before Her Time: Decommissioning Enterprise Part Four: End of an Era (HD, 29:14): This piece begins with a look back at Rick Berman's tenure at the top and moves on to feature cast and crew recalling their thoughts on the series' end and Brannon Braga's hopes for the franchise's future.
• In Conversation: Writing Star Trek: Enterprise (HD, 1:29:52): Consulting Producer David A. Goodman, Co-Producer André Bormanis, Producer Michael Sussman, Co-Producer Phyllis Strong, Co-Producers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Co-Executive Producer Chris Black, and Brannon Braga remember a number of anecdotes that evolve into detailed, oftentimes fascinating discussions across a wide swath of Star Trek history and the Enterprise production experience. Discussions include the shape the series took versus the shape it was imagined to be, the joys and challenges of the Enterprise writing process, and the franchise's television future.
• Archival Mission Logs: Visual Effects Magic (SD, 13:27): A look at the construction of special effects sequences from Storm Front, Part II, creating Xindi aliens, building digital Tholians, launching the Columbia, and creating the Xindi super weapon.
• Archival Mission Logs: Links to the Legacy (SD, 4:27): Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens examine some of the older ideas that are more fully fleshed out in Enterprise.
• Archival Mission Logs: Enterprise Secrets (SD, 5:53): Second Assistant Director David Trotti takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the series' final shot.
• Archival Mission Logs: That's a Wrap! (HD, 9:01): Cast and crew interview and speech snippets from the wrap party.
• Archival Mission Logs: Enterprise Goes to the Dogs (SD, 12:44): A lengthy look at Portho's place in the series.
• Archival Mission Logs: Westmore's Aliens: Creating Dr. Phlox and Beyond (SD, 5:18): A brief look at Enterprise alien design with Make-Up Designer Michael Westmore, with focus on T'Pol and Phlox.
• Archival Mission Logs: Outtakes (SD, 2:17).
• Archival Mission Logs: Photo Gallery (HD).
• Archival Mission Logs: NX-01 File 10 (SD, 4:43): A look at a fan protest gathering in opposition to Enterprise's cancellation. The cast also chimes in on its loyal fan base.

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Enterprise may not have enjoyed the clout of TNG, the sharpness or DS9, or the relative novelty of Voyager, but it was a rock-solid Star Trek show in its own right -- downright brilliant, at times -- given the constraints and seemingly ever-present sense of finality hanging over its head. While the series never did quite go in the direction it should have gone, the creative team nevertheless produced an exciting, well-executed program that got everything within its power right, from casting to characters, from memorable moments to unforgettable stories. About the only thing it didn't have on its side was time, patience, and a willingness from the top to allow the show to explore the not-so-strange new worlds of the Federation's first footsteps, a direction that's more pronounced in season four than in any other but still not thoroughly traversed. Fun episodes and a buildup towards the series' destiny shape a high quality season (though one marred by a terrible finale that shifts focus from Enterprise to a gimmick) and put a premature cap on Enterprise, the unsung hero of Star Trek history. Star Trek: Enterprise - Season Four features excellent video and audio. As always, a huge assortment of extras are included and are themselves worth the cost of the entire set. Highly recommended.