Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the 1996 Sci-Fi film 'Star Trek: First Contact' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless audio. Supplements from the original release carry over. This set also includes a remastered Blu-ray disc, which is also available seperately. This UHD/Blu-ray combo is also included in a four-film 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' collection.

Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the remastered 1080p Blu-ray disc.

Paramount's 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD presentation of Star Trek: First Contact looks great. The image is nearly perfect, minus a few fleeting occurrences of black crush and some inherently softer VFX shots and transitions. The picture enjoys a spectacularly healthy and natural grain structure. It is nicely pronounced and effortlessly integrated, capturing a seamless and natural, straight-from-theaters filmic experience. With no scrubbing at work, texture are free to breathe with essentially perfect definition from the film source. Facial and makeup details are razor sharp, and often incredibly so. Every shot delights for faithful accuracy and excellence, right down to the finest little details, all of which are sharper, clearer, and more cinematic than even the Blu-ray counterpart, which is itself excellent. The sense of film accuracy and natural sharpness are often breathtaking.

The Dolby Vision color grading offers a stabilized color spectrum that is deeper and more accurate compared to the Blu-ray. The presentation handles the film's darker tones with exceptional accuracy, whether the core uniform accents, the overreaching black and gray uniform colors, or the very spartanly colored Enterprise interiors. This is a very dark film, visually, and the Dolby Vision grading supports this look nicely but still nails more vivid colors as required, offering plenty of tonal jolt and brilliance when the situation warrants.

The image shows no obvious print wear and practically no encode issues. This is far and away the best the movie has ever looked at home, and it is difficult to imagine it looking much better than this for years, maybe even decades, to come.

Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rather than retain the existing 5.1 lossless soundtrack, Paramount offers a new Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix. The presentation is excellent. Action elements filter all over the stage with aggression, precision, and power. Listeners will feel immersed within the Enterprise's bowels during action scenes against the Borg. Phaser fire, explosions, and other action elements present with authority and proper placement. One of the best moments of very good surround engagement comes when the Borg make their announcement at the 8:20 mark. It is here where Atmos would have really improved things, but as it is the sense of total immersion is nearly complete, anyway. The track always expands spatial excellence and offers stable, well-defined clarity to every component. Musical definition is terrific, as is stage spacing and balance. Dialogue is clear and well prioritized for the duration.

Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This UHD release of Star Trek: First Contact includes a huge assortment of bonus content from the legacy collection. Commentaries are on both discs and the Blu-ray houses all of the video-based extras as well.

UHD:

• Audio Commentary: Actor/Director Jonathan Frakes.
• Audio Commentary: Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.
• Audio Commentary: Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale.
• Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.

• Audio Commentary: Actor/Director Jonathan Frakes.
• Audio Commentary: Writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore.
• Audio Commentary: Damon Lindelof and Anthony Pascale.
• Text Commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda.
• Library Computer
• Production: A six-part feature:
  
  
  • Making First Contact
  • The Art of First Contact
  • The Story
  • The Missile Silo
  • The Deflector Dish
  • From "A" to "E"
• Scene Deconstruction: A three-part feature:
  
  
  • Borg Queen assembly
  • Escape Pod Launch
  • Borg Queen's Demise
• The Star Trek Universe: A nine-part feature:
  
  
  • Jerry Goldsmith: A Tribute
  • The Legacy of Zefram Cochrane
  • First Contact: The Possibilities
  • Industrial Light & Magic The Next Generation
  • Greetings from the International Space Station
  • SpaceShipOne's Historic Flight
  • Brent Spiner Data and Beyond Part 2
  • Trek Roundtable: First Contact
  • Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 008 Temporal Vortex
• The Borg Collective: A three-part feature:
  
  
  • Unimatrix One
  • The Queen
  • Design Matrix
• Archives: A five-part feature:
  
  
  • Storyboards
  • Photo Gallery
  • Alternate Titles
  • Ethan Phillips Cameo/Interview
  • Queen's Demise
• Trailers: A three-part feature:
  
  
  • Teaser Trailer
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Borg Invasion Trailer

Star Trek: First Contact 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

First Contact has received a handsome, and necessary, UHD upgrade. The image is beautiful and the new 7.1 track is rock-solid, too. There are enough extras here to occupy hardcore fans for hours upon hours on end. Highly recommended!