Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 20, 2021

When Ronald Wilkerson and Jean Louise Matthias wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation season seven episode "Lower Decks" they assuredly had no idea that the story would, decades later, inspire and be the namesake of the first animated Star Trek Series since the 1970s. "Lower Decks" took the focus off of the main bridge crew -- Picard, Riker, Data, et. al. -- and turned the attention to a handful of the Enterprise's unsung heroes, the crewmembers "in the trenches" doing all of the hard work, out of the limelight, carrying out the orders from up top, all the while posturing and maneuvering and trying to sort out who's due for promotion. It was a brilliant concept and one of the season's, and the series', best episodes. That ideas is now a new animated series called, appropriately, Star Trek: Lower Decks. Similar concept, much more juvenile presentation. This is authentically Star Trek but...a much lighter version thereof that is less concerned with meaty storytelling and purposeful character building and more concerned with making a joke out of day to day starship operations and life in the TNG era. It's a sitcom, essentially, in the Star Trek universe that doesn't "boldly go" anywhere of consequence, instead limping through tired cliché in an admittedly faithful and knowledgeable Star Trek skin.

Official synopsis: Series Creator Mike McMahan, writer and executive producer of “Rick and Morty”, takes you where no Star Trek series has gone before – to the lower decks! Join rule-breaker Becket Mariner (Tawny Newsome), aspiring captain Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), rookie D’Vana Tendi (Noel Wells) and part-cyborg Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) as they attempt to navigate the most mysterious corners of our universe with very little experience – and even less authority.

Credit where credit is due: Lower Decks is different, it’s kind of fun at times, and it’s very up on its Star Trek lore, even if, a lot of times, it’s all too happy to force in references just to prove, it seems, that the writers know their Trek, not because it’s an organic fit into a scene. The show is also very uneven. Expectations play a lot into that, even though the show rightly makes every effort to shatter expectations with style and substance alike and makes its proclivities known right from the beginning when a character’s leg is comically sliced open to (animated) grisly result and, a few minutes later, a PG-13 scene depicting a holodeck program featuring buff and naked men working out. The show does mask the extremes, bleeping out the F-word and covering an exposed penis with a small black block. It’s definitely the most “adult” Star Trek yet, at least in a blatant form or fashion; Discovery is no stranger to adult situations and language, either, but that content plays better within its larger narrative contexts. Lower Decks is crude because it can be.

But past experience certainly influences how one is going to view Lower Decks. Star Trek has a long history of fairly high drama and deep characterization, and for better or for worse those are expectations that accompany everything that bears the Star Trek name, at least within canon. Lower Decks doesn’t prioritize these things, at least not by placing them above its humor. Here, it’s more equal paying field for the adult situations, crude jokes, and more honest Star Trek material. Some of the essential story beats – these are mostly self-contained episodes – prove modestly interesting but not enough to satisfy fans looking for more familiar content. Audiences open to an entirely different, and lighter, side of Star Trek will likely find this one quite good; traditionalists, not so much. It is well voiced and the animation style and detail are excellent; the TNG era translates very well to this medium and if nothing else the novelty alone makes it worth a watch.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Star Trek: Lower Decks' first season Blu-ray release is largely excellent. The picture is crisp and clear, sharp and colorful, every bit the excellent 1080p rendering fans would expect. The picture is stable and true, absent any serious encode issues, such as macroblocking (which may be encountered while streaming), and presenting the animated material with sharp lines and sure clarity. The picture leaps off the screen, well capable of revealing character models, environments, starships in space, and the like with relentless definition and attention to detail. Colors are expressive and bold, well capable of revealing the punchy primary uniform tones -- red, blue, and yellow -- with striking depth and vitality. The colorful Next Generation display readouts and the fine appointments seen through most areas around the Cerritos add plenty of visual pizazz to the proceedings. A couple of brief words of caution, though: there are some sporadic jagged edges (look in the captain's ready room at the 9-minute mark in episode one) scattered around the season and fleeting examples of aliasing (look at the 19:39 mark of episode two). These are in no way crippling issues but they do warrant a mention. Largely, the image is excellent; fans won't be disappointed, particularly with the stability physical delivery brings over streaming.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Lower Decks may not raise the bar for Blu-ray audio delivery but the included DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack serves the material well. The track frequently springs to life with a variety of familiar TNG-style sound effects, like sliding turbolift doors, computer beeps and bloops, phaser blasts, and the like. The track is very expressive and nicely detailed in its high yield engagement, particularly when frenzied action -- a symphony of phaser blasts heard partway through episode one when zombified crew rampage through the ship's cafeteria, accompanied by the familiar blares of the ship's alarm klaxon -- dominates a scene. The track is well capable of recreating well defined ambience as well, such as when characters enter the holodeck in the show's opening minutes. One can hear light engine hums in the background and aurally sense of spatial awareness in the empty room, recreating the cavernous space to fine effect in the home theater. Music is wide and nicely engaging through the rears as well. Clarity is excellent. Dialogue never wants for more lifelike pronouncement. It's firmly center positioned unless the situation warrants different placement or reverberating expansion.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Lower Decks contains extras on both Blu-ray discs. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase.

Disc One:

• Lower Decktionary (1080p): Behind-the-scenes features attached to each episode exploring the show's place in Star Trek canon, making a comedy-centered show to balance the more dramatically heavy material from throughout the rest of the franchise, the focus on the "B" story characters, maintaining a real "Star Trek" feel, technical details, visual style, and plenty of episode-specific explorations. Included are, for "Second Contact," Joining Starfleet (6:21); for "Envoys," Aliens Among Us (7:31); for "Temporal Edict," The Animation Process (8:09); for "Moist Vessel," The Main Titles (7:15); and for "Cupid's Errant Arrow," Art Design (4:59).
• "Second Contact:" Full Length Animatic (1080p, 22:29): The premiere episode in a very basic animated state.
• Deleted Animatic (1080p): An unused and unfinished scene from "Second Contact" (1:02) and two more from "Moist Vessel" (1:18).

Disc Two:

• Lower Decktionary (1080p): Included are, for "Terminal Provocations," The Holodeck (6:11); for "Much Ado About Boimler," Division 14 (4:05); for "Veritas," Deck Dynamics (5:05); for "Crisis Point," The Music of 'Lower Decks' (6:19); and for "No Small Parts," All in the Family (6:30).
• "Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta Trailer (1080p, 1:28): A fun trailer for a Star Trek holo-movie in which the Cerritos suddenly becomes the focus in the Federation and the Star Trek universe.
• Faces of the Fleet (1080p, 24:43): Introducing the characters and the voice actors who give them life.
• Hiding in Plain Sight (1080p, 7:39): Revealing some of the Star Trek Easter eggs that appear throughout the show.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This lifelong Trekkie believes that Lower Decks is going to divide Star Trek fandom. On one hand, the show is unabashedly divergent in tone. On the other, it's very faithful to so much essential Trek and takes care to make sure it's firmly grounded in franchise lore and truth. Ultimately, however, over ten episodes there's nothing to suggest that this is another classic Trek in the making. Characters have some depth but no lasting appeal. Stories are mildly interesting but without real hooks and teeth. The animation is, however, nicely done and very authentically TNG. Trekkies are going to want to check it out one way or another, and perhaps the best thing to come out of Lower Decks will be the heated discussions sure to populate fan forums. Paramount/CBS' Blu-ray release of Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season One delivers quality video and audio presentations and a nice array of insightful bonus content. Recommended. Packaging enthusiasts should check out the companion SteelBook release.