Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman March 22, 2023

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is not a brave new world in the Star Trek canon. Rather, it is a comfortable, retro-themed, but modernly styled revisit of the classic Star Trek timeline, established not only with The Original Series but also in the unaired (at least at time of production) pilot episode "The Cage." Strange New Worlds is set in the Captain Pike era. Pike captained the Enterprise prior to Kirk, and this iteration of Captain Pike, and the streamlined (though still charmingly retro-ish) Enterprise and her crew were first seen throughout the second season of Star Trek: Discovery. It sounds like a convoluted web of influence and screen appearances that literally span decades of Star Trek content, but the ten-episode first season plays tightly and smoothly like Star Trek should, with first-rate storylines, excellent characterization, and a bold return to the essence of what makes Trek great, an essence that is not entirely missing from Discovery but that hasn't really been nailed down since the days of Voyager.

Strange New Worlds is a bit of an oddity in that it returns to established -- albeit established in a single double length episode -- Star Trek canon and pieces together its own identity forged in the foundations of "The Cage" without simply repurposing it in its entirety. This series retains the core characters from "The Cage" -- Pike, Spock, Number One -- while adding in some familiar names from the Original Series, including Uhura, Nurse Chapel, to a lesser extent Dr. M'Benga. The show further adds in a slew of characters of its own creation, including security officer La'an Noonien-Singh (related to Khan), hotshot pilot Eria Ortegas, and a blind Aenar engineer named Hemmer. It's an interesting amalgamation of new and familiar, prominent and secondary, characters who come together, here, with a striking seamlessness and integrative depth. The show feels natural, flows well through the full character roster, and takes its time to develop both backstory and current growth within what are otherwise episodic shows that tell a new story every time out rather than build one continues arc through the season.

That episodic nature is a real treat in a world of television that favors the longer, continuous arc. The shows does hearken back to the original series in this way, offering, essentially, a new adventure every week but still maintaining clear forward movement in broader character arcs, including Pike's vision of his future fate as well as a few other threads of interest (involving Number One's genetics, La'an's history with the Gorn, Uhura's uncertainty concerning her future, and M'Benga's ill daughter) that course through the show. Every episode both addresses critical character questions while telling a satisfying standalone story. There's not a bad one in the bunch, nor should there be in a trim ten episode run. The visual effects are great, some of the call backs (or call forwards, as it may be) are integrated so as to be both fan service and plot integral, and the final episode offers some fantastic twists that both recall and rewrite Star Trek in a way that only Star Trek can, remaining faithful to established content while offering some insight into what was and what might be. It's great stuff.

There are some minor downsides, including the show's reliance on recycling old ideas that turn various episodes into not simply regurgitated Star Trek but which are derived from, and prove derivative of, so many Sci-Fi classics (for example, an episode that is clearly a rehash of both Alien and Aliens), but the season easily overcomes as it uses even somewhat stale narratives to build characters and lore even within these plot developments and devices that allow the material to fit more firmly within the show rather than just stand out as borrowed from elsewhere. The other downside is the short season length. At ten episodes the season is very brief and will leave fans wanting more, desperate to explore the worlds and characters with greater depth. What's here is great, but audiences will alost assuredly want more.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p picture quality is pretty well pristine. The digital shoot translates exceptionally well to Blu-ray. It's clean, efficient, and colorfully robust, unlike Discovery which looks pretty good at-a-glance but deals with some underlying issues. Here, the picture couldn't be much better. Textures are stout and border on amazing, especially in close-ups where viewers will see every facial pore, hair, and bit of makeup on faces. The uniforms look incredible, too, offering ultra-fine definition to various fabric qualities and characteristics. The ship itself is a treat, especially inside. Computer consoles, buttons, textures on floors and walls, and all variety of content couldn't be any clearer at 1080p. Some of the visual effect exteriors of the ship leave a little wanting, but such is a result of the VFX, not the Blu-ray. Colors are bold and precise, with the standouts obviously being the uniform reds, yellows, and blues, but red accents around the ship are impressively bright and vivid, and when the ship goes into red alert status, the glowing red accents deliver some real punch. The image is largely noise free and absent any significant encode anomalies. This is a treat of a Star Trek Blu-ray from Paramount.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is plenty big and potent. While an Atmos track would have been preferable, there is no mistaking that the 5.1 mix offer serious aggression and plenty of discrete effects and general surround usage. Several of the discrete effects are so realistic that they will literally turn heads, something that feels rare rather than commonplace today. General surround immersion is well done, too, especially in action and battle where phaser fire and other elements spill through the back that, along with intense music, drops the listener into the show's most intensive moments. Musical clarity is excellent; one could not ask for firmer, more satisfying yield. Little sounds around the ship are nicely positioned and perfectly clear, seamlessly dropping the listener into the bridge, sickbay, or other areas throughout the Enterprise. Dialogue is clear and center focused for the duration.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Strange New Worlds: Season One includes an audio commentary track on disc one, a few deleted scenes across all three discs, and several meatier extras on disc three. No DVD or digital copies are included.

Disc One:

• Audio Commentary: For "Strange New Worlds:" Anson Mount and Akiva Goldsman.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "Children of the Comet" (0:22) and "Ghosts of Illyria" (2:11).

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach" (5:00) and "The Elysian Kingdom" (0:20).

Disc Three:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 10:55): Scenes from "All Those Who Wander."
• Star Trek: The Original Series Episode "Balance of Terror" (1080p, 50:24): An episode tied to the Strange New Worlds episode "A Quality of Mercy."
• Pike's Peek (1080p, 17:26): A look at Anson Mount's time in quarantine, followed by intimate behind-the-scenes access into the making of Strange New Worlds.
• World Building (1080p, 11:56): A look at some of the cutting-edge technology used to make some of the show's set pieces and special effects.
• Exploring New Worlds (1080p, 53:58): A comprehensive exploration of project origins and structure with emphasis on characters and how they fit into episode stories and larger arcs.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:47): Humorous moments from the shoot.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Strange New Worlds is the best new TV Star Trek in decades. Enterprise was largely enjoyable, and Discovery can be solid in spurts, but this is consistently excellent and feels more like Star Trek than anything that's released on the small screen since Voyager, and pound for pound it's the best Trek since Deep Space Nine. It's essentially a re-imagining of the TOS timeline with updated visuals while maintaining the essential spirit of Gene Rodenberry's original vision. I can't imagine any die-hard Star Trek fan not at least highly enjoying it, if not outright loving it. Paramount's three-disc Blu-ray is a must buy. Supplements are solid but more important picture and sound are first-rate. This release (and its SteelBook companion) earns my highest recommendation, with the caveat that a UHD will be releasing in just a few weeks.