As
I stated in my review of season one, I am a fan of STAR TREK: VOYAGER,
even though I don’t consider it to be the best of the series that bear
the Trek moniker. STAR TREK: VOYAGER proved to be a generally
entertaining series that suffer under the weight of being the flagship
show of the fledgling United Paramount Network (UPN). For me, the show
seemed like it was trying too hard to appeal to a broad demographic base
and lacked the dark edgy quality (especially during the early seasons)
that made DEEP SPACE NINE, the best of all the STAR TREK
series. However, across the first few seasons, there were some darker
episodes that stood out and demonstrated the series storytelling potential
when the crew of Voyager would eventually encounter the nastiest of all
Trek villains at the end of season three, namely The Borg.
Season
two of STAR TREK: VOYAGER offers a better ratio of stronger to
weaker episodes than the first. However those weaker episodes generally
featured an alien race known as the Kazon, who served as the primary
antagonists during the second season. For my money, the Kazon were
uninteresting villains, which tended to drag down episodes in which they
appeared. Of course, during the early days of Voyager’s trek across the
Delta Quadrant, the Starfleet crew had a few run ins with the organ
harvesting Vidiians, a genuinely menacing race of aliens that seemed to
make the impending seventy five year trip home to the Alpha Quadrant a lot
more dangerous. Sure, the Vidiians weren’t The Borg, but episodes in
which they showed their ugly faces were always entertaining.
STAR
TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO ($130) comes to DVD in a seven-disc set that
features all twenty-six episodes that were aired in that second year. The
twenty-six featured episodes are as follows: The 37's,Initiations,Projections,Elogium,Non Sequitur,Twisted,Parturition,Persistence Of Vision,Tattoo,Cold Fire,Maneuvers,Resistance,Prototype,Alliances,Threshold,Meld,Dreadnought,Deathwish,Lifesigns,Investigations,Deadlock,Innocence,The Thaw,Tuvix,Resolutions andBasics (Part 1). The STAR TREK: VOYAGER ship’s crew
features Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway, Robert Beltran as
Commander Chakotay, Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Jennifer
Lien as Kes, Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris, Ethan Phillips
as Neelix, Robert Picardo as The Doctor, Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok and
Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all twenty-six episodes from STAR TREK:
VOYAGER- SEASON TWO available on DVD in the proper full screen aspect
ratios of their original television broadcasts. The visual quality of
season two is comparable to season one, which was quite good for an
effects laden television series of this type. Improvements in mid 1990’s
production techniques certainly gave VOYAGER a visual edge over THE
NEXT GENERATION and DEEP SPACE NINE. Season two episodes appear
reasonably sharp and nicely defined, not a theatrical levels, but quite
good for a television production. Colors are vivid and stable, without any
significant fuzziness or noise to mar reproduction of even the most
intense hues. Blacks are stable, whites are clean and contrast is good,
even if it is limited to the broadcast television level. Even with four
episodes on a dual layer disc, digital compression artifacts are always
nicely camouflaged.
All
the episodes that comprise STAR TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO have been
upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtracks. Considering the quality
of the mixes, all of the tracks would appear to be based upon pre-matrixed
surround sound stems. Certainly cleaner and better defined than they
sounded upon initial broadcast, the sound still maintains the flavor of a
1990’s era television production. Much of the time, the forward
soundstage tends to dominate, although episodes with space battles and
other bits of action do engage the surround channels on a more frequent
basis. Sound effects are solid and convincing, while there is strong
musical fidelity offered for each episode’s score. Dialogue is cleanly
rendered, with complete intelligibility. The bass channel provides is
solid enough for episodic television productions, but it doesn’t
approach the depths of a theatrical feature. English Dolby Surround
soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVDs, as are English subtitles.
..
.
3-D animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s attractively
designed interactive menus, which provide access to the set up and episode
selection features, as well as the supplemental materials, most of which
are presented on disc seven of the set. Diverging from the standard
supplemental feature set is a special version of the episode The
37's, which includes text trivia- a great concept that should be
refined a bit more, but definitely deployed on more episodes in the
future- especially those featuring The Borg.
Braving
The Unknown: Season Two is a sixteen minute program that features
interviews with production team members who reflect on the show’s
sophomore year. Voyager Time Capsule: Tuvok features actor
Tim Russ in a thirteen-minute profile of his character. Saboteur
Extraordinaire: Seska spends six minutes with actress Martha
Hackett, who discusses her traitorous Cardassian character. A Day In
The Life Of Ethan Phillips clocks in seven minutes and shows the
daily rituals of the actor with the show’s most extensive makeup. Red
Alert: Visual Effects is a twelve-minute look at… you guessed
it. Real Science With Andre Bormanis is an eleven-minute
examination of the feasible science and theories in the STAR TREK:
VOYAGER universe. A photo gallery, plus a trailer for Las Vegas
attraction Borg Invasion 4D close out the supplements.
With
a solid number of stronger episodes, season two of STAR TREK: VOYAGER
is definite a step up from the show’s freshman year. As for the STAR
TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO DVD collection, Paramount has done another
fine job, providing a great looking presentation, solid sound and
interesting supplements. If you are a Trek fan, you’ll want to add this
set to your Starfleet library.
As
I stated in my review of season one, I am a fan of STAR TREK: VOYAGER,
even though I don’t consider it to be the best of the series that bear
the Trek moniker. STAR TREK: VOYAGER proved to be a generally
entertaining series that suffer under the weight of being the flagship
show of the fledgling United Paramount Network (UPN). For me, the show
seemed like it was trying too hard to appeal to a broad demographic base
and lacked the dark edgy quality (especially during the early seasons)
that made DEEP SPACE NINE, the best of all the STAR TREK
series. However, across the first few seasons, there were some darker
episodes that stood out and demonstrated the series storytelling potential
when the crew of Voyager would eventually encounter the nastiest of all
Trek villains at the end of season three, namely The Borg.
Season
two of STAR TREK: VOYAGER offers a better ratio of stronger to
weaker episodes than the first. However those weaker episodes generally
featured an alien race known as the Kazon, who served as the primary
antagonists during the second season. For my money, the Kazon were
uninteresting villains, which tended to drag down episodes in which they
appeared. Of course, during the early days of Voyager’s trek across the
Delta Quadrant, the Starfleet crew had a few run ins with the organ
harvesting Vidiians, a genuinely menacing race of aliens that seemed to
make the impending seventy five year trip home to the Alpha Quadrant a lot
more dangerous. Sure, the Vidiians weren’t The Borg, but episodes in
which they showed their ugly faces were always entertaining.
STAR
TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO ($130) comes to DVD in a seven-disc set that
features all twenty-six episodes that were aired in that second year. The
twenty-six featured episodes are as follows: The 37's, Initiations,
Projections, Elogium, Non Sequitur,
Twisted, Parturition, Persistence Of Vision,
Tattoo, Cold Fire, Maneuvers, Resistance,
Prototype, Alliances, Threshold,
Meld, Dreadnought, Deathwish, Lifesigns,
Investigations, Deadlock, Innocence,
The Thaw, Tuvix, Resolutions and
Basics (Part 1). The STAR TREK: VOYAGER ship’s crew
features Kate Mulgrew as Captain Kathryn Janeway, Robert Beltran as
Commander Chakotay, Roxann Dawson as Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Jennifer
Lien as Kes, Robert Duncan McNeill as Lieutenant Tom Paris, Ethan Phillips
as Neelix, Robert Picardo as The Doctor, Tim Russ as Lieutenant Tuvok and
Garrett Wang as Ensign Harry Kim.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all twenty-six episodes from STAR TREK:
VOYAGER- SEASON TWO available on DVD in the proper full screen aspect
ratios of their original television broadcasts. The visual quality of
season two is comparable to season one, which was quite good for an
effects laden television series of this type. Improvements in mid 1990’s
production techniques certainly gave VOYAGER a visual edge over THE
NEXT GENERATION and DEEP SPACE NINE. Season two episodes appear
reasonably sharp and nicely defined, not a theatrical levels, but quite
good for a television production. Colors are vivid and stable, without any
significant fuzziness or noise to mar reproduction of even the most
intense hues. Blacks are stable, whites are clean and contrast is good,
even if it is limited to the broadcast television level. Even with four
episodes on a dual layer disc, digital compression artifacts are always
nicely camouflaged.
All
the episodes that comprise STAR TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO have been
upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtracks. Considering the quality
of the mixes, all of the tracks would appear to be based upon pre-matrixed
surround sound stems. Certainly cleaner and better defined than they
sounded upon initial broadcast, the sound still maintains the flavor of a
1990’s era television production. Much of the time, the forward
soundstage tends to dominate, although episodes with space battles and
other bits of action do engage the surround channels on a more frequent
basis. Sound effects are solid and convincing, while there is strong
musical fidelity offered for each episode’s score. Dialogue is cleanly
rendered, with complete intelligibility. The bass channel provides is
solid enough for episodic television productions, but it doesn’t
approach the depths of a theatrical feature. English Dolby Surround
soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVDs, as are English subtitles.
..
Braving
The Unknown: Season Two is a sixteen minute program that features
interviews with production team members who reflect on the show’s
sophomore year. Voyager Time Capsule: Tuvok features actor
Tim Russ in a thirteen-minute profile of his character. Saboteur
Extraordinaire: Seska spends six minutes with actress Martha
Hackett, who discusses her traitorous Cardassian character. A Day In
The Life Of Ethan Phillips clocks in seven minutes and shows the
daily rituals of the actor with the show’s most extensive makeup. Red
Alert: Visual Effects is a twelve-minute look at… you guessed
it. Real Science With Andre Bormanis is an eleven-minute
examination of the feasible science and theories in the STAR TREK:
VOYAGER universe. A photo gallery, plus a trailer for Las Vegas
attraction Borg Invasion 4D close out the supplements.
With
a solid number of stronger episodes, season two of STAR TREK: VOYAGER
is definite a step up from the show’s freshman year. As for the STAR
TREK: VOYAGER- SEASON TWO DVD collection, Paramount has done another
fine job, providing a great looking presentation, solid sound and
interesting supplements. If you are a Trek fan, you’ll want to add this
set to your Starfleet library.