Review: Star Trek Enterprise Season 1 Blu-ray

The first season of Star Trek: Enterprise finally arrives on Blu-ray. Enterprise was the only Trek show to be broadcast in HD but is the third to get the Blu-ray home video treatment. Find out how it turned out in the TrekMovie review below.

 

REVIEW: Star Trek Enterprise Season 1 Blu-ray

 

Transfer

Star Trek: Enterprise was developed for HD (and widescreen) and so it wasn’t (didn’t need to be) remastered for Blu-ray like the original Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Even still, the Blu-ray version looks better than the original broadcast, and obviously much better for the those who hadn’t yet upgraded to HDTVs back in 2001. And the transfer is certainly superior to the 2005 DVD release, and even slightly superior to the HD streaming available on Hulu, Amazon and Netflix.

However, being that they are using the original masters circa 2001, the HD transfer from the original film doesn’t seem to have the richness or vibrancy of the recent TNG Blu-rays. This is due to the technology improving over the last decade. And in the case of the CGI special effects there is a noticeable granularity and some artifacts. This is due to the FX being originally done in 480p or 720p (depending on the scene) which was good enough for broadcast in 2001, but noticeably upscaled for the 1080p Blu-ray.

There are no issues with the sound. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and gives you a better cinematic experience then the original DVDs and broadcast and is equal to what was delivered for the TOS and TNG Blu-ray releases.

Special Features

A highlight of this new release is the collection of special features. The set starts off with all the features from the previous DVD release. On top of that there are four new audio commentaries:  Brannon Braga, James L. Conway, Dan Curry and cast members Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating for “Broken Bow,” André Bormanis and Dan Curry for “Silent Enemy,” Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong for “Shadows of P’Jem,” and finally Brannon Braga, director David Livingston and cast members Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) and Dominic Keating for “Shuttlepod One”). Each case these mixes humor with interesting insight into the making of the episodes and a lot of talk about the series in general. 

There is also a standalone chat with series co-creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga which is the frankest discussion seen on any Star Trek home video release. The pair really open up and cover a lot of issues about Enterprise and about both of their long histories in the franchise. They discuss issues ranging from fan criticisms for “killing Kirk” in Generations to fighting stupid ideas from UPN execs like putting “hot” music bands on Enterprise (playing in the mess hall each week). They even discuss their meetings with William Shatner and explain why he never guest-starred on Enterprise (surprise…Shatner wanted way too much money).

And if that wasn’t enough there is an excellent three-part documentary (“To Boldly Go: Launching Enterprise”) about the making of the show which includes more with Berman and Braga, along with new interview clips with production designer Herman Zimmerman, technical consultants Michael and Denise Okuda, writers Andre Bormanis, Phyllis Strong , James L. Conway and series leads Scott Bakula (“Jonathan Archer”), Connor Trinneer (“Trip Tucker”), and Dominic Keating (“Malcolm Reed”).


Special Feature preview

 

The first part of this doc again includes more frank discussions of the show. For example, fans who have derided the theme song will be surprised to see Braga and others join in the critiques. The first part of the doc also has fascinating insights into the development of the show. I would say that at times Braga and Berman seeming too defensive about the Enterprise. They talk about Star Trek ‘burn out’ and how they actually were against the idea of launching a new show so soon after Voyager ended. They also describe interesting early ideas about how they wanted the show to be more Earth-based but they studio demanded a more traditional Trek show and that the only way to convince the studio to let them change the setting to a prequel was the idea of weaving the “Temporal Cold War” plot into the series.

In addition, the set includes an in-depth look at the making of the episode “Vox Solo” which  was actually shot for a never-broadcast PBS show called “On the Set.” While that show never made it on the air, the feature was very interesting, especially for those who are interested in how TV shows are made. There are also some presentation videos used for the Network and Syndication which are nice to have but not that interesting. And of course all the previously mentioned DVD special features including HD version of the outtakes.

 


Preview of Enterprise S1 Blooper Reel

 

The Show

Star Trek: Enterprise (or just Enterprise as it was called in its first season) was the fifth live-action Star Trek series. After each progressive show had moved the story of Trek further into the future, co-creators Braga and Berman decided it was time for a change so they decided to go back before original Star Trek with a setting in the never-seen before 22nd century. I always thought that the prequel idea was a good one. Not only had we seen enough of the 24th century (21 seasons and 3 feature films with another on the way), but it also brought the show closer to our reality and could make it more grounded than what was seeming more and more like a sterile future with little conflict (within the setting of the Federation).

More important than the setting, were the characters. The variety of different personalities built in to the show was well thought out and (as usual with a Trek show) the producers brought in a very strong cast, led by Scott Bakula as Captain Archer, Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan science officer T’Pol and Connor Trinneer as Chief Engineer Charles “Trip: Tucker. While not ever meshing to the level of the original series of ‘troika’ of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the three were well-defined and had great chemistry.  The first season also made a few attempts to develop character arcs for other main castmembers, with John Billingsley standing out with the limited amount he was given. Enterprise was also gifted with some very strong guest actors and characters, such as regular Trek guest star Jeffrey Combs essentially re-inventing everything we knew about Andorians with his Shran.


Andorians were a fan favorite in “Star Trek Enterprise”

The prequel allowed them to introduce more conflict and more grittiness. In those early years of space exploration, the characters were more likely to make mistakes as they made it up as they went along without the rules, regulation and history of a huge Starfleet backing them up. And while some fans were taken aback by the tensions between Humans and Vulcans, this again was part of the point of doing a prequel. The idea is to show the struggle of creating the United Federation of Planets. So the relationship with Humans and Vulcans had to go through and arc towards that peaceful future (not that humans and Vulcans always got along so well in the original Star Trek either by the way).


Enterprise explored the Vulcans and their path to how we knew them in the original series

The show didn’t always live up to its promise. But I would argue it wasn’t the prequel setting. In fact, problems happened when they didn’t change things up enough. Sometimes the show would feel too much like Voyager with grey paint – just replacing hull-plating for shields and phase-cannons for phasers, etc. While, like all the other post TOS series, the first season is hit and miss there is a lot of entertaining, fun and exciting stuff in the first season of Enterprise.

Sure at times the showed played it a little loose with Star Trek canon, like in the Ferengi episode “Acquisition.” But there was always at least the patina of an explanation, and in the end even that episode was kind of fun.


Ferengi make a surprise appearance “Star Trek Enterprise”

I believe that Enterprise is worth a second look or even a first look for some Star Trek fans that have eschewed this show. If you haven’t seen Enterprise I envy you, in that you have an opportunity to see brand new Star Trek episodes for the first time, and now in beautiful HD. The pilot “Broken Bow” is arguably the strongest of the entire franchise. And there are a number of episodes in Season 1 that live up to goals of making a new and different type of Star Trek show. From the action and political itrigue of “Shadows of P’Jem,” to the creepy and very alien aliens of “Silent Enemy,” to the small character drama of “Shuttlepod One” to name just a few of the very worthy entries in season one.

For myself reviewing the show again, I feel that it is a better series than Star Trek: Voyager and I would go so far as to say that the first season is better than the first seasons of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine (although I admit I would still rank both of those shows higher). But Enterprise is a worthy Star Trek series and I’m happy to have it as part of my collection and look forward to Season Two on Blu-ray

Packaging & Navigation

Season 1 of Star Trek Enterprise comes in similar packaging to the recent Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-rays with a nice sleeve (with the title logo and characters in raised relief). Inside is a standard blue keep case containing the six discs. The content details are printed on the back of the removable disc wallet cover (which is the same design as the sleeve cover).

The navigation animation is actually the best seen so far in for the Blu-ray sets, with a kind of immersive 3D world and Enterprise style controls. Navigating is very simple and straightforward.

st-ent-bd-menus

 

Bottom Line

If you have always been a fan of the series then this set is highly recommended. The series looks better than ever and the new special features will give you great insights into the show. For other Star Trek fans who want to review the show it is certainly worth at least renting (if you can find it available). Star Trek: Enterprise is a worthy member of the Star Trek family and if you skipped it the first time you should give it another chance. Just think of it, there are dozens of brand new Star Trek episodes (in HD) for you to enjoy.

 


 


Trailer for Star Trek Enterprise Season 1 Blu-ray

 

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I always envied Phlox for being able to run through the ship in the nude while the entire crew was asleep. Running through Enterprise in the first place would be flippin cool but naked??

He’s one hell of a denobulan.

You may notice how I sneakily snuck the word ‘first’ in there ;)

Nice!!!!

It’s a shame about how this show got caught up in the whole upn berman politics. it was an excellent take on trek and should have just been broadcast properly where it could have been seen. i remember having to get someone from the US to send me vhs tapes to the UK because god only knows how long I was gonna have to wait to see it here. Excellent casting especially Bakula and the doc.

Excellent review, Anthony. I caught up with Enterprise on Netflix. And now think the show was underrated. Get this. The Supreme Court talks about the destruction of Vulcan was a 9/11 moment. But Enterprise in season three covered a metaphorical 9/11 moment and war on terror with the Xindi stories. The the show went back to stand alone episodes which was a good decision. I loved that variety. Hail Enterprise.

There is a lot of revisionism and sentimentality going on here. The show just was not very good.

When I can get it for $25 at Wal-Mart, then, maybe I’ll pick it up.

Give it a chance MJ!!

Have you seen seasons 3 and 4? I would rate it as being up there with the other treks for sure, particularly the last five or so eps of season three… basically from Azati Prime onwards

Enterprise was, no doubt, the beginning of the end of Star Trek, with the current mess that is Abramstrek being the sad ending, of course. This endless talk of “fatigue” and the need to change for the sake of change that started back then has finally paid off and left intact only the paint of the product, while irreversibly destroying its core. What particularly stands out in Season 1, of course, is the extreme and illogical change of the most beloved alien species of Trek, the Vulcans, to some sort of nasty, angry adversaries that is only topped by the destruction of their civilization in Abramstrek. This piece of mindless, pointless destruction stands, more than anything else, for the pitiful decline of a once great saga.

@Vulcan soul
“What particularly stands out in Season 1, of course, is the extreme and illogical change of the most beloved alien species of Trek, the Vulcans, to some sort of nasty, angry adversaries”

Well thats exactly the point of a Prequel. Showing how it all developped. And 100 years before Kirk the Vulcan society was definetly different than in later years. And by Season 4 you actually got the Vulcans we knew from the later series. That society just went through a transformation process. I liked the story arc. Everybody complains that Enterprise was not differnent enough and should have been bolder, but on the other hand when you actually do something different then writers get angry fans reactions that it does not match with the later series.

I say to this. Many things can change in a 100 years. I never understood the angry fan reactions to the Enterprise-Vulcans.

@MJ
“There is a lot of revisionism and sentimentality going on here. The show just was not very good.”

Yeah, because it got cancelled so early. Enterprise had 2 crappy seasons, 1 solid one, and one that was actually very good (the last season that unfortunately nobody saw)
Think about what the reputation of TNG would have been if it had been cancelled after its 4th season.
It was the same. The first 2 seasons of TNG were horrible, the third was OK, and the series actually found itself with season 4.
If the series had been cancelled at that point, nobody would have remembered TNG as the great show it actually became in its later years.
Enterprise indeed had the potential to become as good as TNG. What a pitty that they did not gave them a chance.

#10

Couldn’t agree more. Well said!

I’m with MJ.

Enterprise just never worked, it was derivative and dull. BSG by contrast was fresh and inventive.

@James Rye

Watch Season 4 of Enterprise. It was “fresh and inventive”

Some very interesting points of view so far…

I remember watching the end of Voyager in Army Cadet camp (a series that I also believe to be under-rated), during the advert break after Endgame had finished (with half the room, of non-trekkies, glued to the TV, the other half crying after what we had seen) the teaser trailer for Enterprise was shown… I remember it being so quiet that you could literally hear a pin drop… then we realised that it was “before Kirk” and the whole room sighed.

This was the series achilles heel, it p*ssed people off before it began because it was a prequel. It should have followed on. When Nemesis came and the ending of that movie leant towards a Titan TV series, it was a further kick in the nuts, because what could have been a great continuation of the franchise and the wider story could not be made because of Enterprise…

A lot of fans I knew, including myself were disillusioned by this decision (whilst that seems petty, it didn’t make any sense) and that it why we didn’t watch the series. I only watched Enterprise a year ago, because one of my friends promised me that “It got really good!”…. in hindsight I wish I had given it a chance, because it is now one of my favourite series and they should make series 5, with a dark gritty build up to the Romulan War!!!

My list of best Trek series:

1) DS9
2) TNG
3) ENT/VOY
4) TOS
5) TAS

(I am 25).

Regards,

Jay

I agree with Broken Bow being a superior pilot. It is an amazing 2 hrs. But the rest of the show just morphed into everything repetitive n lackluster I disliked about Voyager and DS9.

I was disappointed that a “prequel” series didn’t have velour, lasers, and a young Spock…I wanted a weekly “Cage”

@8:
“Enterprise was, no doubt, the beginning of the end of Star Trek, with the current mess that is Abramstrek being the sad ending, of course.”

The end??? Which end are you refering to? That Star Trek was elevated to the level of summer bockbusters, which none of use had been even dreaming about 10 years ago? Of course it’s full of action, sexiness and humor but apart from that, it’s still Star Trek at its core. Trek, especially TOS always had humor, fist-fights and hot girls cled in less. The only difference is they can now afford breathtaking SFX to bring the action to life.

If STID becomes or Skyfall or Dark Knight, Star Trek will finally be one of the big players of blockbuster cinema. Yeah, this is the end… to niche escapism and being ridiculed by the cool guys… The next gen of cool guys will run around in Starfleet-like shirts to impress all those little Uhuras out there… You know what: this IS the future Star Trek has been about back in the 60s… primary colored V-necks are quite fashionable these days, aren’t they?

Ah, memories…the series that killed the franchise.

Dull plots, visuals and lowbrow poopjokes now available in glorious blu-ray you say? No thanks.

What really chafed my butt about Enterprise was the novel series Starfleet: Year One, being canceled due to Enterprise going on the air.

For any of you who didn’t bother reading that novel the gist of it was, that humanity was just reaching practical warp speeds, and the political climate on earth had put scientists and the military up against one another in a competition to see who would command the first Daedalus Class starship.

In contrast to Enterprise, that novel felt a lot more expansive.

Anyone seen the show Defying Gravity with Ron Livingston? The climate on enterprise should have been a lot more like what was happening on the ship in that show. Having public support back home, an actual mission control (even the DVD cover draws symbolic parallels with the apollo missions). The shows first season maybe starting with Hoshi giving some sort of video message back to earth, and the episode unfolding from that. I dunno.

The Xindi 9/11 sub plot thing fell flat, probably because, I felt that they turned Scott Bacula into an analogy for George W. Bush, making tough decisions he *had* to make. I found myself asking aloud, is this Enterprise trying to be the edgy show they said it would be?

People who claim that this show killed the franchise. Fatigue and UPN bullshit killed the franchise, the show was actually pretty good. The problem was people were just sick of Star Trek at the time, it was overkill. Swap ENT and DS9 around in time and people would be complaining that DS9 killed the franchise.

Evidently you have never seen the original series. There was plenty of human-Vulcan tension in that series, especially early on as the crew got used to dealing with Spock.

That was set in the century after Enterprise.

And there was also serious tension in DS9 …

>What particularly stands out in Season 1, of course, is the extreme and illogical change of the most beloved alien species of Trek, the Vulcans, to some sort of nasty, angry adversaries that is only topped by the destruction of their civilization in Abramstrek. This piece of mindless, pointless destruction stands, more than anything else, for the pitiful decline of a once great saga.

One of my favorite shows and I can wait to get all four seasons on Blu-Ray.
It would be awesome if Netflix would produce a season 5, but as mentioned earlier, it would be quite expensive so I believe it will never happen.

I’m glad they went with a prequel instead of another series set in the 24th century, those stories were getting too stale for me. Everything was clean and pristine, I like to see how things came to be.

I didn’t see it mentioned but weren’t the sets from Enterprise saved and sent to Calgary ? Back at the time there were thoughts of a possible direct to DVD production.

i wonder what stuff a season 5 of Enterprise wouldve thrown up (or even season 6 and 7 too)

-Shatner as Kirk (would have to have been some time travel thing – maybe with Mirror Kirk? – as was proposed for the Ent Mirror universe eps originally – the Tantalus field sends people to the past in an alternate universe so older Mirror Kirk could be a victim of his own device and end up in Archers time in the prime universe – they wouldnt have to know hes from the mirror universe)

-More Mirror universe set eps

-Romulan War

-TNG/Time travel – either the Ent crew go into the future and meet TNG crew (although maybe thatd be too close to Yesterdays Ent) or the TNG crew comes back to Ents time – so more of a follow up to Yesterdays Ent – ‘Tomorrows Enterprise’ (‘These Are The Voyages..’ probably wouldnt have been done had Ent not been cancelled so TNG couldve been introduced in a non holodeck way)

– a flashfoward last episode of old Archer (and maybe Tpol) at the launch of the NCC 1701 (maybe with Pike and a young Spock?)

and if Enterprise had been a ratings success and had continued for another 3 seasons there mightve been an Enterprise movie around xmas 2009 (or at least set in that era – like that ‘The Beginning’ trilogy idea) – maybe itd have featured TOS somehow what with the enduring popularity of classic Trek

but now? maybe do a season 5 comic series (IDW)??

Mt Fave Star Trek Enterprise Eps. In a Mirror Darkly 1 and 2. Now that’s just plain FUN!!!

Enterprise is the tragic hero of all the Star Trek series.
TOS was cancelled early, but got its chance to come back with the movies.
The sucess story of TNG is just a miracle. Seriously, the show deserved to get cancelled after the second season. It was so bad! BUt audiences were more patient in those days. But In contrast to Voyager the show got at least better. Like during TNG The quality of Voyager was from the beginning questionable but in contrast to TNG the Voyager never took off.

Like TNG Star Trek Enterprise however was on the right track and just at that point it got cancelled. It would have been better if they had axed the show after the second or third season, because i could have lived with that at that lowpoint. But not after season 4.
What a tragedy.

#24 – you’re right about TOS being cancelled only after 3 seasons, but it really didnt make its comeback from the movies.

it made its comeback during syndication in the 70’s and conventions, writing campaigns etc – fans wanted more of it which led to the proposed Phase II series that never happened then onto The Motion Picture and the rest as they say is history.

I don’t know how any star trek fan would skip watching this, especially if you have watched all the other incarnations. Enterprise was a fantastic series, one of my favs. Can’t wait to pic this up.

The real irony of Enterprise: because it’s “before Kirk “it’s the only Trek that exists in both JJ’s universe and the prime universe.

This is the kind of thing I’d pick up at Big Lots or another discount store for $5, like two years from now.

T’Pol in decon and now on Blu-Ray…enough said.

The FX are actually 480p, unconverted to 1080p on the Blu-ray.

ENTERPRISE’s FX resolution increased during the run of the show. By the 3rd and 4th season the VFX were roughly 1k, which is close to 720p

If they had done the kind of stories they did in season 4 for the rest of the show run, it might have lasted longer. It’s one of the sad aspects of this show–by the 4th season, it was showing some great promise.

#29
Honestly, there are easier and better ways to get nudity on Blu-Ray.

Unless you object to women without a young boy’s haircut.

This show had some high points but not as many as I had hoped. I liked the casting of Bakula but the writing for his character was weak. I never, ever liked the character T’Pol because she was written to be so annoying. Having her start out in the catsuit and remain in it even after she left the VHC was ridiculous; she should’ve been in the same uniform as the rest. Trip, Malcom, and Phlox were great but TPTB gave up on Hoshi and Mayweather for unknown reasons. I liked the Andorian and Tellarite story lines but found the handling of Vulcans to be lacking. The Temporal Cold War had such potential but they dropped it without resolution. I wanted the writers to jump ahead to the Romulan War as that could’ve been the modern analogy of the War on Terror that they were looking for. A fifth season, as Braga mentioned, would need a new Executive Producer to get this show back on track properly.

“There are no issues with the sound. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and gives you a better cinematic experience then the original DVDs and broadcast and is equal to what was delivered for the TOS and TNG Blu-ray releases.”

Actually, TNG–at least the initial The Next Level release–has 7.1 sound.

Appreciate your detailed review! I just finished the first season on Netflix, but I will still pick this up for those awesome sounding bonus features!

Even though I have them all I wish theyd put out a blu-ray dvd of all the first episodes ( really only TOS has pilots ). Throw in a Captians Conference extra. Maybe include Beyond The Farthest Star ( Tas) as a blue ray extra. Oh and bring back the Okudas text commentary.

To all nostalgia driven fans there – I think season 4 was what it was because UPN just let go the controll and allowed fans (Manny Coto) to close it as they wanted. So thats why most of us find it more appealing. Unfortunately S4 was so focused on injokes and world building (or rebuilding) to make it more consistent with TOS that it became too hermetic for anyone not involved with previous incarnations. Abrams’ Trek is guilty of many things but you just have to admit – it is inclusive. And making something so introverted as Star Trek open for general audiences was the only chance for the franchise. In terms of comparisons between weak seasons of TNG and ENT – you got to remember that TNG didn’t have much competition back in the 90’s. With ENT audiences were already exposed to quality storytelling like in X files, Stargate, and even previous Treks. To make things worse another space opera hit big soon after ENT (nBSG). The last Trek just didn’t have a chance caught between stupid ideas of UPN, poor storytelling choices (which we can agree I think was always Trek’s Achilles foot) and its competition. That’s how I see it. But can be totally wrong ;)

I am not an Enterprise fan but for J.Combs alone i would buy It!

8. Vulcan Soul

unfortunately can’ help but agree with a lot of that…but there it wasn’t 100% bad, there were some decent moments – it was just a bit, er, dull overall…and it just felt and looked like it was not more primitive than Trek TOS, they could have been a bit more clever with a cool retro look to the prod design, but instead did as they’ve done with JJverse (apart from the JJuniforms) and made it look too “generic sci-fi for me….

Thanks for the great review. Looking forward to seeing this show again in HD.

Enterprise is one of the greatest shows out there. I can’t really put it into words why it is above the other shows but it simply is. Just humanity gonig out there. Ignoring all the action it is essentially pure Roddenberry.

I am sold…. but we are fans of this show from the very beginning anyway.

@12 “I’m with MJ. Enterprise just never worked, it was derivative and dull. BSG by contrast was fresh and inventive.”

Yep!!!

@13 “Watch Season 4 of Enterprise. It was “fresh and inventive” ”

You mean the season where they killed off the only character that I really liked on the show. And they killed Trip off in a way that brought back the Bermanite crappy death scene for Kirk in Generations. :-(

The latter seasons were more watchable, but that is hardly saying much.

I prefer to think of Enterprise like a brain-fart in the franchise….Enterprise if Trek’s version of The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones.

@44
Stinkers can be found in every season. And yes the final episode was an insult.

“I prefer to think of Enterprise like a brain-fart in the franchise….Enterprise if Trek’s version of The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones.”

Indeed Enterprise could have been better. But its no “Phantom Menace” because its badness does not stand out in a way as if all the other shows were great and just Enterprise was bad. No, the downfall of Star Trek already began with Voyager. I regard the first 3 seasons of Enterprise more like a continuation of Voyager, so its no new “Episode 1.”

Hmm… The Phantom Trek, or The Trek That Dare Not Speak Its Name?

As for Attack of the Clones, that describes most non-TOS Trek!! ;)

@44″.Enterprise if Trek’s version of The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones.”

BTW, Return of the Sith was just as bad as The Phantom Menace & Attack of the Clones!

Enterprise was great!

If you just skip the theme song, you’ll find it’s better then all of Voyager & most of DS9.

I’m glad to see it on blu ray. :)

@48
“If you just skip the theme song”

I liked the song. I dont get it why everybody hates it. Many people complained that Enterprise was not bold enough and was just repetitive. But when they indeed do something new, than the fans are still not satisfied.

i taped the song of the tv once and used to listen to it when working out. it inspired me to some great abs