Evans Above

Paramount has now released the Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection on 4K and I had the opportunity to check it out. The collection brings together the four TNG films: 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact, 1998’s Star Trek: Insurrection and 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. The movies included are also available individually.

Star Trek: Generations unites Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew with three crew members from the original series, James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), and Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig). Picard and Kirk join forces to stop Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying a star system.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a beautiful transfer with excellent detail from the faces and textiles, to the sets and other scenic elements. Grain is natural and hasn’t been digitally smoothed like in some Paramount releases. The colour palette is pleasing and the HDR gives extra oomph to the ship’s displays and specular highlights. There’s no sign of digital noise or compression artifacts. Black levels are deep and there is no loss of detail in shadows or darker scenes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as a German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track and Spanish, French and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Danish, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish. It’s a great soundscape that plants you in the action with the surrounds providing both ambient sounds and action effects while the subwoofer adds extra power to the sounds of engines and explosions. Dialogue is centred and clear.

The movie is presented on both 4K and Blu-ray and a digital code is included. While the audio commentary and isolated score is present on the 4K, all the extra (from previous releases) are on the Blu-ray disc. There is a nice number of production, effects and Star Trek Universe featurettes as well as deleted scenes and trailers.

Star Trek: First Contact sees the Federation trying to prevent the Borg from reaching Earth. When the Borg head back in time, Picard and the crew must follow to ensure that Earth’s present isn’t changed by the meddling of the Borg in the past.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Everything I said about the first film goes for this one. It’s an excellent video presentation.

On the audio side of things, your ears have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as a German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and French, Japanese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Again, it’s a great soundtrack, immersing you in the action so much that you’ll expect to get a salary from the Federation. Ambient sounds make excellent use of the surrounds, while action effects move seamlessly through the soundscape. Music is powerful and dynamic and the subwoofer adds extra heft to explosions and other assorted rumbles. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The movie is presented on both 4K and Blu-ray discs and there’s a digital code. There are multiple audio commentaries (available on both discs), while the plethora of bonus items are only on the Blu-ray. These include multiple featurettes on the production and Star Trek Universe, as well as trailers.

Star Trek: Insurrection is a more light-hearted entry in the franchise that features roles played by with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe. This time around, the Enterprise heads to rescue Data, who has been on a secret mission to observe the people of Ba’ku. The planet has energies that rejuvenate and the crew uncovers a plot to aid Federation allies the Son’a, a decrepit race dependent on plastic surgery and medicines to ward off aging and death. The rejuvenating particles of Ba’ku has some unintended and humourous effects on the Enterprise crew.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Again, like the previous two, this is an amazing transfer. The film grain is natural and not smoothed digitally, detail is impeccable and the colour palette ranges from popping primaries to the sun-drenched colours of the planet Ba’ku. Black levels are deep and there is no loss of detail in shadows or darker scenes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as a German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and French, Japanese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Like the other discs, it’s an immersive soundscape with good use of the subwoofer and clear and centred dialogue.

The movie is presented on both 4K and Blu-ray discs and there’s a digital code. There are multiple audio commentaries (available on both discs), while the special features are only on the Blu-ray. The featurettes range from pieces on the production and effects, to looks at the Star Trek Universe, deleted scenes and trailers.

The final title in the collection is Star Trek: Nemesis. A slave rebellion puts Shinzon (Tom Hardy) in charge of the Romulan Empire and he makes overtures of peace towards the Federation. The plot involves clones, both human and android, betrayal and sacrifice in this final voyage for the TNG crew.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Once again, this final film in the set delivers an excellent video presentation with excellent detail in all the usual suspects (faces, textiles and locations), a great colour palette, and pleasing film grain. This film is quite dark but there’s no loss of detail in those scenes.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as a German Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and French, Japanese and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. As with the previous films, it’s an excellent audio presentation that fills the surround soundscape with action and ambient sounds. The score is powerful and the dialogue is clear and centred.

The movie is presented on both 4K and Blu-ray discs and there’s a digital code. There are multiple audio commentaries (available on both discs), while the special features are only on the Blu-ray. The featurettes range from pieces on the production and effects, to looks at the Star Trek Universe, deleted scenes and trailers.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection 4K set combines excellent audio and video with a universe of extra features. While fans of the franchise can debate the merits of the individual films (some are loved, some are tolerated), there’s no debate that the presentation is amazing. For people that want the full set of TNG films, this is the set to get. As mentioned, the films are also available as individual 4Ks.

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment has just released Rick and Morty Season 6 in both a standard Blu-ray version and with collectible SteelBook packaging. I had a chance to take a look at the SteelBook. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

Some real world background: Season 6 is a turning point for Adult Swim’s popular animated series. This is (currently) the last season where show creator — and the voice of Rick and Morty — Justin Roiland is involved in the creation of the show. In August of 2020, Roiland was arrested and charged with domestic violence towards an ex-girlfriend. The charges had gone unnoticed by the media until an NBC story on them in January of 2023. A firestorm of press coverage followed and Adult Swim dismissed him from the show. Just as this new release was being sent out, all charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Roiland says he’ll focus on restoring his name.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The animation looks great in this format, with sharp animation lines and a subtle colour palette.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and French and German Dolby Digital 2.0 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, German and Dutch. The soundscape immerses you in the crazy antics of our heroes, with effects whizzing throughout the surround channels. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The ten episodes of Season 6 are all on one Blu-ray disc. There is no digital code. Extras include shorts with details on each episode as well as some production interviews. The collectible SteelBook case features the family on the front and a tentacle-held “Polaroid” version of the cover art on the back.The inside features artwork from one of the episodes.

Fans of the series will want to add the Rick and Morty Season 6 Blu-ray SteelBook to their home entertainment library. Biting humour is teamed with excellent audio and video. Though a standard Blu-ray is available, collectors will want the SteelBook.

The Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a spin-off of Star Trek: Discovery that follows Captain Christopher Pike and the crew starship Enterprise in the decade before the original series. Anson Mount plays Pike, while Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn portray Spock and Number One. The cast is rounded out by Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Celia Rose Gooding, Melissa Navia, Babs Olusanmokun and Bruce Horak. Paramount has just released the ten episode first season and I had the opportunity to check out the Blu-ray SteelBook.

The 1080p AVC encoded digital transfer is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a great looking video presentation with excellent sharpness and detail in textiles, scenery and facial features. The colour palette looks good and ranges from popping primaries to more muted tones. The black levels are deep and with many scenes in darker conditions, there’s no real loss of detail or crushing.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH and French. The surrounds are put to good use with directional effects and ambient sounds while the subwoofer provides a subtle boost to the low end. Dialogue is clear and centred.

The first season’s ten episodes are spread over three discs, with the third disc also holding the bonus materials. In one extra, Anson Mount takes us through his portrayal of Captain Pike. There’s a look at the production design, an exploration of the storylines and characters, commentary by Anson Mount and Akiva Goldsman, deleted scenes and a gag reel. The SteelBook case in this version is golden-hued. On the front, there’s Pike on a hilltop with a large moon and the Enterprise behind him. A silhouette of the cast is on the back. The interior, which has one disc on the left and two staggered discs on the right, depicts a planetary landscape.

The Star Trek: Strange New Worlds — Season One Blu-ray SteelBook combines excellent audio and video with stories that echo the style of the original series that it’s a prequel to. Add in an attractive SteelBook case and this earns a recommendation from me.

Damien Chazelle’s Babylon takes a long look at the excesses of Hollywood in the 1920s. I mean a long look. As in three hours and nine minutes. Maybe it was the runtime that scared people away and turned the movie into a box office bomb. Damien Chazelle’s creation split the critics (with a 56% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences stayed away. It’s audacious. It’s crazy. But in a world of increasingly repetitive superhero movies, can’t we entertain a little audacious and crazy in our life? The movie, which stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li, is getting a 4K SteelBook from Paramount Home Entertainment and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. Babylon was shot on film and the 4K digital transfer looks gorgeous with a pleasing light grain. Details are sharp and abundant from the costumes and sets to the locations and facial features. The colour palette is bold and the HDR gives an added boost to specular highlights. Black levels are nice and deep and there’s no loss of detail in shadows or darker scenes. There’s no apparent compression artifacts or digital noise.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of English Dolby Atmos soundtrack as well as English Descriptive Audio, and French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Cantonese, Danish, Spanish, French, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and Thai. The soundtrack shines with the heights and surrounds placing you into the movie’s world with effects and environmental sounds. The score is powerful and dynamic and dialogue is clear and centred with the low-end frequencies adding punch to both the action and the score.

Babylon comes in a three-disc set, with the 4K, a Blu-ray copy and a separate Blu-ray for the bonus features. A digital code is also included. The extras on the bonus disc include a half-hour look at various aspects of the production, pieces on the costumes and score and several deleted scenes. The collectible SteelBook case isn’t much of a showstopper. The black case features the cast in a circular display on the front and a shattering champagne glass on the back. On the inside, there’s a photo of a scene from the film. One disc is on the left, with two other discs stacked on the right side.

Damien Chazelle’s Babylon is an audacious look at the cinema industry in the 1920s. The physical media release pairs gorgeous video with excellent audio. The extra are a bit light and the SteelBook case is underwhelming, so though I’m recommending this, you might want to go for the non-SteelBook version if that’s not important to you.

In Blue’s Big City Adventure, Josh gets a chance to audition for Rainbow Puppy’s Broadway show, so he and Blue skidoo off to the Big Apple. When they get lost, they need the help of their friends, including Steve and Joe, Blue’s previous companions on the show. Full of songs and familiar characters, the 74 minute movie will entertain fans. Paramount Home Entertainment is releasing this Nickelodeon movie on DVD and I had a chance to take a look.

On the video side, this is a nice looking DVD with as much sharpness as the format allows. At its 74 minute length, there’s room to breathe on the disc, so there’s no evidence of compression artifacts. The colour palette is bright and full of vibrant primaries. The live-action and computer-generated animation blend seamlessly.

On the audio side, the disc comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo track. Subtitles are available for English. The music is bright and dynamic, the dialogue and songs are clear and centred and there is some light surround action.

The single DVD disc does not come with a digital code. As for extras, there are some sing-a-longs, a hide-and-seek in NYC and Blue finding some clues.

Blue’s Big City Adventure is a fun and cheerful film that will entertain its audience. Bright and colourful with singing and dancing, this DVD will please young fans of the show.

Paramount Home Entertainment has just released Rugrats: Season 1: Volume 2 on DVD and I had a chance to take a look. This is part of the 2021 computer-animated reboot of the popular Nickelodeon series from the 1990s and follows the adventures of one-year-old Tommy Pickles and his friends and family. The show has a great voice cast that features E. G. Daily, Nancy Cartwright, Kath Soucie, Cheryl Chase, Cree Summer, Tommy Dewey, Ashley Rae Spillers, Anna Chlumsky, Timothy Simons, Natalie Morales, Tony Hale, Michael McKean, Nicole Byer and Omar Benson Miller.

This set features twelve episodes spread over the two-disc set. The computer-animation is crisp and detailed and the colour palette ranges from brighter primaries to more muted tones that fit the scenes well, especially in the Halloween episode. It’s a really nice looking disc.

On the audio side, there’s an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track as well as French and Spanish Dolby Digital Stereo tracks. Subtitles are available for English. The track does have nice use of the surrounds and the dialogue is clear and centred.

The set does not come with a Digital code. With great audio and video and an excellent voice cast, Rugrats: Season 1: Volume 2 is a good addition to your home entertainment library.

The 1990 film House Party, which starred Kid and Play, was inducted in 2022 into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry as a “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” film. The 2023 remake, which lists LeBron James as one of its producers, doesn’t have that honour in its future. Warner Brothers has just released the film on Blu-ray and DVD. Many reviewers have received DVD copies, presumably so as not to throw good money after bad. I received a DVD copy and as the WB likes disclaimers, here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

The movie stars Tosin Cole and Jacob Latimore as two friends working as house cleaners as they struggle to make it as party promoters. They’re both facing big bills and need money ASAP. When they learn they’re being fired from their cleaning jobs, they decide to throw a massive party at the house they’re working on, hoping that the cover charge will settle their debts. It just so happens that the house belongs to LeBron James and that’s where the fireworks start. Well, damp fireworks. It’s not that House Party is truly awful — you’ll laugh occasionally — it’s just that it’s the type of film you’ll forget before the end credits are over.

As mentioned, I was given a DVD to review, so in this format it doesn’t have amazing detail. The colour palette is fine and though some detail is lost in the shadows and dark scenes, it’s not like there’s a ton of crushing either.

On the audio side, House Party comes with English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and subtitles. Dialogue is clear and the bass pounds during the music elements.

The DVD does not come with a digital code, nor are there any extras.

If you simply must watch House Party, I’d recommend catching it on a streaming service.

Warner Brothers is releasing Antoine Fuqua’s 2001 movie Training Day on 4K. The movie, which earned Denzel Washington a Best Actor Oscar, stars Washington as Alonzo Harris, a veteran undercover narcotics officer assigned to train rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke). The two men have different views of justice. Whereas Hoyt is idealistic, Harris’ view of the world is, well, different and that sets up the clash of values that permeates throughout this gritty film. I had a chance to look at the disc. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with HDR10 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. This remastered 4K looks great, with clarity and detail in the facial features, textiles and environments. A natural layer of grain is present and the black levels and HDR really preserves details in the shadows and darker scenes without any crushing. The colour palette is natural with an edge towards green and teal tones. It’s an excellent video presentation.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby Atmos that folds back to English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, as well as French Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, and German, Italian, Czech and Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian, Romanian, and Swedish. The soundscape puts you into the downtown LA scene with ambient and action effects moving throughout the surrounds with the Atmos height channels adding to certain scenes. The low-end of the mix adds power to gunshots, engine rumbles and the bass in the soundtrack. The score sounds great and dialogue is clear, centred and well prioritized in the mix.

The 4K set comes with a Blu-ray disc as well and a digital code. As for extras, the set comes with standard definition features from the original DVD release. While the audio commentary from director Antoine Fuqua appears on the 4K, the rest are on the Blu-ray. They include an alternate ending, deleted scenes, a “Crossing the Line featurette, a couple of music video, and the theatrical trailer.

The Training Day 4K combines Denzel Washington’s award-winning performance with excellent audio and video. I’d recommend adding it to your home entertainment library.

Frank Grillo teams up again with writer/director John Swab after the two previously worked together on Ida Red and Body Brokers. This time around their flick is Little Dixie, which is getting a DVD and VOD release from Paramount.

Grillo plays Doc, an ex-Special Forces member who now acts as the liaison between a Mexican cartel and the corrupt Oklahoma governor they’ve been in a truce with, Richard Jeffs (Eric Dane), an old military buddy of Doc’s. Despite protests from his Chief of Staff, Billie (Annabeth Gish), Jeffs launches a tough-on-crime initiative that includes the execution of a cartel leader. When the dead man’s brother, Lalo (Maurice Compte), seeks revenge, he sends a tough enforcer, Cuco (Beau Knapp), to take care of Jeffs. Doc must spring into action, but matters are complicated when his daughter becomes a chess piece in the deadly game. Swab and Grillo leave a path of destruction and death in their wake during this low budget action film. It’s bloody and violent, but if revenge is a genre you like, Little Dixie may be for you.

The DVD video presentation is good, with as much detail as that format allows though some scenes here and there feel a bit soft. Detail is sometimes lost in the darker scenes.

On the audio side of things, the disc comes with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and English subtitles. The disc does not come with a digital code and there are no special features.

Little Dixie is a B movie that knows its position in the cinema universe. Aware it doesn’t have any lofty goals, Little Dixie serves up violence, action and revenge to fans of the genre.

Director Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans is a very personal film for the director. Echoing his childhood and love of film, he had been thinking about the idea for decades but was wary to make it then as he didn’t want elements of the story to hurt his parents. When both his parents had passed, he felt it was the time to tell the story. Universal has released the movie on 4K and I had a chance to take a look.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K digital transfer with Dolby Vision and HDR10 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. It’s a beautiful presentation with excellent clarity and detail in facial features, textiles, sets and environments. The colour palette is natural and pleasing though skin tones sometimes appear a little cold. The HDR helps punch up some of the tones and specular highlights. Black levels are deep and detail is not lost in the darker scenes, which is very important in this film as so many scenes take place in darkened rooms lit only by a projector. There’s no sign of digital noise or compression artifacts.

On the audio side of things, you have the choice of an English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack as well as a Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 track and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track. Subtitles are available for English SDH, French, and Spanish. The soundscape uses the surrounds to put you into the scenes in a natural way. This isn’t a pounding action film, but the subwoofer adds a nice natural presence to various moments. John Williams’ score is lush and dynamic and dialogue is clear and centred.

Besides the 4K disc, the set comes with a Blu-ray copy and a digital code. Three extras cover the personal journey in writing and producing the film, a look at the casting, and a piece covering various elements of the production.

The Fabelmans is a love letter to Spielberg’s family and his passion for cinema. Wonderful performances coupled with excellent audio and video means The Fabelmans is highly recommended.

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