Over the years I’ve written extensively about the whole “Star Trek” phenomenon. I have enjoyed the many incarnations of the series and subsequent movies, but I am not what you would consider a hardcore fan. I don’t generally go to conventions or dress up as my favorite Klingon, I just like watching the show. Because of this I have probably been more forgiving of its failures and less judgmental of its gaffes. I have found things to like about all of the various casts, and genuinely like most of the feature films. I have agreed in the past with the legend of the odd / even number films (odd being bad – even being good), but that went out the door with Star Trek VI: Generations, which was an overall really good movie (with the exception of the incredibly weak demise of Captain Kirk.). The most recent feature film, and quite possibly last, “Nemesis”, took an undeserved beating by the fans and critics when it came out.

I say undeserved because I thought it was one of the better written Trek films, with the exception of Klingon Security Officer Worf’s continued descent into clown-hood. The story was quite dark and hit upon some fairly deep political ideals that were relevant at the time.

In “Nemesis”, we find the crew of the Enterprise invited to a negotiation intended to end the aggression between the Federation and the Romulans. What they are unaware of is a plot by a disgruntled race led by the enigmatic Shinzon (Tom Hardy) to destroy the Romulans and Earth because of years of slavery under Romulan rule. Shinzon also has a deep dark secret (that is known to anyone who has seen the film) that threatens any attempt by Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) to stop him.

Aside from the dark nature of the film, it also brings about a sense of closure to the “Next Generation” crew with the marriage of Riker (Jonathon Frakes) and Troi (Marina Sirtis) as well as Riker’s impending Captaincy. We also see the demise of a beloved character who… well I’d go deeper into the plot but have no desire to give out any spoilers.

Paramount has been releasing all of the Star Trek films in new 2-disc special edition sets, each offering a cornucopia of special features. “Nemesis” follows suit with a ton of its own special features. First off there are two audio commentaries, one by director Stuart Baird and the other by producer Rick Berman. While both have quite a bit to say about the creation of the film, there is a lot of dead space. It might have been a better idea to put the two together and allow them to speak in am ore conversational tone. Also present is the always welcome text commentary by the Okudas (Michael & Denise). Between these two, they know EVERYTHING about the Star Trek Universe and their text commentaries are often the most welcome and informative of any Trek DVD feature.

There are also several sections of Behind the Scenes featurettes, which offer hours of background material. Some of these include a half hour documentary full of interviews, several stand-alone interviews with director Baird, storyboard artist Tom Southwell, stunt coordinator Rich Minga and art director Donald Woodruff. You’ll even find a screen test for Tom Hardy, who plays the evil Shinzon. As the featurettes move forward we start getting into designs for the Reman battle cruiser and the Enterprise E, and a detailed look into the history and politics of the Romulans. Add to these several deleted scenes, photographs, storyboards and the like and you have yet another impressive Star Trek release from Paramount.

I strongly recommend giving “Nemesis” another look if you were one of the fans who derided it when it was initially released. I honestly think it is a much better film than it was given credit for.

Directed by: Stuart Baird
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathon Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis
Extras: Commentary by producer Rick Berman, Commentary by director Stuart Baird, Text commentary by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, Nemesis Revisited, New Frontiers: Stuart Baird on directing Nemesis, Storyboarding the action, Red Alert! Shooting the action, Build and Rebuild, Four-wheeling in the final frontier, Shinzon screen test, A Star Trek family's final journey, A bold vision of the final frontier, The Enterprise E, Romulan Lore, Shinzon and the Viceroy, Romulan design, The Romulan Senate, The Scimitar, Deleted scenes, Archives: Storyboards, production, props, Theatrical and teaser trailers,
Specifications: Widescreen, DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 10/4/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (For Sci-Fi Action Violence and Peril and a Scene of Sexual Content)
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We'll give Star Trek: Nemesis a B+.