Star Trek Enterprise: The Complete Series

 

 

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As a long time Trek and Science Fiction fan I watched this from the first episode. By the middle of the second season the show had hit it's stride, and aside from what I consider a below par last episode, was consistently excellent. I know far too many Trek fans who never watched it, considering it wrong to set the series before the original, the irony is all those people watch it in syndication, and love it. I know many non Trek fans who began watching it in the afternoon, and enjoy it. All of this reminds me so much of the series of events which befell the original Star Trek. The writing was uneven in the first season, but by the second each character had developed their voice. The third season story arc about an attack on Earth brought the acting and writing to the highest level. To me, Jolene Blalock and her portrayal of the brave and loyal Vulcan second oficer Commander T'Pol is the resonant moral compass and yes, emotional heart of a show, like all Science Fiction, about the human condition.

This edition to the Star Trek saga is interesting because it confronts ethical dilemmas in a rather 'open-ended' way. This is quite different from "The Next Generation" or "Voyager" both of which are about restraint and non-interference in the 'life-ways' of inter-planetary cultures.

Captain Archer and his crew often stumble in their attempts to define the as yet unwritten 'Prime Directive' and in doing so, reveal the American cultural origins of the show. This is the only show of all the Star Trek series (with the exception of Kirk and his crew) that reveals more about an American perspective of the world, much like the wild west mythology that is so inscribed in the American narrative of self-justification.

The cast is not as strong as "Deep Space Nine" or "Voyager," but a few characters are well defined. Jolene Blalok as T'Pol and John Billingsley as Dr. Phlocks are interesting actors, as is Scott Bakula as Captain Archer.

The production values are clearly higher, as they've shot this quite lovingly with interesting lighting plots. Special effects are reasonably muted to make the technology appear authentic to the late 22nd Century. They've also taken care of the sound design, much more so than "The Next Generation."

We are enjoying the series, only wish Paramount had decided to continue it beyond the 4 seasons. We are now looking forward to purchasing "Andromeda: Slipstream" when it is reissued.

Quickly: one of my favouite Star Trek Series when it launched, went somewhere odd, they finally had it in season 4 but then got cancelled.

Summary: the bizzarre before Kirk Star Trek. Bizzarre because all the technology and effects look so much cooler then the original series. Wait a minute, isn't that what happened to Star Wars.... Anyroad, the story of the First Starship Enterprize, who's mission you all know, until season Two when they become a battleship.

The Good: the cast is pretty top notch. They seemed to adapt to their rolls more quickly then any of the other recent series (don't know what I am talking about, check out season one of TNG). The whole make referance to the other series things really geeked me and I liked it. Especially in the fourth season, and the Klingon Brow Ridge explanation. The effects were pretty good for a TV series. I actually wished this would keep going by the time I finished the 4th season, whereas when I started I was more watching it as a lark.

The Bad: The special effects could be better. There were way to many glaringly CG scenes. Yeah I know all starship combat will be done in CG but you don't have to make it look like a PS1 game. The overall storyline just didn't do it for me, especially the whole Xindi thing. I loved the concept of seeing Enterprize as a warship with marines and all, but they just didn't do anything that cool with it. An entire series 10 seasons long on the Kingon War would have been cooler.

The Ugly: there are some real lame episodes. The Zombie Vulcan episode being the worst, closely followed by they Zombie Vulcan Crack Whore Episode. The final farewell episode was so lame it still hurts. Don't put Maria Sertis back in that outfit again! (Sorry to the fanboys if I am spelling things wrong, I'm a Starwarsian, not a Trekkie/Trekker). The packaging and DVD features. OMG this is a series for the geekiest of the geeks and it comes in the most retarded packaging. It just shows that a bunch of executives sat around a table and said, "What will the geeks that like this crap like" and someone said "Lets make the packaging look sci-fi, but not spend any money or development on it", and then they all went "Amazing idea, top notch, you deserve a promotion" and produced the dumbest packaging ever. You can't even tell which season each plastic casing contains. Toss in a silly sleve, a booklet that falls out every time you open the sleeves, DVDs made of the most brittle plastic so they break while inserting them back into the case, and a case nearly as brittle that will amaze you if you don't break at least one of them before you finish the series.

Overall: I enjoyed the series better then I thought I would, and am actually sorry that it's over. I would gladly watch more. They did some interesting things and they did some dumb things. The nods to the other series really made me happy and I though that Archer is one of the best captains yet portraid. I wish they had spent more time on the series then they did on the aweful packaging and DVD features though.

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5.0 out of 5 stars * Best Star Trek Series Ever *
*****

Star Trek: Enterprise (TV Series)

Original Run: September 26, 2001 - May 13, 2005

Plot Summary:
A prequel series, set 100 years before... Read more

Published 10 months ago by writer_cas

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice
Great TV series, to bad that it got canceled I was really starting to enjoy this at the end of season 4

I wish they would make a better box set then what this came in,... Read more

Published on Feb 12 2010 by Anthony D

4.0 out of 5 stars To go BACK??
This show is very interesting. While it is sad when ANY show gets cancelled, it hurts a bit more when it's Trek. This show wasn't the greatest, wasn't the worse. Read more

Published on April 24 2006 by Jeff

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