Star Trek: Nemesis (Widescreen)

The sacrifice of a beloved character is just one of many highlights in Nemesis, the 10th feature in the lucrative Star Trek franchise. Enigmatically billed as the beginning of "A Generation's Final Journey," this richly plotted Next Generation adventure maintains the "even number rule" regarding Trek's feature quality, and it's one of the best in the series. It hits its brisk stride when Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Enterprise-E crew encounter Shinzon (Tom Hardy), a younger clone of Picard, rejected by the Romulans as the human weapon of an abandoned conspiracy. Raised on the nocturnal Romulan sister planet Remus, Shinzon now plots revenge against Romulus and Earth but needs Picard's blood to carry out his scheme. A wedding, a childlike "duplicate" Data named B-4 (Brent Spiner), spectacular space battles, and uncommon acts of valor make this a tautly-paced action thriller, poised to pass the franchise (but not quite yet) to a new generation of Starfleet personnel. Die-hard Trekkers will not be disappointed. --Jeff Shannon

The Nemesis DVD is distinguished by excellent picture and thrilling sound, especially in the starship battle sequences. The bonus features are much more generous than the offerings on previous Star Trek theatrical films other than the two-disc special editions. There are four featurettes (46 minutes total) discussing the casting of Shinzon, development of the story line, shooting the action scenes, and the themes of family and change that run through the film. Director Stuart Baird contributes a commentary track that is a bit dry and sometimes silent. He mentions how he's not a Trek insider and that because he was working in an established setting he didn't have the freedom of creation that directors usually do. He also discusses the mechanics of shooting and points out where certain scenes were shortened or eliminated. Seven of the cut scenes appear on the DVD, some introduced by Baird or Patrick Stewart. They're interesting to see, but none was a great loss from the finished film. --David Horiuchi

After the wedding of Troi and Riker, Captain Picard sets off for Romulus to negotiate a truce, only to find that the Romulans current leader is a clone of himself bent on obtaining his genetic material and destroying Earth.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 20-MAY-2003
Media Type: DVD