After recently completing its fourth and final season on UPN, the maiden voyage of STAR TREK ENTERPRISE (2001) was released on DVD (Paramount Home Ent., $129.99) on May 3, 2005. ENTERPRISE represents the franchises first prequel, set 100 years before the original series. Capt. Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) assembles the first crew to venture precariously into deep space, and is noteworthy for establishing the whole STAR TREK premise and ethos, including early, testy relationships with Vulcans and Klingons along with the introduction of early technology (such as the Phase Pistol). Like all of the modern STAR TREKS, this one takes a season or more to come into its own, but stands out for its emphasis on human frailty and very sophisticated digital effects from a host of companies guided by vfx producer/supervisor Dan Curry (including Eden FX, CIS Hollywood, Foundation Imaging, Illusion Arts, Manex Visual Effects and Strange Engine, among others).
Bonus features for the seven-disc set include:
* Featurette: Creating Enterprise* A profile of Scott Bakula: O Captain! My Captain!* Cast Impressions: Season One* Inside Shuttlepod One* Star Trek Time Travel: temporal cold wars and beyond* Enterprise Secrets (using high-tech to replicate low-tech)* Admiral Forrest takes center stage* Bloopers and deleted scenes
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
