Star Trek

When the Romulan Nero (Bana) comes from the future to take revenge on the Federation, rivals Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto) must work together to stop him from destroying everything they know. On a thrilling journey filled with incredible action, the new recruits of the U.S.S. Enterprise will voyage through unimaginable danger in one of the biggest and most critically acclaimed movies of the year. Based upon Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry. (Tricia Spears)

Special features on Disc One, which features the movie, include commentary by J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelop, and Roberto Orci; BD-Live; and upfront previews. Disc Two includes the following featurettes: "To Boldly Go" (SD 16:41), "Casting" (SD 28:53), "A New Vision" (SD 19:31), "Starships" (HD 24:33), "Aliens" (SD 16:30), "Planets" (HD 16:10), and "Props And Costumes" (HD 09:22), all of which give you the choice of watching individual pods, playing them all together as one featurette, or playing an extended version, where you have the option of branching out to additional video content when prompted. Additional featurettes include: "Ben Burtt And The Sounds Of Star Trek" (HD 11:45), "Score" (SD 06:28), and "Gene Roddenberry's Vision" (HD 08:47). There are also nine deleted scenes with optional commentary by Abrams, Burk, Kurtzman, and Lindelof; a Starfleet Vessel Simulator, where you are given the chance to explore extensive data on the U.S.S. Enterprise and the Romulan ship, the Narada; a gag reel (SD 06:22); and trailers.

The 2.40:1 1080p AVC picture is wonderfully engaging, with spectacular visuals depicting uncharted worlds and space. Contrast is excellent, and the picture displays deep and solid blacks and nicely delineated shadow depth. Colors are richly rendered, with warm and vibrant hues that convey a natural visual character. Fleshtones are perfectly natural and revealing of facial tonal variations. Resolution is generally satisfying, though, the overall visual impression is soft. Still, at times, facial and object features during close-ups depict fine detail. This is a terrific visual experience and is certain to mesmerize. (Gary Reber)

The Dolby® TrueHD 5.1-channel soundtrack is terrific, with an aggressively enveloping soundfield driven by an impressively active orchestral music score and directionalized sound effects. The music presents a wide and deep soundstage and a dynamic presence that is impressively suspended within the soundfield, though, not overpoweringly so. Bass extension is excellent, with deep low-frequency extension in all channels, especially at times below 25 Hz in the .1 LFE channel. Bass energy can be system threatening, and the SPL can be highly energized in all channels. Dialogue is production sound or ADR and sounds, at times, slightly subdued, though, mostly well-integrated spatially, but not always. At times intelligibility is slightly chesty, veiled, and wanting. The dialogue weighs down the soundtrack in this regard. Otherwise, this is a wonderful, aggressively holosonic® engaging soundtrack. (Gary Reber)