STAR TREK: PICARD SEASON 3 Blu-ray Review

Review

A bittersweet moment for Star Trek: Picard fans has arrived. The home video release of the outstanding third and final season has arrived. With this final release, which also comes as a Complete Series collections, we potentially say goodbye to Admiral Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. But fear not because now we get to relive the incredible ten episode The Next Generation movie we’ve all been clamouring for since the release of Star Trek: Nemesis.

As a fan who grew up on The Next Generation the chance to spend three more seasons with Picard was a dream come true. But having this final season act as a reunion for the TNG era cast was just inconceivable. So it makes me even more ecstatic to say that this home video release is the perfect way to celebrate what season 3 has meant to both the cast and the fans. For more on my thoughts on the story of season 3, read my original review here.

The three disc set includes all ten episodes from Star Trek: Picard season 3. Each is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio, adding to the cinematic feel of this final run. The 1080p transfer looks great. Details are crisp and sharp throughout. Fine detail in the newly redesigned Starfleet uniforms is fully present and ready for thorough inspection frame-by-frame. Likewise makeup effects such as Worf’s Klingon forehead and Seven-of-Nine’s Borg implants all appear with incredible fidelity.

There is a (rampant) argument amongst fans about the lighting of contemporary Star Trek series. Regardless of your thoughts on the subject, Star Trek: Picard‘s final season appears on disc exactly as it did when premiering on Paramount+ earlier in the year. The lighting is dynamic and certainly reflects the mood on the bridge of the U.S.S. Titan as the crew is plummeting to their doom in the depths of interstellar phenomenon. Those darker moments are contrasted brilliantly by the brightness of the re-created Enterprise-D bridge which appears in the series’ final episodes.

The final season arrives on Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack which is suitably epic. I’ve talked about this in previous Star Trek home video reviews but the atmospherics of these DTS-HD Masters are incredible. Sitting in the centre of the audio field one is surrounded by the beeps of the Titan bridge. It’s impossible not to close your eyes and imagine sitting in the fabled centre seat as life plays out around you. Star Trek: Picard‘s final ten episodes features a heavy mix of action and drama which plays out almost entirely on its two lead ships. Space battles bring the kind of heavier, more dramatic sound that we would anticipate. Whilst conference room scenes are much more delicate and carefully presented.

Star Trek never comes to home video without a plethora of behind-the-scenes content for us to dig in to. This final season comes packed with over two-hours of bonus featuring including the following:

• Audio Commentaries: For “The Next Generation:” Jonathan Frakes, Jerri Ryan, Todd Stashwick, Terry Matalas, Ed Speelers, and Stephen Barton. For Seventeen Seconds:” Gates McFadden Michelle Hurd, and Terry Matalas. “No Win Scenario:” Jonathan Frakes, Todd Stashwick, and Terry Matalas. For The Bounty:” Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, and Terry Matalas. “No Win Scenario:” Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, Ed Speelers, and Terry Matalas.
• The Gang’s All Here (1080p, 19:08): A look at how each of the TNG characters returned to Picard. The piece looks at how the characters were written and evolved and how they were performed. 
• Villainous Vadic (1080p, 20:44): A full-length extra devoted to the season’s primary villain, Vadic, played by Amanda Plummer.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 6:11): Humorous moments from the shoot.
• Picard: The Final Season Q&A (1080p, 42:36): Scott Mantz moderates a huge panel featuring Patrick Stewart, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan Alex Kurtzman, and Terry Matalas.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from “The Bounty:” (2:53) and “Dominion:” (3:02). “Surrender:” (0:47), “Võx:” (3:29), and “The Last Generation:” (1:46).
• The Making of “The Last Generation” (1080p, 42:50): A comprehensive look at characters, story, plot and character dynamics, key scenes, casting, and much more. 
• Rebuilding the Enterprise-D (1080p, 16:54): A wonderful look at practically rebuilding the bridge.

Each of the featurettes goes to painstaking lengths to discuss pulling together this final season. Fans will no doubt gravitate towards the “The Gang’s All Here” and “Rebuilding the Enterprise-D” as these are where the original cast return to shine. Seeing personal moments between them is a real reminder of the magic of The Next Generation and why we love these characters.

As always the best way to end a deep dive in to any season of Star Trek is the gag reel. As always it’s a poignant and hilarious collection of laugh out loud moments from the set that I will no doubt re-watch over and over again as a reminder of just how much fun creating this incredible and difficult season has been.

Verdict

Here we are again, journey’s end. This collection of the final ten episodes of Star Trek: Picard has been lovingly put together and featuring some incredible behind-the-scenes insights with showrunner Terry Matalas and the series’ cast and creative teams.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐