Review – Star Trek: Alternate Realities

This week sees the latest Star Trek fan collective DVD box set to be released in the UK. Titled ‘Alternate Realities’, this 5 disc collection features 20 of the best (and the odd worst) episodes taken from all five Star Trek incarnations. The Alternate Realities collection comprises of the following themed Star Trek collectives, Mirror Universe, Parallel Dimensions, Twisted Realities and Alternate Lives.

The first disc kick starts the best of the mini “collectives” – Mirror Universe. These episodes feature the characters from “our” universe interacting with their counterparts in a parallel “Mirror Universe”. The actors’ from the Mirror Universe, especially those from Deep Space Nine, are given the opportunity to go all out with some outrageous performances. Seeing the characters’ Mirror counterparts behave in complete contradiction to how we normally see them, is extremely entertaining. Kira Nerys’ and Benjamin Sisko’s counterparts are of note: Kira is a cruel, playfully vain bisexual nymphet and Sisko, a marauding space pirate. Of course, as a Vulcan, Spock retains his “cold logic”, though even within the Mirror Universe the friendship between himself and Kirk remains a constant.

One small thing lets the Mirror Universe collective down unfortunately, and that is the incomplete set of episodes. In their defence, the editors have had to balance the focus given to each franchise incarnation. Deep Space Nine explored the Mirror Universe with 2 more episodes, Resurrection and The Emperor’s New Cloak. Also absent is The Original Series episode, The Tholian Web, though there is no obvious connection to the Mirror Universe until the two part Enterprise episode In a Mirror Darkly. With 4 episodes taken from each series this would have left the bias distinctly with Deep Space Nine (which is fine by me as I preferred the darker side to the universe it portrayed).

Although it’s great seeing the way the large Mirror Universe stories tie together between TOS, DS9 and ENT, some fans may have missed the “mini” death of a Ferengi trilogy in Deep Space Nine. By far the funniest of tales, the Mirror Universe versions of Quark, Rom and Nog all meet their doom on Terok Nor (Deep Space Nine) in separate episodes, and all three are included on the first disc. Of course the most compelling aspect of the Mirror Universe collective is that we can easily follow the consequences that beset the Mirror Universe, as a result of Kirk’s initial involvement.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed a journey back through the looking glass (sorry), all 50 plasma filled inches of it.

The worst story included within the Alternate Realities collection has to be the Star Trek: Voyager episode Course: Oblivion.

With an enhanced warp drive which promises to deliver Voyager home in 2+ years, the new core radiation starts breaking down the molecular cohesion of the ship and it’s crew. Tuvok and Chakotay realize everyone and everything are not the originals; they are the silver- blood copies left behind on the “Demon Class” planet ten months ago. As the crew continue to die, Chakotay tries to convince Janeway to return to the Demon planet, reminding her that Earth is not their home.

Ultimately, Course: Oblivion is a weak choice, not just for this box set but as an episode in general. Once it becomes apparent that mere ‘copies’ of the Voyager crew are dying, we’re left unsympathetic to their plight. The ending suffers from an almost throwaway gesture as the real Voyager crew encounter the debris and move on with their own journey home.

Other notable episodes include fan favourites – TNG’s Yesterday’s Enterprise and The Inner Light and TOS’s The Enemy Within.

Extras include past cast and crew members taking about each of the episodes and themes presented on the box set. Five commentary tracks are available with one on each disc in the set. “Crossover” offers a commentary by David Livingston, “Parallels” has Brannon Braga talking about it, “The Enemy Within” features Garfield and Judith Reveves- Stevens, “Yesterday’s Enterprise” is commentated by Davide Carson, and “Twilight” is discussed by Mike Sussman and Tim Gaskill. The Original Series, TNG, DS9, and Voyager are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratios, while Enterprise comes with an anamorphic widescreen. The episodes here are presented with options for 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital English tracks. The Original Series episodes are taken from the recently remastered editions.

Ultimately, if you already have each of the completed series on video (remember VHS?) or DVD, you may want to forego purchasing the Star Trek: Alternate Realities DVD box set. Unless of course it makes your collection more complete. However for the more casual sci-fi fan or for those Star Trek fans who do not have all 5 complete series, Star Trek: Alternate Realities features on the whole an excellent selection from the Star Trek universe and makes a very good addition to any DVD collection.

If you’re interested, buy it now from our Amazon UK or Amazon USA stores now. Alternatively enter our Star Trek Competition where you can not only win yourself a copy of the Star Trek: Alternate Realities DVD box set but also the Blu-ray editions of Star Trek: The Original Series (season 1) and Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Collection (1-6).