Star Trek: Fan Collectives (2006-09)

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Borg (2006)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 12 + 2 feature-length (FL) movies

The Fan Collective box sets are a collection of various themed episodes culled from each of the live action Star Trek TV series and packaged together in shiny new boxes. The cynic in me thinks it's nothing more than a lazy cash-grab from Paramount, once again exploiting fans who'll buy anything with a Trek logo on it. The optimist in me is forced to agree.

So, with Paramount's shameless tactics established, what do we actually get in each Collective box?

First up, the Borg ("Sounds Swedish") collection contains every episode from both TNG and ENT in which the semi-mechanical, drone-like menaces appeared, which amounts to six TNG and one ENT.

The remainder of the four-disc box is VOY episodes. The Borg played a major role in the VOY series, but it was too much of a good thing. The overuse turned them from a mysterious threat into a collective of chumps. Although it did give us Seven of Nine, who turned out to be one of the best characters in the entire VOY series, in my opinion.

TNG: Q Who  /  The Best of Both Worlds (Parts I+II)  /  I Borg  /  Descent (Parts I+II)

VOY: Scorpion (Parts I+II)  /  Drone  /  Dark Frontier (FL)  /

Unimatrix Zero (Parts I+II)  /  Endgame (FL)

ENT: Regeneration

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Time Travel (2006)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 10 + 2 feature-length (FL) movies

A four-disc collection of temporal shenanigans with a heavy TNG bias. I'm okay with that because TNG is my favourite Trek series and the episodes that are included are all pretty great.

Of the two TOS episodes, only one of them is any good, namely The City on the Edge of Forever. In fact, it's a TOS classic, memorable for its story (by Harlan Ellison) and its guest star, a British actress who went on to become a household name in the 1980s and be loved and hated in equal measure.

There are only two DS9 episodes, one of which is also included in the Klingon set (info on it is further down the page). They're both kind of fun.

VOY's Year of Hell episodes are often cited by fans of the show as some of the best it had to offer. It has Kurtwood Smith in the role of antagonist, which is cool to see, but personally I find them as dull as much of what came before. (The show gave us seven years of Janeway, so I consider one year of hell for her as some kind of compensation.)

By comparison, the show's final episode, Endgame (S7:Ep25+26), is a genuinely entertaining adventure by Voyager standards, especially the second half.

TOS: Tomorrow is Yesterday  /  The City on the Edge of Forever

TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise  /  Cause and Effect  /  Time's Arrow (Parts I+II)  /

All Good Things... (FL)

DS9: Little Green Men  /  Trials and Tribble-ations

VOY: Year of Hell (Parts I+II)  /  Endgame (FL)

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Q (2006)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 10 + 2 feature-length (FL) movies

Everyone's favourite omnipotent prick, Q (a perfectly cast John de Lancie), was a fantastic secondary character. He was sometimes used to poke fun at the franchise, but at the same time his inclusion brought an often weighty reminder that human actions have consequences, no matter how much we might want to believe otherwise.

He took a liking to Captain Picard and made it his business to judge, mock and pester the crew of the Enterprise D when they least expected it.

He was best suited to the TNG aesthetic. His playful nature was less successful in DS9. In VOY he overshadowed every other character, a situation that robbed him of the contrast he needed to shine.

The box contains every Q episode:

TNG: Encounter at Farpoint (FL)  /  Hide and Q  /  Q Who  /  Deja Q  /  Qpid  /

True Q  /  Tapestry  /  All Good Things... (FL)

DS9: Q-Less

VOY: Death Wish  /  The Q and the Grey  /  Q2

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Klingon (2007)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 9 + 2 feature-length (FL) movies

The militaristic warrior race for whom victory, honour, and tall tales are all-important have appeared in all incarnations of TV Trek to date.

As antagonists go, they can be relied upon to create tension where none existed before. Although, it never hurts to have at least one of them on your side in a fight. "Heghlu'meh qaq jajvam!"

The feature-length ENT entry doesn't have very much Klingon action in it. It's the series pilot episode, named Broken Bow, so is concerned more with crew introductions (as you'd expect) and the Temporal Cold War that would give the series its first proper arc. It's a piss-weak pilot with some ropey CGI and the worst case of softcore body-rubbing I've seen outside of Channel 5. Plus, that opening theme tune is a fucking abomination.

The rest of the box is significantly better, and even though I've both episodes elsewhere it pleases me having TOS's The Trouble with Tribbles and DS9's Trials and Tribble-ations in the same package. If they'd been generous enough to include the animated More Tribbles, More Troubles episode from Star Trek: The Animated Series (S1:Ep05), then I'd have been the proverbial pig in shit.

TOS: Errand of Mercy  /  The Trouble with Tribbles 

TNG: A Matter of Honor  /  Sins of the Father  /  Redemption (Parts I+II)

DS9: The Way of the Warrior (FL)  /  The Sword of Kahless  /  Trials and Tribble-ations

VOY: Barge of the Dead

ENT: Broken Bow (FL)

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Captain's Log (2007)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 13 + 2 feature-length (FL) movies

A five-disc collection with each individual disc devoted to a specific series. You get three from TOS, four from TNG, four from DS9, three from VOY, and three from ENT. Not too shabby.

Each disc has one episode chosen by the Captain of that particular show, with a short introduction from each actor/actress as to why they picked it. There's no surprise as to which episode Avery Brooks picked as his favourite, but thankfully it's a good one. If Avery wasn't so bat-shit crazy in real life he could've been a formidable politician.

The remainder of the episodes were chosen by fans from a poll on the official Star Trek site. They may not be the ones you'd pick as being the best representation of Captaincy, but if you didn't vote you’ve no one but yourself to blame. As do I. Damn!

Extras include the aforementioned brief introductions alongside some equally brief interviews with each of the Captains. If you already own or plan to own someday the series box sets then there's not much reason to own this (or any of the Fan Collectives, really). Unless, perhaps, you want the 30th Anniversary Flashback episode of Voyager without having to waste shelf space on an entire season of it.

TOS: The City on the Edge of Forever  /  The Enterprise Incident  /  Balance of Terror

TNG: In Theory  /  Chain of Command (FL)  /  Darmok

DS9: Far Beyond the Stars  /  What You Leave Behind (FL)  /  In the Pale Moonlight

VOY: Counterpoint  /  The Omega Directive  /  Flashback

ENT: Judgment  /  These Are the Voyages...  /  First Flight

Star Trek: Fan Collective: Alternate Realities (2009)

Dirs. Various  |  Number of episodes: 20

The final collection (to date) has its various episodes arranged under four individual headers: Mirror Universe; Parallel Dimensions; Twisted Realities; and Alternate Lives. Blimey. I wish I had an alternate life or two! Not shit ones, though.

Mirror Universe consists of one TOS; three DS9; and an ENT two-parter. The opening credits of the latter were changed in a fun way, but the first episode was so awful, and the crew so vapid, that I didn't make it to the end. ENT is woeful Trek.

Parallel Dimensions is TOS and TNG only.

Twisted Realities has a couple of TOS episodes, one written by celebrated author Richard Matheson that gives us two Shats for the price of one!

There's an excellent TNG episode from its sixth season, in which Riker has a bad, bad day.

The featured VOY episode is interesting in theory more than in execution. Chakotay is a rubbish first officer and a worse actor, so any story that features him as the main protagonist is always going to suffer, but I suspect it'll be an enjoyable experience for longtime fans, seeing as how it references a lot of the show's history.

And finally, Alternate Lives has the most to offer with regards quantity, filling two whole discs. Unfortunately, one of the TNG episodes, classic though it is, was also a part of the Time Travel box set, so now I own that particular episode three times.

Overall, if fake beards and seeing familiar faces playing against type is something you enjoy, then it's a pretty good package. But be aware, the TOS episodes are the remastered versions; the 2K scans are great but many of the VFX shots have been replaced by CGI, including the model ships.

— — — — — — — MIRROR UNIVERSE — — — — — — —

TOS: Mirror, Mirror

DS9: Crossover  /  Through the Looking Glass  /  Shattered Mirror

ENT: In a Mirror, Darkly  (Parts I + II)

— — — — — — — PARALLEL DIMENSIONS — — — — — — —

TOS: The Alternative Factor

TNG: Parallels

— — — — — — — TWISTED REALITIES — — — — — — —

TOS: The Enemy Within  /  Turnabout Intruder

TNG: Frame of Mind

VOY: Shattered

— — — — — — — ALTERNATE LIVES — — — — — — —

TNG: Yesterday's Enterprise  /  The Inner Light

DS9: The Visitor

VOY: Before and After  /  Timeless  /  Course: Oblivion

ENT: E²  /  Twilight

NOTE: Dates are R2 versions. Some of the info above is obtained from Memory Alpha, "[A] collaborative project to create the most definitive, accurate, and accessible encyclopedia and reference for everything related to Star Trek." It's a great site for Trek fans.