The Captains Collection - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Captains Collection



Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
As a long time Trekkie and a fan of Shatner in general, it’s not a hard stretch to say that William Shatner is probably THE most iconic captain of the Trek universe, and one of it’s biggest fans (not to mention it became a massive source of income for the actor for over 54 years). The man is big, brash, bold, annoying to cast members (his conflicts with cast members is legendary), but also its most well known name. But not only does the iconic Captain Kirk troll Comicons and podcasts, but he’s also been big into documentaries over the years, with 4 or 5 of them devoted to Star Trek culture in general. He’s a bit narcissistic, and his ego is on full display to see in his works, but Shatner’s passion and excitement for the world of Star Trek is bar non. Shout Factory’s The Captain’s Collection is an amassed collection of 4 different documentary discs from 2011 on up, with each having a slightly different focus.

The Captains is the first disc of the set, and has Shatner sitting down with 5 of the captains that have played in their respective shows and has very unique conversations with each and every one of them. With Sir Patrick Stewart it’s much more of a collaboration of ideas and memories of a time gone by, while with Avery Brooks (Captain Sisko of DS9) it’s more spiritual and soul searching from the actor turned Jazz musician. Chris Pine sort of gets the short end of the stick as Pine’s run as Kirk was very minimal, but it’s really the interview with Kate Mulgrew (Janeway of Voyager) where we get the meat and potatoes of the disc. Mulgrew actually kind of turns the table on Shatner, digging into HIS past and his ego problems in Hollywood, allowing her to share her unique experience as the only female captain, but also put Shatner’s feet to the fire. Ironically, Scott Bakula’s (Captain Archer of Enterprise) interview is the most light hearted and fun, making me really think that Bakula is the most personable of all the actors. The Captain’s Close Up is actually an expanded set of those interviews, and instead of being intersperse with Shatner’s early life as an actor, goes in depth with those interviews and gives each captain a good 15-20 minutes of screen time to flesh out those experiences a bit more (while still sometimes going over SOME of the material from The Captains).

Chaos on the Bridge is a fun little tales from the cast and crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation chronically how they got off the ground and got into full production after being on Star Trek TV hiatus for 20 years. Shatne not only directs, but hosts the show (his ego would never let him do anything else). There’s a large amount of cast and big names on set for this one, as they go over how it was difficult working with Roddenbery, and the various trials and tribulations of making a sci-fi show in the 80s without the pulpy cheese of the original series. I had forgotten about it in particular, but the documentary goes over in great deal why Tasha Yar was forced to leave the show, and just how hard it was on everybody involved, even though it was kind of a necessary part on her side due to how minimally she was utilized (I was always saddened that they killed her off in season 1 as she was a fun character).

Get A Life (which was ironically a SNL skit title about how Shatner had become disillusioned with fans) is Shatner’s love letter TO the fans. The shortened documentary focuses on how endearing and empowered the fans of the show have become, as there is NO OTHER fan community in history that has become responsible for the proliferation of nerd culture. We get to interview various fans at comicons, show some incredible costumes, and basically is Shatner saying “thank you” to the fanbase who created his popularity as the cult icon he is today, and iconicized Star Trek in modern pysche.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Shot in 1.78:1, all 4 documentaries come to Blu-ray with a very solid looking transfer. Like all documentaries it depends on which scene you’re watching, or which camera is used for a particular shot for the quality, but overall it’s very solid. Some shots show banding (usually when making a visual wipe), and some digital noise crops up in the Kate Mulgrew interview. Other than that it’s your standard, glossy, digitally shot image with crisp details and strong colors. The fan shots at comicons can be a bit artifact ridden too, but when exchanging to close up shots that is never a problem. Overall a good looking set of discs that have the benefits and downsides to personal interview style documentaries.









Audio:

As with most documentaries, we get a 5.1 track (the first two films DTS-HD MA and the second two in Dolby Digital), and while they are NICE tracks, the 5.1 is never really NECESSARY if you know what I mean. This is a very dialog heavy showing and really all you need to focus on is the conversations. Some periods (such as the busy comicon footage) gets some surround usage, but overall most of the surrounds are used for the score and an few small bits. Dialog is crisp and clean though, locked firmly up center and gives us a good listening experience. It won’t shock and awe, but these types of films don’t need that to survive and are perfectly fine with just strong dialog.







Extras:

The Captains
• The Making Of The Captains

The Captains Close-Up
• Still Kicking
• Shatner The Firefighter
• When The Wall Came Down
• “Ponder The Mystery” Music Video
• Captains Close-Up Trailer
• Still Kicking Trailer

Chaos on the Bridge
• Trailer

Get a Life
• Shatner & The Fans
• The Jue Family
• Conversation With Robert Walter
• Fanaddicts Sizzle
• Peter and Charlotte
• Dr. Scott Richards
• Trailer

Final Score: ​

The Captain’s Collection is a personal set of documentaries that were originally meant as William Shatner’s legacy, but ended up about being all of the captains involved. It’s sweet, hilarious, and runs the gambit of Shatner’s legendary ego and true love of the world of Star Trek. This collection puts each documentary on it’s own disc, and Shout Factory has also put up a big “box o swag” special edition set as well if you have the coin. Definitely a fun watch for Star Trek fans.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: William Shatner, Kate Mulgrew, Avery Brooks, Scott Bakula, Patrick Steward, Denise Crosby, Jonathan Frakes
Directed by: William Shatner
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0, English DD 5.1 (Chaos on the Bridge, Get a Life)
Subtitles: English
Studio: Shout Factory!
Rated: NR
Runtime: 360 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: October 20th, 2020

Recommendation: Fun Watch
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[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I am also a fan of Shatner. Will check it out.