Review: Star Trek Borg Fan Collective

By: Denis Blot

March 2006

DVD Features Video: Standard 1.33:1 Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio:Dolby Digital 2.0 Audio Commentary by Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong Star Trek: Enterprise Regeneration - Episode #049 Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda Star Trek: The Next Generation The Best of Both Worlds, Part I - Episode #174 Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda Star Trek: The Next Generation The Best of Both Worlds, Part II - Episode #175 Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda Star Trek: Voyager Unimatrix Zero, Part II - Episode #247 Full Screen Format, Except Star Trek: Enterprise is Presented in Widescreen Original Airdates: various DVD released on 3/07/2006 by Paramount Running time of 179 minutes Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Tim Russ, Ethan Phillips, Scott Bakula, Jolene Blalock, John Billingsley, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery

Rejoice closeted Trekkies (those who viewed the various Star Trek Series, though chose not to go to the conventions or purchase the TV show box sets albeit owning one or two of the films), Paramount’s latest Star Trek DVD release: Star Trek Borg Fan Collective is the perfect set to relive some of the best episodes from several Star Trek series without the expense of buying full season sets.All one has to utter is the Borg motto “Resistance is Futile” and the eyes of any Star Trek fan will light up. The Borg are perhaps the most cherished of villains to appear on multiple Star Trek series. The race of half men and half machine that went through the galaxy attacking alien races and adding them as “drones” to their “collective” (an insect like society where all Borg share all thoughts and knowledge), became the space federation’s deadliest foe in both the Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek Voyager series. It is in their conflicts with the Borg that the viewer is exposed to their own humanity. The Borg are organized, all business, driven by one sole purpose and are ultimately always defeated by the humans who embrace ingenuity, creativity and individuality. Indeed, watching these episodes might propel you to leave your cubicle laden corporate place of business for something you are more passionate about.

The DVD set contains a total of fourteen episodes including the series finale of Star Trek Voyager. Some of the better episodes include Captain (of the Starship Enterprise) Picard’s conversion into a Borg, the encounter with the unsettling and surprisingly sexy Borg Queen, and a few episodes staring Trekkie favorite Jeri Ryan as the Borg turned human called 7 of 9.

While the set does not give you a background for the television series, many of the Borg episodes do connect to each other in a story arc, making it enjoyable to watch even if you are new to Gene Roddenbury’s Star Trek universe. For those who are familiar with one or more of the TV series, the set may entice you to splurge on full season box sets - consider yourself warned.

There are few DVD extras in the set, basically some writer commentaries about a few of the episodes. While the information provided is interesting, a featurette on Borg make up, or on the special effects used in the episodes would have been a great addition to the set.

If you enjoy sci-fi, and/or are openly a Trekie or a closeted one, definitely check out this set - “live long and prosper”.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!