Star Trek Voyager: Seasons 1-7 [1996] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Amazon.co.uk Review

Star Trek: Voyager, the first Trek spin-off to be made without any input at all from Gene Roddenberry, made its debut in 1995 and quickly established itself both as markedly different from cosmic cousin Deep Space Nine and as the successor to The Next Generation. Despite a lack of originality in its premise (Lost in Space anyone?), Voyager was nonetheless often a bigger ratings success than any of its predecessors.

In the first series the crew of the Federation vessel Voyager must somehow try to get back home after being catapulted unwittingly to the far-flung Delta Quadrant (in the opening "Caretaker"). The ghost of Katherine Hepburn lives on in Kate Mulgrew's forceful Captain Janeway, who has an equivocal relationship with the Maquis renegade who becomes her first officer, Chakotay (Robert Beltran). Tim Russ gives possibly the franchise's first fully realistic (yawn) portrayal of a Vulcan, and to enhance the alien quotient there's cuddly chef Neelix (Ethan Phillips). Garret Wang must have drawn short straw for character development, since his Harry Kim is never imbued with any of the drama of rebellious pilot chum Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), who was later to get the series' only romance with the seemingly inescapable resident half-breed B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). Right from the start, though, the fans' favourite character was the deadpan funny man role of Robert Picardo's nameless holographic Doctor. Jerry Goldsmith's graceful theme always opens the show in style. --Paul Tonks

Customer Reviews:

70,000 light years and counting..........2007-09-25

Before I kick off into my main review of this dvd box set of voyager's first season, I'd like to start by pointing out that unfortunately, unlike the UK vhs releases, this is the "amended" version of Season 1. Originally, Season 1 was to be 19 episodes, but at the last minute the last 4 episodes were pulled from transmission to save for Season 2 (and allow it to be the traditional 26 episode length), even though the stardates were not altered to Season 2 format, and they were still included in the Season 1 package for overseas distribution. This means that Season 1 ends on a decidedly dull note with the mediocre "Learning Curve". The other 14 episodes included here are of varying quality, with a few showing promise, but none particularly thrilling. "Caretaker" is generally regarded as a very strong premiere episode and is definitely better than the Nex Generation's "Encounter at Farpoint". In reality it's ok but not great. More than anything it's a functional episode, setting up the basic premise adequately enough, but it's full of plot holes and contrivances, and the Kazon are immediately annoying, an obvious rehash of the Klingons, but with less depth. The next two episodes "Parrallax" and "Time and Again" are both neat little sci-fi stories and are both more exciting than the feature length premiere, but the remaining batch are all very "hmmmm", with the exception of the penultimate Jetrel", probably the strongest episode in this set.
Despite the run-of-the-mill, unispiring escapades presented here, there's still a bit of fun to be had. The Starfleet/Maquis crew on Voyager are an interesting bunch, and by the end of the season you will have warmed to Janeway, Chakotay, Torres, Paris, and Kim (even if they all get along too well, all things considered). The Doctor is the standout character, Bob Picardo excellently portrays the pathos in the character, with his desperation to be included and respected as an idividual. The final two regulars, Neelix and Kes, are less impressive. Neelix is overbearing and irritating and is just not funny, whilst Kes's character seems too difficult to pin down at times, and the fact that her and Neelix are engaged in a romantic relationship is completely unbelievable.
In conclusion, this first set of Voyager adventures is not great, but it does entertain. And we were lucky it was allowed to go on, as it would get a hell of a lot better.

Very Good, but not quite Excellent.......2006-07-26

The ending of 'The Next Generation' (or TNG to continue with three-letter abbreviations) left a bit a chasm in the Star Trek universe with Deep Space Nine (DS9) being the only show carrying the torch. Now, there's nothing wrong with DS9, in fact, there's a lot right with it. I'm a Niner, it's my favourite series. However, it doesn't quite fit the traditional Star Trek mould of 'going boldly where no one has gone before'. They're stuck in one place!

Enter Voyager - a Federation starship that gets flung into the Delta Quadrant on the other side of the Galaxy by a mysterious alien known as the Caretaker, and now desperately trying to get home.

The good thing about Voyager is that, because its set on the other side of the Galaxy, all the traditional villians, like the Romulans and the Cardassians, are gone. Which means they're forced to come up with new villians, like the Kazon (okay, they're a bit wimpy) and the Vidiians (sadly underused, kind of like futuristic Frankensteins!). Of course, for continuity, there are still references to the previous series - the fact that half of Voyager's crew are Maquis, that one of them is a Cardassian in disguise, and the Romulans make a cameo appearance all tie the series to its roots.

With the conclusion of TNG, everyone was expecting something fresh and different. Voyager manages to succeed in part, but the first series is a little weak. Clanger episodes include 'Parallax', where Voyager gets stuck in a quantum singularity (black hole) and has to break free by punching a hole in the event horizon. I was laughing my head off watching that! Poor science sticks out like a Vidiian thumb!

However, it appears that lessons have been learned from DS9. Several series arcs are set in motion straight away, including the Seska saga, which concludes in series 3, and of course, the delightful Holographic Doctor's development, who steals the show every time he's on the screen.

And, of course, we have the token Klingon! B'elanna Torres, the ship's Chief Engineer, is certainly one of the most annoying characters, but takes a close third to the pragmatically dull Ensign Harry Kim, whose storylines are meek and just doesn't match up to Tom Paris, and the ridiculously cheerful neo-skunk Neelix.

All in all, the series is pretty good, but it merely offers a taster of the things to come. The series improve as they go along!

The wonder that is voyager........2006-02-22

A great introuduction not only to voyager but to the star trek universe ( after st: deep space nine). I had baught this for my son as his second ever star trek boxset. And he loved it. the bounus a materials are great and give a great insight.

ok, not great, bit of a disapointment........2006-01-24

To be honest i enjoyed voyager on television, i did not see every episode but loved the ones i did. Having purchased tng and ds9 I am left feeling a bit disapointed in voyager. The others had great characters and DS9 had anexcellent arc. Voyager season one is not great and I was left thinking is that it at the end of season one is that it. The last episode of the season should have a punch and draw us into the next season but it was no different from any other episode. Dont get me wrong it is fairly good just not great. Very medioquer star trek. Would reccommend the others over it. Hope it gets better.

Top marks for a great boxset.......2005-12-07

Having enjoyed watching Voyager again it is great to finally get hold of this amazing boxset after only ever having had voyager on vhs before. Season 1 had it flows but tell me of any Star Trek series that didnt have to prove its self in the beginning dont be alarmed that their are a few episodes missing as they had originally been held back for season 2 when it was first aired in the states back in 1995 so they will be in the next boxset. I found the extras interesting did you know that Kate Mulgrew was'nt originally cast to play Janeway also they are 2 episodes of the original Star Trek series there.

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