The fourth season of Star Trek: Discovery, which has boldly embraced the rollercoaster ride of future exploration, has finally arrived on home release in the UK. Available on Blu-Ray, DVD and Limited Edition Steelbook formats, the 13 episodes are spread across a four disc collection, offering over 80s minutes of behind-the-scenes special features.
With a price tag ranging from £21.99 to £35.00, we take a look at the special features on offer and whether the home media release is a worthy addition to your collection.
Here’s a full roundup of what’s on offer:
- STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: THE VOYAGE OF SEASON 4 – A continuation of the series, this behind-the-scenes featurette includes writers and producers as they discuss how their visions were realized by the cast, sets, costumes and props in Season 4.
- BEING MICHAEL BURNHAM: THE CAPTAIN’S LOG – From Sonequa Martin-Green, fans are taken through her personal journey as Captain Michael Burnham. Follow Martin-Green, as she sits in the Captain’s chair and shares intimate videos taken throughout the season, behind-the-scenes moments and interviews.
- CREATING SPACE – Fans can explore the VFX department to see their use of an AR wall for the immersive on-screen experience created for The Holodeck, which utilizes the largest AR wall to date.
- THE TOLL IT TOOK – From the writer’s room and prop building to costume fittings, the production stage and post, the cast and crew discuss the toll COVID took during the development of Season 4.
- Commentary: Episode 413 – Coming Home
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
My personal favourite behind-the-scenes featurette is “Creating Space” (19:36), which centres on how the visual effects, prop, lighting and art departments work with the LED technology utilised in the impressive augmented reality wall. The various teams walk you through how the AR wall works logistically, the incredible benefits of utilising the technology vs the expense of using traditional green-screen VFX shots and they also delve into the problems the various departments encounter (particularly when it comes to hard and soft lighting and frame rates). The cast and crew also explain how the new technology is helping take us to new and stranger worlds we’ve never been to before, affectionately coining the gigantic set “the holodeck”. Definitely one for tech fans!
Secondly, clocking in at an impressive 52 minutes(!) is featurette “The Voyage of season 4” which takes a deep dive into the exploration of Discovery‘s fourth season. Included is several interviews with the core cast and crew exploring main character journeys and motivations, along with creating and designing new species and highlighting the main themes of the show. Particularly highlights include the relationship/dynamic between Cleveland Brooker and Burnham, Tilly’s arc and also Wilson Cruz dedicating his performance to the medical workers who worked heroically throughout the pandemic.
If you can deal with another Covid-related retrospective, the emotional behind-the-scenes featurette “The Toll it Took” (11:50) is a fascinating delve into how the cast and crew navigated the pandemic to film the fourth season. Interviews touch on the screening system and how to work safely in a Covid environment, with extra trailers and tightened bubble protocols, and crews were tested 3-5x a week. The cast are also surprisingly open about how the shoot affected them mentally and physically, with a group even starting a weekly Zoom dungeons & dragons group. However, they were quick to praise the crew, who had to wear their masks in difficult working environments 24/7.
Furthermore, “Being Michael Burnham: The Captain’s Log” is a fascinating and incredibly honest behind-the-scenes diary and interview with Sonequa Martin-Green as she delves into how her personal journey helped shape her incredible performance. The captain (and now an executive producer) candidly touches on how she drew on her experiences and perspectives on motherhood, grief and race in the role. Cemented in Star Trek history, Martin-Green proves just how wonderful a role model she is, and how she’s overcome so much to be where she is today.
As much as I love a good gag reel, clocking in at just shy of three minutes, this is a disappointingly short and restrained instalment. While it’s fun to see the cast breaking character – especially Doug Jones and Mary Wiseman, with the latter repeatedly and very politely saying “oh gosh” – the reel feels a little stilted, potentially due to the whole Covid filming scenario.
Deleted scenes wise, there are four in total clocking in at just over four minutes, along with disappointingly one commentary track for season finale “Coming Home,” from executive producers Michelle Paradise and Olatunde Osunsanmi and actors Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala. However, despite skimping on the commentary tracks, this one is enjoyably lively and engaging, proving worthwhile for fans of these bonus features.
Verdict
Overall, the additional bonus content and behind-the-scenes featurettes included in the Star Trek Discovery season 4 Blu-Ray are an enjoyable mix, with “Creating Space” and “The Toll it Took” proving fascinating insights and the real standouts. However, the one episode commentary and gag reel are a bit of a let down, but the variety of quality extras does make up for this.
Star Trek: Discovery – Season 4 is available now on DVD, Blu-Ray™ and Limited-Edition Blu-ray™ Steelbook®
