Blacks are pure, but the level of shadow detail is nowhere near that of a new film. Digital compression artifacts do not make their presence known. The Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack is a definite improvement over the original matrixed surround track, although the original recordings do have their limitations. Clearly directional sound effects seem to be limited to the space battle scenes, however the track does serve up a great deal of ambience from the surround channels. The sounds of the starship s engines provide a strong sense of presence that effectively places the viewer on board the Enterprise.
Dialogue is always clean and intelligible, even during the battle sequences.
However, any dialogue that was looped in postproduction tends to sound somewhat compressed. Bass reproduction is respectable during the battle sequences, but lacks the gut wrenching quality one finds in newer soundtracks. The one very big plus on this soundtrack is James Horner s musical score. English and French Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the DVD, as are English subtitles. The very basic interactive menus provide access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as a theatrical trailer.