Star Trek: The Animated Series coming to blu in September, but... (1 Viewer)

[MattHR]

... only as part of a new complete "original crew" collection also including TOS and the first six movies.
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Star-Trek-50th-Anniversary-TV-and-Movie-Collection/22345
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Star-Trek-50th-Anniversary-TV-and-Movie-Collection/22345

No way I'm double-dipping just to get the Animated Series, so I'll wait until it is released separately (in its own packaging). From the pic on TVSoDVD announcement, it appears that TOS and AS have been lumped together in one of those fugly oversize multi-disc cases favored by Paramount.

 

[Osato]

I'm sure a stand alone release of the animated series will be issued later on.

 

[Carabimero]

So glad I have every Star Trek disc I want. I suppose TAS would be clearer in HD, but it was a pretty simplistic cartoon visually. I can wait for the bargain bin.

You know something that always bugged me about TAS, even when I was little? I can never decide whether to blame Shatner for it or the director. When I listen to Shatner's performance, there's never any vocal "effort." I don't believe he's running or lifting anything like the show visually says he is. because his voice sounds like he's sitting in a comfortable chair in a studio, phoning his lines in.

Anybody else feel this way? I suppose the director is at fault. But Shatner should know better, too.

 

[FanCollector]

Apart from the first couple of episodes, Shatner did not go to the studio to record lines. He recorded on his own and sent multiple readings of each line. The director got to choose the reading, but had no interaction with Shatner directly. So whatever fault there is lies with the actor in this case.

 

[BobO'Link]

So glad I have every Star Trek disc I want. I suppose TAS would be clearer in HD, but it was a pretty simplistic cartoon visually. I can wait for the bargain bin.

Same here. In fact I waited for the bargain bin before I purchased the DVD because I'd not cared for the series when it originally aired. I got it mainly for completeness and found it wasn't as bad as I'd recalled - but still not all that great.

You know something that always bugged me about TAS, even when I was little? I can never decide whether to blame Shatner for it or the director. When I listen to Shatner's performance, there's never any vocal "effort." I don't believe he's running or lifting anything like the show visually says he is. because his voice sounds like he's sitting in a comfortable chair in a studio, phoning his lines in.

Anybody else feel this way? I suppose the director is at fault. But Shatner should know better, too.

That's a large reason I never cared much for the animated series. Shatner's performance felt "phoned in" and lackluster. It didn't help matters that it was also produced by Filmation - the bargain basement of bargain basement animation houses. While ST:TAS was one of their better efforts it still suffers from the typical Filmation techniques. For me, the only thing that made the series worth watching was the scripts, many of which were by authors who wrote for the original series.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

No DS9, no new film transfers (save one), no Director's Cuts, no nothing except repackagings and the least wanted but easiest to slap on Blu series, and even that's only a part of the box set full of repackagings of the stuff you already have.

HAPPY 50TH, STAR TREK!

/CBS and Paramount proving why they are literally the worst companies in the home video game.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

/CBS and Paramount proving why they are literally the worst companies in the home video game.

They did at least pay to recomposite and remaster Next Generation. If that had sold closer to expectations, I'm sure we'd be hearing something about DS9. I guess not enough people bought the blu-rays (or waited for the bargains, like I did, since I'm not such a rabid fan). At least they committed themselves to the entire run. Some other studios would have cancelled the project after the first or second season, if sales were as bad as we've been led to believe.

I don't like what we're (not) getting this year, but we at least have to give them credit for releasing TOS and TNG (especially TNG as it was such a gargantuan project).

Worst company(ies) in home video? I don't think so. There are plenty which are far worse.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

They did at least pay to recomposite and remaster Next Generation. If that had sold closer to expectations, I'm sure we'd be hearing something about DS9. I guess not enough people bought the blu-rays (or waited for the bargains, like I did, since I'm not such a rabid fan). At least they committed themselves to the entire run. Some other studios would have cancelled the project after the first or second season, if sales were as bad as we've been led to believe.

Don't get me wrong: I don't like what we're (not) getting this year either, but we at least have to give them credit for releasing TOS and TNG (especially TNG as it was such a gargantuan project). We also have to take into account the overall decline in people still buying and collecting pressed media (outside of we enthusiasts) in general and the continual rise in streaming.

Worst company(ies) in home video? I don't think so. There are plenty which are far worse.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Worst of the majors would have been more appropriate.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Worst of the majors would have been more appropriate.

I think MGM is worse. To be honest, it's sorta hard to judge Paramount because it seems they are barely functional as a studio. Can you give them a failing grade when they're not even trying?

In the case of their new productions, they seek out co-producers for artistic decisions, and then also work with financiers to pay for it. So in the case of their Trek reboot, Bad Robot makes the creative decisions, Skydance pays for it, and Paramount supplies the underlying intellectual property and handles distribution. They're not really "making" the movies in the traditional sense. In the case of home video, they've licensed the rights to the overwhelming majority of their catalog to Warner, retaining only their franchises (Trek, M:I, Transformers, Jack Ryan) and the initial pressing of a new release.

Can a studio that doesn't really make movies and doesn't actually distribute them on home video be called a studio? I guess in 2016, the answer to that question is yes. They're not that much different from MGM, MGM is just a little further gone.

 

[Osato]

Pretty cool! Scripts for a couple of animated series episodes that were not made:

http://www.roddenberry.com/media/vault/TAS-First-Unproduced-Script.pdf

http://www.roddenberry.com/media/vault/PointOfExtinction-Script.pdf

 

[FanCollector]

Thanks for that link. Very exciting find. I imagine the first one was never seriously considered, but that second one could have made a real episode.

 

[Osato]

Is there any news on a stand alone set of the series on blu Ray?

Is it still happening in September?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Is there any news on a stand alone set of the series on blu Ray?

Is it still happening in September?

No news on a standalone release of the animated series. I believe Bill Hunt at the Digital Bits said he still expected it to come for 4th quarter. An announcement might not happen until after the deluxe set comes out. I have no inside information but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a little longer, they'll probably want to get as much life out of the bigger set as they can. When sales of that drop off, then I bet we'll see the announcement for the standalone animated discs.

I'm feeling pretty sure we'll be able to buy them within a year, but a little less confident that it'll be something I can throw on my Christmas list.

 

[Osato]

No news on a standalone release of the animated series. I believe Bill Hunt at the Digital Bits said he still expected it to come for 4th quarter. An announcement might not happen until after the deluxe set comes out. I have no inside information but I wouldn't be surprised if it takes a little longer, they'll probably want to get as much life out of the bigger set as they can. When sales of that drop off, then I bet we'll see the announcement for the standalone animated discs.

I'm feeling pretty sure we'll be able to buy them within a year, but a little less confident that it'll be something I can throw on my Christmas list.

Makes sense. It would be great to have some information about what will be on the release.
I'm guessing just the couple of DVD extras but would love to be wrong. At any rate I don't have the series now and will pick it up.

 

[Osato]

Amazon Canada has the set listed for a November release date.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01KNCHRI2/?tag=trek09-20

 

[mark27b]

No DS9, no new film transfers (save one), no Director's Cuts, no nothing except repackagings and the least wanted but easiest to slap on Blu series, and even that's only a part of the box set full of repackagings of the stuff you already have.

HAPPY 50TH, STAR TREK!

/CBS and Paramount proving why they are literally the worst companies in the home video game.

As Bill Hunt on Digital Bits;

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/031816_1400

said back in March 2016;

"Finally today, the part you’ve all been waiting for: I’m here to tell you something about Paramount Home Entertainment’s plans for celebrating Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary this year. A little bit of background before I continue… many of you will no doubt recall that, back when Star Trek Into Darkness was first released on Blu-ray, I was critical of the way all of the special features content was split up and given away as exclusives to different retail partners (see my column here), making it nearly impossible for fans to get all of the extras. A few weeks after our posts (in September 2013), I was invited up to Paramount to meet with the studio’s home video team to talk about the issue. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. They were honest, acknowledged that they’d made mistakes with the title (with the best of intentions, believe it or not – new people were in charge and they really didn’t expect the fan backlash) and they wanted my opinion on how they could make it up to Trekfans. So I told them: First I explained how to fix the Star Trek Into Darkness release, which they ultimately did with the Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray release (reviewed here).

I also told them what they could do to really make Star Trek fans happy with new Blu-ray releases. I gave them a list of things that included properly remastering ALL of the theatrical films (since only Star Trek II had gotten properly remastered for the previous Blu-ray release, and all the other films looked terrible on disc). I suggested that they finally include not just the theatrical cuts, but the various Director’s and Extended Cuts of the films and listed them. I suggested that an easy TV Blu-ray release (via CBS, which Paramount distributes) would be The Animated Series, since those episodes had already been scanned in HD. And I also suggested that not only was it time to finally give Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition a proper VFX remastering in full HD, there was an easy and obvious way to do so. The VFX team at CBS Digital (at the time) was just wrapping up work on Star Trek: The Next Generation and they needed something to do. Paramount could bring the guys who supervised the original effort on The Director’s Edition in (who I said I could point them to if need be) to work with the experienced CBS Digital team and the work could be done quickly and much more affordably than if they had to build a team and facility from scratch. And if that project worked, you could even keep them busy by creating a new Director’s Edition of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (which had cut-rate visual effects) with all-new CG VFX. Paramount listened to all this and seemed to give my input serious consideration.

Fast forward a year: It’s October 2015. I’m contacted again by Paramount Home Entertainment to advise more new people at the studio about what Trek fans want from Blu-ray and what fans would consider a great way to celebrate Star Trek’s 50th Anniversary. And I told them all the same things again. So far so good.

Now we’re here and I’ve got a few details for you on what Paramount is actually doing with their Trek Blu-rays this year. I don’t have all the details, but I have the important ones for you. As is so often the case, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the studio didactually take my advice. The bad news is... they only took some of it.

Here’s what’s great: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is getting remastered again in full 4K. That remaster will be released on Blu-ray this year and it will include both the Theatrical Cut and the Extended Cut of the film. Director Nicholas Meyer has been involved, as you know from his recent press statements, and there may also be a 4K Ultra HD release this year, though that plan is not yet set in stone. Star Trek: The Animated Series is also coming to Blu-ray in time for the holidays (from CBS, which again Paramount distributes). As you’ve also probably heard, both Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness are getting released this Summer on 4K Ultra HD format, and likely Star Trek Beyond will too later this year. There will also be a variety of Trek Blu-ray and DVD combo packs and box sets, in various configurations, all branded to the Star Trek: 50th Anniversary. Some may have new bonus content and might include new swag.

Here’s what’s not happening: None of the other Trek films have been (or are being) remastered. To the extent that those other films are getting re-released on Blu-ray and DVD, it will be the existing discs/transfers repackaged. No work has been done to Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition and, on the TV front, there are no plans currently at CBS to move on with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine or Voyager Remastered. HOWEVER... my hope is that if the remastered Blu-ray and 4K release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is successful, that might provide the business incentive for Paramount to at least continue on with future remastering projects on all the other films.

So again, good news and bad news. I know some of you will be thrilled by the good and incensed by the bad. For my own part, I find it a bit frustrating, but I’m willing to take the good for now and hope for more later. Paramount’s Star Trek 50th Anniversary Blu-ray plans are certainly not what I would have hoped, nor what I advised them to do, but there’s still some good things in there to appreciate."

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I know I'm in a small minority, and I hate to quibble with Bill Hunt, but the "compendium" release of Star Trek Into Darkness still does not fix the issue of the film not being offered in its original theatrical version. The version with shifting aspect ratios should have been included in 3D. It didn't screen that way theatrically in 2D, so it amounts to being a new version of the film, rather than the one I saw in theaters. I've been asking this for three years now, and I have zero expectation it will ever be addressed, but I'd just like to see the movie again as it was shown in theaters.

That quibble aside, I think we'll get TAS as a stand-alone BD set in the not too distant future. They're probably just trying to sell a few extra box sets keeping it exclusive to there in the short term - worst case scenario, once that stops selling, it'll come out on its own. Best case, they don't wait that long and put it out timed for the holidays, perhaps day and date with the Beyond disc.

 

[Osato]

I know I'm in a small minority, and I hate to quibble with Bill Hunt, but the "compendium" release of Star Trek Into Darkness still does not fix the issue of the film not being offered in its original theatrical version. The version with shifting aspect ratios should have been included in 3D. It didn't screen that way theatrically in 2D, so it amounts to being a new version of the film, rather than the one I saw in theaters. I've been asking this for three years now, and I have zero expectation it will ever be addressed, but I'd just like to see the movie again as it was shown in theaters.

That quibble aside, I think we'll get TAS as a stand-alone BD set in the not too distant future. They're probably just trying to sell a few extra box sets keeping it exclusive to there in the short term - worst case scenario, once that stops selling, it'll come out on its own. Best case, they don't wait that long and put it out timed for the holidays, perhaps day and date with the Beyond disc.

I'm guessing beyond will be out in November as well. Maybe October??
2 for my list this year.

 

[Osato]

December 31 for beyond?

11/15 for trek animated...

From the digital bits:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/my-two-cents/082216_1545