Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Correct. You'll have to do a few tricks to seal it well and treat many of the plastic surfaces all over the kit to make the lights work correctly and not shine thru the plastic. It was a pain! AND I didnt succeed but I bet your a better modeler than me!


I have seen pictures of that mythical kit...looked amazing! That would be a helluva project...a labor of Trek love.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Highly unlikely. I didn't even think about the plastic itself. Thanks for the heads up. Sounds like I need to buy primer as well as putty and paint.


Yeah ... I fixed it... D'OH!!!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I have a whole Closet of Trek and Other Models, many from Polar Lights. I love Modeling, always an interest of Mine, I always meant to do more than I have, my big problem is a lack of an area to display them. Once you spend so many hours you don't want them getting broken or dusty.. alas I'll probably never have an area so there they sit. A Great site on modeling is:

CultTVman's SF Modeling Page

Especially for Trek stuff.. as well as Starship Modeler - Your Complete Information Source for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Real Space Scale Modeling

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Geek are us!!! The pre-painted hull, body, and Starfleet Ship markings is what convinced me to get it when I first saw it!!! I took my time putting it together, trying to follow the instructions closely, ... but wouldn't you know it, ... I did have to redue (take apart) the hull or saucer, to correct something inside!

I have not built the NCC-1701E yet, although, since 2003, ... I do look @ it everytime I go into my closet to get something!

Maybe soon!?!? During the winter months???


Thanks again!

I looked @ the AMT model when it was available, and I knew right away it would be a greater challenge, so, ... what you did (build the model) was, ... Most Glorious and w/Much Honor!!!

Although it was fun putting the model together and seeing it light-up, ... I do find my Playmates Star Trek Starships more interesting & fun with the limited Warp Nacel / Deflector lights and TV/Movie sounds effects!!!

The NCC-74656 Voyager also has a button to move the winged Warp Nacels position Up or Down**.

The Playmates versions in general did not have great model details on the starships, ... that came later with the Art Asylum / Diamond Select Toys Star Trek Starships versions.

**Check out the Playmates & Art Asylum Star Trek Starships, digital pics, ... some with videos demostrating their sounds & effects.

EDIT: Most Art Asylum Star Ships, and 1 Playmates model of the NEW 2009 Movie NCC-1701 is still in the box and again, one-day, I might pull them out!?!?!?

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Phil, I also looked at all your pix. Stunning! Sadly, I never had the patience with models. Sound like I should have picked up some of that Art Asylum stuff, though!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

For all the modellers here....

Some ultra rare unseen by many pictures when the original model was being built, painted, and then after it had been retired before being sold to a private collector. Enjoy & check out the subesections on the cloudster website as they contain lots of detailed pictures!!!:

Color Photo Survey of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-A

Post Production Photo Survey of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701 (STMP)

STAR TREK!

And here is a CGI model I rendered about 4 years ago on Lightwave!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Sweet render, Paul!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Paul-

Those links are terrific. I found them a few years ago as I was researching my efforts to build the Enterprise!

That Paul Olsen is quite a character and airbrush artist! It's too bad his site didn't have more pictures of the Enterprise during construction.

Yes, nice CGI model Paul! I'd like to try to achieve a result as great as yours some time soon.

Edit: By the way, thought I'd add, your posting reminded me of the 1980 issue of American Cinematographer and Cinefex magazine's first issue that had terrific coverage of Star Trek The Motion Picture. Wonderful images of the models during construction there. So much painstaking work went into the models. Almost a lost art now.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I used to have that Cinefex issue with the Enterprise coming out of warp after Spock fixed the intermix formula. It's issue No1 and easy to find on ebay nowadays. I sold all my Cinefex's many years ago as ran out of space but the first 40-50 issues contain some very rare & detailed info on how they did certain VFX.

CINEFEX #1 THE JOURNAL OF CINEMATIC ILLUSIONS 1980 NM - eBay (item 170329354322 end time Jun-05-09 15:00:28 PDT)

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Wow Paul! I had not tried to look for past issues on eBay before. That's crazy, $99 for issue #1 of Cinefex! These magazines and those web links really shows the hard work and really magnificent work that went into the Enterprise model. While I could see some un-eveness in the model, it really shows what a fine model it is! I hope the rumor is true that Paul Allen bought it and we'll get to see it someday.

By the way, I've been re-watching short portions of Star Trek The Motion Picture over the last few days with the audio commentary on. I was noticing how the new Blu ray is revealing some surprisingly poor make-up work on Nimoy. In the sequence when Spock tells Kirk, Decker and McCoy that V"ger is searching for something and that Kirk should treat it as a child, you can really see a surprising amount of blotchiness on his face. His ears are very solid, but then his cheeks and neck are inconsistantly colored. A surprise when compared to the TOS Blu rays and how even Nimoy looked there. Of course he's older and the make-up doesn't work as well in this film. It's surprising how much more natural his make-up looks in the following films. And I suspect they toned down the green make-up. I have only seen Treks 1 to 3. So 4 is next.

On a side note, did anyone notice how good Quinto's make-up looks in Star Trek 2009? There is no green-ish tint, but I was struck how well the ears were integrated and how light from behind would light the ear and show how it looks translucent, like a real ear!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Sorry for interrupting the Trekkie love-in............

Finished off the last of the 6 film set last night. Surprise, surprise.....not quite the disaster it was made out to be...Some heavy handed grain removal I noticed in a couple films...nothing that made it unwatchable. Maybe all the hyperbole lowered my expectations....maybe not...don't know.

It was nice seeing the non-scooby-doo version of VI and the theatrical cut of II (I don't miss the scenes of Scotty's half-wit nephew). The less retarded, the better.

The Motionless Picture was every bit as yawn inducing as I remember from 30 years ago. I do miss the DC.

The PQ on IV and V were the biggest DNR offenders though I don't foresee subjecting myself to V anytime again in the next 10 years.


All in all the set was a big step up from the DVD's [queue mind-numbing chant "That's not good enough"......"that's not good enough"....."that's not good enough"....../mind-numbing chant].

Trek-talk may resume...............

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Completely understandable.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I've always defended Final Frontier and probably always will. Is it flawed? Yup, but it's still interesting. IMO, the second half works much better than the first half. All the crummiest moments happen in the first half; I think the second half is when it becomes more intriguing.

No, it's not the best Trek - not even close - but I like it. I'd much rather watch Frontier than the tedious TMP or the silly Voyage Home...

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I like TFF a lot for the Kirk,Spock,McCoy camaraderie and that observation deck scene with Sybok revealing their personal pain is one of the most powerful in all of TOS. Goldsmith also created one of his most memorable scores.

TFF has the most faithful TOS feel to it and is the closest the movie series ever got to the same goofy tone as the episodes. If you know anything about the production problems then you can understand why it turned out the way it did.

1: Originally it was planned as a 1988 release but Nimoy was busy directing.

2: Sean Connery was the first choice for Sybok which would have given it a completely different appeal to non trek fans and more box office. When Nimoy and the writers strike of 1988 caused delays Connery became unavailable as he was commited to Indy 3.

3: These same delays caused ILM to become too busy to work on it as they were committed to Indy3, Ghostbusters2 & Back To The Future 2 + 3 so did not have the resource to do TFF for a summer 89 release as in those days photo chemical VFX for a Star Trek movie took around 12-15 months to do properly.

4: Paramount mistakenly thought the humour of TVH was the main reason for its success so insisted on it for TFF.

5: The budget was under a lot of pressure as the 7 TOS crew were getting $14M which left only $21M to make the entire movie and there were several disasters like scratched film needed reschoots, malfunctioning rear projectors in the shuttelcraft interiors & lost location time.

All of these factors contributed towards the finished results but the VFX were the biggest problem for many as they were not only sub standard but a total disaster. When the execs watched the finished VFX they thought they were just temp shots not the finished work as they only had 3 months to do all the VFX work and limited money as well. Many of the biggest shots got cancelled like the original opening was a Contact like reverse pullback from the centre of the galaxy to Yosemite onto Kirk climbing. That shot alone would have been $350K. Then the Rockmen for the climax were also cut down to just 1 suit as it cost $350K per suit and they did not work properly so it was more money wasted. The original idea was for legions of Rockmen & other creatures to explode from the ground and chase Kirk.

Shatner can be blamed for the overall concept but his direction was fine to me and a fresh approach to the series. I can live without Uhura + Scotty romance & Uhura's dance but again Paramount were keen on this humour approach.

The producers should get most of the blame as they should have kept a tighter control on the VFX and would have known early on that they were not going to deliver in 3 months what ILM needed 12 months for. All Paramount had to do was take a writedown & scrap the poor VFX then delay until ILM were available as they would have had a much bigger chance of more box office.

If you removed the Scotty banging his head scene, Uhura & scotty romance & Uhura dance then with all new CGI VFX this could at least be salavaged into a high budget TOS style TV episode.

I wonder if CBS-Digital will ever get the chance to do a directors cut as they would not need a massive budget nowadays to at least fix most of the problems and make it more watchable but as Paramount turned Shatner down on his request for a directors cut DVD I think it's very unlikely now it will ever get anymore attention.

At least TFF can be partially saved by a directors cut. Compared to the critical & commercial trainwrecks of ST9+10!!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Paul, well explained!

There's always hope that some small amount of budget could be used to re-cut and replace the VFX with CGI for Star Trek V's next Blu ray release when they issue the DC cuts of TMP, Trek 2 and 6. There are always possibilities.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I agree, excellent post Paul. I'm with you on all points, but I admit I got a chuckle out of Scotty's head-knocking scene.

Connery would have been awesome! Though the guy who played Sybok was actually quite good; he reminded me a lot of Gene Hackman.

Sadly, I also agree that Bill's not going to get an opportunity to 'fix' his film, and that's a shame. I could definitely 'feel his pain' (Shatner's) in his Movie Memories book about the amazing amount of problems that went on trying to make this film. He had some neat ideas that with a proper budget and another year of production/post would have possibly made for a top 3 Trek film.

My favorite scene is the trio singing campfire songs at the end of the film, enjoying their long friendships and each other's company. There was some good material and good Trek moments in TFF.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I will agree with you about the second half being much better. I also liked the philosophical points it addressed. However, the terrible camp fire scenes, the incredibly campy Spock flying around, and the all too weird and almost creepy Nichelle Nichols dance, I found all of this to just really knock down the "overall" rating of this movie for me. Maybe next time I watch it I will just start it at the 40 minute mark. I have to strongly disagree with you about TMP (which I didn't find tedious, though it wasn't perfect but more cerebral and now a classic for several reasons) and Voyage Home (even if this one was a bit light hearted - it worked MUCH better than anything tried in V).

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

This is my take on it as well. Having read the "Making of..." book by Shat's daughter it seems the producers did not have their novice director's back covered. It shouldn't have to be the director's job to make sure the trucks carrying the equipment arrives on time. Shatner takes much of the blame for not managing the budget properly and blowing his wad too early, but again, there should have been someone giving him good advice from the producer's desk.

I believe Paramount owes it to Shatner to pony up and let him supervise a re-do of the effects, and maybe even a full-blown, re-edited director's cut. I swear they would make their money back from curious fans alone.

And yes, the movie would still retain it's fundamental weaknesses, but it is a favourite of mine for the relationship sequences that bookend the story.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Sean Connery would have made an excellent Sybok, BUT, was he ever even considering the role, or was it just wishful thinking??

Btw, it was a real struggle to get through V. Sloppy is the word that most comes to mind.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Yes he was considered. In fact the mythical Vulcan place Sha Ka Ree, referred to in the movie, was so named because it sounds like "Sean Connery".

Sha Ka Ree - Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki

Star Trek V has brilliance at its heart. Goldsmith nailed it.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

From what I remember reading, Connery was considered in the sense that the producers wanted him for the role, not in the sense that Connery himself was trying to decide whether or not to do it.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

So, in the Star Trek universe, Sean Connery is god? I guess that finally puts to rest the argument regarding who is the best James Bond.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Exactly my point .

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Yep he was the first choice but because TFF got delayed 12 months they never offered him the role as by then he was already filming Indy 3. Connery had a pretty good relationship with Paramount having done The Untouchables, The Presidio, Indy3 & Red October almost back to back so no doubt whatsoever he would have done Trek as back then he was not that fussy about the roles he took as long as a decent paycheck was available!

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

You read my mind!

I'm a ST V defender as well. I think there's enough goodness in there to make it worthwhile. Is it perfect? Hell no. But it's not the pile of shit some proclaim either.

And I don't mind Uhura's dance. No, not one bit... *Sigh*

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Since he was never offered the role, I guess we'll never know but I for one think he wouldn't even have considered it, despite his good relationship with Paramount. No way.

And considering the budgetary restraints of the film,I doubt they could have afforded him..
But as I said, we'll never know .

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

I'm with Tino, I think Connery coming on board was a pipe dream... I just don't see it happening, even if Star Trek V had started shooting on time or had a bigger budget or if Indy 3 wasn't being made at the same time... I just don't see Connery in a Star Trek movie. (But hey, there's always "Outland"!)

I'm a fan of TFF as well. It doesn't always succeed, but it has ambition... and I usually admire when a filmmaker believes in his story enough that he's willing to fail. There are so many things that TFF got right, in my opinion... certainly the campfire scenes are among the best moments in any of the Trek movies. Jerry Goldsmith's score is amazing, perhaps his best work in the series. The performances by the actors are all top-notch. The special effects are nothing to write home about, but I say drink a beer or, umm, partake in smoky herbal substances beforehand, and you'll barely notice those matte lines!

My big problem with the movie, like a lot of films that start off in search of the grand mystery, is that there's really no way the movie could have ended. You can't have the Enterprise finding God, and although Shatner was originally interested in it, you can't have the Enterprise finding the devil either. And the film isn't really about meeting God so much as it is about duty vs. faith, family, all of those good things.

If the individual parts don't quite add up to a cohesive whole, I still enjoy Star Trek V each time I see it.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Connery was a total pipedream---never would have happened.

Because he did Untouchables, Presidio, Indy 3 & Red October that proves he wasn't picky ??

Those were total blockbusters with fantastic scripts and top-notch casts. Costner, Baldwin, Ford, Sam Neil, James earl Jones,Meg Ryan, DeNiro & Spielberg, Peter Hyams, DePalma & McTiernan directing etc.

"Oh yeah Mr Connery you will mostly act with a guy named Rex Holman whose last job was five years ago on TV. Also you'll be acting with an aging cast of TV stars and a first-time director and a script idea nobody believes in--"finding God' "

"Great where do I sign."

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

Nah...you gotta have his accent.

"Shounds splendid. Where do I shign?" lol

I find the idea awesome that he would have been on there as Sybok, but the reality is he would have dismissed the opportunity AND they could not have afforded him. No way.

To spice up this conversation, I read at IMDB.com's boards an idea one viewer had to make the 'search for God' idea really interesting. How about they get there and find Gary Mitchell ("Where No Man Has Gone Before")? Talk about some interesting character moments with that twist...and I think Shatner could have worked with that.

Re: Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far

That is so funny. I was trying to think how to write his reply with his borough but gave up.

Perhaps the Darrell Hammond version.

"Hey Shatner, I 'syboked' your mother, ha, ha, ha."