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

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

Tomorrow is Yesterday, IIRC.

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

I was thinking "Operation: Annihilate!". Been a while since I saw the trailer, though.

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

I thought so too, but the remastered pic is on Memory-Alpha. I think they're the same...

Memory Alpha

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

I also grabbed the set for $65. The movies look great on my 52" But after watching ST 6 & I love N. Meyers work on ST 2 & his writing on 4. The movie Time after Time was great. But ST6 was a total dud to me. I just watched it again on bluray last night & every joke was a bomb. The changes to the ships I hated. The uniform designs are horrible. The story was a bore. It has to rank next to ST5 as the worst of TOS movies.

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

^ Ridiculous!!!

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

To what changes are you referring?


Which uniforms? Aren't these the same ones that were used in 2-4?


I guess to each his own. Despite some minor quibbles, I thought it was one of the better ST plots in the whole series.

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

A Kitchen on the Enterprise. Lets add a table to The Excelsior so we can show a cup of joe fall off it.

Yes Uniforms from 2-4. I hate them! Always have!

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

thanks everyone for answering my question.

Jacob

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

Well every ship has a galley. Maybe some officers would rather eat real food instead of computer processed rations. I can also go along with the table as a Captain's indulgence. Sulu decides he wants tea instead of the usual coffee and needs someplace to put his cup and saucer.

As far as the uniforms go I absolutely love them. They just look like something a professional unit would wear. I love the old tv uniforms too, but the ones in 2-6 are much more snappy and professional looking to me. In any case they are miles ahead of the pajamas they wore in TMP. Other than Kirk's white and grey duotone uniform they were all totally ridiculous. It looked they were all going to a sleepover rather than trying to save Earth from total destruction.

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

I like futuristic look of TOS. Those red uni's look like they belong in some Navy. And Star Trek isn't ready a Navy or Military unit.

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

6 may very well be my favorite, even inching a little above II. A near perfect theatrical send-off for the original crew (something the Next Gen crew was never afforded and now never will thanks to Berman and Braga running it into the ground), a fun story, and Christopher Plumber doing some of the best villainous scenery chewing since Montalban - hard to beat, in my opinion.

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

I love 6, I always thought it was the best all around Star Trek movie, though II may be the better movie movie.

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

I agreee with Norm that the "Meyer" uniforms suck as well as Meyer's general vision of Trek being militaristic. ST6 is a story that could have taken place in any setting and offered little science fiction elements... more of a mediocre political thriller.

I have no problems with the uniforms of TMP. At least they provided an attempt, if nothing else, of being futuristic and not of this world.

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

^ I'm no designer, but the look of the TMP uniforms didn't jive with the series unis. (Neither did the II-VI ones, either, but they looked worlds better, something an actual organization would wear.)

The TMP ones never struck me as futuristic. Bland and boring would be a better description. Besides, Trek originates on this world (being Earth), so the criticism they are "not of this world" kind of flies right in the face of the argument, IMHO.

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

I recall not liking the TMP uniforms at the time but over the years, I have come to appreciate them, and I do prefer them over the red jackets of the other films. I think the later TNG uniforms are the best - colorful and evocative of the original series, while being forward-looking and new. I have always hated the jumpsuits of Voyager and early DS9; worst designs ever for a show. The TNG film era gray suits were better.

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

Okay, I'll chime in on the uniforms, Meyer and Star Trek 6.

And I am a designer, not fashion, but I design products and I have an appreciation for all the design disciplines. My function is in industrial design, so I focus on the appearance and functionality for the user.

One of the hallmarks of Star Trek TOS was Roddenberry's desire to really make Star Trek look futuristic. The original uniforms from TOS were sometimes made fun of as being pajama like too. But what I like what William Theiss did was design the uniforms to appear to not have any fasteners or any traditional means of construction. Yes, they were a bit on the stylistic side with how the pant legs flared above the boots. For 1966, they were really imaginative for what was on TV then, not only the design, but the use of fabrics. The pants somehow had this metallic flake on them.

I really appreciated what they tried to do for Star Trek The Motion Picture. Fletcher tried to push what Theiss did but he tended to make things even more stylistic. For example, the weaker parts of the TMP uniforms was the added materials around the collar areas to give it that "V" look of the original. The idea of having the pant leg integrate into the foot wear was really cool, very much forward thinking of what it "could be". They also really thought out the ranking markings on the various versions of the uniforms. (The guys who worked on the new JJ Abrams movie admited they didn't think it through. For example, Uhura's short sleeve uniform has no ranking markings like they worked out in TMP) The muted use of color was a downside and had the feel of The Cage. The landing party jackets were terrific too and another nice link to The Cage. So the uniforms had a lot of great ideas, perhaps some of it wasn't as well executed.

It's no secret that Meyer went for the nautical feel and he didn't like the TMP uniforms. While I appreciate the desire for a different design for Star Trek 2, I felt they were over done and overly theatrical. He went a bit farther and made the pant leg flair even more on his uniforms! Perhaps the wine color of the jackets was a bit over done too. I've seen these uniforms for real at the Sci Fi museum when they were on display before the auctions to sell them. The ribbed collar and sleeve ends of the inside shirt are also overly crude. Lacking in some refinement in design, not construction. As if they were for stage play, where you exaggerate a bit so the audience can see it.

Meyer also did a lot of things that he felt were necessary to bring his films back to Earth. Most I had no issues with, the use of books for example. They still read in the 23rd Century was his mantra. What reviewing these film on BD has reminded me of was that the first time I saw these films, I was always bothered by some of the cheapie things he did to add visual interest. The really clean and well designed bridge was messed up for Trek 2. He or someone decided to add some busy non-functional "greeblies" on the walls next to panels. For insert shots when Savaak raised shields, he used tacky looking control panels with 20th Century switches. No doubt to add to the tactile feel. On Regula, they rented these awful computer looking consoles with a lot of blinking lights that looked more at home on Lost In Space, then Star Trek. I give him a little slack because of the low budget nature of Star Trek 2.

Star Trek 6. I also didn't like the idea of a galley kitchen. But I can see Meyer again wanting to give that human touch. Perhaps they keep a cook on board for special occasions. There was a cook aboard in Charlie X and they had ovens for the meatloaf. Of course that was a very early episode, before they started eating colored croutons.

The parts in Trek 6 I disliked was the contrived bit where Uhura has to answer in Klingon because a universal translator would be detected. FIne, but she needed 3 people to help her looking through books to figure it out? She's smart, and should have either known Klingon or was able to get the info from the computer screen. It was for comedic effect and it was cringe inducing. The bit about Sabots was also sort of insulting to Chekov and Uhura.

Trek 6 is still one of my favorite films too. It allowed the TOS cast a decent opportunity to end their film series.

I love Star Trek obviously. I watch the films rarely so they are fresh when I do want to watch. But I read a recent review that really opened my eyes to them. They are overall a good series of films and I'm really happy they made them. But the reviewer said that the problem with the films is that they look like old men trying to act like they were during TOS. And I can see that. I've always seen that, but I never thought about. I knew Kelley and Nimoy looked old. Shatner looked older, but he carried it off well. TMP is my favorite of all the films, they all carried it off pretty well. But some of the middle films were not always realistic, would Chekov and Sulu still be at the Comm? Uhura still at the switchboard? Trek 2 had Chekov on another ship and Sulu finally had a command of his own. Something his character should have had in the first movie.

My 2 cents.

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

Good post and interesting points, Nelson.

I for one, liked the nautical styled unis of II-VI. They were grand and theatric; great for the FILMS. Were they something that might be realistically used? I think not on duty; they looked too freakin hot and itchy! But for dress occasions they would be superb. Anyway, I like them and rank insignia, etc.

On your last paragraph you mentioned the crew's rank...LOL I have thought about that many times!

Chekov is a first officer on reliant, commander rank. But winds up back on Enterprise navigating, pinch hitting in science or weapons control? This is the stuff he did on the OS.

Uhura, commander. With her experience, she should have either moved up to a command position/first officer somewhere, or be large and in charge of Starfleet Communications.

Sulu, I think ANOTHER commander (before his STVI captaincy) driving the ship all this time??

In short, none of these characters should even be on the Enterprise anymore, unless they had assumed a higher level of position. So you've got a bridge with two captains (Spock and Kirk), and three commanders.

The ONLY thing I can figure is that Starfleet wanted to keep that crew together on purpose due to their experience and cohesiveness.

STII was just supposed to be a training mission with Admiral Kirk riding along, but that doesn't really explain why Uhura and Sulu had to be there. III and IV they were all in on helping Spock, so that's understandable. V...I have no idea why they are all together again...and now you have THREE captains on board with Scotty, Spock and Kirk (well, this goes back to III, doesn't it?) LOL

Most experienced crew in Starfleet, fo' sho'. But great movies nonetheless.

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

I think Star Trek VI is probably the sharpest script of all 11 movies. I was 10 when it came out and I didn't care for it then, but it's definitely grown on me.

Am I reading that news correctly on Digital Bits that only First Contact, Khan, Voyage Home, Undiscovered Country (i.e., what most would consider to be the best of the first 10 movies) are the only ones getting an individual release? I guess it makes sense from a marketing stance, but still...

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

Talk about hamming it up. I'm sorry but Kang ain't no Khan! I do agree with you on B&B. They also couldn't wait to get rid of TOS.

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

Funny. I liked the movies as well (II and VI being my favourites, with only a small margin to the others), but I always thought William Shatner looked terribly like someone wearing a corset.

In fact, ever since inadvertently watching an episode of Boston Legal, I'm certain he did.


Cees

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

It may be Earth, but it is DEFINITELY not the Earth we know as it has evolved into a form of utopian society, being a couple of hundred years into the future (we should be so lucky). That is what I meant by "not of this world".

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

This is interesting. I was actually thinking of caving and buying the full BD motion picture collection from Amazon, and this is what was posted:

"Item Under Review
While this item is available from other marketplace sellers on this page, it is not currently offered by Amazon.com because customers have told us there may be something wrong with our inventory of the item, the way we are shipping it, or the way it's described here. (Thanks for the tip!) We're working to fix the problem as quickly as possible."

Very curious...

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

I think this was due to all the carping about DNR. I'm guessing that influenced a sizable number of people to cancel their orders which got Amazons attention.
FWIW, I picked up the set from Best Buy when it was on sale a week or two ago, and dipped into it a little the other night. Watching on 98" widescreen ia a 1080p pj, I thought the pq was decent enough for non critical viewing. It could be improved, no question. The effects of EE, and some odd aliasing in some shots, along with the changes in color timing on TWOK, were all more of a distraction to me than the DNR. But for the price I paid ($50 after using a $15 rewards zone coupon) I don't regret the purchase.

The next best buying opportunity for this set will likely be if DD holds its summer sale in mid July as expected.

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

ST6 is one of my favorites as well just behind ST2. Its a very low budget movie which is why so many costumes & models are re-used (if you look closely on the BD some of the costumes are falling apart!!). It only got made at the 11th hour after being cancelled at least twice because Shatner & Nimoy deferred most of their salaries to get it into production as Paramount would not budge on an extra few Million to get it made.

The original ST6 had a lengthy opening character intro piece for 6 TOS crew (except Spock) to see what they were doing after ST5 before going to the conference room for the Spock briefing. This got scrapped in pre-production to save money as did an exciting Enterprise dodging asteroids & hiding in them to avoid detection by the Klingon's. Instead they did the Uhura Klingon dialect joke. The spacedock shots were very limited as ILM had destroyed the model after ST4 and it was too expensive to rebuild. There were several other things as well which sounded neat on paper but got cut out as Paramount were not prepared to put much money it 6.

Meyer had to fight Roddenberry all the time to change anything as Gene was against any & all change in TOS movies unless he made them. This was well documented and Meyer even went on record in a CFQ around the time of ST6 as saying Roddenberry should give back all the money he had made if he hated Meyer's changes that much!

Meyer is a strong personality and that's how he even managed to get his changes through as Roddenberry threatened many times to legally block certain changes to his universe!

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

As a Roddenberry fan. I hate some of the changes made in all the movies & even in TNG. Sometimes change isn't needed just for the sake of changing things. What issue of CFQ? I'd like to read it. I wonder if Gene would have liked the new ST. I think he would.

You need the April 1992 issue with ST6 Kirk + Spock on the cover. Meyer is in full non PR mode !!!! .....but its refreshing in a way to hear someone talk BS free on the subject. I got rid of all my CFQ's about 6 years ago as they took up too much space but some issues like that one are well worth picking up.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Cinefantastique-Star-Trek-VI-Film-last-Hurrah-Apr-1992_W0QQitemZ270414972297QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090625?IMSfp=TL090625185005r30188

Thanx i know the issue.

Hey, I think I have that issue somewhere.  I'll have to dig it out!

i just bid on one on ebay.

I'm really dissapointed with the Menu navigation on the season 1 blu-ray disc's. I sure wish I didn't have to cycle through each disc to find out which episode is on each disc. I want to get too each episode on the main menu.