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

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

see what i mean? paramount definitely went el cheapo on these. they're still treating trek franchise as a bastard child of film history. ah well, ce' la' vie or somn like that. i'd still get... but won't be on release date, probably as a 2nd hand used product blu-ray . if they are cheap on me, imma go cheap on them.

PS dunno if i posted the screencaps in this thread or in another, but trek films have all been broadcast on 1080i via cable networks, they are HORRIBLE looking. it's almost like the films were about to pop out of their sprockets they are so bad in some cases. there are also huge tears on the film negatives themselves, bigass blotches especially on II. i personally luv the trek franchises MORE than the bond franchises, they definitely deserve the blade runner/godfather-type treatment. i dunno why paramount keeps slapping the hands that feed them. but this is not NEWS, they've bee doing this since VHS days for the trek franchise.

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

^ We don't know anything for fact right now. Why don't we just sit tight and see what happens come May or whenever the discs reach our hot little hands? So far we have one (ONE!) basically anonymous poster with second hand inside information about what might be happening.

There is a second report from someone I happen to trust in these matters telling us the information is false. Again, let's just see and then stick it to Paramount if need be.

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

I agree Jason, let's sit tight and see what happens. I hope your source is right.

By the way, I looked at that post you linked to, at bluray.com. I didn't know Jeff Kleist was part of TDB. I know he used to a member here.

At any rate, I knew Jedifonger would say what he said above. I am a lot more optimistic that the Star Trek films will be treated well. I can see the film elements being in much better shape then the Bond franchise. Though I've gotten so used to seeing the DC of Star Trek TMP that it will be hard to see the original version for Vulcan, where it has moons that it should not!

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

That's ridiculous. I'd rather panic and think the worst possible scenario when there's nothing to support it at all.

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

I agree. And I haven't seen the theatrical version of TMP in almost ten years!

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

I never have... just the "special longer version" that was on video for many years, and the DVD. I'm psyched to see the movie as it was originally released. It may not be the best thing ever, but I'm really a sucker for the kind of special effects work that Doug Trumball and co. did for this movie.

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

I'm confused--the newer D.C. does not erase anything substantial of Trumbull's exceptional work (the aforementioned Vulcan shot is the only thing that comes to mind, and the newer graphics are an improvement in that regard), so the original theatrical version won't be giving you much of anything you wouldn't already have.

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

Oh, I know that. I'm just excited about seeing the theatrical version for the sake of seeing it. My comment about Trumbull's work was meant as a general statement and not about one cut specifically. I've already seen and lived with the "special longer version" for a long time, so I'm familiar with all of the original versions of shots and scenes that were digitally enhanced for the DC.

I know I'm in the minority, but I think the digital effects in the DC look terrible. To me, they stick out like a sore thumb and just take me out of the film. And I was never in love with the film, so it's not as if I knew it as well as I knew the other films, but the new effects just screamed out their presence. I like a lot of the little trims that were made in dialogue, etc., to help with the pacing, but for all of the good that those things did, the cheesy digital special effects just don't work for me. While the DC might flow a little better and be Wise's preferred cut, I'd still prefer to own a version that didn't include any new effects work.

(BTW, I found a lot of the sequences inside the V'Ger cloud to be a lot less tense and less gripping in the DC due to the little snips here and there to shorten the original effects shot. Nothing of substance was lost, probably, I agree with that, but the impact of sequences was diminished for me. I also loathe the new digital shot that shows the entire V'Ger ship in the DC...Trumbull made this thing look huge, unexplainable, mysterious...and then in the DC towards the end of the film when we see the new digital effect of the thing, it just looked so much smaller and less interesting than anything my imagination had been picturing over the years.)

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

I pulled out my laserdisc copy of Star Trek The Motion Picture a few weeks ago to give it a spin. It's the theatrical version, I have two LD's, the other is the Special Longer version.

It's hard to watch! The titles are black and white. Vulcan has a black sky and Moons orbiting it, while Spock is looking up and shields his eyes from the blinding Vulcan sun which is not there! The Wormhole sequence is not quite done yet with a cut to an explosion at the end verse the new integrated explosion within the wormhole. And the V'Ger portions are missing the new effects, (Energy weapon dissipating before it hits the Enterprise, fly-by within V'Ger chamber towards the V'Ger island an the V'Ger bridge creation towards the Enterprise saucer section) which are very little but they make a big difference.

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

Exactly. Retouch, tweak and mutilate the movie all you want with new effects or additional scenes or whatever. That's fine by me. Just make sure the original, unaltered material is available using the same presentation as the new cut is. (Meaning: anamorphic widescreen, cleaned up, 5.1 audio...) Because, when it comes right down to it, the original is what audiences initially saw and made them fall in love with the material.

TMP, among other films, is a piece of history. It should be preserved in its original form, no matter what that form may be.

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

Agreed.

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

Some of the changes I liked, some I didn't, but Nelson did a good job of listing most of the ones I wanted to comment. Nelson, I swear I'm not picking on you here!


So? I'm not a huge fan of the new titles...they look more "made for TV" than anything else, and to me just doesn't mesh well with the style of most of the film. That said, the original titles weren't really anything to write home about. It's one of those kinds of changes where I'm not a big fan, but I don't really care in the end.


I never even thought about the Vulcan sky as being "wrong" until it was changed for the DC. It looked strange and alien, so it seemed to fit. Of the major changes for the DC, this is the one that I object to least...I think I still like the original better, but it's the best special effects work that the new team did on the film, I think. The digital matte paintings look a little too "fake" to me, and the look of the digital effects doesn't seem to mesh well with the actually photography, but it's not too glaring. The digital Spock there, on the other hand...



This was one of the best fixes made in the new DC. I remember that sequence as being a bit cheesy and not done all that well, but when I watched the DC for the first time, that sequence finally worked for me. I didn't even realize at the time that they had done new effects. That's the kind of change I can get behind. Didn't call attention to itself at all, yet made a scene that never worked for me suddenly work -- with me not even realizing what was different initially.


Good!


Oh my god, I'm shuttering just thinking about it. The effect looked like something that would have been appropriate for Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987! There's absolutely nothing about that effect that looks right to me. It looks cheap, it looks phony, and it definitely doesn't even come close to matching the shots that come before and after it. I realize it doesn't directly replace anything in the original so I can't say it looks worse than the original. But it never bothered me that the Enterprise was just surrounded by that island/bridge/whatever-its-called. It worked for me. V'ger is supposed to be this massively powerful and mysterious entity, and when they're inside the bridge in the scene before, demanding to be taken to V'ger, it's kinda like "Uh oh, what's next?" And suddenly it's announced that there's breathable air out there, and they exit the ship and everything's set up already, and I'm thinking, "That thing's pretty powerful if it could somehow provide a way for the Enterprise to land or space for it to dock on about two second's notice--I'm actually a little unnerved by this." It was creepy to me. The digital effect stands out and doesn't allow me the chance to be creeped out.

The problem with the new effects, for the most part, wasn't the ideas behind them. The ideas were right. The problem is that they look more like pre-viz tests than actual effects work, the kind of thing you'd see in a rough cut where someone would say "OK, so that's about where the Vulcan sky will be, and that's what that effect is kinda gonna look like", etc. Maybe the effects would have seemed OK if they had been in something entirely new. But they look out of place, nothing like the rest of the film. And that's why they don't work for me. Most of the stuff looks more "fan edit" than "film studio" and that's not good.

All of this I say to make the case not that the DC shouldn't be released, but that the original version be made available in addition to whatever other versions they may or may not choose to release. If the new effects weren't so glaringly obvious, I would have liked the DC a lot more. Conceptually, all of the ideas that went into the DC are sound. The execution just wasn't particularly good, in my opinion.

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

I have to agree with everything you pointed out concerning the new effects with the exception of-the-end-wormhole part. To me, that seems just as out of place as the V'Ger bridge walk scene.

There is too much I like about the DC's new effects to ever go back to the theatrical version. They could exclude it from the BD and I would be happy. I *do* want all the deleted/changed scenes to still be included as extras just like on the SD-DVD, however.

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

Oh well. Can't win 'em all


I also want all of those included, but I'd prefer some kind of seamless branching. I have a feeling that when I watch the theatrical version, I'm going to miss some of the "special longer version" scenes, such as the one with Spock crying.

Paramount should use the "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Blu-ray as the template for how to do "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". They probably won't, but it would be cool.

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

so many movies to buy.

2, 4, and 6 look good to me. Hope they're great.

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

No problem.

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

Yes, that would be the best thing to do. The CE3K Blu-Ray remains perhaps the best disc of an older film I have yet seen.

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

u dont need to wait til may. the evidence is right in front of us plain as day:
just look at paramount's Blu-Ray discs themselves on all their recent releases, no artwork. i think even transformers was just gray. and that's it. they are just so damned cheap. exception is Godfather, but hell even that was more coppola than any1 else.

it's a foregone conclusion for me. but it won't stop me from buying them... @bargains of $10-13 delivered a piece or less. just as it deserves .

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

It wouldn't surprise me also if these discs came with free passes to the new Star Trek movie.

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

Specious reasoning if I ever heard it. Wasn't the HD DVD version of Transformers also a gray disc? How many BD's actually have customized disc art anymore, outside of the title of the movie?

If you wanna freak out, knock your socks off. I'm gonna wait until there's a reason to freak before my knickers are in a twist.

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

At this point, and I say this as a long-time die-hard Trekker, that may be the only thing that will drag me to the theater to see this...this...whatever the hell it is...

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

Has the May time-frame been confirmed?

It wouldn't surprise me if these are held back to coincide with the video release of the new film in the fall.

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

I'm not a die-hard Trekkie, Trekker, or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I am a fan of the original crew. That said, I'm definitely willing to give this reboot a chance given Abrams' involvement. I enjoyed Cloverfield, and he was responsible for the only decent Mission Impossible in my opinion, so probably I have more faith in this project than I normally would give his involvement.

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

are you talking about paramount's own BD or are you talking about BD in general?

almost ALL OTHER studio (non Paramount) have better artwork on their Blu-Ray disc itself than Paramount releases. i have 300+ discs .

i don't need to freak out. i already know. paramount will cheap out on these. and then... double, triple, whatever dip us. but hey, that's why i'm gonna pay extremely used prices on these movies. won't be buying these brand new.

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

I couldn't agree more. This would make most everyone happy (okay, I know, you cannot please everyone).

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

At this point, it's all still rumors/leaks, but it makes sense.

IIRC, they said they'd split the Kirk/TOS and Picard/TNG movies, so I could see TMP thru TUC coming out in May to tie in with the theatrical release, with Generations thru Nemesis coming out along with the the new film's Blu-ray for the holidays.

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

Unfortunately the person who wrote post 3045 doesn't know what he is talking about. All work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture was done on video at 480 resolution. Not only were the effects shots rendered at that resolution, all so called "restoration" was done at that resolution also.

There has been NO restoration done to TMP. In addition TMP was filmed in 1978 using film stock that has been shown to be rather unstable. If any film is in need of a full restoration it is this one.

Doug

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

In that case the new shot is actually based on the original concept art. That is what they had intended to do but didn't have the time to perfect the shot when it was done in 1978.

Doug

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

Paramount's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has custom disc art. Though I suppose that could be attributed more to Lucasfilm.

Doug

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

If they do this for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I hope the same would be done for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered County. As long as the original theatrical cuts get included, I will be purchasing these. There's really no reason to not include them.

Someone here suggested sending a link to this thread to Paramount. Has anyone done this yet?