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

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

Kevin-

I could not resist, your post got me to pull out my laserdiscs and check them out. The audio in the opening sequence of TMP is the same, same clicking sounds of the monitors on the Klingon bridge. Doesn't look bad, if you like a smerry image. I can't believe we used to think this was the best at the time!

Here's the cover of my copy:


In 1991, for the 25th Anniversary, Paramount released this box set that included Star Trek 1 through 5. This was a nice set, inside was a booklet with poster art for each film and the film specs. There is even a card of authenticity where Gene Roddenberry has some words about this being the 25th Anniversary. Signed of course.

The image quality of the WS LD is full of specs and dirt. This has the theatrical cut of Star Trek TMP, as well as the other 4 films.

Here's the box:


I still have my LD box set of TAS and all the LD's of TOS. When Trek 6 came out and later Generations, I have those LD's too that were packaged in a box called the Space Dock. I was able to order an empty box from my local LD dealer. I also had used copies of the 25th Anniversary LD's that were sold individually, that I got used cheap back in the day, so I placed those, Trek 6 and 7 in the dock. The used LD's I could watch so the 25th Anniversary box didn't get added wear and tear.

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

I watched the blu ray edition of star trek the motion picture.. that had some great audio. I did like it.. been years since I had seen the theatre version.
I remember seeing the directors cut when that came out. I liked that one too.
I remember having the star trek set on VHS that had the 6 movies together.
Jacob

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

Nelson Au,

Those covers are really cool to see.

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

Thanks Nelson.

I too have kept a bunch of my laserdiscs, usually because they were never ported over to DVD (Criterion stuff and the like)

For a while, I hung on to the widescreen laserdiscs of Star Trek II, III and VI - until the 2-disc DVDs came out. At that point, I streamlined down to just the DVDs and the VHS copies of the other versions of TMP. Now I'm looking at multiple versions again with this Blu-ray set...

But those laserdiscs always did look, well, "cool"...

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

Glad you guys enjoyed the LD images! They were fun to see again!

Yes, I could not bear to let them go, so I still have my LD's. You can see how much I paid for the TMP LD! And I still have the first edition Criterion Bond LD's with the audio commentary that was removed from later pressings.

By the way, if you're a Sic Fi fan, then the Star Trek 3 extras has a terrific doc with Harve Bennett and a Seattle media writer touring the Sci Fi Museum located in Seattle at the Space Needle. I went there in 2006 for the 40th Anniversary Star Trek Convention. The documentary does not do the museum justice. it rightfully focuses on the Star Trek portion, but there are so many other terrific pieces there!

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

That Sci-Fi Museum feature is really mislabeled. Only a small part of it deals with the museum.

The overwhelming majority is a new interview with Harve Bennett that mostly goes over the same ground he has covered in past interviews. It's nice stuff, although Bennett is really getting on in years now.

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

I haven't read through this entire thread, so forgive me if this has been mentioned before.

I watched the BD of ST:TMP, and I was completely stunned by the sound, which is thrilling.

I then put in the DVD of ST:TMP, the Director's Cut, and immediately noted that the overture is twice as long here. I wonder why?

I wish I could have that long overture in the lossless sound of the BD.

TMP has the best of the scores, by far. Horner's score for Khan doesn't match Goldsmith's.

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

My old copy of the theatricual cut on VHS also has a shorter version of the overture. Maybe they added the longer one when making the director's cut?

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

Yeah nice pics Nelson. I too still have my 25th boxed set same as yours (although cover is still perfect!!). Sold all my ST P&S LD's long ago around 1991 when the 25th set came out. Also kept about another 85 LD's I could not bear to ever part with (maybe my coffin will be made from them!!). HT fans nowadays are lucky as those LD's were as you know damn expensive. $249 SW Trilogy, $150 ST 25th, $130 CE3K Criterion, $130 2001 Criterion CAV, $130 Blade Runner Criterion CAV or how about the $170 ET boxed set!!! Kept all these and many more!!!

Some of those LD's have work of art covers which still look great today.

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

Nelson, I don't have the box set anymore, but I still have the Star Trek Cloissone Pin Set that came as a bonus with the set. This is the pin set you had to send away to Pioneer LCDA to receive. The three pins are still shrink-wrapped in the original box along with a letter from Pioneer. Heck, I even have the padded envelope (dated Nov. 19, 1991) that they came in via certified mail. So, yeah, I guess you can say I have packrat issues too!

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

I remember that at the time this boxset was released, the reason Paramount gave for not including the extended version of TMP was that the elements of the deleted scenes were not up to snuff for the widescreen presentation on LD, which is a euphemism for "if we show Kirk's exit in widescreen, people will finally realise the scene wasn't finished."

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

Roger-Yes, the Overture was the first thing I noticed on the new BD, not having seen the theatrical version for so long, was different!

Paul- That's a hoot! I had not thought about the cost of those box sets. Most of those titles you mentioned, I have too. I used to go to a great Mom and Pop LD shop and they sold used discs too. My very first Criterion LD was a used 2001 and it was mint, so I paid less! Amazon and Best Buy killed them.

Gary, I never got those pins. I don't know why. I guess I wasn't into those. But we all seem to be collectors of shiny round discs.

Stephen, I thought you were going to say that Paramount is using the same reasoning now for the lack of the extended version of TMP of BD!

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

I still have (almost) all of the Trek movies on widescreen LD myself - but I bought them individually, not part of the box.

I say almost all, because I never got ST V on LD. I didn't get it until the original DVD release.

The overture used on the DE DVD is the complete "Ilia's Theme" from the original soundtrack. The "theatrical" overture is only the second half of that piece.

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

Paul and pitchman,

I'd say the encounter group for PA ("Packrats Anonymous") is growing.

My LDs still in the house:

20,000 Leagues (Disney Archive Edition)
Close Encounters (Criterion CAV with extras not carried over to DVD or Blu)
Fantasia (50th Anniversary Edition)
The Fisher King (Criterion)
Forbidden Planet (Criterion)
Ghostbusters (Criterion)
The Idolmaker (Pioneer lbx with Taylor Hackford commentary)
The Magnificent Ambersons (Criterion)
The Player (Criterion)
Silverado (Criterion)
Tootsie (Criterion)

Yes. Packrat.

Ahem, back to Star Trek Blu-rays...

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

Someone @ eBay sold one to me a few years back ...



... still sealed in the box also! Now I know where these came from!

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

I have the same pins, which came with the 25th anniversary vhs widescreen collection.

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

Very cool pins!

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

The pins looks great next to my lighted USS Enterprise NCC-1701!!!



So far, I watched Star Trek IV, The Motion Picture and Star Trek II (Khannnnnn!!!! - last night) and as a fan, I'm very happy with these Theatrical Released Blu-ray discs!!!



Based on my memory (which could be faulty ... ), ... this Blu-ray release contains the complete 1979 Movie Overture that was heard @ the Cinema!!!

We watched TMP when it was released @ The Century 22 (San Jose), and I also remember the crowd started clapping when the Overture started!!!

A few had their Starfleet uniforms on but the crowd (and those waiting, lined-up outside) was definitely stoked to see The Star Trek Motion Picture after a 10-year drought from the air-waves!

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

Agreed. Great post here. I ordered the Trilogy set, but will wait until they can release the finished version of TMP. I know Robert Wise intended that the DC version of TMP be the ONLY version shown from here on out. There is a great Q and A's with Mr. Wise and some other interesting articles about TMP on Star Trek.com.

Thanks for the posts about the blu ray sound effects, computer voices, etc on the new blu ray version. It sounds as if these are the original ones used in the theatrical version. Very interesting about the intro piece Illia's Theme before the credits. I didn't know it was shorter in the theatrical than the DC.

Links:

STARTREK.COM*:*Article

STARTREK.COM*:*Transcript

Q: Mr. Wise, were you surprised or disappointed that Paramount decided not to re-release the new edition of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" the way "Alien" or the old "Star Wars" trilogy were? Was [a theatrical release] supposed to happen at all?
JF, Montreal Canada

RW: My return to the picture was always intended as the final cut of the film, and for it to be released theatrically. Paramount offered to only support the project for home video, so given the options we accepted. I still believe that the film deserves a theatrical re-release, and that my team, David, Michael, and Daren need to be back at the studio to accurately restore and create the new negative I always intended. In the future, my "Director's Edition" should be the only version that people see, on film theatrically and video in the home.

Q: Hi Mr. Wise. I love the new DVD, it's fantastic — the new sound mix really engaged me. My question is, what were your impressions and input about updating the original sound track from the audio system of the time to 5.1-channel surround sound that is standard today? Did you have any input on the new sound track?
Paul M.

RW: David, Michael, and I had many discussions about what we wanted to do with the 5.1 sound mix. We really didn't have an opportunity to complete the sound mix originally, because the sound editors can't work until the picture element is finalized, and the minute it was finished it went to the lab to have prints struck. The designers created a whole library of sound effects, and all of that material was still available. So I didn't have to pick and choose every little sound, but David and Mike played sequences for me as they were finished, in some cases giving me one or two other choices. Sound plays a very pivotal part of any motion picture, and we knew that it would be necessary to update the sound mix to help carry the story and flow of the picture. I believe that it was at least fifty percent sound that helped the film gain a 'PG' rating over its original 'unthreatening' 'G'.

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

I have always felt that version of the Enterprise (1701 and 1701/A) was the sexiest. That's an excellent replica!

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

Gorgeous model, Phil! Where can I get mine?

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

This is from Daren Dochterman's blog. Interesting...

http://blog.darendoc.com/?p=580

The films do look cleaner than they ever have before… (some a little too clean… but I think there is a backlash on normal film grain these days… which I’m sad to say) One point on the commentary of TMP that I’d like to clarify… when we made the recording, we were watching the transfer of the film that Robert Wise supervised the color timing for… and you can hear me commenting on that, and the fact that the two shots in the v’ger interior where we corrected the deflector dish color were in the copy we were watching… are not in fact in the new HD transfer. Overall, I’m sorry to see that the timing supervised by Mr. Wise and approved by cinematographer Richard Kline isn’t on this release… the new transfer seems shifted a bit too much toward the cyan in most scenes… but the contrast and black density seems proper now, now that NTSC vagueries aren’t a consideration. The colors on Trek II seem very cold and blue too… much more than I remember them… so perhaps this shift in color temperature is related.

Also, on another note… I seem to remember that our commentary for TMP was mostly wall to wall talking… we all had a lot to say during the film, and I was surprised that there were several sections edited out… (you can hear large sections of commentary silence that weren’t originally intended that way…) I can’t remember specifically what was discussed during these sections, but I guess there were reasons for editing… would just like to know what the concern was…

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

My guess is they were talking about the director's cut or changes made to the movie and those were excised by Paramount for obvious reasons.

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

I have to make time to listen to the new commentary track, thanks for the heads-up on Daren's new blog. I had been looking for an update to his new revised blog.

I found it very interesting to read other areas on his blog giving his impressions on the new film too.

I hope he gets the go ahead to rerender the hi-def effects for the directors cut of TMP soon!

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

I was listening to the TMP commentary yesterday (thoroughly enjoyable, BTW), and I did notice a couple of times where someone would say, "Now, this is interesting..." followed by a minute or two of silence. Very odd...

Doug

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

Thanks Dan!


Thanks Ric!!!

It's the $49.99 1/850 scale Bandai Lighted Model kit, which is no longer produced, ... hence, ... out-of-this-world prices @ eBay!!!

Anyway, here's more pic's of the completed Bandai 1701 lighted model, including the kit packaging, instructions and light bulbs.

Finally watched Star Trek III: In Search of Spock, and the Blu-ray PQ & SQ was far superior vs. the SD DVD. The only distraction was when the Enterprise 1701 was flying towards the Earth Space Dock / Station, and you could see the 1701 CGI placement frame(s) lighter outline shape around the 1701.

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

Phil, I'm such a geek I looked at all 44 pictures LOL Great quality on those Bandai ships! Did you build the "E" yet? That's my second favorite Enterprise

That's cool though...no painting or decaling! All done for you! Just painstaking wiring! LOL

I built that AMT 3-ship one...didnt turn out super-great for me haha. I also built an AMT kit of the movie 1701 and it had lights but looked nowhere NEAR as good as your Bandai.

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

If you guys are into modeling then you may know of the Polar Lights Refit Enterprise kit that came out a few years ago?

That kit is an excellent replica, the most accurate one of the movie Enterprise. It's big too, its 1/350 scale. It went out of print, but is coming back either very soon or is out about now. This model will require more skill to paint it.

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

I have that as well... haven't built it yet some 15 - 20 years later. Looking Phil's model though has sparked some interest in working on it.

However to do it right, it seems I will need some kind of filler putty to fill all the seams (and sand it) so that the light only comes through where it is supposed to. I was looking into that when circumstances took my attention elsewhere.

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

Hey Gary, you quoted Dan, but I got credit for the quote!