Star Trek-TMP coverage in the Magazine (1 Viewer)

FYI, The latest issue of Star Trek-The Magazine, is a full issue that covers Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (The December 2001 issue)
I literally just opened it and it's full of new images from the Directors Edition of the film and coverage of the DVD.
But the realy cool thing that I appreciate, as a designer and Syd Mead fan is the artwork of his and others design work for the film. For the first, to me at least, there are sketches and renderings of all the scenes never seen before and designs of V'Ger never seen before.
This DVD is really something special as far as I can see from the magazine, if for the FX designs and restoration of those effects.
As I read the issue, I hope it covers the new scenes included that will help drive the film on a character level too.
If you don't have this issue, check it out. There are some cool shots in there from the new DVD! Forget The Phantom Menace.
Nelson

I am indeed looking forward to ST:TMP-TDE, and the news of Syd Mead's original V'ger Entity plans and artwork being adhered to precisely by Robert Wise Productions for this release has only increased my level of anticipation. That being said, I am deeply saddened that RWP felt the need to replace Matthew Yuricich's wonderously evocative matte paintings of San Francisco and Vulcan with digital renderings that - especially in the case of the new Vulcan shot - look like something out of a 1980's DOS computer game. Would it have been that much trouble to just re-composite the original elements instead?
EvT

quote: Would it have been that much trouble to just re-composite the original elements instead?[/quote]
According to the magazine, those shots were not what was originally planned for the movie. With time running out, compromises had to be made. For this new release, Robert Wise's original storyboards were used, and now the movie is much closer to how he envisioned it.
For instance, nobody really knows why the darker Vulcan matte painting was used, when there are photos of Matthew Yuricich painting another one with a golden sky, similar to the one seen in the new Directors Edition.
Also, it is said in the magazine that the long shot of the "Federation of Planets" logo in the air tram sequence was there to make up for missing effects shots. Now those shots have been completed according to their original design.
I'm very excited about this release. I'm glad that Robert Wise, one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, is now satisfied with this film. If it meets his criteria, I'm sure I'll be more than satisfied.
Neil
P.S. Welcome to the forum, Erika!
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"Conspiracy theorists don't live on the same flat Earth as the rest of us." -- astronomer Stephen Maran
[Edited last by Neil S. Bulk on October 30, 2001 at 06:10 AM]

The article in this issue that interviews the two producers of the DVD also discuss and answer some of my questions about the disc that others have wondered about too.
For example, there was rumour that a scene with Kirk and Admiral Nogura was filmed and where Kirk confronts him to get the Enterprise back. Apparently it was never filmed, as they learned the set was built but struck down and used elsewhere.
The Enterprise fly by is so well loved they wondered if they could have trimmed it a bit for time as there are those who hate the length, yet they knew that there are fans who'd have killed them if they did. Robert Wise said, keep it in as it establishes how large the ship is.
And finally, the Memory Wall sequence was partly filmed, but was not working out and abandoned. Abel Associates who developed the effects and set for the sequence had a different philosophy of how the shot is filmed from the production team, and they could not work it out. So it only exists as extra footage on the second disc.
Regarding the matte painting on Vulcan, I read in the article that it was redone as a darker painting to hide the Vulcan's lips that looked like they were speaking English. The new version is using the originally planned orange glowing skyscape as planned as mentioned above.
It also disclosed that the payoff sequence with V'Ger was rather elaborately planned for the Enterprise approach to it. That is inserted now and looks really amazing. The original design of that set was pretty cool for todays standards considering it is rendered using the original designs. I hope it looks as cool on film as it does in the photos.
There are articles on the sound restoration and effects restoration I've not read yet. The main thing I took though was that the film is not meant to be altered radically, but as Wise said, it is finally getting that last tweak via editing a film gets usually after it is previewed with an audience. This film never got that.
Nelson

Are there any reviews up of "The Star Trek Collection"? Does it include the new director's cut of ST: TMP? And how are the rest of the discs in the set?
-- PaulaJ

Paula-
The Star Trek Collection has been discussed here on this forum but not in that magazine. The infomation I've read is that it contains the DE of The Motion Picture, but the other films are the same as those already released. An SE of Star Trek 2 is slated for June 2002 and the rest to follow. That date is likely tentitive but from a pretty good source, Paramount themselves.
If you don't already have the current DVD's, and you can't wait for the SE's, it might be worth it to buy so you can enjoy them now.
Nelson

Thanks, Nelson. I've got all the ST movies on laser disc, so my choice definitely would be to wait for the special editions. I usually don't buy a movie on DVD I already have unless there has been some significant improvement, like a totally restored picture or major new supplemental material.
Now, do I get that new Dr. Zhivago DVD or be content with my 1995 laser disc box set?
-- Paula

Paula-
I know how you feel, I have a lot of films on laserdisc I duplicated with new DVD's, mostly SE DVD's fortunately. I admire your ability to wait for SE's.
On the Trek front, though, I think I have every incarnation of laserdisc version of each original cast film and the original series. And DVD's of course.
Nelson