A Few Words About A few words about...™ Star Trek Beyond -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I don't know how many times the importance of script has been discussed toward the creation of a quality motion picture.

In Star Trek Beyond, considered "The Best Action Movie of the Year!" by Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood, there almost doesn't seem to be one.

The film is a melange of scenes we've either seen, or might have ended up on the cutting room floor of one of the myriad of other Star Trek films over the decades.

There's a lot of sound of fury, but ultimately...

Possibly it's finally time to give Star Trek a rest, and create some really great new films on other subjects.

The cast seems to be trying very hard to please fans of the original, as all these youngish thespians seem to be doing their best to impersonate the characters, as played by the original cast, down to accents and mannerisms. But one must presume that that's what been requested of them.

Technically, the film was created with all the right gear, has a superb Dolby Atmos track, which to me was the best thing in the film, and as a 4k UHD Blu-ray mit HDR looks decent, but never great. Want something to impress your friends, look elsewhere.

It initially came up quite dark on my equipment, so I went into hyper bright mode, which then upset the black levels. Maneuvering those a bit, I was finally able to come up with something that looked okay, but far less in overall impact when compared to many other UHD titles. Might the film have been over-HDR'd? Don't know.

The film had been produced with final data in 2k, but that shouldn't be a problem, as there are many other (most actually) UHD releases, which look superb up-rezzed for 4k release. And as has been discussed here before, the difference between 4k and HD from a nominal viewing difference isn't a big thing, unless the production has large format roots. The only difference one will really see is the HDR, which is why I presume the studios are pushing it, in place of true 4k from large format productions.

And there seems to be a fear to visit large format mit out HDR. Even when HDR has absolutely nothing to do with the 4k image. It's an add-on. Always.

Bottom line, I must presume that this is a fan picture, and it probably doesn't matter what others think. But with any new motion picture, anyone should, without a great deal of knowledge of back-story, be able to catch on and enjoy. Possibly it's simply that the younger actors aren't as good as the originals, as applied to this specific task.

Who is this Krall anyway? Why is he cranky? And why is he set on total inter-galactic war? Possibly he's North Korean.

Image - 4

Audio - 5 (Dolby Atmos)

4k - 4

Pass / Fail - Pass


RAH

 

[trevanian]

BEYOND may have played like pastiche in a lot of ways, but it remains the only TREK movie where I've come out of the theater feeling good about what I saw since Shat's FINAL FRONTIER (warts, vfx, unknown siblings and all, TFF is, along with TWOK and TMP -- plenty of warts there too -- the only trek film I really like.)

But I made the mistake of seeing BEYOND a 2nd time and realized it is kind of like VOYAGE HOME in that it is a one-time fun flick that settles into mediocrity once the surprise and emotional response are used up. I'll buy it eventually, but probably only through redbox used (got FORCE AWAKENS blu there for six bucks and ANTMAN blu for three bucks this week - BEYOND will probably be selling for some price in-between within 2 to 3 months.)

And the cast pic scene wasn't one of the things that 'got' me either, it was stuff where the new guys -- even the usually useless Pine, who would do well to remember Redford's early career and settle into light comedy, cuz he is not the action hero guy at all -- made it happen. Maybe if Abrams hadn't directed the other two and had his 'writers' wrecking things so badly, the cast would have shown themselves in a better light earlier.

Makes you wonder what Jung and Pegg could have done if working with a decent timeframe, and if they took two or three setpieces out and replaced them with development on antagonist. Right before the swarm hits the starship, there is a minute that feels very TREK to me ... and I think that minute could have been closer to a reel in length, where you see these guys in a briefing room discussing stuff instead of everything happening bang/bang/bang.

 

[TravisR]

This was the only summer movie this year that I have any interest in owning.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

The movie played like a video game and left the theater disappointed. A lot of action but weak on plot and something new.

 

[Mikey1969]

I was very enthusiastic about the 2009 reboot, and looked forward to the filmmakers expanding their world and exploring new ideas. The cast was uniformly excellent and seemed ready for it. Unfortunately it seems that they didn't have any new ideas, and instead just recycled ideas used much better previously in the canon, while slyly winking at the audience to show how "clever" they were. Agree that it's time to put this series on ice for a while, while the creative team finds some creativity.

 

[Mark Booth]

I loved the film and will be buying the 4K version (and I don't even have a 4K player, yet).

Mark

 

[Tino]

Although I thought it was the weakest of the Kelvin timeline, I still loved it. Have the ultimate edition on order from Amazon (4K, 3D, Blu, Digital copy, Starship replica). $49.99. Great deal.

 

[Mark-P]

BEYOND may have played like pastiche in a lot of ways, but it remains the only TREK movie where I've come out of the theater feeling good about what I saw since Shat's FINAL FRONTIER (warts, vfx, unknown siblings and all, TFF is, along with TWOK and TMP -- plenty of warts there too -- the only trek film I really like.)

But I made the mistake of seeing BEYOND a 2nd time and realized it is kind of like VOYAGE HOME in that it is a one-time fun flick that settles into mediocrity once the surprise and emotional response are used up. I'll buy it eventually, but probably only through redbox used (got FORCE AWAKENS blu there for six bucks and ANTMAN blu for three bucks this week - BEYOND will probably be selling for some price in-between within 2 to 3 months.)

And the cast pic scene wasn't one of the things that 'got' me either, it was stuff where the new guys -- even the usually useless Pine, who would do well to remember Redford's early career and settle into light comedy, cuz he is not the action hero guy at all -- made it happen. Maybe if Abrams hadn't directed the other two and had his 'writers' wrecking things so badly, the cast would have shown themselves in a better light earlier.

Makes you wonder what Jung and Pegg could have done if working with a decent timeframe, and if they took two or three setpieces out and replaced them with development on antagonist. Right before the swarm hits the starship, there is a minute that feels very TREK to me ... and I think that minute could have been closer to a reel in length, where you see these guys in a briefing room discussing stuff instead of everything happening bang/bang/bang.

The Final Frontier is your pick for the best trek film? I think you may be alone there as popular opinion is that it is the rock-bottom worst,

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Who is this Krall anyway? Why is he cranky? And why is he set on total inter-galactic war?

Who is this Krall anyway? Why is he cranky? And why is he set on total inter-galactic war?

In short...and spoilers abound from herein out:

About 100 years before the events of the movie, there was a galactic war that an alliance of Earth-led planets won. This led to the formation of Starfleet. Captain Balthazar Edison was one of the men who helped win this war. With peace at hand, the army was disbanded and Edison was instead given command of a starship (the Franklin, the ship that Scotty finds on the planet), and sent on a peaceful mission of exploration. The Franklin, under Edison's command, falls into a wormhole or some kind of spatial anomaly. Back on earth, the ship is presumed lost, and the crew are celebrated as noble heroes. Edison's ship, the Franklin, crash lands on the planet we see in the movie, and discovers an abandoned world. A highly industrialized alien civilization once used it as a mining colony, but they perished, leaving behind their equipment, along with pieces of a biological weapon and a sort of vampire-type device that allows a person to extend his natural life by sucking the life force from another being. Edison finds all of this as he waits to be rescued. As the years pass, Edison and his crew wait in vain to be rescued. He grows bitter as he comes to believe that Starfleet has intentionally abandoned him.

Using the equipment and weapons he finds on the planet, he searches for the pieces of the biological weapon that the former owners left scattered, and lures others to the planet and sucks their life force to extend his own. A side effect of this is that as Edison absorbs alien DNA, his appearance starts to change, and he starts to call himself Krall.

Edison/Krall isn't too dissimilar from some military people we see in our own world. For some people, the fight becomes the way of life, and they can't let go of the battle. Krall tells Kirk that he couldn't break bread with the people he once fought against after peace was declared. He was skeptical of Starfleet, and being "abandoned" only confirmed his worst fears, that Starfleet was soft. Soldiers live by an ethos where no man is left behind on the battlefield. Explorers accept that they may not always return. That Starfleet didn't rescue Edison (even though it would have been impossible for them to do so with the primitive warp engines they had in his time) was a betrayal he couldn't forgive. Therefore, his mission became to return Starfleet to a state of war. In war, Edison/Krall believed, there was strength. Only through fighting could man reach his highest potential. If Edison/Krall could draw the galaxy back into all out war, mankind might again reach the heights he felt necessary for the species to survive.

I think Edison is delusional, but his line of thinking is by no means unique to an imagined future. And I think, like the best episodes of the original series, the conflict in this movie can be seen as a general commentary on or cautionary tale about our world today.

 

[Robert Harris]

In short...and spoilers abound from herein out:

About 100 years before the events of the movie, there was a galactic war that an alliance of Earth-led planets won. This led to the formation of Starfleet. Captain Balthazar Edison was one of the men who helped win this war. With peace at hand, the army was disbanded and Edison was instead given command of a starship (the Franklin, the ship that Scotty finds on the planet), and sent on a peaceful mission of exploration. The Franklin, under Edison's command, falls into a wormhole or some kind of spatial anomaly. Back on earth, the ship is presumed lost, and the crew are celebrated as noble heroes. Edison's ship, the Franklin, crash lands on the planet we see in the movie, and discovers an abandoned world. A highly industrialized alien civilization once used it as a mining colony, but they perished, leaving behind their equipment, along with pieces of a biological weapon and a sort of vampire-type device that allows a person to extend his natural life by sucking the life force from another being. Edison finds all of this as he waits to be rescued. As the years pass, Edison and his crew wait in vain to be rescued. He grows bitter as he comes to believe that Starfleet has intentionally abandoned him.

Using the equipment and weapons he finds on the planet, he searches for the pieces of the biological weapon that the former owners left scattered, and lures others to the planet and sucks their life force to extend his own. A side effect of this is that as Edison absorbs alien DNA, his appearance starts to change, and he starts to call himself Krall.

Edison/Krall isn't too dissimilar from some military people we see in our own world. For some people, the fight becomes the way of life, and they can't let go of the battle. Krall tells Kirk that he couldn't break bread with the people he once fought against after peace was declared. He was skeptical of Starfleet, and being "abandoned" only confirmed his worst fears, that Starfleet was soft. Soldiers live by an ethos where no man is left behind on the battlefield. Explorers accept that they may not always return. That Starfleet didn't rescue Edison (even though it would have been impossible for them to do so with the primitive warp engines they had in his time) was a betrayal he couldn't forgive. Therefore, his mission became to return Starfleet to a state of war. In war, Edison/Krall believed, there was strength. Only through fighting could man reach his highest potential. If Edison/Krall could draw the galaxy back into all out war, mankind might again reach the heights he felt necessary for the species to survive.

I think Edison is delusional, but his line of thinking is by no means unique to an imagined future. And I think, like the best episodes of the original series, the conflict in this movie can be seen as a general commentary on or cautionary tale about our world today.

That all makes sense. Thank you.

Although I've a feeling you just created that tale on the fly.

Makes Edison sound like the offspring of Dracula, blended with a bit of Elizabeth Bathory, for his reptilian beauty.

 

[benbess]

RAH wrote: "The film is a melange of scenes we've either seen, or might have ended up on the cutting room floor of one of the myriad of other Star Trek films over the decades.

There's a lot of sound of fury, but ultimately..."

Agree.

Beyond was one the weakest Trek movies imho. For me it tied with Shatner's awful film.

 

[Bryan^H]

I'm buying the 3D Blu-Ray and giving the UHD a pass. The 3D was fantastic in the theater. That is the only way I want to watch it.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

Brad here.
As a Star Trek fan since age 10 (remembering ST-TOS on network TV), I was taken to see this film as a birthday gift by some family friends. My take...

I found the film quite entertaining, well worth the time & money invested in seeing it in the theater and probably should be worth the $54 I just paid Amazon for the ST-B Gift Package. I fully agree with RAH, this turns out to be more a fan film than a general audience flick. It was quite good but not quite the blockbuster we had hoped for which is truly what was needed to help erase the taste of disappointment that STID left behind. I will say that STB got a start on that road, where Pegg & Co take it now is up to them.

I don't agree 100% with RAH that the franchise needs to take a powder (and I'm in no position to argue with RAH's expertise in the entertainment field) but I do agree that something has to be done. What that something is, I'm not yet quite sure. It would have been far better if STID had ended on a much darker note (like I thought would happen back when I first saw the trailers), say with Starfleet pretty much decimated and the villans take control of Earth and the Federation (without making it too much like The Empire in the Star Wars franchise) and the battles that would ensue starting with Star Trek-Beyond. Unfortunately we all know that didn't happen, just another Kirk-Spock triumphant again adventure.
I've noted also that some writers (mostly I think from Cracked.com) feel that the James Bond franchise needs to take a powder as well but thats for another thread topic.

And I'd like to see more of a young Carol Marcus and a better development of her relationship with James Kirk (but nothing like what happened in the TOS timeline please. I found Kirk's simply walking away from the relationship with Carol and his soon-to-be baby son rather distasteful.

That's my take for now. I do look forward to the new Blu-ray package.

 

[Robert Harris]

Brad here.
As a Star Trek fan since age 10 (remembering ST-TOS on network TV), I was taken to see this film as a birthday gift by some family friends. My take...

I found the film quite entertaining, well worth the time & money invested in seeing it in the theater and probably should be worth the $54 I just paid Amazon for the ST-B Gift Package. I fully agree with RAH, this turns out to be more a fan film than a general audience flick. It was quite good but not quite the blockbuster we had hoped for which is truly what was needed to help erase the taste of disappointment that STID left behind. I will say that STB got a start on that road, where Pegg & Co take it now is up to them.

I don't agree 100% with RAH that the franchise needs to take a powder (and I'm in no position to argue with RAH's expertise in the entertainment field) but I do agree that something has to be done. What that something is, I'm not yet quite sure. It would have been far better if STID had ended on a much darker note (like I thought would happen back when I first saw the trailers), say with Starfleet pretty much decimated and the villans take control of Earth and the Federation (without making it too much like The Empire in the Star Wars franchise) and the battles that would ensue starting with Star Trek-Beyond. Unfortunately we all know that didn't happen, just another Kirk-Spock triumphant again adventure.
I've noted also that some writers (mostly I think from Cracked.com) feel that the James Bond franchise needs to take a powder as well but thats for another thread topic.

And I'd like to see more of a young Carol Marcus and a better development of her relationship with James Kirk (but nothing like what happened in the TOS timeline please. I found Kirk's simply walking away from the relationship with Carol and his soon-to-be baby son rather distasteful.

That's my take for now. I do look forward to the new Blu-ray package.

I simply feel that Star Trek has become over-exposed. It's become a one-trick pony.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That all makes sense. Thank you.

Although I've a feeling you just created that tale on the fly.

Makes Edison sound like the offspring of Dracula, blended with a bit of Elizabeth Bathory, for his reptilian beauty.

If I was that creative on my own, Paramount would owe me a check.

It's all in the movie, it's just kinda doled out in bits and pieces and not necessarily at the best moments. I really enjoyed the movie but I thought, like Star Trek Into Darkness, that it had one too many action climaxes at the end. Most of the info about Edison/Krall that I posted is revealed in the middle of the action sequences after Kirk and Co take the Franklin back to the space station. At a moment where presumably the audience is feeling that the movie is charging towards an ending, there's a pretty big exposition dump.

On one hand, I think it's impressive that writers Simon Pegg and Doug Jung basically had to go from script to finished movie in about a year - for something of this scale, that's practically no time at all. But the larger question to me, as it always seems to be with Paramount and Trek, is why they can't seem to get their crap together in time so they're not frantically rushing to meet a release date. I think this franchise needs a steward that thinks both in terms of the individual movie at hand and the big picture (the way Marvel has a guy like Kevin Fiege at the helm) and they don't. The studio's production process, at least for this franchise, is a mess. They want Marvel-style grosses, but they don't seem willing to put the effort into their product that Marvel does - and then they wonder why they don't get Marvel's box office.

 

[Nelson Au]

I never thought I'd see Mr. Harris participate in a discussion of Star Trek. I did not think you liked the Franchise! . (On another thread, I had hoped you might have insights or may have commented on the lack of a release for Robert Wise's 2001 Cut of Star Trek The Motion Picture someday. . )

As far as giving the franchise a break, I disagree. Maybe James Bond needs the break more! Like Brad, life long fan. The franchise did get a break after 2002 from the theatrical realm. It was massively rebooted. I think it might have finally found its footing once Mr. Abrams left the chair. But we'll see what happens if another film is made.

 

[Tino]

There is no "If". It's definite.

 

[sidburyjr]

Well I will probably buy the 3D version since I don't yet have 4K. As far as the movie goes it's my favorite of the new ST films. I can agree with many of the criticisms but the character interaction seemed to me to be closer to the originals than either of the previous two.

My basis for this preference is based on my past history. I am old enough to have seen TOS in its original run. I actually prefer TNG among the tv series but only first contact seemed Like a satisfactory movie to me. My favorite TOS film is probably The Undiscovered Country (although I've never read Shakespeare in the original Klingon)

 

[jim_falconer]

Beyond was the worst of the three reboot films, by far. When "new spock" pulls out the cast pic from ST:VI, it took every once of strength I had not to run screaming for the exits.

I have the first two films bundled in The Compendium, which I love. I'll never own this one on Blu.

 

[Tino]

Just got my gift set from Amazon and he starship model was broken. I can Krazy glue it but I was pissed. Called Amazon and the credited me 33 1/3 %.

And the 3D disc is included in a sleeve in the 4K case.