UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ STAR TREK: The Original Motion Picture 6-Movie Collection -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I just read on some site, maybe Digital Bits, that something wasn't on these versions that had been on a previous release. Some sort of documentary I think.

They must have been referring to the multipart documentary from the 2016 set I mentioned above - the parts on TMP and TWOK are on the new discs, but the parts on films 3-6 are not.

 

[PatrickDA]

"Unfortunately, there is one legacy extra that’s missing here, which is the excellent Roger Lay, Jr. documentary that was created for the 2016 Star Trek: 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection bonus disc: End of an Era: Charting the Undiscovered Country (HD – 28:30). So if you have that box set, you’ll probably want to hang on to it to retain the bonus disc. (Note that it also includes The Dream is Alive: The Continuing Mission (HD – 29:54), which was missing from the new Star Trek IV Blu-ray/4K special features as well.) This package does, at least, include the usual Digital copy code on a paper insert."

um.....was it really good? Should I track down the earlier release?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Yup, that’s the one I was talking about.

I’d say watch the segments included on the TMP DE and TWOK discs to decide if the rest of it is worth it to you. It’s an expensive and out of print set that didn’t sell well when it first came out because it repackaged a bunch of material people already had - the complete original series, the complete animated series and the six films. That’s a lot of material to rebuy for what at this point is an extra hour of bonuses.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I can’t really say anything critical about Star Trek VI. That’s a magic movie for me. If you’re all interested, here’s a very rough draft excerpt from a larger nonfiction piece I’m working on; this excerpt touches on why it means so much to me.

I’m eight years old and my dad wants to take me to a movie. He’s not leaving me at home with my mother and two younger siblings this time; I’m in the car with him. We’re going to a movie. What movie? What’s a tar trek? Car trek? I don’t know, but I feel like the coolest, biggest kid of all because my dad is taking me to a movie. I think it might be the one with the snow in the commercial. I might be worried it’ll be boring but I also don’t care.

We get there and we are not late. We are late to everything we go to.

The movie unfolds over the next two hours. Everyone in the movie seems to know everyone else, and their spaceships seem important and noble. Everyone seems to have a job to do and they do them well, but they’re not so serious that it’s boring. One moment I laugh, the next I’m at the edge of my seat.

The man with the pointed ears seems wise. He says “I’ve been dead before.” My dad whispers in my ear, “He really was. That’s a whole different movie.” My eyes widen in the dark.

I start to grasp that this is a final adventure but there are many more stories that come before it. I want to see those adventures. I need to see those adventures.

In the car ride home, my dad says there are other movies, and those movies came after a TV show that was on when he was my age. He says we might be able to find some of that TV show at the video store. The video store is the best place ever. We stop to pickup Chinese food to bring home for everyone.

This is the last perfect day I remember before my parents divorce, before everything changes. The next years will be harder than I can possibly fathom in that moment. But as hard as those days will be, as alone as I will feel within less than a year’s time, my imagination has been opened in a way that will follow me through the rest of my life. From then on, no matter how dark my days will get, I can retreat to my imagination, to this future I’ve seen where everything will be ok.

My dad had just given me one of the greatest gifts I’d ever gotten, and to this day, I’m not sure he understands how much that meant. I hope someday that I will do something as meaningful for my own children.

Ok, I’m quoting myself which really isn’t a great look on anyone (except, perhaps, Ben Franklin in “1776”) but I really just wanted to give my heartfelt thanks for the tremendous amount of positive feedback (both public and private) I’ve received for this post.

The writing project that this rough draft is excerpted from is something that both feels absolutely essential for me to do, yet also tremendously difficult to actually get done. I’m the kind of writer that will often let the pieces develop in my head and it’s often very hard to pull it out of my brain and on to a page, but when the moment is right for it to spill out, it just seems to pour out onto the page like an out of body experience. I just try to hang on and transcribe it as quick as I can before the moment passes. I think out of about (hopefully) fifty pieces, only three have found their way out so far.

This is the first time I’ve shared anything from it in any meaningful way and I’m truly overwhelmed and grateful for the response.

Thank you all so very much.

 

[John*Wells]

I and the audience found it funny - it's a direct reference to how things in the real wold progressed vis a vis computers and the MAC (TM) Product Placement mouse --which seems a more indirect way of inputting information than touching buttons than in the Star Trek universe

Also, no one can tell me the Scene with Checkov impersonating his superior officer in The final Frontier (Which is a Violation of Starfleet regulations) Wasn't hilarious

 

[Dave H]

I'm still on the fence about buying the The Motion Picture Director's Cut vs just sticking with the theatrical version from last year's 4-movie set. Those who enjoy the TMP- do you feel the DC is worth a purchase?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Those who enjoy the TMP- do you feel the DC is worth a purchase?

The Director's Edition is the only version I plan on watching from now on. The edit is better as is the picture transfer and sound.

 

[Nelson Au]

Dave, depends on how much of a fan you are of the film. The set with the Directors Edition is limited In the 4K set. You could just buy the regular blu ray edition of the Directors Edition of the film.

I’m a big fan of the first movie, so to me, this new version is a must. It’s not going to change the movie‘s plot or outcome. It is the preferred version that Robert Wise wants the audience to see as he was able to tweak it. He did not get a chance to do a final cut before theatrical release. So this was his chance to do it. I think the movie flows better. Ignoring all the shiny new CGI and audio improvements, the editorial changes make a difference. You’re mileage may vary.

 

[uncledougie]

I'm still on the fence about buying the The Motion Picture Director's Cut vs just sticking with the theatrical version from last year's 4-movie set. Those who enjoy the TMP- do you feel the DC is worth a purchase?

We watched it last weekend. I do consider it worth it for all the extra effort put into finishing special effects shots, knowing this is pretty much how Robert Wise envisioned the film. It’s still slowly paced, both cuts, but so beautifully shot and combined with the wonderful Goldsmith score, we all (including two of the nephews, who’d never seen it) found it hugely enjoyable. Spectacular picture and sound with Dolby Vision and Atmos engaged.

 

[Dave H]

TMP is probably my favorite of the six movies. I was tempted to order the 'box', but it was difficult to justify in price and not sure I need the Special Long Version.

Does the new CG blend in well enough?

 

[uncledougie]

It appeared pretty seamless to my eyes, nothing stood out as being out of character to the rest of the original footage. It’s my favorite as well, though that’s not necessarily a majority view.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I'm still on the fence about buying the The Motion Picture Director's Cut vs just sticking with the theatrical version from last year's 4-movie set. Those who enjoy the TMP- do you feel the DC is worth a purchase?

As others have said, the Director's Edition is the better edit of the film. However, it seems they've abandoned the idea of trying to make the new effects look like they could have been accomplished in 1979; David Fein was even on record as saying they were making this a "film for 2022," or something to that effect.

I'm not completely on board with that line of thinking, and I think they also went a little overboard in scrubbing the film grain out of the picture. However, most of the picture "upgrades" are at least tasteful, and Goldsmith's music sounds magnificent in the new Atmos mix (it's just not what it would have sounded like in '79). And supposedly, the team had Robert Wise's blessing to use whatever technologies were available to make the film look and sound as good as possible.

I honestly wouldn't want to be without either version of the film, so I hope that helps.

 

[benbess]

I watched the director's edition of TMP on Paramount+ a few months ago, and really liked it, but now it seems to have been taken off of that service. Probably going to get this set.

 

[Osato]

I'm still on the fence about buying the The Motion Picture Director's Cut vs just sticking with the theatrical version from last year's 4-movie set. Those who enjoy the TMP- do you feel the DC is worth a purchase?

I’ll never watch the theatrical again. DC is the
Only version for me. The disc is breathtaking and the sound is incredible.

 

[Nelson Au]

I'm not completely on board with that line of thinking, and I think they also went a little overboard in scrubbing the film grain out of the picture. However, most of the picture "upgrades" are at least tasteful, and Goldsmith's music sounds magnificent in the new Atmos mix (it's just not what it would have sounded like in '79). And supposedly, the team had Robert Wise's blessing to use whatever technologies were available to make the film look and sound as good as possible.

I had wondered if Fein and Mattaessino and Daren Dochterman had any input on the live action film restoration itself. It is my guess, and I could be completely wrong, that any scrubbing of grain and the color grading was done at the direction of the studio. The effects shots and editing of course were done for the Directors Edition. And the audio remix was done while Fein, Mattaessino and Dochterman were doing the Director’s Edition.

I have not a direct comparison with the theatrical cut and the Directors Edition yet, but I figured they’d look the same in terms of the color grading and image. Again, I could be wrong.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

I had wondered if Fein and Matessino and Daren Dochterman had any input on the film restoration itself. It is my guess, and I could be completely wrong, that any scrubbing of grain and the color grading was done at the direction of the studio. And the audio remix was done while Fein, Mattaessino and Dochterman were doing the Director’s Edition.

I have not a direct comparison with the theatrical cut and the Directors Edition yet, but I figured they’d look the same in terms of the color grading and image. Again, I could be wrong.

They supervised all of it, sound and picture. The color of TDE is totally different from the previous theatrical 4K theatrical and SLV transfer.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

They supervised all of it, sound and picture. The color of TDE is totally different from the previous theatrical 4K theatrical and SLV transfer.

Yeah, but if there's noticeably substantial grain scrubbing/massaging/management, that could very well still be Paramount's edict (more or less)... as that seems to be their prevailing MO... That's why many of us have become wary of anything Paramount releases...

_Man_

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Yeah, but if there's noticeably substantial grain scrubbing/massaging/management, that could very well still be Paramount's edict (more or less)... as that seems to be their prevailing MO... That's why many of us have become wary of anything Paramount releases...

_Man_

They talk about this on the commentary track.

 

[Dave H]

They talk about this on the commentary track.

What was their sentiment?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

From an interview with David C. Fein at TrekMovie: "It’s cleaned up, and one of my goals was, early on, I told everybody: let’s do everything we can to take anything that’s in the film that takes you out of the film out, like the huge grain, that’s suddenly all you’re looking at is grain going by. It can’t lose the detail because there’s so much beauty in what we’re seeing. But that grain distracted you. Like the big shot where the Enterprise is coming out of V’Ger and all you saw is blue with lots of grain. Now it’s smooth, it works without losing the quality. That’s the thing."