DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[KyleC]

"So, now the 64 thousand dollar question is....

Has this title been pulled by Paramount?

I went to two Circuit City's, Best Buy, Costco, Blockbuster and Target and did not find it ANYWHERE!

Nothing like spending 2 hours driving around and coming up empty. Guess the lesson here is to buy it the day it comes out instead of waiting until the following weekend."

I too went to a few stores today. Best Buy only got 7 copies in for release day! What a joke! I also went to Target but they had no record of it coming out at all. Maybe it was pulled... ?

 

[Wayne Bundrick]

Swapping the case with Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Good call, Kevin.

 

[Dave H]

Media Play had two copies for sale tonight.

 

[Nelson Au]

I just got back from Borders Bookstore where Nicholas Meyer was speaking and signing in San Rafael.

Nice guy and very smart, it was great to see him speak in person.

As requested by some here on this thread, I did ask him about The Day After; if it was going to be out on DVD. He was actually a bit taken aback, in that he didn't know and that he'd ask about it. He thought that it might have been released already. But it sounded like he was genuinely going to look into it.

There must have been an HTF member there because he asked about the aspect ratio of the Star Trek 6 DVD. His answer was quick and direct and I'll paraphrase: "It's in scope. These Star Trek films are viewed as sort of event pictures so they are all in scope, 235."

( I report this because I know it's of interest here, but I hope it will not start another line of posts arguing if it is 2.0 or not.)

Also he was asked again about whether he'd do a Next Gen Film, to save the franchise. Interesting response he had. He met and knew Rick Berman and liked him. But as Berman became more and more involved in Trek, Meyer felt that his own ways of thinking, asking questions and challenging certain things within the framework of the Star Trek world, Mr. Berman would likely not feel comfortable having him around. So he felt that he would not likely be involved in any future Trek Projects, nor would he feel he would want to. He also said that he'd been involved in many projects at Paramount and that over time, you become familiar, and that familiarity breeds....you know what.

I hope I am reporting things as accurately as I could here. Perhaps if others where there, they could add to what I've said or correct me please. I arrived about 20 minutes late.

Overall, I'm glad I was able to make it.

(Another thing, this Borders had all white cases.)

Nelson

 

[Brad Cook]

Nice review, Scott.

I picked this up at Best Buy the other day. Black case. I can't say I really care about the lack of an insert. If all they're going to do is reprint the list of special features from the back of the case, along with the chapter list and a few pics, I can't say I care. I'd miss a written booklet with informative text, but the Trek SEs have never had those.

I got around to watching the film last night. I haven't seen it in several years, so I didn't realize that Kurtwood Smith (the dad from That 70s Show) plays the Federation president. That totally took me out of every scene he was in. I kept expecting him to use the words "dumb ass" a lot: "I send Kirk on a diplomatic mission and of course he screws it up! Dumb ass!"

BTW, has Paramount announced if they're going to do SEs of the other 3 single-disc releases? The only one I want is First Contact, so I was hoping they'd do an SE and I can grab that rather than pick up the bare bones release.

 

[Britton]

I recall reading on startrek.com that they filmed a piece about Matt Jefferies shortly before his death and it would be included on the new Star Trek Generations DVD. There has been no official announcement of any TNG SEs, but since they pretty much confirmed Generations will be getting the SE treatment, there's no reason to think they won't get around to all 4 of the remaining movies.

 

[Adam_ME]

Funny, for me he'll always be Clarence Boddicker from Robocop, so it's always jarring to see him as a character that isn't a complete a-hole who shoots 1000 rounds into a cop.

 

[Sean Laughter]

So that's who's playing the President!!! I always found the voice extremely recognizable but could never place it and eventually it just stopped bothering me at all. For some reason I never bothered to note who it was in the credits or look it up either.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

That's what he'll always be for me, too. One of the most memorable (and ruthless) sci-fi villains of all time, IMHO.

 

[WilliamG]

My daughter got me hooked on "That '70's Show" a few years back, and when I saw who played Red (the dad) I just about had a cow! And when she asked why I was all in hysterics, I explained what part he played in ST:6 and SHE couldn't believe it We've had fun with that ever since.

Regarding black or white cases: I checked at a Best Buy and a Wal*Mart here. Both are stocking the BLACK one. Hastings Video however, was shipped a WHITE case for their rentals. That doesn't matter anyway, since it's not coming off the shelf.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Mine came in a black case, but not an Alpha. It's a 2-disc case like my copy of The Mummy:UE came in, which is the same thickness, but the middle insert for the 2nd disc is round and faces the other disc at an offset. I much prefer these to Alphas, even if they're just as bulky. Found about 10 copies for sale @ Wal-Mart, and Future Shop was advertising it this week.

 

[EdHoch]

I, for one, didn't mind the flashback images during the mind-meld interrogation. I liked it better than some of the replaced dialog:

Valeris "Admiral Cartwright..."

Chekov (or somebody) "From Starfleet?"

No, from the Ponderosa.

That exchange seemed to be just as much of a "here's who we're talking about in case you forgot" as the flashback images, and much more stilted.

Anyway, love the movie, enjoyed the extras, for $14.99 not gonna complain about the lack of insert or the artwork (although really, some QC there would be nice)

Treks I, II, IV, and VI...all my faves on DVD, very nice.

Coming off a viewing of Star Trek VI, does anybody have recommendations of books, comics etc which take off from this point, or are of the original cast movie era that are particularly good? I've read a couple of the Shatner books (The Return, Avenger) they were just okay. Read a novel called Federation with both crews, it was pretty good.

 

[Sean Laughter]

The novel "Federation" is what the movie "Generations" should have been based on. Sure, the two crews never actually meet, but it was a cool book, with what I think would have been some remarkable imagery on screen near the end.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Just got this at Wal-Mart in Forth Worth. Some stores had white cases, some stores black. I got a black one for $14 and chage. I loved the price. An insert would be nice, but for the price it's not that big of a deal. Great movie, great dvd. I'm happy.

 

[Ric Easton]

Sean,

I also liked the "Federation" book. Too bad the "First Contact" movie re-wrote the Zephram Cochran story and made the book non-canon!

Ric

 

[Lyle_JP]

In a lot of ways, the movie First Contact strives to make the ST:TOS episode "Metamorphois" non-canon!

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Rob T]

I got it for $13.99 from Best and it was a white case so I switched cases with Snow White.

 

[MarkHarrison]

Since this thread is still alive and kicking, I just thought I'd report that the copy I got from Columbia House came today in a black case.

 

[Dave H]

I saw the black cases at Best Buy and Media Play.

 

[Rollie]

I bought mine at Best Buy. It came in what appeared to be a standard double-alpha case, until I opened it. The inside is similar to the clamshell cases that used to hold those old "Movie CD" VCDs that the computer stores used to sell. The discs were stacked nearly on top of one another.

I've switched out all my Special Edition Trek movies' (2-6) cases with silver double alphas available from www.inetdvd.com. The result is quite stunning.