Star Trek films on Blu-Ray... what we know so far (1 Viewer)

[JediFonger]

godfather stems from coppola's desire to do it and telephoned spielberg's power/cloud while dreamworks was still chummy with paramount to make this happen. paramount didn't do it on their own and was probably resistant to the idea.
indy is more lucas/spielberg than paramount.
so neither counts imho even if u see the paramount banner.

I believe Paramount also employed Lowry's services for restoring Sunset Boulevard and Roman Holiday.

 

[Scott D S]

now that i've not heard of. u talking about SD DVD masters?

For more information, go to this page:
Rescuing the classics: Computers do the nitty-gritty work
11/25/02:
"So when it came time to do the DVDs of "Sunset Boulevard" and "Roman Holiday," which arrive in stores today, Paramount not only wanted the films to be restored for the digital editions but also to have new negatives created for both titles. (Since the inception of the studio's protection program, original materials pertaining to films Paramount owns have been preserved in stable conditions to prevent further deterioration.)"
.....
""I have to be honest with you: We came very close to abandoning the project," Murphy says. "Sometimes it looked like video. The look just wasn't correct, the whole texture of the image wasn't right. Finally, at kind of the 11th hour, we seriously were contemplating pulling the plug."
Then Murphy saw a test by Lowry Digital Images that impressed him.
"We focused on [Lowry]. It took another year to get to the point of actually delivering the finished project. We are still getting the last reels on film out the door.""
Believe me, I've complained about Paramount on this board before but they can put in the effort when they want to.

 

[Peter Raber]

True enough...then we get another example of Kirk's "assholeness", as he dumps his sending-condolences duties onto the poor transporter tech over at Starfleet, makes him do the actual research on how to find Sonak's family, and further insults him by telling which embassy to contact, as if the guy was going to call the Tellurite embassy concerning a Vulcan officer.
"I'm sorry, Admiral, but did someone assign me as your friggin' personal assistant without me knowing?"

LOL Too true, but hey he's an Admiral. If he can't lay that off on some schlub transporter tech, then what's the point in having the rank at all.

 

[Zack Gibbs]

Paramount's choices in restoration all come down to money, and I'm sure Trek makes them enough to justify reasonable expenditure. I expect the Blu's to look good, not necessarily as good as they possibly could, but good none the less.

 

[Dave Simkiss]

I know I may be jumping the gun (as the full announcement has not been made RE: this potential box set and it's supplements) but this all seems really lazy on Paramounts part. In this day and age there is no reason why all versions of ST-TMP cannot be released via seamless branching on Blu Ray.
This is a clear cut case of potential future double dipping.
I know Im moaning ahead of schedule, but I feel we ST fan's have been grossly short changed over the years. I can't think of one ST DVD release that has truly wowed me, the vast majority of supplements have fallen short of my expectations (true I may have been spoilt by the likes of CE3K, Alien Quadrilogy Blade Runner etc) and I've never been overly impressed by the A/V presentation of any pre 2000 filmed Trek.
Im sick of being screwed by Paramount, I stupidly bought the bare bones DVD's back in the day (most of which were none anamorphic) then I upgraded only to find major faults with transfers such as Generations.
I know Paramount doesn't really care, I know that technically they owe me jack sh!t, but damnit, why couldn't Paramount have invested money in a DVD/BR producer like Charles de Lauzirika, David Prior or Laurent Bouzereau?
What are the chances of any truly in-depth documentaries on the TOS films? very doubtful I suspect
What are the chances of the lost footage from the abandoned ST-TMP memory wall sequence being included? (yes it was shot!) Or the wealth of deleted footage from Wrath of Kahn? Or the deleted Vulcan footage from Search for Spock? etc etc
Will it be included in this release? Im certainly not getting my hopes up.
Trek has come pretty close to permanent death recently, the Abrams re-boot being the only potential ray o light. Trek really needs a major boost right now and it needs it's fans to stand by it. Aside from fan projects and the hard work of Michael and Denise Okuda on TOS-R, Paramount seem to have done squat off their own backs.
I really am disillusioned with Paramount right now. Trek fanatic though I am - I will not be buying any sub par, mediocre supplemented Blu-Ray releases.
We can argue about the pro's and cons of the ST-TMP DC till we are blue in the face, but the simple fact of the matter is that some are going to end up double and maybe even triple dipping, it's gotta stop. Direct to DVD nonsense gets treated better than Trek these days.
There are no excuses Paramount, get your act together! Stop selling ST fans short, YET AGAIN!
Argh! I need to calm down lol

 

[Sam Favate]

I recently watched the director's cut of TMP; thought it was really good, and I am someone who liked the theatrical cut of TMP. I would rather see the Blu-Rays delayed (not going to happen, since they want to cash in on the new movie) and include the DC as it appeared on DVD (with the theatrical cut scenes included on the disc).
Also, I guess there is not an incentive to provide fans with a "definitive" set of any movie series; that way, studios can keep going back to the well and producing sets that incorporate one thing but omit another. With the exception of Close Encounters, I can't think of any BD sets that I would call definitive.

 

[Camper]

I completely agree with David Simkiss...........

There are many cut scenes from Star Trek 2, 3 & 6.

From Khan:

Saavik's Romulan heritage mentioned

Khan's 'child' on the planet

Sulu's promotion

The original Kirk vs David fight (which was reshot)

the 'Eden cave'

the original finale' on the bridge

From Search:

a long Kirk/Mccoy scene in a turbo-lift

a long Kruge scene after the Enterprise destruct

a long Saavik scene where she explains Spock's potential fate to Kirk

the actual climb up Mt Selaya & the Hall of Anchient Thought walkthrough

From 'Undiscovered' :

a tour of the Enterprise for the klingons

much longer version of the Dinner argument

a scene where arm's makers try to convince the Fed president to gear up for war

lots of nice extended bits from the trial

a longer Martia intro

Even Frontier & Voyage home have a few sequences unseen.

How many home video releases before Paramount bothers to let us see these? 10.........15?

Are deleted scenes an unwarranted request for iconic movies like these--especially to fans as loyal as we have been?

I'm just plain scared we won't even get the extended version of Khan or Undiscovered.

TMP has many, many changes from version to version, but there is NO excuse for not having seamless branching for Khan & Undiscovered.

Until I actually hear what versions there are going to give for 2 & 6, I'm very worried about double-dipping for not only TMP, but the other two as well.

How about putting our fears to rest early before the actual in-depth specs are announced?

 

[JediFonger]

see? i wasn't the only one . i hope paramount reads this thread. i should email paramount and link them to here, lol. after all, we're the ones buying their discs!!!
indy4 is an example of a good PQ and audio quality. i'd like to see my paramount BDs be more like that!
like many of u, i will be SHOCKED (SHOCKED I SAY) if paramount actually comes through with a new pristine totally remastered lowry style presentation.
i mean Blade Runner Final Cut is another example of an awesome presentation of a similar era movie.

 

[Blimpboy]

Not only should deleted scenes be included, but the made for TV features made at the time to promote the films. I remember a great one hour show to promote Khan hosted by Nimoy. MGM/Fox include all the Bond Tv spots from the sixties. I'm sure collectors would be glad to see these again. The Voyage home feature from the letterbox home video is the only one I've seen ported over to DVD.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

like many of u, i will be SHOCKED (SHOCKED I SAY) if paramount actually comes through with a new pristine totally remastered lowry style presentation.
i mean Blade Runner Final Cut is another example of an awesome presentation of a similar era movie.

Are you thinking: 4K?
(I would think that would be desirable/doable as well)
"BR" is a GREAT comparison.
(I've ALREADY made it!)
I would venture too add: "ST" has MORE fans than "BR"; therefore deserves (& will have a greater payoff) a "Ultimate Collector's Edition".
We're not asking for much...

 

[Dave H]

I'm certainly interested in these, but I suspect the price will be mind blowing especially considering Paramount has been sticking it to Trek fans in terms of price for years anyway.

 

[Dave H]

double post.

 

[Nelson Au]

Dave, it has been posted already by someone else, but Paramount doesn't really charge any more for Star Trek films then they do for other films in their library.
That's a rap the franchise gets for the TV series. But that is now under the control of CBS and the prices have come down.
Who knows what Paramount will do for the films on Blu-ray. It is also my hope they'd do a 3 film set version of Star Trek The Motion Picture in one Special Edition set. Just because they are releasing the theatrical version first doesn't mean they will not do a version containing the Theatrical, TV and Directors Cut versions later on with all the extras. (History could repeat itself) And if they don't, and if you buy the theatrical, and they later release the Directors Cut, it might port all the extras on the old release set plus some new stuff and cut scenes and you'd have it. Though it's not in a fancy box, the content is there, in separate releases. And I know some would not be happy to be paying for 2 separate releases, but at least it's not a complete double dip.
It would be cool if the studios do read these forums and hear us.

 

[Mark_TB]

Here's my suggestion, for what it's worth:
Release the original Theatrical Cut on Blu-ray as planned. Include the longer TV cut using seamless branching -- that should be pretty straightforward since the extra scenes were simply dropped in without additional editing or audio remixing of the existing material.
Give us lots of extras pertaining to the original production. (I just re-watched the documentaries on the Director's Edition DVD and was surprised at how slight they were. It was a very difficult and convoluted production and there are lots of good stories to tell, if Paramount is willing to let them be told.)
Then later down the road, after the new effects have be re-rendered at HD, give us a BD of the Director's Edition, with all of the extras related to the production of this new cut.
This way we have two separate releases but with no overlapping material, and no one should feel that they've been "double-dipped." I know I'd be thrilled with this solution.
Mark

 

[Jari K]

What a wise man!

Indeed..

 

[Scott D S]

King Media Services' website has been updated.
Their demo reel features brief clips from the Star Trek Experience (possibly part of a DVD featurette); the "Star Trek Summit" with Stewart, Frakes, Shatner, Nimoy, and Whoopi Goldberg; and a (possibly interactive) feature called "The Evolution of the Enterprise."
"Star Trek Movie Collection" is still listed under Current Projects (along with bonus features for Primal Fear, White Christmas, and Varsity Blues... new Special Editions?).

 

[Osato]

I am really excited about Star Trek coming to blu ray. Hopefully the films and the TOS series will both be coming shortly.

On TMP, I really wish they would release just the Director's Cut, but I understand the politics and $ it would take to redo the effects for HD.

It's just disappointing though.

On the bright side, hopefully the other films will look and sound a lot better than the current dvd's.

The Wrath of Khan is my favorite movie of all time.

It would be nice to see some more of the film trailers, tv ads and radio ads if they exist. I really liked having many of the ads on the TMP disc extras.

Is there any word on TOS coming from CBS as well in May?

 

[Scott D S]

Some news from trekmovie.com:
As reported previously by TrekMovie and Digital Bits (but still not officially confirmed), Paramount is currently working on new versions of the TOS era movies for Blu-ray special edition releases in 2009 and these new versions will include new special features. Today The Pioneer Press in MN is reporting that Paramount is headed to the Twin Cities to film Commedia Beauregard perform two scenes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in Klingon for the new Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country special edition. This is obviously due to the famous dinner scene when General Chang proclaims "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon." According to Kidder the two scenes will be the "taH pagh, taHbe’ (to be or not to be) speech, along with ‘the gravedigger scene (which includes the ‘Alas, poor Yorick’ speech’). On the second scene Kidders adds "they wanted that, because they wanted to use a Klingon skull."
Sounds interesting. Plus this confirms TMP won't be the only film getting new extras. And I still regret not buying my senior year English teacher a copy of the Klingon Hamlet at the end of that school year.

 

[Nelson Au]

I find that image of George Takei most disturbing.....

 

[Dave Mack]

Some news from trekmovie.com:
As reported previously by TrekMovie and Digital Bits (but still not officially confirmed), Paramount is currently working on new versions of the TOS era movies for Blu-ray special edition releases in 2009 and these new versions will include new special features. Today The Pioneer Press in MN is reporting that Paramount is headed to the Twin Cities to film Commedia Beauregard perform two scenes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in Klingon for the new Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country special edition. This is obviously due to the famous dinner scene when General Chang proclaims "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon." According to Kidder the two scenes will be the "taH pagh, taHbe’ (to be or not to be) speech, along with ‘the gravedigger scene (which includes the ‘Alas, poor Yorick’ speech’). On the second scene Kidders adds "they wanted that, because they wanted to use a Klingon skull."

Wow. Paramount will spend the money on that but won't get the DC of TMP up to HD speed....