Star Trek series physical media in the Paramount Plus era and legacy (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I wanted to start a thread to discuss the Star Trek series on physical media of the Paramount Plus/Kurtzman era. Each Paramount Plus series has its own thread, but it occurred to me while taking stock of the Blu ray and 4K sets I own now, I was surprised by a trend I found in the packaging. In my collection, I mainly have the blu rays and 4K‘s, I did not buy the DVD releases. This is not intended as a place for me to list my collection, but to look at what releases are out there. Plus the Steelbook options.

Star Trek Discovery-
Season One- standard blu ray case with a slip cover. 2018
Season Two- standard blu ray case with a slip cover. 2019
Season Three- standard blu ray case with a slip cover. 2021
Season Four- Steelbook case. (I did not buy the standard blu ray case) 2022

Star Trek Picard-
Season One- Steelbook case. 2020
Season Two- Steelbook case. 2022
Season Theee- Steelbook case. 2023

Star Trek Short Treks-
Standard blu ray case with a slip cover. 2020

Star Trek Strange New Worlds-
Season One- 4K Steelbook case and standard blu ray in Steekbook case. 2023
Season Two- 4K Steelbook case and standard blu ray in Steelbook case. 2023

Star Trek Lower Decks-
Season One- Steelbook case. 2021
Season Two- standard blu ray case with slip cover. 2022
Season Three- standard blu ray case, no slip cover. ( did I not get a slip cover, or was there never one?) 2023

Star Trek Prodigy-
Season One episodes 1-10- standard blu ray case, with slip cover. 2023
Season Two episodes 11-20- standard blu ray case, with slip cover. 2023

Star Trek Discovery was released with Steelbook for all 4 seasons, but I wasn’t aware. The first two were from Best Buy. The third and fourth season steelbooks from Paramount.

Star Trek Picard came out of the gate with steelbooks for all three seasons. There is complete Picard series release too.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds came out with Steelbooks for both the 4K and regular blu rays in separate releases per format.

Star Trek Lower Decks started with a Steelbook, but seasons two and three with standard blu ray cases.

Star Trek Prodigy, as far as I know, Prodigy never got a Steelbook.

In reviewing the Star Trek series in the Paramount Plus era, I started to wonder if I missed a Steelbook. But in looking back, I don’t think I missed one because based on the show’s popularity, or not popularity, I think we got what we got. I’d be interested if anyone has any input if I missed other US based releases. I started this thread mainly because I just received the Strange New Worlds 4K and blu ray sets in the steelbooks and in looking at the other titles, I wondered if I missed a ttile. In checking i also see that Star Trek Lower Decks Season 4 is not out yet.

If this thread has any interest to keep going, the legacy Star Trek series physical media can be discussed here too. Like hopefully soon we’ll get an HD release of DS9 and Voyager.. We’ve been pretty lucky so far, we even finally got the legacy Star Trek TOS films in HD including Star Trek The Motion Picture DE and the longer TV cut. (Though it’s OOP now) I hope the other titles stay available for as long as possible for new fans.

 

[Sam Favate]

There was a petition for Picard S3 to be released as a 4k, but it never happened.

Lower Decks S3 Blu-ray was MOD, but S4, which is coming soon, is not. Neither has a steelbook or a 4k release.

I’d be thrilled to see DS9 and Voyager in HD on Blu-ray and I think it must eventually happen, otherwise the shows will be lost to history. However, when it does happen, it will likely be done for the Paramount streaming service first, with Blu-rays to follow later. I suspect they’ll go the cheaper route - like the recent Babylon 5 Blu-ray - rather than the involved process for TNG.

 

[Jeff*H]

I’m crossing my fingers for a 4K UHD disc release of PICARD, Season 3 in particular. That was some of my all-time favorite Trek, and I would even buy a Complete Series set in 4K UHD, though I didn’t enjoy the first two seasons as much.
A Season 3 UHD release would really complement having the 4 TNG feature films in UHD. In fact, I would argue that Season 3 was better than three of the four movies.

(Also rooting for a 4K UHD release of TOS as well!)

 

[Jeff*H]

I’d be thrilled to see DS9 and Voyager in HD on Blu-ray and I think it must eventually happen, otherwise the shows will be lost to history. However, when it does happen, it will likely be done for the Paramount streaming service first, with Blu-rays to follow later. I suspect they’ll go the cheaper route - like the recent Babylon 5 Blu-ray - rather than th4 involved process for TNG.

I think Bill Hunt over at The Digital Bits had hinted recently that Paramount was actively taking bids from SFX houses for a DS9 HD remaster. Fingers crossed it’s sooner than later!

 

[BobO'Link]

That Star Trek the Motion Picture longer TV cut did not receive a BR release, much to my annoyance. I don't own UHD and am unlikely to ever upgrade. Unless Paramount changes their mind it means I'm "stuck" with my old DVD of that one.

 

[Worth]

That Star Trek the Motion Picture longer TV cut did not receive a BR release, much to my annoyance. I don't own UHD and am unlikely to ever upgrade. Unless Paramount changes their mind it means I'm "stuck" with my old DVD of that one.

You could always get a UHD player and just set it to output 1080p.

 

[jayembee]

Whats interesting is that the first blu rays of Star Trek Discovery were standard cases, I imagine at the time, this being the first new series out, Paramount Plus didn’t know how well the discs would sell. Perhaps they didn’t see any collectors wanting to buy the series as it’s streaming. So nothing fancy. But then with season 4, they offered a steelbook. I suspect the success of the series raised the studio confidence for a steelbook.

All four seasons had SteelBook releases. S1 & S2 were Best Buy exclusive SBs, while S3 & S4 SBs were issued by Paramount themselves.

There's one other release (non-SteelBook) not in your list:

 

[Nelson Au]

Jerry-

Thanks a lot for your post. This is why I posted as I was fairly sure there were no other Steelbook releases for Discovery. I’m glad to hear that I was wrong as I totally missed those first, second and third season steelbooks!

I did fail to include the Short Treks release, I do have that one too.

Thanks again!

 

[JoshuaB.]

Of the new shows, I’ve only picked up season one of SNW on 4K—I don’t like steelbooks, so I’m waiting for the regular 4K edition of S2. I’m still disappointed that Picard S3 isn’t on 4K, but I’ll get around to picking up the entire series (though I really disliked S2–I found it went off the rails after three episodes).


Hearing that Paramount is serious in upgrading DS9 (and I assume Voyager afterwards) is great news. Not just for Blu-ray sales or streaming subscription increases, but for future proofing the last of the SD Trek. I think DS9 is the best of all Trek series (TOS is still my favourite), so it’s heartening to see some movement here!

PS Star Trek TOS in 4K would be fabulous!

 

[Museum Pieces]

I really hope everyone is right about DS9 and VOY being upgraded to 1080, but I have to tell you, my brother-in-law worked on TNG-R, and he said it nearly put everyone into an early grave. Each episode averaged a cost of $700,000.00. It would be even more today. It took multiple vendors and nearly every department at Paramount engaged in some way.

I sincerely hope it happens, but the impression I got was it is far, far, far more work than anyone who hasn't been involved with TNG-R can even remotely imagine. I don't think it will happen; that said, there is nothing I hope I am more wrong about.

 

[JoshuaB.]

I really hope everyone is right about DS9 and VOY being upgraded to 1080, but I have to tell you, my brother-in-law worked on TNG-R, and he said it nearly put everyone into an early grave. Each episode averaged a cost of $700,000.00. It would be even more today. It took multiple vendors and nearly every department at Paramount engaged in some way.

I sincerely hope it happens, but the impression I got was it is far, far, far more work than anyone who hasn't been involved with TNG-R can even remotely imagine. I don't think it will happen; that said, there is nothing I hope I am more wrong about.

There are definitely challenges associated with restoring DS9 and Voyager, as the CG FX would have to be redone (I’ve read conflicting reports as to the status/whereabouts of the original FX computer files) and I imagine it’s a lot of work locating the original film elements and then rescanning it all in HD resolution. I have also read that rescanning tech has gotten cheaper in the decade since the TNG-R project, but I’m not in that field, so by no means am I an authority on the subject.

Your brother-in-law and the rest of the team did a fantastic job restoring TNG to all its glory and I’m eternally grateful. I can only hope that Paramount assembles another great team to work with an FX house to bring SD Trek into the future!

 

[ScottRE]

Well they could go the less intensive route and do what was done with shows like SeaQuest. The effects-less scenes were restruck from the film masters and the effects scenes were up-rezzed. Not perfect but not totally awful either. While some scenes, especially in SeaQuest's first season, look worse, the latter seasons look much better.

Sadly, DS9 and Voyager had a lot more space battles than TNG. Those damned 90's were brutal when they did editing on video. I cringe when I watch shows from the last 80's on. No forward thinking at all there.

 

[Sam Favate]

I think Bill Hunt over at The Digital Bits had hinted recently that Paramount was actively taking bids from SFX houses for a DS9 HD remaster. Fingers crossed it’s sooner than later!

Do you have a link to this? Or was this part of his Patreon site?

 

[BobO'Link]

Well they could go the less intensive route and do what was done with shows like SeaQuest. The effects-less scenes were restruck from the film masters and the effects scenes were up-rezzed. Not perfect but not totally awful either. While some scenes, especially in SeaQuest's first season, look worse, the latter seasons look much better.

Sadly, DS9 and Voyager had a lot more space battles than TNG. Those damned 90's were brutal when they did editing on video. I cringe when I watch shows from the last 80's on. No forward thinking at all there.

There has *rarely* been any "forward thinking" on TV series. Most are produced with a "one and done" mentality which ushers in the most economical production methods possible. You'd think by the 80s most producers would be looking at the history of syndication and planning on keeping their product in the supply chain as long as possible. Of course no one predicted a future where high quality home viewing, much less ownership, was possible so as long as it was "good enough" for the technology of the times they went for it. Even in the later years of CRTs and analog broadcasting, posting/editing on video tape was sub-optimal, but it was cheap.

 

[ScottRE]

Well I would imagine that by the 90's, especially the producers of Star Trek - a show that was a huge part of reruns being lucrative - the thought to future proof their shows would be a little more commonplace. If any series defies the "one and done" mentality, it would be a Star Trek. Once TNG proved successful, they always had reruns in mind, which is why they capped at a 7 year maximum. Still, I'm sure they were probably hamstrung by the studio who didn't want to invest in anything but the "present."

Regardless of the claims of JMS of Babylon 5, that show is a classic example of being short sighted. Effects rendered in low res, original files wiped and the show issued on DVD cropped for widescreen while JMS claimed "oh we shot it for widescreen because we knew that's where TV was going." Sure he "knew" widescreen was the wave of the future but not larger screens and better resolution? How that that explain the tops of heads being cut off?

But, to be fair, not even George Lucas had the foresight to shoot Attack of the Clones in anything better than 2k digital.

 

[Jeff*H]

Do you have a link to this? Or was this part of his Patreon site?

Apologies, my fuzzy memory misattributed it to Bill Hunt. It was actually Mark Altman who mentioned this DS9 update on an episode of his Inglorious Treksperts podcast from around October 20th, 2023. I listen to their podcast every week, including that particular episode, and I‘ve found Altman and his colleagues to be very credible sources on all kinds of Star Trek news.

There are some links online referencing the podcast update on Reddit and Trek BBS. I’m not sure if I can correct my original post.

Paramount working on DS9 HD?

On this weeks episodes of Inglorious Treksperts Mark Altman confirmed Paramount is seeking bids at effects houses for the DS9 HD restoration.

www.trekbbs.com

 

[Sam Favate]

Apologies, my fuzzy memory misattributed it to Bill Hunt. It was actually Mark Altman who mentioned this DS9 update on an episode of his Inglorious Treksperts podcast from around October 20th, 2023. I listen to their podcast every week, including that particular episode, and I‘ve found Altman and his colleagues to be very credible sources on all kinds of Star Trek news.

There are some links online referencing the podcast update on Reddit and Trek BBS. I’m not sure if I can correct my original post.

Paramount working on DS9 HD?

On this weeks episodes of Inglorious Treksperts Mark Altman confirmed Paramount is seeking bids at effects houses for the DS9 HD restoration.

www.trekbbs.com

Thanks! And you're right - Altman is very credible.

FWIW, Mike Okuda has said in the past that he knows the folks at Paramount want to do it, it's just a matter of getting the cost to work out.

 

[BobO'Link]

Well I would imagine that by the 90's, especially the producers of Star Trek - a show that was a huge part of reruns being lucrative - the thought to future proof their shows would be a little more commonplace. If any series defies the "one and done" mentality, it would be a Star Trek. Once TNG proved successful, they always had reruns in mind, which is why they capped at a 7 year maximum. Still, I'm sure they were probably hamstrung by the studio who didn't want to invest in anything but the "present."

Regardless of the claims of JMS of Babylon 5, that show is a classic example of being short sighted. Effects rendered in low res, original files wiped and the show issued on DVD cropped for widescreen while JMS claimed "oh we shot it for widescreen because we knew that's where TV was going." Sure he "knew" widescreen was the wave of the future but not larger screens and better resolution? How that that explain the tops of heads being cut off?

But, to be fair, not even George Lucas had the foresight to shoot Attack of the Clones in anything better than 2k digital.

I'll be brief as this is a Star Trek thread...

RE: B5. It *was* shot for WS presentation and protected for 4:3 (see here and here). The reason it was *cropped* WS was the original vfx files were *lost* (supposedly the HD containing the files crashed or was lost - I've read conflicting stories) so cropping was the only solution for presenting a WS product (and even that was bungled - see 2nd link). And, IMHO, it was a bad choice.

 

[Nelson Au]

I’ve updated the first post by adding dates for each release and I added the Short Treks release.

Now that I’ve learned about the Star Trek Discovery Steelbook‘s were released for the first 3 seasons, I’m on the hunt for them.

 

[Jeff*H]

Thanks! And you're right - Altman is very credible.

FWIW, Mike Okuda has said in the past that he knows the folks at Paramount want to do it, it's just a matter of getting the cost to work out.

I recall from the podcast that Altman also mentioned they’re looking to do DS9 first (with Voyager to follow at some point), and that they would likely give Paramount+ an exclusive streaming window before any disc release, similar to what they did with STTMP’s Director Edition last year.

i bought the deluxe release of that ST:TMP 4K UHD release, and it includes the Theatrical version, the Director Edition AND the ABC-TV Special Extended Cut, which I think was originally released on VHS back in the day.

Hopefully the DS9 remaster bids come in within their planned budget. I think having Paramount + helping to subsidize it makes a lot of sense. Not to mention I’m sure H&I/Weigel Broadcasting would pay good money to get exclusive broadcast syndication rights to DS9 and replace their old syndicated transfers that they run weeknights with the brand-spanking new ones.