Star Trek on Home Video

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dx23
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Star Trek on Home Video

#1 Post by dx23 » Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:01 pm

From thedigitalbits.com:
Here we go Trek fans! Here's the news we told you was coming, and now The Digital Bits (in conjunction with our friends at Trek Movie.com) have all the details for you.

Paramount Home Entertainment has just officially announced the May 12th release of the Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection on Blu-ray Disc, and also the Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy on both Blu-ray Disc and DVD. In addition, CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount have officially announced the Blu-ray Disc release of Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One on April 28th.
Star Trek TV Seasons:
The Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One Blu-ray Disc (SRP $118.00) will include all 29 first season episodes in 1080p high-definition, presented in the original 4x3 aspect ratio. Using seamless branching, you will be able to view the episodes either with the newly-remastered digital effects or the original effects, and you'll also have your choice of newly-enhanced audio in English 7.1 DTS-HD MA or the original English 2.0 Mono. (French and Spanish 2.0 mono are also included. There's no word yet on subtitles and captions - we're checking.) You'll be able to make this choice at the beginning of each episode, or switch back and forth on the fly to compare. (We're told that the newly remastered versions are included in their entirety. Those scenes and shots from the original broadcast versions that are different are included via branching - mostly new effects shots.) Select episodes will also have enhanced Starfleet Access bonus content (specifically Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Menagerie: Parts 1 & 2, Balance of Terror, Space Seed and Errand of Mercy) featuring pop-up trivia and picture-in-picture video commentaries. Other special features on the set include preview trailers for each episode, along with 9 featurettes (Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century, Reflections on Spock, Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner, To Boldly Go... Season One, The Birth of a Timeless Legacy, Sci-Fi Visionaries, Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories and Kiss ‘N' Tell: Romance in the 23rd Century) and the Interactive Enterprise Inspection. What's more, "an exclusive collectible Sulu figure from Diamond Select Toys is also being made available with purchase of the Blu-ray set; fans pay only shipping and handling charges." For those wondering about the packaging, it's a 7-disc Blu-ray Amaray case with an outer O-sleeve (a vertical cardboard slipcase).

From the list above, it appears that this set includes almost everything that was on the HD-DVD side of the previous HD-DVD/DVD Combo format release, though a couple of the features from the DVD side appear to be missing, specifically the Trek Connections featurette, the Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier History Channel special and the Star Trek Online game preview. The HD-DVD side also included Starfleet Access on The Galileo Seven, which isn't listed in the official press release, though it's possible that it IS on the set and there's just an error in the release (we're checking on it).

For those trying to decide whether or not to keep your original Season One DVDs, note that none of the Red Shirt Diaries Easter eggs are included on the Blu-ray version. The original Okuda text commentaries are also not included on the Blu-ray (for the episodes Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Conscience of the King and The Menagerie, Parts I & II), though the Okudas do participate in the new Starfleet Access feature (so it's possible that much of the text material appears there). The Okuda text commentary from the Star Trek: Time Travel - Fan Collective is not included either (for the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday).

It's worth noting that the $110 SRP for the Blu-ray set is substantially lower than the original $217.99 SRP with which the HD-DVD version arrived in stores. The following has yet to be officially announced (so consider it Rumor Mill-worthy), but our studio and industry sources are telling us that Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two and Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three will follow on Blu-ray Disc later this year, likely timed to the release of J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek feature film on DVD and Blu-ray. So that's The Original Series on Blu-ray. Now let's take a look at the new feature film sets...
Star Trek films:
As we noted up front, Paramount will release the 6-film Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection on Blu-ray Disc on May 12th (SRP $104.99). We've confirmed that the set will include the original theatrical editions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Note that this will mark the first time that the theatrical editions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have been released on either DVD or Blu-ray Disc. The Original Motion Picture Collection will include an exclusive Star Trek: The Captains' Summit bonus disc in HD as well (more on that in a minute). All the films have been digitally remastered in high-definition. Star Trek II has undergone additional restoration work starting with the original film elements in a process similar to the recent Godfather restoration. [Editor's Note: We've learned from director Nicholas Meyer that the original film elements had deteoriated, thus requiring a full restoration effort to be undertaken.]
The studio will also release the 3-film Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy box set on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc the same day (SRP $29.99 and $48.99 respectively). The Trilogy set will include the "Genesis arc" films, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

The Blu-rays will feature audio in English 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 2.0 Dolby Surround and Spanish Mono, with English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The DVD versions will feature audio in English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround EX, French 2.0 Dolby Surround and Portuguese and Spanish Mono, with English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The packaging for both sets is Amaray "thin packs" with a cardboard slipcase.

Here's a look at the special features you'll find on the Blu-ray versions of each movie disc (it's over 14 hours of bonus content in all, including 2½ hours of all-new material)...

Star Trek: The Motion Picture will include new audio commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman, 3 HD featurettes (The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture, Special Star Trek Reunion and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind V'ger), deleted scenes, storyboards, trailers (in HD), TV spots, BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD release are the Director's Edition of the film, the Robert Wise group audio commentary, the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature), 3 featurettes (Phase II: The Lost Enterprise, A Bold New Enterprise and Redirecting the Future), and the Director's Edition trailer. Presumably, these will be included on a future Director's Edition Blu-ray release.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan will include audio commentary with director Nicholas Meyer, a new commentary by Meyer and Manny Coto, 4 HD featurettes (James Horner: Composing Genesis, A Tribute to Ricardo Montalban, Collecting Star Trek's Movie Relics and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI), 4 SD featurettes (Captain's Log, Designing Khan, Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and The Star Trek Universe: A Novel Approach), original interviews with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban, storyboards, the theatrical trailer (in HD), BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD release is the Extended Director's Edition of the film, the extended commentary with Meyer, and the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature). Presumably, these will be included on a future Director's Edition release on Blu-ray.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock will include audio commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis, a new commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor, 3 HD featurettes (Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek, Spock: The Early Years and Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame), 6 SD featurettes (Captain's Log, Space Docks and Birds of Prey, Speaking Klingon, Klingon and Vulcan Costumes, Terraforming and the Prime Directive and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer), storyboards, photo galleries, the theatrical trailer (in HD), BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD release is the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature).

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home will include audio commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, a new commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, 4 HD featurettes (Pavel Chekov's Screen Moments, The Three-Picture Saga, Star Trek for a Cause and Starfleet Academy: The Whale Probe), 12 SD featurettes (Time Travel: The Art of the Possible, The Language of Whales, A Vulcan Primer, Kirk's Women, Future's Past: A Look Back, On Location, Dailies Deconstruction, Below-the-Line: Sound Design, From Outer Space to the Ocean, The Bird of Prey, Roddenberry Scrapbook and Featured Artist: Mark Lenard), original interviews with Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley, a production gallery, storyboards, the theatrical trailer (in HD), BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD is the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature).

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier will include audio commentary by William Shatner and Liz Shatner, a new commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda and Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman, 3 HD featurettes (Star Trek Honors NASA, Hollywood Walk of Fame: James Doohan and Starfleet Academy: Nimbus III), 11 SD featurettes (Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute, Original Interview: William Shatner, Cosmic Thoughts, That Klingon Couple, A Green Future?, Harve Bennett's Pitch to the Sales Team, The Journey: A Behind-the-Scenes Documentary, Makeup Tests, Pre-Visualization Models, Rock Man in the Raw and Star Trek V Press Conference), deleted scenes, a production gallery, storyboards, theatrical trailers (in HD), TV spots, BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD is the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature).

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country will include audio commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn, a new commentary by Larry Nemecek and Ira Steven Behr, 3 HD featurettes (Tom Morga: Alien Stuntman, To Be or Not to Be: Klingons and Shakespeare and Starfleet Academy: Praxis), 6 SD Stories from Star Trek VI featurettes (It Started with a Story, Prejudice, Director Nicholas Meyer, Shakespeare & General Chang, Bring it to Life and Farewell & Goodbye), 8 additional SD featurettes (Conversations with Nicholas Meyer, Klingons: Conjuring the Legend, Federation Operatives, Penny's Toy Box, Together Again, The Perils of Peacemaking, DeForest Kelley: A Tribute and Original Cast Interviews), footage of the 1991 Convention Presentation by Nicholas Meyer, a production gallery, storyboards, trailers (in HD), BD-Java Library Computer access and the Star Trek I.Q. BD-Live feature.

Missing from the previous 2-disc DVD is the Extended Version of the film, the extended commentary with Meyer, and the Okuda text commentary (though this could be included in the Library Computer access feature). Presumably, these will be included on a future Extended Edition release on Blu-ray.

Finally, the Star Trek: The Captains' Summit bonus disc (in HD) will include a 70-minute exclusive roundtable discussion, hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, in which William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes share candid moments and intimate details about life on the set.
For those of you who purchase the Blu-ray version of the Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy, the special features on the Star Trek II, III and IV discs will be identical to those listed above. If you purchase the DVD version, however, the special features are as follows...

The Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan DVD will include the new commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto, and 4 featurettes (James Horner: Composing Genesis, Collecting Star Trek's Movie Relics, A Tribute to Ricardo Montalban and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI).

The Star Trek III: The Search for Spock DVD will include the new commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor, and 4 featurettes (Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek, Spock: The Early Years, Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame and Starfleet Academy: The Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer).

And the Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home DVD will include the new commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, and 4 featurettes (Pavel Chekov's Screen Moments, The Three-Picture Saga, Star Trek for a Cause and Starfleet Academy: The Whale Probe).

The nice thing about these DVDs is that, while they're yet another double-dip (or in this case, triple-dip), if you have the previous 2-disc DVDs there's no overlap in terms of the special features. You get the new commentary tracks and the all-new featurettes, without any of the older material you already own, so you can just add them to your collection.

The following is yet to be officially announced (so again, consider it Rumor Mill-worthy), but we believe that all these films will be available individually on Blu-ray Disc (and possibly DVD) later this year, when the Abrams films is released on both formats. We've heard that The Best of The Original Series and The Best of The Next Generation sets will be released later this year on DVD as well. What's more, our industry sources are telling us to look for all of the remaining Next Generation films (Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis) to arrive on Blu-ray Disc in time for the holidays as well, packed individually, in a 4-film Next Generation Blu-ray Disc box set and possibly also in a massive 10 or 11-film Blu-ray Disc box of all the Star Trek feature films (an 11-disc set would include the new Abrams film). The bottom line is that by December of this year, you'll be able to buy all three seasons of The Original Series and all of the Trek feature films on Blu-ray. Rest assured that The Digital Bits and Trek Movie.com will have all the official details as they're announced, and we'll keep you up to date on additional details and developments as they come in.

Finally this morning, here's one last look at the cover art for Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection on Blu-ray, the Star Trek: Motion Picture Trilogy on both Blu-ray and DVD, and the Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One Blu-ray. Though they're not yet officially announced, we've also included the preliminary Blu-ray cover art for Star Trek: The Original Series - Seasons Two and Three, so you can see what they'll look like when they arrive later in 2009...
Cover art for everything here.

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Donald Brown
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#2 Post by Donald Brown » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:02 pm

So glad the BD set includes the original effects, not just the lucasified CGI crap.

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aox
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#3 Post by aox » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:48 pm

I really want to see how much an improvement there is with the 1960s show. I own the three seasons on DVD and am hesitant but tempted to upgrade. A 'play-all' feature on each disc would almost be worth it.

I guess I could sell the three seasons for $150 or something on ebay.

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Morbii
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#4 Post by Morbii » Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:00 am

Why is the list price for Star Trek always somewhere around double what it is for most other hour long seasons of other shows? This always bothered me. Is it just because they can, or are there costly rights issues or something?

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Cosmic Bus
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#5 Post by Cosmic Bus » Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:45 am

aox wrote:I really want to see how much an improvement there is with the 1960s show. I own the three seasons on DVD and am hesitant but tempted to upgrade. A 'play-all' feature on each disc would almost be worth it.
I've got the HD-DVD of the first season and the new transfer looks really, really nice. A significant step up from the DVD release in all of the usual areas: color, clarity, sharpness, etc. The new effects are integrated pretty well and don't bother me personally, but having the original versions available would be nice for those who's rather see it that way. I would hope Paramount can rework the menus for Blu-ray as the HD-DVD ones are clunky and unintuitive, and there's still no option to play all the episodes on a disc... My opinion of the set may be slightly skewed due to the exceptionally low price I paid; I wouldn't shell out what the studio normally asks for these no matter how much I enjoy the show.

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StevenJ0001
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#6 Post by StevenJ0001 » Thu Feb 19, 2009 3:06 pm

The original eps without the CGI is excellent news, and also the mono soundtrack. The DVDs had only 5.1 remixes as I recall.

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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#7 Post by solaris72 » Thu Feb 19, 2009 4:58 pm

StevenJ0001 wrote:The original eps without the CGI is excellent news, and also the mono soundtrack.
Agreed. I can't get behind the mass approval of the new remastered episodes. If the CGI actually looked good, I could at least understand the appeal (though I'd still prefer the old effects; much of the appeal the show has for me is how its ambition and reach exceeded its grasp, and what a product of its time is), but instead they just traded charming fuzzy optical effects for shitty new CGI effects.
I mean, come on, you can't top this.

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Minkin
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#8 Post by Minkin » Fri Apr 27, 2012 7:17 am

No official announcement yet (that I can find), but Amazon UK has a preorder up for Season 1 of TNG on bluray.
Street date is July 23.

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Minkin
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#9 Post by Minkin » Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:06 pm

Bluray.com review for Star Trek Enterprise Bluray. It doesn't look like they remastered the video or audio - which is very disappointing. At least the bonus features look great. I never saw the show when it was out - and just watched the first episode on Netflix last night. I actually quite enjoyed it - and couldn't understand where all the hate towards it has come from (well, the theme song is another matter).

Well, at least Paramount is doing a great job with TNG. I'm slowly making my way through season 1 still (too much Kevyip).
Its certainly an amazing improvement over the old DVD sets (I still can't believe they shot on film and edited in SD). Season 3 is coming out at the end of April - so they are certainly cranking these things out - will probably be moving onto DS9 and Voyager in the next few years.

I can't be the only one buying these sets. Anyone else revisiting Star Trek on bluray?

Jarpie
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#10 Post by Jarpie » Thu Jun 06, 2013 5:15 am

Minkin wrote:Bluray.com review for Star Trek Enterprise Bluray. It doesn't look like they remastered the video or audio - which is very disappointing. At least the bonus features look great. I never saw the show when it was out - and just watched the first episode on Netflix last night. I actually quite enjoyed it - and couldn't understand where all the hate towards it has come from (well, the theme song is another matter).

Well, at least Paramount is doing a great job with TNG. I'm slowly making my way through season 1 still (too much Kevyip).
Its certainly an amazing improvement over the old DVD sets (I still can't believe they shot on film and edited in SD). Season 3 is coming out at the end of April - so they are certainly cranking these things out - will probably be moving onto DS9 and Voyager in the next few years.

I can't be the only one buying these sets. Anyone else revisiting Star Trek on bluray?
Enterprise is so disliked because they went with the lowest common denominator and made it with basicly the motto: "Let's not put anything in it what might challenge the viewer or make anyone even slightly upset", and not talk about incredibly boring cast/characters.

Especially after TNG and DS9 which were vastly superior, also DS9 dared to take risks and it had much more interesting cast/characters than Enterprise. It's not a big surprise that Enterprise is so bloody awfully bland and stale since it was run by Braga and Berman Duo who should've been kicked out of the Star Trek ages ago. Enterprise got better in the third season and especially on fourth one when Manny Coto became the showrunner but it was too late to pull up the ratings after the viewers abandoned it due horrid first two seasons.

Fourth season is even excellent, they had 2-4 episode long arcs and just two standalone episodes, especially Vulcan Arc and Romulan Arc are easily best episodes of Enterprise.

How Enterprise started just reeked the stench of Braga & Berman Duo apparent obsession of playing it safe, for example the show is set ten years before founding of the federation so that it just couldn't had tackled it during the run of the show and they set up the show that Earth-Romulan War would've happened in the fifth or sixth season but knowing Team B&B they probably would've retconned that.

The way I would've done Enterprise is to have it set year or half year before the Romulan War and end it by the end of third or fourth season so The Founding of the Federation would've been story arc during fourth, fifth and/or sixth season the the couple last season would've been the first couple years of The Federation, give that show would've run the 7 or 8 seasons.

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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#11 Post by LavaLamp » Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:46 pm

First of all, Thanks for the link to the review of the ST: Enterprise Season 1 Blu-ray. It doesn't sound like the picture is that much better than the regular DVDs - so, unless you're getting this for the extras, not sure that it's worth getting. In any case, the review saved me a lot of $. I like the S1 DVD set that I have, and don't plan to upgrade here.

I consider myself a moderate Trek fan, since I've seen most of TOS, the first several seasons of ST:TNG, and almost of the theatrical films (except for the last one) - however, I've never seen an episode of "Voyager" or "Deep Space nine".

That being said, I saw all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise on DVD a while back and was truly blown away by the show - I felt that it was extremely well-done and interesting. The characters were likeable, the acting was solid, the scripts were exceptional, and the effects were excellent, even by today's standards.

My favorite Trek film was First Contact, so I really liked how this show tied into that film. I actually prefer Enterprise to TNG and TOS, though I know I'm not in the majority among most Trek fans. It's possible that since I'm not a hardcore Trek fan I was more open to enjoying the show, since it was so different from the previous ST series.

One of the many things I liked about the show was the setting - it was set before the "Prime Directive", which stated that you couldn't interfere in a planet's doings, so the crew could have interaction with a planet's inhabitants. I also liked the show's homage to TOS, since it featured some of the older aliens like the blue-skinned ones with the antennae (can't remember their names), as well as the Romulans.

I also thought it interesting that the characters were just getting to know and understand the technology that was considered standard in the later series, i.e. the transporter, phaser, etc.

The time-travel subplot (with aliens from far in the future) was very well-handled, as well as the storyline where they went back in time to WWII Earth.

There were also many other stand-alone episodes that were great, including the pilot (Broken Bow), the time-travel one where they went back to 1950's America, the episode where Archer met a ghost-like woman on an isolated planet, etc.

I'm also probably one of the few that liked the intro song and images - it was interesting how they showed the first airplane and space flights, etc., all leading up to the flight of the "Enterprise".

The only episode I really didn't like was the finale - like a lot of fans, I thought it was ridiculous that the events in the show were being viewed through the holodeck by TNG's characters (especially since I was never a real fan of TNG). IMHO, it would've been much better to just have it run as a regular episode.

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manicsounds
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#12 Post by manicsounds » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:06 am

Question:
Is there no "play all" function on the original series blu-rays? I just got the sets, and can't find the option. (The Next Gen series has it available)

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manicsounds
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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#13 Post by manicsounds » Tue Jun 24, 2014 7:44 pm

Star Trek Into Darkness double dip announced for 9/9/2014

It will include all the previous featurettes, plus the best buy bonus content, target bonus content, the itunes commentary, new extras, and in the opened up 1.78:1 IMAX ratio.

Seems it will only be part of the 2-film Star Trek 1&2 boxset.

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Re: Star Trek on DVD & BD

#14 Post by swo17 » Fri Jun 24, 2022 10:53 pm

Aaargh, I just barely bought the 4-film UHD set (literally arrived today from Target) and apparently now a 6-film set is forthcoming, plus individual releases for each film. The force was definitely not with me on this one

EDIT: 8-year thread bump to the day!

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Mr Sausage
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Star Trek on Home Video

#15 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Jun 24, 2022 11:24 pm

It looks like they’re only releasing the first film in the inferior and ill considered Director’s Cut. It cuts down the actually interesting parts of the movie (is there a single fan of it who prefers the dialogue and character stuff to the flyover sequences with their incredible effects, music, and atmosphere?) and makes the drastic mistake of showing the whole of V’Ger in new CGI shots, ruining one of the movie’s strengths, its sense of sheer scale that ascends to the sublime. A sad example of a filmmaker misunderstanding their own flawed movie so badly that their attempts to fix it end up ruining everything actually good about it while preserving untouched the parts that don’t work.

Then again, Wise would never have made the accidental masterpiece he did if he hadn’t badly misunderstood Star Trek in the first place.

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swo17
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Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#16 Post by swo17 » Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:18 am

Pardon my ignorance, but to what extent is the theatrical version available?

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Mr Sausage
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Star Trek on Home Video

#17 Post by Mr Sausage » Sat Jun 25, 2022 12:22 am

swo17 wrote:Pardon my ignorance, but to what extent is the theatrical version available?
The previous BD from paramount has it, and I think it’s available to rent on youtube.

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EddieLarkin
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Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#18 Post by EddieLarkin » Sat Jun 25, 2022 4:34 am

They re-released the theatrical cut as recently as last year, in UHD no less (and fans will want to get it, as it's a big improvement). They've never tried to keep it unavailable, unlike a certain other classic sci-fi series, indeed it's the director's cut that has always been more difficult to get (this is its first home video release since the 2001 DVD).

That said the theatrical UHD is currently only available in the ill conceived 4 film box set swo just bought, which yes has just been made somewhat redundant, as alongside the standalone director's cut they also announced a more sensible 6 film box set for January 2023. But, parts 2-6 will get standalones too, so swo can pick up parts 5 and 6 separately. It's unclear at the moment whether or not the theatrical version will get its own standalone.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#19 Post by Mr Sausage » Sat Jun 25, 2022 11:02 am

It had been a while, so I went back to check a bit of the differences between the two cuts, and they are more substantial than I had remembered. The film was heavily tinkered with. I had only remembered the changes I disliked (trimming the cloud and V'jer flyovers, making the outlines of V'jer clearer in the flyover, creating new CGI shots of V'jer). But it also trimmed some dialogue to create more mystery while adding in dialogue scenes elsewhere. A lot of the changes are unnoticeable, some are even effective (I don't mind that they shortened some of the reaction shots and trimmed out dialogue postulating what's at the centre of the cloud), but making V'Jer clearer or more apprehensible is a gigantic mistake, and trimming the SFX shots is silly because if someone's going to have a problem with those scenes, it'd be with the pace, not the duration. So, yeah, not the disaster I described it as above, but still worth missing. A number of the changes severely diminish the one thing the movie did exceptionally and which stood it apart from the other Trek films.

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swo17
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Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#20 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 07, 2022 5:52 pm

Upcoming releases include a UHD box of all six original films, including director and theatrical cuts for I, II, and VI, individual releases for each film, and a goofy box with both cuts of the first film plus a third cut (also in 4K) with the extremely official sounding "Special Longer Version" (created for broadcast TV in 1983, presented here in widescreen for the first time). The presentation of the first film across various UHD releases can be a little confusing. Here is how I believe it works out:

4-Film Collection: theatrical only
6-Film Collection: theatrical and DC
Simple Standalone: DC only
"Complete Adventure" Standalone: theatrical, DC, and SLV

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John Cope
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Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#21 Post by John Cope » Thu Jul 07, 2022 7:59 pm

swo17 wrote:
Thu Jul 07, 2022 5:52 pm
Upcoming releases include a UHD box of all six original films, including director and theatrical cuts for I, II, and VI, individual releases for each film, and a goofy box with both cuts of the first film plus a third cut (also in 4K) with the extremely official sounding "Special Longer Version" (created for broadcast TV in 1983, presented here in widescreen for the first time). The presentation of the first film across various UHD releases can be a little confusing. Here is how I believe it works out:

4-Film Collection: theatrical only
6-Film Collection: theatrical and DC
Simple Standalone: DC only
"Complete Adventure" Standalone: theatrical, DC, and SLV
Oh my God, I seriously can't believe it. I was going to respond to the messages above in this thread earlier by mentioning that it is exactly the "SLV" cut that I wanted to see get a re-release the most (though I never expected that it would). It was officially released on VHS decades ago (I don't think it's been released since) and I had a copy and wore it down. Easily my favorite of the features films and easily my favorite edition. Now I'll have to actually get this set.

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swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#22 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:15 pm

Interesting...is there a summary somewhere of what it adds to the other cuts? (IMDb says it's 7 minutes longer than the DC and 11 minutes longer than the theatrical.) Here is some more information about how it will be presented, from The Digital Bits:
In building The Complete Adventure, we appreciated that many people who were first introduced to the film through the full frame release of the Special Longer Version have missed it. I’m excited that it will now be available for the first time in widescreen 4k Ultra HD. After so many years, it’s deeply rewarding to finally deliver Robert Wise’s definitive Director’s Edition for fans to enjoy at home.

The Theatrical Cut and Special Longer Version are included in 4K on the same Ultra HD disc via seamless branching. There is one fixed shot in the Special Longer Version, and the original “unfixed” shot is included separately as an extra on that disc.

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John Cope
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:40 pm
Location: where the simulacrum is true

Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#23 Post by John Cope » Fri Jul 08, 2022 4:35 am

swo17 wrote:
Thu Jul 07, 2022 9:15 pm
Interesting...is there a summary somewhere of what it adds to the other cuts? (IMDb says it's 7 minutes longer than the DC and 11 minutes longer than the theatrical.)
I haven't seen it in too long but as I recall the SLV cut basically just integrates back into the feature all of what are presented as deleted scenes on editions of the theatrical without any of the supposed "fixes" of the DC (Mr. Sausage very capably gets at what is so unsatisfactory about most of those changes and the mentality behind them).

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bad future
Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2018 6:16 pm

Re: Star Trek on Home Video

#24 Post by bad future » Fri Jul 08, 2022 2:49 pm

It seems kind of odd to me that there's apparently no way to just get the multiple cuts of the first film in a normal size case, despite that quote stating that apparently they all go on one disc in the big box anyway... Obviously charging more for more content shouldn't be shocking, but in this case it seems like that's what literally everything else is for? Like, the disc with two cuts already comes with 5 other films and the one with all three comes in what looks like a huge box with a book and stuff? :-k (edit- I think I misunderstood and it's only the theatrical and longer cut that share a disc via branching, which does somehow make the rest feel more defensible ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

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