I just hated it. The remixed soundtrack is overwrought and annoying—not every blinkie needs a bell and a whistle. I kept expecting Spock to say, “Ah! I see you brought the machine that goes PING!”
And they ditched the menacing computer voice, which I always loved.
“ATTENTION CREW. A TRAVEL POD IS NOW AVAILABLE, CARGO SIX.”
[Um, the sign above the airlock door says 5…]
”STFU. I SAID CARGO SIX. TRAVEL POD NOW AVAILABLE, CARGO SIX.”
And those titles? Metallic gold with glittering edges? REALLY? They look like a road sign for a Reno cathouse designed by Liberace’s cape maker.
And did we need to see Ilia magically fix Chekov’s shoulder? WTF does that add to the story? That was cut from the theatrical version for good reason. She never uses that ability again. It’s a setup with no payoff. Have these morons ever seen a movie?
On the plus side, the new transfer of Trumbull’s 65mm VFX footage was gorgeous. And they still left out that awful scene snippet of Sulu fumbling with his controls when Ilia first comes in. That was so slapstick. And not even good slapstick, like Mel Brooks-level. No, it was Bob Denver nude wrestling with Don Knotts after a whiskey bender-level slapstick. Bad scene, man. Some negatives are best thrown in the fire.
I still have the theatrical cut in 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos sound on Apple TV+, and in that version they erased the big ugly pipe stand you could see when the Enterprise leaves space dock. That was really the only thing that ever bothered me about the theatrical version, so I’m happy.
They can keep their September release. Hard pass.
As a matter of sheer coincidence, I was just today listening to the recent INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS episode which presented an interview with TOS sound FX guru Douglas Grindstaff, and he noted that Roddenberry was always insistent that
everything make a sound effect. So at least the new TMP mix follows the TOS tradition in that way.
Since I have no interest in CBS/Paramount’s failed streaming service, I won’t be seeing this until the theatrical release in May. That said, there are things about the 2001 version I Iiked, and things I didn’t like. I’m also not a big fan of the sound mix, what with the extensive use of FX from THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and whatnot, as well as a few from TOS.
If it were me, I would have gone with the TWOK Bridge sounds, since that film was the closest to being contemporaneous with TMP, and therefore feels more appropriate than using incongruous FX created over a decade later. And, since the film used no sound FX or visual elements from TOS whatsoever at the time, retconning in the transporter “Pingggg!” and the CG TOS shuttle at the tram station also rubs me the wrong way, since the ostensible goal of the project was to do an approximation of what could have been done back in 1979, had there been more time. And TMP made a conscious choice to redesign
all of the visuals and sound effects from the TV series.
I also miss the original TMP Red Alert sound, which is part of the aural identity of the film, as opposed to the rather wimpy replacement used in the 2001 cut.
But I’m good without all the computer voices, although I still find it strange that, in all versions of the film, a computer voice says “Permission granted, Sir!” when McCoy comes aboard, despite the fact that the script and the various adaptations of the film gave that line specifically to transporter chief Janice Rand. McCoy even looks in her (offscreen) direction when he asks permission to come aboard. For some reason or another, they dubbed in another actress with the computer-voice filter applied to it. Very strange.
And, like Robert Meyer Burnett, I also miss Kirk’s second “Viewer off!” to Uhura during the Rec Deck briefing. Although some of the other trims to his dialogue help tone down the rather grating “Kirk is a jerk” vibe of the theatrical cut. On the other hand, I could do without “Dammit, Bones, I need you—badly!”, and “We need him.
I need him”, two moments which must’ve made slash-fiction fan-editors giddy, back in the day. It’s really cringey, and symptomatic of the film taking itself so seriously that Kirk comes across as an immature obsessive rather than a man struggling to get back in the saddle. His do-over midlife crisis in TWOK paints the character in a MUCH better light and actually feels like the character from TOS. The guy in TMP does not. Shatner has a few good moments in the film, but Nick Meyer knew how to get the best out of him and present a vulnerable Kirk who was still likable, while Bob Wise clearly did not.
On the positive side, I understand that the original main title music recording and the original V’Ger whiplash bolt sound FX (or at least something closer to it) have been restored.
I also do like the scene of Ilia stopping Chekov’s pain, mainly because it hints as to why V’Ger chose her to data-pattern—her compassion (and sensuality), which is something V’Ger lacks. It’s also one of those little character moments which was put back in to reduce the rather utilitarian nature of the theatrical cut. Of course, the scene with Spock crying is the Number One most egregious omission from the theatrical release, since it’s the key to the film’s primary theme and Spock’s own character arc.
At the end of the day, the flawed original 1979 release is still the version first published, and therefore the one of historical record. Although, unlike the esteemed asalaw, I’m a little miffed about the two tweaks made to the 4K release of the theatrical cut (the removal of the outline of the FX model’s pipe stand when the ship leaves dock, and the starfield added to the asteroid explosion when the torpedo hits it), if only because I’m not a fan of such revisionism unless it’s for an actual alternate cut of a film. I would prefer the theatrical cut to BE the theatrical cut.
That said, I grew up with the 1983 Special Longer Version on VHS, and would love to see that cut get a release, if only for the sake of thoroughness.
Also, has it been confirmed whether or not that pipe stand removal from the drydock sequence is an actual revision made for the 4K release? I seem to recall reading some statement (or at least speculation) that this was actually an original theatrical shot that was restored for the 4K theatrical release, rather than a sloppy, modern-day CG revision. As the story goes, an additional matte to remove the pipe stand caused the shot to become too fuzzy from optical compositing/generational loss, and so all home video versions included a different version of the shot without that extra garbage matte to help maintain picture clarity, but with the pipe stand error now included. That doesn’t really track, since both the film’s teaser trailer and the stock footage used in TWOK both include the “pipe stand” version of the shot.
Still, fuzziness of the shot aside, the 4K shot’s fix DOES almost look like the sort of crude rotoscoping you’d see in a film of that vintage. Or is it just a sloppy CG fix, with parts of the starboard deflector housing winking out due to a bad digital patch job?
