Star Trek:The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition Blu-Ray?

Ok, I understand the sfx for the Robert Wise edit of the film were rendered at too low a res for 1080p, but I really can't stand watching the damn unfinished theatrical cut. I sat through it as a kid in the theater and loved it, but I've been spoiled for the last ten years by a beautifuly FINISHED film, and can't go back to watch one of Paramount's worst blunders.

Why on earth weren't the new effects rendered higher? It seems as if we're doomed to forever suffer from the awfull decisions made in the last days of production by Lindsley Parsons Jr. and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

I need to see this shot in Hi-Def which doesn't exist in the original edit.


I want to watch a finished film, not the damn "workprint" that was rushed into theaters just to meet a release date. A problem that's now repeating itself with the sequel to 2009's "STAR TREK" (The first script is set to be delevered in March, and Paramount is sticking to their June 29, 2012 opening day)! WTF!?!

Please, tell me someone is working on SOMETHING for STMP in Hi-Def?



John

I haven't heard anything about it being done anytime soon. Paramount would have to weight what they've made from the other movie Blu-Ray movies as well as the TOS set to see if it's worth the time and effort. When you consider it, it's basically going to require the SFX budget for a whole movie to do. You have to go back and redo everything over again. It's expensive.

It makes no sense that they didn't have the foresight to do this to begin with. It was 2001... although, I guess even though we had HD televisions, we didn't have HDDVDs or Blu-Rays yet.

Alas, I'd really like to see the different series in HD... but since everything was rendered in 480i, and would require extensive work, I don't think I'll see it anytime soon.

The irony then is most trekkies I know won't buy the blu-ray of the standard edition so if it's sales driven than it won't happen. It's like the company Dream Cheeky stating that they're waiting on sales of their usb communicator to pick up before commiting to launching their Bluetooth communicator when NOBODY wants the usb version. These companies are stupid and really just don't understand their Target consumer.

John

Oh no... I meant the other Star Trek movies that have been released.

I wouldn't buy the original version either... honestly, it never really made sense to me until the Director's Cut. I couldn't tell what was going on.

I wouldn't say that there aren't people who want theatrical edition. In fact, I'm one of the people who WOULD want the theatrical edition.

I sure would have liked the Theatrical Edition on DVD but it just didn't happen for the same reason as the Director's Cut not being on Blu ray... $$$ There are many people who would prefer BOTH versions on Blu ray with the possibility of the ABC edit that was the standard TMP for many years.

Fact of the matter is that Gordon's right. NONE of the Star Trek series prior to Enterprise were made for HD. TOS was easier to pump out as HD since it was originally shot on 35mm (live-action sequences; not sure they didn't use 16mm for the stock model shots since there is extensive scratching on them) and reels of the finished TOS episodes still exist. Getting that on Blu ray to coincide with the 2009 film was not as difficult as redoing TNG, DS9, and Voyager. If anything, I'd wager The Original Series is more popular now because of the '09 film and the Blu ray sets than it has been for years. There are more kids, teens, and college-age students who will watch the show now with the redone FX than they would have with the original worn-out, good for the 60's but not-so-great-now original sequences.

Before the Remastered episodes hit TV, there were very few places to watch Trek other than early morning on Nickelodeon's TV Land (which is the last place I saw the original broadcast versions aired). After the Remastered's hit more local network affiliate stations, the ratings were not half bad from what I've heard -- at least initially.

I love the Blu ray sets because they kept the original broadcast versions of the TOS episodes in addition the Remastered versions.

The other shows will have to be redone working with the SD edits. ALL the effects will have to be done in Hi-Res and that will be harder and a lot more expensive since those series have far more episodes than TOS. The live-action was still shot on theater-grade film but again the effects were done for the pre-HD era.... Frankly, so was Trek. There are still things that look garish on Trek. Most people aren't aware TOS was among the first TV series designed specifically for full-color TV which didn't really catch on until the late 1960s. Of course, some people like me prefer it the way it is. It's sort of like Technicolor used to be... Very vibrant colors, dreamy, more fantastic. Everything is done so true-to-life now that it's off-putting and at times depressing. The color in TOS definitely helped set that series apart as the most optimistic and dreamy part of the Franchise.

Frankly, I don't think we're more than 2-3 years from seeing TNG show up on Blu ray. There have already been Hi-Res tests done with at least the pilot episode. Also, it wouldn't be entirely out-of-the question to see another Blu ray edition of TMP show up in the future. Other than Star Trek II, there is very little reason to get the other movies on Blu rays. There's extensive dirt, scratches, and unstable film (mainly in the credits) on the TOS films. They all desperately need restoration and clean-up... A lot more TLC than Viacom/Paramount has show in years.

Wise got his Director's Cut only because he was respected and still a big shot in Hollywood when he asked for it. Paramount also saw that it was next-to-impossible that the DC wouldn't sell, either.

Paramount's been very frugal with Trek over the years. Part of it has to do with TMP and the fact that its production costs got out of control. Sure, there was a TV series that didn't happen that got charged to the film budget along with $3-5million of unusable special effects but it's also probably the case that Gene Roddenberry was out of his depth trying to executive-produce the film. Abrams' Trek was by far the largest-budgeted Trek film since the original... You have to account for inflation which most fans don't. Also, like TMP, the sets had to created for that film. The earlier Trek films were generally able to be produced on the cheap because of the reusable sets and models. To produce TMP now -- from scratch -- would probably cost on the order of at least $120-$140million dollars so Abrams' Trek wasn't that unreasonably expensive considering... I just wish the designs were better in that film!

Oh I know what you meant, its just that I've stayed away completely from any of the Star Trek movie blu-ray box sets because of all of the theatrical versions. It goes without saying that I want STMP, but Nick Meyer's edit of TWOK is a must as well, so is STIV. These films are noticeably better that their theatrical counterparts, and I think previous dvd and vhs sales would back that up.

John

Again, some restoration has to be done with the additional footage they put in the Director's Cut.

I didn't care for a lot of that footage myself. Even Nicholas Meyer and Sam Raimi (Spider-Man 2.1) have said that the DC's are contractual or vanity projects. Their edits WERE what was seen in-theaters.

Nothing I've seen added to Trek II or VI made those films better.
ST: TMP is still boring to many people including me, new edits and new footage or not.

I'm hoping Paramount went back to 2.25/2.35:1 aspect ratios on all the films. 1.85:1 comedy ratio isn't exactly the best aspect ratio for something presented as an epic, let along theatrical movie!

I actually very much like the Blu-ray release of The Motion Picture. Keep in mind, this is the first time the real theatrical version has been available on any format. The version most are familiar with is the extended "television" cut that included extra stuff with unfinished SPFX (like Kirk leaving the airlock and you can clearly see the the set around him.) This is unfortunately what all the prior home video releases have been. I do like like the newer special edition, but I also dislike that they took some stuff out. I always liked Kirks delivery of his line "Oh, My God...." after the transporter accident, but that's been removed, as well as Kirk telling Uhura a second time to turn off the viewer after the destruction of Epsilon 9. I also didn't like they way they changed the opening titles.

GeorgeC said:

I'm hoping Paramount went back to 2.25/2.35:1 aspect ratios on all the films. 1.85:1 comedy ratio isn't exactly the best aspect ratio for something presented as an epic, let along theatrical movie!

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Hear, Here!
I wonder how it is that more people don't realise how a change in aspect ratios changes your perception and thus how you feel about a film. Can you imagine Lawrence of Arabia in such a squashed fromat?

John

p.s. I do appreciate all of the problems in bringing the director's cut to Blu-ray. I even understand some of the reasons stated by my friends here to embrace the theatrical edit of the film. But in as much as George Lucas continues to edit and change the original trilogy like somone who has a plastic surgery addiction, STMP was literaly ripped from the film makers and dropped into theaters unfinished. The changes made to the director's cut really did serve to enhance what was already there, without being obtrusive. It is in many ways a leaner, cleaner cut, and I for one actually think as Darth Gordon stated, that it's easer to understand...for one thing you actually have a better idea of how V'Ger looks and operates in the film.

Though it may not be as pretty as the Blu-Ray, I'll stick to my finished version of this great film.

GeorgeC said:

...I'm hoping Paramount went back to 2.25/2.35:1 aspect ratios on all the films. 1.85:1 comedy ratio isn't exactly the best aspect ratio for something presented as an epic, let along theatrical movie!

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I've only seen 2, 4 and 6 on BD, and they are all 2.35.

Personally, as someone who does 3D and compositing, I wouldn't think that redoing the needed effects should be that big a deal. I mean, you did all the work already. Anyone worth squat saves all their files so all they'd have to do, more or less, is pull it up and re-render it at the correct resolution. Shouldn't be any re-work, just re-rendering and recompositing.

Pixar rerendered the entire films of Toy Story 1 and 2 just to make them 3D for a short re-release. Plus, at this stage of the game, it's not like you make a lot of money back on a 3D blu-ray, of which I don't believe they've been released on. That had to cost substantially more than STMP would.

Yeah I was pretty disappointed that all the Blurays are the theatrical releases.

Especially TMP. I actually decided not to by the 6 disc boxset because of this (well... that and I don't really need ST:V on Bluray either :lol).


I've been spoiled by the Director's Cut. One thing it does is remove a lot of the tension between Kirk, Bones and Spock. Kirk seemed to be constantly annoyed in the theatrical cut.

Of course the little tweaks with the effects are cool. And while I would LOVE to have this on Bluray, I'm satisfied with my upconverted dvd.

As for WOK- I kind of miss Scotty's "moment" when ensign Preston (who is actually Scotty's nephew) dies in sickbay.


Kevin

Does anyone know with the other Star Trek series... I realize that the FX were rendered in 480i, but were the models filmed on film? While that still makes it costly to do, it might make it less of a remote possibility of seeing the shows on BR in a few years... or whatever streaming HD medium is the norm at that time.

Most of the model elements were shot on film. But some were done straight to SD video. Not to mention phasers, transporter effects, force fields and the like, all done on video. And all the star backgrounds and planets were video. Even with the film elements for the ships, if they still exist, there would be a lot to recreate.

All the filmed live action was transferred to video for editing and effects, like scene transitions and such. Any film still in existence would be the raw unedited stuff as it came from the cameras. To do a proper HD remastering, it would be like re editing each shot from scratch. And all of this is on top of the normal clean up.

Way to make me cry...

Lord Boron said:

The Motion Picture. Keep in mind, this is the first time the real theatrical version has been available on any format.

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The theatrical version of STMP was released over 20 years ago(1991). In wide-screen format on laserdisk, with all of the other ST movies made up to that time(1-5). And it was around on VHS as well, what I wanted to see was the ABC extended movie in wide-screen.
I didn't like the director's all that much, even though STMP wasn't considered finished. It seems strange to me for a director to redo a movie 30 years later, when he is in his 90's. That movie was very much a product of it's time. Something I don't think you can do 30 years later.

It's to bad they didn't get to do what they wanted to then. Kind of sad to think it is the first and last true "Trek" film.

I'm one of those weirdos that likes the Motion Picture best of all the original crew movies. In an ideal world they would release a blu-ray set for the Motion Picture like they did for Blade Runner.

I'll get the ball rolling on that right after my coronation as Emperor.

Atemylunch said:

what I wanted to see was the ABC extended movie in wide-screen.

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I'm nearly positive that the TMP "extended cut" (12 minutes longer with the scaffold in the background of Kirk leaving the Enterprise scene), was a part of the 6 tape vhs boxset released in the early 90s.

I bought that set myself (because it came with a free Starfleet uniform badge :$ ), so I'll take a look to see if I was right... Although I may have donated it once I bought everything on dvd.


Kevin

dcarty said:

I'm one of those weirdos that likes the Motion Picture best of all the original crew movies. In an ideal world they would release a blu-ray set for the Motion Picture like they did for Blade Runner.

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In the last words spoken in the original series, "If only" (STUPID EPISODE BTW).

Paramount is probably the laziest, cheapest BluRay distributer of all the studios today. Just look at their disc art. It's white over gray text. And look at the original Star Trek series season DVD releases compared to the BluRay releases. Not only are there no episode listings on the discs themselves, there's no notes or inserts to show you where things are.

It really is a pity that Robert Wise's preferred cut of the film isn't going to see the light of day any time soon in High Definition. And I thought I would never have to endure Mr. "INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" again. A sad pity indeed.

Jeyl said:

In the last words spoken in the original series, "If only" (STUPID EPISODE BTW).

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Oh come on! Without this episode, we would never have scenes like this-