Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition is the Blu-ray Disc release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and had been concurrently released as part of the limited Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition Complete Adventure 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo box-set issue. Issued separately as an individual release with new cover art, it features the long-awaited Blu-ray Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) version of the film.
It has not debuted as a Blu-ray/4K UHD home video release though, but premiered five months earlier as an exclusive on the Paramount's own streaming service, Paramount+, on 5 April 2022 (aka "First Contact Day"). [1]
The 4K UHD 2160p resolution re-remastering was actually done for the above-mentioned box set in mind, which featured all three versions of the film to wit, the theatrical cut, the director's edition, and the "Special Longer Version" for television. Additionally, to 1080p downscaled Blu-ray versions of the theatrical and director's edition versions were not only included in the set, but were issued as individual releases as well in both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray formats – the "Special Longer Version" remained only available as a Blu-ray in the set. The theatrical cut of the film had already seen an individual release the previous year. The Region A director's edition release though, had an additional digital download version available as well, obtainable by a to North-America geo-restricted redeemable code, which was not included on the Region B release.
Talks of a HD release of the Director's Edition had been floating around since April 2013, but various reasons conspired against such a release for nearly a decade. For further background information on this subject matter, see the main article.
Essentially the High Definition (HD) upgrade of the original 2001 DVD release, the same David C. Fein, Michael Matessino and Daren Dochterman production team responsible for that release was re-assembled again for the HD upgrade oversight (see links below). According to Star Trek.com, the upgrade took over six months to complete, meaning the work had begun in late Summer of 2021 when considering the Paramount+ April 2022 premiere.
While in a few cases still being marketed as region-restricted, the release is in actuality region-free as this has become commonplace for the Blu-ray format, exemplified by the circumstance that by 2020 region indications were no longer present on the packaging of Blu-ray releases.
On the other hand, no DVD counterpart has been issued for this particular release, as has likewise become increasingly commonplace. The original 2001 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) DVD release has to do for those customers still wanting one.
Special features[]
The selection of special features included on this release differs considerably from those included on the previously released Blu-ray of the theatrical cut, since this version of the film has had a different genesis. The features now included consist of a mix of legacy features carried over from the 2001 DVD, as well as the 2009 theatrical and 2016 Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection Blu-ray releases (most of them collected in the "The Star Trek Universe: A eight-part feature" section), and newly made features presented in 1080p HD. Remarkably, this is one of the few instances where latter-day Blu-ray releases exhibit regional differences in issues. The (former) Region A release had its special features split off onto a separate disc, whereas the other regions had not.
- Disc One
- Audio commentary: David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren Dochterman. This track was recorded in March 2022 and focuses very closely on the process of bringing this new cut to this restorative state. *
- Audio commentary: Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, and Stephen Collins. §
- Text commentary: Michael and Denise Okuda. § – this marks only the second time that a text commentary became featured on a Blu-ray release, after the 2016 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Director's Cut) release.
- Disc Two
- The Human Adventure: An eight-part feature. * †
- Preparing the Future (4:13): Fein, Matessino, and Dochterman discuss their history with the franchise and film, the transition from TV to big screen, Wise's relationship with the film and desire to rebuild the picture, remastering the film, and adding Dolby Atmos audio.
- A Wise Choice (4:04): Looking at Robert Wise's direction, the tight production schedule, and the failure for the film to reach his final vision upon initial release.
- Refitting the Enterprise (6:57): Redesigning the Enterprise from the 1960s version to the "A" model seen in this film.
- Sounding Off (6:47): Discussing sound effects, the difficulty of handling sound effects with the film's hurried production, and the benefits of the new Dolby Atmos track.
- V'Ger (6:53): Why the film's antagonist is so memorable, creating the cloud and what is inside of it, and the complexities of the VFX work.
- Return to Tomorrow (6:04): More discussion on the production deadlines and rigors, visual effects work, and rebuilding visual effects with new color grading.
- A Grand Theme (7:14): Discussing and praising Jerry Goldsmith's iconic score.
- The Grand Vision (6:02): Exploring the poster artwork, the film's significance and influence on the franchise, and more.
- Deleted Scenes (4:31 total runtime): Included are Ilia & Decker in Engineering, Security Guard, and Three Casualties. These scenes begin with a critical text introduction. * †
- Effects Tests (3:30): Looking at raw VFX shots. * †
- Costume Tests (4:40): Exploring motion film and still photo costume tests as well as some history on Star Trek costumes. * †
- Display Graphics (3:10): A fascinating look at the 16mm and 65mm footage projected onto the background screens on the Enterprise. * †
- The Star Trek Universe: A eight-part feature. §
- Phase II: The Lost Enterprise (12:39): Looking back at the original series and the never materialized Phase II TV program.
- A Bold New Enterprise (29:41): Exploring the complex process of bringing the franchise to the screen, big moments, casting, effects work, the tight schedule, and much more. †
- Redirecting the Future (480i, 14:06): Looking at the making of the Director's Edition version of the film in 2001.
- The Longest Trek: Writing The Motion Picture †
- Special Star Trek Reunion †
- Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 001: Mystery Behind V'Ger
- The New Frontier: Resurrecting Star Trek (30:01): Looking back on the original series' success, the cancellation, projects between the TOS finale and TMP, the transition to the big screen, and more. †
- Maiden Voyage: Making Star Trek: The Motion Picture (29:13): A comprehensive look at building the film: choosing a director, writing, the production schedule, anecdotes, visuals, and much more. †
- Storyboards †
- Vulcan †
- Enterprise Departure †
- V'Ger Revealed †
- Additional Scenes 1979 Theatrical Version §
- Trims (6:08)
- Outtakes/Memory Wall (2:49)
- Vulcan and Starfleet (4:15)
- Attack on the Enterprise (2:36)
- Cloud Journey (3:31)
- V'Ger Flyover (5:04)
- Wing Walk (4:48)
- Deleted Scenes 1983 TV Version §
- Sulu and Ilia 1 (1:06)
- Sulu and Ilia 2 (0:27)
- Kirk's Quarters (0:21)
- Officer's Lounge (0:13)
- Attack on the Enterprise (1:08)
- Intruder Transformation (0:32)
- A Huge Vessel (0:47)
- Kirk Follows Spock (1:13)
- Ilia's Quarters 1 (1:05)
- Ilia's Quarters 2 (1:20)
- Its Creator Is a Machine (0:17)
- Teaser Trailer (2:18) § †
- Theatrical Trailer (2:29) § †
- TV Spot (8 spots – 4:13 in all) §
- Hardware
- Startle Your Senses
- Enterprise
- Cast/Human Adventure
- Spiritual Search
- Spiritual/Startle Your Senses
- Spiritual/Human Adventure
- Event/Common Experience
* - new for this release
† - in 1080p HD (others in standard, 480p definition)
§ - legacy features
External links[]
- Review at Blu-ray.com
- David C. Fein Shares the Secrets of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition at StarTrek.com
- Go Behind-the-Scenes of the Restoration of Star Trek: The Motion Picture at StarTrek.com
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