I would be surprised if they didn't at least remaster the discs to include the trailer for the upcoming film rather than the 2009 release. As for the lack of effort otherwise on Paramount's part, it doesn't surprise me.
That's correct. Region B got all the films I-X individualy in 2009-10. In Region A only II, IV, VI and VIII (First Contact) got individual releases.
Re: TMP Director's Edition IS NOT Coming To Blu-ray Untrue. It's called "bit rot" and it affects data stored on magnetic media like hard drives or flash memory if they go too long without being accessed. Storage media are imperfect, and bits can and do flip from one to the other due to a variety of factors. If you leave data alone too long, it'll eventually turn into a garbled mess. It's one of the challenges that makes long-term digital preservation difficult.
Re: TMP Director's Edition IS NOT Coming To Blu-ray Do your homework and then get back to me, okay? You sound like my stepdad used to, thinking digital was a perfect, fire & forget situation ... and it is not. I'm not picking on you, my stepdad was an engineer for close to four decades and it took forever to demonstrate to him the limitations and flaws. EDIT ADDON: sorry, should have scrolled down and seen Gep's reply.
Sorry. I didn't know about bit rot. But surely a sufficiently robust backup system could include a method to instantly access the data (but not otherwise do anything with it) maybe once a year? A bit like physical therapy on an injured limb.
That solves one problem, but it doesn't address the problem of rapidly changing file formats. That's one of the reasons the Hollywood studios still make new negatives alongside digital masters when they do film restorations. (At least, when they can afford it.) Not only is film a stable medium (well preserved, it should last about a century), but at this point, the medium is not going to go out of date.
If anybody is really interested in this subject, I'd recommend they look up THE DIGITAL DILEMMA and THE DIGITAL DILEMMA 2 ... these should have lit fires under asses, but I think it was more akin to global warming, where nobody wanted to know. I did a piece on restoration and preservation for ICG last year, but I just checked and it isn't online, just in the print version of the mag, so I can't link to that.
This piece is an interesting primer on the film vs. digital debate. It is obviously tilted in one direction, but it makes its case well.
Foundation Imaging did a great job, but looking at the TNG Blu-Rays, I suspect CBS-D would be perfect for reproducing the work on the DE, as well as recompositing the original shots (assuming the original elements still exist independent of the movie). Getting Darren Dochtorman, David C. Fein and Michael Mattesino et al consulting and working on the project would also ensure that they are doing it right for reproducing the VFX elements. CBS-D would be able to work on the restoration of the original print, and the re-editing of the movie to match the DE DVD master (timing, sound mix etc.). The issue with a project like this is money, more specifically, the lack of. Paramount own the movie itself, and would need to be the ones behind such a restoration. To do it right now would be bad timing, as it would take focus from Star Trek Into Darkness. Not impossible, and I want it, but lnot likely in the short term.
Again, it's unlikely there ARE any elements to recomposite. Frankly, if a DE had to be re-done I'd junk some of the dumb decisions made for the 2001 release which violated the intent of the artists who originally worked on the film (I'm looking at you, San Francisco). Why get the Doctormans of the world to consult instead of the Proberts of the world, who actually worked on the damned thing originally?
You sure wouldn't have wound up with that single nacelle view from the lounge, which is probably nearly as awkward as anything that got replaced for the DE, if you count the unfixed uniform color change aspect in the lounge opticals. I think Vulcan, while representative of SOME old boards, is also a mess on the DE. Even if they didn't go back to Yuricich's discarded (why discarded? WHY?) Vulcan painting, there was a version Mike Minor did that was in a yellow-ish vein (seen in the ENTERPRISE INCIDENTS in which he was interviewed) that still looks better than the theatrical and the DE versions. Still would love to find out why the Vulcan theatrical shot was pulled from EEG and taken 'elsewhere' ... and where elsewhere actually was. More Katzenberg messups? I think this Burnette guy would probably be my choice to supervise any new version. While he knows Dochterman, I don't think he'd be unduly influenced by what was done (right or wrong) on the DE, given the chance to get things right or better this time (snip off that lil guy fleeing epsilon 9 before he gets so close to camera, it is AWFULLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't recall ever cringing so much for somebody else's work before that day in 79.)
Sadly, getting the original guys who worked on it is not always a guarantee that the final product will be good. I'm thinking of a recent project, TNG: S2 on bluray perhaps? HTV and a few of the original crew made a pretty poor job of that. Not to say the TMP guys would do poorly, just saying it's no guarantee. I'm one who enjoyed the DE more than the original cut and would be happy if they simply re-rendered the new shots in HD. If Paramount would only listen.
Which you could apply to anyone, so it's kind of meaningless argument. The chances it'll be closer to the original intent are likely higher if you used people who actually worked on the original. No guarantee, but more likely just because their knowledge of the subject is likely more intimate.
The first season of The Next Generation used raw elements made for TMP. Even the new making of documentaries shows some of the visual effect shots done for TMP in their raw form.