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That's what she said I don't get the love of the longer version, though. When I watched the theatrical edition, it didn't seem as plodding. And this is coming from a guy who loves the movie. The longer edition just seemed to be more reaction shots to the FX and people repeating the same lines over and over and then different people saying the exact same lines that were just spoken by the person before. The Director's Cut was cool, but I really like the theatrical edition. But, I'm probably in the minority on that one.
I like the theatrical version fine, but generally prefer the Director's cut. The SLV is simply more stuff stuck on there with no thought given to proper editing. The changing space suits, the set scaffolding, and everything extra with Sulu & Ilia is just embarrassing. The scaffolding scene looks even more incredible in widescreen.
I love the theatrical version. But if CBS is going to go through the effort of a second HD release for this film, I'd rather have the Special Longer Version over the Director's Edition.
Agreed. The SLV is a mess. An example of when EVERYTHING shot is throw into a movie with no thought given to pace, mood, continuity or focus. The DVD of the DE had all the shots from the SLV included as extras--as it should be. Seriously, if you think the SLV is the best cut of the movie--you have bad taste IMO.
Count me in the minority also. I can't remember where, but I did read a review of the current TMP Blu-ray in which the journalist essentially commented the DE was pretty much a "excuse" to "allow" those who'd previously jumped on the "disparaging" bandwagon but secretly enjoyed the film to finally come out of the closet! I thought that was bang on the money.
Actually, not everything was put into the SLV. There's still the scene of Decker showing the Ilia Probe the main engineering section while Scotty gets more and more irritated. There's also the comical "Don't look a gift Vulcan in the ears" line from McCoy that was deleted from Spock's return. I think even the meeting between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in the officer's lounge also exists as an alternate sequence. The scene in the revised shooting script is almost totally different dialogue-wise. Another cut scene was during the light probe's entrance onto the bridge. Bits were deleted of the probe "killing" one of the security guards sent to the bridge. There's also the Memory Wall sequence, which was obviously not included. And, contrary to what they say in the DE special features (that only a few lighting and costume tests were done), all of the 1st-unit shooting (involving Shatner and Nimoy) was completed during principal photography. It's been noted that the MW sequence wasn't deleted until they reached post-production on the film. I don't understand why Paramount has never come forward and admitted this.
The SLV is junk, and—except for a couple of bits—illustrates exactly why footage rightfully ends up on the cutting room floor.
There is a line from Decker in the SLV that should have been kept in the DE: "We all create god in our own image." Being able to watch TMP for 140 minutes is another good thing about the SLV. (IMO)
Well of course not EVERY line shot was in the SLV, They were trying to pad the time. The way to do that is to add every cut chunk of film--not individual lines. And they couldn't add the security guard being zapped because it was never 100% finished (although that didn't stop them from adding the scaffold shot) The DE is the weakest cut. LOL I love deleted scenes and I wish every one was included for every movie. But trying to pretend that every single line and scene belong in a movie because 30 years ago they created a cut to fill an exact time slot is ridiculous. On tv, In 1983 I loved seeing the scenes of Sulu & Ilia, but after viewing them a couple of times on the VHS-it's obvious they are awful and go nowhere. They were in there when Ilia was written as a continuing character for phase II. Who cares if she excites men when in 10 minutes she is going to be turned into a robot as her acting tallants warranted. What I'll never understand is the folks who hold the theatrical as some sort of icon to be untouched and those who like the 'kitchen sink' version with every awful scene added back in. Yes, I miss a couple of lines from the SLV "We all create god in our own image" & "We are now discussing the subject of command fitness." & "It could hold a crew of thousands/ Or a crew of a thousand ten miles tall" Too bad they left those out IMO, but to have all that terrible doubly boring staring to get those few lines--not worth it. But YES, they should have included the SLV via seamless branching on the Blu-ray.
Well, I certainly don't think of it in that way - an "untouchable icon", but I do maintain it's by far the best version thus far released. The movie I was awestruck by and fell in love with the very first time I saw it flicker onto the silver screen as a young boy.
The DE is weakest, for me, is because of the missing lines but mostly because of the horrid sound mix. The sound effects added were awful and I missed all the others taken out, including the computer voice and the engineering test announcement..
The extended argument between McCoy and Kirk that was in the SLV, was one of my favorite bits. It was both funny ("And another thing..." "Get out of here, Bones!") and badass ("command fitness"). I always wondered why it didn't make it into the DE. Especially since it contains absolutely no special effects, and the theatrical/DE version of the scene is so badly edited - De Kelley's lines are obviously looped. Another thing I like about the DE is that it actually shows San Francisco. The theatrical version (in the one or two seconds that we actually see this - it's when we see the Golden Gate Bridge) shows bare land & forest where the city is supposed to be. This is because Gene Roddenberry had an appalling opinion that all cities on Earth would be underground! I'm so glad the DE got rid of that nonsense. I also like the fact that the DE did things like this: - got rid of that horribly grating Epsilon 9 computer voiceover when the Klingon ship's log is being played back. (I never realized until now that the computer is actually giving an English translation of the lines spoken by the Klingon captain in that log.) - slightly altered the English translation of the words spoken by the Vulcan masters at Spock's Kolinahr ceremony. In the theatrical version it is completely obvious that the Vulcan words were created after the fact, to match the lip movements of the actors, who were speaking English during the scene. This is also true of the conversation between Spock and Saavik in ST II, but that time, it wasn't so bloody obvious - no "gib me yu troats!" - gives a MUCH better depiction of Vulcan itself. For example, we learn that the rock formations right behind the Kolinahr masters are actually the legs of a huge statue right behind them. And it gets rid of the not-moon... One nitpick about the DE: As Admiral Kirk's air tram is approaching Starfleet Command, the DE shows the scene from the outside, where we see that the shuttle is heading for a point that looks to be hundreds of feet up from the water. But the inside of the building (which is all we see in the theatrical version) is level with the water's edge...
I liked the Epsilon 9 computer voiceover. And when I first saw the movie I had no previous knowledge of Star Trek and was wowed by the sky over Vulcan. I miss that shot.