Star Trek: TMP Versions

[Pauln6]

It is interesting how visions of the future vary for different reasons even with the same movie. I think I focus more on the characters and music so I miss a lot of visual nuances.

However, I think one of the reasons I love the TMP refit so much is that it straddles perfectly for me, the line between futuristic and realistic. It looks and feels like a futuristic submarine staffed by a competent and professional crew. People aren't snogging on duty during a crisis, or making worthy speeches to individuals while people are dying off camera. They are surfing their insecurities and hoping for a good result just like the rest of us. Kirk is driven but not arrogant. Spock is struggling with a mental health issue. Bones is masking his Terror with humour.

It may be too subtle for some but I love it.

 

[suarezguy]

I don't know if this is just from watching the film many times but on last watching the theatrical cut it seemed a little obvious that, with V'Ger coming to Earth to find its creator, humans must have created V'Ger-and IIRC the longer versions, by emphasizing more/more often that V'Ger disdained carbon units, made that less obvious.

 

[Pauln6]

I don't know if this is just from watching the film many times but on last watching the theatrical cut it seemed a little obvious that, with V'Ger coming to Earth to find its creator, humans must have created V'Ger-and IIRC the longer versions, by emphasizing more/more often that V'Ger disdained carbon units, made that less obvious.

I lose track of which versions it is in but I like Kirk hoping that the aliens 'reason as we do.' because it makes the Federation sound experienced and enlightened and throws shade on V'Ger's potential motives. I also like McCoy's comment that it could house a thousand crew 10 miles tall and Uhura's little tut tut face. It makes them look more active in their speculation.

 

[Maurice]

I lose track of which versions it is in but I like Kirk hoping that the aliens 'reason as we do.' because it makes the Federation sound experienced and enlightened and throws shade on V'Ger's potential motives. I also like McCoy's comment that it could house a thousand crew 10 miles tall and Uhura's little tut tut face. It makes them look more active in their speculation.

Her line is dumb because a ship that size could carry millions of human-sized crew, not merely tens of thousands. And it's written that way precisely to set up Bones' line. Awkward lines all the way around.

 

[K1productions]

I grew up with the "Special Longer Version" on VHS. The alternate takes used sound more proper to me than in the theatrical version. Specifically Bones and Kirk in his quarters, and Dr. Chapel putting the circlet on Ilia (even if you remove the "Why have two carbon units entered V'ger?" which required a change of scene order, as it was originally meant to follow the Memory Wall sequence which was never filmed)
There were a few bits re-added in the Directors Edition, but still had some lines removed. For example, Bones saying "V'Ger is saying its Creator is a Machine" was put back in, but Decker's follow up "Of course,... we all create God in our own image" was not.

And I do much prefer the harsher alert klaxons of the theatrical and longer version over the more sythesized sounds used in the Director's Edition.

 

[Pauln6]

Her line is dumb because a ship that size could carry millions of human-sized crew, not merely tens of thousands. And it's written that way precisely to set up Bones' line. Awkward lines all the way around.

I wouldn't go so far to say it's dumb any more than someone saying the Enterprise could host 200 hundred crew (which it had during the Cage) even though it could probably house three times as many people. McCoy's line is half joking but I like it. Why should the default be tiny aliens like us? It teases the audience much the same as Kirk's earlier line at the briefing and sets us up for the weirdness of the probe.

 

[Maurice]

Rationalize it all you want. The lines are still awkward IMO.

 

[Pauln6]

Rationalize it all you want. The lines are still awkward IMO.

Yeah that's the beauty of doing my own edit! I get to enjoy the DE with the extra dialogue without bugging anybody else. B-)

 

[Firebird]

(even if you remove the "Why have two carbon units entered V'ger?" which required a change of scene order, as it was originally meant to follow the Memory Wall sequence which was never filmed)

All but two VFX shots in the Memory Wall sequence labeled by Bob Wise as needing to be done in post-production were filmed. I finally put that myth to bed last year when I looked through the editor's continuity script in Wise's papers at USC.

 

[Pauln6]

All but two VFX shots in the Memory Wall sequence labeled by Bob Wise as needing to be done in post-production were filmed. I finally put that myth to bed last year when I looked through the editor's continuity script in Wise's papers at USC.

I went a bit nuts and decided to add a tweaked version of the Memory Wall into my fan edit so I wish all that footage was available.

As it stands, for Ilia's line to make sense, I've added a second character to Kirk's airlock scene by pasting CGI Grace Lee Whitney's face inside Spock's helmet with some extra dialogue.

Next step is to take the rough footage of Kirk and Spock and merge footage of Spock in the background as Kirk floats past. With a cut scene of Rand using her tricorder, using one of the stills pasted onto a flipped memory wall background. This gives me about a minute of footage and let's me establish that tricorder use tips off Ilia about these two carbon units. Follow this up with Spock's mind meld.

Finally I just have to establish Kirk inside V'Ger when he meets Spock with Shatner's face pasted inside the spacesuit from the spacewalk scene.

The footage will look quite shoddy but then I only have to aim for SLV quality ;-p

 

[K1productions]

I went a bit nuts and decided to add a tweaked version of the Memory Wall into my fan edit so I wish all that footage was available.

As it stands, for Ilia's line to make sense, I've added a second character to Kirk's airlock scene by pasting CGI Grace Lee Whitney's face inside Spock's helmet with some extra dialogue.

Next step is to take the rough footage of Kirk and Spock and merge footage of Spock in the background as Kirk floats past. With a cut scene of Rand using her tricorder, using one of the stills pasted onto a flipped memory wall background. This gives me about a minute of footage and let's me establish that tricorder use tips off Ilia about these two carbon units. Follow this up with Spock's mind meld.

Finally I just have to establish Kirk inside V'Ger when he meets Spock with Shatner's face pasted inside the spacesuit from the spacewalk scene.

The footage will look quite shoddy but then I only have to aim for SLV quality ;-p

Oh, I saw that. That was your video? Nice

 

[Pauln6]

Oh, I saw that. That was your video? Nice

The acid test is whether I can get voice imitation software to work to a satisfactory level. I tried to set it up but I've presently got an error message that it will take some research to resolve.

I've picked dialogue that reflects the dialogue in the comic version (minus the antibody attack) and Rand's missing scene from the bridge. I need Shatner saying "Just like old times." I was hoping to find it in some of his other work but no luck so far.

For Rand, I need to take the placeholder dialogue from other actresses and redub in digitised Grace's voice if possible. The only lines I haven't found placeholder dialogue yet is a line cribbed from Star Trek Beyond where Simon Pegg gives a recipe for pattern enhancers, and a line from the comic where she says it's just computer banks as far as the eye can see.

The rest of it is just the soundtrack from the cloud, which helpfully already has thruster noises.

Oh and I was able to merge the DE claxon with the SLV red alert for the scene from the SLV. I was also able to trim a few frames so that Uhura's dialogue bleeds into the next cut. It makes the dialogue run together a bit more and sound a bit desperate. You do notice Decker's lips moving while a random crewman does the dialogue though.

 

[Maurice]

All but two VFX shots in the Memory Wall sequence labeled by Bob Wise as needing to be done in post-production were filmed. I finally put that myth to bed last year when I looked through the editor's continuity script in Wise's papers at USC.

Well, there we go. I was always curious how much they shot, but given when the wrap party happened and when Abel and Associates were fired I was growing to suspect a lot of it had.

 

[Pauln6]

Well, there we go. I was always curious how much they shot, but given when the wrap party happened and when Abel and Associates were fired I was growing to suspect a lot of it had.

It would be cool if they put more previously unseen footage on the new release, if it ever actually comes to light.

 

[drt]

It's not "SLP", it's SLV. Special Longer Version.

Haha, oops, that particular instance was a typo. I can't win with the initialisms in this thread...

^^^The reasons for changing San Francisco were because the DE guys talked Wise into it: ignoring what Roddenberry wanted and (barely) got in the theatrical cut, and which you can see better in this dropped (Matt Yuricich) shot which showed the city as GR wanted it: smaller and lower and a lot of it underground and most of the land restored to nature, with the only recognizable 20th century structures remaining being the Golden Gate Bridge, the Transamerica Pyramid and Coit Tower.

Roddenberry loved the "advanced civilization lives underground" trope.

 

[BillJ]

I really hope to see the SLV get a proper DVD or Blu-ray release. I had thought of picking up a LaserDisc player, but can't really justify it for one movie.