Saw both screenings yesterday. Was planning to see the rest of them throughout the week but I think I’m good seeing this just two times. For every high moment, there’s an equally low moment. It’s the most highly overproduced bottle episode ever even with all of the re-edits. The supporting cast working with a high profile director like Robert Wise must have been a thrill but they’re stuck mostly at their consoles doing bridge related dialogue they did on the TV show. I guess it’s better than not acting, but you still wish that there was more to offer for them. This also put the main three in conflict since they knew their characters inside out and someone else is coming in to tell them what they should and shouldn’t do. It is such a shame that the original theatrical version didn’t include the single tear scene which I heard pissed Nimoy off royally since that was an important part of his character arc and that’s what made him reluctant to return for the sequel and inspired him to take on more of a role in the production besides just acting.
The audience was just about what I expected from it. The first screening had a couple of women sitting in front of me, one with pointed ears. It was annoying at times seeing them talk over to person sitting the other seat next to them, but I can’t blame them being excited about a movie that has a rather dull reputation for its slow pace. At least they weren’t playing with their phones during the long drawn out cloud sequence, unlike a screening of last year’s Dune, which I had to be treated like I was the asshole for telling someone to put away. The second screening had significantly less people and I invited a work friend to see it with me, as my mom did when she first saw it in 1979. I congratulated her for still sticking around after the Enterprise docking sequence which is a good test to see if this is your kind of movie or not. For some reason, the movie didn’t get going until 15 minutes after it’s scheduled start time which wasn’t a problem for the first screening. I felt bad since it’s already a long movie and we both work morning shifts the following day, but she enjoyed it for what it was and it was nice to see someone reacting to it for the first time since the only Star Trek films she had seen prior was the Abrams films and Wrath of Khan.
The bonus feature before the film was a treat. I hope it’s not the only new thing when the 4K Blu-ray comes out this September. It is kind of a shame knowing that a feature at that came out in 1979 that showed Persis Khambatta getting her head shaved is only available in videotape quality, which the featurette used excerpts from. Hoping they announce more details about that later and it’s good news for a change.