I see your post is a couple of months old, so maybe you've made your decision by now. On the chance you haven't, I'll give my perspective as someone who recently upgraded from DVD to Blu-ray. For the Kelvin timeline movies, yes, absolutely, Blu-ray is the way to go. I recommend the Compendium version of Star Trek and Into Darkness as Into Darkness has the IMAX sequences shown taking up the entire screen, closer to how it appeared in the theater. The sound and picture are great and this version contains the most features. I'll say I got my original crew and Next Generation crew movies on blu-ray cheap from a popular online auction site. That was the way to go and I don't really regret it. The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan look best of the original crew movies. The picture is clearer and sharper and a clear upgrade over dvd. Of course, higher resolution and better sound should always be reason to upgrade. However, as others have noted, the process which was used to upgrade the scans to blu-ray makes some of the skin tones look unnatural. I don't think it's as bothersome as some allude, but it's probably a matter of preference. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, I noticed that Klingon Bird of Prey appeared BRIGHT green on blu-ray. I don't recall it looking that bright on vhs or dvd. It really stood out (to me) on blu-ray. I also noticed some bad special effects during the scene where Kirk as fighting with Kruge on the planet. The higher resolution made some of the bluescreen work really jump out and look cheaper than it's ever looked before. So, for original crew movies, I'd say Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan are clear upgrades. I had issues with 3. 4, 5 and 6, I was ho-hum. I suppose it was an upgrade, but not a clear standout upgrade. For the Next Generation movies, I have only watched Generations all the way through. It had higher resolution, and the Enterprise-D looked clearer and crisper than I ever noticed before. I have popped in each of the other movies, but not watched them all the way through (yet). It seemed Nemesis was the clear standout of this set. It really looked good on Blu-ray, a clear improvement, but it is still Star Trek Nemesis. I did like that the Blu-rays featured some cut scenes and behind the scenes stuff which was not featured on the DVDs. My thoughts, get the Kelvin universe movies on Blu-ray (preferably the Compendium edition). For the original crew and TNG crew, if you can get them cheap enough, you probably won't regret it, but don't expect them to blow you away. I have not see the Director's Cut of Wrath of Khan on Blu-ray (I did attend the theatrical event in September). So, I don't have a basis of comparison for that one, but I'm curious to check it out. I do not have a clear preferred version of TMP (I like the theatrical cut because it's the shortest (!), but the Director's Cut does add more character to Spock), and I avoid the director's cut of Undiscovered Country at all costs. I hope our input has proven helpful.
I might get a blu ray of the films. I still have the originals of Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and Voyage Home. I did get some of the directors and collector editions but this was maybe 10 years ago.
Kinda weird in that I hate the enhanced HD TOS (HD TOS is fine, but I hate the updated effects...they just don't fit), but I LOVE the updated HD TNG. It's so much clearer. I notice every time BBC America broadcasts one or the other (and unfortunately they don't seem to fit any pattern). Which reminds me...whatever will I do when BBC America stops being the Star Trek channel again? I miss the former Castle channel (TBS).
I should have noted in my reply above, Star Trek V and VI are non-anamorphic on DVD, unless you get the 2-disc set. The DVDs are dolby digital (in the U.S., Region 1 anyway), except the Next Generation movies have DTS sound on those 2 disc sets. I prefer the artwork on the DVDs and wish the Blu-ray sets had that. Taking into account the non-anamorphic picture (on those 2 movies) and the better sound, Blu-ray is an upgrade all the way around. My only real issue with the Blu-ray sets was Star Trek III. I got the original Blu-ray releases, which have an extra disc in each set. They were interesting, but it was material I've watched once and not likely to return to. If you pick up a more recent set without those bonus discs, you are not really missing out on much. Live long and prosper.
That is because, for the vast majority of the material, there were no updates. Most every optical effect you see, is the original filmed material recomposited.
Just the growth in the CGI medium in the intervening years between the two projects. I really wished the original effects elements had existed for TOS. It would've been glorious.
Roddenberry had to make a living in the 70's. And did that by cutting up and selling the original film of the TOS episodes.
The remastered TNG was actually a remaster in the true sense. The few effects that they re-made still looked like they belonged in the time period in which the TV show was made. Kor
Exactly, although some of the effects are slightly beyond the 1980s, they still seem to fit (the flames in a doorway, for example). I'm very happy that they were as forward-thinking as they were knowing that updated technology was on the horizon. In the 60s, what they were presenting was at the forefront of the technology at the time, so there was no reason for the thinking of the producers of TNG (not that Roddenberry wouldn't've sold the film in the 70s, nonetheless.).
Did Roddenberry have any of the filmed elements that were used for effects compositing, or did he just have the masters of the episodes? Because the latter wouldn't have been useful in re-doing the effects. Kor
I'm not sure even the studio kept the original elements once the final product was finished. I don't know if they even felt the need. Given that the footage for The Menagerie was simply painted on (rotoscoped) for coloration, I'm guessing that the original elements were not kept (not that they would have been color, anyway). Did anyone at the time?
I would love a 4K master of The Voyage Home; there should have some special treatment of the film since it was one of the highest grossing Star Trek films. As TUC, I think there needs to be a petition to remaster the film but eliminate digital matting on the images. I have many versions of the movie of VHS, & DvD; I found to see more of the movie in full screen than in digital matting or scope ratios.
Will never happen. The movie was shot in Super 35, which is a non-anamorphic process that is meant to be matted to whatever the director's preferred aspect ratio is. It's framed for 2.35:1, changing that compromises the image - you're not supposed to see more. Even the 2.0:1 framing used in the 2004 special edition DVD doesn't look right.