News Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director's Cut is being restored in 4K, launching first on Paramount+

I'm not sure why some are low balling and asking for a SD version of the TV cut. If they're remastering the theatrical and DC in 4K they'll already have scanned virtually all the material required. Reassembling the SLV would be a fairly simple process.

But yeah, even so it probably won't happen knowing Paramount.

 

The Spock tears for v'ger seem is in no way redundant to anything else in the movie. It's added after Kirk orders to self destruct I believe and Spock realizes that Vger may likely be destroyed without ever for finding its answers.

 

If they're going to give us all three versions in the set, I can't imagine they'd just throw out a nonanamorphic SD version on a set that is highly anticipated.

But I've been wrong before.

 

Lucasfilm gave fans the unaltered Original Trilogy in 2006 but as completely un-remastered edits taken from VHS transfers and they were only included as bonus discs with a limited edition DVD release. Who knows?

 

That did cross my mind when I wrote that post. But, Paramount is not Lucasfilm. And it is not 2006. Resolution has increased quite a bit in the past fifteen years and this release would be for the fans. And as we all know, Trek fans get incensed about... well... anything.

 

I know. But studios are notoriously standoffish about older versions of films getting special treatment so I wouldn't count on getting what we'd prefer. They'll probably just focus on the 2001 Director's Edition and tell fans to go find old VHS copies of the SLV if they want to watch it.

The studio wouldn't even give Shatner the money to fix things about TFF and that movie actually needs major fixes.

 

TMP at least has a small group of fans who find it one of the best. And its absolutely cinematic despite its flaws.

TFF I don't think has that. Yes. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy stuff is some of the best in all of the series, but the movie doesn't have a ton going for it outside of that.

But like you say... who knows? I wouldn't be surprised like you if its just the remastered DE.

 

TFF needs major fixes, but it’s nothing the best editing can do. That needed to be fixed from the script.

Truthfully the SLV is an anomaly of an edit. It was only assembled so to get more airtime on ABC without any regards to pacing, continuity, or the consent of the filmmakers. It also just happens to have been put on VHS, and a lot of fans of that era grew up with that version. I grew up on the widescreen theatrical cut on VHS, so I’m not as attached to the SLV.

I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that they’ll include it as a bonus feature, but is the demand for the SLV high enough to make Paramount consider? Someone brought up the 2006 Star Wars DVDs including the theatrical cuts, but those were not only on higher demand but the actual theatrical cuts.

 

Yeah, there's nothing in TFF that could be fixed on a DVD/Blu-ray budget.

The Star Wars example isn't particularly relevant either, as Lucasfilm clearly has no interest in releasing the unaltered trilogy, whereas Paramount are perfectly content to have both the theatrical and directors cuts of TMP in circulation.

It's probably true that the SLV won't be included, because they'll see it as an additional cost for no extra return. But I'm sure there are people inside who will be pushing for its inclusion - Daren Dochterman hinted as much on Inglorious Treksperts.

 

I admit to not knowing the costs behind remastering footage to 4K, nor the cost of disc mastering/production. However, we know that they are doing a 4K version of the theatrical release and the Director's Edition. Some of the footage from the Special Longer Version is in the DE. The VHS for the SLV touted 12 minutes of new footage. One than can consider that the only costs that would be incurred at that point would be remastering the less than 12 minutes of footage not previously remastered in the previous versions along with creating a seamless branching version of the SLV stemmed from the theatrical version. (I also think the majority of this footage was mastered in 1K for the DVD's deleted scenes. They could if they wanted simply have this additional footage in 1K along with the 4K stuff or simply upscale it. There are options, in other words.)

 

Yeah, the Star Wars comparison was very rough at best but an example of a studio both giving fans what they've been asking for and yet not doing so. So I could see us getting just the 4K DE and nothing else unless the SLV or 1979 theatrical version is included on a bonus disc.

 

Yeah, that was a bit of a dick move by Lucasfilm - ostensibly giving fans what they wanted in the most derisory way.

It wouldn't be quite the same here as the SLV would just be an extra. To their credit Paramount haven't removed the theatrical cuts from circulation, and TWOK gave us both on the same disc at long last. Hopefully TUC will also have both the theatrical and the home video versions.

 

Well, Lucas considered the OT to be unfinished and even embarrassing in some ways. It doesn't surprise me that he did.

As for Paramount it will come down to cost.

 

Indications are that the 1997 Special Edition changes were cut into the original master film, and that was their excuse for using such an old transfer for the DVD. Of course, nothing technical would be stopping them from remastering from a copy; even a mediocre 35mm print would've been better than the Laserdisc transfer, after a little TLC (as various subsequent fan-efforts like Team Negative 1 have shown).

 

Yes, there's no doubt that a beautiful 4K version of the original theatrical trilogy could be released if they really wanted to. They don't want to.

 

Which is very disappointing. After all, the original 1977 Star Wars won 7 Oscars. But alas...

At least we know Paramount isn't make the same mistake. They've released the theatrical cut and will do so again in 4K.

 

In the meantime we have to be content with just seeing what individuals can do to give us the best possible restoration of the original theatrical cut.

 

4K77... ah how I want to see you.

 

No, they’d scan the SE-conformed negative and the trims, which wouldn’t have been destroyed for no good reason, then recreate the original cut in digital space using original prints and other sources as reference. For all we know they’ve already done all this and it’s just waiting for release approval.

 

I think the problem with the SLV is that the colour and sound would also have to be adjusted. Some of the extra scenes on the DE dvd outtakes sound quite rough compared to the DE soundtrack. I don't imagine upscaling it as it is would be seen as being that worthwhile if it still sounds shocking.

The digital effects guys for DE made sure it was know that higher definition effects would not be a problem. I'm sure they really want to see their work upscaled.