Kirk's Space Walk with Studio Rafters in the Background

[indycar]

I was reading this article that was talking about trivia for The Motion Picture. It says under 'Edited for Syndication", that when the film premiered on ABC, it had additional scenes. It says that there was a scene where Kirk has a space walk and studio rafters can be seen in the background. Does anybody have footage of this?

The only scene that I can think of like this is when Kirk goes after Spock when he attempts to mind-meld with V'Ger, but I thought that it came out fine, or at least I don't remember anything like this (I've only seen it once on Netflix).

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/StarTrekTheMotionPicture

 

[David cgc]

Netflix has the theatrical version of TMP, which doesn't include any of the scenes added in the ABC edit (released on videotape as the "Special Longer Version") or the Director's Edition (released on DVD). The extra scenes of Kirk in his spacesuit are only in the SLV. They were from an early version of the spacewalk sequence which went very differently, and was later reshot and replaced (for instance, Kirk is wearing a different spacesuit in the extra scenes).

There are screen caps of the two extra Kirk-in-spacesuit scenes on this page of TrekCore, but the one you're looking for specifically is here.

 

[Christopher]

It's not the studio rafters that are visible, it's the wooden framework holding up the set piece of the Enterprise hull and the airlock doors. The top portion had to be open to accommodate the wires supporting Shatner, and the intention was to cover it with a matte painting of the missing portions of the hull. But the sequence was dropped before completion, so the matte painting was never done. When ABC cut in extra material to lengthen it for TV, they included it despite its unfinished state.

And I'm embarrassed to admit that I saw that scene multiple times on TV and home video before I ever noticed the visible wooden framework. Partly it's that I didn't have the greatest TVs to watch it on, but partly I was just focused on Kirk and didn't notice the background. But then, I didn't notice that the spacesuit was different, either.

 

[Nebusj]

And I'm embarrassed to admit that I saw that scene multiple times on TV and home video before I ever noticed the visible wooden framework. Partly it's that I didn't have the greatest TVs to watch it on, but partly I was just focused on Kirk and didn't notice the background. But then, I didn't notice that the spacesuit was different, either.

Likewise. I don't know how many times I watched without seeing the background. My focus was all on what Kirk was doing; everything else around the production was just to support that.

I imagine movie- and tv-show makers love viewers like me. I'll never even notice almost any set shortcomings or minor continuity glitches as long as the actors are doing something to pay attention to.

 

[feek61]

I think this is what you are talking about:

 

[T'Girl]

My father saw STTMP the day it open in Seattle, and he says that the scene with the scaffolding was a part of the movie he saw that day.

According to him, he put his face in his hands when he realize what was on the screen, he was "embarrassed for Star Trek."

-

 

[Christopher]

I think this is what you are talking about:

Yes, exactly. Looks like I was only half-right -- both rafters and scaffolding are visible.

My father saw STTMP the day it open in Seattle, and he says that the scene with the scaffolding was a part of the movie he saw that day.

According to him, he put his face in his hands when he realize what was on the screen, he was "embarrassed for Star Trek."

Then his memory is playing tricks on him. That sequence was definitely not in the theatrical release.

Memory is a fallible thing. It's a narrative we construct for ourselves out of fragments, and sometimes we put the wrong pieces together. For instance, I always took it for granted that "This Side of Paradise" included an explanation that the spores were semi-intelligent life forms seeking symbiotic hosts, but I only recently discovered that that was from a deleted portion in the script that was only present in the James Blish adaptation of the story. I'd read the prose adaptation so many times that I believed I'd seen the scene in the actual episode.

 

[Maurice]

My father saw STTMP the day it open in Seattle, and he says that the scene with the scaffolding was a part of the movie he saw that day.

He can say he did, but no he didn't. I saw it on opening weekend, TWICE, and it wasn't there. And there were not different prints of the film distributed to theaters. The scene was scrapped months earlier, and one reason for that was they redesigned the spacesuits.

 

[drt]

Likewise. I don't know how many times I watched without seeing the background. My focus was all on what Kirk was doing; everything else around the production was just to support that.

I imagine movie- and tv-show makers love viewers like me. I'll never even notice almost any set shortcomings or minor continuity glitches as long as the actors are doing something to pay attention to.

Heh, me too. I always felt kind of dumb I missed the scaffolding until the umpteenth viewing on VHS, until finally noticing it with a "Whaaaa??" Perhaps all the more embarrassing was I noted the spacesuit was wrong the first viewing. Maybe because it bugged me that the little lights representing thrusters flared on the front of the suit (with a sound effect), which then propelled Kirk forward instead of backward.

 

[feek61]

I saw TMP MANY times during its original theatrical release and the scene under discussion was most certainly NOT a part of the original release.

 

[urbandefault]

This just in ...

 

[Firebird]

He can say he did, but no he didn't. I saw it on opening weekend, TWICE, and it wasn't there. And there were not different prints of the film distributed to theaters. The scene was scrapped months earlier, and one reason for that was they redesigned the spacesuits.

It's not in the Release Dialogue Continuity Script, either. Memory can be a hell of a thing.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

I think this is what you are talking about:

Wait, is this a frame from the actual MOVIE? I've only ever seen the revised version.

EDIT: lol, didn't read. Guess it's from the extended TV cut? Still embarassing.

 

[David cgc]

And I'm embarrassed to admit that I saw that scene multiple times on TV and home video before I ever noticed the visible wooden framework. Partly it's that I didn't have the greatest TVs to watch it on, but partly I was just focused on Kirk and didn't notice the background. But then, I didn't notice that the spacesuit was different, either.

To be fair, it was in pan-and-scan, so most of the missing area was cropped out. We wouldn't have seen it like this until the DE came out and we watched the deleted scenes.

Actually, was there ever a widescreen release of the SLV, on VHS or Laserdisc or anything?

 

[Maurice]

The SLV was only in 4:3 aspect ratio because it was made for broadcast TV. I think there was a laserdisc, but it too was 4:3.

 

[drt]

The scaffolding was totally noticeable in the 4:3 VHS version, albeit not quite as bad as the screenshot above.

 

[The Toddler]

This always irked me way less than the scene with the horrible saucer proportions when they leave the ship to see V'Ger.
I believe you can see all of the cut scenes on the Director's Edition DVD, right?

 

[Christopher]

This always irked me way less than the scene with the horrible saucer proportions when they leave the ship to see V'Ger.

Yeah, that one always stood out to me. It was a mistake they would've fixed if they hadn't been forced to rush by an inflexible release schedule.

I believe you can see all of the cut scenes on the Director's Edition DVD, right?

Yes -- there are cut-scene sections for both the theatrical cut (i.e. the bits that were trimmed or replaced for the DE) and the ABC "Special Longer Version."