New and Improved Star Trek Movie FAQ - v 2.2.4

***STAR TREK MOVIE FAQ***​

Originally compiled by Lord Garth
Revised by cardinal biggles

Version 1.0 — June 4, 2006
Version 1.1 — May 20, 2007
Version 1.2 — January 4, 2009
Version 1.2.5 — July 29, 2009
Version 2.0 — January 19, 2017
Version 2.1 — August 14, 2019
Version 2.1.1 — December 8, 2019
Version 2.1.2 — February 5, 2021
Version 2.1.3 — April 16, 2021
Version 2.2 — July 12, 2021
Version 2.2.1 — March 21, 2022
Version 2.2.2 — July 25, 2022
Version 2.2.3 — july 31, 2022
Version 2.2.4 — December 5, 2022
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Lord Garth offered special thanks to cardinal biggles for his encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek movies, Zeppster for the encouragement to type this, and Sir Rhosis who planted that insane idea into his head in the first place.

cardinal biggles offers special thanks to Lord Garth for doing the main grunt work on this FAQ all those years ago; I would never have had the patience to see it through.
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The purpose of this FAQ is to provide information about questions asked frequently. It's not intended to be comprehensive and assumes you're already familiar with the movies. Categories are divided by subject.

Discussion of the "Kelvinverse"/"Abramsverse" Star Trek films belongs in the Kelvin Universe Forum. This forum remains for discussion of the six TOS movies and four TNG movies.

Table of Contents

Part I. Khan
Part II. Saavik
Part III. Timeline
Part IV. Uniforms/Ranks
Part V. People
Part VI. Miscellaneous
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Part I. Khan (Ricardo Montalban)

1. Is that really Ricardo Montalban's chest?

Yes, believe it or not, it is. He was in pretty good shape.
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2. Khan had a baby?

There is a picture of a small child in the transporter room of the Reliant when Khan detonates the Genesis Device which has circulated around the Internet. The child was part of the film's shooting script, appearing twice: first, on Ceti Alpha V when Chekov and Terrell explore Khan's shelter (scene 18), and later in the Reliant's transporter room during the Genesis countdown (scene 213A). The scenes were filmed but cut (resulting in some jump cuts and looped dialogue between Chekov and Terrell), and the script was not clear who the child's parents were.
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3. How does Khan know about Klingon proverbs?

"Revenge is a dish that is best served cold" is actually a French proverb but, if the Klingons had a similar proverb, by coincidence, then it's possible that Khan got the information while he was reading the Enterprise's computer library in "Space Seed".
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4. How does Khan know Chekov in The Wrath of Khan?

Quite right. "Space Seed" was a first season episode and Chekov wasn't introduced until the second. Two common rationalizations are that Chekov was in the lowerdecks at the time or that he just wasn't seen. Any other rationalizations can be used as well. Although not canon, Greg Cox's 2005 novel To Reign in Hell: The Exile of Khan Noonien Singh has a brief scene at the beginning of the book with Chekov assigned by Kirk to give supplies and a phaser to Khan and his followers before the Enterprise warps away.
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Part II. Saavik (Kirstie Alley, Robin Curtis)

1. Saavik is half-Romulan?!

That depends. It's written in the script for TWOK that she's half-Romulan but it's never mentioned on-screen. TSFS and TVH treat Saavik as a full-Vulcan. If you want to use the scripts to fill in gaps, then she's half-Romulan. If you only want to stick to canon (i.e. what's said onscreen), she's not.
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2. Why the change in actresses from TWOK to TSFS?

Blame Kirstie Alley's agent.
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3. Valeris was originally supposed to be Saavik in TUC?

Nick Meyer originally wanted to use Saavik in TUC and he wanted to use Kirstie Alley. There were two problems with that: Kirstie Alley had become too expensive (thanks to her co-starring role on Cheers), and Gene Roddenberry objected, feeling that Saavik was a beloved character and there would be fan backlash over her involvement with the conspiracy. So, to avoid having to cast Saavik a third time and to appease Roddenberry, he created the new character Valeris and cast Kim Cattrall (his first choice to play Saavik all the way back in 1981).
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4. Did young regenerating Spock and Saavik get it on?

"It is called pon farr."
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5. Saavik was pregnant with Spock's child?

That's what's in the commentary for TVH says and is what's implied in cut scenes from the script. Like the half-Romulan story, if you go by the script, then yes, if you go by canon, then no.
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Part III. Timeline

1. Wait a minute. Are you telling me a decade passed between TMP and TWOK?

Before I answer, TOS and TOS movie chronologies are among the most hotly debated subjects. Continuing on. TMP is said to take place only two-and-a-half years after the five-year mission. TWOK is stated to take place 15 years after "Space Seed". So imagine the 10-year break Star Trek had in real life as happening between TMP and TWOK instead of between TOS and TMP.
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2. What are the official dates of the TOS movies?

According to the Star Trek Chronology, written in 1993 by Michael & Denise Okuda, the conjectural dates are:

• TMP: 2271
• TWOK: 2285
• TSFS: 2285
• TVH: 2286
• TFF: 2287
• TUC: 2293

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3. So what's the dispute?

• TMP taking place 2.5 years after the five-year mission is iron-clad, but the dispute was over whether or not TOS showed the first three years of the five-year mission, the middle three, the last three, or all five in three seasons. There was even debate over what calendar years TOS takes place. VOY's "Q2" states the five-year mission ended in 2270. So, the earliest TMP can take place, canonically, is 2272 or 2273.
• TWOK, TSFS, TVH, and TFF all take place one right after another, with the longest established gap being between TSFS and TVH (the latter includes Kirk's log entry "We are in the third month of our Vulcan exile"). There are arguments that TWOK takes place in the early-2280's, 2283 at the earliest (based on the vintage of Kirk's Romulan Ale), as well as arguments that TVH takes place in the mid-2280s, specifically 2286. What affects one movie affects all four. Other dates have been suggested as well, but they're all within the 2280s.
• In TUC, McCoy states he's served aboard the Enterprise for 27 years. It's assumed he's including time off. If the five-year mission started in 2265, then a case can made for 2292. 2291 if McCoy's rounding up and 2293 if McCoy's rounding down.

4. When do the TNG movies take place?

This one's much easier:

• GEN - 2293* and 2371
• FC - 2373
• INS - 2375
• NEM - 2379

* If you think of TUC as taking place in 2293 then one common thought that goes along with it is that TUC and the 23rd Century portion of GEN take place on opposite ends of the year.
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Part IV. Uniforms/Ranks

1. Is Scotty a Captain or Commander?

Scotty is promoted to "Captain of Engineering" in TSFS and wears a Captain's pin on his bomber jacket for most of the movie. He wears a Commander's pin again in TVH. From TFF on, he's back to Captain. Maybe Scotty thought he lost his promotion after stealing the Enterprise and was relieved to find out otherwise when the charges were dropped.
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2. Is Colonel West a marine?

According to Memory Alpha: "West was named after Lt. Colonel Oliver North, who participated in the Iran–Contra Affair. In fact, West was styled after North and was essentially a thinly veiled political jab made by [writer-director] Nick Meyer."

As to whether West was a Starfleet Marine, it remains uncertain. There's also the issue of West's uniform: West wears the rank insignia of a Vice Admiral, which would be equivalent to a Lt. General if there were Starfleet Marines and their ranks had the same parallels with Starfleet as the modern-day U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. If West were a Lt. Colonel or Colonel, he should be wearing the insignia of a Commander or Captain.
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3. Who was wearing a DS9 uniform on the set of GEN?

Riker, Data, Geordi, and then Picard switch over to DS9 uniforms. Since the uniform changes always went from TNG-style to DS9 and not the other way around (though Picard is wearing his TNG uniform in the final scene on the wrecked Enterprise bridge), it's speculated that GEN caught the Enterprise-D crew in the middle of a uniform switchover.

Only Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner had DS9 uniforms custom tailored for them; Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton borrowed costumes worn by Avery Brooks and Colm Meaney, which explains why theirs don't fit so well (especially the sleeves).
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4. Why was Worf back in a Starfleet uniform? Didn't John Logan bother to watch DS9?

In a cut line from NEM, Worf said he wasn't suited to life as an ambassador.
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Part V. People
For the actors who played Khan and Saavik, see their respective categories

1. List of major actors/production figures from the films who have passed away:

• Phillip Richard Allen (Captain Esteban, TSFS)
  
• Kirstie Alley (Saavik, TWOK)
  
• Dame Judith Anderson (T'Lar, TSFS)
• René Auberjonois (Colonel West, extended version of TUC)
  
• Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel in TMP & TVH; computer voice in GEN-NEM & ST '09)
• Harve Bennett (producer, TWOK-TFF; story, TWOK & TFF; writer/co-writer, TSFS & TVH; "Admiral Bob" in TFF)
• Bibi Besch (Carol Marcus)
• Merritt Buttrick (David Marcus)
• James Doohan (Scotty)
• Miguel Ferrer (Excelsior first officer/helmsman, TSFS)
• Robert Fletcher (costume designer, TMP-TVH)
  
• Denny Martin Flinn (co-writer, TUC)
• Jerry Goldsmith (composer, TMP, TFF, FC-NEM)
• James Horner (composer, TWOK & TSFS)
• Marty Hornstein (co-/executive producer & unit production manager, TUC, FC-NEM)
  
• Gregory Jein (model maker, TMP, TFF, INS; prop maker, TFF & TUC)
  
• DeForest Kelley (McCoy)
• Persis Khambatta (Ilia)
• Richard H. Kline (cinematographer, TMP)
  
• Mark Lenard (Sarek; Klingon commander in TMP)
• Harold Livingston (screenwriter, TMP)
  
• Barbara March (Lursa)
  
• Hal Michelson (production designer, TMP)
• Mike Minor (production illustrator, TMP; art director, TWOK)
• Ricardo Montalban (Khan)
• Nichelle Nichols (Uhura)
  
• Leonard Nimoy (Spock; director, TSFS & TVH; story, TVH & TUC; executive producer, TUC)
• Bob Peak (poster art, TMP-TFF)
• Brock Peters (Admiral Cartwright)
• Michael Piller (writer, INS)
• Christopher Plummer (General Chang)
  
• Gene Roddenberry (producer, TMP; executive consultant, TWOK-TUC)
• Leonard Rosenman (composer, TVH)
• Jack B. Sowards (writer, TWOK)
• David Warner (St. John Talbot, TFF; Chancellor Gorkon, TUC)
  
• Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand)
• Paul Winfield (Captain Terrell)
• Robert Wise (director, TMP)
• Jane Wyatt (Amanda Grayson, TVH)

2. Why was Judson Scott (a.k.a. "Joachim") uncredited in TWOK?

Blame it on his agent.
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Part VI. Miscellaneous

1. How did the Borg Queen survive Wolf 359?

Presumably every cube has a Borg Queen and, if the Borg have a hive mind, then the information from one Borg Queen would be known by another.
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2. Why is the Klingon blood purple in TUC?

So Colonel Worf could tell that Colonel West's blood wasn't Klingon. True story.
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3. What's with the Klingon under the toppling tree shot in TSFS?

It's called a blooper.
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4. Will the TMP Director's Edition ever be released in high-definition?

The Director's Edition of TMP, originally released on DVD and VHS in 2001, has been remastered in 4K with newly-rendered visual effects to replace the new VFX created in 2001. The film will make its debut on April 5, 2022 on Paramount+, with various 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases to come in September 2022.​

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DISCLAIMER: Permission to reproduce this document anywhere on the Internet is granted so long as the authors are credited.

Suggestions for future updates, though not promised, should be posted in this thread.

 

Thank you, Biggles! Stickying this thread now!

 

Thanks, I think we'll stick with what's there.

 

Thank you for finding that. I've updated the answer accordingly.

 

Updated to add the news about a possible 4K UHD remaster of the TMP Director's Edition (announced in July at SDCC), and, sadly, to add actor Barbara March to the list of cast & crew who have passed on.

 

Updated to include the news about the 4K restoration of the TMP DE finally becoming an official thing!

 

I would hold off for now, because what you get in those boxed sets you linked to is pretty crappy; only the stand-alone TWOK Director's Cut Blu-ray has had a decent remaster.

New 4K remasters are in the pipeline for all of the TOS and TNG movies, with a boxed set of TMP (theatrical), TWOK (theatrical and director's cut), TSFS, and TVH due to drop on September 7. It will include both 4K UHD and Blu-ray copies of each film. No word yet on when the other six movies will be available in this format. And then there's the long-awaited remaster of the TMP Director's Edition, which should be out sometime in 2022.

 

Even if you aren't set up for 4K, the set will also include Blu-rays of each film, as well as digital codes so you can stream them. And while the market for physical media continues to contract, you should never underestimate Paramount's desire to plunder our wallets yet again.

They've repackaged the films numerous times since releasing them on Blu-ray. The ones you linked to above are both official releases; there's also another one of the first ten films in a single thin box set that I've seen at Walmart recently.

 

They were done as straightforward 2K (1080p) remasters of the original master prints except for Wrath of Khan, whose master print had deteriorated and required restoration. The 2009 TWOK HD restoration took on an inexplicably blue tint, but that was corrected when they remastered the TWOK director's cut in 4K back in 2016 (a stand-alone release; the version included with all currently available with all boxed sets is the 2009 restoration of the theatrical version). So they're not upscales, but neither did Paramount do anything special to prepare those remasters.

I'm in a Facebook group devoted to TMP, and the folks there are really excited about the new 4K remaster, even for just the theatrical version due out next month, and general consensus seems to be that the 2009 remaster of that film sucked out loud. But if you're fine with "good enough," knock yourself out.

Yeah, no way that set is legit. First off, Disney hasn't released any sort of big MCU boxed set for Region A, and the Region B boxed sets they've released have each film on its own disc.

See my answer above; I believe that was only TWOK that ended up with a blue tint. I haven't heard that complaint about the other nine.