ST:TMP on Blu-Ray - a second look

[Procutus]

I know that over the years we've had a large number of threads devoted to TMP, but watching it on Blu-Ray for a second time compelled me to ask the above question.

Though I've owned (and enjoyed) the Director's Edition DVD for ten years, seeing the original theatrical version again on BD was a great nostalgia trip for me. I really love the image of T'Khut hanging in the Vulcan sky, the red-alert klaxon (that was changed on the DE), and even the omission that Kirk had asked Scotty to rig the Big E to destroy itself and V'GER.

That, and I'm amazed at how good the BD makes this 32 year old movie look. Hell, it looks better than many newer films I've watched on Blu-Ray!



In any event, I apologize if a similar thread has been done in the past. My main intention was to find out which version other fans of TMP liked the best, and the merits of each version.

 

[BillJ]

I like the theatrical version the best, but would love to have a copy of the ABC Special Longer Version on Blu-ray.

 

[Harvey]

I loathe the theatrical edition, which is a mess of a film, but the changes brought by the Director's Edition are a marginal improvement at best. New digital effects and re-editing can't fix the movie's inherent problems of its poor script and weak direction (though it does help...a little).

I know there are plenty of fans of Star Trek: The Motion Picture around here, but I've never been one of them.

I haven't seen the Blu-Ray, though (nor have a I seen the movie theatrically). I acknowledge that might change the experience.

 

[Procutus]

(nor have a I seen the movie theatrically).

By that I assume you mean that you've never seen TMP on the big screen? It does raise the level of enjoyment, IMO.

 

[Harvey]

That's what I meant, yeah. It's certainly a movie built on spectacle, which is always better on the big screen. I missed out on a chance to see it last winter. It just happened at the wrong time. I'm sure it will be shown in LA sometime again soon, though.

 

[JWD75]

I think that the Director's Edition is an improved version of the movie. But I'm a fan of TMP and the theatrical version works well for me as well even with its flaws.

 

[Procutus]

the theatrical version works well for me as well even with its flaws.

That's pretty much the way I feel about it as well. Though it does indeed have its flaws, after waiting for so many years for a Star Trek movie to materialize in the late 70s, I felt it was what Trek should have always looked like. Or if you like, it was the best realization of Roddenberry's vision of Trek.

And I still think that Trumbull's FX are superb, even by 2011 standards.

 

[Navigator_NCC2120]

I voted for the Extended Version, which I own on VHS. I also have the Director's Edition on DVD. I will buy the Blu-Ray Theatrical Version when I buy a Blu-Ray Player/Recorder.

In the Extented Version, in the scene when the Enterprise leaves drydock, the black cloth covering the supporting arm holding the model of the Enterprise is noticeable. It was fixed in the Director's Edition (via cgi). Is it still noticeable in the Blu-Ray version?


Navigator NCC-2120 USS Entente
/\

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

the theatrical version works well for me as well even with its flaws.

That's pretty much the way I feel about it as well. Though it does indeed have its flaws, after waiting for so many years for a Star Trek movie to materialize in the late 70s, I felt it was what Trek should have always looked like. Or if you like, it was the best realization of Roddenberry's vision of Trek.

And I still think that Trumbull's FX are superb, even by 2011 standards.

I was around 12 when this came out. I don't remember "waiting" so much, I read Starlog once in a while but have no recollection of all the other proposed ideas of the time.

I had seen TOS in reruns here & there, so didn't have much to compare TMP to.

Obviously, it's considered a slow paced "visual" film in comparison to what came after it. At the time, it was an amazing thing to behold on the big screen.

I wonder how many people really thought it was so slow at the time it was released, without all the following films & TV shows to compare it to.

 

[Indysolo]

"The Director's Edition". There is no comparison.

Neil

 

[Procutus]

I wonder how many people really thought it was so slow at the time it was released, without all the following films & TV shows to compare it to.

That's a good point. By 1979 standards, when I first saw it, I felt that it felt 'right', in terms of the pace and the type of story it was trying to tell. Yeah, the subsequent movies and TV series raised the bar on action and pace, but TMP is the only one that for me at least, evoked a sense of wonder and awe about the universe and felt like an epic film.

 

[Trek Survivor]

I prefer the original theatrical edition and agree it looks amazing on the recent remaster/clean-up.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I'm a bit confused by Choice #3, "Extended Version/Original VHS and 1983 ABC broadcast". You do realize that the very first VHS/Beta release for home video was the theatrical version? Then they put out the "Special Longer Version" (1983), followed years later by the theatrical version on widescreen (in a boxed set, with an empty "First Contact" sleeve as a placeholder to await its separate release).

 

[Procutus]

^

Now I'm confused, Therin. The first time that I ever recall seeing a VHS copy of TMP (I think in 1982), it was the Extended Version with the extra 12 or so minutes. I'm not disputing that there was a strictly theatrical version; I just didn't even realize that the theatrical made it to videotape. Could it have been a very limited release, perhaps?

 

[Captrek]

I like the changes in the Director's Edition, but I voted for theatrical because the BD looks so amazing. If the Director's Edition ever makes it to BD, I won't mind the double dip.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I just didn't even realize that the theatrical made it to videotape. Could it have been a very limited release, perhaps?

No, Paramount sold quite a few. I still have my Aussie version on Beta, but I know it was widely available in the US: Beta and VHS (October 1980). Most fans probably rented it. It was the theatrical version, but it was very expensive, with sell-thru home video still a niche market. $79 here. Then, when ST II came out on video (1982), the US had a special deal happening where Americans could get ST II for a greatly reduced, new regular price of about $29. It started the new pricing trend. Here in Oz, our ST II was the full $79, but the very next local Paramount release was "Raiders of the Lost Ark", sold through Pizza Hut restaurants - and that one was about $29.

Then, in February 1983, the US TV version of TMP premiered with the extra footage. On video, later that year, it seemingly replaced the theatrical version in the US. At the new, low price, it's no wonder it sold even more copies. I visited the US in December 1983, and celebrated New Year's Eve watching the "Special Longer Version" at my penpal's house. Her Dad went out to rent it for us, but "it was so cheap I bought it outright," he said.

Another year or so later, the "Special Longer Version" made it to Australia on commercial VHS.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I like the changes in the Director's Edition, but I voted for theatrical because the BD looks so amazing. If the Director's Edition ever makes it to BD, I won't mind the double dip.

Why couldn't they just put both versions on the BD, like the Star Wars DVD's did? Assuming they're anywhere near as different as the SW ones are.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I like the changes in the Director's Edition, but I voted for theatrical because the BD looks so amazing. If the Director's Edition ever makes it to BD, I won't mind the double dip.

Why couldn't they just put both versions on the BD, like the Star Wars DVD's did? Assuming they're anywhere near as different as the SW ones are.

They would have to re-render the DE's new effects, which were originally created in non-HD resolutions. But assuming they do that, they could probably do a seamless branching thingy, just like CET3K did for its Blu-Ray release (which had THREE versions of the same film on one BR).

 

[BillJ]

I like the changes in the Director's Edition, but I voted for theatrical because the BD looks so amazing. If the Director's Edition ever makes it to BD, I won't mind the double dip.

Why couldn't they just put both versions on the BD, like the Star Wars DVD's did? Assuming they're anywhere near as different as the SW ones are.

They would have to re-render the DE's new effects, which were originally created in non-HD resolutions. But assuming they do that, they could probably do a seamless branching thingy, just like CET3K did for its Blu-Ray release (which had THREE versions of the same film on one BR).

They could simply put it on there with the 480i effects. The effects wouldn't look so great but the rest of the cut would look just a good as the theatrical release.

 

[David cgc]

I like the changes in the Director's Edition, but I voted for theatrical because the BD looks so amazing. If the Director's Edition ever makes it to BD, I won't mind the double dip.

Why couldn't they just put both versions on the BD, like the Star Wars DVD's did? Assuming they're anywhere near as different as the SW ones are.

They would have to re-render the DE's new effects, which were originally created in non-HD resolutions. But assuming they do that, they could probably do a seamless branching thingy, just like CET3K did for its Blu-Ray release (which had THREE versions of the same film on one BR).

I don't think so, actually. The reedit was a lot more comprehensive than it appears at first glance, with trims of even a few frames in many scenes, not to mention the new audio mix. You could certainly do the theatrical and extended versions with seamless branching, but even with the more sophisticated technology in blu-rays, I don't think it'd be practical to do with the DE. It'd be like trying to do it with the Final Cut of Blade Runner.