TMP- director's cut or HD?

[martok2112]

I have to say, I preferred the original sound fx for V'ger's plasma weapon as opposed to the shrieking monkey sound in the DE.

I absolutely loved the big reveal of V'ger as it approached Earth orbit. Beautiful. Would love to have seen that on the big screen.

And the CG renders of the Enterprise....loved 'em.

 

[BeatleJWOL]

Why do the VFX HAVE To be remastered in HD for an HD release? Why can't HD releases of this type have the original "actor footage" in HD and just upscale the existing SD images for the VFX? Or even just keep the VFX shots in SD? It's better than nothing....

No, no it is not.

 

[Lance]

It's very easy to say ''Naw it's cool, just have the live-action footage in HD and the SFX shots in standard def''. But in reality, in practical terms it's much harder than that. Anyone whose seen the occasional dips back to standard definition in the TNG Blu-Rays will realise that the drop in quality, even for a few seconds of ship shots, is going to be noticable. And also bear in mind that *some* of TMP-DE's shots, like the replacement matte paintings for the Starfleet Headquarters sequence, combine live-action footage with new effects, which means all of those shots are going to be downgraded to SD as well. There are a *lot* of shots in the movie where that's going to happen..... and every single time it's going to be hella noticable.

Remaking the DE effects in higher resolution is really the only option. But that will cost more money than Paramount is willing to spend, I'd wager..... still, it's not impossible..... just very, very unlikely.

A more realistic proposition IMHO is that they'll put them together as a simple Blu-Ray/DVD double pack, with the theatrical cut on the Blu-Ray and the DE on the DVD. A prescedent has been set for that kind of thing. For example, there are versions of Dune and Army of Darkness on Blu-Ray that package the theatrical cuts on Blu-Ray together with their respective Director's Cuts on a bundled DVD disc. So yeah, as far as reissuing TMP-DE is concerned, *that* might happen. But it won't be HD.

 

[DonIago]

Rather pointless for those of us who already have the DE on DVD.

 

[Lance]

^ Indeed. And if I wanted to be really cynical about it, I'd further suggest that it would be bundled with the same old 2009 Blu-Ray master of the theatrical cut. A cheap n' easy re-release to rake in the dollars.

I'm not saying that's what's ever going to happen. But it would still more likely than the DE ever being remastered in HD.

 

[BillJ]

^ Indeed. And if I wanted to be really cynical about it, I'd further suggest that it would be bundled with the same old 2009 Blu-Ray master of the theatrical cut. A cheap n' easy re-release to rake in the dollars.

I'm not saying that's what's ever going to happen. But it would still more likely than the DE ever being remastered in HD.

I think TNG-R will be the last time we see new masters of the older material. There seems to be diminishing returns at work here, which makes since when they've sold the material to a shrinking fanbase a dozen times over.

 

[Lance]

Absolutely. The new movies might be liked enough, but I think it becomes an up-hill struggle to interest newer audiences in older material. And they need to tap that new market. The rest of us have bought these movies a dozen times over already, so ours is a dwindling market.

My feeling is that TNG-R's lacklustre sales on Blu-Ray (or at least, its failing to meet the projected sales expectations on which they based the budgets for each season) has also sent alarm bells ringing. I doubt they'd be willing to sink big money into a project the size of remastering the TMP-DE if they thought it's not going to break even, let alone make a profit.

 

[Timby]

I think TNG-R will be the last time we see new masters of the older material. There seems to be diminishing returns at work here, which makes since when they've sold the material to a shrinking fanbase a dozen times over.

Yep. While the first season sold well, subsequent seasons sold increasingly poorly and CBS most likely lost money on the project. Any potential remastering of DS9 or Voyager is effectively dead in the water.

 

[Kor]

A more realistic proposition IMHO is that they'll put them together as a simple Blu-Ray/DVD double pack, with the theatrical cut on the Blu-Ray and the DE on the DVD. A prescedent has been set for that kind of thing. For example, there are versions of Dune and Army of Darkness on Blu-Ray that package the theatrical cuts on Blu-Ray together with their respective Director's Cuts on a bundled DVD disc. So yeah, as far as reissuing TMP-DE is concerned, *that* might happen. But it won't be HD.

I did this myself to save shelf space... put the TMP blu ray and the DE DVDs into a thin multidisc blu ray case and made a custom cover that says on the back "Special bonus: includes Director's Edition DVD."

Kor

 

[Kronos]

The Special Longer Version, of course.

It's the one I grew up with, even though I like the theatrical and directors edition I always feel like they are missing something

 

[Lance]

The Special Longer Version, of course.

It's the one I grew up with, even though I like the theatrical and directors edition I always feel like they are missing something

The same here.

 

[drt]

^ Indeed. And if I wanted to be really cynical about it, I'd further suggest that it would be bundled with the same old 2009 Blu-Ray master of the theatrical cut. A cheap n' easy re-release to rake in the dollars.

I'm not saying that's what's ever going to happen. But it would still more likely than the DE ever being remastered in HD.

I think TNG-R will be the last time we see new masters of the older material. There seems to be diminishing returns at work here, which makes since when they've sold the material to a shrinking fanbase a dozen times over.

Plus, even though it is my favorite original cast movie, TMP is still one of the "odd numbered ones" and as such, probably makes Paramount even more wary of spending any money.

 

[gottacook]

I actually saw the "special longer version" in its first broadcast, on commercial U.S. TV in early 1983, with someone who'd never seen it in the theater (whereas I had, twice, in late '79). With all the commercial interruptions, it was difficult for my friend to say anything but "Huh?" in reaction to what she was seeing.

I don't think I ever saw TMP again, except for the odd segment on TV, until obtaining the DE on DVD (cheaply, but new) about 5 years ago. However, my 8-track tape cartridge of the soundtrack LP received much play throughout the 1980s and early '90s. (Also I've long owned the paperback fotonovel; nice color reproduction.)

I presume the impetus for creating the SLV came from the network that broadcast it. This sort of thing had been done in the '70s with such theatrical movies as Earthquake (which added more than 25 minutes), and of course it happened on a much smaller scale with TWoK on ABC a few years later. But does anyone here know a source for the details of putting together the SLV, such as who took the actual editing decisions?

I just inherited my first LED TV with HDMI connectors and will buy my first Blu-Ray player soon to go with it - and I'm not going to be disappointed no matter what the DE DVD looks like when played that way.

EDIT: It's high time, isn't it, for my next promotion? Jeez. I know Commander's nothing to sneeze at, but what does a guy have to do to reach Fleet Captain around here?

 

[BillJ]

EDIT: It's high time, isn't it, for my next promotion? Jeez. I know Commander's nothing to sneeze at, but what does a guy have to do to reach Fleet Captain around here?

Goes by post count. Gotta start posting more.

 

[Mudd]

I've come to like the original theatrical release best.

 

[Lance]

I presume the impetus for creating the SLV came from the network that broadcast it. This sort of thing had been done in the '70s with such theatrical movies as Earthquake (which added more than 25 minutes), and of course it happened on a much smaller scale with TWoK on ABC a few years later. But does anyone here know a source for the details of putting together the SLV, such as who took the actual editing decisions?

My feeling from what I've read over the years is that TV stations used to like to do their own edits of movies for reasons of censorship (sometimes going so far as the studios having the original actors dub alternate versions of scenes specifically to remove cuss words), as well as because with commercials they wanted to re-edit things around a bit. The Wrath of Khan infamously got a 'TV Cut' with an alternate versions of the turbolift sequence, using different takes to that seen in theaters, as well as many of the other additional scenes that came to be in the Director's Cut of that movie.

I myself remember watching TV versions of the likes of Robocop and Predator over and over when I was a kid, and have those versions commited to memory, to the point where the unaltered theatrical cuts on DVD and Blu-Ray feel wrong to me, somehow.

I don't know the answer to your question, but I'd love to hear why they did this. It's always interested me, and as you say the SLV is basically the 'TV cut' of TMP (fans having demanded that this version be put out on videotape).

Another question: does the DE of TMP ever get put into circulation for broadcast these days, or do satellite TV stations (assuming they show the Star Trek movies at all) favor other versions for repeats?

 

[BillJ]

Another question: does the DE of TMP ever get put into circulation for broadcast these days, or do satellite TV stations (assuming they show the Star Trek movies at all) favor other versions for repeats?

EPIX shows the theatrical version regularly here in the US.