TMP: Director's Edition

[DeafPoet]

So I just picked up the Director's Edition of TMP for dirt cheap at the mall since I hadn't seen it before. Never really had a pressing desire because while I'm no TMP hater, I'm definitely apathetic about it. So imagine my surprise when I popped this thing in and discovered...

It's crazy better than the theatrical cut!

I had heard that people preferred it slightly over the original version but for my money, this is the definitive version. The new effects are cool (and fit surprisingly well with the original footage) but the real magic was done in the editing booth. I haven't bothered to check the run times or specific cuts or anything but it feels like they cut 20 minutes of people reacting to the viewscreen and for the first time the movie actually feels like it's going places with almost every scene. Makes me wonder what could have been done with some of the other movies.

What did everyone else think of this release? Am I off base? Did I just commit blasphemy of the highest order?

 

[Amaris]

I just bought it from Peerflix.com the other day and got it this morning. I was watching it this evening and I love it. I didn't even know it was the Director's Cut! I figured it out when everything was just looking too darn good. Yes, this TMP Director's Edition feels to me like they finally put out the movie they intended in 1979. I love it, and highly recommend it. What's great is once they resolve the issues with the SFX and sound, the movie picks up dramatically and is wonderful.

I love the Enterprise beauty shots, and while I was watching this movie, I came to the understanding of why this was real Star Trek. It just moved on so many levels, and I enjoyed all of them. So yes, this movie is terrific and light years ahead of the original theatrical release.


J.

 

[Aldo]

No thanks, I wouldnt want to lose any piece of footage from the film, (I feel) it's perfect just the way it is.

 

[Kirks_Flying_Wig]

I like the trimming of some of the reaction shots but hate the "better" CGI effects, particularly the shot that shows V'Ger in its entirety, completely spoiling the sense of scale previously established as the Enterprise flies over it.

 

[Amaris]

The Great Pumpkin said:
No thanks, I wouldnt want to lose any piece of footage from the film, (I feel) it's perfect just the way it is.

Yes, I should qualify that this is only how I feel about it. I like both versions, but for me, the Director's Edition fleshed it out a little better, in my opinion. Still, a great movie overall! I particularly love the opening theme. You just feel like you're about to watch an epic. I felt the same way when I watched The Ten Commandments for the first time.


J.

 

[Cyrus]

I like both the theatrical & the DE versions, with a slight preference for DE.

 

[Jon1701]

Whilst a better visual cut, I prefer the sound fx in the original...

"ATTENTION. NEGATIVE CONTROL AT HELM. ATTENTION..."

 

[Christopher]

The DE is definitely better. The version that showed on theater screens in 1979 was never meant to be the final version. It was an unfinished cut, one that would never, ever have been released if a rigid contract hadn't forced the filmmakers to release it to theaters on an absolutely fixed date. It was a rough, temporary edit that was meant to be tweaked and trimmed once all the effects footage was done. It had incomplete effects, with some shots missing and other shots replaced by filler (such as the lengthy close-up of the UFP seal on the floor to replace what was supposed to be a shot of a shuttlecraft in flight). It had a crude, temporary audio track that was always meant to be replaced with a better one. By all creative standards, the film should never have been released the way it was. It wasn't finished yet.

That's why the DE was made -- because TMP was the only film Robert Wise ever made that didn't get to theaters in the form he wanted, and he was finally given the chance to complete the post-production and editing work that was interrupted the first time. The makers treated it more as a work of film restoration than "updating" or whatever. What they did was to try to complete the film in a way that was as close as possible to how it would've been completed back in 1979 if Wise had had the time to get it right. Pretty much all the new FX shots were shots that were storyboarded and planned back in '79 but couldn't be finished in time, and were made to look as much as possible like they were made using 1979 techniques. The sound-effects track was mostly assembled from elements that were recorded in '79 and intended to be mixed together into the final audio track of the film. The editing was done based on Wise's and Roddenberry's notes from '79.

As such, I consider the DE to be the only proper version of the film. The theatrical version is an unfinished form, and the ABC-TV version is that unfinished film with extra clutter laid in with little regard for whether it makes sense. The DE is as close as we can get to the film that should have been released in 1979.

 

[RyanKCR]

jon1701 said:
Whilst a better visual cut, I prefer the sound fx in the original...

"ATTENTION. NEGATIVE CONTROL AT HELM. ATTENTION..."

The sound is what made the original the best. I actually would love to see the SLE widescreen and the one scene matted to hide the soundstage.

I rally miss "Intruder unidentified...luminescet cloud appears to be a powerfield of some kind. Klingon Cruiser Amar continuing to attact", "Engineering to all decks: auxillary power test in three minutes................Engineering to all decks: auxillary power test in three minutes, mark.", Kirk's "Oh, my God!", Decker's reference to creating God in our own image (the whole point of the entire movie, and the original klaxon alram and does every freakin' button have to have a chirp. And when they did add sound effects why, oh why did they pull them from the drawer that says campy B-rate sci-fi sound effects?

Because of these changes (especilly the sound effects) the serious tone of the film was destroyed. I do like the visuals tho. They worked.

 

[Unionized Elf]

At the very least, they should have left the red alert klaxons from the original. That's probably my favourite red alert klaxon.

 

[Deleted 2]

Christopher said:
That's why the DE was made -- because TMP was the only film Robert Wise ever made that didn't get to theaters in the form he wanted, and he was finally given the chance to complete the post-production and editing work that was interrupted the first time.

Actually, his own commentary on the DE bears out that he had to be convinced to do it, and that he only made an exception for TMP because of its production difficulties--not because it was "the only film he was dissatisfied with".

Subtle difference.

 

[Doug Otte]

I generally like the DE much better, especially the improved pacing. There are two small bits they snipped out of the original that I miss:

1) When the crew is standing stunned after watching the destruction of the observatory, Kirk had to say "Viewer off!" a second time because Uhura was too stunned to move. It made the crew's reaction more real and palpable.
2) When McCoy is grilling Kirk in the observation lounge. Kirk wants to leave, but McCoy says something like "...and one more thing..." Kirk turns, around, sucks his teeth, and looks totally prissy. It showed a different side of Kirk's personality that gave him more depth than the usual, heroic stoic.

Doug

 

[Kegek]

The only thing I dislike about the DE is that damned nacelle in the lounge. The idea of using the nacelle looked a lot cooler in early sketches (back when the plan was for that room to be quite a bit bigger), but with the existing truncated room it just looked awkward.

Otherwise, and IMHO, the DE is generally the better version.

 

[santa biggles]

^Are you referring to the original plan, to put them in Probert's VIP Lounge on Deck 3? That would have been an awesome visual, and it's a shame they were never able to realize that set apart from a miniature when the shuttle docks.

 

[Kegek]

^
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. As I understand it, the addition of the nacelle was intended to make it look more like that visual... and in retrospect, it's an aspect that should have been left well enough alone.

 

[Jon1701]

Yeah, that's one of the few effects that dont work. It just looks fake, and frankly it distracts from the scene.

Which is not what special effects are supposed to do.

 

[Computer]

Well after reading this post this morning I went out and bought the DE of TMP along with 5 other Trek movie CE's

I enjoyed some of the visuals and thought they did a good job blending them into the film but a few things I noticed:

V-Ger in orbit of Earth does not convey the absolute enormous size of the machine especially at the end when Enterprise appears as if it were the same size. Considering how small 1701 was inside it and how long it took to get to the center one would think V-Ger would be atleast half the size of our moon (atleast)

Also there are several bridge scenes when Spock first comes aboard that have a blured out space behind Kirk The blur is not intended to focus the attention to Kirk but looks as though its trying to hide something, anyone know what im talking about?

Those things aside I felt the pacing was much better and the beauty shot of San Francisco at the beginning was really amazing. I kinda wish they had done the Klingon ships in CGI because they just didn't screamed little model on a string.

 

[Indysolo]

Computer said:
Also there are several bridge scenes when Spock first comes aboard that have a blured out space behind Kirk The blur is not intended to focus the attention to Kirk but looks as though its trying to hide something, anyone know what im talking about?

It sounds like you are describing the split diopter shots. That's a photographic technique used to keep two objects, one close to the camera and the other distant both in focus. It's how the movie was shot and is not an artifact of the DVD.

There's also a new commentary out for TMP that you can get at Star Trek.com. It features David C. Fein, Michael Matessino and Daren R. Doctherman, who worked with Robert Wise on completing The Director's Edition.

Neil

 

[Unicron]

Kegek`s Corpse said:
The only thing I dislike about the DE is that damned nacelle in the lounge. The idea of using the nacelle looked a lot cooler in early sketches (back when the plan was for that room to be quite a bit bigger), but with the existing truncated room it just looked awkward.

Otherwise, and IMHO, the DE is generally the better version.

I agree.

 

[ancient]

The Director's Edition (ie, the finished film) is certainly much better than the rough-cut version they were unfortunatly forced into releasing originally.