What Are the Differences Between TMP's SLV and DE?

[Grant]

A question to anybody who owns TMP on Blu-ray......

Reviews say it includes 11 deleted scenes. But as I recall from watching a friends copy in 2009---the 11 deleted scenes include nothing that was included in the DC.

In other words they included scenes from the SLV that DID NOT make it into the DC.

So for example, they would have included among the deleted scenes, Sulu and Ilia meeting and his awkward reaction to her...

But not included Spock crying for Vger.

Is that right?

If so, was that some weird way of delegitimizing the SLV while still holding out the hope for the DC?

It would be odd to do it for any other reason.

Clearly they left out the Spock crying and destruct sequence because they figured those would be included at a later date on the DC, but INCLUDED the other scenes since they figured they would NOT be part of any future release.

 

[Pauln6]

Whenever I watch a sci-fi film I tend to compare it back to TMP SLV. The SLV is the closest to the ultimate sci-fi film for me. I would the SLV on DVD or Blue-ray with two changes. The FX shots of the Enterprise when Kirk is going after Spock and you see the soundstage and the FX shots of the Enterprise when they are walking on the hull.

It was a real shame the SLV wasn't included on the TMP Blu-ray as it had no FX problems such as those that prevented the DC from being transferred. Simple seamless branching would have been all that was needed. Heck they probably could have, for minimal bucks, fixed the soundstage shots that last for only a few seconds.

then they would have made two groups of fans happy--those that prefer the theatrical and those that prefer the SLV.

Now even if they release the DC on Blu-ray someday--I'm afraid the SLV will get lost in the mix!

Yeah my ideal would be the Director's cut for general pacing but with the additional character scenes from the SLV intact.

 

[Maurice]

The SLV still has Kirk swapping spacesuits... in space.

 

[BillJ]

The SLV still has Kirk swapping spacesuits... in space.

One got dirty. Cut the guy some slack!!!

 

[TheSubCommander]

I want the SLV on Blu-ray!

I see no reason why a blu ray pack couldn't have ALL versions a la Blade Runner.

 

[mos6507]

Decker's line about how we all create god in our own image is missing from the DE. To me that is a key line to the film.

There's plenty of other dialogue, especially from Spock, that connects the dots enough for people without Decker having to be so on-the-nose.

I did NOT like the new sound mix. Too many beeps and chirps and changes to existing sounds. Gives the movie a campy feel.

In the DE, they reverted the bridge sounds back to TOS which sounds a little too anachronistic. The Trek II bridge sounds would have been a better choice for the remix. The TMP original mix was a mostly silent bridge aside from the red-alert warnings which was uncharacteristic for Trek.

 

[BillJ]

I want the SLV on Blu-ray!

I see no reason why a blu ray pack couldn't have ALL versions a la Blade Runner.

I'm not opposed to it. But if they did a stand alone release, I'd make room on my Blu-ray shelf for it.

 

[mos6507]

As for accusations that Wise was a money-player with no genuine passion for the material, I don't think that's true. For one thing, Wise was instrumental in rejecting Goldsmith's initial score. It takes balls to send Goldsmith back to the woodshed, but his judgment was spot-on. That doesn't sound like someone who just cashed his check and mailed it in. In Wise's commentary on Day the Earth Stood Still he mentions that he genuinely believed in the likelihood of extra-terrestrial life, and it was a topic of life-long interest to him. Now, whether Wise truly "got" Star Trek in particular is another story. I'd say he got more of it than, let's say, Stuart Baird or JJ. He just didn't appreciate the importance of the camaraderie or the hornblower broadsides vibe enough.

My sense is that when Wise recut TMP, besides just wanting to quicken pacing for its own sake, he had fully absorbed the criticism that Kirk came across as too much of a hard-ass, and some of the excisions seemed to tone down his bitching and moaning. So while having those extra lines would have added character moments, they would have often been unpleasant ones, as it portrays a beloved iconic character experiencing a prolonged bad-hair-day (pun intended).

 

[RyanKCR]

Decker's line about how we all create god in our own image is missing from the DE. To me that is a key line to the film.

There's plenty of other dialogue, especially from Spock, that connects the dots enough for people without Decker having to be so on-the-nose.

I did NOT like the new sound mix. Too many beeps and chirps and changes to existing sounds. Gives the movie a campy feel.

In the DE, they reverted the bridge sounds back to TOS which sounds a little too anachronistic. The Trek II bridge sounds would have been a better choice for the remix. The TMP original mix was a mostly silent bridge aside from the red-alert warnings which was uncharacteristic for Trek.

I liked Decker's line as an explanation to why Vejur expected its creator to be a machine.

The silent bridge didn't bother me as I had no previous Trek experience when I first saw it. It was part of why I liked the movie. The new sound mix was quite jarring and made me cringe a lot. The first time I watched the DE was with a bunch of friends and felt embarrassed by it. I loved the movie and they thought it was meh before the DE and used to tease me about it. Now with the thought it was going to be finished and better I was cringing because it sounded like a campy B-film. But that was just my feel about the DE.

 

[urbandefault]

I have the DVD 10 movie box set, so which version do I have? All the cut lines mentioned previously are there, except the ten foot tall crew one that I don't remember ever hearing. :/

 

[Leto_II]

In the DE, they reverted the bridge sounds back to TOS which sounds a little too anachronistic. The Trek II bridge sounds would have been a better choice for the remix. The TMP original mix was a mostly silent bridge aside from the red-alert warnings which was uncharacteristic for Trek.

It's also very similar to the ending of Star Trek IV, where you can hear several of the same TOS sound-effects on the new Enterprise-A bridge.

Can remember seeing it for the first time in the theater at age nine, and noticing that (well, that, and the fact that some crackhead had broken into our car out in the mall parking lot while we were watching the movie).

 

[BillJ]

I have the DVD 10 movie box set, so which version do I have? All the cut lines mentioned previously are there, except the ten foot tall crew one that I don't remember ever hearing. :/

The Director's Edition, I believe. It was the only version released on DVD up until recently. Should have a gold spine. If it doesn't have the gold spine, it is the theatrical edition.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

For one thing, Wise was instrumental in rejecting Goldsmith's initial score. It takes balls to send Goldsmith back to the woodshed, but his judgment was spot-on.

AFAIK, Goldsmith wasn't a big name back then. Wise was. (Hence, Goldsmith would have been the one with balls if he went against Wise's decision).

Other movie music guru's feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

At that time, Williams just hit it big with "Star Wars" but also did "Jaws" and other movies and television shows. And, Bernard Herrmann was a big composer at that time as well having worked with Hitchcock, Scorsese, and DePalma (who was making a name for himself at that time).

In regards to the movie itself: I liked the DE because it expanded on V'Ger visually and expanded on Kirk's arrival to SF visually. Of course, there were little changes like the TOS red-alert sound...which I liked.

As was already brought out, Kirk's change with his environment suit was questionable. One in-universe explanation can be he was searching for Spock in his initially suit and didn't realize it wasn't prepped, so he eventually had to return to the Enterprise for another suit to continue his search.

I haven't watched it in about 11 years (?) so I need to revisit it out of curiosity.

 

[Firebird]

While the SLV has a good amount of deleted material, I've always been left with wanting more from the plethora of home video releases. I'd like to see some of the following included in the future:

1) McCoy's line of "Never look a gift Vulcan in the ears, Jim" once Spock leaves the bridge after he boards the Enterprise.

2) Alternate version of Kirk, Spock & McCoy's meeting in the officer's lounge. The shooting script features a completely different take than what's in the film.

3) A security guard getting "zapped" & digitized by the V'ger probe on the bridge.

4) Whatever first & second unit footage that was shot during production of the Memory Wall sequence.

5) Kirk makes an announcement on V'ger's true nature as Decker shows the Ilia Probe around engineering, much to Scotty's chagrin.

6) Kirk mentioning the security officer among the missing officers to Uhura.


Additionally, I know a documentary crew followed the film during production, so a new feature-length documentary could be culled together from what Paramount still has in their archives. I've also read about some outtakes & bloopers that would be a welcomed addition to the special features for an overly serious film. For the Goldsmith aficionados, I'd slap an isolated score track on there, too.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

AFAIK, Goldsmith wasn't a big name back then. Wise was. (Hence, Goldsmith would have been the one with balls if he went against Wise's decision).

Other movie music guru's feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

By the time of TMP, Goldsmith had scored numerous famous film scores (e.g., The Sand Pebbles, Patton, Chinatown; all of these were Oscar-nominated) and had won an Academy Award (The Omen). That's just about as big as it gets.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

AFAIK, Goldsmith wasn't a big name back then. Wise was. (Hence, Goldsmith would have been the one with balls if he went against Wise's decision).

Other movie music guru's feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

By the time of TMP, Goldsmith had scored numerous famous film scores (e.g., The Sand Pebbles, Patton, Chinatown; all of these were Oscar-nominated) and had won an Academy Award (The Omen). That's just about as big as it gets.

Gotcha...

(I forgot he did "Chinatown" and I wasn't aware he did the other films. I'll have to put them on my 'to listen' list).

 

[Oso Blanco]

I have the DVD 10 movie box set, so which version do I have? All the cut lines mentioned previously are there, except the ten foot tall crew one that I don't remember ever hearing. :/

The Director's Edition, I believe. It was the only version released on DVD up until recently. Should have a gold spine. If it doesn't have the gold spine, it is the theatrical edition.

That "recently" was 2009, five years ago! I know, I know ... time flies by just like that. And we're old farts before we even know it.

I think the best way to tell which version you have is to check the scene when Kirk first appears the bridge. When he leaves and the turbolift doors are closing, the SLV and the DE continue with a scene on the bridge. An Ensign asks about Decker, reminding everyone that has been with the ship every minute for the refitting process. Then Uhura responds with something like "our chances of coming back in one piece may have just doubled". The Theatrical version doesn't have that scene.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

In the DE, they reverted the bridge sounds back to TOS which sounds a little too anachronistic. The Trek II bridge sounds would have been a better choice for the remix. The TMP original mix was a mostly silent bridge aside from the red-alert warnings which was uncharacteristic for Trek.

I'm pretty sure they pulled out the sound library for ST:VI, it would have been the most recent TOS film when they went to make the DE. It sure sounds like the bridge noises from TUC.

And yes I agree I find it doesn't really fit correctly into the scene. I actually feel that way about the whole audio track in the DE. It feels like everyone's voices are floating just above them, not quite coming from them. I don't remember it being so bad in the VHS copy I had. I know of course a lot of dialogue was re-looped thanks to the all film cameras looping behind the bridge displays.

 

[SpHeRe31459]

I have the DVD 10 movie box set, so which version do I have? All the cut lines mentioned previously are there, except the ten foot tall crew one that I don't remember ever hearing. :/

Pretty sure you're referring to the box set that only contains the theatrical editions. Basically a DVD version of the Blu-ray boxed set(s) from 2009.

 

[Lance]

Can remember seeing it for the first time in the theater at age nine, and noticing that (well, that, and the fact that some crackhead had broken into our car out in the mall parking lot while we were watching the movie).

OT, but yeah I've had that happen too. Makes me dubious about going to movies for two hours and leaving my car these days... :\