Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Just checked my Apple 4K tv versions and they have also been updated to these new restored versions.
 
Just checked my Apple 4K tv versions and they have also been updated to these new restored versions.
Just noticed that tonight too, so purchased the 10 film Star Trek set for £19.99. As long as there’s no shenanigans with the other 6 being upgraded in the future, it’s a bargain. It’s a bargain anyway just for the first 4, so the rest are a bonus.
 
Thanks Cas. Can't afford the sets right now, but very into Wrath of Khan in 4K, so might suck it up & buy the Apple TV version. Been waiting for that forever.
Adam Savage talking to Fon Davis about the painting of the Enterprise is fascinating. The relevant bit starts at 07:16

 
Awesome. My iTunes version been upgraded to 4k Digilby Vision already for free. Nice one Apple
 
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Watched the iTunes version last night. Nice transfer. Most of it is really sharp, nicely details and the colour timing is better, skin tones all look very natural. I didn’t expect too much from the effects shots, it’s a 70s movie after all and all the effects were created optically, and it was a fairly messy production and some effects were actually quite rushed. Even a 4K scan of the film isn’t going to find a lot more detail, so I expect it’s just what is there in the source film. Only way to improve it is a true remaster and recreation of some effects, so I’m looking forward to see what they do with the Director’s cut.

I think it’s safe to say that watching this on my projector at home in 2021, the sound and image was vastly better than when I saw it at the ABC in Leeds in 1979.
 
This is a lock for this weekend's viewing. My favourite Trek movie by a long way, its just so incredibly epic and unlike so many other sci-fi movies really captures the sheer scale of space.

Plus the cast is on great form and the soundtrack, my goodness the soundtrack is off the scale. Absolutely one of the best scores in all of cinema history. Jerry at his absolute best.

I just wish we had got the Director's Cut in 4K as well. I know there are issues around the new shots in that one, but I'm sure something could have been put together if the will was there.
 
Watched the iTunes version last night. Nice transfer. Most of it is really sharp, nicely details and the colour timing is better, skin tones all look very natural. I didn’t expect too much from the effects shots, it’s a 70s movie after all and all the effects were created optically, and it was a fairly messy production and some effects were actually quite rushed. Even a 4K scan of the film isn’t going to find a lot more detail, so I expect it’s just what is there in the source film. Only way to improve it is a true remaster and recreation of some effects, so I’m looking forward to see what they do with the Director’s cut.

I think it’s safe to say that watching this on my projector at home in 2021, the sound and image was vastly better than when I saw it at the ABC in Leeds in 1979.
I pulled the trigger on the iTunes set at £19.99, I've heard it's a bit lacking , Im hoping it will look decent on the projector...
 
The Motion Picture, for me, has always been a bit of a lone wolf in the series of Trek films. For me, it starts "properly" with Khan; the uniforms, the look and feel of the starships, everything came together from then on. Not a favourite film, but as a recent sign up to Apple tv, and hearing lots of good things about their 4K offerings, I might pick this up as part of the box set.

Though there's a little voice whispering buy the disc.....buy the disc....
 
I could never get on with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. To me it lost all the charm of the original series. Trying to make Star Trek more like 2001 is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Some of the effects look impressive - The first film really does capture the scale of the Enterprise, but the matte paintings composites are the worst I’ve seen in any movie of the time.

The uniforms were drab and boring and so was the interaction between characters. Star Trek II on the other hand is an absolute masterpiece of pace, story telling and character building - which I throughly enjoy every time I rewatch it. I much prefer James Horner’s majestic score too.

Regards,
James.
 
I'm guessing this is the version before the director Robert Wise gave his permission and oversaw the inclusion of upgraded effects. I have that version on DVD as it was never released on BD (The directors cut) as well as the standard version reviewed above on BD.

Sadly Persis Khambatta, who played Lieutenant Ilia and had her head shaved for the part, married Hollywood actor Cliff Taylor only weeks after meeting him in June 1981 a couple of years after the release of ST:TMP, two months later they filed for divorce. She also tragically passed away far too young at the age of 49 from a massive heart attack in 1998.
 
I'm guessing this is the version before the director Robert Wise gave his permission and oversaw the inclusion of upgraded effects. I have that version on DVD as it was never released on BD (The directors cut) as well as the standard version reviewed above on BD.
This is the original Theatrical Cut, but Paramount are working on a 4K version of the Director's Cut, which should hit disc towards the end of next year.
 
This is the original Theatrical Cut, but Paramount are working on a 4K version of the Director's Cut, which should hit disc towards the end of next year.
Thanks for that Steve, if the Directors Cut is eventually to be available on BD I would be interested, otherwise I will be contented with it on DVD.
 
I could never get on with Star Trek: The Motion Picture. To me it lost all the charm of the original series. Trying to make Star Trek more like 2001 is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Some of the effects look impressive - The first film really does capture the scale of the Enterprise, but the matte paintings composites are the worst I’ve seen in any movie of the time.

The uniforms were drab and boring and so was the interaction between characters. Star Trek II on the other hand is an absolute masterpiece of pace, story telling and character building - which I throughly enjoy every time I rewatch it. I much prefer James Horner’s majestic score too.

Regards,
James.
Perhaps it depends if you're a trekie or not. I thought the original TV series was pretty awful, apart from Kirk and Spock's chemistry so when the movie became, as you say, 2001 I was blown away.

Wrath of Khan is entertaining but completely lost the epic scope of the first movie, and the hammy acting from the TV show returned. Plus it honestly looked pretty cheap.
 
By the way the critics and some fans were non too kind on its release because of the slow pacing of the storyline labelling the film with nicknames such as The Motionless Picture, The Slow Motion Picture and The Motion Sickness. Given that many science fiction films are now over saturated with, admittedly excellent in most instances, CGI to have a film paced out instead of crash, bang, wallop effects every two minutes (or it seems that way) looking back this wasn't a bad thing. Plus ST:TMP was pre CGI anyway apart from the Directors Cut.

The first Transformers film was actually pretty good with not too much over the top CGI and a decent storyline, but apart from Bumblebee the rest of them were like a mallet to the brain even though the CGI was state of the art.
 
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My thoughts from the other thread, very much inline :-

Ok…The Motion Picture 4K HDR remaster in no way a disappointment. It’s sometimes really hard to evaluate older films, as our appreciation of visual media is now shiny and digital. TMP is no exception, where you can go from scene to scene showing sharp and richly rendered visuals, where the actors and scenery leap off the screen with depth and clarity. Then you can switch to wider shots with smear and grain and a lack of focus. And worse still, effects scenes that are extremely soft, and look no better than SD, clearly a side-effect of how early FX were captured or transposed on film.

But you know deep down that this Is probably the best it’s ever looked, or will again, and apart from some damaged original footage here and there, possibly better than the original theatre presentation on theatrical run. Until we get the Directors Cut next year of course, but this version is still worth having, in anticipation of that restoration.

The sound was spectacular in my setup, I could hear all the bridge/vessel sounds in every scene, the ship it’s own character, and brought to life with the amazing model work, and Jerry Goldsmith score. At this point I think I hold TMP as equal to TWOK, but I have that to watch next in all it’s UHD glory, so it might jump ahead again.
 
Having never seen this before, can anyone recommend either theatrical or Directors cut for first time watch? I have watched every Star Trek episode ever made and the new Star Trek movies, I just never got around to the original movies - gonna start now!
 
I loved the epic scale of this upon first viewing and the whole theme with the strangely hot bald(ly) going home bird.
The slow pans over the newly fitted out ship and the like really worked for me. It was a definite moment in film where I felt in awe at the spectacle and newness to it all but also a sense of knowing respect and warmth to a crew I'd grown up with.
Kirk had that sense of mischief to him still, Spock the intelligence to raise that eyebrow (only equalled by Sir Roger) to rein the captain back in and Bones to call them all on their smellies.
Being too slow wasn't the only complaint I recall, namely that some took offence at Bones' coldness over the failed transporter and melty crew and took to the phones. Ah, gentler times. It's just a film, idiots!
I'm always wary of buying ST discs; as you know Paramount will milk out another version down the line, pretty much as badly as the mafia held onto old blue eyes 'till death. Should I still be alive, I'd fully expect holographic boxsets in the future...
 
Having never seen this before, can anyone recommend either theatrical or Directors cut for first time watch? I have watched every Star Trek episode ever made and the new Star Trek movies, I just never got around to the original movies - gonna start now!
The Director’s cut is the better version, but when they remastered the effects, they only did it in standard def, so DVD was as good it would ever look. The new remaster mooted for next year will recreate the digital effects again and presumably be a real clean up of the existing model work (much of which is genuinely great). So if you want to watch it now, the theatrical 4K is the way to do it.

Incidentally, if you buy the iTunes collection, you get the SD version of the Director’s cut as a bonus feature. To my eyes that actually looks slightly better than my R1 DVD of the same.
 
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The slow pans over the newly fitted out ship and the like really worked for me. It was a definite moment in film where I felt in awe at the spectacle and newness to it all but also a sense of knowing respect and warmth to a crew I'd grown up with.
It’s a long scene, but it has a point. Kirk LOVES the Enterprise, almost obsessively, she is literally the love of his life. This is 3 years after their original mission ended and he is desperate to get back at any cost. I love Shantner’s performance in this scene. He captures that emotion without a word. It’s important to the plot too, being called out for it later by McCoy in particular. That said, “Khaaaan!!” is pretty damn great too!
 
The Director’s cut is the better version, but when they remastered the effects, they only did it in standard def, so DVD was as good it would ever look. The new remaster mooted for next year will recreate the digital effects again and presumably be a real clean up of the existing model work (much of which is genuinely great). So if you want to watch it now, the theatrical 4K is the way to do it.

Incidentally, if you buy the iTunes collection, you get the SD version of the Director’s cut as a bonus feature. To my eyes that actually looks slightly better than my R1 DVD of the same.
Have just bought the iTunes 10 movie collection for €20, the first four of which are the new remastered 4k Dolby Vision versions, talk about a bargain - all have plentiful extras and the rest will be upgraded in the future Id say :)
 
The Director’s cut is the better version, but when they remastered the effects, they only did it in standard def, so DVD was as good it would ever look. The new remaster mooted for next year will recreate the digital effects again and presumably be a real clean up of the existing model work (much of which is genuinely great). So if you want to watch it now, the theatrical 4K is the way to do it.

Incidentally, if you buy the iTunes collection, you get the SD version of the Director’s cut as a bonus feature. To my eyes that actually looks slightly better than my R1 DVD of the same.
 
Previous versions on various formats have looked quite clinical colour wise. I think they have “warmed it up a bit” for the 4k release and can be a bit red? maybe. However, I think they have tried to balance the colour to try and match the later films. The WCG is the biggest improvement for me, I’m seeing things in the control panels I’ve not noticed before and there is more detail in the heat panels on the hull. And of course Red Alert is definitely red.
 
I have a personal story involving my dad getting a print of this shipped out to a construction site in Sudan where I lived when I was 4-5 years old. He got loads of stick because he got everyone excited for it and then they were bored to tears.

But, as an adult it's always pleasantly surprised me. The long shots and effects don't bother me. The story just gets better with age:

we still get regular updates about how far Voyager is from Earth

My main issue with the film is that Kirk's character seems off in a few scenes. He's irritable, condescending, and even rude to other characters and there doesn't seem to be much point to any of it
 
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