Plot: What’s it about?
As many a Star Trek fan will tell you, there is an ongoing argument as to who was actually a "better" Captain. Kirk or Picard? Personally, I go with the latter, but that’s an argument for another day. This is the first in a series of nine Star Trek movies (with Part X on the way next year) and now it’s finally "The Director’s Edition". We’ll get into that later. What’s so amazing about the Star Trek phenomenon and about this movie, in particular, is the fact that it even got made. The Star Trek series was going strong, but never had the ratings to make it into a long-running show. In fact, when it was cancelled, it’s ratings were the highest ever and the core demographic (Males 18-40) absolutely loved the show. This may have been the ultimate "Cult Classic". Seeing the popularity of the Star Trek series, they were off to make a movie–sort of. After some little movie by the name of "Star Wars" became the hit it was, a new Star Trek was slated to hit the streets and coast off it’s popularity, coupled with that of the other "Star…". For reasons we’ll never understand, the new series was supposed to be a television show and not the movie it is today. Called "Phase II", it was supposed to launch a Paramount network (which we now are very familiar with today). Instead, it was made into a movie and as it turns out, a very successful one. The rest, as they say, is history–er, future history.
For lovers of the original series, this offered a natural progression into the movies. We were already familiar with Captain James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) and his loyal crew. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Bones (DeForest Kelley) and Scotty (James Doohan) are just but a few of the well-recognized names that now grace the silver screen. So you have the cast, you have a science fiction movie and you have space. What’s it all about? Similar to an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew of the Enterprise is up against a force. Essentially it devours everything in it’s path and, of course, it’s heading right towards the Earth. The Enterprise is the nearest ship that can stop it and once again…only they can save the world! Now in a nutshell, this is the plot of the movie. But the film is more like an introduction to the movies yet to come. It’s almost as they knew that there would be nine more of these (except the original crew only made it to Part VI: The Undiscovered Country).
It might be said that Star Trek is the one that started it all, it certainly is the case for the Star Trek series of movies and television series. Since this movie came out, it’s inspired eight sequels and four other television series. The newest one, Enterprise, predates the cast of this movie, but none of them could have made it without the original crew of the original Enterprise. While Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not only a continuation of the tradition that is Star Trek, the movie also stands well on it’s own in addition to all of the other purposes it’s served. While I’ve only seen bits and pieces of it throughout the years, I can say that the movie looks great, sounds awesome and the enhanced special effects (in the same tune as Star Wars) look pretty darn good. It’s still fun to go where no man has gone before…and this new 2 disc edition from Paramount makes it even more so.
Video: How does it look?
Star Trek: The Motion Picture, like all the rest of the Star Trek movies in the series, is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. I was immediately struck by the sound, but the presentation left me wanting more. But, as mentioned earlier, I had never seen the entire movie in any other form, and can see the benefits of the re-mastered picture and sound. The black levels are on target, and as the movie takes place in outer space, there’s a lot of black to be found. What really stood out to me was the artifacting. There seemed to be so much of it, that the background always looked like it was moving. I found this to be kind of distracting, but did eventually got used to it. I suppose we’re all spoiled and expect all "outer space" movies to look like Apollo 13 or Starship Troopers. Flesh tones seemed to be a bit oversaturated as well. It’s as if everyone sat in a tanning bed before their scenes! The level of detail is excellent, though and that being said, it does give me something positive to say about the transfer. I’m quite certain that this is the best edition of the movie, with the highest possible picture that we can hope for. Still, I have seen better from this time frame, and I’m certain that we’ll be treated with some new version of the movie in the future.
Audio: How does it sound?
What the video lacks, the audio more than makes up for. Right away, I was very impressed with Jerry Goldsmith’s theme song. I had no idea that this theme song was the same one used for Star Trek: The Next Generation, but I wouldn’t exactly classify myself as a Trekkie! The dialogue is very clean and avoids that "hiss" that so many other "re-mastered" soundtracks tend to have. The surrounds are used, very frequently I might add, and you’ll even get a lot of action out of the sub woofer as well. While I was generally impressed with the way this sounded, I wouldn’t exactly classify it as "reference quality". Again, we’re all spoiled by how amazing movies sound these days. While Star Trek: The Motion Picture sounds terrific for it’s time, it would have some trouble holding up to the movies of today. Still, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is generally far above average.
Supplements: What are the extras?
While Paramount’s DVD’s are often on the short end, they can produce some very good Special Edition’s when called upon. This is their second two-disc (Forrest Gump was the first) edition and they loaded it up with the supplements. So, as the Captain of the Enterprise says…"Engage". First we find a screen-specific commentary with the man himself, Robert Wise. Wise is accompanied with Special Effects supervisors Douglas Trumball and John Dykstra, Composer Jerry Goldsmith and actor Stephen Collins (who played Commander Willard Decker in the film). This is a very informative track, naturally due to the amount of participants. Wise does get his comments in, but Trumball and Dykstra are the most prominent in the track. Being labeled as "The Director’s Edition" means that we do finally get an extended cut of the film. The running time is now 136 minutes. These two are the biggest features of the set, but there’s much more ahead. Three documentaries (I call two of them featurettes and the other a documentary). The first is "Phase II: The Lost Enterprise". A 12 minute featurette told the history of how the movie evolved and how it was supposed to be a television show, then a movie and so on. Majel Barret (Creator Gene Roddenberry’s wife) is interviewed and will be recognizable to Star Trek fans as she has appeared in several episodes of original series and The Next Generation. Barret also plays a part in the film. The next is "A Bold New Enterprise" which has interviews with cast and crew, but most notably, Robert Wise. This shows the making of the film (how it was cast, the special effects,etc.). Interviews with some of the members who were on the commentary track and, of course, William Shatner wearing a Caesar-like haircut (we all know he’s bald…). The best, and longest of the three featurettes, I found this one to be my favorite as it had the most information. The last is "Redirecting the Future" which concentrates on the special effects that were used for this new Director’s Edition. This shows how the new effects were "melded" with the old and to see how much "technology" was used to make the film be as good as it is.
A fact track, a feature that is becoming very popular as of late, is next up. Much like "Pop Up Video", it’s easy and fun to learn little things about the movie. While insignificant, this feature is interesting and entertaining. Fans of the movie should really like it. There are some Outtakes, primarily in the form of some screen tests. This leads us into the Deleted Scenes, which to my surprise, are shown in a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. Kudos! "Attack on the Enterprise", "Vulcan and Starfleet", "Cloud Journey", "V-Ger Flyover" and "Wing Walk" are shown in their entirety. While these scenes do appear in the new Director’s Edition, the deleted parts of that are here for all to enjoy. There are some 8 trailers and TV spots in the Advertising section, as well as a trailer for The Director’s Edition. A gallery of storyboards are also included, which might find some interest somewhere. On the whole, Paramount has done Star Trek right and has given us a great DVD to embrace. Now that all of the movies are on DVD, would we be so lucky as to get them all in a Special Edition format? That’s the word, but we’ll see…
