Star Trek Movie Blu-Rays to release in April, May

TrekMovie.com is reporting that we will finally get a Blu-Ray release of the first 6 Trek movies, as well as the high-def version of the first season of the original series in May and April of this year. The article includes a list of the special features from the Blu-Ray releases. I’ve got a comparison of some of the features for the movies below the cut. UPDATED: Fiziko adds comments about the TV releases at the end of the article.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Blu-Ray Features

  1. Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman (New)
  2. The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture (New – HD)
  3. Special Star Trek Reunion (New – HD)
  4. Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind V’ger (New – HD)
  5. Library Computer (No detail on what this is – Might be a replacement for Okuda’s subtitle commentary)
  6. BD Live: Star Trek I.Q.
  7. Deleted Scenes
  8. Storyboards
  9. Trailers (HD) & TV Spots

Missing (from the Director’s Edition Release)

  1. Commentary with Robert Wise, Doug Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, Stephen Collins. (Note: Wise & Goldsmith are no longer with us.)
  2. Text Commentary with Michael Okuda – though the audio commentary might make for a decent replacement
  3. Retrospective Documentaries: “Phase II: The Lost Enterprise”, “A Bold New Enterprise”, “Redirecting The Future”.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn

Blu-Ray Features

  1. Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer
  2. Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (New)
  3. James Horner: Composing Genesis (New- HD)
  4. A Tribute to Ricardo Montalban (New- HD)
  5. Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (New- HD)
  6. Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (New- HD)
  7. Library Computer (New BD Exclusive)
  8. BD Live: Star Trek I.Q. (New)
  9. Captain’s Log (This is the making of Documentary from the Special Edition release)
  10. Designing Khan
  11. Original interviews with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban
  12. Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  13. The Star Trek Universe: A Novel Approach
  14. Storyboards
  15. Theatrical trailer (HD)

Missing

Michael Okuda’s Text commentary, though that may be replaced by the Library Computer feature.

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

Blu-Ray Features

  1. Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis
  2. Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor (New)
  3. Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek (New- HD)
  4. Spock: The Early Years (New- HD)
  5. Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame (New- HD)
  6. Library Computer (New – BD Exclusive)
  7. BD Live: Star Trek I.Q. (New)
  8. Captain’s Log
  9. Terraforming and the Prime Directive
  10. Space Docks and Birds of Prey
  11. Speaking Klingon
  12. Klingon and Vulcan Costumes
  13. Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer
  14. Photo Galleries
  15. Storyboards
  16. Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Missing

Again, this time only the Michael Okuda text commentary feature is missing, and that may be replaced by the Library Computer feature.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Blu-Ray Features
  1. Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
  2. Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (New)
  3. Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments (New- HD)
  4. The Three-Picture Saga (New- HD)
  5. Star Trek for a Cause (New- HD)
  6. Starfleet Academy: The Whale Probe (New- HD)
  7. Library Computer (New – BD Exclusive)
  8. BD Live: Star Trek I.Q. (New)
  9. Future’s Past: A Look Back
  10. On Location
  11. Dailies Deconstruction
  12. Below-the-Line: Sound Design
  13. Time Travel: The Art of the Possible
  14. The Language of Whales
  15. A Vulcan Primer
  16. Kirk’s Women
  17. From Outer Space to the Ocean
  18. The Bird of Prey
  19. Original interviews with Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley
  20. Roddenberry Scrapbook
  21. Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
  22. Production Gallery
  23. Storyboards
  24. Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Missing

Everything from the DVD release is there, except for the Text Commentaries. Again, those may be replaced with a pop-up commentary.

I don’t have Star Trek V on DVD, so I’m going to skip that one for the moment (I’ll let one of you post the comparison and contrast there.

Star trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Blu-Ray Features

  1. Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn
  2. Commentary by Larry Nemecek and Ira Steven Behr (New)
  3. Tom Morga: Alien Stuntman (New- HD)
  4. To Be Or Not To Be: Klingons and Shakespeare (New- HD)
  5. Starfleet Academy: Praxis (New- HD)
  6. Library Computer (New – BD Exclusive)
  7. BD Live: Star Trek I.Q. (New)
  8. The Perils of Peacemaking
  9. Stories from Star Trek VI
  10. Conversations with Nicholas Meyer
  11. Klingons: Conjuring the Legend
  12. Federation Operatives
  13. Penny’s Toy Box
  14. Together Again
  15. DeForest Kelley: A Tribute
  16. Original cast interviews
  17. Production Gallery
  18. Storyboards
  19. 1991 Convention Presentation by Nicholas Meyer
  20. Trailers (HD)

Missing

Again, all that’s really missing is the subtitle commentary with the Okudas. Otherwise, it’s all there

Overall thoughts

Probably the biggest victim of cuts here is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. All the original documentaries from the Director’s cut release are gone, the director’s commentary is gone, and the Subtitle commentary is gone (though, if the Library Computer special feature doesn’t replace it, the audio commentary with the Okudas might take their place. As it is, I’m definitely going to pick this up.

TV Season Sets

Fiziko here with an addendum about the TV season sets. The original HD DVD release of season one was a remastered edition, meaning they’ve gone back and redone all the special effects in the 1960s style with current technology, so there are little or no changes to the content of the episode. (i.e. if Kirk shot first in a gunfight originally, Kirk still shoots first now.) I own the set, and though I’ve only watched a handful of episodes, I’m quite impressed with what I’ve seen. With the end of the HD DVD format, the last two seasons were released on DVD only. The remastered sets do not include the original versions.

The upcoming Blu-Ray editions sound much better for the collector. Not only are they in the high definition format that won the latest war, the sets will include both remastered and undoctored original versions. The MSRP is high, but that’s normal for Star Trek, and this set actually would be expensive to make due to the special effects upgrades. The first season has been announced for an April 28 release, with the other two out by Christmas. There’s no word yet on high definition releases of any but the original series.

3 replies on “Star Trek Movie Blu-Rays to release in April, May”

  2. Why No STTMP Directors Cut
    I read the STTMP modifications were rendered in 480p resolution of standard DVD, rather then the 1080p of Blu-Ray. I saw no mention of going back and re-rendering the material.

    I really thought the updated version was much better. It smoothed the story out, by filling in the blanks.

  3. Special Edition TOS

    I would definitely wait for a version with both the original and remastered, if I were collecting these. As the article says, the revised versions aren’t significantly different, but they look good. I’d still want the originals, too, though.

    Some odd choices. For example, The Gamesters of Triskelion has a cheesy, fake painted background in one scene. They remastered the Enterprise and the planets, but that scene retains the cheesy, fake painted background.

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