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Star Trek - The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition)

Star Trek - The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition)

List Price: $19.99
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: See this movie in a new light!
Review: Star Trek: The Motion Picture is the second Star Trek movie I ever saw. I think I am not alone when I did not understand this movie too well when I first saw it. Now, when The Director's Edition was released...I can't put this movie down! The reediting of the film created a much more enjoyable and understandable film. All of the nonsense, annoying scenes and sound effects have been removed for a much more modern take on this film. It was a great decision not to re-release this in theaters, the DVD is one of Paramount's best. The effects were done in a way where the new added CG scenes blend in very well, unlike Star Wars 4, 5, and 6. Still remember, this movie was made in the late 70's. When you watch the film for the first time, or again, don't forget that it was the only Star Trek movie at that time.
If you are a Star Trek fan buy it today with NO delay! If you are interested in this movie...see this version, not the original or the television version, that's what I did.

Go Star Trek!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The best looking, most artistic...
Review: ...yet the most uninteresting movie in the series.

The script. I hadn't seen this movie for a very long time and didn't remember much of it, just that it seemed very slow. But having seen it recently I can't believe the script. To go through the detail they went through on set design only to shoot almost an identical "TV SHOW SCRIPT" is odd to me. This story is a cross between the "M5 Computer" and the "Nomad Probe" needless to say, it's been done. I wonder why no one mentions it?

The cast. The chemistry is off and the additions to the cast are fairly weak. The way the dialogue is written is largely to blame here.

The sound. Finely a strong suit. Wow, this is a great s/t, and really sets the stage for further movies and TV shows.

The transfer/effects. Ahh, dvds are perfect... right? Not in this case, there are many "glitches and scratchs" on the actual film. When the scratches are not there the movie really shines, however about every 10 minutes or so you seeing a bit of imperfections here and there. This is the best looking film in terms of details. In a way it reminds me of the care that was taken in the 1st season as opposed to the runaway abandonment in the 3rd. The other movies seem more polished and less attention to lighting was taken, to me this movie shows a much more realistic view of the evolution of Star Trek. However, to accomplish this really slows the movie down, so it's not without drawbacks.

The ending/extras. Predictable and only fueled to mediocrity by a poor script. Nice to have the commentary, generally informative however it only serves to highlight the lack of extras on any of the other films. Since Voyage Home was the highest grossing movie in the series, why no commentary on that one? The fans deserve it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Better, but still a long, long way from being a home run.
Review: The flaws of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" never bothered me that much upon its release, but this new version, while better, still is a long way from greatness.

The revised special effects are an improvement over some of the flawed originals (particularly the final scenes involving the walk to V'ger), and director Robert Wise has trimmed a lot of the unnecessary dialogue, but the main problem with this film was a script that packed too little excitement.

Unfortunately, that can't be cured with better visual effects or more effective film edits. This film was always a visual treat, but the characters and script let it down badly, and they still do.

Still, this film IS a good time, especially for Trekkies, and simply watching it in widescreen, on DVD, makes the film look and feel a whole lot better. Paramount also included some terrific bonus materials on the making of the film, and the aborted Star Trek TV series that became the film series.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: the case
Review: I bought this dvd and am very dispointed in the case the first discs hub is missing a tab a the top so the discs comes out very easy and it scratches it up every time. Are all of the dvds like this or did I get a bad copy, If someone would post a response I would appreciate it because I will reurn this disc if mine is the only one like this other wise there is no reason to bother excahnging it.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A great re-imagining of a good movie
Review: The original theatrical release was just not engaging. The later TV version was just too long. This is a very good almalgamation of the two. My favorite scenes from the TV version are now included, and all the scenes that were edited out are included separately anyway. Also, unlike the Star Wars Special Editions, the enhanced effects really DO improve the movie. I now realize what all the visuals actually are! All in all, definitely the best version made of this movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Star Trek: The Master Piece
Review: Robert Wise's remastering of Star Trek: The Motion Picture rights a wrong imposed on him by Paramount Pictures demands for a quick release of the film in December of 1979; he wasn't allowed to edit the film into the masterpiece that it is now. Paramounts blunderous decision to trade quality for box-office profits obviously dissapointed William Shatner, Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek fans and most of all, Robert Wise.

I remember seeing the original in 1979 when I was six years old. At that age, even I though the movie dragged on for a long time. The later TV version only slowed the film down even further.

The new effects perfectly blended into the special-effects from 1979. Unlike the re-released Star Wars films, the CGI is invisible which is a big plus.

Another big plus is the musical score. The tempo of the original score was way too slow for "Star Trek". Now the tempo of the score is speeded up to the score used in the Next Generation films. The horns in the orchestra seem a little heavy but make the theme even better and richer.

The opening credits are terrific and replace the original films flat and lifeless opening credits.

The extras on the 2nd Disc are a bonus for those of you interested in the history of the "lost" 2nd Star Trek Series and the making of the movie.

Definitely add this to your Star Trek DVD collection. You won't regret it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best DVDs Produced to Date
Review: My hat is off to Mr. Wise. He did an excellent job on this Director's cut. This was one of my least favorite Star Trek movies. The timing in the movie was very bad, but that's been improved a hundred times over. The special effects are greatly improved. And there's a few new scenes that really add a great deal to the movie. Many of the not-so good scenes have been removed and it really keeps moving now. Watching this DVD was like watching a brand new movie. I also really enjoyed watching the three documenteries. The third one really shows how much time and effort went into this Director's Cut. This DVD is worth every cent.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not up to snuff!
Review: This film is very special to me... I feel that it is the most cinematic of all the Trek films and I attribute that to Robert Wise's direction. But I am so very disappointed in what he and Paramount have done to this film.

Good things: The disc is anamorphically enhanced and some of the shots, particularly the interior shots in the later part of the film, look excellent. A few of the new effects shots are improvements over the old, especially the scenes of the landing party leaving the ship and walking out to V'Ger's central core. And that's about where the improvements end.

The majority of the optical shots are plagued with noise and negative dirt. This transfer needed a dirt fix session before it was pressed and I cannot imagine how this disc was let out with the condition some of these shots are still in.

Regarding the audio re-mix, it is not that impressive, and many new sound effects were added; they are so crisp in quality that they do not match the laid-back quality of the dialogue and score -- these audio effects weren't broken so I don't know why they were modified. Especially unacceptable is the new "Red Alert" klaxon sound. Why, why would they replace such a cool noise with a cheap Casiotone alert effect?

Some of the editorial re-cuts I just don't agree with. I have seen the extended version and the 1983 TV versions of this film, and worthwhile scene extensions in those earlier versions have been excised. Other scenes have been inexplicably shortened, damaging the scene in the process.

One last beef: The graceful opening titles have been replaced by "1987-era gold-tone type meets After Effects horizontal blur." Completely unwarranted.

Save your money, it's not worth it. The people behind this reissue just don't get it.

I'll be watching my LaserDisc...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Quite an improvement
Review: While there is mostly good in the new cut, there are also some wrinkles. Some of the editing decisions to improve pacing left out some of the interpersonal interactions and in some places felt choppy. I guess the risk here was changing a movie that many of us already know by heart.

I'm glad Robert Wise was able to finish this movie to his satisfaction and, I believe, ours.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: THE HUMAN ADVENTURE BEGINS AGAIN!
Review: STAR TREK-TMP is the first incarnation of the franchise that I saw as a kid. It paved the way for me to seek out the Original Series 79 episodes and made a fan out of me. Given that, as you might imagine, I was very excited about the 2 disc set when I heard about it. While it is no WRATH OF KAHN or UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY (the best TREK films that feature Kirk et al), it does have a lot for you to like It seems that Paramount finally wised up and decided to do right by their "cash cow" on DVD. For the record, this is the only film in the series that I own on DVD. Paying big bucks for a movie only version seemed like a waste when I knew that the studio is to reissue Special Editions of each film in the near future. The Director's Edition of the film is perhaps the best cut of the movie yet. Fans of the '83 t.v. cut will find some of those scenes on disc 2 as part of the deleted material. while other scenes from '83 have been incorporated into the film The cut itself is pretty good. The movie no longer lags. It seems the deletions/additions help to enliven the story The new sound mix is good too. But the real boon to this version are the new F/X shots! What can I say except that they are beautiful! I am so glad that Director Wise was given the opportunity to go back and "fix" things that he didn't have time to complete in '79.

As for the extras: The group commentary is a mixed bag that can sometimes be overloaded and drag.on. Especially ho-hum are the comments from the F/X crew who originally worked on the film. Highlights of the track though come from Actor Stephen Collins and Composer Jerry Goldsmith.
The 3 documentaries would have worked better if they were edited together as a single feature but still they offer some solid insight and a gem or two. It was really nice to see the trailers and t.v. spots. My only other peeve about the extras is the inclusion of a promo spot for UPN's new TREK spin-off ENTERPRISE. It has no business being included and isn't nesscessary at all There are other ways to promote a series that has already been on television for more than a month (CASH COW INDEED!). Now bring on ST II:TWOK Special Edition!


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