Star Trek The Motion Picture Director's Edition 4K UHD/DLX (1979)

[alexdg1]

Originally Posted by OneBuckFilms

Looking at this, I think Paramount (for films other than the DE) are simply porting over what they release in the 50th Anniversary set, but remastering the movies from the 4K sources, and releasing the 4K disks as well.

I think the inconsistencies come partly from the way they are defining the scope of the projects.

The Trek II expansion, and the inclusion of Part 2 of the Roger Lay documentary, was rather obviously meant to whet the appetite for the 50th Anniversary set, and was an outlier of sorts as well as test the waters for whether fans will buy the remastered disks.

The 4 movie set on 4K was also likely a test the waters for the other two films (and TNG films down the line).

The TMP DE release should be seen, IMHO, as a separate entity in it's own right, and it seems they are doing that correctly in-and-of itself.

It's inclusion in the 6 movie set (could be seen almost as a 7 movie set) is really a meeting of two separate release projects (The theatrical films in 4K+revised Blu-rays, The TMPE release)

Somewhat convoluted history behind all this. We could almost write a novel detailing these movie's release on Blu-ray and 4K.

Indeed.

[alexdg1]

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Around 2008 my media collection was stolen. Over 800 CDs and a couple of hundred DVDs. What was really infuriating was going to the used store in town and seeing my stuff for sale. The police said there was nothing they could do. I did get a nice insurance settlement. Always catalogue your collections people.

Ugh. That bites.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

It would have been awesome if Paramount had gone back and repurposed the DE scans and work to reconstruct the TC with superior picture quality.

Simply absurd that the 2009 transfer actually looks better in numerous cases than the rubbish job done with 2021 transfer. Really half-assed.

[Bolty]

Yeah, it's crazy that the TC is now locked in with that awful "fix" in the space dock.
Maybe there is a slight chance that when the DE team was "finishing" the Kirk spacewalk shot they pointed out that the mounting arm fix was a screw up and to use their version from the DE.

Remember that the 2021 TC release came out long before they had completed their project. I wonder whose idea it was to finish the Kirk space walk scene. If it was the DE team then maybe they also made some suggestions for the re-release of the TC/SLV combo.

[stvn1974]

I have the first four films on the remastered BDs that were released when the first 4K set came out. I decided to go ahead and order the Complete Six Film set of 4K/BDs and the Director's Cut box. Now I just need to find out what new 4K player I want to get since the Sony X700 that I have now is garbage.

[david_blu]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Yeah, it's crazy that the TC is now locked in with that awful "fix" in the space dock.
Maybe there is a slight chance that when the DE team was "finishing" the Kirk spacewalk shot they pointed out that the mounting arm fix was a screw up and to use their version from the DE.

Remember that the 2021 TC release came out long before they had completed their project. I wonder whose idea it was to finish the Kirk space walk scene. If it was the DE team then maybe they also made some suggestions for the re-release of the TC/SLV combo.

I swear to god if the TC/SLV disc corrects these issues on the TC now that I have cancelled the Deluxe set I will do my own impression of Khaaaaaaaaannnn!

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Originally Posted by KMFDMvsEnya

Simply absurd that the 2009 transfer actually looks better in numerous cases than the rubbish job done with 2021 transfer. Really half-assed.

I haven't heard that before. Is that really true?

Originally Posted by KMFDMvsEnya

It would have been awesome if Paramount had gone back and repurposed the DE scans and work to reconstruct the TC with superior picture quality.

Originally Posted by Bolty

Remember that the 2021 TC release came out long before they had completed their project. I wonder whose idea it was to finish the Kirk space walk scene. If it was the DE team then maybe they also made some suggestions for the re-release of the TC/SLV combo.

Originally Posted by david_blu

I swear to god if the TC/SLV disc corrects these issues on the TC now that I have cancelled the Deluxe set I will do my own impression of Khaaaaaaaaannnn!

There's a topic on this in the ST:TMP Appreciation Group.

[david_blu]

Originally Posted by Bolty

You cancelled the deluxe because if those issues?
Honestly it's possible but do we really think they're going to mess around with what they've already approved and released last year? I just don't think they care enough.

Nooo, no no, I cancelled because I realised I don't need the SLV and all the other stuff in the set. But if that disc proves to be an improvement then that would be annoying.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

There's a topic on this in the ST:TMP Appreciation Group.

I do not use nor have a profile with Facebook or Metafook, so alas I cannot see any discussion of that matter.

[starmike]

Watching people complain about this set for silly reasons is probably the most fun I've had in a long while on a forum.

[OneBuckFilms]

I’m merely speculating.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by KMFDMvsEnya

Simply absurd that the 2009 transfer actually looks better in numerous cases than the rubbish job done with 2021 transfer. Really half-assed.

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

I haven't heard that before. Is that really true?

No, it's not. Some of the VFX shots in the 2021 remaster have some excessive noise reduction, and their counterparts in the 2009 BD do look a little better. And Vulcan is too red.

Otherwise, the 2021 remaster is vastly superior to the older Blu-ray, in terms of detail, color, and everything else.

Also, I still don't believe that one shot of the Enterprise leaving spacedock is a recent digital fix. As others have suggested, I think it's much more likely, considering the post-production process on this particular movie, that different passes of the shot made it into different elements (negative, interpositive). That might also explain the two different takes of Spock in the Vulcan scene.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by BNex99

No, it's not. Some of the VFX shots in the 2021 remaster have some excessive noise reduction, and their counterparts in the 2009 BD do look a little better. And Vulcan is too red.

Otherwise, the 2021 remaster is vastly superior to the older Blu-ray, in terms of detail, color, and everything else.

Also, I still don't believe that one shot of the Enterprise leaving spacedock is a recent digital fix. As others have suggested, I think it's much more likely, considering the post-production process on this particular movie, that different passes of the shot made it into different elements (negative, interpositive). That might also explain the two different takes of Spock in the Vulcan scene.

Nah. The frozen stars that've been lazily copied in to cover the path of the moving bracket scream 'digital fix' to me. And double nah, you don't have different shots cut into an interpositive because that's contact printed directly from the conformed negative. People have speculated that different versions of that shot exist, fine, but you won't have different shots cut into different pre-print elements as the conformed original negative is the primary source for all downstream elements.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Nah. The frozen stars that've been lazily copied in to cover the path of the moving bracket scream 'digital fix' to me. And double nah, you don't have different shots cut into an interpositive because that's contact printed directly from the conformed negative. People have speculated that different versions of that shot exist, fine, but you won't have different shots cut into different pre-print elements as the conformed original negative is the primary source for all downstream elements.

You might be right, but I just know they were rushing to finish this thing in 1979. The frozen stars are weird, but the fuzziness of the ship and the side of the deflector dish flickering says optical printing to me. If that's a 2021 digital comp, then it is indeed an astonishingly sloppy one.

Also, somehow two separate takes of the Vulcan High Master mind-melding with Spock did make it into different versions, so I still don't know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[User897]

In other words, this film is still bordering on cluster**** status, although not as bad as what has come before. Maybe they'll get it right for the 2029 super-deluxe-this-is-it edition.

[OneBuckFilms]

From what I've seen, I think the 2021 release is a significant overall improvement from 2009 on Blu-ray, but none of these have been perfect.

I strongly suspect that the DE is where the real improvements are likely to be found, especially with the recomposited effects in may places.

I'll have to look more closely to see about effects in the 2021 release that are of poorer quality to those of 2009, aside from the obviously fixed spacedock scene.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by OneBuckFilms

From what I've seen, I think the 2021 release is a significant overall improvement from 2009 on Blu-ray, but none of these have been perfect.

I strongly suspect that the DE is where the real improvements are likely to be found, especially with the recomposited effects in may places.

I'll have to look more closely to see about effects in the 2021 release that are of poorer quality to those of 2009, aside from the obviously fixed spacedock scene.

really the only scene besides that spacedock fix that noticeably degraded was the bolt of light sequence, that portion looked noticeably more dupey than the rest of the non-effects shots of that scene

there was also the scene whenever Spock is retrieved by Kirk after Spock attempts to enter the main "brain" of V-Ger, there is a bit of Paramount DigiSmear™ that lurks there but still isn't so noticeable as it's at least very brief and nowhere near as bad as it looked on the 2009 transfer

[mar3o]

After seeing those caps, I think I've made my decision to cancel my pre-order for the deluxe box set. The DNR/processing on the previous/upcoming theatrical cut effect shots is so bad, and the Special Longer Cut will be using all of that same exact footage via branching. So all that money on the deluxe set just to see all the effect shots smeared into a blurry mess seems pointless when the director's cut will look so much better. The old blu-ray almost seems to have more detail in many of those shots than the UHD theatrical does. That's a disgrace. To think the only way to see the theatrical on UHD is to see those effects shots in that condition is a shame.

I just can't see myself wanting to watch the theatrical (and by extension, the SLV) ever on UHD knowing how smeared the effects footage is, knowing how much better the Director's Cut looks. Which is a shame, because I'm big on nostalgia, and would have appreciated owning the SLV. If the SLV branched the Director's cut for the effects footage, I'd be all over it. But using the vastly inferior theatrical version for the branching ensures out of the 3 cuts, the Director's cut is the only cut I'll want to watch, despite my fondness for the theatrical/SLV cuts.

I realize the theatrical cut live action footage is a huge improvement over previous editions, but the same can be said for the Director's Cut too now, and considering how many visual effect shots are in this film, I can't get past how bad they look in the theatrical - again, due to the DNR/processing. This film was nominated for an Oscar for visual effects. It's a major part of this film. It's not just a few shots. If I thought there was a chance the upcoming theatrical cut/SLV would be using the Director's Cut scans of the effects shots, I'd keep my order in. But I highly doubt they will do that.

[JohnCarpenterLives]

Originally Posted by mar3o

[Show spoiler]After seeing those caps, I think I've made my decision to cancel my pre-order for the deluxe box set. It's appalling how bad the DNR/processing is on the previous/upcoming theatrical cut effect shots, and the Special Longer Cut will be using all of that same exact footage via branching. So all that money on the deluxe set just to see all the effect shots smeared into a blurry mess seems pointless when the director's cut will look so much better. The old blu-ray almost seems to have more detail in many of those shots than the UHD theatrical does. That's a disgrace. To think the only way to see the theatrical on UHD is to see those effects shots in that condition is a shame.

I just can't see myself wanting to watch the theatrical (and by extension, the SLV) ever on UHD knowing what they did with the effects footage, knowing how much better the Director's Cut looks. Which is a shame, because I'm big on nostalgia, and would have appreciated owning the SLV. If the SLV branched the Director's cut for the effects footage, I'd be all over it. But using the vastly inferior theatrical version for the branching ensures out of the 3 cuts, the Director's cut is the only cut I'll want to watch, despite my fondness for the theatrical/SLV cuts.

I realize the theatrical cut live action footage is a huge improvement over previous editions, but the same can be said for the Director's Cut too now, and considering how many visual effect shots are in this film, I can't get past how bad they look in the theatrical - again, due to the DNR/processing. This film was nominated for an Oscar for visual effects. It's a major part of this film. It's not just a few shots. If I thought there was a chance the upcoming theatrical cut/SLV would be using the Director's Cut scans of the effects shots, I'd keep my order in. But I highly doubt they will do that.

Hoping against all logic that they remove the DNR for the TC/SLV.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by BNex99

You might be right, but I just know they were rushing to finish this thing in 1979. The frozen stars are weird, but the fuzziness of the ship and the side of the deflector dish flickering says optical printing to me. If that's a 2021 digital comp, then it is indeed an astonishingly sloppy one.

Also, somehow two separate takes of the Vulcan High Master mind-melding with Spock did make it into different versions, so I still don't know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As the sainted people behind the DE restoration still managed to put some astonishingly sloppy work in that version (captains lounge, the shuttle that stops moving before the shot ends) then I’m not surprised that whatever day players who did the theatrical tweaking ended up doing that spacedock shot so badly.