Star Trek: The Motion Picture [4K UHD STEELBOOK + Blu-Ray + Digital Copy]

I love Star Trek. Especially the William Shatner series, both TOS, the Animated series, and the 6 films featuring the original cast. While also being a fan of its sequel series "The Next Generation", and its four films, through TV's "Voyager" ( "Enterprise" through all these modern streaming series have been a disappointment), nothing compares to the original. Growing up in the 80's guaranteed in theatres horror film franchises and Trek movies. For years the rule was that even-numbered Trek films (2, 4, and 6) were great, Parts 1, 3, 5, and 7 were not so much. While each was successful, most could agree that the first film, 1979's "The Motion Picture" was the worse of the bunch (with Part 5 "The Final Frontier" a close second). And while I agree, it is this film that has been revisited the most, with now four different versions of it through the years, a lot like what Lucas did with the original Star Wars trilogy starting in the late 90's. But with each change, ending in 2022's "The Director's Cut", is it worth owning yet again, if not even at all?First, you gotta take into account this: it was made in the late 70's. Science Fiction only recently got blown away by Star Wars and the advancement of special effects and miniatures. The audiences at that time were just trying to catch its breath with all the visuals being warped by their eyes at the time, so Hollywood took it slow, giving you long-winded scenes of VX shots so you really, really saw it. ST1 was no different, but at times it did even then take too long. And when it came time to see our old(er) heroes like Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, more time was needed to reintroduce them to audiences who may have forgotten from the original series. So instead of fist-punching action in 44 minutes like the show, in '79 you got over 2 hours of stars gawking at view screens like the audience, multiple passes of the Enterprise from every single angle, and actors reminding us who their characters were. It seemed very slow paced, and as new generations discovered it, it seemed even slower, especially next to sequels like "Wrath Of Khan", that didn't have to do those mandatory things Part 1 had too, and just jump into the action. But Part 1 has something no other sequel has, and that is a sense of "epic" film making. Maybe that is why it has been done & re-done, even after director Robert "Day The Earth Stood Still" Wise passed away.So what do you get this time? Back in 1979, the making of the film was rushed for a Xmas release and many scenes, both special effects & dialogue, didn't make it in the film due to time restraints, then in 1983 ABC Television showed it with extra footage put back in, finished or not, to give it an extra 10 minutes longer. But in 2001, at the start of the DVD revolution, Paramount allowed Wise to revisit the film, and add new special effects and approve new scenes that were in the TV broadcast. However, when completed since HD was just a dream at the time, all the new shots were done in standard definition at 720p. When HD became the norm, as well as Blu-Ray/4K, those shots couldn't be upgraded and again, the theatrical cut was placed on Blu. But after a successful 40th anniversary of "Wrath Of Khan" was released (extra scenes, but original effects), Paramount wanted to do "Motion" again, this time with a 4k complete cleaning and the 2001 upgrade effects upgraded yet again for 4k HD. So most of the original 2001 team that worked on the "original" DC and Robert Wise gathered again, and took his memory and preferences to recreate what he started 20 years later. And for all intent, they did.Now both picture and sound are beautifully brought up to 2020's standards. In fact, at times this looks like say a show from the 2020's trying to visually recreate a show from the 70's, the picture looks that good. As for the effects, of course the main reason to upgrade them is because the 2001 upgrades weren't useable in today's 4k world, but the 2022 versions look even better with more depth, detail, and more modern believability than what was done 20 years ago. But not everything is perfect: while some of those deleted scenes are now back in, it seems to "pick-up-the-pace", original scenes are now trimmed down to remove dialogue that might not be so needed to have a faster story. But lines like "Oh My God" & "I Said, Viewer Off!" which spoken by Kirk showed the stress of the older Captain's situation, are now gone in this version, sort of making him seem more in control when really a subplot of the film is the fact that Kirk is now a bit out of his element than when younger, and those lines were just two now gone that confirmed that. But do all these changes make the film great? No, no matter what it still is the same film, just with some fine-tuning, if you hated it still, the best this version can do is make you dislike it a tad less, that's it. But it does seem more appropriate overall for an audience that wasn't born when it first came out now. And maybe that's just a good enough reason.So in conclusion, if you are a TOS fan, even if you bought all the films on say Blu-Ray already, you should check this out as well. The upgrades won't take you out of the picture, just the opposite, and the faster-pace might make you see the film in a whole new light. And remember, with Star Trek, you will not get more thought-provoking dialogue like this in say ANY Star Wars film guaranteed, and with "The Motion Picture" those words are in abundance here. To quote the original 1979 tag-line: "There Is No Comparision". Watch & find out why not.

Firstly, the digital code that comes in the package, is only for the UHD version of the film. There are none for the extended cut. Because I already have the 1080p HD digital copy of this film, upgrading to 4K with the physical media was only a plus, not a neccessity. However, being able to own a 4K copy of the extended version of this film is worth the price of admission. If just the extended version was available as a stand alone product - I would have just bought that. The third disc, the Special Features bluray, is also a good incentive to make this purchase.The extra swag accompanying this limited edition set is not all that impressive, however. Done purely for nostalgia - for fans like myself, old enough to have seen Star Trek - The Motion Picture in theaters. The "lobby cards", stickers, and mini-poster is a reminder of days gone by. The items reflect the times that they seek to reflect - that is not a good thing. The color of the lobby cards are faded, like they are actually from the 70's. The stickers are stilly, from the perspective of a now middle-aged man. The new poster is nice, but tiny, so VERY tiny; plus it is folded, so therefore creased. The booklet is very nice, however. It includes never before seen pictures, both from the original production and the new restoration project.Overall, I like the restoration and the 4K upscaling. Image quality is improved, for the most part. I was initially very impressed with the Tram scene, which carried Admiral Kirk to Starfleet Headquarters, but Robert Wise "fixed" it to the point that the extra special effects shots (see top right of the screen) are distracting from the two characters, Commander Sonak and Adm. Kirk interacting - which should have been the only focus of the scene. This addition was originally attempted during the first "director's cut" version back in the 2000's and redone again for this NEW director's cut. Elements from the original Matt painting is still there, now with the addition of new digital elements. I would have preferred keeping the original wall on the right side and have the shuttle (a nod to the Galileo from the TV series) launch from the distant left, which now have more activity. The original just had static painted people. Sometimes, I think directors should just leave things alone. Another such example is the scene, in the Enterprise lounge, where Kirk asks Spock to report anything he "senses" from the entity. Really? The new digital additions now makes the scene look fake. They wanted the audience to know that the room they were in was actually below the bridge and facing the rear of the ship...so what? That slight modification would not have added anything to the narative. I wonder how much it costs to add that extra background. I also used to love the Red Alert claxon and the male computer voice, which gave the scene urgency and a feeling of dred. Now, it is a polite chime. One thing that I had always wished they would fix is the V'ger probe of the bridge, right before it took one of the charaters. It was obvious that the light band (aka probe) broke up two images. But, they were always shifted and did not match. The Special Features disc showed a test shot of this effect and one of them looked better than the final product. I do liked the addition of showing more of the V'ger "entity", but some mystery can also add to the drama.Since this may be the final FINAL cut, we'll have to settle for what we get. I still think that ST-TMP is one of the best Sci-fi films of the genre. If you have the other versions of the film, you can choose which one to watch and be your own judge. Hopefully, this new cut will appeal to a new generation of audiences. I also recommend reading the novelization, a book supposedly written by Gene Roddenberry himself.