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Review: ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition’ Stuns On 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

| September 7, 2022 | By: Matt Wright 51 comments so far

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition has come home in three editions. A 2-disc Ultra HD Blu-ray set, a 2-disc standard Blu-ray set, and a special limited edition 3-disc Ultra HD Blu-ray set called “The Complete Adventure.” This review will focus on the Ultra HD Blu-ray set and the US version of the limited edition box set.

The Motion Picture

Before there was a movie franchise, there was simply Star Trek: The Motion Picture . As the name states, this was a film based on Star Trek: The Original Series , released 10 years after the series was canceled , it was an almost unheard idea to not only bring back a canceled TV show but do it on the silver screen. Rushed to theaters in December 1979, the cerebral style and more quiet pacing make it stand apart from the later Trek films. Yet TMP seems to have undergone a reevaluation in the last 10 years — more people seem to like it, with less complaints about it being the “motionless picture.” Due to the grand scale and scope of Robert Wise’s film, it is also the most fitting to have a near-total rework done to unleash the visual and aural splendor that was hiding underneath the hazy veneer of the rushed post-production. There’s much more that could be said of the The Motion Picture and this latest Director’s Edition , if you’re interested to read more I highly recommend reading my colleague Brian’s review when the 2022 DE was released on Paramount+ earlier this year.

Spock returns to the Enterprise.

The Director’s Edition in Ultra HD

This brand new for 2022 edition is based on the blueprint of the previous 2001 standard definition DVD Director’s Edition , but everything has been worked on with modern tools for 4K and HDR. Perhaps most importantly, this time the DE team was able to recover a significant amount of the original visual effects footage, and were thus able to re-composite a number of visual effects shots, making those shots look amazingly clear. No less importantly, the team also found a significant amount of original dialog replacement (ADR) recordings, and recordings of background audio that were to be used in comm chatter if time hadn’t run out in 1979. It’s hard to convey just how much is different and yet the same with this edition. It’s like the movie we all knew but it’s been heightened.

Spock goes rocketing into the heart of V’Ger

NOTE: Most of the screenshots included in this article are from the 1080p trailer video. The 4k HDR versions look even better. Staring at still frames of a motion picture isn’t exactly how a film is intended to be watched, so take these as general demonstration of the changes.

The Ultra HD Blu-ray set

The standard retail edition contains two discs: the main film, and a disc of bonus features.

Video Quality

The new 2022 Director’s Edition is a stunning film, using modern remastering tools, along with the re-composited original elements and new renders of the CGI scenes that were inserted for the DE. The film is gorgeous. The movie looks sharp and clean, with a level of detail and color (yes there’s rich saturated colors in the film, despite the ’70s color palette used for the costumes) that’s never been seen before. The film looks noticeably better in the extremes, like the dark blues of the V’Ger interior and the bright explosion as the Enterprise emerges. Thanks to HDR that brightness is quite bright, but never overwhelms the details inside the transformation. These high complexity, high brightness scenes are where the streaming version on Paramount+ started to break down (getting blockier), thanks to the high bitrate of being on disc, there aren’t any such issues here.

If I had to quibble, I would say things look perhaps a bit too clean for a movie from 1979. A lot of grain reduction was done to the 35mm elements, while not in a way that compromises image quality, it’s just a bit surprising to see very subtle film grain in a movie of the era. I assume the intent was to make everything match the fine grain 65mm visual effects elements that they were able to pull from the archives.

Audio Quality

Just as impressive as the remastered visuals is the brand new Dolby Atmos audio mix. As mentioned above, this isn’t just a new mix of the existing audio elements, there are a lot of new sounds/dialog thanks to the team finding director Wise’s preferred dialog takes, new background chatter recordings, etc. Jerry Goldsmith’s score really makes the film, and it has been lovingly crafted into the brand new Atmos mix by legendary music producer (and Goldsmith collaborator) Bruce Botnik. I’m going to quote Brian’s review since he described this new mix so deftly earlier this year:

Every environment is more sonically active. The Enterprise is full of many different sounds that really gives you the feel of being on starship, and V’Ger itself has far more of an auditory presence and feels more menacing and mysterious. The music cues from Jerry Goldsmith’s legendary score have been remixed under the supervision of engineer/producer Bruce Botnick, a longtime colleague of Goldsmith’s who was part of the original scoring sessions in 1979. Some of the cues feel like they’ve been remixed in a way that favors a particular instrument, but by and large the score remains the same and sounds better than ever.

The wormhole dissipates thanks to a well-placed photon torpedo.

Special Features

On the main feature disc you get a new audio commentary from the Director’s Edition crew along with legacy commentaries, and an isolated score feature. Here is the full breakdown:

• Audio Commentary by David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren R. Dochterman ( NEW )
• Audio Commentary by Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, and Stephen Collins
• Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
• Isolated Score

Things get even better: no matter which version you buy, you get a second disc, a standard Blu-ray filled with new and legacy features.

New features

There’s a new 8-part documentary titled “The Human Adventure,” which runs about 48 minutes in total. This includes new interviews with the DE team, and others. Notably we hear from visual effects pioneer John Dykstra, who split duties with the late Douglass Trumbull on the visual effects for TMP.

Most exciting for hardcore TMP fans are going to be the deleted scenes the DE team was able to unearth. First and foremost is the long-assumed lost scene of Decker and the Ilia probe in engineering (a portion of which can be seen in the embedded promo video at the bottom of this review). Additionally, the team found the scene where the security guard is killed by the V’Ger probe — which frankly isn’t all that interesting. And video only of the corresponding scene at the end of the movie where the security guard is mentioned in the casualty list.

Scotty looks watches the Ilia probe examine engineering in a deleted scene.

Also neat are the little vignettes of the screen tests of the effects and costumes. For graphics nerds, there’s a very cool feature of all the bridge (and one or two sickbay) animated display graphics scanned from the original film sources that were looped behind the displays on set.

Here is a complete breakdown the new special features:

• Preparing the Future (HD – 4:13)
• A Wise Choice (HD – 4:04)
• Refitting the  Enterprise  (HD – 6:57)
• Sounding Off (HD – 6:47)
• V’ger (HD – 6:53)
• Return to Tomorrow (HD – 6:04)
• A Grand Theme (HD – 7:14)
• The Grand Vision (HD – 6:02)
• Ilia & Decker in Engineering (HD – 3:16)
• Security Guard (HD – :39)
• Three Casualties (HD – :35)
• Effects Tests (HD – 3:30)
• Costume Tests (HD – 4:40)
• Computer Display Graphics (HD – 3:10)

Legacy features

Notably, this includes the two TMP-centric parts of Roger Lay Jr’s excellent documentaries from the 50th anniversary boxed set.

• Phase II: The Lost Enterprise (SD – 12:39)
• A Bold New Enterprise (SD – 29:41)
• Redirecting the Future (SD – 14:06)
• The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture (HD – 10:44)
• Special Star Trek Reunion (HD – 9:37)
• Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 001: The Mystery Behind V’Ger (HD – 4:24)
• The New Frontier: Resurrecting Star Trek (HD – 30:01)
• Maiden Voyage: Making Star Trek: The Motion Picture (HD – 29:13)
• Vulcan (HD)
• Enterprise Departure (HD)
• V’Ger Revealed (HD)
• Trims (SD – 6:08)
• Outtakes/Memory Wall (SD – 2:49)
• Vulcan and Starfleet (SD – 4:15)
• Attack on the Enterprise (SD – 2:36)
• Cloud Journey (SD – 3:31)
• V’Ger Flyover (SD – 5:04)
• Wing Walk (SD – 4:48)
• Sulu and Ilia 1 (SD – 1:06)
• Sulu and Ilia 2 (SD – :27)
• Kirk’s Quarters (SD – :21)
• Officer’s Lounge (SD – :13)
• Attack on the Enterprise (SD – 1:08)
• Intruder Transformation (SD – :32)
• A Huge Vessel (SD – :47)
• Kirk Follows Spock (SD – 1:13)
• Ilia’s Quarters 1 (SD – 1:05)
• Ilia’s Quarters 2 (SD – 1:20)
• Its Creator Is a Machine (SD – :17)
• Teaser Trailer (HD – 2:18)
• Theatrical Trailer (HD – 2:29)
• Startle Your Senses
• Cast/Human Adventure
• Spiritual Search
• Spiritual/Startle Your Senses
• Spiritual/Human Adventure
• Event/Common Experience

The Complete Adventure

“The Complete Adventure” limited edition has everything in the regular Ultra HD Blu-ray set and adds a lot of fun extras. It includes reproductions of stickers and mini lobby cards from 1979, along with a nice booklet of behind-the-scenes information showing concept art, costumes, makeup, and matte paintings from the making of The Motion Picture . The discs are contained in a recreation of the awesome refit Enterprise cutaway poster.

Most importantly, the set adds another Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with 4K versions of the Theatrical and, exclusive to this set, the Special Longer Version. The various small “longer version” scenes are inserted to the theatrical version via seamless branching. So it’s all on one disc, when you first insert the disc you choose which of the two versions to play.

Since this disc is based upon the Theatrical version previously released, it contains the same legacy commentary with Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and Daren Dochterman. The SLV has no commentary track available.

The Special Longer Version (SLV) was last released on LaserDisc. Since then it hasn’t been on home video. There’s good reason for this, considering its origins as a padded “special edition” made for ABC to broadcas t in 1983 for their “Sunday Night Movie” program. Basically, every viable deleted scene was thrown back into TMP, whether they added anything to the story, and in some cases whether they even made sense from a continuity perspective, for a special presentation of the movie on ABC. This version was then marketed on home video as the “Special Longer Version.”

If you grew up watching TMP on VHS as I did, then you probably know this version fairly well. In the USA for quite some time it was the only version of the film sold. It’s really rather amazing that Paramount agreed to have this alternate version put together in 4K. It’s really only for completists, but I do like the idea that I have every major version available to me.

The video quality is effectively the same as the standard theatrical 4K release from 2021 , since that’s what this is disc is built upon. The SLV bits seem to have been cleaned up to about the same level as the theatrical version.

Likewise, audio quality is the same for the theatrical version, with the same Dolby TrueHD lossless 7.1 audio as the 2021 disc. However, when you choose the Special Longer Version, it is limited to a more basic stereo track.

The SLV has a rather infamous scene that was reinserted that has a major continuity error, and was totally unfinished. The scene is of Kirk deciding to follow Spock in an EV suit. This scene is actually from the scrapped “Memory Wall” sequence, which featured different spacesuits. So Kirk is seen suiting up with a different EV suit than when he ends up catching Spock — which is from the final cut with the more familiar EV suit design (seen again in TWOK). Kirk is seen jetting out of a hatch with obvious scaffolding around the portion of the set that was built. If the scene has made it to the final cut, it would have been inserted into a matte painting of the hull of the Enterprise, since it was scrapped, no such shot was made. For this new 4K version of the SLV, as a surprise for fans, this was fixed by adding digital matte of the Enterprise hull. If you want to see the difference, the original unaltered version is offered as “deleted scene.”

The scaffolding is now hidden by a new digital matte in this version of the SLV.

Available now

Star Trek: The Motion Picture –  The Director’s Edition was released in the USA on Tuesday, September 6 and you can pick it up at Amazon for $25.96 . The standard Blu-ray edition is selling for $17.99 . The limited edition “Complete Adventure” boxed set goes in and out of stock at Amazon, there is also limited stock at local Best Buy stores for $83.99 , so check both sellers.

DISCLAIMER: We may link to products to buy on Amazon in our articles; these are customized affiliate links that support TrekMovie by earning a small commission when you purchase through them.

Promo Video

Paramount has released a portion of the deleted scene where Kirk prepares to broadcast a message down to engineering in the hopes that it will sway the Ilia probe.

Find more news about TMP-DE and other  Star Trek home media and streaming at TrekMovie.com .

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My Blu Ray arrived today and I’m so delighted. This is my favourite Trek film and one of my favourite films full stop. I’ve been looking forward to this for years.

Calling it cerebral is being kind. IMO now as in 1979 it’s a rehash of “The Changeling”. I will admit the presentation is better and I’m glad they got rid of that annoying computer voice.

No, they took “The Changeling” script and remastered it. ;-)

Well, I’d rather watch this movie than that episode. At least we’re spared Uhura having to learn to read again. Yeesh.

Counterpoint: “The Changeling” involves a probe on killing spree and a case of mistake identity. V’Ger is literally on a quest to find its creator in hope that its creator can give it an answer to the only question it has left. It’s about evolution, and as basic as the answer winds up being (“love, connection to another being”) it’s one you do have to think about while watching it, and the script is structured very nicely where Spock’s journey parallels it. V’Ger wants what we all want.

Well stated. Certainly TMP and “The Changling” share some basic story DNA, but TMP elevates it well beyond the TOS episode.

Definitely. It’s legitimate to note the similarities, but calling one a remake of the other is pretty facile.

Well said. V’Ger is on a philosophical quest; Nomad just calls Kirk creator because it thinks he built it. There are elements that are similar, but you could say the same of Star Trek II, which is essentially a delayed continuation of “Space Seed,” with Kirk and co going up against the exact same character (much less capable) as in the TV show.

in the end nomad is seen as a threat and kirk destroys it. v’ger is a mystery to be solved, leading to kirk and co understanding its nature and finding out how to give it what it needs without any more loss of life.

Oh goodness, can you imagine if this movie ended with Kirk talking VGer into self destructing? What a thought… The ending as it is, is transcendent (perhaps more by luck than by design since they didn’t even have an ending when they began filming).

The mysterious ending left the future for Spock – having seen the universe through V’Ger – incredibly open to IDIC within himself. Perhaps this was even more clear in the Roddenberry/Foster novel.

In subsequent films, Spock could have, in fact, should have shown some kind of growth..

As a high school student, going through some spiritual questions of my own, I wrote a fanfic about V’Ger inspiring Spock to renouncing logic. It was published in a very edited form, which I totally resented – she changed my story considerably. The editor’s reason was basically “the characters wouldn’t do this.” After that, I soured to fanfic. But happily focused on my own new characters and writing.

Just Roddenberry on the novel, not Foster.

Oh, interesting. I looked it up – Wikipedia says hecontributed to the story, not the novel.

Aside from Foster, who’s still with us, who can really say for sure? Either way, it’s not a bad piece of writing — more interesting, in many ways, than the film itself.

Foster has a limited edition book of his experiences writing for media but I guess it is OOP and super-expensive. Would love to get hold of it sometime, for the SW stuff if nothing else.

Re: Foster book.

Could it be The Director Should’ve Shot You?

Yeah, I think that is the title. I thought I’d bookmarked a site discussing it, but evidently not.

Totally off-topic, but I remember you were a huge Matheson fan, was reading an old FILMFAX Richard Matheson interview. Apparenty he hoped for a big studio verwsion of HELL HOUSE with Dick and Liz as the psychics and Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom as scientiest and wife. Gist is that he didn’t think that Hough took HELL HOUSE far enough, and that if they’d just waited till after EXORCIST hit, there’d have been studio interest in the property.

Also read that Blatty did an uncredited rewrite on THE OMEGA MAN (different article and issue), losing an arbitration for credit. Apparently his stuff is all of the one-liners (my favorite parts of the movie, which you know I love dearly despite its many lapses.)

There’s a huge McFarland book with horror interviews featuring Matheson, Kathryn Victor and tons of other folks. I was thinking of picking it up, it is a silver trade paperback. Have you ever read it?

spock does grow over time in the films, more relaxed in ‘khan’ and then kind of starting over as a person from ‘voyage home’ onwards

Got mine on Tuesday around 12 noon, so my afternoon was the celebratory viewing. Magnificent!

I had no idea McCoy’s ‘all us machines’ line was found — am very excited about that, and will have to talk to some folks about what kinds of editing equipment are needed to make my own cut of TMP, which will include ZERO CG images. (ideally it would have the original discarded Yuricich painting of Vulcan, the one that wasn’t all junked up with worlds in the sky that appeared in STARLOG a couple of times, but I haven’t ever found a high-rez image of it.) Would definitely cut the little guy fleeing ep9 as well.

A friend has been finessing the drydock scene to make a pretty big cut in the approach to E that won’t butcher the music (I think he has the same idea I’ve had, which is to skip the whole side-look and do the reveal as the pod comes around from the front), so he probably has the tools.

I’ll take the CGI, and you can have that original matte at the end that made the Enterprise’s saucer look like it was about twenty feet tall.

No argument about the latter, but I’m pretty sure that was one of the shots that production finished right at the end, but it didn’t get into the final, so theoretically they could have put the fixed version into this. In my theoretical cut, you wouldn’t even include the shot, I always thought the first shot (which looks bad on blu and dvd but to my eye looked fine in theater, on vhs and laserdisc) was more than enough to tell the story.

It’s okay, in spite of the distorted perspective. But I still think the CG replacement is far superior, and ties-in much better with the miniature footage (not to mention the original storyboards of how that shot was supposed to look).

I remember making my own cut of TMP on VHS back around 1982-’83, which horrified some people and delighted others. The approximate running time was 70-75 minutes, lol. I enjoy the film a lot more now, as it’s not as awfully dark as it was at the Century Theater Dome in San Jose, back in ’79.

You got that right about the Cen 22. I don’t know if you remember me telling you, but it was playing at the Plaza in Campbell a couple months later and I saw it there and it was so much brighter!

The Plaza was a 2nd run theater, but I wonder if they had union projectionists because movies always looked better there. I saw LOST HIGHWAY there too and the level of detail present wasn’t visible even on the DVD (the blu-ray did ‘catch up’ with the theatrical print.)

My memories of those days in San Jose are fairly vague, but I remember going to the Century to see Logan’s Rin in I guess the summer of ’76 (a day off from film school for me), I remember nearly walking out (but wanting to do so, badly!) on Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and I can’t remember if you were there, but seeing the first show on the first day of ALIEN, which was missing the sound on the first reel! So they had to fly in another first reel, but did the long line of movie-goers want to see the film from the beginning anyway? Of course everyone in that insanely long line screamed “YEAH!” lol

So it was like 20 minutes or whatever of the people in the Century making up dialogue and sound effects for the early parts of ALIEN, lol.

The thing I remember most about TMP at the Century being dark, was the opening sequence of the Klingon/V’Ger battle where the Klingon cruiser moves in and the great up and over turn as it moves away from us. It was so d@*n dark at the Century that I couldn’t see much of anything except inky blackness!

The new Bluray DE is SO NICE because I can see so much more, I can hear a lot more, and some of the edits/corrections (such as the V’Ger probe moving around the bridge!) have been very well “fixed” to the point where it doesn’t look so awful any longer!

I think the *only* thing I don’t like in this DE is the opening title animated (?) letters.

All in all, one of top my five favorite DVDs/Blurays of the year,

I read someplace today that Dochterman claims the titles are supposed to reflect the vger moire look as seen in the bridge probe and the evolution at the end. If so, it’s not a very good reflection. I mean, Apogee did a crappy job of emuating the evolution/transcendence moire on the bridge probe, but these titles from what I’ve seen are just ghastly. (I hated the DE DVD ones, too — it’s like somebody decided it would be cool to emulate the colors and fonts from a Stephen King omnibus — I think it was THE BACHMAN BOOKS. Plus I think all these titles that go out of focus like ST-FC are real headache inducers, Superman being the exception.)

Yeah, I don’t know, but the opening title letters just annoy the bleep outta me.

I’m making a cheap one hour film now for giggles, it’s all simple as possible. The only way to make it look any cheaper would be to use the awful Comic Sans font for the titles. It’s a story based on a weird old UFO urban legend from the ’60s, thus cheap is the only way to go, even for my 100th micro-budget film.

Have to agree about the titles, which are just over-the-top-tacky, like the “beaming-in” effect of the VOYAGE HOME title.

Agreed. Not a fan of the new sparkly titles.

I thought it was going to be more hype than anything else, but I was seriously blown away by the AUDIO mix. It’s a completely different movie with the Atmos mix. The dialogue… for the first time ever… sound more in line with the audio quality of a late 80’s Star Trek movie. Much richer bottom end in the vocals that never existed before. Quite remarkable for the super-fan.

The audio mix had a lot of little things in it that I never picked up before. The pulsing sounds of the warp engines as they were spinning up was one of my favorites.

Hello, Is this new DE version included in the new 1-6 UHD box set? I’m very confused

No it is not. That’s one of the reasons why we reviewed it separately. The DE is a standalone release.

I got my 1-6 box set and it has the TMP DE included as well as the original theatrical in 4K.

Thanks for that. You’re right, I totally missed that the 6 movie boxed set includes both TMP theatrical and DE. I assumed it was the effectively same set as the 4 movie set from 2021, but with Star Trek V and VI thrown in.

It’s worth every freaking penny I spent on it !!!

FREAKING MAGNIFICENT

Still available on Amazon,$83.99.

You could watch this film on 8K it would still be a load of rubbish

Looking forward to my copy arriving. Coming from the UK to Canada so won’t be here for another week or so though.

Bought this for the special features and am really glad to see the security guard scene after all these years. They featured the scene on Topps cards back in ’79. Guess I’ll have to wait for a future release to see Spock save Kirk from those “crystals” in the Memory Wall trench. Supposedly they had a rough cut of the whole thing before they scrapped it.

It’s hardly a “rough cut of the whole thing.” They filmed some of the crazy trench stuff and then scrapped it all. Whatever survives of it has been included as a bonus feature since the 2001 DE release. https://www.forgottentrek.com/the-motion-picture/producing-the-memory-wall-sequence/

Yeah, I’ve seen that site. I have lots of stills from the scene. I read they assembled what footage they had to show Trumbull before they decided to change things. I believe the book Return to Tomorrow mentions this but don’t have the book out. There are shots of Wise directing parts of this. Supposedly the wire work on the crystals and Shatner and Nimoy (and their doubles) didn’t look right so they had to have stuff to look at.

So I know this article mentions it, but does anybody here know the differences between the Director’s Cut and the Special Longer Version? The fact that I don’t get all the versions of the first one is literally the only thing that’s holding me back from purchasing the 6 film set.

The best resource I’ve seen is this 2 part video that shows what’s been inserted compared to the Theatrical edition. Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnvrjMke-HM Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J390phDjyfs

This looks really poor in places.

Starfleet SF base water & other parts of the new VFX look terrible really shoddy low quality work that does not even fit into the scene at all.

Loads of scenes with dodgy glitchy travelling matte’s or visibly shaking models still in place.

They wasted all the miniscule budget they had on redoing things which did not need doing & do CALL ATTENTION to themselves as they do not fit the 1979 look at all yet did not bother fixing all the many still broken parts of the picture………!

The TV-Version of the movie is not part of The Complete Adventure-Box in Europe……

It depends on the country. In the UK it is included. Apparently in the German version it is not.

Daniel R.? ;-) I bet this is gonna scare off a lot of german buyers…

Got the 4K Director’s Edition yesterday and watched it with my brother last night. It’s still our favorite Star Trek Movie and I think the pacing of this version is just about right. The movie whizzed by and held our attention even though we’ve seen it countless times.

The new 4K restoration really brings out the details to a level not seen before and the new sound mix really stands out, giving the movie a richer soundscape. The pulsing sound of the warp engines as they spin up was something I’d never really noticed before for example.

I’m a little disappointed that the standard edition just comes with the 4K disc, a disc of extras (largely legacy material) and the digital copy of only the movie. That’s a little bare bones as other studios will routinely include a 1080p BluRay of the film and digital access to the extras as well in the package. In that regard the Paramount comes across as a bit stingy here.

Still, it’s great to finally have a high-res edition of my favorite version of my favorite Star Trek movie. They really don’t make movies like this anymore.

I don’t want to repeat my comments, but I’d love to see a recut and “demastered” tv-version which shows how the proposed tv-pilot of Phase II “in the image” could have looked like.

How Star Trek: The Motion Picture made the voyage home (to 4K)

Producer david c. fein on why this version will change minds about the first star trek film, some "happy accidents" during the restoration, and "cave spock".

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a benchmark film for multiple reasons. Not only did it revive the Trek franchise ten years after the cancellation of The Original Series , spawning what we’d now call an “expanded universe” of stories across a variety of other formats (film, TV, and more), but its 2001 arrival on home video with a Director’s Edition opened the floodgates for home video as a second-chance opportunity to revisit, expand, or in this case just complete a film that was never released to the filmmakers’ satisfaction. Director Robert Wise ( West Side Story ) may have been out of step with the prevailing cultural winds of 1979 when he agreed to helm The Motion Picture just two years after Star Wars changed everything about blockbuster moviemaking, but looking at the film in 2022, it’s clear that his gallant, meditative opus simply needed some extra time to connect with audiences.

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Paramount Home Video recently formalized that time warp with the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition—The Complete Adventure , which includes a 4K UHD remaster of the film that makes history yet again, like it did in 2001, and way back in 1979. The 2001 edition featured what were then cutting-edge special effects, but 20 years later, they’re not just outdated but unable to be replicated, which is why only the film’s theatrical cut was previously released in HD. Going back to the original camera negatives, producer David C. Fein and his team meticulously reassembled every element of the film down to the smallest details, enhancing moments that might have lacked color, brightness, or energy in earlier editions, and uncovering others that even long-standing Trek fans never noticed.

Fein spoke to The A.V. Club about how the film was compromised in ’79 by production woes and a rushed theatrical release and about why Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition marks the overdue completion of the original project. In addition to pinpointing some of the tiny details that help round out Wise’s vision, Fein discusses technological advances that made this cut achievable only after some 43 years, and hints at the wealth of additional material that may be available to examine in some future release.

The A.V. Club: In the bonus materials, you said that Robert Wise saw other “director’s cuts” that helped him decide it was possible to do this. What were those films that inspired him?

David Fein: What’s unique about The Motion Picture is it’s not really a special edition or a different cut. It’s the first time the film was finished. Even our DVD version from 2001 was still just an evolution to finally getting it to film level. Because there were things we couldn’t do in color grading for home entertainment. But looking at [ Close Encounters Of The Third Kind ], Spielberg had scenes he wanted to put in but couldn’t do it because of the time. And eventually they had the collector’s edition of Close Encounters because it brought it back to what Spielberg’s original focus was. That’s probably the closest to where we’re going with the movie.

But Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not, “the film went into the theater this way and it was done.” The film never reached a full finished point until now. And there’s so many wonderful benefits we’re able to accomplish now that we weren’t able to even conceive of in 2000 in telling the story. And I’m thrilled, because we even found some answers to problems that we discussed but never really had a good solution for back then, and certainly a couple of happy accidents that worked better than I would have imagined.

AVC: Can you give me some examples of those happy accidents? And were there elements you wanted to leave alone, or just shine up a little bit?

DF: Well, the Paramount archives did an incredible job of pulling and archiving every piece of material that they had. [But] transferring those and being able to re-composite them digitally, I never realized how soft they were merely because of the rush [to complete the film back in 1979]. The dubbing was so low quality, to go back to the original camera negatives of each effects element and then re-composite them, they’re stunning. [But] there’s one story point that concerned me that I almost don’t want to tell you, because it never worked before. Something we did has such a subliminal moment to it that I think if I drew attention to it, I’m afraid it wouldn’t work as well.

AVC: You’ve whetted my appetite far too much not to tell me. Please keep going.

DF: Maybe in a month after people have a chance to look at it, we’ll connect again and I’ll tell you. But unique to this version, having the entire film available in negative form, just about every shot has been touched in some way to enhance it or to make it work. And working from camera negative as opposed to any other format, there’s this striping space where you have audio on 35mm film. There’s also picture if they don’t hard matte it, and there’s at least one moment in the film where something’s happening on the right-hand side of the screen, and it was good but it wasn’t feeling as powerful as it needed to be. And that’s when Scotty is talking to the other engineer about “why did the captain order self-destruct?” There’s another crewman who’s standing there working on it [who reacts like,] what did he say? Recognizing that he’s going to die, too. And it just helped to amplify it.

The other thing I was going to say is that there’s two places in the film where, forever, what you see on the screen is ‘what’s happening.’ It’s always been that way. But there’s two places now where what you’re seeing is more of a dream moment. The first one is when Ilia reaches out and touches Chekov and says, “I can stop this pain.” That scene had an importance because it’s what made her different on the bridge for the V’Ger probe to grab her. But this is different from even the DVD version, and she says “I can stop this pain” and she touches him, there’s a moment where the music comes up, but everything else disappears. The bridge sound effects, everything, all goes away. And it’s this psychic moment between him and her, where the world just melts away. And it’s that personal, and it amplified the importance of it. And then when he says “thank you,” it comes back into the real world. So it’s like this little dream, but it helped tell that point of the story and helped amplify her importance.

AVC: The era in which the first version was made did not have the technological complexity to zero in on those subtleties. Where was it necessary to take a little creative license to kickstart some of those ideas that weren’t as clearly articulated in the original film, without knowing if Robert Wise would have approved?

DF: The first thing that pops to mind is the color grading, because the original film had literally four days to color grade the film. They didn’t know what effects would be in there or what scenes would be in from beginning to end, so they had to leave a basic flat grade so that if something came in, they could quickly fit it into the edit. [But] the film needed dynamic range to draw you in, to get that scope of what we were looking for, and when we were doing the original project, Bob suggested, “what if we didn’t just compress that information down, but we expanded the delivery format?” And he implored me to absolutely use every tool available to tell stories. And he didn’t know what Dolby Atmos was—it didn’t exist! But now we’re sitting in this room with V’Ger [going] “BOING” over you in the Atmos mix, and now the sound helps tell the highs and lows of the story.

[Also], there’s still some long shots that felt long in the 2001 version to some people—but now you need that as a recovery moment from the highs. And that light probe on the bridge is so exciting, because now we have HDR. We know it’s so bright that people had to cover their eyes on the bridge, but now it’s bright enough to give you more of that experience. And it’s just going to improve as technology improves. And that makes me more excited than ever before, that we haven’t reached the potential that is actually on this disc—even in 4K.

AVC: There have always been retroactive changes—or explanations to those changes, like the Klingons in Star Trek: The Motion Picture were the first ones that had the ridged foreheads. Were there any changes or enhancements that you worried you shouldn’t do because it might affect Trek canon?

DF: We had our edit mostly locked from the 2001 [version], so I don’t think there would be anything that would take away from the narrative. If anything, effort was just focused on making the story work. There are key decisions that just work better now. The moral [of the story] itself was still ahead of its time, in that technology without humanity is cold and can’t move further into reality. At the time, the greatest technological advancement was a touch- tone! I think now the moral would affect them more if you just gave them what the story is now, because it relates more now. We all have cell phones. And if you took all social media away from it, it wouldn’t mean anything. So now the message has changed, or caught up to today’s reality. But it didn’t need my help.

AVC: Collector’s editions like this are more rare than ever—this is sort of the exception that proves the rule. How much is left to explore about this film or the Original Series cast Star Trek films, that fans wouldn’t know about?

DF: I started my career as a special feature archeologist, which is what I’ve always called them. And there’s always more material. I mean, we transferred so many hours of material that we can never present it all. There’s deleted moments or deleted scenes. And even this project hasn’t scratched the surface on what’s out there. I think every film, every project has so much more that could be told. The question is if there’s going to be enough motivation to have someone want to go back and do all that extra work—and whether or not there’s going to be financing for it. It’s nice that with streaming, there is opportunities to have no limitations in space, but then there’s always time and budget, whether or not it’s there.

I’m always going for the coolness factor. One example on this project was “cave Spock.” That’s something that I knew about for years and everybody I spoke to, including Nimoy’s family, never knew that there was the cave Spock stuff. So I knew that was going to be fantastic. There are surprises in everything, and there is no limitation except that many, many times studios have thrown out or don’t have the same material. There are still thousands of photos that no one’s ever seen on this film. On every film. But no, we’re certainly not at the end of possibilities.

There’s deleted moments that could change a whole film. And that’s where it’s important that you have the alternate cuts, because the theatrical cut, many people fell in love with the film as a theatrical [experience]. When it became the special longer version, that’s what introduced people to the film [on TV]. That has a place for them as well. That’s why it’s included in the Complete Adventure. And now we have the Director’s Edition, where everyone should just watch it as the definitive version. But the only limitations are when there’s nothing that exists at all, on any of the movies. But even then you can get people’s current perspectives on where the film stands today, based upon the past. It’s all a matter of creativity, ingenuity, and thinking about what could be created—even out of nothing. I’d love to see a hell of a lot more on all the films.

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The new Star Trek: The Motion Picture director’s cut is finally coming to Paramount Plus

Check out Kirk, Sulu, and Mr. Spock in 4K

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Star Trek : The Motion Picture — the 1979 outing and the first film in the franchise — is coming to Paramount Plus on April 5 (known as First Contact Day in the Star Trek universe) with a new “Director’s Edition.”

For this new version, Paramount Pictures has remastered the film in 4K — an upgrade that even includes recreating the special effects in 4K. The Director’s Edition will eventually come to Blu-ray this September, and appear in theaters via Fathom Events on May 22 and May 25.

Star Trek : The Motion Picture sees the cast of the original series return to the U.S.S. Enterprise to investigate and pursue an alien ship that mysteriously destroyed multiple Klingon vessels. It was one of the top-grossing films in 1979 and earned itself three Oscar nominations, despite being “rushed to theaters” and ultimately earning a lackluster legacy among fans.

The Director’s Edition was restored by producer David C. Fein and preservationist Mike Matessino, both of whom have previously collaborated with Wise. In addition to the various visual improvements and 4K resolution, it also offers Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more thrilled to have completed the film in 4K,” said Fein. “Paramount offered unprecedented access to the original elements and exceptional support and the results are stunning. Utilizing the latest discoveries and innovations of modern film production, The Director’s Edition delivers so much more today than was previously possible.”

Until its release on Blu-ray and its brief stint in theaters, Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition will be exclusive to Paramount Plus.

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Den of Geek

Comparing The Three Versions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Is there a definitive version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture at last? We compared all the different versions of this misunderstood movie to find out.

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Some 44 years after it went into production, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is finally complete.

We don’t say that frivolously. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is one of Hollywood’s most famous “unfinished” films. Rushing to meet a December 7, 1979 release date, with many of the visual effects being completed right up until the last possible minute by Douglas Trumbull (who had replaced the previous VFX supervisor), director Robert Wise ( The Day the Earth Stood Still , The Sound of Music ) pretty much just stopped working on the film, carrying the first available print on a plane to the movie’s Washington D.C. premiere.

The complicated story of how ST: TMP – the first major motion picture based on an existing TV series — was developed, written, filmed, and released is a long, winding one that has been told before. It’s also well-known that the original theatrical version of the film – the one that Wise had to deliver finished or not – was not well-received by either fans or critics, although it became a sizable box office success.

Yet Star Trek: The Motion Picture steadily grew in stature over the years, gradually beginning to hold its own with fans even as later favorites like Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ascended to the top of the franchise.

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With fans and even critics constantly reappraising the original film, Paramount Pictures – with the encouragement of two members of Robert Wise’s production company, David C. Fein and Michael Matessino – allowed Wise and his team to revisit the movie in 2001, reconstructing it to finally adhere more closely to Wise’s original vision.

The release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition in November 2001 on home video (DVD and VHS) confirmed for many fans that there was a far better film after all hidden inside the “rough cut” (Wise’s own words) released in 1979. Scenes were excised or trimmed, a few were reinstated, and most importantly, the visuals were spruced up with the help of CGI. The legendary Wise, who passed away four years later in 2005, got the chance to finish the movie the way he wanted.

But the story wasn’t over yet.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Reborn

Earlier this year, Paramount+ premiered a 4K Ultra HD (high definition) version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition . Prepared over the course of six months by Fein, Matessino, and a visual effects team with access to Paramount’s archives, this iteration of ST: TMP stayed true to the vision established by Wise for The Director’s Edition in 2001, while doing a further, extensive, HD restoration and upgrade of the entire film.

Now the Ultra HD Director’s Edition , along with 4K Ultra HD versions of the original theatrical cut and the “Special Longer Version” that was created for broadcast television in 1983, are available in a newly released set called The Complete Adventure , which gives us a definitive document of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in all three versions, looking perhaps the best they’ll ever look ( The Director’s Edition is also available on its own or as part of a set containing Ultra HD upgrades of all six films starring the original Trek cast).

Having seen the film in its original theatrical release, then on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, we were always put off by the seeming drabness of the image and the colors. To our eyes, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – despite the occasionally awe-inspiring visuals it did manage to pull off against all odds – never seemed to pop off any screen or medium we watched it on.

That problem is now solved, and overpoweringly so: the film in 4K Ultra HD looks absolutely magnificent, as if we’re truly seeing the film for the first time.

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Yes, many of the VFX have been digitally enhanced or even freshly recreated, but they’re integrated almost seamlessly into the original aesthetic of the film, while many of the rough spots in the original release have been repaired or replaced. Now the 4K image really does leap off the screen in amazing color and detail. To watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture in this way is to watch a 44-year-old science fiction movie that looks in many ways like it was made last year.

And now that all three versions of the movie are here in this beautiful, pristine form, which one holds up the best and do they differ?

The Original Theatrical Cut

It may look better than it ever has, but the original theatrical cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture still has all the issues it had when it first came out. It’s slow-moving to the point of being inert, it spends way too much time on endless visuals (the first sight of the refurbished Enterprise , the lengthy flyover of the massive V’Ger spacecraft – heck, even Spock’s neck-pinch of some poor slob guarding an airlock takes way too long), and it leaves certain plot information and character motivations ambiguous at best and absent at worst.

What ST: TMP does retain is a sense of grandeur, and occasionally a sense of wonder, that often marked the best of the original series and has been sadly lacking in so much filmed science fiction ever since, including later Trek movies and TV series.

So many of the later movies – especially the J.J. Abrams-conceived Kelvin trilogy , but some of the classic and Next Generation films have the same problem – revolve around fairly simple bad guy/revenge motifs.

The original series had its share of those simple action-adventure episodes, but so much more of it was dedicated to great ideas – whether it be truly alien encounters, mirror universes, or moral quandaries posed by the Enterprise sticking its saucer in a new planet’s business.

And yes, even though Star Trek: The Motion Picture is in some ways a rewrite of the original series episode “The Changeling,” it’s much more expansive and even cosmic in its implications. While several later Trek films are superior in many ways, few of them have matched ST: TMP in its ambitions and pure science fiction concepts.

The acting is inconsistent, to say the least, although all our old favorites each have a memorable moment or two, and the glacial pacing really is at odds with the imagination glimpsed in the storyline and the visuals. In many ways, the theatrical cut remains a slog, but it’s also a one-of-a-kind Trek movie.

The ‘Special Longer Version’

Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered on American network television – ABC, to be exact – on February 20, 1983. Not only was this the first TV showing of the movie, but it also introduced a different cut of the film that came to be known as the “Special Longer Version.” Running for two hours and 24 minutes (without commercials), as opposed to the theatrical cut’s two hours and 12 minutes, the “SLV” essentially incorporated a number of scenes that were left unfinished and kept out of the picture by director Robert Wise in 1979 – who apparently did not approve of this version.

A lot of the scenes that were added back into the movie for the “SLV” were and are clearly extraneous, although in some cases amusing to watch.

There are a couple of exchanges between Sulu (George Takei) and the Deltan navigator Ilia (Persis Khambatta) – whose species is apparently quite sexually attractive and active – that are possibly meant to suggest Sulu is coming under her spell, although they were jettisoned to focus on Ilia and Decker’s (Stephen Collins) relationship (there is also more of that present in this cut).

Other sequences – like a moment in which Spock (Leonard Nimoy) weeps for V’Ger and a quick scene of Ilia helping to relieve Chekov’s (Walter Koenig) pain after he is injured – actually made it into the Director’s Cut and work well there as improved character moments.

Most infamously, the original release of the “SLV” contained a literally unfinished shot of Kirk (William Shatner) leaving the Enterprise airlock in a spacesuit to pursue Spock as the Vulcan himself spacewalks deeper into V’Ger’s interior. When the “SLV” was first shown, parts of the soundstage around the airlock set were still visible, as a result of the effects for the scene never being completed (the new 4K Ultra HD version of the “SLV” rectifies that, although the incomplete version is provided as a bonus feature).

Importantly, the new version of the “SLV” has restored it to its theatrical matting – the movie was cropped to the old TV screen ratio of 1.33: 1 for broadcast (and for several subsequent home video releases), turning Wise’s widescreen compositions into a nightmare of forced zooms and pan-and-scanning. At least now this version of the film is restored to its proper ratio.

That said, the “Special Longer Version” is in many ways the worst version of the film. While it’s always interesting for completists to see footage left out of a theatrical movie, this iteration simply pastes all that material back into the film – ostensibly to fill a three-hour “network movie premiere” slot, back in the day when such things mattered – without any consideration of whether it should be there. If the pacing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture has always been a bone of contention for you, the “SLV” doubles down on that.

The Director’s Edition

Ironically enough, the Robert Wise-supervised “Director’s Edition” of Star Trek: The Motion Picture runs for two hours and 16 minutes – four minutes longer than the theatrical release. It also includes some of the scenes Wise left out initially, which surfaced in the interim in the TV version of the movie (a detailed list of alterations and additions can be found here ).

But while it still suffers from pacing issues, they’re less of a detriment. The Director’s Edition still moves slowly, but doesn’t feel like it drags, and there’s more of a stateliness to it that is befitting the movie’s larger themes – which are also given more clarity in this version.

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Perhaps the most important edition in that sense is the scene in which Spock weeps for V’Ger – a scene that makes it much clearer what V’Ger is seeking as it returns to Earth, and why its quest has reached a potentially catastrophic dead end.

More importantly, the scene also brings Spock’s own character arc in the film into much better focus – he realizes that his desire to purge all remaining emotion from his own life (the kolinahr ritual) could lead him to the same cold, empty existence that V’Ger now faces, which he firmly rejects.

Also retained is Ilia’s healing of Chekov, adding a little more nuance to what is mostly a blank slate of a character, as well as some brief interactions between the supporting crew members.

What is left out are, most notably, the full-length travelogues along V’Ger’s exterior and interior (although we do get a neat shot of the entire V’Ger vessel emerging from its cloud above Earth). The scenes are still there, but this material – and a number of other visuals – is trimmed and sharpened to give the movie a little more forward motion. Along with that, so many subtle visual and audio touches have been added – whether it’s better matte or CG backgrounds or original sounds from the TV series – to create more ambiance and an overall more fulfilling cinematic Trek experience.

When Wise and his team took the movie back into the shop in 2001, they overhauled the visuals and the sound mix with the best available technology at the time – yet the limitations back then in terms of resolution meant that the Director’s Edition was only available on DVD for the next 20 years. With the new upgrade, all the visual and sonic enhancements (plus new ones) have been rendered so that they can now be seen in 4K Ultra HD – thus giving Star Trek: The Motion Picture the most up-to-date restoration possible.

The result is an often eye-popping science fiction spectacle that looks fresher and better than ever before. As rushed as the original production was, it’s a tribute to Wise, Trumbull, and the team that completed the film in 1979 that so much of their work still holds up and was able to mesh so well with the enhancements of both 2001 and 2021.

But just as importantly, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is now about as close as it will ever come to being the visionary sci-fi epic that it was first conceived as. The new version of The Director’s Edition retains all the narrative revisions that Wise made more than two decades ago, while adding the visual grandeur that such a cerebral story needed in the first place. Yes, there are still flaws in the film, and it may never replace, say, The Wrath of Khan at the top of Trek movie rankings, but more than four decades after it first came out, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is now finished.

This film’s journey is at last complete, but the human adventure is still just beginning.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition – The Complete Adventure is out now on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray.

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

How Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Director's Edition puts the Star Wars Special Editions to shame

The best way to upgrade a classic science fiction film is to change it as little as possible.

The human adventure is just beginning. At the end of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), these words appeared on screen in plain white text. In the most recent 4K director’s edition , those words are in golden text. Believe it or not, this is one of the more radical changes made to the first theatrical Star Trek film.

Here’s why the beautiful new 4K restoration of this Trek film takes a subtle approach to updating an older sci-fi movie. And how it course corrects a trend established by the infamous Star Wars special editions .

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director’s Edition

The Enterprise leaves spacedock in the 4K version.

On April 5, 2022, the new 4K restoration of Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director’s Edition debuted on Paramount+. Overseen by David Fein, Daren Dochterman , and Mike Matessino, this cut of the film is, essentially, a spruced-up version of a previously released “director’s edition” from the year 2001. Back then, director Robert Wise was still alive and approved a few of the movie’s bigger changes, which, for the most part, are very minor.

In other words, just like there have been multiple “Special Editions” of the 1977 Star Wars or the 1982 Blade Runner , this isn’t the first time Star Trek: The Motion Picture has been re-released. In 1983, a “Special Longer Versions” of the film hit VHS , which notoriously spliced in footage from one of the film’s deleted scenes, creating a continuity error in which Kirk is wearing two radically different spacesuits just seconds apart.

Neither the 2001 nor the new 2022 Director’s Edition have these kinds of problems, but that doesn’t mean Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a perfect movie. Whether it's 1979, 1983, 2001, or 2022, the film is still a fairly humorless, slow-paced, and derivative of a pre-existing TOS episode, “The Changeling.” These days, homages and Easter eggs in Trek feel normal, considering there’s so much material to work with. But in 1979, there had only been 79 episodes of TOS . Why the eventual shooting story was, in essence, the same story that The Original Series had already told is still baffling.

Of course, there are various explanations for why The Motion Picture was written and filmed the way it was, and those accounts have filled several books, including Return to Tomorrow by Preston Neal Jones , The First Star Trek Movie by Sherilyn Connelly, The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Gene Roddenberry and Susan Sackett, Chekov’s Enterprise by Walter Koenig.

tl;dr: Nearly the entirety of the 1970s were filled with attempts to get a Star Trek film made, which, at one point, resulted in a new Star Trek TV series entering pre-production, and that failed TV show eventually resulted in The Motion Picture .

A classic science fiction film

The remastered Enterprise in the 4K Director’s Edition of The Motion Picture . This is not a new VFX shot.

But the power of The Motion Picture has almost nothing to do with its story or the behind-the-scenes machinations. Like much of what is powerful about Star Trek, the subtext matters more than the context. Even with its flaws, there’s no denying this is a classic science fiction film. And it’s also obvious the film made history in many significant ways: It was the first major motion picture based upon a TV series, it was the first mainstream science fiction film to use the word “wormhole,” and it was the first feature film in what would become the ever-expanding Star Trek media franchise. Released on December 6, 1979, The Motion Picture was the literal last word in the sci-fi cinema of the 1970s, a bold and thoughtful film that has proven itself more timeless than some of its peers, most notably, the 1977 version of Star Wars .

From a purely superficial standpoint, what makes the new 4K Director’s Edition so shocking is how well the visual effects and overall design of the film hold up to contemporary scrutiny. The Star Trek franchise wouldn’t begin using Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic until Wrath of Khan in 1982, meaning the effects and production design of TMP came from a combination of talents including Doug Trumball, Alex Weldon, Robert Abel, and legendary model and prop-maker Brick Price, credited on screen for the first time in this 2022 edition.

There are a lot of behind-the-scenes reasons why The Motion Picture had so many cooks in the VFX kitchen, most of which are detailed in Jeff Bond’s amazing 2020 book, Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Art and Visual Effects , but the result is clear: From the redesigned USS Enterprise to the mysterious V’Ger cloud to the massive sets and, of course, Spock’s ultra-memorable space-walk scene, the way The Motion Picture looked in 1979 was an achievement in a specific type of science fiction cinema which, can only be called epic . Arguably, it hasn’t been replicated, and seeing it in 4K only proves how amazing it looked the first time around.

What the Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Director’s Edition changes

Kirk arrives at Starfleet Command in a new VFX shot. This is one of only a handful of “new” shots in the “Director’s Edition” of the film.

So, what did the new 4K version change? Essentially, everything about the original cut of the film simply looks crisper and clearer. Some of the sounds have been remixed for clarity, most notably, the trippy “wormhole” scene. A few new VFX shots have been either added or cleaned up, specifically when Admiral Kirk arrives at Starfleet Command toward the beginning of the film. And yes, the font for the opening and closing credits is gold now, not white.

But the result is pretty much the exact opposite of watching any of the various “Special Editions” of Star Wars: A New Hope . Although the enhanced DeathStar battle in the Special Edition of Star Wars is, admittedly, great, The Motion Picture didn’t actually need to do anything radical like that. Starship shots have not been replaced with new angels, and the meaning of each scene has not been changed. There is no “ maclunkey” moment in the Director’s Edition for The Motion Picture . There are no distracting CGI characters. The movie is simply the movie, just way better looking.

Because The Motion Picture is arguably the most beautiful Star Trek film of them all, this means this restoration doesn’t feel silly or gimmicky. This is Star Trek as it was in 1979, which, watching it now, feels shockingly brand new.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Director’s Edition is streaming now on Paramount+ .

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Producer David C. Fein writes, “Using scans of original 1979 photography plates-including some intended to be used but were omitted at the time — our team is digitally recombining these elements to present them as they were originally intended, and with a clarity and quality unimagined. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!”

Of note in this image ( as spotted by TMP Visual Comparisons on Twitter ) is the always-missing planet Earth behind the Enterprise as it leaves drydock; while the planet always appears behind the starship and framing in most orbital scenes, it has always been just “gone” from the departure sequence — this is a nice restoration of the original intent.

Fein provided high-resolution images from the 4K VFX work, including this look at Vulcan’s surface — with the sunlight levels raised from the 2001 edition, much more in line with the lighting from the live-action footage that accompanies it.

The producer notes: “As originally intended, Spock returns to the temple during the day…. This certainly makes sense since you can see him block sunlight from his eyes In a previous shot. The theatrical version had a night sky with moons… and as previously stated in the original show, “Vulcan has no moons!”

Fein also shared these images of the  Enterprise’s  time inside V’Ger, which include newly-rendered visual effects shots for the movie that feature updated color timing and lighting effects. (While the lens flares shown here have already created some to complain on social media, the momentary flash of light will pass nearly instantly when the film is in motion.)

For a comparison of just how much larger the new 4K image is compared to the standard-definition DVD, here’s an inlay showing that original 480p image size within the new UHD framing:

Finally, Fein also shared this look at the famous “reflection of the  Enterprise ” visual effects shot that was created originally for the 2001 DVD edition, showing the refit starship reflected in Admiral Kirk’s face while approaching from space.

Curiously, this preview image is somewhat lower-quality than expected — possibly even an upscaled image from the standard-def picture size, but that is speculation — which hopefully means this iconic shot from the Director’s Edition is still “under construction” in their team’s edit bay.

The remastered  Director’s Edition  will debut on Paramount+ in 2022, but we have no doubt it will eventually come to 4K UHD Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray disc formats after the P+ exclusivity window closes.

Currently, only the theatrical edition of  Star Trek: The Motion Picture  is available on 4K Blu-ray  in the new four-film set  as well as in a standalone release, which features  the remastered presentation on standard 1080p HD Blu-ray.

• Behind The Scenes
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director's Edition
• Trek Movies

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TrekCore.com is not endorsed, sponsored or affiliated with Paramount, CBS Studios, or the Star Trek franchise. All Star Trek images, trademarks and logos are owned by CBS Studios Inc. and/or Paramount. All original TrekCore.com content and the WeeklyTrek podcast (c) 2024 Trapezoid Media, LLC. · Terms & Conditions

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‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director’s Edition’ makes its glorious return

It’s still the same film, but it’ll never look better than it does right now..

If there was ever a Star Trek film that needed a do-over, both artistically and reputationally, it was The Motion Picture . Dismissed by critics as boring and sterile when it came out, its nickname inside Trek fandom has long been “The Motionless Picture.” In 1997, director Robert Wise started the process of re-examining the film, with a Director’s Edition being birthed at the dawn of the DVD era in 2001. For a couple of reasons, the altogether better version of that movie fell into obscurity, unavailable for most people to see. Now, twenty years after Wise’s amended film made its debut, the film has been given a second do-over in the form of a 4K remaster for Paramount+ .

The Abandoned Picture

You can buy a shelf’s worth of books discussing the troubled production of The Motion Picture , and its creative failures. Paramount wanted a new Star Trek TV series, until the money men balked at the cost and potential disinterest from advertisers. The pricey show got crunched into a single movie-of-the-week, right until the moment that Star Wars (and Close Encounters ) swallowed 1977 whole. Bosses wanted a slice of that late ‘70s sci-fi movie pie and upgraded the Trek project to a big-budget movie. Except none of the already-made material was movie quality, and the effects house wasn’t up to the task at hand.

The Motion Picture was directed by Robert Wise, a footnote in a career that started in 1934 and ran through 2000. Wise got his big break as Orson Welles’ editor on Citizen Kane and, more controversially, The Magnificent Ambersons . He’d won enough Academy Awards that The Motion Picture wouldn’t be in the top ten of his most notable achievements. The special effects were eventually completed by the recently-departed Douglas Trumbull and John Dykstra; both could point to 2001 and Star Wars as the highlights on their own resumes. Even so, Wise was battered by the process of making it, hand-delivering the prints to the film’s premiere and declaring it to be a rushed, unfinished job.

Length was a problem for the film, a 90-minute TV pilot expanded to more than two hours, bloated with too many special effects shots. Paramount would subsequently produce an even longer cut of the film, letting ABC screen a super-sized, 143-minute TV version which included deleted and unfinished scenes. (There is a rumor, apparently tied to this forum post from 2016 (via Memory Alpha ), which suggests that Wise re-cut the film in 1980 to be 12 minutes shorter, but producer David C. Fein doesn’t believe it to be true.)

The Director’s Edition

In 1997, Wise, through his company Robert Wise Productions, enlisted the help of producer David C. Fein, post-production supervisor Michael Matessino and visual effects supervisor Daren R. Dochterman to help fix the film. They examined the original storyboards, fixed some of the more egregious effects choices and tightened the editing. While the runtime was longer, a snappier edit (more or less) helped contextualize some of the choices made back when the film was shooting. It also helped to kickstart the reappraisal of the film as something more valuable than the big-budget catastrophe it was treated as.

Part of that work was to broaden the visual palette, especially in some of the key sequences which weren’t fully-realized in ‘79. The inconsistencies during Spock’s first scene – which were shot in broad daylight but painted on a matte implying darkness – are fixed. Many sets that were constrained even with matte paintings were broadened out and CGI – by pioneers Foundation Imaging – used to fill the gaps in the action. The film remained, more or less, like it had two decades prior, but was a much more joined-up experience on screen.

But this edition, while considered “definitive,” was never re-released beyond its original 2001 DVD printing. According to Memory Alpha , it’s because Paramount never kept its own archive copies of the CGI files for its projects. And when Foundation Imaging went under after the death of its founder, Ron Thornton, it was believed that those files were gone forever.

The Re-Remaster

“Completely untrue,” said David C. Fein who produced both the first Directors Edition and its 2022 successor, to Engadget. “Everything was designed to be able to go to film, but the resolution [in those original files] wasn’t there, [...] so it couldn’t just be re-rendered,” he said. “It had to be recreated by people who knew what we were going for, because we’re now able to put the detail in for it to be full-size.” “We re-did all the visual effects, not from scratch – the setups [from 1999] were there – then we worked in all of the new levels of technology and information,” said Fein.

Fein says that the project, which was announced in July 2021 , is “not a restoration,” and that his team wasn’t just “polishing this film,” but working to tweak it to improve the overall storytelling. That meant scanning the raw material and re-compositing everything to make a fresh, 4K scan off the original 35mm live-action footage. (Douglas Trumbull, to avoid detail loss, would shoot on 65mm film, and so his material was scanned in at 8K, while Dykstra’s VistaVision material was scanned in at 6K.)

The project is, if we’re being a little too honest, long overdue, since Paramount opted to offer the theatrical print of The Motion Picture for all of the Blu-ray releases. “Unfortunately, when the hi-def [versions of the Star Trek films] came out, Bob [Wise] got to watch the fact that it was the original theatrical version,” explained Fein. “And he sat me down in his kitchen and said, ‘I need you to promise me something Dave’ – ‘I don’t care how long it takes, I need you to finish the director’s edition and it needs to be finished ,’ meaning film quality.” But Fein says that the lag time was down to a need for the technology to improve, and also for the “guardian angels” at Paramount+ to greenlight the work.

There are a number of small tweaks to the film, designed to smooth out even more of its visual rough edges. Keen-eyed fans will enjoy spotting the additions and changes, an early highlight is the addition of Shuttle Pod 5 to the exterior of Starfleet’s orbital office. “Just about every shot [in the film] has been touched in some way, there’s a lot of subtlety added to shots,” he said. “There’s [also] at least one clearly new shot in the film that helps continuity, and I hope no-one else notices it.”

One sequence that Fein spent lots of effort on, both then and now, was when the V’Ger probe attacks the bridge. The original film sequence was projected through a bent mylar filter with intentionally harsh lighting to create the alien effect. “The way that it looked, was almost like [our] film stopped and another one started,” he explained, looking at the washed-out colors, high grain and poor continuity. Fein credits the power of HDR which enabled his team to create a harsh overexposure of the probe without dulling the rest of the film.

And a less obvious change – unless you’re like me and watched multiple versions side-by-side – is a vastly improved color grade. Because the film was so rushed, Fein explained, the process of color grading, which can take months, was crunched down to four days. He said that the crew’s opinion, at the time, was “just ‘let’s get it done as flat [as we can] so everything matched, and [get it done] as quickly as it could.” The film’s colors are, traditionally, washed out, leaden with that ‘70s sci-fi beige that makes even the actors look like pieces of furniture. “Now that we’re working from negative scans, we’re able to do what [Robert Wise’s] real intention was.”

The final task Fein had to oversee was to ensure that The Directors Edition is no longer a rare curio. Fein explained that, having worked with the digital negatives and produced a new print designed for theatrical distribution, the film is now “future proof.” That should ensure that it never again becomes the sort of film you have to actively seek out to watch. Not to mention that Fathom events will offer a handful of screenings (in select theaters) for viewers to see the film on the big screen once again.

Give me a Good Time

I don’t want to be facetious when I say that The Motion Picture is less of a film and more of an experience . For all of the complaints that the film was slow, antiseptic and cold, it also offers something a little more heavyweight than you may expect from a franchise movie. The team behind the film may not have been making Solaris , or 2001 , but those influences are keenly felt through much of the movie. It’s not dumb noisy fun, and it’s not as clever as it thinks it might be, but it’s trying to deal with some weighty issues around what it means to be human. A computer looking to understand if there’s any meaning beyond its existence is something fiction has come back to again and again – it’s always been a fascination for Star Trek , too.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch the 4K transfer in all of its glory, since previews were capped at 1080p ( I know ). What is obvious, however, is that the new version is a whole lot brighter, with much more detailed CG models and much better sound, in most places. The new color grade makes a huge difference, with actors no longer blending into the background of their own film. There are only a few moments where the transfer seems less kind than you may expect, and that’s mostly when you go looking for matte lines. You can clearly see some of that hand-cut wonkiness in the more detail-heavy sequences, like the drydock scene.

(While we’re on the subject; the Drydock sequence is considered, by non fans, as the ne plus ultra of pointless fan service. Yes, it’s a six-minute scene in which Kirk stares, milky-eyed at the refitted Enterprise, well-known enough that even nü-Trek repeatedly tips its hat to it . But let’s be honest, if you wanted to spend six minutes staring at a model, you might as well make it the most beautiful model ever to be created .)

And as much as it’s Wise’s name on the film, in these modern eras, I think we should also offer kudos to Trumbull and Dykstra for their contribution. The effects sequences are, for their age, some of the best ever put to film and the trippy late ‘70s sci-fi visuals during the spacewalk sequence are on a par with anything 2001 offered. I can’t not also say that, without Jerry Goldsmith’s score, one of the best ever written, much of this film wouldn’t hold together nearly as well as it does. While the finished product is not to everyone’s taste, you can tell it is the product of a number of virtuosos all working to produce their very best work.

It’s funny, because I’d say that I’ve seen this film more times than I should probably admit, especially the first 40 minutes. Something that only occurred to me during this rewatch is how Wise’s direction, and the acting, loosens up as things go on. Kirk, Spock and McCoy all start this film stiff and stagey, acting like they’re all trying to act under the effects of a sedative. But once they’ve returned to the Enterprise and you see Kirk visibly relax into his chair, Spock and McCoy start bantering, and you could almost frame this as a deliberate choice to make the film a form of origin story.

While researching this piece, I went hunting for critical reviews of the film back when it first debuted in 1979. (The best modern essay on the film, and the best modern essays on any of the Star Trek films, is Darren Franich’s 2016 retrospective , which I urge you to read.) Weirdly, Roger Ebert wrote the smartest take on the film back then, and I reckon the conclusion of his review is probably the most elegant way anyone could discuss it. He wrote, “Some of the early reviews seemed pretty blase, as if the critics didn’t allow themselves to relish the film before racing out to pigeonhole it. My inclination, as I slid down in my seat and the stereo sound surrounded me, was to relax and let the movie give me a good time. I did and it did.”

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition , will be available on Paramount+ on April 5th, 2022. A physical media release will follow with new special features.

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The 4K Remaster to the Director's Edition of ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ Is Coming to Paramount+

Time to revisit the classic in high resolution

Paramount is restoring the Director’s Cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and giving the first movie of the popular sci-fi franchise the 4K Ultra HD treatment. In an official announcement on Twitter, the company also let fans know that the restored film will be available exclusively on Paramount+, as the streaming channel becomes the definitive home of the entire Star Trek franchise.

Directed by Robert Wise from a screenplay by Harold Livingston , Star Trek: The Motion Picture was initially released in theaters in 1979. In 2001, Wise oversaw a Director’s Cut version of the film, released on DVD with remastered sound and image. The upcoming Paramount+ release will offer the classic in the best image quality possible, and the fact it’s going to be an exclusive released on the streaming platform might give fans another good reason to subscribe. As stated in the original announcement, “the restoration is being undertaken by David C. Fein , Mike Matessino , and Daren R. Dochterman , all of whom worked previously with director Robert Wise.”

RELATED:‌ Star Trek Timeline Explained, Including Two Kirks, Two Different Prequels, and the Return of Picard

Star Trek is helping Paramount+ to fight the streaming wars with both the classic series and new productions. Besides holding the complete library of Star Trek series and films, Paramount+ is also the exclusive home of future seasons of the popular show Star Trek: Discovery . The new generation of Star Trek productions also counts with Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Lower Decks . Star Trek: Prodigy is set to debut in the fall, while, next year, we’ll get the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . There’s also a Starfleet Academy and a Section 31 series in production . Both Discovery and Picard are among the most-watched original series on Paramount+.

There’s still no release date for the 4K restoration of the director’s cut of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Check the announcement tweet below.

KEEP‌ ‌READING:‌ William Shatner on the First Four ‘Star Trek’ Movies and His Thoughts on Whether They Should Fix Mistakes with Modern VFX

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition 4K UHD Review

• September 6, 2022

A Voyager Through the Stars

“There’s an error, undeniably, in assuming what worked for 2001 so readily transfers to Star Trek. Yet, it’s not without grandiosity. Much as the ponderous first trip around the Enterprise stalls any sense of narrative, when Jerry Goldsmith’s sensational score increases tempo, what’s created is a monument to pop culture. And, to Star Trek’s credit, its famously unlocked racial and gender barriers make the Enterprise matter when compared to the raw commercial appeal of the Millennium Falcon.”

Read our full review of Paramount’s first Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K UHD for more .

Paramount sends out a new remaster for this release, and that includes a complete restoration of the original SD footage from this director’s cut. More than upscaling, everything is redone from the negatives at full 4K, bringing the additional footage into the modern era for a truly definitive version.

Now in Dolby Vision, the refresh, which comes a year after the previous UHD release, looks inconsistently gorgeous. At its peak, Star Trek looks luxuriously beautiful, the imagery expected on high-end displays. Pristine sharpness, flawless grain replication, texture galore, perfect resolution – sensational stuff.

But then Paramount hits the digital tools too hard, generally during visual effects shots if not always, muddying the clarity with noise reduction that’s not acceptable. Grain turns smudgy, faces look waxy, and detail evaporates. This isn’t uncommon either; it’s a back-and-forth presentation in the first act. After that, Star Trek holds together gorgeously more often than not.

Sweeping improvements to the brightness enhance the various lights on board the Enterprise. Dazzling light shows in space include beam weapons or torpedoes, plus the various nebulae. Star Trek’s new dynamics embolden the depth, invigorating the late ’70s film stock. Black levels give a pristine backdrop in space, and interiors keep the density potent. Color keeps primaries rich but natural. Flesh tones keep their accuracy high.

A jump into Dolby Atmos makes notable improvements, not only in positional work, but the low-end too. Jerry Goldsmith’s score hits forcefully, as every drum beat hammers the subwoofer. Ship engines rumble forcefully. Any attacks slam into the hull, pushing into the room via a hefty shake. It’s thick, tight, and doesn’t reveal an ounce of age. Rather, it sounds wholly modern, even new.

The same goes for the rest, every sound effect precisely placed whether in the stereos or rears. Previously, the TrueHD track showed the same attention to detail, but this is brighter and crisper. Dialog crumbles a touch in spots, but that’s the only evidence of age. Star Trek sounds as if it were mixed yesterday much of the time. When doors close specifically in a surround channel or the score sensationally parks a portion of itself in the heights, it’s magic, and among the best vintage upmixes to Atmos to date.

Paramount includes a full slate of extras, both new and legacy. On the UHD, two audio commentaries, the first with David Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren Dochterman. The second brings director Robert Wise together with effects men Douoglas Trumbull & John Dykstra, composer Jerry Goldsmith, and Stephen Collins. There’s also a text commentary with writers Michael and Denise Okuda.

The biggie is a new 48-minute documentary that delves deep into the production with numerous previously unseen tidbits, including raw set footage, visual effects plates, and countless interviews. Additional deleted scenes join the previous ones, also first time inclusions. Effects and costume test footage pops up next.

Other bonuses make this a complete document, a definitive disc release for Star Trek . This includes multiple featurettes, storyboards, trailers and more.

Full disclosure : This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

While still imperfect and slow, Star Trek: The Motion Picture remains a captivating sci-fi story built on superb characterization.

User Review

The following six screen shots serve as samples for our subscription-exclusive set of 66 full resolution uncompressed 4K screen shots grabbed directly from the UHD:

Matt Paprocki

Matt Paprocki has critiqued home media and video games for 20 years across outlets like Washington Post, Variety, Rolling Stone, Forbes, IGN, Playboy, Polygon, Ars, and others. His current passion project is the technically minded DoBlu.com . You can read Matt's body of work via his personal WordPress blog, and follow him on Twitter @Matt_Paprocki .

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New ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ Director’s Edition Drops in 4K on Paramount Plus

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“Start Trek: The Motion Picture,” the seminal first film of the franchise that first premiered in 1979, is finally available to stream on Paramount Plus . The remastered 4K version has been given a special effects makeover and includes a new “Directors Edition.”

This isn’t the first time the sci-fi film has been re-released with updates. Director Robert Wise revisited the film in 2001, releasing a fine edit with enhanced visuals on DVD. Now, 10 years later, following Wise’s death in 2005, a new team including producer David C. Fein and preservationist Mike Matessino have assembled to recreate the film in Ultra HD for the first time ever. It also offers Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more thrilled to have completed the film in 4K,” said Fein in a statement. “Paramount offered unprecedented access to the original elements and exceptional support and the results are stunning. Utilizing the latest discoveries and innovations of modern film production, The Director’s Edition delivers so much more today than was previously possible.”

The three-time Oscar winning film stars William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in addition to fellow cast members from the original series as they return to the Starship Enterprise to intercept an alien spacecraft headed towards Earth. The film became the fourth top-grossing films of the year upon its release, successfully launching the “ Star Trek ” franchise to the big screen.

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The Director’s Edition in 4K is currently available to stream on Paramount Plus , and will arrive on Blu-ray in September.

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Published Mar 24, 2022

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition to Premiere on Paramount+ on First Contact Day

The adventure that started it all makes a triumphant return

StarTrek.com

Eagerly anticipated by Star Trek fans for over two decades, Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition will make its long-awaited debut exclusively on Paramount+ on April 5, 2022, in celebration of First Contact Day.  The film will be available to stream on Paramount+ in 4K Ultra HD on supported devices and platforms.  The newly restored film will subsequently arrive on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in September from Paramount Home Entertainment.  In addition, fans will have the opportunity to see the restored version of Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition on the big screen for the first time when Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures bring it to theaters for an exclusive two-day event on May 22 and May 25.  Tickets will go on sale Friday, April 8 at FathomEvents.com.

Originally released in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture became the fourth highest grossing movie of the year and earned three Academy Award® nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Music, Original Score.  The film successfully launched the Star Trek franchise beyond the original television series, despite having been rushed to theaters with incomplete special effects and forced editing choices.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition Remastered Trailer

In 2001, director Robert Wise revisited the film to refine the edit and enhance the visual effects.  His updated vision was released on DVD in standard definition and embraced by fans but has never been available in higher definition until now.  Meticulously assembled and restored by producer David C. Fein with preservationist Mike Matessino, both of whom originally collaborated with Wise, the film has been prepared for presentation in 4K Ultra HD with Dolby Vision™ high dynamic range (HDR) and a new powerful and immersive Dolby Atmos® soundtrack. Fein and Matessino assembled a team of special effects experts, led by returning visual effects supervisor Daren Dochterman, and utilized the extensive resources in the Paramount Archives to recreate the effects not just in HD, but in Ultra HD.  After more than six months of painstaking work, the updated movie looks and sounds better than ever while staying true to Wise’s original intention.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more thrilled to have completed the film in 4K,” said Fein.  “Paramount offered unprecedented access to the original elements and exceptional support and the results are stunning.  Utilizing the latest discoveries and innovations of modern film production, The Director’s Edition delivers so much more today than was previously possible.  It’s an adventure you’ll never forget!”

The Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital releases will include HDR-10 and Dolby Vision,™ as well as Dolby Atmos®, accompanied by extensive new and legacy bonus content, which will be detailed at a later date.

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