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Author Topic: I am thinking of giving the Star Trek films a watch Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-22-2011 11:05 PM                    I am putting this out to the experts on Film-tech I am looking to give the Star Trek films a watch. I have never seen them. Anyone have any advice on what I should do. Laserdisc? DVD? Blu-ray? I looked at a dvd tonight and it was a Dolby Digital EX disc. I prefer Laserdisc sound over dvd but blu-ray is good. I can't stand remixed dvds. Anyone know which version format is best? I don't care about special features. I am going to start with Star Trek The Motion Picture  |  IP: Logged Sean Weitzel Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Vacaville, CA (1790 miles west of Rockwall) Registered: Dec 1999 posted 03-22-2011 11:13 PM                     Skip the Motionless Picture and start with this one. Bonus if you can find a copy in the rare and superior home video format shown here.  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-22-2011 11:25 PM                     Take a few days off, buy a plane ticket, and go here. AJG  |  IP: Logged Michael Coate Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1904 From: Los Angeles, California Registered: Feb 2001 posted 03-22-2011 11:30 PM                     Beta! IIRC, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the first sell-through release (and at the then-unheard-of retail price of $39.95). And back then the video release windows were much longer than they are now, yet this one came out only about five months after theatrical release. Tom...watch II, IV & VI, and leave it at that.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-22-2011 11:35 PM                    Anyone have any comments on dvd or ld?  |  IP: Logged Aaron Garman Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1470 From: Toledo, OH USA Registered: Mar 2003 posted 03-22-2011 11:44 PM                     The LaserDisc for VI was an unofficial THX disc (like Apocalypse Now) and had a good image for the format and a GREAT Dolby Surround mix of the PCM flavor. Of course, the aspect ratio was not 2.35:1, but opened up a little bit (Super35 was the source) and the image is actually shifted up as opposed to being centered. I love my LaserDisc copy because of the sound mix. Note it is the extended version. AJG  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-23-2011 12:27 AM                     Tom, good tips in this thread. Don't even bother watching the first one. #3 isn't very good, but once you finish #2 you will want to see it. It isn't awful, but nothing great. #5 is pretty lame, but again not awful like #1. It doesn't matter if you watch 5 or not, but #1 would be better as a "lost film". There is no telling how worn the 70mm prints are that the Egyptian will play, but if you can't afford the plane ticket definitely do take the advice here and watch it in the superior home video format that is beta! BTW am I alone in hating the beta cassette design due to not being able to tell if it is fully rewound or not? I think TDK was the only manufacturer that actually adopted a VHS-type design with 2 windows for beta.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-23-2011 12:53 AM                        Also be aware that Star Trek is an acquired taste. Very few can just jump into it like with Star Wars. Definitely watch 2, 3 and 4. In my opinion 4, while good, is the odd one out here. It has a strange score and is a bit too happy-go-lucky, though this movie alone was responsible for bringing a lot of fans to Trek due to its easy accessibility (not much of a need to understand character backgrounds, etc). #3 is good just to see Doc Brown be evil. 6 is good despite a few stupid quotes and things of that nature. I wish Worf wasn't in it and that whole Klingon-speaking part where they are trying to speak it over the radio was dumb and an insult to the abilities of Uhura. But they added it as comic relief, the same reason a rousing rendition of "Row row row your boat" is in part 5. Why are those things in these movies? Because Star Trek 4 did so well largely due to its humor so they tried to be funny in these movies as well and it didn't work. Also, don't watch them on DVD. They are the extended editions and they suck. Watch them on Blu-ray if you can. Try to watch the ones that are sold separately as these are the superior theatrical cuts. The ones sold as one big set on Blu-ray I believe are the shitty extended editions. LD might also be good as they are all good cuts of the respective movies. 6 is extended even on LD, but the scenes they added to that one aren't bad and feature ODO from Deep Space Nine as some sort of guy with a mustache.  |  IP: Logged Tom Petrov Five Guys Lover Posts: 1121 From: El Paso, TX Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-23-2011 01:12 AM                    quote: Joe Redifer Also, don't watch them on DVD. They are the extended editions and they suck. Watch them on Blu-ray if you can. Try to watch the ones that are sold separately as these are the superior theatrical cuts. The ones sold as one big set on Blu-ray I believe are the shitty extended editions. LD might also be good as they are all good cuts of the respective movies. Thanks Joe. How about the sound? Do the DVDs compare to the LDs?  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-23-2011 04:26 AM                        They're roughly similar. The remixed sound on some of the DVDs is a bit odd but if you haven't seen the movies before they probably won't wreck your enjoyment or anything. The Blu-rays sound more natural. The LDs are, of course, just fine as they are the original mixes (in Pro Logic, mind you).  |  IP: Logged Mitchell Dvoskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1869 From: West Milford, NJ, USA Registered: Jan 2001 posted 03-23-2011 09:37 AM                     Go BluRay. Both the picture and sound blow all the LaserDisc's away. I have to disagree with the majority here. Watch the first one. Star Trek The Motion Picture is not paced like a normal Star Trek, and should be watched as a SciFi film rather than a Star Trek film. It's fatal flaw is that is assumes you know and care about the characters, and it spends too much time at the beginning reverentially introducing them. That worked for the audience of 1979, who grew up with the original TV show and had waited for 12 years to see them again. Now, it just slows the film down. On the plus side, it is a "big" film, with a large cast, state of the art special effects (for the time), and an awesome analog Dolby stereo track (later remixed for digital on the DVD & BluRay). There were a number of different versions of this film on LaserDisc. There was the original theatrical version, an extended version that restores a space walk that never had the effects finished and you can see the wooden ceiling of the sound stage above the Enterprise. Then another extended version with the effects finished on the added footage. Star Trek 2 & 4 are the closest in feel to the original TV show, with 2 being a "serious" episode, and 4 being a "comic" episode. The original show had both. Personally, I think 3 & 5 are terrible, but you need to see 3 for continuity to the later movies. Star Trek 2 is probably the best of the series. While not necessary, I recommend watching the Star Trek TV episode Space Seed first, as the movie is a sequel to the the TV episode.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-23-2011 04:36 PM                        If 2001 A Space Odyssey had never come out, Star Trek 1 would have been a much different movie. It tries its damndest to be just like 2001 especially with lots of long, boring shots where nothing happens set to music. So if 2001 never existed, the world would be a much better place not only because of a much better Star Trek The Motion Picture, but because of no 2001 as well. But as it is, Star Trek The Motion Picture is the ANTZ to 2001's A Bug's Life. The both suck and one was trying to emulate the other, but only one is the original.  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-23-2011 06:08 PM                     Don't hold back, Joe -- Tell us how you really feel!  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 03-23-2011 06:31 PM                        OK.  |  IP: Logged Greg Anderson Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 766 From: Ogden Valley, Utah Registered: Nov 1999 posted 03-23-2011 06:52 PM                        A good friend of mine is a fan of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. (Yes, he's the one.) He was recently very excited about the HD version he saw on the SyFy channel, which blew his "special extended whiz-bang" DVD out of the water... although the SyFy version was the original cut. So, maybe you could still watch it but "for free" if they show it again. And then be sure to watch the episode of Futurama featuring the Star Trek cast.  |  IP: Logged

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