Last week we reported that Paramount was the last studio to announce support for the Blu-ray HD standard. At the time Paramount still had a number of planned HD DVD titles and even just announced two new ones. However today comes news from Video Business, HiDef Digest and The Hollywood Reporter that the two Paramount titles coming out next week (Into the Wild and Things We Lost) would be their last. All future announced HD DVD titles have been cancelled. Paramount has still not announced any Blu-ray titles or any plans for Trek.
The Remastered Star Trek The Original Series Seasons Two and Three were never officially announced for HD DVD/DVD combo, but were expected to be released in the Summer and Fall respectively. Sources have told TrekMovie.com that work on Season Two was almost complete (and possibly even totally complete). Even after adopting Blu-ray there was still a chance for Paramount to support both formats for a period, which would have allowed for TOS-R to get a complete set on HD DVD. However, the above reports make it all but certain that Season One will be the sole Star Trek HD DVD title. The only ray of hope for HD DVD Trek is that CBS (who control Trek TV) may not follow suit with Paramount Home Entertainment who distribute all CBS DVDs, but they always have before.
Future of Trek on disk?
There is still no word on the future of Trek on Blu-ray. In fact as of now there isn’t a single DVD title for Trek on any format announced. Every year since 1999 there have been multiple releases for Trek. Now that every series has been released at least once all that remains for DVD are more ‘Captain’s Logs’ style compilations or new special editions or box sets (like last years TNG 20th anniversary set). The biggest potential is HD titles, on Blu-ray of course. As of now Star Trek The Original Series, Star Trek Enterprise and the ten Star Trek feature films are all HD ready. All seem likely candidates for early Blu-ray titles, but Paramount has got a lot of catching up to do with other films that were pulled when they switched to HD only plus new titles for 2007 and 2008 films. It is possible that 2008 will be the first year in a decade without a single Trek title on disk. Right now the only thing we can be certain of is that the new Star Trek movie will come out sometime in late 2009, likely on DVD and Blu-ray. Beyond that…who knows?
Man! I’m so glad I invested in Blueray!!!!!
So now I’m STUCK WITH THIS DAMN TOSHIBA???
Bullsht.
First, dammit.
cant wait for trek to hit blu-ray!
Of course most of their work on the HD DVD can be pretty easily ported over to Blu-ray… They just need to code a new version of their interactivity in BD-J for the pop-ups and PiP stuff.
Please no obscenities especially from a doctor. Tisk tisk
The standards of DRM and HD quality are all the same for BD and HD-DVD, There may be some adjustments for the menues for loading purposes but that is about it.
aw damn…they’re gonna push it now on blu-ray…i can see it now motion picture, wrath of khan, and search for spock one year, then voyage home, final frontier, undiscovered country the next year, then generations, first contact, insurrection, nemesis after that, then Star Trek XI when that’s out of theatres, then they’ll have big 11-movie pack for sale with a bunch of new features that you won’t get elsewhere….and so on.
I hope they release season 1 in Blu-ray
Bummer. TOS-R on HD-DVD is awesome!
So, let me get this straight…….I bought an HD-DVD Player and good sized HD library, for the most part, predicated on Paramount doing TOS in HD? And now this??
I’m thinking of a line from Dog Day Afternoon, spoken by Pacino….it starts, “kiss me, I like…”
Finish the quote by posting it here and earn Pascale’s WRATH……..!!
Hmmm…..The Wrath of Pascale…the scary part is, that has a nice ring to it!
I am a little confused. So… will this have any affect on Star Trek XI’s DVD release (in 2009) at all? Just curious.
#7 t2
By the time they release the ULTIMATE TOS boxset, it’ll BE the 23rd Century!!!
Ah, well………….then we watch it LIVE!!!
11.
well I had assumed that was self evident but I have added a line to the last paragraph. There will of course be a DVD for the new movie and likely blu-ray.
the question is…is there anything else? and if so, when?
# 12 yeah just wait til the holodeck comes out….
also in addition to TOS-R 2 and 3, then there are TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT, the first 2 or 3 which need to be remastered themselves….it’s truly going to be a long time til the Trek Blu-ray collection is complete (as it’s taken me years to complete my standard DVD collection of the movies and series) I can easily see it like…celebrate 25th anniversary of TNG, TNG-R Season 1 on DVD 2012….o well….whatever it is and whenever it comes out, I’ll be getting it…just gotta save up the $$$
Buy an HD DVD player at a closeout price. Buy the Star Trek HD DVDs [maybe also at bargain basement prices], don’t even open the packages. 10 or 15 years from now, put them both on EBay or whatever the auction tool of that decade happens to be and watch the collectors come out of the woodwork.
Might be a good investment.
The wife is doing well on her chemo. The fast growth-rate of her ovarian cancer made it very vulnerable to the drugs. Prognosis is favorable but she is currently miserable. Since this is her second bout with cancer, we knew what to expect.
Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers.
We just might yet make the May 2009 premiere.
7 of 5
My sincere best wishes and prayers to you…….the “stuff of life” you’re going through puts most of our petty little problems, by comparison, to shame………take heart…….I personally know of a woman who had a worse prognosis for cancer and has pulled through……..nice to come here and chat about Trek, but our thoughts are with you! God bless!
7of 5
Encouraging news! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your wife.
Peace. Live long and prosper.
The Vulcanista }:-|
re:15
I don’t believe in the no-win situation! Keep the faith my friend!
I have been waiting for the format war to end. Now I can finally choose.
Star Trek will be released eventually (hopefully sooner than later).
As Trekkers, we have always had to learn how to wait.
Indeed, tell her to hang in there, and she’s certainly not alone, ovarian cancer is starting to get the recognition it needs.
Sounds like regular DVDs will still be made as well if that’s what “DVD and Blu-ray” means. Hopefully we will have the choice.
And
#15. 7 of 5
All the best. May you have many more years together!!! My prayers are with you.
kg
Of course, just as they announce a Trek schedule for Blu-Ray the new HD format will be introduced….
7 of 5–My prayers are with you and your wife. Cancer is such a bitch. It has hit so many of my own familiy members. One just has to fight back and hit it hard. Sounds like your wife is a real trooper and she is very fortunate to have you supporting her. God bless!
7 of 5,
Cancer is so limited that:
It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
First (and I use that word in a non-stupid way), I want to express my best wishes for your wife, 5 of 7.
A much much less important second, (and of course I feel embarassed complaining given 5 of 7’s situation, but this still is a Star Trek site, after all):
I am upset that I can’t watch the second and third seasons in High Definition for years, it looks like. I stopped recording some of the second and third season episodes because I figured they would be out in a few months. Not to mention I bought the damn HD-DVD player. But that’s the least of it. I really was looking forward to owning the remastered, uncut DVD’s in a High Def format. This sucks.
At least I’ll always have the phaser remote.
As long as Trek Remastered comes on a regular DVD format, I’ll wait. I’m not upgrading anytime soon. For know, I’ll sell the HD DVD Season 1 I have and just finish the original series with season 2 and 3 on regular DVD since I already also have season 1 on regular DVD. Paramount please do Blu-ray/DVD combo for all three seasons, then I’ll get them.
the movies are already HD ready? I find that hard to believe..please someone out there convince me! :)
Fortunately there’s no such thing as a Blu-ray/DVD combo. That crap was HD-DVD only.
#27;
There’s nothing to suggest the Trek films are ready for a BR release. I think what Anthony is referring to in the article is that TNG, DS9, and VOY were all produced in SD and can’t have a true HD release in their current conditions. Meanwhile the films would simply need to be suitably transfered for Blu-ray usage.
Another big benefit of Blu-ray is that Paramount will likely be forced into actually spending a little money on the films, the transfers for the DVD releases were fairly average and work like that just wont hold up anymore.
Wonderful to read 7 of 5
And no, you guys don’t need to throw away your HD-DVD players. You can still enjoy them and the HD-DVD’s you have
Is it the case that TOS was shot on film (and therefore is high enough resolution to be rady for Blu-Ray) but the other shows were shot on video? I would have thought that at least Enterprise would have been on digital. i guess you would have to upgrade all the shows. It would look great though.
7 of 5, thinking of you both. The very best of luck.
As for S2,S3TOS-R-HD-DVD, as with Harry, I bought HD-DVD this Xmas primarily for Trek (I held off for a week on ordering it so my other half thought it was for 300 and Transformers), but I can’t feel bitter – Paramount did have very little choice in the Grand Scheme.
I’m still plotting my revenge though………
#30;
That’s essentially the case. All the treks were shot on film but TNG-VOY were edited on video, the video masters of the episodes are all that exist. What steps they may take to bring these to HD, if any, is unknown at the moment. They have done tests to “uprez” TNG, but that sounds like bullshit to me.
Enterprise was broadcast in HD for all 4 seasons and so it will be easy to put out when the time comes.
And, although people seem to have forgotten, the whole point of TOS: Remastered was to prepare it for HD release. It sure would be nice if they did the Blu-ray release right, and included both the remastered and original versions in HD, as well as 16X9 effects shots.
how does TNG look up-rezed from regular DVD to HDTV? I don’t have an HDTV so I’m curious…
#28
However, there are combo Blu-ray/HD-DVD players – they cost over $500 though.
#32
I was under the impression that, while TNG-VOY were post-produced on video, the principal photography was done on 35mm film. I remember reading somewhere that that film still exists, and that any HD transfer would be done from the 35mm print, with new CGI for the optical effects. That’s essentially the same process as they’ve used for TOS.
If the original film print is not available, as far as I know there is no way to create an HD transfer from video tape.
#33
TNG on standard DVD, upscaled to 1080p through my PS3 looks pretty rough. In fact, in some of the early seasons, it ends up looking worse upscaled. From roughly season 2 of VOY onwards, the upscaled picture looks pretty good, but it would never pass as “near HD”.
In contrast, the DVD side of the TOS-R combo discs looks excellent upscaled, although bear in mind that no Star Trek TV was filmed in widescreen until ENT, so stretching the picture to fit a big screen will degrade the picture further.
thanks for the info!
Just checked this out from multiple web sources, including elsewhere on this very site:-
TNG, DS9 and VOY were all shot on 35mm (primarily Kodak 7298, 500ASA) using Panavision cameras. The footage was transferred to video tape for post-production.
The original film still exists, so the TOS-R process could be followed, BUT it’s a much bigger undertaking. TOS was shot AND edited on 35mm film, so entire episodes exist that are assembled on film, which makes it easier to restore them to HD quality. Basically you just clean up the film, scan it, do your restoration work and add your new CGI effects.
TNG was shot on 35mm film too, but edited in 480i video. There aren’t complete episodes assembled on film, just raw film the episodes were assembled from to make the 480i videos. As a result you’d have to re-assemble the episodes from scratch from the piles of film, THEN do all the other work you had to do anyway on top of that. And there are many more episodes than TOS..
To do this for 21 seasons of TV (TNG, DS9 & VOY) would be a mammoth and extremely expensive undertaking. Obviously, I hope they do it – but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Would they really need to redo and/or add special effects for TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT? The effects are pretty good allready (except perhaps some early TNG stuff).
#38 “Would they really need to redo and/or add special effects for TNG, DS9, VOY, or ENT? The effects are pretty good allready (except perhaps some early TNG stuff). ”
They’d need to redo them not because of how good/bad they are but merely becasue they only exist in the Standard Definition realm.
7 of 5 My very warmest wishes to you and your wife.
All I want is a stand alone disc of the Billy Blackburn home movies… is that too much to axe for?
#39 utterlee – OK, that makes sence…Thanks
#41 Jeffrey
I concur put the Billy Blackburn home movies on a separate disk and sell it !
I know they have no audio track, but he could do a narrative and maybe have any original cast add to it. Sounds like a winner to me.
Surprised Paramount hasn’t thought of that yet.
…out of the lurky darkness…
Best of luck, 7, and positive thoughts and energy to both you and your wife.
While I absolutely LOVE my HD Trek discs and don’t regert buying them at all, I hope future Blu-ray HD releases will assemble the extras in one place and allow the viewer to access them outside of the episode itself. While tapping into the starfleet access data while watching the episode is fun, it detracts from the episode. It would be a lot more enjoyable if all the features were given their own chapters.
And I must say, aside from Trek being canceled, I’m loving the decision of TOSHIBA to dump HD. Because of that, I’m picking up HD movies for $9-$12 a pop that would’ve cost me $29 to $39 dollars…and are STILL $29 on blue-ray. Sure, I’ll go blu-ray eventually, but with all the clearance on literally thousands of titles, being a HD owner right now is very nice….but saving all this money is breaking me, I wasn’t expecting the fire sales to start so soon.
Ah merde!
My Toshiba HD-DVD player turns out to be a bad investment!
Dammit!
#45-Just be sure to pick up one or two more HD-DVD players on the cheap as well–what happens when your current player goes kaput and you have all those bargain HD-DVDs sitting around?
Just would like to say one thing about the HDDVD. they do a much better job for the up conversion with regular DVD than the blueray !! I have both and there is a really good difference. If someone is looking to buy a DVD player, The Toshiba A-30 is a litle more expensive but a good deal !!! Just so ya know !!!
#37 Thanks for the info. I suspect the effort will be made to restore if past profits are the indicator and the demand is there. What else is a company to do? To choose not have work or to have work?
It’s too bad there’s not an easy way to search past threads, because then you’d see my prediction from last year: you will *NEVER* see seasons two and three on HD-DVD. Unfortunately for our friends who invested in HD-DVD players and discs, I was right.