Paramount Announces First Blu-ray Titles – No Trek (Yet)

Over two months after being the last studio to announce support for Blu-ray, Paramount has finally announced titles, but so far no Trek. The initial five Blu-ray releases (coming out between May 20th and June 3rd) are catching up on previous films released on DVD like There Will Be Blood, and Cloverfield. Then, starting on June 24th Paramount will issue its first Blu-ray title on the same day as the DVD, “The Spiderwick Chronicles” with ‘more to follow.’

The Hollywood Reporter quotes Paramount Pictures worldwide home entertainment president Kelley Avery.

We will have a strong slate of titles for Blu-ray release throughout the year, worldwide, and are enthusiastic about expanding the format’s offerings for a broad consumer audience while delivering an experience that goes beyond what viewers love about DVD.

So far the only Star Trek DVD announced for 2008 is the Season Two set for Star Trek Remastered, coming out on August 5th. It is expected that Season Three will be out by the end of the year or early 2009 which will finish out the remastered TOS on standard def. The only Blu-ray Trek title that seems certain by 2009 is a release for JJ Abrams Star Trek film, but it has been reported that Paramount is working on high def versions of the previous ten Trek feature films. For the CBS TV Trek library both Star Trek Enterprise (and now of course) The Original Series are HD ready and could also make for early Blu-ray releases. But for now, Trek’s future on Blu-ray is still unclear.

Sources: Variety, Hollywood Reporter,

TOS-R Seasons One and Two on DVD discounted at Amazon
If old fashioned DVDs are your thing, Season Two of Trek Remastered is available for pre-order discounted to $63.99 and Season One (on HD DVD / DVD combo) is discounted to $96.95

   
Seasons One and Two of TOS-R ($96.95 and $63.99 respectively)

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I hope they get on the ball quick, I held off updating to HD until I knew for sure that I could get BOTH Star Trek and Star Wars on the same format.

Good deal…I would imagine we’ll see TOS by the end of the year. About time, Paramount!

Cant wait for TMP in high deph, I was kinda disapointed that the DC DVD was still so grainy. Also updating the FX for Trek Vs high def debute would freakin rule.

good its about time they sorted this out ,it wound be nice to know when star trek will see the light of day but its on it way i wonder if it will be release to tie in with the new movie

I still don’t see why Blue-ray beat out HD…..the picture quality is the same and who cares if you can store more data on the discs if you’re buying pre-packaged movies?

Not to mention that HD seems to describe the format better while “Blue-ray” sounds more like a flavor-of -the -month monicker/brand name…

Harry Ballz! HD-DVD was an evil scheme by microsoft to destroy the digital format in the form of actual discs that can be bought in a store. In favore of downloadable movies. Places like Best Buy and Wallmart would never be down with such an evil plot and the studios will follow there money making counterparts, the before mentions stores. It was a sick and Twisted plot and personally I am glad they saw through it and that the format is dead. dont believe me, just ask Michael Bay!

My understanding is that Blue-ray paid many millions of dollars to “purchase” the victory by bribing every studio to embrace their brand….it strikes me that if it were truly the superior format in regard to technology, why the bribe? Talk about fixing the race!

HarryBallz, ask yourself this. why would microsoft, a computer company, enter the world of entertainment softwere, any area dominated by Sony for decades, in the first place. Answer. They new that two formats would dicorage consumers and were hoping that would end the selling of physicall media altogether, including there own. So that people would be forced to sownload a new type of media that would be done on computers and would be magically provided by them. it is in fact microSoft that threw millions and millions of dollars to Paramount for there support. Blu-Ray was developed 1st. despite microsoft ruching HD-DVD into the stores 1st. blue ray had way more studio support from the very beginning and didi not need to “Bribe” any.

Forgive my losy spelling

DarthDogg

I appreciate you sharing that info…..I may have to reconsider my position!

No problem. Did you already purchase an HD-DVD player. If so i can understand any frustration you must have. I you havent, well, i agree with you that the difference is minimal in thier quality, so in the end, all that matters is that now you will be able to purchas ALL of your favorite movies in one single format which in the end is all that really matters,

Yes, I did buy the HD player…no big deal, I’ll simply buy a Blue-ray player as well and have a diverse little library!

embrace blu ray. it is the future.

I actually bought my HD-DVD player after the announcements simply because it’s an incredibly cheap way to get HD. The movies are the cheapest too for obvious reasons.

Also, I wanted to watch Star Trek Remastered in HD now, not six months from now. I have already built quite a library which includes some of my favourite films.

I will buy a Blu-ray player (I hate that silly name!) when they get much cheaper.

HD-DVD did have some advantages, especially the exclusiveness of the DVD combo format. However, the name HD-DVD is also a problem for the data discs. I mean, the very disc itself is not HD, it just has more storage capacity than a regular DVD. Therefor the name HD-DVD-R for data storage becomes a bit… illogical. BD-R sounds better and of course it’s preferred since it has more storage capacity.

The reason for BD to win however, is simply because they had the most money.

I have been waiting for Spiderwick in HD ever since I read about it in Linux Journal. Some of its FX were rendered in 8K resolution and they will look astounding on Blu-ray.

Paramount better have something special in mind for the Blu release of the 10 Trek films. No low-budget in-house FX remasters please .

For God’s sake, guys, give it a rest! This is a discussion about Paramount announcing BluRay releases! The HDDVD/ BluRay discussion has been going on, ad nauseum, for years and we’re all bored to tears by it!

As for Trek BluRays, I’d rather they take their time releasing them and do the job properly.

ST:TMP is no longer in acceptable condition to release on a home format: it’s grainy, scratched and dirty. Daren Doc and his team even had to add dirt and scratches to their new CGI FX to blend it in better. Also Daren’s FX need rerendering in HD. IIRC he said on one forum that they were designed for HD but rendered in SD, so hopefully he’ll be able to sort that. Also the audio on the voices in TMP is awful: really harsh! I’d love it if some more sound work was done.

STII could do with a little clean-up and I’d love it if they got someone like Daren to replace one or two of the reused FX shots from TMP with something new. And some people, ISTR, have issues with the Genesis Cave.

Star Trek V desperately needs tidying up and some new FX!

Where the TV show is concerned, I’m no longer so worried as the new FX look a bit computer game-y. I’ll probably by them anyway at some point, as I like the series and want to have access to it on a disc format (I bought the season one DVDs a few years ago, but they were awful quality!)

All in all, it’s better to get the Treks done properly. If that means waiting until the 2009 release of the new film!

‘buy them,’ even!!!!

Finally Paramount! This is good news, but I will still have to avidly keep adding certain things to my standard DVD collection, as I am quite sure that some of my personal favourite Movies and Shows will NEVER see the light of day on High Definition DVD unfortunately…

#14 ” actually bought my HD-DVD player after the announcements simply because it’s an incredibly cheap way to get HD. The movies are the cheapest too for obvious reasons.”

I did the same thing lol $69 player and an “instant” library of some great movies, including Trek remastered thanks to the ridiculously low close-out prices of these HD movies.

A 1080p player and almost 20 movies for less than you can buy one stand alone blu-ray player or Ps3. Gotta love it!

The 10 Trek movies will definately be out before the next movie. It will certainly be part of the marketing for the film and raise the public’s awareness of Trek again.

I for one hope they will release all the Trek movies on Blu-Ray in one huge box set.

#16-

I completely agree with you on the condition of TMP. They need to do ALOT of work on it before it’ll be ready for HD. Massive restoration of the film and audio elements is definitely needed. I was amazed that Paramount went through the trouble of adding new FX and a new mix along with the new cut but did little or nothing to improve the overall image. The film will look awful in HD unless it gets some TLC.

Grain is not a bad condition. Film has grain. You want grain.

TMP does need restoration, but excessive digital removal of grain is not good.

As long as I can see the story played out on a screen of some kind…
I am happy…

#23

Agreed about the grain. My biggest issues were the amount of scratches and other artifacts that were everywhere on the DVD.

I did read (cna’t recal where) that all 10 Trek films are being prepared for HD release. But the ealiest we would see any of them is 2009 (maybe in conjunction with the new movie?)

When they release TOS on a format so powerful you can see through Rand’s uniform, call me.
Until then, I have three kids and a Camry to feed.

re: 25- Agreed, there are lots of scratches and artifacts in the film. Though it looks pretty good on an upconvert player, certainly watchable. But not pristine.

If you watch Star Trek 2 The Directors Edition, and watch the exact same sequence of Kirk in the shuttle going to the Enterprise in Space Dock, the Trek 2 DVD is mastered very well. The image is brighter and cleaner.

“see through Rand’s uniform”

That would be Red-ray compared to Blue-ray then, right?

(a little panties humor)

#5.
” Not to mention that HD seems to describe the format better while “Blue-ray” sounds more like a flavor-of -the -month monicker/brand name… ”

Blu-ray won for many reasons, more studio support, more manufactuer support and more awareness of being ”The Next Thing”.

HD-DVD slid under the radar and had very litttle advertising. A fact that Toshiba *have* admitted and say they have now learned from.

i reckon theyll slip em out march/april 2009. its the oldest trick in the book.

but yeah new cgi would be brilliant!

Yes Harry, because little red panties and humor are two of my favs.

But, overpriced mecha that will sit in the attic until the squirrels evolve enough intelligence to laugh at it is not on my list of important things.
Make it good. Sell it cheap. Skip the hype. You’ll get rich. We’ll get Trek. Life is good.
The above battle of hyperpriced junk is deplorable, especially considering the economy.

Rich Earthlings selling junk make me very, very angry.

I hope when Paramount release the remastered season 2 on DVD that they will also release season 1 on just DVD. $96.96 for season 1 on HD DVD/DVD combo is to much. 63.99 on DVD is high but why pay more if you don’t need the HD DVD side?

Nelson ( 23)

“Grain is not a bad condition. Film has grain. You want grain.”

Yes, thank you. I work in the business. I know what grain is!

‘TMP does need restoration, but excessive digital removal of grain is not good.’

But equally, TMP has excessive grain for the quality of film stock on which it was shot: right now, on DVD, it looks like a several generations down dupe of a battered positive. I never said I wanted digital removal of grain, but a cleaned up new transfer would have the correct grain quality rather than look like the dog’s breakfast it is right now.

Just wanted to make a small comment about hi def and Star Trek. I have Direct TV and there is a channel there called HDnet. They are showing Star Trek: Enterprise daily in hi-def. I have to say the quality is excellent. I have the entire series on DVD but it does not even start to look that good…one other thing is the channel shows the episodes un-cut and commercial free. So when Paramount releases that series on Blu-Ray I would imagine it would look pretty mush identical.

Dave,

Have you seen the Enterprise Mirror Universe two-parter in HD? If so, how does it compare to the TOS-R project?

Take care,
Sean

Dave L (37) Hi Def TV broadcasts are heavily compressed compared with Blu-ray. In no way judge the disc release by what you see on a TV channel!

True, Dom. Bad idea. It’s just that I don’t get HD Trek in New Orleans and really am itching to get some of this on Blu.
My local cable and sat does not carry HD ST. :(

#38 Those episodes have not aired yet..right now they are showing the two part storyline begining with the forge. #39 Well if the blu-rays will look even better then what I am seeing now then that is saying a lot cause what I see every day on HDNet is awesome to say the least

Are the remastered episodes on DVD the full length show or are they the shorten remastered ones you now see on tv that have been cut or edited?

re post 36: Dom, I don’t know who is in the business or a fan here anymore who post here!

Too many people misunderstand video noise for film grain, and has been said above by post 39, the compressed video (which I have not seen) on hi-def TV broadcasts add video noise.

As long as the remastered Star Trek films are true representations of the film presentation, including film grain, sound and aspect ratio, etc, then I’m happy!

Paramount has done some great work on other classic films recently, so I am really looking forward to seeing Star Trek.

I don’t mind grain, but I really detest any scratches and artifacts in a dvd release…

I want no grain for TMP Blu-ray. I don’t want to see snow when blown up on my 65″ Mitsu DLP. NO GRAIN !!!! GOT IT!!!! The Directors Edition is nearly unwatchable with the excessive grain and artifacts in the print on my Lord Garth sized TV when upconverted on either of my HD players. They best do the first 4 films justice with a Lucas like scrubbing and restoration of the prints. The WOK dvd print has so much red in it that in looks like everyone has blood pressure problems. Please Please for once will they hire someone competant and top notch for the restorations Let Dirty Darren and Eden do the enhanced effects that may need changing for HD and they guys who did Blade Runner for the actual print rehabs. NO IN HOUSE CHEAPO MEDIOCRATY we have already had over a year of it