In April and May CBS and Paramount put out a total six DVD and Blu-ray sets, mostly around the release of the new Star Trek movie, but they are not done yet. There are a number of additional sets for the new Star Trek movie, TOS, and the TNG era movies on the way, and now the first indications of when we will get them are starting to hinted at.
A big Fall for Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray
So far the only official announcement from CBS and Paramount Home Entertainment is that they will be releasing Seasons 2 & 3 of the remastered Star Trek The Original Series on Blu-ray, which are said to be "coming soon". However TrekMovie has already reported that there will also be a Star Trek The Next Generation movie box set on Blu-ray (like the TOS movie set released last month). Like with the TOS movies, the TNG set will include new special features and audio commentaries (more on that below). In addition it is expected that the home video release of the new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie will have three versions: standard widescreen DVD, special edition 2-disk DVD set, and special edition Blu-ray (probably 2-disk).
Our friend Bill Hunt at The Digital Bits is now reporting (in the ‘rumormill’) that TOS Season 2 will arrive September 22nd. The Bits is also reporting that the JJ Abrams Star Trek sets will come out "sometime in November or December" with the TNG movie set coming out at the same time. They are also reporting that the movies inside the recently released TOS era movie Blu ray box set will be released as individual Blu-ray films. However TVShowOnDVD is reporting that the JJ movie sets may actually come in October (possibly the 27th). A TrekMovie source has also said to expect those releases in October, but nothing is firm yet.
As we learn more, we will provide updates. Regardless 2009 is shaping up to be a huge year for Star Trek on DVD and Blu-ray.
TrekMovie’s Tony on the TNG set!
By the way I participated in some of the special features for the TNG Blu-ray set. I, along with Larry Nemecek and Jeff Bond, did a kind of video fan discussion of each film, which will appear on each of the movie disks. In addition, I recorded the audio commentary for Star Trek First Contact along with Damon Lindelof. Both were very fun experiences and I hope you all enjoy them.
Yes, I can’t wait for all the deleted scenes from the movie… first!
Niiiice! I can’t wait for Season 2 on BluRay, AND the new movie!
Suh-weet!!
Extended cut! Extended cut! Extended cut!
:-D
As for the release date for the movie… I was expecting it would be October 6th. That’s about the same time from theatrical release to DVD release that Iron Man had last year.
November and especially December is too late. Definitely won’t be either of those months.
Regardless of when it comes out… can’t wait!
*sigh*…what kind of millionaire does Paramount think I am? First they pressure me into having to buy expensive equipment I won’t be able to afford any time soon, and now they’re releasing all this media that requires said equipment in order to watch?
It’s madness I tell you, MADNESS!!!!! It’s a conspiracy to rob all the common trekkies of their hard-earned cash so they can rule the world! BOYCOTT!!!!
Either that, or I just need to win the lottery ;)
Anthony … Based on your reasoned and concise commentary on this site, I’m thrilled to hear you will be providing your perspective in some of the extras on the TNG releases. Congratulations to you! Extremely well earned.
I can’t wait to see the Klingons!
The Damon Lindelof commentary for FC definitely sounds interesting.
Awesome news!!!
And congrats Anthony
I wish I could was the vid and listen to the commentary Anthony worked on. Alas, if it’s only on Blu-ray, that won’t happen, unless I’m able to check it out online or at a friend’s house or something. Assuming the friends usually hang out with decide to actually buy a Blu-ray player. Most of them, like myself, absolutely hate Blu-ray and do not intend on wasting the money to buy not only a Blu-ray player but a suitable television for it. Oh, and the discs, too, of course.
Of course, in the unlikely scenario that DVDs are no longer being made and Blu-ray discs are all that’s left, then I guess we’ll break down and buy a Blu-ray player. Seeing as how Blu-ray sales are still in the crapper (though very slowly rising), I doubt that will happen, at least not in the foreseeable future. It’s more likely that some nifty, new device will come along and take out first Blu-ray and then DVD.
The bottom line: Blu-ray sucks. Sorry, Blu-ray fans. (I’m assuming there are some out there.)
Havign said the above, congratulations on the video/commentary, Anthony. Hopefully I get to check it out eventually. :)
looking forward to the ST XI DVD with the Extended cut.
I have to honestly say that I loved this movie so much, it may actually be THE movie that gets me to enter the world of blu-ray…
an extended cut would make Nero’s klingon prison stay cacon… leaving it as a deleted scene could open he way for novels to explain it non-canon.
@10
I realize now that blu ray sucks because Charles Trotter and his friends can’t afford to upgrade. Here I was, thinking that it was worthwhile for the amazing picture and audio quality, but because some d-bag named Charles Trotter can’t afford it, it obviously sucks. F— you, Trotter
Charles:
I agree re: Blu-Ray. I invested in HD-DVD only because Paramount was behind it. And now, it seems that the picture quality of the Trek movies on BR vs. DVD is not too different as they’re just stamping the existing DVD masters onto BR, revealing warts and all (TWOK,apparently, excepted).
But there is a Samsung BR player for $199.95 out now (I checked on Crutchfield), and I am sure prices will tank before Xmas. The issue is, if the film is not specifically cleaned up and remastered for HD, your existing DVD player with upconversion will make your existing DVDs look marvelous on a plasma.
If you’ve invested in the new HD sound formats, you lose with DVD. And if you do not get a BR player, you lose out on the max potential of the TOS-R series.
My current favorite DVD player cost me $24.95 at Walmart, and has more features than a $700 player I purchased 6 years ago. Picture is identical. Patience is a virtue.
I’ve yet to take that leap to go Blu-Ray. With over 1,000 DVDs in my library I don’t really want to switch over (mostly because I think Blu-Ray costs too much compared to a perfectly goood format).
Yes, I do realize a BR player will play the old format… so I assume at some point I will switch over; I just haven’t felt the necessity… yet.
That said, hearing AP doing commentary comes close to making me switch… Congrats, Anthony, that has to be a big honor to perform such duties (hey Anthony, I’ve asked this in the past, but seriously… is this blog your day job or what??? If so, wow!!! envy…)
I would love to see all the trek tos movies remastered, like the they did with the tos series. imagine twok with new didital battle scenes. Also the tng series remastered. It would be cool to see best of both worlds with good sfx this time around.
14. Sci-Fi Bri — Assuming they do an extended cut, I definitely hope they add the prison scene back in. I also hope they re-add the scene with Kirk’s brother. This way, they can also fix the otherwise pointless shot where Kirk’s bro became a random hitchhiking kid named “Johnny.”
It would be cool if they could work in the scene of Spock’s birth, too. If I understand things correctly, though, that scene was originally supposed to be the scene that opens the movie. If they do re-add it, I hope they don’t insert it at the beginning where it normally would have been. The way the movie began with the attack on the Kelvin followed by the title card was perfect.
A good place to include Spock’s birth would be as a flashback when Sarek goes to see Spock in the transporter room after Spock relinquishes command of the Enterprise. He walks in, sees Spock, and remembers when he was born. When the flashback is over, it goes back to the transporter room, with Sarek telling Spock to “speak his mind.” I think that would work beautifully, if done right.
Not sure what other deleted scenes there are, but if those are the only ones that are added, that would be fine by me. Any deleted scenes not added to the extended cut can still be included on the DVD among the bonus features.
So will Paramount do the movie series first and see how that does before thinking about doing any new TV series?
15:/Jason:
That’s not nice.
Trek films apart from TWOK and ST09 have little to gain from BR except better sound and new special features.
Blu-Ray is NOT a successful format, as most are satisfied with DVD. DVD was so much better than VHS, that major studios just printed money rolling out existing masters onto disc. Then came special features and extended editions. The key is to get you to re-buy your current collection in the new format.
Studios are not investing in upgrading their current portfolios for true HD. Consumers are still happy with their DVD’s. Most don’t care about additional content, and upconverted DVD’s (if a consumer even knows what that is) look fine. Hell, the average widescreen TV owner sets all programs to wide, temperature to “vivid” and “sharpness” to maximum, killing the benefits HD almost entirely.
And everyone expects a new format to come down the pike soon.
I hope these aren’t DNR’d to death like the first set. But I am not holding my breath.
guys im not sure if any of you are aware of this buy certain films from the original blu ray collection our already out to buy seperatly ….. the wrath of khan and the underscoved country can be brought anywere that sells blu ray in the UK
“TOS Season 2 will arrive September 22nd”
I am somewhat surprised to hear TOS-R Season 2 won’t be out until September, considering Season 1 came out in April. 5 months between releases suggests it will be February 2010 before Season 3 is released. I would have expected more of an August/November timeframe for 2 & 3. Perhaps they will still release 3 in time for Christmas (after all they still need to clean up a few mistakes ;-)
#21 – Blu-ray outsold DVD year to year (1997 vs. 2006, etc) and you call it “unsucessful”?
Back in the 90’s people were more than happy in VHS. DVD’s title selection was pitiful.
Expecting a new format? 10 years between BD & DVD.
As far as TREK on BD is concerned, you “think” the BDs don’t look great, but then turn around, put in the DVD version and see what an improvement the BDs are…and how lousy the TREK DVDs look now.
Danging, several websites were advertising Star Trek 2009 as coming out on DVD and Blue Ray at the end of July. I am now a sad, sad panda. :(
Extend Nemesis on Blu! Do it! :-)
I very hope, there will be some ARG contents on the DVD.
I’m sorry…but the new Trek Blu-rays, whatever problems they may have, are WAY better looking than the regular standard definition DVD’s. This is a given. If you can’t see it, maybe you have glaucoma or something. True, there are a lot of Joe Six Packs and Sally House Coats who aren’t cinephiles who aren’t ever going to care about the improved picture quality and are just going to be fine with regular DVD (not to mention many, many people still don’t own flat screens, making Blu rays a moot point) Blu Ray may never have the penetration that standard DVD had, but right now it is one of the only bright spots sales wise for the home video industry.
15. Jason
Don’t push it, or you will be banned. (Yes, I can do that.) In any case, I never said blu-ray sucks because I can’t afford it. I said it sucks because there’s really no difference in terms of picture quality and to even get an iota of difference, you need to get a TV that’s capable of doing the job. Why spend more money on media that does pretty much the same thing as DVD? Ok, sure, blu-ray can fit more crap on it, big whoop. Put three or more DVDs in the box, we’ll live.
One thing you need to remember: this is all my opinion. If you do not like it or agree with it, that’s fine, but if you react that way again, you will be banned.
I will stick with DVD for now, thank you. I’m not ready to ivest in a HD television and a Blu-Ray player just to see an image only a little better than what a DVD offers.
Oh, and #15 – you are walking on thin ice. Please reconsider your attitude.
It’s okay Jason just be careful next time. they WILL ban you. I know, I’ve been close to the big red button a few times myself. i realized that making one last flash in the pan statement was not worth losing my voice on the site. I hope you think the same.
Peace out man.
Nah don’t bother with Blu-Ray wait for the films to come out on isolinear optical chips, that the ticket laddie, just like that transparent aluminum malarky – like garlic bread, the future….
And talking of garlic bread, where’s that damn replicatore when I need it most??
lol
#26 LOL, not only sad but naive! LOL
ST09 won’t even be out of the theaters in July. Unless ST09 was the worst film ever in terms of box office performance, the DVD wouldn’t be out in less than 3 months after it left theatres. A Summer release of a successful film translates typically to a pre-December holiday release.
#25, Not sure where you get your figures. DVD is still the most popular format between it and DVD, not counting downloads.
http://news.cnet.com/is-dvd-movie-pricing-holding-blu-ray-back/
That said, there is not likely to be a significant format change to delay a consumer into the market anytime soon. Broadcasters are unlikely to go beyond the ATSC 1080i/p HD standard for the foreseeable future. While HD DVD may improve compression codecs and 1080p image clarity, it is not likely to advance much beyond that for the masses even after 10 years. Like the Criterion Laser Disks before it, niche markets may develop for certain releases for 4K, 2540p, or Super-hi resolution monitors. But like SD CRT TV’s of the past, this will be lost on most of the installed HD screens in the world for many years before it becomes a viable format with sufficient content and affordability. 720p sets in fact dominate most of the installed market as it is, who don’t even enjoy the benefits of 1080i.
VHS reigned supreme over DVD due to more than a lack of content. VCRs were a major source of time-shifting programs and there was no need to invest in another format for pre-recorded movies until home-theatre systems became affordable at Wal-Mart and DVD players and media dropped into the realm of affordable luxury to warrant an additional playback device – mainly for the 5.1 surround sound it offered and not the improved picture. It is no surprise that as DVR gained in popularity and affordability that the VCR began to simultaneously disappear. Picture quality holds little advantage over price for the average user. Only in the homes of avid home-theatre users do I find properly calibrated HD sets. Most HD sets I see in the average home, suffer from SD only content, stretched pictures to avoid black bars, and little or no HD access. The pictures are actually worse than on their old CRT sets, yet few notice in the presence of the otherwise lighter, slimmer, and hi-tech looking set itself.
33. madtrekfan
Ha! Well, the next step will probably be to release movies and TV shows on some form of storage device like a flash drive. They already did it with Ghostbusters, releasing a flash drive with the movie preloaded on it. Of course, the flash drives would probably need a bit more storage capacity before they can be distributed ala DVDs/Blu-ray. Oh, and they would need to be much cheaper than they are now. After that, I would imagine isolinear chip-like technology wouldn’t be too far away. :)
No its not OK Jason, that kind of language and personal attack is not done here. You are warned
Yeah, you’re right, “okay” wasn’t the best word.
A while back a debate started about BR vs. DVD in which people who had Blu-Ray looked down upon those who didn’t and those who had DVD took offense and sometimes went over the top with their counterattacks. Let’s please not do that again.
Some people cannot afford the newest and greatest gadgets, for example, unlike most people my age, I do not and I have never owned an iPod, iPhone, or any other iThing that Apple comes up with. I don’t have a HDTV or Blu-Ray player, and I don’t have a state-of-the-art computer with unimaginable power and processor speed. Not because I don’t want some of these things, I would love a new computer, but I can’t afford it. However, there are two nice things about entertainment BRs or DVDs. 1: The prices decrease over time and 2: The BRs or DVDs are able to be purchased for years after the original release date on sites like Amazon.com. Therefore I’m not worried and will look forward to getting some of these things whenever I can. Until then, I’ll look forward to the great reviews on TrekMovie, and the great screencaps on TrekCore. And of course, enjoy the entire Trek franchise on DVD. As for the new movie, I will likely get the Special Edition 2-Disc DVD. I have to say though that DVD still looks pretty good to me, even with the HD Screencaps of TWOK on TrekCore. The DVD still looks pretty good. Sure BR has some higher quality but I still think that the DVD looks good.
Now, with all that said, can we please have a civil debate here on this topic. Let’s all practice basic civility.
I also would like to see an earlier release, but that won’t happen. I was expecting October after I looked up the release date for the Iron Man DVD. So it’ll be another long wait until I can watch it again, since it’s out of the cinemas here.
I hope ST XI will be out by my birthday!
@ Charles Trotter
“[I] absolutely hate Blu-ray… there’s really no difference in terms of picture quality [compared to DVD]… Blu-ray sales are still in the crapper… some nifty, new device will come along and take out Blu-ray… The bottom line: Blu-ray sucks. Sorry, Blu-ray fans.
One thing you need to remember: this is all my opinion.”
******
And not a very well informed one, at that.
What is the source of this absolute hatred — of a home video format, of all things? If Blu-ray is so bad, no better than DVD and such an unmitigated disaster, then answer me this: why is Mr. Abrams and Paramount bothering to release their new blockbuster film STAR TREK on the format? For that matter, why do they release any of their product on Blu-ray (Lost, Fringe, Transformers, M:I:III, etc.)? Do you know something they don’t?
Have you ever seen a new release Blu-ray on a properly calibrated 1080p display… or even a 720p front projector on a screen that is bigger than you are? I’m not talking about strolling through a Best Buy and looking at their HDTVs with their color saturation and contrast turned way up to attract people who don’t know any better. Have you listened to a lossless 7.1 or 5.1 DolbyTrueHD or DTS-HD-MA soundtrack before? This is great stuff you are missing. Far from sucking, Blu-ray is the best home video format we’ve got right now and it comes the closest to reproducing the cinema experience in our homes.
Reconsider your opinion.
Charles Trotter, I agree with you in regards to not seeing the hype over Blu-Ray. I’ve looked at the HD Screencaps of TWOK on TrekCore and compared it to the DVD screencaps of TWOK. I don’t see the big deal. Yes there is some increase in picture quality, but not such a huge difference that it makes DVD look like crap. In my opinion, DVD picture quality is still very, very good and since I own the entire Star Trek franchise on DVD, I don’t see the need to double dip for a little extra picture quality, plus the HDTV to “really enjoy it” and a whole new type of player. Especially since, if at some point in the future Blu-Ray players are sold and DVD players aren’t, DVDs will still play on Blu-Ray players. So, in short, I will not be double dipping. I also can’t afford all that new stuff. :)
Well, that’s my opinion, people can agree or disagree. All I ask is that it is civil.
#34
That article is really dead on. I would like to switch to Blu-Ray at some point, but it’s way to expensive in every aspect. I don’t have the money to buy a fancy HD tv or even HD projector so I can actually notice the difference. Also the players are way to expensive compared to DVD. Sure the picture would be superior, but a visible yet not “amazing” difference between the formats does not justify these prices. So I’ll stick to DVD for now and maybe skip the Blu-Ray hype entirely. Flash cards may be the future and I can wait.
I would love to see an October release date for the new movie. But, we’ll see.
41, perhaps but if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. The main problem I have with Blu-Ray, other than it’s price, is the fact that to “truly enjoy it” you need to get an expensive HDTV, special Blu-Ray player, etc. So, add in even more expensive items. The price tag could be hundreds and hundreds of dollars! Also, when I compare the screencaps from Blu-Ray TWOK and DVD TWOK, I don’t see the huge difference that you describe in your post. Is there a difference? Sure, there is some increased quality in Blu-Ray. Enough for it to be a big deal? Not that I’ve seen.
41. Justin Olsen
The reason movies are being released on Blu-ray is obvious: companies are hoping it will replace DVD. You can fit more stuff on one Blu-ray disc than you can on a DVD disc, and, with a proper HD television, you might be able to actually hear and see a difference in the quality of the sound/picture. I watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean on Blu-ray at a friend’s brother’s house, after which we popped in the DVD (on a DVD player) to see the difference. All of us, including my friend’s brother (the owner of the Blu-ray player) were disappointed to see that there was not a huge difference. And this was a 40+ inch widescreen plasma TV.
I am not saying Blu-ray does not have advantages over DVD in terms of storage capacity and, to a lesser extent, sound and picture quality. I am merely saying that, as of right now, there is no reason to abandon DVD and start investing in Blu-ray. So Blu-rays have more space? That’s nice, if you care about having a few more special features and commentaries. Companies can easily put those features on an additional DVD (a second or third disc depending on the movie), and it would be cheap to do so, but they won’t because they want to give people more incentive to buy the Blu-ray. So far, it’s only working to moderate success, but I really don’t see it making more of a splash than it is now (i.e. being outsold by DVD by around 90%).
So, I maintain that, to me, Blu-ray sucks. That’s just all there is to it. You like Blu-ray. I respect that opinion. I ask that you respect mine, as well. As LoyalStarTrekFan stated, though, should I change my mind, Blu-ray discs will always be available for purchase via Amazon and similar sites. But I just don’t see that happening.
Addendum to #45
For the record, I do care about additional special features and commentaries, hence my point about them being added to an additional DVD disc.
Okay, I’m done. :-P
i love HD anyway, first off you can see the differents lol, i was not mad that blue-ray won , as its kinda like sony wanted to control all ends of the market , i do now have a blue drive on my computer as it was cheap and use my my computer as a media centre to watch stuff i download and blue-ray movies i buy, on my big television.
i do think it wont be too long till we see flash drive movies ,or Holo dvds ( or one of the many other formats they have in developement coming out soon. is there not talk of special burning techinque and 8x layers dvds that can hold hd quailty movies , plus what happens when people want super hd res stuff , will we be buying all this stuff again , oh well
we are all just slaves to new tech .
Just some perspective here. Studios and media merchandisers will always want you to buy. VHS only this year was abandoned and no more blank tapes are being produced to record tv shows…what’s in your local stores on the shelves is it, fini.
I have hundreds of vhs tapes and in all those years, I’ve only 1-2 bad vhs tapes. Would you like to hear how many defective dvd’s I’ve returned due to video/audio freezing, hiccups, etc.?
True be known, thw wholoe world does not own an HD tv. many will be drug kicking and screaming to purchase a new HDTV when their analog set and analog tv antenna converter box become land fill fodder many years from now. The world has changed. many get unfortuantely, their movies, tv shows online and burn them, illegal yes!
Many use Netflex and don’t purchase anything.
Remember vinyl records..yes they still them, but how many of you even buy CD’s anymore when you can download an album on your i-pod?
I’ve seen Bluray in store demo’s…they have an unnatural glow and look to them, that I find odd. They have an artificial feel to the video image, and again, I own hundreds of DVD’s, and see no real reason to upgrade to Bluray at this time, as they’re still producing titles on standard dvd too.
I had JUST bought a brand new HD DVD player, and within a few short months after buying my 249.00 player and getting TOS-R hybrid dvd season 1, I’ll be danged if they jestisioned the format for Bluray.
To say I was pissed is an understatement.
many films on dvd played on a Bluray reveal a horrid playback revealing all sorts of stuff, you’re older player/tv set never brought to the foreground.
My HD tv makes my analog vhs tapes which looked studio quality in video look like crap. I’d wished I had an older set to play them on.
Even first generation dvd’s w/ older titles on them are painfully limited in their playback images in resolution aspect.
Unless a film has been restored, remastered..it will be sad looking, if all you’re getting is a transfer of old negatives straight to BD. I’m 51 and have re-bought TOS 4 times! 2 ep. VHS tapes, 2 ep. standard dvd’s, season sets, and again, TOS-R! I’m so through w/ purchasing TOS I can’t tell you.
Am I thoughly annoyed w/ CBS for waiting till Bluray to branch both the old and new TOS episodes on the same disc, and forcing me to buy classic trek and TOS-R separately? YES! Did I feel cheated the TOSR sets had no newly produced next week teaser’s, just the old un-restored ones? YES! I waited ang got all 10 films on SE/Direct. Cut and own all 6 series…I’m so done, stick a fork in me I’m done!
Charles Trotter — dude, ban me from posting comments but it won’t stop you from being misinformed.
@ 44. LoyalStarTrekFan
“Perhaps but if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it.”
******
But that’s not the argument Charles was making. In fact, he explicitly said otherwise:
“I never said blu-ray sucks because I can’t afford it. I said it sucks because there’s really no difference in terms of picture quality.”
This statement is factually incorrect. The screencaps from TrekCore alone prove it. Look, neither of you has an HDTV display or a Blu-ray player. This comes down to whether you (or Charles) think that the upgrade is worth the price. You have both been clear that you don’t think so. That’s fine, I don’t have a problem with that. On my 720p DLP front projector which I got refurbished a few years ago for $850 and my DIY 8 foot screen, Star Trek II is a revelation on Blu-ray. At 13 feet seating distance, it’s like watching a 35mm print in my home. And the 7.1 sound isn’t bad either.
What can I say? I like movies, and I like watching the best way I can.