Star Trek: The Motion Picture is returning to the big screen starting this weekend. The new 4K version of the Director’s Edition (which debuted on Paramount+ last month) will be screened over three days across the USA on Sunday, May 22, Monday, May 23, and Wednesday, May 25 by Fathom Events. Tickets are on sale now at fathomevents.com.
Q&A with Director’s Edition team in LA
The team who put together both the original DVD Director’s Edition with Robert Wise and the 2022 HD update will be conducting live Q&A’s at three Los Angeles area theaters. Producer David Fine shared the details on Twitter.
Just Announced! Third Q&A added May 23rd, 7pm at the Cinemark 18 XD!
May 22-Regal LA Live: https://t.co/cuQinZj8U3
May 23-Cinemark 18 XD: https://t.co/gQs2h7wSTC
May 25-AMC Century City: https://t.co/Bl41O8iF53#StarTrek #ParamountPlus #Paramount #sttmptde #LLAP @fathomevents pic.twitter.com/iIal680wvU— David C. Fein (@DavidCFein) May 17, 2022
It will be in 4K
And in case you wanted the details, it has been confirmed that Fathom has delivered a 4K DCP (Digital Cinema Package) to theaters, so you will be seeing the film in all its new glory.
My friend @mumbles3k who works in a theater confirms that the @fathomevents for #StarTrek #TheDirectorsEdition was delivered as a 4K DCP with 5.1 audio. #STTMPTDE @TrekMovie @TrekCore pic.twitter.com/237j2HaEeL
— Star Trek TMP Visual Comparisons (@StarTrekVisComp) May 18, 2022
Fathom Trailer and more videos
Here is the official trailer from Fathom events.
Last month Paramount+ released a fun video that features the Director’s Edition team discussing their fandom and their mission to bring director Robert Wise’s preferred cut of the film into the modern era.
And YouTube movie fan My moonization has put together a nice collection of a few scenes from the 4K/HDR versions of the theatrical version of TMP that was released in 2021 and the new Director’s Edition to compare. The video is available on YouTube in 4K and HDR with compatible displays, and is best viewed on such equipment.
Find more news about Star Trek: The Motion Picture at TrekMovie.com.
Slightly disingenuous trailer, making it look like the Enterprise has a battle with the Klingons-! I don’t think the film has been remastered THAT much. ;-)
It needed a battle. Ironically on the story boards there was the big E facing off against K’tingas which was supposed to take place as a grand finale but really did not fit in – when V’ger leaves the Klingon formation materializes over Earth and attacks. I think they even had it where they abandon the secondary hull which would have been sad because the big E looked great post refit (and quite frankly what would be the point of that battle?? Why would they attack!?!).
That being said you’d think they could have worked the Klingons in, maybe a Battle crusier shadowing every move the Enterprise makes only for them to have to battle over V’ger when it disconnects.
I was always amazed that you never got some kind of Indiana Jones type TOS movie where the Enterprise is off to discover some potential object like V’ger but at the same time in a battle with the Klingons to prevent it from ending up a threat or technology being stolen or something that you get the best of both TMP and ST:II.
Well, even what was boarded by Probert wasn’t so much a battle as just the start of something. The refit takes a hit, pops the top, and then the saucer goes off after the Klingons, so the movie ends before we would have gotten anything too exciting. Probert has talked about doing this pretty much on his own, based on Trumbull’s idea, but there was certainly no possibility of actually doing this extra little sequence given the time available.
About 10 years back, I asked Trumbull if this idea had been part of his proposal for delaying the film’s release, maybe offering ‘more’ in exchange for the delay to get everything really good, but he didn’t recall that as being the case. (I had barely an hour to cover his immense wonderful career, so don’t fault me for not hitting TMP too hard during that time; this was one of the few interviews I’ve done in my life when I was practically awash in hero worship, having known about his work and being a fan for 40 years at that point, since back when I was still a Little Leaguer.)
The movie certainly did not need a battle. Thank god they didn’t force in a battle with the Klingons at the end. It would have seemed tacked on and ridiculous. TMP is a great SciFi film, and great Star Trek. We’ll never get a movie like it again.
nah, it did need a indy jones style ending where they figure out v’ger’s purpose as with the grail and the crystal skull
Sure – wouldn’t TMP have been a lot more fun if Kirk and crew run into Klingons at the end only for V’ger to take them out on the verge of stealing the secrets when Decker combines the wires?!?
anxiously waiting! Already have tickets for a Sunday showing
I don’t have Paramount + — though that may change if I keep hearing good things about SNW — so I’m really stoked about finally getting a chance to see this.
VERY excited. Tickets purchased and seats selected for Sunday!
Me too. I convinced my 11 year old to go with a promise of movie nachos.
He or she will get a good nap. : )
Smile
Has there been any news on whether or not there will be Theatrical screenings in Canada as well at some point? I’ve been aching to see this in a theatre.
Also hope the team has been given a little extra time to finesse the lounge rotoscoping and the V’GER explosion over earth in the climax. Those were the two weakest scenes and they just needed a little something extra for perfection.
Me too, I am in Canada and would totally take the family.
As would I. Trekmovie staff, do you have any contacts with inside scoop on Canadian screenings?
When I contacted Fathom about a Canadian showing they said they don’t operate in Canada. And Cineplex is too crappy an operation to do cool niche stuff like this. So I think sadly we’re out of luck here. :(
Interesting. These fathom events used to come to Canada. The TNG bluray events happened here. They were awesome. My friends and I saw Best.of Both Worlds at Cineplex.
Any word about the release of the TNG films in 4k? Maybe they’re waiting for season 3 of “Picard” to announce/release it..
There will be two more box sets to go with TMP-IV already released. Timetable still unknown. Plus a stand-alone relesse of TMP-DE 4k in Sept.
So you mean the TNG films in one set alone? I’d prefer that!
I wonder if Generations will be packaged with 5 and 6.
They should have package like 1,2,3 & 4,5,6 & 7,8,9,10. Or at best TOS films in one package and TNG in one package. “Generations” certainly is a TNG film.
To bad you can’t broadcast the Q&A to other theaters on those days as well.
Very excited to see they have so many showings in the NYC area – there are half a dozen theaters with a couple screenings each, good stuff!
I was considering going to this… Checked and found it will be playing in my area. Would be nice to see the Directors cut on a slightly larger screen (true big screened theaters are extinct nowadays) but at $18 a ticket for a smallish auditorium my answer is “no thank you.”
Pardon me if this answer bothers me a little. First if you say the theater screen is “slightly larger” do you have a screen that’s almost that big in your media room? Second, the sound quality of the theater is better than probably anything you can get at home. Third, I really don’t think $18 is too much to ask to support the Star Trek legacy and show how much you care about it.
I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than eight or nine bucks on a movie ticket in my life (then again, I haven’t paid to go into a movie theater since 2013, though I wanted to see 2001 in 70mm again a few years back – unfortunately it was the so-called Nolan print that our local revival house purchased, so, uh NoDamnWay!), but I’d’ve paid 20 bucks to see a cleaned up version of the theatrical properly projected if it wasn’t this so-called director’s edition.
Also, there is still this little thing happening that continues to get thousands of people sick every day because most refuse to treat it like a going concern, so there’s not a chance I’m going anyplace in the foreseeable where I have to spend any significant period of time in an enclosed space with a bunch of maskless strangers. I know way too many people suffering some symptom or other — at least half in a debilitating fashion — from what must be long-form Covid fallout to take this as unseriously as most seem to, especially in recent months.
Well, the COVID thing wasn’t a part of this discussion. Obviously that’s a personal decision. I myself have been back in the movie theater a few times during the past year (mask on) and have had no problem. I’m just saying that Star Trek is a commercial enterprise of Paramount’s, so in order to show support for it sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is, whether attending an event like this one, or buying the videos/books/cds/comics, or subscribing to Paramount Plus and watching the new series. The only thing that keeps Star Trek alive is the public putting money into it.
What’s wrong with the ‘Nolan print’?
BTW, there will only be a few people in the theater (my theater, in Monticello MN, has only sold 2 seats for 3 showings so far). If you mask up and keep a respectable distance from other patrons, you should be very safe. A large theater is very different from a small restaurant. In volume of space, kind of like a shuttle bay compared to a bridge.
I agree that being in a theater with just a few people sounds as safe as possible. My biggest exposure to the unmasked is having to walk from production through the retail sales floor to my car and back during breaks and lunch, as I limit my shopping to VERY early in the a.m. and to places that bring the goods out to my car, necessary given my comorbidities and my wife’s spotty-to-the-point-of-invisibility immune system. I honestly don’t understand the eating in restaurants thing at all. It’s seems counterintuitive to a dangerous point, like going for a spacewalk, but then raising your visor for a snack, and is why I avoid the company break room entirely except when putting my lunch in the fridge. Except for when a longtime editor came up here to take me to lunch in 2015, I don’t think I’ve had a meal out since 2012 or 2013 anyway, and since my wife is an insanely talented cook and baker, she can prepare just about anything and supply it in the right proportions to control blood sugar et al.
I remember reading up a lot about the Nolan print around the time it started circulating, and even corresponded with our local theater about it, because while I thought it was admirable that they wanted to own a copy to sustain future viewings, it sounded like the wrong basis for preservation. The gist of it (as I recall, anyway, it has been awhile) was that the Nolan print takes a sort of late-first-release view of the film, and as such the colors are not what they once were, but are what some people remember them to be. Essentially that makes this a ‘print the legend’ version of 2001, removing it a step from what astonished so many (and bored so many more) when it first came out.
I think for visual reference you can probably find online images of an astronaut in the octagonal corridor leading to the pod bay that there is a vast discrepancy between prints, where one is very white and the other rather yellow.
You may think I go to the mat about some things in very passionate ways, but with 2001, my antennae are always raised. My mom took me for vacation in L.A. shortly after the film came out, so I got to see it in very close to ideal conditions at age 7-1/2, and my mind was properly blown as a result. It was the first movie I ever saw more than once, and I can say that on the second viewing, which was the better part of two years later (this was back when movies sometimes had very long first runs, I saw it the second time at San Jose’s Century 21 theater, a place built for TODD-AO and therefore probably as good a bet as any in NorCal to see the film), it did not look the same, even though it was also a 70mm print. It was probably the first time I ever took such an interest in arcane matters that didn’t relate to baseball, NASA or dinosaurs, and perhaps ties in with my colorblindness making me see things a bit differently (something Nolan and I have in common.)
I’ve seen 2001 21 or 22 times in theaters, and the last time was a 35mm print, about twenty years back. The color saturation on that print was again very different than past experiences, and seemed like somebody had cranked things up. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it did not resemble the original theatrical experience and also differed from both the Criterion and MGM laserdisc experiences, each of which registered differently for me.)
Thanks Kevin. I understand your situation more fully now. As for 2001, it also has a special place in my heart. Saw it at age 12 with my best friend and with my Dad, who was kind enough to bring us there despite him being an old-school moviegoer (not sci-fi at all!). And yes, like you, my mind was blown. It helped that I saw it on a giant Cinerama screen the first time (Cooper Cinerama in St. Louis Park, MN). I’ve seen it probably about 25 to 30 times since in theaters; it never fails to impress. About colors, I’ve given up trying to be a purist. Even in art books, illustrations of iconic paintings are often wildly different in coloration (and, sometimes, how they are cropped). It’s really difficult to ascertain, in film and in print, what is the truly accurate color scheme. So I don’t let it bother me too much…
While I would certainly aver that director’s cuts aren’t necessarily improvements on their theatrical counterparts (AMADEUS and APOCALYPSE NOW, ugh, not to mention Nick Meyer’s unfortunate noodling with THE WRATH OF KHAN), why the “so-called” in the case of TMP? I understand that you disapprove of the changes made to the film, but do you have any reason to believe the current version doesn’t reflect the wishes of Robert Wise, in spite of his involvement and (unlike Coppola, Forman or Meyer) his stated dissatisfaction with the film since its release?
It’s in no small part due to the fact that the ’01 doesn’t clearly reflect the specific changes Wise himself said he would have made shortly after the film released, such as shortening the drydock (which I think he may have been talked into by the SharpLine team.) Fans have been playing with ways to shorten the drydock scene w/o damaging the score for years, and I still think there is probably a way to paper over such a cut (one that would eliminate the side view approach, and reveal the ship only in the straight-on shot, which would also closely match what was in the novelization) by putting in a sound effect for a thruster firing just as they are making their approach.
Just as important from my perspective is that I simply cannot see how any filmmaker wouldn’t be anxious to take the wince-making stuff out of his film. In 01 they did take out the terrible ‘oh migod’ and what is arguably one of the worst VFX shots in the film out, after Kirk orders reverse angle on the viewer during the vger flyover (the out of focus view that makes vger look like it is just a piece of styrofoam with some kind of shellfish on top), but how could he not also snip the last couple seconds or the whole shot of the little guy fleeing epsilon9, which would look inexcusably bad in any-budget movie? It’s stuff like that which has always made me feel the approach and execution were half-assed.
Now whether that half-assedness is due to the paltry budget they had for the 01 is … well, it’s not debatable, I’m sure that did factor into it. They apparently had lots more $ this time, but the shiny vger reveal doesn’t reflect that well IMO.
It also seems to me that some changes in both director versions are so trivial as to be stupid (the extra shot when Chekov gets burned, then the sloppy travel pod addition to the office complex wide shot.)
I haven’t heard about whether they found the live-action for the first (omitted) part of the bridge probe, when the security guard get zapped, but I’d’ve thought THAT would be the thing to spend money on to add and fix. (might also be where you could go back to the script directions and plus up the probe with an eye-like appendage to give it a bit of character and purpose, cluing audience in to the fact it reacts to Spock’s interference and then to Ilia getting in the way, so that the latter doesn’t seem so arbitrary.) I also miss the jump-cuts intro of the probe, which was a nice contrast with the way most things were presented in the film, making it a ‘pay attention’ moment.
And the other aspect — maybe I should have started with this — that seems suspect to me is the sound mix. I’ve mentioned in other threads how in that RtT book, there is specific mention of Wise writing commendations for the sound maestros, in one case specifically for the wormhole scene — a scene that SharpLine utterly wrecked for me in 01. The inclusion of TOS sound fx seems especially jarring given Wise’s seeming ‘procedural’ approach to telling the story and how it eschews the usual Trek bombast.
I think those kinds of changes suggest little attempts to integrate TMP into being more a part of Trek-as-a-whole and just on that basis alone I see it as a Bad Thing. TMP has always felt like something of a one-off to me, and while for a few years the whole film (sans VFX and score) grated on me, I’ve spent the last 3+ decades enjoying the hell out of it, largely due to those differences.
I’m honestly kind of surprised that for the new version, they didn’t succumb to grievous temptation and slot the NX-01 over the RingshipEnterprise in the rec deck mini-murals.
I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to go — only one day off this week — and if I can’t, I’m going to buy a ticket anyways for that very reason.
Yeah man!
When I say “slightly larger” I mean that the screens in movie theaters are all much smaller than they used to be. This is a big screen event and I would like to see it on the big screen again. But those are extinct. Sure, the sound quality is much better. But that is not the end all be all of the big screen movie experience. And yes, $18 is quite a bit to ask. Sure, I can afford it. But it’s the principle of the thing. I just don’t think ANY movie is worth that kind of money unless there is some sort of better hook than “The Directors Cut of TMP with really good sound”. If it was that and it’s on a proper big screen… Now I’m tempted.
those are such weird days. sunday through tuesday?
In order to play things like this, the current movie(s) that would normally play on those screens have to be canceled. There are probably licensing deals that prohibit them from being canceled on Friday and Saturday, since those are the busiest days of the week for theatres.
I can’t believe how excited I am to see ST: TMP in a theater again (my first time was at the Egyptian where they showed a pink, degraded print on its last legs). This movie pre-dates my existence!
Happy to see this in a theater. After this, the only film I’ll have not been able to see on the big screen will be Star Trek III. I’m a bit dubious about when that one will ever get screened like this, but once in a blue moon an urban area theater will marathon the entire series.
If this indeed is the 4K version being shown in theaters, then I’m very, very disappointed. Matte lines/flickering still visible in some scenes, other effects very grainy, etc.
This did. It live up to the hype at all. And I say this as a lifelong Trek fan.
Sorry, didn’t catch the typo. This did NOT live up to the hype.
These issues have all be covered to some degree at one point or another. The team wasn’t able to find 100% of the original film negatives, so those scenes are still going to have matte lines. The matte lines don’t magically disappear at 4K, for that to happen they need the original negatives and effects plates so they can be digitally recomposited. Any shots where negatives and plates could not be found had to be rescanned from existing completed shots. You must have some impossibly high standards to have been disappointed by this work.
You could also complain that you can’t enjoy Casablanca because when Ilsa’s plane takes off at the end of the movie it looks like a model and not a real airplane. Despite the improvements to ST TMP it is still an OLD movie and will never look like a new one.
Sorry, but in the Next Gen Blu-Ray upgrade, when they couldn’t find some negatives, or other materials were missing, they came up with solutions.
They could add a shuttle pod to the Earth station shot but they couldn’t clean up another shuttle pod shot?
if you’re going to upgrade it, don’t half-@ss it.
I’m sorry too that your nitpicking kept you from enjoying a great Trek moviegoing experience. BTW, the Next Gen “solution” for missing negatives was just to insert standard def clips where the hi def ones would have been. MUCH easier situation for them than what the TMP team faced.
A big Trek friend of mine has always reviled this film and went to see it Monday and has completely turned around on it, ranking among the best of the original cast films. Mission accomplished!
So from that tiny sample of one, it definitely lived up to the hype.
OK just got back from seeing this. To anyone who isn’t going to see it because they already saw it on Paramount Plus, I say that it’s a whole other experience in the theater. Yes, it’s still not a perfect movie, some cringe-worthy acting and dialogue, matte lines, digital effects that look too crisp, etc. But still far and away a better film than the theatrical version and it looks and sounds great on the big screen. My only bug was that the movie actually started a half-hour after the advertised show time, so you have to sit through a lot of Fathom Events ads.
we had a little 15mn making of featurette which was a nice little surprise.
So did we, but that was AFTER the half-hour of ads! So the showtime was 3 pm, the movie didn’t actually start till about 3:45.
if you’re expecting a movie to start at the time on the ticket…you haven’t been to a theatre in a decade :)
Well I have (nyah nyah!) but this was my first “Fathom Event” so I didn’t know what to expect. For a regular movie showing, we usually leave the house at show time, so we get to our seats a few minutes before the movie actually starts :-)
well double-dumb ass on me! ;)
A joke that only a Trek nerd like myself could appreciate!
And by the way, don’t know if anybody mentioned this, but during the ads Fathom announced a showing of the Directors Cut of Wrath of Khan upcoming (didn’t mention a date). Would be fun to see that version on a theater screen!
Sept 4, 5, 6 – tickets already on sale on the website (and purchased ;)
Thanks for the info!
I manage a theatre and have run a lot of these events. The pre-show should have started half an hour before the advertised show time. The theatre you attended programmed the event flow incorrectly.
So did the one I attended tonight! (Mine did not show it, alas.)
Saw this today. The model has never looked better, although some shots of it seem unfocused. I would say the technology has reached the resolution capacity of the physical model — sometimes the ships looked like models. There are some starfield improvements. I didn’t think the officer’s lounge changes were that bad — but why go to the trouble at all? They didn’t have go to pains to put them in that top of saucer area. There must be many such places aboard Enterprise. My only quibble is they seem to have darkened the lighting overall. Sometimes faces were in shadow when they shouldn’t have been. This is the same reason I prefer the original TOS dvds over the remastered. The original versions retain the bright lighting. Main problem in this new TMP version is the ending. The subtle V’ger lighting effects when they’re next to the probe are pretty much lost. When the movie came out, they were saying that V’ger talked with light — hence all the color changes when the landing party is communicating with V’ger itself. This renewed version is still very good and enjoyable but I preferred the original version. If it ain’t broke… If Paramount wants to make more money from this movie, release a DVD with the unused original footage. There’s much more.
Regarding the ships looking like models … in general, it’s very hard to shoot ‘down’ at a model without blowing the scale. I remember after opening weekend in 79 how a guy at school complained about the Enterprise looking about as big as a frisbee when Kirk’s pod passes over the dish in dock, and I had to admit that shot didn’t work. Ditto for the ‘reverse angle on viewer’ early vger shot that was dropped for the director version.
I categorically reject your notion about technology and resolution … it’s about craftsmanship and time.
The Enterprise model looked great in 1979. Still does. Looked great in this movie, sometimes. But when they make the model so incredibly sharp it stands out over the rest of the film, it doesn’t look natural to me. I’m guess I’m saying it looked better before they fixed it — in most places.
Just got back from seeing it. Hadn’t yet watched it on Paramount+.
The biggest distinctions for me were in the V’Ger flyover scenes. Much more detail and visual interest to see just what’s going on there. Still a little long in the tooth for those scense but a definite improvement. Also, while TMP has always been a guilty pleasure, I’d never seen it on the big screen and it is definitely well served there vs on a television (even if a large one).
Still glaring matte lines around the Klingon ships which was weird to see but, meh
The story is solid (if a bit recycled) sci-fi story with good character moments. If one were to re-shoot that movie with modern sensibilities, it would (imo) stand up against other modern good sci-fi like Arrival and Interstellar.
Hopefully folks that haven’t enjoyed it will go see it and give it another shot.
Just saw it in theaters for the first time! Incredible.
Seeing this version in a proper movie theater really surprised me again — and I was already a fan of this cut after watching it last month on P+. I don’t know how many times in my life that I’ve used this word, but it’s appropriate here: stupendous! Saw it with a bunch of Trek fans and dragged a couple of Trek-dislikers to it and everybody came out liking to loving it. The redone sound alone just makes this thing great. Easily the best or second best Star Trek movie (for me, depending on my mood).
Dang, apparently I went to the wrong theater. Didn’t know there were any Q&A’s happening.
Anyway, this was the first time I got to see TMP (in any form) on the Silver Screen, since I was almost four when it came out in 1979. It was the only one I never saw on the big screen. (BTW, many many moons ago Fathom released The Cage on the big screen, and it looked amazing.)
Loved it! Especially after watching the Theatrical Edition (on streaming), apparently for the first time ever (all the previous versions I saw were the edited/improved versions on DVD and VHS), a few months ago. The Director’s Edition is great! So glad Robert Wise got to finally complete his movie (although I’m sure I watched my 2001 DVD copy of the DE, as some point in the last 20 years). The DE is 100000x better than the 1979 version.
As for Fathom Events… that 30 minutes… with like 20 minutes of repetitive commercials and absolutely nothingness, followed by 10 minutes of a Blu-Ray extra… While I enjoyed the Blu-Ray extra, the rest of that time we could’ve done without.
Aww – were there theatres that had the in-person Q&A in LA streamed?
Ours didn’t :(
No idea, but I wish they streamed it at our LA area theater.
We did not get the Q&A at our local theater.
Just 5 minutes of commercials for upcoming Fathom Events that repeated about six times, followed by a short behind-the-scenes thing with David C. Fein, Daren Dochterman, and a few other folks talking about the refit Enterprise model.
I didn’t need the Q&A though—I had just listened to the Mission Log Podcast supplemental episode where they interviewed those two guys. That was a great conversation with lots of interesting insights about the making of the Director’s Edition.
Saw it last night at a local theater (one that, thankfully, screens Fathom events.) This was the first time I’ve seen TMP in a cinema with other moviegoers, a large screen, and buttery popcorn.
The film looked and sounded great. They did it right: take what was already there and make it look as good as possible; don’t substantially change the movie itself just because you can. (Looking at you, George Lucas!)
This quote from Roger Ebert’s 1979 review of TMP accurately sums up my experience:
“There is, I suspect, a sense in which you can be too sophisticated for your own good when you see a movie like this. 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.”
nice words from mr ebert.
irony is that the DE would’nt exist without the work done to make changes that lucas did with his SW SEs
I miss the 1979 red alert – both the ridiculous droning male computer voice and the animated graphic.
I’m a little late seeing the movie only tonight and one time as I had to work the weekend. I’m both thrilled and disappointed, if that is possible.
I saw the movie at the same Regal that had the 40th Anniversary video version of TMP back in ’19. The theater screen was not masked and the picture was curved that detracted from my full enjoyment. Of course, there was no curtain closed for the overture as in the ’79 release since newer multiplexes don’t have/use curtains but, oh well. I miss the days of theater showmanship, although I’m old enough to have experienced some of it when it was going out of style.
Presentation IS important. The auditorium had too many distractions from the presence of too many twinkly lights to the previously mentioned lack of masking. Sound could have been louder leading to something more of an immersive experience. I didn’t get the same sense of awe from the Klingon flyover, nor did I get the sense of being pushed back into my seat from the warp jumps. I’m wondering if I had seen it with the Atmos set up, the experience would be more immersive with sound coming from the top. Will have to see and hear it when it comes out on HD BluRay.
With all the talk about color correction, it doesn’t show in this DCP version. My take away from 1979 WAS the then colors shown in the theater. Of course, we’re talking film and film rushed to theaters. Maybe the fact they were made in quick turnaround WAS a good thing. Also, it was my first time experiencing the movie so reactions were fresh not knowing anything about nothing. This was all pre-internet and monthly trips to the bookstore to catch the latest Starlog or Cinefastique to closely examine all the photographs and behind the scenes activity.
I’ve mentioned this over the years things like the bright white of the corridor Kirk meets with Decker after the transporter accident. Then the change in the corridor to the burnt orange coverings when Decker meets up with Ilia. The closeups of Decker showing his David Bowman-like blue eyes. I used to think of his casting as Star Trek’s star child as he eventually becomes one with Ilia. :) The light blue uniforms look different than what I recall, or are we to assume the latest version is how they were supposed to look. Maybe I’m just getting old, but the vibrancy wasn’t there in this 4K version. Then again, maybe the projection system used in this venue wasn’t up to standards. Are there still any THX certified venues out there?
A few sound differences. Kirk’s exchange with Sonak at the SF Tram Station HAS to be a different dub version because his delivery is more soft and not the low pitched bark that I recall. Before Decker decides he’s going to manually transmit the NASA code, I definitely heard a piano version of Ilia’s theme when the shot goes to Ilia. NEVER remembered hearing THAT in any version. That made me take notice. I totally miss the original Klaxon alarm, computer voice and original engine room hum although the 2K1 DE additions of TOS TV sound fx and the 1950s radio sound waves is droned out by a MMMM that’s less annoying. The engine build up at the end of the movie before the Enterprise warps out is ok.
A few annoying observations that could/should be corrected. After Kirk emerges from the shuttle in San Fransisco, there is still a 1978 plainly dressed man in the shot who is definitely out of place and time. Why couldn’t they digitally erase him? The space office complex has the shuttle Kirk and Scotty will eventually use is now docked. Okay, fine. But why are all the windows still white and don’t have activity inside of people going about? I guess I’m being picky.
Even with the criticisms above, I had a good time. However, I must question if Wise would say this is the TMP we would have had assuming he had been granted those extra months for an Easter ’80 release. I’m reading the Return to Tomorrow parts where Wise demands his sound and visual fx teams to be new and inventive, yet we now get in the 2022 Director’s Edition retro TOS/TNG and radio wave sounds into the soundtrack mix.
Saw it tonight and loved it!
I finally got to see The Motion Picture on the big screen, and it was great. Best version of this film, by far! This was the way it was intended to be seen. I wish they had turned the volume up more :-)
I hope they come out with Search for Spock next. I would really like to see that on the big screen.
Only Star Trek movie I saw in the theater was Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country when I was 10 years old. I hope they keep playing the rest of them because it’s a truly great experience seeing them on the big screen. Thank you.
Khan Director’s Cut is next, coming in early September
Anyone know how much box office this special event earned? I see nothing on boxofficemojo. It seems Fathom/Paramount did not want to report it. Perhaps, this theatrical re-release didn’t do well. The 2019 anniversary release showing the VHS cut earned $300K. I’m thinking they could’ve done a better job at advertising it at least on the internet.