For the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the release of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country this week, TrekMovie had the pleasure and honor of speaking with writer/director Nicholas Meyer about the film’s legacy, what he would have changed about the film, the possibility of a director’s cut, and the film’s position in the Star Trek franchise.
After the success of Star Trek: The Motion Picture at the box office, Gene Roddenberry immediately got to work on a sequel. Little did he know that Paramount was in the process of sidelining him into a consulting producer role and his story for Star Trek II would never be made. However, we have details of his concept and it just may surprise you. Kirk meets JFK? Spock is the man on the grassy knoll?
We mark the 30th anniversary with a remembrance not only of the film, but of the time it was made in.
This week, the Shuttle Pod crew hop on the Captain’s yacht and head down to the planet of the Ba’ku. It’s a good thing Data is made to serve as a floatation device, because we’re taking a deep dive into Star Trek: Insurrection.
Michael Piller, known to Trek for his work on The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, authored a ‘textbook’ on screenwriting, based on the production of the feature film Star Trek: Insurrection. That book was never published and thought to be lost to time after Piller’s passing. Now for the first time ever, Piller’s Fade In is officially available in published form at michaelpiller.net.
On the 50th anniversary of The Original Series, the Shuttle Pod crew take the time to celebrate another birthday – 20 years of Star Trek: First Contact.
CBS and Paramount have teamed up to combine all the HD content with The Original Series cast in one box. This includes the six movies, the three seasons of The Original Series, and, this box set is the debut of The Animated Series on Blu-ray. Plus the set includes an exclusive documentary and collectible goodies.
Briefly, near the end of Star Trek Beyond, there is a touching final moment that occurs in remembrance of Leonard Nimoy’s 47-year portrayal of Spock. It is a moment that was orchestrated 27 years earlier by the unit publicist on Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Terry Erdmann.
A TrekMovie writer takes a look back at the lead up to the film that began Trek’s foray onto the silver screen, ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture.’
As many of you are aware, there was an editing glitch that mistakenly repeated a shot of Sulu at the helm during the Kobayashi Maru training simulator sequence in the new The Wrath of Khan Director’s Edition Blu-ray. Paramount Home Entertainment has now issued a statement and instructions on how to get your disc replaced.
Red alert, Netflix subscribers: the first seven Star Trek movies are leaving the streaming site. If you’ve been planning a Trek movie marathon and haven’t gotten around to it, you have about a week and a half left before they’re gone.
You’ve waited with bated breath for the release of the Director’s Cut of arguably the best Star Trek movie to date. You’ve read the reviews. Now win your very own copy of the Director’s Cut of The Wrath of Khan on Blu-ray.
Own all original series crew adventures in a giant Blu-ray set! CBS and Paramount have teamed up to combine every TOS cast movie along with the three seasons of The Original Series, and as a special treat, this box set is the debut of The Animated Series on Blu-ray, plus exclusive swag all in one 30-disc collector’s set.
The Wrath of Khan is widely known and liked by Trek fans and the general public. So it is fitting that Paramount chose it to be the first Director’s Cut ever released on Blu-ray. Made from a brand new 4k scan of the film, read on to see how it looks.
As we reported a few weeks back, the Director’s Edition of The Wrath of Khan is finally making its way to Blu-ray. So far it is the first and only Director’s Edition to be released on Blu-ray. Word around the web is that this edition is based on a new 4k scan of the film. It includes both the Theatrical and Director’s editions on one disc, plus a new documentary on the making of TWOK. The rest of the special features are ported over from the 2009 theatrical-only Blu-ray release or the DVD release of the DE.
Word of Paramount Home Entertainment’s 2016 home video plans for Star Trek have begun to surface, and we have some details to share.
Mondo is releasing a very special vinyl version of the soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and we have images and details to share.
A few months ago, TrekMovie writer Jared Whitley made a casual comment that the TOS episode “The Changeling” was better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Fellow TM writer Brian Drew picked up the gauntlet Jared threw down, and the two decided to debate the respective merits of the two tales, which are similar in plot if not in tone, theme, or scope. To carry out the debate, we have inaugurated Shuttle Pod: The TrekMovie Podcast. Let us know in the comment section what you think about the debate and the idea of TM podcast in general.
TrekMovie is saddened to report that Oscar and Grammy-winning film composer James Horner died in a plane crash Monday in California. He was 61.
Long time TrekMovie readers will remember our friend Paul “Spockboy” Sibbald for his hilarious TOS gag edits of episodes. He let us know there was a new creation up on his YouTube channel for our viewing pleasure. He says he was inspired by: the gentlemen who took pictures of the original Enterprise model and Photoshopped them into scenes from the various Star Trek films. That story, plus the recent very sad death of Leonard Nimoy, inspired me to create this video. It is the sequence from Star Trek III when the crew steals the Enterprise. In this video however it is the TOS crew (and ships) and is done as a 1927 silent film. It is certainly unique and I think you’ll like it. It was shot completely with models and required a great deal of rotoscoping to make it work. There’s some major TOS love in this one, Matt Decker is sent after Kirk in this version of events, and there’s a fun homage to the first Sci-Fi silent film – Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon. Click through for the full video.
The story behind Star Trek’s first feature film was an epic drama of its own.
Two fearless climbers have captured the eyes of the world this week with their amazing ascent up Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan. After climbing for 18 days and nights, Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson today became the first climbers ever to use only their hands and feet to summit a 3,000-foot sheer path called the Dawn Wall. The climb has garnered incredible amounts of media attention. El Capitan is of course known to Trek fans, who saw Captain Kirk free climb it in Star Trek V.
Ever since news broke last week that Roberto Orci would no longer be directing the next Star Trek film, there has been a great deal of confusion, speculation, and misinformation regarding Orci’s continuing role as well as the future of the feature film franchise. We don’t profess to have all the facts here, but we’re going to try and provide some clarity, using Orci’s comments here at TrekMovie, and elsewhere on Twitter.
Just in time for the film’s 35th Anniversary, the long-awaited oral history of Star Trek: The Motion Picture will be released this week from author Preston Neal Jones and Creature Features Publishing. More info after the jump.
Nicholas Meyer didn’t know anything about Star Trek before he was hired as the director for the second film in the franchise – which is still considered by most to be the best. TrekMovie talked to Meyer about taking on Star Trek II, his hopes for a director’s cut on Blu-ray, and what he though of the homage to Wrath of Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.
With most of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in London at Destination Star Trek this weekend, conversation inevitably turned to their last feature film, 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. Some interesting things were said by Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby and even Jeri Ryan.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is still considered by most to be the best film in the franchise, but that doesn’t mean making the movie was easy. In a new interview writer/director Nicholas Meyer talks about how William Shatner had problems with the script and how he fought with the studio over the treatment of Spock’s death. Details below.
A few days ago we had Douglas Trumbull talking about "saving" Star Trek: The Motion Picture and now in a new interview George Takei is talking about how that first Trek feature was "in trouble from the start." Listen to Takei talk about TMP, failed Paramount salary negotiations and more below.
Visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull was a late edition to the crew for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, after he initially turned down a deal to do the effects for the movie. In a new video he talks about how he came on board to ‘save’ the movie. Watch it below.
Earlier today writer/producer Ronald D. Moore participated in a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" to promote his upcoming time-travel in Scotland show "Outlander" (premiering on Starz August 9th). While there he answered a number of questions about his time working on Star Trek as well as his thoughts on the future of the franchise (and his possible participation in that future). He also talked about some projects he has considered taking on, including rebooting Space: 1999. See below for some of the most interesting exchanges.