Bluray Review: The Star Trek Movie Collection

Paramount Releases First Six Trek Films in Shiny High Definition

May 15, 2009

In a dream package for hardcore Trekkies, Paramount has remastered and re-released the first original Trek films, in crisp high definition Bluray, with great results.

Spanning six movies and thirteen years, from Star Trek The Motion Picture in 1978, to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, this box set is packed to the gills, and is a must have for anyone who consider themselves fans of the series, given its loaded additional content, albeit with some of it having already been offered on standard DVD format.

Here is an overview of each title, and what to look for in the added features. Note, all 6 films are the theatrical versions, and so the various director's cuts are missing, perhaps a later release will offer those too.

Ironically originally conceived as a pilot for a new Star Trek TV spinoff to have been called Star Trek Phase II (for a planned Paramount TV network at that time), Star Trek The Motion Picture is called "the slow film" by many fans, in that the villain is a quasi intangible entity, in this case a being called V'Ger, which is headed for Earth, within a large space cloud thousands of miles across. No major fights, just a whole lotta exposition and exploring.

The commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (think of them as Trekkie Trivia Royalty) as well as Trek novelists Judith and Garfield-Reeves Stevens, is highly informative, and one of the more enjoyable commentary tracks in this set.

Skip the repetitive Starfleet Academy Feature describing the events of the film, they seem useless and redundant, despite its attempt at providing innovative extra content for new audiences.

The disc also contains various interviews with cat and crew, involved in the film back in the late seventies.

Easily the most popular film of the original series of films, Wrath of Khan is presented here in its theatrical format, meaning the whole subplot about young doomed engineer apprentice Peter Preston being Scotty's nephew, is dumped. No matter, the main plot about Khan Noonian Singh (the excellent Ricardo Montalban, RIP) seeking revenge against now-Admiral Kirk (the Shatner), after being marooned on a planet 15 years earlier (see the original Trek TV episode 'Space Seed'), holds enough story power to entertain consistently, and offers us a gripping space hunt, pitting Khan's stolen vessel against a damaged Enterprise. Good stuff altogether.

Nicholas Meyer is the better director out of this film series (Nimoy is arguably the other), having also directed Star Trek VI. His commentary on this disc is informative, and he gives us nuggets of insider info, ranging from the technical (camera angles, F/X shots), to the trivial (i.e. he still claims Montalban's impressive Khan pecs are real). Older interviews with Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley are fun to look at, if only to laugh at the dated clothes, otherwise skip the rest, it too is redundant.

One of the weaker films in the series, Search for Spock has all of the necessary elements director Leonard Nimoy (Spock) needs to make an action packed film, but alas, these components just don't mix well.

Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future Trilogy) plays a greedy Klingon schemer, who seeks the genesis secrets for the Empire, however he doesn't come off as believable. Otherwise, good one-liners from select cast members, but minus points for Robin Curtis, who tries her best to replace Kirstie Alley as Saavik, but fails horribly.

Commentary is passable, listen only if you like Nimoy chatting away, the rest of the features are limited to costumes, and the Klingon language.

Commonly known as "The One with the Whales", Star Trek IV offered some much needed comic relief.

This light hearted film about Kirk's crew traveling back in time 300-years to 1986 era San Francisco, to collect a pair of humpback whales to save the future, is one of the better ones, bringing this film in line with the urban legend of the successful even numbered Trek movies.

Enjoy the commentary here, if only for the main reason that it includes both Nimoy and Shatner, chatting away about on-set anecdotes. The rest of the numerous features are filler, namely older interviews, and production tidbits, as well as a tribute to the late Mark Lenard (Sarek).

Without intending to poke too much fun at this weakest film of the series, suffice to say Shatner is no Nimoy or Meyer, when it comes to directing. In this very silly storyline, Kirk and co. see their ship hijacked by Spock's half-brother, to go look for God, and speak with him.

The script is a mess, the effects are shoddy, and the religious overtones are a bit cumbersome, given the context. The only enjoyable scenes are the ones in Yosemite Park, which looks great on Bluray.

Arguably the best Trek after Wrath of Khan, this film gets bonus points for political intrigue mixed with decent action, when the Klingon Empire suffer a terrible ecological setback, and seek a truce with the Federation. Both sides are apprehensive, and backroom plots abound, with Kirk and the usual gang caught right in the middle.

Memorable for an inspired performance by veteran Canadian thespian Christopher Plummer (The Sound of Music), and masterful directing by Nicholas Meyer.

This box set is for purists and completists, and for fans who just want to see high quality space visuals on HDTV. The set comes with a bonus disc called "The Captains' Summit", featuring a 90 minute sitdown between Shatner, Nimoy, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes, and hosted by Guinan herself, Whoopi Goldberg. Good fun, if only for the playful camaraderie.

8.5 out of 10, for a generous box set, filled with several hours of mostly relevant extras.

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