REVIEW: The Original Six STAR TREK Films, Remastered for 4K

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A QUICK NOTE: Today’s review covers everything EXCLUDING the new 4K release of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition,” which we hope to have reviewed in the near future.

At long last, all six of the classic Star Trek crew’s big-screen adventures are available to fans in new 4K Ultra HD presentations, rescanned from the original negatives and preserved without the heavy-handed, artificial modifications that have plagued the movies since their first high-definition release in 2009.

While the first four remastered films hit 4K and Blu-ray in 2021, we now have the complete collection — including the Director’s Edition of The Motion Picture and Director’s Cuts of The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country — fully restored and ready to replace the in-our-opinion highly-inferior scans released more than a decade ago.

The new 15-disc collection includes all of the following:

4K Blu-ray Disc and Blu-ray Disc
Bonus Features Blu-ray Disc
4K Blu-ray Disc — Theatrical Cut and Director’s Cut
Blu-ray Disc — Theatrical Cut and Director’s Cut
Blu-ray Disc — Theatrical Cut only

Standalone 4K / Blu-ray combo pack releases of Star Trek II, II, IV, V, and VI also arrived this week:

There will certainly be debates over “correct” color timing and lighting levels between the 2009 and the 2021/2022 editions of the original Star Trek films : each film does seem to have an issue with somewhat brighter-than-expected lighting levels, especially in space scenes, which seems to be a side effect from creating the remastered Blu-rays from 4K HDR sources.

A NOTE ON SCREENCAPS: At present, it is rather difficult to produce representative screencaps from 4K discs and maintain the full HDR color presentation for online publication. The remastered Blu-rays, which are based upon the 4K presentations, are what we can produce and share for this review.

We’ve watched the 4K discs on a proper HDR television display, and can say that those of you who will primarily watch the films on 4K discs on 4K HDR-capable displays (or on streaming services which present the full 4K HDR presentation) will probably not notice much of an issue on that front — but “downgrading” the new scans to 1080p for the standard Blu-ray discs have left some scenes feel a bit over-brightened, losing some of the shadowy moods one remembers from countless viewings over the decades.

That said — the primary problem with those first Blu-ray editions are the tragically-overused Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) and edge-enhancement (or “sharpening”) techniques used when bring the movies to HD for the first time.

For the 2009 editions, all six films were put through DNR processing to “scrub out” the natural film grain that was part of the original presentation, and then each were artificially sharpened to restore the detail lost because of the DNR pass — resulting in a strange mix of heavily-shadowed, chiseled faces, waxy skin features erasing the actors’ natural complexions, and elimination of much of the costumes’ and sets’ surface detailing.

Probably the most impacted by the DNR/sharpening effect was Star Trek VI , which in some scenes left the cast looking like clay sculptures brought to life — such as the below shot from Spock’s briefing at the beginning of the film — but the other films are impacted as well in varying degrees, as we’ve illustrated from The Motion Picture.

In the new 2022 editions, because the films have been rescanned from the original picture, those 2009-era modifications are not even part of the discussion anymore — restoring the look of each picture to something much closer to the original theatrical presentation.

While some have commented that the 2022 versions seem to be “blurry,” well, that’s because the slightly soft nature of each film were shot that way in the original production!

Because the heavily DNR’d/over-sharpened 2009 editions have been the default way fans have seen these movies for the last 13 years, on both Blu-ray and streaming services, many have little-to-no experience with the films’ original presentation — seen on LaserDisc, VHS, and DVD up until 2009.

Take this close-up of George Takei from Star Trek VI for example: compared to the original HD master used in the 1999 DVD, the new remastered version is a nice upgrade in color and clarity, while still keeping his face looking appropriately detailed.

…but as soon as the false-detailed 2009 image is added into the mix, it’s clearly an overcorrection which makes Takei’s face look pitted, adding ten years to his age!

The theatrical presentation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture features a lovely balance of lighting, color, and texture adjustments (again, without the DNR seen in the 2009 edition) which gives the film more depth — while at the same time toning down strange color casts like the purple lighting seen when McCoy is beamed up to the Enterprise for the first time.

Here are a collection of comparison screencaps between the 2009 Blu-ray and remastered presentations:

Unfortunately, if you are looking to pick up the theatrical cut of The Motion Picture on 4K disc, it’s only available in the multi-film box set — though a standalone Blu-ray of the film is available.

For Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , the picture quality is identical to the remastered Blu-ray released in 2016, and all bonus features from that first release have been included — and both the theatrical cut and Nick Meyer’s director’s cut of the film are included on 4K and Blu-ray discs using seamless branching.

Here are some 2009 vs. 2016 comparison screencaps we first presented at that time, which include a few comparisons to the original DVD picture illustrating color adjustments.

The remastered editions of Star Trek II are available in the 6-film box set, as a standalone 4K + Blu-ray release, or as a standalone Blu-ray.

The new look for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is full of welcome color corrections, which in some cases rewinds the clock all the way back to the original theatrical presentation. While the Blu-ray disc version still has a few overly-bright issues from the HDR-to-HD down-conversion, overall this film has never looked better, especially when viewed on a full 4K display.

From the start, the title sequence through sky above Genesis has been restored to the original picture width from the theatrical presentation — for some reason, the 2009 Blu-rays pillar-boxed the opening credits, adding black bars to the side of the screens and compressing the picture to fit. The text and framing have now been restored to the original look.

(All screencaps labeled “1984” are from a scan of a 35mm Star Trek III theatrical print.)

Fine details in the Enterprise’s helm console can be made out in the 2021 remaster, including the label on Sulu’s panel which reads THRUSTER IGNITION — while the overall teal-tinted cast has been corrected (blacks and greys are black and grey; skin coloration is must more natural-looking).

Also notable are changes to the Enterprise bridge set during the final conflict with Kruge; the dark, moody scenes were color-shifted red in for the 2009 Blu-ray release, and have been corrected back to the original blue tones for the modern restoration.

The remastered edition of Star Trek III is available in the 6-film box set, as a standalone 4K + Blu-ray release, or as a standalone Blu-ray.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home fares nicely in the remastered presentation, as the popular “one with the whales” gets its missing film grain restored and thankfully loses the 2009-era slight blue-green cast from its color timing — evident in shots like the Yellow Pages advertisement and the opening debate in the Federation Council chambers.

Outdoor location shots now also look much more like the natural lighting under which they were filmed; Gillian Taylor’s drive-by now reflects the cloudy, overcast San Francisco weather visible in the sky above the actors, rather than the oversaturated coloring seen in the 2009 edition.

In sunny scenes, like Kirk and Spock’s visit to the Cetacean Institute, white fabric like Spock’s robe now carry a warmer tone reflecting the sunlight above the location, rather than a colder blue tone scene in the previous release.

The remastered edition of Star Trek IV is available in the 6-film box set, as a standalone 4K + Blu-ray release, or as a standalone Blu-ray.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier also gets a nice new presentation, with a correction to many blown-out highlights and the restoration of more natural-looking colors in a number of scenes — most notably during the Yosemite camping sequences and during the encounter with the Sha Ka Ree “god” near the end of the film.

While some of the blue tones still remain during Sybok’s final moments, the contrast has been dialed back down to near-original levels, allowing viewers to actually see what’s going on during the climactic encounter at the center of the galaxy.

Below, we’ve compared the HD master used for the 1999 DVD release with the 2009 and 2022 Blu-ray editions — the soft blue tones reflecting the Sha Ka Ree “god” remain, but the overall lighting levels have been reduced for a less-blinding experience.

The remastered edition of Star Trek V is available in the 6-film box set, as a standalone 4K + Blu-ray release, or as a standalone Blu-ray.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country arrives with two versions of the film on 4K: the original theatrical cut, which was also available in the previous 2009 Blu-ray (and what most people have seen on streaming services to date), and the longer director’s cut last released in the 2004 Special Collector’s Edition DVD.

(Both cuts of the film are presented in the same 2.39:1 aspect ratio, which is Nick Meyer’s preferred choice; previously the director’s cut was released in a taller 2.00:1 ratio.)

As stated above, this film suffered the most impact from the 2009-era noise-reduction/artificial-sharpening process, and as such benefits the most from the new scan for 2022’s remastered presentation. Gone are the craggy facial features and overly-dark shadowing caused by those filtering tools, and restored are natural skin and costume textures scrubbed away in 2009.

Magentas are dialed way back, most notably seen in the Rura Penthe surface scenes and during the Excelsior’s encounter with the Praxis shockwave. In addition, red colors in this Blu-ray edition of the film — notably in the Starfleet uniforms and Klingon ship environments — do seem to be pushed a bit too far into the orange spectrum, this again may be due to the HDR down-conversion to the 1080p Blu-ray presentation.

(Unfortunately it’s not easy to get representative screencaps from 4K discs and maintain the full HDR color presentation for online publication, but after having watched the film on a proper 4K HDR display, the orange ‘push’ was not noticeable during that viewing.)

This film also seems to be impacted the most by the HDR-to-HD lighting issue, as many scenes in Star Trek VI (on both 4K disc and Blu-ray) appear to be brighter than even the original 1999 DVD picture. The comparison between the three versions illustrates the thankful return to non-DNR’d picture quality in 2022, yet is still brighter than even the ’99 edition.

In what is perhaps the biggest misstep of the entire package, the director’s cut of Star Trek VI — which features Rene Auberjonois as Colonel West , West’s reveal as the assassin at the end of the film, and a few other cuts and edits throughout — is only available on the 4K disc, and not included on the remastered Blu-ray disc.

Unlike the Star Trek II director’s cut, these are not just a few trimmed scenes — there are multiple shot changes, different audio cues, and video overlays (the derided flashbacks during the Valeris mind-meld sequence) which require more space on the Blu-ray disc than that storage medium is capable of holding.

Even with seamless branching, both cuts of Star Trek VI won’t fit on a single standard Blu-ray disc, but they will both fit on the large BD-100 disc used for the 4K presentation.

The real solution, of course, would be to have included a second Blu-ray disc to hold the director’s cut in the packaging — but it seems Paramount chose not to do so, perhaps because of the extra cost.

It is still part of the iTunes streaming release ‘bonus features’ however, so if you’ve purchased the film there (or redeemed the included digital code), you’ll be able to watch the Star Trek VI director’s cut in high definition on that service — as well as on Vudu where it is listed as a separate entry from the theatrical edition.

Here are a collection of comparison screencaps between the 2009 Blu-ray and remastered presentation of the Star Trek VI theatrical cut:

The two remastered editions of of Star Trek VI is available in the 6-film box set or as a standalone 4K + Blu-ray release. The theatrical cut is also available as a standalone Blu-ray.

A few minor quibbles aside, the new Star Trek — The Original Motion Picture 6-Movie Collection is the best way to revisit the big-screen adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew — and these new editions of each film are taking over the old 2009-era presentations on streaming services to bring them to the forefront of viewing options.

Illustrated below from iTunes ( picture by @StarTrekVHS on Twitter ), the remastered editions of each Star Trek film are identified by the rainbow-colored artwork on many streaming services like Vudu (though not on Paramount+, naturally).

While there’s been no formal announcement, the four films starring the Next Generation cast are expected to get the 4K upgrade next; if things follow the last two years, we should hopefully see them get their own 4K UHD Blu-ray box set by September 2023.

Our coverage of the new Star Trek home media releases will continue later this week, as we dive into the new Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition 4K edition, and break down all the different versions of the first Star Trek film now available on disc.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Original Series
Trek Merchandise
Trek Movies

Star Trek Trilogy - 4K Blu-ray Review

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This reviewer is a little slow to update to new technologies. When it came time to replace some of my old equipment, I dove deep into the pros and cons of the next (and many say last) generation of home movies: 4K. The pros and cons of yet another format are involved and not a blanket statement. For example, when you hear that a lot of alleged 4K moves are in fact up-scaled lower resolution scans, why you drop extra money for a ‘fake’ 4K disc? Also true, is that most of the high end blockbusters we consume are still rendering their effects at 2K, because it takes forever to render the files. With the boom of physical media well and truly behind the average Joe, the advent of streaming becoming ever more favoured, why even bother going down this rabbit hole?

Having just watched the ‘ Kelvin Universe ’ Star Trek trilogy, I’ll attempt to show you why. This is what the 4K naysayers refer to as a ‘fake’ bunch of discs. IE: they are 2K up-scaled prints with the HDR. It’s HDR you should remember as we go through the movies. The film reviews are simply ported over from theatrical releases, but I’ll go into a bit of the experience of these movies on a modern system and, for the trilogy at least, show why what may be true of some discs isn’t true of all. Come to those of us who are lucky enough to indulge this wonderful pastime, and we’ll try and share our experiences as best we can.

STAR TREK (2009)

Many moons ago a younger version of myself was befriended by a fella in high school that loved Star Trek —REALLY loved it. Having always been a bit cold on the adventures of Kirk and Spock, and thinking the new bald guy in the new Star Trek show ( The Next Generation ) was a cranky old British bastard, it took him some time to bring me around. But my pal’s insistence paid off in the end, and I became an eager consumer of all the Star Trek series/films, etc. More than that, I now share in its appeal to millions of Trekkies/Trekkers/whatever the hell you like to be called, and share your passion.

Why the hell am I telling you this? Well, I am about to go see J.J. Abrams retooling of the original Star Trek characters, and no matter how much I like the creator of Alias and Lost (to name but two of his excellent works) the news that ‘ Star Trek ’ was to be remade did not sit well with me at all—I hated the idea.

Star Trek has proven time and again its legs to continue with new permutations, new characters, and its creator Gene Roddenberry was a forward-thinking man. So what possible reason could there be to rehash what has come before? Apart from the usual money hungry corporate lack of imagination that seems to be plaguing our silver screen in ever-greater volume (and robbing new generations of future classics of its own by unimaginatively re-whatever-ing ours.)

But I digress, in two hours I may have a better answer. Having been quick to reject, slow to come around the first time to ‘ Star Trek’ and its spin offs, I will not make the same mistake twice. See you in two hours.

Back. Well, there’s good news and bad. First the good: Star Trek works like Gangbusters. It’s exciting, fast-paced, has an engaging, emotional story, a powerful antagonist (Australia’s Eric Bana ), breathtaking visuals, unparalleled action, and J.J. Abrams has admirably succeeded in his intention to redefine the series.

This is an origin story for all seven iconic characters (no small task to squeeze into one film), but with Abrams’ pedigree in providing great character development with large ensemble casts—while maintaining an active pace—if anyone was going to pull it off it was him. Without spoiling the story, nor getting bogged down in the multitudes of plots and subplots, this film takes our heroes from youth to the men and woman assigned to the Starship Enterprise that we remember. Any deviation from what was canon before has been answered by the plot (whether you accept it or not is up to you). The fact that they use the legendary Leonard Nimoy to achieve this is a poignant and respectful nod to all that everyone involved wants to honour what has come before them.{googleads}

The actors inhabiting roles vacated by legends after five decades had their work cut out for them, but each and every one of them rises to the task and makes it their own. Karl Urban may be the closest to dangerously imitating his predecessor, but I suspect with another film under his belt, Leonard McCoy will become his own. Chris Pine is an outstanding leading man, has channeled some Harrison Ford into his Kirk, has an incredible sense of comic timing and was a joy to follow.

The bad: The frenetic pacing can get a little overwhelming, with very few moments of calm. There are several plot contrivances that seem a little too convenient, none the least being a cadet becoming a captain rather rapidly. Is it sufficiently explained? Sure. Is it believable? Not really. The trek techno-babble has been stripped to its bare minimum, and, being expounded in moments of crisis, it tends to get a little lost. If the intention of the makers is to make Star Trek more accessible to a wider audience (and they insist that is one of their goals) then more care is needed or the Sci-fi newbies are likely to miss something, or simply lose interest. But by far the most profound negative for this reviewer must be an unsatisfied answer to the question: Was a reboot necessary? With very little tweaking this film would have worked with new characters. Did it have to be Kirk and Spock and Co.? Why must we go back, when we could go forward? Well the answer is IP safety for the studio.

At least, in this era of unrelenting unoriginality, Paramount gave the reigns of a beloved franchise-gone-by to a very talented and respectful creator. If it had to be done, then Star Trek fans the world over can breathe a sigh of relief J.J. Abrams got the gig. Unlike a lot of remakes, this one is worth the time, this one truly has a shot of connecting with a new generation, and this one looks to be the beginning of something fresh and great.

Blu-ray Details:

Star trek (2009) / 4k ultra hd + blu-ray + digital - review.

Star Trek was shot in 35mm, and upscaled to 4K from a 2K scan. This means, if you’re buying the Fake vs Real division it’s a fake. Having just watched it, however, on an 82 inch Samsung QLED, that isn’t all she wrote. The 1080p Blu-ray looks gorgeous on this set also, and would get no complaints from anyone, but the 4K release ups the ante considerably with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and makes everything on the screen pop. Dimension in every scene is sharply and firmly on another level. The colours of the uniforms leap off the screen, with every primary-coloured seam so brilliantly rendered, you feel like you could pull one off the display. JJ’s penchant for lens flare is also emboldened and given more depth in this transfer, as is Quinto’s five o’clock shadow, but by far the greatest sharpening is in the blacks in any scene (and in a movie about space, there’s plenty). You get deeply inky blacks in this picture that go beyond the blacks of the Blu-ray while sharpening its muddy details to full potential. This is an extraordinary looking picture and in no way inferior. Could they do better with a 4K scan? I would be hard pressed to see the difference. Don’t know if Paramount employed any DNR, but the only thing I could see being better, is a truer to source grain detail in the future, should they choose to bother.

A 7.1 DOLBY ATMOS mix that is about as good as it gets, and extremely busy through all channels from the first scene. It’s bold, immersive, thrilling. Dialogue through the centre is crisp and never drowned out by the weighty and constant pounding of the sub and rears. Absolutely first rate stuff.

Supplements:

Commentary :

Special Features:

I got sent the trilogy set, which includes all three movies with the Blu-ray counterpart included and the features of those releases still there. As with most 4K discs these days, (as they take up a whole lot of storage space on a disc) there isn’t anything much. You do get the same commentary track from the Blu-ray.

Blu-ray Rating:

Star trek into darkness (2013).

You could never accuse JJ Abrams of not having courage. Here is a near 50 year-old franchise with more television and cinematic entries than most in the world, with a rich history, and a ravenous and supporting fan base, and he decides to remake it.

2009’s Star Trek was a wake-up call to the world that the adventures of the Starship Enterprise still had some legs, and with a little modernization in pacing and some stripping back of tired old formulas, the film was a roaring success—the most successful Star Trek film ever. So a sequel was a done deal.

Where to go? They had successfully ret-conned the adventures of Kirk and Spock and could take it pretty much wherever they liked. Without getting into spoiler territory, if you thought they had balls last time, the direction they chose this time can only be described with one word: brave.

Jim Kirk and crew roar into the sequel, breaking one of Starfleet’s most sacred mandates. In the aftermath, Kirk is relieved of his command and the crew is split apart. When a 23rd century terrorist by the name of John Harrison begins attacking Starfleet and its personnel, a great loss befalls Kirk. He begs for the chance to redeem himself and bring Harrison to justice for his crimes. But all is not what it seems, and the price will be high for Kirk to learn from his mistakes and to better himself.{googleads}

Let’s go with the good first, because there’s plenty of it. Again, the pacing of this film makes it accessible to anyone. It is a fun, action packed, rollicking good ride through space. The characters, by and large, are established now and the actors playing them have settled in well. Effects are extraordinary again. Music is similar to the last movie, with no standout new themes coming through, but it’s a good continuation of the last flick. There’s great humour again, accessible and relatable characterizations, and a solid continuation of a more humanized, less sterile Star Trek universe.

The bad: the script’s attempts at complexity quite often fall flat or come across as convolution for the sake of it. They show courage in tackling things most Trekkers consider sacred, but I don’t believe it’s successful this time out—too tall an order. I was hoping to see more of Karl Urban ’s McCoy become his own in this one, but he’s really not given that much to do. Not his fault. Benedict Cumberbatch ’s character is full of surprises, but I think he is under-utilized, and considering the big reveal of his character, more screen time was required and a more exciting conclusion warranted. There are some poignant themes that are weakened by essential rehashes of scenes that have come before in other Trek movies: changing the players around doesn’t make it clever. And there are far too many tendrils set up in this film held over for another. Some are great, but it gets beyond a joke.

There is no reason you can’t come to this movie and have a good time. Set your brain to stun, and a visual, engaging feast awaits you. But if you’re at all familiar with Roddenberry’s original conception of Star Trek, this film is lacking it; added to which they gambled on using a Star Trek icon and don’t pull it off. They gave themselves free reign to change anything they want in this universe with the first one. Perhaps they should avoid what’s been done and, next time, ‘go where no man has gone before’.

Star Trek: Into Darkness / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital - Review

Expecting more of the same gushing about this upscale? You’re not gonna get it—you’re gonna get even more! While this is the weakest movie of the three, it looks even better than the first disc, and I didn’t think that was possible. The reason is that JJ shot some of the wow scenes in IMAX 65mm. That works out to be around 11K of resolution, and the detail at that level—even downscaled to a 2K master and then up-scaled back to 4K—is breathtaking. Although only certain scenes are delivered in the film this way, switching back and forth between 35mm shot scenes is never jarring. By picking his moments, JJ shows every colour, pore, explosion, and shadow with fine grain details that keep you glued. We don’t give half stars at Reel, and apart from a native scan of the camera negative, this is as good as it gets.

FLAWLESS DOLBY ATMOS 7.1 mix. Impeccable and jaw dropping sound. A good one to show off your system’s capabilities.

Same as the other disc. Nothing new and all on the included Blu-ray, not the 4K disc.

STAR TREK BEYOND (2016)

The previous entry in the franchise, Into Darkness , left a sour taste in many people’s mouths. JJ Abrams had decided to jump onto that other little known franchise with Star in the title. There was development and script issues galore, but when all the dust settled, Justin Lin (who had come to great acclaim helming in the Fast and Furious franchise) was chosen to helm the next entry and, they hoped, bring back some good will to the franchise.

It didn’t go to plan.

Star Trek Beyond sees the crew of the Enterprise going about their exploration as normal. Their captain is starting to get itchy feet, and fears atrophy is setting into his current role. Secretly, he’s been looking for other challenges, and has put into effect plans that will see him move on. But before Starfleet starts to consider his proposal, they send Kirk and company off for a rescue mission when escape pods appear and ask for aid to rescue the remainder of their crew from a stranded ship. All, however, is not as it seems, and when the Enterprise arrives at the alleged rescue site, catastrophic events besiege our beloved crew. Their rescue mission becomes a fight for survival and the threat of being stranded themselves—perhaps forever.{googleads}

This catalyst of this story is compelling and what befalls the crew early on is affecting and exhilarating, but what unfurls is an overly complicated reveal of who the main antagonist (wasted Idris Elba ) is, and what his true agenda will be. Elba’s bad guy is a new creation for Trek, had the potential to be something interesting, but the execution of what we learn of him is told in past tense, not shown, and slows down the pacing of the movie. He is also just not that interesting a villain, and, considering the capabilities he’s come to have, reduces his efforts to a fist fight at the end. It’s an underdeveloped character that not even Elba can sell. Sofia Boutella had very interesting make-up and a half way decent character that has more interaction with the main players than anyone. Pine ’s Kirk just seemed far too young and vital to be mentally where he is at the start of this story.

Lin’s kinetic direction is best when he’s given terrestrial scenes. His space battles and the final charge at the end are also good, but Abram ’s hyperactive camera has a different visual and Lin’s lacks his complexity.

There are definite attempts to answer some of the criticisms from fans that these movies weren’t Trek enough, and the camaraderie between the principle actors definitely earns them points, but the sum total of this one, for me, was underwhelming.

I came out of this feeling it was okay but not great. The first of these pictures, narrative wise, gave the chance to do whatever they wanted. Their follow up made the mistake of retreading holy ground and this one stayed so closely to well trodden (and far better executed) Trek tropes that the best I can say is its safe. Inoffensive and decently made, but not compelling the audience to come back for more. They lost an opportunity to make this their own.

Star Trek Beyond / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital - Review

Beyond, unlike the first two movies, was shot with digital cameras. Paramount didn’t even release the film theatrically at full resolution, due to the amount of effects (all rendered at 2K). This gives the film a sterile and crisp as all get out appearance. Film purists will decree this look as inferior to the detail of actual film stock, but this 2K up-scale is an awesome representation of what was shot. The subject matter kind of compliments this looks in fact. I’m going to take one point off this transfer, because at 4K resolution, every technique used to make this fantasy come alive is slightly more obvious than the previous two movies. I am only guessing, as I am no cinematographer, but I would surmise the blending of layers may be a little less razor sharp in a combination of film stock and digital effects, and therefore hid the magic a teeny, tiny fraction more.

Reference quality. Superb. Another DOLBY ATMOS 7.1 triumphant mix. How many adjectives can one repeat for this set? Have fun with it. Scare the neighbours across town.

CRAP. Again, all the features are on the Blu-ray, not the 4K disc, and are the same as the previous release, which was crap. The struggles of this film’s inception would have made for a compelling documentary, and a 5 minute nod to the late Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin is a pretty insulting effort.

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Star Trek: The Kelvin Timeline / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital

Home Video Distributor: Paramount Available on Blu-ray - July 15, 2019 Screen Formats: 2.39:1 Subtitles : English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1; Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1 Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Nine-disc set Region Encoding: 4K Blu-ray: Region free; 2K Blu-ray: Region A

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Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection Review: The Definitive Way To Experience These Classics

Are they worth the upgrade? Let’s take a look.

Review: Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection

Watching Star Trek movies in the best currently available display options – 4K and high dynamic range (HDR) – has been a long time coming. 4K Blu-ray discs have been around for a few years now, but classic Star Trek movies have lacked any 4K presentations, save for the Director’s Cut of The Wrath of Khan from 2016. Now in time for the franchise’s 55 th anniversary, Paramount Home Entertainment is gracing us with 4K/HDR versions of the first four Star Trek movies, meaning this is the first time you can watch The Motion Picture, The Search for Spock , and The Voyage Home in 4K.

It’s a great milestone to celebrate, but what’s equally worth celebrating is that these transfers do a remarkable service to these movies.

What’s in the box?

Let’s start with what’s in the package. The Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection includes three ways to watch these movies:

Four 4K/HDR Blu-ray discs (you’ll want to make sure you have an 4K/HDR-compatible TV and Blu-ray player)
Four Blu-ray discs (meaning these movies are displayed in 1080p with no HDR)
Digital copies of these movies

Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection packaging

It’s worth noting that The Motion Picture in this collection is the theatrical cut, not the Director’s Edition. You’ll have to wait for the upcoming remastered Director’s Edition if you want to see that version in 4K. This collection does include the Director’s Cut of The Wrath of Khan as well as the theatrical version, so you get to choose which one you want to watch. Star Trek III and Star Trek IV are presented in their original theatrical cuts.

Our main question upon slipping these movies into our Blu-ray players: how does the visual quality of these releases compare to the existing versions of these movies? Well, we’re happy to report that these films look great . Of course, you expect a quality increase because you’re seeing more visual data than ever before, but the addition of HDR, assuming you have an HDR-capable TV, adds so much more depth to these movies. After all, you’re seeing a wider gamut of colors than previously possible. In our opinion, seeing these movies in HDR is just as important as seeing them in 4K.

Since we here at TrekNews.net have a soft spot for The Motion Picture , we’d like to point to that movie as a fantastic illustration of how these films have transferred to 4K/HDR. For example, we found ourselves enthralled watching some of the slower, previously nap-inducing V’Ger approach sequences because V’Ger’s model work and visual effects just look amazing . The surface detail on the ship itself is much sharper than we remember it being on the DVD or even the previously released 1080p Blu-ray, and the increase in color gamut really shows off the trippy 1970s, 2001: A Space Odyssey -esque sci-fi aesthetic.

Additionally, surface textures for the movie’s various sets and costumes stand out more than ever – rest assured that your eyes will be plenty busy absorbing all the movie’s detail, especially from some of the larger sets. While the increased resolution is overall a welcome improvement, it does mean that a staple of pre-CGI visual effects – matte lines – stand out a bit more. You’ll notice these lines as black outlines around ship models. We totally don’t mind the slightly distracting presence of these outlines, as they are a somewhat nostalgia staple of classic television, but don’t be surprised if you notice them a bit more.

The other perk of this release is that you can toggle the Dolby 2.0 isolated score at any time, which means you can watch the movie and hear only the soundtrack. Audiophiles will love this feature, and it’s a special treat in The Motion Picture thanks to Jeffrey Goldsmith’s classic, epic score. This feature is only available for The Motion Picture . We should note that this isolated score is the only new extra in this 2021 release for any of the included movies. Every other special feature was previously released (including the commentary, which is still super interesting if you haven’t listened to it), so if you’re looking for new special features, this package isn’t for you.

2009 vs. 2021 comparison

Please note: The 4K screencaps have not been captured

Star Trek: The Motion Picture from the 2009 HD scan

What about the extras?

Here’s a list of all the included special features in this collection, which you can see is pretty inclusive:

The Motion Picture 4K Blu-ray :

Isolated Score (Dolby Digital 2.0)
Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and Daren Dochterman

The Motion Picture Blu-ray :

Library Computer Viewing Mode
Production: The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture
Special Star Trek Reunion
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 001: The Mystery Behind V’Ger
Deleted Scenes
Storyboards: Vulcan; Enterprise Departure; V’Ger Revealed
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots

The Wrath of Khan 4K Blu-ray:

Commentary by Nicholas Meyer (Director’s Cut and Theatrical Version)
Commentary by Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)

The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray :

Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (Director’s Cut)
Library Computer Viewing Mode (Theatrical Version)
The Genesis Effect: Engineering The Wrath of Khan
Production; Captain’s Log; Designing Khan; Original Interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Ricardo Montalbán; Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; James Horner: Composing Genesis
Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics
A Novel Approach
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 002: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI
A Tribute to Ricardo Montalbán
Main Title Concept
Kobayashi Maru
Ceti Alpha V
Chekov and Terrell Find Khan
Admiral’s Inspection
Khan’s Revenge
Kirk Strikes Back
Finding the Genesis Cave
The Mutara Nebula
Sneak Attack
Honored Dead
Theatrical Trailer

The Search for Spock 4K Blu-ray:

Commentary by Leonard Nimoy, Harve Bennett, Charles Correll, and Robin Curtis
Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor

The Search for Spock Blu-ray:

Ken Ralston on Models and Creature Effects Easter Egg
Captain’s Log
Terraforming and the Prime Directive
Industry Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
Spock: The Early Years
Space Docks and Birds-of-Prey
Speaking Klingon
Klingon and Vulcan Costumes
Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer
Main Titles
The Klingons Attack
Entering Spacedock
Search for Life
Finding Spock
The Destruction of the Grissom
Stealing the Enterprise
Self-Destruct
Kirk Fights Kruge
The Katra Ritual

The Voyage Home 4K Blu-ray

Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

The Voyage Home Blu-ray:

Library Computer Viewing Mode (HD)
Future’s Past: A Look Back
On Location
Dailies Deconstruction
Below-the-Line: Sound Design
Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments
Time Travel: The Art of the Possible
The Language of Whales
A Vulcan Primer
Kirk’s Women
Star Trek: The Three-Picture Saga
Star Trek for a Cause
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 004: The Whale Probe
From Outer Space to the Ocean
The Bird-of-Prey
William Shatner
Leonard Nimoy
DeForest Kelley
Roddenberry Scrapbook
Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
Production Gallery
Encounter with the Saratoga
The Probe Approaches Earth
The Whaling Ship
Return to the 23rd Century
Communication

While we’ve spoken highly of the first movie, it’s not just The Motion Picture that benefits from increased visual clarity (but it does perhaps benefit the most thanks to its age). Watching the classic The Wrath of Khan and seeing the Enterprise and Reliant fight in the Mutara Nebula is better than ever thanks to HDR; the escape sequence from Spacedock in The Search for Spock is even cooler to watch when both the Excelsior , Spacedock , and Enterprise are seen in such exquisite detail; and seeing 1986’s San Francisco in The Voyage Home in 4K pulls you more into the setting than ever before.

The release of these films also feature a strikingly different color grade than previous releases. If you compare the 2009 Blu-ray release of these movies with this new package, you’ll notice colors take on a more natural tone than before. Whoever mastered the 2009 discs clearly favored a more purplish and bluish color grade, leading to some scenes looking cold or out-of-place. A notable example we found when doing our watch-through was at the end of The Voyage Home when the Enterprise comes out of Spacedock . Do you remember the ship looking like it was almost totally cast in shadow, and the deflector dish looking a bit too acutely blue? That shot is totally different now thanks to the more normalized color grading. Rest assured that Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection presents these films’ colors in the best, most natural way we can hope for.

Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection does a great service to these classic movies and accomplishes admirably what the project set out to do: bring these films into the 4K-era. If you want the definitive way of watching these movies, this collection is for you. If you were picking this up hoping for a refreshed selection of special features, you’ll be disappointed, as the only new feature is the aforementioned isolated track for The Motion Picture . Moreover, if we’re waiting for Paramount to release a definitive collection of all the TOS -era films, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. While no announcement has been made about the last two TOS films getting the 4K/HDR treatment, we imagine that it has to happen at some point. After seeing the first four movies shine in 4K/HDR, it’s hard to imagine Paramount wouldn’t complete the collection. For now, definitely add this release to your home media collection.

Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection is now available on Amazon .

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news on Star Trek media releases, Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Picard , and more.

You can follow us on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

Kyle Hadyniak has been a lifelong Star Trek fan, and isn't ashamed to admit that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek: Nemesis are his favorite Star Trek movies. You can follow Kyle on Twitter @khady93 .

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Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie 4k Blu-ray/Digital Collection Review

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection 4k Blu-ray

Star Trek: The Next Generation movies have been remastered in 4k with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio for release on Ultra HD Blu-ray from Paramount Home Media. The 4-Movie Collection (Street Date: April 4, 2023) includes copies of each film on 2160p (4k) Blu-ray, 1080p (2k) Blu-ray and Digital 4k UHD (via redeemable codes exp. 4/4/2025).

Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection includes Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), and Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), which are also available in single-movie editions simultaneously with the 4-movie collection.

Paramount does a nice job of restoring the TNG movies in 4k Ultra HD. The sharpness levels and depth of color is better than we’ve ever seen before in home media. Dolby Vision and HDR10 create a more realistic color rendering, allowing up to 10-bits of color. There is a gain Dolby Vision as the spec is dynamic from scene to scene, wheras HDR10 is one setting throughout the entire video stream. The increased depth adds detail in space and in the shadow areas of these dramatically-lit films.

The opening scene of Star Trek VII: Generations (the first of the TNG movies) starts with a bottle of champagne floating through space to commerorate the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise-B. The sharpness of the bottle is so much better than previous HD presentations. And, the interior of the Enterprise’s bridge is rendered with rich color and sharp edges so clear that on larger sceens you can see the fabric stitching of the crew’s uniforms.

The video bitrate in each film averaged around 40Mbps – 50Mbps, and at times in the 50Mbps – 60Mbps range depending on the scene. These bitrates are not quite as high as some 4k discs, but nevertheless 2-3 times better than streaming bitrates.

Audio has been upgraded to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 from the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 tracks on previous 2k Blu-rays (new 1080p Blu-rays releasing April 4, 2023 will have Dolby TrueHD 7.1). This is a 2-channel improvement for surround-sound systems that adds a more immersive, albiet not Atmos, audio experience.

Subtitles are provided in English, English SDH, and French.

Bonus Material

There is bonus material included on the 4k disc, but only text and audio commentary. The rest of the legacy bonus material is provided on the Blu-ray Disc. The 4-Movie Collection includes hours of content such as the 4-part featurette “Brent Spiner: Data and Beyond,” “The Next Generation,” “Trek Roundtables,” “Library Computer,” “Industrial Magic,” and more. The extras are, of course, provided in HD quality.

The four movies are packaged in a 10-disc capacity plastic case (the 2 disc holders on the front and back stay empty). There is an insert with 4 different digital codes to redeem with either Apple iTunes or Vudu. The plastic case is housed in a cardboard slipcover with a spec on the back.

Related Reviews

Also see our reviews of each individual Star Trek: The Next Generation for details, bonus materials, and review scores.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek (2009) - Ultra HD Blu-ray

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Back in the mid-80s, at about the time Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was going in front of the cameras, then-'Star Trek' movie producers Ralph Winter and Harve Bennett came up with the idea of a 'Starfleet Academy' film that would go back and take a look at how the original crew of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, etc., all first met. The concept didn't gain any real traction with Paramount Pictures until after the box office disappointment of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the impending 25th anniversary of the original television series, which was rapidly approaching at the time. The movie was actually greenlit by Paramount, but a number of occurrences – not the least of which was fan outrage over their favorite actors being recast with younger counterparts – caused the project to stall. Bennett left the 'Star Trek' franchise, and 'Trek' celebrated its anniversary with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , followed by a string of 'The Next Generation' films. But when 'Star Trek' seemed to run out of gas again at the box office following the release of Star Trek: Nemesis , the idea of a movie focusing on Kirk and Spock's younger years came up again. The result was this 2009 'reboot' (which really isn't a reboot as much as it is an alternate timeline), written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman that – while in no way connected to the Winter/Bennett idea that proceeded it – certainly borrows from the earlier concept, adding a number of creative twists and turns to it in the process.

It's easy now to talk about how great 2009's 'Star Trek' turned out to be, but lest we all forget, that was certainly not the case when the movie was first announced. While Director J.J. Abrams being hired to helm the picture certainly calmed many nerves (if fans didn't like TV's 'Alias' and Lost , they certainly appreciated his work revitalizing both Tom Cruise's career and a fledging TV-to-big-screen franchise with Mission Impossible III ), there was an overwhelming opinion that the original actors were so identified with their roles that any attempt to re-cast them not only would meet the ire of loyal Trekkies, it simply wouldn't work. But thankfully, those fears were both unfounded and flat-out wrong. Not only is 'Star Trek' perfectly cast, but it brings a warmth and humor to the proceedings that reminded fans why we came to love these characters in the first place. It would be the second (but not the last!) time J.J. was responsible for injecting life back into a franchise that seemed to be on its last legs.

The plot of 'Star Trek' has been discussed ad infinitum since its release (including several reviews right here on HDD), so I'll refrain from providing yet another synopsis of the plot and instead focus on what works (and what doesn't) in the film. Obviously the biggest complement that Abrams and crew should be paid is in the casting of the movie. Even before the cast was announced, it was pretty obvious that Zachary Quinto was the perfect choice for Mr. Spock. Not only is he a dead ringer for a young Leonard Nimoy, but he has a cool, dispassionate way of acting that fits the character perfectly. Karl Urban looks much less like a young DeForest Kelley, but his gruff impersonation is so dead-on, it's very easy to imagine he's a younger 'Bones' McCoy. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, was the casting of Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. Pine doesn't really look or even act (no dramatic pauses here) like William Shatner, but what he does do is capture some of the character's traits perfectly – the cockiness, the willingness to leap into action before looking, and – yes – the womanizing. While the other actors here are doing their best to pay homage to the originals, Pine makes Kirk his own.

Which is not to say Abrams' film is perfect. Ever since Ricardo Montalban grappled to the last with the crew of the Enterprise in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (still the best 'Trek' film by any measuring stick), the creators of 'Star Trek' films have tried to come up with a villain just as entertainingly evil and have failed with every try. They fail once again with Nero (played by Eric Bana), a Romulan from the future with a planet-destroying starship who has followed the original Spock (aka 'Spock Prime' and once again played by Leonard Nimoy) back in time to exact his revenge. Nero isn't very well-developed as a character, and his presence just seems to be an obstacle that our heroes need to overcome than someone the audience really gets to know during the course of the story. In fact, much of Nero's screentime was cut in the editing room (some of it is available in the deleted scenes on the second Blu-ray disc of this set), an indication that Abrams too realized the character was not quite working the way he hoped.

Part of the fun of watching 'Star Trek', of course, is the audience (well, at least most of it) having knowledge about the characters that the characters themselves aren't aware of yet. We already know that Kirk and Spock are going to become great friends, even if they don't yet, and seeing that friendship develop on-screen is one of the joys of the movie. And even though Leonard Nimoy has a brief cameo in this film's sequel, this is for all intents and purposes his final performance as Spock – and he nails it, bringing with him all the history of and love for that character we've gained over the past decades. He's probably in the actual movie less than 15 minutes, but he's a huge part of why 'Star Trek' is as good a movie as it turns out to be.

As for whether this 4K Ultra HD release is worth upgrading to or not, I think it really depends on how big of a 'Star Trek' fan one is, and if you already own one of the prior Blu-ray releases of this movie. For this fan, though, I'm pretty happy at Paramount's decision to make this film (and its lesser sequel) among their first Ultra HD releases. One can only hope that some of the original cast films are soon to follow.

The Blu-Ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Star Trek' warps onto 4K Ultra HD in a black Elite keepcase, which contains a plastic hub that holds the 4K disc and the first Blu-ray disc. The second Blu-ray disc (with the majority of bonus materials) is on a hub on the inside right of the case. The case also holds a single insert with a code for either an UltraViolet or an iTunes digital copy of the movie. A slipcover with artwork matching that of the keepcase's slick and a slightly embossed logo slides overtop.

There are no front-loaded trailers on the 4K disc, whose main menu is a graphical schematic of the U.S.S. Enterprise, with menu selections in the lower left corner of the screen. The first Blu-ray (which contains the movie), however, is front-loaded with trailers for Transfomers: Revenge of the Fallen , G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , a promotion for the now-defunct Fringe TV series, and an advertisement for the 'Star Trek D.A.C.' video game. The main menu of the first Blu-ray has the same design as the 4K disc. The second Blu-ray in this release has no front-loaded trailers and features a slightly different Enterprise graphic, with the bonus offerings running horizontally down the left side of the screen. For the record, the two Blu-rays in this release are the exact same discs for the 2009 film that are part of Paramount's Star Trek: The Compendium release (including the artwork on the discs themselves).

All the discs in this release are region-free.

Video Review

'Star Trek' was shot on 35mm film using primarily the Ariflex 435 and is presented here in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Despite some incorrect info out there online, 'Star Trek's 4K transfer is indeed taken from a 2K digital intermediate, meaning that the image here is an upconvert, although this is among the better 2K DI upconverts we've seen on the 4K Ultra HD format thus far. As has been the case with other releases, the real change between this image and the 1080p image isn't necessarily with details (although there's certainly some of that), but the change in the depth of color and contrast that HDR provides.

The two most obvious visual improvements are in terms of skin tones (although star Zachary Quinto's makeup is a little more apparent, as is his 5 o'clock shadow) and both the deeper color and noticeable texture of the costumes. About my only complaint with the enhanced color and contrast is that the red uniforms the cadets wear on Earth (not to be confused with the red uniforms worn by some on the Enterprise) come across as a little too saturated in 4K. Most other reds look fantastic – including actually being able to see the sparkles in the paint job of young Kirk's hijacked sports car at the beginning of the movie.

The 4K disc also enhances those darker scenes that take place aboard Nero's Romulan vessel, with excellent black levels and clarity. While the 1080p version of these scenes looked decent, there was still a level of murkiness to them – 4K solves that problem, so that while the Nero sequences still look dark, viewers will no longer have issues picking up on all the details in the backgrounds.

'Star Trek' was already a pretty good-looking release on 1080p, but viewers should certainly enjoy the enhancement that 4K adds to the film. There are zero glitches in the image that I was able to detect, and while perhaps not reference-quality for the new format, this a really good looking release from Paramount.

Audio Review

'Star Trek' upgrades to 4K with an English Dolby Atmos track (which plays as a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track for those without an Atmos set-up) that is aggressive from the get-go and doesn't let up until the end credits roll. It goes without saying that every laser blast and explosion sound great here, but smaller things like the beeps, chirps, and whistles of the Enterprise's various systems are distinct and noticeable throughout.

Viewers/listeners won't have to wait long to find out how fun this track is going to be as one's sound system will rumble with LFE effects as the Romulan ship appears in the early moments of the movie. In fact, LFE is used a lot during the course of the film – most impressively when the Romulans use their planet-killing/black hole-creating drill.

If there are any complaints to be had about this mix, it's in the fact that with all the aural action happening, the spoken word comes off as a little more muted that it should be, particularly in the quieter scenes of the movie. Now rest assured there's nothing muddy sounding about the dialogue, I just wish it was mixed a notch or two higher. That fact hasn't prevented me from still giving the audio here a "5" score, but I would say it does stop just a bit short from being 'reference quality', but only slightly (hence, my reason for still giving it a '5'). Most are going to be quite happy with the audio.

In addition to the Atmos track, the 4K disc also offers up 5.1 tracks in Spanish, French, and Portuguese, as well as an English Audio Description track. Subtitles are available in English SDH, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Special Features

Note: Since all of the bonus materials on this release have appeared on prior releases of 2009's 'Star Trek', the Blu-ray supplements descriptions that follow are from fellow HDD writer Joshua Zyber and taken from his fantastic review of Star Trek: The Compendium .

4K Ultra HD Disc

Blu-ray Disc 1

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Final Thoughts

'Star Trek' gets some added 'oomph' from this new 4K transfer of the movie, adding a noticeable level of color and contrast in HDR as well as a Dolby Atmos track. There's nothing new in terms of bonus materials, so casual fans who already own the Blu-ray may want to think twice before upgrading. However, if you're a die-hard Trekkie like myself, this one's highly recommended.

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Star wars' digitally remastered phantom menace trailer is too beautiful to miss.

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The Force Awakens' Secret Phantom Menace Connection Explained

George lucas rewrote the phantom menace's victory with a single line, one phantom menace character almost discovered leia's greatest secret... & doomed the galaxy.

Celebrate The Phantom Menace 's 25th anniversary with a remastered trailer, capturing iconic moments and characters like Darth Maul and Anakin Skywalker.
LeAndre Thomas and a team of editors remastered the trailer in 4K resolution, bringing back the magic of the prequel era of Star Wars.
The Phantom Menace , shot on film, continues to captivate fans with podracing, starship flying, and a journey into the origins of Darth Vader.

The remastered Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace trailer is the perfect way to celebrate the movie's 25th Anniversary. The movie was first released on May 19, 1999, and it ushered in the prequel era of Star Wars , which told Anakin Skywalker's origin story. The original Phantom Menace cast included Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, and countless other stars. In honor of its anniversary, Disney elected to re-release the movie in theaters, and it managed to secure third place at the box office in its opening weekend.

There was more than just the Phantom Menace re-release, however, to honor the 25th anniversary. The teaser trailer was also re-released and improved. LeAndre Thomas and his editing team scanned the original trailer to remaster it in 4K resolution. Check it out below:

The Phantom Menace 's trailer includes podracing, starship flying, and a glimpse at Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a young Anakin Skywalker. It invites some of the wonders from the original movies, especially as it serves to tease the full contents of the movie.

The Phantom Menace's Trailer Is The Perfect Way To Launch The Prequels

The trailer honors the prequels' legacy.

The Phantom Menace was the first prequel movie to be released, which means that it helped to ensure that an entire generation of Star Wars viewers were raised on Anakin Skywalker's story. It ushered in Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Star Wars Rebels , and countless other shows, comics, and movies that explored the Jedi era. By releasing this remastered trailer, Lucasfilm ensured that the memory of the prequels is once again sitting at the forefront of pop culture. Just as it did in 1999, this trailer still has an opportunity to excite viewers.

While reviewing the original trailer, it is possible to reflect on exactly what the original viewers might have expected from the first trailer release. The reveal of Darth Maul's second blade, the droid army, and the podracing crowd, is exciting enough, but in the context of an era filled with people who did not know much about Anakin, it was especially exciting. The trailer evokes a time when the exact details of Anakin's eventual descent into Darth Vader were still in the realm of imagination and speculation.

The Force Awakens features a secret connection to The Phantom Menace regarding an era-spanning family legacy in the established Star Wars timeline.

There is no perfect way to watch the Star Wars movies , but imagining the excitement of those early viewers is an excellent way to do it. The trailer is another way to reflect on those days, especially given that the rest of the trilogy is sure to receive re-releases after The Phantom Menace 's success. With modern resolution and a refined process for creating a 4K trailer reveal, the original teaser remains as compelling and innovative as ever.

Source: Star Wars / YouTube & LeAndre Thomas / Twitter

The Phantom Menace

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Back to Black

The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.

Sam Taylor-Johnson
Matt Greenhalgh
Marisa Abela
Eddie Marsan
Jack O'Connell
83 User reviews
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46 Metascore

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Perfume Paul
Great Auntie Renee

Uncle Harold
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Trivia Marisa Abela had done most of the singing in this film herself. She trained extensively to mimic Amy Winehouse 's vocals.

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Interview: Elias Toufexis On Making Star Trek History Playing L’ak And Nerding Out In ‘Discovery’

| May 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 8 comments so far

The seventh episode (“ Erigah “) of season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery was a big episode for guest star Elias Toufexis who plays L’ak. Season 5 is actually his second time on Discovery after playing a Federation prisoner in season 1. Toufexis is also a huge fan of Star Trek and TrekMovie had a spoilery (and nerdy) chat with the actor about the latest episode and how excited he was to make Trek history with the return of the Breen.

I know you are a genuine fan so was it difficult to focus on the work and not like just geek out over everything all the time?

They happen simultaneously. I focus on the work the second the camera rolls. No matter what the character is, I’m doing my job. But as soon as they say “cut” to relight or whatever, I’m walking around the set, I’m picking up props, I’m looking at stuff, I’m literally climbing in the Jefferies Tube on the Enterprise. When I really stepped back just as a fan, I was freaking out, every day. I would look around and go, “I have my own phaser, I have my own ship, this is crazy!” And then I would get back to work. Once the camera is rolling it’s what does my character want to do, am I doing all my lines… all that actor cliché crap.

You did have a unique phaser, what is it? Is it Breen?

No, the Breen guns were different. When I shoot it in the first episode, it just traps them in bubbles… there’s no particular backstory other than what I ascribe to it. I’m just like, “I have the most badass gun,” because it looks really cool.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham Elias Toufexis as L’ak in “Mirrors” (John Medland/Paramount+)

I know this was your second time on Discovery . When the casting director brought you back, did you know right away you were playing a Breen?

So they offered me the role and the next day they had me go down and get the plaster mold of my head [for the prosthetics]. And I said I still don’t know what I’m playing, and they said, “Oh, we have some concept art.” And the concept art turned out to be a little different than what it ended up being, but I asked, “What is he?” and they said, “He’s a Breen.” And honest to god, my first reaction was “Breen! Wait, they never take their helmets off.” And then I worked it out in my head, I’m going to be the first Breen that takes his helmet off. I’m going to make Star Trek history! And that really got me excited. Now not only am I a character on the show and not only a big bad antagonist, but now I’m making history.

The episode “Mirrors” explored the whole two Breens thing. How did that factor into your performance in the season?

It’s a good question. For me, there were three actually three Breens. There is the unformed. I always think under their helmets, they’re just jelly, completely malleable. So with the helmets on is one form. And if they release their helmets they suck it up a little bit to make this kind of humanoid thing to present themselves, but still gelatinous. And then there is the third form, the forbidden form, which takes focus. It’s an abomination form. I always played it like L’ak is doing it because he doesn’t want to be Breen. He especially doesn’t want to be a prince. He doesn’t want to be forced into this life. He sees it as a life of servitude. Even if he’s a prince and rich, or whatever the Breen do with that, to him it’s just a prison. The helmet is a prison. The gelatinous form is not really him. He even says that. He says, “It’s not me.” I see myself as separate from them. So I take this form even though they look at it as an abomination. He’s also doing it as a kind of “screw you.”

So in “Erigah” you spent the whole episode in a bed. Death scenes are hard enough but you are doing action and emotion and you never get out of bed. Can you talk about how you dealt with that challenge?

[Laughs] That week was rough. It was rough for two reasons. One, even if I wasn’t being shot and they’re shooting stuff around that bed, I still had to do the six hours of makeup. So I’m still doing six hours before I start my twelve hours of lying there. It was uncomfortable. But doing the stuff in the bed, it was okay for the most part. I found it difficult because the prosthetic would bend in these weird ways sometimes. So technically I was trying to find how can I get my head right so it doesn’t have this big extra chin. Then when we did the actual death scene, it was a bit of an emotional challenge because you have to get through that makeup and you have to get through the contact lenses as an actor. You want the audience to empathize with you and it’s tricky. It was hard in episode five with the love stuff to make sure that got through and it did, thankfully. And it was the same when I was dying, but I can’t say enough about Eve [Harlow] and the way she would play the scenes would help me tremendously. When you watch that scene, it’s her that’s bringing all the emotion to it, I just look sleepy. She’s what makes it work.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham, Wilson Cruz as Culber, Elias Toufexis as L’ak and Eve Harlow as Moll “Erigah” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

So much of this episode only works due to the chemistry established with Moll and L’ak. How did you and Eve develop that chemistry?

The chemistry was natural. Eve and I became good, good friends. We became friends pretty quickly. I’m about 10 years older than her so off-camera, I kind of felt like a big brother. And on camera, it was very easy to fall in love with her because she plays it so great, and she’s so pretty. It was very easy for me because she’s such a good actor. So the connection, it had a lot to do with Eve. I would always kind of defer to her performance first. And then her performance reflects onto me trying to get through the makeup. So yeah, I definitely feel that we had that chemistry. And we talked about it a lot. And we ran scenes together a lot. Yeah, we tried to make sure that that love came through. That was our big thing. Make the love come through and make people empathize. And if we did that, then we did our job.

This is a nerdy question, but when L’ak dies, why didn’t he revert back to that gelatinous state?

Yeah, I asked that question. I was like, “When he dies wouldn’t he just fall into it, because the other form takes focus?” I think it’s just one of those Star Trek things, like “Why didn’t?…” and you just kind of let it go. You explain it away in fan fiction, or whatever. Like, once he took that form, when he died that form stuck… It solidified.

Eve Harlow as Moll and Elias Toufexis as L’ak in “Face The Strange” (Paramount+)

Moll’s last line is “This isn’t how our story ends.” So, is this how your story ends?

You think I’m going to answer that question? [laughs]

This was your second time on Trek, is your agent pitching you for a third? You can do makeup, no makeup…

[Laughs] There’s so many possibilities. I’m never going to say no to Star Trek if something comes around, but I’m pretty much on the bottom of the list now. There’s a lot of other actors they are going to want to use before they come back to me.

Well, there is also the tradition of when they just get to like working with and actor, like Jeffrey Combs, Vaughn Armstrong…

That’s true… Like the actor who played Sarek [Mark Lenard], he was a Romulan, a Klingon, and a Vulcan. So yeah, it’s possible. But the way the business works now is a lot different.

Elias Toufexis

Elias nerding out on Twitter

If you haven’t already, Elias has been sharing what a great time he had as a fan shooting the fifth season of Discovery on his Twitter/X account @EliasToufexis . For example, he recently showed off an early makeup test…

L'ak from #StarTrekDiscovery make-up test. We originally had those extra ridges on my cheekbones, but we toned that down. Everything else more or less, stayed the same. Long process. pic.twitter.com/3SrmrfypQ5 — ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) May 5, 2024

He also shares behind-the-scenes shot, including this one with a bonus image of him playing Star Trek as a teen…

The picture on the left is me at about 15 years old, on a pretend Enterprise, filming a pretend Star Trek show in my friend's basement. The picture on the right is me years later, on the actual Enterprise, playing a main character on an actual Star Trek show. Life's a trip. pic.twitter.com/PVBwnEAEyy — ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) April 25, 2024

The fifth and final season of Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria. Discovery also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season is available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Note: The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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I would have been happy if there had actually BEEN chemistry between L’ak and Moll. Sadly, there was very little. These were not well-written characters, and the actors didn’t gel onscreen.

I disagree just about as strongly as is possible. I felt like their on-screen connection was visible. The way these characters are written almost make me want them to win. To each their own, I suppose.

I disagree. I definitely saw their chemistry and connection. And, as Scott mentions, the way they were written, I cared about their plight.

I’m glad he had fun. His character wasn’t horrible.

It never gets old seeing huge Star Trek fans getting to live their childhood dreams. Whoopi Goldberg, Mae Jamison, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer et al and now Stacey Abrams, Robert Kazinsky, Tawny Newsome, and Elias Toufexis. Makes me smile.

Moll, L’ak and the Breen are saving this season of DSC. we have something new to focus on beside Michael and Book staring at each other crying but trying not to cry….so many emotions! lol

I asked for this.

IMAGES

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Star Trek XII
4K Star Trek Wallpapers
Star Trek XI
Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection: 4K UHD Review
'Star Trek: The Original Motion Picture Collection' 4K UHD Review

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COMMENTS

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Back to Black (2024)
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