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Star Trek: The Motion Picture review – high-definition with enough high camp to boldly go

The first feature film of the franchise, from 1979, has been rejigged and brightened, the better to enjoy the over-the-top acting

F or 10 years after the cancellation of the original Star Trek TV show in 1969, creator Gene Roddenberry’s mission was to seek out ways of getting a movie version, helped by the growing re-run fanbase and a warp-speed boost from the colossal success of Star Wars. The end result was Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, now re-released in a 4K restoration, directed by veteran all-rounder Robert Wise with Douglas Trumbull on special effects. This is the “director’s edition”, first authorised by Wise in 2001: it brightens and clarifies the effects, enriches the sound mix, adds minor expository and ambient scenes and emphasises the unhurried visionary grandeur that Wise was aiming at.

At the time of its original release, I was disconcerted by the Enterprise crew’s silly new uniforms: the men’s tunics are extended downwards at the waist to form an entirely ridiculous triangular flap over the crotch area. And living in the eternal TV present as I was, I was secretly shocked at how much older the main cast suddenly looked, everyone’s hair greyer and more precariously bouffant-ed. With this first movie, the Star Trek concept had evolved into something more ambitious and Kubrickian, with plenty of andante outer-space sequences and an entire pre-credit “overture”, just dark starry space to a muted orchestral theme. I missed the cartoony narrative snap of the TV show and the original signature tune, but the doors still go fshhhht-fshhhht and the dialogue scenes between Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) still have that wonderfully theatrical resonance and serio-comic panache, Shatner’s DRAMATIC way of SPEAKING, often-doing-a-one-breath-run-up-to-a-big-EMPHASIS is still a joy. It’s only now I can see that the relationship of Spock and Kirk has a Jeeves/Wooster drollery.

The setting is 10 years on from the original show and Kirk, now an admiral, demands to be given command of the refitted USS Enterprise once again, because this is the only starship in a position to intercept a destructive alien cloud-formation with a hyper-evolved intelligence at its centre, heading for Planet Earth: a sinister entity that appears to call itself “V’Ger”. Kirk’s high-handedly pulling rank to assume command infuriates the existing captain, Decker (Stephen Collins), whose competence and loyalty Kirk nonetheless comes to respect.

Kirk gets the old gang together for his new Enterprise jaunt, the most important of course being the stonefaced Spock, who – in an outrageously enjoyable and over-the-top scene – has had to abandon the “Kolinahr” ceremony on his home planet, in which he would renounce emotion for ever. But his human side would not permit it. There is also a new crew-member: Lieutenant Ilia from the Planet Delta IV, played by Indian star Persis Khambatta, a mysterious and elegant figure with a shaved head who once had a relationship with Decker on her home planet and it soon becomes clear that Decker is still deeply in love with her. (Deltans are said to be more attractive than other people and can only serve aboard Starfleet vessels if they have taken “oaths of celibacy” – a sexier thing can hardly be imagined.)

All this is to have important consequences when a probe from V’Ger invades Ilia’s body, effectively making her its avatar, but with Ilia’s own memory and consciousness still intact somewhere within her. It’s a bit overextended but very watchable with flourishes of exotic invention: I was sorry that Nichelle Nichols ’s Uhura is not given greater prominence but I love the “giant’s causeway” of stepping stones leading from the Enterprise to the centre of the alien.

• Science fiction and fantasy films
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
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Review: Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Director’s Edition impresses with Dolby Atmos & New Bonus Material

Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Theatrical Cut was already available in 4k in The Original 4-Movie Collection released exactly a year ago on Ultra HD Blu-ray. The 4k video and Dolby Vision/HDR10 color specs are the same on the Director’s Edition, but the English audio was upgraded from Dolby TrueHD 7.1 to Dolby Atmos. What’s more, there are deleted scenes, production tests, and an 8-part documentary detailing how the Director’s Edition came to life all added as new extras along with legacy bonus material. 

Colors are extremely vibrant with HDR (expanding the color depth limits up to 10-bits) on the 4k Blu-ray edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Directors Edition . The bitrate averaged around 50-60Mbps with variations depending on the depth of color and detail in the scene. There are some shots that are somewhat blurry (like when the Klingons encounter the massive energy in the opening scene) but for the most part the restoration has delivered a vastly improved image in terms of both sharpness, highlighted by the U.S.S. Enterprise that had shots rebuilt using 3D software and the original scale model as reference.

As far as sound, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Directors Edition offers object-based Dolby Atmos immersive audio. This is an upgrade from last year’s Theatrical Cut with Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and one of the main reasons, if not the main reason, we were excited to review this disc from Paramount. 

The introduction composition with credit is more crisp and detailed, with horns and instrumentals more focused in surround speakers. There are some bright chimes (a common thread throughout the soundtrack) in the front center speaker that are so crisp it’s as if the instruments are there in the room with you. Expectations were exceeded on the upgraded audio. The new Atmos mix doesn’t seem forced or gimmicky — it just seems like a great soundtrack to what some consider the best of the six original Star Trek films. 

It was said that Jerry Goldsmith created a score so good that the filmmakers wished they had made a film that was as good. The soundtrack to Star Trek: The Motion Picture is as iconic as the movie itself (the number of CDs sold can attest to this). With sweeping orchestral movements and a theme that’s so easy to remember it’s a soundtrack that can easily be enjoyed without any visuals. 

See scores and read the full review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Directors Edition on 4k Blu-ray Disc.

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it. When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it. When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

• Robert Wise
• Gene Roddenberry
• Harold Livingston
• Alan Dean Foster
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 581 User reviews
• 121 Critic reviews
• 50 Metascore
• 4 wins & 21 nominations total

• Captain Kirk

• Janice Rand

• Klingon Captain

• Epsilon Technician
• Airlock Technician

• Commander Branch

• Assistant to Rand
• (as John D. Gowans)
• Cargo Deck Ensign
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia When Captain Kirk addresses the crew before launching, many of the extras were noted Star Trek fans, including Bjo Trimble , co-organizer of the letter-writing campaign that kept Star Trek (1966) alive for a third season.
• Goofs When Kirk first comes on board Enterprise he is called "Admiral," and then "Captain" a few seconds later. However, it is customary for the person in command of a ship to be addressed as "Captain," regardless of his military rank.

[last lines]

Chief DiFalco : Heading, sir?

Captain James T. Kirk : Out there... thataway.

• Crazy credits End title: "The human adventure is just beginning."
• The landscape of Vulcan was changed to include a yellowish sky and new landscape featuring massive statues. All other footage was tinted gold.
• The matte painting of the Golden Gate Bridge in the scene where Kirk arrives at Starfleet Headquarters was replaced by a new CGI scene that shows Kirk's shuttle arriving at Starfleet. It is actually slightly longer than the original version.
• The matte painting of Starfleet Command was improved with CGI effects, including an original series shuttle launched in the background.
• In a close-up shot when Kirk first sees the new Enterprise from his shuttle, the image of the ship was superimposed over Kirk's face as a reflection in the shuttle's window.
• After Kirk leaves the bridge, a short conversation between Sulu, Uhura and an alien officer was inserted.**
• A new CGI shot of the Earth is shown on the viewscreen when the Enterprise leaves the planet.
• A new CGI effect showing one of the Enterprise's nacelles was inserted into the window when Kirk, Spock and McCoy speak on the observation deck.
• A new CGI shot was inserted which shows V'Ger's second energy torpedo vanishing before it could strike the Enterprise.
• The energy probe that invades the bridge now approaches in a CGI exterior shot.
• A new CGI shot shows the V'Ger vessel entering Earth orbit.
• The scene in which Chekov burns his hand is much longer and shows Lt. Ilia healing him with her empathic powers instead of Nurse Chapel.**
• The long walk to V'Ger was totally redone. There is now a walkway that materializes out of thin air, compared to the endless field in the original version.
• The Enterprise's voyage to the center of V'Ger is slightly extended. It has a scene of Spock sharing a tear "for V'Ger" and Scotty ordered to self-destruct the ship if the landing party is unsuccessful.**
• The small black "empty matte" in the window when Decker and Ilia confront each other in the recreation deck was replaced with a CGI shot of the V'Ger cloud interior.
• The final explosion of V'Ger was slightly extended. The shot from the original version remained intact, but a new element of the vessel imploding its energy for the explosion was added.
• New opening titles were commissioned for the film's opening. The opening titles now have a slight fading effect and are now seen over a background of stars. The text is colored a bright gold, compared to the original version's white.
• The explosion in the wormhole was redone. There is now an exterior shot of the asteroid exploding and the wormhole disintegrating. Additionally, the viewfinder in the next shot is enhanced to show sparks and debris.
• The final message to the audience, "The human adventure is just beginning", was altered. In the original version, the starfield cuts away to a blank title card showing the text. In the Director's Edition, the starfield was extended by a few seconds to allow the text, colored bright gold, to fade into the picture.
• The ending credits were slightly altered. The text, as with the opening titles and the final "human adventure" text, was changed color, from white to a bright gold. Additionally, the music was slightly extended to add new Director's Edition credits.
• An all-new sound mix was commissioned, keeping the music and dialog intact, and adding new effects for almost all scenes. For example, the Enterprise computer voice alarms are now replaced with klaxon sirens, the lightning effects have new echoes, and a blend of Enterprise bridge sound effects from the original Star Trek series, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have been added into the background of scenes taking place on the bridge. The new mix is in Dolby 5.1 EX Surround.
• The footage from 1979 was digitally restored and remastered, and combined with the new CGI elements.
• The opening overture has been restored to its full length. It is also played over a CGI starfield, rather than the blank screen in the original version.
• A slight dialog alteration was made: In the 1979 and 1983 versions, the V'Ger cloud is said to be "over 82 AUs in diameter" which equals 7.626 billion miles across - much too large for the Enterprise to realistically travel to the heart of the cloud at subwarp speeds within a reasonable length of time. For the Director's Edition, the Epsilon 9 commander's dialog was altered so that the cloud is now said to be a (somewhat) more reasonable "over 2 AUs", or 186 million miles.
• The producers of the Director's Edition submitted the film for re-rating by the MPAA, hoping for a PG rating rather than the original G rating which they believed carried a negative association; the basis for the higher rating was the intensified soundtrack. Oddly, when the original theatrical version was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, it carried no MPAA rating.
• Scenes previously available in the "special longer version."
• Connections Edited into Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek: The television Series' Written by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 581

• Feb 19, 2003
• How long is Star Trek: The Motion Picture? Powered by Alexa
• Why did V'Ger choose to take Ilia out of all the people on the Enterprise?
• Did V'Ger ever transmit its data or just join with the Creator?
• What is "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" about?
• December 8, 1979 (United States)
• United States
• Startrek.com
• Star Trek I: The Motion Picture
• Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA (portions of planet Vulcan sequence filmed at Minerva Terrace)
• Paramount Pictures
• Century Associates
• Robert Wise Productions
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $35,000,000 (estimated)
• $82,604,699
• $11,926,421
• Dec 9, 1979
• $82,676,805

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 23 minutes
• Dolby Stereo
• Dolby Surround 7.1

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The new Star Trek: The Motion Picture director’s cut is finally coming to Paramount Plus

Check out Kirk, Sulu, and Mr. Spock in 4K

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Share All sharing options for: The new Star Trek: The Motion Picture director’s cut is finally coming to Paramount Plus

Star Trek : The Motion Picture — the 1979 outing and the first film in the franchise — is coming to Paramount Plus on April 5 (known as First Contact Day in the Star Trek universe) with a new “Director’s Edition.”

For this new version, Paramount Pictures has remastered the film in 4K — an upgrade that even includes recreating the special effects in 4K. The Director’s Edition will eventually come to Blu-ray this September, and appear in theaters via Fathom Events on May 22 and May 25.

Star Trek : The Motion Picture sees the cast of the original series return to the U.S.S. Enterprise to investigate and pursue an alien ship that mysteriously destroyed multiple Klingon vessels. It was one of the top-grossing films in 1979 and earned itself three Oscar nominations, despite being “rushed to theaters” and ultimately earning a lackluster legacy among fans.

The Director’s Edition was restored by producer David C. Fein and preservationist Mike Matessino, both of whom have previously collaborated with Wise. In addition to the various visual improvements and 4K resolution, it also offers Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more thrilled to have completed the film in 4K,” said Fein. “Paramount offered unprecedented access to the original elements and exceptional support and the results are stunning. Utilizing the latest discoveries and innovations of modern film production, The Director’s Edition delivers so much more today than was previously possible.”

Until its release on Blu-ray and its brief stint in theaters, Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition will be exclusive to Paramount Plus.

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After more than four decades, half a dozen sequels, and multiple franchise reboots, the original Star Trek movie — 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture  — has finally been completed the way its director intended.

In 1978, four-time Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Wise was tasked with adapting  Star Trek  for the big screen, a departure from films like 1961's West Side Story and 1965's The Sound of Music that made him famous . Star Trek: The Motion Picture  was a critical and commercial success, but Wise never considered it completed. It would take advances in technology, a dedicated team of filmmakers, and a green light from Paramount to finally finish one of the most ambitious restorations in recent memory.

For producer David C. Fein, one of the filmmakers responsible for realizing Wise's vision, the 4K UHD Blu-Ray rerelease is not just a passion project, but a personal responsibility.

"I would never call this a restoration," he explains to A. Frame. "It's a completion of the film. A restoration implies you were taking something that was there previously and restoring it to its original form. This [film] never had a finished form until now. I don't think there’s ever been another film that took 43 years to finish."

Launched in 1966, Gene Roddenberry's  Star Trek has more than lived up to its promise to "boldly go where no one has gone before," with forward-thinking storytelling and a diverse cast of characters. Star Trek: The Motion Picture featured the original cast of the TV series, including William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock; however, the movie's production was troubled from the very beginning.

Harold Livingston's screenplay was continuously re-written throughout production, and by the time principal photography was completed in March 1979, fewer than 20 pages from the original 150-page screenplay remained. In order to make the film's December 7 release date, much of the visual effects were left either incomplete or out of the movie entirely. The final reel of film, still wet from development, was put in a container, and Wise personally transported it to Washington, D.C. for the film's premiere.

Despite the success that followed the release, including three Oscar nominations, Wise never considered the film finished. "It was the one that got away," Fein says. "It hurt."

In 1983, Paramount released an extended cut of the film for TV, adding roughly 13 minutes of additional footage back into the movie. But it wasn't until 1999, at the height of the DVD home entertainment market, that Wise was given the opportunity to revisit the film on his own terms. Fein recalls, "Bob wrote to Sherry Lansing [Paramount's chairman at the time] and said, 'I'd like to come back, re-open post-production and see what I can do with the film.'"

"It's a completion of the film... I don't think there's ever been another film that took 42 years to finish."

Wise's new edit allowed him to undo forced editing choices and include enhanced visual effects. The Director's Edition , which Fein produced, was first released on DVD in 2001 and was embraced by fans and critics alike as a vast improvement over the original theatrical release. "Bob was thrilled, because it was a much better film," Fein says. "He was happy that his legacy wouldn't be judged by the theatrical version of the film."

However, The Director's Edition was only ever completed in standard definition. As television sets made the leap to high-def, Paramount was forced to revert back to the movie's original negative of the theatrical cut, making it the only version of the movie available in high definition — much to Wise's frustration and to the dissatisfaction of the fans of the 2001 version.

"Bob had to watch the theatrical version take prominence again," Fein explains. "After all the work we did, [audiences] had to watch his assembly cut in HD, and not his approved Director"s Edition."

Before Wise's death in 2005, Fein promised his friend and collaborator that he would find a way to do right by the Director's Edition , a promise he is finally able to say he made good on. With a new 4K scan from the original film elements, along with completed visual effects and a truly epic Dolby Atmos sound mix, this release represents the culmination of Wise's original vision.

"It’s a completed version of the film. I am thrilled beyond words," Fein says now, wearing a gold Star Trek medallion that Gene Roddenberry gave to Wise and Wise bequeathed to him. "Bob's spirit was with us all the way."

Produced during the pandemic, the new release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture—The Director’s Edition  is nothing short of transformative. Fein and post-production supervisor Mike Matessino, a former assistant to Wise, worked meticulously to recreate and complete the film's ambitious visual effects. The Dolby Vision high-dynamic range (HDR) provides an added depth and color palette to the visuals and the new audio Dolby Atmos soundtrack brings a greater texture to the audio, elevating Jerry Goldsmith's iconic Oscar-nominated score.

Also, for the first time ever, original voice recordings of the cast, which Wise directed during ADR, have been unarchived and incorporated into the film.

This version of the film remains true to Wise's vision for the 2001 Director's Edition , while also serving as an important archival artifact: Paramount's limited-edition "The Complete Adventure" collector's set includes the original theatrical cut, the 1983 extended television edit, and an eight-part documentary,  The Human Adventure , detailing this ambitious 43-year voyage.

Fein promptly insisted that Paramount make a negative equivalent with a new digital master of this definitive edition . "It needs as much of a chance as any other film in Paramount’s collection," he says. "This needs to stand the test of time."

By Adam J. Yeend

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Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering 'Star Trek' Actress, Dies at 89

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‘star trek: the motion picture’ fully restored director’s cut trailer released.

Paramount has released a stunning look at the 4K restoration of the 1979 'Star Trek' film.

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Paramount has released a trailer for its long-awaited release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture —The Director’s Edition .

The 1979 Robert Wise film has been given a special effects makeover and an upgrade to 4K HDR with Dolby Atmos sound.

In 2001, Wise revisited the film to refine the edit and enhance the visual effects. The result was released on DVD in standard definition, but this is the first time the edit been made available in high def. Though Wise passed away in 2005, producer David C. Fein and preservationist Mike Matessino assembled a team of effects experts, led by Daren Dochterman, to spend six months re-creating the original effects in Ultra HD for the new release.

“I couldn’t be prouder and more thrilled to have completed the film in 4K,” said Fein. “Paramount offered unprecedented access to the original elements and exceptional support, and the results are stunning. Utilizing the latest discoveries and innovations of modern film production, the Director’s Edition delivers so much more today than was previously possible. It’s an adventure you’ll never forget!”

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The Motion Picture starred William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and launched the Trek franchise onto the big screen, helping spawn a new generation of films. Critics were not impressed, however, with many panning the film for its slow pace (all those long tracking shots of the docked ship!) and a cerebral story (centered around the Enterprise crew investigating a mysterious destructive spacecraft headed toward Earth). Still, the film is often credited as one of the most attractive and cinematic of the Trek films. And the next entry in the series, 1982’s Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan , is widely considered the franchise’s best work.

The Director’s Edition will debut on Paramount+ on April 5 and will arrive on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray in September.

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Epic science-fiction stories, with their cosmic themes and fast truths about the nature of mankind, somehow work best when the actors are unknown to us. The presence of the Star Trek characters and actors who have become so familiar to us on television tends in a strange way to undermine this movie. The audience walks in with a possessive, even patronizing attitude toward Kirk and Spock and Bones, and that interferes with the creation of the "sense of wonder" that science fiction is all about.

Let's begin with the toy for the eyes. The Star Trek movie is fairly predictable in its plot. We more or less expected that two of the frequent ingredients in the television episodes would be here, and they are: a confrontation between Starship Enterprise and some sort of alien entity, and a conclusion in which basic human values are affirmed in a hostile universe. In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", the alien entity is an unimaginably vast alien spaceship from somewhere out at the edge of the galaxy. The movie opens as it's discovered racing directly toward Earth, and it seems to be hostile. Where has it come from, and what does it want?

The Starship Enterprise, elaborately rebuilt, is assigned to go out to intercept it, with Admiral Kirk, of course, in charge. And scenes dealing with the Enterprise and the other ship will make up most of the movie if the special effects aren't good, the movie's not going to work. But they are good, as, indeed, they should be: The first special-effects team on this movie was fired, and the film's release was delayed a year while these new effects were devised and photographed. (The effects get better, by the way, as the movie progresses. The alien ship looks great but the spaceports and futuristic cities near the film's beginning loom fairly phony.)

The Enterprise, perhaps deliberately, looks a lot like other spaceships we've seen in " 2001: A Space Odyssey ," " Silent Running ," "Star Wars," and " Alien ." Kubrick's space odyssey set a visual style for the genre that still seems to be serviceable. But the look of the other spaceship in " Star Trek " is more awesome and original. It seems to reach indefinitely in all directions, the Enterprise is a mere speck inside of it, and the contents of the alien vessel include images of the stars and planets it has passed en route, as well as enormous rooms or spaces that seem to be states of a computer-mind. This is terrific stuff.

But now we get to the human level (or the half-human level, in the case of Mr. Spock). The characters in this movie are part of our cultural folklore; the Star Trek television episodes have been rerun time and time again. Trekkies may be unhappy with me for saying this, but there are ways in which our familiarity with the series works against the effectiveness of this movie. On the one hand we have incomprehensible alien forces and a plot that reaches out to the edge of the galaxy.

On the other hand, confronting these vast forces, we have television pop heroes. It's great to enjoy the in-jokes involving the relationships of the Enterprise crew members and it's great that Trekkies can pick up references meant for them, but the extreme familiarity of the Star Trek characters somehow tends to break the illusion in the big scenes involving the alien ship.

Such reservations aside, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is probably about as good as we could have expected. It lacks the dazzling brilliance and originality of 2001 (which was an extraordinary one-of-a-kind film). But on its own terms it's a very well-made piece of work, with an interesting premise. The alien spaceship turns out to come from a mechanical or computer civilization, one produced by artificial intelligence and yet poignantly "human" in the sense that it has come all this way to seek out the secrets of its own origins, as we might.

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.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

132 minutes

Walter Koenig as Chekov

James Doohan as Scotty

William Shatner as Kirk

George Takei as Sulu

Leonard Nimoy as Spock

Directed by

• Robert Wise

Screenplay by

• Harold Livingston

Produced by

• Gene Roddenberry

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition 4K Blu-ray Review

The very first star trek feature gets a 4k blu-ray digital nip and tuck with generally stunning results. join us as we take a close look..

The Bottom Line

• + Dolby Atmos
• - Missing extras

Should you buy it?

When Star Trek unceremoniously ended its run of three TV seasons in 1969, it was with a sense of surprise that its fanbase not just remained but expanded - thanks to syndication. Despite debuting a short-lived animated series, by the mid-1970s, Star Trek could no longer be ignored.

Following an aborted attempt to initiate a live-action TV series follow-up, Paramount returned the franchise to the big screen in 1979 for Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Despite tepid reviews, cost overruns, and unfair comparisons to that other space series, the film was a financial success for Paramount, ensuring the continuation of the series. But the shortcuts made to ensure the film hit cinema screens on its promised release date continued to haunt them in the intervening years until director Robert Wise decided it was time to give it some new shine.

Originally assembled and released to DVD in 2001, the Director's Edition Star Trek: The Motion Picture materially improves the film in several significant ways, including tightening the editing, fixing visual effects shots, and enhancing the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the master was assembled and confirmed to standard definition, which quickly became outdated with the advent of high definition, let alone ultra-high definition.

But after years of indecision, in 2021, Paramount finally greenlit a new 4K restoration of the Director's Edition, to be overseen by the same team of David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren R. Dochterman, who all worked with the now deceased Wise in 2001 for the initial Director's Edition. But this new version goes above and beyond the previous effort in several meaningful ways, including working with brand new 4K scans of the original camera negative, re-compositing dozens of visual effects shots from the in-camera elements, and utilizing the latest CG and digital coloring tools to bring the film to a visual clarity never seen before.

While The Motionless Picture doesn't match the thrills of Wrath of Khan or the approachability of The Voyage Home , it successfully captures the tone and 'essence' of the TV series better than any of the other feature films, offering a satisfying reunification of the original crew, while continuing to ask (and sometimes answering) some of the big questions which goes to the heart of Star Trek . While it will never be perfect (and this new Director's Edition frustratingly adds some alternative wrinkles), this 4K remaster is undoubtedly the best way to experience it.

Video transfer

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with H.265 compression and finished with a Dolby Vision pass, in addition to a base HDR-10 layer.

Following a renewed push by Paramount Pictures to restore its sizeable back catalog for 4K, the studio unveiled new releases of the first four films in the Star Trek franchise in 2021, providing The Motion Picture with a spectacular 4K restoration that turned back the ravages the time. The 2022 Director's Edition is built on that same effort, re-conforming the footage largely to the same edit as the 2001 Director's Edition, with the addition of one brand new CG shot and the aforementioned updated CG and re-compositions.

Similar to the 4K release of the theatrical release, this Director's Edition is in spectacular shape, with crisp and clear imagery that revels in gorgeously saturated colors and subtle highlights courtesy of HDR grading, and pleasingly it's largely free of intrusive film artifacts that littered every single frame in previous presentations.

There's a little more judicious use of digital noise reduction than the theatrical version, but it's tasteful and employed in an attempt to provide a little visual uniformity with the mishmash of elements used here. No amount of technology can fully unify 40-year-old film stocks, ancient shooting methods, and old-school model photography with cutting-edge CG.

Age aside, the 4K Director's Edition is a herculean effort that will likely win over even the most pedantic Star Trek fans.

Audio transfer

The main audio track here is a Dolby Atmos mix at 24 bits.

Originally released theatrically with a Dolby stereo track, Star Trek: The Motion Picture gained a full 5.1 remix for the 2001 Director's Cut, which was finessed into a 7.1. remix for the 2009 theatrical Blu-ray and 2021 4K release. The 2022 Director's Edition bumps up the audio specs to Dolby Atmos, which might be more evolutionary than revolutionary, but is nonetheless a supremely pleasing experience.

While Atmos mixing can't overcome the limited fidelity of some of the sound effects (I suspect that a lot of the effects from the original series were recycled), the Director's Edition team was able to locate and remix some of the dialogue and incidental audio from newly transferred recordings of the ADR sessions, providing additional clarity to many scenes for the first time.

All in all, the mixers have made a really wonderful attempt to widen the soundstage and make the film sound like the grand and epic scope that the film aimed for. Bass usage is very frequent and underscores the action with some suitably punchy activity. But perhaps the overwhelming beneficiary of the new Atmos mix is the superb Jerry Goldsmith score - undoubtedly one of the finest ever written for film - which truly shines in every audio channel.

This is a really great track which in many ways helps to sell The Motion Picture as the grand adventure it is.

Bonus materials

Unfortunately, unlike the U.S. and U.K. physical media releases, Paramount has seen fit not to include a copy of the standard Blu-ray in the Australian release nor the bonus disc, which means all the video-based features are completely missing in action. From the newly assembled 40-minute documentary on the making of the Director's Edition to newly discovered deleted scenes and hours of legacy bonus features, this is a huge omission that will force Australian Star Trek fans to look abroad for the ultimate version of the film.

At the very least, though, the 4K disc does include a newly recorded Audio Commentary by Director's Edition team of David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren R. Dochterman, as well as a legacy Audio commentary featuring Audio Commentary by Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, and Stephen Collins, alongside a newly assembled Isolated Score which presents Jerry Goldsmith's amazing score, sans sound and dialogue effects.

It might have taken 43 years, but Star Trek: The Motion Picture finally gets its dues in this stunning Director's Edition that addresses a number of deficiencies.

Star Trek I: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition

Ben Gourlay

Ben joined the TweakTown team in 2008 and has since reviewed 100s of movies. Ben is based in Australia and has covered entertainment news and reviews since 2002. A student of film, Ben brings a wide understanding of the medium to the latest happenings in entertainment circles and the latest blockbuster theatrical reviews.

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Related Tags

• high definition
• The Motion Picture
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• Robert Wise
• Jerry Goldsmith