Paramount Pictures has an incredible way to mark the 55th anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s pop culture institution that is Star Trek. Paramount Home Entertainment has released a sensational set of the first four Star Trek movies on a 4K/Blu-Ray/Digital Code release. Unlike Marvel, which flew out of the Paramount nest soon after Captain America got de-thawed, the fabled enduring Hollywood studio on Melrose Avenue has practically allowed themselves to, in some ways, to be defined for over a half-century by stories that inherently “boldly go where no man (or woman!) has gone before.”
After the television program was canceled after a measly three years, it took some calendar flipping for fans had to wait from that awful June 3, 1969, day when the show was canceled, to December 6, 1979, when Star Trek: The Motion Picture rocketed into theaters. For admirers of the series must have felt like an eternity. But, to have their favorite characters doing their interstellar thing on the big screen was more than worth the decade, six months, and three days wait that ensued.
Now those same appreciators can see and hear that first quartet of Trek flicks as they’ve never been seen or heard before.
First of all, let’s get the elephant in the Blu-ray review out of the way. There were a total of six “original” Star Trek movies. Missing from this collection is The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country. Those are divisive movies, some belove one or the other, but rare is that where someone adores both. So, it makes perfect sense to simply omit those two flicks from the collection and focus on the packaging of perfection that is Star Trek movies one through four.
The first Star Trek movie hit theaters and took the original television series cast (William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig).for one mission unlike any they undertook previously.
When a mysterious alien attacker decimates a trio of Klingon cruise, Captain Kirk wants answers, so he returns to the Captain’s chair of the revamped and supercharged U.S.S. Enterprise to get the band back together to extol a little justice. There is much to like about the first Star Trek film, even if it is seen as the weakest of the first four. It’s hard to argue that Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic overture still to this day gives Star Trek fans chills.
Producers and filmmakers saw a lot of positives in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but after the success of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, creators were moved to tap the vast story resources of the television series to gives a cinematic feel (emotively, action-wise and costs) of that elusive concept of righteousness. What they found was Khan.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan gets both the original theatrical and director’s cuts of the beloved film—you know you’re going to watch both, one, right after the other!
The crux of the film follows Kirk and his crew as they participate in training maneuvers, now Admiral (it’s about time!) Kirk decides to respond to a distress call. After all, he senses this may be his final trip aboard his beloved ship so why not try to do some good. An adversary from his past, Khan (Ricardo Montalbán of Fantasy Island fame) is waiting like a Cheshire cat to dish out his revenge and to witness the suffering on the face of a certain James T. Kirk.
There is a myriad of reasons why the second film is so beloved. It’s only my personal top 10 movies of all-time! Its themes and tones are an impeccable guide to the era and when you get one shot to represent your franchise on film knowing that the world is watching, the villain with the most panache, the heaviest impact years after his small-screen appearance. It’s a slam dunk, really.
Khan!!
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is just as it sounds and involves the U.S.S. Enterprise and its mission of locating their beloved Commander Spock.
What is so fantastic about each one of this quartet of films, is that each one possesses a tone that is wholeheartedly different than the previous or those that follow. This third film is a mystery shrouded in an existential discussion about the circle of life and our ability to stay on this ride that is careening through our life cycle.
The drama and adventure will kick into gear, thanks to Spock’s father. While Bones seemingly losing his mind, the elder Vulcan shocks everyone when he informs them that McCoy is completely taken over by Spock’s essence. To him, that means his son is alive and sending a strange, but useful message across the galaxy. Suddenly, The Search for Spock has become a mystery movie with way more questions than answers—just how we like it.
The Wrath of Khan was a tough cookie to follow up, but by going deeper spiritually and waves of existentialism thrown in for good measure, The Search for Spock worked.
Lastly, there’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home which landed in theaters in 1986 and distinguished itself from the first three films by having the act of time travel central to the narrative. Plus, whales! “Saving the Whales” was a huge thing back in ’86 and to see it as a central plot point to a Star Trek movie was a huge thing for this guy and for countless other Trek and “Save the Whales” fans alike.
The film’s flash backward 80s landscape is San Francisco and to spare you the details, as well as… you know, spoilers, let’s just say that Kirk and his gang of enterprising Enterprise members need something from whales, only they do not exist anymore in the modern Earth of Star Trek’s stardate.
This could have been a hit you over the head type of message movie, but instead, it is classic Star Trek in how it capitalizes on a global problem that challenges its viewers to act locally. After all, the problems that our crew is placed in are due to an extinction-level event that leaves the planet without certain species that are on the verge of being wiped out. Plus, Star Trek IV is incredibly entertaining.
Of the four films, it has the most LOL moments of this quartet of sci-fi cinema and it serves as the perfect opportunity for its star, Leonard Nimoy to direct! He hit it out of the park with the third film in the series—The Search for Spock—his Star Trek directorial debut).
Of all the actors in the ensemble that began in the 60s, who better than Nimoy to be the behind-the-camera leader for this grizzled group of veterans?
The Voyage Home is also a homage to time travel films and shows off one of the many reasons why we adore science fiction. One could expand that to this entire package. These four films are emblematic of exactly what it is about Star Trek and other products of its brothermen. The ole “bait and switch” mentality can work here too! Bring audiences in with the fact that it’s a Star Trek film and hook ‘em with the narrative of saving the planet in ways that don’t necessarily mean guns and lasers.
The entire package arrives in its entirety on the seventh of September—a notable date for lovers of Trek. This is the 55th anniversary of the series and what better way to celebrate than by adding this to your home video collection and make it an annual event!
These Star Trek quadruplets are newly remastered with a mesmerizing video upgrade and a sonic succulent audio improvement that is sublime. This is the first time that the original first four Star Trek films are available in 4K Ultra HD. The collection features the four UHD discs, as well as a quartet of Blu-ray discs that contain previous release bonus content.
When it comes to the featurettes and bonus features, they are distributed as such:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Ultra HD
Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blu-ray
Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
Library Computer (HD)
Production
The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture (HD)
The Star Trek Universe
Special Star Trek Reunion (HD)
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 001: The Mystery Behind V’ger
Deleted Scenes
Storyboards
Trailers (HD)
TV Spots
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 4K Ultra HD
Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director’s Cut and Theatrical Version)
Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray
Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director’s Cut and Theatrical Version)
Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)
Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (Director’s Cut)
Library Computer (HD)
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 (HD)
The Star Trek Universe
Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (HD)
A Novel Approach
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 002: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (HD)
Farewell
A Tribute to Ricardo Montalbán (HD)
Storyboards
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 4K Ultra HD
Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis
Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Blu-ray
Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis
Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
Library Computer (HD)
Production
Captain’s Log
Terraforming and the Prime Directive
Industry Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
Spock: The Early Years (HD)
The Star Trek Universe
Space Docks and Birds of Prey
Speaking Klingon
Klingon and Vulcan Costumes
Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (HD)
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer
Photo Gallery
Production
The Movie
Storyboards
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 4K Ultra HD
Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Blu-ray
Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Library Computer (HD)
Production
Future’s Past: A Look Back
On Location
Dailies Deconstruction
Below-the-Line: Sound Design
Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments (HD)
The Star Trek Universe
Time Travel: The Art of the Possible
The Language of Whales
A Vulcan Primer
Kirk’s Women
The Three-Picture Saga (HD)
Star Trek for a Cause (HD)
Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 004: The Whale Probe (HD)
Visual Effects
From Outer Space to the Ocean
The Bird of Prey
Original Interviews
Leonard Nimoy
William Shatner
DeForest Kelley
Tributes
Roddenberry Scrapbook
Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
Production Gallery
Storyboards
Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Films Grade: A
Bonus Features: A