Star Trek Movies to Beam Into Stores in 4K
Great news for those seeking to upgrade their Star Trek movie collections! Just in time for Star Trek Day 2022, the 4k Ultra HD restoration of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition will arrive in stores on 6th September, as announced by StarTrek.com earlier today.
This version of the film was released to Paramount+ subscribers in the United States earlier this year. Unfortunately, this edition wasn’t included when the streaming service expanded to the United Kingdom and Ireland.
In addition, Paramount is releasing a special collector’s set of The Motion Picture, called “The Complete Adventure”. This set will include The Director’s Edition, the theatrical release, and the first-ever widescreen release of “the Special Longer Version”, all in 4k quality.
Including twelve minutes of additional footage that were cut from the original theatrical release, the Special Longer Version was created for the film’s broadcast television debut in 1983. It was subsequently released on VHS in 1991, to celebrate Star Trek’s 25th anniversary. One of the more well known shots in the Special Longer Version was of Admiral Kirk leaving the Enterprise to catch Spock, who had left the ship in a thruster suit to learn more about V’Ger. This VFX shot wasn’t completed, due to the scene being cut; the shot shows the exterior of the Enterprise‘s airlock beside the Paramount studio rafters, which were intended to be replaced with a matte painting of the Enterprise hull. David C. Fein, one of The Director’s Edition producers, has announced that – for the upcoming 4K version of the Special Longer Version – the shot has actually been completed.
For The Director’s Edition, there are new specific features in addition to many which were included in previous releases. Some of the new featurettes include:
- A brand-new audio commentary from David C. Fein, Mike Matessino and Daren Dochterman – the people who restored The Director’s Edition to 4k.
- A brand-new eight-part documentary, “The Human Adventure”, detailing how The Director’s Edition came to life.
- New deleted scenes, costume tests, computer graphics, and effects tests.
4K Original Motion Picture Collection Also to Beam Down on 6th September
In addition to The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition physical media release, the Original Motion Picture Collection will be getting an upgrade from Blu-ray to full 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray on the same day.
The Wrath of Khan will be presented in its 4k Ultra HD glory for both the theatrical and director’s cuts. The same will hold true for The Undiscovered Country, which had a director’s cut released when the film was brought to home video in 1992.
It appears that the 4k Original Motion Picture Collection will sadly not include Star Trek: The Captain’s Summit, a 2009 special seventy-minute roundtable discussion hosted by Whoopi Goldberg and featuring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Leonard Nimoy, and William Shatner.
Each of the six films will also be available as separate releases for singular purchase.
To find out more, read the official press statement on StarTrek.com.
Wes Huntington has been a Star Trek fan since he was born, thanks to his parents (both of whom are still very much alive and are big Trek fans themselves). He lives in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, with his wife and cat. He is also a co-host of the Twin Cities Trekkies podcast, which launched in February 2021 and talks about all things Star Trek. You can find Twin Cities Trekkies via Facebook, Instagram, or anchor.fm/twincitiestrekkies.