Section31.com just posted a report from another website today saying that Robert Wise (the Director of Star Trek: The Motion Picture) is currently doing a Director's Cut of the film for DVD release. He was never happy with the original film's cut and is being assisted by Digital Muse, the effects company that works for Star Trek: Voyager.
So, knowing that, is anybody excited about this? Certainly a revamped TMP would be interesting to see.
I know that many do not like this movie and have felt that is was overdone in the effects arena, but I've always liked it for the fact that it was a bit nostalgic in a sense and dealt with the "unknown." It would be nice to see what else is added and what the new special effects will do to this film, anybody else have thoughts on this?

It'll be interesting to see the added scenes again. The last time I saw it was on TV and I thought it made the movie somewhat better.
However, every time they show it on TV, they always hack something out, so it'll be good to see the whole, uncut version.

when is this coming out?

NO MORE NO MORE PLEASE!

How come this already overlong film keeps getting extra footage added to it (which does nothing for the plot) and yet nobody talks about adding the much more interesting and vital to the plot stuff deleted from WOK, and seen only in that movie's initial television premire?

Word has it that Paramount will also release all of the other films on "Special Edition" DVD's in a few years. I would LOVE to see what's been cut out from all the movies. TWOK has some scenes, I know Generations has the parachuting Capt. Kirk and his alternate death (he originally got hit in the back by a phaser blast) which we've never seen and I for one would love to see. I've always wondered what my favorite ST movie (ST:VI) has cut out of it...

I'd like to make a correction in my original statement at the top of the post: It's FOUNDATION IMAGING -- NOT Digital Muse, that is doing the revamped special effects...
sorry! :)

WHEN WILL THE DVD OF ST-TMP DIRECTOR'S CUT BE RELEASED? I understand that Mr. Wise, by reputation one of the most patient men in Hollywood, was angry at the way the film was (mis)cut (by editor Todd Ramsay and the Paramount brass, I understand.) What will be added? What will be changed? Will there be new music (by Mr. Goldsmith, I hope.) I heard on another part of this site that some FX will be redone. Particularly, the memory wall, which was originally a Kirk-Spock journey, then changed to a solo for Spock as Doug Trumbull deemed the original footage unfixable, WILL be fixed by Foundation. Also, the wing walk on the outside of the ship when the crew first exits to go meet V'ger, with those AWFUL matte paintings of the hull of the Enterprise, will be digitally fixed. I just may buy a DVD player, finally.

I'm not sure when it will be released. All I know is the information that has been said above.

I hope the wing walk will be like the battle outside the ship on ST-FC. This is the way it should have looked. Of course in 1996, there were 17 years worth of advances in optical effects-computer imaging and so on. The release date for the DVD is given as 1/7/01. I replaced my CD player with a DVD player. This may not be the place for product plugs, but the player I got (a Sony DVP-S360) is an excellent product.

I have also started buying the Trek films on DVD-I just bought the three pack of Next Gen films. Paramount DVD's are among the most expensive, with some Warner DVD's among the cheapest. Some companies are releasing special versions now, not waiting for a few years. Anchor Bay has a two-DVD set containing two different cuts of "Supergirl"-a foreign release version, and a "Director's Cut." Apparently the U.S. release was hacked up to bits by Tri-Star. Both versions are considerably longer than the U.S. version. I, for one, would hate to have to buy new versions of the DVD's if special editions become available. However, you know I will, so enough said.

"Gladiator" is on DVD. A two disc set. One disc has the film (clocking in at about 156 minutes) and the second disc has four hours of supplemental material-outttakes, interviews, etc.) I bought it last week at Best Buy, an absolute steal at $14.99. Why am I posting that here? Because Paramount is very chintzy with its DVD extras. I would hope that with the ST-TMP Special Edition, they would take this oppurtunity to really pack this disc with all the extras that it deserves. Dreamworks packs its DVD's with extras (like the aforementioned "Gladiator," "American Beauty" and "Chicken Run" are well packed with extra stuff.). Let's hope Paramount will do the same with this film.

WWW.PARAMOUNT.COM says that this DVD will be released "Sometime in 2001" with no official date.

Paramount seems to be taking the time to work on this film now, not rushing things to meet an arbitrary release date (that was contractually ironclad in the film's original release.) My new DVD player is not going anywhere. Maybe a limited theatrical release is in the works (a la the recent release of the "Exorcist" special edition.)

FLASH: Ain't it cool news (aint-it-cool-news.com) has given this edition of ST-TMP a GO. Check out the review on their website. How they got a copy is beyond me, but read the review anyway.

IGN Film force (filmforce.ign.com) has sneaks of some FX shots-the vista on Vulcan, and the CGI Enterprise. Check 'em out.

Oh yes, the film is now completed, and the DVD will be released in the late spring/early summer of 2001. (according to Film Force.)

I have always felt that the opening and closing credits were kind of simplistic for such a big budget (at the time) movie. I just hope the new version addresses this. The credits for all the other Trek films were much improved, with "Insurrection" being the best of the bunch. A theatrical reissue is rumored prior to DVD release.

Did I say "Insurrection?" I meant "First Contact", with the credits focusing on Picard's retina, then culminating in the best pull-back shot ever.

This does not look good, guys. From info I have gathered, this seems basically a fix-up job for the opticals and the sound mix, rather than a substsntial re-edit; deleted footage that will be restored is reportedly minimal.
There will probably be no Special Edition DVD's for the Next Gen films. Rick Berman's attitude is that the outtake will NEVER be seen by the public. A far cry from Roddenberry's attitude, who shared the bloopers with fans at the early cons.

Keep us posted, AB

The best place to get updates on this is at Trekweb.com. At last report, any idea of a theatrical release had been deep-sixed.

D'OH!!!

"A far cry from Roddenberry's attitude, who shared the bloopers with fans at the early cons"

And if I recall, making a profit by making fun of the actors. (Read about it in WS's autobiography).

I don't remember that from Shatner's autobiography. Admittedly, it has been a while since I picked it up.
Roddenberry may have been a hump about money (witness what he did to Alexander Courage re:the show's theme) but I was at those New York cons in the '70's, and they were run for the fans, for the enjoyment of the show, without regard to profit (frequently there was none.) He was also blamed (I believe unfairly) for the first movie going as far over budget as it did, the first $40 million pic since "Cleopatra."

WHEN IS THIS BLOODY THING BEING RELEASED ALREADY? So tired, tired of waiting!! (I think there is a song in that.)

Tidbit: Yes, it was in Shatner's autobiography, or possibly Nimoy's. One or the other was complaining about getting made fun of and not getting any royalties off the footage.

Other tidbit: My grandparents have a copy of the 1985 Guinness Book of World Records. ST:TMP is listed as the most expensive motion picture ever, at a staggering $45 million. My, how times change.

Hey, AB, calm down - you're doing a fine job already...

btw, I think the song was from "Blazing Saddles", sung by the late Madeline Kahn. ("So tired... tired of playing the game... and ain't it a friggin' shame..." etc.)

No, Sven-I was referring to the Kinks' song ("So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for you...")
I know "ST-TMP" held the record for years as to the most expensive movie ever. In the mid 80's, $40 million plus production costs became increasingly common. It took until "First Contact" for another Trek film to equal or surpass the price tag for this one, however.
If anyone remembers the film that surpassed "ST-TMP" as the most expensive ever, please let me know.

Wasn't it "Heaven's Gate"?

"Heaven's Gate" (1980) came close, but it did not surpass the pricetag for "ST-TMP." I thought about that one, too. "Gate" is (dis)regarded as the most notorious flop in film history, although other films since then have lost more money.
From racking my brains, "The Cotton Club" (1984) may, at $50 million, have been the first film to surpass "ST-TMP"'s budget. "T-2", I think, may have been the first to break the $100 million mark; "Titanic" (1997) broke the $200 million mark. "Wild Wild West", at $175 million, is a close runner-up for most expensive pic.

Rambo III $60 million. T2 $100 million, True Lies $120 million, Waterworld $175 million, Titanic $200 million. Notice that 3 of those record horlders were James Cameron flicks, always the over-achever.

Also, keep in mind that when you hear of a movie's budget, that sometimes doesn't include cost of advertising, marketing, (remember these things are sold overseas too).

It has been said that a movie needs to earn two or three times its negative costs just to break even. (That does not include the cost of prints or the things Luigi mentioned above.) With movies getting more expensive, the studios are in an eternal search for the next big blockbuster. Unfortunately, too many blockbusters go bust. "Star Trek" started its movie life in 1975 when the idea was to make a modest movie with maybe a $3-5 million budget. Through many scripts and an aborted second series, and much studio interference, it became what it is today. However, if it weren't for Jeff Katzenberg, who was the Paramount exec in charge of the production, we may never have had this movie at all.
One more thing about "Heaven's Gate". It may have been the first film to sink a studio. It lost so much money that it forced Transamerica to sell United Artists to MGM.
Brian: James Cameron made "Aliens" for an economical $18 million, and the original "Terminator" for (I believe) $8 million. He started his budget busting ways on "The Abyss." ($60 million negative cost, plus a few million more for a "Special Edition" version that came out a few years after the original.) Each film afterward became costlier.

Back to the topic at hand: Section 31.com posted today that the release date for this DVD is now set for Christmas, 2001. C'mon Paramount, that is almost a year after the originally rumored date of January 7, 2001. Oh well, better late than never. A goodie to put on your holiday wish list, gang.

*cheers* Gonna FINALLY complete my Trek movie DVD collection! Yes!

Personally, I am hoping for a boxed set, like Paramount has done with the Next Gen movies. They are relatively expensive individually, and have minimal extras. (I have groused about this before-see my post of 11/29/00 above.)

FUNNY THOUGHT: The reason why Robert Wise is remaking STTMP for DVD is because he visited NitCentral, saw all the nits we found and said to himself, "Sheez! That's a lot of nits!" and went back to the studio and improved the movie!

Wait until we all see the revamped version, and then cut IT to shreds, doing stuff like comparing it to the original version.

It has been suggested that all the TOS episodes be revamped with updated special effects and the like.... Any thoughts?


Personally, although it would be neat to see, I'm a bit suspicious about how TPTB would treat it. At least Wise had a hand in the creation of the original, theres no telling WHAT the new guys would do!

Merat...
The TOS episodes have already been revamped on DVD.

You should see the new shuttlecraft flights...no more "garbage mattes"

Sharper color
Clearer sound

If you mean adding the "newer sfx" like "warp flash" etc, then I'm against it.

Yes, I don't mean cleaning up the existing special effects, but redoing them on a computer so they look like DS9 and Voyager effects. Ick.

I liked the "Trek" effects as they are. As Scotty said, "How quaint."

Look at "Trials and Tribble-ations" for example - I felt despite the creators' best efforts the revised TOS effects looked very sterile.

The cost of re-doing the effects of all 79 Trek episodes is prohibitive. "Phantom Menace" cost $120 million to make. George Lucas stated in an interview that if this was an outside (non-Lucas) production, the pic's cost would have been over $200 million.
Devil's Advocate Time: "Trials and Tribbleations" may have looked sterile, but there was also an increased amount of detail in the effects-the labeling of Deep Space Station K-7, our first glimpse of Cyrano Jones' ship (inside K-7), and more surface detail of the Enterprise.

Now that UPN is planning "Enterprise"...I can't help but wonder if Robert Wise is banging his head against the wall because now he has to go back and somehow digitally enter the UPN version of the Enterprise to the rec-room scene where they show all the vessels called "Enterprise"

Newest update from "Trekweb": Expected street date of November 6, 2001. TWO discs, too, an unexpected bonus from miserly Paramount. I don't know the price, though. Paramount may have taken cues from Fox (the Die Hard pack), Anchor Bay (Supergirl), Dreamworks (Gladiator) and others who have two disc sets for their films. Maybe they are finally getting the hint.

You can now pre-order this from Amazon.Com

Is there a price listed, John?
In my case, there is little logic in pre-ordering (as Spock might say.) I work in Manhattan and I'm situated near many CD/DVD stores (J&R, Tower, Virgin) and live near other stores a very short drive from home (Best Buy, Suncoast, The Wiz, Target) that it makes more sense to just walk in and buy it. They usually put the just released DVD's and CD's on sale, too.

Checked it out, John. I think that the pre-order price is $22.99 (list is $29.99, according to StarTrek.com.) Looks ultra-cool, with lots of extras on the second disc, including interviews, commercials, deleted scenes and trailers. Check it out at StarTrek.com. Running time for the pic, on the first disc, is 136 minutes (theatrical version was 132 mins.)
Paramount is breaking tradition with this. As I have mightily complained, their discs are usually more expensive than most, and have minimal extras. Looks like it will have been worth the wait, gang. Now, we can only hope for special editions of films two through six.

Two weeks until release, gang. J&R is offering this on their web site (www.JandR.com) for $21.99. The NYC store reopened yesterday (10/22), having been closed since the Sept. 11 tragedies. (J&R's store on Park Row is two blocks from the World Trade Center.)

Tomorrow's the day.
Price Watch-K-mart has the DVD for $20.88. Best Buy has it for $19.99, and a package of all nine films for $149.99.

I'm definitly gonna buy it tomorrow, eventhough it means I won't have any "spending cash" for the rest of the week. Yesterday, they were giving flu shots at my local grocery store so I stood in line by the magazines for two and a half hours. I got through about $40 worth of magazines by the time I left, one of them being the offical Trek magazine. The articles on TMP were good, but I wish they had more in there about the special features on the DVD. Regardless, the articles have convinced me to buy it. Also, good news for Willow fans, the DVD comes out later this month

'GANG' I am sure God has a Special place reserved in Hell for Geeks Like Merat and Adam.

To Bubba-If loving "Trek" and looking forward to a long awaited DVD release is a ticket to Hell, than I guess I am first in line to go there.

There is a box set of the first six films, aptly titled "The Original Crew Movie Collection." It is prices at $129.99, more than I wanted to spend at one time, but cheaper than buying them all individually. The nine-movie pack noted above is a better buy, though. If you just got DVD and want all the films, and can afford $150 at one time, that is the way to go.

I heard the boxed set with all the movies except Star Trek 5 is $200.

Hey BeelzeBubba, you might as well give me my Hell ticket, too. I just bought the Star Trek - The Motion Picture DVD myself. (I'd like a room next to the Orgy Suite if you don't mind. )

Yikes. I watched one of those specials on the second disk. Doesn't Majel look like she was beat up many times? What has happened to her?

Well...the director's cut made the movie watchable. I am impressed.

I LOVE the new STTMP on DVD...I ADORE the new SFX...like the new shots of Vulcan, the new explosions, the new angles, and thank GOD they fixed that saucer walk sequence...it loooked so dorky in 1979, it looked cheap. New sound effects galore! The ship's computer sounds more "user-friendly" instead of metallic and cold. I'll never understand why Wise didn't add those "deleted scenes" too while he was at it....I mean, that's the point of a "DIRECTOR'S CUT", right? To add scenes that were left out before? I mean, SOME of the scenes were restored, like Spock crying for V'Ger, the self-destruct order, etc., but why not the others too? Other than that, it's A LOT more watchable a A LOT more fun spotting the improvements...including, the brand new exterior shots of V'Ger approaching Earth!!!! WOW! KUDOS! KUDOS! KUDOS! Huzzah!

I'm still working on the movie. About an hour left to go. The only major differences I've noticed is the Red Alert sound is closer to the one from TOS, the "clouds" of V'ger are different. (They look better, but the fly through into V'ger is still tedious.) Also, I'm not sure, I'll have to check my copy of the tape, but it looks like you can now see one of the Enterprise's engines outside the window of the Officer's Lounge. Oh. And the Overture. I don't remember that. Again, I'll have to rewatch the video tape to be sure.

Incidentally, has anyone found any easter eggs on either of the discs?

The overture was originally used on the RCA Videodisc---without the starfield. Anyone else but me have those clunky RCA Videodiscs?

Other noted changes:

*Starfield with opening credits
*New opening credits...They fade in instead of popping up out of nowhere.
*No Klingon translation of transmission at Epsilon IX
*Sulu no longer says, "The new screens held"
*Ilia touches Chekov to take away his pain...If I had Ilia touching me like that....I'd need a cold shower!
*Improved computer sounds.
*The warp naecelle is seen outside Officer's Lounge..and the window is noticably smaller. I liked the bigger window.
*Slight alterations to music
*Tram approach to San Fran...REAL COOL!
*The probe approach to the exterior of the Enterprise.
*Some new interior shots of inside V'Ger during flyover shots.

NITS:

They didn't fix the jacket nit at the end. It's funny.
There is a cameraman in the window as Kirk's pod approaches the pod port.

About the Overture; I just checked my copy of the video tape, and it's on there. I've only scanned through it to check some things. One difference you didn't mention John, is we now see what I believe is V'Ger, without the cloud covering, approaching Earth. (I am definitely going to rewatch the tape before hitting the commentaries tracks though.)

BTW, does anyone know if the theatrical version was ever released on tape? As far as I know, only the "Special Longer Version" was released on tape. I'd like to see the original version again.

I just realized, John, there's another difference you forgot to mention. The DVD is rated PG. Star Trek - The Motion Picture, when it was originally released, was rated G.

The Overture, called "Ilia's Theme" on the soundtrack CD, was in the theatrical prints and all videos.
The original theatrical version was released on video in October 1980. It was replaced by the Special Longer Version in March, 1983 and is no longer available. TNN ran the theatrical version many times this past summer and early fall. I have the original version video, and would not part with it for all the tea in China.
I'm glad they improved the opening credits. As I said, I always thought they were too simplistic.
The Original Series bridge sound effects are used here.
They also fixed the scene when the Enterprise leaves drydock. Originally, you could see the support strut in the lower hull; that is thankfully gone.
When Spock leaves the ship alone, the computer voice instructions for the thruster suit are gone.
In the transmission to the Enterprise from Epslion 9, Cdr. Branch's line was changed from "32 A.U.'s" to ""Two A.U.'s"
The time line as the Enterprise approaches the Voyager shrine makes a lot more sense. In the Special Edition, they were saying that they were still approaching it, when the viewscreen indicated they were almost on top of it. Here, they are shown to be still approaching Voyager as the "Crying Spock" scene plays out.
The shot of V'ger approaching Earth came as a big surprise. The music there was re-used from the opening of the recreation room scene. The original music for that scene (which was the same music heard in the scene where Kirk retreives Spock after his mind-meld with V'Ger) was eliminated.
The male computer voice has been replaced by a female voice.
In the scene where Ilia heals Chekov's pain, there is music I never heard before.
The tram shots over the Golden Gate are way cool. Totally in agreement with you, John.
I love the new wing walk, where the walkway forms for our friends as they are leaving the ship.
Good job to all concerned.

Well, I bought the DVD and enjoyed it. By the way Bubba, if you think like that what on Earth are you doing on this board?! It usually amuses me when people mock me for being a geek. I just remind myself that they have the creative ability of a wombat.

Oh, did you notice that in the new tram scene, a TOS shuttlecraft takes off from the new platform on the far right?

I'll never understand why Wise didn't add those "deleted scenes" too while he was at it....I mean, that's the point of a "DIRECTOR'S CUT", right?

The whole point of a director's cut is to release what the director believes to be the best version of the film. For example George Romero's prefered cut of Dawn of the Dead is the shorter one. Their is a longer one that he rushed to finish in time for the Cannes film festival; after the festival he went back and trimed some stuff that he felt dragged down the pace of the movie, and added nothing. Similary the "Special Edition" of Terminator 2 is James Cameron's prefered version of T2. It is longer than the theatrical version but does not include everything (a scene with the T-1000 searching John's room is on the DVD as a deleted scene). So why did he put the other scenes back in the film but not this one? Because he felt that the other scenes make the overall movie better while that one does not.

How much did it cost do make all these improvements, anyway?

I love this DVD very much.

Other missing lines:

Ilia saying: "Science officer's computations--confirmed,sir."

McCoy interrupting Kirk while he presses Spock for more info on V'Ger.

We also get to see other people walk off the transporter pad just before McCoy beams up.

Here are the things that caught my eye in the first five minutes when running the DVD for the first time ...
(if I repeat someone else's comment, I apologize)

1. Original - the Klingon subtitles are in lower case ... Revamped - the subtitles are all upper case.
2. The two scenes after the full-exterior-view of the Epsilon 9 Space Station have been flipped ...
Original - The view of the spaceman flying towards the camera, then the view of the spaceman flying away from the camera ... Revamped - the scenes have changed places in order of appearance.
3. The scene with the Commander (re-incarnated "Xon") interacting with the female ensign monitoring the "Klingon incident" is changed ...
Original - there is a brief scene showing the ensign viewing a computer-monitored "V'ger incident" BEFORE the Commander enters the bay ... Revamped - he enters the bay immediately and it is "assumed" that BOTH of them view the "computer-monitored" event, yet the computer-voice dialogue is deleted.

Just so those who don't have the DVD and have been hoping this will happen, Archer's Enterprise was not added to the collection of ships called "Enterprise".

Did you notice one of the giant statues on Vulcan is carrying a lirpa? Isn't that the first time since "The Amok Time" that one's been shown?

The way they redid Vulcan eliminates a nit, I believe. We no longer see two moons orbiting the planet.

I remember reading that when Spock does his solo flight through V'Ger, the image of Darth Vader appears reflected on his helmet. I think that has been removed. (And think Miss Piggy was also one of the images that popped up during that sequence. It, too, is gone.)

Oh. Adam, thanks for the info about the original theatrical version tape. Now I gotta find me a copy of it.

Probably, Benn, you can find it in a store that specializes in used videos. Or try e-bay. I would make you a copy, for free, of course, except for one problem-the anti-copy technique used on this 20 year old video was to weaken the sync signal. This means that in any copy, the picture will roll. Being that TV sets nowadays don't have a vertical hold feature, the movie will be unwatchable. My best suggestion for now is to tape it from TNN's next run.
Mike Okuda's text commentary addresses both the nits regarding the Vulcan skyscape and the switched jackets, as well as a lot of other stuff.
The windows in the rec-deck scene with Decker and Ilia-probe now have V'ger visible out the windows now. I have never seen that nit addressed here, and this shows the attention to detail that went in to this restoration.
Listen to Robert Wise's commentary regarding the wing-walk. Even he thought the matte-painting of the Enterprise exterior was dreadful. The wing walk is the most-changed element in this film. It is restored back to the way the filmmakers wanted it to be. What was originally seen on screen was a rush-job compromise, due to the fast approaching release date.
Douglas Trumbull says something I never knew-that when his work on this film was done, he spent a week in the hospital.
I love this DVD; I can't get enough of it.

One other thing I wondered about this movie-the dual focus, when both the background and foreground are in focus, separated by a visible line. It seems that was one way cinematographer Richard Kline compensated for the dim lighting that was needed to see the 8 mm displays on the screen. The lens was called a "split diopter" and, according to the commentary, functions much like bifocals (something I am forced to wear in order to read.)
One thing that was not addressed in the commentary re:the 8mm. displays-Everytime thay had to re-shoot a take, they had to play back all the displays from the beginning until they reached the desired point in the display, to insure that the shots would match. In subsequent Trek films, the 8mm. displays were replace by 24-frame-per-second video displays, to allow for brighter lighting and to allow for rewinding to the place thay left off, instead of having to replay the whole sequence.

Also, the Vulcan translation to English subtitles is slightly altered...

One line I noticed was "He (Spock) has not YET achieved Kolinahr."

This improvement is MUCH BETTER that the original which is missing the "YET"...this means Spock still has hope to purge his emotions rather than the Vulcan elders not giving him another chance.

Two more nits that have been corrected: After Chekov gets hurt, Ilia runs to help him. On the Special Longer Version tape, while Ilia is helping Chekov, she can be seen behind Kirk at the navigation station. The Director's Cut is re-edited so this nit no longer exists.

Also, during Spock's walk through V'Ger, Kirk goes after him. As Kirk exists the Enterprise, the scaffolding surrounding the set is painfully visible. That shot has now been removed.

I noticed that on the close captioning for the deleted scenes, it's "V'ger". For the Director's cut movie, it's "V'Ger".

Oh, and Adam, thanks for the tips. I have checked eBay, but so far it looks like on the Special Longer Version is all that's up for bid. Fortunately, Dallas has such places as Half-Price Books and The Movie Trading Co. to look for the theatrical version of the tape.

Adam Bomb: RE: "Trials and Tribble-ations: Our first glimpse of Cyrano Jones' ship

Luigi Novi: I don't recall seeing any shot of that during the episode. When in the episode was that, Adam?

Keep your eye peeled for an exterior shot of Station K-7. Cyrano Jones ship is stored in an area in the bottom part (drum-shaped) of K-7, and is seen through an open hatchway. It is a very quick shot, and I think it is only shown once.

When Kirk sees the Enterprise in full view in the drydock for the first time, there is now a reflection of the ship (and the space office complex) in the front window of the travel pod. The lines "Pod secured; pressure equalized" at the end of that scene have been eliminated. Sound effects of the pod docking at the bay have been added.
A nit that turned out not to be a nit-As we see the travel pod outside the drydock in the first shot, the shadows of the drydock are seen on the pod, something we don't see in the second shot. I thought that was carelessness, but in the second shot (before the pod turns around to face the ship) I noted that the pod was past the big lights, and therefore there would have been no shadows on it.

My appreciation of this film has just jumped 10 fold!

While watching the "bonus features" disc, I learned that the sequence thru the cloud was done with animators airbrushing the "cloud" on glass in different frames placed approximately one inch apart ... this is the most magnificent "human" copy of computer effects I've ever witnessed.
BRAVO!!

Here is a "literal" translation of the scene on Vulcan between Spock and the Vulcan Matron ... (just for completeness sake)

1. 1983 TV/"Longer" Version (these subtitles are offered in lower case)
Matron: Our ancestors cast out their animal passions here on these sands. Our race was saved by the attainment of Kolinahr.
Minister: Kolinahr: through which all emotion is finally shed.
Matron: You have labored long, Spock. Now receive from us this symbol of total logic. (Attempts to put necklace on Spock, but he stops her.) Your thoughts … give them to me. Our minds, Spock … one and together. (Matron temporarily mind-melds with Spock.) This consciousness calling to you from space … it touches your human blood, Spock. You have not achieved Kolinahr. (She drops necklace) His answer lies elsewhere. He will not
achieve his goal with us. Live long, and prosper, Spock. (Matron leaves.)

2. DVD "Director's Cut" Version (these subtitles are offered in all upper case)
Matron: Our ancestors cast out their animal passions on these very sands ... saving our race through the attainment of Kolinahr.
Minister: Kolinahr: through which all emotion is renounced and shed.
Matron: You have labored for many seasons, Spock ... and have proved yourself worthy ... now receive from us this symbol of pure logic. (Attempts to put necklace on Spock, but he stops her.) Your thoughts … give them to me. Our minds are joined, Spock … together, and as one. (Matron temporarily mind-melds with Spock.) I sense the consciousness calling to you from space … your human blood is touched by it, Spock. You have not yet attained Kolinahr. (She drops necklace) He must search elsewhere for his answer. He shall not find it here. Live long and prosper, Spock. (Matron leaves.)

Observation:
The scene of the Enterprise passing thru the cloud contains yet a "strange" editing sequence:
When the Enterprise finally passes thru the cloud, there is a reaction shot first from Kirk, then Ilia, then Uhura, then Sulu, then Decker, then McCoy/Chekov/Uhura, ... ALL these scenes are presented in "widescreen" format EXCEPT the reaction shot of Sulu, who is presented in "letterbox" format ... WHY??

ALSO ...:
the first reaction shot of Ilia and Sulu AFTER they reach 500 kilometers over the alien vessel is presented in "letterbox" ...?

NIT:
The editing sequence eliminates the alien strike on the Enterprise ... (i.e., the sequence where Sulu says "The new screens held"), and as such, WHY ... as an alien entity would YOU feel it necessary to destroy a vessel (Klingon) with equal technology, and in the very NEXT encounter of an alien vessel send a PROBE (due to the "DVD editing')?

derf i think you missed something, the kinglons attacked v'ger the enterpise did not!

Apologizes!!

I re-viewed the DVD and realized I FELL ASLEEP between the asteroid explosion and Mr. Chekov's scream-of-pain when the V'ger entity first attacked ... (and was too dumb/sleepy to review it before posting ...)

I'm going through the movie again, this time with Michael Okuda's textual commentaries. I've noticed this one audio glitch the first time I watched this disc. In the scene where Kirk is briefing the entire crew, there's a part of his speech that doesn't sound right. It sounds like it's been redubbed, but at a faster speed. It may just be me, but I hear it when Kirk says, "...intercept, investigate and take whatever action seems necessary." Am I the only one who has heard this?

BENN--- There's a deleted line....I believe Kirk originally said, "We assume there is an vessel of some kind at the heart of that cloud".

So the deletion of that one line changed the sound of Kirk's line, eh? Wow.

A couple of nits. In Michael Okuda's commentary, he notes that Persis does not blink when she plays the Ilia Probe to emphasize that the probe is a machine. However, if what Dr. Chapel says is true, that the probe is an exact duplicate of Ilia, would it not still need to blink, nonetheless?

This one's really picky. Much of the hype about this Director's Cut centers on the fact that the retouches was in line with what was possible with the technology of the late Seventies. However, there is, I believe, one bit that would not have been posible in 1978. It's the CGI of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Decker and Ilia on the hull of the Enterprise. Don't get me wrong, it looks better than what was in the film originally. It just wasn't technologicallly possible when the film was made. (At least I don't think it would have been.)

Just to be geeky about this, but I happen to notice that the day ST-TMP opened, December the 7th, falls on a Friday this year. Interesting coincidence.

At the risk of trespassing on John's territory...
As Spock does his space walk through V'Ger, at one point he says something about "planets, moons, stars." I can't help but add, "..and clovers."

Always after me Lucky Charms, the sweetened oat cereal with marshmellow surprises.

That's marshmellon surprises ...

You're both wrong. It's marshmallow surprises! Geez, do I gotta tell you guys everything?

Um..."Marshmellon" is a STV "in-joke", Mr. Great & Powerful Spellchecker.

Oh, well, hell, I knew that, Johnny-boy. I was just joshing with y'all. Yeah, that's it. Uh huh.

Right after I toldja.

There is also a nit that occurs in both the text and closed captioning. Right before the "crying Spock" scene, where the bridge crew gives status reports in turn, someone gives a count that I hear as "248 off duty, 17 in Sickbay, all minor." The caption reads "O-9-er" instead of minor.
The sensor light that Persis Khambatta wore as the Ilia-probe burned her skin, an item that was not touched on the commentaries.
After Chekov is burned and screams, a shot of Ilia leaving her station and running to his aid has been added.
Three or four of Kirk's lines in the rec-deck scene were dropped. One of the dropped lines is something like "We only hope there is a life form that reasons the way we do."
There are now three establishing shots of the tram approaching Starfleet Headquarters. The shot of the Starfleet emblem on the floor of the tram bay had been eliminated, and replaced with a subtitle showing the location and stardate.
All the new effects were done with CGI. Mr Wise makes the point that they want to duplicate the look of the film as it was made in 1978-79.
During Scotty and Kirk's tour of the Enterprise, there was a visible matte line on the saucer section, and dirt on the film was visible in the two-shot as they pass the lower hull. The matte lines on the Klingon ships were visible also. That has all been corrected by Foundation in the Director's Cut.
What I enjoy most about this DVD are the commentaries, and the fact that it is presented in wide-screen, so I see the shots framed as they were intended, not cropped for TV.

Another thing that was not mentioned in the commentaries are those "belt buckles" everyone wore. As I recall, they were supposed to be tied into everyone's biorhythms, or something like that. (God, do I remember the biorhythm fad of the late Seventies.) I was hoping to hear what Wise thought they were supposed to be, or that Michael Okuda would comment them. But not a word was said.

The cloud penetration & the V'Ger flyover are shortened just a tad. For those who have the original 33 1/3 record, (like me) you can hear the edits. In other words, the Enterprise gets thru those sequences a little quicker than originally filmed!

I LOVED the explosion in the wormhole sequence &
I was ga-ga over the V'Ger explosion...it was better than the Genesis device explosion in STII.

I, too, was really happy that they enhanced the Vger explosion at the end. I always thought they needed more of a big bang. And you actually get to see the Vger vessel!! Even with the "Bring us in to 500 meters, then out to 100 kilometers" I never could figure out what the thing looked like. The improvements make it better. However, I still think at least five minutes could have been cut from the several similar scenes of the Enterprise entering the cloud/vessel.

Was the original release date Dec 7, 1979? I couldn't find it on IMDB, and Amazon had it as Jan 1, 1979, almost a year earlier.

I remember freeze-framing the old video just to see what the heck was reflected on Spock's helmet. I recall vague images of faces and machines, nothing definite. With DVD (gotta love it!), the images are super clear -- you see representations of Ilia, an outline of the Voyager probe, and the Voyager plaque, giving a clue as to the probe's origin.

Somewhere on the disc (or its packaging), it is mentioned that the movie's release date was indeed December 7th, 1979.

The 20th anniversary CD has the music from the tram flyover in its entirety, and the new sequence reflects that.
"Star Trek" was the only major studio movie released on 12/7/79. I guess all other releases were kept away. (Other major films that season were "The Jerk", "Kramer Vs. Kramer" and "The Black Hole.")
Another item that I had wished they mentioned, but didn't, was how the "brain island" had to be kept dust-free, especially during the shooting of the meld sequence, with all the bright lights.

Also, Chekov does not say, "We're out of it" after the asteroid is blown up in the wormhole and everything returns to normal.

(It's nice to see they eliminated the lines that stated the obvious)

Another thing that was not mentioned in the commentaries are those "belt buckles" everyone wore. As I recall, they were supposed to be tied into everyone's biorhythms, or something like that. (God, do I remember the biorhythm fad of the late Seventies.) I was hoping to hear what Wise thought they were supposed to be, or that Michael Okuda would comment them. But not a word was said.

Maybe they were agonizers...

For some reason, I always thought they were communicators, but I'm probably wrong.

The communicators were worn on the wrists a la Dick Tracy. Let's see, one explanation I recall being given for the belt buckles had to do with biorhythms. Sickbay had the listings of the crew's biorhythms and if they due to have an off day, the belt buckles were adjusted in such a way that they had a better day. (I'm serious. I read this explanation either in Starlog, Chekov's Enterprise or Roddenberry's adaptation of the movie.*)

Another explanation is that it was a device to let Sickbay know if someone needs medical attention of any sort. If this is true, you have to wonder why Uhura put in a call to Sickbay when Chekov got hurt.

* I once cited a rumor that Alan Dean Foster, not Gene Roddenberry was the actual author of the novelization. This may be only a rumor. I have since checked out Foster's website. In his bibliography, he does acknowledge that he is the author of the Star Wars adaptation. However, ST-TMP is not listed. So maybe Gene really write it.

With producing the movie at the same time, in addition to dealing with the huge problems with the opticals (or did Robert Wise take more of a hands-on approach with that?), when would Roddenberry have had time to write the film's novelization?
I read that same rumor regarding the true author of the novelization. Or maybe Foster is really the author, but is a gentleman enough to list only what he got credit for. I had heard that Roddenberry wanted script credit for this film; he took Harold Livingston to Writers' Guild Arbitration four times. Reading the opening credits determined who won.
I still wonder why Paramount at first entrusted the huge amount of opticals in this film (525 shots) to a novice company (Robert Abel and Associates) known primarily for a TV commercial. With such a tight schedule, Abel was in way over his head from the get-go. Now, finally, we have the film finished in the best possible shape.

George Lucas took credit for writing the adaptation of Star Wars. It's his name, not Alan's that is on the spine of the book. Given how much work Roddenberry did on the old TV show, I don't see a problem with him being the novelization's author. Of course, he was about 10-12 years when working on the series.

IIRC, Robert Abel and Associates were hired because they won the bidding war. That is they underbid the competition. Roddenberry and Wise should've gone ahead and paid more for a more established company, but hindsight's...blah, blah, blah.

Some bidding war! Due to Abel's ineptitude, the film went way over budget and almost didn't make its release date. Paramount should have postponed the release six months, but sold the film to theaters in exchange for a guaranteed release date (as per Mr. Wise's comments. He also stated the pre-sale also determined the film's ultimate running time of about 130 minutes, to allow at least five showings daily. Here in NYC, showings started at 9 a.m. at Loews State on that first day, and the last showing ended at about 4:30 a.m., which was about nine daily runs for that first weekend. Things calmed down a bit after that.)

One nit that was not (or maybe could not) be fixed was near the climax. Kirk goes to question Spock, and Spock tells him why he is crying. At that time, Kirk is standing near Spock. When Kirk prepares to leave the Enterprise to go to the brain island, he is standing in back of his chair, on the other side of the railing. We never see him walk back to his side of the railing.
Still, now this will be seen as the definitive version of "TMP."

They also switch around Kirk's lines during the V'Ger plasma weapon attack....

The lines that were switch were:

"Engineering, status report" and

"Engineering...what's happening to our force fields?"

They were in a different order in the 1979 version.

The two shots with Ilia and Decker smiling at each other were moved up a bit to the end of the launching scene. Ilia's line of dialog ("Science officer's computation confirmed, sir.") was dropped, as it would not fit in there.
A lot of the dialog that was dropped was Kirk's, notably in the rec-deck scene, and later when he confronts the Ilia-probe. Shatner is known for his line-counting, so I wonder if he would be annoyed with that.
John, this one may be for you. I got the six-DVD boxed set that I mentioned above. On my copy of "Search for Spock," during the scene where Kruge orders his men to take the Enterprise, the French subtitles come up, even when the subtitles are turned off. It is just during that scene on that DVD that I noticed that. Do you, or anyone else with the DVD's, have had anything like that occur on any of your DVD's?

Nope...My DVDs work fine.

BTW...I noticed that Rand vanishes for the rest of the movie after the Rec-Room scene where Kirk briefs the crew on V'Ger.

They cut out the destruct sequence with Scotty and Rand?!

The self-destruct sequence is on the revamped "Director's Cut" of STTMP, but the woman in Engineering next to Scotty is not Rand. I don't know who it is. IMHO they should've found Janet MacLachlan...and have her reprise her role at Lt. Masters (from "The Alternate Factor").
That would have been a pleasant surprise.

Janice Rand is in the Transporter Room when McCoy beams aboard. It is she who responds "Permission Granted" when McCoy asks "Permission to come aboard." The Director's Edition keeps intact a line from the TV version that Kirk says to Rand: "Now that has a familiar ring, doesn't it?" It is after that scene that she disappears. As Rand has her own fans, maybe she should have been included in the last scene. Scotty and Dr. Chapel walk out of the turbo-lift; Chapel has no real reason to be there other than to be included in the final scene of the movie. Maybe Rand should have been included, too.
My friend Pete told me that if his DVD had a problem like that, he probably would return it. I am somewhat less ambitious. As long as the CD or DVD does not skip, I will live with minor technical problems like that one. (Particularly as it is part of a boxed set, and I don't want to return the whole set to the store for one minor glitch, which I have never done.)
I think it would have been a great idea to have Janet MacLachlan reprise her role as Lt. Masters. She has been a character actress for a long time, and has always worked, so she would have been very easy to track down. (They got John Winston for "Trek II", didn't they?) I suppose we all have 20/20 hindsight.
I think they added the woman in Engineering to the cast list at the end credits; I believe she is listed under "Technician", or something similar. As I believe Screen Actors' Guild requirements are such that if an actor has lines, he/she must be credited, so she should now be listed.

Sorry Adam...Rand is also in the Rec Room scene when the Enterprise receives the message from Epsilion 9. She's the blonde closest to the camera after they show the Klingon battle scene on the viewer. Can't miss her...just look for the hairdo. After that entire scene is over, then she vanishes.

OOPS..SORRY, Adam..You're right. She also appears when McCoy beams up. THEN she vanishes.
(It's been a long week and it's only Tuesday!)

I also like...
The new footage of V'Ger breaking off the plasma weapon attack after the linguacode message was delivered.
The new footage of the probe approaching the Enterprise.
The added TV version lines...one of which was mentioned by Adam Bomb. (Good job)

Sorry about being such a "Turkey" two days early, Adam.

Oops, thats what happens when I commment on a movie I haven't watched in five years! (Still haven't finished the Director's Cut!)

You are always forgiven, John. Happy Thanksgiving to you, and to all of the Nitpickers on the board, if I forget to say so in the future. May those of us with TNN and the day off from work revel in Friday's 15-hour Next Gen marathon, or finish watching (or re-watching) their Trek DVD's. (Sorry, Merat, couldn't resist.)

Am I the only person who misses the Red Alert Klaxon and the monotone male computer voice? As a kid I loved this movie when it was released in 1979, and those two features figure prominently in my memory. I was really disappointed with the sound changes when I first saw the DVD. Also, I prefer the original credits instead of the new ones with the "blurring" effect.

I recall the overture (I think in the theatre), but wasn't the Paramount intro before the overture (and not between it and the credits)?

Question: where was it ever explained that the V'Ger cloud had dissipated? Seems to me that in this version, one moment it's surrounded by the cloud and the next moment it's exposed. Someone please help me!

Yes...Uhura got a message from Starfleet that the cloud was dissapating rapidly as it approached (Earth).

Maybe they should have left the bridge background sound from the film alone. I thought it was right of TPTB to change it for the movie back in '79. Maybe they put back the sounds from TOS to provide a link to the old show. (TOS bridge sound effects were also used in Treks V and VI.)
Sorry, but I prefer the new credits. I said before, I thought they were too simplistic for a big budget film (the other eight Trek films did much better in this department.) Now, they feel right, at least to me, and look great.
The Paramount logo (updated for the DVD, BTW, with the current one) was always after the overture, both in theaters and on videocassette.

Thanks, John A. and Adam!

A nit here-I said before that the "Director's Edition" uses the bridge sound effects fron the series, including the ping from the moving lights under the viewscreen. Trouble is, there is no light under the viewscreen in the first three movies (we never saw the Enterprise-A viewscreen in IV, but the ping was there); the light under the screen wasn't added back until Star Trek V.

Which brings me to the question "What the heck were the lights and the ping there for, in the first place?"

BILC!

There's a cute little nuance in the 1979 version that (thankfully) was left in...

When Kirk exits the Tram, a female yeoman is right behind him....looking him over!

Wasn't that revisted in Encounter at Farpoint but with Riker?

No, I don't mean that Riker was looking Kirk over, as my sister just asked me :\

That yeoman replaces Chekov at the weapons console, after Pavel's hand gets burned.

That yeoman was really checking Riker out in "Farpoint." It was the scene where Riker is looking for Data. She demonstrates the computer's locator feature to him.
I am unsure if the yeoman in the tram is also the one who takes over for Chekov. Another reason to take out my DVD.

I should note this here:I heard through the Web that Robert Abel died on Sept. 22, 2001.
In the wing walk scene, as the principals are leaving the ship, there is one lightning bolt without accompanying thunder.
The sound mix in the new wing walk is superb. Just listen to it on any good hi-fi system, and compare it with the original version on disc two. Except for the thunderbolts, there were no sound effects at all in the original version.
Also, it is most impressive that the new shots are not static shots, like the original-the camera is in motion, albeit sometimes subtly.

GARGANTUAN NIT...

Ok...opening shot...three Klingon ships are approaching a cloud. (Count 'em 3)
One fires, then they begin retreating.
Cutaway to Epsilon 9...they pick up Klingon transmissions...the battle continues...they watch one (count it, 1) Klingon ship being zapped.
Finally, they watch the other ship get zapped. (another 1...total= 2...that they saw get zapped)

BASIC MATH....3-2=1

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER KLINGON SHIP?

Ah, John, it is a tragic tale! You see, there was a mighty Klingon warrior serving aboard that ship, the IKS Zippy. This Klingon was K'pow, son of K'plop, though to his shipmates, he was "K'pow, the Flatulent." To most Klingons, flatulence is a source of relatively harmless fun and masochism, but for K'pow, it was a devastating weapon. Using his gas alone, he could drop a foe at thirty paces. It was this that was his downfall. Like most Klingons, K'pow liked to fart in airlocks, and on this fateful day, he was in the airlock just to port of the IKS Zippy's photon torpedo tube when he reached new heights of aroma and strength. His fellow Klingons knew that this stuff was likely to eat through the hull and annoy the captain if they opened the inner door, so they made K'pow hold his breath and open the outer door (I never said these Klingons were bright, just flatulent). After much cursing, K'pow did just that. Unfortunately, at that moment, the captain fired a photon torpedo at V'ger's cloud! K'pow's caustic gas ate through the torpedo housing, causing it to detonate, destroying the IKS Zippy! To this day, farting in the airlock is called "Pulling a K'pow" in the Klingon Empire.

I love that explanation!

Its our job, John. To come up with weird and implausable excuses for nits!

In the scene where the tram is flying around the Golden Gate, the first shot of San Francisco contains two buildings that reminded me of the World Trade Center.
My explanation of the nit regarding the Klingon ships is that the first ship was being absorbed by V'ger as the transmission was being viewed by Epsilon 9. (As good an explanation as any.)

Regarding the other Klingon vessel:

I always assumed that the other ship was simply destroyed by V'GER when we weren't looking...

ANOTHER BIG NIT:

When the Enterprise is preparing to depart, the running lights come on in the following order:

1. Lights for supports on warp nacelles
2. Lights for the front of the warp nacelles.
3. Lights for saucer support ("neck" of ship)
4. Lights for the rear of the warp nacelles
5. Lights for the bottom of the main saucer
6. Lights for the top of the main saucer
7. Lights for the sensor dish & side emblem.

The nit lies with # 6...when the lights for the top of the main saucer come on, the lights for the front of the warp nacelles are now OFF! (They were just on in #2)
Yet they are ON again when the lights for the sensor dish & side emblem come on. (#7)

Who's playing with those warp nacelle lights and why?

I must note this nit happens again in STII

I needed the extra power for something useful, like say impulse rather than powering a 10¹² Watt light...

Chekov no longer says, "Photon torpedo load status" when Kirk returns to the Bridge after the transporter malfunction.

When we first see Spock on Vulcan, he is kneeling. He then stands and shields his eyes from the Vulcan sun....um...er....what happened to the "inner eyelid" mentioned in "Operation: Annhilate!" ?

Also they failed to explain why Spock had time to shave but not enough time to get a haircut on Vulcan. (I know I mentioned that already in the original STTMP board...but it deserves mentioning again because this is a remake)

"(I know I mentioned that already in the original STTMP board...but it deserves mentioning again because this is a remake)" - John A. Lang

What!? They've remade the first movie! When did it come out? The last I'd heard, they released a re-edited Director's Cut. But I had no idea it was remade. Who plays Kirk & Spock in it?

Sorry, John. I just couldn't resist playing with the semantics. No harm meant.

No problemo...but in a sense I'm right....

It's a remake because it looks and sounds better than the original

Uh, more it's more like a makeover to me, John. It's not like they reshot every scene. All that was done was a little touch up here, a little tweaking of the FX there... There really isn't any difference in the plot. The movie still drags too much. The actors still smirk, wink at each other and otherwise mug for the camera. It looks better is the best I can say for it.

A remake would have to involve shooting more first unit work. For this they re-did second unit work and tweaked some first unit, and changed some of the editing.

Ok...I give up. It's a makeover.

I must note that the "departure angle" of Earth was redone too.

The conference scene in the officers' lounge now has the two warp engines visible out the windows. Trouble is, the only room on the ship with the windows in that location for the engines to be visible at the angle shown is the two-level recreation deck.

The sound effects during the wing walk are superb. There is a continuous rumble throughout, and the lightning and thunder effects have been (thankfully) reduced. The original version overdid the lightning and thunder, probably to mask the fact that no other sound work could be done, save for the music.

The newly added warp nacelles in the Officer's Lounge create a new nit. If you watch the port nacelle, you'll see the star field through the apparently transparent bussard ramscoop thingys.

Another scene that was cut from the original version was Spock's "user friendly" thruster suit. (It told Spock how to operate the thruster suit) I think this was a good move because I feel that thruster suit operations would be something you'd learn at Starfleet Academy.

Re: the nit about Enterprise running lights coming on in a certain order... of course the nit repeats in STII:TWoK... it's the same footage! (I recall a movie reviewer [Ebert, maybe?] claiming how much more exciting & realistic the sfx in STII were compared to ST:TMP, and proceded to show the clip of Enterprise leaving drydock that had originally appeared in ST:TMP! Of course, the Jerry Goldsmith music score had been replaced with the James Horner score, but the visuals were the same. Even a visiting uncle of mine made the comment at the time about the recycled footage.)

Didn't realize this one had gotten so big. On to Part 2.