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Originally posted by PsyLiam:
I think what you've done there, TargetEmployee, is mistake "gloating" for "being funny". As a hint, if someone is quoting someone from a TV show who is a complete twat, then they are possibly trying to be humorous. Watch out for that, eh?

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I just discovered this thread... as some of you may be aware, I supervised the CGI for this project while I was at Foundation, so I may be able to answer some questions and clear up a few mysteries!

Based on what I've read here, I will mention that the memory wall is NOT included in the new cut (as has already been pointed out) and neither is most of Kirk's space walk (thus removing the need to fix the studio rafters). However, much of this is included as deleted scenes.

The new cut of the film is NOT spectacularly different, just tightened up a bit in places. It includes most of the footage from the longer edition (the stuff that helps the story make sense) but the running time is close to the original theatrical run.

Doing the new effects for this DVD was the most fun all of us ever had on a project, so feel free to ask about it!

POSSIBLE SPOILERS
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There are tweaks here and there, modified scenes we've read about (the old versions are still available on the second disc for comparison). Nevertheless, all the changes can't change the fact that TMP is a yawn, a movie in which the characters are drowning in the glitter of technology and special effects. It's a complete reverse of TOS, where the tech looked cheesy and forced a writer to really develop the characters, because the viewers would look at nothing else.

I watched the second (extras) disc fully, where the documentaries give a great coverage of the entire Phase II situation, the making of TMP and of the Director's Edition. We see *actual Phase II test footage* of Xon and crewmembers walking around in Engineering, glimpsed earlier in "The Art of Star Trek" and "The Making of Star Trek: Phase II." It's the closest we'll come to getting a sense of what the series would have looked like. We see the folks from Foundation Imaging as they're unloading the eight-foot Enterprise from its crate, and some of the changes they made are explained in detail. Their work is truly great, and I commend them highly.

A high point of the DVD is the scene-specific text commentary by Mike Okuda -- I hope the uninvited viewers will now realize just how much complexity there is to the Star Trek universe. Mike is explaining warp factors while the Enterprise is going to warp, saying when the drive was invented and such -- it really helps liven up the movie, kinda like a sports commentary. What's really new, however, is the audio commentary by Robert Wise, Doug Trumbull and other folks -- it gives an insight on how the individual scenes and effects were produced, and I have yet to hear all of it.

Of great interest to me as a musician was the part of the second documentary where Jerry Goldsmith is talking about the creation of the Enterpise inspection theme music, which ultimately ended up in the TNG main title. We're shown the sequence with an earlier stage of that music, which Robert Wise denounced as lacking a theme and reminding him of sailing ships. And then, we see the same scene with the familiar version.

This Enterprise inspection scene is the *only* human scene in that movie. The Enterprise is the *only* human character there. The rest of the movie -- don't show it to non-Trekkie friends. We, however, will have plenty of fun dissecting the audio commentaries, Mike Okuda's commentaries, behind-the-scenes documentaries, and modified scenes.

[ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]

One of its three video stores has it. The other two don't, though one has the VHS, as well as the DVD inside the new Star Trek DVD collection. Virgin Megastore and BestBuys also won't get it until Tuesday, pun intended.

[ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]

I watched the film through once, and forced myself not to pause or rewind to review anything. I figured I'd give it one chance to be seen start to finish with my full undivided attention. I then played it again and listened to the audio commentary track. I have yet to look at disc 2.

$$$$ POTENTIAL SPOILERS $$$$

The film is better. The pacing is better. Awkwardly timed shots have been trimmed. Extraneous sectyions have been chucked. A few of the mpost badly delivered lined have been culled. Some shots have been moved around to better effect. And music and sound effects have been added to shots that were previously rather flat.

Those expecting a massive reworking of the film will be disappointed. TMP is still TMP. Yes, it doesn't take as long to fly through the cloud, or to fly over V'ger, but the film's pace is still leisurely.

The new sound mix is overall an improvement, albeit a few of the new sound effects are less impressive than the originals. Some nice touches are mixes of familair TOS sounds throughout (such as the transporter "on" sound). Computer voiceovers have been replaced throughout, and correct some errors in the previous versions (such as reporting a travel pod available at "cargo six" when the pod is docked at a port clearly maked 5). One minor annoyance, and typical of modern film/video releases, is that there are occasion sound effects so much louder than the balance of the film as to rattle the neighbors.

The new digital effects are less numerous than some would expect. Most of the effects are the originals, with digital cleanups of matte lines and so forth.

Some of the edits are a bit puzzling. One is a strange cut that results in Commander Branch reporting that the V'ger powerfield measures "over two A.U.s in diameter" as opposed to "eight two" in the original film. SO, the V'ger cloud goes from being big enough to hide the solat system in down to the the size of the Earth's orbit. A rather pointless change.

The few all new digital shots are mostly good. If you didn't know they were new effects, you might mistake them for originals. A couple are just a tad too CGI looking, but not nowhere near as jarringly out of place as the new effects in the Star Wars Special Editions.

The picture is the bigest revelation here. I'd forgotten how good looking this movie was, remembering all those bad and washed out video and laser disc transfers rather than how it looked in the theater. The lighting and cinematography are top notch. This really looks like a movie, moreso than most of its cinematic progeny.

If you disliked TMP before, this edition is unlikely to change your opinion of it much. However, if you liked the film enough but always thought it was just a tad too slow, this version is a definite improvement, and more enjoyable.

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Originally posted by mrneutron:
The picture is the bigest revelation here. I'd forgotten how good looking this movie was, remembering all those bad and washed out video and laser disc transfers rather than how it looked in the theater. The lighting and cinematography are top notch. This really looks like a movie, moreso than most of its cinematic progeny.

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That's what I thought as I watched it, too. The Motion Picture is, in my opinion, the only Star Trek movie that feels like it was taking advantage of being a movie, rather than simply being an elaborate episode. Everything about the Enterprise as it appears in this film, from the sets to the equipment, just has a level of realism that disappeared as early as Star Trek II. The uniforms, while perhaps bland, are diverse, as one would expect on a semi-military ship. It was futuristic without delving into the stylized caricature of itself that became Star Trek style in later years.

It is also the only movie, with the possible exception of Star Trek III or V to have a true science fiction plot, one that can't easily be tweaked into any other genre. Khan was fun, for instance, but it really just boils down to Khan's revenge and Spock's sacrifice... you could tell that story anywhere.

Listening to the audio commentaries, you also get the sense that the Visual Effects artists had too much freedom in the movie. While the Enterprise-inspection scene is excellent, and I applaud everyone for their efforts here, I feel the artists should've been on a tighter leash with V'Ger. They keep talking about abstract shapes, abstract this and that, making it seem as though TMP was just an opportunity for them to show their stuff, rather than serve the story of TMP. Why establish so much of V'Ger, spend such huge amounts of time on the interior visual effects when little of it was ever explained, or its function suggested in the story. It's just abstract pictures for the viewer to look at.

The movie was obviously a foundation for the franchise, and resulted in a lot of sets and models that continued to be used over and over again. Jerry Goldsmith did a great job on the music. However, you really can't stretch a pilot script to the point of breakdown, letting the visual effects fill the void. Yes, it works sometimes, but in the case of V'Ger, the filler is just too abstract and disconnected from the story.

Oh, and as for the change from 82 to 2 AUs -- I think it makes a lot of sense, considering that the V'Ger without the cloud is clearly nowhere near 82 AUs long. It's a lot bigger than the Enterprise, but not *that* much bigger.

[ November 07, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]

1) Has the volume of the "Scout Columbia to rendevous with..." increased since the theatrical release?

2) When did Paramount replace the curvy subtitle font with the all-caps, jagged-looking version? I saw the new version in TNN's airing of the movie, but I also watched an old British PAL videotape with the curvy subtitles.

(As explained in the commentaries, the Vulcan actors in the movie were filmed speaking English, then overdubbed with Vulcan dialogue. The 1979 subtitles matched the English dialogue word for word, so Paramount later reworded the subtitles to obscure this. The Deleted Scenes section has the 1979 subtitles.)

[ November 07, 2001: Message edited by: Phelps ]

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Originally posted by The359:
The Columbia/Revere/Entente dialogue is the same as before (and Entente IS mentioned)

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