Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23573 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-06
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish
• Dubbed in: German
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It was an event that every fan had waited a decade for: the first Star Trek movie. But after its cinema release in 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture was quickly dubbed "The Slow-Motion Picture". In the opinion of general audiences, fans and critics alike, the snail-like pace of the film was a crippling flaw. It bothered one person even more, though: but Robert Wise finally got to scratch that itch when preparing this Director's Edition.

In an unprecedented display of confidence from a movie studio, Wise has been allowed to re-edit the film and commission new visual effects sequences that were planned but unrealised for the original release. The result is frankly mind-boggling. Finally we are now able to see how Vulcan was supposed to amaze and alienate us, how integral the B-crew's role was to the mission, and just how spectacular the V'ger ship was imagined to be. Is the pace problem addressed? Undoubtedly it is. Scenes are trimmed and a new "busier" effects soundtrack helps considerably. Does it look better? Definitely. The shades of beige and puce have never seemed more crisply defined. Does it sound better? Jerry Goldsmith's music score (arguably one of the best ever written) is as majestically represented as the Enterprise herself.

On the DVD: Star Trek: The Motion Picture two-disc set has oodles of extra features, including a complete library of all scenes deleted from both the original and new versions. The picture quality varies throughout, but it's worth putting up with for the (Wise-ly) excised material such as the unfinished effects work. An audio commentary from Wise, special effects director John Dykstra, composer Jerry Goldsmith and Commander Decker himself (Stephen Collins) provides an appraisal for movie aficionados more than Trek fans: the latter will be far more interested in a text commentary from Trek author and scholar Mike Okuda, who points out endless amounts of in-trivia. Better even than all these are three new documentaries that chronicle the film's history from then to now. Each is brightly put together (they don't drag), informative without being overly technical, and exude a pride without bragging. --Paul Tonks

Video Description

DVD Special Features:

Disc 1:

Widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 TVs

Dolby Digital English/German 5.1 Surround

Group commentary by Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, Stephen Collins

Text commentary by Michael Okuda, co-author of "The Star Trek Encyclopedia"

Feature subtitles: English for the hearing impaired, English, Arabicv, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish

Commentary subtitles: English, German

Disc 2:

New retrospective documentaries with cast and crew interviews--"Phase II: The Lost Enterprise", "A Bold New Enterprise", "Redirecting the Future"

Teaser trailer

Theatrical trailer

New director's edition trailer

8 TV commercials

5 additional scenes (from the 1979 theatrical version)

11 deleted scenes (from the 1983 TV version)

Storyboard archive

New "Star Trek: Enterprise" series promo slot

Synopsis
In STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, the original crew of the Starship Enterprise from the campy 1960s TV show is reunited in this dramatic, full-length science fiction epic. Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner), formerly a captain, is called upon to collect his old crewmates in order to save humanity from a giant, hostile alien vessel steadily approaching Earth and destroying everything in its path. The complex alien life-forms apparently possess such an advanced intelligence that even the brilliant Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) fails to comprehend the massive structure that contains them. There is tension on the ship, as well as in the universe, as Commander Willard Decker (Stephen Collins), the Enterprise's new captain, is relegated to being Kirk's assistant. In addition, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the lovable, crotchety doctor who is constantly at odds with Spock, must be tricked away from his life of relaxation to serve on a voyage he wants no part of. It's not long before the Enterprise is taken over by the alien entity, and navigator Ilia (Persis Khambatta) is abducted. When she is returned to the Enterprise, she informs Kirk that unless the entity is united with its creator, it will destroy the Earth. With excellent special effects and witty nods to the old series, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE set a new standard in sci-fi films--and paved the way for a host of excellent sequels.

Customer Reviews

The Best Star Trek Film Of Them All
Star Trek The Motion Picture (TMP)is my favourite film in the entire series. It is interesting that this is the only visualisation of a lost period in Star Trek's fictional timeline. Consider, we have the original 5 year mission which was followed by this movie (not counting the animated series)there is then a 14 year gap, fictionally as it were in time from the end of TMP and The Wrath of Khan (TWOK). All the remaining films are set after each other leading up to the final mission of the original crew and Kirk's death. The period of time from the end of the 5 year mission to the beginning of TWOK is an immense source of speculation and interest for fans and scores of unofficial books have been set in this period.
TMP is divorced from the rest of Kirk's time in Trek through being set in this gap and provides just a small peek at this unknown period. The script was the original pilot proposal for a new series on TV called Star Trek Phase 2 and it's interesting to speculate which way Trek would have gone had this been the start of a new series rather than the first film.

The script itself was titled "In Thy Image" for the TV pilot project but was dropped when it was decided to adapt it to movie form, I do think the title The Motion Picture is boring and I wish they had kept the original title, it gives a better indication of things than TMP which could mean anything.
The film has been remastered and looks brilliant, but it has also been re-edited to quicken the pace and make the film seem a bit busier and faster, the selling point however is that some scenes and effects have been completely replaced, one of them is a breathtaking shot of the planet Vulcan with giant statues and ancient temples and blood red skies and mountains, it is worth the purchase of this disc for this alone. Sensational.
The soundtrack of TMP is something that has always stuck in my head from the day that I first saw this in 1979, it is possibly the best music ever used on Trek, but then what do you expect being composed by the genius that gave us the Jaws theme, Jerry Goldsmith. I will never forget his Ilia's overture, the Klingon theme that became so famous and of course the Enterprise music score. World class.

TMP is more in line with the way Gene Roddenberry originally envisaged the series, by being more thoughtful, intellegent and character-led than the more grand shoot-em-ups and big battles going off in space. Stories like The City on the Edge of Forver and The Inner Light are of much more interest to me than stories like The Best of Both Worlds and Scorpion.

The special features are to die for including such gems as a documentary on the aborted Phase 2 series with some super rare test footage of various elements, documentaries are also used to cover the film itself and the reimagining of thing. Theatrical and teaser trailers are included as are 16 quite substantial deleted scenes, and storyboard archives. Great stuff.

This film is not only my favourite Trek movie but rates very highly in my all-time list of all films, but I do have one gripe however. as much as I love this version of the movie I would have like to have been given the choice to watch the original theatrical version if I so choose, and it should have been an option on this disc. You can see all the original material that was changed in one of the extras, but this is not the same as having it integrated into the movie itself.

So there we are, not only the best Trek film but for the sheer quality of the special features the best DVD release of a Trek Film. Unmissable.

Finally, the movie we should have had in 1979 has arrived!
For many, Star Trek : The Motion Picture was a bit of a mixed bag. Although fans treasured the movie for bringing Trek back to the screen, it was also seen as a tad shallow and even a little boring. With the release of the Directors Edition, Robert Wise has revisited this flawed masterpiece in order to craft the film that he was forced to rush through post-production back in 1979.

And what a film we have. By taking a careful look over the film, Wise has made some subtle but important changes. By adding a scene here, cropping one there and taking a few out altogether, the film is now much tighter, and flows far better.

Helping this are the new effects shots that have been inserted. However, don't make the mistake that these are just gimmicks, added because they could be (the Star Wars special editions come to mind). All the effects have been designed to fit seamlessly into the movie and unless you know the film by heart, you will have trouble spotting which are original and which are new until you watch the feature on the second disk. The most dramatic effects that have been added are taken from the original 1979 storyboards that they simply didn't have the time to film.

Due to the different running time the score has been adapted and the audio on the whole enhanced so that if is now in full 5.1. In fact the only criticism you can level at this edition is that the film looks a little grainy. They could have taken a bit of extra time to clean it up a little.

After the poor offerings on the other eight Star Trek DVDs, Paramount have finally released an edition worthy of the format. In fact this two disc set has a number of gems locked away.

The first disc has the movie in widescreen and enhanced for 16:9 TVs. It has the usual scene selections and, finally on a Star Trek disk, well designed animated interactive menus. Also included is an audio commentary featuring Robert Wise himself with Doug Trimbull (effects director), John Dykstra (effects supervisor), Jerry Goldsmith (music composer) and Stephen Collins (actor playing William Decker). In addition a feature I haven't seen before is a text commentary by Mike Okuda (co-author of the Star Trek Encyclopedia). Both commentaries can be viewed simultaneously.

The second disc is well packed with goodies. All the usual trailers, commercials and promos are here, but a little more thought has been put in. First we have three documentaries made just for this disk. Each deals with a different aspect of the film and is interesting in its own right. All the scenes that have been cut or amended are included here so you can compare the new with the old and there is a full section of storyboard archives.

All the big fans of the show will be buying this disc, but this edition warrants more attention than this. The movie is now a masterpiece of filmmaking and show what can be achieved if the money men give the artists the time they need to complete their work rather than tie them to deadlines that can compromise the movie.

Star Trek : The Motion Picture - The Directors Edition is a must own disc that brings the full glory of Star Trek and the Enterprise to the screen in a way that only the advent of CGI and more importantly DVD has allowed.

The Definitive Version at Last!!!
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition"

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is by far the most important of the
series and in my opinion also the best. This Director's Cut has
improved and tightened the 1979 theatrical release to create a truer
version of the director's original vision. In most cases Director's
Cuts ruin the original Motion Picture they set out to improve, yet this
film is the exception. What Robert Wise did here was very necessary and
it has been accomplished with great reverence for the original
material. This is now the authoritative version of "Star Trek: The
Motion Picture" and justly so.

What I admire about this first incarnation to the big screen is the
faith that Robert Wise obviously has for his audience. Scenes are
purposely slow which allows the atmosphere of the film to wash over the
viewer like a warm bath rather than being bombarded by action and
explosions as in the second of the Motion Picture series.

There are obvious references to Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey
(1967), which I admire because to want to aspire to those heights and
nearly succeed can only be regarded with respect.

I have to say that the production design by Harold Michelson has never
been bettered. The scope of his sets gives real life and location to
the interior of the Star Ship Enterprise. The gathering of the whole
crew in the lounge for example or Kirk emotionally trapped in his
quarters by the dark glass sliding doors. The bridge of the Enterprise
has never looked, sounded or functioned better.

A criticism would have to be levelled at the costume design, which I
find uninspired and rather camp. Kirk's sleeveless white shirt is quite
off-putting, as I can't stop staring a William Shatner's hairy arms.
Decker's skin-tight body suit reveals more than modesty should allow!
Do they not have underwear in the 23rd century? Yet these are my only
criticisms. I really enjoy this film and have done so since its
release. This version finally completes an unfinished work and improves
upon it to such a degree that Trekkies will have to re-evaluate yet
again which is the best of the Motion Picture series. As for me apart
from the original series this is Star Treks finest hour!