I know some Trek-haters. Only a couple, really. A lot of people with Trek-apathy, though. And yet all of them, every single one dragged kicking and screaming into the theatre, walked out singing the praises of Star Trek. Some even curious to watch episodes of the old TV show. And that, to me pinpoints the success of the film. J.J. Abrams took everything that ever made Star Trek great, distilled it to a couple of hours, packaged it in lightning and unleashed it on an audience who didn’t know they were craving it all along.
Most fans had given up on the franchise long ago. It had been ages since I cared about Star Trek, I know that for sure. I recall starting to feel worn out by the franchise around the time of Deep Space 9. Voyager, Enterprise and a handful of less-than-fantastic Next Gen feature films were the final nails in the coffin for me. By the time the early 2000s rolled around, I barely had a Trek-care left. I’d be happy to watch the odd episode of the original series when they came on TV and Wrath of Khan remained a treat, but aside from that I had little interest left. This new Trek film has managed to turn all of that around. It reminds me of the things that made me fall in love with the franchise to begin with. It manages to do that and so much more, bringing a new, fast-paced action feel to our beloved tale of space exploration. Along the way we’re introduced to younger versions of our favourite characters, all perfectly cast and embodying everything we came to love about them in the TV show and films. Now, I’m not saying that this Chris Pine fellow is any replacement for the legendary William Shatner in the role of Captain Kirk. But he does a fantastic job and even manages to make the character his own, while maintaining a little of the James Tiberius we know and love. A cheeky smile. Commanding authority. Even a hint of classic Kirk conversational cadence. Perfect! A quality indicative of the rest of the film. Damn-near note perfect.
There isn’t another Blu-ray disc in my collection that I want to watch with such frequency as I do Star Trek at the moment. I can’t wait to have a chance to put it on again! It looks damn-near perfect, it sounds damn-near perfect and is a great sci-fi adventure on top of that. It’s a wonderful demo disc that’s going to sell set-top players and PS3s all holiday season.
And aside from just being a wonderful technical showpiece for your home theatre, the Star Trek Blu-ray will provide you with countless hours of additional entertainment, as it’s packed to the gills with special features! I literally spent hours wading through the bounty of HD featurettes on the second Blu-ray disc. They cover every aspect of the film, from the concept, the casting, shooting, make-up, music, sound effects…the list goes on. And almost every little doc can be viewed with or without the ability to see additional branching content. If I have a single gripe with the special features, it’s a common one I have with most modern discs – if given the chance, I’d rather watch all “making-of” featurettes as one lengthy documentary, as opposed to little bits and pieces. To be honest though, I’d happily settle for a “Play All” option.
The commentary track with director Abrams, producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof, and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci is one of the highlights of the Blu-ray disc set. Listening to it makes you feel like you’re at a production party or an exclusive gathering. It’s equally as enthralling and as frustrating as a commentary track can be! The former, obviously, because it’s so candid and jovial and the latter because there are so many of them with so much to say that they’re constantly cutting each other off! I can’t tell you how many times I felt like we, the listeners were just about to learn another production secret when one of the participants jumps in, cutting off the speaker only to point out something inane onscreen or offer some Trek-based fact. Like I said, frustrating. But a really great listen, nonetheless.
Rounding out the Blu-ray package are some incredible deleted scenes, a gag reel, trailers a digital copy of the film and some HD exclusive Vessel Simulations of the Enterprise and its enormous enemy ship, the Narada!
Super-extra-mega recommended!
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]]>Have you picked up your copy of Star Trek on Blu-ray yet? If the answer is no, allow me to introduce you to one of the multitude of fantastic special features on the disc – the gag reel.
Me? I refuse to watch this bad boy on YouTube, as I’ve got a copy of the Blu-ray disc waiting for me at home. I don’t want to spoil any of that high-def goodness with this type of compressed, streaming video (Yes, I’m a Blu-ray snob!) But if you happen to need any more convincing that the Star Trek Blu-ray is worth snapping up, this might just do the job!
Via: /Film
Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: [VIDEO] Star Trek Blu-ray Preview – Deleted Scene: Diora Baird as Orion Slave Girl
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]]>I’m sorry to disappoint you, skin fans. But this is the infamous Diora Baird (The Wedding Crashers, Young People Fucking) cut scene from the upcoming Star Trek Blu-ray disc. One line of dialogue. No boobs. I mean, the scene is actually pretty funny, when taken in context of the film. But I think when it was announced that she would be playing a green-skinned Orion Slave Girl in the film, a lot of you had been getting your hopes up for something more along the lines of Ms. Baird’s previous clothing-optional celluloid and magazine appearances. Sadly, this was not to be. But hey, that’s what sequels are for right?
The clip above comes to you via my buddy Rob over at Topless Robot who laments JJ Abrams‘ decision to keep Diora Baird’s clothing on while featuring the lovely Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) in her knickers. Read his rant here.
Star Trek will be available on Blu-ray disc on November 17th (currently $21.49 at Amazon.com – 46% off MSRP)
Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: [VIDEO] Star Trek (2009) Blu-ray Preview – Deleted Scene: Nero vs. Klingons
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]]>Star Trek – DVD Bonus Footage
I won’t watch this scene. Not yet. I’m waiting for the Star Trek Blu-ray to show up, so I can bury myself in it for two full weeks. I want my experience to be fresh. That being said, I’m so tempted to check out this deleted scene of Romulan ship Captain, Nero being interrogated by the Klingons! This Star Trek Blu-ray is going to be sooooo good! I apologize in advance if my review of the disc is biased in any way. It simply can’t be helped…
Previously on The Blu-ray Blog: Star Trek (2009) Blu-ray Deleted Scenes Described in Detail
Via: Ain’t It Cool News
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]]>Ooooo. Wasn’t expecting this today. As far as news goes, this isn’t amongst the most hard-hitting or terribly exciting variety. But for crazed Star Trek fans (like me!) this is must-read news. Or must-SEE news, in this case. So, it turns out that the cool, understated art that Paramount was using for its Star Trek disc wasn’t cutting the mustard. For whatever reason, they’ve got some new Chris Pine-centric designs in store for the Blu-ray and DVD releases. What do you think? Better? More Pine-y?
Via: DVDActive.com
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Holy crap. I just had a nerdgasm over here. I wasn’t even hunting for this preview of Paramount‘s upcoming Star Trek Blu-ray disc but there it was, on YouTube, begging me to watch it again and again. I can not wait to get my hands on this disc! And this trailer/preview has just ramped up my anticipation ten-fold.
Thanks to this video, we finally have an answer to the question of the mysterious “Holographic” Blu-ray packaging nonsense we reported on a while ago. Seems pretty gimmicky, if you ask me. I mean, I’ll take it, along with all the other goodies on the disc. Personally, though, I’m way more excited for all the cut scenes (Klingons!!!) and “making-of” docs. Looks like I might be shedding a tear or two if there’s more footage on the disc like the Leonard Nimoy “wrap” stuff in the video above. Old Spock gets me every time…
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Harry Barber over at TNMC got his hands on a version of JJ Abrams’ Star Trek script. From the description he gives, it doesn’t sound like the shooting script (there’s a major difference involving the death of the villain’s henchman that would have required a solid round of rewrites) but it does give us a look at what some of the deleted scenes on the Blu-ray will reveal (read all about the upcoming disc here).
I’ll run them down, one by one but you’ve got to head on over to TNMC.org and check out the rest of Harry’s article. There’s some fantastic stuff there, if you’re a Star Trek fan. What you’re about to read below is just the tip of the iceberg!
STAR TREK (2009) BLU-RAY DELETED SCENES:
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◦ Spock’s birth – “The thrust of the scene is Spock’s mother Amanda expressing her displeasure with Sarek when he isn’t present for the birth and then doesn’t understand the emotional implications of this. One gets the feeling that this probably happened an awful lot in this relationship. The script then jumps to the scene where Kirk is born, which is where the movie opened.”
◦ Klingons capture Narada – “The opening sequence, which sees the destruction of the USS Kelvin at the hands of Nero and his mining ship the Narada, has an extra bit we didn’t see. While the Narada is trying to recover from being rammed by the Kelvin, bunches of Klingon warbirds decloak and surround it. This leads to a major subplot entirely removed from the final film. More on that later.”
◦ Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank – “We get a couple of scenes that precede the part of the movie where young Kirk takes a Corvette for a fateful joyride. One shows his older brother storming out of the home of their Uncle Frank, who is clearly not meant to be a nice guy. Mom is apparently in Africa and not expected back for months. Older brother George leaves home, implying along the way that Jim is too much of a rule follower. The next scene shows Jim washing that Corvette under orders from his Uncle. I’d say this section was wisely cut as it adds nothing truly important to the story that isn’t conveyed in the joyriding sequence.”
◦ Amanda and Sarek argue after Spock’s fight – No description
◦ Interrogation and escape from prison – “Next we go the Rura Penthe Klingon Prison Asteroid where Nero and his crew are being held. The Klingons catch someone trying to smuggle Federation maps to him. The Klingons begin to interrogate Nero, during which we learn that he has been there for ten years and hasn’t said a word that whole time. The Klingons have a notebook of his that is full of drawings and calculations relating to Spock and his Jellyfish ship. They decide to use that slug thing we saw Nero using on Captain Pike in the finished film. Apparently they hate being in the dark and will claw their way out of any dark place they’re put, which makes them kind of bad to have in your gut. Nero tries to deal with this torture by focusing on memories of his late pregnant wife. A few scenes later, we see that Nero is so bad ass that he put up with torture just because he had time to kill until Spock finally arrived in the Jellyfish ship. When the time is right Nero busts out with ease. It’s possible this subplot was cut for plausibility issues.”
◦ Sarek and Amanda – No description
◦ Bedroom and Kobayashi Maru (original version) – “The scene where Uhura catches Kirk fooling around with her room mate has a little bit we didn’t see in the final film. Kirk tells Gaila that he sent her a message that she has to open at a precise moment. This is how he hacks the Kobayashi Maru test. It is a virus of sorts that she opens during the test, unleashing it to rewrite the test to be winnable. I’m not exactly sure why this was pulled. The sequence makes a bit more sense like this and would only be a fraction longer.”
◦ Kirk apologizes to the green girl – “There is one more scene later where Kirk mistakes another green girl for Gaila. “
◦ Sarek sees Spock Prime – No description
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]]>Oh my god Oh my god Oh my god.
Must contain my inner geek. Breathe deeply.
This news broke over at TrekMovie.com and was confirmed by Bill Hunt at the Digital Bits. German film sites have announced the upcoming release of JJ Abrams‘ Star Trek film on Blu-ray this October 5th and have outlined the full slate of bonus features. Everything here can be considered rumour until confirmed by Paramount with an official release announcement. Take note that release details often differ from region to region, so while this news might hold true for Germany or Europe, the North American and/or British discs may be vastly different.
The release date below can also taken lightly, as Paramount shifts their fall schedule around to accommodate the home video releases of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Monsters vs. Aliens, Imagine That and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, as well as, “a TON of big catalog titles”.
Do, however, feel free to get bat-shit excited about all the deleted scenes we’re going to see. This is the stuff everybody has been talking about and waiting for. The stuff that was excised from the film. Klingons!! Spock Prime (Leonard Nimoy) seeing his dad again!! More Kirk getting it on with the green gal!! Yeah! Life is good…
STAR TREK [2009]
(October 5, 2009 – MSRP EUR 29,99)
Video: 2.35:1 (1080p)
Audio: German Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby True HD 5.1, English Audio Description, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian Dolby Digital 5.1
Special Features:
• Audio commentary (JJ Abrams, Bryan Burke, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci)
• Featurettes:
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◦ Where no man has gone before:
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▪ The Shatner conundrum
▪ The redshirt guy,
▪ The green girl
▪ Trekker alert!
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◦ Casting
◦ A new vision (“Savage Pressure”)
◦ Starships:
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▪ Warp explained
▪ Painting work
▪ Accelerated bridge construction
▪ The captain’s chair
▪ Operating the buttons
▪ Shuttle shuffle
▪ Accelerated Narada construction
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◦ Aliens:
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▪ The alien paradox
▪ The girl with the big eyes
▪ Big pro Quinto
▪ Klingons
▪ Drakoulias anatomy 101
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◦ Planets:
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▪ Additional businesses
▪ Confidentiality
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◦ Equipment and costumes: Klingon costumes
◦ Sound
◦ Music
◦ Gene Roddenberry’s vision
• Deleted scenes:
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◦ Spock’s birth
◦ Klingons capture Narada
◦ Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank
◦ Amanda and Sarek argue after Spock’s fight
◦ Interrogation and escape from prison
◦ Sarek and Amanda
◦ Bedroom and Kobayashi Maru (original version)
◦ Kirk apologizes to the green girl
◦ Sarek sees Spock Prime
• Starfleet vessel simulator (probably BD only)
• Star Trek gag reel
• Trailers:
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◦ Teaser trailer
◦ Theatrical trailer “The wait is over”
◦ Theatrical trailer “Prepare for the beginning”
◦ Theatrical trailer “Buckle up”
• Star Trek: D-A-C demo (trailer) for XBOX 360
• BD Live options