Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection (UHD Blu-ray) review

[David Vaughn]

Studio: Paramount
Release Date: September 7, 2021
Rating: PG
Film: 4.25/5

Plot + My Thoughts
Since Star Trek's debut on NBC in 1966, it has become one of the most indelible franchises in entertainment history. Although it only lasted for three years on network TV, Roddenberry's universe spawned five more TV shows—The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise—and 11 feature films, the most recent being the wildly successful reboot by J.J. Abrams.

After leaving the airwaves in 1969, Star Trek gained new life in syndication and its popularity exploded. A new generation of fans—like me—grew up watching the series after school or during dinner and became "Trekkies" at a young age.

Throughout the 70s, there were rumors about the show returning with the original cast, a new cast, or even a sequel taking place in the future, but when Star Wars reignited the science fiction genre, Star Trek was destined to reappear on the silver screen. 

In 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture (2.5/5) hit theaters and grossed $82 million, turning a small profit for Paramount. Robert Wise directed, but unfortunately, it's excruciatingly slow, lacks focus, and the cast didn't have the chemistry or the comedic timing found on the TV show. The special effects are outstanding—even for the late 1970s—but the story leaves a lot to be desired.

Three years later came Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (5/5) with a slimmed down budget and an inexperienced director in Nicholas Myers. Well, it turns out those two things are way overrated because this is the best Trek movie starring the original cast. The chemistry and comedic timing are perfect, the story is funny and filled with action and adventure, and best of all, it has the perfect villain—Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban)—a genetically engineered human introduced in the original series episode "Space Seed." The special effects aren't anything to write home about, but Spock's heroic act to save the crew still brings a tear to my eye.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (4/5), serves as the second course in the three-course meal now referred to as "The Spock Trilogy." Picking up directly after the end of Khan, McCoy is carrying Spock's kattra—living spirit—and the crew must return to the Genesis planet in order to recover Spock's corporeal body. This is the most underrated film of the six and shows the love and devotion the crew of the Enterprise has for one another and they'll do anything to bring back their fallen comrade.

In the fourth film, Star Trek: The Voyage Home (5/5), Kirk and crew must return to Earth to face Starfleet for breaking nine regulations in his bid to rescue Spock. When the crew arrives at Earth, a deep space probe's mysterious transmission wreaks havoc on the Earth's atmosphere. The crew must travel to the 20th century in order to save the planet. This is the funniest film in the series, which may turn some off, but I still get a kick out of Kirk's use of "colorful metaphors" and McCoy's rant against 20th century medicine.

I’ve seen all four of these movies countless times. Although less so with the first film which should be renamed “The Lack of Motion Picture.” I’m willing to overlook its flaws and enjoy it for what it is—a more cerebral science fiction film with glacial pacing. The next three films are great though and no matter how many times I see them, I still am wildly entertained.

I was curious how these films would translate to 4K and they have all exceeded my high expectations. I thought the Blu-rays looked quite good when they were released over 10 years ago, but these take things to a different level. Details are much sharper, print damage has been minimized, and the color saturation is vastly improved. There’s still the occasional soft shot due to how it was filmed and the VFX shots look dated, but that’s to be expected given the age of the film.

Each film sports a 7.1 channel TrueHD soundtrack and are impressive, especially on the last two films. The Motion Picture is very front-loaded with inconsistent dialog and dynamic range befitting the age of the film. The next three films show an improvement with slightly more ambience from the surround speakers and more robust bass, but the dialog can sound strained and thin in Khan. The last two films offer the best audio experience with clearer dialog, an immersive surround environment, and expanded frequency response with crisper highs and deep room-shaking bass—especially when Praxis explodes. There’s a Director’s Cut of the first film headed to 4K early next year and that will have an Atmos track, so I expect at some point a full box set of the original crew films with all the bells and whistles.



Video 9/10

Audio 8.5/10 (Dolby Atmos)

Special Features:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture 4K Ultra HD
·        Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
·        Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Blu-ray
·        Isolated score in Dolby 2.0—NEW!
·        Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman
·        Library Computer (HD)
·        Production
o  The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture (HD)
·        The Star Trek Universe
o  Special Star Trek Reunion (HD)
o  Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 001: The Mystery Behind V’ger
·        Deleted Scenes
·        Storyboards
·        Trailers (HD)
·        TV Spots
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 4K Ultra HD
·        Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director's Cut and Theatrical Version)
·        Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Blu-ray
·        Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer (Director's Cut and Theatrical Version)
·        Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto (Theatrical Version)
·        Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (Director’s Cut)
·        Library Computer (HD)
·        Production
o  Captain’s Log
o  Designing Khan
o  Original Interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Ricardo Montalbán
o  Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
o  James Horner: Composing Genesis (HD)
·        The Star Trek Universe
o  Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (HD)
o  A Novel Approach
o  Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 002: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (HD)
·        Farewell
o  A Tribute to Ricardo Montalbán (HD)
·        Storyboards
·        Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 4K Ultra HD
·        Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis                                       
·        Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Blu-ray
·        Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis                                       
·        Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
·        Library Computer (HD)
·        Production
o  Captain’s Log
o  Terraforming and the Prime Directive
o  Industry Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
o  Spock: The Early Years (HD)
·        The Star Trek Universe
o  Space Docks and Birds of Prey
o  Speaking Klingon
o  Klingon and Vulcan Costumes
o  Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (HD)
o  Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer
·        Photo Gallery
o  Production
o  The Movie
·        Storyboards
·        Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 4K Ultra HD

• Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
• Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Blu-ray

• Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
• Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
• Library Computer (HD)
• Production
  
  • Future’s Past: A Look Back
  • On Location
  • Dailies Deconstruction
  • Below-the-Line: Sound Design
  • Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments (HD)
• The Star Trek Universe
  
  • Time Travel: The Art of the Possible
  • The Language of Whales
  • A Vulcan Primer
  • Kirk’s Women
  • The Three-Picture Saga (HD)
  • Star Trek for a Cause (HD)
  • Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 004: The Whale Probe (HD)
• Visual Effects
  
  • From Outer Space to the Ocean
  • The Bird of Prey
• Original Interviews
  
  • Leonard Nimoy
  • William Shatner
  • DeForest Kelley
• Tributes
  
  • Roddenberry Scrapbook
  • Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
• Production Gallery
• Storyboards
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)

Conclusion
The ultimate question of every Trekkie is “how many times will I rebuy these films?”, which is a fair question to ask. If you’re 4K capable and are a fan, this is by far the films have ever looked and for that reason alone it may be worth the price. It’s the 55^th Anniversary of the original series and as long as we keep buying these, the studio will put in the effort to making them look and sound the best as they can. Would I have liked to have had the Director’s cut of TMP with this set? Absolutely, but it wouldn’t stop me from upgrading from the Blu-ray. Then again, I’m a big fan. Highly recommended.


Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS2000 4K Ultra High-Definition Front Projector
(Calibrated with Portrait Displays CalMAN color calibration software & C6-HDR Meter from Portrait Displays)
Stewart Filmscreen - Firehawk 88” 16x9 Fixed Screen
Trinnov Altitude 16 Audio/Video Processor
ATI AT527NC Powering Bed Channels
ATI AT524NC Powering Atmos Speakers
Panasonic DP-UB820 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player
System Controller: URC MX-990
M&K S-150 THX Ultra (R-C-L Speakers)
M&K SS-150 x4 (Surround Speakers)
Atlantic Technology IC6-OBA x 4 Overhead Speakers
SVS PC-Ultra Cylinder Subwoofer
HSU VTF-15H MK2 Subwoofer
JL Audio Dominion F110 Subwoofer x 2
Mini DSP HD controlling all subwoofers
Audioquest and Monoprice - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling
PureAV PF60 Power Conditioner

[Barry]

      David if you wouldn’t mind a few thoughts on the Star Trek movies that you reviewed which I have also seen many times.
 
Star Trek: The Motionless Picture: Next year there will be a special directors cut of this movie released in 4K. People don’t know this but it was the first movie by Paramount to make more than $100 million at the time. It wasn’t unpopular. I think I’m one of the few people who actually liked the movie. The problem with the movie is that it is really a very good science fiction idea but it is simply not Star Trek. Star Trek not only involves action and adventure but interaction between the main characters and that was just not developed here at all. But I must say I like the music too and the music here became the theme for Star Trek for many years. Again not a great movie but when I did enjoy. 
 
Star Trek II: was the trek movie we all had been waiting for. There were rumors of Spock’s death before the movie came out and they were so clever to have him die in the beginning and then come back to life.
 
Star Trek III: this was a good TV movie, or a good episode of Star Trek. I enjoyed it but it didn’t have the reach of the movies and it felt more like an episode of the show.
 
Star Trek IV: I seem to like the even numbers of Star Trek movies. This movie was also terrific. It was wonderful to see Spock’s family again too. It also interests me that some of my favorite Star Trek episodes and movies involve time travel. “The City on the Edge f Forever,” “First Contact” and a couple of Deep Space Nine episodes.

[bmoney]

Great work. Looking forward to these

[Paul Heroy]

I'll be buying these tomorrow as a birthday gift for my brother next week! Perfect timing, he's a huge ST fan. I am to some extent too and would like to see these, as it's been a long time.

The consensus as the ST movies came out was that the even numbered ones were the "good" ones. II & IV were particularly memorable to me. I recall thinking V was just awful, and insulting to Uhura with the ridiculous fan dance they made Nichelle Nichols do. 

[David Vaughn]

      David if you wouldn’t mind a few thoughts on the Star Trek movies that you reviewed which I have also seen many times.
 
Star Trek: The Motionless Picture: Next year there will be a special directors cut of this movie released in 4K. People don’t know this but it was the first movie by Paramount to make more than $100 million at the time. It wasn’t unpopular. I think I’m one of the few people who actually liked the movie. The problem with the movie is that it is really a very good science fiction idea but it is simply not Star Trek. Star Trek not only involves action and adventure but interaction between the main characters and that was just not developed here at all. But I must say I like the music too and the music here became the theme for Star Trek for many years. Again not a great movie but when I did enjoy.
 
Star Trek II: was the trek movie we all had been waiting for. There were rumors of Spock’s death before the movie came out and they were so clever to have him die in the beginning and then come back to life.
 
Star Trek III: this was a good TV movie, or a good episode of Star Trek. I enjoyed it but it didn’t have the reach of the movies and it felt more like an episode of the show.
 
Star Trek IV: I seem to like the even numbers of Star Trek movies. This movie was also terrific. It was wonderful to see Spock’s family again too. It also interests me that some of my favorite Star Trek episodes and movies involve time travel. “The City on the Edge f Forever,” “First Contact” and a couple of Deep Space Nine episodes.

BARRY,

Great summation and I agree with your thoughts. Thankfully the first movie was profitable and led to all of the other films. If it were a flop then Star Trek probably would have never become such a huge hit for many generations of fans. My daughter, who is 25, is a HUGE Star Trek fan to this day.

[Barry]

David, first my name is Barry not Paul.

  Some things you may not know about these four Star Trek movies:

 
1.  In the first movie and opening scene has Mr. Spock on the planet Vulcan. I saw the movie when it first came out and this was a scene shot at night, in darkness. When released on video for the first time, that was VHS and Laser, you actually couldn’t see the actors very well, it was too dark. So on these newer versions on DVD this scene is placed in daylight.
2.  Gene Roddenberry was effectively fired after the first Star Trek movie. He wanted the movie to be Star Trek searches for God. They would never use that word, he was then called a consultant. But all of his comments and such were ignored.
3.  The movie actually cost $20 million to make but you will hear them say it took 40 million. Neither claim is technically incorrect. Huh? The actual cost of the movie was $20 million dollars. However, Paramount had spent another 20 million trying to resurrect the TV show and other projects for Star Trek. So for tax reasons those losses are claimed under Star Trek the motion picture.
4.  Robert Wise was the director of The Sound of Music, West Side Story and The Day thew Earth Stood Still. He was also the editor of Citizen Kane. Sadly he had never seen a Star Trek movie before and knew nothing about it. He was even going to film it without Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy had been in a dispute with Paramount over the use of his image for marketing purposes. He was getting no money. It was Wise’s wife who insisted that Nimoy had to be in the movie.
5.  Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had what entertainment executives called “a most favorite nation clause,” to avoid competition this was a clause put into contracts where they wanted parity between the stars. A famous example of this was in the show Laverne and Shirley. So Nimoy and Shatner alternated arguing salary with Paramount for each movie, knowing the other person had to get the identical amount.
6.  When Nimoy told Michael Eisner of Paramount that he wanted to direct Star Trek three,, Eisner told him no. Eisner did not like the fact that Nimoy had put into his contract that Spock had to die in Star Trek II. that was just a rumor, Nimoy told Eisner to take out the contract and look at it there was no such clause. Eisner did just that and then hired Nimoy.
7.  Because of the most favorite nation clause Shatner was able to direct Star Trek five. This was a terrible movie and again there was again the search for God in it.

[David Vaughn]

David, first my name is Barry not Paul.

  Some things you may not know about these four Star Trek movies:

 
1.  In the first movie and opening scene has Mr. Spock on the planet Vulcan. I saw the movie when it first came out and this was a scene shot at night, in darkness. When released on video for the first time, that was VHS and Laser, you actually couldn’t see the actors very well, it was too dark. So on these newer versions on DVD this scene is placed in daylight.
2.  Gene Roddenberry was effectively fired after the first Star Trek movie. He wanted the movie to be Star Trek searches for God. They would never use that word, he was then called a consultant. But all of his comments and such were ignored.
3.  The movie actually cost $20 million to make but you will hear them say it took 40 million. Neither claim is technically incorrect. Huh? The actual cost of the movie was $20 million dollars. However, Paramount had spent another 20 million trying to resurrect the TV show and other projects for Star Trek. So for tax reasons those losses are claimed under Star Trek the motion picture.
4.  Robert Wise was the director of The Sound of Music, West Side Story and The Day thew Earth Stood Still. He was also the editor of Citizen Kane. Sadly he had never seen a Star Trek movie before and knew nothing about it. He was even going to film it without Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy had been in a dispute with Paramount over the use of his image for marketing purposes. He was getting no money. It was Wise’s wife who insisted that Nimoy had to be in the movie.
5.  Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had what entertainment executives called “a most favorite nation clause,” to avoid competition this was a clause put into contracts where they wanted parity between the stars. A famous example of this was in the show Laverne and Shirley. So Nimoy and Shatner alternated arguing salary with Paramount for each movie, knowing the other person had to get the identical amount.
6.  When Nimoy told Michael Eisner of Paramount that he wanted to direct Star Trek three,, Eisner told him no. Eisner did not like the fact that Nimoy had put into his contract that Spock had to die in Star Trek II. that was just a rumor, Nimoy told Eisner to take out the contract and look at it there was no such clause. Eisner did just that and then hired Nimoy.
7.  Because of the most favorite nation clause Shatner was able to direct Star Trek five. This was a terrible movie and again there was again the search for God in it.

Barry...I apologize for that. I was on my tablet and for some reason saw Paul's post  Hopefully you forgive me

[Barry]

Of course, I have had the same thing happen to me!

[David Vaughn]

David, first my name is Barry not Paul.

  Some things you may not know about these four Star Trek movies:

 
1.  In the first movie and opening scene has Mr. Spock on the planet Vulcan. I saw the movie when it first came out and this was a scene shot at night, in darkness. When released on video for the first time, that was VHS and Laser, you actually couldn’t see the actors very well, it was too dark. So on these newer versions on DVD this scene is placed in daylight.
2.  Gene Roddenberry was effectively fired after the first Star Trek movie. He wanted the movie to be Star Trek searches for God. They would never use that word, he was then called a consultant. But all of his comments and such were ignored.
3.  The movie actually cost $20 million to make but you will hear them say it took 40 million. Neither claim is technically incorrect. Huh? The actual cost of the movie was $20 million dollars. However, Paramount had spent another 20 million trying to resurrect the TV show and other projects for Star Trek. So for tax reasons those losses are claimed under Star Trek the motion picture.
4.  Robert Wise was the director of The Sound of Music, West Side Story and The Day thew Earth Stood Still. He was also the editor of Citizen Kane. Sadly he had never seen a Star Trek movie before and knew nothing about it. He was even going to film it without Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy had been in a dispute with Paramount over the use of his image for marketing purposes. He was getting no money. It was Wise’s wife who insisted that Nimoy had to be in the movie.
5.  Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner had what entertainment executives called “a most favorite nation clause,” to avoid competition this was a clause put into contracts where they wanted parity between the stars. A famous example of this was in the show Laverne and Shirley. So Nimoy and Shatner alternated arguing salary with Paramount for each movie, knowing the other person had to get the identical amount.
6.  When Nimoy told Michael Eisner of Paramount that he wanted to direct Star Trek three,, Eisner told him no. Eisner did not like the fact that Nimoy had put into his contract that Spock had to die in Star Trek II. that was just a rumor, Nimoy told Eisner to take out the contract and look at it there was no such clause. Eisner did just that and then hired Nimoy.
7.  Because of the most favorite nation clause Shatner was able to direct Star Trek five. This was a terrible movie and again there was again the search for God in it.

Great information Barry. 


As someone who has loved movies/TV shows from an early age, I have many actors that I enjoy and have developed an emotional bond to. With that being said, I have always been sad when one has passed on, but I had never shed a tear for one until February 27, 2015, the day Leonard Nimoy passed away. I used to watch Star Trek with my grandfather and Spock was his favorite character (and mine too). When he died the emotional impact was double for me because of the bond I had formed with a family member and a movie star. 

[Paul Heroy]

Barry, thanks for the further notes on the ST movies - very interesting behind the scenes info!

David, as you know you can edit your post to correct the name... I hate to be a source of confusion lol. 

[AVSCraig]

While I haven't seen these in quite a while, I look forward to watching them in 4K. I even like the first movie - it's slow burn but thought provoking. 

 

[David Vaughn]

Barry, thanks for the further notes on the ST movies - very interesting behind the scenes info!

David, as you know you can edit your post to correct the name... I hate to be a source of confusion lol.

I just did it and emphasized the edit for Barry's sake

[bmoney]

I haven’t seen these since they were on the original HBO lol

[David Vaughn]

I haven’t seen these since they were on the original HBO lol

Wow...they are fun movies to revisit. Everyone is young and thinner

[Barry]

Wow...they are fun movies to revisit. Everyone is young and thinner

So was I!