Digital Bits' review of the TWOK Director''s Cut BD:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/star ... ors-cut-bd

Sounds well worth the wait! I do have one nit to pick, however (you knew there'd be at least one). I am generally a strong proponent of using the original movie poster art for home video box cover art. Apparently I'm a minority opinion on that, as it rarely seems to happen. But the art on this new BD is abjectly awful. This is not a graphic novel, fer cripes' sakes, so why did they try to make it look like one? Ugh.

Olorin wrote:Digital Bits' review of the TWOK Director''s Cut BD:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/star ... ors-cut-bd

Sounds well worth the wait! I do have one nit to pick, however (you knew there'd be at least one). I am generally a strong proponent of using the original movie poster art for home video box cover art. Apparently I'm a minority opinion on that, as it rarely seems to happen. But the art on this new BD is abjectly awful. This is not a graphic novel, fer cripes' sakes, so why did they try to make it look like one? Ugh.

Boy you hit the nail on the head calling "Graphic novel".
Personally i could care less, but in this case

Was never a big ST follower....I have never seen the vast amount of Star Trek material that came out after 1968. (My god, that was ....almost 50 years ago????!!!! ...must be someone else writing this...I can't be that old )

I do have my favorites, quite a few, from TOS, and those are almost all from the first two seasons.

BUT, I did see two movies with the original cast -- Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home -- and enjoyed both of them...good stories, good direction and good acting.
Of the two TWOK was better: I'll definitely be getting the DC.

As for the graphic art, maybe I'll just cover it with a piece of paper.
That will make it like a White Album version

Yeah, that is a terrible cover. Thankfully it will be spending most of its life on a shelf, sandwiched between other movies so I don't have to stare at it. Whoever makes these decisions really needs an oversight committee standing over their shoulder... preferably holding a baseball bat.

Valkrist wrote:Whoever makes these decisions really needs an oversight committee standing over their shoulder... preferably holding a baseball bat.

That committee should also have control over what Paramount and CBS release, at least in terms of Star Trek. Bill Hunt of the Digital Bits gave Paramount some very detailed ideas about how to commemorate Trek's 50th anniversary, including remastered BDs of the 6 original cast movies, including the director's or alternate cut of I, II, and VI. They seemed very interested but pretty much blew him off. All they are doing is this edition of TWOK (which, cover aside, sounds pretty freakin' amazing) and they are going to release TAS on BD.

Yeah, I had read the article to that back when you provided the link. Such a disappointment and wasted opportunity. I mean, if 50 years doesn't qualify for the golden Cadillac treatment, what does? 100???

We get it: we must all bow down and worship at the shrine of this sorry reboot they've foisted upon us, but they could at least have a shred of decency and throw a little bit of love in the direction of the faithful fans of all that Trek was, and has been, up until now.

Valkrist wrote:We get it: we must all bow down and worship at the shrine of this sorry reboot they've foisted upon us, but they could at least have a shred of decency and throw a little bit of love in the direction of the faithful fans of all that Trek was, and has been, up until now.

I don't think it's that. I think they're just very cheap and nobody there in a decision making capacity understands or cares about Trek or its fans. It's always, what's the minimum we can do to cash in again?

I have to agree, that is an atrocious cover for a BD release.

There's an error on the TWOK BD: a scene is repeated. As errors go, it's not egregious, and certainly better than a scene being omitted. The Digital Bits is certain Paramount will do an exchange, but an official announcement has not yet been made.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/m ... 60816_1230

Sad news, Anton Yelchin who played Chekov in the new movies died on an apparent freak accident

http://m.tmz.com/#article/2016/06/19/st ... chin-dead/

OMG that's sad...young life cut so short.

Very sad indeed, he was one of my favorite parts of the new series.i think he really captured Chekov

There are some very touching tributes to him coming in: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36572649

Such a tragic and freak accident. He was only 27...makes me cringe, only 5 or 6 years older than me.

If you got the faulty Wrath of Khan BD, you can now contact Paramount for a replacement. Digital Bits has the info: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/columns/m ... 62216_1500

Honestly, I didn't even notice it in mine (though admittedly I dozed through part of it).

This is what I hate about situations like this: if you go out now to buy the movie, or order it online, how do you know which version you are getting? Even if you wait a month or two, how do you know it’s not just old stock that was sitting around? Store employees and places like Amazon can be incredibly obtuse and generally unaware of issues like this, so they are not much help. Has the old version been recalled? One good way to tell the old one from the new one would be new artwork on the cover... ah well, one can dream.

AFAIK all copies had the problem. Best way to get one without is to get one now and do the exchange.

I would think all copies released have the problem. What I meant is that any new stock coming in should be the new version, eventually replacing all copies of the old one that are out there. Question is, how do you tell the old one from the new one?

Remember when the first season of TNG had problems? They had to do a disc exchange program also, but newer copies hitting stores had a little starlfleet logo added to the slipcase spine so people knew they were buying the corrected version.

I'd think new would mostly supplant old over time, but unless they give it a diff UPC or something, there'll probably be no way to know.

Yeah, but who knows how long that would take? Given that it's an old movie, the turnover in stock is likely to take a while. That's why it would have been nice if Paramount had announced whether there was a recall in place or just buy it and exchange the disc.

Anyway, storm in a tea cup.

Get off my lawn, while you're at it.

Finally realizing what you're really asking, and re-reading their statement, I'd say there's no general recall. What's in circulation will stay in circulation till it's bought.

Or at least that's my read on it.

Finally, pictures of the restored TOS filming model on display: http://trekmovie.com/2016/06/28/restore ... ington-dc/

And it looks just as it should.

Valkrist wrote:Yeah, but who knows how long that would take? Given that it's an old movie, the turnover in stock is likely to take a while. That's why it would have been nice if Paramount had announced whether there was a recall in place or just buy it and exchange the disc.

Anyway, storm in a tea cup.

Get off my lawn, while you're at it.

At last, a partial answer:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/star ... ors-cut-bd

They changed the background color of the UPC code.

Ah, yes! Thank you very much, sir.

I finally got a reply today from the returns email.

Thank you for contacting us about the error on the Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut Blu-ray release. It is always our intention to distribute the highest quality product and we would be happy to send you a replacement.

Please provide your street mailing address where we can send you a postage paid envelope. Once you receive this, please enclose the entire product you purchased (including its casing and all printed materials) along with your mailing address and send the envelope back to us. Once we receive your package and verify that it is eligible for replacement, we will send you the corrected product.

I think this is crappy. Send them the entire thing, case and all? That just costs them extra shipping. Plus, I am out my disc until such time as they decide I'm eligible and deign to send me a new one. I've participated in a number of disc replacements over the years, and this is far and away the clunkiest. I am going to research exactly where the defect occurs, watch mine to verify it has it, decide whether it really detracts from the viewing experience or not, and then maybe send it back. Honestly, I didn't even notice it when I watched the thing (but admittedly, I dozed off briefly while watching).

OK, so I just checked my BD and the error is pretty glaring if you're looking for it. It occurs in the Kobayashi Maru sequence at the beginning of the movie. When Saavik orders Sulu to take the ship into the Neutral Zone, when he delivers his "May I remind the Captain line," instead of showing the shot of him turning to look at Saavik, they repeat an earlier shot of him at the helm, as seen from behind from Saavik's perspective. In other words, you're looking at his back when he speaks. It then cuts to Saavik's response, then cuts back to Sulu's reaction shot (which is correct). It's not a huge deal, and only lasts a couple of seconds, but I'm afraid it's one of those things that once you've noticed it, you can't unnotice it. Sigh.

I'm just trying to fathom how that even happens. I mean, aren't you just working from a previous (correct) transfer of the film? Why do they even have to play around with individual scene sequences? Only by breaking it all up and then putting it back together would it even be possible for such an error to crop up. I'll admit I know nothing about video editing and remastering, but the whole thing just seems puzzling, kinda like you dropped a Lego structure, and when you rebuilt it, you placed a block in the wrong place.

For this new Blu Ray and the 4K remaster they supposedly went back and scanned the original negatives again. That usually means the whole film has to be re cut, shot-by-shot. What's funny is that this was supposedly supervised by the director... A line of dialogue and some digital fixes from the 2009 version is missing too, but apparently that was intentional.

I watched it last night. Had I not known about the duplicated scene, I would not have even noticed.

A pretty nice panel discussion from Comic-Con: Bryan Fuller, Shatner, Spiner, Dorn, Ryan, and Bakula.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HGsl8ovA30

Brent Spiner does a drop-dead great Patrick Stewart impression at around the 29 minute mark.

He did a Patrick Stewart impression when I saw him in Dallas, its hilarious!

OK, here's a must-watch video of the restoration of the Enterprise model from TOS:

https://vimeo.com/176999007

How wonderful and perfect that they used the movie from the big refit-Enterprise introduction scene from ST:TMP.

And what a great restoration…the old Enterprise truly lives again. Just gorgeous!

OK, so here is the story of my TWOK BD exchange.

When I first emailed them to ask for information, it took them 2 weeks to respond. They said, send us your name and address and we'll send you a pre-paid mailer. I immediately sent them my name and address, and it took them another 2 weeks to email me back and say they they would be sending the mailer. I received the mailer by FedEx a couple of days after that. The next day, I dropped my BD off at the local FedEx location...this would have been Thursday or Friday of last week.

And today I got my replacement BD! Yay!

I panicked a bit at first...the UPC appeared to be white, which is the old, erroneous version. However, it was just a sticker on the shrinkwrap, positioned over the yellow (corrected) UPC on the actual package. Anyway, I popped it into my player and skipped to the scene in question. It is indeed fixed. So, yay again!

Morals of this story...if you want to do the exchange, give them your name and real world mailing address in your first email, and you'll cut 2 weeks out of the process. Also, if you're still on the fence about buying this or waiting for corrected copy to show up, I'd say buy it and exchange it if you need to. Only one store in my area even carried the thing in a brick and mortar store, and if you can't see it in person (ie, you're ordering online), you have no way to know for sure whether you're getting the bad version or the good version. So, go ahead and order, and if it's the old version, exchange.

Also, you get a sticker with a code for a voucher for up to $8 off for seeing Star Trek Beyond.

And the replacement TWOK BD has a commemorative 50th Anniversary belly band around the package. Woot.

I just finished watching the new (and correct) BD of TWOK. I have to say, this movie has never looked better, and I can't imagine it looking any better than this. While the treatment this title was given makes me happy, at the same time it makes me sad, as they should have given the other five original cast movies exactly the same treatment. Those movies look like crap on DVD and I can't imagine the BDs look much better. Plus, the alternate cuts of I and VI remain MIA on BD.

So, kudos to Paramount for the job they did on TWOK, and an extended trip to the woodshed for them for well and truly dropping the ball for Star Trek's 50th anniversary.

Barry Jenner, who played Vice Admiral William Ross on DS9, passed away this Tuesday. He was 75.

RIP

Yeah, I saw that. Not sure how old he was when the show was on, but it does remind us how long it's been since that show was on the air.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but I always thought his character was Dullsville.

I saw that as well. I never minded the Admiral Ross character, he was never shady, pretty chill guy.

Today is the 50th anniversary of the broadcast debut of Star Trek, at least here in the United States (it was Tuesday for Canada). Let's raise a toast, even if only a metaphorical one, to such a wonderful, enduring part of our lives!

Absolutely!

Hear hear!

This makes me feel old.

Oh, wait....I AM old...like Olorin

I remember seeing That Which Survives (3rd season) in first run but not Man Trap (the very first broadcast episode).

Olorin wrote:I remember seeing That Which Survives (3rd season) in first run but not Man Trap (the very first broadcast episode).

I saw the original broadcast of Man Trap.
However, I didn't recall it until I saw it mentioned on YouTube for the 50th anniversary something-or-other.
We always referred to it as "The Salt Monster" episode.

I can recall most of the titles and plots of all three seasons, but not all.
Obviously some episodes are more memorable than others .
Sad, but a lot of the 3rd season episodes are forgettable.

The first episode I recall watching was The Corbomite Maneuver, some time around the mid 70's.

Anyone care for some tranya?

*insert Balok laugh*

Yes, I'll take a glass, please?

I wonder whatever happened to that crewmember that went off with Balok.

Olorin wrote:Yes, I'll take a glass, please?

I wonder whatever happened to that crewmember that went off with Balok.

Balok probably had a 500 year -life span (never judge a book by it's cover) and Mr Bailey, I think his name was., and I think he was a newly commissioned ensign, or maybe a Lt jg .....Mr Bailey died of old age.

He was a full lieutenant, David Bailey.

It's non-canon, but you can head over to Memory Beta (not Memory Alpha, which is canon,) and find out what happened to Bailey after he left with Balok aboard the Fesarius.

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/David_Bailey

Must-watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2cdXv93cRY

Olorin wrote:Must-watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2cdXv93cRY

Kind of creepy....

I remember watching that when it first aired on the Shatner roast. Pure awesomeness!

Ran into this guy this weekend. You might recognize him. He played a small role in Star Trek I apologize in advance... I'm already the most unphotogenic person in the world and the nerves of meeting someone famous plus the excitement, I usually end up looking like a dweeb.

PS... look up "prequels strike back" on Amazon and buy it/watch it. Its my friends documentary, really good stuff. I'm not just saying that, its got a 9.4 on IMDB and a 4.9 on Amazon, not to mention a positive review from ScreenRant.

BladeCollector wrote:I'm already the most unphotogenic person in the world

Trust me, you're never going to be the worst looking thing in the picture when you're next to Shatner.

But congratulations on getting to meet him and get a photo with him! I saw him at a convention years ago (a tandem appearance with Nimoy) but there was no meet and greet.