Paramount+ has released two new images for its upcoming 4k Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s Edition streaming debut. The remaster was announced last summer, and shortly thereafter, a teaser trailer was released. It will be the first time this version of the film has been available in higher-than-DVD resolution since its 2001 release.
The Director’s Edition of #StarTrek: The Motion Picture is coming exclusively to @ParamountPlus. The restoration is being undertaken by David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren R. Dochterman, all of whom worked previously with director Robert Wise. pic.twitter.com/qyWwg3vBsf
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) September 9, 2021
The two images show a dramatic change in color grading. Side-by-side screen comparisons with the theatrical 2009 Blu-ray show how much is being done to update the original film elements using HDR and the increased resolution of UHD.
A newly-recomposited image from the STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE – DIRECTORS EDITION 4K remaster currently underway — the Enterprise gets underway to investigate V’Ger.
— TrekCore.com 🖖 (@TrekCore) January 24, 2022
Pic 1: 2009 Blu-ray
Pic 2: 2022 4K Remaster
via @StarTrek pic.twitter.com/wKZcazQfmI
TrekMovie also noted how the team behind this latest remaster is also working on adding new elements to the movie. CBS had similarly done this to episodes when it released the original television series on Blu-ray.
The team behind the project isn’t just recreating the 2001 DVD Director’s Edition for the HD era, they are also making a few additional tweaks. In the new high res image of the office complex, you can clearly see one of the new fixes that the Director’s Edition team made, one they intended to make in 2001 but they ran out of time and money to add. There’s now a travel pod docked to match where we later see Kirk and Scotty take off towards the Enterprise.
Star Trek.com has also released more images from the restoration in an ongoing behind-the-scenes sneak peek. It has said that “[i]n addition to the 1500+ edits required to complete the cut of the film, over 150 visual effects shots have been completed,” and that “[m]any of the additional shots have been digitally recombined with little to no loss in quality from the original negative of the elements of each shot.”
Paramount+ has not yet announced when the film will stream, but it could be soon, since the “restoration is expected to take 6-8 months” to complete, and it had been announced in July 2021.
Sources: TrekMovie.com, ComicBook.com