Project-Blu Star Trek Trilogy, by M. Enois Duarte

Star Trek Motion Picture Trilogy

By: M. Enois Duarte, 6.1.2009

The Movie Itself:

"Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."

Similarly to "Firefly", the "Star Trek" show did not enjoy the strong following it does now when it originally aired on television. When it initially premiered in 1966, the Sci-Fi adventure seemed doomed to fail from the very beginning, receiving cancellation threats by the network before even finishing its first season due to low ratings and poor advertising revenue. The show can now be looked at in hindsight as a television series way ahead of its time, being hugely influential in different areas of the arts and sciences, and quickly becoming an enormous cult phenomenon after its untimely third season demise.

Despite only filming 79 episodes, "Star Trek" went on syndication during the 1970s and evolved into one of the most successful television programs ever. The show's popularity has also lead to several televised spin-offs, including an animated series, and eleven theatrical sequels, with the latest installment being the most successful. Three of the sequels within the film series are part of a story arc forming an undeclared trilogy, where the conclusion of one film directly commences the story of the next. The three films also act as a deeper exploration of the friendship shared between Captain James T. Kirk and his First Officer Spock.

One of the few films in history where most men will admit shedding a tear (according to SpikeTV), The Wrath of Khan remains by the majority of Trek-fans as the best in the series. Functioning as a continuation to a 1967 series episode entitled "Space Seed", the film features the crew of the starship USS Enterprise confronting one of its most memorable villains. Ricardo Montalbán plays the genetically-engineered Khan Noonien Singh wanting to exact revenge for being exiled on the dead planet Ceti Alpha VI. Learning of a secret mission to experiment with something called the Genesis Device, Khan turns into a dangerous adversary and begins a battle with fatal results.
Rating: 9/10

After facing off with their deadliest foe, the Enterprise crew must now tackle the challenge of dealing with the loss of a dear friend in The Search for Spock. As it turns out, Dr. McCoy possesses Spock's katra (soul), making him behave strangely. The only way for either to find peace is to bind it with Spock's remains and then taken to the planet Vulcan for proper burial. But when they return to the Genesis planet, the crew discovers some unexpected guests by way of a Klingon warship lead by Commander Kluge (Christopher Lloyd). Suddenly, Captain Kirk has to stop them from stealing information about the Genesis project for use as a weapon.
Rating: 8/10

Due to the events which took place prior to The Voyage Home, the Enterprise officers are threatened with court marshal and decide to return home to face punishment. Meanwhile, a cylindrical object orbits Earth emanating a strange signal that sounds much like a humpback whale song, disabling the global power system. With the use of the Klingon Bird of Prey, renamed the HMS Bounty, the crew resolve to travel back in time to the 1980s and rescue a pair of the now-extinct sea mammals to save their future. There, they discover a different world from their own, as they struggle with their fish-out-of-water experience. After retrofitting the ship to accommodate the whales, the crew finally head home.
Rating: 8/10

Overall Rating: 8/10

The Presentation:
The Wrath of Khan

Presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the AVC MPEG-4 encode is clean and stable with a thin veil of grain for that appreciable film-like appearance. Despite arriving with some expected softness, which is inherent to the photography, the film is sharper than it has ever looked, and facial complexions appear natural with realistic texture. Primaries are vibrant and rendered accurately, while secondary hues are stable and show great variance. Contrast and brightness levels are pleasant with crisp whites and deep blacks, giving the image an attractive depth of field. Shadow delineation is equally strong, with plenty of visible detail in dark sequences.
Rating: 7.8/10

From the moment the iconic theme music starts, this attractive 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track is warm and expansive with nice clarity in the instrumentation and light use of the surrounds for subtle envelopment. In fact, the entire musical score by James Horner is delivered with a pleasant dynamic range and dialogue offers great room penetration. The soundstage is entertainingly engaging with convincing imaging for an 80s sound design. The lossless mix also exhibits wonderful acoustics that enhance the soundfield from a strict stereo presentation. The few discrete effects employed perform effortlessly and offer decent moments of immersion.
Rating: 6.8/10

The Search for Spock

Being the newer release, the picture is to some extent sharper and has better resolution than Khan, while also looking better than any previous DVD incarnation. Still, this AVC-encoded transfer, in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, appears expectedly dated, retains a light grain structure, and shows some intrinsic softness. Colors are greatly improved and accurate, showing deeply saturated hues that are bright and consistently stable. Contrast and brightness levels are satisfactory, displaying nice gradational variance in the grayscale and providing the image with decent depth. Details in the shadows are observable and objects clearly visible throughout. Flesh tones are warm and natural, while facial complexions contain wonderful textural detail, which turns out to be the transfer's best attribute.
Rating: 8.0/10

Along with the video is also a slightly better 7.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack, containing more dynamics and greater spatial presence. Vocals are well rendered and centered within the screen, delivering great tonal quality and always perceptible. The frontal perspective is rich and engaging, spread across the three channels with pleasant room penetration. Imaging is enjoyable and expansive, as the rear channels chimed in with subtle musical bleeds. Surrounds were mostly reserved, except when required to envelop the listening area. The action sequences in Chapter 9 on the Genesis planet are notable for the appreciable moments of activity in the background. Low-bass response also offered little, but occasionally added a bit of depth to the action.
Rating: 7.2/10

The Voyage Home

As with Search for Spock, this AVC-encoded transfer of The Voyage Home, framed in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, conveys a slightly better video presentation than the previous two; but only slightly. A very faint grain structure is ever present all through the film, giving the image an attractive and memorable theatrical appearance. Despite a noticeably light use of DNR, facial textures appear better resolved than on other standard definition versions, exhibiting natural and warm complexions in actors. The color palette displays accurate saturation levels that are nicely rendered throughout. Contrast is brightly sharp with clean whites, while brightness is excellent with stable, deep blacks. Sharpness is expectedly weak in comparison to newer releases, but Voyage Home has never looked as sharply detailed as it does on Blu-ray.
Rating: 7.8/10

The 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track accompanying the video, likewise, exhibits an improved audio quality that supplying better dynamics and well-balanced in the front for a very satisfying stereo presentation. Dialogue is consistently discernible, even in whispered interactions, and never overwhelmed by the action. The soundstage contains wonderful clarity and expansiveness, delivering a steady activity of noise and presence through the course of the film. The mid-range is handled with aplomb as the movement from the front into the rears is cleanly rendered and smooth. Although low-frequency effects did not make much of a presence, there was enough weight to add some moments of enjoyment, and nicely supported by light score bleeds in the background. In the end, this lossless track made for some fun entertainment.
Rating: 7.2/10

Overall Presentation: 8/10

** 10 = Reference / 8 - 9 = Excellent / 7 = Good /
6 = Satisfactory / 5 = Average / 4 & under = Below Average **

The Extras:
Paramount Home Entertainment provides this Blu-ray edition of the Star Trek Trilogy with a satisfying supplemental package sure to excite fans. Porting over the same features as the two-disc special editions from a few years back, each disc comes with some exclusive bonus material and is BD-Live Enabled, which takes viewers to a Star Trek I.Q. game.

The Wrath of Khan

Audio Commentary with Director Nicholas Meyer
Audio Commentary with Director Nicholas Meyer and Producer Manny Coto
Library Computer
Captain's Log (SD, 27 min)
Designing Khan (SD, 24 min)
Original Interviews With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Ricardo Montalbán (SD, 11 min)
Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (SD, 18 min)
James Horner: Composing Genesis (HD, 18 min)
Collecting Star Trek's Movie Relics (HD, 11 min)
A Novel Approach (SD, 29 min)
Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 002: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (HD, 3 min)
A Tribute to Ricardo Montalbán (HD, 5 min)
Theatrical Trailer

The Search for Spock

Audio Commentary with Director Leonard Nimoy, Writer/Producer Harve Bennett, Director of Photography Charles Correll, and Actress Robin Curtis
Audio Commentary with Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
Library Computer
Captain's Log (SD, 26 min)
Terraforming the Prime Directive (SD, 26 min)
Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek
(HD, 14 min)
Spock: The Early Years (HD, 6 min)
Space Docks and Birds of Prey (SD, 28 min)
Speaking Klingon (SD, 21 min)
Klingon and Vulcan Costumes (SD, 12 min)
Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (HD, 17 min)
Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer (HD, 3 min)
Still Galleries
Storyboards
Theatrical Trailer

The Voyage Home

Audio Commentary with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
Audio Commentary with screenwriters of the new Star Trek reboot Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
Library Computer
Future's Past: A Look Back (SD, 28 min)
On Location (SD, 7 min)
Dailies Deconstruction (SD, 4 min)
Below-the-Line: Sound Design (SD, 12 min)
Pavel Chekov's Screen Moments (SD, 6 min)
Time Travel: The Art of the Impossible (SD, 11 min)
The Language of Whales (SD, 6 min)
A Vulcan Primer (SD, 8 min)
Kirk's Women (SD, 8 min)
Star Trek: Three Picture Saga (HD, 11 min)
Star Trek For a Cause (HD, 8 min)
Starfleet Academy SciSec Brief 004: The Whale Probe (HD, 4 min)
From Outer Space to the Ocean (SD, 15 min)
The Bird of Prey (SD, 3 min)
Original Interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and DeForest Kelley (SD, 33 min)
Roddenbery Scrapbook (SD, 8 min)
Featured Artist: Mark Leonard (SD, 13 min)
Production Gallery (SD, 4 min)
Theatrical Trailer

Rating: 10/10

Final Thoughts:
While it may not have succeeded as a groundbreaking television series when it originally aired, the "Star Trek" show gained an immense and devoted cult following years later. Spawning one of the most successful film franchises, Paramount Home Entertainment releases three of the Star Trek adventures as a trilogy in a handsome Blu-ray package, sporting the best A/V presentation of the films possible. Also arriving with an extensive bevy of bonus material, The Star Trek Trilogy is one that will not disappoint fans.
Rating: 9/10